"In this way, it is imminent to strictly investigate the Shanxi border pass?" The young man gathered his thoughts and continued to ask.

"Not only that, but it's also very profitable." Yang Hongzhang said with a smile.

"It is not the court's duty to compete with the people for profit, if it can be prohibited, it can't be confiscated." The young man seemed to understand what Yang Hongzhang meant.

"My lord is really soft-hearted, I still remember what I said to the prefect when I stood on the wall of the river, or that sentence, the Gaoyang refugees would rather clear mines for Jiannu than flee in all directions under the bewitchment of Wang Lenian, and that group of people can no longer be counted as the people of the Ming Dynasty. The same reason, those traitor-like Shanxi businessmen, why should adults be soft-hearted! If they are not exterminated, it is already a mercy for the court. ”

The young man shook his head and fell silent. After a long time, he sat down again and looked at Yang Hongzhang and asked, "In the general's opinion, which is even worse than the trouble of building slaves and breaking into rebellion?" ”

Hearing that it was Yang Hongzhang's turn to sink, because he still knew something about the demise of the Ming Dynasty, it was the peasant uprising of more than ten years that completely consumed the Ming Dynasty, which finally allowed the Manchus to occupy the great rivers and mountains.

"Hard to answer?" It was finally difficult for Yang Hongzhang, and the young man seemed to be a little excited.

"Do you want to hear the truth?"

"Naturally!"

"Everyone in the world says that Jiannu is the itch of scabies, and the thief is the big problem, but in Hongzhang's opinion, it is not. Whether it is Li Zicheng or Zhang Xianzhong or someone else who has become a thing, after all, it is still my Han people, but if Jiannu enters the customs, it will not be the death of the country, but the danger of extermination, have you forgotten the battle of Yashan? Yang Hongzhang originally wanted to say Huang Zongxi's theory, and brainwashed this young adult by the way, but found that this seemed to have a big change in mood, so he forcibly pulled his thoughts back.

"My lord, loyalty to the monarch and patriotism should be practiced by those who are courtiers. However, if you look at the current court, look at those powerful people, and then look at how many of the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty have a public heart? In order to cover for those Shanxi businessmen, the cabinet scholars confiscated more than 100,000 taels. Look at how unfair the tax system of the imperial court is now? Hongzhang once heard that the emperor had persuaded the magnates in the capital to raise the loud noise of Liaodong, but the result ended dismally. These shameless people always think that the Daming country is theirs, but they only enjoy the benefits of the Daming country, and it is their turn to contribute, crying poor one by one. How many shops in Beijing have nothing to do with those lords? They had the face to ask the peasants to collect taxes, saying that it was the imperial court that protected them. As a result, as soon as Jiannu came, it was not a plunder, the peasants suffered, and even the population was plundered by hundreds of thousands or millions. Did they protect the people? No. The entire imperial army is protecting those shameless princes, marquis, scholars, scholars, and squires, have they paid taxes? No! Not only did they not, but they also wantonly evaded taxes on behalf of those landlords. Let's just say that Zhejiang, when the Ming Dynasty opened the country, there were 60 million acres of fields that paid taxes to the imperial court, and now there are less than 20 million acres left, where is the remaining land? It's not all under the names of those princes, marquises, and court officials, because they don't have to pay taxes. Are you shameless? Do you think the court can be rich if it goes on like this? Therefore, Hongzhang thinks that it may not be a good thing for Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong to become a thing. Because in this way, those princes and marquis will all be clicked away, a large number of lands should continue to pay taxes, and those shops will also pay taxes honestly. In this way, the imperial court not only had the money to pay military salaries, but also reduced taxes for the peasants.

The Donglin Party's proposition is correct, hiding wealth from the people, but not hiding wealth from those incorruptible and shameless princes and marquis. They are just parasites of the court and the state, and if they want to hide their wealth from the people, they should be ordinary people. Literati should be open to the common people, not lackeys of the powerful.

Adults casually go to the streets of Beijing to see, the mansion of the important ministers of the imperial court is not built with tens of thousands of silver, and who does not have a few shops and restaurants under the name of the daily income? When the emperor persuaded donations, they were poorer one by one! I wonder if the adults are among these people? ”

The young man's face flushed, and then he asked, "The powerful and court officials don't have to pay taxes, this is the ancestral system, and it can't be easily changed. ”

"The Ming Dynasty is about to end, and the ancestors are still in the system. Why do those peasants rebel every year, why do Li Zicheng and others respond to every call, it's not that they can't live with the imperial court, although the rebellion is dangerous, there is always a way to live. The court doesn't give people a way to live, that is, they can only wait for people to come to the door. There is no need to build slaves, as long as it lasts for five years, it is entirely possible for the Ming Dynasty to change hands. ”

"......" This time, the young man was silent for a long time, during which he looked up at Yang Hongzhang several times, and finally asked with difficulty: "Can reforming the tax system save the Ming Dynasty?" ”

"Not necessarily, the increase in loss may also be corrupted by those corrupt officials, but if you don't change, it will be over. I don't know if you know what the tax rate of farmers has been in the past 50 years, what is the tax rate of merchants, why half of the Zhao and Song dynasties are very rich, and the income of officials is even several times that of my Ming Dynasty. Just because the tax rate in the Zhao and Song dynasties was ten taxes and one in the Ming Dynasty, and the business tax in the Ming Dynasty was fifty taxes and one in the Ming Dynasty, so those people still had to evade taxes in the name of the nobles. The tax rate for farmers has been increasing for fifty years, while the tax rate for business has never changed. The poor who have no food to eat have been raising taxes, not only can they not collect a few dollars, but more and more people respond to Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong. Those princes and scholars who are full of fat brains not only do not pay taxes themselves, but also have to cover for those landlords and wealthy businessmen! ”

Yang Hongzhang also felt that it was estimated that it would be difficult for him to see the light of day in this dungeon, and it was a pity that this guy sent it to the door by himself, and it was a pity not to take the opportunity to sell some of his ideas.

So it's like beating chicken blood, and it doesn't matter how much the other party can accept. Anyway, where I think and where I speak, to be a person in a harmonious era, many points of view are beyond this era, and there is a kind of high-rise bystander's clear taste, which is not difficult to attract people.

The young man seemed to like silence very much, or maybe Yang Hongzhang's remarks were really deafening, and the breathing sound of the three people was particularly solemn in the cell where the needles could be heard, and after a long time, the young man stood up again and asked: "If the general can go out, these five measures to restrict the construction of slaves have also been appreciated by the imperial court, I don't know which one the general is willing to do himself?" ”

"Admiral Yangtze River Sailor." Yang Hongzhang did not hesitate to ask for this question, originally in his imagination if he made such a great contribution this time. If the old emperor reads his goodness, maybe he will be added to the ranks, and what he wants to do most is to build a sailor.

"Why isn't it the most important thing to restrict Shanxi merchants or reform the tax rate?" The young man asked, a little surprised.

"My lord, you don't look at Hongzhang, I'm just being excluded and calculated because of a little merit, and now I'm in prison I don't know why. If you want to restrict the merchants of Shanxi, at least you have to be the general army of Datong, and when the time comes, it will not only cause the attacks of the princes in the court, but also directly cut off the financial routes of many people, and then Hongzhang may die in an instant without a place to be buried. As for the tax rate reform, it needs a foundation, it needs manpower, Hongzhang is only twenty years old, the first time he entered Beijing, the opponent is the Manchu nobles, no need for the courtiers to calculate, I am afraid that it will not take a few days to die. Although Hongzhang once boasted in Hangzhou that the life and death of the country would not be avoided because of blessings and misfortunes, but if he died, who would be the brightest for Hongzhang, and who could make these propositions public to the world and implement them one by one? Courage also needs to look at the current situation, recklessness can only hit the head and bleed or even die. ”

"Haha, the general is not so impulsive as he seems on the surface, he is still an old and sophisticated reader, haha, it's a clumsy eye. It's just that the general is still thinking simply, and now what the imperial court wants to do is to reform the tax rate and rectify the border defense, and a talent like the general can't go to the Yangtze River Water Division no matter what! The country is in trouble, and the Ming court is not rich enough to waste talents at will. ”

Yang Hongzhang didn't refute, the other party was right, but some let themselves choose to choose the Yangtze River Water Division, but they didn't know when they would be able to go out, even if the emperor suddenly saw the pearls, and then vigorously promoted himself, it would be to preside over the tax rate reform, or go to Datong to guard the side. The Yangtze River Sailor can only be regarded as a potential stock, and the courtiers who can't see the effect in a short time will not spend effort and silver on it.

"I heard that the general has never been defeated in the face of Hongmao or Wakou or Jiannu since he snatched the sea ship from the sea, I don't know what the general has to offer, can you tell Huang about it?" The young man seemed to have spent a long time digesting Yang Hongzhang's tirade, and then raised a question that he was very curious about about the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty.

"Without him, only the weapon is sharp!" The other party asked what he was proud of, Yang Hongzhang did not hold it up, but made a concise summary, seeing that the young man was still a little confused, and continued to explain, "Do you remember the feat of Mongolia sweeping the continent back then, Mongolian Temujin is not three-headed and six-armed, but the Mongols have high killing skills, and their combat weapons and combat methods are much stronger than other ethnic groups." Why do I Ming people always have a psychological barrier in the face of Jiannu, and always use the sentence that Jurchen is not ten thousand, and she is invincible. In fact, it was because this Ming man gave up the divine arm bow of Zhao and Song, and the ordinary infantry bows and arrows and fire guns could not resist the cavalry of the Jurchen cavalry. When Hongzhang returned from the sea, he looted the treasury of many Western countries and purchased the most advanced flintlock pistols and artillery, which had a longer range than cavalry bows and arrows, and the reloading speed was greatly improved, and the hit rate was also high. The artillery, on the other hand, used a large number of flowering shells, which exploded in the cavalry ranks, which could easily frighten the horses and cause them to kill each other. As for the cement piers outside Gaoyang and Hejian City, they effectively stopped the cavalry charge and destroyed the cavalry momentum of the Jurchen cavalry. The trenches outside Funiu Mountain and Beijing effectively restricted the cavalry's charge while protecting the musketeers and artillery. Keep them away from the close quarters of the cavalry. And Jiannu came to plunder, and the people led by Hongzhang were to defend their homes and avenge their relatives, so they took advantage of the right time, place and people, how could they be invincible? ”