Chapter 34: On North Korea

Zhang Xuan leaned forward slightly and said, "Qing is from the north, but I don't know why to teach me?" ”

Fu Shan didn't hesitate much before he spoke directly, for him, defecting to the Xia Dynasty may have just been determined, but he didn't want to rebel against the Qing court, even if Zhang Xuan didn't ask him, he had been carefully investigating the situation of the Qing court. At this moment, Zhang Xuan asked, and he immediately said: "Your Majesty, since Dongyu entered the customs, what he has done is outrageous. People with lofty ideals all rose up to resist. ”

However, the forces are different, I don't know how many benevolent and righteous people died under the long knife of the Qing court, and the land of the mountains and the homes of the gentry were empty. Heroes, the dead one after another. Only the fish swimming at the bottom of the kettle, looking forward to the coming of the south wind. The gentry of the northeast of Shandong, headed by Feng Quan, are a man of few virtues and shame, and he is a tiger fighter. There are also nine-sided generals, who have no wind and bones, and the people of the headquarters of the East Captives should not be underestimated. Although there was instability in the north, the east was unshakable for a while. ”

"In the opinion of the minister, if you go north in a hurry, I'm afraid it will be half the effort."

When Zhang Xuan heard this, he also sighed in his heart.

Since Zhang Xuan entered Nanjing, all he had in his heart was the Northern Expedition. He also had feelings about what Fu Shan said, and of course he knew that Fu Shan's words were actually whitewashed.

Because he knew very well that most of the people in the north were afraid of being killed.

Force may not be able to do everything, but many things can still be done, and the Qing court's large-scale killings in the north have certainly scattered many people's hearts, but it is not without effect.

Most of the people who dared to go against the Qing court died. The rest is only to dare to connect in tandem, but it is impossible for them to raise troops.

And if you raise troops in a hurry, you have the greatest chance of failure. Otherwise, Fu Shan would not have traveled everywhere looking for opportunities.

Zhang Xuan also understood that the Qing army's temporary defeat did not reach the point of pushing down.

"Fu Qing has a good strategy to deal with Dongyu?" Zhang Xuan asked.

Fu Shan said with a slight groan; "Since the minister crossed the river, he has watched the politics of the imperial court, and within three or five years, he should stick to it, refresh the politics, accumulate grain and grass, and wait for his Northern Expedition. This is the fundamental policy, the two countries will fight a big war and defeat the plan of the imperial court. ”

Zhang Xuan was very satisfied with Fu Shan's political sensitivity, and he only came to Nanjing for a day or two at most, and he almost investigated the fundamental politics of the imperial court.

During this period of time, the negotiations between Wen Anzhi and Li Wen did not stop, but the progress in other aspects did not stop, and Zhang Xuan was busy sending generals at all levels out of Beijing to sort out the affairs of the army. However, this has come to an end. If it weren't for Fu Shan's arrival, Zhang Xuan would probably have discussed internal affairs with Zhang Zhen.

"Fu Qingmiao praised." Zhang Xuan said.

Fu shan

said: "Where the battle is right and the odd wins, the minister has a strange move, but I don't know what Your Majesty wants?" ”

Zhang Xuan said: "Fu Qing, please speak?" ”

Fu Shan said; "When my father was there, he was on duty in Liaohai and knew a little about the internal affairs of North Korea. This dynasty is longer than the naval division, why not send a naval division to the north to coerce the DPRK to oppose the Qing Dynasty, and then open another battlefield with the eastern captives. It can be divided into the trend of the east. ”

When Zhang Xuan heard this, he immediately said, "Okay, it's really a clever move." He just thought about it roughly, there are several advantages to this, the first advantage is to use the national strength of Korea to fight the Qing army, and the cost of the court can be reduced a lot. The second advantage is that Korea is a peninsula with mountainous terrain and a mountainous north, so it can be controlled by the sea. The U.S. troops dared to land at Incheon, but Zhang Xuan may not dare to follow suit, let the Qing army go south, and fight dogs at a juncture. Even if it is not so, the north is mountainous, which is conducive to walking, but not conducive to riding, and it may not be impossible to hit a dozen.

The third benefit is the strategic initiative. Even if you lose and retreat to the sea, if you occupy a few islands in the sea, you can come and go freely. If you spend a little effort here, the Qing court will have to spend a lot of strength.

A war between a great power, a momentary victory or defeat, is nothing. Only the long-term consumption of national strength will evolve higher. The national strength of the Qing court was not comparable to that of the Xia Dynasty. And then the other. Even if Dolgon is the reincarnation of Zhuge Liang, in the face of such a conspiracy, it is estimated that he can't think of any way.

It's just that Zhang Xuan still has a few problems in his heart, one is an external problem, and the other is an internal problem. The internal problem is the main general who sent troops to North Korea.

This lord must be able to conquer the public, have the prestige to serve the people, and have the ability to stand on his own. Zhang Xuan's first thought was Zheng Chenggong.

It's just that there are always some obstacles to using Zheng Chenggong at this time.

However, Zhang Xuan also knows that it takes a long time for a strategy to go from decision-making to implementation. It was the Song-Jin Sea Alliance, and it was talked about for several years. There is also a North Korea involved here, even if Zhang Xuan makes a policy now, and when it is implemented, it may be in a year or two.

This matter can be pushed, but there is another question, Zhang Xuan has to ask. said: "Fu Qing, can North Korea be used by the imperial court?" ”

Fu Shan said: "North Korea has always been known as Little China, and the people are unwilling to rely on the barbarians. It's just that the king of Joseon may have the idea of reluctance, but even if the king of Joseon has the heart of reluctance, Donglu will not be willing to let him reluctantly. ”

"Oh?" Zhang Xuan asked a little strangely, "Why is this?" ”

Fu Shan said: "Your Majesty is recuperating, I think it is because last year's campaign consumed too much and I couldn't make ends meet." ”

Zhang Xuan said: "Exactly. ”

Fu Shan said: "Your Majesty doesn't know, the consumption of the Dongyu last year was not small, and after the Dongyu entered the customs, he was in Beijing

The thief had to break into 70 million taels of silver, which was needed for several years of warfare. ”

"When you think about it, there's not much left. The north was barren, and after the war, the hukou fled completely, and there were no hundreds left in the original hometown, and it was difficult to recover for a while. And Dongyu knew this, but he continued to forcibly levy, with the number of yellow books in the Wanli years, not a penny in arrears, and he sought it to the extreme, without the slightest sense of decency, and there was an anecdote last year. Someone in Shandong, who is the champion of the new branch of Dongyu, but his family is in arrears of taxes, and he is immediately dismissed from his post and investigated, does Your Majesty know how much silver taels he owes? ”

"How much?" Zhang Xuan said.

"One cent." Fu Shan said.

When Zhang Xuan heard this, he was taken aback and said, "Isn't it just a penny?" "How much copper money can be exchanged for one tael of silver, generally speaking, there are local markets in various places, but generally speaking, the pricing of the government is consistent with one tael exchange, that is, one thousand wen, so one cent of silver is one penny.

Fu Shan said: "It's that the champion is not worth a penny. ”

Zhang Xuan listened, but there was some ridicule in his heart. And a hint of admiration.

There are unspoken rules for taxation in the Ming Dynasty, generally speaking, seventy percent of the tax can be collected, even if it is qualified, ninety percent of the tax is collected, even if it is a capable minister, but ten percent of the tax is collected, and it is mostly regarded as a cool official.

The reason is very simple, everyone knows that the Yellow Book is problematic, there are errors up and down, if you really follow the provisions, many people will force their whole family to death, and they will not be able to come up with a penny.

Generally, the harvest is ninety percent, which means that everything that can be received has been received. Most of the rest are simply not collected.

Of course, there are also some problems with the land of the powerful that is not in the books.

In Zhang Xuan's view, this is actually the unreasonableness of the tax policy, and it is necessary to leave a margin to ensure the implementation. Correctly, these margins should not exist.

The Qing court was right to demand that taxes be paid in 10%. But I'm afraid that in the process of implementation, every article will be stained with blood.

After all, the tax levied in the last year of Wanli during the Taiping period was already a little high, and the Liao salary had already been levied at that time. Not to mention after the Great War.

However, Zhang Xuan also understood that Fu Shan did not come to tell jokes to Zhang Xuan, but to show that Dongyu's finances may not be looser than those of the Xia Dynasty.

"When the Dongyu was still entering the customs, every time there was a shortage of food and clothing, he said: Grab the south, and now the vitality of the north can not be restored for a while, but confronting this dynasty, it is indispensable to pay soldiers for a day, although the Dongyu has gained a lot in the south of the Yangtze River, but there is such a windfall in front of Dolgon, how will he decide?" Fu Shan said.

Zhang Xuan immediately understood in his heart and said: "As long as North Korea is suspicious, Dolgon probably will not let go of making a fortune from North Korea, and it is a large sum." I'm afraid that the heart of the county and North Korea may not be absent. ”