There was silence in the Qianqing Palace.

In fact, these are all smart people, and they can see that Chongzhen and Yang Qing, the two unscrupulous monarchs and ministers, are actually singing and harmonizing, and it is clear that they want to take this opportunity to force them to comply, so that they can accept the reform of apportioning the gentry into the mu and paying the grain as an errand and grain.

But they can't resist!

Li Zicheng's army is pressed in Jiangbei!

All the gentry and officials in the Great Wall of Heaven were all wiped out, not only all the men were hanged on both sides of the street, but even the female dependents were robbed by these thieves, the money and grain were looted, and other valuable sundries were also looted by the poor.

Fortunately, this is only a corner of Jiangbei.

However, as Yang Qing said, if Li Zicheng's army crossed the Yangtze River, how many gentry in the south of the Yangtze River would have to be hung up and hanged on the side of the road? How many of the Gongon's families have been ruined? Not to mention that you can surrender, those in Beijing not only surrendered, but even betrayed the emperor! Isn't the result the same as being pinched out of the brain? Li Zicheng is not particular at all, it can be said that as long as his army crosses the Yangtze River, the rest will be bloodbathed in Jiangnan! Compared with this, paying some taxes to make the court rich can make the soldiers have a little fighting spirit, which is still the best result!

It's much better than Chongzhen's irregular raids.

In other words, judging from Chongzhen's performance before, he was obviously ready to do this.

His Majesty the Emperor has been in Jiangnan for a few months and has basically done nothing else except to raid the house, from the long-awaited Holy Lord Mingjun directly to the faint monarch who is privately criticized by the gentry, it is obvious that if he can't get the money, he still has to continue to find those unlucky officials to raid the house, and maybe it will soon fall on the cabinet and the officials of the six ministries, Chongzhen is in Beijing but the speed of changing the first assistant is like a woman changing clothes.

This is the gentlest way for everyone to pay taxes together.

Can this be taxed......

It's not that easy!

What kind of gentry is not exempt from tax? What is a gentry? Isn't it a privileged class formed by exchanging fame for tax-exempt status? Everything is inferior, only what is the sign of high reading? Isn't it just that even if it's just a showman, you can be exempt from forced labor? If you are admitted to the examination or something, it will be developed, not only do you not have to pay the land tax, but also the money and grain of the government, plus those gentry who invested in advance in order to avoid the land tax, just like Fan Jinzhong after the promotion, it can be said that there is everything at once.

If they also pay taxes......

So what's the difference between them and mud legs?

This is the basis for them to be higher than the latter!

"But the thieves are imminent, and it doesn't seem like a priority to talk about these things at this time."

Zhang Guowei said.

Obviously, he still wanted to put it off if he could.

This kind of thing cannot be carried out as long as the cabinet does not agree.

It doesn't matter if the emperor decrees, even if Chongzhen really has to issue a holy decree, the cabinet can also be sealed, and the ministers of the Ming Dynasty have not done this kind of thing, even if Chongzhen forcibly decrees to bypass the cabinet, officials from all over the country can also refuse to implement the holy decree that does not go through the normal procedures of the cabinet and the six ministries. The Ming Dynasty has a civilian government that can be said to be perfect, in fact, the power of the Ming civil officials at this time is no worse than the cabinet of the European parliamentary system, they just do not have the clarity of laws such as the Constitution, but they are no worse than their European counterparts in dealing with the monarch.

In this case, let's drag it out for a while.

They didn't dare to agree to this kind of thing, and it was entirely possible for them to agree and then anger the gentry everywhere and scold them for being traitorous and digging their ancestral graves.

This is not an exaggeration.

Zhang Guowei's hometown is from Dongyang, Zhejiang.

If he agrees to collect taxes from those gentry in his hometown, not to mention that the latter digs up his ancestral grave in anger, the clan will convict him of being a traitor, and then expel him from Dongyang's hometown.

"Zhang Shangshu's words are wrong, this is the top priority!"

Yang Qing said very simply.

"Now the soldiers have no fighting spirit, the people have no loyalty, like a plate of scattered sand, the soldiers are conducive to the enemy after plundering the gentry, the people are conducive to the enemy after not paying food, the enemy is often the first to rebel, the thief is not to the city first, so want to resist the enemy in Jiangbei is no different from the Arabian Nights, if you want to defeat the enemy, you must first stabilize the hearts of the soldiers and the people, so that the soldiers and the people know that the emperor loves the people, so that the soldiers and the people know that there will be a good life with the emperor, only in this way can they really fight for the Ming Dynasty.

Otherwise, there will not be an army that really fights for the Ming Dynasty to the end, and there will be no city that will defend the Ming Dynasty.

It is futile not to win back the hearts and minds of the people.

That's the priority.

His Majesty was asked to issue an edict as soon as possible, clarifying the law of reform, and that the Cabinet Department should go to the front of the army to announce the decree and tell the people everywhere to reassure them.

After all, the people are still mindful.

No one really likes to give up three hundred years of the Son of Heaven and be a thief, Emperor Taizu expelled the Tartars to restore China, since ancient times, the righteous people who have won the country have no Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng is just a first-class Kou, how can he be compared with His Majesty in the hearts of the people, it is nothing more than the temptation of his profit from not paying food. If the imperial court uses the love of the people to benefit the government and reassure the people, so that the people no longer regard Li Zi as a savior, then why be afraid of the rogues, if the emperor ruled the people to live and work in peace and contentment, have enough food and clothing, and have no suffering from hunger, then it is time for the king to go on a northern expedition, and the people will eat pot pulp to welcome.

And the spread into the acre, the gentry as an errand and grain is enough to save their hearts.

Whoever wins the hearts of the people wins the world!

If Taizu is not the will of the people, how can he achieve great things? ”

He continued.

"Well, whoever wins the hearts of the people wins the world!

Li Zicheng can be free of grain, can't I even pay grain for the gentry? Since they are all my subjects, how can they favor one over the other? Wang Chengen, it is planned to promulgate the world with a new deal of reform!

Shi Qing, by the Qing with the order to cross the river on behalf of the army to comfort the army, the treasury out of 300,000 taels of silver, together with the reward of the soldiers of the army, in addition to the gentry into the mu of the gentry as a messenger to pay the grain in all parts of the decree spread to all places, after the repulsion of the rebel army, by the Jinyi guard escort the household commissioner to go to various places to measure and check the field no longer have hidden fields, within three years to complete the reform of the apportionment into the mu. In addition, the fields of the clans in various places are also in the scope of the inventory, and there are gentry who send the fields of the clans directly without official receipts as official fields, and the clans who accept the scheming will be fined ten years of land and silver with the number of sent, and the fields of the guards in various places will be checked, and there are no officials for the gentry encroachers.

I will start with the people today! ”

Chongzhen said with great ambition.

Shi Kefa stood there with a complicated expression.

"The Cabinet Department, does the Cabinet Department have any objections to His Majesty's words?"

Yang Qing said viciously.

"Shi Qing, if you have any objections, just say it!"

Chongzhen also said viciously.

Shi Kefa took a deep breath, glanced deeply at Yang Qing with a hateful gaze, and then stepped forward......

"Daolin!"

Gu Xichou wanted to speak and stopped.

Obviously, he still has a deep friendship with Shi Kefa, and I really want him to calm down and let him think about the consequences of receiving this purpose.

However, Scofa did not squint like a warrior who died generously.

"Minister, Commander!"

He said.

He was truly equal to dying generously.

Although the result is not necessarily death, in fact, for a person like him who cherishes feathers, it is more uncomfortable than death!

He knew very well that the pair of unscrupulous monarchs and ministers in front of him were collaborating to put themselves on the altar of sacrifice.

One of them designed a conspiracy, the other carried out a conspiracy, and finally pushed himself out as a sacrifice, but it is conceivable that if he went to Jiangbei to announce such a holy decree to hundreds of thousands of soldiers instead of Chongzhen, what would be the next result, he would immediately change from the head of the sages to a traitor to the country.

It's no wonder that those officials and gentry everywhere don't spray him to death!

He is the representative of the Ming Dynasty, the head of the Donglin sages, and the southeast Shilin, everyone is waiting for him to sweep away the filth of the eunuch party and return to the good times of the past, and then he will have a divine turn, which is purely a provocation to the dignity of the gentry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang! But just like Yang Qing's evaluation of him, as a Confucian scholar who reads himself into the most standard reading, the education he received and his principles of life make him unable to shirk the will of the monarch, and his indecisive character cannot do such a thing as confronting the emperor in the court.

In the end, he could only take on the task of ruining himself like a martyr.

It was said that he stumbled backwards.

Gu Xichou and Zhang Guowei glanced at each other, and then let out a long sigh at the same time, it was obvious that another virtuous and upright loyal person had stepped into the ranks of traitors.

But it's also a good thing for them.

Because they can deduct all the basins on Shi Kefa's head, so as to attract the firepower of those gentry to prevent the latter from digging their ancestral graves, after all, the Jiangnan gentry can't dig the ancestral graves of Shi Kefa's family, and Shi Kefa's hometown is in the occupied area! In addition, the person responsible for operating this matter must be Gao Hongtu, the head of the household department, and Gao Hongtu is a native of Jiaozhou, Shandong, which is also from the occupied area, so it is a blessing in misfortune, in short, these officials from Jiangnan can still keep the signboard of the virtuous minister.

As for whether the gentry in various places were edicted......

That's only God knows.

Emperor Ming's words are not so easy to use in the local area, the gentry are the masters of the place, even if the will of reform is issued, these people have to listen honestly, if they don't listen, it is not impossible to fight by force, in short, this holy decree is just a beginning, and the result is still unpredictable. But they don't have to worry about this, Shi Kefa and Gao Hongtu are infamous, they avoid bearing Chongzhen's anger because of opposition, and the rest is the struggle between Chongzhen and the local gentry, they just stay out of the way and watch from the sidelines, anyway, this is not the business of their families.

This was a matter for all the gentry in the area controlled by the imperial court.

The Gu family in Kunshan and the Zhang family in Dongyang are just a part of the gentry, so there is no need to stand in the way.

"Shi Qing, then everything will be handed over to Shi Qing!"

Chongzhen said happily.

Then Wang Chengen quickly took out a holy decree with all the ink dried, and walked out directly and held it in front of Shi Kefa.

Yang Qing stood with Shang Fang's sword in his hand.

Shi Kefa smiled bitterly, and then looked at the holy decree, as if he was looking at his infamous future.

But in the end, with a hint of trembling, he raised his hands and took the ......