The issue of donation is related to the food security of Shudi, and it is also related to Zhu Pingjian's overall strategy. Since the beginning of the year, he and the princess agreed to accept the offering, he first asked Hong Qihui, and then issued an edict to Sun Hong, and now it is the third time to ask for advice. Tian Qian used the conflict of "profit" as an excuse to deny the possibility of the gentry's contribution, which made Zhu Pingjin frightened. Could it be that this path is simply wrong?

"It's just three things!" Zhu Pingjin thought to himself, I must make the donation clear today! So Zhu Pingjin did not hide it, and told Tian Qian in detail about the situation of Yazhou and Songlin Mountain playing the right two times.

Hong Qihui's approach focused on the alliance between the royal government and the common landlords and yeoman farmers. Through this alliance, the notification foundation of the palace was consolidated to squeeze out the local tyrants and inferior gentry. He also took a clear-cut stand against the direct management model of Wangzhuang and Wangdian, which were owned by Wangzhuang, believing that they were inefficient and corrupt.

Sun Hong's method focused on winning over the majority of the enlightened gentry, and using the power of the government and commercial methods to crack down on a small number of local tyrants and inferior gentry.

It should be said that both Hong Qihui and Sun Hong's solutions are quite feasible, and most of them have been adopted by Zhu Pingjin.

After returning from Songlin Mountain, Zhu Pingjin immediately held a Shu examination and absorbed a large number of middle and lower-class intellectuals. In conjunction with the Futai Domain, two tax cards were set up at the mouth of the Pengshan River and at the foot of the Jiading Giant Buddha, and the newly built caravan was used to collect taxes on incoming and outgoing cargo ships. But at the beginning of the autumn harvest, the fortresses of Qiong and Mei, the two local tyrants and inferior gentry, did not die because of this, but still lived well. A large amount of yellow rice did not enter his own granary, but flowed into the pockets of the local tyrants and shoddy gentry, and even Wang Dian couldn't buy it with silver!

These days, Songlinshan's impulse to summon Sun Hong has been hitting Zhu Pingjian from time to time. He is thinking of a way to get rid of the local tyrants and gentry who refuse to cooperate with him once and for all. Because Zhu Pingjin has painfully discovered that the crossing between him and his wife has not changed the course of history, and the life of the Ming Dynasty is pointing to the end every minute!

The clock is ticking, and Zhu Pingjian's patience is rapidly eroding.

"The wrath of the emperor, millions of corpses, thousands of miles of blood!"

Han Guangwu?

No, Lao Tzu wants to be Qin Shi Huang!

……

Shizi's words involved two high-ranking officials, which not only made Tian Qian cautious, but also made Tian Qian excited for three points. Doesn't this mean that the son of the world has regarded him as a man of heart?

Tian Qian pulled out his most beloved object from his waist, the goose feather fan used by Zhuge Kongming, and completely entered the state of the class. He talked eloquently and wandered around Zhu Pingjian. The fan kept waving, pointing at the Jiangshan Sheji, as if the person listening to the lecture in front of him was not Zhu Pingjian, the son of Shu, but his student Thirty-six Little Devils.

“…… The minister's previous words are benevolent and righteous. The prince took the land of the gentry, and forced them to reduce the rent in five or five years, they lost their wealth and power, and suddenly lost their center of gravity, where is it just a few percent of the loss of rent? Yazhou, Renshou, and Pengshan were all after the chaos, and the palace was able to wait for the opportunity to enter. There are powerful soldiers inside, and there are thieves outside who covet them, and they are forced by the situation to surrender. In the two states of Qiongmei, the royal government can neither tempt them to take advantage of them, nor exert their strength, they will regard the prince as a rebel and regard the prince as an enemy! The golden palace of the court of appeal, passed down the anecdotes of the wild history, so as to force the prince to stop and return to the palace to be a virtuous king in their minds! How can the Son receive their contributions? ……”

Hong Qihui asked Zhu Pingjin to squeeze the gentry, dig the corners of the gentry, and first pull the common landlords and yeoman farmers to his side; Sun Hong asked Zhu Pingjin to lure and divide the gentry politically, encircle and oppress the gentry economically, and grasp them with both hands; However, Tian Qian bluntly pointed out that Zhu Pingjin's surrender policy greatly harmed the vital interests of the gentry, especially political interests, and that the palace did not have appropriate and effective measures to make up for the gentry's losses, thus arguing and denying the possibility of the diehards among the gentry taking the initiative to take refuge from the perspective of interests, and there was only one solution left: violent means.

Before Tian Qian's words fell, Zhu Pingjin had already guessed seven or eight points. Sure enough, Tian Qian's last sentence concluded:

"Since ancient times, benevolent monarchs, obedient people, let it be virtuous; Whoever goes against it, will never do it! Undoubtedly, the world kimono (Note 1). ”

……

Tian Qian's "benevolence" finally revealed its true colors. He takes "desire" as the bait, "profit" as the handle, and "benevolence" as the rule.

If "desire and profit" cannot achieve "benevolent rule", then it must be achieved by violent means, that is, "force"!

However, using violent means to solve the unwilling gentry has always been the option that Zhu Pingjin insists on abandoning. Whether the use of violence will lead to chaos in Shudi, Zhu Pingjin is not sure at all. Once there is chaos in Shudi, it will damage Zhu Pingjin's fundamental interests!

Zhu Pingjin stood up in annoyance and walked to the stream with his back hand.

The river is clear and the grass is abundant. The rice waves are rolling in the distance, and the farmers are busy harvesting, a picture of a peaceful and beautiful countryside.

Now to do it to the gentry, what is the reason? How much is politically risky? Will it lead to a large-scale counter-revolutionary riot? Zhu Pingjin must weigh many trade-offs.

Tian Qian saw that Zhu Pingjin was uneasy, so he chased over and added: "The minister thinks that what the prince wants is nothing more than their money and food. If he accepts food, what if the son of the world does not receive it! ”

"How do you get them to pay for it?"

"The minister has already said that he will be convinced!"

"What is the chaos in Shudi?"

Zhu Pingjin was no longer polite to Tian Qian, and asked questions like a cannon.

"This son of the world, the king of a domain! The imperial court is forbidden, and the government is on the side. Whether it is a donation or a grain payment, it is not right to say that it is not good, and if it is not good, it will not be done, how to 'do it with absolute strength'? Mr. wants this prince to mobilize the army and suppress the gentry, but I don't know that most of the officials in my palace are born gentry!? ”

The prince's anger was revealed, but Tian Qian's face had a happy smile: "As the minister can see, the chaos in the world has become a trend." Shu is biased to the southwest, and it is not exempt. Since Shu will be chaotic sooner or later, early chaos is better than late chaos, and big chaos is better than small chaos! It's better to be in chaos now than to lose the capital in the future! ”

Tian Qian's words made Zhu Pingjin break out in a cold sweat.

Is it really in response to the old proverb (CEN) - "The world is not chaotic before Shu is chaotic, and the world has been decided"?

If class reconciliation fails, it will inevitably return to the cruel old road of class struggle. A rigid and straight property standard will tear the entire country and society in half, no matter your good or evil, knowledge, ability, identity, or bloodline, there is only one criterion for division - the amount of property, all moral, ethical, family affection, law, and order are all destroyed, resulting in the 300-year catastrophe of Chinese civilization!

"I can neither induce or extort it. Am I so wrong? ”

For the first time since the crossing, the self-confident Zhu Pingjin had a strong sense of frustration.

……

Zhu Pingjin was at a loss, but Tian Qian stared at him with a goose feather fan. Zhu Pingjin reacted quickly and couldn't show his cowardice in front of his subordinates. He rolled his eyes and smiled back into the corner of his mouth.

"Sir, the so-called strength is not the power of this son! It's the power of outsiders! This son of the world watches the fire across the mountain, and he can go down the mountain at any time to clean up the mess! ”

Seeing that the prince saw through his tricks, Tian Qian had no choice but to give up.

The monarch and the minister pierced the riddle, and the two were in a good mood, walking along the stream and chatting.

Tian Qian said his thoughts one by one: "It is a stone of the mountain, and it can attack jade!" There is a lot to be borrowed from external forces. The first is to borrow from the official, and the second is to borrow from the thief! Officials, eat and do things. What the king thinks, that is, what the official does. Those who think about it today are nothing but money and thieves. Although Sichuan is known as a fertile field and produces a lot of output, the heavy taxes paid by the imperial court are second only to Su Song (Note 2). Now that the three salaries of the imperial court are superimposed, Sichuan still has to help Shaanxi raise the king of Rui (Note 3), bear the salaries and military salaries of tens of thousands of Qin and Chu guest soldiers, and the gentry refuse to pay grain, and those prefecture and county officials can collect all taxes? I'm afraid that as soon as the three-year examination period comes, there will be a lot of black yarn on the ground......"

"I can't wait for the exam every three years." Zhu Pingjin said, "The emperor has already issued a strict decree to release all the silver from the treasury in various places to the Beijing Division. Xue Xiang (Note 4) is collecting money from the nobles of Jingshi, which shows how far the lack of silver in the imperial court has reached! ”

This is the content of the latest report of the Policy Research Office. After reading it last night, Zhu Pingjin was very surprised by Ershu's final conclusion.

So he decided to reveal a little information to Tian Qian: "Liao Daheng has already submitted a letter to the palace, and in the next few days, the feudal division will want to go down, and all parts of Sichuan must collect autumn grain (the autumn tax of the Ming Dynasty is commonly known as autumn grain) before February next year, and then dump it as tax silver to be sent to Beijing." Liu Zhibo was even more severe, and he told the supervisors that if the officials in various places could not collect all the taxes and silver on time, the officials would immediately be questioned and investigated! ”

Tian Qian sighed: "I can't imagine that for the sake of autumn grain, Liu Zhibo, a Qing official who loves the people like a son, will be shameless!" ”

Zhu Pingjin smiled and agreed: "He is loyal to the monarch and loves the people!" Loyal to the king first and then love the people, because loyalty to the king can love the people. If this prince does not love the people, how can he, as a minister, love the people? ”

Tian Qian nodded heavily and said, "What the prince said is very true! For today's ministers, it is difficult to go to the sky! But the opportunity of the son of the world is now! ”

"I want to hear about it!"

"When the minister was an official in Hanzhong Mansion, he once heard Shangguan slander after drinking. It is said that sex is not mean, it is said that it is good name, and it is said that it is paranoid and arbitrary. In the morning, the minister is called sir, and in the evening the sword and axe are added. Therefore, the ministers are all submissive and refuse to offer a plan, lest things will not be good in the future, and the emperor will come to settle the old accounts, and the descendants will be in the same disaster! Therefore, he only took the party to fight and attack as a thing, and perfunctory the emperor's life. For example, Liao Fu of Sichuan Province, who was originally a soldier to reach the emperor and heard it in the court, is now staying at home, guarding Chengdu to count the silver, and the son of the world can know what? ”

"He's afraid of war?"

"The minister thinks that he is not afraid of war, but of losing!"

"He is not only afraid of losing, but also afraid of taking Fu Zonglong's position to go to the Central Plains to fight thieves!" Zhu Pingjin added.

Tian Qian will also slap his beard: "The son of the world is really smart!" Liao Tycoon does not have a big man in the DPRK as an Austrian aid. took down Chen Shiqi, he had completely offended the Donglin party. Zhou Yanru came to power and was in a hurry to take him under the knife. So he wants to maintain the situation in a province and wait and see how the situation changes. Do not seek merit, but seek no fault. He would never let anyone fall into the hands of others about this money and food! Although the emperor defended him a few days ago, his favor today is like the day of March, the face of the doll, that is to say, it will change! ”

Tian Qian said that Zhu Pingjin laughed. In the fourteen years of Emperor Chongzhen's reign, dozens of cabinet ministers have changed. Looking at the trend, the frequency of replacement will also accelerate. The previous first assistant Wen Tiren reigned for eight years, which was the longest, and the shortest Wen Zhenmeng was only three months.

"Liao Fu's troubles are also thieves. After the thieves went out of Sichuan, the Sichuan army was in tatters, most of the guest troops left the country, and the local tyrants took the opportunity to become bigger in northern Sichuan, capturing two cities in a row, which has become a spreading trend, and it will be difficult to contain in the short term. Now that the autumn grain is harvested, it is the time when the local tyrants come out to grab the grain and grab people. If the tax is robbed, where will the government collect the tax? ”

Tian Qian is very good at talking about mountains, but Zhu Pingjin is eager to get a realistic solution.

"If so, what should I do in this world?"

Using the pressure of government taxation to force the government to turn against the gentry, or to force the gentry into a dead end, Hong Qihui and Sun Hong both proposed. But practice has shown that this simple logical line of thinking is flawed.

In Yazhou and Jiading, where the government cooperates, it may work, but in Qiongzhou and Meizhou, where the officials and gentry collude closely, the practice of struggle has clearly shown that under certain circumstances, the government and the gentry will not turn their faces, but will collude even closer.

Liu Mingsheng's intelligence shows that the Qiongzhou gentry, under the leadership of Yang Tianguan, paid the money to pay the arrears, and looked desperate to protect the Zhizhou Xu Kongtu. The Zhizhou of Meizhou is completely merged with the gentry, and there are reactionary gentry guards in even the state city. Zhu Pingjin's anxiety is precisely because of this.

The economic antagonism between some of the gentry and the royal government has obviously developed in the direction of political antagonism and even military antagonism. If he can't uproot the two tumors near Chengdu in the near future, Zhu Pingjin is worried that one day these gentry will take refuge in Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng for their own interests, and stab themselves in the back.

Note 1: The excerpt is from "Six Taos, Defending the Seventh Land".

Note 2: According to the research of scholars in Sichuan, the tax amount per mu of Shu is second only to the heavy tax area of Su (Prefecture) and Song (Jiangfu).

Note 3: King Rui was sealed in Hanzhong, and the imperial court gave 20,000 hectares of land (SAN), which was shared by the four provinces of Shaanxi, Henan, Shanxi, and Sichuan. This is very similar to the situation of his brother Fu Wang and his uncle Lu Wang's farms. Mr. Gu Cheng asserted that a considerable part of the country's land fell into the hands of the Zhu clan, except for the wealth and wealth areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.