Over the past year or so, Huang Liji had heard Chongzhen's views on the growing number of displaced people on land annexation, so he was not too surprised that Chongzhen was thinking about formally proposing land reform at this time.

It's just that as a scholar, Huang Liji still has doubts about promoting land reform, and he still said to Chongzhen with luck: "Your Majesty wants to promote land reform to solve the problem of food and clothing for the people of my Ming Dynasty, which is certainly a way." It's just that the minister is worried that once His Majesty reveals this meaning to the outside world, will he immediately attract the opposition of the gentry and landlords in the world?

On that day, Zhang Jiangling just wanted to clear the world, and he had already made people angry. At that time, the Ming Dynasty had neither external enemies nor internal worries, so Zhang Jiangling's new policy could barely be promoted.

But today, my Ming Dynasty not only has enemies like Houjin outside, but also rebellions like Lu'an inside, coupled with the disaster victims and displaced people from all over the country, it can be said that the Ming Dynasty is in danger. The minister was worried that once His Majesty launched this land reform plan, even the gentry and landlords who originally maintained the local area would be in chaos, and I was afraid that it would be difficult for the imperial court to even get out of the capital.

The minister thinks that the land reform plan that His Majesty wants to launch will be postponed a little longer, until the rebellion of luxury peace subsides, and Houjin and I will calm down, and the wind and rain will be smooth for a few years, so that I can recover a little bit of vitality and discuss the implementation of this land reform? ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head and said: "The rebellion of Lu'an is almost subsided, and now the external troubles that I have to face in the Ming Dynasty are nothing more than the invasion of Houjin, and the invasion of Jiannu to establish the foundation of Liaodong and the country, which seems to be quite prosperous."

However, in my opinion, their prosperity is nothing more than a castle built on quicksand, with no solid foundations. From the beginning of the founding of the Later Jin Dynasty, it was necessary to continuously plunder the population and materials from all around to support the Jurchen clan and enrich the population of the Later Jin, so that the country of the Later Jin could barely function.

If Jiannu loses its enterprising spirit, the people at the bottom of the Houjin State will not be able to improve their social status through the newly plundered population, and the Houjin State will not be able to rely on the production of its own population to meet the needs of the upper and lower levels, and the collapse of the country will be a matter of time.

Therefore, regardless of whether the upper elites of the Later Jin Kingdom want to negotiate peace with our Ming Dynasty or not, the people of the middle and lower classes of the Later Jin Kingdom will force the upper echelons to wage war against our Ming Dynasty, either by reducing the unaffordable population through war, or by plundering enough materials to feed their own population through war.

Therefore, it is just a beautiful luxury to expect that after the Jin army is defeated by us once, it will shake hands with us and make peace. We defeated them this time, just to let them know that there is a price to be paid for robbery in the Ming Dynasty. They may make peace with us for a while, and as long as they feel that they are ready for war again, then they will definitely invade our Ming Dynasty again.

The internal concern of my Ming Dynasty is the increasing number of displaced people in various places, some of whom come from landless peasants who have lost their land, and a larger part of whom have to leave their hometowns to flee because of disasters.

If the next few years are really smooth for me, then my husband's idea is not wrong, as long as the number of disaster victims in various places decreases, the number of displaced people will naturally decrease. If the number of displaced people decreases, the riots of displaced people and all kinds of social crimes in various places will be brought under control, and the society will be stabilized.

However, pinning the future of Daming on the ethereal providence, does Mr. think this is really good? I thought that instead of praying for God's blessing, it would be better to do my best to wait for the destiny of heaven. I thought that people would help themselves and then God would help them. ”

Huang Liji was silent for a long time before he said hesitantly: "Your Majesty brought the Cui family daughter back to Beijing, didn't you want to use Cui Chengxiu to preside over the land reform?" ”

Zhu Youzhen glanced at Huang Liji with some surprise, and then replied unhurriedly: "What Mr. said is right, I have this plan, I don't know what Mr. thinks?" ”

Huang Liji frowned and said, "Your Majesty, when Cui Chengxiu was in power in the past, he always used power to accept bribes and was greedy. Moreover, he is narrow-minded, and often impeached each other with Feng Quan, Wu Chunfu and others, and openly formed a party to fight for power in the DPRK and China.

I am afraid that His Majesty's use of this person to carry out land reform will not only not see any benefit, but will add a lot of resistance because of him.

What's more, Cui Chengxiu is Wei Zhongxian's right-hand man, if he is reinstated by His Majesty, dare to ask His Majesty if he plans to make Wei Zhongxian come back? I am afraid that the Donglin Party will take the opportunity of attacking Cui Chengxiu to smear the land reform policy, and then it will be self-defeating? ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head and said: "What I think is different from Mr. Since the cabinet was restructured, the reforms implemented by Mr. seem to have fallen into a state of hindrance.

The reason for this is that the local bureaucrats who opposed the reform have joined forces with the local gentry, and although they cannot prevent the cabinet from issuing reform decrees, they can prevaricate and delay the implementation of the cabinet decrees at the local level, so that the cabinet reform decrees become a dead letter at the local level.

The Cabinet has implemented reforms to such an extent that we can no longer sit back and wait for them to be implemented without hindrance, as we have done before.

At present, I think that how to implement these laws at the local level and provide timely feedback on the effect of the implementation of the laws is the most important thing we should pay attention to at present, rather than the introduction of new reform laws. ”

"What does Your Majesty mean?" Huang Liji asked with some confusion.

Zhu Youzhen thought for a moment before he continued: "I mean, for now, we need to distract the attention of those who oppose reform, so that they can no longer continue to unite, distinguish between friend and foe, and break each other.

In addition, it is to train pro-reform officials to replace the stubborn and ignorant bureaucrats, and if they are unwilling to change their heads, let them change positions. If the imperial court does not have enough supporters among the middle and lower class officials, the reforms we want to pursue will ultimately fail. ”

Huang Liji only thought for a moment before he came to his senses, "Your Majesty wants Cui Chengxiu to preside over the land reform, just so that those officials and gentry who oppose the reform will focus their attacks on him?"

Your Majesty's idea is good, but if Cui Chengxiu can't resist the attack of public opinion, won't His Majesty's strategy fail? Moreover, with Cui Chengxiu's personality, the minister was even more worried that he would simply form a party in the court to protect himself, which would cause party disputes, and the antagonism among the court officials would be even more serious. ”

Zhu Youzhen thought for a long time before saying: "If Cui Chengxiu makes people angry, then just remove him."

Everyone can't stand Cui Chengxiu's radical measures, so let's change to someone who is a little more relaxed. As a result, a large part of the population will think that the imperial court has made concessions and will no longer resist the land reform policy.

As the Master said: Take the law from the top. Push Cui Chengxiu up first, and then replace anyone to preside over the reform, and there will be much less opposition below. This is also a strategy of advancing two and retreating. ”

Although there is still some resistance to letting Cui Chengxiu come back, after listening to Chongzhen's explanation, Huang Liji no longer has the idea of trying to hinder his comeback.

He just asked with some concern: "Now that there is no shortage of personnel in the DPRK and China, what position does Your Majesty plan to appoint Cui Chengxiu?" ”

Zhu Youzhen was well aware of this problem, and he quickly said: "I just said that if the reform law is to be implemented, it is also necessary to support the reforming officials to implement it steadily.

The branches of the central government schools in various places have been extended to the provincial level this year, and I have decided to extend the branch schools to the provincial level next year.

Only when the imperial court has a solid grasp of the ideological trends and ruling ability of these local officials, and provides them with training and ideological education, will it be possible for us to select truly capable reformist officials.

Since I have decided to let Choi Chengxiu preside over the land reform affairs, then at least let him cultivate a team that can fight tough battles first.

Therefore, I plan to appoint him as the vice president of the Central Government Academy, and first be responsible for the preparation and implementation of the construction of branch schools in various places and the re-education of officials.

In addition, I will also set up a land reform team in Jizhou, and let him serve as the leader of the group, first in Jizhou to experiment and study the implementation plan of the local land reform policy. When the results are seen in Jizhou, it will be promoted to the North Zhili area..."

Zhu Youzhen and Huang Liji were discussing in the carriage, and after the carriage entered the Desheng Gate, they were interrupted by the cheers of the crowd outside.

Under the continuous change of travel etiquette after Chongzhen ascended the throne, the people of the capital no longer bowed down on both sides of the road with sincere fear for the emperor's travel, nor did they think about it in fear, but could calmly avoid both sides of the road and wait for the emperor's car to pass.

After all, Chongzhen was much more active than his grandfather and brother, and often left the imperial city to travel in Beijing, according to the previous rules and etiquette, which undoubtedly bothered the people of the capital too much. Therefore, under his constant strict orders, except for a few sacrificial trips, the emperor's ordinary travel has been simplified to a limited number of etiquette such as avoiding lanes.

However, Chongzhen, who returned to the capital today, was once again ceremoniously welcomed by the people of the capital, after all, the emperor brought back a long-lost victory.

In the past, the victory and defeat of the Ming army in Liaodong only made the people of the capital feel indignant, but they did not feel that it had anything to do with their lives. Because in the eyes of these people, even if the Liaodong Ming army has been defeated repeatedly, they still have a mountain pass that can resist the invasion of the Houjin army.

It wasn't until this Houjin detour broke through the Great Wall of Jizhou and almost invaded the Gyeonggi area that the people of Beijing felt that the security of Gyeonggi was not so stable.

In this way, Chongzhen, who drove away the Houjin army in person, naturally won the most enthusiastic love from the people of Gyeonggi. Watching Zhu Youzhen open the car window and wave to the people on both sides, Huang Liji also had to admit that Chongzhen had already secured the emperor's position at this moment.