East Palace

The military information of the defeat of the Zheng family and the Japanese army had reached the capital a day earlier.

In Zheng Sen's recital, first, he indicated that he would send the Zheng army from Fujian to the north, and then find the Japanese to borrow troops and fight Fang Yuan again; The second is to ask the imperial court to also send a large army to the south and attack Fangyuan from the north and south.

When the crown prince Zhu Cihong saw this performance, he gritted his teeth and directly tore it to pieces. He originally calculated that with the Zheng family and the 150,000 Japanese soldiers going north, he would be able to stalemate with Fang Yuan on the battlefield for at least a year and a half, but he never thought that in just two or three months, the Zheng and Japanese coalition forces would have turned from offensive to defensive.

The chief thinker, Hong Chengchou, was silent, and Empress Zhou muttered, "Fang Yuan's combat power is really strong, and the Zheng family was defeated so quickly. ”

Zhu Cihong said sharply, "Queen Mother, this Fang Yuan can't stay any longer, I still drive the expedition in person, and call on the governors and soldiers of all parts of the Ming Dynasty to fight against Fang Yuan!" ”

Empress Zhou angrily reprimanded, "What royal driving pro-conquest? You are a prince of the prison country, and you are still the royal commander? If the name is not right, how can you call on the governors and soldiers in various places? ”

Zhu Cihong took the opportunity to say, "Queen Mother, otherwise I will depose my father and emperor, and I will ascend the throne directly, which will be justified." ”

Queen Zhou slapped the table heavily and shouted, "Ridiculous! Your father has cultivated you for so many years, what have you learned in your head? Even the Son of Heaven will not be coerced to order the princes. If you dare to depose your father and emperor and ascend the throne without authorization, Fang Yuan will dare to become independent in the name of the Qing monarch's side, Henan Li Zicheng, Huguang Zhang Xianzhong, they will also dare to follow the independence, and then I don't know how many people are kings and how many people are emperors. You're roasting yourself on the fire and making wedding dresses for them! ”

Zhu Cihong was speechless, Hong Chengchou arched his hand and said, "The queen is really wise and insightful, and now it is still time to issue an edict in the name of the imperial court, ordering Fang Yuan and the Zheng family to stop the war, and within the current sphere of influence, they must not cross the border to attack each other, otherwise it will be a rebellion." ”

The imperial court is limited to the current sphere of influence, and it is clear that it is protecting the defeated Zheng family.

Empress Zhou said, "Quasi-play! However, Mr. Hong, if the Zheng family is on an expedition to Zhejiang, the morale of the army will plummet, and there will be no strength to fight. ”

Hong Chengchou said, "The so-called exhaustion of the so-called exhaustion after one blow, the elite soldiers are dragged into tired soldiers, and fatigue is changing." Fang Yuan's delay in sending troops was to wait for the Zheng army and the Japanese soldiers to change in Zhejiang, so that they could capture Zhejiang without bloodshed. In the battle of Zhejiang, the Zheng family is bound to lose! ”

Empress Zhou also agreed with Hong Chengchou's judgment, whether Zheng Zhilong or Zheng Sen were not Fang Yuan's opponents at all, "If Zhejiang is lost, Fang Yuan can take advantage of the situation to attack Fujian." As soon as the Zheng family perished, the entire Jiangnan was under Fang Yuan's control. Mr. Hong. Is there any way to relieve the Zheng family? ”

Hong Chengchou said respectfully, "From the current military strength of the imperial court, it is even more difficult to defeat Fang Yuan. The governors and commanders of the other provinces are all on one side, and there is no conflict of interest, and no one will be the first to play with Fang Yuan. The soldiers and horses of the imperial court had to deter the provinces, and the Manchu Qing outside the country could not be moved lightly. Lao Chen's proposal was to follow Fang Yuan's previous path and build a new Ming army in addition to the existing military system. ”

Empress Zhou hurriedly asked how to build this new-style Ming army, Hong Chengchou ordered Jinyiwei to send a firecracker, and respectfully presented it to the crown prince Zhu Cihong, "Prince, this is the firearm used by Fang Yuan's Xuanjia army, called Xuanjia Shengong, you try the power first." ”

Zhu Cihong took the firecracker, and saw that this firearm was much heavier and more delicate than the Ming firecracker. Everyone arrived at the large courtyard of the East Palace, and under the guidance of Jinyiwei, they loaded bullets from the breech. Zhu Cihong aimed at the head of the wooden man one hundred and fifty paces away, pulled the trigger, and tried a shot.

"Bang"

After a loud bang, the head of the wooden man one hundred and fifty paces away was shattered.

Zhu Cihong had also played the Ming Dynasty's Bird Gun and Three-Eyed Gun before, and it was never as long as the Xuanjia Divine Gun, with such a huge power, and it didn't even need to be ignited or filled with gunpowder, so he was dumbfounded.

Empress Zhou said thoughtfully, "I didn't expect the Xuanjia Army to have such a powerful firecracker, no wonder the Xuanjia Army is victorious in a hundred battles." Mr. Hong, where did Fang Yuan's Xuanjia Divine Gun come from? Can we make a large number of copies of this powerful firebolt? ”

Hong Chengchou said, "The Xuanjia Army has an arsenal in Changshu, which is presided over by the former Francophone man Tang Ruowang, and my Ming firearms expert Bi Maokang. Although Fang Yuan strictly protected the production process of the Xuanjia Divine Gun, there was always no impermeable wall in the world, and we also spent a lot of money to dig up a few craftsmen in the military factory, and the preliminary production process and the materials required were also known. ”

But there is only one material missing, the so-called nitric acid, which was provided by Fang Yuan, and even the craftsmen of the military factory do not know where it came from. However, Lao Chen is gathering all the Franco-machine people in the capital, and the Luzi people are all coming to see what this nitric acid is and how to make it. ”

Queen Zhou said excitedly, "Okay, Mr. Hong did a good job!" ”

Hong Chengchou didn't have her excitement, but still said with a solemn expression, "Queen Mother, the manufacturing cost of this kind of fire gun is twenty taels of silver." Fang Yuan built the Xuanjia Army, and the firearms, artillery, and even warships he made were piled up with a large amount of silver. If the imperial court did not have silver, it would not be able to create a new Ming army that could compete with Fang Yuan. ”

Empress Zhou groaned and said, "Now the rich Jiangnan is all under Fang Yuan's control, and the grain and silver of the imperial court are still subject to Fang Yuan, and it is true that there is no excess grain and silver. ”

The silver problem has existed in the Ming Dynasty since the Jiajing period, and now for nearly a hundred years, no one can really solve it, and Hong Chengchou is naturally no exception, so he can only keep his mouth shut.

Empress Zhou pondered for a while, a smile appeared on her face, and she suddenly said, "Mr. Hong, I have an immature suggestion that has not been used by His Majesty, and I ask Mr. Hong for advice." ”

Hong Chengchou hurriedly asked, "Niangniang, please advise." ”

Empress Zhou said, "Fighting a war is nothing more than food and silver. Cultivated land is unchanged, and the only thing that can be improved is the yield per mu. I heard that there is a kind of millet potato in the south, which can also fill the stomach, and the production capacity per mu can reach several thousand catties. If this kind of millet can be promoted, the food will be solved! ”

Hong Chengchou frowned and said, "Lao Chen has also heard of it, but this kind of millet potato is not a staple food, eating too much will cause bloating and pain, and most of it is used to feed pigs in the south of the Yangtze River, and the people are afraid that they will not accept this kind of ration." ”

Empress Zhou said coldly, "What's wrong with feeding the pigs?" The people should have something to eat and live. I have decided to start this spring sowing and the tenants who planted 300,000 mu of imperial land in the capital will be promoted first, and they will be planted according to one mu of millet and ten mu of wheat. The tenants' rations were to be matched with 90 percent corn and 1 percent wheat, and the excess wheat was handed over to build a new army. ”

Hong Chengchou was chilled when he heard this policy of feeding the people as pigs, so he could only respond resignedly.

Empress Zhou said, "As for the silver, fundraising, those officials and gentry will not pay the silver, I have two ideas." One is the implementation of the lord system, the so-called lord system, the imperial court clearly marked the price of the sale of the title, the prince and the boy can legally own the number of fields in each title, the price is also different. For example, the duke can legally own 100,000 acres of land, and the family fortune is 1 million, and the price is 100,000 taels of silver; The marquis can legally own 50,000 acres of land, 500,000 family wealth, and the price is 50,000 taels of silver, and so on. ”

Hong Chengchou was shocked when he heard this, the imperial court's behavior of selling titles was actually a change of direction to legalize and institutionalize corruption.

In other words, no matter how much corruption or land was annexed to the imperial court, as long as the officials serving in the imperial court and the local gentry paid one-tenth of the income from the annexation of land to buy the lord, the previous corruption and the income from the annexation were all regarded as legal and the imperial court would not be held accountable. Even in the future, under the protection of the lordship, it is possible to legally embezzlement and annex the land of the people.

Hong Chengchou was trembling slightly, he didn't expect that Queen Zhou, who was raised in the harem in front of him, could come up with such a whimsical way to collect money, so he couldn't help but take a deep breath and asked, "Queen Mother, this method seems to be drinking to quench your thirst!" ”

Empress Zhou said coldly, "Mr. Hong, the silver that was embezzled, whether it is in accordance with the law or not, we can't recover it." Why don't you just admit it and exchange it for some silver? If we can't quickly build a new Ming army, whether it is the Manchu Qing, Liukou, or Fang Yuan, we may destroy the Ming Dynasty, and the destruction is just around the corner. ”

Hong Chengchou was speechless, and had to agree that Empress Zhou's method was indeed the best choice in the current financial predicament, and she could quickly scrape together a lot of silver for military expenses, "What about Niangniang?" ”

Empress Zhou continued, "Since the First Emperor unified China, all dynasties have emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce, and I think this national policy is wrong. I also asked those Francois people from the West in the capital, the Western countries are all heavy on commerce rather than agriculture, as long as the business function brings enough silver to the court, you can be knighted and hold important official positions in the court. Therefore, these businessmen are thousands of miles away, and they all have to come to my Daming to do business. ”

"Look at my businessman in the Ming Dynasty, but he was suppressed by the national policy of heavy agriculture and suppressed business, and he couldn't even wear silk and satin, who still has the motivation to make money for the court and pay the silver truthfully to the court? And those peasants and common people who have to get by and live a mixed life are still ahead of the merchants, and this kind of blatant encouragement is lazy and not wanting to make progress, and they are still encouraged. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty is now a backwater, without the enterprising spirit of the ancestors and ancestors when they opened up their territories. ”

"I think the national policy of the Ming Dynasty should be immediately changed to focus on business, and implement a system of government and business. As long as the money can be paid in full, merchants can enter the official career, and officials can also do business. ”

Hong Chengchou is also a civil official who has read the books of sages, and he has learned the way of Confucius and Mencius sages before. In fact, he also understood the operation of the Western Franc machine, and indeed as Queen Zhou said, he had to admit that the national policy of the Franc machine countries had indeed stimulated the enterprising spirit of the people.

Hong Chengchou was embarrassed and said, "But as soon as this national policy comes out, it violates the Confucianism that has been implemented for 2,000 years, and the scholars in the government and the opposition are afraid that they will not accept it!" ”

Empress Zhou sneered and said, "Confucianism is just a bitch archway, used to cover the dirt hidden in the back. As for the people's hearts, those literati who shout every day that they value righteousness over profit can repel the Manchus and exterminate the rogues? Only silver can do it. Mr. Hong, you say, should we choose the popular hearts of these literati, or choose silver? ”

Seeing that Hong Chengchou was noncommittal, he said, "Other forces, whether it is the Manchu Qing Dynasty or Fang Yuan, will not have a national policy that is more conducive to protecting the interests of businessmen than the national policy of integrating government and business. ”

"Mr. Hong, the reason why Fang Yuan is so powerful is nothing more than that he occupies the rich land of the Five Mansions, and the gentry and wealthy merchants of the Five Mansions are willing to accept his rule, so he will have inexhaustible people's and financial resources. If the implementation of the national policy of integrating government and business in the capital is more conducive to the interests of the gentry and wealthy merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, those gentry and wealthy businessmen will naturally know the trade-offs, and they will oppose Fang Yuan openly and secretly, and we will have a chance to take advantage of it. This is also a plan I can think of, fishing in troubled waters, Mr. Hong said, right? ”

The proposal put forward by Empress Zhou, although it was earth-shattering, was indeed feasible. At least half of the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty were spokesmen supported by the gentry and wealthy businessmen in the south of the Yangtze River, and the implementation of this national policy of integrating government and business will inevitably be in line with the interests of these people, and nine times out of ten it can be implemented very smoothly. As for the effect after the implementation, Hong Chengchou does not have the ability to predict the future, and he does not dare to assert it, so he can only take one step at a time.

Hong Chengchou prostrated deeply on the ground, bowed and said, "The queen's mother is high, and the minister is willing to support the mother to implement the national policy of integrating government and business." ”