After Fang Yuan came out of the Xu Mansion, he did not return to the Governor's Mansion, but went directly to Liu Ruye's Hedong Courtyard. Since Liu Ru didn't come to see him, he could only visit him in person.

Liu Ru, who was dressed in plain clothes, welcomed Fang Yuan into the Hedong Courtyard, but the Hedong Courtyard, which was still lively before, suddenly fell silent, the workshop that printed the Jiangnan Daily was silent, and even the maid who proofread and typeset was gone.

Liu Ru was obviously on strike and shut down the circulation of "Jiangnan Daily", just to escort him back to Qian Qianyi.

Fang Yuan said with a displeased expression, "Sister Liu, did you close Jiangnan Daily?" ”

Liu Ru said indifferently, "Brother Fang, people are dying, what kind of daily report do you have?" ”

Fang Yuan saw that she was playing this game again, protecting Qian Qianyi, and became angry, and said coldly, "Sister Liu wants to threaten her with death again, and wants me to release Qian Qianyi?!" ”

Liu Ru took him to sit in front of the stone table in the courtyard, and said with a sigh, "Brother Fang, I haven't come to see you for a long time, I just don't have the face to beg you to let you go." Qian Muzhai made a wrong step, a wrong step, you will punish him properly, I really have nothing to say. If he dies and I don't be martyred, what face will I have to gain a foothold in Jiangnan? ”

Liu Ru is nominally Qian Qianyi's wife, but in fact she is just a concubine, how can there be a concubine in this world who goes to martyrdom? What's more, there is Fang Yuan, Liu Ru is not martyred, and people dare to come out and say half a word? But if Liu Ru insisted on going to martyrdom, then Fang Yuan was helpless.

Fang Yuan said coldly, "In the end, Sister Liu still thinks that she is his wife, and she is still threatening me with death, right!" ”

Liu Ru looked at him in a daze, reached out to touch his cheek, and said with tears in his eyes, "Brother Fang, you still don't believe me, thinking that I am threatening you to release Qian Muzhai?" The person I love is you, but for Qian Muzhai, he compared it to his wife's courtesy, and married me into the door, which is kind and righteous to me. If I don't keep this righteousness, someone else will drown me with a mouthful of spit in the back! ”

Fang Yuan only then believed that she was not threatening, but really cared too much about face, reputation, and faith. Although this righteous word cannot be seen or touched, it really exists in people's hearts and in justice.

Fang Yuan squeezed her hand and said, "Sister Liu, I can not kill Qian Qianyi, but also return the Red Bean Villa to him, so that he can retire in the Red Bean Villa." But he must confess which Donglin Party literati and which officials of the prefectures and counties have colluded behind his back over the years to participate in the plan to subvert our original plan. ”

Fang Yuan stared at Liu Ruyi's eyes and said word by word, "As long as he confesses three hundred people, I will spare his life and return his freedom!" ”

Liu Ru looked at him incredulously, shook off his hand, and said in a trembling voice, "Brother Fang, you are convicted before you are tried. You are not investigating the suspects who conspired to subvert you, but you want to carry out a purge in the Jiangnan literary circle, and you want to uproot the literati forces who oppose you, right? ”

Fang Yuan was slightly stunned, he had to admire Liu Ruye's vision, and he could see his thoughts at a glance, it was to emulate the officialdom purge in Guangdong, and also to purge the Jiangnan literary circle. In order to become famous, he must cooperate with Qian Qianyi, the leader of the Donglin Party, as long as Qian Qianyi personally recruits him, no one can say that Fang Yuan killed people indiscriminately.

This is also the only reason why Fang Yuan left Qian Qianyi to return to Nanzhili with his life. Killing a Qian Qianyi has made Qian Qianyi's reputation better, and it will not help. He just wants to use Qian Qianyi as a biting dog, bite out those literati who oppose behind his back, and then completely eliminate them.

Fang Yuan said lightly, "It's easy to talk to a smart person like Sister Liu. Yes, I'm going to carry out a purge in the literary world. But what I want to purge is not Gu Yanwu, who uses the pen to needle the evils of the times, but the literati who are really colluding behind the scenes to engage in conspiracy and subversive activities. If it is for the sake of improving the shortcomings of officialdom, no matter how ugly the scolding is, we will not welcome it; If it is a party with the purpose of overthrowing and subverting, we will kill it! ”

Liu Ru looked at him blankly, tears oozing from her eyes, "Fang Yuan, you didn't promise us like this at the beginning. You said at the beginning that you want to build a prosperous, prosperous, peaceful and prosperous Jiangnan, didn't you? Why do you have to go back on your word and kill after you gain a firm foothold?! ”

Fang Yuan stretched out his hand to wipe her tears, and said solemnly, "I am killing today, just to build a prosperous, prosperous, peaceful and prosperous Jiangnan. What is the age of peace and prosperity? A few literati chanting a few lines of poetry are peaceful and prosperous? Ridiculous! My understanding of the peaceful and prosperous era is very simple, everyone has food, everyone has clothes to wear, everyone has a sense of security, and I will not survive this year and worry about whether I can survive next year. ”

Liu Ru whimpered and said, "Mu Zhai, and those Donglin Party also think so!" Does it have anything to do with your purge in the literary world? ”

Fang Yuan said in a deep voice, "The Donglin Party will only talk lip service, and they are the ones who really make the people's lives miserable. Sister Liu, let me tell you straight! In order to create a peaceful and prosperous world that belongs to the common people, it is necessary to reduce the tax. However, if we want to reduce the tax and ensure that we can collect enough grain, we must pay the tax truthfully on every acre of land. I can go to Jinyiwei to forcibly recruit people in the background, but there is a policy of stealing and even exempting Tian Fu in an open and honest manner, and it must be abolished, that is, the policy of reducing Tian Fu for literati who have made meritorious contributions or above in the examination. ”

It was the national policy of the Ming Dynasty that the land property under the name of the literati above the meritorious name could be exempted from the land endowment, and it was originally a national policy formulated to buy the hearts of the literati. However, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, this policy was completely out of shape, and many squires and wealthy merchants also secretly passed their own land and property to the names of these famous literati to achieve the purpose of tax evasion.

This kind of tax evasion policy is also the greatest privilege of the literati class, and it is one of the root causes of the great chaos in the future, even surpassing the group of children surnamed Zhu who eat and sit and wait for death.

If Fang Yuan does not eradicate this evil policy, once the land tax is halved, it is estimated that there will be a shortage of grain requisitioned. It was Fang Yuan who suffered, but the real gainers were those literati who relied on this evil government to eat and drink nonsense.

Fang Yuan continued, "Sister Liu, half of the field tax will be reduced, and if it is counted in the fields of the whole south of the Yangtze River, it is hundreds of millions of stones of grain. It's a terrifying resource. If this huge amount of resources did not fall into the pockets of the common people, but were intercepted in the pockets of literati, squires, and wealthy merchants, these people would immediately have the capital to fight against the imperial court and the government. The so-called hiding wealth from the people is actually hiding from the people. ”

"Everyone knows that the tax should be reduced, but when it is really implemented, where is it so simple to reduce the tax? If you don't do a good job in all aspects and make adequate preparations, then it is not a reduction in taxes, but a search for death! As for the privileged class of literati, I want to divide and rule, first purge a group of diehard opponents, then deter a group of neutrals, and finally win over a group of goodwill. ”

Liu Ru didn't expect that his vision was so far-reaching, and he could see the variables beyond five moves when he took one move. Before the reduction of taxes, it is necessary to carry out a major purge of the privileged grassroots of the literati.

Liu Ru put away her crying and asked softly, "Brother Fang, such a big move, why don't you slow down and wait for the unification of the world before acting." If something happens, wouldn't it be a cheap court in the capital for nothing? ”

Fang Yuan said slowly, "The process of unifying the world is also the process of resource redistribution. Once the world is unified, the redistribution of resources will be completed, and the class will be solidified, and the pressure on the literati will be even greater. Some evil things are better done in troubled times than in ruling the world. Besides, the unification of the world is a huge project that must mobilize the manpower and material resources of the whole south of the Yangtze River, and if the backyard is not thoroughly cleaned, once the backyard catches fire, it will be too late to regret it. ”

Liu Ru sighed deeply and said, "Brother Fang, Qian Muzhai won't do such a thing!" ”

Fang Yuan Zhengrong said, "Sister Liu, you go to see Qian Muzhai in the edict prison and tell him that I will give him two choices." If he asks for benevolence, I will give him a chance to commit suicide by jumping into the river in front of all the literati in Jiangnan, and die for upholding his integrity; If he is willing to cooperate with me in fighting against those opposing literati, I will write off my past grievances with him, and I will return his Red Bean Villa, and then allocate some silver every month, and he will do his education and live for a long time! ”

Liu Ru smiled bitterly and said, "Brother Fang, Qian Muzhai will definitely choose to be martyred and commit suicide." ”

Fang Yuan smiled and said, "Really? If Qian Qianyi commits suicide by martyrdom, Sister Liu will accompany him to martyrdom! ”