Emperor Ming Fengyunlu

Volume 9 The Great Tribulation

Chapter 1 The Difficulties and Disasters of the State Arise

Section 1 Financial Crisis

In the first year of Chongzhen (the first year of Tiancong of the Manchu Dynasty), at the end of April, Ningyuan City.

Liu Yunwei was dressed in a short beat, and walked in the farmland with a group of officials from the Governor's Mansion, only to see that the eyes were full of dry and cracked land and yellow seedlings, countless farmers were working in the fields, everyone's faces were very dignified, and everyone's hearts were very clear: this year's spring ploughing is afraid to be yellow, and this year is another year of great drought!

Chen Zitong and Zhou Tianyi, who were following Liu Yunwei, also had solemn faces, and the two whispered something from time to time, sighing softly while talking, and the meaning of worry between the words was very strong.

At this time, Liu Yunwei stopped next to a ridge of withered yellow wheat seedlings, raised his head to look at the scorching sun, and couldn't help but curse God secretly in his heart, and then said: "Governor Chen, didn't this governor allocate money and grain last year and order the Tun Shou Division to dig wells, dig canals, and renovate water conservancy facilities in various places? Why is Tuntian still like this this year! ”

Hearing this, Chen Zitong hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Inspector Qiqi, last year, my subordinates have led people to renovate water conservancy in the four towns of Jiliao, digging a total of more than 330 wells, digging hundreds of miles, and dredging many original irrigation facilities. However, since the beginning of this year, there has been scarce rain in all parts of the northern part of our Ming Dynasty, especially outside Shanhaiguan, and it has not rained! Most of the wells drilled by the Tun Shou Division have dried up, and now even the drinking water of the people can no longer be guaranteed, where is there any excess water to water the ground. ”

"What is the situation in Jizhou Town and Tongzhou Town?"

Chen Zitong sighed and said: "It's slightly better than Shanhai Town and Liaodong Town, but the tuntian fields in Tongzhou Town and Jizhou Town are also determined to have a bad harvest this year, and the grain produced can be used by the two towns, so it can be regarded as an eye-opener." ”

After hearing this, Liu Yunwei was sad in his heart, his sword eyebrows had been wrinkled into a Sichuan character, he thought for a while, and said: "Immediately order in the name of the Governor's Mansion that the garrisons of various towns will be dispatched to help the people in various places fight the drought." If it really can't be done, you can only rely on people to carry water from nearby rivers and streams to irrigate the land. ”

Zhou Tianyi squatted on the ground and picked up a handful of soil, only to see that the semi-sandy soil leaked down Zhou Tianyi's hands and drifted away with the wind.

"Inspector, if the drought continues like this, I'm afraid it will be impossible to carry water to irrigate the land, and those rivers and streams will dry up in a short time!"

"There is no other way but to take one step at a time!" Liu Yunwei blushed and continued: "What the governor is most worried about now is actually not the drought. The governor received the news from the Investigation Division that the imperial court had exempted the commercial and mining taxes in various parts of the Yangtze River, and at the same time vigorously increased taxes in the northern provinces, putting all the huge amounts of taxes on the common people. This year, the drought in the north of the country is so serious, and the imperial court is forcing those poor people to rise up! ”

Zhou Tianyi and Chen Zitong were shocked when they heard this, the two glanced at each other, and they both saw a look of horror in each other's eyes: This is a sign of chaos in the world!

Three days later, Shanhaiguan Jiliao Governor's Mansion.

Liu Yunwei, who had just returned to the Jiliao Governor's Mansion from Liaodong Town, couldn't take a break, and was in the study reviewing the documents on the revenue and expenditure of money and grain reported by the various divisions of the Governor's Mansion and the general soldiers of each town. After only watching it for a while, Liu Yunwei's mood fell to the bottom, and a vicious cold air rushed to the top of his head in an instant, freezing the whole person on the chair, and he didn't come back to his senses for a long time. If it is said that the drought in Tuntian a few days ago was just a huge difficulty for Liu Yunwei, then the financial situation of the towns is now a slap in the face!

"As of the end of March of the first year of Chongzhen, the Jiliao Governor's Mansion paid more than 89,000 taels of silver, 2,700 stones of grain, more than 71,000 taels of silver, and 900 stones of grain......"

"As of the end of March of the first year of Chongzhen, Tongzhou Town paid more than 386,000 taels of silver, 90,000 and 700 stones of grain, more than 279,000 taels of silver, and 80,000 and 300 stones of grain and straw in Tongzhou Town......"

"As of the end of March of the first year of Chongzhen, Jizhou Town needed more than 394,000 taels of silver, 101,200 stones of grain, more than 335,000 taels of silver, and 90,700 stones of grain and straw in Jizhou Town......"

"As of the end of March of the first year of Chongzhen, Shanhai Town paid more than 399,000 taels of silver, 103,300 stones of grain, more than 308,000 taels of silver, and 89,000 stones of grain......"

"As of the end of March of the first year of Chongzhen, Liaodong Town paid more than 419,000 taels of silver, 128,400 stones of grain, more than 321,000 taels of silver, and 70,000 stones of grain and straw in Liaodong Town......"

"It's just March, and the entire Jiliao Governor's Mansion has lost more than 300,000 taels of silver, 70,000 or 80,000 stone grains, if you don't want to think of a way, the Governor's Mansion can't support the autumn harvest!"

Thinking of this, Liu Yunwei sent someone to call Ma Shiming and Yuan Mingxuan over, and after the two arrived, he asked straight to the point: "Now the finances of the Governor's Mansion are very difficult, and the Governor urgently needs good advice in order to open up sources and reduce expenditure." Governor Ma, think of a way for the Governor to see how the Governor's Mansion should quickly increase the income of the Municipal Division. Governor Yuan, let's see if we can ask the court for some support; In addition, send someone to contact Zheng Zhilong to see if he can ask for more money and food support. ”

Ma Shiming said with a sad face: "Supervisor, my subordinates have been thinking about this matter before, but now there is really no good way!" The most profitable thing is to run the sea, but the cycle of running the sea is too long, and it is unrealistic to increase income on a large scale in a short period of time! ”

Yuan Mingxuan also shook his head and said, "Supervisor, I'm afraid we can't count on the imperial court." Since His Majesty decreed the exemption of Jiangnan commercial taxes and taxes on salt, iron, and minerals, the income of the treasury has fallen off a cliff, and now the imperial court is unable to protect itself, and it is impossible to have money to support us! Now, even the Han Wei Army's military salaries are beginning to be in arrears. And Zheng Zhilong also sent a letter, there was also a problem in Quanzhou, the Franco machine man (Spaniard) suddenly sent troops to capture Taiwan's chicken coop (now Keelung), and built a city to defend it, and then occupied Tamsui, Yilan and other places, and now Zheng Zhilong is raising soldiers, horses, warships, and preparing to start a war with the Franco man. Therefore, Zheng Zhilong's money and food to support us not only cannot be increased, but it will be reduced by another forty percent! ”

Hearing this, Liu Yunwei was so angry that he overturned the book case, and said angrily: "It's all good things done by those Donglin dog thieves!" Instead of collecting taxes, the wealthy businessmen of the rich country continue to raise taxes on the peasants, so that it is so difficult now, these bastards! ”

Yuan Mingxuan was also angry, and said: "The vast majority of those Donglin Party members are Jiangnan people, and most of them have industries in Jiangnan, involving salt, iron, minerals, etc., basically they do whatever makes money." Now that Wei Zhongxian died on the way to Fengyang, those Donglin people naturally want to trick His Majesty into exempting commercial taxes and mining taxes, who would willingly collect taxes from themselves! ”

Speaking of this, Ma Siming suddenly clapped his hands and said loudly: "That's right! Inspector, my subordinates have thought of a good way to make money! ”

Liu Yunwei was overjoyed when he heard this, and hurriedly said: "What way, say it quickly!" ”

"King Shu! We can go to the King of Shu, Sichuan is rich in well salt, we can unite with the King of Shu to sell well salt, this is a golden mountain! ”

As soon as the words fell, before Liu Yunwei could speak, Yuan Mingxuan waved his hand and said: "Let's not count on the King of Shu's side, it's okay to move your mouth, just like the time when the imperial court gave the superintendent Fengbo before, the King of Shu can still count on it; With such a real money cooperation like this time, the King of Shu needs to contribute money and efforts to help us, which is impossible! ”

Liu Yunwei also nodded and said: "Governor Yuan is right, the King of Shu can only help us support when something happens, it is impossible to contribute, we still have to think of some other way." ”

The three of them fell into silence for a while, and they were all thinking about how to get out of the predicament.

Suddenly, Liu Yunwei remembered something, so he said to Yuan Mingxuan: "Lord Yuan, do you still remember Jin Shang?" ”

Yuan Mingxuan was inspired when he heard this, and suddenly came to his senses, and said, "The superintendent wants to get some benefits from the Jin merchants?" ”

"No!" Liu Yunwei sneered, and said categorically: "It's not just as simple as getting some benefits, this governor wants to uproot the eight Jin merchants!" As long as we eradicate those traitors and Jin merchants who have brought disaster to the country and the people, we can not only solve the dilemma we are facing now, but also accumulate a huge amount of money and food, which can be used as military funds for the army to go north to Liaodong in the future! ”

Yuan Mingxuan and Ma Shiming were taken aback when they heard this, and said secretly: "The superintendent is going to make a big move, something big is going to happen!" ”

Yuan Mingxuan said with some worry: "Supervisor, those Jin merchants not only colluded with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but also had close contacts with the ministers of the DPRK and China, especially the Donglin Party. ”

Liu Yunwei was unmoved, and asked rhetorically: "Even if we are people with our tails between our legs, won't those Donglin Party people find trouble with us?" Now that Wei Zhongxian is dead and the eunuch party has been destroyed, the only one in the entire court who can still threaten the authority of the Donglin Party is Bendu. If Ben Governor guesses correctly, I'll be the next one to be unlucky! ”

"So the Overseer wants to do it first?"

"That's right!" Liu Yunwei sneered and said, "This governor will strike first and completely eradicate the Jin merchants. Ben Du wants to see what those sanctimonious Donglin Party members have to say when all the evidence of those Jin merchants is revealed! It's just that now Ben Governor has not thought of a reason to do it! ”

Suddenly, Cheng Shiyong walked in quickly and said to Liu Yunwei: "Inspector Qi, the investigation department urgently reported: Early yesterday morning, in order to save the expenses of the imperial court, Your Majesty issued an order to abolish the national post station!" ”

Hearing this, Liu Yunwei was furious and said loudly: "Why is Your Majesty so confused! The post station is the eyes and ears of the imperial court and the guarantee of the army, how can it be easily abolished? Someone like Your Majesty who came up with this idea should be cut with a thousand cuts! ”

Yuan Mingxuan also hurriedly asked: "Do you know where the key places are being removed?" ”

"Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan!"

Liu Yunwei and Yuan Mingxuan thought of something almost at the same time, and a tangled expression appeared on their faces.

"Perhaps, the reason for sending troops is about to be there!"