In June of the ninth year of Yongli, Zhang Yingxiang, the general soldier of Huizhou, and his cavalry were surrounded and annihilated by the Ming army in the Chizhou mountains in the process of pursuing Zhang Huangyan, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, the secretary of the Ming Army, which caused an uproar. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

It is no wonder that not long after the Qing army in Jiangnan achieved an incredible epic victory, when the Ming army in Fujian withdrew from the Yangtze River, and the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang converged its minions, there was a strange story that the chief military officer and his elite were annihilated by a lone army, which slapped the face of the Jiangnan officials headed by Ma Guozhu like a slap.

A thorough investigation is inevitable. In fact, as early as when the incident was discovered and Zhang Yingxiang's life and death had not yet been confirmed, the Chizhou officialdom had already begun to shirk responsibility - Chi Taidao said that although this incident happened in Chizhou, he was in Taiping Mansion at the time; The civil officials of Chizhou Mansion said that when this incident happened, the green camp left the defense area without permission, and they should carry the pot; However, the green battalion said that it was their credit for scaring Zhang Huangyan's troops to bomb the camp at night, and after that, they also went to pursue a large-scale rout, which had nothing to do with them, and Qingyang County should be responsible......

Pushing back and forth, the black cauldron was finally carried by a foreigner in the town who reported the news. Chi Taidao, Chizhou Mansion and Qingyang County will be tried, and I don't know whether to kill and then behead, or behead and then draw a charge, all in all, this beggar who doesn't know where he came from 10,000% is the Ming army, and they set up a bureau to lure Zhang Yingxiang into the ambush circle. As for why he didn't leave after the treacherous plan succeeded, it was very simple, a bigger conspiracy was still brewing in this guy, but fortunately it was found out by the Chizhou officials who were aware of everything, otherwise it would definitely cause a greater disaster.

A happy ending, only the unjust death of a beggar, the civil officials, officials, generals and gentry in Chizhou are all innocent, so they don't care about wronging a grass people.

However, this time is different from the past, although this time the Fujian Ming army was defeated by luck, but the Qing army's own losses are also unbearable. Yue Le, the prince of Heshuo'an, and Ibai, the minister of parliament, were killed, and the forehead of the twelve daughters of the emperor Taiji was captured, just in the hands of the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Ming armies, they lost the territory of five prefectures and nearly 10,000 Eight Banners Army, even if most of them were borne by the Mongolian Eight Banners, this is also a fiasco that has never been seen since the old slave Nurhachi raised his army with seven hatreds!

In addition, in the two battles of Guazhou and Zhenjiang, the four banners of the left wing of Jiangning in Jiangnan were all wiped out, and there were not a few crooked melons and cracked dates left in the Han army banners that assisted in the defense of Jiangnan, and the losses of the green battalion were also unimaginable. In such a situation, Ma Guozhu had too many things to explain to the Manchu court, and although Chizhou's little bit of cattiness was inconspicuous, it exceeded his tolerance limit.

Not enough for a beggar?

There are one beggar in Qingyang County, and all of them have been made by the Ming army.

Not enough?

Even a few beggar leaders from Chizhou Mansion are also counted.

Still not enough?

Several small businessmen with no background in Qingyang County were also the work of the Ming army.

Can't pass this?

Then I'm sorry, the gentry of the town who whistleblower won the fame and fame, and they were directly killed in prison, and the intelligence head of the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Ming armies in Chizhou was freshly released.

The scholar class is intertwined, so Shilin's anger and backlash are inevitable, but the Chizhou Mansion can't take care of this much, they haven't explained the matter clearly before, and they don't have to worry about the debts, so they can't take care of these many, so they will solve one by one first.

The farce in Chizhou appeared at a glance, but Zhang Huangyan, who was the initiator, had already rushed to Nanchang.

At the end of June, on the Gan River, under the scorching sun, the large and small ships that went up from Poyang Lake or from the upper reaches of the Gan River, some of them were slender men shouting the horn to pull the ropes straight, and some of them were boatmen constantly adjusting their sails and rudders, and they always had to sail the boats into the wharves along the river.

Zhang Huangyan and his entourage got on a boat in Raozhou Mansion, crossed Poyang Lake, traced the Gan River, and soon sailed into the Zhangjiang Wharf on the Gan River.

Zhangjiang Wharf is just outside Zhangjiang Gate, and "Zhangjiang Xiaodu", one of the ten views of Yuzhang, refers to here. Zhang Huangyan looked into the distance, and the slender men were going to the sailor office on the dock to settle their wages, talking and laughing along the way, obviously not afraid that the sailor's yamen would deduct their wages.

Zhang Huangyan heard from the officers of the sailor division on the road that pulling fiber is an extremely hard job, and ordinary people will not do it, but these people are physically strong, and they are more organized than farmers, and they can be given priority when recruiting soldiers. Therefore, in addition to farming at home, these men who live in the lower reaches of the Ganjiang River often come and go, make quick money, and have the identity of a slender man and give priority to recruiting soldiers.

Marveling at the change of the wind, Zhang Huangyan and his deeds did not go far, and they also ushered in the officials who had been waiting here for a long time.

There is a saying in Nanchang: "Receiving officials and sending them to Zhangjiangmen", here has always been the place where officials take office and officials leave office and send officials to pass, which has a great relationship with the many yamen in the northwest direction of the city, so that it has even formed a convention.

After greeting each other, the officials who greeted Zhang Huangyan invited Zhang Huangyan to Zhangjiangmen, which was not far away. Not to mention Zhang Huangyan's intention to discuss with Chen Wen here, even if it is etiquette, it is natural to go to Xingyuan first.

Zhang Huangyan replied with a salute, counted the courtesies, looked up, but saw a sold-storey pavilion not far away, with the words Tengwang Pavilion written on it, which directly attracted his attention.

"Dare to ask your honor, this is where the prince of the early Tang Dynasty made the "Preface to the Pavilion of King Teng"?"

"This soldier is very knowledgeable, and this is exactly what he does."

This Tengwang Pavilion is one of the three famous buildings in the south of the Yangtze River, the early Tang Dynasty poet Wang Bo wrote the "Tengwang Pavilion Preface" where it is, in which "Luoxia and the lonely bird fly together, the autumn water is the same color as the sky" is a famous sentence handed down from generation to generation.

"It's really here."

Zhang Huangyan looked at it from afar, and continued to ride his horse. Entered Zhangjiangmen, not far is the county government of Nanchang County, Nanchang, Xinjian two counties in the same city, but although the county government of Xinjian County is also in the northwest of Fucheng, but it is partial to the German Shengmen, Zhang Huangyan and his line passed by here and went straight to the city.

After a year of restoration, although Nanchang is still not close to restoring the old view, it is generally not what it used to be.

Zhang Huangyan and his party walked in the middle of the road, and the people on the side of the road came and went in a hurry.

Nanchang is a provincial capital, but for ordinary people, high-ranking officials are still a rare existence, but here is the case, the people are busy running for a living, but most of the steps are very brisk, it can be seen that the pressure on the heart is not very great, more in order to get a better life and busy.

If you talk about wealth, when you went to Hangzhou to take the exam, it was far better than this, but Zhang Huangyan knew that it was already the old yellow calendar before the Qing army entered the customs, and it was already impossible to count today. But he has been to Shanghai County in Zhenjiang and Songjiang Prefecture, and Nanjing has also been outside the city, which can be described as a very rich place in the late Ming Dynasty. It's not like here, even if the scars of the war haven't been completely healed, but it's everywhere full of life.

"Don't hide from the soldiers, Wang Fujun has been running Jiangxi for a year, persuading farmers to do sang, Bo conscription, establishing schools, and revitalizing industry and commerce, and officials at all levels have shown up more in Nanchang, and the local people are not surprised."

"I see."

The king of Chu has a thin waist, and many people in the city starve to death. The so-called good at the top will be very bad at the bottom. The governor practiced what he preached, and the officials below naturally did their best, and the rapid recovery of the people's livelihood in Nanchang was not unusual.

"Uncle Wang Chang is a talent of the temple, and this official was fortunate to see the prosperity of Dalan Mountain when he was in Siming Mountain. It is no accident that we can have today's weather. ”

"Actually, Zhangjiangmen is okay here, Guangrun, Jinxian and other doors are much better than here, and this soldier can take a look if he has time."

This place is adjacent to the government, and it is indeed not a suitable place for industry and commerce to gather, and the restoration of people's livelihood in the city still has to start from those places. It's just that Zhang Huangyan didn't expect that only a year has passed since the recovery of Nanchang, and it will be able to recover as promised. Especially when he looked at the pride of the official sent by the Huiji County Palace, he was even more amazed in his heart.

"I have time, I really want to see it."

The Qing army moved south, and the prosperity and prosperity of the past in the south of the Yangtze River were gone. Zhang Huangyan basically spent his time on the island, except for the beginning of the Lu Jianguo Dynasty and the recent attack on the upper reaches of Nanjing. Whether it is Zhoushan, Zhongzuo, or Chongming Island, they are far from being comparable to these metropolises.

Along the way, the restaurants and tea shops he saw were full of friends, and the goods in the shops and warehouses were still piled up in the continuous transportation and delivery, such a scene was too far away for him, so far away that he was already in a trance.

It didn't take long for Zhang Huangyan and his entourage to come to Nanchang Xingyuan, the palace of Huiji County, and listened to the officials who greeted him, saying that this was originally the location of Hong Chengchou's Nanchang shogunate, and Chen Wen was stationed here after recovering Nanchang, in order to avoid the huge cost of building Xingyuan again.

Although the official had been on the road for a long time, the guards at the door still meticulously checked them before letting them in. Chen Fugui and Luo Yongzhong were going to pay the order, and only Zhang Huangyan led the servant to follow the official to the reception hall.

"Isn't the meeting over the king's side yet?"

"No, I don't."

"As soon as Lao informed the king, he said that Zhang Gong, the scholar of the Hanlin Academy, had arrived."

"Xiaguan will go to the conference hall to report."

The official nodded, and then came back to apologize to Zhang Huangyan on his behalf. This meeting started early in the morning, and now it's noon, and the meal is almost over, and it hasn't been finished yet, although this situation is not unusual, but he clearly remembers that Chen Wen attaches great importance to this military secretary, and God knows what will happen at this meeting.

"There's no hurry."

Zhang Huangyan sat down here, and he had already entered the conference hall to report. Hearing that Zhang Huangyan had arrived, Chen Wen just asked people to entertain one or two, and the meeting on his side could not be stopped, and a result must be discussed this morning.

"The king, the army, the lower officials have no objection to the reduction and exemption of floating grain, but now that the western thieves are provoking in western Jiangxi, my Jiangsu and Zhejiang Wang Division will further expand the army, and it is not too early to exempt such a large amount of taxes at this time."

Rong Qian, the chief of the Jiangxi Provincial Political Envoy Department, was in charge of the province's tax revenue, and in Chen Wen's understanding, his position was equivalent to that of the director of the Jiangxi Provincial Taxation Bureau. I remember that last year, he also reported the floating grain incident, but now, the position has not changed, but it is still a group of Jiangxi civil officials including him who speak out.

Rong Qian's meaning is very simple, now Sun Kewang is restless, living within his means, and directly exempting such a large amount of income, and when the time comes, the food and salary will be insufficient and then the tax will be increased or other funds will be used to cause financial chaos, it is better to continue to collect, even if it is only a part of the financial relief.

"What Senator Rong said earlier, this king understands that the tax holiday has just passed, and the collection of summer taxes this year will definitely be hindered by the people, and this problem should be solved by the officials of the prefectures and counties. As for Senator Rong's fear that the officials below will spread the shortfall to the people who pay taxes, this matter will be handled by the Supervision Department. ”

Chen Wen had made up his mind, and Rong Qian and other officials who opposed the one-time and complete abolition of floating grain sat down one after another. Chen Wen knew very well that these officials were all responsible for the overall finances, after all, it was far from the peaceful era when the sword was turned into a plowshare, and there were still many threats that the Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Ming military groups had to face -- the Manchu Qing Dynasty, Sun Kewang, Shang Kexi, Geng Jimao, and Hao Shangjiu, and even Li Dingguo and Zheng Chenggong could become enemies at any time, after all, there were already examples of Sun Kewang.

It's just that their location is in Jiangxi Province, and Chen Wen has a more comprehensive consideration - this time he has recently recovered the territory of five prefectures, all of which are very rich, although they also need to train troops to control these areas, but the tax is enough to support a new round of army expansion.

More importantly, the fleet that departed earlier should be almost in Japan at this time, and in the coming days, the finances will only become more and more abundant, and the exemption of these unreasonable fees can further accelerate the recovery of people's livelihood.

"Rest assured, my lords, this king has been prepared for a long time, and there will never be a temporary increase in taxes, nor will there be any financial chaos caused by the arbitrary misappropriation of money and grain."

With this sentence, Rong Qian and the others were relieved, Chen Wen was a leader who did what he said. They themselves are supporters of the abolition of the floating grain, and this time it is only for fear of financial chaos and distrust that they have proposed a plan to divide the reduction into several steps. Since Chen Wen said it, there must be a way, and they can rest assured.

The reduction and exemption of floating grain is a policy strategy that has been in the preliminary investigation and preparation since last year, and it involves the three prefectures of Nanchang, Yuanzhou, and Ruizhou, of which the floating grain in Nanchang alone is as high as 195,122 taels of silver, and as much as 149,131 stones, which have not been abolished in the Ming Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty has also used other complicated taxes to change the soup without changing the medicine several times during the more than 200 years of the Qing Dynasty.

This is the biggest topic of the day, and it is confirmed that Chen Wen and Wang Jiang jointly signed a decree, which will be issued in the form of a decree to the three prefectures involved, and the people will also publish it through the "Jiangxi Di Bao", so that people can hear about it. As for the supervision in the later stage, as Chen Wen said, the Supervision Department will strictly supervise it.

At the end of the meeting, Chen Wen and Wang Jiang went to the lobby of the guests. When entering, Zhang Huangyan was sitting there drinking tea, and when he saw that Chen Wen and Wang Jiang had arrived, he hurriedly got up and saluted.

"Lower officer, Zhang Huangyan, the scholar of the Hanlin Academy of the Ministry of War, will meet His Royal Highness."