Sun Kewang received Zhang Xianzhong's letter, and after reading it, he lit it and burned it, and he couldn't believe it.

Immediately, Sun Kewang issued an order to retreat to the Liukou scattered throughout Huangzhou, and the whole army retreated to the Yunyang Mountains in the northwest to find and follow Zhang Xianzhong's footsteps.

………………

The rogues retreated, leaving behind the desolate Huangzhou Mansion.

Huangzhou has eight counties and one state, and the county town has not been breached, but the countryside has been ruined.

Villages were burned down, peasants were killed or turned into displacements; The landlord's estate was looted, and his family members were brutally murdered; Cattle farming, fat pigs, hens and other livestock were all eaten by the rogues.

The only thing to be thankful for is that the farmland water conservancy facilities were not destroyed.

Soon, the county seat of Huanggang (Yiguo) posted a notice, and the government came forward to carry out large-scale construction of farmland water conservancy facilities in eight counties and one prefecture in Huangzhou Prefecture. The peasants did not need to do hard labor, they took care of their meals as long as they participated in the labor, and they would be paid a meager wage.

The homeless and unsustainable people who were hit by the war could not believe it for a while. Will the government be so good?

When it was discovered that the government was really in charge of food, the displaced people immediately rushed to the yamen, scrambling to participate in the construction army, as long as they were in charge of food. As for wages...... Let's get some food to survive first, and whether there is money or not is a matter later.

The second notice issued by the Huangzhou government was to ask the owner of the land to go to the county and the state government to reissue the title deed of the land.

The landlord whose title deed has been destroyed needs to have three local respected village elders testify to confirm the ownership of the land and re-issue the title deed.

As for the fraudulent land, Zhu Shunming didn't care very much, he just needed to let the land be registered with the government and be taxed reasonably. Second, if the landlord pretends to claim the land, once the incident occurs, not only the landlord will be punished, but also the villager who testifies for him will also be punished a lot.

As a penalty for losing the title deed, the landlord must hand over 10% of the harvest at the time of the autumn harvest. As for how long this punishment will be, it is not clearly stated in the complaint.

Large tracts of unclaimed land were auctioned off at low prices. The rich of the city, the bureaucrats, the daring peasants all got a piece of the pie.

The land was auctioned at a low price with the condition that 10% of the harvest must be surrendered.

After a series of orders and measures, the Huangzhou government quickly restored calm, and production and life gradually returned to order.

As long as money is invested in rural affairs, it is still easy to solve.

First, the countryside was devastated by the exiles, and the villagers were very supportive and actively participated in the imperial court's disaster relief and production recovery policies. Second, Zhu Shunming did not do a radical job in the collection of agricultural taxes. There was no tax on landlords who owned land deeds for the time being.

However, the implementation of the special zone policy of eight counties and one prefecture in Huangzhou is very difficult.

The core of the policy is to pay taxes.

The original commercial tax of the Ming Dynasty was not heavy. Emperor Taizu set a very light tax when formulating the commercial tax, and the thirty tax was relatively heavy.

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty had a culture of pride in not paying taxes. Not only the people, but also the parents and officials of the county and the prefect are proud of not paying taxes, believing that not paying taxes means loving the people and paying taxes is harming the people.

In the late Ming Dynasty, with the accumulation of merchant wealth, merchants gradually learned from Lü Buwei and invested in students.

As these students became famous, the influence of merchants on the government gradually increased. It was more difficult for the imperial court to tax merchants.

Now Zhu Shunming wants to collect taxes from businessmen and bureaucrats, just like snatching wealth from them, and it is strange that they are willing.

………………

How Zhu Shunming and Fang Kong Zheng talked specifically, no third person knows. But since then, Zhu Shunming has moved the general army from Wuchang to Huanggang. Wuchangwei will also gradually move out of Wuchang, and Wuchang City will be guarded by the Wuchang City Garrison formed by Fang Kongzhi himself.

With the development of Zhu Shunming's power and the expansion of Zhu Shunming's ambitions, although the pace of Zhu Shunming's outward expansion accelerated, cracks still appeared between Fang and Zhu.

Fang Kongzhi disagreed with some of Zhu Shunming's practices. But now that Zhu Shunming is powerful, it is difficult for Fang Kongzhi to suppress him. Instead of suppressing, it is better to give in, and Fang Kongzhi is very free and easy.

Okay, don't you want Huangzhou? Huangzhou gives it to you. But you can't get involved in Wuchang City anymore. If even Wuchang City is given to you, how can I, the governor of Huguang, have face?

In fact, Huangzhou Mansion is where Zhu Shunming wants.

When Zhu Shunming was in Changsha, he had already overtly and covertly controlled most of the Huguang land south of Jingzhou. More than half of the entire Huguang grain-producing area fell into Zhu Shunming's hands. The only remaining grain-producing areas are the Jianghan Plain around Wuchang and Huangzhou.

Xiangyang, which also produces grain, is too far north, and Zhu Shunming has no plans to develop north for the time being. As for the Yunyang Mountains...... Let's let the rogues go there and establish a base.

There were too many officials, such as the king of the Wuchang domain, the governor, the political envoys of the left and right, and the envoys who were sentenced to punishment, and the interests involved were too great, and Zhu Shunming did not want to be hostile to these forces at the same time.

Huangzhou is different.

Although Huangzhou is full of humanities and talents, there are no outstanding talents who have entered the cabinet during the Chongzhen period to speak out in the court. Even Li Changgeng, the former secretary of the ministry, was demoted to a commoner by Emperor Chongzhen.

However, the topography and geographical location of Huangzhou are very important.

Huangzhou borders Henan, Jiangxi, Anhui and other places, and its geographical location is not worse than that of Wuchang.

Although Huangzhou is mountainous, rivers divide the hilly area into small plains of various sizes, making it ideal for fine farming. Therefore, the grain production of Huangzhou Mansion also has a place in Huguang.

Moreover, the silk weaving industry in Huangzhou is very developed. The locals grow mulberry, raise silkworms, reel silk, spin yarn...... It has been done to a certain scale. "Yellow Silk" is also famous in Wuchang and Nanzhili.

Huangzhou is a local science prevalent and the atmosphere is relatively open.

Li Zhen, a famous thinker of the Ming Dynasty, lived in Huangzhou for decades, and he lectured and wrote books in Huangzhou, which had a great impact on the local thinking and the three views of scholars.

Li Zhen is like Li Ao of Treasure Island, rebellious and rebellious. In the Ming Dynasty, Li Zhen proposed a ***, freedom of thought; Equality for all; opposing feudal rituals; oppose the empty talk of science and advocate utilitarianism; Rulers do not interfere or interfere little in social activities.

These ideas are very much in line with Zhu Shunming's action proposition.

The geographical location, cultural traditions, and economic conditions all determined that Huangzhou was more suitable than Wuchang for Zhu Shunming's development in the north of Huguang, and more suitable for Zhu Shunming's expansion to Jiangxi and Nanzhili, the economic centers of the Ming Dynasty.

As for transportation...... Transportation in the Ming Dynasty was mainly by water. The Huangzhou Mansion is on the edge of the Yangtze River and can be connected by water transportation.

Zhu Shunming's vigorous development of the sailor is to use water transportation, in the mode of enclaves, to bloom little by little, without showing mountains and water, and unconsciously encroach and control the richest places in the Ming Dynasty.

………………

Ye Zongqing, the prefect of Huangzhou, was a little dissatisfied.

Originally, Zhu Shunming, the general soldier of Huguang, sent troops to maintain law and order in Huangzhou Mansion and help the people to save themselves, Ye Zongqing was still very happy, but he didn't expect that the imperial court would have such a disciplined and people-friendly army.

Unexpectedly, after the disaster relief, Zhu Shunming actually took over some of the affairs that originally belonged to the prefect's yamen. The general army of a place actually interfered in local affairs, so why not?

Ye Zongqing told Zhu Shunming to Fang Kongzhi, the governor of Huguang.

Fang Kongzhi said good words to entertain Ye Zongqing. After Ye Zongqing calmed down, he said, "What do you think of the doctrine of Baiquan Jushi (Li Zhen)?" ”

Ye Zongqing was deeply influenced by Li Zhen. He hesitated: "Although it is different from the world, it may have its truth." ”

Fang Kongzhi asked again: "Heavy agriculture and suppression of business is the national policy of Taizu, why is the silk weaving industry in Huangzhou rising?" ”

"The world has changed in time, and its time is different from today. Huangzhou silkworm reeling silk from Jiangxi, spontaneously formed by the people. ”

Fang Kongzhi continued to ask: "What is the explanation of Baiquan Layman's 'inaction in the Tao, silence in governance, and silence in teaching'? ”

Ye Zongqing thought for a long time, got up and arched his hand: "Thank you Lord Governor for your advice." Xia Guan let go and let Zhu Zongbing try it in Huangzhou. As long as it is beneficial to the people and the Ming Dynasty, the temporary grievances of the lower officials are nothing. ”