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Updated: 2O12-11-O8

The reason why Kangxi sent the Mongol soldiers to Huguang instead of facing Xu Huai, the main force of the Zheng army, was of course not because of the number of forts that the Zheng army had built intermittently in the past year, but because he had received the news of the breach of Gaojiayan. At this time, Xu Huai was everywhere in Zeguo, and an ocean was naturally not a place for the Mongolian horse team.

The sudden natural disaster was of course against the common enemy of both sides, but the last bit of foundation of the Qing court had been used in the Mulan enclosure, and naturally it was powerless to relieve the surging tide of refugees. Therefore, although Kangxi pretended to be merciful and issued three edicts of consolation, the magistrate who understood the spirit still sacrificed the trick of leading the troubles to the east, and used various coercion and temptation methods to drive the refugees back through the Yellow Flood Area and enter the territory of Ming Zheng to beg.

Zheng Kezhang only learned the news of another catastrophe in the north after arriving in Taicang Zhili Prefecture. Hearing the news, he immediately canceled the next trip, took the naval express boat back to Nanjing overnight, and then didn't care about resting, so he held a meeting of the Imperial Council of the Political Affairs Hall.

"If you go back to the king, the grain in the warehouses of the former servants and Changping in the territory of Chanan Zhili is only 154,166 stones, even if you count Chongming's military grain depot, it is only worth 500,000 stones, even these 500,000 stones, you can't all transfer them across the river, and you have to meet the needs of 500,000 soldiers and civilians in Nanjing." Zhang Riyao, who served as the cabinet minister as the secretary of the Du branch, that is, the minister of finance, was busy complaining at the beginning of the meeting. "Therefore, it is urgent to transport grain from Fujian, Dongning and other places, and buy grain from Annam, Zhenla, Japan and other places."

"Your Majesty, although it is cheap to buy grain from Annan and Zhenla, it is not urgent." As a counselor cabinet minister, the so-called deputy minister, Ke Ping shook his head again and again. "Although it is convenient to transport grain from Japan, Japan itself is short of grain, and now the two countries have many dirty problems, and I am afraid that it will not be possible to expect to buy grain from Japan."

"Don't talk about it first, you must know that it costs money to buy grain." Speaking of money, Zhang Riyao, who was mentioning the purchase of grain, also had a pain on his face, but Zheng Yingping, who was the prime minister and cabinet minister, asked with a blind eye. "I don't know how much silver taels the Du branch can use to do this."

"There are still 200,000 taels in the treasury." Zhang Riyao replied through gritted teeth. "There is always something to be prepared for, so the branch can only allocate 100,000 taels first." As soon as this number came out, everyone present was speechless, so Zhang Riyao had to explain. "There was constant fighting at the front, and the summer and autumn taxes were mostly used to support the front-line military rations and salaries, and other expenditures were actually spent from customs duties and salt taxes. Although the trade has been switched off in the past two years, the tariffs have increased significantly, and the availability has also increased, not to mention the other things, the armament and ships of the 6th Army and the Navy Army, as well as the start-up fee of the Shilu Iron Mine, are a huge amount, so there is no extra money and grain in the treasury. ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Riyao glanced at Zheng Kezang, who was in the upper seat, and revealed: "The king has just allocated another 500,000 mausoleum workers, so now there are only 200,000."

"Isn't the tomb work allocated in three years?" Zheng Kezhang glanced at Zhang Riyao coldly, and suddenly shocked someone who wanted to fool the past into sweating, but fortunately, Zheng Kezhang also knew that Zhang Riyao's purpose was not to make profits for himself, but to be a good watchdog of the treasury, so he held it high and stopped pursuing it. "The branch immediately set aside 600,000 yuan to purchase grain from various countries." Although the silver content of one silver guan is only a little more than half a tael, the huge number of 600,000 guan still breaks through the bottom line that Zhang Riyao tried to stick to, so Zheng Kezang, who knew his difficulties, deliberately relaxed. "You can first embezzle it from the mausoleum."

Zhang Riyao breathed a sigh of relief, but the problem was not solved, although the purchase of food can solve part of the problem, but it is not urgent, and it cannot save the hungry people in Jianghuai who are waiting to be fed. But it is imperative for Zheng Kezhang to save this group of refugees, because with this group of displaced people who have nothing to live for, Zheng Kezhang has the manpower to open the Huainan Coal Mine and the Taiping Iron Mine.

As a result, Zheng Kezhang made a shocking decision: "Then let the gentry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang lose." ”

Happy to lose? Could it be that Zheng Kezhang wants to rob clearly?

The puzzled cabinet ministers raised their heads one after another, and Ke Ping, who had always had the courage to give direct advice, even admonished: "Your Majesty, the Qing captives have not yet been expelled, and the people's hearts are still repeated.

Zheng Kezhang interrupted Ke Ping's words: "Ke Qing, what do you think Gu wants to do?" No, no, no, Lone doesn't mean to ask for their food for nothing."

At this time, Zheng Yingping was anxious: "The king wants to do the act of donating money and accepting Su, it is inappropriate, it is not appropriate, it has been discussed in Dongning back then, and it must not be implemented, otherwise there will be concerns about shaking the country's foundation." ”

Regarding Zheng Yingping's impatient interruption of his words, Zheng Kezhang was not angry, but smiled mysteriously: "When did Lone say that he would donate, I am afraid it was a misunderstanding." ”

It's not a donation, it's not a robbery, so what kind of fame does Zheng Kezhang want to do, just when the ministers were puzzled, Zheng Kezhang chuckled: "Lone is going to give these people a chance, presumably they will definitely flock to it." ”

Opportunity? The courtiers were even more confused, and at this time, Zheng Kezhang revealed the mystery: "Gu is ready to sell the salt farms in Jiangbei, Songjiang, and eastern Zhejiang to local merchants, but those who donate a certain amount of rice will be allowed to participate in the bidding." ”

The following was suddenly chaotic, and the finance minister Zhang Riyao was immediately ready to open his mouth to advise, but Zheng Kezhang ignored it and continued: "Lonely, anyone who donates 2,000 stone of grain at a time is allowed to participate in the bidding of the major sales in the official, and only donates 500 stones, but a number of people can participate in the bidding together, so that not only can there be food emergency, but also make up for the lack of use in the domain." ”

"No, No, No, O No, O No, Zhang Riyao finally waited for Zheng Kezhang to finish speaking, so he couldn't wait to admonish. "Salt administration since (Han) Emperor Wu has been in the hands of the imperial court, is a great source of profit for the imperial court, before the Ming Dynasty, it accounted for a quarter of the imperial court income, and now it is sold to merchants, it seems that there is a large amount of income for a while, but the future is greatly unfavorable to the finances."

Zhang Riyao almost pointed at Zheng Kezang's nose and scolded him for eating grain, but Zheng Kezhang remained silent: "Zhang Qing was too worried, although he sold the salt farm, he didn't say that he would not collect salt taxes in the future." ”

Speaking of this, Zheng Kezang's tone suddenly became stern: "What is the situation of the salt tax in the Ming Dynasty, and how is the salt policy of the Qing court, don't you know?" Why is private salt repeatedly banned, why is the official salt in the mouths of the people black and yellow and difficult to swallow, and the disadvantages of the previous dynasty must continue? No, of course not, so you have to reinvent the wheel. ”

Lin Liangrui, the head of the Grand Judicial Court, expressed his concern from another angle: "Although the king's thoughts are good, but the merchants are very profitable, once the salt industry is in his hands, he will inevitably increase the price wantonly, so that the people will not be able to eat salt." ”

Zheng Kezhang said with a smile: "This point, Gu has already thought of it, so all businessmen who enter the bidding are only allowed to bid for a salt farm, so that there is competition with each other, and the price of salt will not skyrocket." ”

Lin Liangrui was not persuaded by Zheng Kezang: "Salt merchants originally had a trade association, but they were afraid that they would collude with each other to control the price of salt at that time." ”

"There are two solutions." Zheng Kezhang said that he had thought about it, and he was really not bragging. "First, the government should set the local salt price, set the maximum price, and prohibit salt merchants from paying a premium; Second, except for the salt farms in Jiangbei, Songjiang and eastern Zhejiang, the salt farms in Fujian, Dongning, Guangdong, and Guangxi are all sold, and the salt farms in various places are allowed to sell freely. By the way, the coastal people can also be allowed to build their own salt farms, and as long as they pay the salt tax, they will not be allowed to sell them. ”

"This?" The cabinet ministers present at the meeting looked at each other. "Will this work?"

"If you can't do it, you have to do it." Zheng Kezhang let out a long sigh. "The north side is full of flesh and blood of my compatriots, and now they are waiting to be fed, how can I bear to see their lives ruined." Zheng Kezhang commanded after pretending for a while. "Zhang Qing, this matter will be handed over to the Ministry of Salt and Iron, and the laws of the charter are drafted by the laws of the charter, but the rumors must be released first."

Zhang Riyao replied helplessly: "The minister understands." ”

Seeing that his meaning was implemented, Zheng Kezhang nodded with satisfaction, and the agenda was able to continue: "Okay, next, Qing and others will discuss it again, the rice and grain are in place, how to give relief, and the meaning of Gu is still to work for relief, just put the opening of Huainan Coal Mine and Taiping Iron Mine on the agenda."

Zheng Kezang's judgment was not wrong, he heard that the government opened the salt industry and sold the salt field in Guanzhong, which immediately caused a frenzy in Jianghuai, and there was an endless stream of carriages and horses transporting grain to the officials, and even the news spread to Fujian, Jiangxi and other places, and some people spent a lot of money to hire ships to transport grain to the two large warehouses in Taiping and Taicang in exchange for tickets to enter the bidding meeting.

With the donations of these gentry and giant businessmen, the Ming and Zheng officials quickly raised more than 500,000 stone of grain, and the people affected by the disaster in Huaishang were rescued, and the coal and iron consortium in Zheng Kezang's mind was also able to stagger to a start

But Zheng Kezhang did not expect that this year's disaster was just the beginning, in mid-August, Zhejiang reported a typhoon, and 200,000 people in Wentai and Taiwan were affected; At the end of August, another typhoon was reported in Fujian and Dongning, destroying more than 4,000 houses by strong winds and rains, and at least 150,000 mu of grain fields were flooded and production was reduced. In the same August, Ganbei reported no rain in March, and no harvest of grains; Hunan reported heavy rain, which was also a disaster; Only Guangdong, Guangxi and the eastern part of Hubei did not encounter natural disasters, but there were people loyal to the Ming family in Lianping, Xinfeng and other places in Guangdong; Guangxi, on the other hand, encountered a two-way attack by the Yunnan-Guizhou-Qing army.

Zheng Kezang, who was anxious about this, on the one hand, ordered all localities to provide emergency relief, and also strictly ordered the various divisions in Jiangnan that should be withdrawn to Jianghuai, Jiangnan, and northern Jiangxi to rest after they were transferred to Huguang and Hunan, and to go south to help suppress the rebellion.

Next, Zheng Kezhang ordered the people of Dongning to enter Qiongzhou, and picked the landless people of Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Yue provinces to fill in Hunan.

As for Guangxi, Zheng Kezhang ordered the 1st Division of the Longxiang Army to go all out to meet the 6 divisions. After receiving reinforcements from Long Xiang's army and Guangdong, He Qian stabilized the shape of Guangxi and counterattacked, driving the enemy in Guizhou back to Guizhou, and re-establishing a confrontation with the enemy in Yunnan on the border between Yunnan and Guizhou

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