The next day, when it was still dark, the Forbidden City was already lively. The east side of the Taihe Hall is furnished with a yellow case, the sky is slightly bright, the princes, Baylor, Beizi set Taihe Gate, and must be hung to lead the prince, Baylor and other Lidan Majesty. The Ming praise official led the ministers and the officials into the two gates, and the Danqi was set up in order, and the Korean and Mongolian ministers entered from the Xiye gate, and the end of the Xiban was established. There are two people from the east countryside under the west eaves of the imperial history of the correction ceremony, four people from the east and west of the Dan Majesty and the east and west of the township, eight people at the end of the east and west classes, and four people who praise the eaves of the official palace.

Follow the Qintian supervisor to report, the two palaces of the queen mother Feng drove the little emperor of Tongzhi out of the palace and the palace, the deacon saluted, went to the outside to look at things, the little emperor drove out, the lead, the back of the Hu such as the instrument, the noon door bell and drum, neutralization music, the two palaces with the little emperor to the Taihe Palace, the music stopped.

Before and after the division of the Minister of the Interior, the guards guarded it again, and the four officials stood behind the golden pillar on the west side, and the former minister, the university scholar, the bachelor, the lecturer, the bachelor, the Zheng, the Shao Zhan Shi stood under the east eaves. The imperial history and the vice-president are all under the west eaves of the imperial history.

Luan Yiwei official tore his throat and praised loudly: "Whip", praise the official praise "shift", the prince and the hundred officials bowed and knelt, the official of the Xuan table was presented with the table, and knelt in the middle of the Beixiang of His Royal Highness.

After some red tape, Xiao Duan sat under the bright plaque, the two palaces hung the curtains behind, and the eunuch Li Lianying told the ministers under the steps: "If there is something to start, there is nothing to retreat!" ”

The former minister of the Imperial Palace, the head of the household department, Shangshu Ruilin, came out and played: "Your Majesty, the servants have been ordered to pay and investigate the situation that the taxes are exempted from paying due to the flooding of the Yellow River in various places and are still being paid. It has been verified that 11 officials from Henan and Hebei provinces have bent the law for bribes and filled their pockets, and they have been handed over to the Ministry of Officials, the Criminal Department, and the Dali Temple. ”

The little emperor Tongzhi sat on the dragon chair and looked at the villain book that Xingzhen painted for him, and he didn't even look at Ruilin. On the contrary, Xingzhen behind the curtain said slowly: "There is no need to discuss it, but all the evidence of the crime is conclusive, all of them will be killed!" These people's conscience let the dog eat! The Book of Sages is read in vain! The palace is patchworked, struggling to support, and finally there is a vacancy to make several provinces tax-free, these dog slaves, knowingly. Still oppressing the people, how are they not enough to cling to the long-haired bandits? Do you have to force the good people into the long-haired party to give up? Kill! Find one and kill one! After the death of Emperor Daxing, Longhair rebelled. The persecution of the foreign Yi is very urgent, and the two palaces have not freed up their hands to rectify the rule of officials, and there is such a big case in the front of the household, and after the strict handling, it is also said that these small nights will be reined in. I can't imagine that it is getting more and more fierce now! They will cut themselves off from their ancestors and from the world. This palace will fulfill them! ”

The two palaces were furious, and the ministers knelt down together, and followed Xingzhen and said loudly: "The overcharged taxes and food in various places, the household department will count them clearly, and return them to the people everywhere, and not a single cent will be withheld, otherwise how can the imperial court win the trust of the world?" ”

All the ministers bowed to the leader's orders, and the rest of the ministers reported a few trivial matters. After the two palaces were judged, Yixiang, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, came out of the class and said: "Start the emperor." Yesterday, the Ministry of Rites received a note from Britain and France, and the language was quite disrespectful, saying that if we do not agree to the five-party talks, we will ... Just..."

Behind the curtain, Xingzhen's eyes were cold, and she said coldly: "What should I do?" ”

Yixiang said in a trembling voice: "I will send troops to Beijing to negotiate the contract." ”

Xingzhen hadn't replied yet, but the Empress Dowager Ci'an beside her slapped the armrest heavily and shouted angrily: "Let them come, can I still be bullied by a little barbarian?!" The Ministry of Rites shall handle it in accordance with the previously agreed regulations, and there is no need to discuss it again! This palace wants to see what these barbarians can do to our orphans and widows! ”

Followed by the voices of the ministers pleading, Xingzhen frowned slightly, and said in a low voice: "Sister, the collusion between Changmao and Waiyi is not a day or two, and this time I came up with a five-party meeting, which is to cut off our connection with Yangyi, and use Yangyi's hand to attack the coastal land in my north, so that the hundreds of thousands of troops in my north cannot go south to rescue the southern provinces." According to Xiaomei, this matter is still left to Prince Gong to deal with, and there is no need to give any will. ”

After hearing this, Ci'an nodded slowly and said: "Okay, this matter is still handed over to Prince Gong, and the Ministry of Rites will send the note from Waiyi to Tianjin to King Gong intact." ”

Yixiang in the palace received the order, but Xingzhen glanced at Ci'an intentionally or unintentionally, Ci'an, who was usually not very assertive in the court, why did he suddenly get angry today? Did someone say something to her?

But Xingzhen didn't have time to think about it, so she took out a book and handed it to Li Lianying to show it to the ministers, and said: "General Heilongjiang recently sealed an inconspicuous report, which said that since last year, he has captured more than hundreds of homeless people from Shandong, Henan and other places who have broken into Kanto to eat. The palace also looked through the old cases and found that since the beginning of the Holy Ancestor period, the displaced people who went out of the customs have been held by the government in more than 100,000 people, and there are still those who have not been held? ”

All the ministers looked at each other, except for Gui Liang and others, they didn't know what Xingzhen meant, the homeless people broke out of the customs to make a living, I don't know how many people there are every year, the local government can catch it, and if it can't be caught, it will be stopped, most of them are not surprised, but at this moment, they don't know what the idea of the two palaces is.

The military department Shangshu Lin Kui said: "Emperor Qi, these homeless people have fled to the border outside the border every year, the population outside the gate is sparse, the number of soldiers guarding the border and armor is small, and they can't be arrested, the slave feels that it is time to expand the Heilongjiang horse team outside the Guan, and arrest more homeless people to protect the peace of my Longxing land?" ”

Xingzhen snorted and asked, "How much does it take to expand?" How many homeless people can it hold? ”

Lin Kui opened his mouth and was speechless, and the minister of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the auxiliary state minister said: "Emperor Qi, if you don't want to expand the number of soldiers outside the Guan, you can order the governors of the provinces in the Guan, reorganize the household registration, one guarantee for every ten households, one household flees, and the remaining nine households sit together, and the number of displaced people who want to flee outside the customs can be greatly reduced." ”

All the ministers took a breath when they heard this, and the viciousness at the end of Zai Ling's hand was extremely vicious, and several upright ministers were about to refute it, Xingzhen smiled and said: "You think that the people in the pass are not fast enough, so maybe the entire ten families of the people will flee together." Then Xingzhen asked: "Have the ministers ever thought about why the people should treat the strict orders of the court as nothing. Desperate to break into Kanto? ”

Shen Zhaolin, Minister of Military Aircraft, replied: "If you go back to the emperor, most of the people who go out of the customs are poor people who have lost their land. There are many borderless places outside the border, and the land is vast and sparsely populated, so they take risks. ”

Zai Ling sneered: "Lord Shen, what you said is not right, the land outside the gate is our land full of people, how can it become a borderless land?" ”

Shen Zhaolin was shocked, knowing that he had said the wrong thing. hurriedly said: "The minister lost his words, what the minister said is what the displaced people think, and the people are ignorant." Only the fertile field outside the pass is a terra nullius, and the minister understands that outside the pass is the land of Longxing, and every grass and tree is the land of eight flags. ”

Xingzhen smiled and said, "Shen Qing is telling the truth, this person is in a desperate situation. I don't bother with that. Moreover, the people were ignorant, and did not know whose land belonged to them. Then he said slowly: "The fertile field outside the customs is the one that our ancestors issued a ban on sealing the customs after entering the customs, but at that time, I was afraid that we would not be able to sit in this country for a long time, and leave a piece of land for future generations, and return to the customs after not being able to sit on the country." Do you say, to this day, will we go back to the gates? ”

Zai Ling frowned when he heard this. Yixiang hurriedly said: "Where did the emperor come from, now our country is very stable." Our Eight Banners disciples are accustomed to the water and soil in this pass, and no one wants to go back to the cold place outside the pass to suffer. ”

Xingzhen smiled slightly and said: "Although you don't like what you say, it's also the truth, this palace saw this twist and turn, and I was thinking, outside the border with the Rakshasa country, there is a lot of land, and there are a lot of mountains and rivers, how many people can be fed?" On the other hand, there are many people and little land, and most of the people are landless and destitute, and it is a pity to leave thousands of miles of fertile wilderness outside the gate in vain. ”

Zai Ling was shocked when he heard this: "The emperor's meaning is that he wants to open the ban and give up the land outside the customs to the people inside the customs for cultivation?" ”

As soon as these words came out, the ministers of the Han Dynasty were all happy, but the ministers were dissatisfied, Yixiang also woke up, and said loudly: "Queen Mother, you need to think twice before you act, yes, we Manchu people don't have to go back to the gate now, but these lands are left to us by our ancestors, why do you want to cheapen those mud legs?" We are also the descendants of Aixin Jueluo, and there is also our share in the land outside the Guan, right? The cold land in northern Xinjiang that was snatched from Lao Maozi was also returned, and it was divided into it, anyway, it was also robbed, but the land outside the pass was absolutely unacceptable. ”

After Yixiang finished speaking, a group of Manchu ministers spoke out one after another, saying that the ancestors became the law and could not be changed, otherwise the country would be shaken. Xingzhen sat in her seat, listening to the ministers below one by one with a smile on her face, but she didn't say anything, just peeked at Ci'an's face, and saw that she looked as usual, she hadn't said anything to her before, but seeing that she was not surprised at all, Xingzhen knew that someone had told Ci'an in advance, and at that moment the corners of Xingzhen's mouth hooked up a smile, and she didn't break it.

After talking for a while, the ministers of the Manchurians did not have any new advice, slowly calmed down, and said together: "The servants and others implore the emperor to think twice, and they must not be banned." Then all the ministers looked at the Han ministers around them, and the Han ministers were helpless, so they had to follow along and say that they could not open the ban.

Xingzhen suddenly asked, "Why is Long Hair making trouble?" ”

As soon as this question came out, the hall was silent, and after a while, Zai Ling replied: "At first, it was a cult of the Hong's rebellion against the Xiyi people, and it was found that this person had repeatedly fallen into the ranks, so he angrily secretly organized a cult and plotted to rebel. ”

Xingzhen asked again: "Since the first emperor succeeded to the throne, this long-haired man began to rebel, and I heard that it was said in the newspaper that there were many old and weak women and children in the long-haired army?" ”

Zai Ling replied: "This is a people with long hair. ”

Xingzhen said with a smile: "Rebellion is a serious crime to kill the head and punish the nine clans, since ancient times, there are no rebels, no women and captives, and I have not heard of the march accompanied by tens of millions of women. In this battle of Liangguang, Jiang Zhongyuan also captured the long-haired rebels and rebels several times, and these people said in their confessions that the long-haired rebels were in rebellion at first, but they scattered their family wealth and joined the church, and they used the women's camp and juvenile camp in the long-haired army. After visiting the palace, I often reflect, if it is not for the whole family, I can't live, and I will cry in vain? Guangxi mountains are poor, the people are many, the long-haired thief confession also has this confession, the words are deep in the mountains, each husband ploughs the field is only half an acre, often works in the mine, a little money to live, but since the war with the Yi people, the court tax burden is also heavy, the foolish people can not live on their own, biased belief in the Hong rebellion and fallacy, only to attach rebellion to the chaos. Half an acre of land? How much food can be grown? How many people can be fed? Ruilin, you should be in charge of the household department, and you can also tell me, how much grain can be grown in one acre of land? ”

Ruilin replied in a daze: "The governor of Guangxi also has a lot of money and grain, and the yield per mu of Guangxi is only more than 400 catties even if it is a rich land. Half an acre is more than 200 catties. ”

Xingzhen nodded and said: "More than two hundred catties, this palace has also asked, even if it is drunk every day." More than 200 catties of grain is only enough for one person to eat for a year, how to support his wife and children? Half an acre of land, this person still has his own half an acre of land, and the traitor's confession also mentioned that at this moment, the leader of the long-haired army rebelled against Xiao Chaogui, but there was no landowner at home, and he used to burn charcoal for others like Yang Xiuqing. ”

Hearing this, Fuguo Gong Zailing smiled and said, "The Queen Mother." It turns out that this pseudo-king of the West used to be a charcoal seller. ”

Xingzhen Zhengse said gently: "This palace doesn't think it's funny at all, Xiao Chaogui was born lowly, but he can join others to attack the city and plunder the land. But why? Is he really capable? Without the help of others, how can we achieve this trend? Is Guangxi only half an acre of arable land per husband? What about the land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River, such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang? The palace also asked, but two or three acres are barely enough to make ends meet, so you can imagine what Shandong, Zhili, Henan and other places are like. When Qianlong was in time. There was also only one place outside the gate to worship the flag of heaven. Summoned the banner people to reclaim 40 million acres of cultivated land, most of which were divided into meritorious ministers to make land rewards, carrying age, the palace remembers that Qianlong seems to have rewarded your family, how is it now? ”

Zai Ling sighed, bowed his head and said: "The year before last, tens of thousands of acres were sold, and there was a few thousands of acres of land left, and a few clothed slaves found some people outside the border to grow some food." The rest of the minions don't know. ”

Xingzhen smiled: "You are honest, this palace has asked." Most of the land you have left is barren, and the dog's tail grass grows taller than you. ”

All the ministers chuckled when they heard this, and Zai Ling said angrily: "What are you laughing at? The early dynasty, above the main hall! Everyone, be quiet! ”

Xingzhen couldn't help laughing, and then said: "For example, if the population is nearly 40,000 today, and farmers account for nearly ninety percent, there are people without land here, and there are people without land over there, what is the reason? The Qing Dynasty received the grace of heaven and received the territory of the world, and when the people of the world were gracious, since we will not go back to the land outside the gate, it is better to share the barren land outside the gate with the people of the world, why bother to hold it and rot in your arms? To the people who can't survive in the world have repeatedly risen? ”

Lin Kui stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, the truth is so, it's just that it is cold outside the border and in northern Xinjiang, and the people are recruited to the north, but I am afraid that there will be many disobedient people, and then I am afraid that there will be chaos." ”

Xingzhen snorted and said: "Yes, the homeless people go north, the bitter cold land, and reclaim the wasteland, which no one is happy with." But what if, after the land outside the customs is reclaimed, the government can provide agricultural tools, grain seeds, and can carry them to naturalization, and the land endowment is only half of the land endowment in the Guan, what will happen? ”

As soon as these words came out, the Taihe Palace was like an explosion, and the ministers talked about it, but they didn't expect that Xingzhen suddenly threw down such an idea at this moment, so that the ministers did not slow down for a while.

Zai Ling frowned and said: "Your Majesty, outside the gate is where the mausoleums of the three first emperors are located, and I am afraid that there will be a nuisance of the homeless. ”

Xingzhen asked rhetorically: "There are also the tombs of several former emperors in the Guannai, have they been disturbed?" What does the minister of guarding the tomb do outside the customs to eat? ”

Following the Manchu ministers one by one stepped forward to say some worried things, was refuted by Xingzhen one by one, but all the Han ministers were all in agreement, followed Xingzhen Qiangang arbitrarily, threw down a strict decree, and set this matter to let the governors of various places tell the world, but all the displaced people and people who are willing to go north to the customs on their own, order the local government outside the customs to receive, and allocate land nearby, each family can be divided into ten acres of wasteland, and cultivate it by itself, and the reclaimed land is still owned by the Manchurian nobles, and the local government is paid according to ten taxes, and the rest of the Manchurian nobles collect two percent as land rent. The rest belonged to the peasants, and after reclamation, all the displaced people could be registered as clothed slaves.

He also ordered Guiliang and Wenxiang to lead the officials of the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of War to discuss, purchase and mobilize improved varieties of grain, and go north with chariots, horses, and cattle, so that Guiliang could sit in the capital, and Wenxiang would go to the outside of the customs to sit in the town, so that the local government would receive it, recompile the household registration, make a register and submit it, and the land divided by the people could not be bought and sold.

At the end, Zai Ling muttered again: "Queen Mother, the land outside the customs is said to be the most royal land, is it also generally handled?" Zai Ling is straightforward, in addition to the land outside the Guan, in fact, the biggest owner is the emperor, that is, the two palaces and the little emperor have the most land in their hands, he asked like this to see if the two palaces are also willing to take out the land outside the customs in their hands and rent it to the displaced people for cultivation.

Xingzhen laughed and said: "Of course, the land outside the customs within the royal family is handled by the Zongren Mansion and the Internal Affairs Office, and the palace is also worried that the land outside the customs has been abandoned for too long, and someone can collect more rent if they cultivate the land, so why not do it?" ”

Speaking of this, Ci'an, who was beside Xingzhen, put down the teacup in his hand heavily, and then said very unhappily: "The palace is tired, and the emperor is going to study, so go back to the palace with the palace first!" After that, he took the little emperor back to the palace first...... (To be continued......)