"Inspector Sun's troops are not many, if the troops are divided again, it may not be enough anywhere?" Li Yanzhi frowned.

Sun has only 30,000 troops, and the number of anti-thieves in Henan and Jiangxi is hundreds of thousands, but it is not enough to suppress one place.

Zhu Youzhen nodded slightly, he and Li Yanzhi thought about it the same, but he didn't speak, wanting to hear how Hong Chengchou explained.

"Under normal circumstances, it does." Hong Chengchou nodded, "The reason why I suggested dividing the troops is because of the overall consideration. There are two heroic cities in Kaifeng and Luoyang, and there are Wen Ge Lao and Pingbei Hou in charge, and the thieves in Henan can only wreak havoc in the south of Henan, and they can't make too many waves. But Jiangxi is different.

The situation has shown that there is a strong force behind the Jiangxi anti-thieves, and this force is likely to be many squires. Otherwise, it would be impossible for the Jiangxi rebels to develop so rapidly, and it would be impossible to defeat the Jiangxi army led by Yuan Chonghuan one after another. Moreover, Jiangxi is too close to Nanjing, and once Jiangxi anti-thieves conquer Nanchang and go downstream, or divide troops to attack Huguang, the situation will be very troublesome. Jiangxi Lake and Guang are all land of fish and rice, so I think that compared with Henan anti-thieves, Jiangxi anti-thieves are the most threatening, and they should be eliminated as soon as possible. ”

"Didn't Your Majesty just issue an order not long ago to requisition the troops of Guangdong and Huguang to attack Jiangxi on two routes? With Yuan Chonghuan sitting in Nanchang, can the Jiangxi thieves really make a big move? Li Yan said suspiciously.

Hong Chengchou sighed: "It's hard to say, I have a bad premonition, something may happen in Nanchang......"

Seeing Hong Chengchou like this, Zhu Youzhen's expression also became solemn, but he was still hesitating.

"Inspector Sun's army is more than a thousand miles away from Jiangxi, and if something happens, I'm afraid it won't be too late to arrive. Now that the White Lotus Sect in Suzhou has been pacified, Jiangdong has nothing to do, and it is useless to leave so many troops in Zhenjiang, and the last general is willing to lead the sailors to go upstream and enter Poyang Lake to assist Yuan Chonghuan in defending Nanchang City. Li Yan asked for a straight battle. I've been here from Fujian for a few days, and it's been uncomfortable for him to be idle.

"If you take the troops away, who will protect Your Majesty?" Hong Chengchou asked.

"This ......" Li Yan opened his mouth and stopped talking. The heavens and the earth are big, and the emperor's safety is the greatest.

Zhu Youzhen waved his hand: "Don't worry about my safety." "Even if Li Yanzhi led his troops to Jiangxi, he still had 5,000 Praetorian Guards by his side, and there was no problem with security.

"It's just why save Nanchang? Wouldn't it be nice to let all the ill-intentioned people jump out? Zhu Youzhen sneered.

Hong Chengchou said helplessly: "If Nanchang is really lost, it will be very troublesome." "As for the trouble, it has been made very clear just now.

Zhu Youzhen waved his hand: "I believe that Yuan Chonghuan can hold Nanchang." As for Sun Chuanting, let's talk about Henan completely after it is pacified! ”

In Zhu Youzhen's heart, Henan is much more important than Jiangxi!

Although over the years, the north has been suffering from droughts and various natural disasters for many years, and there is not much tax collection at all, but Jiangxi is located in the south of the Yangtze River, which is densely networked, but it is much better. The land around Poyang Lake is fertile and easy to irrigate, it is the real land of fish and rice, and the grain output has long exceeded that of Jiangdong. However, Henan is the land of the Central Plains, and the location is too important!

In another time and space, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and other peasant armies wandered through the Central Plains, directly making a mess in the north and promoting the demise of the Ming Dynasty. And Li Zicheng is based on Henan and has developed a huge force. In this life, Zhu Youzhen will never allow this situation to happen again!

Jiangxi is chaotic, just a province, Henan is chaotic, but it will implicate the entire north!

As long as Sun Chuanting can quickly pacify the rebels in Henan, Wen Tiren can rebuild the government in the whole of Henan, set up towns and villages, release slaves from Juntian, and form township soldiers. In this way, it will not take a year, Henan will become a stable rear, and then take the opportunity to carry out changes in Guanzhong and Shanxi. The whole north is joined together and becomes a stable rear. At that time, even if the whole Jiangnan is in chaos, what can it do? Calmly send troops to fight!

Seeing that Zhu Youzhen refused to listen to him, Hong Chengchou sighed and didn't say anything more.

The matter was thus settled, and the rest of the army remained untouched, with the focus on implementing changes throughout Koto.

Zhu Youzhen issued an order to select and transfer some literate officers and soldiers from the army, and then transfer some officials from the counties and towns of Zhenjiang that had already completed Juntian, and send them to Changzhou and Songjiang to carry out thorough reform in the four prefectures of Jiangdong.

Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Suzhou, and Songjiang are the four prefectures of Jiangdong, the most fertile and prosperous places in the whole Jiangnan, and the richest areas in the entire Ming Dynasty. With complete control of Koto, there will be a steady stream of money in the future.

Juntian, freed slaves, abolished the privileges of the gentry, the gentry could keep their own business, but they had to divide their families, set up tax divisions in each province, and all businesses had to pay commercial taxes. As long as the reform can be completed in Koto, from now on, Koto will become the largest source of revenue, and the continuous flow of tax revenue will make the national treasury extremely full.

At the same time, Zhu Youzhen issued an order to send Jinyiwei to command Liu Wenbing, a fellow acquaintance, to Suzhou to investigate the collusion between the Suzhou gentry and the White Lotus Sect. Zhu Youzhen was very angry about the collusion between the gentry Wu and the bandits of the White Lotus Sect, and was determined to take the opportunity to uproot the gentry involved. The power of the Jiangdong gentry was too great, most of the fields were annexed, and most of the people were either their domestic slaves, or their hired farmers and hired laborers, and the gentry power had to be completely suppressed before the reform could be completed.

"Jiangdong has developed commerce, and there are countless workshops of all kinds, and it will inevitably be the center of wealth in the Ming Dynasty over time. However, the vast majority of commerce, most of the business, was owned by the gentry, and if the gentry were severely cracked down on and implicated too widely, I am afraid that these businesses would also be affected, which would affect the tax revenue of the imperial court. Hong Chengchou said with some worry.

Zhu Youzhen thought that what Hong Chengchou said was reasonable, but he couldn't let those gentry go. These gentry and their families attach great importance to education, and each family has produced many talents, if it is not strictly suppressed now, I am afraid that one day, this Jiangdong will still be their world. Everyone is equal, naturally it is impossible to exclude the children of the gentry from entering the government, if the children of the gentry are willing to put down their bodies to participate in the official examination, it will not take much time, I am afraid that it is these children of the gentry who control the place.

Therefore, ordinary people must be given time, those ordinary people who read books, to grow up. The gentry must be severely suppressed now.

But what Hong Chengchou said is reasonable, the suppression of the gentry cannot reduce the tax of the imperial court.

Zhu Youzhen pondered and considered a solution.

"Your Majesty, Elder Hong Ge, most of those gentry are not directly involved in business operations." Li Yanzhi said suddenly.

"Most of the business in Jiangnan is controlled by the gentry, and the situation in Fujian is similar. The minister has been in Fujian for many years and has dealt with the gentry a lot. In fact, the gentry focused more on officialdom and rarely participated in specific business operations, and most of their family's business was handed over to the children of the family or even domestic slaves. ”

"What do you mean?" Zhu Youzhen asked.

"The gentry can take over the business to the imperial court, but if they don't move the shopkeepers, they can still let them manage the business, and they can be given a certain share incentive, and the imperial court will send people to check it regularly, so that the business will not be affected in any way." Li Yanzhi suggested.

"Good way!" Zhu Youzhen slapped his thigh and praised, "Yes, yes, it seems that I sent you to Fujian to be a party." ”

According to Li Yanzhi's suggestion, it is equivalent to nationalizing the business of the criminal gentry, and the profits of the business will naturally go to the imperial court, and the income will not only be a commercial tax, but also a huge profit from the business itself!

The more Zhu Youzhen thought about it, the more he felt that it was a good way, and he couldn't help laughing.

Hong Chengchou sighed in his heart, he knew that Zhu Youzhen had already made up his mind, and there was no way to persuade him anymore.

However, this will undoubtedly make it extremely difficult to do the next thing. Originally, the gentry were able to keep their business while losing their land, and they could earn much more money from business than from farming, which made them less willing to rebel against the emperor. But if you do business with them again, it will undoubtedly knock them into the dust completely. If they can't do business, they can't use their land, and they can't use their fame to become officials, so what's the difference between them and ordinary people? How can this make it bearable?

If you can't stand it, you will naturally resist desperately. Then it is conceivable how great the resistance on the emperor's side will be next.

The gentry all over the world are against the emperor, and with the strength they control, it is really uncertain who belongs to this world.

"Aiqing don't worry, I will only do it to those gentry who have colluded with the White Lotus Sect to commit great crimes, and confiscate their business and property. The other gentry, still, will keep their business. Regarding Hong Chengchou's worries, Zhu Youzhen explained.

Hong Chengchou smiled bitterly and nodded. Where is the dark passage so easy. Since the seizure of the gentry's property can bring huge benefits, and the business will not be affected, then the emperor will naturally not be soft on the gentry in the future. And once you taste the sweetness, it's hard not to do anything to the other gentry. And for the gentry of the world, they will only see that the Jiangdong gentry have lost their fields, lost their business, and lost everything. Under the sadness of the rabbit and the fox, you can imagine what kind of reaction it will make.

"In this case, we have to set up a department dedicated to managing these businesses." Zhu Youzhen thought and said, "Another commercial department can be set up to manage these businesses." ”

"Your Majesty, the gentleman does not talk about profit, and the establishment of the Ministry of Commerce is really unseemly, and I am afraid that it will be collectively opposed by the courtiers." Hong Chengchou reminded.

Shinong industry and commerce, merchants have always been the last, and the status of merchants in various dynasties is very low. Although by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the gentry were generally engaged in business, but they were also entrusted with the management of domestic slaves. In the minds of most gentry scholars, business was still a lowly act. The courtiers were the same, how could they agree to add a merchant department to the imperial court, so that the merchants would openly rank alongside the gentry?

"Since everyone should be equal, merchants and scholars should naturally be equal, and there is no distinction between high and low. As for those courtiers? Zhu Youzhen sneered.

Since it was necessary to carry out a thorough reform, since it had been decided that the gentry would take action, it was natural to reorganize the imperial court. The officials in the court also have to be cleaned up, of course, after returning to Beijing.

knew that Hong Chengchou wanted to be more secure, but Zhu Youzhen couldn't bear it anymore. Chen Zilong's battle with the White Lotus Sect gave him great confidence! Thousands of White Lotus Sect bandits were easily defeated by a hundred Praetorian Guard soldiers, what are the anti-thieves in this world? I have 100,000 strong soldiers, why should I endure it, why can't I do it according to my heart?

Now Zhu Youzhen is very inflated.

While Zhu Youzhen was actively planning the blueprint for the future imperial court, Jin Yiwei sent a piece of information from Jiangxi, which made his face solemn.

Jinyiwei's secret agent came to report that Yuan Chonghuan, the governor of Jiangxi, had secretly met with the anti-thief envoy many times recently, and seemed to have a plan to betray the court and surrender the thief. And the thieves are plotting a big move.

"Yuan Chonghuan has 40,000 troops in his hands, which is more than enough to hold Nanchang City, so he won't surrender to thieves, right?" Hong Chengchou was skeptical.

Surrendering to the thief is a great crime of destroying the family, and officials generally do not do such a move unless the mountains and rivers are exhausted, except when the dynasty is destroyed. And now although the Ming Dynasty has many natural disasters and civil turmoil, the imperial army is the strongest time, whether it is Henan or Jiangxi, it is not a threat to the safety of the imperial court for the time being. And Yuan Chonghuan is far from exhausting, how could he make a move to surrender and rebel? It's impossible!

"Normally it wouldn't be like that, but not now." Li Yanzhi sneered.

Since the emperor announced the release of slave Juntian, things can no longer be measured by convention. The gentry in Wuzhong will secretly collude with the White Lotus Sect to cause rebellion, and the gentry in other places can naturally support the anti-thieves secretly or even in the open, and even the officials may surrender to the anti-thieves.

Q: Why is this happening?

It's very simple, because the emperor betrayed the court first!

The Ming Dynasty belongs to the Zhu family, but it is even more of the gentry class. The emperor lived in the temple, the gentry controlled the countryside and stabilized the place, and everyone lived in their own position, so that there was the stability of the Ming Dynasty.

Now the emperor has brazenly torn his face and broken the tacit understanding of two hundred years. The emperor's series of actions fully demonstrated his hostility to the gentry class, and there was a plan to purge the entire gentry class, which the gentry all over the world were well aware of. Then it is possible that the gentry officials reacted in any way.

Under normal circumstances, a feudal official like Yuan Chonghuan would naturally not surrender to the thief, but now it may not be.

"Yuan Chonghuan's surrender to thieves is not terrible, the most terrible thing is that Jiangxi anti-thieves will support the clan." Zhu Youjian said quietly.

Even if Yuan Chonghuan surrenders to the thief, the anti-thief is still the anti-thief, and there is no essential change. For the civil and military local officials of the Ming Dynasty, the thieves were still the enemies of the imperial court and the targets to be eradicated. Local governors and local officials would still obey the emperor's orders and send troops and food to exterminate the rebels.

But if the thief supports the clan, the taste will completely change. The clan is also the Zhu family, and it is the blood of Taizu. At that time, it became a battle for the throne, and the next war, just like Zhu Di's martyrdom, became an internal war within the Zhu family's royal family. For the local officials and gentry, they were free to change their positions without moral burden.

In this case, many gentry officials will naturally choose the emperor who is supported by thieves.

"Things are getting more and more interesting!" Zhu Youzhen smiled.