Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 338 Good Strategy
Guangzhou Imperial Palace, Hall of Supreme Harmony, today is another day of great ceremony

In the Hall of Supreme Harmony, no one was sitting on the throne. The court meeting had not yet begun, but all the ministers had arrived at the hall early.
Before the court meeting began, the rules were generally not strict. As long as it did not affect others, officials in the court could discuss matters in a low voice.
But today, before the censor left the court, all the ministers had already lined up according to their ranks. They stood in silence, and no one spoke. The atmosphere was extremely depressing.
Not long after, a message came from the door. His Highness the Regent walked into the hall, escorted by the eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department. The whips in the court rang, and the officials bowed and saluted. Today's court meeting officially began.

Li Guoyong stood in front of the imperial steps and said

"Officials in the court have to report to the emperor, and the court will be dismissed if there is nothing else to do."

All the ministers below were silent. Of course, each department had something to report, but they all knew that today's court was only about one thing, and no one would use ordinary departmental affairs to disrupt today's theme.
Zhu Lang looked at the ministers below, his face calm, and said

"Gentlemen, please be at ease. I have something to discuss with you."

"When I led the army to defend Guangzhou two years ago, I promised that after the army defeated the Qing invaders, each soldier would be given land. A few days ago, I visited the old soldiers in the army and found that not a single acre of the land I was promised had been used."

"This land should have been distributed after the war two years ago, but the court has been engaged in constant wars in the past two years, and the granting of land has been delayed again and again. Now that the court has stopped the war, this matter can no longer be delayed."

"When I visited the old soldier that day, the ministers were also present. Regarding the granting of land, does the cabinet now have a rule?"

Upon hearing this, all the officials in the court looked towards the cabinet ministers on the left. Qu Shisi was silent for a moment and then stepped out to report.
"Your Highness, after I returned that day, I retrieved and reviewed the documents from the imperial court."

"The number of militiamen, garrison soldiers and imperial guards who participated in the defense of Guangzhou that day totaled 10,516."

"After the great victory in Fujian and Guangdong, officials from the two provinces counted and found that a total of 150,000 acres of unowned land had been cleared."

"These 150,000 mu of land are all good cultivated land. I think we can first give each army 15 mu of land as a reward for their merits, and the remaining 35 mu can be converted into silver, or converted into grain, so that each soldier can use it to offset taxes."

Zhu Lang glanced at Qu Shisi below, but shook his head and said softly

"Lord Qu's proposal is inappropriate. After the court converted silver into grain, the Ministry of Revenue's tax revenue has dropped significantly. Now it is already in deficit. How can it afford so much silver to buy the granted land?"

"I just issued an order to reduce the three taxes last year. Do I have to increase the tax now to reward the troops? This is absolutely not feasible."

"The idea of ​​selling grain is also unacceptable. Although the price of farmland is getting lower and lower, the price of a medium-sized field is still six taels. Even if each of us sells the missing thirty-five acres at the price of a medium-sized field, there will be two hundred and ten taels, which is equivalent to two hundred and ten shi of grain."

"It will probably take 20 to 30 years to reduce such a large amount of grain tax. Does the court want to delay the reward to the troops until 20 to 30 years later?"

Zhu Lang did not wait for Qu Shisi to reply, and he spoke directly

"Mr. Qu has put a lot of thought into coming up with this method, but it is not feasible. Mr. Qu, please leave first."

Qu Shisi looked tired and sighed in his heart. In fact, when he proposed this idea, he had already determined that His Royal Highness the Regent would definitely not agree to this plan.

Qu Shisi stood there but did not retreat. He was silent for a moment and was about to speak again, but before he could say anything, the Regent above him spoke again.

"I have already said that this plan of Mr. Qu is not suitable. Mr. Qu should withdraw first. When you return home and come up with a better plan, come back and give me your advice."

Qu Shisi was slightly surprised when he heard this, and subconsciously looked up. However, when he looked up, he suddenly found that His Highness the Regent was also looking at him.
Qu Shisi looked at the warning in His Highness the Regent's eyes and kept silent. He knew that His Highness the Regent was showing him some mercy.
Qu Shisi stood there for a while, but finally returned to the train. When Zhu Lang saw Qu Shisi retreat, a hint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes.

In order to bridge the gap between the imperial court and the officials and gentry, Qu Shisi came up with this method, which was actually a painstaking effort.

If this method is followed, the soldiers in the army can be rewarded, and the interests of the gentry in the court will not be harmed. Zhu Lang can still be regarded as a benevolent and holy ruler in the eyes of the officials in the court. It can be said that everyone is happy.
If the imperial court was prepared to fool around with this matter at this time, then Qu Shisi's suggestion would really be the best way, but the problem was that Zhu Lang was not prepared to fool around with this matter at this time.

When Zhu Lang saw Qu Shisi retreat, he looked at the ministers below and said

"Do the cabinet ministers have any other strategies to present?"

There was silence for a moment, then He Wuzuo suddenly walked out of the train and said

"There are a total of 10,000 soldiers in the court. If each of them is given 50 mu of land, 500,000 mu of land will be needed. It is difficult for the three provinces in the court to gather so much land at once."

"I checked the report from Sichuan Province earlier and found that there are a lot of unowned lands in Sichuan Province now."

"Sichuan Province has experienced war and now only one in ten people in Sichuan survives. People are in urgent need of relocation to Sichuan. Fan Yiheng also recently submitted a petition requesting the transfer of people from Huguang and other provinces to Sichuan."

"I think it is appropriate to send all the soldiers to Sichuan at this time. This will not only allow the soldiers to be rewarded, but also restore the vitality of Sichuan."

Zhu Lang was surprised when he heard this. He did not expect that He Wuzuo would be able to set his sights on Sichuan Province.
But Zhu Lang thought for a moment, then shook his head again and said

"Lord He, this proposal is inappropriate. How can Sichuan and Shu, which are so remote, be compared with Guangdong Province? The censors of the Supervisory Office are of the seventh rank, and the county magistrates of Yunnan Province are also of the seventh rank. If I were to transfer a censor from the court to Yunnan Province to be a county magistrate, Lord He, do you think this is a reward or a punishment?"

"I want to reward the troops now, not exile them. Moreover, most of the soldiers are from Guangdong Province. Do I want them to leave their homes and villages?"

"This method goes against the court's intention of rewarding meritorious service, and it is not feasible." He Wuzuo fell silent upon hearing this. When they were discussing in the cabinet, both methods had been proposed. Why didn't Qu Shisi propose this method first? It was because he knew that this method had too many loopholes and could easily be rejected by His Highness.

At this time, people all valued their hometowns. As His Highness said, if the soldiers of various armies were moved to Sichuan, would that be a reward or exile?

Besides, Guangzhou is the imperial capital at this time. Who would leave the imperial capital and travel thousands of miles to Sichuan Province?

Soldiers in the army are treated well now. If this method is really implemented, most of them would rather give up the reward than move thousands of miles to Sichuan to get 50 mu of land.
This method has many advantages. Once the granted lands to the soldiers are distributed, the lands in Chaozhou and Huizhou do not need to be moved. Once the lands are distributed in the court, the soldiers cannot blame the court if they do not want them, and the court can also give an explanation to the upper and lower levels.
This method is perfect, but it has only one drawback, which is that it will certainly make the soldiers in the army resentful. Now His Majesty the Regent is obviously unwilling to make the soldiers suffer.
Zhu Lang glanced at He Wuzuo below and spoke again

"And Lord He made a mistake in his calculations. The farmland that the troops will be granted this time is not 500,000 acres, but 3 million acres. The five imperial guards in the court have a total of more than 60,000 people, so at least 3 million acres of farmland should be granted."

The civil officials below were all shocked when they heard this. The previous 500,000 acres of land had already put pressure on the court to breathe. Now His Highness opened his mouth and wanted to grant 3 million acres of land. Did His Highness the Regent really think that the court could conjure up land out of thin air?
He Wuzuo's expression changed, and he immediately spoke

"The court granted the land this time to reward those who defended the city that day. Why are the other imperial guards being rewarded as well?"

Zhu Lang had a calm expression on his face and said

"The Guangzhou army defending the city that day certainly deserved a reward, but the imperial guards in the court have also made great contributions to the country through years of bloody battles, and they should also be rewarded as a whole."

"Why, Lord He, do you think that the imperial guards in the court should not be rewarded?"

As Zhu Lang finished speaking, Jiao Lian, Ma Bao, Li Dingguo and other generals all looked towards He Wuzuo.

He Wuzuo felt the gazes of the military officials and his expression suddenly changed.

After the establishment of the Grand Council, it has essentially replaced the Cabinet's position in the court. Now the Grand Council is the only government office that can truly decide on major military and political affairs in the court.
After the establishment of the Military Affairs Office, the status of military officials in the court has been greatly improved and is no longer the same as before. If He Wuzuo offends these military officials at this time, He Wuzuo will definitely have difficulty in the future in the Military Affairs Office.

"I have no such intention. The troops have made great contributions. How to reward them should be decided by Your Highness and the court. I dare not speak rashly."

"Since Your Highness thinks that the re-enfeoffment of Sichuan Province is inappropriate, then we should think of another good plan and present it to Your Highness."

After He Wuzuo finished speaking, he returned to the court. It was meaningless to say more at this time. Five hundred thousand mu could be gathered by the three provinces of Fujian and Guangdong with all their efforts, but three million mu was absolutely impossible.

He Wuzuo looked at Jiao Lian and others who were calm on the opposite side, and a glimmer of understanding flashed in his eyes. The commanders of several imperial guards in the court must have known about this in advance. His Highness had already used the issue of dividing the land to win over the various military forces in the court.
Judging from His Royal Highness the Regent's attitude today, His Royal Highness has probably decided to take action against Chaozhou and Huizhou. Only by following the original plan can so many fields be gathered in Guangdong Province.

He Wuzuo exhaled lightly. Since the two governments were doomed to fail, there was no need to waste any more energy. He needed to focus on more important things.
Zhu Lang saw He Wuzuo retreat, then looked at Su Guansheng below and said

"Do the cabinet ministers have any other strategies?"

There was silence in the court. Su Guansheng glanced at Lu Daqi and Chen Zizhuang, and seeing that they did not move, he stepped out and said:

"The reason for granting land is that the Qing invaders from Fujian Province attacked Guangdong at that time."

"Your Highness led the army in person and wiped out all the bandits in Fujian, but the court did not punish the other guilty people."

"The year before last, the Qing invaders from Fujian Province launched a surprise attack on Guangdong. The gentry of Chaozhou and Huizhou surrendered, causing the entire defense line of eastern Guangdong to be lost. This allowed the Qing invaders' army to drive directly to the city of Guangzhou, putting Your Highness in danger."

"The Qing invaders who entered Guangdong were only a small army, but the gentry in Chaozhou and Huizhou did not think of driving them out and resisting the enemy. Instead, they all shaved their heads and joined the invaders. They have no integrity and are truly guilty of a serious crime."

"The common people of the two prefectures were weak and powerless, and they had no choice but to surrender to the enemy in order to save their own lives. This can be understood, but the gentry of the two prefectures have been favored by the emperor for generations. In times of crisis, they did not think of standing up to serve the country, but instead shaved their heads and committed treason. This is truly an unforgivable crime."

"I think it is time to punish the gentry of the two prefectures to make the court's laws known and to deter the government and the people."

"All wealthy households in Chaozhou and Huizhou who own more than 100 mu of land should have half of their land confiscated as punishment, and then the land obtained from the two prefectures will be distributed to the troops."

"This matter originated from Chaozhou and Huizhou governments, so it is only natural that they should resolve it."

In the hall, Su Guansheng's voice kept echoing. The matter of confiscating the land of the gentry in the two prefectures should have caused an uproar in the court.

But at this time, the officials in the court looked at Su Guansheng who was serious, but their faces were quite calm.

Everyone felt that a huge rock in their hearts had finally fallen to the ground. What was supposed to come finally came.

After a few days of hype, the ministers who were qualified to attend the court basically knew the attitude of His Royal Highness the Regent towards the two governments. Although it was Su Guansheng who was speaking at this time, everyone in the court knew that this was what His Royal Highness the Regent meant.

Zhu Lang nodded to Su Guansheng and was about to speak, but before he could say anything, a figure jumped out from the class below.

(End of this chapter)