The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 387 Take action
Wang Xin left the prefectural government office and returned to the military governor's office.

There was no major conflict; instead, the guards were furious. Through their word, the news quickly spread throughout the governor's mansion. He then went to his study.

The desk is very clean.

A stack of unread documents lay to one side.

Wang Xin was thinking about the various affairs of Datong, many of which he had promoted himself. How could he not be clear about them? Even without looking at documents and policies, he could recall the situation of all parties in Datong.

For example, after the third reorganization of Datong Military Town, there were eight Class A battalions and ten Class B battalions, with a total of three thousand men in each battalion, plus a personal guard battalion of one thousand men.

There were also seventy-two large and small businesses that developed land outside the pass.

He needs to understand Datong's financial situation.

"General Jie".

Zeng Zhi hurriedly came.

The guards told everyone what had happened, and this wasn't the first time. Many people couldn't contain their anger and wanted to cause trouble at the prefect's office. Zeng Zhi stopped them and then rushed to Wang Xin's place.

Upon seeing Wang Xin's appearance, Zeng Zhi was startled and blurted out, "Anger does not justify launching an attack."

Seeing the military commander so cautious for the first time, Zeng Zhi became even more worried. Now was not a good time to turn against the court. At least wait for the Prince of Dongping, or someone else in another place to cause trouble first.

The protruding rafter rots first.

With thousands of years of experience, everyone understands this principle.

"sit."

Seeing Zeng Zhi's anxiety, Wang Xin smiled and pointed to the chair on the opposite side.

Seeing Wang Xin's smile and familiar appearance, Zeng Zhi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After sitting down, he prepared to have a good discussion with the commander about the situation. Now was the time to test his composure, and he had to stay calm.

"I'm not angry."

Wang Xin knew Zeng Zhi's thoughts and laughed, "Those people in the prefectural government office are not enough to make me lose my composure."

Why did you look so terrifying just now?
Zeng Zhi disagreed.

Seeing that Zeng Zhi did not believe him, Wang Xin sighed, "I am disappointed in the officials."

"Hasn't it always been like this?"

"It's just wishful thinking, hoping things might get a little better." Wang Xin felt listless. As someone from a humble background, he always had a kind of expectation, hoping that things would be better for them.

The result was the same: "I had overestimated their abilities."

Zeng Zhi pondered for a moment.

At this point, the atmosphere had reached a point where something had to be said, or at least a statement had to be made.

By now.

There's nothing left to hide.

"With the court in such a state of affairs, and constant conflicts in various regions, I fear we may be heading back to the old ways of the Tang and Han dynasties, with each region becoming fragmented and disrespectful to the court." How could Zeng Zhi not have considered this?

Who can't be self-reliant and save themselves?

The only difference is the way they save themselves.

Robbing is also a form of self-defense.

The disasters that have occurred over the decades have given people a chance to catch their breath from time to time. However, the severity of the disasters in the last two years has exceeded his expectations. If the situation does not improve by next year, or at the latest the year after, it will be a serious problem.

Zeng Zhi was absolutely certain that the various princes and even some military governors would not sit idly by and wait for their doom.

On the contrary, generals with the status of being appointed generals are better off, as they will not rebel with their soldiers. However, if they have a military governor or even a prince above them, then it is not difficult for them to choose between the imperial court and their superior.

Both the title of Prince and the title of Military Governor have been passed down for over a hundred years. Some Military Governors have indeed been suppressed. Even the most powerful Jia family, the Duke's Mansion, had its Military Governor of the Capital Garrison completely taken away. After several reforms, it fell entirely into the hands of the imperial court.

However, due to the internal strife within the imperial court in recent years, many things that were originally going very well have now either been halted or regressed.

"As General Jie said, it's either the East Wind prevails over the West Wind or the West Wind prevails over the East Wind. I wholeheartedly agree with this. Since that's the case, we must persevere and absolutely not fire the first shot!" Zeng Zhi said decisively.

The attitude has already been made clear.

Zeng Zhi's idea was to conquer the world.

He wanted to rule the world.

Having reached his current position, there are some things that Wang Xin believes he can face and cannot ignore.

The things you want to do require the support of many people.

A right thing should naturally have a lot of support.

Zeng Zhi was his right-hand man. Wang Xin believed that Zeng Zhi could accept his ideas, and he also believed that many more people, including the general public, would support his ideas.

“I think,” Wang Xin said slowly.

Zeng Zhi pricked up his ears.

The general often uttered startling and inspiring words.

"The prosperity of a country is never achieved by the management of officials, but by the creation of the people. On the contrary, the bankruptcy of a country, or even the depletion of social vitality, are all caused by the management of officials."

If it were a traditional official, hearing such words would surely enrage him and he would resist them from the bottom of his heart.

However, Zeng Zhi chose Wang Xin, and Wang Xin also chose Zeng Zhi.

Even Zeng Zhi instinctively resisted at first, blurting out: "Many ordinary people don't understand reason and have little knowledge. Without the guidance of scholars, they might be taken advantage of by those with ulterior motives."

Wang Xin smiled.

Since ancient times.

True reformers strive to suppress the power of officials and minimize their contact with ordinary people.

For example, the Single Whip Method.

Regardless of whether the Single Whip Law was right or wrong, the original intention of the reform was to integrate the main tax, various miscellaneous taxes, and military service into a single law that dealt with all the interactions between the government and the people, and to resolve them all at once.

However, Zhang Juzheng could not change one thing: the real rulers of the countryside were the local gentry.

So he suppressed the power of the government, and this vacuum allowed the people to breathe a sigh of relief, giving them some freedom and making their work easier.

Ultimately, the Wanli Emperor's reign reversed the years of bankruptcy and decline that had followed since the Jiajing Emperor's reign. Ten years of reforms ushered in the most prosperous period of the Ming Dynasty.

However, decades later, the void left by the government was gradually filled by local gentry, who even intensified their actions.

Throughout human society, regardless of the era.

Whoever can successfully suppress or alleviate the government's management of the people—a variant inherited from aristocratic slave society and now a product of feudal bureaucratic society—and unleash the vitality of the people, will achieve a corresponding degree of prosperity and strength during that period.

vice versa.

However, Zhang Juzheng did not exist in this timeline.

Wang Xin started with the most conspicuous and earliest one.

"The State of Qin".

Wang Xin calmly said, "The reforms that abolished the hereditary system of official positions and promoted the military merit system undoubtedly suppressed the ecological niche of the aristocracy as 'officials'."

The people were given a new road. Although the new road had just as many problems as the old one, it was much easier and freer. As a result, many people flocked to it.

While other countries still practiced aristocratic slavery, the Qin Dynasty, by incorporating commoners into its society, became more dynamic and undoubtedly achieved prosperity and strength, laying a solid foundation for its future unification of the world.

Is that right?

Zeng Zhi pondered deeply, searching for loopholes in the information.

Outside.

Upon hearing the news, Zhang Yuncheng, who rushed over, was also stunned and lowered his head to think by the door frame.

Wang Xin smiled when he saw Zhang Yuncheng at the door.

I don't dislike scholars.

Although scholars in ancient times and scholars in later generations are both called scholars, they are not the same group.

Wang Xin, a true scholar, supported and hoped to preserve the torch of knowledge.

What is a true scholar? A person who never stops learning.

This learning is not limited to books, but includes everything.

Cleaners, deliverymen, food delivery workers, repairmen, plumbers, construction workers, teachers, doctors—anyone who keeps learning.

Good or bad people are not determined by their profession.

That's just how he is.

Zeng Zhi was somewhat confused and still unwilling to accept it. His voice was hoarse as he said, "Without the Ming Taizu Emperor expelling the Tartars and restoring China, the common people would probably be living in even worse conditions. Let alone the current emphasis on the paramount importance of human life, their own lives would probably be worth less than a sheep's."

"But the former Ming Taizu Emperor was able to succeed because the people supported him. The people needed to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty, so he was able to do it. If the people were unwilling to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty, even a hundred or a thousand of them could not overthrow it."

Wang Xin calmly said, "This is a case of water carrying a boat, but it can also capsize it. After Qin unified the world, its management of the people reverted to the old ways and was even strengthened, or rather, its management reached an extreme level, cruel and inhumane."

Completely disregarding the limits of the people's capacity to endure, the accumulated problems deepened, the people became increasingly impoverished, social vitality withered, and the people's faces became numb. In less than twenty years after unifying the country, the once powerful and invincible super-empire was easily overthrown.

After saying that, Wang Xin asked in return, "If the people hadn't abandoned Qin and looked around the world, which country or power would have dared to look Qin in the eye?"

It was like the fall of the Ming Dynasty.

Natural disasters and man-made calamities have caused the people to abandon the Ming Dynasty.

The Qing Dynasty was a victory for internal and external reactionaries. The nature of the regime determined that it would exploit and oppress the people to the extreme. Therefore, the Qing Dynasty was closed off and backward throughout its history, and eventually became an ignorant and uncivilized civilization.

A long time passed.

Zeng Zhi and Zhang Yuncheng sat in the chairs, motionless as if they were wooden figures.

at last.

Zhang Yuncheng spoke up, asking, "What does the General think we should do?"

"I don't know either." Wang Xin shook his head. Nothing is easy, let alone the most important thing in the world. "That's why I've been struggling with this. I've tried to do some things over the years, and so far the results have been pretty good."

"What are your plans next, General?"

Zhang Yuncheng continued to ask.

"I will do what the people need most," Wang Xin said calmly. "The people want to have enough to eat. I believe that whoever can satisfy this need will gain the people's support."

"Will we gain the support of the people if we just feed them?"

"more than."

Wang Xin shook his head. "Human desires are endless. Besides having enough to eat, there is also dignity, fairness, justice, and so on. Ordinary people also want to live a better life."

Zhang Yuncheng then asked, "What if the imperial court can't do it?"

Wang Xin looked pained.

Sometimes being too clear-headed isn't happiness. Being a happy little warlord and living a carefree life means you won't have too many worries.

But someone always has to strive forward.

Datong comprises four prefectures and seven counties.

They are Hunyuan Prefecture, Weizhou Prefecture, Yingzhou Prefecture, Shuozhou Prefecture, Datong County, Huairen County, Shanyin County, Mayi County, Guangling County, Lingqiu County, and Tianzhen County.

The population of Datong is far smaller than that of the inland areas.

The total population of the eleven prefectures and counties was only 450,000. With the addition of the population that migrated from outside the pass and absorbed, the population has reached 620,000. In previous years, the population of Datong did not exceed 400,000.

In other words, it was because of Wang Xin.

Over the years, Datong has resettled 170,000 people who had been displaced by disasters from various places by assigning them land outside the Great Wall to graze their livestock. In addition, the prosperity of commerce and the land reclamation caused by the influx of people have brought in more than 50,000 people, including various handicraftsmen and small vendors.

Two hundred and twenty thousand people settled down and gained a good life because of Wang Xin.

The prosperity of Datong has also made life much better for the local people.

During the severe drought of the past two years, more than 120,000 people were absorbed through agricultural reclamation teams, ranch teams, and children's corps. As Datong provided relief to disaster victims, even more people from the surrounding areas flocked to the area.

Preliminary estimates suggest that Datong has a population of approximately 800,000.

It's twice the original amount.

Xue Tang Grain Shop normally receives 30,000 to 40,000 shi of grain, but now it has only received 20,000 shi. The opening-market method implemented using the border trade quota should normally provide more than 600,000 shi, but now it only provides 290,000 shi.

The cultivated land in Datong was over 640,000 mu, but the natural disaster caused a crop failure of more than half, with only about 450,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain. This was estimated by the Jiedushi (military governor) government.

With over 100,000 people working hard to reclaim wasteland and search for any land outside the Great Wall, they should have been able to obtain 500,000 shi of grain as provisions, but in reality, they only received less than 20%, amounting to 100,000 shi.

In other words.

Everyone tightened their belts, leaving only 40% of their usual food rations. They ate two meals of thin porridge a day, barely enough to survive, not even considering the other disaster victims in Datong who had not yet been taken in.

Judging from the scale of the disaster victims in various parts of Datong City, the number of disaster victims is no less than that of previous disaster victims.

If we were to take in these disaster victims, we would still be short 70,000 to 80,000 shi (a unit of dry measure).

In normal years, seventy or eighty thousand bushels of grain could be managed in many ways, but now it has everyone frowning in distress.

But the truth facing everyone is...

If the military governor's office does not take action now, then in the coming months, there will be a large-scale starvation in Datong.

Wang Xin hoped the government could resolve the issue, but the government was unable to do so.

That's infuriating.

"I originally wanted to be a loyal subject." Wang Xin thought to himself that he was already in his thirties, and the medical level of the Great Zhou was limited. He wanted to enjoy the rest of his life without having to run around anymore.

Traveling was arduous these days, unlike in later generations.

Wang Xin didn't want to go through the hardships of the journey again.

Actually, nothing is without hardship.

Farming is not hard, nor is being a soldier.

After several months of adjustment, in addition to the original few promoted chief inspectors, Zhang Yuncheng also personally stepped in to help solve problems within the inspection team.

An inspection team of 600 people.

The Datong military garrison only had 55,000 people and more than 600 sentry officers. Did they expect each person to be responsible for one sentry officer?
of course not.

Five days later.

"Boom bang bang."

The inspectors, all dressed in prison uniforms, looked to be around seventeen or eighteen years old. Only the man in his early twenties, who was knocking on the door, pounded on it forcefully, showing no politeness whatsoever.

The Datong army was suddenly mobilized.

The four important cities connecting the inland areas of Shuozhou, Lingqiu County, Weizhou, and Tiancheng City have all strengthened their garrison and increased security at the city gates.

Many people find it hard to believe such abnormal behavior.

Zhou Shiming also became bewildered.

He yelled, "Are you crazy? Why did you have to offend them?"

“Wang Xin’s appetite is getting bigger and bigger. If we give in, he will not only not appreciate it, but will also push his luck even further. Our son has done nothing wrong.” Zhou Gui said indignantly, and sneered, “I don’t believe he would dare to act recklessly.”

"You're going to use the Zhou family's assets to gamble?"

"If he dares to gamble, I dare to gamble too."

Zhou Gui said, forcing himself to speak.

Suddenly, a panicked voice came from outside, "Master, the governor's mansion has sent people, and they're all very fierce." The steward rushed in.

Zhou Shiming frowned.

Zhou Gui looked surprised and suspicious.

"Please let them in." Zhou Shiming glanced at his son, sighed, and said, "Take the young master away."

Zhou Gui thought about it and decided not to stay.

(End of this chapter)