met free Page 2485
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Wanyan Zonghan dismissed his personal guards and whispered, "Speak."
“Xie also died of illness,” Wendu Sizhong said.
"What? I was perfectly fine before I set out with my troops!" Wanyan Zonghan exclaimed in surprise.
Wanyan Xie was also the leader of the Shizu lineage of the Jin Dynasty. He coordinated and appeased the nobles of the Shizu lineage, achieving a delicate balance with Wanyan Zonghan.
This fellow suddenly died of illness, and the Jin state will be thrown into chaos again.
Wanyan Zonghan suddenly felt a huge headache coming on; the death of his biggest political rival might not necessarily be a good thing.
Those nobles from the Shizu lineage were all arrogant and self-important.
With Wanyan Xie also stepping in to keep them in check, they didn't dare to act recklessly.
Now that the leader of the Yama Kings is dead, who knows what kind of trouble the horde of Ox-Headed and Horse-Face demons below will cause.
Wendu Sizhong said, "With Xie also dead, the Shizu faction was leaderless, and a large number of people were won over by the emperor."
"The emperor held a meeting a few days ago and wanted to adopt the crown prince (Aguda's eldest grandson) as his son, and also wanted his own son to become the state leader. Surprisingly, a large group of nobles from the Shizu lineage supported him."
"Wanyan Zonggan is about to lose control; please, Marshal, lead your troops back as soon as possible."
Chapter 3271 Leading Troops in the Field
This was a counterattack by Emperor Wuqimai of the Jin Dynasty. Taking advantage of Wanyan Xieye's death and Wanyan Zonghan's absence with his troops, he secretly won over a group of people from the Shizu lineage.
Moreover, the reasons for adopting the crown prince as his son were very valid.
As the emperor, isn't it only natural for Laozi to adopt the crown prince as his son?
He even wanted his eldest son to inherit the prime ministership vacated by Wanyan Xie's death.
Wanyan Zonghan hurriedly marched back to the capital, and after discussing it with Wanyan Zonggan that night, he proposed to convene the Bojilie Conference the next day.
At the meeting, Wanyan Zonggan said, "Recently, the national treasury has been repeatedly robbed, and even the wine in the warehouse has been stolen."
"I sent men to investigate thoroughly, and they discovered that His Majesty the Emperor ordered the theft. What should be done about this?"
Wanyan Zonghan said, "According to the laws established by Emperor Taizu, he should be given twenty strokes of the military rod!"
Wanyan Zonggan said, "But it was the emperor who stole from the national treasury."
"Is the emperor greater than the laws of the founding emperor?" Wanyan Zonghan retorted.
Wanyan Zonggan said, "It seems that the laws of the Taizu Emperor are still more powerful."
The two of them, speaking in unison, completely bewildered Wu Qimai, as did the other nobles attending the meeting.
Wanyan Zonghan suddenly stood up, rushed to the front of the dragon throne, and dragged Emperor Wuqimai down: "After you've finished beating him with military rods, we can continue the meeting!"
"I am the emperor! I am the emperor!" Wu Qimai exclaimed in shock.
So what if he's the emperor?
Stealing from the national treasury will still get you a beating.
Those nobles of the Shizu lineage who sided with Wuqimai, looking at Wanyan Zonghan who held military power and then at Wanyan Zonggan who controlled half the court, were too frightened to utter a single word of opposition.
The dignified emperor of the Jin Dynasty was actually dragged out and spanked like that.
The Ming Dynasty was unaware of the changes in the Jin court, but it received other news.
"Before the summer harvest this year, when food was scarce, starving people in Changqing County rose up against the Jin dynasty."
Shi Yuangong pointed to the Liao map brought by Yelü Yudu: "Changqing County is more than a hundred li northeast of Datong. Due to the participation of the old Liao strongmen who led their troops, the rebel army actually defeated the local garrison."
"They dared not attack Datong directly, so they plundered and abducted people along the way to the east. After besieging Tiancheng (Tianzhen) County for several days without success, they plundered the villages and towns on the outskirts of the city and went on their way."
"The Jin state urgently dispatched troops from Datong to suppress the uprising, and the rebel army crossed the mountains to launch a surprise attack on Huai'an County. As a result, they were defeated by the Huai'an garrison and scattered into dozens of groups, fleeing into the surrounding mountains."
"The Jin soldiers who had been sent to Guihua (Xuanhua) were also mobilized to search the mountains and suppress the enemy. They were ambushed by the rebel army at Duanyunling."
"Although the rebel army was defeated, it is said that the Jin army lost several hundred men."
"Two other rebel armies fled over mountains and valleys to Yongning (Yangyuan) and Shunsheng. The local people had long been unable to bear the exploitation of the Jin state, and were also suffering from famine and could not survive, so they all helped the old and young to join the rebel army."
"The rebel armies in these two places grew rapidly, and even took advantage of the Jin troops being transferred away to launch a surprise attack and capture the city of Hongzhou."
"The Jurchens, who were guarding against the Ming army, dared not move their troops from various passes. The Jurchens could only send troops back from further north to suppress the rebels."
“There was a Han Chinese from the north named He Cheng, who was originally a local strongman in the Liao Kingdom. A few years ago, he was forced to lead his troops to surrender to the Jin Kingdom.”
"He was badly defeated by General Zhang Guangdao and knew the might of our Ming army. His hometown and clansmen were also being exploited by the Jin state. Two months ago, he took advantage of the chaos to lead his troops to rebel against the Jin."
Chapter 3272 Five Hundred Defeated Soldiers
"The Jin army blocked the southward passage. He Cheng sent people over mountains and valleys, hoping that our Great Ming could take the opportunity to send troops to attack Datong. He would contact various righteous armies to cooperate with the Great Ming in the battle."
After recounting this series of sudden changes, Zhang Shuye clapped his hands and laughed, "The destruction of the Jin Dynasty is imminent!"
Zhang Tang said, "It seems that the Jin Kingdom's food shortage is getting more and more serious. The people of Datong can no longer bear it, and even the former Liao soldiers are risking their lives to rebel."
Wang Yuan said, "Why don't we break the peace treaty with the Jin Kingdom and take advantage of the chaos in Yunzhong to send troops to attack Yanmen Pass!"
Yang Weizhong said: "According to the intelligence sent back from Shanxi, the Jin troops stationed at various strategic passes were not actually transferred to quell the rebellion."
"If we send troops hastily, we may find it difficult to break through in a short time."
Zhang Shuye said, "There is no need to rush the Northern Expedition. The Jin dynasty will become increasingly chaotic, while the Ming dynasty will grow stronger day by day."
"Delaying the deployment by one year will increase the chances of victory."
The ministers of the Privy Council all spoke up. Some advocated sending troops this autumn, some advocated sending troops next summer, and some said that the Northern Expedition should be postponed for a few more years.
In fact, there is more information that the Ming Dynasty court has not yet received.
Because Wanyan Zonghan needed to control the court, he brought several thousand core elite troops back to Harbin, resulting in an insufficient number of Jin soldiers in the area.
Rebellions broke out in various prefectures and counties of Datong Prefecture. The Jin Dynasty dared not withdraw its guard troops and could only send troops stationed on the grasslands southward.
Once the Jin army left the grasslands, the Ongud tribe of the White Tatars seized the opportunity to send troops to conquer the Tanggu and Khitan tribes in the southwest.
Richard of Western Xia had been secretly watching. Seeing that even the Ongud tribe dared to cause trouble, he thought, what was there to be afraid of?
Richard then led 8,000 elite troops straight to the Jin Dynasty's Tiande Army.
The name Tiande Army was given during the Tang Dynasty, but it was divided up by the Western Xia and Liao Dynasties in the early Song Dynasty.
To put it in terms of later administrative divisions, the Western Xia occupied Bayannur, while the Liao Dynasty occupied Baotou.
First of all, the area is rich in aquatic plants and can even grow rice!
Secondly, it is a transportation hub and a core transit point on the Liao Dynasty's grassland Silk Road.
When Emperor Tianzuo fled, he passed through this place several times, and each time he had to conscript young men into the army. The Jin state also pursued and attacked him many times, which led to a sharp decline in the population of Baotou.
When Richard led his army to Baotou, nearby tribes vied to join them and helped the Western Xia army kill the Jin soldiers stationed there.
Eight thousand elite Western Xia soldiers, along with more than three thousand steppe cavalry, surrounded and killed only five hundred Jin Dynasty cavalrymen.
The Western Xia elite suffered nearly 3,000 casualties, and the tribal cavalry suffered hundreds of casualties before collapsing.
Of the five hundred Jin cavalrymen, only a little over one hundred died in battle, and the rest all managed to escape.
As a result, Baotou was captured by the Western Xia.
Hohhot and Ulanqab, on the other hand, were occupied by the Ongud tribe.
The Western Xia expanded its territory for two consecutive years, and its national strength seemed to be on the rise, but the power struggle was becoming increasingly fierce.
Richard, whose prestige was utterly shattered by the Ming army, regained his military prestige through two years of foreign wars.
Even when he returned to the capital, he brought two thousand of his elite troops with him, which terrified Li Qianshun, the ruler of Western Xia, so much that he could not eat or sleep.
.....
After discussions within the Privy Council, it was decided that the Ming Dynasty would temporarily refrain from launching a northern expedition and continue to uphold the peace treaty with the Jin Dynasty.
There's no need to go through the cabinet process anymore, because the Privy Council's decision is the Emperor's decision!
Given the Jin Dynasty's dilapidated political system, its true national strength would inevitably decline rapidly if it could not sustain continuous warfare and plunder.
Instead of allowing them to recuperate, it will only lead to widespread rebellions.
As for the Ming Dynasty, it only needs to continue developing its internal affairs.
The biggest advantage of implementing the land tax reform was that it was conducive to population growth and made population statistics easier.
In ancient times, only the number of households and the number of adult males were usually counted, because these were linked to taxes and corvée labor.
For example, during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty, there were a total of more than 867 million households, but only more than 1993 million people, with an average of just over two people per household.
Clearly, the "mouth" here does not refer to the population, but rather to the men who are required to serve in the military.
Now, in areas where the land tax system has been implemented, the Ming Dynasty government directly counts the number of households and the population.
In areas where the land tax system has not been fully implemented, the number of households and the number of people are still being counted.
Even if Zhao Yuan wanted to conduct a census, it would be difficult. As long as the government was collecting poll tax, the people would try every means to evade it and would not want their newborns to be registered.
"The household registration statistics from Guangdong and Guangxi have also been sent over,"
Zhao Yuan threw out the national statistical report,
"Including Youzhou, there were a total of more than 1629 million households nationwide, which is far less than the 2088 million households during the middle of Zhao Ji's reign."
"Moreover, due to war, famine and migration, the average population per household in the new Ming Dynasty was actually far less than that during the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song."
Zhao Yuan estimated: "From the last fifteen years of Emperor Huizong's reign to the Jin army's southward rampage and Zhong Xiang's rebellion in Hunan, the national population probably lost a quarter of its size."
"Especially Hebei, Shandong, Hunan, and Zhejiang, were severely affected by the war."
Chapter 3273 The Era of Immigration
"For a new dynasty, our foundation is already quite good, even very good,"
Zhao Yuan said,
"But because too few people died, many problems remain, and the pace of integrating land tax into poll tax must be accelerated."
"Only by increasing the population can we make it easier for immigrants to settle on the border."
"Youzhou needs to increase its Han population, including Goryeo, the southwest, and the Hexi Corridor..."
"Even in the future, the Western Regions will require semi-forced immigration."
Zhao Yuan said, "The first five years after the founding of the country were relatively stable, and we expect a baby boom in the next two or three years."
"In another twelve or thirteen years, when these babies grow up, they will be able to roll up their sleeves and get to do great things."
"Three to five hundred thousand immigrants to Guizhou and three to five hundred thousand immigrants to Yunnan are needed to initially control Yunnan and Guizhou and establish strongholds in major cities and transportation hubs."
Zhao Yuan suddenly called in a eunuch and asked him to bring something.
"Cotton cloth?" Wen Huanzhang glanced at it.
Zhao Yuan said, "The dwarfing breeding of cotton is still underway, but I can't wait any longer."
"In the past two years, the Agricultural Promotion Office and local officials have promoted cotton. There are now two million mu of cotton fields in Shandong and more than one hundred thousand mu of cotton fields in Jiangsu and Zhejiang."
"Because cotton is so popular, there is no need for officials to guide the way, and the number of cotton fields is increasing year by year."
Wen Huanzhang muttered, "It seems we should start developing cotton armor."
Zhao Yuan laughed and said, "I have already instructed the agricultural officials to guide farmers in Jiangnan to adopt the 'three dry and one wet method'."
"It involves planting cotton for three years and then rice for one year, implementing a crop rotation system."
"This technology can maintain soil fertility and reduce pests and diseases. Once it matures, cotton planting in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions will definitely be more popular among farmers."
"His Majesty is the expert on this matter, so you have the final say," Wen Huanzhang changed the subject, "I heard His Majesty really intends to take a concubine?"
Zhao Yuan said sternly, "This is none of your business."
"I don't care,"
Wen Huanzhang stood up, patted his backside, and waved his hand.
"Let's go, let's go sunbathe."
Zhao Yuan also went to the Hanlin Painting Academy to inspect its work, and finally went to Li Qingzhao's office. The nearby officials all tactfully went back to their rooms to do their work.