met free Chapter 197 What is Old Deng trying to do?
Chapter 197 What is Old Deng trying to do?
Yang Shaofeng turned his head to look in the direction of the county town, and then looked in the direction of Wenshang County to the west. His stubborn nature flared up again. After snorting, he said to Lame Wu, "Let's go back to the county government. Anyway, it was his son who stole Xiaolongtuan. Let's see what Chang Pingzhang can do to me."
Upon returning to the county government office, Yang Shaofeng greeted Chang Yuchun with a broad smile, bowing and saying, "This humble official greets Chang Pingzhang."
Chang Yuchun sat imposingly in the chair in the main hall of the county government office, and snorted with an unpleasant expression, "Is the Little Dragon Rice Ball delicious?"
Yang Shaofeng's smile froze instantly, and he tentatively asked, "Is it good?"
Chang Yuchun was even angrier, but when he thought that the Xiaolongtuan was stolen by his two little beasts, he couldn't blame Yang Shaofeng no matter what. So he had to suppress his anger and snorted again, "I'm hungry. Have someone prepare some food and brew a pot of Xiaolongtuan—damn it, I didn't drink a drop, and these two little beasts stole half of it for you!"
Chang Yuchun grew angrier as he spoke, and couldn't help but slam his hand on the table in front of him. He stood up angrily and headed straight for the back office.
Magistrate Yang breathed a sigh of relief and instructed Limpy Wu, "Quickly, have the cook prepare some food, and have someone slaughter a pig and stew some big bones. Also, kill two chickens, stir-fry one and keep the other whole, just boil it with salt."
After Limpy Wu hurriedly went to find the cook, Magistrate Yang took a deep breath and followed Chang Yuchun to the back office.
Upon arriving at the rear office, Magistrate Yang first personally boiled a pot of water, washed the teaware, and then brewed a small cup of tea. He then presented it to Chang Yuchun with a smile and said, "Minister Chang, you have worked hard in battle. Please have some tea."
Chang Yuchun sniffed, took the teacup, sipped it, and couldn't help but exclaim, "Excellent tea!"
Just thinking that this tea originally belonged to him, and that he had originally planned to give it to Yang Shaofeng, made Chang Yuchun feel heartbroken and want to cry.
You damn beasts!
Those two inhuman bastards are beasts, and this little bastard with a big smile in front of me is a beast too!
With a heavy sigh, Chang Yuchun placed the teacup back on the table before speaking: "I ask you, what have you been up to lately that your superiors actually summoned us back from the northern desert?"
Yang Shaofeng was slightly taken aback and asked, "Mobei? Wasn't Chang Pingzheng supposed to be recovering Shanxi and Shaanxi with Xu Xiang and the others? How come he's gone to Mobei again?"
Chang Yuchun snorted coldly and said, "After Li Siqi surrendered, Xu Da and I originally intended to march straight to Qin and Jin, but unexpectedly, the Iron Pot took the opportunity to order the Tartar Prime Minister to also lead his army to counterattack Dadu. Li Wenzhong and I led 10,000 iron cavalry and 80,000 infantry to rescue Beiping. The Tartars fled at the sight of us. I thought that since we were already here, we might as well take Shangdu Kaiping directly. So I led my army to pursue them, but before we could catch up to Shangdu, we were called back by the Emperor."
At this point, Chang Yuchun couldn't help but look at Magistrate Yang with curiosity and ask, "You still haven't told me what you've been up to lately?"
Yang Shaofeng spread his hands, his face full of helplessness, and replied, "I have been in charge of spring plowing and silkworm breeding in Ningyang County recently. Even when I have some free time, I am worried about the road in the south of the city and the various workshops inside and outside the city. Not to mention, there is also fried noodles to supply to the army. How can I have any other time to do anything else?"
After a slight pause, Magistrate Yang added, "If I had to say, it would be that Wang Sheren came to Ningyang County twice more. Once to inquire about the issuance of paper money, and once to talk about how scholars were unwilling to take up official positions. Then I told him about the excessive preferential treatment given to scholars."
After hearing Magistrate Yang's explanation, Chang Yuchun suddenly realized: "As expected, it was you who did this! I knew it. If you hadn't been stirring things up behind the scenes, the Prime Minister would never have called me back from the northern desert. Even if he had called me back, he would never have done so when we were about to conquer Shangdu, let alone let me lead five thousand iron cavalry back to the capital alone."
Yang Shaofeng was immediately startled.
Did Zhu recall Chang Yuchun and 5,000 cavalry?
It's a good thing to recall Chang Yuchun. After all, it seems that Chang Heitan was chasing the Tartars in the northern desert and suddenly died on the way back because he had to remove his armor due to the heat. Now, the weather in March is still a bit cool, so Chang Heitan wouldn't have to remove his armor because of the heat, and naturally he wouldn't have died suddenly.
But the information revealed by recalling 5,000 iron cavalry is terrifying.
What is Old Deng trying to do?
If the goal is simply to force scholars into official positions and strip them of their various privileges and preferential treatment, then a single imperial edict would suffice.
The third official document sent by the Secretariat had already proven this point.
Aside from a bad reputation, it doesn't affect anything else.
As a result, this old Deng suddenly recalled 5,000 cavalry to the capital to garrison it, and he even had the infamous Chang Yuchun personally lead the troops...
He planned to confront the gentry of Jiangnan and the scholars of the land directly, and to implement the policy of requiring the gentry to pay taxes together. These five thousand iron cavalry were his source of confidence.
No, it shouldn't be said that the policy of requiring gentry to pay taxes together was implemented. Rather, when Zhu Yuanzhang made up his mind to abolish all preferential treatment and privileges for scholars, he had already started implementing the policy of requiring gentry to pay taxes together—and weren't the so-called gentry also scholars?
If that's the case, then things are in serious trouble.
Or to put it more bluntly, Zhu Yuanzhang may have already mentally prepared himself to completely destroy Jiangnan and start over, and may even have postponed the Northern Expedition because of this!
Damn it, he's a wolf killer!
Seeing the constantly changing expression on Magistrate Yang's face, Chang Yuchun became curious and asked directly, "What are you thinking about?"
Yang Shaofeng came to his senses, shook his head slightly, and replied, "I was just thinking that His Majesty's decision to exempt scholars from preferential treatment would inevitably offend them, especially the local gentry. I admire His Majesty's great courage."
Chang Yuchun was slightly taken aback, and muttered to himself, "Gentlemen, gentry."
After muttering a few words, Chang Yuchun chuckled coldly and said, "Fine, I'd like to see just how much trouble these so-called gentry can cause."
As Chang Yuchun finished speaking, Magistrate Yang immediately burst into laughter.
Gentry?
What a load of bull!
Li Erfeng was involved in literary pursuits with members of the five prominent families and seven influential clans, but she was secretly mocked by them.
When Huang Chao picked up his knife, the members of the Five Clans and Seven Families all became very obedient.
Later, the fourth prince, whom the women who traveled through time to the Qing Dynasty longed for, implemented a policy of tax collection by officials and gentry, which was even more ruthless than Zhu Yuanzhang's policy of tax collection by scholars and gentry. In the end, it still went on as usual. If it weren't for the spendthrift Qian Long, the Qing Dynasty might have lasted a few more years.
As for his confidence, Old Zhu has more confidence than anyone else!
Thinking of this, Yang Shaofeng simply smiled and said to Chang Yuchun, "President Chang, please wait a moment, the food will be ready soon."