Xiaozhan Town is located in the southern suburbs of Tianjin. Later generations are famous for its high-quality rice. In fact, the Xiaozhan area has started rice cultivation since the Song and Liao dynasties, and it did not start when it became famous in the late Qing Dynasty.

During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the method of farming in Jiangnan was used to build cross-circular fields, which was no less than 180,000 mu, and the yield per mu reached the level of four or five stones of paddy fields and one or two stones of dry fields. If the place name was covered, those who didn't know would think this was Jiangnan instead of Tianjin, which was the gateway to Yanjing.

Due to the loss of Jiangnan, the Qing court also restored the cross-cultural farming established by Xu Guangqi, Wang Yingjiao and other officials in the late Ming Dynasty as much as possible. However, although Tianjin is not far from the capital, there are also small-scale anti-Qing rebels in the local area. In the fifth year of Shunzhi, the female hero Zhang of Tianjin anti-Qing claimed that after the Tianqi Empress organized the people of Tianjin to fight against the Qing Dynasty, the Qing court paid more attention to Tianjin, but the anti-Qing rebels still exist in the countryside, and in the past two years, it has been threatening the small camp's military farming.

Because of this, from Dagukou to Acropolis, you can go up the Haihe River. The Wuwei Right Army moved to the small station of the town, and the Haihe River in Dagukou, Acropolis and the Gegu section. At the same time, it can also intimidate and wipe out the local anti-Qing rebels in Tianjin. It can be said that it is a win-win situation.

The Wuwei Right Army moved the town, the construction of the Daying and the preliminary preparations for Tianjin Mancheng would take a lot of time. In addition, the fall of Lushun has not been long, even if the Ming army navy was too arrogant and really aimed at the General Administration of Mechanical Manufacturing in Tianjin Acropolis, it would also take time to strengthen the Lushun Fort to ensure that the nail could be stably inserted in southern Liaoning, but the move to the town was not in a hurry.

As soon as the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Ming Army was used in Lushun, the Qing court had no choice but to make necessary adjustments to the established layout. In fact, until today, the Qing government's controlled area is still larger than the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Ming Army, but the size of the territory does not represent everything. Whether it is military power or economy, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Ming Army is stronger. As the stronger side, if there is a disturbance, the weak side must tremble and make the most appropriate response, just like Zhejiang before the offense and defense.

The news of the recovery of Lushun was sent back to Nanjing by Japan as soon as possible. When Chen Wen received the news, the Qing court's response to adjusting the grain route and moving the right army of Wuwei was also announced.

Without radio, Chen Wen could not do remote control command for Lushun, which was thousands of miles away, and he had never considered remote control command.

The military affairs of southern Liaoning have been fully handed over to Zhao Qian, the Marquis of Qian, the general of the Liaoning Military Affairs Officer. The two deputy generals under him, Zheng Qi, was responsible for the navy's cut off the food route, and Li Huanxiang was responsible for harassing the four southern guards. Chen Wen was not in a hurry to invest more. At least, Chen Wen has not yet gathered tens of thousands of troops in Lushun for the time being, and used giant ships and cannons to raid Dagukou or raid Shanhaiguan.

The surprise soldiers were like this. After several months of evidence collection and trial, a large number of gentry and merchants in Susongchang Town were prosecuted by the Criminal Office for serious disruption of social order and affair with the captive court. The mastermind families such as the Gu family, Gao family, and Wang family in Wuxi were uprooted. Chen Wen even carried out a bloody blow to those merchants involved in smuggling, and even the accomplices went from beheading to beating the board to punishing the silver.

Of course, the fine of silver must be paid in silver dollars. The salaries of officials in the Criminal Office have been changed to silver dollars, so naturally they cannot tolerate criminals using silver ingots to pay fines.

After this economic war, Chen Wen used a brand new tactic to attack the local "reactionary forces", expanded his own strength, and showed his economic strength to the entire China and even the surrounding areas.

Of course, Suzhou's economy was also traumatized before the New Year. The capital foundation in the industrial chain was vacant. A large number of workshops and shops were sealed. The problem of "difficulty in finding a job" that cannot be found during the New Year became a problem that Suzhou people often mentioned when greeting New Year.

However, before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, no one mentioned the entire problem anymore. Because the case was quickly tried, a large number of shops and workshops were sold by the government to the "moderate" gentry who had recently entered the Suzhou market and the workshop owners who rushed over from eastern Zhejiang. The decisive battle between Chen Wen and the gentry of Susongchang Town and the merchants made them smell the bloody smell of capital. Almost out of instinct, these guys rushed over in groups like wolves, and in the last stage of the decisive battle, their classmates took a bite on their bodies in the same year as Susongchang Town.

Suzhou's economic recovery will take time, but the eradication of these lawless and lawless people who were used to by the Ming court and their meaning is limited to the existence of cancers that disrupt normal economic development. Suzhou's future development will become more benign.

A heavy blow was made to the gentry of Jiangnan led by the remnants of the Donglin Party. The "radical" gentry was hit. However, among the officials of the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang and their long-standing supporters, there were a large number of "moderate" gentry, among which there were even more figures like Qian Qianyi and Huang Zongxi who were also from the Donglin Party. Chen Wen once again praised Qian Qianyi and other gentry in the mansion for leading relatives and friends to assist the government in implementing the new policy.

As for whether those "reactionary forces" would jealous of Mr. Shui Taileng, not only Chen Wen didn't care, but even Qian Qianyi wouldn't care at all, because he was well-informed and had already learned some important information. Maybe it won't take long for him to return to the court, and it is not unimaginable that he will be the chief minister of the cabinet.

In the Battle of Suzhou, the income was as high as tens of millions of taels of silver, and a large amount of supplies was only in the warehouses of the gentry and merchants and were punished to return to the warehouses of the government. Most of them will be used for the ongoing military expansion, training and the subsequent Northern Expedition. Of course, the tiger whip sold by Sichuan people is exceptional, and the army does not need such things to "improve combat effectiveness."

With a good income, Chen Wen was much stingy with his wife and children, and only gave him a custom-made item. In contrast, since he formed an army on Dalan Mountain in the fourth year of Yongli, Chen Wen directly raised his salary for the soldiers in the army, as well as officials in the Qi Palace and local governments for the first time.

"The military garrison and the inland waters of various provinces, the military pay of soldiers, one tael of five cents, and one stone of grain, increased to three silver dollars, one and a half stone of grain, and the officers increased; the military pay of soldiers of the army, one tael of battalions, and one stone of naval soldiers, increased to four silver dollars, two stone of grain, and the officers increased. The officials of the King of Qi's palace and the prefectures and counties and government offices were sent to increase their salary according to the official ranks and governors..."

The announcement has been issued, and officials from the military and local governments responded enthusiastically. After all, no one would think that the money was too much, and they were all normal salaries.

"In this way, the military pay alone will be as high as nine million taels of silver every year, and this is not considered food. Fu Ren, our Jiangsu and Zhejiang Kings Division is strong, but the time to restore half of the south of the Yangtze River is still short, and the family is still too thin. Isn't it a bit big? Some..."

In the first month of the year, Chen Wen conducted a round of switching services to officials of the first-level governors from all over the country and officials of the Qi Wang Mansion, including Sun Yu, Wang Jiang and other local officials were transferred back to the Qi Wang Mansion to serve. As a recognized financial expert, Wang Jiang still learned about the increase in salary on the way, which was already a fait accompli, but after he arrived at the Qi Wang Mansion, he still couldn't help but complain to Chen Wen.

"Uncle Chang, the taxes of the state were originally the core idea of ​​Emperor Gao in order to restore the decline of people's livelihood from the Yuan Dynasty to the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Rest and recuperation were the core idea of ​​such a strange tax system. However, the times changed and the world was changed, and such tax rates were still followed for a long time. How could the country support its soldiers?"

"Fu Ren, you must not increase taxes. Now that half of the Jiangnan area has just been restored, the people really can't stand such troubles."

Before Chen Wen finished speaking, Wang Jiang immediately interrupted. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the three salary increases were not large in quantity and the proportion was not large, but he still forced the people in the north to rebel. Chen Wen knew all these, and Wang Jiang knew very well that Chen Wen knew about these, but once the tax increase was mentioned, especially in this day, the Ming army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang did not fight for the suppression of salary or the training of salary, but the Liao salary still existed in taxes, so it was indeed not a good thing to increase taxes again.

"Uncle Chang, let me finish my words."

Knowing that Wang Jiang had good intentions, Chen Wen shook his head and smiled before continuing the words just now: "I remember that the salt tax in the Tang Dynasty accounted for half of the tax revenue, and the salt tea in the Song Dynasty was the same. The tax rate of industrial and commercial tax in the State Dynasty was extremely low, so it was time to change it."

On average, the industrial and commercial taxes in the Ming Dynasty were basically no different from the thirty-tax tax of grain tax. The huge profits in industry and commerce were far superior to the regular tax. The tax was maintained so low, and the development of handicrafts and commerce was no less than that of the Southern Song Dynasty by the end of the Ming Dynasty. However, the Ming court not only had no money to support soldiers, but also forced the people to rebel, which was rare in the world.

Chen Wen decided to increase the industrial and commercial tax rate. This is the justification, but Wang Jiang was a little hesitant about this. He pondered for a moment before saying to Chen Wen: "Fu Ren, I know you are not afraid of those gentry and merchants, but now you still focus on the northern expedition, and stability in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is the top priority."

Wang Jiang's meaning is very clear. In order to stabilize temporarily, the announcement and implementation of the tax rate increase policy was also very attractive to Chen Wen. Because nothing unexpected happened, this year, in the 13th year of Yongli, Chen Wen was about to launch an army to fight in the northern expedition. With the current strength of the Qing Dynasty, if he could defeat him in just one year, it would be really not impossible to consider.

However, Chen Wen shook his head. He had thought about this matter, but in light of the current situation and the new era he wanted, this risk was worth taking the last time. Moreover, the gentry in Jiangnan had just suffered a heavy blow, and Chen Wen was confident that he had the prestige to suppress all opponents.

"Fu Ren, you want me to come back because of this?"

Chen Wen had made up his mind, and Wang Jiang had no choice but to help. The two worked together for many years, and Chen Wen was too familiar with Wang Jiang, but this time he did not just ask Wang Jiang to come to preside over the tax increase, at least not limited to this.

"Uncle Chang, let's put it this way. Now that the territory is large, the original powers of the Qi Prince's Mansion are not enough to be used. Moreover, the Northern Expedition is about to be imminent, so I cannot raise troops to fight the government affairs reported by various provinces while also placing them. This is unrealistic, so the administrative system must be further integrated and adjusted. This time I ask you to come back, and I will have to worry about Uncle Chang's talent and preside over the financial plan for my Jiangsu and Zhejiang King's Division."

As Chen Wen said, Wang Jiang could only understand that in the past, when there were only Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces, one province was under Sun Yu and the other province was under his charge. However, with the continuous expansion of the occupied areas, there are now seven provinces and nine governors, and a large number of senior civil servants were dispatched to various places. They were directly responsible to Chen Wen alone. However, in such a large area, especially after Chen Wen raised his troops to the Northern Expedition, such a method of rule seemed a bit inadequate. A new team must be established in Nanjing for unified management.

However, Chen Wen had not done this in the past few years, and a large part of the reason was that the Ming court did not grant him the corresponding rights. Chen Wen, the King of Qi, was only responsible for the military affairs of these provinces and had no right to interfere in local administration, at least in name.

"Fu Ren, have you really figured it out?"

"Yes."

Chen Wen knew exactly what Wang Jiang said, but the time node he had been waiting for was almost here, especially the situation in several southwestern provinces and the expansion of the Qing Dynasty Army drove him to make up his mind.

"So what is the official position Fu Ren is going to leave me?"

The Ming court did not grant Chen Wen enough rights. Since Chen Wen still worshipped the Ming court, there must be corresponding taboos. Wang Jiang knew his intentions well, and Chen Wen laughed out loud when he heard this.

"Secretary of Finance, how about it?"

"Minister of Finance?" Wang Jiang savored the word, but looked cramped, and then said with a smile: "It sounds really not deep, so why not call him the Minister of the Du Branch."

Chen Wen also let down Wang Jiang's words. This was an adjustment of the official system and a political statement. Zhang Huangyan had been left with the righteousness of expelling the Tartars before. However, he had expected the thoughts of others, but he could not guarantee that there would be any accidents. However, with Wang Jiang this time, he could have been relieved.

"The Du Branch is a good name, but I dare not use the word "Shangshu". I have no intention of providing materials for the censors in the court to write memorials."

"Is Fu Ren afraid too?"

"I'm not afraid of it. I'm preparing for the Northern Expedition this year. There are always a group of crows calling out, which is really not auspicious."

As soon as this was said, the two of them looked at each other and laughed. During the Han Dynasty, there were many cypress trees outside the Censorate, and there were many crows, so people called the Censorate. With Wutai, the censors who worked in Wutai would be all crows, which was consistent with their identity positioning.

Chen Wen has never liked empty talkers. He would rather have the cruel officials in the Supervisory Department who supervised others for their official positions than use their mouths to criticize the censors. Not to mention anything else, one is sincerely trying to create political achievements and worked hard to investigate and collect evidence. The other, especially the censors in the late Ming Dynasty, had news and empty talk become a trend. This era was largely delayed by empty talk, and naturally it could not attract Chen Wen's favor.

After talking about the serious matter and laughing at the joke, Chen Wen took a sip of tea, but Wang Jiang remembered something and asked Chen Wen directly: "Fu Ren, I remember that the marriage between Wanxun's daughter and Taichong's son is scheduled to be a month later, right?"

The marriage between Wang Yi's daughter and Huang Zongxi's son was very early, and Chen Wen even talked about it when he first met Huang Zongxi after Wang Yi's death. Because Huang Zongxi's son was too young, the marriage has been delayed to this day. Fortunately, with the current situation, Wang Yi's daughter does not have to face the fate of being forced to marry others and resolutely committing suicide. This is also the last thing Chen Wen can repay Wang Yi's kindness for his understanding back then.
Chapter completed!