Reduce the power of local officials?
no!
Wang Fuzhi shook his head.
He has been serving as a local official in recent years and is well aware of the difficulties of local administration.
There are all kinds of birds in a big forest, and the same is true for humans.
In some places the people are simple and honest, while in other places the people are prone to being unruly.
In addition, there are various forces at the local level, and it is difficult to govern the area well if local officials do not have sufficient power.
How can we have the best of both worlds?
Wang Fuzhi thought for a while but had no idea, so he turned his attention back to Wang Jun in front of him.
"Wang Jun, I will consider reporting your remarks to the court and His Majesty. Let's talk about the present situation first." Wang Fuzhi pointed at Wang Jun's eyes and said, "Now that you have been captured, are you willing to submit to the court?"
"I sincerely wish to die, please grant my wish, sir." Wang Jun showed no fear.
"Wang Jun, you..." Ren Qi was very surprised that Wang Jun took the initiative to ask for death.
"This...why do we need to do this?" Although Fan Ciwu was mentally prepared, he still felt regretful.
"Are you sure?" Wang Fuzhi asked with blinking eyes.
"I have no regrets even if I die." Wang Jun had a firm expression and a resolute attitude.
"In that case, let's lock him up and wait for the imperial decree to execute him in the autumn." Wang Fuzhi shook his head and gave the order.
Wang Jun was a man of character, and he originally wanted to summon Wang Jun to serve the court.
As a result, the other party wanted to die.
What a pity, it’s really a pity.
After taking Wang Jun away, Wang Fuzhi looked at Fan Ciwu and said, "You refused to accept the imperial edict before, and now you want to surrender after being arrested. You are treating the imperial edict as a joke. Not only do you ignore my intentions, you are also suspected of ignoring the court and the law!"
"In order to maintain the dignity of the court, I can execute you on the spot."
Fan Ciwu's face turned red and white, and he became very nervous.
Wang Fuzhi continued, "But God is merciful, and I don't want to do that. In addition, you didn't resist at the time, but surrendered, so I decided to spare your life for now."
"As for where to go... just stay and serve in General Li's army."
"Thank you, Lord Wang." Although Fan Ciwu was dissatisfied in his heart, he approved of the result.
After all, he did not choose to surrender at the first time, but instead confronted the court.
The next step was to resettle Ren Qi and others, the leader of the Yuyuan Army.
Wang Fuzhi handed them over to Li Dingguo.
To be on the safe side, Li Dingguo divided them into several groups and deployed them to various parts of the army.
After settling all the personnel.
Li Dingguo, with the Yuyuan Army as a guide, entered Yuyuan to wipe out the remaining bandits.
The Yuyuan Army has dozens of forces, large and small.
Among them, Ren Qi, Zhang Qi, Liang Min, Huang Zhenshan, Fan Ciwu, Wang Jun and others have the largest number of troops under their command and are the strongest.
In addition to them, there are many small and medium-sized forces.
Some are willing to surrender, while others are unwilling to surrender.
For those who are unwilling to surrender, we can only send troops to eliminate them, otherwise it will become a trouble sooner or later.
With the Yuyuan Army as a guide, Li Dingguo was able to clear the enemy's territory very quickly and efficiently.
The collection of taxes began in the middle of the twelfth lunar month of the twenty-third year of Chongzhen and lasted until the end of the first lunar month of the twenty-fourth year of Chongzhen.
During this month or so, Wang Fuzhi was not idle.
He has been thinking about how to prevent officials from doing illegal things in advance.
At first he thought he could rely on human supervision, such as local inspectors, officials from the land bureau, and censors at all levels...
Later he abandoned this idea.
If human supervision was useful, there wouldn't have been so many corrupt officials being killed and so many unjust cases in the Ming Dynasty.
So if you want to solve this problem fundamentally, you have to think of another way.
Wang Fuzhi thought and wrote at the same time.
Countless words were written on paper.
When the Battle of Yuyuan ended, the tax silver from Jiangnan was also transported to the capital.
Woo——
On the 29th day of the first lunar month, there was heavy snow in the capital.
The strong wind made a shrill humming sound, echoing throughout the capital.
Wang Chengen walked through the snow to the Palace of Heavenly Purity and reported to Chongzhen, "Your Majesty, the 4.5 million taels of silver that Song Quan donated to the government for his trip to the south to inspect the salt industry has arrived. The convoy has now arrived in the Huangcun area and will be able to enter the capital before dark."
"Yeah," Chongzhen nodded, and his heart finally settled down.
Four and a half million taels can not only make up for last year's deficit, but also solve part of the military expenses for pacifying Liao this year.
The most important thing is that the Salt Inspector Song Quan gave him some money.
A full 1.5 million taels of silver.
This was the first time since he traveled through time that an official had taken the initiative to give him money.
Moreover, the money was given in the name of strengthening the defense of the Beijing camp.
Although there are three major camps in the capital, the governor of the Beijing camp, Liu Wenyao, is his man.
In other words, all this money can go into his pocket.
As for how much money Song Quan made or how much money he gave to Xie Sanbin, Chongzhen didn't care.
As long as he wanted, he could take the money back one day by confiscating the property.
His attention has always been on the war in Liaodong.
From the beginning of winter to now, the Ping Liao army and the Jiannu have not fought a single major battle, but have fought dozens of small-scale battles.
Overall, the army is at a disadvantage.
Especially after it snowed, the snow in some places was even above the knees.
For the Ming army's infantry, even marching became a problem, let alone forming a battle array.
When the Eight Banners and Mongolian soldiers attacked, they rode on horses and moved like the wind in the snow that was several feet thick.
The Ming army could only send out cavalry to resist the enemy.
The Ming cavalry was indeed very powerful, but their numbers were ultimately outnumbered by the enemy.
and...
The advantage of the Ming army was the coordinated combat between infantry and cavalry.
Without the support of infantry, the overall combat effectiveness of the cavalry was greatly weakened.
On the other hand, the Eight Banners Army and the Mongolian Army could rely on the advantage of their war horses to move back and forth on the battlefield and lead the Ming Army by the nose.
If the Ming army pursued, they would be surrounded by hundreds of enemies.
If the Ming army did not pursue, the enemy would harass them outside the city.
As a result, the soldiers and civilians in the city did not dare to go out to cut wood.
Very distressed.
In addition to the war in Liaodong, there is also the big trouble of Zheng Zhilong.
Thinking of Zheng Zhilong, Chongzhen asked Wang Chengen: "Shen Shouyue just suffered a defeat. Has the Ministry of War convicted him?"
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of War's petition has just been sent to the Imperial Household Department. I just took a look and found that the Ministry of War has charged him with improper command and fined him three months' salary."
"Too light," Chongzhen snorted coldly, "Just as Concubine Zhao was banished to the cold palace, her fourth uncle Shen Shouyue was defeated. This move is obviously a sign of dissatisfaction with me. Immediately order the Ministry of War to remove him from his post and let him return to his hometown to farm."
"Yes, I will send the message to the Ministry of War right away."
"By the way," Chongzhen whispered, "Please take care of the food, clothing and other expenses of Concubine Zhao in the cold palace. Make sure she doesn't have any shortages."
Looking at Wang Chengen's departing back, Chongzhen's mouth corners slightly raised.
He looked towards the southeast and muttered softly, "Zheng Zhilong, you will take the bait, right?"
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