Seeing Zhou Yanru's surprised expression, Zheng Chenggong was not surprised at all.
A smug smile appeared on his little face.
“I’ve heard Master Gao say that although our Ming Dynasty suppresses land annexation, the people have their own countermeasures.”
“Once a scholar passed the imperial examination and became a Xiucai, people would entrust their land to him in order to evade taxes and corvée labor.”
"This is what is called donation."
"Over the years, the trend of offering land to officials in various places has become increasingly intense. Most of the land owned by the literati in Jiangnan was actually acquired in this way."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Yanru understood Zheng Chenggong's meaning and knew that he wanted to take action against the surrender issue.
He frowned and said, "This practice of offering tribute is not limited to Jiangnan, but occurs all over the world."
"If you take action on this matter, won't that cause a global uproar?"
"Besides, even if you manage to abolish the donation system, the common people will not benefit from it."
"They are more likely to worry about being exploited by the court and rely on the gentry even more."
The reason why such donations occurred was because the officials of the Ming Dynasty were so greedy that it was more comfortable for them to be tenant farmers for the gentry than to be self-cultivating farmers.
Therefore, Zhou Yanru's concerns are not without reason.
However, Zheng Chenggong's eyes were already filled with pride.
"Hehe, Lord Zhou, do you really think I haven't thought of these things?"
"Since I dared to put forward this idea, I naturally have a solution!"
"This time, we are not going to abolish the donation system, but to punish the gentry of Jiangnan."
“The gentry of Jiangnan refuse to pay taxes, causing trouble for the court, which is why we have to deal with them.”
"After dealing with them, the imperial court no longer wanted the land in the fields, so it was naturally returned to the people, and then they were exempted from taxes for a few years."
A glint of light flashed in Zhou Yanru's eyes, and he clapped his hands, exclaiming, "Brilliant!"
Li Ruolian, who was standing next to him, hadn't quite understood yet, so he quickly asked, "What's so clever about it?"
Zhou Yanru smiled slightly and began to explain to him.
"If we directly attack those who surrender, the gentry and commoners of the land will inevitably feel a sense of shared hatred and indignation, and then things will become difficult to handle."
"But if we only say that we want to punish the gentry in the southeast, the gentry in other places will just laugh at us."
"As for this final tax exemption, it's the finishing touch."
"The court cannot collect taxes from the land after it is surrendered, so the idea of tax exemption will not cause the court to lose anything, but it can win the hearts of the people for nothing."
Li Ruolian understood the first part.
Dividing and weakening the enemy is a fundamental aspect of military strategy.
But he didn't understand the second half.
"But in doing so, the imperial court would not benefit at all."
Zhou Yanru laughed loudly.
"How could there be no benefits?"
"Firstly, once the common people receive the promise of tax exemption, they will naturally stop helping the gentry. Without the protection of the common people, aren't the gentry of Jiangnan just fish on the chopping block?"
"As for the second one, hehe, our Great Ming Dynasty isn't just about taxes."
"Besides taxes, there are also stipends, levies, and corvée labor. There's a lot to it all."
Li Ruolian nodded as if she understood, while Zheng Chenggong sighed beside her.
"This old man knows quite a lot."
"According to Mr. Gao, the future chieftain of the Jurchens, Emperor Kangxi, said something about never increasing taxes, which seemed to be to take care of the people."
"But while taxes did not increase, other miscellaneous taxes did not decrease; on the contrary, they became more and more severe."
"Even the Liaodong tax, which our Ming Dynasty levied to fight the Jurchens, was inherited by the Jurchens themselves and continued until the end of the Qing Dynasty..."
At this moment, Zhou Yanru excitedly stood up and went to Zheng Chenggong.
"Xiao Zheng, did you come up with all of this yourself, or did Master Gao tell you?"
Zheng Chenggong snapped out of his reverie and said calmly, "Half of it was taught by my master, and half was what I came up with myself."
Zhou Yanru nodded while thinking to himself, "I thought that Master Gao was just a charlatan, but now it seems that he probably has some real skills."
"He might be a figure like Yao Guangxiao from the reign of Emperor Chengzu."
"I'll have to be careful when I run into his disciples again, and it would be best if I took the initiative to befriend them."
Zheng Chenggong was unaware that his actions had greatly helped his classmates.
He stretched and said sleepily, "Alright, Lord Zhou and General Li, you can discuss the rest yourselves."
"I'm a little sleepy, I'm going to bed now."
Zhou Yanru was taken aback for a moment, then realized what he meant and chuckled to himself, “No matter what, he’s still a child, so he does get sleepy easily.”
He casually beckoned to his servants to escort Zheng Chenggong to his bedroom.
Then he discussed the details with Li Ruolian.
A few days later, on the same day that Luo Yangxing's secret letter was delivered to Jinling.
The local gentry had thoroughly mobilized the people around Jinling, and they had almost completely surrounded Zhou Yanru and his group's residence.
Zhou Yanru's side was also prepared.
He glanced at the people outside, gave Li Ruolian a wink, and then walked out with a smile.
"Fellow elders, what brings you to see me?"
Zhou Yanru was originally from Southern Zhili, and his accent was distinctly local. The people outside the door, upon hearing this, instinctively felt a sense of goodwill towards him.
But they quickly "recognized" Zhou Yanru.
The gentry had long ago arranged for their servants to blend in with the common people.
They began to whisper about Zhou Yanru's deeds, saying that it was because of this man's meddling that the Donglin Party in the capital was doomed.
This was actually a misunderstanding of Zhou Yanru, but the local people didn't understand this.
They didn't even really understand what the Donglin Party was; they just thought all the Donglin Party members were good people.
If the Donglin Party are good people, then Zhou Yanru must be a great villain.
With these servants stirring things up, the crowd's anger rose again.
"Fellow villagers, rush in and drag Zhou Yanru out!"
"Yes! This guy is aiding and abetting evil, trying to bully us people from Jiangnan. We have to teach him a lesson!"
Hearing these words, Zhou Yanru felt a little scared.
Despite his scheming and cunning nature behind the scenes, he's still somewhat insecure when he's actually in the spotlight.
"If I had known this would happen, I should have had Li Ruolian bring more troops earlier..."
But then he thought that if he backed down now, it would be truly the end for him.
Even if Li Ruolian displays his great power and disperses the people, he can forget about completing this mission.
His official career was completely over!
Thinking of this, he gritted his teeth, then forced himself to speak, and said loudly:
"Fellow villagers, please allow me to say a few words."
"This time, I've brought my men south not to oppress you, but to bring you benefits!"
Upon hearing this, the people indeed stopped cursing, but instead began to laugh at them.
"What nonsense is this guy spouting? What benefits can he possibly offer us?"
"That's right! For so many years, the imperial court has only known how to collect taxes from us, and has never given us any benefits!"
"Very well, how do you explain killing more than a dozen gentry in Guazhou as soon as you arrived?"
"Those gentry are all good people. They usually repair bridges and roads, and provide poverty relief. They are well-regarded in our Southern Zhili!"
"That's right, the gentry are all good people! You're the big bad guy!"
Chapter 111 Your position determines your mind
Upon hearing these words, Zhou Yanru showed a hint of disdain on his face. Just as he was about to speak, he heard a sound coming from nearby.
"Lord Zhou, you'd better take it easy."
He was startled, quickly looked down, and then whispered:
"Xiao Zheng? What brings you here?"
It turned out that the person speaking was Zheng Chenggong.
Taking advantage of his young age and short stature, he squeezed right next to Zhou Yanru and hid in the shadow of the railing.
The people outside couldn't see him either.
Zheng Chenggong chuckled.
"Why can't I come? Besides, if I don't come, you'll make a fool of yourself."
Zhou Yanru scoffed: "What kind of joke could I possibly make?!"
However, he himself didn't realize that although his tone wasn't very good, his mood had calmed down considerably after Zheng Chenggong arrived:
"With Master Gao's apprentice here, there shouldn't be any major problems, right?"
Zheng Chenggong shook his head and said, "You should quickly raise your head and continue looking at the people outside, lest they think you are looking down on them."
Only after Zhou Yanru raised his head did he continue speaking in a low voice.
"I saw everything inside just now. Are you going to give the people a lesson?"
"Class?" Zhou Yanru didn't understand what he meant.
“Yes, it’s a class!” Zheng Chenggong explained. “Are you going to go to them and list all the bad things the gentry did?”
Zhou Yanru nodded, his lips moving slightly:
"That's exactly right! What do these commoners know about the gentry?"
Although he had never attended Gao Qingyun's classes, he himself came from a gentry background and knew all too well the virtues of the gentry.
"All this talk about building bridges and paving roads, all this talk about being a great philanthropist—it's all an illusion, nothing more than a way to fool fools."
"If the gentry are truly benevolent, why don't they simply lower the rent?"
"On the one hand, they raise the rent to the point that ordinary people have to tighten their belts, and on the other hand, they stand up and pretend to give some money and food when the people can't make ends meet."
"snort!"
Zheng Chenggong nodded in agreement after hearing this.
"Sir is right after all; this person's thoughts are indeed related to his position."
“In the past, even if Zhou Yanru knew all this, he would never have said such things; he would have only defended the local gentry.”
"But he is now seen as a traitor to the Donglin Party. Everyone thinks that he betrayed the Donglin Party in order to escape disaster and be reappointed by the emperor."
"He knew he had fallen out with the gentry, which is why he could say such heartfelt words."
"That's just how... your perspective is determined by your position."
But he couldn't say it out loud, otherwise Zhou Yanru would definitely feel ashamed after hearing it.
It doesn't matter what Zhou Yanru thinks, but if it affects his ability to persuade the people, then it will be a loss.
Zheng Chenggong then chuckled softly, "Lord Zhou is indeed remarkable, to utter such a profound and insightful statement."
"The gentry are indeed not good people, but how could these common people understand such profound principles?"
"Talking to them about these things is useless; you have to talk about interests directly!"
Zhou Yanru asked with some curiosity, "What benefits?"
Zheng Chenggong gently patted the railing.
"What other benefits could there be? Naturally, they're the ones we agreed on a few days ago."
“You should just throw out those benefits and tell the people that as long as they sever ties with the gentry, the land they have donated to the gentry will be returned to them, and they will also be exempt from taxes for three years.”
"Then let General Li lead his troops out and tell them that if they do not retreat, it will be considered a rebellion, and they will be executed without mercy."
After hearing this, Zhou Yanru felt as if he had found a pillar of support.
Yes! Yes!
"You're absolutely right, Xiao Zheng!"
"This approach of first using diplomacy and then resorting to force will surely awaken the people to the truth."
He didn't delay any longer and quickly raised his head.
By this time, the people outside were already getting impatient.
"Why is Zhou Yanru silent again?"
"Is he out of things to say?"
"Let's rush in and teach him a lesson!"
Just then, Zhou Yanru finally spoke.
"Fellow elders, I will not discuss other matters for now, but will only speak of the imperial edict."
He raised his hands, clasped them together, and bowed towards the north:
"His Majesty pities the people of the southeast and knows that the elders of Southern Zhili are living in hardship, so he has specially implemented benevolent policies."
"As long as you report the specific amount of land you have donated to the court, the court will not hold you accountable for it."
"Not only will we return all the land to you, but we will also exempt you from taxes for three years."
The people were skeptical when they heard this.
Someone else spoke up:
When has the imperial court ever been so kind?
"Besides, if it's tax-free for these three years, what about after that?"
Zhou Yanru's eyes turned cold: "Where did these people come from, stirring up trouble here?"
He immediately realized that the person who had questioned him didn't have a Nanjing accent at all.
"General Li! Go and find those people for me!"
Li Ruolan was already prepared. As soon as Zhou Yanru said those words, she immediately led dozens of people out.
"Who said those things just now? If you're a hero, step forward!"
Sure enough, no one dared to step forward.
The crowd, who had been making quite a fuss, suddenly fell silent.
Not only did they not dare to block Li Ruolian's troops, they even took the initiative to make way for them.
Seeing this, Zhou Yanru finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"It seems my words really worked!"
He calmed down and raised his hand to signal Li Ruolian to step back.
Then he spoke again: "Since there are cowards who dare to say it but not admit it, then so be it."
"I wouldn't mind explaining what they just asked."
"In this world today, the Holy Emperor is in power, and he is wholeheartedly devoted to the people... with Master Gao assisting him and advising him to govern with benevolence towards the people."
"So what I just said is absolutely true."
"As for what will happen after the three-year tax exemption period expires? Fellow villagers, you may not know, but the reason I brought people south this time is not just to bring troops for training."
He raised his hand and pointed to the Qinhuai River in the distance.
"The imperial court has made up its mind to open up the seas for trade and will set up several more maritime trade offices."
"As long as the imperial court has silver, it will continue to exempt you from taxes."
The common people didn't actually believe those last few sentences.
In the hearts of the common people, the Ming Dynasty was like a greedy beast that never had enough to eat.
Even if the emperor is a good person, all the officials under him are scoundrels.
"But no matter what, these three years of tax exemption are a real thing, right?"
"The harvests have been bad these past few years. Last winter, there were several heavy snowfalls. If we could be exempted from taxes and not have to pay rent, life would definitely be much better."
"We'll talk about it three years from now."
The people's hearts stirred, and although they didn't say anything, some people at the back of the crowd had already secretly slipped away.
Those at the front of the crowd also shifted their gazes and began to push backward.
It's fine if one person thinks this way, but if everyone does it, then the whole group is moving backward.
Zhou Yanru felt much more at ease.
"Those words really worked!"
He pressed his advantage, and then said loudly:
"General Li, be prepared. Anyone still standing outside after three incense sticks have burned will be treated as a rebel!"
Upon hearing this last sentence, the people outside could no longer hold on and finally scattered.
Before long, the area outside the post station became completely quiet, as if no one had ever been there.
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