Ming Dynasty: Is a mere unruly commoner rebelling against heaven?

Chapter 60: The Fall of Hami Garrison! Please, Your Majesty, avenge us!

Chaos reigned within the Hami Garrison, with people engaged in fierce combat everywhere.

The Turpan Khanate, having planned meticulously, gained the upper hand in a short time, catching the garrison off guard.

The soldiers stationed at the Hami Garrison, after the initial confusion, quickly reorganized into small pockets of resistance.

However, with the Loyal and Obedient King Hanshen assassinated by Akhem Khan, the lack of a leader prevented the formation of a large, effective resistance force.

Currently, the situation was at a stalemate, but if it continued, the collapse of the Ming army was only a matter of time.

Amu Lang, the commander of the Hami Garrison, wielding a saber and with a flushed face, continuously slashed at the surrounding people of the Turpan Khanate.

He had drunk a lot of wine earlier, and his mind was still a bit dizzy, but he couldn't fall at this time.

Because he was the highest-ranking border guard here, and after the assassination of the Loyal and Obedient King Hanshen, he was the supreme commander of all the Ming soldiers here.

"Don't panic! Don't be chaotic! Gather around me!"

"Go to the stables and get the horses! Hurry!"

"Follow me, follow me!"

Amu Lang desperately slashed while gathering the scattered Ming soldiers, organizing a team of dozens of people.

This team successfully broke through the encirclement and headed towards the stables where the warhorses were kept.

But when they rode out on their horses, they saw a scene that made them despair.

The west gate of Hami Garrison was wide open, and Yalan, a general of the Turpan Khanate, led tens of thousands of Turpan Khanate cavalry into the Hami Garrison!

"Kill!"

Yalan, holding a saber, pointed to the entire Hami Garrison!

"Kill!"

The tens of thousands of cavalry behind Yalan roared, waving the sabers in their hands, and urging the horses under them to charge towards all the Ming soldiers in the Hami Garrison city.

Cavalry charging against scattered infantry was a one-sided massacre.

A large number of Ming soldiers were slaughtered by the Turpan Khanate cavalry, a sight that made Amu Lang's eyes almost burst with anger.

But he knew that after Yalan led tens of thousands of cavalry into the city, the fall of Hami Garrison was already doomed.

At this time, rushing up to fight was meaningless.

Only by sending the news of Akhem Khan's attack on Hami Garrison back to the Emperor of the Great Ming as quickly as possible,

and letting the Great Ming Emperor send troops to support them, was the most important thing to do now.

Amu Lang, with tears in his eyes, glanced at Akhem Khan and Yalan with hatred, deeply remembering their faces in his mind, then turned his horse's head.

"Everyone listen to the order, follow this official and rush out of Hami Garrison from the east gate to report the situation to His Majesty!"

"Yes!"

Amu Lang and his party turned and sped towards the east gate of Hami Garrison.

At this time, Amu Lang's actions attracted Yalan's attention.

Yalan immediately spurred his steed and charged towards Amu Lang, while giving orders.

"Charge with me, kill all the Ming soldiers, and don't allow any Ming soldiers to leave Hami Garrison alive!"

"Hoo!"

Hundreds of strong cavalrymen behind Yalan charged with Yalan, and were about to catch up with Amu Lang.

Amu Lang's personal guard suddenly slowed down.

"General Amu Lang, you go quickly and report the military situation to His Majesty, we will cover your retreat!"

After speaking, the personal guard turned his horse's head and charged fearlessly towards Yalan's charge.

"General Amu Lang, don't look back, go to the capital quickly!"

"General Amu Lang, please, Your Majesty, avenge us!!!"

"…"

The remaining dozens of Ming soldiers also tightened their reins at the same time and turned their horses around.

Following the personal guard, they launched a final charge.

Amu Lang did not slow down, nor did he look back, tears streaming down his face.

Just as he was about to exit the city gate, Amu Lang finally glanced back.

He happened to see Yalan's saber cutting off the head of the personal guard.

Amu Lang gritted his teeth and slapped the horse under him harder, quickly heading towards the capital.

"Lord Yalan, one ran away!"

Someone pointed to Amu Lang's figure and reported to Yalan.

Yalan reached out: "Bring the bow."

A two-stone carved bow was placed in Yalan's hand.

Yalan pulled the carved bow to its full extent, and the arrow shot into Amu Lang's shoulder like a sharp sword.

Yalan sneered: "Chase, cut off his head and bring it back to me."

"Hoo!"

Upon Yalan's order, ten cavalrymen galloped after Amu Lang.

Yalan turned around and led the other cavalry back to Hami Garrison.

That night, Hami Garrison was like a living hell.

…

In September, the capital was already in late autumn.

The cold wind blew, and the trees and flowers withered their leaves.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty was in the midst of the Fourth Little Ice Age.

The weather was unusually cold, the winters were especially long, and various natural disasters continued.

It was only late autumn, but looking at the sky, it seemed like it was about to snow.

In the palace, the Fire Dragon Department had already lit fire dragons everywhere in the palace to keep warm.

Zhu Youcheng's office had also moved from the Imperial Study to the Hongde Hall.

This was a small hall located next to the Qianqing Palace, and it was very warm with the fire dragons lit.

Hongde Hall.

Minister of Revenue Xu Pu, Minister of Works Jia Jun, and the newly promoted Minister of War Liu Daxia were reporting on state affairs to Zhu Youcheng.

Xu Pu flipped through the account books he brought and reported to Zhu Youcheng on the summer tax revenue of the Ministry of Revenue this year.

"Your Majesty, the summer tax of the Great Ming has been collected this year."

"In terms of silver and coin tax revenue, a total of 35,164 taels of silver were collected, 521 strings of Hongzhi banknotes, 45.12 million strings of household banknotes, and 38.41 million strings of miscellaneous tax banknotes."

"The physical tax revenue includes: approximately 10.96 million shi of rice, approximately 5.41 million shi of wheat, approximately 2,000 jin of silk, approximately 1.35 million jin of cotton…"

Among these, except for Hongzhi banknotes, where one string was equal to one tael of silver.

The remaining banknotes had seriously depreciated, and one string of banknotes was only equal to one cash.

The household banknotes amounted to 45.12 million strings, but the actual price was only equal to 45,000 taels of silver.

Converted, the silver coin tax revenue collected in half a year of the Great Ming was only over 100,000 taels.

It was shockingly low!

In the early and mid-Ming Dynasty, the Two-Tax System was implemented, with the summer tax completed before August of the year, and the autumn tax completed before February of the following year.

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty's tax was mainly a tax in kind, and the tax rate was surprisingly low.

The agricultural tax for civilian land was one dou of rice per mu, about 19 jin.

The official land was a little more than one to three dou, about 50 jin.

The Ming Dynasty's commercial tax was one in thirty, or 3.3%

The court collected very little tax, but the burden on the people was not light at all.

So, who did so much money and grain fall into the hands of?

What the people paid was not silver but grain, and these civil officials in the capital were not very interested in grain.

There was only one explanation: either the grain remained in the hands of local officials, or it fell into the hands of landlords and gentry.

Or, those landlords and gentry simply did not pay taxes!

Zhu Youcheng's face was as deep as water, and he interrupted Xu Pu's endless talk.

Zhu Youcheng stared at Xu Pu and asked only one question.

"The three regions of Nan Zhili, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi have fertile land and thousands of miles of good fields, and are known as the granaries of the Great Ming."

"What are the summer taxes in silver and rice for these three places respectively?"