Please ask me to be the emperor

Zhang Shun discussed with Zhang Shenyan and Lu Weiqi for a long time, talking about whatever came to mind.

When he took a break, he sorted it out and found that the depth of this conversation was far beyond what he usually thought, and it had touched the core of the issues of this era.

Originally, he was still reading from the book, and his understanding of ancient social issues was still based on the dogmatic views of "land annexation" and "peasants losing land, the means of production in agricultural society" mentioned in textbooks.

Only after this conversation did he realize that these views were from the grand perspective of productivity determining production relations.

From a purely economic perspective, it would be more accurate to use a description like a textbook supplement, "a large number of bankruptcies in the small-scale peasant economy based on household units."

The structural model of traditional Chinese society is based on Legalism as the main theoretical basis. Its ideal operation model is centered on the word "farming war". The basis is that small farmers are the production units of the household, and officials are set up to administer and collect taxes. , conscription of troops, and levy of labor service were ultimately responsible to the emperor alone.

In the feudal empire, all output was handled by "households", so there was a requirement to "organize households to equalize the people." In this era, a "household" is a small production "enterprise".

No matter how many burdens are placed on these "enterprises", whether they are aristocratic families, corrupt officials, or gentry or rural sages. As long as there are enough of these "enterprises" to pay taxes, pay grain, and contribute labor and soldiers, then everything is fine.

Once these "enterprises" go bankrupt one after another and destroy the foundation of everything, no matter how many geniuses come out of a dynasty, they will ultimately be unable to recover.

Today's Ming Dynasty is like this. It is like sitting on a powder keg. Some farmers under his rule have begun to go bankrupt on a large scale, and some have entered the "brink of bankruptcy."

The former is represented by Shaanxi, especially the land of Yansui; while the latter is represented by Henan Prefecture and other places.

From a historical materialist perspective, the Ming Dynasty should have died. Its foundation has been seriously damaged. No matter how clever Chongzhen is, it will not be enough to survive without rebuilding the country!

Thinking of this, Zhang Shun finally understood his mission.

If you want to build a career, you cannot be satisfied with becoming a feudal emperor with three palaces and six courtyards, and a group of wives and concubines; let alone expand your territory and accumulate bones and flowers as your achievements.

Rather, we need to rebuild the old mountains and rivers honestly and pick out the crushed foundations of the Ming Dynasty one by one and glue them together. Let each family have no worries about food, clothing and housing again, and have enough food and energy to shoulder corresponding obligations.

Only with the support of the family can a country prosper. This is the true meaning of China's prosperity and change over the past two thousand years.

As the saying goes: a hundred-foot-tall building rises from the flat ground; a thousand-foot-tall silk is gathered from strands of silk; a bell of ten thousand stones is accumulated from two baht!

Without the support of household registrations like grains of sand, any feudal dynasty will collapse, let alone imagine that it can secure the throne and expand its territory.

It can be seen from this that land distribution and giving land to farmers with little or no land are certainly the key points of reform; but supporting and protecting farmers on the verge of bankruptcy is even more important.

The former is open source, and the latter is expenditure reduction. A two-pronged approach, recasting the foundation of the world, will achieve unparalleled success!

Zhang Shun thought clearly, and repeatedly warned Zhang Shenyan, Lu Weiqi and others to explain the matter in order of priority. He only waited for the people's livelihood situation in Henan Prefecture to be investigated and understood before formulating corresponding policies.

Seeing that the incident was almost explained, Song Xiance stepped forward and asked: "Because the commander Cao Wenzhao is away on an expedition and King Shun is not in Luoyang, there is an important matter that has been backlogged for a long time. I have to go over and report it!"

"Oh? What's the matter?" Zhang Shun was still thinking about land, reform and bankruptcy, and he didn't react for a while.

"Cao Wenzhao and the three generals Chen Changzhen and Li Mou pursued the rebel army to Tongguan Pass after they defeated Hong Chengchou, the governor of the five provinces. The two sides fought fiercely for a long time, but Tongguan was fortified and difficult to enter, and the rebel army could not enter the pass!"

"Later, I asked Governor Zhang to lead the craftsmen to cast cannons in order to break the barrier. However, the skills were not good enough and the cannons were repeatedly cast and failed. The heavy cannons could not be made, and the great barriers could not be broken. I also asked King Shun to make a decision early!"

"What?" Zhang Shun was shocked when he heard this. He was originally thinking about this matter and was going to send an envoy back to ask about the progress.

But he never expected that the commander-in-chief of Shaanxi, Zuo Guangxian, was so capable. The fierce general Cao Wenzhao and his sworn brother Chen Changzhen worked together, but there was still nothing they could do against them.

"What's going on?" Zhang Shun asked.

Before Song Xiance and Zhang Shenyan had time to respond, Lu Weiqi, who lived in Xin'an and was close to Tongguan and knew a lot about the place, quickly responded: "We don't know much about soldiers and don't know the key points."

"Based on common sense, Tongguan Pass is a dangerous and impregnable place. Shaanxi Commander-in-Chief Zuo Guangxian is also a famous general. He is guarding the city. Generals Cao Wenzhao and Chen Changzhen are anxious and unable to move!"

"What Mr. Lu said is true. Who are these ignorant soldiers?" Zhang Shun saw that everyone's faces were a little heavy, so he couldn't help but joked with a smile to liven up the atmosphere.

The three of them grinned and were about to continue discussing.

However, Song Xiance reached into his arms, dug for a long time, and took out a bunch of crumpled letters. He didn't know how long he had kept them.

Song Xiance smiled and handed it to Zhang Shun and said: "All the letters and reports of the two generals Cao and Chen are here. Please read them carefully, my lord!"

Zhang Shenyan and Lu Weiqi's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

This birdman!

It's no wonder that Zhang Shenyan and Lu Weiqi want to curse. It turns out that Song Xiance is currently serving as the chief of ceremonies and has nothing to do with military affairs.

However, Cao Wenzhao, the commander who should be in charge of military affairs, was on the front line, so there was no one to deal with military affairs for the time being.

Song Xiance took advantage of the opportunity of the founding of the rebel system and relied on his early advantage from Long to directly collect the letters and documents of Cao Wenzhao and Chen Changzhen in his hands, but waited for Zhang Shun to come back and report.

If Zhang Shenyan or Lu Weiqi had committed such taboo behavior, Zhang Shun would definitely be unhappy.

Du Song Xian's position was aloof, and he was able to win unexpectedly. Not only did Zhang Shun not feel disgusted, but he felt that Song Xiance was indeed a mature and prudent person.

This kind of naked display of the compatibility between oneself and the master, and a subtle expression of distrust of the behavior of the other two, is of course very jealous.

Unfortunately, facts are facts, and Zhang Shenyan and Lu Weiqi really have no choice.

Zhang Shun picked up the letter and looked at it. The red paint was still there, and there were five or six copies in total.

When he opened it and took a look, Chen Changzhen's familiar handwriting came into view.

Chen Changzhen's narrative ability is quite good. He recorded in detail how he went west to conquer Mianchi, Shaanzhou, Lingbao, Nexiang and other places, as well as several tactics of night attacks to lure the enemy out of the city, but all failed.

The second was Cao Wenzhao's letter. Zhang Shun opened it and saw that it was just a complete defense plan of Tongguan.

Zhang Shun glanced at it twice, put it aside for the time being, and then opened the last letter.

It turned out to be a letter written by Governor Zhang to Zhang Shundao. It was full of pictures and texts, describing in detail the civil fortifications carried out by the rebels to attack the city, as well as the process of casting ten thousand kilograms of Hongyi cannon.

As expected by Zhang Shun, Governor Zhang tried his best but still could not cast a qualified 10,000-jin Hongyi cannon.

The Western Front has been in a deadlock for three months without any progress.

What should I do if I order them to continue attacking the city or retreat in time?