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There are many things that Li Zicheng did when he entered Beijing a few years ago that are worth learning from.
As soon as the Dashun Army entered Beijing, they began to torture people and loot money. They also fought for power and profit internally, indulged in pleasure, and had no desire to make progress.
It is no exaggeration to say that they behaved like a group of bandits who had come down from the mountains. They lacked foresight and thought that by taking over the capital, they would have conquered the world.
On the first day Qin Mu entered the Golden Palace, he used Li Zicheng to admonish his ministers, hoping that his ministers would not be like the generals of the Dashun Army, who were blinded by victory.
Especially the generals and soldiers in the army, most of them are vulgar and uncivilized people. They think that they can do whatever they want because they have made military achievements. There are probably quite a few who are arrogant and lawless.
Therefore, Qin Mu specifically mentioned the names of Meng Ke, Su Jin and others, and said to them: "Especially at this time, you must manage your soldiers well, and never let them rely on their achievements to become arrogant and do things that harm the local area.
The First Emperor's construction of the Great Wall was the biggest mistake. This king will take this as a warning and will never build a Great Wall again during the Qin Dynasty. You are this king's Great Wall and the last resort of the Qin Dynasty.
Therefore, you must remember the mission you are carrying, be neither arrogant nor impatient, and always remember that you are the Great Wall of the Qin Dynasty. You must not be blinded by temporary victory and become a villain who harms the local area. "
Meng Ke, Su Jin and other generals who were called out came out and answered: "Please rest assured, King Qin, we will definitely control our soldiers."
"Well, you must remember that I will reward those who have made contributions and punish those who have made mistakes. You have made such a statement in court today. If anyone fails to control his soldiers and even takes the lead in violating military discipline and doing things that harm the local area, don't blame me for punishing them severely.
The major battles of this Northern Expedition have basically ended. You must report the merits and demerits of the soldiers in each army as soon as possible so that the court can have a basis for rewarding them as soon as possible. I think many soldiers in the army are probably counting their toes and calculating the rewards they deserve. Don't let everyone wait anxiously. "
Qin Mu's last words caused a knowing chuckle in the hall, and the atmosphere became much more relaxed.
Meng Ke, the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition, personally came out to report: "King of Qin, when we captured Yanjing this time, we captured the fake emperor Fulin, the fake queen mother Borjigit, and the fake kings Jirgalang, Daishan, Ajige, etc., and 1,241 Manchu and Han dignitaries and their families were imprisoned. In addition, there are 210,000 Jurchen civilians who are now imprisoned in the Beijing camp outside the city. How to deal with them, please let the King of Qin decide..."
Meng Ke briefly explained, and then presented important seals such as the imperial seal of the Qing emperor. Qin Mu asked Han Zanzhou to check them and put them away one by one.
He coughed lightly, looked at Sima An and the ministers who accompanied him, and said, "The emperor and empress of the Qing Dynasty and the dignitaries will be dealt with in detail later. However, the captured Eight Banners soldiers and the 210,000 Jurchens are too many, and we can't just keep them for nothing. What do you think should be done with them?"
Ge Xiu, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, came out and said, "King Qin, the Eight Banners soldiers have been killing people wantonly since they entered the pass. Their crimes are so heinous that they cannot be forgiven lightly. I think that we can follow the previous practice and make all the Eight Banners soldiers slaves forever, send them to various mines, and do labor for the rest of their lives to make up for the crimes they have committed."
There was nothing new in Ge Xiu's suggestion. The captured Eight Banner soldiers were now mining in various mines. Given the crimes they had committed, it would be too easy for them to be killed with one blow.
Qin Mu nodded and said, "The Eight Banners soldiers will be dealt with according to previous practices. Let's focus on discussing how to deal with the 210,000 Jurchens, shall we?"
Ai Nanying, the Minister of Rites, said: "King Qin, the Central Plains has been in turmoil for many years, and there have been constant disasters. Now many places are barren and need labor to cultivate the land. I think that these 210,000 Jurchen civilians can be dispersed and resettled in various states and counties, with two or three households in each village. As long as they are prohibited from speaking Manchu and wearing Manchu clothing, within a few years, these people can be assimilated and become the people of the Great Qin."
Niu Wanchuan was not happy when he heard this. He immediately left the class and said loudly: "King Qin, this is too easy for them. I think there is nothing to discuss about this matter. It is obvious that the Jiannu have enclosed a large amount of land and made the Han people their bondservants. Now, we should treat them in their own way and let them have a taste of being a slave. I suggest that we sell all these Jurchens as slaves. There is no need to bother to settle them."
Upon hearing Niu Wanchuan's words, Yang Chao, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was cheered up.
Among the six ministries of the Qin Dynasty, officials of the Ministry of Revenue were a relatively special type.
Not to mention that most of them were shrewd businessmen or petty officials, the key was their attitude towards money. Under Qin Mu's intentional or unintentional guidance, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue completely abandoned the hypocritical idea of "a gentleman does not talk about profit" and turned to a pragmatic idea of pursuing maximization of interests.
Yang Chao saw a way to make money from Niu Wanchuan's words.
The Ministry of Revenue has a lot of expenses now! Money is spent like water every day.
Since the Northern Expedition, the military expenditure has exceeded 4 million taels of silver, and this is only a small part. The rewards for meritorious soldiers and the pensions for the wounded and injured soldiers will not be enough without 5 million taels of silver.
In addition, the newly taken over Central Plains not only have no income for the time being, but also need to immediately transfer a large amount of money and grain to help refugees. It is difficult to estimate how much this expenditure is. Anyway, it is definitely a shocking number.
Therefore, the Ministry of Revenue urgently needs to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, so Yang Chao immediately jumped out and said, "King of Qin, I think General Niu's words make sense. The barbarians have always been soldiers when they go out and civilians when they come in. It is difficult to define whether they are soldiers or civilians. Moreover, even if they are civilians, they are not necessarily innocent.
During the reign of Chongzhen, the Jurchens repeatedly broke into the country, burning, killing and looting. Every time they came out of the country, they took hundreds of thousands of Han people as slaves. By this calculation, there was not a single Jurchen whose hands were not stained with the blood and tears of the Han people.
The court is now spending a lot of money and the treasury is almost empty. If we follow what Minister Ai said and disperse these 210,000 Jurchens to various states and counties, they will have to buy oxen, farm tools, and even houses, and they will have to be provided with food until next year's harvest. This is a huge expense, and the treasury cannot afford such a hassle."
Although Yang Chao did not directly state his opinion, he had actually made it clear that he wanted to sell the 210,000 Jurchens into slavery.
The world's population has declined sharply in recent years, and labor is now extremely scarce everywhere. Many landlords have large tracts of land but cannot find anyone to cultivate it. Once the imperial court gives the order, these 210,000 Jurchens will surely be snapped up quickly.
In this way, not only could the court avoid the expense of settling these people, but it could also earn a considerable amount of income for the court.
The buying and selling of slaves actually existed all along, including the families of some convicted officials, who were often sold as slaves. However, it was only done in a scattered and small-scale manner, and there was no such thing as the buying and selling of 200,000 people at one time.
Ai Nanying immediately stood up and objected, "King of Qin, the reason why the Diyi are Diyi is because they have not gotten rid of their animal nature, they are barbaric and brutal, and they don't know what etiquette and honor are. If our Great Qin acts like them, how will we be different from the Diyi
The King of Qin must know that if the imperial court really sells these 200,000 Jurchens into slavery, it will be condemned by the world. Moreover, once this precedent is set, the trend of keeping slaves will surely flourish, and there will be endless troubles in the future. "
Since the Southern Song Dynasty, the government has begun to ban slavery. If the imperial court sells a large number of people now, it is indeed possible that slavery will become popular again.
The harm caused to the entire society by wealthy families keeping large numbers of slaves is very serious. Firstly, human trafficking will become a common practice; secondly, the large number of slaves in wealthy families may even threaten the official rule.
Therefore, encouraging the slave trade was not a good idea. The court spent less on resettlement and gained more income, but in the long run, it might not be worth the loss.
Originally, Qin Mu intended to adopt Yang Chao's suggestion and sell these 210,000 Jurchens as slaves, but after hearing Ai Nanying's words, he became undecided for a moment.
How to deal with it
At this time, Sima An stood up. From his calm and composed look, it seemed that he had a plan in mind... ... ... .
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.(To be continued..)
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