Chapter 328: Li Zicheng, You've Learned to Be Bad (Five Updates Today, Seeking Monthly Votes)

Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, and Gu Junen were in no good mood even during the New Year, all walking in with furrowed brows.

The reason for their bad mood was that there was no money for "year-end bonuses." Over the past year, the Shun army had truly suffered, toiled, and faced danger, rushing back and forth, fighting so many battles, losing so many men. And in the end, they had gained nothing! Li Zicheng, the "big boss," had earned nothing, and the men below him were empty-handed too. As the year drew to a close, the ordinary soldiers in the army each received only one tael of silver for wine and meat. How could their mood possibly be good?

It was not a matter of whether one tael of silver was too much or too little, but that everyone wanted land, wanted wives, wanted to share in the fruits of victory.

And although this Li Zicheng worshipped ancestors from the Western Xia, his thinking was that of the Song dynasty — he had never once considered dividing up land and population among his men, only thought of buying soldiers with money, and spent all day fantasizing about some benevolent governance.

The last ruler of all under heaven who thought this way was already sidelined by his own son! And Li Zicheng did not have a capable son like Zhu Cilang, yet he still dared to think this way — how could that not drive people frantic with worry? Fortunately, Li Zicheng still had his elder nephew Li Guo and his grandnephew Li Laiheng.

These two naturally did not dare rebel against Li Zicheng, but they jointly submitted a memorial that he could not afford to ignore — Li Yan, Chief Minister of the Prince of Tang's household and concurrently Prefect of Runing under the Great Ming, was poaching the Shun army's veteran camp! He was even offering one hundred mu of land (dry fields) in Runing Prefecture and Fengyang Prefecture, a monthly salary of four taels of silver, with food and drink all covered, and an additional fifty taels of silver for anyone who brought his horse over to join. Upon hearing this news, Li Zicheng's head was about to explode!

His old brothers under his command had long been full of grievances, every one of them wanting to become a landlord! Now the Great Ming was not only giving land, but also paying more silver than Li Zicheng! Fortunately, news traveled slowly in this era — if it were like later generations, Li Zicheng could stop fighting altogether, because all the heroes and good men under him would have gone to Nanjing to submit their resumes.

"No need to kowtow. Come over, come over. Look at this." Seeing his three ministers about to kneel, Li Zicheng hastily waved them over, telling them to come forward and speak, and handed them the joint memorial from Li Guo and Li Laiheng.

"Your Imperial Majesty, this subject wishes you a happy New Year!" Niu Jinxing forced a smile, walked up to Li Zicheng, first offered his New Year greetings, and only then took the memorial, opened it, and began reading.

After he finished, he passed the memorial to Song Xiance; after Song Xiance finished, he passed it to Gu Junen. Soon all three had read it once, and all wore grave expressions.

"Speak your minds," Li Zicheng said.

"Your Imperial Majesty, this Li Yan and the Red Lady are utterly hateful! We should send troops to punish them!" Niu Jinxing had never been on good terms with Li Yan, and now that each served a different master, what courtesy was there left to show?

"How could we possibly attack Runing Prefecture?" Song Xiance shook his head. "Right now Wu Sangui is stationed at Luoyang, Dodo at Pingyang, and Zhang Xianzhong proclaimed himself emperor in the eleventh month and even defeated Ma Ke. Where do we have troops to spare?"

Li Zicheng then looked at Gu Junen. Gu Junen's brows were tightly knit. "Your Imperial Majesty... Li Yan has managed Runing Prefecture quite well! Should we perhaps learn from him?"

"Learn from him?" Li Zicheng burst out laughing. "Where would I get so much money and land to lure away the brave men under that Zhu traitor?"

"Your Imperial Majesty, that is not what we should learn."

"Then learn what?"

Gu Junen drew a breath and said, "Your Imperial Majesty, we must learn from the Zhu traitor's dividing of fields and land! We must distribute land to the officers and men! If we do not divide it now, hearts will scatter!"

"This..." Li Zicheng still hesitated.

Gu Junen stamped his foot. "Your Imperial Majesty! What exactly are you worried about? That Zhu traitor, a mere Crown Prince, confiscated tens of millions of mu of land to distribute. The Tartars are enclosing land and seizing houses in Beijing, and even forcing commoners into servitude — and they are all sitting perfectly secure right now. What is our background? What is there that we cannot do?"

Indeed! The Zhu traitor Crown Prince was the legitimate heir, yet he still confiscated property and seized that much land to distribute. The Tartars, for their part, cared nothing for "Manchu and Han as one family," enclosing land and seizing houses without discussion! We roving bandits were bandits to begin with! We already tortured and plundered military pay in Beijing — what is there left to fear doing now?

"I am not afraid of the scholars wagging their tongues!" Li Zicheng shook his head. "I feel that the common people struggle just to survive, and it is truly not easy. They have only just begun to live a little better, and now they would be divided up as tenant farmers, and handed over to those vicious veteran-camp soldiers. Would that not be leaving the tiger's den only to enter the wolf's lair? I raised righteous troops to save the people, not to harm them!"

Hearing these words, Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, and Gu Junen were nearly driven to despair!

You rebel — how did you boast so much that you came to believe it yourself? You rebelled to save the common people? Did you not rebel because the Zhu family's Son of Heaven owed you military pay and could not produce it? To overthrow the Great Ming, how many common people have you killed? A man must not forget his roots! A rebel, even less so!

"Your Imperial Majesty," Gu Junen, in his desperation, found a clever idea and said to Li Zicheng, "If you feel embarrassed to start with your fellow Shaanxi folk, then first distribute the fields of Xiangjing Prefecture! We have already been operating in Xiangjing Prefecture for two years, and our foundation there is more solid than elsewhere.

Moreover, Xiangyang has fertile soil, abundant rain, and a relatively warm climate. There are no fewer than two million mu of irrigated land, and even the dry fields are far better than those in Shaanxi. If Your Imperial Majesty is willing to take out Xiangjing's land to distribute, you can at least give tens of thousands of officers and men something to gain!"

Niu Jinxing also said, "Your Imperial Majesty, Huguang is a fine place, a land of fish and rice, with vast territory. The registered farmland amounts to more than two hundred million mu, and most of it is top-grade and paddy fields — Shaanxi is far inferior! If we can manage Xiangjing well, we will at least have a fallback..."

"Fallback..." Li Zicheng frowned. How had he now become so entangled with "retreat"? He had already retreated from Beijing back to Shaanxi — was he now to retreat from Shaanxi back to Xiangjing? How could he bear such humiliation!

"Alas!" Li Zicheng sighed. "It seems there is no choice... But who can go and manage Xiangjing?"

After thinking for a long while, Li Zicheng had, in the end, learned to be bad! Because the fallback of Huguang was simply too attractive, and his situation in Shaanxi was too difficult. Even if the Tartars did not attack, it would be hard for him to hold on. For Shaanxi's land was too barren; in Ming times the tax quota was only a little over one million shi — what was that enough for?

"Naturally, the Marquis of Bo," Gu Junen said. "The Marquis of Bo's great army is stationed at Nanyang, not far from Xiangjing."

The Marquis of Bo's surname was Li, and now that Li Shuangxi was dead, and Li Zicheng's pile of consorts were all disappointing — their bellies still showing no sign to this day — Li Laiheng, son of the Marquis of Bo Li Guo, was already the sole candidate for "Shun Taizong"!

Moreover, Li Guo had tens of thousands of troops stationed at Nanyang, all veteran-camp soldiers! Now was the perfect time to bring them all to Xiangjing to participate in the "land reform." Once completed, the Shun's foundation in Xiangjing would be firmly secured.

"Thinking it over, it can only be him..." Li Zicheng nodded. "Then let Li Guo station his troops in Xiangjing. Junen, since this idea came from you, you shall go and serve as Prefect of Xiangjing and preside over the land enclosure and redistribution!"

(End of Chapter)