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Text 578 Left hook Right hook

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    Xu Shicheng's Ministry and Zhu Chenggong's Ministry advanced towards Henan and Shandong respectively. The potential dangers were artificially ignored in the secret competition between the two generals.  The successive victories seemed to have made some people dizzy. There was a roar of applause in the court, and some people even shouted the lie of "win Beijing and celebrate the New Year."

    It just happened that at this moment, Ma Shiying, who seemed to be devoted to the cause of the Northern Expedition, suddenly dropped a bombshell.  On January 16, 1650 AD, Ma Shiying, the chief minister of the cabinet, wrote a memorial to request the abolition of all provinces, which immediately aroused criticism from both the government and the public, and caused an uproar in the country.

    Six years ago, Nanming was lucky enough to defeat the Qing Dynasty with the help of the Australians. Even if it won, it was still riddled with holes.  The warlords and the feudal officials from various provinces supported their troops and respected themselves.  The old Ming army often launched troops and looted, and the taxes that were supposed to be paid by the local governments were always evaded under various names.  Not only that, each one of them shouted louder than anyone else, opening their mouths to ask for funds from the court.  This directly caused the Ming Dynasty's treasury to be so empty after the southern crossing that even rats were unwilling to patronize it.  We had to borrow money from Australians to survive.

    ???????????? But there¡¯s a saying that goes well, help the needy but don¡¯t help the poor.  If Nan Ming's financial situation continues to behave like this, it is impossible for Australians to continue to lend money to Nan Ming as if they were taken advantage of.  Nan Ming was very anxious at the time, and Australian allies seemed to be worried about Nan Ming's ability to repay, so they simply sent an advisory group.  Shi Wenbo, who was the economic adviser at the time, and others simply threw out the Lijin system and raised commercial taxes in disguise. At the same time, the areas controlled by the Southern Ming court temporarily got rid of local constraints.

    There is no doubt that the benefits of the Lijin system are obvious.  It indeed enriched the treasury of Nanming in a short period of time, and also made the entire bureaucracy of Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi, which is economically prosperous, rich.  It was with Lijin that Sun Chuanting established a fully Australian-style Guangwu Army in Guangdong and Guangxi.

    But the disadvantages of the Lijin system are equally obvious.  The ultra-low tax rate, which was originally 1 in 30, suddenly skyrocketed due to the exploitation of cards from various bureaus.  The Australians once made a statistics. By the end of 1649, there were more than 480 tax cards in Guangdong alone.  From Guangzhou to Nanning, there are more than 30 tax cards covering a distance of more than 800 kilometers.  So much so that Australian-made masks that were originally sold for one silver dollar and three in Guangzhou would lose money if they were sold for two silver dollars each in Nanning.

    There are many tax cards available all over the world.  It directly led to the skyrocketing prices of daily necessities in the inland areas of Ming Dynasty.  Businessmen are suffering terribly, and commercial circulation is even showing signs of regression.  That's why Ma Shiying suffered such a huge counterattack from the Donglin Party when he forced his way through the Lijin system.

    No one thought that Ma Shiying would suddenly make such a statement at this juncture, which was tantamount to negating Lao Ma's own decision.

    There is no doubt that Ma Shiying had communicated with Shi Kefa before, so Shi Gebu stood up and expressed his approval at the first time.  The remaining Donglin Party in the court and the emerging Fushe Party all expressed their approval.  You must know that both the Donglin Party and Fushe represent the interests of a large number of people behind them.  The Donglin Party is the spokesperson of the old landlord class.  Behind the restoration of society were not only many landlords, but also many factory owners in the Jiangnan area.

    These days, leases can only be barely full by leases in the fields.  Of all the larger landlords, which one operates secretly and monopolizes some businesses without being visible?  The abolition of Lijin is great news for people like them.  If you oppose for the sake of opposition, wouldn't that mean you are in trouble with yourself?

    The one-sided trend in the court immediately panicked the bureaucracy in the three coastal provinces.  There is no doubt that these people are the biggest beneficiaries of the Lijin system.  Relying on the generous salary, the officials of the three provinces were very fat.  Ma Shiying suddenly wanted to abolish Lijin.  Doesn't this mean that they are ruining their jobs?

    So the three provinces immediately took action, throwing money at the court without any money.  Bribing officials to speak for themselves.  Take the Ma family route to see if there is room for relaxation.  But in the face of the turbulent trend, all their efforts became in vain.

    Ma Shiying¡¯s memorial became famous all over the world and aroused heated discussions in various places.  Businessmen from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and even Guangdong and Guangxi praised Ma Shoufu for his wisdom.  Following the general trend, the Nanming government passed a resolution to abolish Lijin on January 20, without even giving the three provinces time to react.  Immediately following January 22, the Zheng family's fleet suddenly appeared in Quanzhou, Fujian, carrying the first town of Wu Yi's army, which had been stationed near Nanjing.

    Under the elite escort of Yiwei Wu Yijun, Shi Kefa suddenly appeared and controlled all the officials in Fujian Province from the chief envoy to the prefect in one fell swoop.  Shi Kefa, who read out the imperial edict, only stayed for one day.  One imperial censor and one guard, Wu Yijun, were left behind and followed the fleet towards the next stop, Guangzhou, on the next day.

    When the news came out, the people who traveled far away in Australia let out a long sigh.  Ma Shiying's left hook, which he had been preparing for half a year, finally came out.  The great cause of the Northern Expedition, the abolition of Lijin, everything is just a cover!  Ma Shiying's real intention was to demobilize all the troops from the three provinces that supported the rebellion against the imperial court, and then?Sneak in and regain the three provinces.

    For name, there are imperial decrees and Zhu Yousong's imperial edict; for general trend, there are merchants and the strong will of the people in the three provinces; for strength, what can the three provinces, which are almost in a vacuum, do to resist the elite Wu Yi army?

    On January 25th, the New Year, Shi Kefa came to Guangzhou.  They didn't even give the Guangdong officials who came to greet them a chance to react. They got off the boat and read out the imperial edict. With a wave of their hands, dozens of Wu Yi troops swarmed up and tied up half of the officials.

    Three provincial officials at once?  wPulu?  Insightful people in Yunei exclaimed that ZTE was imminent.  At this moment, as if deliberately trying to make things difficult for knowledgeable people, bad news suddenly came from the front.

    On January 26, Zhu Chenggong led his troops to capture the important town of Jinan.  On the same day, the main force of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which had never shown up, finally surfaced.  Manchu Batulu?  How could the two armies of the Ming Dynasty be caught between each other?  Suddenly appeared in Xuzhou, the strategic support point and supply transfer center of the Ming army.  There were only two thousand Ming troops guarding Xuzhou. Facing the Qing troops equipped with large-caliber guns, they fought fiercely for two days. They suffered heavy casualties and had to set fire to the city.

    Xuzhou is finished!  The confirmed news was placed on the desks of Xu Shicheng and Zhu Chenggong, and the two generals gasped in unison.  Then immediately began to shrink the front line.  But just in this situation, the Qing army, which had always been a coward and refused to fight head-on, suddenly came forward.  Although they still refused to fight a decisive battle with the Ming army, they always maintained limited contact.

    The changes in the situation are so rapid that it is dizzying to watch.  A few days ago, Ma Shiying had just punched the disobedient Sansheng with a left hook. Before Lao Ma could be happy, Man Qing, who had been holding back for longer, hit Lao Ma with a hard right hook.  The eastern front of the Ming Army is in an extremely dangerous situation. If one person is not handled properly, there is even a risk of the entire army being defeated!
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