Chapter 60: Hami Wei Po, please your Majesty to avenge us!
In Hamiwei, it was a chaotic mess, with people fighting everywhere.
The Turpan Khanate gained the upper hand in a short period of time due to calculated calculations but not care.
After the initial panic, the soldiers stationed at Hami Guard reorganized a small group of resistance forces in a short period of time.
But because the loyal and shun king Hanshen had been assassinated by Aheimahan, the group of dragons had no leader and could not form an effective, large-scale resistance force.
In terms of the situation at this moment, although the two sides have formed a stalemate, if this continues, it will be a matter of time before the Ming army collapses.
Amulang, the commander of the Hami Guards, held a saber and his face was red, and he kept killing the people of the Turpan Khanate around him.
He drank a lot just now, and his head is still a little dizzy, but he must not collapse at this time.
Because he is the border guard soldier with the highest official position here, after the assassination of Zhongshun Wang Hanshen, he became the highest commander of all Ming Dynasty soldiers here.
“Don’t panic! Don’t be chaotic! Gather with me!”
"Go to the stable and get the horses! Hurry!"
"Come with me, come with me!"
Amulang was killing with all his strength while gathering the lone Ming army. A team of dozens of people was organized.
The team successfully broke out of the encirclement and rushed to the stable where the horses were housed.
But when they rushed out on their horses, they saw a scene that made them despair.
The west gate of the Hami Guard was wide open, and Yalan, the general of the Turpan Khanate, led thousands of Turpan Khanate cavalry and charged into the Hami Guard!
“Kill!”
Yalan holds the saber in his hand and points at the entire Hami Guard!
“Kill!”
The tens of thousands of cavalry behind Yalan roared, waving their sabers, urging the horses under them, and charged towards all the Ming troops in Hami Guard City. go.
The charging cavalry met the scattered infantry, which was a one-sided massacre.
A large number of Ming troops were slaughtered by the cavalry of the Turpan Khanate, which made Amulang's eyes split.
But he knew that when Yalan led tens of thousands of cavalry into the city, the fall of Hamiwei was doomed.
It makes no sense to go up and kill at this time.
Only as quickly as possible, the news of Ahemakhan's attack on Hami Guard was sent back to the emperor of Ming Dynasty.
Asking the Ming Emperor to send troops to help is the most important thing to do now.
Amulang had tears in his eyes and glanced at Aheimahan and Yalan with hatred. After remembering their faces deeply in his mind, he turned his horse's head.
"Everyone listens to the order and rush out of the Hami Guards from the east gate with me, and report the information to Your Majesty!"
"Yes!"
Amulang and his party, Turn around and gallop towards the east gate of Hamiwei.
At this time, Amulang's actions attracted Yalan's attention.
Yalan immediately galloped his horse towards Amulang and gave orders at the same time.
"Charge with me, kill all the Ming army, and never allow any Ming army to leave the Hami Guard alive!"
"Huh!"
There are hundreds of people behind Ya Lan. The fat and strong cavalry charged together with Yalan and were about to catch up with Amulang.
Amulang's generals suddenly reined in their horses and slowed down.
"General Amulang, go and tell His Majesty the general's situation, we will stand behind you!"
After saying that, the generals turned their horses and faced Yalan's charge, fiercely Rush forward without fear of death.
"General Amulang, don't look back, go to the capital quickly!"
"General Amulang, please avenge us!!!"
"..."
The remaining dozens of Ming soldiers also tightened their reins and turned their horses around.
Following the personal general, the last charge was launched.
Amulang did not slow down or look back, with tears streaming down his face.
As he was about to leave the city gate, Amulang finally glanced back.
But he happened to see the saber in Ya Lan's hand chop off the head of the general.
Amulang gritted his teeth, slapped the horse under him harder, and ran quickly towards the capital. "Master Yalan, one of them escaped!"
Someone pointed at Amulang's figure and reported to Yalan.
Ya Lan stretched out her hand: "Bring me the bow."
A two-stone carved bow was placed in Yalan's hand.
Yalan drew the carved bow full, and the arrows were like sharp swords, hitting Amulang in the shoulder.
Yalan sneered: "Chasing, chop off his head and come back to see me."
"Huh!"
On Yalan's order, there were ten cavalrymen , the horse is chasing Amulang.
Yalan, on the other hand, took the other cavalry and turned around to fight back to the Hami Guard.
This night, Hamiwei was like a purgatory on earth.
……
In September, late autumn has entered the capital.
The cold wind blew by, and the trees, flowers and grass all withered their leaves.
At this time, the Ming Dynasty was in the fourth Little Ice Age.
The weather is extremely cold, the winter is extremely long, and various natural disasters continue.
It’s only late autumn now, but looking at the sky, it seems like it’s going to snow.
In the palace, the Fire Dragon Secretary has already lit fire dragons everywhere in the palace to keep warm.
Zhu Youtang’s office was also moved from the Imperial Study Room to the Hongde Hall.
This is a small hall located next to the Qianqing Palace. It is very warm with a fire dragon.
Hongde Hall.
Xu Pu, the Minister of Household Affairs, Jia Jun, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Liu Daxia, the newly promoted Minister of the Ministry of War, are reporting on the government affairs to Zhu Youtang.
Xu Pu looked at the account books he brought and reported to Zhu Youtang this year’s summer tax revenue from the Ministry of Accounts.
“Your Majesty, Ming Dynasty has already collected taxes this summer.”
"In terms of taxation of silver coins, a total of 35,164 taels of silver, 521 taels of Hongzhi banknotes, 45.12 million taels of household registration notes, and 38.41 million taels of miscellaneous banknotes were collected."
"A total of tax revenue in kind There are: about 10.96 million shi of rice, about 5.41 million shi of wheat, about 2,000 kilograms of silk, about 1.35 million kilograms of cotton..."
In addition to Hongzhi's treasure notes, which are always equal to one tael of silver.
The remaining treasure notes have depreciated severely, and the regular notes are only worth one penny.
The account banknotes are 45.12 million taels, but the actual price is only 45,000 taels of silver.
Calculated, the summer tax of the Ming Dynasty for half a year only amounted to more than 100,000 taels of silver coin tax.
It’s outrageously low!
The two-tax law was implemented in the early and middle periods of the Ming Dynasty. The summer tax was completed before August of that year, while the autumn tax was completed before February of the following year.
And the taxes in the Ming Dynasty were mainly physical taxes, and the tax rates were surprisingly low.
Agricultural tax The tax on private land is one bucket of rice per mu, which is about 19 pounds.
Guantian is a little more than one to three buckets, about 50 kilograms.
The commercial tax in the Ming Dynasty was 10% off thirty, which was only 3.3%
The taxes collected by the court were very small, but the burden on the people was not easy at all.
Whose hands did so much money and food fall into?
What the people paid was not money but food, and the civil servants in the capital were not very interested in food.
There is only one explanation: the grain either remained in the hands of local officials or fell into the hands of the landlords and gentry.
Or, those landowners and gentry don’t pay taxes at all!
Zhu Youtang's face was as sinking as water, and he stretched out his hand to interrupt Xu Pu's eloquence.
Zhu Youtang stared at Xu Pu and asked only one question.
“Southern Zhili, Zhezhou, and Ganzhou are fertile, with thousands of miles of farmland, and are known as the granaries of the Ming Dynasty.”
"What are the summer taxes, silver and rice in these three places?"
(End of this chapter)