eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 623: Upright Governance
Shuntian Prefecture is solving the problem of promoting sweet potatoes to avoid corvee, Baoding Prefecture is investigating the case of land invasion by local officials, and Xuanfu, Datong, Yulin, Jizhou and Liaodong in the north are all communicating with the emperor through documents to clean up the military settlements. thing.

The contradictions between these things and problems are very clear. What Zhu Houzhao has to do is to continue to increase the intensity of promotion and at the same time suppress the counterattack forces.

The initial fierce resistance in Qingtun gradually faded away after the year, because the imperial court reacted and took multiple precautions with unprecedented intensity. It was not easy for relatively large unrest to occur.

The same is generally true for the affairs in other provinces. For example, Peng Ze, the governor of Henan, is still investigating the case of officials involved in the Zhou Dynasty’s palace forcibly replacing fertile land. Sichuan is reclaiming new land. Huguang is still worried about the problem of refugees. Shanxi has rectified those who caused trouble. For the relevant personnel involved, the most important thing Fengxi did after taking office was to promote sweet potatoes, because he first wanted to solve the problem of fullness among many people.

These are Zhu Houzhao's daily life. In addition to these, there are also things like reporting auspiciousness or reporting a chaste and martyr woman somewhere, or some shocking and important cases, which are not difficult to handle.

In short, it is to adhere to the principle of serving the people and not disturbing the people, and then employing people appropriately and letting them do their jobs. It is not worth writing down everything in detail. Of course, the country is so big, and disasters will hit some places every year. If it is a relatively large one, We also need to send an imperial envoy there.

In any case, the cabinet and the six ministries are all capable ministers. With their experience assisting Zhu Houzhao, everything is still in order.

But things in Zhejiang and Fujian are different.

In Zhu Houzhao's view, it was different and more important than investigating a few cases or promoting [-] more acres of sweet potatoes.

Changes in Zhejiang Society Wang Qiong has mentioned before that he also wants to make changes to the tax law. Zhu Houzhao did not agree. He still felt that the power of local business was still not strong enough, and the influence of business had not even left Zhejiang. The society was concerned about the great voyages and the We still don’t know enough about overseas countries, so it’s really a bit urgent to harvest the fruits at this time.

Based on this idea, he also canceled the banknote check in Hangzhou. Random charging cannot be solved well in the information age. Zhu Houzhao really doesn't dare to think about what it is like now.

Anyway, the central government will not receive much money, so if it is cancelled, it will be cancelled. Those who will be harmed will still be those who want to suck blood from the body of Ming Dynasty.

And the memorial letter he saw in Zhang Li's letter was not an opinion or a question. It simply reported the good results achieved by the court's good governance in the local area. Therefore, the cabinet vote was also very simple: it is appropriate to copy The Di newspaper proclaimed the good governance of the imperial court to the world.

However, Zhu Houzhao hesitated when he was criticizing. He wanted to write it several times, but he always felt that something was wrong, so he put it aside and ordered, "Invite the two cabinet ministers over."

"Yes."

Such scenes often occur in the Dongnuang Pavilion of Qianqing Palace.

Ordinary governance is actually more difficult than raising an army and fighting a war. It is difficult because there is no excitement of war and the blood of victory. It is only boring day after day but you still need to persevere. It is difficult because it is like this every month for twelve months in a year. .

But there was no way, Zhu Houzhao couldn't be a war maniac, and territorial expansion was not difficult, but managing it well was difficult.

After Yang Yiqing and Wang Hao arrived, Zhu Houzhao didn't waste any time and asked immediately: "Do you think the proposal of merchants to collect donations for the imperial court and build warships is feasible?"

This question made the two of them stunned.

"Old minister... I really don't know. Why not? Your Majesty, please tell me."

"Where is Mr. Wang?"

Wang Hao said truthfully: "Businessmen have a lot of gold and silver. It is a good thing that they are willing to use it to help the court. The court cannot refute other people's good intentions."

"Well..." Zhu Houzhao crossed his arms and crossed his chest, thinking hard and walking around, "It only costs more than 6 taels of silver to donate."

Wang Hao's expression was stiff, "Your Majesty, are you too young?"

"No, no, no, I am not too little." Zhu Houzhao waved his hand, "I think the court can do without this silver. I have already allocated 46 taels of silver. If necessary, the treasury can still spend this year. The Shaofu is a grain merchant. , shipyards and many shops, it is not difficult to even out a few hundred thousand taels of silver a year. Besides, I still have nearly 10 million taels of silver in my internal funds. Is it just these 300 taels?"

As he said this, his own thoughts gradually became clearer.

"If you really think about it again, do you really need these more than 6 taels of silver?"

Yang Yiqing and Wang Hao looked at each other, "Your Majesty, I think it is not a matter of shortage... Mainly this is the intention of Zhejiang merchants. Maybe the cabinet will send another inquiry letter to Zhejiang and ask them Is it explicitly or implicitly stated that all merchants must pay donations?”

"No need, just over 6 taels. The governor of Zhejiang's face is too worthless, isn't it? The merchants in Zhejiang are not that poor. It really implies more than that. I want to ask a question, if I issue a decree to Zhang Li, what will happen if you ask him to return the original amount of the silver?"

The expressions of these two old men were very surprised, and even You Zhi couldn't help but look up. He had been in the palace for several years.Many people are wondering why the country could undergo such changes after only a few years of Emperor Zhengde's rule.

Opening the sea and training the army are of course one aspect, but so many days and nights, tens of thousands of memorials and instructions, and the handling of countless various incidents... In fact, it is a small matter time and time again. The decision-making finally came together today.

Before Yang Yiqing and Wang Hao thought carefully about the emperor's suggestions, the emperor had already thought of the answer himself, "Yes, it should be like this! Then those merchants will really believe that I really want the water division to protect me." The merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty are not a money-making operation by the government."

They were still puzzled, "Your Majesty was going to do this in the first place. If you don't return the money, one day they will believe it."

"No, it's not immediate enough to increase confidence." Zhu Houzhao didn't know how to explain it. He could only tell them straightforwardly, saying: "Mr. Yang Ge, Mr. Wang, business is something that requires confidence. If businessmen believe , then they dare to spend money. Moreover, even in a small way, returning it can make the court's good governance more shocking, just over 6 taels."

Well, Yang Yiqing and Wang Hao were close to being convinced, and the money donated by the main donor was indeed not much.

The emperor wanted to spend money to buy his reputation and firmly grasp the hearts of these Zhejiang merchants.

"Since His Majesty intends to withdraw, I will reply to Zhang Li like this. He also has a list of donations. It should not be difficult for him to check the list."

Zhu Houzhao thought about it for a while and quickly made this decision. Then he returned to the imperial court and started writing Zhu Zhu's comments: It's good that you can act according to the decree.However, the donated money must be returned one by one.The imperial court has the duty to protect its people. This is its duty and there is no need to resort to false pretences.Merchants who have donated must be rewarded on my behalf one by one and explain my determination to protect the people.

"Old Yang Ge."

"Yes." Yang Yiqing stood up and took the memorial from Youzhi, "If your Majesty has no other important matters, I will leave first."

"Yes." Zhu Houzhao nodded thoughtfully and asked one more question, "Has Uncle Wei Ning returned to Beijing?"

"I'm back. I'm going back with Da Sima."

"There is something special about returning the donation money. No matter how detailed it is written in a letter, it may not be understood. It is best to send someone. In my opinion, I will send Uncle Weining there. The cabinet will issue a decree to Wu Wen. , let him also go to Ningbo to organize a ceremony to build the navy. It is best to ask Ping Haibo to build one or two treasure ships with two thousand materials, so that the momentum will be more powerful. Weiningbo will represent me, especially Address, you...forget it today, call him into the palace tomorrow."

The emperor's words were spoken quickly, and both the cabinet and the governor nodded their heads, each checking and completing their tasks.

"Let's ask the Ministry of Rites if the specific time for envoys from various countries to enter the capital has been set. We can invite them to the ceremony to meet the navy, which can be regarded as a witness."

"Yes." Yang Yiqing suggested again, "Your Majesty, since it is such a big ceremony, should the imperial court also send a senior official?"

"It makes sense. Don't bother me with anything. Let the Minister of Rites... and the Minister of War pass."

Zhu Houliang understood what he meant. For such a big matter, it seemed inappropriate to just go to an unreliable Uncle Wei Ning.But what he said makes sense. Civil servants have to pass by.

In fact, it would be best if he could go there by himself, but unfortunately, he had to give birth to the prince first, and then make the situation more stable before he could leave the Forbidden City.

Neither Yang Yiqing nor Wang Hao expected that what was originally a simple memorial about collecting donations would end up causing so many things.But if you think about it carefully, these arrangements do make sense.

But Wang Hao was a bit old-fashioned. He cupped his hand and said, "Your Majesty, envoys from various countries came to Beijing to meet, but the imperial court invited them to visit the naval preparatory ceremony and show force. Will this create unnecessary complications? It seems like As if threatening them."

Zhu Houzhao shook his head, "No, the navy was established to threaten Japanese pirates and pirates, and to ensure the free navigation of maritime trade routes. Who said it threatened them?"

amount……

Yang Yiqing was actually not pedantic in the use of foreign troops, so he also supported the emperor, "I have the same intention, my Majesty, I don't want your Majesty to say it first."

"Mr. Wang, you have to pay attention. Ming Dynasty has been friendly with other countries for generations. You must never say such words in the future. What if those people listen to it?"

Wang Hao vomited blood, but what he said was wrong in the end?
But what to do, I can only hold my nose and admit it, "Old minister...I will follow the holy precepts."

"Well, that's enough. Please step back. I'll call you if I need anything."

After these two people left, Zhu Houzhao thought about Zhang Li's memorial again and realized that he had indeed done the right thing.

Because the person who provides food for future sailors has never been a merchant, but him, the emperor.

(End of this chapter)