Domineering Daming

Palace, General Staff.

Qin Liangyu had already left Beijing and rushed back to Sichuan. Sun Chengzong, Sun Chuanting, Shen Yongmao, Zhang Zhiji, Jin Guoqi, Man Gui, Zhao Liaojiao and others were present.

In front of the huge sand table in Shaanxi, Sun Chuanting looked solemn, pointed to the labels one by one and said: "Your Majesty, my lords, according to the reports from the Ministry of Household Affairs, the disaster situation is getting worse from east to west and from south to north. Water, Fugu, and Mizhi are all located in the northernmost part of Shaanxi, on the border with Mongolia, where the disaster is the heaviest and the imperial court’s control is the weakest, so the disaster relief efforts are also the worst, and the civil unrest is therefore the strongest.”

"At first, Wang Jiayin just looted the relief rice distributed by Yan'an Mansion, but then he shouted, and immediately countless victims responded, and robbed several counties in succession, the number increased to 2, and then approached Yan'an Mansion. Fortunately, Yan'an Mansion had already To prepare, the county troops from all walks of life mobilized to cooperate with the government army, and broke the rebel army in Anzhai, which was only a hundred miles away from Yan'an Mansion. They broke up, fled to Shanxi, were chased and killed by Ma Shilong in Wanquan, and were forced back to Shaanxi. Now they have entered Xi'an Prefecture, and the number is still increasing. Hong Chengchou and Cao Wenzhao also set off to surround Wang Jiayin. Encircle and annihilate the Shanyang area."

Zhu Xu frowned when he heard this. Daming now not only has a good army, but also the county army and the government army are all tightly controlled. In addition, the disaster relief is continuous, which is far better than in history. Why are there so many rioters? Moreover, Hong Chengchou and Cao Wenzhao They are all dispatched, but there is no one Wang Jiayin!

Seeing Zhu Xu's expression, Sun Chengzong understood, and said, "Your Majesty, there are too many disaster victims now, and any disturbance will cause them to panic. In addition, the north is vast and sparsely populated. If there is any trouble, the government has no time to respond and is powerless Repression. According to the records of the Ministry of War, there are less than 7 garrisons in Shaanxi, [-] standing troops, and a total of only [-]. The garrisons are divided into provincial troops, government troops, and county troops. The last time I come and go, I will always give the rioters a chance..."

Shen Yongmao also listened with a serious face. According to the household registration records of the Ministry of Households, the population of Shaanxi is close to 600 million. In fact, it may be much more, but the imperial court only has a total of [-] soldiers and horses, which is indeed too small.

He raised his hand to Zhu Xu, and said: "Your Majesty, please issue an order to reprimand Wen Zhaoge. Provincial reform is a fundamental matter related to the country, and Wen Zhaoge cannot be allowed to procrastinate."

Zhu Xu's expression remained unmoved, he had just "heart-to-heart" with King Xin yesterday, and he called Lai Zongdao for advice, so Wen Zhaoge's speed must be accelerated, he nodded slightly, and said: "Well, I will urge Brother Xin Wang."

The meaning of Shen Yongmao is also very simple. One province, one garrison, and the standing army are customized. If more provinces are allocated, not only the number of officials will increase, but also the number of soldiers and horses. This will not only help the imperial court control, but also help disaster relief. to curb civil unrest.

Sun Chengzong, Sun Chuanting and others all understand that the Ministry of War has actually been training and recruiting bases in many places. These people are similar to the existence of reserve soldiers, and they are rotated every two years. Thousands of soldiers who have undergone strict training are not a problem, not to mention that the capital alone has stationed nearly 20 troops. There is no threat from the north and they can be transferred out at any time.

Daming's current standing army has a strength of nearly 40, and the garrison is close to 60. Compared with the huge Ming, the number of troops is still small, especially in the face of internal and external troubles.

Zhu Xu is also thinking about whether it is appropriate to expand the size of the army now. The next days will be the most difficult period for Ming Dynasty, and any large-scale expenditure will be a challenge.

Sun Chuanting glanced at the crowd and continued: "Your Majesty, the problem of Shaanxi is imminent. Hong Chengchou has also written many times, requesting to increase the number of troops, or to allow the governor of Shaanxi to recruit troops and expand the number of soldiers and horses in provincial capitals and counties. Otherwise, relying on his strength will not be enough. To suppress the whole of Shaanxi."

Zhu Xu looked up at Sun Chengzong and the others, and said, "What do you think of the Ministry of War?"

Shen Yongmao glanced at Sun Chengzong, raised his hand and said: "Go back to the emperor, I will discuss with you, it is possible to double the expansion. In addition, if the provincial reform is completed as soon as possible, you can also set aside multiple prefectures and counties, so that there is no need for soldiers and horses." Increased too much."

Zhu Xu nodded and said thoughtfully, "Yes, yes. Also, I will ask the Ministry of Household Affairs to start building a large granary in Xi'an Mansion to store rice and grain. Once the provincial reform is completed, we will start large-scale disaster relief."

Sun Chengzong and others breathed a sigh of relief. Shaanxi has now become a big rock in their hearts. They instinctively have a premonition that they are afraid that the situation of starting a prairie fire has already been established, and it will be difficult to solve it in a short time. It needs to be compared with time.

At this time, it was the critical moment when everyone was united, and they were afraid that the emperor would have scruples, so they dared not authorize them.

Sun Chengzong and the others looked at each other, confidence surged in their hearts, the monarch and his subjects are united, what difficulties can't be dealt with? !

Regarding Shaanxi, Zhu Xu is not very worried yet. Hong Chengchou and Cao Wenzhao are all veterans who have been trained for many years and can be regarded as battle-hardened veterans. It is not a problem to eliminate a Wang Jiayin.After listening to the group of people from the Ministry of War debating for a while, Zhu Xu went back to the imperial study.

Fu Changzong and Zhou Yingqiu are already waiting.

As soon as Zhu Xu sat back, Fu Changzong said: "Your Majesty, the household department's preliminary investigation of my Daming's acres has yielded results."

Liu Shimin knew that Zhu Xu was concerned about this, so he quickly took it and handed it to Zhu Xu.

Zhu Xu didn't bother to take a sip of tea, so he turned it over and looked at it, and his expression suddenly became ugly.

The number of acres recorded in the roster of the Ministry of Households before was "650 million hectares", which is 5000 million mu, but Fu Changzong's current memorial book records "880 million hectares", which is an abrupt increase of 3000 million. Ten thousand acres!

For a moment, Zhu Xu thought that the household department had made a mistake!

Given Fu Changzong's cautious character, this kind of thing can never go wrong!

In other words, one-fourth of the farmland in Ming Dynasty was concealed!

Zhu Xu was furious and shocked. He was speechless when he looked at the memorial, and the household registration was also listed. The population is 800 million, and there are two big "estimates" behind it, which means that this is still inaccurate. Yes, the actual population will be even more!

The political reform of the Ming Dynasty has not yet fully formed, and it is not the time to carefully and completely calculate the number of acres and population.

Fu Changzong looked at Zhu Xu's expression, hesitated for a while, raised his hand and said, "Your Majesty, there may be a lot of concealment about the fields."

Zhu Xu had already realized this, tapped his fingers on the table, and said in a deep voice: "Well, uncle, the household department will continue to investigate. Then copy the detailed catalog and distribute it to Wenzhao Pavilion. When paying taxes, they will be indispensable!"

"Yes!" Fu Changzong raised his hand, and said again: "Your Majesty, there are preliminary statistics on the commercial tax for the past six months. It is estimated to be more than 500 million taels, mainly in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the growth momentum is obvious."

Zhu Xu nodded. The two provinces are the most developed and normal areas in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui in the future. He said, "Well, the Ministry of Household Affairs must pay close attention to commercial taxes. It must be reasonable, neither low nor high, and maintain the speed of commercial development. The imperial court is also of great benefit."

Fu Changzong naturally understood that this tax was very important to the Ming court, so he responded, "Your Majesty, I have another idea."

Zhu Xu took a sip of tea and said with a smile, "Just say what you have to say, there are no outsiders here."

Even though Zhou Yingqiu was labeled as the emperor's "confidant" by outsiders, he was still in charge of the official department, the head of the six ministries, but he knew well that the emperor did not regard him as a real confidant, but he was still very happy to hear Zhu Xu say that , at least his position is no longer an "outsider".

Fu Changzong didn't think too much about it, and said: "There are too many wastelands in Shaanxi, and there are thousands of miles of barren land. I think it can be transferred to Liaodong, whether it is north of Shanhaiguan or Dongjiang Town. If it is properly reclaimed, there is no problem with a million hectares of cultivated land. .”

Hearing this, Zhu Xu murmured. This is not the first time that this idea has been brought up. The reason why he didn't do it before is because Houjin was eyeing him, and moving over was just giving Houjin people and land.But now it is different. The Houjin is weak and will not start a war lightly. As long as it is handled properly, Liaodong can indeed accommodate a large number of people.

Zhou Yingqiu lowered his head and analyzed the pros and cons, raised his hand and said: "Your Majesty, I think Fu Shangshu's proposal is acceptable, as long as the cement road is well built and transported in large carriages around the clock, millions of people will be transferred within half a year. There is no problem, but the imperial court also needs to spend a lot of food, cash, tools, and livestock."

Zhu Xu glanced at Zhou Yingqiu, deep in thought.

Spending money, food, and farm tools are trivial matters. The key to the problem is to ensure the safety of the people who move there. Jiannu is always a thorn in Liaodong. Zhu Xu is worried, and immigrants will be even more worried.

It takes two to three years for a piece of land to be reclaimed and mature. At that time, Houjin has almost recovered and is capable of fighting again.

When Fu Changzong came up with this idea, he naturally knew his concerns, and continued to persuade: "Your Majesty, I believe that Jiannu will not start a light war with me, Ming Dynasty, until he is not sure about capturing Jinzhou and Ningyuan. I have speculations. Within five years, Jian Nu will not easily offend me, Daming."

"Five years?"

Zhu Xu was taken aback. If there were five years, his cavalry should be worthy of a battle, right?Cooperating with firearms such as siege cannons, is it possible that you are still afraid of the future gold?

Fu Changzong saw that Zhu Xu's expression was excited, and said: "Yes, within five years, Jian Nu dare not act recklessly!"

Zhu Xu nodded slightly, thoughtfully.

If Houjin does not mess around within five years, after five years, they will not be allowed to mess around.

Zhou Yingqiu quickly thought of this, raised his hand and said, "Your Majesty, Ningyuan, Jinzhou is as solid as gold. If you are worried about Dongjiang Town, you might as well use local materials to build a big city, so as to protect the people who moved there, and secondly, let Mao Wenlong have a foundation. , not always staying on the island.”

Zhu Xu also felt that this discussion was feasible, so he looked at the two of them and said, "In that case, you two should go to Wenzhao Pavilion and discuss it in detail. I will order Wenzhao Pavilion to take charge of this matter, and the six ministries will cooperate, and then I will order Shaanxi , Sichuan, Shanxi, Huguang and other governors and governors cooperate, and the newspapers are also mobilized to strengthen publicity, be sure to be safe, and don't make any more troubles."

Both Fu Changzong and Zhou Yingqiu raised their hands in response to "yes". The huge government affairs cannot be concentrated on the emperor, and Wen Zhaoge gradually has to assume the role of the cabinet.

After saying this, Zhou Yingqiu also began to present, saying: "Your Majesty, I have already found a few candidates for the governor, and I invite the Emperor to take a look."

Liu Shimin took the playbook and passed it to Zhu Xu.

Zhu Xu opened his eyes and saw that Zhou Yingqiu's memorial was simple, planning to transfer Li Jingbai, Huang Liji, Zhang Ruitu and other governors to Shaanxi and other newly divided provinces as governors.

These people have all gone through the political reform, and even deeply participated in it. They are capable and experienced. If they want to complete the political reform in Shaanxi and other places, these people are the most suitable.

Zhu Xu had no objection, and said: "Well, those who replace these people should make preparations early, by the way, discuss more with Wenzhao Pavilion, and then play in detail."

Seeing that Zhu Xu agreed, Zhou Yingqiu didn't say much, and was secretly happy.As for Wen Zhao Pavilion, he didn't take it seriously, as long as Zhu Xu nodded, Zhu Youjian couldn't turn the tables.

After saying a few more words, Fu Changzong and Zhou Yingqiu resigned and left.