Domineering Daming

Although the rest of the Wang family moved, but the old man didn’t speak, it’s useless for anyone to move. Wang San stared at the old man surnamed Wang, patted his thigh and said, “Uncle, what’s there to hesitate about? Bancheng, I won't make any money from you, so can you save face for me? Help my nephew, do you want me to ask my father to persuade you? "

The old man had no expression on his face, but suppressed his anger, and said in a blunt tone: "If you don't sell it, you don't sell it!"

Wang San also didn't expect that his uncle would refuse so simply, without leaving any room, his face changed, but he didn't tear his face after all, he snorted coldly: "If you don't sell it, someone will sell it!"

The young people and the women looked at Wang San's back and hesitated to speak, but the old man heaved a sigh of relief, looked at Zhu Xu with a smile and said, "Young Master made me laugh, they are all crooked, not following the right path."

Zhu Xu smiled without saying a word, sighing in his heart, at any time, he would make a lot of money in crooked ways. Naturally, it would also be accompanied by risks, such as the risk of this Wang San came all of a sudden.

The young man drank a few sips of soup, looked up at the old man, and muttered: "Father, our house should be repaired. I think the red brick house of Brother Dazhu's house is not bad. It can keep out the wind and rain, and it is quite strong."

The old man was meaningless, and he was silent for a while and said, "Well, fine, I'll go to Da Zhu and ask where he bought the red bricks, and we can make the mud ourselves."

The young man lowered his head as if he was eating, and said in a muffled voice, "It would be even better if there were a few glass windows, it's better than pasting paper..."

The old man snorted coldly, and regardless of Zhu Xu's presence, he taught directly: "Don't you know how expensive the glass is? You will have to toss as soon as your elder brother's bride price is received. Do you still have me as a father in your eyes?"

The young man lowered his head and chewed the steamed bun vigorously. Although he didn't speak, he was obviously dissatisfied.

Zhu Xu could guess the young man's mind, nothing more than the fact that he didn't have the advantages of being big. Zhu Xu patted his buttocks and stood up, looked at the old man and said with a smile: "I have glass, how much do you want, I'll give it to you!"

The old man, the young man and the group of women were startled. Before they could speak, Zhu Xu stood up and walked back with his hands behind his back.

He already had a general idea in his mind. According to the acres of fields in the southwest and the disaster situation, there are [-] acres, and a family of seven should barely have food and clothing. Thirty one tax is also appropriate.The next thing to do is to transfer the affected population, and to organize the people in the affected area to unite for collective farming and collective spending, so as to increase the ability to resist disasters.Thirdly, it is what the imperial court should do, including keeping abreast of the disaster situation, substituting work for relief, cracking down on corrupt officials at the bottom, and so on.

The old man's family all looked at each other. They knew that the young man in front of him was a nobleman, but they didn't expect that he could easily give them the extremely expensive glass utensils exclusive to the rich.

A forbidden soldier stepped forward to record their names and addresses, and then quickly caught up with the carriage that Zhu Xu had started slowly.

Zhu Xu sat in the carriage with a thoughtful expression.

Next year will be the fifth year of Chongzhen. According to the original history, it will be the fourth year of Chongzhen. The situation is relatively good. Although the days will be more difficult and the situation will be more complicated, but he is becoming more and more confident.

Zhu Xu sat in the carriage and staggered towards the capital.

The reform has entered a critical period, and Zhu Xu's goal is - Daming is the largest group with the deepest foundation, they hold all the power at the grassroots level of Ming Dynasty, the so-called gentry, the so-called landlord class.

This group of people is the most difficult to deal with. It is like a battleship declaring war on the entire sea. It seems that it can gallop fearlessly, but at any time there may be a storm, and the ship capsizes and people die.

Zhu Xu looked solemn and let out a light breath.Things have to be done step by step, too much is too late.

He is very clear that since he came to the throne, reforms have been too fast, and many people can't keep up. It seems that his imperial power is stable, but he is also in crisis, and his footing is unstable. Rationally speaking, what he needs most now is to be stable and slow. Slowly stabilize the effect of the reforms of the past four years, one step at a time, slowly.

"The situation is beyond your control..."

Zhu Xu shook his head secretly. In fact, he wanted to race against time, so he could only take small steps cautiously, and if necessary, he would take big steps forward.

After returning to the palace, Zhu Xu recruited Wei Zhongxian and Fu Changzong.

As soon as Liu Shimin said it, Fu Changzong frowned, raised his hand and said to Zhu Xu: "Your Majesty, this purchase started from this year's summer harvest, and then autumn harvest, a total of two times. This should be the first time, or one of the few. There is still time for rectification.”

Zhu Xu looked cold and serious, with a murderous look in his eyes, and said: "Grain storage is a fundamental matter of the court, and no one is allowed to interfere! The Ministry of Households must find a way to plug the loopholes, and strict regulations must be imposed on such behaviors! Dongchang can According to these regulations and investigations, anyone who wants to suck blood from the treasury will be severely punished, and no leniency will be tolerated!"

The emperor's large-scale storage of grain was naturally to deal with the increasingly serious drought. Both Fu Changzong and Wei Zhongxian knew it well. Hearing the unabashed murderous tone of the emperor's tone, they were all surprised, and quickly raised their hands and said: "Mr. Zun Purpose!"

Zhu Xu nodded slightly, looked at Fu Changzong and said, "How much grain is stored in the top ten warehouses now?"

This Fu Changzong was familiar with it, raised his hand and said: "Back to the emperor, the annual court expenditure is about 1000 million shi, and the top ten warehouses have 300 million shi, plus 1000 million sweet potatoes."

Zhu Xu remained motionless, calculating silently in his heart.

The reason for this is that, firstly, the court’s extravagant expenses were reduced, officials’ salaries and other cash for other purposes increased, and food expenditures decreased.Secondly, we have acquired a lot this year and increased our inventory.The third is to replace part of the sweet potato.The fourth reason is that the need for disaster relief in the Southwest has decreased.

All kinds of things have saved the court a lot of food, and in a disguised form, it has also revitalized commerce. Among them, business taxes are also increasing, which has formed a virtuous circle.

Many thoughts flashed through Zhu Xu's mind. Looking at Fu Changzong, he nodded and said, "Well, the purchase of grain cannot be stopped, and the planting area of ​​sweet potatoes must be expanded, especially in Liaodong and other places, which need to be cultivated on a large scale..."

Liaodong can be said to be a wasteland waiting to be reclaimed. The key lies in the fact that there are few people. Immigrants from the imperial court will not be able to move many in a short time. With a small population, reclamation will be slow, which will take time.

Fu Changzong's proposal to call on people from all over the world to go to Liaodong to reclaim land for silver needs to be discussed with Liaodong Prime Minister Sun Chuanting, so he hesitated and did not report to Zhu Xu.

Zhu Xu talked for a while, then turned to Wei Zhongxian, and said, "I asked you to raise the case, how is it going?"

Wei Zhongxian bowed there, and said with a motionless expression: "It's almost time to return to the emperor. If you do something, at least [-] county magistrates in Jiangsu alone are involved in corruption, extorting bribes, seizing people's land, beating people's lives, staying overnight in brothels, etc., which is enough." Dismissed from office, arrested and imprisoned."

Zhu Xu said that the present Jiangsu is as big as the three provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang in later generations. It is the most prosperous place in the south of the Yangtze River in terms of humanities, economy, and culture. Naturally, it also contains the most problems.

The wind of extravagance in the south of the Yangtze River blows all over the world. The so-called ten-mile Qinhuai River, the so-called Suzhou and Hangzhou, and the so-called West Lake Riverside are a paradise for scholars.

Zhu Xu tapped his fingers on the table. After a while, he said in a deep voice, "Okay! Let's start from Jiangsu. You order Dongchang to make preparations, and wait for my order in the next year!"

Wei Zhongxian had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time, and said: "Your servant obeys the order!"

Chapter 526 Zhu Youjian Can't Take It Anymore

Two days later, Yuan Keli finally returned to Beijing, and at the same time, Bi Ziyan who returned from the southwest also returned to Beijing.

Inside the side hall of Jingyang Palace.

Zhu Xu, Bi Ziyan, and Sun Chengzong are surrounded by a chessboard. Zhu Xu and Bi Ziyan are playing chess. Sun Chengzong is a gentleman who watches the chess without saying a word, and also serves as a referee.

Zhu Xu's chess skills are mediocre, and facing Bi Ziyan, he has lost countless streets, holding black pieces, and looking for a place to place a piece all over the board.

Sun Chengzong looked down on the overall situation and had already seen the emperor's defeat. He had always been defeated like a mountain, and now he had no chance.

Bi Ziyan looked at Zhu Xu, and said with a smile: "The emperor started the game grandly, and the layout started from a big place, and some small places are also amazing, but the overall framework is full of omissions, which affects the whole situation..."

To put it simply, the frame is well built and the foundation is also good, but there are many omissions in the middle, and it is easy to collapse.

Zhu Xu looked at it for a long time, but couldn't find a suitable one, so he had to abandon his son and admit defeat. He shook his head and said, "Qin, chess, calligraphy and painting, I can't do anything..."

Bi Ziyan and Sun Chengzong were also surprised at this point. It's not that the emperor didn't work hard, but I don't know why, the emperor's characters are like carved molds, no matter how much they practice, they can't jump out.

Bi Ziyan started to pick up chess pieces, looked at Zhu Xu and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, let's play another game?"

Zhu Xu knew that Bi Ziyan was coming to "guidance chess", but he was not in the mood, put away the chess pieces, and said: "I can't play anymore, now I believe that Brother Wang Huang has a problem for me, the cabinet is hanging there, and the whole world is here They are all staring, tell me, what should I do?"

Bi Ziyan and Sun Chengzong knew that this was a serious matter.

The division of labor between Bi Ziyan and Sun Chengzong is very clear, one government, one army, Bi Ziyan listened to Zhu Xu's words, slowed down his hand picking up chess, and thought carefully: "The reason why the emperor suspended the cabinet at the beginning was to curb party disputes. Now The trend of party struggle is especially present and cannot be condoned, but the cabinet restart is imperative, and I believe that at present, no one is suitable to be the chief assistant of the cabinet except Xinwang."

Zhu Xu's expression remained unchanged. Bi Ziyan was talking about the general trend, which also involved a series of arrangements by Zhu Xu. Except for Zhu Youjian, there was no one else who could replace him.

Bi Ziyan looked at Zhu Xu's expression, then at Sun Chengzong, and said: "Your Majesty, if you believe in the king's power, you might as well give it to him. With us watching, there will be no trouble."

Zhu Xu laughed when he heard this, and said: "Don't underestimate my brother, I have been suppressing him and didn't give him a chance, otherwise we will clean up some troubles. This time, I beat him on purpose to let him It's fine for him to be a nominal chief assistant. But he wants to do things with all his heart, and I can't stop him..."

Both Bi Ziyan and Sun Chengzong knew a little about Zhu Youjian. To put it simply, this prince has high eyesight and low hands, and he doesn't understand the actual situation of Ming Dynasty. All very problematic.