First Prince of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 54

Zhu Biao then comforted Zhu Yuanzhang and said: "After Emperor Gaozu of Han gained the world, it was a difficult time for the country, and there was even the siege of Bai Deng. Before Tang Taizong's rule of Zhenguan, there was still the shame of Weishui! And I, Daming, under your leadership, coerced foreigners. , clear the foreign troubles!"

"Compared to the previous dynasties, my family business is just a bit more difficult, and my father has also ordered to lighten the tax and pay less for the cultivation of the people. Under your governance, the world will return to prosperity in less than 20 years!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was relieved a lot after listening to his son's consolation. These days, not only did he see people's livelihood difficult, but also local officials kept reporting.

"Xuzhou is covered with bones, the grass is full of grass, and foxes and mice are often infested in the ruins and weeds!"

In the prefectures and counties north of the Yellow River, "the roads are all blocked, and people are cut off." There is little vitality.

The Dongting Lake Basin in Huguang was originally a land of abundance and prosperity, but now "the land is vast and sparsely populated, with few cultivators and many barrens."

Sichuan and Shu was originally known as the Heavenly House, but after decades of war, it is still full of wormwood, tens of thousands of acres of fertile fields are barren, and it is difficult to find old scenes of prosperous history.

Zhu Yuanzhang recited the sentence, "It is hard to prosper the people, and it is hard to destroy the people!"

Then he got up and started to review the memorial, and Zhu Biao also picked up the memorial and thought about it carefully.

At the beginning of December, he finally arrived at Yangzhou City, and Zhu Biao finally saw with his own eyes what this once prosperous city looks like today.Most of the city wall collapsed, and it was almost impossible to see where the streets were and where the houses were. All the houses seemed to have been hit by an earthquake. Except for a few black pillars, there were stones everywhere.

Standing on the frame, I glanced over and most of Yangzhou fell into my eyes. There was no towering house. There were dozens of people kneeling beside the road, their clothes were ragged and thin, and the leader was wearing a worn official robe and saw Zhu Yuanzhang. Climbing over: "I am ashamed of Your Majesty! I am guilty! I am guilty! I have not managed Yangzhou well for more than a year!"

Zhu Yuanzhang pulled him up and almost didn't recognize him: "Lu Mingyi? How did you become like this! How can you be a prefect...

The prefect of Yangzhou looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with tears in his eyes and said, "Chen...I'm really a clever woman who can't cook without rice!"

This person is also the person who has been following Zhu Yuanzhang for many years. He is very clear about Zhu Yuanzhang, so he will come to Yangzhou in person, but he really did not expect that all the prefects of the prefect will fall into this state.

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at the dozens of people and asked the prefect of Yangzhou, "There are only so many people in the entire Yangzhou city?"

Then Zhu Yuanzhang personally walked to the front of the crowd. When the crowd saw the emperor coming, they pressed their heads to the ground and said, "Long live the emperor, long live!"

Zhu Yuanzhang personally helped an old man and asked them to stand up. He pulled the old man to sit on a stone next to him and asked, "Brother, why are there so many people in this Yangzhou city!"

The old man stared at his cloudy eyes and said sadly, "Your Majesty the Emperor, everyone has run away, and we are the only ones left here."

The old man's little granddaughter looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and asked in a low voice, "Is this Emperor Zhu?"

The old man was frightened and almost fainted, but Zhu Yuanzhang clapped his hand and said to the emaciated girl, "Yes! We are your Emperor Zhu! In the future, Emperor Zhu will make you full!"

Zhu Yuanzhang turned his head and instructed Yang Xian, "Go and let the guards settle on the spot and prepare some meals!"

Yang Xian took the order to leave, and Zhu Yuanzhang asked the old man some questions, but unfortunately he couldn't answer some of them, only that the war and taxes forced them to nowhere.

The prefect of Yangzhou on the side calmed down and said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "The war continued, and a large number of people fled. Even if there is land, it is impossible to cultivate."

Zhu Yuanzhang felt very surprised, what is the reason for not planting some land?

Next to him, Lu Chang, who served in the Yuan Dynasty, replied: "The military disaster has caused the fields to be barren for years; the Yuan army has repeatedly passed through Yangzhou, and the chickens and dogs are restless; the people of Yangzhou are in exile; the harsh government makes the people reluctant to cultivate."

"To what extent is the tyranny of the government? One mu of land can produce two load of grain, and all kinds of taxes add up to three load. The more industrious the people, the poorer they will become, and they will not be willing to cultivate for a long time."

"Later, 50 years after the tax was received, the tax was actually received by an adult's grandchildren. Field mu tax, dog tax, beheading tax, autumn tax, winter tax, labor tax, utensil tax, five animal tax, etc. , There are more than 30 types of taxes on the surface.”

"The imperial court issued an decree asking the common people to hand over fifty dollars per household, and the prefectures, government offices, counties and townships levied additional fees, and finally collected thousands of dollars. Under the tyranny of the regime, there have long been no honest officials."

Because the imperial court cut off the salaries of officials, and they were not greedy for officials, they would starve to death themselves.

In Yangzhou City, the people were unable to satisfy their hunger, so they dug wild vegetables, ate tree bark, and even changed their seeds.

Hearing this situation, even Zhu Yuanzhang, a hero who came out of the sea of ​​blood and corpses, could not help but burst into tears.

Yang Xian walked back, and when he saw Zhu Yuanzhang's state, he didn't dare to speak. Seeing this, Zhu Biao called him back and asked what was going on.

Yang Xian is Zhan Shicheng of the Prince's East Palace, and he is also a person of Zhu Biao. Yang Xian said to Zhu Biao: "Your Highness, it snowed in Yangzhou City yesterday, the weather was cold and the firewood was wet, and now the cooking fire can't be ignited, I'm afraid it will take a while to cook."

Zhu Biao said: "These people seem to have been hungry for a long time. Let's dismantle the frame of this palace! Let's cook for the people first, and I will just squeeze with the other princes for a while."

Yang Xiangang wanted to talk about where he could dismantle the Prince's frame. If he wanted to dismantle it, it would be better to dismantle his frame!But seeing Zhu Biao's calm eyes, he closed his mouth.

When Zhu Di heard it, he walked up to Zhu Biao and said, "Brother, let's dismantle my frame! I'll take a ride with my third brother later!"

Zhu Biao patted his head, Yang Xian saw that Zhu Biao had made up his mind and went down to dismantle it.

Zhu Biao glanced at the emaciated crowd again, and said to Zhu Di: "Go and take out all the meat, except for leaving some for the emperor, make broth for these people."

Zhu Di also left in response. Zhu Biao sighed, feeling a little depressed. The words he saw in the memorial and the words he saw with his own eyes were indeed two different feelings.

He ordered the removal of his frame in order to show his benevolence, but he did feel sorry for these people. He is the crown prince of the country, and these people are also his subjects!

Zhu Biao now really hopes that his people can have food and clothes to wear!

The wood on the Prince's frame was excellent, and it wasn't so wet that it ignited the fire for a while.

Liu Bowen walked up to Zhu Biao and asked, "How do you feel now, Your Highness?"

It was the first time that Zhu Biao talked to Liu Bowen. He glanced at his prince's guests and said, "My heart hurts! This palace can't wait for them to have enough food, clothes to keep out the cold, and shelter from the wind and rain."

Liu Bowen glanced at the boy who frowned: "Your Highness can think so, that is the luck of the world!"

Zhu Biao asked: "It is said that the gentleman has the talent of the sky and the latitude, but there is a way to quickly restore the people's livelihood in Daming!"

Liu Bowen shook his head and said: "I will not be stingy if there is a way, but as the prefect of Yangzhou said, it is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice, and it is easy to solve it in Yangzhou!"

"The saint saw the situation here, and he will definitely arrange manpower and material resources to help Yangzhou when he goes back, but what about other prefectures and counties? There are only so many materials in the world now, and it is impossible to support the whole world."

Zhu Biao also sighed, the reality is like this, he can't conjure up food, he knows high-yield crops such as corn and sweet potatoes, but these are all overseas, and now the situation in Daming is unable to explore.

The materials needed to build a large sailing ship are very terrifying, and Daming can't afford it now, and Zhu Yuanzhang can't let him waste resources like this with just his words.

What's more, the sea is extremely dangerous, even in modern times, there is no guarantee that navigation is foolproof, and no one can guarantee that the seeds of corn and sweet potatoes will be returned.

.....................

　I didn't expect that I'll have another chapter today (~_~;)

　　In fact, four chapters have been added today and there is one chapter left for tomorrow (▽｀)

　　It will be almost [-] words tomorrow ()

　　a little excited

　　

　

(End of this chapter)