Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 131 The Three Kings Have Arrived
Xiangyang.

The moon is in the middle of the sky, and the night is quiet. This city, which has been plagued by disasters, has ushered in a long-lost peace.

Due to the new return to Daming, the management of the entire city is extremely important. As soon as Haishi (21:[-]) arrives, the shops and restaurants in the city will have to close, which is commonly known as night ban.

The side hall of Prince Xiang's Mansion was brightly lit as usual at this time, and more than a dozen civil servants in the Military and Political Department were working diligently on government affairs.

"Oh——" Yan Chongxin stretched his waist, and just as he yawned, he was reminded by the old official at the side.

"Keep your voice down, if you disturb the boss, it will be very bad."

"Thank you, Brother Qian, for reminding me." Yan Chongxin nodded in thanks, really speechless in his heart, your voice for reminding is much louder than mine.

But helpless, he is an old man, he followed Zhao Zhangsi as early as in Xi'an, and he only joined when he was in Hanzhong, so he has no right to speak.

"Shoucheng, the yellow book of Yicheng County has arrived, you go and hand it over to the director."

The palm hall of the household hall gave orders casually.

"Yes!" Yan Chongxin reluctantly agreed, and turned his head to look at the corner, where a large pile of brand new yellow books was piling up.

There are six departments in the Yamen of the Military and Political Department, including households, officials, workers, criminals, rites, and inspectors. Due to the shortage of manpower, each office is often in charge of two offices, which is extremely busy.

Therefore, as the only subordinate of the official office, he is often called upon.

"Boom boom boom——"

Knocked on the door.

"come in!"

Zhao Shu said without raising his head, "What's the matter?"

"Report to the Chief, the Yellow Book of Yicheng County has been registered."

Yan Chongxin looked at Zhao Shu, whose majesty seemed to be frozen, with his head lowered, and said cautiously.

"Yicheng?"

Zhao Shu was surprised, and asked casually, "What county is this in Xiangyang Prefecture?"

"The sixth county still lacks Junzhou and Zaoyang County."

Yan Chongxin lowered his head and said softly.

"I understand!" Zhao Shu nodded and asked, "How many households in Yicheng County? How much cultivated land?"

"Now there are only 26 households left, with 200,000 mu of arable land and nearly [-] barren land."

"Seventy percent is barren."

Zhao Shu sighed.

"You must hurry up and complete the registration of the yellow book in Xiangyang Mansion as soon as possible."

"Obey!" Yan Chongxin hurriedly responded.

After he left, Zhao Shu breathed a sigh of relief: "Sure enough, using those monks and Taoist priests, together with the army, it will be convenient to make the yellow book. In half a month, Xiangyang Mansion will be healed soon."

The yellow book, also known as the tax and service book, takes the household as the unit, and records the township, name, age, population, land and house, assets in detail, and demarcates the household registration according to the occupation.

But according to Zhu Yixi's intention, everything should be kept simple. There is no need to distinguish between military households, civilian households, and artisan households. It is only necessary to record the household registration and land.

This is a lot easier.

Even so, the overall planning and construction of the yellow book still requires educated people, and the number is really not enough.

In this way, Zhu Yixi found another way, forcibly recruiting Taoist priests, monks and other monks to serve the government, and even wanted to form a custom.

Why are monks not subject to corvee?

There are many benefits to this.

First of all, if a monk recites scriptures and is a vegetarian, he must be literate; second, his alms, incense, and believers are very familiar with the local area, which is equivalent to half a guide.

In this way, thousands of monks and Taoist priests in Xiangyang Mansion were forced to go out just after the military disaster, which was extremely miserable.

Finally, the local subordinates were asked to identify and supplement.

It is certain that this is several times more real than the previous yellow book.

Of course, the reputation is definitely not good.

In today's troubled times, what reputation do you care about?
Zhao Shu said in admiration: "In the past, the Taizu drove the students of the Taizu to make a yellow book after several years. Now Zhu Zongbing drives the monks and Taoists. It is really comparable."

Smiling, he continued to bury his head in the copybook.

Until the second watch, Yan Chongxin couldn't stand it any longer, so he said hello and prepared to leave.

Sitting in the carriage and walking around in the quiet street with grunts, Yan Chongxin lost his sleepiness. He opened the curtains, and the lights on both sides of the road were sparse.

"Xiangyang County has 300 households and a population of [-] people, nearly [-]% less than in the early years of Chongzhen."

Thinking of the numbers in the yellow book and the dictation of the subordinate officials, Yan Chongxin shook his head and sighed: "Xing, the people are suffering, death, the people are suffering."

Da da da--

Suddenly, there was a rush of footsteps.

Looking up, I saw several groups of soldiers heading towards the city gate.

"Why is this?"

Yan Chongxin was startled, and hurriedly let the carriage catch up.

Soon, after revealing his identity, he climbed to the top of the city, and saw dozens of carriages gathered under the city gate, escorted by thousands of people, and kept discussing with the guards.

Before he could hear clearly, he saw a carriage coming at a gallop, and he took a closer look, and it turned out to be Zhao Shu, the head of the Military and Political Department.

"What kind of big man is here?"

At night, the lights were dim, and he could not see clearly, but he could vaguely see the luxury of the carriage.

The gate of the city was wide open, Zhao Shu went out of the city with a solemn face, bowed his hands together and bowed: "I, Zhao Shu, hereby welcome the three Highnesses. I am in a hurry at night, so I don't think it's strange."

"Mr. Zhao is busy with military affairs, we can all understand it, let's go to the city regardless of the small details, after driving for several days, we are tired and flustered."

King Rui lifted the curtain of the car, nodded, with a haggard look on his face.

Obviously at an old age, long-distance travel is very harmful.

The king of Qin and the two kings of Yongxing County also had the same thoughts, and they couldn't wait to go to the city to rest.

"Enter the city, open the way!"

Zhao Shu nodded and shouted loudly.

Immediately, the carriages filed in, and it took a long time before they were safe.

Only then did Yan Chongxin understand that it turned out that the three great kings were received from Hanzhong, no wonder they made such a big move.

"That's all for King Qin, why is King Rui here too? This is Li Fan, a serious crime!"

Whispering in his heart, Yan Chongxin didn't dare to think deeply, and left immediately.

Zhao Shu didn't mind the trouble, and directly set up a few small courtyards in Prince Xiang's Mansion, sent troops to protect them, and then hurried back home, ready to read for a while before resting.

"Master, Mrs. Sun is asking to see you."

As soon as his butt sat down, a voice came from outside the door. Zhao Shu suppressed his anger: "Which Madam Sun is it?"

"and many more--"

He stood up abruptly, and walked out hastily. Sure enough, a simple and unpretentious carriage appeared in front of his eyes.

"Ma'am, why are you here?"

Zhao Shu smiled wryly: "Did you suffer any hardships along the way?"

Mrs. Li got out of the carriage, saluted, and said: "Not only the old man is here, but Xueniang, the damselfly, and the whole house are here."

"Meet Mr. Zhao!"

The girls saluted softly.

"This--"

Zhao Shu was startled: "Hanzhong is safe and sound, Xiangyang has just arrived, why bother to come to Huguang?"

"If you don't come again, I'm afraid it will be delayed." Li Shi stared at him dissatisfied, and said, "You are still a matchmaker, so you forget?"

Zhao Shu was taken aback for a moment, and immediately realized that he was afraid of slapping his forehead: "Oh, I'm so busy that I forgot about this important event."

"The wedding was originally scheduled for the eighth day of February, and it's almost April, so there's no need to delay it."

Reluctantly, Li said eagerly: "I'm not trying to make things difficult, I don't know the general situation. Since Zongbing Zhu is busy and can't take care of it, let's come here so as not to delay important matters."

　Yan Chongxin reports, let me tell you, it’s better to choose a word for the trick, I’m too annoyed by the word

　　
　
(End of this chapter)