Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 962 An Mincang

The annual selection of Chu, also called Xuanshu, was very grand in the pre-Ming Dynasty.

Before the Qin and Han Dynasties, court ladies and concubines were basically prisoners of war, but after the Han Dynasty, they were girls from good families.

Because of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Dynasty required the concubines of emperors and princes to choose daughters from good families.

For the emperor, every selection is basically equivalent to a national audition, and the quality and quantity are first-class.

Unlike the Qing Dynasty, it was basically selected from the Eight Banners, the quality is worrying, and its body is also honest, so it often patronizes the Han Eight Banners.

When the Shaowu Dynasty was newly established, the emperor established new rules, and the scope of selection was no longer limited to women from good families, but included business women, nobles, officials, and scholars.

Moreover, self-registration was adopted instead of the previous compulsory selection.

This prevents political mishaps to a certain extent.

You must know that in the Ming Dynasty, whenever the election of a husband was a day of mass weddings among the people, many people had to ruin their families and beg their parents to sue their mothers in order to prevent their daughters from suffering.

Of course, this kind of voluntary registration must be helped by parents, and I rarely agree.

The age of selection is limited to between fourteen and sixteen.

As another good policy, any daughter who has reached the age of [-] can choose to leave the palace if she is not lucky and does not want to stay in the palace.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs will give 50 silver dollars as a settling allowance.

In this way, the daughter can go out of the palace and gain a lot of benefits, and the number of applicants has greatly increased.

Also because of such frequent blood changes, the court has always maintained a certain sense of freshness, without the stagnation and resentment of previous dynasties.

For the emperor, it is very good that there are always beauties in the harem who are various and unrepeatable.

He really didn't understand why most of the maids were kept until old age.

Exposing royal secrets?

If the status is less than a certain amount, it is impossible to know.

"How many people are there in the palace?"

When it comes to election day, the emperor is also in high spirits, who wouldn't want to see beauties?
"There are about 2000 palace maids, and 300 people will leave the palace this time."

Regarding the emperor's question, Liu Afu had already prepared a draft in his heart and blurted it out.

Leaving the palace at the age of 20, the average time each court lady stays in the palace is four years, no more than six years at most.

Therefore, the age of each election is different, and the number of people leaving the palace is naturally different.

"Choose two hundred and get three hundred, isn't there not enough people in the palace?"

Zhu Yixi was puzzled.

"My lord, there are about a thousand eunuchs in the palace. If there are not enough palace maids, we will recruit more this year."

Liu Afu said softly: "In terms of work, one eunuch is worth three court ladies."

After the Shaowu Dynasty, the prince's mansion was not allowed to use eunuchs and maids unless they were bestowed by the emperor, and they could only recruit them by themselves.

Therefore, compared with the [-] eunuchs at the peak of the Ming Dynasty, the number of Shaowu Dynasty is very poor.

Zhu Yixi didn't even use eunuchs from the beginning.

But as time passed, he found that the importance of eunuchs was too high.

To some extent, eunuchs are already a part of politics and an extension of imperial power, which cannot be replaced by female officials.

Therefore, hundreds of eunuchs are recruited in the palace every year for personal use, and the number of them is controlled.

It doesn't look like many, but eunuchs are tenured for life, except when they get old, they will stay in the palace. One hundred people a year is indeed enough.

That is, it is sufficient without abuse, and it is streamlined and useful.

After all, there is no need for eunuchs in the three aspects of supervising the army, guarding, and vassal kings, so the number of people naturally does not need to be too large.

Thinking of choosing Chu, Zhu Yixi felt a little itchy.

The true nature of a man is nothing more than that.

"Go, go and see how the lady looks this year."

Climbing to a high place, he took a sneak peek with the binoculars and found a few with big breasts. He wrote down the names in his mind and focused on them.

When the aftertaste was endless, someone reported that it was Zhu Jing who had returned.

"Okay, let him come to see me—"

Zhu Yixi was overjoyed and hurriedly ordered.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Zhu Jing came briskly.

At the age of 34, Zhu Jing's complexion was slightly dark, which was the result of being often exposed to the wind and sun in Annan.

But his eyes are bright, and there is a murderous look in his facial features, which attracts attention.

Compared to before, he is more fierce and steady now, and there is a gap in his chest at first glance.

Obviously, conquering a country will allow him to grow rapidly.

"Just come back."

Zhu Yixi stood up directly, without the laziness of the past, he walked over with high spirits, weighed up and down, and couldn't help but thumped his chest:

"Good job."

"Your Majesty's important task, I dare not slack off in the slightest." Zhu Jing was also very excited:
"Relying on the protection of the ancestors, your Majesty's blessings, I can assist the King of Qin to destroy Annan and open up a country."

"That ghostly place in Annan." The emperor calmed down, looked at this little brother who had been with him for more than ten years, and said with emotion:
"The miasma is overgrown and the snakes and insects are dense. If you can successfully defeat Annan, you can be regarded as a first-class general."

"I chose a good title for you, Uncle Lingbi."

"A poem in the "Book of Songs": The mountain of Lingbi, the rocks and ravines are peculiar, its name and meaning are good, it is suitable for you."

"Your Majesty's choice is naturally excellent, and I am very happy."

Zhu Jing smiled, very happy.

As the saying goes, grace is unpredictable, after two or three years away from Beijing, the emperor still remembers him in his heart, this is the biggest surprise after he came back.

No matter what the earl is, there will be grace in everything.

"You rest for a few days, and I will give you another big task."

Although she didn't know anything, Zhu Jing understood that this was a good thing.

The two sat opposite each other and chatted about the situation in Qin.

Zhu Jing said in words, the most busy thing for King Qin at this time is the imperial examination.

Then comes the summer and autumn harvests.

Now under the suppression of the army, all parts of the country are barely stable, and order has been established, but it will take time for it to be completely stabilized.

"The minister saw that the state of Qin was gradually becoming more and more stable, that the officials were performing their duties, and that the government was well-organized and the people were harmonious, so I asked to leave and handed over the command of the Beijing camp to His Royal Highness King Qin."

"That's what it should be."

The emperor nodded and said: "I also gave him these thousands of people, so they can be regarded as his guards if they take root."

"At least, more credible than the locals."

After chatting for half an hour, Zhu Jing came out from the palace.

The holy grace is still there, and he has an endless stream of guests, and the threshold is almost broken.

It made him feel like it was yesterday.

The wives and concubines are still the same, but the children are getting older, and many of them don't even know him.

But he brought an earl to the family, and the price was so small that it was worth it.

……

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the joy of the autumn harvest once again swept the entire Ming Dynasty.

Except for some areas that are still affected by the disaster, [-]% of the land of Daming is safe and sound. In a sense, this is a bumper year.

Food prices dropped accordingly.

However, for some parts of Henan, this is a disaster year.

The Yellow River flooded as usual, several counties in Kaifeng were affected, and tens of thousands of people suffered from famine.

Even though the governor of Henan quickly provided disaster relief and allocated [-] yuan, many people's houses were flooded and their wives and children were separated.

The land where one lives and lives has thus become muddy land.

Even if the flood recedes, the submerged land will become saline-alkali land, the fertility will be greatly reduced, and there will be no harvest of much food at all.

All of a sudden, hostility arose.

Xu Menglong, the governor of Henan, brought the chief envoy and others to the provincial warehouse, which is where the storage is.

In the past dynasties, the provincial yamen had no financial power, because they basically belonged to the capital officials and acting officials.

It was not until the Yongzheng period that it was available for storage.

In other words, local officials like the governor simply don't have the financial and material resources to carry out the rescue, but let the counties take care of themselves.

The local governor is also dispatched by the province for disaster relief and relief, and is specifically responsible for disaster relief work.

As for money, since the eighth year of Shaowu, the imperial court has formulated a policy of retention.

That is, the business tax is shared.

Fifty percent of the commercial tax is turned over to the imperial court, [-] percent is reserved for local use, and the remaining [-] percent is reserved at the provincial level.

The more commercially developed the province, the better the local finances and the more it can provide relief to victims of disasters.

For example, in Jiangsu, 2000 million yuan is paid in commercial tax every year, and 300 million yuan is retained in the province every year.

In addition to disaster relief, this money can only be used to repair official roads, dredge and build river embankments, borrow military pay, and offer sacrifices to virtuous people.

Now that Henan Province has been multiplying for many years, the scene of no chickens crowing for thousands of miles in the past has disappeared, and it has returned to the prosperity of the past.

Last year, the population of Henan Province reached 800 million, the scale of commercial taxation exceeded [-] million, and the annual retention will exceed one million.

Whether it is for storage or management, this huge amount needs to be signed by the governor, chief envoy, and inspector in person, and must not be misappropriated arbitrarily.

Moreover, anyone who spends more than 500 yuan must report to the imperial court.

"Please--"

Xu Menglong took the first step, opened the wooden key box in the servant's hand, and took out the key.

The first lock is opened.

Then there is the chief envoy, the inspector envoy.

The warehouse is only opened when the three keys are ridden.

The sun is getting in and the dust is everywhere.

After coughing for a long time, it was An Sheng.

The yamen servants filed in, and all they saw were dozens of wooden boxes. When they were opened, they were full of silver coins.

"For the floods in the three counties, 10 yuan should be enough!" said the chief envoy with a full face.

"Not enough." Xu Menglong shook his head and said, "Although the autumn harvest is cheap, it's too late to grow miscellaneous grains without land. Tens of thousands of people have to eat at least three or four months' worth of grain."

"Moreover, the embankment needs to be repaired, and it will cost 30 silver dollars."

According to the inspector's approval, the chief executive can only accept his fate.

30 silver dollars were withdrawn from the warehouse, some were greedy, some were stripped, and in the end the refugees took a breather.

Xu Menglong said with emotion: "Fortunately, it is the autumn harvest. If there is a food shortage, I am afraid that there will be money but no food!"

Thinking in this way, he wrote a memorial and went straight to the capital.

"Shu Shu"

In less than seven or eight days, Henan was hit by a disaster, and the use of reserved silver for disaster relief was heard by both the government and the public.

And this memorandum directly reached the emperor's table.

Zhu Yixi looked at the [-]-word memorial and was quite emotional for a while.

It will prepare the ins and outs of the warehouse, and explain it clearly.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the reserve warehouse system was established during the Hongwu period.

The reserve warehouse is to collect grain in rich years, provide relief in famine years, store grain in autumn, and borrow from the people when it is lean.

On the face of it, it looks like a good system.

But this is like insurance, the wool comes from the sheep.

It is impossible for the money in the reserve warehouse to come out of the regular tax, right?Naturally, the common people will be levied a sum of money as a reserve warehouse.

Over time, it became a tyranny.

With the corruption of the officialdom, the reserve warehouse system has naturally become a paradise for rats, money bags.

Even though Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty asked the government to supervise the private sector, and Chengzu moved the reserve warehouse from outside the city to the city, it was still unavoidable that the reserve warehouse was emptied.

In the Longqing period, the preparation warehouse existed in name only.

In the late Ming Dynasty, it played a relief role, but it was a charity warehouse run by the people themselves.

The gentry donated grain and lent money to the common people at low interest rates, thus allowing the righteous warehouse to operate.

Therefore, among the people, the gentry are the cornerstone of maintaining the imperial court, and it is impossible to count on corrupt officials.

The long-term stability of the south is due to the great contribution of the free warehouse system.

But righteous warehouses are all voluntary, and if one is not careful, it will not be able to operate.

Moreover, only in times of famine would people sell their sons and daughters, or even sell their fields, so that the landlords would have the opportunity to annex the land in a legitimate way.

How could most landlords be kind?
Not many people can uphold this kind of moral requirement.

Therefore, according to Xu Menglong's words, the reserve warehouse has declined, and the imperial court can't just rely on money to help the people in need of food.

Sometimes, money cannot buy food.

It suggested that county warehouses be re-established in each county, and no longer conduct lending business, but be responsible for relief.

Counties use their annual surplus, or force them to buy [-] to [-] dans of grain, and set up county warehouses.

The magistrate responsibility system was implemented, and inspectors and censors inspected, so that there would be food in times of famine.

Zhu Yixi expressed his appreciation for this.

In the officialdom, complex lending businesses such as reserve warehouses and righteous warehouses are simply impossible to implement.

The magistrate's sister-in-law came to borrow food, do you dare to ask her to pay it back?
It's just a relief business, but it can be practiced.

"However, there are too many county warehouses."

For some reason, Zhu Yixi thought of the grain depot.

As long as the grain depots are inspected, the grain depots in various places will catch fire for no reason, and there will be no proof.

Compared with stealing and selling grain reserves, dereliction of duty is much lighter.

"Besides, the counties are already in financial difficulties. How can they have the spare power to build county warehouses? Isn't this forcing them to commit corruption?"

Zhu Yixi shook his head and picked out several faults.

"Therefore, there is no need to have too many granaries. If there are too many granaries, it will be miscellaneous, and miscellaneous will make it difficult to manage. Therefore, it is better to have less."

He just thought about it in his heart, and his head began to empty, thinking in a simple and convenient direction.

It is also necessary to establish an accountability system to prevent officials from bucking each other.

"Therefore, each prefecture establishes a prefectural storehouse, which is managed by the magistrate and supervised by the governor."

"The grain in the government warehouse is purchased from the reserve, and half of the reserve must be used to purchase grain every year to enrich the treasury so that there will be food for relief in disaster years."

As for the waste of too much food, this is impossible at this time.

Although famines cannot be counted, people at that time knew that every three years there must be an average year, and every five years there must be a disaster.

There may be slight differences, but they are generally accurate.

In three to five years, there will always be natural disasters such as droughts or floods, which are simply unavoidable.

"Name it, Anmincang—"

(End of this chapter)