Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 25 Ancient Social Welfare Institutions
"Pork is more expensive than beef and mutton?"

Zhu Youjian was a little speechless, he didn't expect pork to be so expensive.

Faced with doubts, the Chief Banner Officer could only smile helplessly: "Your Highness, I don't know, beef and mutton have a strong taste and need spices to marinate."

"Beef and mutton are not expensive, but the spices for pickling are expensive."

"Although pork is expensive, if you take it home, get some sliced ​​ginger, onion, garlic and salt, and it can be put into the pot directly."

"After a year, save four or five taels of silver, buy five pieces of cloth in the twelfth lunar month, spend one tael of silver, and the family will have a few new clothes."

After the chief banner officer finished speaking, Zhu Youjian did not expect that the people in the late Wanli period would live a pretty good life.

But he thought about it again, this person was talking about his life, as the general banner, he was a seventh-rank official of the imperial court, so it was only natural that he lived well.

Thinking about it, Zhu Youjian asked: "What you are talking about is yours, and what I want to ask is ordinary people."

"For example, the woodcutter, can he collect one or two taels of silver a year?"

"Your Highness, you underestimated them." The Chief Banner Officer explained with a smile:
"These woodcutters go into the mountains in three days, and they can carry a hundred catties of dried firewood to Beijing, and they can be sold for a hundred dollars."

"After a year, it's not difficult to earn eight or nine taels of silver."

"The difficult thing is that if the peasants have their own arable land, they only have one hundred and twenty coins left to pay the land tax and the per capita tax per acre of land."

"Therefore, some peasants can only go to the countryside to do some work in their spare time. Occasionally, they will delay their crops when they encounter corvees from the imperial court."

"In this way, it's only six or seven hundred cash a year, and at most one bolt of white cloth can be bought, and some oil and salt will be spent."

"In the early years, when Emperor Shenzong was in power, the welfare of the Nursing Home was good, and many refugees simply became beggars in order to trick them into the Nursing Home, because they could not support themselves by farming."

"Are there many people in the Beijing Nursing Home?" Zhu Youjian frowned slightly, disgusted with this kind of people who don't work but are beggars.

As for the Nursing Home, this is an ancient welfare institution. In the first year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict: "Widows, widows, lonely, sick and unable to support themselves, the official will save them."

Zhu Yuanzhang included it in the "Law of the Ming Dynasty", which stipulated: "Where widows, widows, lonely and seriously ill people are poor and have no relatives to rely on, unable to survive on their own, and those who should be adopted in the lawsuit but not adopted, the stick will be sixty; Those who derogate are regarded as self-stealing."

Under Zhu Yuanzhang's initiative, many prefectures and counties set up nursing homes during the Hongwu period.

During the reign of Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, the establishment of the Nursing Homes was improved, and the Nursing Homes were found in "all prefectures and counties in the world".

Ming Yingzong also issued an edict during the Tianshun period to set up a nursing home in each county, provide rice for cooking, and provide two meals a day, and the local government should try to handle utensils, firewood, and vegetables.

For the vagrants, orphans, and old people in the nursing home, the sick are called for medical treatment, and the dead are buried in coffins.

It can be said that the orphaned old man in the nursing home occupies a large expenditure of the local government.

Zhu Youjian just asked casually, and the Chief Banner Officer responded:
"There are more than [-] people in the Yangjiyuan in the capital, and they have to eat tens of thousands of catties of grain every day. A few days ago, the governor of Shuntian Mansion appealed to the officials, asking for land for them, but they were rejected by the officials."

"So many?" Zhu Youjian couldn't help being speechless, while the Chief Banner Officer shook his head and said:

"Most of the nursing homes in the capital are lazy people, similar to those with disabilities, orphans, and the elderly. Most of them are pushed out to the counties around the capital."

"And in recent years, the Nursing Home of the Frontier Defense Station needs to support many orphans every year, and some generals..."

Having said this, the Chief Banner Officer shut his mouth in time and didn't dare to continue, but Zhu Youjian understood what he meant.

The generals of the local frontier army need to train servants, and the orphans of these generals who died in battle are naturally the best source of soldiers.

You don't need to spend too much money, you just need to send some things from the generals every now and then to cultivate some feelings. When these children are sixteen or seventeen years old, they can be drawn into the military camp as writers, and they are very loyal.

This kind of small trick can't be fooled by anyone, Zhu Youjian also thought about it, and suddenly said to Wang Chengen:

"Cheng En, find a chance tomorrow and go to Qianqing Palace to talk to Brother Huang."

"Just to say, the eunuchs in the Yumajian are not paid enough, and the Yumajian is short of manpower, so I want to recruit some children of soldiers who died in battle from the border towns of Xuanfu, Datong, and Jiliao, and then ask some students of the Imperial Academy to teach them knowledge. .”

"In addition, the fields of the Yumajian and Huangzhuang need to be reclaimed. Those orphans whose husbands and sons died in the battle can all be moved to Beizhili, and the Yumajian will divide the land."

"Just tell Brother Huang that if he agrees, you will do so, and if he refuses, forget it."

"The maidservant takes orders." Wang Chengen responded quickly after hearing this, but Zhu Youjian didn't pay much attention.

If he showed his heart too much, he might be impeached by those township party officials in the court.

Thinking of this, Wang Chengen also suddenly said: "Your Highness, the Ministry of Industry is here."

"Well." Seeing this, Zhu Youjian was about to get off the car, Wang Chengen was helped out of the car by Jin Yiwei, and after setting up the horse stool, he helped Zhu Youjian get out of the car.

Although Zhu Youjian was wearing this white round-neck uniform, his manner of appearance immediately made the Sergeant Ma Si of the Wucheng Army guarding the gate of the industry realize that a big man was coming, and hurried to report it.

After a while, a six-rank official from the Ministry of Industry trotted out with a few small officials.

When he saw Zhu Youjian, he hurried out to compose and salute: "Your Highness Fifth..."

He could recognize Zhu Youjian because he had seen Zhu Youjian in Jiyan Hall during the national funeral, and Zhu Youjian didn't find it strange, but explained his intentions:
"Brother Huang asked me to take a look at the design and drawings of the imperial mausoleum. In addition, you asked someone to show me all the materials list for the design of the imperial mausoleum."

"Yes, the next official will do it now." Hearing what Zhu Youjian said, the head of the Ministry of Industry sighed secretly, but he could only do it.

"Your Highness, please." He led the way, and Zhu Youjian walked in with ten Jin Yiwei and Wang Chengen.

The official was half a body behind Zhu Youjian, but he led the way unhurriedly, it was obvious that he was delaying time.

Zhu Youjian is not afraid, he has long thought of the move to draw salary from the bottom of the pot, and these ministers of the Ministry of Industry can't stop himself even if they cover up like this.

"Wang Zuo, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, has met His Highness the Fifth Highness."

Suddenly, at the corner, an old man in his [-]s wearing the official uniform of Shangshu led a group of officials to meet him. Zhu Youjian nodded when he saw this:

"I'm here to see the design and blueprints of the imperial mausoleum. Wang Shangshu can go to his own business and ask the head of the Ministry of Industry to get me the list of materials and the list of craftsmen."

"In that case, then I will resign..." Seeing that Zhu Youjian didn't want him to accompany him, Wang Zuo had no choice but to disperse the crowd.

The officials of the Ministry of Industry returned to their study rooms one after another, and Zhu Youjian, accompanied by the head of the Ministry of Industry, came to a courtyard where the imperial mausoleum was designed.

On the table in the hall of the courtyard, there are sand tables, models of the imperial mausoleum, and a thick stack of books.

Obviously, the people from the Ministry of Industry wanted to embarrass Zhu Youjian, but...

"What I'm not afraid of is arithmetic!" Zhu Youjian sneered in his heart, and led people into the hall.

(End of this chapter)