Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 273 Fighting for Power and Profit
"Why is Enke only for Suncheon!"

"Don't tell me I'm not a scholar of Ming Dynasty?!"

"The king of Qi has harmed the country, and his crimes should be punished!"

"If you want to open Enke, you should treat them equally!"

On the first day of October, with the implementation of the New Deal, the first to be impeached by the New Deal, as expected by everyone, was indeed Enke, who was limited to Shuntian Mansion.

Since there are not many people living in the West City yet, and the courtyard built by the Ministry of Industry can accommodate hundreds of thousands of people, it is undoubtedly selected as the Enke examination room.

It's just that outside the Enke examination room, countless scholars who came to Shuntian Mansion to participate in Enke were declined by officials, and when more and more people were declined, riots inevitably broke out.

Tens of thousands of scholars began to complain, which suddenly made the Enke examination room in the west of the capital extremely noisy.

When the situation gradually became out of control, the sound of armor and marching sounded at the same time, and the ranks of Enke officials and scholars were forcibly separated.

"Beep--"

The sound of the wooden whistle was so ear-piercing that many scholars covered their ears.

They looked at the soldiers and horses of the Shangzhigong Guard Battalion in front of them with a trace of horror, and behind the soldiers and horses of the Gongwei Battalion was Sun Shoufa riding on horseback and wearing armor.

Facing the street crowded by tens of thousands of scholars, he frowned slightly, and then glanced at the guard general next to him.

The general understood it, and immediately pulled out his riding gun. After applying the medicine, he pointed at the sky and pulled the trigger.

"boom--"

The sound of gunshots made some scholars pale. Before they could react, a group of soldiers and horses from the guard battalion appeared in the streets and alleys, forcibly separating them and squeezing out a ten-foot-wide road in the street.

"Send a long live oral order!"

Sun Shoufa spoke suddenly, and all the scholars who approached him looked at him, and he also said indifferently:

"This Enke is different from the previous Enke, but if you want to participate, you can enter the Beihe Lane examination room in the West City!"

Enke opened? !

Some scholars who heard Sun Shoufa's words were stunned, and at the same time, many soldiers of the Gongwei camp also began to speak.

The continuous sound transmission allowed thousands of scholars to understand what happened, and those who reacted began to squeeze towards Beihe Lane in the north of Xicheng.

The vacated one-foot-long road became a shortcut to quickly go to Beihe Lane. In response to this, the soldiers of the Gongwei Camp made gaps one after another, and the soldiers rushed towards the gaps.

Half an hour later, most of the troubled scholars rushed to Beihe Lane, and hundreds of courtyards became the place where they would take their exams.

But when they were arranged to enter the examination room, they were stunned when they entered the examination room.

Just because it was too simple compared to most of the guest examination rooms they had participated in.

It is said to be an examination room, but it is actually a private house where no common people live.

They were grouped into groups of ten by the invigilating scribes, and placed in private houses, and they were delayed for an hour when they came and went.

After finally sitting in the examination room, when the examination papers were handed out, they were all in a daze.

[May I ask what is the safest construction structure in civil construction? 】

[May I ask what are the correct steps and proportions when constructing cement roads? 】

[About the "Oyster Seeding Method", please choose the correct answer from the following three points...]

"What is this……"

Looking at the entire test paper on civil construction, the scholars in various places were stunned.

They all looked up at the examiner at the same time, but the examiner said flatly without squinting:
"This time, Enke will test civil engineering, mathematics, people's livelihood, economics, policy theory, and politics. Each subject will take two hours. Now it is the first test, civil engineering..."

what?What is it other than policy theory?
Listening to the examiner who used the same language but said different meanings, all the students were stunned, but the examiner said indifferently:

"You still have one hour and seven quarters..."

Angry, helpless, puzzled...

All kinds of emotions were overwhelmed by time. In order to become an official, this group of students who were encouraged by others could only bite the bullet and began to answer.

It's just that this kind of hard-headed answer is tantamount to throwing an elementary school student into a calculus competition and knowing nothing at first glance.

However, some scholars who have read some miscellaneous books are somewhat familiar with the Luoyang Bridge built with oysters in Quanzhou, so they began to answer "the method of planting oysters to strengthen the foundation", and from these answers, they can see that the exam questions are all about construction. .

Just being able to see it and being able to answer it are two different things.

Most of the scholars are closed to themselves in the process of doing the questions, but compared with them, the Yanshan scholars who are in the original examination room are writing hard and answering the questions they have learned one by one.

When it came to some drawing questions in civil engineering, they even took out the wooden ruler and the pencils prepared in the examination room and started drawing.

At the end of the day, those who can do the questions have all been done, and those who can't do it have resigned to their fate.

"clang!"

With the ringing of the examination bell, those booing scholars who walked into the examination room with their heads held high came out dejectedly, and brought out a message.

In the afternoon, there will be a test of numerology, that is, arithmetic.

Although many of them were very confident in their arithmetic, when they went to the examination room in the afternoon and saw a page full of Arabic numerals and various questions about geometry, equations, and functions, they once again had self-doubt.

On the second day, however, they could barely answer some questions about people's livelihood and economy, and the discussion and politics on the fourth day also gave them some confidence back.

However, after finishing the six exams in three days, many of them understood.

In fact, this Enke is a promotion path specially prepared for Yanshan students, as for them, they are just fooled and booed.

Many scholars who analyzed here began to recall who encouraged them to come to the examination room, but due to the complicated friendship among scholars, few of them could recall for a while.

Reluctantly, tens of thousands of students rested overnight, and many of them gave up hope that they would be able to make the list, and chose to pack up and go home.

Such behavior is like the flu, constantly infecting people around.

On the fifth day after the exam, when Enke announced the ranking list, there were only a hundred or ten people watching from the tens of thousands of students.

However, their onlookers did not cause any miracles. None of the hundred or ten people made the list, and this kind of answer made the people behind the scenes frustrated...

"Is this group of people all trash?! Tens of thousands of people don't even have a single person on the list?!"

In a courtyard study in Dongjiang Mixiang, Beijing, Yao Zongwen was furious and cursed, while the official in front of him explained:
"My lord, I don't blame them for this. Apart from using the stereotyped format, the Enke questions this time are different from what the scholars have learned, so naturally they won't be on the list."

Hearing this, Yao Zongwen gritted his teeth and continued to ask:
"What about the other parties? What about the nobles? Didn't they all encourage people to take the exam? They didn't pass either?"

"Not at all..." The official shook his head and sighed, but Yao Zongwen walked left and right in the study after hearing this, and finally stopped and said:

"Since Enke failed in the exam, my son from East Zhejiang must win the imperial examination in the next year!"

"Yes..." The official responded when he heard the sound, and just when Zhu Dang touched his nose, Zhu Youjian was laughing...

"Good! I didn't expect that more than [-] people passed the test."

In the study of King Qi's Mansion, Zhu Youjian's eyes were full of joy when he looked at the thick volume of Zhongbang documents.

For this group of Yanshan students, he doesn't care who they are in high school, he only cares about the number of more than [-] people.

After examination and screening, they at least have their own knowledge reserves, political opinions, and economic opinions.

In this way, the transfer to the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Punishment, Dali Temple, and the Department of Salt and Tea as grassroots officials at least gave Zhu Youjian confidence.

As for the more than [-] people who were not on the list, they can also be sent down as scribes.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian looked up at the person in front of him.

I saw that in front of him, Gu Bingqian was standing respectfully in place, completely unable to see that he was the leader of the Qi royal party above the court.

"It's a good job this time. Have you figured out all the officials needed by the two divisions and the two ministries and one monastery at all levels?"

Zhu Youjian put the document on the table and asked casually, while Gu Bingqian responded to his words with a flattering smile:

"Forget it, the Ministry of Punishment has three officials in the county, the Ministry of War has four, and the Dali Temple has three."

"The two divisions mainly control the salt farms and tea farms. The number of people in each site varies according to the size. There are [-] tea farms in Daming and [-] salt farms. A total of [-] officials and more than [-] scribes are needed... ..."

There are more than [-] counties in Daming. According to Bao Bingqian's words, at least ten new officials will be added to each county, totaling [-] people.

You must know that this number is already quite a lot. During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, there were only [-] civil and military officials across the country.

Although it gradually increased, by the Zhengde period, the number of civil servants was only [-], while the number of military officials was about [-].

At present, the number of civil servants in Ming Dynasty is only [-], and the number of military officers is less than [-] because Zhu Youjian abolished the Weisuo system.

Gu Bingqian is also skeptical if the [-] officials are added at one go, plus more than [-] clerks who need to be paid, and nearly [-] yamen servants and soldiers and horses. .

But so what?What he wants to keep is his position. As for the treasury problem, there will naturally be a minister of the household department to solve it.

"What do you think is the difficulty in abolishing the scribes?"

Zhu Youjian looked at Gu Bingqian, wanting to know from him some of the views of the scholar-bureaucrats on subordinate officials in this era.

There must be a good way to get rid of the more than two million subordinates in the Ming Dynasty before they can be used.

"The matter of the subordinate staff, this... I don't know whether I should talk about it or not."

Gu Bingqian hesitated, and Zhu Youjian frowned when he saw it: "Say"

"There are more than two million subordinate officials in the prefecture and county government. Since the Hongwu Dynasty, it has continued. It is not so easy to move them..." Gu Bingqian looked at Zhu Youjian's face and explained:

"In more than two hundred years, most of them have already become local tyrants, colluded with various parties, and united with merchants."

"His Highness wants to move them, they naturally dare not oppose His Highness on the surface, but it's hard to say in private."

"Even if Your Highness wants to change, how many subordinates can you change?"

"They run official schools, and among them, since the reign of Hongzhi, most of them are the children of official families."

"Even if His Highness clears out these subordinate officials, and recruits them again, he still has to use them."

"Although there are many scholars in my Ming Dynasty, there are very few who have no official background. What's more, even if they don't have official background, they also have the background of local clans and powerful gentry."

"You mean you can't move?" Zhu Youjian narrowed his eyes, a little unhappy.

"Of course they can move, but it's best to boil the frogs in warm water, and make them disappear year by year without knowing it..." Gu Bingqian quickly explained.

"Just like this year, after Enke, more than [-] scribes were sent down. If so many people were thrown into one place, it would be enough to run a province."

"According to His Highness's arrangement in Yanshan, all subordinate officials in the world can be replaced for up to seven years."

"However, Your Highness still needs to guard against the officials and the local government seeming to woo these students from Yanshan..."

Gu Bingqian spoke carefully, but Zhu Youjian frowned.

He doesn't have so much time to wait for the normal change of subordinate staff. According to Yanshan's reserves, six years of Tianqi plus seven years of Tianqi, at most [-] students will graduate.

Among the [-] students, even if there are [-] subordinate officials, they are at most placed in Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Beizhili.

But the problem is that when the drought broke out in the seventh year of the apocalypse, the eastern Sichuan region of Sichuan was also affected.

The grassroots must be completely replaced in order to reduce the proportion of corruption and improve the efficiency of handling affairs, so that the people will not be starved due to poor disaster relief and eventually forced to rebel.

As for Zhu Youjian, in terms of his character and thoughts of taking the initiative to help the poor in his previous life, he can kill evil cults like Xu Hongru, and he can also kill the northern captives and southern barbarians, so that he can fight against those who were killed because of his ineffective relief. Forcing rebels to kill, this is a bit of a test for himself.

One is active and the other is forced.

For the former, he killed the killer to protect the safety of Daming and the people, so there is no need to blame himself, but what about the latter?

Obviously it was his Zhu family's ineffective rule, which made the people have no food to eat, and finally had to rebel, and he wanted to lead troops to suppress it?what is this?In order to maintain their own rule?
As a modern soul and a complex body of the largest landlord class in ancient times, the situation Zhu Youjian had to face was already very complicated. If he did something like massacre hungry people in order to rule, he would be no different from the Manchu Qing.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian took a deep breath, then said with firm eyes:

"Subsidiary officials are powerful, but the world belongs to the common people and belongs to the imperial court."

"Those who hinder me can be killed, and those who hinder me will be punished."

"It's not that the court wants to compromise with the subordinate officials, it's the subordinate officials who want to compromise with the court."

"There are tens of thousands of scholars in the world. I don't believe that if his hundreds, thousands, and ten thousand families are destroyed, no other family will take over!"

Gu Bingqian didn't know how to answer Zhu Youjian's words, but he hesitated for a moment, and then said:
"If His Highness really wants to do this, it's better to keep a group of scribes by his side, so as not to violate the law."

"Okay, you can retreat." Zhu Youjian sat down and signaled to Gu Bingqian that he could retreat, and Gu Bingqian bowed in return, and then slowly exited the study.

After he withdrew, Zhu Youjian wanted to deal with the military newspaper, but just got the military newspaper in his hand, but withdrew it again.

Perhaps it was Gu Bingqian's words that made Zhu Youjian struggle in his heart, and for a while he also began to reflect on whether he should do this or not.

He doesn't want to be a person with both ends, but it is difficult to take back things like political policies after they are distributed.

The subordinate staff group is one of the biggest forces supporting the civil official group. Just like what Gu Bingqian said, they have been serving as officials since the Hongwu period, and they have great local influence.

There is a saying that officials are promoted, and subordinate staff in the camp are permanent.

The stability of subordinate officials in the local area determines that all forces need them, and use them to curry favor with officials and maintain the interests of local tyrants.

Now he, Zhu Youjian, is going to move the plate. If he is not careful, things may go out of his control.

At that time, he would have to start military control in advance.

"..." Thinking of the more than [-] troops in his hands, as well as the soon-to-be-established Military Division and the Ministry of Criminal Justice, Zhu Youjian gained some confidence.

Changing the subordinate officials in one or even two provinces every year, so that the grassroots team of Daming will always be young and vigorous, is what Zhu Youjian needs most.

He was not afraid of Yanshan's students forming cliques, nor of their corruption, but of their inaction.

As long as they can do things, Zhu Youjian can slowly survive the seventeen-year catastrophe, and then replace them with Yanshan students.

"Your Highness..."

"Come in."

Just when Zhu Youjian had made his decision, Man Gui's voice sounded at the door, and Zhu Youjian also returned to his seat after the summons.

When he just sat down, Man Gui also walked into the study with a handwritten book in his hand.

"Your Highness, Hong Jinglue and Sun Jinglue have letters." Man Gui presented the handwriting with both hands, and Zhu Youjian also reached out to take it, and subconsciously opened Sun Chuanting's handwriting first.

Sun Chuanting's character is stubborn, and his handwriting is straightforward, so for Zhu Youjian, reading his handwriting is easy and comfortable.

In the handwriting, Sun Chuanting mainly talked about taking over the city and power of the Mu Clan in Lijiang in the south of Duogan, and also about training the Tenth Battalion of Duogan with Cao Wenzhao.

In the end, Sun Chuanting reported all the situation of Duogan, including the population and the number of cattle and horses.

Due to the small number of Tibetans in Duogan and the large number of Ming soldiers, it is not difficult to count them.

According to statistics, there are more than [-] Tibetans in Duogan, more than [-] Mongolians, and more than [-] Han Chinese, totaling less than [-].

Such a huge Duogan, with only such a small number of people, sounds incredible, but fortunately Zhu Youjian was already prepared.

He continued to look down, but he didn't look carefully at the number of yaks and sheep after that.

Although yaks can also farm land, their efficiency is too low, far inferior to buffaloes and cattle.

"Tell Sun Chuanting to keep the Han people and Mongols in the local area, and other people, if they want, can move to Zhenfan and Zhangye to graze. The imperial court will provide grain, and each household will be given a one-time [-]-shi grain stamp."

"Yes……"

Zhu Youjian decided the whereabouts of more than [-] Tibetans with a single sentence lightly, but this was not a forced relocation.

Those who want to go can go, and those who don’t don’t have to force it.

Anyway, when the severe drought comes, there will be a large number of refugees rushing towards Qinghai without Zhu Youjian's organization.

Among other things, in the Xiningwei area, in Zhu Youjian's memory, there is no good place to suffer from a severe drought.

Even if a large number of people move back after the severe drought is over, at least they can make the place more prosperous.

Thinking about the pros and cons, Zhu Youjian tore open Hong Chengchou's letter, then glanced at it with a smile on his face.

"Hong Chengchou can understand my thoughts. It seems that there is nothing wrong with choosing him to guard the southwest."

"Afterwards, Annan and the matter of three announcements and six consolations will be handed over to him, and it is estimated that there will be no mistakes."

"However, in order to prevent Annan from leaving me, Daming, we still have to make first-hand preparations."

With that said, Zhu Youjian put down the handwriting in his hand, and told Man Gui:
"Tell Shen Tingyang that the gold and silver mines in various parts of the old port should be exploited more quickly. In addition, the cement factory will satisfy the local people first. If there are officials who are skilled in managing the cement factory, they will be sent back to Daming."

"Then transfer three million catties of gunpowder from Yanshan to Shanxi and Sichuan, order Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting to widen the post roads between Sichuan, Shaanxi and Sichuan and Yun."

"The officials of the cement factory who have returned to Daming will now stay in Yunnan."

"When Annan is conquered, we will prepare to build workshops in Annan and lay post roads to Yunnan and Guangxi."

"Finally, tell Huanglong to prepare food and fodder and a fleet of soldiers and horses. The fleet to go to the Western Ocean will depart on the first day of the first winter month, arrive at the old port in February, and then set off for the Little Western Ocean."

"I want him to take Ceylon and send a fleet to Levia to see if it's feasible to move Levia."

After Zhu Youjian finished speaking, Man Gui also bowed in response:

"Yes, the general will know."

"Back off, tell Lu Wenzhao to come and find me." Zhu Youjian waved his hand to signal that he could back down, and Man Gui also backed off cautiously.

After he withdrew, Zhu Youjian continued to deal with the military situation, but after Man Gui walked out of the study, his face became gloomy.

"Relocate Levia..."

Thinking of what Zhu Youjian said just now, Man Gui returned to his courtyard with a gloomy face all the way, and then asked someone to find Lu Wenzhao, while he sat in the study and began to write down Zhu Youjian's instructions.

He wrote handwritten letters one by one. Regarding Sun Chuanting, Hong Chengchou, and Shen Tingyang, he did not make a single word wrong, and conveyed Zhu Youjian's military order.

But when Huanglong was written in handwriting, his expression became slightly ferocious.

He first wrote about the attack on Ceylon and the protection of the Western Mission, and then he stopped when it was about Levia.

When he stopped, footsteps came from outside the courtyard.

"Captain, Commander Lu is here."

"Please come in." Man Gui did not hide the handwriting on the table, but calmly waited for Lu Wenzhao to enter the room.

Lu Wenzhao, who didn't know what happened, walked into the house, looked at Man Gui who was not right, frowned slightly, but still found a place to sit down by himself.

"Your Highness said that he wants to deal with Leviathan, you know..."

Man Gui said pointingly, but when Lu Wenzhao heard the words, he couldn't help but hesitate when he was about to pick up the teacup, and then he returned to calm.

"I know, this is His Highness's decision, what's the matter?" He pretended to be calm and drank the tea, but this move was noticed by Man Gui.

Man Gui narrowed his eyes, and then said: "If Your Highness goes to Levia, how should we deal with ourselves?"

"Ying Yuan and Huang Long and I can talk about it. With the military power in our hands, whether it is Long Live or the new emperor in the future, they will be afraid of us and dare not go too far."

"But what about you..."

"..." After speaking, Lu Wenzhao was silent for a moment.

After a long time, he picked up his teacup and took a sip, pretending to be calm and said: "I just want to do well what His Highness ordered, and be worthy of the world and the court."

"Hehe..." Hearing Lu Wenzhao's words, Man Gui chuckled and shook his head, then looked at Lu Wenzhao again and said:

"All living beings, who don't want to do whatever they want, but it's not easy to do the affairs of the court well and protect themselves..."

"What do you mean?" Lu Wenzhao looked at Man Gui with sharp eyes, and touched his waist unconsciously.

"My meaning is very simple..." Man Gui responded flatly, and stretched out his hand to write a lot on the handwriting in front of him.

"That's what I mean." Man Gui pointed the handwritten letter to Lu Wenzhao, and Lu Wenzhao got up with a frown and came to the desk.

It's just that when he saw the contents of the manuscript, especially the last paragraph, his expression changed, and he immediately raised his hand to hold the handle of the knife, looking straight at Man Gui:

"His Highness knows, ten thousand of you are not enough to die!"

"But if I don't do it, you will die!" Man Gui stood up abruptly with a grim expression.

Lu Wenzhao was at a loss for words for a while, while Man Gui changed his expression within a few seconds, and then put the letter into the envelope as if no one was there, stamped it with wax and went out of the study to find someone to deliver the letter.

His slow movements seemed to give Lu Wenzhao enough chances to kill him.

Not only that, but at the same time that he was in the wrong body with Lu Wenzhao, his movements paused, and he turned to look at Lu Wenzhao:
"Think about the wives and children in your family, think about the reasons why I did this, and think about who benefits the most..."

"Finally, Your Highness is looking for you." Man Gui glanced at Lu Wenzhao's expression, and wrote lightly:

"If you want to say it, you can say it, but you'd better think it through before you say it."

"Once you take this step, you can't take it back. If you are targeted in the future, don't regret it."

After finishing speaking, Man Gui walked out of the study room, while Lu Wenzhao tightened his grip on the handle of the Yanling knife around his waist...

(End of this chapter)