Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 351

The imperial court bought the land and distributed it in the name of hundreds of officials...

When Zhu Youjian proposed this concept, all the officials turned pale all of a sudden.

Like Feng Quan's idea, Zhu Youjian made two-handed preparations.

Officials love fame, and in order to fight for Qingliu's reputation, they can often persuade the emperor against the anger of the emperor. Even if the advice fails, they feel very honored to be punished.

Now Zhu Youjian proposes that the imperial court spends money to buy the land in the hands of the officials, and then distributes the land to the common people in the name of the officials donating the land.

Everyone knows that "Apocalypse governs the world" right now, the world is healthy and the people live and work in peace and contentment, so it is inevitable that land prices will soar.

Even though the fertile land in Zhejiang has risen to 80 taels and one mu, you may feel that it has come to an end. In fact, this fertile land still has a lot of room for growth, including other places.

Right now, Zhu Youjian wants to spend money to buy land and distribute it to the people. Such a move has made many officials in the temple heartbroken.

Right now, if you sell the land, you will lose more than a dozen taels per mu of good land, and you will lose seven or eight taels of ordinary land.

Even if it is not the land of Zhejiang, the officials will have to lose two or three to eight or nine taels, and needless to say the amount of land in their hands.

The Sanniangzi case and the Shaanxi civil uprising case, the number of acres copied from the two cases is jaw-dropping, and the land in their hands is less than one-tenth of the land in the hands of the gentry.

If hundreds of acres of land are sold, the thousands of taels of silver will be gone, which is more uncomfortable than killing them.

But they are also very clear that today's matter is not only for them to control public opinion and let the people below spread it, Zhu Youjian will even be popular.

Just the royal store of the Imperial Horse Supervisor, just as usual, posting the imperial notices and meeting contents in the store is enough to tear off the fig leaf of the officials who participated in the court meeting today.

At present, Huangdian is distributed in more than 600 states and counties across the country, and more than 2000 million urban population rely on Huangdian to buy things.

In terms of the influence of public opinion in the city, the imperial store is much stronger than the powerful gentry, and the powerful gentry gave Zhu Youjian a headache not in the city, but in the countryside.

The urban population of Daming is only 2000 million, and the urbanization rate is at most 15%, and this is the result of Zhu Youjian's Daxing factory, shipyard, and officialdom.

Using Huangdian to control public opinion in prefectures and counties, and using land distribution to promote rural public opinion, in this battle of public opinion, it is impossible for Zhu Youjian to lose to the powerful gentry.

Therefore, Feng Quan and others above the temple were all beating their hearts.

According to Zhu Youjian's words, the officials in the four provinces in Beijing lost several million taels of silver.

If Zhu Youjian didn't respond, Qingliu's reputation would be ruined the next day.

For a time, everyone began to weigh up...

Looking at them, Zhu Youjian felt a little contemptuous.

In fact, this game is not difficult to break. The hard thing is that these guys want to build a chastity archway after being bitches.

"The people are poor because of their laziness. Even if the court bought the land and distributed it, the lazy people will still leave the land idle or rent it out in exchange for a little profit..."

Cui Chengxiu couldn't help but speak, but when he spoke, Shi Fenglai, Feng Quan and others' faces turned black in an instant.

Knowing that Zhu Youjian will announce the content of the court meeting to the world, Cui Chengxiu's words are simply killing the bureaucracy.

"The people are poor because of their laziness?" Zhu Youjian sneered, glanced at the people above the temple, and then shouted softly:

"Is this kind of contemptuous language what you should say as a parent officer?!"

"Opening your mouth and shutting your mouth means that the people are lazy, so why have you ever thought about whether the people are lazy voluntarily or passively?"

"The lazy people in your mouth, don't you try to find a job opportunity?"

"Everyone, you are in charge of the government affairs of the country. Didn't you encounter disaster victims and refugees who came to the government to pray for a job when you returned home?"

"According to Gu's knowledge, for all of you sitting here, there are hundreds of servants in the mansion, and dozens of widows. With so many people, have you ever given them a chance to prosper?"

Zhu Youjian glanced at the crowd, watching them lower their heads and eyes, nose, nose and heart, and couldn't help asking: "The poor, who doesn't want to be rich?"

"Among you, there are not a few people with poor families. Why don't you ask yourself why you are so lazy when your family is poor? Why are your parents lazy?"

"Is it because you are not working hard? Or is it just like what the adults said now, that you and your parents were not motivated at that time?"

Looking at this group of people, Zhu Youjian felt extremely disappointed, so he took advantage of this moment to scold these contemptible carnivores.

"Like you and others, the current poverty of the common people is due to the unwillingness of the powerful gentry and the fact that they are not allowed to prosper."

"The powerful gentry are unwilling to give the opportunity of prosperity to the poor, and they are even more unwilling to share the rich food and clothing with the common people."

"My Ming Dynasty has been established for 260 years. It is true that there are stupid people and smart people among the people, but the court should not despise the people, let alone regard poverty as a shame."

"If the imperial court regards the poverty of the people as a shame, can people like you still be admitted to fame and gain the status and power they have today?"

"In order to develop, the people work hard and work hard..."

"Farming the fields, making tools, doing business, learning and reading, everyone is alone, but except for a few scholars like you who can get fame, most of the others are still living in poverty."

"As long as Fan Er can uphold his original intentions before being admitted to fame, he will not say such things!"

After scolding Cui Chengxiu's party members, Zhu Youjian continued to get back to business:

"Allocating land for the people is the national policy of the imperial court. Whether it is immigration, or purchasing land and allocating land, the people must have an income."

""Officials Set Salary" is not only to avoid bad rules, but also to prevent the people from being exploited by corrupt officials."

"There is no room for negotiation on this matter. The distribution will start today, and the fields in the other four provinces in Beijing will be temporarily put on hold."

"From now on, from the top to bottom of the country, if anyone has any objection to this matter, even if the resignation is sparse, Gu and Long Live will agree to it one by one."

"However, if there are people below who are acting obediently and violatingly, and tripping up the national policy, then the third department will naturally take action to investigate."

After all, Zhu Youjian stood up, and when he stood, the others had to stand up too.

"The court discussion ends here, and the "Officials' Determination of Salary" will be issued and implemented from now on."

"The lower officials take orders..." Bi Ziyan, Gu Bingqian, and officials from the Yanshan faction and the Qi royal party could only bite the bullet and agree, and Feng Quan and others could only follow along.

Zhu Youjian turned around and left the main hall of worship. On the way he left, the officials of Wenhua hall lowered their heads.

With his departure, the national policy of "Officials' fixed salary" was officially implemented.

The news quickly spread throughout the palace like a icy winter wind, and spread to the imperial city, inner city, outer city, and Zhili at a faster speed.

When the news spread to the East Palace, Jin Xuan was testing Zhu Ciran's shooting skills.

"I see, you step back..."

Hearing what the eunuch of the East Palace said, Jin Xuan nodded slightly, then stepped forward and said to Zhu Ciran:
"Your Highness, this is the end of today's class. Let's go to the outer city and the capital for a stroll."

"Ah?!" Hearing that he was suddenly able to go to the outer city and surrounding areas of the capital, Zhu Ciran was stunned for a short time, and then immediately became excited.

He didn't think about why Jin Xuan had said a few days ago that he had to wait until he was ten years old before he could go to the outer city, and when he was older he could go to the surrounding areas of the capital, but now he suddenly agreed, and he didn't know the deep meaning of Jin Xuan's doing so.

He just felt very excited, and urged the eunuchs in the palace to hurry up and prepare the car.

Half an hour later, when he got into the car and left the palace with Jin Xuan, there were still hundreds of soldiers waiting at the gate of Donghua Gate, guarding them to go to the south city.

Nancheng was once the only outer city in the capital, and it was also the oldest urban area. There was a mixed bag of fish and dragons here, full of people of various religions and high-levels.

If it hadn't been for the finalization of the "Officials' Determination of Lu", Jin Xuan might have waited a few years before bringing Zhu Ciran to Nancheng.

With excitement, Zhu Ciran, led by Jin Xuan, walked through the corridors of the inner city, and then came to the south city.

It's just that compared with the clean and tidy inner city in his impression, the style and appearance of the southern city disappointed him greatly.

The potholed green brick road, from time to time you can see some stolen green brick pits, the surrounding houses are low, and there are few two-story buildings.

The people in the inner city would cover the courtyard walls with lime powder or some white powder, but in the outer city, the colors of the courtyard walls are varied, and even the wooden doors of the courtyards look old without new tung oil for more than ten years.

Gloomy and gloomy sky, snow-covered roads with a lot of dirt, some snow in the corners of courtyard walls and yellow snow.

The appearance of Nancheng made Zhu Ciran very disappointed, but he found that the people on the street were dressed brightly.

"Sir, why do these people live in such a poor place, but they dress better than the people in the inner city?"

Zhu Ciran asked, but when Jin Xuan heard this, he just lowered his eyes and replied:
"Does Your Highness want to hear the truth or lies?"

"I want to hear it all." Zhu Ciran didn't make such an environment very heavy, but found it very interesting.

Seeing his appearance, Jin Xuan nodded slightly when he heard the words, and said: "Then tell lies first..."

As he said that, Jin Xuan looked around and explained to Zhu Ciran: "Compared to the Wanli period, the income of many people has been greatly improved."

"As the material conditions continue to improve, some people want to pursue a higher quality of life, so in terms of food and clothing, we must try our best to keep it refined."

"In addition, there is a comparison between the poor, so in order to show their money, they will give priority to buying more expensive silk and satin."

"But in fact, most of them swollen their faces to pretend to be fat. They rented their silk and satin clothes, and their yards were also rented. In order to rent these things, they even took on some debts."

"They all make their lives difficult for the sake of face, which is not advisable..."

"People who are really strong in heart don't care about what they wear..."

"This is a lie..." After Jin Xuan finished speaking, he and Zhu Ciran looked at each other, and Zhu Ciran said in a daze:
"Why does it sound reasonable to me?"

"Then, do you want to hear the truth, Your Highness?" Jin Xuan asked Zhu Ciran, but Zhu Ciran hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Seeing Zhu Ciran nod his head, Jin Xuan began to expose the so-called lies, pointed at the people and said:
"Your Highness, you can observe that although some people are dressed in bright clothes, compared with the people in the inner city, they are slightly older and less energetic."

"For the people in the inner city, it is not surprising that they often wear luxurious clothes, and people around them have such clothes, but for the people in the outer city, such clothes are the only ones they can get. Clothes available."

"Your Highness, looking at their expressions and steps, they are different from the people in the inner city who are strolling in the courtyard. Most of the people in the outer city are in a hurry."

"The reason for this is all because they have to run around for their livelihood, but if they don't work for a day, they have to endure a day of hunger."

"Then why don't they wear more ragged clothes? If these clothes were replaced with rice, they would last for a long time." Zhu Ciran still remembered what the oil seller said last time, and he also knew the price of rice among the people.

Such a set of seven or eight hundred cash, if sold to buy rice, is enough to live comfortably for two or three months.

"Your Highness..." Jin Xuan took a deep breath, then shook his head and said, "This dress cannot be sold."

"Why?" Zhu Ciran frowned, and Jin Xuan explained:

"A man relies on his clothes and a horse depends on his saddle. The reason His Highness sees them hurrying is because most of them are on their way to work."

"Wearing such clothes to work?" Zhu Ciran couldn't believe it, but Jin Xuan shook his head and said:

"Your Highness will understand later..."

After all, Jin Xuan asked the soldiers and horses of Wanping Battalion to tell a well-dressed man to follow him to see his day, and if he did well, he would reward him with [-] coins.

The man was a little scared at first, but when he heard that there was a reward of one hundred, he immediately showed a flattering smile to the soldiers in front of him, and kept bowing his hands.

The distance was only a dozen or so steps away, and Zhu Ciran could clearly see the words and deeds of the two of them.

After a while, the carriage started moving again, and this time it followed the noble man towards the east city.

When passing through the South City to the Xunli Gate in the East City, Jin Xuan made a special statement:
"In the early years, when His Royal Highness King Qi did not abolish the city entrance tax, the man had to be charged three pennies for the city gate tax."

"Three papers a day?" Zhu Ciran asked curiously, but Jin Xuan shook his head and said, "Three papers a day."

Zhu Ciran nodded subconsciously, he didn't feel how heavy the three pennies to enter the city gate was for this man.

A group of people followed the man to the east city. When they passed by Baiwangfufang and Guanlifang, the man shy away, afraid of meeting some dignitaries.

When Zhu Ciran passed by the two squares, his thoughts were all in the Baiwangfufang, and it was not until he was far away from the Baiwangfufang that he had the time to observe the streets.

Compared with Nancheng, the streets of Dongcheng are neat and tidy, not to mention the paved blue brick and stone roads are wide, and the neat and uniform neighborhoods and houses are also pleasing to the eye.

Not only that, but the clothes of the people living in the east city are also the same as those in the inner city. Although they are not expensive silks and satins, they are confident and generous, talking and laughing on the streets.

On the other hand, the man was clearly dressed better than the people around him, but he was timid, completely unsuitable for the clothes on his body, very unsuitable.

Zhu Ciran and others followed the man all the way, and finally everyone stopped at a yamen not far from the gate of Changle Gate in the East City. The man in noble clothes came to the gate of the yamen with a smile. good face.

The man bowed and bowed again, humbled to the extreme, and finally walked into the yamen under the wave of the yamen servant.

Zhu Ciran looked at the plaque on the yamen, only to realize that it was the yamen in charge of the Tonghui River Water Transport Wharf in Dongcheng.

During the waiting period, Jin Xuan didn't speak, while Zhu Ciran just let himself go, looking at the people around him.

After an incense stick of time, the man came out of the yamen, continued to bow to the yamen guard at the door, and then walked out of the Changle gate with a wooden sign in his hand.

"Follow up..." Jin Xuan said, and the team continued to keep up.

Under the watchful eyes of Zhu Ciran and others, the man walked out of Changle Gate with a wooden sign, and a group of men dressed in the same dignified clothes as him were followed by him.

It's just that after this group of people walked out of the Changle Gate, they began to take off their clothes one after another. After taking off the luxurious coats on their bodies, they revealed extremely cheap linen clothes without any cotton.

As the cold wind blew, a group of people walked into a courtyard shivering, and when they came out, the clothes in their hands were gone.

Zhu Ciran looked curiously, only to find that this is a shop for renting clothes, and there is a notice board at the door, marking the rental price of clothes.

For example, the clothes worn by the man just now cost ten Wen a day.

"Sir, why do they spend ten cents on renting clothes instead of using the ten cents to eat?"

Zhu Ciran looked at Jin Xuan and asked puzzledly, and Jin Xuan also sighed:
"Without these clothes, they couldn't enter the yamen just now."

"Oh..." Zhu Ciran didn't understand the meaning behind it, but only Jin Xuan knew that these shops for renting clothes were all related to the Water Transport Yamen.

Clothes are the votes to enter the water transportation yamen. If you don't rent clothes, you can't enter the yamen. If you can't enter the yamen, you can't continue the following things.

Jin Xuan didn't say much, and the convoy followed the crowd shivering in the cold wind to the Tonghui River Wharf.

During the period, all the officials and small officials at the Tonghui River Wharf discovered the convoy, but they were all persuaded away by Jin Xuan after they stepped forward.

The convoy followed the crowd to the pier. Even in the cold winter, the Tonghui River was extremely busy.

This group of people in coarse linen clothes came to the pier, and after the wooden sign was verified by the small official, the yamen servant next to them gave them a pickaxe.

The people who got the picks tied the soles of their feet with the straw ropes next to them, and then began to walk down the pier one by one, came to the ice, and walked carefully towards the middle of the ice.

"What are they going to do?" Zhu Ciran asked curiously, while Jin Xuan said calmly: "Cutting out the ice, to carve out a channel for the ships to return."

As he spoke, Jin Xuan explained to Zhu Ciran:
"The canal is an important waterway for the south-to-north grain transfer in the Ming Dynasty, so the imperial court attached great importance to the canal water transportation."

"However, every year when winter comes, the northern canals will be covered with a thick layer of ice. Even the canals in the south of the Yangtze River will encounter ice from time to time, hindering the passage of water ships."

"Therefore, in order to prevent freezing on the way back, generally before the end of October every year, the tank ships transporting grain from south to north will unload the cargo as soon as possible after arriving at the destination, and go back empty. "."

"If the river is not completely frozen, you can use a pick to smash the ice to clear the river and allow ships to pass."

"If unfortunately it catches up with the freezing period, then the tank boat can only be stranded on the Grand Canal, and after the ice and snow melt in the coming year, it will take a rest and return to the south."

"But waiting until after the rest to return, not only the cost will become very high, but also the water transportation task will be missed."

"Therefore, the south will usually send other ships northward after the tank ships are available in the spring of the second year to minimize losses."

"In the past two years, due to the severe drought in the north, water transport ships have had to insist on transporting grain northward, so it is a big project to dig out the ice and keep it there."

"Even in winter, the grain ships from the south will go north by sea, take the Lu River to enter Beizhili, and then unload, and use small boats to transport grain to the wharf on the Yu River."

As Jin Xuan said, he also signaled Zhu Ciran to get off the car, and brought Zhu Ciran down to the pier surrounded by more than a hundred soldiers.

Looking down, they could see tens of thousands of peasants standing on the ice layer, smashing the frozen ice layer with iron picks from time to time, while someone next to them used tools to net out the crushed ice.

In this way, two rivers with a width of less than one foot were barely guaranteed, and in the river, boats with a width of six to seven feet and two feet were carrying bags of grain.

Most of the peasants on the ice were wearing a layer of cotton clothes, but like the man just now, they were simply wearing coarse linen clothes.

They swing picks faster and work harder than men in cotton coats.

"It's so cold, how much money can they make for a day..."

The cold wind blew Zhu Ciran's cheeks red, and he held the small copper stove handed over by the eunuch in his hand.

"If there is no deduction, it's fifty cash, but if you rent clothes, it's only forty cash." Jin Xuan looked at the people working on the ice, and calmly said to Zhu Ciran.

"Is that all?" Zhu Ciran was a little surprised, after all, although he was young, he still had 100 taels a month, and on weekdays he rewarded little eunuchs with a few taels of silver.

"Your Highness now knows how the people's life is going?" Jin Xuan said, and remonstrated:
"The few taels of silver that His Highness rewards eunuchs at will is enough to recruit hundreds of people to work hard for a day in the cold wind and icy water in this cold winter."

"If it wasn't for King Qi's reduction of miscellaneous and various taxes, this group of people would have to pay more than a dozen cash in taxes for a day of work, and they would only get twenty or so cash."

"Twenty or so..." Jin Xuan sighed, while Zhu Ciran saw some children of twelve, thirteen, eight or nine years old on the ice.

They were not much older than Zhu Ciran, but they walked around on the ice with a basket of things on their backs.

When they heard the call of the peasants, they ran over quickly. The peasants opened the basket, took out a roasted sweet potato, and handed these children a penny.

The child who got the money put the money carefully, with a very happy smile on his face.

"Don't they read?" Zhu Ciran pointed at the group of children, but Jin Xuan said:
"They were supposed to go to government schools, but they couldn't afford the miscellaneous fees of government schools. Their parents were making a living on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Among those people, they might be their parents."

Jin Xuan pointed to some middle-aged couples on both sides of the canal with stoves roasting sweet potatoes, but the words suddenly became much easier:
"They were originally peasants, but the imperial store taught them how to roast sweet potatoes for free, and sold stoves and cars for roasting sweet potatoes cheaply, so they were able to make a living."

"There are thousands of people like them in Beijing."

"In addition, I heard that His Royal Highness Qi Wang is already preparing to rectify the official school. I hope that after the official school is rectified, these children like His Highness can go to school to reduce the burden on the family."

"Hmm..." Zhu Ciran nodded ignorantly, feeling that Jin Xuan's long-suppressed mood was rarely relaxed.

Although he doesn't know what his Uncle Qi is doing, it seems that after these things are done, the lives of these people in front of him will be easier.

Thinking of this, he turned his head and looked at the ice layer of the Tonghui River Wharf, watching the children as old as him walking back and forth with more than ten catties of sweet potatoes on their backs, feeling an indescribable feeling in his heart...

　it's still six o'clock in the afternoon

　　
　
(End of this chapter)