Brother Zhu Youxiao

"Your Highness, I think that cement roads should be used in places in the south of the Yangtze River that need it more!"

"Your Majesty, Your Highness, the minister seconded the proposal..."

"Your Majesty, Your Highness, the ministers and others seconded the proposal."

When Zhu Youjian said that cement would be used in one capital and eleven provinces, a large number of Jiangnan officials couldn't sit still.

Among them are not only members of the Zhejiang Party, but also Donglin and Qi Wangdang.

As soon as these people stood up, nearly a quarter of them stood up in the temple in an instant, which shows how powerful Jiangnan is.

It's about my own reputation, and whether I can please the gentry below, Huili's own hometown, and I can't allow them not to stand up.

Under such a situation, it is reasonable to say that officials from the capital and eleven provinces should stand up and refute, but they did not.

On the contrary, without waiting for them to stand up, many officials also stood up and bowed:

"Your Highness, the places that most need road construction are actually Huguang, Jiangxi, and Shandong..."

"The lower officials seconded the proposal, and the provinces that most need road construction are Huguang, Jiangxi, Shandong and other major grain-paying provinces."

"Huguang, Shandong, Jiangxi, South Zhili, North Zhili, Zhejiang...these are all big tax provinces in my dynasty, and they should be satisfied first."

Officials from Huguang, Shandong, Jiangxi and other places jumped out. As a result, nearly two-fifths of the people stood up in the court.

Although Yao Zongwen, the leader of the Zhejiang Party, was afraid of Zhu Youjian, he still couldn't help saying in the face of this situation:
"Your Highness, don't talk about anything else, just talk about taxes."

"Last year, Nanzhili paid 570 million shi in land taxes, taxes on salt, tea and wine, and miscellaneous items totaled more than 420 million taels, accounting for one-fifth of our dynasty's taxes."

"Let's talk about Zhejiang. Last year, the land tax was 320 million shi, and the taxes on salt, tea and wine and miscellaneous items totaled 2105 million taels."

"Let's talk about Jiangxi, the land tax is 2209 million shi, and the taxes are [-] million taels of silver."

"There are also Shandong, Huguang, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan..."

"The seven provinces in Beijing account for [-]% of the tax revenue in Ming Dynasty, followed by ten provinces in Beijing, including Old Port, Liaodong, Shaanxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Sichuan, Hexi, Guangxi, Beizhili, Yunnan, and Guizhou."

"As for the three provinces of Duogan, Yingzhou, and Cochin, the Ministry of Household Affairs has no statistics for the time being."

"It can be seen from this that if we build provincial roads in our dynasty, we can completely build the seven provinces in Beijing, which account for [-]% of the tax revenue, and Beizhili, where the dynasty is located."

"As for the victims, they can repair the original official roads first, and wait until the imperial court is satisfied with the two capitals and seven provinces before building the thirteen provinces."

According to Yao Zongwen, from a purely economic point of view, it would be better to build the two capitals and seven provinces first.

Because the construction of provincial roads in the two capitals and seven provinces can reduce the loss of local taxes.

From this point of view, the imperial court has reduced losses, officials have gained fame, and local gentry and common people have enjoyed benefits, which seems to be a good thing that kills three birds with one stone.

However, Zhu Youjian wanted to build provincial roads in one capital and eleven provinces, not just for this simple disaster relief, but his purpose was to equalize the rich and the poor.

"In terms of taxes alone, it's naturally easy..."

Zhu Youjian didn't get angry, but calmly said to the officials who jumped out:
"However, what the country wants to do is not to judge high and low in terms of taxes, rich and poor, but to equalize the rich and the poor, and realize the great harmony of the world!"…

Zhu Youjian stood at the commanding heights of morality, because he brought out the "world harmony".

Great harmony under heaven, this is the ideal society that Confucianism advocates "everyone is for the public", and it is also the basic thinking framework of ancient Confucian scholars.

"Tianxia" is the expression of the ancients to the world; "Great Harmony" comes from "Book of Rites", which means that there is no difference, no war, and it is the ultimate return of "benevolence".

It can be said that early Confucianism was the first school to propose the ideas of communism and equalization of the rich and the poor.

It's just that Lao Tzu is a hero, and his children and grandchildren are stingy.

People nowadays have completely forgotten about the "great harmony in the world". They only know how to stare at the little bit of profit, lying on the back of the court to suck blood, making the poor get poorer and the rich get richer.

Zhu Youjian glanced at the officials, seeing that no one jumped out for the time being, he turned around and bowed to Zhu Youxiao who was dozing on the dragon chair:

"Your Majesty, it is true that as Yao Du said in the incident, among the twenty provinces in the two capitals of my dynasty, the seven provinces in one capital accounted for [-]% of the imperial court's taxes, while the remaining thirteen provinces in one capital contributed only [-]%."

"Among them, North Zhili, Sichuan, Fujian, Yunnan, Guangxi, Hexi, Guizhou, and Duogan are the most serious. These seven provinces in Beijing only account for [-]% of the imperial court's tax payment."

"However, from the perspective of taxation, this does not prove that the gap between the rich and the poor in Daming is huge right now?"

"Why is the territory of thirteen provinces in one capital several times that of seven provinces in one capital, not as good as the other party in terms of tax payment?"

While Zhu Youjian was speaking, he also turned to look at Baiguan:

"It is precisely because of poverty and vulnerability to disasters and wars that the imperial court wants to build provincial roads in these places."

"As for the seven provinces in the capital mentioned by you, which one is not close to the sea or the river? Which waterway is not convenient?"

"Since the waterway is convenient, we will use the waterway first to make the traffic more inconvenient in Beijing and Eleven Provinces to sort out the traffic with work-for-relief."

Zhu Youjian used the waterway and Datong to attack the civil servants, but although the reason is great, if the civil servants are persuaded like this, they will not be called "killing people with their mouths".

"Your Highness's words are not unreasonable..."

Feng Quan stood up and bowed, seeming to obey Zhu Youjian's words, but then he changed the subject:

"It is precisely because of the need to balance the rich and the poor that it is necessary to build provincial roads and even government roads in one capital and seven provinces."

"As long as the government roads and provincial roads in the seven provinces of Beijing are built, the taxes can be better transported to the imperial court, and the imperial court can make great efforts to provide disaster relief and equalize the rich and the poor."

"Aside from other things, just the severe drought in the north and south in the past few years, if the old port and the seven provinces in the capital hadn't paid nearly [-]% of the taxes, how would the imperial court have money to relieve the disaster? How can the equalization of the rich and the poor as His Highness said? "

"Therefore..." Feng Quan bowed to Zhu Youxiao on the high platform and said:

"Your Majesty, only by making the traffic between the seven provinces in one capital and the old port beneficial to the people, and making the people in the eight provinces in one capital rich first, can the government's national treasury be boosted, and the remaining twelve provinces in one capital be stimulated."

Feng Quan added the old port to the original one capital and seven provinces, forming a scale of one capital and eight provinces.

In addition to the one capital and eight provinces in the old port, they already accounted for [-]% of Ming Dynasty's taxes.

This seems to be pulling the old port together to build a large infrastructure, but in fact everyone knows that the large infrastructure of the old port has been carried out with prisoners, and the court does not need to invest money at all. …

So in fact, it was the seven provinces in one capital that got the money.

Let them take up all the benefits of co-authorship.

"Old Port has its own system, and Yingzhou and Jiaozhi are the same. In fact, it is the ten provinces in the capital that need money from the imperial court, and the imperial court can only support 100 million victims."

"You can't just starve to death the victims of the disaster right now for the sake of one capital and seven provinces?"

"The important thing about work-for-relief is disaster relief and life-saving, rather than discussing the proportion of taxes."

Zhu Youjian opened his mouth and blocked the words directly, because the current height has risen to the height of life and death of the victims.

In the same way, Zhu Youjian also said that the imperial court can only support 100 million disaster victims. In this case, unless Yao Zongwen and other officials in the seven provinces of Beijing are willing to spend money to build provincial roads in the seven provinces of the capital, otherwise this matter will be a disaster. Can't agree.

It's just that Zhu Youjian overestimated the lower limit of Yao Zongwen and others after all, and they also showed what a feudal society is like eating human blood.

"The imperial court has no money, and we are naturally fit with the common people. However, the construction of provincial and government roads is something that benefits the common people. Presumably the common people are also willing to send out corvees from the imperial court..."

Distribute corvee...

Zhu Youjian hadn't heard the four words Yao Zongwen stood up and said for many years.

Since the fifth year of the apocalypse, he clearly stipulated that the employment of disaster victims requires wages, and that the local government is not allowed to impose corvee at will, these four words have never appeared on his head again.

Distributing corvee is the action that most affects the lives of the people. Many people would rather pay more money in taxes than be sent to corvée.

Zhu Youjian didn't believe that Yao Zongwen and others didn't know about these things.

They clearly know it, and they don't care about the lives of the people.

Because the object they want to please is the gentry, as for the common people?After the road is repaired, people will naturally sing their praises.

"Distribute corvee?"

After all kinds of evil deeds of corvee flashed through his mind, Zhu Youjian laughed angrily.

He finally understands that it doesn't make sense to say anything to this group of people. They only care about their own interests, and the people are like animals like cattle and horses in their eyes.

"Cao Bianjiao!"

Zhu Youjian yelled suddenly, and this time as a general, Cao Bianjiao, who was temporarily serving as a general of the Great Han General, immediately walked in with a team of Great Han Generals.

Jiawei's voice rang above the temple, and everyone was terrified, thinking that Zhu Youjian wanted to get Yao Zongwen out.

Not only did they think so, but Zhu Youxiao, who was sitting on the dragon chair, and Cao Bianjiao, who led the team into the temple, thought so too.

However, just when Cao Bianjiao was about to take Yao Zongwen out, Zhu Youjian said:

"Tell me about when you were a scholar at Yanshan Academy, and when you went to the countryside, what people hated the government's handouts the most!"

"Eh..." Cao Bianjiao, who was about to make a move, was stunned for a moment, and then bowed respectfully and said:

"What the common people hate the most is corvée..."

"Correttes are usually collected for four months, and sometimes they will be postponed later. Although the common people can use money to pay for the service, but the price of the conscripts is expensive, and the common people basically cannot afford the money."

"What the common people hate most about corvee is military service first, and civilian service second. Civil service delays people's farming time, but the government has never been considerate. When it comes time to collect taxes, they are still collected according to the previous years. Many people are forced to lose their families. "...

"However, since the fifth year of Tianqi, there is basically no place in our dynasty that dares to distribute corvee. During the civil uprising in northern Shaanxi last time, officials at all levels corrupted money for disaster relief. One of the crimes was distributing corvee without authorization."

"Have you heard clearly? Yao is in the middle of the matter!" Zhu Youjian looked at Yao Zongwen, and Yao Zongwen felt the pressure of the twelve big Han generals behind him, and his forehead couldn't help sweating.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, please abolish corvee!"

Zhu Youjian turned around and bowed to the high-ranking Zhu Youxiao. He had thought about this decision for a long time, and it was time that he felt it could be implemented.

First of all, the severe drought has come, and the millions of hungry people are the cheapest workers. Daming needs disaster relief and infrastructure construction, so there is no need to distribute corvees at all.

Secondly, the feudal vassal wars in South Asia are about to start. As long as the South Bank is conquered, Ming will conquer Toungoo, connect the Indian Ocean, turn South Asia into a resource area, build railways from the coast of Myanmar, transport materials and repair them at the same time, the cement, Steel will be continuously shipped to the country.

Finally, the steam engine is already the third version, and this version of the steam engine is enough to support Daming in various aspects of people's livelihood and resource extraction.

Although the fourth edition is difficult, with Wang Zheng's joining, Zhu Youjian believes that Song Yingxing and the others can break through it within a few years.

The steam engine of the fourth edition will liberate a large amount of labor force. To engage in corvée at this time is not for the court, but for the selfishness of those in power, for the foolish, weary, and weak people.

"Can……"

"Your Majesty can't!"

"The corvee is the foundation of the country! If the corvee is abolished, what should we do when the court's money and food are in short supply in the future?"

"Think twice, Your Majesty..."

"His Majesty……"

"His Majesty……"

When the words of abolishing corvee were spoken, nearly [-]% of the ministers in the temple knelt down to adjourn their heads. On the other hand, in the square of Huangji Hall, the deafening singing sounded;

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

"If the common people know, they should be grateful to His Majesty Long En!"

"This is the only good government in the ages!"

"Long live Long live Long live……"

Compared with the voices of hundreds of people in the hall, the voices of more than 3000 Beijing officials on the square of Huangji Hall were more solemn, which made Zhu Youxiao very useful.

When going to Tianjin, Zhu Youxiao already felt that corvee is no longer applicable.

All policies will become obsolete. Zhu Youxiao, who opposed the abolition of corvee a few years ago, now agrees to this policy.

Of course, although he knew, this does not mean that he supports this policy.

As the ruler of a feudal dynasty, the first thing he should consider is the stability of the dynasty. Therefore, from this point of view, the abolition of corvee is obviously not in line with the policy of "weak people and weak people".

But at the same time, he also remembered that Zhu Youjian said that if everyone in the people had something to do and food to eat, they would not rebel.

As long as the fourth version of the steam engine comes out, and the Ming Dynasty spans multiple climatic regions from the north to the south, all these factors will determine that even if the Ming Dynasty suffers from a large-scale drought, it will be able to adjust grain to stabilize food prices.

The case of Shaanxi is the most obvious. Once the imperial court gave them a full mouthful, no one would rebel, and once the imperial court implemented a benevolent government, the people would reciprocate.

What the imperial court is doing, the people can see clearly, and there are always a small number of people who can be encouraged. …

Zhu Youxiao was unwilling to abolish corvee, but he had to listen to Zhu Youjian's suggestion.

The situation in the future will be different from what it is now. As long as there are vassals, the royal family of Ming Dynasty will not be slaughtered. Like the Emperor Zhou of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States, at worst, he can get the treatment of two kings and three Kes.

"From now on, the corvee will be abolished, the imperial horse will supervise the emperor's store, and the local county government will post notices everywhere to announce to the world!"

Zhu Youxiao spoke loudly, completely disappointing the civil servants who didn't want the corvee to disappear.

The disappearance of the corvee means that the local government and they have nothing to do with it. Although they can use morality to argue with Zhu Youjian, once they fail to argue, they cannot hinder the implementation of the policy.

Since then, not only have they been unable to stop the construction of provincial roads in one capital and eleven provinces, but they have also resorted to the "corvette" policy.

Seeing this, Zhu Youjian also took the lead in singing "Long Live", which attracted everyone inside and outside the temple to follow the singing.

But after the singing ended, Zhu Youjian also turned around and began to announce the third point.

"The third thing that Guochao has to do this year is to take back the right to mint coins. According to the price of local gold, silver and copper mines in the world last year, the imperial court will pay the silver and take it back to the state!"

"No!"

"Your Highness, this is to compete with the people for profit!"

"Collecting mining tax will chill the hearts of the people all over the world!"

"Your Highness..."

This time it was Han Yu from the Donglin Party and Yao Zongwen from the Zhejiang Party who took the lead in singing the anti-tune, but their positions were completely different.

The current Donglin Party is already a small party. They originally had more than 100 fifth-rank officials supporting them. After Cui Chengxiu killed hundreds of people, there are now less than a hundred people, and there are only 25 officials above the fifth rank. .

Among them, Yuan Keli and other officials of the fifth rank and above were transferred to the three prefectures of Taining. Therefore, above the temple, only Han Yu, Zuo Guangdou, Sun Chengzong, Sun Chengzong, etc. Xie Xuelong four people.

The remaining four people are Xu Guangqi, Sun Yuanhua, etc. in the local area, or people from the Military Armament Academy.

In short, Donglin has become a small faction, which is precarious every day, and most of the people left behind are capable people. The reason why they oppose the mining tax is very simple, that is, the mining tax brought too many disadvantages to Daming during the Wanli period. big.

Compared with them, the reason why Yao Zongwen and others opposed the mining tax is very simple.

To put it bluntly, the gentry behind them really has mines...

If the imperial court nationalized the gold, silver and copper mines in various places according to the minerals reported by the local governments last year, then the gentry would have to go to their grandma's house for compensation.

However, Zhu Youjian didn't care about their opinions, because they were already a small group of people in the court at the moment.

The ninth year of the apocalypse and the tenth year of the apocalypse, the 11th year of the apocalypse...

During these three years, they will lose even local governance rights.

"I'm here alone, and I'm talking to you, and I'm talking to the people of the world."

Zhu Youjian spoke calmly, and everyone listened attentively.

In fact, they all knew that they couldn't stop Zhu Youjian, but they had to stand up and express their views.

Comparing them, Zhu Youjian's words are actually a vaccination for the people all over the world.

Regarding this, he said word by word, and the officials of Honglu Temple who were in charge of recording also wrote vigorously. …

"The mining tax of the country is not collected from ordinary people, but only collected from mine owners and imperial horse supervisors. If anyone exploits the people under the banner of collecting mining taxes, if they are officials, the people can turn against them and restrain the officials and take them to the capital. Or send someone to deliver a letter to the gate of Prince Qi's Mansion."

"If the local ruffian collects taxes, he will be killed on the spot, and the reward will be five hundred!"

"If there are military commanders, government officials, and yamen servants who cover up local ruffians, and Jin Yiwei knows about them but does not investigate, the three clans will be implicated, and the nine clans will be exiled!"

Strict rules were issued, and all the officials were a little uncertain when they heard the words.

Although this is similar to the rules formulated by Zhu Yuanzhang at the beginning, it is different in nature. In Zhu Yuanzhang's "Da Gao", there are many restrictions on people's deportation of officials to Beijing, but Zhu Youjian did not.

All the officials looked at each other in blank dismay, and few of them dared to object for a while, but Zhu Youjian turned around and bowed to Zhu Youxiao when he saw this:
"Your Majesty, I have finished what I want to say..."

"Since it's over, let's disperse..." Zhu Youxiao also got up with a flat face when he heard the words, and after getting up, he said as if he was saying:

"King Qi accompanied me to Qianqing Palace for a banquet."

"The minister leads the oral order..." Zhu Youjian responded, and then he and Zhu Youjian walked towards the back of the Huangji Hall. When the officials saw this, although they were helpless, they could only bow to each other and sing:

"Long live Long live Long live……"

Accompanied by the singing, Jun and Wang walked out of the Huangji Hall.

Da Ren, who had been waiting for a long time, waited for a long time. Wei Zhongxian and Wang An took out the horse stools and greeted Zhu Youxiao to get on the bus.

But Zhu Youjian hid in the past, bowed and said: "The elder brother is the most respected in the world now, and the younger brother is already an adult, and it is not in accordance with the etiquette to go to the big body."

Zhu Youjian's words are impeccable, but seeing him like this, Zhu Youxiao always feels empty in his heart.

"My brother said the same..."

He managed to force a smile, and then slowly climbed onto the big lap under the wait of Wang An and Wei Zhongxian.

The big car started and drove towards the Qianqing Palace, while Zhu Youjian followed on foot on the left side of the window.

Zhu Youxiao sat in the main seat, his eyes stayed on Zhu Youjian.

Zhu Youjian walked silently, with his hands in his sleeves, as if he had something on his mind.

"It's a family banquet later, so don't mention state affairs. As for the memorials in the mansion, let Hua Chun and Cheng En help to deal with them. Let's stay overnight in the outer court."

Zhu Youxiao vaccinated Zhu Youjian. He didn't want his brother to still talk about state affairs during the family banquet, or leave in a hurry after the family banquet.

In fact, he himself is very busy, and his efficiency in handling affairs and memorials is far inferior to Zhu Youjian, so he needs to work harder.

It's just that every time he finishes processing the memorial and leans on the dragon chair, thinking that Zhu Youjian's workload is several times that of his own, he can't help but compare the two sides.

Even if the two of them go to Tianjin together, nominally the two brothers are on vacation to relax.

But except for the two of them talking to each other on the way back and forth, it was very difficult for Zhu Youxiao to see his younger brother at other times.

When Zhu Youxiao got up at Maoshi, Zhu Youjian had already gone to Tianjin Port by the sea to see the wharf folks and understand their difficulties in life. …

When Zhu Youxiao finished breakfast at Chenshi, Zhu Youjian went to the field, looked at the people working in the field, and understood their hardships in life.

Finally, Zhu Youxiao started to process the memorials, and Zhu Youjian returned to the county government office to have breakfast, and then continued to process the memorials.

During lunch, the two brothers finally got together and chatted. While eating, Zhu Youjian still had to deal with some urgent memorials from time to time.

After the meal and during the lunch break, the two brothers can sleep and rest for a while.

But Zhu Youjian often got up lightly after resting for half an hour, and continued to deal with the memorabilia.

On the other hand, Zhu Youxiao slept for an hour before getting up to deal with the memorials until dusk.

After dinner, Zhu Youxiao was so tired that he just wanted to lie down and rest, but Zhu Youjian went out before the evening drum to ask some people how they felt after a hard day, and to understand the ills of the local government.

When the evening drum was over, the two brothers had to deal with the memorials for another hour before they had time to sleep.

Is Zhu Youxiao tired?Of course he was tired. During this period of time, he had been dealing with memorials for five hours a day. Among the emperors from ancient to modern times, he could already be regarded as "diligent".

But compared to Zhu Youjian, his suffering seems to be less exaggerated.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help looking at Zhu Youjian's back and sighing.

"My younger brother seems to be really tired..."

There was a flash of apology in his eyes, while Zhu Youjian continued to walk on foot, keeping his eyes on his nose and his heart.

He didn't notice the change in Zhu Youxiao's eyes. Although he nodded when Zhu Youxiao ordered him not to talk about state affairs, at the moment his mind was thinking about the war between Japan and South Asia, as well as domestic disaster relief and industrial issues.

He seems to be the same as Chongzhen, born to work hard, especially as he grows older, this kind of hard work becomes more obvious.

Others can say that he found things for himself to do, but it cannot be denied that what he did was for the court and the people of Ming Dynasty...