Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 442

"Boom--"

In the twelfth lunar month, despite the snowfall in the north, workers in Shanxi and Shaanxi were still working, constantly blasting various low hills and mountains that hindered the railway.

At this time, almost all river transportation has stopped, and land transportation outside the pass has also stopped.

The grain transported from Yingzhou to Liaodong stopped in Liaoyang, and these grains will be sent to Taining Prefecture after the snow melts in February.

As for Guannei, grain from Yingzhou also arrived in Tianjin. With the opening of the Beijing-Tianjin Railway at the end of December, truckloads of grain were transported to the capital, and the grain from the capital was transported to Shanxi by land.

Further south, Henan and Sichuan transported grain to Shaanxi respectively, and the overall price of grain in the two provinces remained at the price of three renminbi per catty of rice.

More than two million workers in the two provinces have to come out to work even in heavy snow.

They don't work, and the family can only suffer from hunger, so no matter how cold it is, they can only hold the picks and shovels in their hands.

Fortunately, the Ministry of Industry gave them cotton coats and cotton gloves, so that they would not be covered with frostbite.

Sun Chuanting couldn't bear to look at the workers wearing tattered cotton coats on the construction site, but he also knew that one person for ten cents a day was already the best treatment that the imperial court could give to Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces for work-for-work relief.

When Sun Chuanting and Zhou Xun returned to Zhenwu, Longchuan County in Yunnan Province was busy and full of enthusiasm.

Hong Chengchou is unwilling to give up launching the campaign to pacify Burma next year, because if he wants to ascend the cabinet three years later, he must pacify Burma and succeed in governing Burma.

"Jinglue, now His Highness is going to mobilize the Li Court to sweep the caves, so should the war in Ping-Mian be delayed for a while?"

He came with him, and Zhou Xun who followed him when he was in Jinglue Mansion.

"But with the arrival of the dynasty's heyday, the number of people increased, and a large amount of land was in the hands of a small number of nobles."

"In such a situation, even I may temporarily ignore the hungry people and take the lead in destroying the Jianlu."

Sun Chuanting didn't know what kind of new force would come up after the gentry left the stage.

Although Zhou Xun returned home with Sun Chuanting, after all, Sun Chuanting's foundation is still there, so it is very easy to inquire about some news.

"It's just that if we really discuss it, less than [-] soldiers and horses are needed to defend the outside of the pass. But in the current situation, the defenders outside the pass actually reach [-] battalions, more than [-] people."

"Without the gold, silver, fields and food obtained from foreign wars, the country cannot support it."

"If they respond, even if it can be restored, we cannot."

"It's enough to ensure that the immigrants don't starve to death. As for the natives, don't worry about them." Hong Chengchou's thoughts were all on the tea in front of him, and he praised after drinking:

Sun Bingwen, who was sitting in Sun Chuanting's arms, looked up at his father. Although Sun Chuanting felt that it was too early to talk to his son, he still patiently explained:

"Go back, I am satisfied knowing that the people have not been deducted from their wages."

Such as the natural disasters and man-made disasters in the past four years, if Zhu Youjian did not try his best to turn the tide, Sun Chuanting really dare not imagine what the current situation of Daming would be like.

Of course, Hong Chengchou was not worried about the harsh criticism from the cabinet and the Sixth Ministry, because as long as Zhu Youjian did not speak, the cabinet and the Sixth Ministry would have nothing to do with him.

"Jinglue, did you say something wrong..."

Although the food is poor, one person can barely guarantee that the few members of the family will not starve to death when they come out to work.

If Zhu Ciran died in his 49s 50 years later, there would be at most two generations of emperors in Ming Dynasty.

"Do you want to get some rice and wheat from Gan Bozhi and Siam?" Long Zaitian was considered normal among the four, so he suggested with a bit of embarrassment.

"If you want to pacify Myanmar, you must let the court know that there are difficulties in Jiaozhi and difficulties in Yunnan."

In this territory of tens of millions of square kilometers, there are less than 2 million mu of arable land, and more than [-] million of them belong to the vassal land of India.

In the remaining 50 years, will Da Ming be able to produce two or even three generations of Ming Jun?
Mingjun of the Five Dynasties...

Even if Zhu Youjian can help Zhu Ciran manage government affairs, how long can Zhu Youjian live?Sun Chuanting didn't dare to think about this question.

For the sake of his own vassal state, the vassal king will inevitably exert enough force to suppress the local natives and carry out population migration.

"Ugh……"

The matter in Sichuan, Sun Chuanting did not do it on the spur of the moment, but after careful consideration.

"No matter what, it's still a job for the victims, and the work-for-relief can continue, and the people won't go hungry."

If the promotion of official education is successful, the gentry will withdraw from the stage of history.

Therefore, in the past, it was only the roadbed construction on the construction site, which also attracted many people to watch.

Therefore, the fact that he starved to death in Shushu was not for the cabinet and the six ministries, but for Zhu Youjian.

Zhu Youjian also saw the weakness of the gentry before he dared to promote official learning to the northern provinces in one go.

Hong Chengchou was very helpless seeing the four people's unresponsive appearance.

"I will die..." Chief Judge Sun Chuan breathed out: "But if Jianlu is eliminated, an extra five or six million taels can be used for disaster relief every year."

He knew Zhu Youjian's workload, which was comparable to the combined workload of Ying Zheng, Li Shimin, and Zhu Yuanzhang.

The news that there are iron cars running around in the capital has spread throughout the provinces adjacent to North Zhili, especially after the opening of the Beijing-Tianjin Railway, its popularity has become more and more hyped.

Speaking of this, Sun Chuanting looked at the group of ragged workers with unbearable eyes:

As soon as he opened his mouth, the other three looked at Hong Chengchou.

"Ah? This..." Hong Chengchou's words made the four speechless, and they didn't understand what it meant.

Except for Qin and Western Han, no country has experienced such a situation.

This move made Long Zaitian and the others feel ashamed. They only felt that Hong Chengchou was thinking of the young people in Yunnan, but he treated the heart of a gentleman with a villain's heart.

The death of some natives is nothing to him, even if tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of civilians die, it is nothing to him, so he wants to test Zhu Youjian's attitude towards the natives.

Sun Chuanting's words made Zhou Xun puzzled, and facing Zhou Xun's puzzled eyes, Sun Chuanting gave his own explanation:

Sun Chuanting is very clear that foreign wars and domestic disaster relief are complementary to each other.

After digesting this circle, it is basically possible to extend the life of Da Ming for a hundred years, but only for a hundred years, and the premise of this life extension for a hundred years is that Da Ming cannot be a fool.

Under the construction method of multi-point construction, the roadbed starting from the capital has been fully connected to Mayi County, Shuozhou, with a total distance of more than 800 miles.

What he said immediately made Long Zaitian and the others, who are young people from Yunnan, a little ashamed.

"In the southwest, I heard that the construction of the government roads is almost complete. It is estimated that Hong Jinglue will go to the sparsely populated area in the coming year to take back the three propagandas and six comforts."

"I said His Highness eased things because he was thinking of the common people and endured it for three years. He didn't take action against Jianlu until the current drought narrowed. If someone else, he might not be able to bear it for a day."

Although Zhu Youxiao is only 26 years old now, according to Jiajing and Wanli, he will manage the government for another 30 years at most, and the prince Zhu Ciran, according to Sun Chuanting's understanding, actually does not show any characteristics that a wise monarch should have.

This amount of pasture and arable land can only ease land mergers and allow conflicts to erupt in the future.

As long as he creates the illusion of difficulties in Yunnan and Jiaozhi, the six ministries and the cabinet, which are reluctant to part with the money, will not urge him to retreat.

"Xiaguan... I really feel a little..." Zhou Xun nodded hesitantly, but Sun Chuanting shook his head and said:
"But I thought that His Highness was not in a hurry, and even relaxed."

If the territory does not expand, even with so much arable land and pastures, it can only last the Ming Dynasty for a few decades.

This is not to say that the imperial court has much kindness, because to be honest, the use of work for relief is actually what everyone needs.

Suzerain and vassal, once the vassal king has a firm foothold in the local area and the number of Han people gradually increases, the court can rely on trade to obtain the resources it needs.

However, with the catastrophe, the fields of the common people were dry and cracked, and the land could not be planted, and a large number of unemployed people emerged.

"For the early stage of a dynasty, because of the turbulent times ahead, the population has withered, and the land has more people and less land. It is natural to stop the war when there is no external threat, and to recuperate honestly."

"It's only ten cents a day, which is still too low..."

Although everyone in the world says that this is the prosperous age of apocalypse, but whether it is actually a prosperous age or not, these officials know best.

Old Port, Three Xuans and Six Weiss, Yingzhou, Nanzhou, Jiaozhi...

If someone in the jurisdiction starved to death and was stabbed to the capital by the inspector censor, that would be no joke.

"Do you know how many soldiers and horses Guochao has right now?"

He has always supported Zhu Youjian's New Deal, not only because the two have the same ideas and political views, but more importantly, Sun Chuanting can see that the two of them are on the right path.

Relief from work, Zhou Xun and Sun Chuanting also often used it when they were in the Northwest, but he didn't understand why His Highness King Qi was so anxious...

Their dissatisfaction was noticed by Hong Chengchou, but he also knew that except for Mu Yi, the other two were simple-minded and easy to coax, so he got up and pretended to sigh compassionately, then turned around Back to four:
"The imperial court is difficult. Only by suffering the natives of Jiaozhi can we not suffer the common people in Yunnan, and not suffer the young people in Yunnan."

"But the current state is not in its early days..." Zhou Xun replied to Sun Chuanting's words with a heavy heart, and then looked up at the workers in the distance.

But this problem requires the vassal king himself to "catch up with the seedlings and expand his career" to consolidate the blood of the vassal state and the nation.

He likes to use this group of warriors because they are straightforward and easy to manipulate.

"After stopping the foreign war, the country is really full of smoldering..."

However, Long Zaitian, Wu Bikui, Mu Yi and others were still a little unhappy.

That is to say, in a hundred years, the Ming Dynasty needs at least three generations of Mingjun.

"At this time, the king needs to use means to ease the land annexation."

Hong Chengchou sat in the temporary management mansion, holding the news of the northern military situation and the progress of the train in his hand, and talked freely.

Hong Chengchou is very aware of the reasons why the Wanli and Taichang armies always fail in battle. To put it bluntly, it is the rear urging the battle.

"Yes!" Hearing what Hong Chengchou said, the four of them thought that Hong Chengchou wanted the Jinglue Mansion to pay money to buy food from other places, but...

Having said so much, it is actually enough to show that the contradictions of the Ming Dynasty are extremely dependent on the ability of the monarch. Once the ability of the monarch is stretched, the collapse of the Ming Dynasty will be a matter of just a dozen years.

Hong Chengchou is still the same old saying that it is enough to ensure that the immigrants are alive, but after he finished speaking, he took the initiative to say:

"You guys..."

"Boom--"

"I heard that His Highness is going to use troops against Jianlu, and is going to fight to determine the universe."

The reason why the four of them tried their best to take precautions was because they were worried that some unsightly inspecting censor would say that people would starve to death in Jiaozhi.

If he wanted to continue his life for Daming, he had to develop practical land all the time.

Is the current Zhu Youxiao considered a Mingjun?
Naturally, it can be counted, but this is when Zhu Youjian is in charge of the government.

Seeing the natives being squeezed, the three of them were somewhat saddened as they were once "drive out seedlings and expand their careers".

"The south and the north will add up to at least 50 troops."

It's a pity that the three of them wanted to play tricks with Hong Chengchou, they were too tender.

"If the Jianlu were destroyed in the seventh year of the apocalypse, the country would have saved more than 2000 million taels of silver over the years, leaving 600 million taels of silver each year."

But when it came to Hong Chengchou's mouth, it was clear that no one had starved to death, but he took the initiative to let the inspection censor Zhanpo mansion starve to death hundreds of people.

The feudal vassals in India are equivalent to Daming's power bank. The food grown by the natives will be imported into Daming at a low price, and the riots of the natives are suppressed by the vassal king.

After being taught by Hong Chengchou, Mu Yi and the others understood the reason for doing so, so they all stood up and bowed.

With Zhu Youjian here, Daming is the prosperous age of the apocalypse. If Zhu Youjian leaves, then Daming...

"This move..." Hong Chengchou turned half of his face to the side, showing his unbearable expression. After being seen by the four people, he quickly turned his back and sighed: "It's not what I wanted..."

The two are nothing more than ascending the pavilion in a few years, and ascending the pavilion in a few years.

They thought that Hong Chengchou suffered from the natives for his own merits, but now it seems that he suffered from the natives in order not to suffer from the young people in Yunnan.

"Among them, there are less than twenty battalions defending Mobei Tiger and Rabbit Dun, and the remaining fifty battalions are all defending Jianlu."

If Yunnan and Jiaozhi are squeezed, the natives will definitely riot and starve to death.

Mu Yi is the person Hong Chengchou relies on most in the southwest, so he can only bite the bullet and question Hong Chengchou's words.

It's three points, but the meaning of Mu Qiyuan's words is enough to be seen.

Although there are many people and the project is completed quickly, the construction period can be greatly shortened, but for the court, the financial pressure to do so is also great.

Not to mention the four of them, Hong Chengchou might be kicked out.

In addition to them, there are victims of disasters in other provinces. Adding up, the imperial court has to spend tens of millions of taels every year to provide relief with work.

If there is no catastrophe, it is impossible for the imperial court to use such cheap workers.

Actual calculations, Zhu Youjian expanded the practical land for more than 3000 million people in Daming, only the hundreds of millions of grasslands in the three prefectures of Taining and the hundreds of millions of acres of cultivated land in Yingzhou and Jiugang.

"That's all, if the natives cast aside in the future, I only hope that the four of you will not be implicated by me."

"The word Shoutu has occupied more than [-] soldiers and horses."

The only thing that needs to be paid attention to is to prevent the barbarism of the Han people who migrated there.

Zhu Youjian engaged in agricultural tractors because he wanted to turn useless land in the Northeast and overseas into useful land.

"Can't we stop the foreign war?" Zhou Xun was puzzled.

"I heard that the railway in the north has been laid to Zhangjiakou. It is estimated that it will take about one or two months. It will only take five or six hours from the capital to Zhangjiakou."

If Mu Yi and the others hadn't known that Hong Chengchou had never fought uncertain battles, they would have even suspected that Hong Chengchou didn't want to be an official.

"Father, why?"

He wanted to see Zhu Youjian's attitude towards the lives of the natives. This was because the Ping-Myanmar War had to squeeze Yunnan and Jiaozhi as much as possible if it wanted not to use the imperial court's financial resources.

His inquiry made Wu Bikui and Mu Qiyuan, two more brutal guys, feel uneasy, and Mu Qiyuan swallowed:
"The immigrants did not starve to death, and the natives have not found any starved to death for the time being, but if we want to launch another campaign to pacify Burma, there may be a food shortage..."

"I've already had people buy it, but Siam and Gan Bozhi's rice has almost been bought, and their own rice prices have risen to five hundred cash, and they are no longer selling it now."

"His Royal Highness also wants to raise wages for the victims, but... oh..."

In other words, even if Zhu Youjian lived to Zhu Yuanzhang's age, it would only be 49 years later.

In order to let the four of them go to work with peace of mind, Hong Chengchou could only put the teacup in his hand on the table, and said calmly:

what is this?Provide yourself with an unfavorable handle to govern, and let the emperor beat yourself up?

What Sun Chuanting did in Sichuan was to explore the way for Zhu Youjian to see how much the power of the gentry had weakened compared with that of the past.

Sun Chuanting looked at the construction site in the distance, and after murmuring, he let out a long sigh:

This long list of place names does represent a territory of tens of millions of square kilometers, but so what?

"Your Highness's chess move is relatively risky, but the riskier the better, only if His Highness's move is taken, then I can ascend to the pavilion early..."

"Therefore, if the Jianlu are not destroyed, these fifty battalions cannot be taken out."

"railway……"

Mayi is not far from Zhenwu County, so when he learned that the roadbed construction had arrived in Mayi, Sun Chuanting brought his eldest son, Sun Bingwen, to ride a horse to watch.

Sun Chuanting didn't answer Sun Bingwen's question of whether this is a prosperous age, but Zhou Xun who was next to him knew it very well.

The sound of blasting continued to sound. As the Jingjia Railway and the Jinglong Railway pass through the provinces, and the two provinces have the largest population of work-for-work, the construction of railway subgrades in Shaanxi and Shanxi can be said to be very rapid.

"How much is the price of rice?" Hong Chengchou absent-mindedly put the military situation and news in his hands on the table next to him, picked up his teacup and took a sip, while Wu Bikui said uneasy:

The Ming Dynasty did not have so much energy to control the Indian servants, and the vassal kings were enfeoffed in the past. In terms of the suzerain-vassal system of the Ming Dynasty, the place where the vassal kings were located was the territory of the imperial court.

"That's right, you just report it like this."

Is it necessary to distribute the land of the vassals to the vassals?In Sun Chuanting's view, it is necessary.

But sometimes, he dislikes them for being stupid and stupid.

The three of them looked at the construction site where blasting tasks were in full swing in the distance, and they were filled with emotion.

"Whether it's an external war or an internal attack against a powerful force, this is a necessary means."

But he knew very well that with Zhu Youjian's ability, at least when he was in Daming, it was impossible for this force to be integrated.

"During the war, can the local government guarantee that the work-for-relief will continue..."

After working on the construction site for a full month, the wages earned are enough to buy one hundred catties of rice, or four hundred catties of sweet potatoes and potatoes.

He wanted to use Sichuan to try the reaction of the gentry, and it turned out that the gentry had a great response, but their energy was also limited.

With the advancement of the times and technology, India is still the territory of Ming Dynasty in the end, and this will not change.

"At the beginning of the country, the land was vast and the population was sparse, so it was necessary to recuperate, and when the country's dynasty developed to its peak, it was generally the time when land annexation was the most serious."

"As for Shangshu starving to death, this is to test the reaction of the people in the imperial court."

It's just that if there is no catastrophe, it is impossible for the imperial court to organize millions of people to build infrastructure in one go.

In order to accommodate them, the imperial court can only launch large-scale infrastructure construction.

"About... more than [-]..." Zhou Xi replied after hesitating for a moment.

Zhou Xun's words were superficial, and Sun Chuanting looked at him after hearing this: "Do you think His Highness is in too much haste?"

"They know there are difficulties, so they will not urge Pingmin."

"But in this way, the millions of hungry people in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces that year..." Zhou Xun frowned, unable to answer quickly.

It is not too difficult for them to inquire about the railway.

"In fact, land annexation existed from the very beginning, just because the number of common people was small at the beginning, so even if the nobles annexed the land, there would be no problem."

As long as this force is not integrated, the people of Ming Dynasty can live a good life for decades.

In their view, under such high pressure, if the war against Burma is still launched, causing food prices in Yunnan and Cochin to rise, then it is no joke that people will starve to death.

"With a little wisdom, let's find someone to do this!"

Among other things, the work-for-relief projects in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces alone require more than 2 taels of silver per day for wages alone, which is more than 700 million taels a year.

If the court doesn't care about them, they will have nothing to eat, and if they have nothing to eat, they will starve to death and rebel.

The longest lifespan of these three people was Zhu Yuanzhang, and Zhu Yuanzhang lived to be 69 years old.

But if Zhu Youjian cared and scolded him, then he would be honest, like a toad, and wait for Zhu Youjian to order him, and then he would dawdle and try not to make trouble for Zhu Youjian.

The three prefectures of Taining, Duogan, Yingzhou, Liuqiu, Xiaoxiyang, Nankunlun, Nanzhou, Jiugang, Jiaozhi...

Daming himself could not control such a large territory, at least in the next 30 years, because even Taungoo and Burma, where the two countries are connected, would take decades for Ming to digest it smoothly.

"It's more than 95 people." Sun Chuanting said the number, and then looked at the construction site in the distance:
"The reason why there are so many people is because the imperial court wants to fight abroad and defend the land."

Obviously, they were dissatisfied with Hong Chengchou's practice of not treating native lives as human lives, which may have something to do with his status as a minority.

"However, preparations in advance are still needed..."

Seeing this, Zhou Xun rode his horse and followed, and his figure gradually disappeared at the end of the road.

"Jinglue, although the 600 million shimi from the imperial court has been handed over, some people have already starved to death."

Before Zhou Xun finished thinking, Sun Chuanting turned his horse's head and left with Sun Bingwen.

As long as Zhu Youjian doesn't care, then he can safely and boldly squeeze the natives to pacify Burma, govern Burma, and finally ascend to the cabinet smoothly.

"The price of rice in the south of Cochin has risen to seven hundred pennies a stone."

Hong Chengchou was indifferent, as if this kind of thing would not affect his official career at all.

Zhou Xun shook his head, knowing in his heart how much pressure the court was under to provide relief with work.

At that time, he will go to Shupingmen himself. Even if there are some defeats during the battle, the Sixth Ministry and the cabinet will know the difficulties of Cochin and Yunnan, so they will not be too harsh on him.

"Even if I go to Shushu to start a war later, they will not urge the war, so we can slowly make peace."

"Too many civilians have starved to death. If the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate finds out, I'm afraid..."

Without major disasters, the Ministry of Industry can employ tens of thousands of people at will. Like the late Qing Dynasty, a railway can be built for more than ten, twenty, or even thirty years.

"About..."

In the meeting hall in front of him, Wu Bikui, Mu Qiyuan, Long Zaitian, and Mu Yi all listened to him attentively.

"Yes..." The four responded first, but Long Zaitian hesitated and asked:

After he finished speaking, Mu Qiyuan said:

Sun Chuanting nodded slightly to express his approval, and tightened his grip on the reins:

"If they don't respond, it doesn't matter if the natives starve to death."

In the current Ming Dynasty, the annexation of land in many provinces is still serious. The expansion of the territory presided over by King Qi seems to have indeed established a territory twice that of the two capitals and thirteen provinces, but the problem is that these places have not been developed.

As for why Zhu Youjian distributed the [-] million mu of arable land pawned by Indian servants to the feudal vassals, it was also considered from a practical point of view.

The tens of millions of acres of native arable land handed over by the vassals were exchanged for more than 2 million acres of arable land in India. It may seem that the court has lost money, but in fact the court has made a profit.

"You guys asked the censor of Jiaozhi to report to the court, saying that the price of rice in Champa Mansion has skyrocketed, and more than a hundred natives have starved to death."

"The tribute tea in the palace is really fragrant. When you leave, each of you will take a catty with you. This time, His Highness sent me ten catties."

"There is not enough food to eat. It is normal to starve to death. It is enough to ensure that the immigrants and the people in Yunnan have food to eat."

Mu Yi's face was not very good-looking, but Hong Chengchou asked: "How many natives died of starvation? Are there any immigrants who starved to death?"

"So we are in the heyday, right Dad?" Sun Bingwen rushed to answer, but his question caught both Sun Chuanting and Zhou Xun.

"Get back..."

After Hong Chengchou finished speaking, he shook his head and walked into the hall, not giving the four people a chance to stay.

Long Zaitian, Wu Bikui, and Mu Yi, the three generals who were born in Yunnan, lowered their heads in shame. Only Mu Qiyuan was Han, and he didn't care about Hong Chengchou's performance.

But no matter what, Hong Chengchou solved the confusion for them. After a brief silence, the four left the Jinglue Mansion one after another, and went to do things according to Hong Chengchou's instructions...

(End of this chapter)