Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 524
"Sorry..."

"Zhang Zhongwu, your rice is growing well!"

"What's the use of growing well? It's still not as delicious as our Huguang rice!"

At the end of October, when the people in the Central Plains were facing the natural disasters of floods in the south and drought in the north, the people in the fields in Mengmenfu, Luchuan Province were discussing the taste of rice.

In October of the 14th year of Apocalypse, nearly two years have passed since the fall of the Taungoo Dynasty.

On the plain of the Dajinsha River, what people see is the endless golden rice fields.

In the field, the golden rice grains are full and heavy, exuding an intoxicating direction.

Under the sunlight, the rice in the field is golden and bright, and the long rice leaves look extraordinarily beautiful against the golden rice.

Looking around, the yellow rice fields are shining like gold. A breeze blows by, smelling the fragrance of rice, and turning up layers of golden waves. At this time, the ears of rice are bent like pregnant women waiting to Farmers harvest them.

If this scene were placed in the original two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty, it would probably make tens of thousands of farmers laugh from ear to ear, but the Mengmen Mansion in Luchuan is just an ordinary scene.

Although this paddy field is tens of thousands of mu in size, there are not many people working in the field.

Compared with tens of thousands of acres of rice fields, there are less than 2000 farmers working in the fields.

Some children went down to the ground with the elders in the family, and they felt a burst of cold from their feet, and felt that they were slowly sinking, and they were about to be melted by the golden yellow.

"Brother Hu, how are you? Didn't you let you run in vain?"

In the field, when a young man was still lamenting the vast rice fields, a 25-year-old man next to him patted him on the shoulder.

"I didn't run in vain!" The young man turned his head and laughed immediately when he saw the man.

The two went out of the field, holding the rice with one hand behind the other, holding the sickle tightly in the other hand, and cut off a handful of rice with a squeak.

After cutting like this, a lot of rice was harvested in just a quarter of an hour.

When he turned his head and looked at the rice paddies all over the ground, the young man couldn't help sighing:
"Fortunately, I came to Luchuan. I heard that Jiangxi is flooded this year. If I stay in Jiangxi, I'm afraid I will become a refugee."

"It's not because of the loss, it's because the government keeps what they say, and they really gave away so many fields." The man next to him smiled and said, and the young man also nodded with a smile when he heard the words.

He looked at his land and said with a smile, "Twenty acres of land, it will take a long time to finish the work."

"Work hard. After finishing this year, sell the rice to the imperial shop, and then build a new house with the money. If you work another year next year, you will be able to find a wife."

The man next to him was working hard while greeting the young man. The young man also smiled and chatted, "What kind of wife do you want? A local daughter-in-law?"

"Don't look down on the local daughter-in-law." Hearing this, the man joked, "I heard from them that the local daughter-in-law is quite obedient."

"Everyone who is disobedient has been reconciled, who dares to be disobedient, hahaha..." The young man responded with a smile, and other men not far away also laughed.

"I'd rather find a Shaomin girl from Yunnan than a local wife from Luchuan, at least I can understand what I'm talking about."

"Sister Shaomin is no worse than you. She also has twenty acres of land. You have to coax her here."

"Coax it, coax it, anyway, it's a good hand at work."

"Don't be beaten up by Shaomin's sister when you quarrel!"

"Ha ha ha ha……"

In the rice fields, a group of men who immigrated from the mainland kept laughing. Most of them had been immigrating for more than a year.

Although they are immigrants, their lives are not bad.

The village in the distance from the rice field is the village they built under the leadership of officials from the Mengmen Yamen. The buildings in the whole village are Jiangyou traditional buildings in Huguang and Jiangxi, with a simple layout and simple and elegant.

The courtyards in the village are all in the architectural style of blue bricks and gray tiles, with two entrances and three bays, one hall and one hall. The overall structure is made of brick, wood, and stone, and the main structure is wood.

If you look carefully, all the courtyards have green brick courtyard walls, large gray tiles, and the carving skills of woodwork, carved beams and painted buildings.

If such a courtyard is placed in the Jiangxi and Huguang areas, I am afraid that it will not be possible to get it without two or thirty taels of silver. small courtyard.

Not to mention anything else, in this land of Luchuan, labor is extremely cheap.

Although Hong Chengchou also gave land to the people of Luchuan, compared with the immigrants of the Han family, their land is not much, and they can barely support themselves.

Therefore, in order to supplement some meat and the cloth, oil and salt needed for life, most Luchuan males can only look around for casual workers.

Cement yards, brick factories, tile yards, stone yards, mines, construction sites...

These are the places where they fight for the first place. Even if the wages of each factory are only eight yuan a day, they still rush in first.

A large amount of cheap labor has led to a sharp drop in the prices of various materials.

In Daming, one penny could buy up to three green bricks, or ten gray tiles.

However, in Luchuan, one penny can buy ten green bricks, or thirty gray tiles.

As for the wood, it is even cheaper. Most of the processed wood costs ten yuan a square, and a house can be built with at most a dozen square meters of wood.

The craftsmanship of the people in Luchuan is not good, but the discerning Han artisans will rent their land to others for planting, and they will bring a dozen Luchuan men to serve as the village's work team, and build houses for people everywhere.

The craftsmen do the delicate work by themselves, while the men from Luchuan do the bricklaying, mixing the concrete, building the main body and some things that only use brute force.

As a result, house prices in the countryside can also come down.

However, it is useless just to have cheap labor and materials, the most important thing is that the people have money.

Although Luchuan does not have a policy of exemption, it cannot hold back the many fields in the hands of the people.

The immigrant Han people, even an old bachelor, can be allocated [-] mu of land according to the policy, and [-] mu of land, with Luchuan's grain price and yield per mu, can bring seven or eight taels of silver to the immigrants every year.

A single person may need to work hard for two years, but if it is the kind of family where the couple or even the whole family migrates, their income in the first year of coming to Luchuan can build a yard with three entrances and three exits, and there will be a lot of money left over. Less silver.

"It looks like we can't finish collecting this year, so we need to hire a few helpers from Luchuan."

"How much is a day to hire one?"

"It's almost seven Wen, but you have to take care of the food. Regardless of the food, it's ten Wen."

"That's pretty cheap."

The chatter among the immigrants continued, and the autumn harvest grains were also being sent to the Huangdian one by one.

Most of the grain was purchased by the Huangdian and shipped to Longchuan in the north. Not surprisingly, the grain would be shipped to Yunnan, and then to the wharf by the Yangtze River, and then went straight down the Yangtze River to the Jiangnan area.

The food delivered also represented Hong Chengchou's achievements in Luchuan, so he naturally had to pay more attention to it.

"This year, a total of 560 shi was collected from the land tax, and a total of 320 shi was purchased by the Huangdian, and more than 830 taels of silver were spent."

"2000 million stones were intercepted and sold in Luchuan Huangdian. It is estimated to sell 600 million taels, with a loss of more than 230 million and [-] taels."

"The 300 million shi are divided into two batches. The first batch of 800 million shi is sold to the south of the Yangtze River together with Tian Fuliang. The loss is about 400%, and the profit is about [-] million taels after deducting the loss."

"The second batch of 500 million shi was sent to Sidang, India. The loss was about 200%, and the profit was about [-] million taels."

"Total of the two, this year's Luchuan yamen has an annual income of 260 million taels, and the annual income of the Huangdian is 340 million taels."

On the fifteenth day of the winter month, when Luchuan's taxes were all collected, Xu Chao, the manager of Luchuan Huangdian, was discussing with Hong Chengchou.

The two sat in the Chief Secretary's Yamen in Luchuan County, Mengmen Prefecture, one on the left and one on the right sitting in the main seat and talking about things.

Although the Chief Secretary and the Huangdian belong to two different systems, one under the Six Ministries and the other under the Yumajian, but the chief secretary's land tax and food often need to be sold through the Huangdian's channel, so there is naturally an exchange.

For example, after Xu Chao's calculations and estimates, Luchuan Yamen's more than 500 million Shitian taxation has become more than 260 million taels of silver.

At the price of grain in Luchuan, the value of these land tax grains is at most 80 million taels, but through the channel of Huangdian, the grains are sold to the Jiangnan area where the price is higher, and then become 260 million taels.

The 260 million taels are all real achievements, plus Luchuan's business tax and mining tax, this year's Luchuan can be said to have reaped a lot.

"This year, Luchuan should be able to earn 400 million taels. Excluding the expenses of Luchuan government roads and railways, it can also turn over 60 taels to the court."

Hong Chengchou looked at the document, and after confirming that there was nothing wrong with it, he closed the document, and Xu Chao also bowed to him:
"Nan'anbo's merits are seen by all officials, and it's not long before he returns to Beijing."

"Hehe, Mr. Cheng Xu has auspicious words." Hong Chengchou accepted Xu Chao's flattery, and Xu Chao saw that Hong Chengchou had nothing else to say, and said that the affairs of the imperial store were complicated, and then got up and bowed to leave.

In the process of his departure, Hong Chengchou did not make any substantive wooing actions other than getting up and sending him to the door.

Perhaps in his opinion, the manager of a royal store in a province is not worth his personal win.

The person he wants to win over is no longer...

"Uncle!"

Before he could settle his thoughts, Mu Yi's voice came from outside the yamen, and then Mu Yi, who was dressed in ordinary clothes, trotted into the yamen.

"what happened?"

Seeing his appearance, Hong Chengchou couldn't help frowning, and Mu Yi also stepped forward and bowed:

"There is news in Beijing that Yuan Liqing is ill and intends to resign."

The news of Mu Yi shocked Hong Chengchou's pupils, but he quickly calmed down, stroked his beard, and then analyzed:
"Yuan Liqing is the second assistant. If he becomes an official, it will have no influence or benefit to me."

"It's Sun Chuanting. If Yuan Liqing becomes an official, I'm afraid Sun Chuanting will be the second assistant first."

"Then what should we do?" Mu Yi was a little anxious, but Hong Chengchou raised his hand to signal him not to get excited:
"It doesn't matter, there is still Bi Ziyan in the imperial court. If Yuan Liqing becomes an official and Gu Bingqian does not retire, then Bi Ziyan should be the next assistant."

"Sun Chuanting and I must return to Beijing to join the cabinet together."

"Instead of worrying about Yuan Liqing becoming an official, it's better to think about what Wan Sui and His Royal Highness Qi want to do."

Hong Chengchou brought the topic back to Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youjian, because even he could feel that the two brothers had some problems.

It has been almost two years since Zhu Youxiao left the capital. If an emperor did not return to the capital for two years, if he hadn't been able to receive courtiers in Zhongxia Palace and Dading Palace normally, all officials would probably think that he was imprisoned.

The emperor didn't return to the capital, and everything was left to King Qi. At first glance, those who didn't know thought that King Qi was the emperor.

As he grows older, Hong Chengchou can probably guess what Zhu Youjian is thinking.

I will definitely go to Jiufan. The reason why I have not been to Jiufan is because of various reasons.

First, if he leaves, there will be no assistants to assist him. With Zhu Youxiao's political method that likes to play balance, can he control the court and make all the officials obedient?
Hong Chengchou has already thought of the solution to the first point.

To put it bluntly, it is to bring Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting, Wu Aheng, and Yang Wenyue into the cabinet as assistant ministers, plus at most Shen Tingyang from Jiugang and Lu Xiangsheng from Xiaoxiyang.

Among these six people, the first four were deeply involved with the army. Shen Tingyang was also hated by the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River because he presided over the Shibo Department and opened the sea. The last Lu Xiangsheng was basically in Liaodong and Xiaoxiyang since he was an official. Good relationship.

Although the six of them were all involved with the gentry, most of the forces behind them had no common interests with the gentry.

Without common interests, it is natural that there will be no idle time to change the national policy formulated by Zhu Youjian.

As long as the positions of the cabinet and the six ministers are held by the six of them, at least during their tenure, the national policy will not change, unless Zhu Youxiao himself abolishes the policies left by Zhu Youjian.

However, Zhu Youjian's policies are generally of natural help to the imperial power.

For example, the current division of the treasury and internal funds has caused Zhu Youxiao to build the palace no matter how much he builds. As long as the treasury is not used, no one can blame him.

Compared with the emperor Zhu Houzhao who built a 24 taels of leopard house with a lot of money, but was stabbed in the back by a civil servant for a hundred years, how many Ming emperors envied his life.

In addition, national policy is only one aspect, and there are many advantages to having six people as cabinet ministers.

Among them, Zhu Youjian is most worried about the army. If there are six people in the army, there will be basically no major incidents.

Hong Chengchou can influence the Southern Army and the Western Army, Sun Chuanting can influence the Northern Army, Wu Aheng and Yang Wenyue can influence the Eastern Army, and the navy is held hostage by Shen Tingyang, and overseas feudal lords have a good relationship with Lu Xiangsheng.

Looking at it this way, apart from the Shangzhi Dudu's Mansion, other armies can be controlled by this team of cabinet ministers.

This is an advantage of maintaining stability, but it is also a disadvantage.

As a minister of the cabinet, he was so close to the army, if there were one or two people with malicious intentions, the Ming Dynasty would be in danger.

However, these six cabinet ministers are all ten years older than Zhu Youjian. As long as Zhu Youjian is still alive, no one will rebel unless he feels that his influence and military ability exceed Zhu Youjian.

Otherwise, once Zhu Youjian returns to Daming, the rebellion will probably be suppressed soon.

To this point, Zhu Youjian dared to let the six people join the cabinet with confidence.

Therefore, there will basically not be too many changes in the team of assistant ministers. The conditions have been met, and Zhu Youjian can leave.

The reason why he didn't leave is because of the second point.

The problem with the second point is that even with the auxiliary ministers, the bureaucratic system of Ming Dynasty is still in the midst of party struggle.

The reason why the current party struggle does not seem to be fierce is because Zhu Youjian is pressing on it. Otherwise, with the size of the Yanshan faction, Shi Fenglai, Gu Bingqian and other conservative parties would have been swept out of the court long ago.

Gu Bingqian and the others are so embarrassed, not to mention the six assistant ministers who rely on Yanshan officials for their governance.

If they were in power, they would definitely not be able to control the officials of the Yanshan faction, and even in order to better govern Daming, they would all have to condescend to become members of the Yanshan faction.

In order to reduce the influence of the Yanshan faction, it is necessary to join the new officials, and the new officials, to put it bluntly, are the students of the Ming government who do not have the Yanshan symbol.

At present, the official school students in Ming Dynasty are divided into two stages: elementary school and middle school, and the study time of the two stages is ten years.

Due to the inconsistent speed of the promotion of government schools, the number of graduates is also inconsistent. For example, the beginners in Beizhili have graduated, but the students in Shanxi are still studying, and the students in Huguang, Jiangxi and other places are still in the first grade.

In this case, although there are a large number of them, the knowledge they have learned is too superficial, just like the Yanshan students.

The only thing that caught Zhu Youjian's heart was the students from the prefectural school who joined the middle school.

The students of the prefectural schools in Ming Dynasty have a wider range of knowledge and have more time to study and accumulate.

Just as the Yanshan faction looked down on the old-fashioned faction, they are destined to look down on the Yanshan faction after they enter the officialdom.

However, the fastest graduating government school students will not graduate until the 18th year of Apocalypse.

It is now the 14th year of the Apocalypse, and there are still four years before the 18th year of the Apocalypse, which means that the counterattack against the Yanshan faction will start in four years.

The students of the government school are the official system that Zhu Youjian gave to Hong Chengchou and other six assistant ministers to maintain stability. Once this system is mastered, the conservatives can also be swept out.

Once the conservative school is swept out, there will be a battle between the Yanshan school and the official school on top of the temple.

In this way, Zhu Youxiao, who likes to play with balance, can come to power in person.

On the point of playing balance, even Hong Chengchou felt that Zhu Youxiao did a good job.

Therefore, summed up before and after, the reason why Zhu Youjian released his departure in the 23rd year of the apocalypse is actually the answer after careful consideration.

In the 23rd year of the Apocalypse, the official school system of the Ming Dynasty will be close to maturity, and the number of students graduating from elementary schools will reach tens of millions, and the number of students graduating from government schools as secondary schools may reach millions.

Using millions of students from government schools to run on officials of the Yanshan faction, I am afraid that the officials of the Yanshan faction will not last for many years.

However, since Zhu Youjian has formulated elementary school and middle school, there must be a higher level of official school in the follow-up, and I am afraid that it will be another reincarnation.

"It's just...how many times can the Great Ming Dynasty withstand..."

Thinking of Zhu Youjian's secret hands and his age, Hong Chengchou couldn't help but secretly exclaimed in his heart, "This son is so wise, he is almost a demon."

However, after this analysis, he was not so resistant to becoming an assistant minister of the Tianqi court.

In the final analysis, he has a team under his command, so he is not afraid that the emperor will liquidate him like Wanli liquidated Zhang Juzheng.

However, the emperor's character is doomed that he is unlikely to take responsibility for some political failures. Hong Chengchou needs to be vigilant at all times to avoid helping the emperor take the blame.

After thinking it over, Hong Chengchou felt less urgent about joining the cabinet.

Although joining the cabinet can enjoy fame now, there are also a lot of bad things.

Wait until Tianqi enters the cabinet again in 18 years, and then it is time to sit firmly on the Diaoyutai.

"Okay, just inquire about the affairs of the capital."

Hong Chengchou came out of the analysis, and explained to Mu Yi, who also bowed in response.

While responding, Mu Yi inevitably continued to report other news.

"Uncle, in Wusi Tibet, I heard that more than 12 people have moved out last month. Right now, there are only five cities including Sanzhujie, Lhasa, Bolu, Nagqu, and Qamdo with garrisoned soldiers and horses, and [-] people. exiled criminal."

"Sun Chuanting is currently stationed in Lhasa with troops. Do you think he has obtained His Highness's will?"

"How can there be so many intentions..." Hong Chengchou glanced at Mu Yi, and explained to him:
"That's the nature of Sun Boya. Although U-Tsang has captured 12 exiled criminals, the land is dangerous and he will die if he is not careful."

"It is true that 12 people entered U-Tsang, but they did not allow U-Tsang's troops to be self-sufficient."

"The imperial court stationed five battalions of soldiers and horses in Uzang. Only these five battalions of soldiers and horses need to eat 12 shi of rice and wheat every year. Counting the 70 prisoners, they need nearly [-] shi."

"If you want to supply the seven or ten thousand shi of rice and wheat without relying on Sichuan, at least 80 mu of arable land must be cultivated according to the yield per mu in Uzbekistan."

"Right now, there are 200 million mu of arable land in U-Tsang. If the standards of the country and the overseas are used, there must be at least 30 people in U-Tsang."

"Now there are only 12 people. Do you think Sun Chuanting will leave?"

Hong Chengchou asked Mu Yi back, but Mu Yi said, "You mean that Sun Chuanting will wait until there are 30 people in Uszang before leaving?"

"I can't leave Luchuan for three years, so why isn't he?" Hong Chengchou didn't respond positively, but his words were enough to explain everything.

"The railway, immigration, cultivated land, and culture in Luchuan are more difficult than the evacuated Uzbek. It is difficult for Sun Chuanting, so why not for me?"

"Go to the court for me, and say that Luchuan's work will take three years to complete. Please let me continue to act as the town for three years!"

Now that he knew that it was the best choice for Tianqi to enter the court in 18 years, it was naturally impossible for Hong Chengchou to enter the court in advance to tire himself out.

He will re-enter the court in the 17th year of the apocalypse. Counting the time spent on the road, he can almost survive until he graduates from the government school.

At that time, his position as chief assistant will not only be secure, but also very relaxed.

Thinking of this, Hong Chengchou turned around with a smile and walked back to the yamen, but Mu Yi was a little stunned when he heard the words, but when he thought that it was Hong Chengchou's arrangement, he could only obediently bow to him.

After watching Hong Chengchou leave, he found officials in the Yamen and drafted a memorial in Hong Chengchou's name.

As the fast horse rushed out of Luchuan Yamen, this memorial was rushed to the capital...

　Second update at 05:30 pm

　　
　
(End of this chapter)