Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 570
"Jingle Bell……"

"Moo..."

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, compared to Zhu Youxiao, who is not as conspicuous as he is, Zhu Ciran's practice of setting a one-day curfew made many people feel happy from the bottom of their hearts and praised him.

Of course, compared with his actions, the people are more concerned about their own lives.

Before and after the autumn harvest, the King of Qi issued an order to avoid land tax in various places that suffered from drought this year. This news was published in the "Da Ming Pao" and the notice board of Huangdian.

This made many people happy, so even the speed of work couldn't help being happier.

In addition to exempting land taxes, the work of transporting grain to some major grain provinces has not stopped.

Although Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces, as well as the areas south of the Yellow River in Nanzhili, have not suffered from drought this year, the imperial court continues to stockpile grain in these three places.

By around the first day of September, more than [-] million shi of grain had been stockpiled in the south of the Yangtze River, and around [-] million shi in the north.

South of the Great Wall and north of the Yellow River, except for the Hexi Corridor in Liaodong and Hexi, and the Taishan area in Shandong, the rest of the place is full of drought.

Even though the autumn harvest is just around the corner, in order to prevent many people from scrambling to harvest in advance, Zhu Youjian still indicated that more than [-] million shi of rice and wheat will be released in drought-stricken areas to stabilize food prices.

This amount of grain cannot restrain grain prices, but Zhu Youjian does not intend to restrain grain prices.

The autumn harvest is the time when there is the most grain, and the price increase of grain at this time is a good thing for farmers.

What the imperial court should do is not to take advantage of the abundance of grain and earn at a low price, but to earn at a high price so that the people can save, and then sell grain at a low price to stabilize grain prices when grain prices soar in winter and summer.

In many cases, Zhu Youjian also thought about implementing a rationing system, but with the national conditions of Ming Dynasty, the territory and the means of information transmission, the rationing system can only cultivate a large group of corrupt officials.

Listening to the lowing of cattle in the field outside the carriage, Zhu Youjian, Bi Ziyan, and Cao Huachun watched the golden wheat field in the carriage, while dealing with some matters that needed to be negotiated.

"The price of rice and wheat in all provinces on August [-]th this year is here. What I mean by this official is that on the basis of the original grain price, the price of grain purchased by the people in the southern provinces will be increased by [-]%."

"In addition, since there are already more than 80 steamships, and Jiugang and Yingzhou can produce about 4000 million stones of rice and wheat in excess, the two provinces can already start to purchase grain and stockpile it, and then send it to Shandong, Shandong, Liaodong, North Zhili, and South Zhili."

"With the transport capacity of more than 80 steam ships and more than 5000 sailing cargo ships in Huangdian, it should not be a problem to transport 4000 million stone rice and wheat."

"As for the mainland, given that the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway and the Beijing-Hangzhou Railway will be opened to traffic at the end of the year, and the Jinglong Railway, Yunlu Railway, and Jingjia Railway will only be completed within a few hundred miles of railways, land transportation capacity should not be a problem."

"Sichuan, Huguang, Yunnan, Jiaozhi, Luchuan and other five provinces should be able to produce 6000 million shimimai."

"It's not a problem to save 2000 million shi rice and wheat. If Guangdong and Guangxi are included, it can reach about [-] million shi."

Bi Ziyan calculated the accounts for Zhu Youjian. It can be said that when the two capitals and six provinces of the Ming Dynasty suffered from drought, the amount of grain that could be allocated by the Ming Dynasty was also greatly reduced compared with the previous two years.

The only good news is that the emergence of steam ships and trains has reduced the loss of many people on land before, and can transport more food to disaster relief sites.

"The populations in the north and south of the Yangtze River will be further reduced."

Zhu Youjian looked at the grain prices in various provinces in his hand, and couldn't help frowning.

"People in cities and towns don't need to move, but in rural areas they must."

"You can't relocate by force, the people are required to be voluntary."

"This year's drought has come suddenly and violently, and it will definitely not subside for a while. We must be prepared for a protracted war."

"According to the population and the number of paddy fields and irrigated fields in the "Yellow Book" and "Fish Scale Atlas", the food gap in the two Beijing and five provinces should be about 6000 million shi."

"Even if the 5000 million shi of grain from the provinces is transferred to the provinces north of the Yellow River and south of the Great Wall, the grain stockpiles in Changping warehouses in each province will remain at most around [-] million shi."

"You can't relax just because the reserve is enough for three years. No one knows how many years this drought will last."

Zhu Youjian's words were heard by Cao Huachun and Bi Ziyan. After all, this severe drought has not stopped since the seventh year of the apocalypse.

Who knows if it will last until 17 or 27.

Although no dynasties have experienced such a severe drought since ancient times, no one can say that the Ming Dynasty will not experience it.

Preparing for a rainy day is what officials like them should do.

While talking, the autumn wind blows through the wheat field, and the rustling sound in the wheat field keeps coming, which is very pleasing to the eye at first glance.

"In mid-October, the emperor's brother will go to Nanjing to preside over the repair of the Nanjing Imperial Palace. Yiluan Wei will go south to take over the defense of the Nanjing Imperial Palace, and at the same time, a group of Nanjing court ladies will be dismissed."

"Not only in Nanjing, but even the maids of the Beijing Imperial Palace will be abolished."

"As for the eunuchs, most of them will be ridiculed if they are dismissed and go home. Let them live a good life in the palace."

"I discussed with the emperor that in the future, except for the eunuchs who can cut off their trouble roots and enter the palace, the rest of the self-eunuchs will not be allowed to enter the palace."

"Even if it is a court lady, those who are over 13 years old will enter the palace, and they will be let out of the palace to marry when they are 20 years old."

Zhu Youjian talked about eunuchs and maids. He had a serious discussion and felt that there were too many court ladies and eunuchs in Liangjing and Fengyang Palace, which would consume 10,000+ taels of silver every year.

There are more than 4 court ladies and eunuchs in the Sanjing Palace, and more than 1 court ladies are released at one go. It is more appropriate to retain [-] eunuchs and [-] court ladies.

However, once the rules of eunuchs come out, the number of eunuchs may drop to thousands in the future, but it is not ruled out that some people will pretend to be eunuchs to enter the palace.

Zhu Youjian's original intention was to directly abolish the eunuch system, but Zhu Youxiao disagreed, so the two brothers chose this compromise method.

This kind of matter has little to do with the Ministry of Household Affairs, because now the internal funds and the national treasury have been separated. Except for the repair of the imperial palace and the outer court, which requires the Ministry of Accounts to pay for it, other royal projects are paid for by the emperor himself.

The reason why Zhu Youjian told Bi Ziyan was that he wanted him to serve as the chief assistant of the cabinet and play a propaganda role for officials in various prefectures and counties.

Speaking of this, Cao Huachun next to him couldn't help feeling a little sad, and Zhu Youjian also realized that he had mentioned the pain of his own Cao Daban, so he changed the subject:

"The number of Han people in Uzang is almost the same, and Hong Chengchou is also preparing to send troops to harass the southern captives."

"Since this is the case, from this year onwards, once prisoners from all over the country violate the "Law of Ming Dynasty" in the "Law of Ming Dynasty", all those who received the three punishments of apprenticeship, exile, and death will be exiled to Lingbei Province, except for Ling Chi and Shi Evil."

"Ming Li Law" is the program of "Da Ming Law", a total of 47 articles.

It stipulates the basic principles of punishment for different grades and different criminal behaviors.

Among them, the "five punishments" stipulates that there are five kinds of punishments, namely flogging, staff, imprisonment, death, and five punishments.

In the specific clauses of the "Six Laws", there are punishments such as Ling Chi's execution, remote exile, emigration, and tattooing.

The "Ten Evils" article stipulates the ten so-called felonies of treason, treason, treason, treason, immorality, disrespect, filial piety, disharmony, injustice, and civil strife.

Generally speaking, it means that minor crimes will be whipped, serious crimes will be punished, and everyone will be exiled for minor crimes.

As far as Daming's current situation is concerned, the people who suffer Ling Chi are basically human traffickers and people who raped, had adulterous affairs, and murdered their own husbands, wives, daughters, and parents.

Even corrupt officials are at best beheaded or exiled, not even Ling Chi.

Because the law was very harsh, people who killed people, picked quarrels, and gathered people to fight were often sentenced to exile, and not one person was exiled, but a family was exiled.

With these strict laws and the stationing of local guard camps, even the clans in Jiangnan, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Huguang, Jiangxi and other places who are prone to fighting are much more honest.

Because once a clan fight is provoked, what will be encountered will be a situation where the two clans are exiled together.

This kind of ethos has been suppressed since the sixth year of Tianqi, and it still exists in the 17th year of the weather.

This year has only been more than eight months, and there have been three clan fights, and they have also been exiled to Nanzhou, Uzang and other places, with more than 3 people.

Since they were exiled, and the whole family was exiled to one place, the exile did not affect their unity.

After being exiled to a place, they can still unite, and because there is no way to flow, once they arrive in a place, whoever bullies them, they will retaliate and fight again.

Regarding their fighting in exile, Zhu Youjian was also very helpless, so after consideration, he planned to amend this law.

He wants to change the clan fighting from internal fighting to external fighting, and use it to consolidate the frontiers of Ming Dynasty.

"Clan fights will no longer be exiled in Lingbei, Wusi Tibet, and Nanzhou in the future, but will be exiled to at least densely populated places."

When Zhu Youjian spoke to Bi Ziyan, Bi Ziyan was only in a daze for a second, and then he reacted in the next second.

"Your Highness's move can be regarded as driving away tigers and devouring wolves."

"They are not tigers, and the local people are not wolves, they just stabilize the territory." Zhu Youjian said lightly, drinking a cup of tea at the same time.

Since it was noon, Qiuhu was a little aggressive, so Zhu Youjian also said:

"Let's go back to the city. The autumn harvest around the capital is not a big problem, so don't worry."

He glanced out the window, and Bi Ziyan and the others also nodded.

After all, there are many great lakes and marshes in Hebei in this era, especially the Triangle Lake, which has a circumference of [-] miles, receives water from the upper reaches of the Hebei West Waterway, and connects dozens of counties and counties upstream and downstream.

In addition to Sanjiaodian, Baiyangdian and Wugongdian are also very famous, and the river network in Hebei is no less than that in the south.

The reason why these great lakes and marshes will disappear is directly related to the increasing population of later generations.

Even at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the land of Hebei had a population of 3000 million, and it was as high as [-] million in later generations.

Looking back at the current Daming, although Yanshan County is missing, even so, there are still less than 680 million people on the Hebei Plain.

This four to ten times gap represents the gap between the per capita water resources of Hebei people in the Ming Dynasty and the per capita water resources of Hebei in later generations.

If the average person in Hebei in later generations only had three tons of water a year, then the people in Zhili in the north of the Ming Dynasty would have more than fifty tons of water.

Even if the water is used for agriculture, it is impossible to consume that much water given the condition of the arable land in the north of Daming.

Therefore, there are naturally many great lakes and lakes, especially when Zhu Youjian continued to reduce the population of Beizhili, the area of ​​the local lakes and lakes not only did not shrink due to the drought, but expanded.

However, Zhu Youjian will not reduce the number of people in Beizhili too much, and 500 million is a relatively reasonable amount.

Of the 500 million people, as long as 300 million people are engaged in agricultural production, then Beizhili can meet the extravagant expectation of ten acres of arable land per capita.

Zhu Youjian wants to immigrate to Shibian, but this does not mean that he wants to reverse urbanization. It is impossible for him to pull all the people of Ming Dynasty to farm.

Urbanization is certain, and so is agriculturalization.

In places where farmers are densely populated, farmers should either be allowed to move into cities and provide jobs for them, or they should be relocated and given enough land for them to become rich.

Daming did not have a market that 6000 million workers could afford, nor did he have land that 6000 million peasants could get rich on, but he could make some people become workers and some continue to be farmers.

On the way back with the carriage, many messages flashed through Zhu Youjian's mind.

A simple urban population can explain the urbanization of Ming Dynasty.

Although the gentry and officials in the south of the Yangtze River are now resisting Ming's census and Ming's "Yellow Book", they cannot hide the general urban population.

Even if they want to hide, they have to ask the people if they are willing.

With the popularization of government schools, if local children want to study in government schools, they need to register their household registration with their whole family before they are eligible to study.

Unless the gentry tenants in the south of the Yangtze River can satisfy the reading problems of hundreds or tens of millions of children, they will not be able to resist the census.

Daming has a population of more than 800 million, of which the population living in county towns is as high as 800 million, while the population of market towns is as high as 900 million.

The sum of the two is more than 700 million, which also means that the urbanization rate of Daming is about 16%.

This is looking at the entire Ming Dynasty, but if you look at a local province, such as Beizhili, the urbanization rate will be even higher.

At present, there are more than 680 million people in Beizhili, more than 220 million people live in the county seat, and more than 80 people live in market towns.

A population of 300 million gathers in cities and towns, and less than 30 people are engaged in agricultural production. Counting the 380 million people in rural areas, that is 410 million, the urbanization rate is close to 40%.

This ratio is relatively healthy. If every province can reach this level, Ming can be called a semi-industrialized country.

Even with the current arable land area, if only [-]% of Daming's population is engaged in agricultural production, it can still achieve ten mu of arable land per farmer.

If farmers want to get rich, it is necessary to reclaim arable land, and immigration must also be done, but it is also necessary to promote urbanization.

Zhu Youjian's thinking has been relaxed a lot, retaining the urban population and relocating the rural population to collectively get rich. Although this idea may not be realized, it must be tried anyway.

While he was thinking this, the carriage had already arrived at Andingmen in the north of the capital.

As the three of them returned to Beijing, Zhu Ciran, who was processing the memorial in the East Palace at the moment, was also working hard on the memorial.

A copy of the memorial was put down in front of him, then processed, and then distributed.

During this process, Zhang Xiu and Liu Shun participated all the time, but Li Yongzhen, who was supposed to be close to Zhu Ciran, was left aside.

Looking at this posture, Li Yongzhen also seemed to understand that His Royal Highness didn't like eunuchs interfering in politics, so he could only do some logistical work of serving tea and water.

[Qin Tianjian played: It is the moon, and the sky is red and yellow every morning and evening.Zhan said "the master of the sky and the sky", and those who know it worry about it. 】

"Nonsense! Can you not be the main soldier? The north and the north have been beaten down, what are you doing here!"

In the Spring Harmony Palace, the sound of Zhu Ciran's cursing and swearing was heard from time to time.

Liu Shun, Zhang Xiu and the others next to him were already used to the habit of His Royal Highness handling memorials with swear words, and Li Yongzhen next to him was not moved at all.

Zhu Ciran dealt with the memorabilia, and he was considered civilized if he did not scold at least a hundred sentences every day.

In front of them, Zhu Ciran finished processing most of the memorials, and then picked up the memorials from the Ministry of War.

【September, the soldiers and horses in the world should buy 56 sets of winter clothes, please send 320 taels. 】

"Shouldn't winter clothes be prepared in summer? Is the servant of the Ministry of War Is an idiot? Don't you know that buying cotton in summer is cheaper?!"

Zhu Ciran dealt with it cursingly, and replied with a red pen:

[Although I am a prince, I also know that cotton is cheap in summer. As parents and officials, how can you not know it? 】

[Furthermore, September is cold outside the pass. If you prepare winter clothes in September, will January be enough? 】

[From next year onwards, winter clothes will be purchased in June, and must be distributed to all military divisions before September. 】

Zhu Ciran used his self-proclaimed name, but it's not a big deal, after all, there are not a few emperors of the Ming Dynasty who did what he did.

Even Ming Muzong and Zhu Zaidi, who did not have a strong sense of existence in later generations, would sometimes reply to Gao Gong, "Someone bullied me", which scared old man Gao into the palace.

After looking at it, I found out that when Zhu Zaiyi was pulling with the minister, the minister's nails were too long and scratched his hand.

Not to mention Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, whether it is written or spoken, anyway, most of the self-proclaimed "I" is the main one.

For Zhu Ciran, who is used to wandering around the village, I said that he likes it very much, and it always feels very domineering, so I used it.

Meng Chengguang said that he did not respect etiquette, one of which was that he liked to call himself I, not Gu.

However, Zhu Ciran didn't care about them, and still went his own way.

After reviewing a memorial to the Ministry of War, Zhu Ciran put it aside, and continued to pick up a memorial to the Ministry of War to deal with.

[Ma Shiying, the soldier and horse envoy of the old port: In August, the natives of the old port looted the peasants, and the officials and the Gongwei battalion joined forces to put down the rebellion]

【Zhu Ciran: Well done】

[South Zhili soldiers and horses envoy Zhang Jianyan made a report: This ten days Nan Zhili arrested 72 thieves]

【Zhu Ciran: Well done】

[Shandong military envoy Ruan Dacheng went to the shuffle: [-] thieves who stole fruits and vegetables were arrested this week]

[Zhu Ciran: Ask clearly whether it is because of hunger or something else, if it is hunger, deal with it according to the circumstances]

[Kong Ying, the military envoy of Jiangxi Province: Long live the saint Gong'an]

[Zhu Ciran: My father is very good, if you have nothing to do, find something to do]

Zhu Ciran replied in plain language, and Li Yongzhen who was standing next to him couldn't help shaking his head.

Although I have watched it for several months, but my Highness's blunt criticism makes me feel toothache every time I look back at it.

"By the way, how is Li Dingguo doing in Yanran City?"

Before Shen Shi (15:[-]), Zhu Ciran finally completed the approval work of all memorials, and immediately asked about Li Dingguo's matter after processing.

"I heard that you did a good job. You have already been promoted from Daiqianhu to Qianhu." Li Yongzhen replied with a smile, and Zhu Ciran couldn't help sighing:

"Why did he go to be a general? There are so many generals in Ming Dynasty, and there is no shortage of him. It would be great if he came to be my Eastern Palace Zhan..."

"This is the meaning of His Highness King Qi and Li Dingguo himself. Don't be too uncomfortable, Your Highness." Li Yongzhen still wanted to comfort her, but Zhu Ciran said loudly:
"How can I not feel uncomfortable? With so many memorials, whoever handles them will not feel uncomfortable?"

Zhu Ciran looked at the memorabilia in front of him, wishing to beat his chest and stomp his feet to express how uncomfortable he was.

It's just that when he wanted to beat his chest and stomp his feet, Zhu Youjiao was facing a large wooden board and chiseled it carefully with a chisel in the Qianqing palace a few hundred steps away from him.

He is making a model of the Nanjing Imperial Palace so that he can determine the scale and regulations of each palace after he goes to Nanjing in October.

As for his own more than 100 memorials, he had already finished processing them in the morning, and he spent the whole afternoon playing with wood, and even took a nap when he found time.

He was playing with wood, while Zhang Yan sitting next to him looked at him with little interest.

"Forget it, let's count it as exercise..."

Thinking of Wang Kentang asking Zhu Youxiao to exercise more, Zhang Yan could only sigh and comfort herself.

"Long live!"

At this critical moment, Wei Zhongxian walked into the main hall of Qianqing Palace with a flattering face, walked in with a handwritten letter, and presented it with both hands:
"Long live, old port, Jiaozhi and other places have started to harvest wood. In addition, the golden nanmu forests in Yunnan and Guizhou have also planted 10,000+ golden nan tree seedlings this year."

"Huh? That's good news..." Zhu Youxiao didn't take it, but just glanced at it.

Planting golden nanmu saplings in Yunnan and Guizhou was suggested by Zhu Youjian when Zhu Youxiao was building the three halls in the fourth year of Tianqi.

It takes 150 to 60 years for natural golden nan to mature, but only [-] to [-] years for artificial ones.

Anyway, there are millions of reformed-through-labor laborers in the southwest, and it is not certain that golden nanmu will be needed for the repair of the imperial palace in the future, so planting saplings every year has become a tradition.

But what happened 60 or [-] years later is too long ago, and it's hard to say, so Zhu Youxiao didn't pay much attention.

As for the timber harvesting in Jiugang and Cochin, Zhu Youxiao was rather happy after hearing about it.

Judging from the time, he arrived in Nanjing in mid-October, and then observed and planned. He can start demolishing the ruins, cleaning the site, and then slowly start construction in November.

In order to spend more time in the south of the Yangtze River, Zhu Youxiao only planned to recruit [-] civilian husbands, plus [-] artisans from Beijing who went south with him, on the grounds that he was "sympathetic to the strength of the people".

These 600, [-] people want to repair the Nanjing Imperial Palace, and it will be impossible without a year or a half.

A year and a half is enough for Zhu Youxiao to get tired of Jiangnan.

Thinking of this, he lowered his head and started to deal with his model of the Nanjing Imperial Palace, completely ignoring the life and death of Zhu Ciran in the Eastern Palace...

　Around four o'clock in the second
　　
　
(End of this chapter)