Brother Zhu Youxiao

"Rejected and rejected! We have retreated and retreated, and there is no way to retreat."

"Your Highness is also our teacher. Doesn't he know that Long Live and the crown prince will attack us? Right now we just want to protect ourselves!"

In the official office of the capital, when Wang Kejian learned that Chengde's memorial was returned again, the two of them couldn't sit still.

Zhu Youjian's appearance of sitting firmly on the Diaoyutai made them feel a little flustered from the bottom of their hearts.

Right now they are retreating again and again, but the other party doesn't seem to intend to leave them a way out.

"Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou have already investigated the case in Jiangnan. The people below stole a lot without telling us. If this is found out, it may implicate us."

Zhang Xiaocun couldn't help but speak, Cheng De paused when he heard the words, the teacup in his hand seemed to become hot instantly.

In front of everyone, he frowned visibly, and then suppressed his temper and asked:

"Just stealing and stealing, do you think we can be implicated?"

"Send someone to check, whether they stole it or did something else."

"Back then, the poor couldn't afford to eat, and they said that a full mouthful of food was enough. Now that you are an official, you can't just eat enough, and you have to occupy the land and impose miscellaneous taxes, right?"

Cheng De didn't know what the people below did, but in Daming's officialdom, that's all the officials could do.

Not to mention anything else, as long as the officials are willing to make up the land left by the people after the migration, they can create a bunch of seven aunts and eight aunts, and then use their false names to distribute hundreds of thousands of acres of land.

Chengde didn't believe that the following officials were all clean and honest, and the distribution of land was fair. It was nothing more than a matter of greed and greed.

Corruption at this juncture is really impatient to live.

"Sun Chuanting first inspected the south of the Yangtze River and then the southwest. Every direction is where we have the most officials. I think he wants to fight us forever!"

Wang Kejian clenched the letter in his hand, his dissatisfaction with Sun Chuanting had reached the limit.

Not only him, it can be said that there is no one in Yanshan who does not hate Sun Chuanting.

During the civil uprising in northern Shaanxi, Sun Chuanting beheaded tens of thousands of Yanshan officials in one go. This is a blood feud, who can forget it?

Those who can forget it, have already turned their heads and left Jin Xuan's door.

Thinking of Jin Xuan, Wang Kejian was also dissatisfied with Chengde: "Jin Xuan has gathered so much filth, we have people in the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Dali Temple, and the Ministry of Punishment, why don't we do it?"

"Do it? How?" Cheng De frowned and asked Wang Kejian, making Wang Kejian at a loss for words.

"Except for the punishment of some people who have a handle, the other people gathered there are either honest officials or honest officials. What are you going to do?"

"I don't believe their buttocks are so clean!" Wang Kejian said dissatisfied. In his opinion, there is no official who is not greedy.

"Hmph..." Seeing Wang Kejian's incompetent roar, Chengde snorted coldly: "If you don't believe it, you should go and check it out!"

"I..." Seeing what Chengde said, Wang Kejian also knew that he had gone too far, so he quickly restrained his temper and apologized:
"I was reckless, please forgive me, senior..."

"Okay, okay..." Seeing that Wang Kejian offended Cheng De, Zhang Xiaocun also stood up to smooth things over and said:

"The key now is whether the actions of Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting were ordered by King Qi, or whether it was King Qi or Long Live."

"Also, I don't believe they can replace so many officials in one go."

"There are no more than 20 graduates from government schools all over the world, and no more than [-] to [-] graduates. Unless students from government schools are used as officials, it is impossible to replace so many officials in one go."

"What's more, the plague in Shanxi, the severe drought in the world, and the recent floods in the south of the Yangtze River are just critical for employing people."

"Replace officials hastily, and the efficiency of the court will drop. It's not just us who die, but the local people."

At the critical moment, when it was worth using, Zhang Xiaocun and the others treated the common people as human beings, which made Chengde couldn't help but sneer.

"What about the tax issue? Should we continue to delay?"

Wang Kejian asked Chengde, Chengde also said calmly after hearing the words:

"The tax delays in various places are not a big threat to the imperial court, and you must have seen it."

"Since the threat is not great, we don't have many cards to play."

"The two of you ask other people to see if there are still people who are stubborn about this matter. If not, you should pay the tax early."

Cheng De did not support delaying the payment of taxes. This method was proposed by Zhang Maocai and Li Demao.

So what he said to Wang Kejian and Wang Kejian was to tell Zhang Maocai and Li Demao to stop doing those things. Honestly, taking a step back is more effective than anything else. His Highness cannot be threatened by them.

"This……"

Wang Kejian and the two hesitated a little, Chengde immediately brought tea to see off the guests when he saw this.

Seeing this, the two of them didn't want to stay for a long time, they turned and left without even bowing.

With the departure of the two, carrier pigeons were also released. After several days of trekking, they finally arrived at Anxi City in the Western Regions.

When the carrier pigeon arrived, Li Demao and Zhang Maocai who were here also got the news immediately, but faced with Chengde's suggestion, Zhang Maocai slapped the table violently:
"I said earlier that Chengde's heart is always with His Highness."

"Now the matter in Jiangnan has been exposed. If there is an accident in the Southwest, then he will definitely not be involved in too many things when he is investigated. But these officials are appointed by you and me, and you and I must be implicated. There's still a group of people to be uprooted."

"If the local officials in the second and third phases are all uprooted, then you and I will not even think about living."

"Sun Chuanting..." Li Demao also gritted his teeth. He hated Sun Chuanting for a long time.

"What needs to be guarded now is that someone will betray you and me." Zhang Maocai approached him to discuss in detail, but Li Demao who heard the words snorted lightly:
"You and my family's property can basically match the salary of these years. Even if Lu Wenzhao leads the team himself, what can we find out?"

"Having said that, I have to guard against it. It is better to write a letter home and let the family make plans early."

Zhang Maocai was earnest, but Li Demao had no choice but to secretly write two family letters with him, copy each of them three times, and send them home with six pigeons.

Their actions have been under the surveillance of Jin Yiwei.

Therefore, after the carrier pigeons were released, Jin Yiwei shot down two carrier pigeons and intercepted the information respectively.

"I don't believe it, every penny of the two of them's wealth is spent by the upper family!"

In the Yamen of Fusi in Beizhen, Lu Wenzhao looked at the two letters in his hand and laughed.

"Father, even if you match, since you know who they are, why not directly..."

Lu Yuan Gao said three points, which made Lu Wenzhao, who was sitting at the top, slightly nodded:
"You can handle this matter, and do it as soon as His Highness's order arrives."

"Yes!" Lu Yuangao bowed, but he got up and said again:
"Right now, Sun Chuanting has offended Yanshan too much, I'm not worried about officials in the central and central courts, but if small frontier officials want to murder him, I'm afraid it's impossible to guard against."

"As far as the current situation is concerned, should we send more people to protect him?"

"Of course, I have already sent Shen Lian to go. He and Sun Chuanting are old acquaintances and know how to cooperate." Lu Wenzhao has already arranged everything, after all, he will not be tripped by Yanshan again.

Lu Wenzhao has been investigating the cause of the civil uprising in northern Shaanxi for many years, and gradually has a clue.

There are not a few people in Jinyiwei who have been bribed by Yanshan officials, and there are also many people who were born in Yanshan.

In the past few years since Lu Wenzhao came back, he spent a lot of effort to snatch people from the government schools.

In today's Jinyiwei, there is no one who has a background like Yanshan.

Without this group of people in the way, Lu Wenzhao would be bolder in doing things.

"Pengju..." Lu Wenzhao suddenly called out to himself, which made Lu Yuangao look at him suspiciously.

"Are you going to go to Qi with Weifu, or stay in Daming..."

As soon as Lu Wenzhao opened his mouth, Lu Yuangao froze.

Although he was taken by Zhu Youjian to see the lives of the people, and his behavior changed a lot, but he never made up his mind to leave Daming.

Qi State is already very prosperous, even comparable to one of the three provinces of Huguang, Sichuan, and Jiangnan.

However, it was only a vassal state after all, and the position of Prince Qi's son had not yet been determined, and Zhu Cihong, the king of Changjun, had not yet emerged.

If only the king of Qi is wise, Qi will be at its peak for 30 years at most, and it will be suppressed by Ming in the future.

Even Zhu Cihong is capable, but Zhu Ciran on Daming's side is not mediocre. Judging from the current momentum of Qi, once the immigration is blocked, it is difficult to have a chance to surpass Daming in this life.

Lu Yuan Gaoning is a phoenix tail, not a chicken head, so facing Lu Wenzhao's question, he cautiously responded:

"Father, the boy still wants to stay in Daming, this will help both father and the three younger brothers."

"Okay, since you've made up your mind, I won't persuade you anymore."

Lu Wenzhao seemed to have been mentally prepared for a long time, so he didn't find it strange at all what Lu Yuangao said, but just waved his hand to signal that Lu Yuangao could back down.

Seeing this, Lu Yuangao bowed respectfully and retreated, but after he retreated, he simply explained to the people below how to prepare to deal with Zhang Maocai and Li Demao's family.

After finishing all this, he still went to the Palace of Spring Harmony in the Forbidden City, and told Zhu Ciran about Zhang Maocai and Li Demao.

"it is good!"

Hearing that Li Demao and Zhang Maocai couldn't sit still, Zhu Ciran immediately called out hello, then walked back and forth, stopped happily, and asked Lu Yuangao carefully:
"In your opinion, when is uncle most likely to do it?"

"October [-] next year, after Enke ends!" Lu Yuangao answered exactly the same as Du Yinxi without thinking.

"Your Highness." Hearing Lu Yuangao's words, Du Yinxi stepped forward and bowed:
"The people from the government school next year will definitely become officials upon graduation. We can't get any benefits. Therefore, what needs to be done is to select a group of officials from among the older students in the government school."

"Yes!" Sun Kewang also nodded and said:

"Tomorrow is the 22nd year of Tianqi, which coincides with the entry of government schools into Zhejiang."

"The lower officials have checked the number of students enrolled in government schools across the country. In Zhejiang province, there were nearly 500 million people enrolled in government schools, of which nearly 12 million were over the age of 200."

"If tens of thousands of officials can be selected from this group of people, then the East Palace will have a certain say in Jiangnan in the future."

"However..." Sun Kewang looked at Lu Yuangao, bowed to him and said:

"This still needs the help of Commander Lu..."

"This matter is not difficult, but..." After listening to everyone in the Eastern Palace, Lu Yuangao first expressed his attitude, and then explained:
"The reason why His Royal Highness King Qi does not plan to use government-school students is mainly because the government-school students are too old, and the government-school education they receive is too shallow, and it is easy to repeat the mistakes of Yanshan in the future."

"So Your Highness, if you want to use this group of official students, you'd better think carefully about it."

Lu Wenzhao gave the answer from Prince Qi's mansion, but Zhu Ciran frowned when faced with this answer.

Everyone has their own dilemmas, and every period has its own dilemmas.

At that time, Zhu Youjian didn't want to let Yanshan students study for a few more years, but his environment did not allow it.

If Zhu Youjian allowed Yanshan students to study for ten more years, their thinking would naturally be much firmer than they are now, but Zhu Youjian would lose five years of preparation time.

From the fifth year of the apocalypse to the tenth year of the apocalypse, this was an important period for Zhu Youjian to implement reforms, and it was also the most difficult period.

The role played by Yanshan students during this period is undeniable, even if they are now contrary to the ideas they had when they left Yanshan.

This kind of experience is still useful in front of Zhu Ciran.

Doesn't Zhu Ciran want to wait for the government to study students?But the problem is that Daming needs too many officials right now, and only enough new officials can fill the vacancy left by Yanshan.

Therefore, he doesn't have much choice...

"Actually, there is no need to select students who have graduated from official studies to be officials!" Du Yinxi said suddenly, causing everyone in the hall to look at him involuntarily.

Regarding this, Du Yinxi also bowed to Zhu Ciran and others:

"In the south of the Yangtze River, there are often some students who end their studies halfway because of their poor families and take the imperial examination in advance."

"Guochao does not limit the degree of education for Enke's registration, so why don't we select some people and let them graduate early to enter the officialdom?"

"There are 18 students in the fourth grade of the government school this year. If half of them are willing to leave the school early, then this problem will be solved."

Du Yinxi put forward a new point of view, which made Zhu Ciran, Sun Kewang and others' eyes shine.

Indeed, if you really have to choose, then students who have studied new education for nine years will definitely be more determined than those who have only studied for five years.

Anyway, you have to choose, it is better to choose them.

"You have to ask Uncle Qi Wang about this matter."

Zhu Ciran realized the key point of the problem, if Du Yinxi could think of it, then his uncle must have thought of it long ago.

He didn't say it all the time, maybe this was the trump card he kept to deal with the Yanshan faction.

"I'll ask!" Facing the solution proposed by Du Yinxi, Lu Yuangao volunteered, and immediately bowed out of the Spring Palace.

Before Zhu Ciran and the others could react, Lu Yuangao had already walked away.

Two quarters of an hour later, Lu Yuangao had already appeared in the Chengyun Hall of Prince Qi's Mansion.

He confessed Du Yinxi's thoughts completely, Zhu Youjian was taken aback for a moment, and with a smile on his face, he put the pen on the pen holder and said with a smile:
"There are quite a few people in your East Palace team who can make suggestions, so the guess is quite right."

"So, is this your Highness' last resort to deal with Yanshan?"

Lu Yuangao boldly asked Zhu Youjian, but Zhu Youjian asked him back, "What do you think?"

"Boy, I don't think so..." Lu Yuangao shook his head. He knew King Qi better than Du Yinxi and others, and he knew that if this was the case, it would not be enough to make the Yanshan faction defenseless.

"What I want to do, you will know when the time comes, what you have to do now is to be your megaphone well."

Zhu Youjian smiled and picked up a cup of tea and took a sip, which made Lu Yuangao a little confused.

Although he knew that this was only one of Zhu Youjian's methods, he still didn't know Zhu Youjian's other methods.

He wanted to ask for clarification, but he knew better that His Highness would not say anything about this matter unless it was about to end.

"Retire, kid..."

Seeing that Zhu Youjian had nothing else to explain, Lu Yuangao could only bow and leave the Chengyun Hall.

He walked out, but when he was about to leave the Qi Palace, a carriage stopped in front of him, and the person who got off from it was Jin Xuan, who was very popular recently.

After Jin Xuan got out of the car, a strange face also caught Lu Yuangao's attention.

This man was tall and tall. Although he was wearing the official uniform of a civil servant, he looked more like a general. He seemed to be over forty years old.

Lu Yuangao didn't go up to say hello, because he knew that the person who can be led by Jin Xuan should not be a simple person.

After sizing up the two of them for a while, Lu Yuangao turned around and took the carriage back to Zhenfusi.

However, a few minutes after he left, Jin Xuan and his two also boarded the high platform of Chengyun Hall and walked into Chengyun Hall.

"The lower official left the censor Jin Xuan..."

"Lu Xiangsheng, Minister of the Ministry of Rites..."

"See Your Highness, Your Highness Chitose!"

When the voice of self-introduction sounded, Lu Xiangsheng also looked up and saw Zhu Youjian sitting in the Chengyun Hall.

Compared with when he went to India to be a boy, Zhu Youjian has matured a lot.

The once young Tianjiao has now entered his [-]s, and he...

Lu Xiangsheng thought of his age of over forty, with mixed feelings in his heart.

"It's been hard for you for 13 years."

Zhu Youjian spoke to Lu Xiangsheng, but when Lu Xiangsheng heard the words, he just bowed in return to show that he was not bitter.

The two were seated under Wang Chengen's arrangement, and after they were seated, Zhu Youjian immediately asked Lu Xiangsheng:

"I called you here this time to ask you about the situation in Xiaoxiyang and the situation of the feudal clans."

For Zhu Youjian's words, Lu Xiangsheng already had a draft, so he bowed and replied without thinking:
"Returning to Your Highness, the current situation in Xiaoxiyang is very stable. The pirates on the sea have been wiped out in the 15th year of the apocalypse. So far, no pirates with a ship tonnage of more than [-] tons have fled in Xiaoxiyang."

"As for the southern captives in the north, after so many years of see-saw, there have already been internal and external troubles. Since the 14th year of the apocalypse, famine and civil strife have broken out in the local area."

"For so many years, tens of millions of local people have died due to hunger, plague, and famine."

"Not to mention the southern captives, even in the territory of the vassals, no less than 300 million people died of hunger and disease."

"Right now, on this continent of India, there are 24 princes, big and small, and 180 four county kings."

"The number of local Han immigrants exceeded 300 million before the official handover, the number of natives dropped to more than [-] million, and the total number of cultivated land reached more than [-] million mu."

"Among the vassals, Zhou State is the richest, with 24 citizens, more than 180 million natives, [-] soldiers, more than [-] million mu of cultivated land, and an annual income of more than [-] million taels."

"In addition, there are successively Shu, Chu, Jin, Fu, Qin, Zhao..."

"The combined annual income of all the vassals has reached 2000 million taels. The main income is selling spices and mining ores, as well as selling grain to the state."

"The total strength of all the domains is 120 battalions, with a total of 36 people."

"Right now they are still obedient, but if in the future the southern captives in the north are destroyed and their power expands further, and the power of Guochao weakens, it is very likely that they will threaten Guochao."

"Therefore, when I come back this time, I also hope that His Highness can strengthen the emigration to Ceylon, and at the same time increase the strength of the Xiaoxiyang Supervisory Division to [-] battalions."

Lu Xiangsheng said everything he wanted to say, and he had to say that no matter what era the South Asian continent was placed in, it could be regarded as a potential opponent of the Central Plains Dynasty.

If it weren't for the primitive jungles in the southwest and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the two sides would have fought each other for thousands of years.

If a unified country emerges in India in the future, its paper strength may reach about [-]% to [-]% of that of Ming Dynasty.

"Xiaoxiyang Supervisory Commissioner is currently focusing on the Southern Army, right? In the future, ten battalions of Eastern Army soldiers will be added."

Zhu Youjian first added troops to Xiaoxiyang Supervisor, and then continued:

"Is the local famine still going on? Is it man-made or a natural disaster?"

"This..." His inquiry brought Lu Xiangsheng a little hesitation, obviously if the truth was told, it would offend people.

But for this, Zhu Youjian smiled and comforted: "It's okay, even if it's artificial, I won't say anything."

"Yes..." Lu Xiangsheng heaved a sigh of relief after receiving Zhu Youjian's assurance. After all, the king of Qi would never ruin his reputation if he kept his word, so he also bowed and replied:
"The famine is still going on, the main reason is that the feudal lords sold most of the food in the market to the imperial store."

"India's grain production is actually enough to eat, and it can also be sold incidentally."

"However, the relocation of the population of the feudal lords requires the migration of silver, so they can only continue to earn silver to relocate the population."

"This year, Huangdian bought 7000 million shi of grain from India as feed. After the grain was bought, civil strife broke out in various countries."

"As for the civil strife, the vassal states also adopted methods of repression, which is really a bit..."

Lu Xiangsheng stopped what he wanted to say, obviously he didn't think these words were pleasant to say, but Zhu Youjian knew it very well.

"These relatives of mine went to India to work as servants, but they didn't change their brutal nature..."

"There is also a virtuous king..."

Seeing what Zhu Youjian said, Lu Xiangsheng had no choice but to explain to the feudal vassals, but Zhu Youjian raised his hand and stopped to express that he didn't want to listen, but said to Lu Xiangsheng:

"You should understand the matter between me and Yanshan."

"When the next official came, I heard something from the censor of Jinzuodu." Lu Xiangsheng responded with a respectful bow.

"I need officials to replace Yanshan. The students from Guochao's government schools are not enough, so I want to ask you..."

Before Zhu Youjian's words came out, Lu Xiangsheng and Jin Xuan already understood.

In front of them, Zhu Youjian narrowed his eyes:
"Overseas..."

It was originally planned to finish the book by the end of April, but there were too many pitfalls ahead, and it was not surprising that it was postponed after filling it in step by step.

There are many reasons for wanting to finish this book in April, among which work reasons and physical reasons are the main reasons.

After entering May, work will be very busy, and business trips are often required, so updating is a big problem.

Unfortunately, I suffered from frozen shoulder in March, which is why the updates in March and April were very unstable.

So the business trip and frozen shoulder made me think of the reason to finish the book early. Of course, it was not in a hurry to finish the book. The idea of ​​finishing the book came into being in February, but there is still too much to write, and I can’t finish it in a while. .

----

Having said so much, I actually just want to say something. For the update in May, I try to update it twice, but if there are emergencies at work or in the body, I can only update it once.

I'm really embarrassed, try to finish the plot that should be finished before the business trip.