Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 650
"It's the tenth day..."

On the tenth day of October, when Zhu Ciran stood on the Chang'an Gate of the Forbidden City and looked into the distance, feeling the snow, he murmured softly.

After whispering, he asked behind him without turning his head: "Uncle is leaving, don't you feel uncomfortable?"

When he said it, the two people behind him didn't know how to answer.

Today is the day of the moon, so early in the morning, Zhu Ciran sent someone to hear Zhu Cihong and Li Dingguo.

The 11-year-old Zhu Cihong's face is as white as jade. Although he is from the north, he has a southern face and is very handsome.

He is now on the top of Chang'an Gate, with a thin layer of snow under his feet, wearing a sky blue round collar robe, with a cloak wrapped around his neck, and a fox fur around his neck.

Facing Zhu Ciran's question, he looked embarrassed, but he still opened his mouth to answer:
"Father wrote to me, and it took five or six years to think about it, telling me not to be afraid of parting."

"Then what do you think?" Zhu Ciran turned around and asked, but Zhu Cihong showed hesitation, but after a while, his attitude was firm, and his eyes were firm: "It's only five or six years!"

"..." Seeing Zhu Cihong's appearance, Zhu Ciran fell silent, letting the icy north wind scrape against his face, until his cheeks and nose were flushed, then he slowly opened his mouth:
"You are better than me..."

After finishing speaking, Zhu Ciran turned around and walked on the top of Chang'an Gate, looking like he was going to circle around the top of the city.

Zhu Cihong and Li Dingguo, who had been silent all this time, accompanied him, and Li Yongzhen and more than ten dragon and tiger guards followed him in the distance.

"In the future, the expenses in the Jingqi Palace will be paid by the East Palace."

Zhu Ciran walked in the deep and shallow snow. Hearing the words, Zhu Cihong could only bow to express his gratitude, but did not refuse.

It is true that the State of Qi has the strength to make offerings in the Jingqi Palace, but Zhu Cihong knows that this is Zhu Ciran's way of expressing guilt, and he cannot refuse.

"Since October, the drought in various places has receded, and the situation is very good, but snowstorms have also followed."

"I heard that more than a foot of snow fell in Guangdong and Qiongzhou, and I don't know how many crops died in the fields."

Zhu Ciran was full of anxiety talking about all kinds of things since October. Li Dingguo knew that Zhu Ciran was asking himself, so he also opened his mouth to answer:
"The place where the snow is hit will be spared, and then the relief food will be distributed."

"Although the government has started to collect agricultural taxes this year, some farmers should still have no news, or they may be reluctant to pay money. There is a high probability that some people will pay taxes with grain."

"While all the food is collected, it can also be used for disaster relief, so that it will not be wasted."

Agricultural tax, this is the new name of the land tax, and the change from tax to tax means that the land tax in the future will mainly be tax payment.

There have been taxes in kind in all dynasties, the essence of which is the lack of metal as currency, and the dynasty also needs a certain amount of food to maintain stability.

One of Zhang Juzheng's methods of whipping was to collect taxes. Although the pressure on farmers dropped sharply at the beginning, as the population grew, the phenomenon of insufficient metal currency began to emerge, resulting in a money shortage.

This cannot be said to be a problem with Zhang Juzheng's policy. After all, when he was alive, American silver and Japanese silver poured into Daming one after another, and it didn't look like there would be a shortage of silver.

As for the phenomenon that appeared later, Zhang Juzheng had died of illness at that time, if he was still alive, he might reform and abolish some policies that were not suitable for the current situation.

Of course, for the Ming Dynasty during the Wanli period, money shortage was a common phenomenon, but it was not the case for the Ming Dynasty when the apocalypse reigned.

The premise that Zhu Youjian dared to collect agricultural taxes was the continuous influx of hundreds of millions of brass and silver from overseas every year.

In Daming's own overseas territory alone, no less than 1000 million taels of silver were transported back every year, and tens of millions of jin of brass.

If the silver and copper coins imported into Daming by the feudal vassals of Qi and Levia are included in the annual trade, then this amount will have to be doubled.

The situation that Daming is facing is that there is too much influx of silver and brass, which may lead to inflation.

At this time, it is a good choice to mint more money to fill the market and change the tax in kind to pay taxes in currency.

Whether it was printed banknotes or die-cast coins, as long as there were enough precious metals, Ming could issue currency according to the situation.

"The Department of Finance has calculated that Guochao has issued 8000 million taels of banknotes and 12 billion coins."

"I wanted to ask my uncle, but I felt that it was not good to rely on my uncle for everything, so I called the two of you here just to ask if you think the Finance Department's currency should continue to be issued."

Zhu Ciran said "you" in his mouth, but he was actually just asking Li Dingguo, and Zhu Cihong was just an object of observation and study.

In Zhu Ciran's heart, Li Dingguo has always been the best candidate for the cabinet minister in his heart, because he understands himself, and has an identity similar to that of Prince Qi's adopted son, so he is the best candidate to defend his power.

"For currency matters, not only need to look at the amount of circulation, but also the amount of recycling."

After thinking about it, Li Dingguo explained: "There are a lot of currencies issued by the Finance Department, but what about the recovered currencies?"

"From the Shang Dynasty to today, there are countless coins issued."

"If the imperial court wants to unify the currency, it needs to collect them all for storage, and then issue a new currency."

"A hundred years later, when the imperial court's currency floods the market, these currencies will become antiques from currency."

"However, there is a conflict between coins and banknotes at the moment, so Daping coins need to stop minting in my opinion."

The Daping coins in Li Dingguo's mouth are one tael and one hundred wen in silver coins.

These two kinds of coins were issued by Zhu Youjian to harvest overseas merchants and increase people's trust in the imperial court in response to the people's distrust of paper currency.

Now that banknotes have been accepted by the people, their mission has been completed and they have become currencies that need to be eliminated.

"I would like to add [-], [-], [-], and [-] notes on the basis of one or two banknotes. What do you think?"

Zhu Ciran asked Li Dingguo after thinking for a while, and Li Dingguo nodded irrefutably:

"The people are getting richer, and it is okay to add these currencies."

"However, it's better not to issue too many at the beginning. After all, the people of Guochao still have some resistance to paper currency."

Li Dingguo couldn't help sighing, he just felt that he had to wipe his ass for the predecessors, which really made them a little uncomfortable when implementing various policies.

"There has been a change in the Five Armies Commander's Mansion recently..."

Zhu Ciran talked about the army he was worried about, because he only had Li Dingguo and Qi Wulong in the army who he could trust.

What made him uncomfortable was that these two people still wanted to go to Qi with their uncle. If his uncle hadn't written a letter to persuade them to stay, Li Dingguo and Qi Wulong would have gone south like Cao Wenzhao, Cao Bianjiao, Li Zicheng and others. We are planning to move to Qi State in a month.

"It's not a big problem. The governors of all parties are in charge. Huang Fei of the navy is still waiting for the ironclad ship to be launched. There will be no problems with the army."

"I'm more worried about the cabinet than the army..."

Li Dingguo was worried about the cabinet, which Zhu Ciran did not expect: "What is there to worry about about the cabinet?"

To be honest, Zhu Ciran was worried about the army, the Yanshan faction, and the Six Ministries, but he never worried about the cabinet.

In his view, the cabinet has three people, Jin Xuan, Yang Wenyue, and Sun Chuanting, which are enough to stabilize the situation, not to mention Hong Chengchou, who is a wily man.

"Because there's nothing to worry about, that's why I need to worry."

Li Dingguo couldn't express this feeling, but he instinctively felt that he needed to pay attention and be vigilant to the cabinet.

After all, now that the cabinet is well-known and well-known, it is not as easy as it used to be to clean it up early.

"..." Seeing what Li Dingguo said, Zhu Ciran got a new look, and at the same time, Li Dingguo and Zhu Cihong walked down the wall with Zhu Cihong.

They walked out of the imperial city and came to the inner city.

On the streets of the inner city, many people had worries on their faces, and such worries came from the news that King Qi would become a feudal domain a month later.

Despite the crowds on the streets, none of them were very happy.

On this street, the only ones who can be happier are those children who haven't grown up yet.

Even in the most prosperous inner city of the capital, the people are worried because of the news that King Qi is about to take over as a feudal clan, which shows how uncomfortable the local people are.

"Let's go outside the city and have a look..."

Zhu Ciran didn't plan to look at the situation in the city, because he had always been very clear that farmers were the foundation of Daming.

He took Zhu Ciran and Li Dingguo to the outside of the city in a carriage, and walked all the way south.

After an hour passed like this, they came to Qinghe Town in the south.

This town has existed for more than 200 years. It was the guard station where Xu Da stayed during the Northern Expedition. It was later abolished by Zhu You and changed to Qinghe Town.

Coming here, Zhu Ciran could see through the glass that the common people gathered in small groups and sat on the ridge of the field.

"Change your clothes, Brother Lang doesn't need to change."

Zhu Ciran didn't let Zhu Cihong change his clothes, because he didn't look like a farmer even if he changed his clothes.

On the contrary, it was Zhu Ciran and Li Dingguo. The former was dark because of riding a bicycle, and he has not recovered until now. His skin is a little yellow, and he looks like a farm boy.

As for Li Dingguo, he has been fighting on horseback for a long time, and his complexion is still a peasant compared to most peasants.

But Zhu Cihong, no matter how much he pretended to be like a farmer, even some gentry could not raise such children.

The two changed their attire, and after getting off the carriage, they deliberately let Zhu Ciran walk in front, making them look like little servants.

Seeing them getting out of the car, a group of farmers in the distance, especially after seeing Zhu Cihong, who was either rich or expensive, immediately dispersed.

Their actions shattered Zhu Ciran's plan to inquire about the news out of thin air. He could only comfort Zhu Cihong in embarrassment:
"Brother Lang, let's change places, just wait for us in the car."

"Okay..." Zhu Cihong also knew that the group of people left because of himself, so he readily agreed.

Seeing his cheerful appearance, Zhu Ciran and Li Dingguo took him back into the car and drove south for more than ten li before getting out of the car to inquire about the news.

Zhu Cihong sat in the car and looked at their backs, feeling a little envious.

It's just that while he was envious, a farmer who was thousands of miles away was also stopped.

"Old man, may I ask why the people in this village are so sad?"

The old weeding farmer who was stopped turned around and saw a man in prison uniform who appeared beside the field.

The old farmer looked at his age, he was about 26 or seven years old, but his skin was fair and his appearance was impeccable.

Such people are probably high-spirited poets in Nanjing, and old farmers can usually see them, but this is the first time they have seen such a good-looking poet.

"Why? Right now, the people in the ten miles and eight villages are having headaches."

Seeing that Zhu Youjian was good-looking, the old farmer spoke softer, and Zhu Youjian also pinned his clothes around his waist, went into the field and knelt down to pull weeds.

This season, the fields are full of vegetables, and all the farmers have to do is pull out some weeds.

Although it is snowing in Guangdong, there is no snow in Nanzhili, but the weather is a bit cold.

"Is it also because of King Qi?"

Zhu Youjian asked the question knowingly, and said specifically: "The same is true for the people in the city, so I came out to see the people outside the city."

"How can you not be worried..." The old farmer became more courageous when he heard that people in the city were like this, and he let go of his words and said:

"I don't know why the king of Qi had to surrender. Is it the same as the storyteller said, that he was forced to leave by the emperor."

"He's gone, and we don't know if the land in our hands will be taken back, and if the taxes that were exempted in the past few years will be collected again, alas..."

While pulling weeds, the old farmer sighed, which made others feel uncomfortable.

"This brother has grown up, and he always has a family, whether it is in the countryside or in the city, and the emperor is no exception."

Zhu Youjian said with a smile: "This policy is not decided by King Qi alone. It was decided by the emperor after discussions among hundreds of officials."

"Since your land has been handed over, it will naturally not be taken back. Otherwise, how can the emperor have the nerve to say something?"

"Hey! Don't dare to talk nonsense!" The old farmer was taken aback, but he looked around without anyone, and smiled at ease: "But you are right, hehe..."

The old farmer laughed, revealing all the folds on his skin, which were made by facing the loess with his back to the sky for many years.

Zhu Youjian sighed, and comforted the old farmer:
"It's okay for brothers to separate their families. It doesn't affect the court's policy."

"That's not necessarily..." The old farmer put away his smile, looked around, and said cautiously:

"My uncle said that when Mr. Zhang Ge was here, they felt the same way, but when Mr. Zhang left..."

The old farmer didn't continue talking, but sighed and shook his head.

"By the way, do you know that King Qi is in Nanjing City?"

The old farmer spoke suddenly, which made Zhu Youjian's pupils shrink: "I heard..."

He took a deep breath, but the old farmer continued: "Then are you really planning to stop King Qi from letting the old man go?"

Old farmers over fifty years old called Zhu Youjian an old man, which made Zhu Youjian dumbfounded, but at the same time, he also noticed the news that the people seemed to be preparing to gather together.

"I didn't go together. There were too many people going that day." Zhu Youjian shook his head, and the old farmer also nodded and said:

"It's a lot. After hearing this, many people in our village said that they would go with them on that day. There are a lot of people. There are probably hundreds of people."

"So many?" Zhu Youjian frowned, but followed the routine: "Is it also called by Mr. Zhang?"

"Mr. Zhang?" The old farmer was confused for a while: "I don't know."

"We were all summoned by Mr. Liu in the village, and it's not just us, many people will go."

"Everyone is just afraid that King Qi will leave and the court will return to the previous court, and they don't want to do anything. They just heard that King Qi is going to the Longjiang Wharf to take a boat to Qi State, so they are going to surround the Longjiang Shipyard."

"Surround the shipyard, so His Royal Highness King Qi can't leave, right?"

"Hmm..." Hearing the plans of the people, Zhu Youjian frowned, and at this time the old farmer also glanced at the sun:
"It's getting late, do you want to go home with me for a drink or two?"

"No, my wife is already cooking at home and waiting for me to go back."

Zhu Youjian smiled and helped the old farmer to stand up.

"You already have a wife? That's a pity."

The old farmer laughed and joked, and Zhu Youjian also responded with a smile.

The two walked to the edge of the field, exchanged a few words of greeting and then left.

Zhu Youjian detoured a few roads and saw Lu Wenzhao who was waiting for him with a dozen soldiers.

Seeing that Zhu Youjian came back, Lu Wenzhao hurried forward: "Your Highness, we have found out the news. It was a scholar surnamed Li who spread the news, and the storyteller urged the people to stop His Highness."

"The Xiucai surnamed Li was the one His Royal Highness led troops to quell the White Lotus Sect's rebellion and rescued him. His son-in-law was working in Baiwangfang, so he knew that His Highness was not in Baiwangfang, but in Nanjing City."

"However, no one ordered him to spread the news. After Jin Yiwei came to the door, he explained everything himself, saying that he wanted to do it himself."

Lu Wenzhao explained everything in a few words, and also explained why Zhu Youjian left the city at this juncture.

A few days ago, Lu Wenzhao inquired about the news and learned that someone in Nanjing was planning to stop Zhu Youjian from becoming a feudal vassal.

After hearing the news, he played immediately, and both he and Zhu Youjian felt that this might be something that some officials in Yanshan had done.

However, the result of the matter made them both dumbfounded.

I don't know if it's because of the political struggles all the year round, or the two have gotten used to pushing things to the side they understand. In short, when they learned that this matter was organized spontaneously by the people, they didn't know what to say.

"The people also have their own power. I didn't see it before, but now I see it..."

Zhu Youjian breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and walked into the carriage.

Lu Wenzhao followed closely behind, and the carriage started after the two of them sat down, heading back to Nanjing City in the north.

"What is brother doing these days?"

Zhu Youjian asked about Zhu Youxiao's movements, because he hadn't seen Zhu Youxiao for more than a month.

"This... I don't know about the humble position." Lu Wenzhao lowered his head.

After all, he was going to Qi State with Zhu Youjian, so he delegated power to his son Lu Yuangao early on.

Decentralization is easy, taking it back is hard.

Therefore, there are problems with many of his intelligence, and only after returning to Qi, he will have the opportunity to reorganize the new intelligence office.

"I guess I'm preparing something..."

Zhu Youjian murmured, looking at the acres of vegetable fields outside the window, he couldn't help being distracted.

"Your Highness, Cao Wenzhao, Cao Bianjiao, and Li Zicheng have already moved, and they will probably leave ten days before us."

Lu Wenzhao talked about the news he had just received, and at the same time said:
"There is also news from Dali Mansion..."

Hearing the words Dali Mansion, Zhu Youjian's heart tightened.

"Yang Lian suffered from the wind and cold, and the local Huimin Pharmacy Bureau reported that it might be difficult to survive this winter..."

Lu Wenzhao's words made Zhu Youjian stunned for a moment, his mind was blank at the moment.

Almost instantly, many memories of working with Yang Lian flashed through his mind.

"He is not suitable to be an official, but he is a clean official and a good person..."

Zhu Youjian's evaluation of Yang Lian was so, even Lu Wenzhao nodded in approval.

Yang Lian is indeed not suitable to be an official. His character will only end badly in the officialdom, because he will not help his relatives, and the officialdom is unreasonable.

"Someone send a few cans of Tai Xi Bai over there, he understands what I mean."

It is impossible for Zhu Youjian to go to Dali because there is not enough time.

For someone like him who has been on the battlefield, life and death seem to be the norm.

Yang Lian will die, so will he, it's just a matter of time.

However, if Yang Lian leaves, he will lose another friend in this world...

"Go back to Beijing, and change your travel plan by the way, so let the scholar surnamed Wang go..."

"Yes!" Lu Wenzhao nodded and bowed in response, and Zhu Youjian also leaned on the carriage, admiring the Ming Dynasty scenery outside the window.

Green hills, white mist, vegetable fields...

It looks like the scenery of an ink painting, maybe it will be difficult for him to see it again in the future...

　The update on the 31st is expected to be released at four o'clock.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)