Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 651
"The people are rich, but they are not happy..."

Looking at the white snow in the distance, Zhu Ciran, who has experienced the feelings of the people, has already sat in the carriage returning to the capital.

He is not as sophisticated as Zhu Youjian, and he only scouted some fur, but Li Dingguo got a lot of news.

The drought in the north has been going on for more than a year, and the people of Beizhili have ushered in a good harvest this year.

The people in Shanxi received tractors, and the abandoned land was reclaimed by diverting water. It took only one year to pay off the debts owed to the bank a few years ago.

Right now, hundreds of millions of people are well-off and prosperous, Zhu Ciran is clear that what they want is for the court not to change the current policy after King Qi leaves.

This is also something that Zhu Youjian has always hoped for, and it is also something that Zhu Ciran intends to maintain.

"What the people want is very simple..."

Zhu Ciran took a deep breath, sighing slightly.

"I have traveled all the way, but I have never heard people discuss how many livestock, cattle and horses to buy. I only heard that they want to maintain a tax of one tenth tax in order to have enough food."

"I remember my uncle once said that if the industry is strong, the agricultural tax can be reduced as appropriate."

"At present, the annual income of Huangdian and Wukesi alone in our country is more than 11 million taels, and the annual income of [-] billion mu of cultivated land can be more than [-] million taels."

"If this annual income does not go to war for three years, it will be enough to support the court for four years."

"I heard that during the Spring and Autumn Period, there was a record that the common people had cultivated the land for three years and left it fallow for one year."

"If my father and son are in power, we should pay taxes for three years and suspend agricultural taxes for one year, so as to return the people's health and prosperity."

Zhu Ciran said what was in his heart, and Li Dingguo couldn't help sighing after hearing it: "If this word reaches His Highness's ears, His Highness will be happy for a long time."

Li Dingguo had just finished speaking, but Zhu Ciran looked at him and said:
"I don't want to use swords, but the tigers from all over the world don't want to stop their troops."

"If I want to have long-term peace and stability in the mainland, I still need your help to keep the tigers out of the country!"

Zhu Ciran used common people to try to persuade Li Dingguo to be an official in Daming for a long time, and Li Dingguo also knew that Zhu Ciran did not have many available people around him.

Although the East Palace has a good army, there are not many people, and to govern a country with a huge territory like the Ming Dynasty, what is needed is a large number of soldiers and a large number of talents.

Taking the military as an example, although Li Dingguo is young, he is one of the first few heroes of the Western Expedition, and he is also the only hero left among these heroes.

The Apocalypse Dynasty has been sparsely fought since 12 years, so his achievements can be regarded as a few Optimus Primes in the north under the current situation where many generals have left Qi.

Although Zhu Youxiao now trusts Zhu Ciran in every possible way, the most untrustworthy thing in the Emperor's family is their feelings.

Who could have predicted that Zhu Youxiao would become confused in the future, thinking of abolishing Zhu Ciran's crown prince?

Li Dingguo, Qi Wulong, Du Yinxi, and Sun Kewang are actually the four leaders of the Donggong team.

Without them, Zhu Ciran would be easily dismissed.

Not only Zhu Ciran understands this truth, but even Li Dingguo himself understands it.

However, after seeing Zhu Youjian's life since he was a child, and knowing that he kept his feet on the ground for Daming, but in the end he still needed to maintain stability, he felt extremely uncomfortable.

Everyone expected Zhu Youjian to take that step and become an emperor who truly ruled Ming Dynasty.

But Zhu Youjian was unwilling. He fought against all the officials, and finally resolutely embarked on the road of becoming a feudal clan.

Zhu Youjian was very tired, even Li Dingguo could feel his exhaustion.

Because he could feel it, Li Dingguo didn't want to stay in Daming.

He also wants to go to Qi State, even if he is a soldier in Qi State, he can stay away from these intrigues of Daming.

However, when he faced Zhu Ciran's invitation, he still couldn't express what was in his heart.

At this moment, he felt a little bit of Zhu Youjian's mood when facing Zhu Youxiao.

If possible, Zhu Youjian could leave early, but faced with the situation of natural disasters and man-made disasters, he chose to stay.

If he is like this, how can Li Dingguo be better...

"I'll try my best..." Li Dingguo didn't say absolute, but said his best.

"Huh..." Even though it was just an effort, Zhu Ciran breathed a sigh of relief.

The conversation between the two was watched by Zhu Cihong who was next to him, and he gradually understood that everyone has their own difficulties.

He thought in his heart until the carriage returned to Baiwangfang, and he didn't recover until they got off the carriage.

He didn't come back to his senses until Li Dingguo and he walked into the Qi Palace and met Xia Wanchun at the door.

"Brother Li, Brother Hong, it's time to eat."

Xia Wanchun was sitting at the gate of the palace with a small horse, and when he saw the two get off the car, he waved quickly.

"You guys eat, I have no appetite..."

Li Dingguo was still debating whether to leave Daming, or when to leave Daming, so naturally he had no interest in eating.

He passed Xia Wanchun, and walked towards his small courtyard with a worried face.

"What happened to Brother Li?"

Xia Wanchun frowned and turned around, asking about Zhu Cihong who went out together.

"Brother Li..." Seeing this, Zhu Cihong explained the matter. After all, he knew very well that Xia Wanchun was also a person in his father's plan, but Xia Wanchun's role was in Qi State, not Daming.

"Looking at it now, I have only studied in Daming for five or six years. Compared with Brother Li, Brother Li, and Father, I can already be regarded as very relaxed."

Zhu Cihong looked at his own situation. He has matured precociously since he was a child, and he is the most stable among the masters. Now he is naturally going a step further.

He knew that his father was not easy. At the same age, when he was still studying, his father had already started to organize the army and planned to go to the Northern Expedition.

"Don't put too much pressure on it. Your task is to learn things well, and at the same time, write down the shortcomings of Ming Dynasty, so that these things will not appear in the Qi State in the future."

Seeing Zhu Cihong's self-criticism, Xia Wanchun couldn't help comforting him.

In his opinion, the life of the family in Prince Qi's Mansion is too tiring, and the reason is because they have too much sense of responsibility.

Compared with King Qi, Zhu Cihong's sense of responsibility should be applied to Qi State, so that Qi State can develop better.

"If you succeed in your studies, when you return to Qi State in the future, you can also share a lot of government affairs for His Highness King Qi, so that the old man can have a good rest."

Xia Wanchun followed through on persuasion, but Zhu Cihong suddenly said, "What about you, Brother Xia?"

"Me?" Xia Wanchun was stunned for a moment, but laughed and said, "I'm from the Qi Kingdom of Ming Dynasty, so naturally I want to contribute to the Qi Kingdom."

"Then I'm relieved." Zhu Cihong smiled, then turned around and walked towards his palace.

Looking at his back, Xia Wanchun's mind also flashed the appearance of Zhu Cihong just now.

"This guy... so he was setting me up..."

Xia Wanchun realized later, but instead of being annoyed after being tricked, he was very happy:

"It seems that the people of our country are blessed..."

"Cough cough!"

When Xia Wanchun was secretly happy, there was a coughing sound from a small courtyard in the inner city.

Not long after the coughing sound appeared, a woman dressed as a doomed woman walked into the study where the coughing sound came from.

She put the ginger soup she cooked on the table, and looked at the person sitting in the chair with distress.

"Take a break, don't rush things for a while, the court envoy Wang said, your illness can only be cured after recuperation."

"If you continue to suffer like this, I'm afraid the next time you check the pulse, you will make the Royal Court envoy angry again."

She persuaded the person in the position, but the person did not look up, but shook his head:

"His Royal Highness is leaving. There are a lot of changes in the Northern Army and the Northwest. I want to write a letter to appease you."

"Wuszang, I have to make arrangements to avoid any mistakes there."

"As for the envoy of the Royal Court, just scold him, he is more than [-] years older than me, hehe..."

When Sun Chuanting's voice sounded, he lost a lot of weight and did not stop writing, but continued to write letters to appease local officials and generals.

He was coughing as he wrote. Coughing is not good news in this season. It is obvious that he has caught a cold.

Seeing him like this, Sun Zhang felt distressed in his eyes, but he also knew his husband's character, so he didn't persuade him, but reminded:
"Drink the ginger soup while it's hot, and the medicinal properties will change when it's cold."

"Okay..." Sun Chuanting still wrote the letter with one hand, picked up the ginger soup bowl without looking at it with the other hand, frowned and drank it down in one gulp.

Seeing this, Mrs. Sun and Zhang sighed from the bottom of her heart, packed up the ginger soup that had been drunk, turned around and left the study, and closed the door, for fear that Sun Chuanting would be blown by the wind again.

It's just that her painstaking efforts were in vain, because after a quarter of an hour, the study was pushed away, and Zhou Zhao, who was Sun Chuanting's aide, walked in.

The cold wind blew into the study, which made Sun Chuanting, who had just warmed up a lot, pause.

Fortunately, Zhou Zhao turned around and closed the door, which made him feel much more comfortable.

"Governor, there is news from the south that tens of thousands of people have surrounded the Longjiang Shipyard. It seems that the people are not going to let His Highness leave."

Zhou Zhao was very happy when he said this, because he knew the character of his cabinet ministers.

If you are facing an enlightened person like King Qi, your own cabinet ministers will definitely become famous ministers who will leave a long history and be biographed separately.

Besides, Zhou Zhao could also sense that his own cabinet ministers might not necessarily be the opponents of Chief Assistant Hong Chengchou, so it was best for King Qi to stay.

However, facing this news, Sun Chuanting was very indifferent. He continued to write the letter without raising his head:
"His Highness will arrange it himself. What he is going to do, no one else can stop him."

"It's just this matter, are you sure it's just the people spontaneously?"

"Definitely!" Zhou Zhao nodded firmly:

"Jin Yiwei has already caught the person in charge who encouraged the people, but that person has no background and his purpose is very simple, and he only incited the people around the capital."

"If someone else took action, the scale of the instigation must be more than this, and there is no need..."

Zhou Zhao said that it was not necessary, because he knew that except for the common people and their small group, everyone in Daming wanted Zhu Youjian to leave early.

The number of officials who died at the hands of Zhu Youjian in these years has not been 100 million but 50.

To keep such people in Daming, to other people, it is no less than a sharp sword hanging over their heads that may fall at any time.

What are the few officials that Zhu Ciran killed?Compared with Zhu Youjian's scale of killing tens of thousands of people in a major case, it is nothing more than pediatrics.

What's more, Zhu Ciran is just a fox pretending to be a tiger. Once Zhu Youjian leaves, the father and son will know what it's like to suffer.

"Keep an eye on the other people in the cabinet, and tell me immediately if something happens, nothing can happen at this juncture."

Sun Chuanting is still the same, supporting all Zhu Youjian's actions, even if Zhu Youjian wants to become a fan, even if he becomes a fan, Sun Chuanting himself will become the target of public criticism, but he still has no privacy.

"This... cabinet minister, we don't have to worry about this matter, do we?"

Zhou Zhao frowned and said, he has not forgotten how many corrupt officials his cabinet ministers killed in the case of civil uprising in northern Shaanxi.

There are quite a few friends, colleagues, and officials from the same camp of these corrupt officials. If the situation did not allow it, Zhou Zhao was ready to persuade Sun Chuanting and Zhu Youjian to leave together.

When Zhu Youjian stayed, Sun Chuanting got an extra amulet, but now, Sun Chuanting not only does not keep Zhu Youjian, but also helps him to become a feudal lord. This...

Zhou Zhao couldn't accept it, but Sun Chuanting said lightly:
"Let's do it..."

"Yes..." Zhou Zhao bowed with difficulty, then turned and left the study.

After he left, Sun Chuanting coughed again in the study.

Soon, Zhou Zhao deployed manpower around the mansions of many cabinet ministers, and such a move could not be concealed from his opponents of the same level.

People who don't want to do it don't bother to pay attention, just like Hong Chengchou's behavior when he heard the news.

"Elder Ge, as you expected, the Sun Mansion has sent people outside the mansions of the ministers."

The head of the Hong Mansion walked into the study and reported the news to Hong Chengchou who was writing.

Also writing, Sun Chuanting was writing letters to appease the Northwest, but Hong Chengchou was painting.

It's not that he didn't do anything, but at the beginning of the year, he wrote handwritten letters to the Mu family and the Mu family, as well as Long Zaitian and Wu Bikui.

It can be said that his predecessor, Sun Chuanting and others calmed down the situation in more than half a year, and even wrote the news of the court change to the Qin and Qi families in September as the chief assistant.

Therefore, when Sun Chuanting was busy, he already had leisure time to paint.

"Old Ge, at the Longjiang Wharf, do you want to hint to the people below to go..."

"Don't do anything extravagant!"

Hong Chengchou looked up at the head of the Hong residence, and said calmly:
"Although King Qi handed over the power, it doesn't mean that he has lost his teeth."

"Every move of you and me is like a mirror in his heart."

"I've endured it for decades, can't I bear it this month?"

"Tell the people below, be honest, there are only tens of thousands of people, they can't stop anyone, let alone King Qi."

As he said that, Hong Chengchou stopped his pen and shook his head while looking at his own painting.

He had visited Yang Lian when he was in Yunnan, and naturally he had seen the painting Yang Lian snatched from Zhu Youjian at Yang Lian's home.

Zhu Youjian is good at painting landscapes and scenery, but he is also very vivid in painting animals.

Hong Chengchou has seen the "civet cat picture" painted by Zhu Youjian. It can be said that it is vivid and shows the fun of civet cats playing.

"Compared to King Qi, I am much worse..."

Hong Chengchou looked at the painting and muttered to himself, not sure if he was talking about the painting or something else.

"Recently, the Metropolitan Procuratorate has been conducting inspections. Many officials asked for rescue after they were killed. These people..."

The head of the Hong Mansion opened his mouth cautiously, but Hong Chengchou sneered and laughed:
"Let them wait, they don't wait, and take their own future in order to collect some prohibited miscellaneous items, what can such a fool save?"

Hong Chengchou framed the painting, and the head of the Hong residence also nodded and said:
"It is true, but if they are left alone, will they involve the family?"

"Involving the family?" Hong Chengchou said disdainfully:
"You have to know, it's not that I want to win them over, but King Qi wants me to win them over."

"They think they can run amok by relying on me? They don't know that King Qi just gathered them together to make it easier for Sun Chuanting and the others to target them."

Hong Chengchou told the truth why Zhu Youjian didn't clean up the corrupt officials.

Zhu Youjian knew from the very beginning that corrupt officials could not be suppressed or swept away.

What's more, in the history of Chongzhen, it was because of the random use of knives that led to the chaos of the party during the Chongzhen period, and it was impossible to tell who was what party.

Zhu Youjian raised the knife in the early stage because it was necessary, because the number of corrupt officials had seriously affected the normal operation of the court.

After batch after batch of corrupt officials fell, he had to gather the remaining corrupt officials together, and set a clear target for Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Ciran, so that he would not be ignorant of what to do. Against whom.

Supporting a small number of honest officials, corrupt officials who are corrupt but doing things, and cracking down on corrupt officials who are not doing things but are ruthlessly corrupt, this is what we should do in the Taiping era.

Hong Chengchou understands that he is the flag, as long as the flagpole does not fall down, many people can be gathered, and the identity of many people can be clarified.

Unless there are no corrupt officials in the Ming Dynasty, Hong Chengchou will have to stand all the time.

But he is alive and well, if he dies, then...

Hong Chengchou narrowed his eyes, and finally said to the head of the Hong residence:

"Let the three sons go to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and when they come back, I will tell them what to do."

"Yes!"

The head of the Hong Mansion responded without thinking, thinking that his own court was always planning to put people in the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

He turned around and exited the study, Hong Chengchou stroked his beard when he saw this, and couldn't help but praise:

"Your Highness, you are really calculating..."

"really."

When Hong Chengchou was praising him, the same voice rang out when he was sitting in the small courtyard of Guanlifang.

Jin Xuan and Yan Yinshao sat together, and Jin's mother was busy in the kitchen.

The two of them at this moment also discussed the corrupt officials of the party under Hong Chengchou's command.

They knew very well that Hong Chengchou was a wall to keep out the wind, and they were brooms.

If the wall does not fall down, the garbage blown by the wind will gather below.

Therefore, what the Metropolitan Procuratorate has to do is to sweep the floor continuously.

Regarding Hong Chengchou, they don't need to worry about it, otherwise without the wall of Hong Chengchou, the garbage will be blown everywhere.

"Throughout the ages, no emperor can leave a spotless court to his successor, and His Highness is no exception."

"It's just that I'm wondering whether Wanzai is willing to hand over power to the crown prince."

Yan Yinshao frowned, but Jin Xuan said firmly: "Long live doesn't have much choice, he only has three heirs, even if he has another heir in the future, I'm afraid it will be difficult to compete with these three for power."

"Yongwang and Dingwang regard the crown prince as the leader, so the crown prince's position is as stable as Mount Tai, so there is no need to worry."

"In the temple, it is enough for Sun Chuanting to check and balance Hong Chengchou. What you and I have to do is to monitor the situation of the feudal clans at home and abroad, as well as Europe and West Asia."

"Prince Ezhe of Mongolia has returned to Mongolia with arms and troops, and will arrive in New Harahelin in March next year without accident."

"Five months is enough time for the Mongols to use rifles and artillery proficiently. They are estimated to launch a western expedition before the autumn harvest to seize the territory of the Xilu (Crimean Khanate)."

"The northern army has to be prepared. While they seize the territory, they will immediately recover all the land mortgaged by Lin Danhan."

"Tractors and trains are not allowed to appear west of Helinshui (Volga River) and near the West Sea (Caspian Sea), so as to prevent the barbarians from following them after seeing them."

"Therefore, right now, we have to immigrate to Shibian early, move all the people to Taixi Province to be stationed, distribute tractors to build local production, and ensure supplies to the garrison west of Linshui."

Jin Xuan and Yan Yinshao have accumulated a lot of experience in Qi State and South Kunlun. They can be said to be familiar with how to quickly build a vibrant town from a deserted land.

"The war in Europe is not optimistic. There is news from Jinyiwei that Franji's attack on Franza was frustrated, and Wallenstein also died of illness. On the battlefield, Rodori (Sweden) King Gusta has no opponents, and I am afraid that he will be able to clean up soon. Allies who dropped the Franji."

Yan Yinshao frowned tightly, his expression was not very good:

"I'm afraid we have to pay Franji the materials for the fourth indemnity in advance, otherwise it won't last 25 years of Apocalypse."

"I will discuss with the cabinet about the materials." Jin Xuan nodded in response, and at the same time said with a headache:

"The country of Qi has to send a batch of grain to Frangji, otherwise the news of the setback in the frontline war will spread to the rear, and the price of Frangji's just stabilized price may soon rise again."

Jin Xuan and Yan Yinshao glanced at each other. Facing the situation where King Qi was not in charge, both of them smiled wryly, and sighed unconsciously in their hearts:
"It's hard..."

(End of this chapter)