eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 554 My Emperor Shengming
Zhengde four years in October.

Gu Zuo, the Minister of Shaofu, personally inspected the road construction project from Huai'an Mansion to Yangzhou Mansion and returned to Beijing.

The biggest thing in the court today is Qingtun in Ningxia, but it seems that many people have ignored it. In fact, the court has invested a total of 800 million taels of silver in two phases this year to build the official road between the north and the south.

There used to be official roads between the two places, but most of those were unrepaired dirt roads, and the road conditions were really worrying.

This time the imperial court intends to build a road with a smoother and harder road surface, so so much money is needed.

"Yellow cooked soil? What is that?"

"If you go back to the emperor, it is a mixture of lime, loess and sand. One part of lime is put into river sand, and two parts of loess is used. Then it is mixed with glutinous rice and sheep peach vine juice, and then the shape is fixed with square bamboo and fired. It will be very strong in the future.”

Zhu Houzhao asked, "Will it turn into mud when it rains?"

"No. I looked up "Zuo Zhuan" and found that Song Wengong's tomb was made of loess and lime. Since the Han Dynasty, the yellow slaked soil has been used to build houses because it is strong, and it can't collapse after a rain."

When Zhu Houzhao was very young, he had seen that kind of mud-built house.

In fact, I was too young at the time, and I never thought about what would happen if the house collapsed once the soil was soaked in water and softened.

He didn't bother to take care of it. The ancients were also very wise. There were bricks in the Qin Dynasty, and they were made very well.

In addition, paving the road with bricks and stones is also an option, and the ancients also used this method.

"It's interesting." Zhu Houzhao said to Gu Zuo: "The engineering team with good road materials should give some rewards."

"Yes, Wei Chen obeys the order."

"When the Shaofu has repaired this road, I will take a walk first."

Gu Zuo didn't know how to answer, "Your Majesty, this..."

"It's still necessary to go out of the palace once in a while. Of course, that's a matter for later, let's talk about it."

"Yes."

Previously, Gu Zuo asked the emperor to give him a reprimand because of the Huai'an mansion. After returning home to reflect, he went out of the mountain again. The first stop was to Huai'an mansion, which was to show his attitude of reforming himself.

There was also some rectification within the Shaofu, especially the Engineering Clean-up Department. The original Shaofu doctor Zhu Weichun and others were all arrested.

No matter how much thought is put into employing people in this institution, it is prone to corruption. Zhu Houzhao has asked Jin Yiwei to put people in it.

This matter, only Gu Zuo knows, after all, it is more convenient for him to appoint officials inside the Shaofu.

Zhu Houzhao was not always angry with Gu Zuo, some things were not his fault, at least he himself was a very caring official.

"There is one thing, I will throw out an introduction first, you can think about it."

"Yes, Your Majesty please order."

"It's about building roads. These projects cost a lot. If you can't generate 'return money', I will do it again in the future, and it will actually be unsustainable."

Gu Zuo understood, "Wei Chen also thought about this kind of thing. Roughly, I also thought of two ways."

"Oh? Let's hear it."

"One is to rely on these well-built official roads to collect some money, which doesn't need to be a lot. However, if this method is used improperly, it will easily cause bad effects."

Zhu Houzhao frowned, "You mean that the officials who do things will take what they want, and exploit them layer by layer."

"Your Majesty Shengming."

This kind of thing is not difficult to imagine, even in the later age of electronic payment, there are still people in some places setting up cards to collect money without authorization.

In ancient times, it wasn't a sudden collection of money.

"Another way?"

"I heard that His Majesty is cleaning up the military settlements, and the number of grains will increase significantly in the future, so...can you change the color to the real color?"

The so-called true color is the real thing, such as food.Color folding is to convert these objects into cash.

This is a general law of the natural development of society, because it is more convenient to use money, the general equivalent, than to trade in kind.Not to mention, how can hundreds of tons of goods be transported back and forth?

Zhu Houzhao shook his head, "It's not good to change back, we still have to use silver taels."

Generally speaking, when the ancient courts governed the country, they always did what they had and changed it to whatever was convenient, because there was no limit to power, and they always considered themselves.

This is especially true in the Ming Dynasty. After Zhang Juzheng reformed, the original grain tax was all converted to cash cash. Fortunately, after the opening of Longqing, a huge amount of silver flowed in from overseas. Otherwise, where would the common people find enough silver?In fact, even so, it also caused the people in some areas to go bankrupt.

The small-scale peasant society is not a commodity society. Commercial transactions are sufficient in several big cities, but not enough in remote areas. After the imperial court changed to accepting silver, the common people had to pay taxes every year and exchange grain or some local products for silver.

This is not easy. Now people can’t bear to walk five kilometers. In ancient times, it took more than ten or twenty days to simply go out of the house when the road conditions were not good, and there was so much food. ?horse?donkey?This kind of thing is not available in every family.

So it actually adds a lot of burden.

But the one-whip method does have its advantages. After all the whips are converted into silver taels for taxation, it will be a lot more convenient for the court, and the efficiency will be greatly improved.

Zhu Houzhao himself also intends to promote the monetization of the social economy.

After the Ming Dynasty opened the sea, monetization was also a road that had to be taken, because the annual inflow of more than ten million taels of silver has greatly alleviated the silver shortage in the society at this stage and promoted the further vitality of the economy. This cannot be given up.It will also involve some monetary and financial reforms, so he will not be so short-sighted.

"Consider the first method. I don't know how much the number of seeds will increase."

Gu Zuo looked forward to it, "I heard that Ningxia Qingtun is making progress."

Zhu Houzhao pointed to some memorabilia at hand, "Xie Yuqiao (Xie Qian) from Huguang, came to Sandaoshu, in addition to asking me for food, but also asking me to exempt from taxes. We all know that the court has more Liqing, a rich man, and they are embarrassed to ask If you open your mouth, you can only talk to me."

"The area around Huguang Jingxiang is full of displaced people. Mr. Yu Qiao couldn't bear the displacement of the people. This is also because of His Majesty's use of people."

Gu Zuo knew that the emperor wasn't really complaining, in fact, as long as the imperial court had spare power, these demands would be met.At the beginning, Liu, Li, and Xie were all famous ministers of Qingliu, and the emperor spent a lot of effort to send them to the place, and now it seems that the results are good.

While the two were talking, Liu Jin came in from the outside, he walked to the emperor with his head down, leaned closer and said a few words.

Gu Zuo looked away.

"Where are the things? Bring them to me."

Liu Jin took out a thin piece of paper from his cuff.

This is news from Dongchang.

The incident in Qingtun, Ningxia has reached the point it is today. Not only did Jin Yiwei go, but Dongchang also went, in order to let the emperor know the most real situation.

After glancing at the paper, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help frowning.

"Your Majesty..." Gu Zuo didn't dare to ask more, but tried to say, "But what happened?"

"It's okay. Liqing, I'm here first today. I'm a little tired. You can pass the note to the palace another day, and we can talk."

"Yes." Gu Zuo couldn't say much, so he could only leave obediently.

After the person left, Zhu Houzhao sighed. He had repeatedly asked the people in the harem not to get involved in the affairs of the outer court, but it seemed inevitable.

About half an hour later, Jin Gui, the attendant, came to report that Wang Hua, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, asked to see him.

"Xuan."

Wang Hua entered Beijing as Minister of Rites in the middle of this year. Wang Hua, who is already 64, can be considered an old man in this year. His beard is already gray, and the wrinkles on his face are extremely deep, especially the bag under his eyes, which is very bulging.

"Old minister, see Your Majesty."

"Give a seat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Wang Shangshu, why are you entering the palace to see me at this time?"

Wang Hua pressed his knees with both hands, and lightly touched the stool with his buttocks, "Your Majesty, this old minister is here to repay auspiciousness."

"Auspicious? What auspicious?"

Zhu Houzhao: "..."

He was irritated at first, but in the end he was given this hand.

"Wang Shangshu, if you have something to say, just say it directly, without going around in circles. Am I the kind of monarch who can't listen to harsh words?"

"The old minister dare not." Wang Hua immediately got up and bent over.

"Sit down and say what you want."

Wang Hua was very straightforward, "The old minister obeys the order."

There was a special look in Liu Jin's eyes. This old guy did it on purpose.

"The reason for the veteran's tribute to His Majesty is because of the incident in Ningxia Zhenqingtun, Ningxia Qianwei and Concubine Shen Shu's family..."

Zhu Hou took care of him and talked without any sense of stagnation, and he gradually understood.This Wang Hua...had something to report, but he just played a little trick with him.

"Your Majesty, this matter involves the palace, and the veterans and others don't know how to deal with it. I hereby report to Your Majesty and ask for an order."

The emperor sighed, "Wang Shangshu, is it because I am too strict? You dare not even tell me the whole thing?"

"The emperor misunderstood. The veteran lives in the capital, and he can receive the emperor's sacred teachings every day. Naturally, he knows the emperor's sincerity, but the courtiers who are thousands of miles away do not have the blessings of the veteran. Besides, this matter is extraordinary. All the officials in Ningxia Being so cautious is also for His Majesty's sake."

Zhu Houzhao waved his hand, "Forget it, you also have your difficulties, I know. But next time, be more direct, and you and Wang Shouren also say that no matter what, he can tell me exactly what happened. How can I embarrass him? ?”

Wang Hua was inexplicably grateful. The emperor treated his son with great grace, "The old minister thanked His Majesty Long En on behalf of his son! If there is nothing else, the old minister will retire first."

"Retire? I haven't responded to you about what you said."

Wang Hua cupped his hands, "Your Majesty said that being a minister is difficult, but His Majesty also has His Majesty's difficulties. There should be no rush to get an immediate result on this matter. Besides, the old minister believes in His Majesty."

"Trust me what?"

"Your Majesty is comparable to the ancient sages, this veteran firmly believes."

"Sigh." Zhu Houzhao prefers softness to toughness. He is not afraid of smacking and rolling, but he is afraid of this kind of 'reasonable',

Looking at the back of the old minister who was going further and further away, he still said, "Come back."

"Your Majesty." Wang Hua turned around and leaned over to listen to the order.

"Go and tell Bo'an to control that family first, but don't hurt them. The land purchased was carried out under the prohibition of the imperial court, so the government's seal is invalid, and the transaction is not recognized by the government.

Keep this matter quiet for now.If the Shen family is willing to give in, the matter will be over like this, if not, they will be locked up for half a year, after half a year, it will be easy for me. "

Wang Hua understood what he was referring to. After this period of time, Concubine Shen Shu's delivery was over.

With such an emperor, what reason does he not have to use his life wholeheartedly?
"My emperor, Shengming!"

(End of this chapter)