Father can be an enemy country

Chapter 540

On the last day of Jingdezhen's itinerary, Zhu Zhen hosted a banquet in the Xingyuan where he was staying, Sun Zhifu of Raozhou, Zhou Ji, Ji Ming, and Cheng Qian, and thanked them for their hospitality.

The few people were naturally flattered, but they also knew that His Highness invited them to this meal because there was something serious to discuss.It was all foreshadowing before.

After the dishes were finished, Zhu Zhen said to Ji Ming, the magistrate of Fuliang County, "I'm really sorry to delay your county for so many days."

"Your Highness is serious. It is a great honor for the entire county to come to Jingdezhen to leave footprints and take a look around." Ji Ming hurriedly said flattered.

"That's right, King Chu and His Royal Highness King Hai have come to Bi County in Bifu. It will be a top priority to be included in county history and government annals in the future." Prefect Sun hastily echoed.

"Hahaha, that's too serious." His Highness King Chu waved his hand and said:
"This king knows that the local government is very busy now. It not only has to clear the land, compile the yellow book, implement the lijia, but also arrange various immigration matters. It's really a big headache for you to think about it."

"It's okay, okay..." Sun Jia and Ji Ming laughed, but they cried out in their hearts, isn't it all you, the ghost sent by you?

"Oh, by the way, these are all tasks assigned to you by the king." Zhu Zhen slapped his forehead and pretended to say: "Oh, once I started playing, I forgot about the business."

"Your Highness works day and night, it's too hard, and you should relax for a few days." The two officials could only smile wryly, which made it difficult for those who should come to escape.Now it's finally my turn.

"That's right, but since I remembered it, I can ask you a few questions casually." Zhu Zhen picked up the handkerchief and wiped his mouth.

"Excuse me, Your Highness." The two hurriedly sat upright.

"Don't be nervous, this is not a formal question, just chat casually." Zhu Zhen asked with a smile: "Prefect Sun, how is the progress in Raozhou?"

"Returning to Your Highness, the work team has completed all the work in Poyang County; the Qingzhang in Yugan County has also been completed, and is stepping up the preparation of the yellow book. In Leping County, the lower officials have also urged to start preparations. It is expected that next month, as well It will be in July. Then it will be the turn of Fuliang County." Sun Jia hurriedly reported respectfully.

"Oh, half of this year has passed, time flies so fast." Zhu Zhen couldn't help feeling a little emotional.Last month, his two older brothers had already left for Fan, and next month, Zhu Gaochi... oh no, the eldest son of the fourth brother should also be born.

"Hehe, it's not too fast..." The two officials had different feelings. They both felt that this year was really like a year.I am trembling every day, and I may move my head someday.

"You in Fuliang County can't just sit and wait, a lot of preliminary work can be done first." The sixth child said to the county magistrate Ji: "For example, you can find out the population and land in advance, so that you can reduce the work at that time. It can also leave a good impression on the work team.”

"Yes." Ji Ming quickly nodded to show that he was taught, and he almost took a small notebook to write it down.

"Actually, the government has already ordered the counties to start these tasks ahead of time." The prefect Sun said, asking for credit.

"Oh? That's not bad. But how is the implementation going?" Zhu Zhen asked the county magistrate, "I'm here to test you. Let's just talk about Jingdezhen. How many household registrations does it have?"

"Return to Your Highness." Jixian County quickly replied: "Jingdezhen has a total of [-] households, with a population of [-] household registrations."

"Not bad, the answers are fluent. But from what I've seen in the past two days, there are more than that." Zhu Zhen praised first and then asked.

"Back to Your Highness, the situation in Jingdezhen is special. As His Highness can see, there are more than 2000 kiln households here, each of which employs a lot of workers. The small workshops have hundreds of people, and the large ones even have as many as [-] people." Ji Ming hurriedly explained :
"So there must be as many as [-] to [-] workers in the entire county. How can there be so many people in the town? The main reason is that most of the workers come from other places in the county."

"They're all from Fuliang County?" Zhu Zhen asked lightly.

"No." Ji Ming's heart tightened, and he answered honestly: "Because the wages here are high, people from all the surrounding counties come to work, and Duchang County has the most people here."

"Are there any guides for these people from other counties?" Zhu Zhen asked unkindly again.

"This……"

Even though there were ice buckets placed in the four corners of the room, and the maids kept fanning, bringing in a cool breeze, the banquet did not feel the heat at all.But the two magistrates, as well as the bruised and swollen Cheng Qian, were all sweating profusely upon hearing the words.

"Don't be in a daze, answer quickly." Sun Zhifu hurriedly urged Ji County: "Just answer truthfully, don't play tricks with Your Highness."

"Hey, Your Highness please forgive me." Ji Ming wiped off his sweat, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and said, "Because they are all neighboring counties, not far away, so I didn't force anyone to come to work, and there must be guides."

"Your Highness, with so many people coming out to work, it is impossible for the county to guide so many roads." Cheng Qian was quite righteous, knowing that the magistrate should not let this matter be handled by himself, otherwise Ji Ming would definitely deal with him when he turned around.

"But our guild also has requirements. Whenever workers come to work, they must be guaranteed by a fellow villager, and they must leave their account cards with us. Our management is much stricter than that of the government."

"You still have the nerve to say it. Who gave you such great power, and dare to withhold other people's account? Who sent the account? You dare to withhold it?" But His Highness slapped him with a slap in the face.

"Yes, I was wrong..." Cheng Qian lowered his head and dared not speak.

"It's a humble dereliction of duty. Please punish him, Your Highness." Ji Ming quickly got up and knelt down by the table.

"..." Cheng Qian originally wanted to kneel down, but after thinking about it, isn't this a collusion between government and businessmen?more trouble.I had no choice but to sit on pins and needles there, wishing I could find a seam in the ground and get in.

The atmosphere in the hall has dropped to freezing point, which is much better than the cooling effect of an ice bucket.

"Hahaha." Only then did the sixth put away his stinky face, and said with a pleasant smile: "Get up, Jizhi County, this king has something to say beforehand, just chatting casually, why are you so serious?"

"Yes, thank you, Your Highness." Ji Ming seemed to be fished out of the water, he had been completely spoiled.

"Jingdezhen is different from other places. This is a rare handicraft pearl in my Ming Dynasty." Zhu Zhen continued to slow down his tone: "We must love it and protect it, so you don't have to worry about my king burning zithers and cranes. Not only I Yes, I will not allow anyone to destroy Jingdezhen's hard-won prosperity!"

"Oh, Your Highness, you're so, so madam..." Everyone was in tears, half moved, half dumbfounded, why do people like this always go up and down?
After everyone had no words to thank, Zhu Zhen let them experience a roller coaster again: "However, we can't be too self-conscious and ignore its problems. After all, Jingdezhen is just a town, and as a result, there are more people gathered than the provincial capital. Obviously inappropriate. This is too attractive!"

"Yes, Your Highness, tell me what to do..." Everyone was powerless to pursue his ideas, and could only let him manipulate them.

"Let's divert them." Zhu Zhen finally said in a desperate way: "Separate some people out, wouldn't it be all right?"

(End of this chapter)