national surname chiming

Chapter 29 Jane in the Emperor's Heart

The timeline goes back half a month.

At the end of the twelfth lunar month in the 12th year of Chongzhen, the capital.

The routine Beijing inspection work of the Ministry of Officials is coming to an end, and there is an endless stream of people sending money up and down in each yamen, and no one will feel embarrassed.

Millions of taels of silver flowed among various forces, and turned into a piece of paper for promotion and transfer, or an amnesty to cover up incompetence and cover up the useless.

Those who should be promoted, those who should be guaranteed, and those who should escape from the fire pit in the war zone should flee quickly, everyone is happy.

Daming has been corrupted to the point of no cure.

Regarding all this, Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian actually knew more or less in his heart, otherwise he would not have issued an imperial edict twice.

He just doesn't want to accept this reality.

……

On this day, it was already late at night, and Zhu Youjian was reviewing the memorial in the Qianqing Palace as usual.He is only 29 years old, and his temples are already a little gray.

I have to admit that no matter what his political skills are, Zhu Youjian's work attitude is still very good, and he is very diligent.

During this year, the political affairs he was most concerned about were of course the encirclement and suppression of Zhang Xianzhong.

The 12th year of Chongzhen was considered to be a year when Li Zicheng and the Qing army were relatively quiet. The main conflict in the whole country was precisely Zhang Xianzhong——

Since Li Zicheng was defeated in the 11th year of Chongzhen, he turned to defense in Henan and Shaanxi, and retreated to various mountainous areas. Although he was actively recruiting troops to expand his power, he did not dare to turn to a strong offensive for the time being.

The Tazi army outside the pass broke through the pass last year and entered the Hebei Plain, killing Lu Xiangsheng in Hejian, causing heavy losses to the Ming army.

But after Lu Xiangsheng's death, Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting were all withdrawn from the battlefield to suppress Li Zicheng, and transferred to Jimen, Xuanda, and Liaoxi to block the way, and the Qing army could not benefit for the time being.

Therefore, the northern region was in a short-lived delicate balance during the entire 12 years of Chongzhen.Neither Li Zicheng nor the Qing army wanted to gnaw hard bones, and both hoped that the Ming court would focus on dealing with the other side.

But no one could have predicted that once something went wrong with Hong Chengchou or Sun Chuanting, the Qing soldiers and Li Zicheng would definitely jump out to grab the head immediately.

Compared with the delicate balance in the north, two or three provinces in the south have been smashed since Zhang Xianzhong's rebellion in May.

Yang Sichang tried his best to stabilize the situation and prevent more people and places from being coerced. If it is said to counterattack and suppress, he is still unable to do so.

"Zhang Ni dog thief, I swear that I will smash your body into thousands of pieces, smash your bones into ashes, and avenge your ancestral mausoleum in Fengyang!"

Zhu Youjian looked at the battle reports and cursed secretly, but he didn't dare to speak out.

He was afraid of being heard by the court ladies and eunuchs next to him, losing the emperor's majesty, and letting people see through his helplessness.

When Zhang Xianzhong came to Fengyang Mansion four years ago, he destroyed the ancestral grave of the old Zhu's family. Zhu Youjian had to issue the first sin in his life, confess to his ancestors, and killed many ministers and generals who were unfavorable to encircle Zhang Xianzhong. Vent anger.

He thought that last year he was magnanimous. When Xiong Wencan recruited Zhang Xianzhong, he promised to pardon him for destroying the ancestral tomb.
After reading a lot of memorials that ruined his mood, Zhu Youjian only felt his chest tight, like a fish out of water, and wanted to find some good news that would smooth his breath.

After flipping through it, I finally found a memorial written by Shi Kefa, governor of Anlu, which seemed to be not bad at first glance.

Although Shi Kefa didn't have to face Zhang Xianzhong directly, at least he also faced the Fifth Gezuo Battalion who was coerced by Zhang Xianzhong to rebel.The memorial reported the recent small victories, which were fought against Lin Chengcheng and Liu Xiyao, and thousands of rebels were wiped out. No matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat.

At the end of the memorial, he also thanked his colleagues, saying that the department that provided military supplies and logistics to the front line of Anlu did a good job, so that he would not have to worry about the future, and it is said that it saved a lot of expenses.

It was a rare piece of good news, Zhu Youjian immediately read it attentively, and then noticed several names and a string of data.

"Is the royal court's military grain transshipment and grain and water transportation cost so huge in previous years? Every stone of rice crossing the river or lake needs to be counted for loading and unloading silver? This year, the new law is implemented, but it can be reduced to nine tenths of a stone? This historical figure, there will be no wrong?"

Zhu Youjian was suspicious by nature, and he coughed when he saw this and couldn't believe it.

Immediately, a eunuch Wang Cheng'en with good eyes came over to listen to him: "What orders does Your Majesty have?"

"Go to the Ministry of Households and find someone. I have something to ask—let them prepare it. It's about water transportation." Chongzhen didn't want to make it too clear, but wanted to make a surprise inspection.

But when he thought of the exhaustion and incompetence of the people in the household department, he was a little discouraged, so he had better be clear.

Cheng Guoxiang, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, is a peacemaker who hides whenever he can. He doesn't take power, and he doesn't want to do things. Since Chongzhen appointed him last year, after using him for a while, he feels that this person is not good.

Historically, Cheng Guoxiang did not work for long, and next year he will successfully return to his hometown and escape from the capital.It is probably also a person who wants to run away early when he sees that the Daming Building is about to collapse, and the king is like a tiger.

After a while, Cheng Guoxiang, who looked a little old, came slowly from the on-duty attic, with a reluctant expression on his face, as if resenting why the emperor didn't work during the day.

In order not to give an unclear answer, he brought along a few assistants, but none of them were qualified to enter the hall, so they just waited outside the corridor.

Zhu Youjian went straight to the point: "Cheng Qing, in addition to the positive numbers for the military rations transported by water in previous years, will there be additional levies for Jiangyin and Huyin? Why haven't I seen it in the account of the Ministry of Households?"

Cheng Guoxiang heaved a sigh of relief. It turned out to be such a simple question, so he quickly pulled himself together:

"Your Majesty, the transportation fees for grain in the Huaibei Canal are clearly listed by the imperial court and levied in advance, and will be used uniformly by the Governor of Water Transport in the end.

But in the south, the distance to Huai'an is different, and the roads are difficult and difficult, so they need to raise their own funds. The court only needs to ensure that the grain is delivered in Huai'an and the water transport yamen, and other accounts are not checked. "

Zhu Youjian listened to it, and recalled it a little bit. It seemed that he had heard a similar interpretation of this remark before.

After thinking for a long time, he remembered that it was Shen Tingyang, who was sent to the south by him in the middle of the year to experiment with water transportation and sea transportation, and said about this drawback.

Zhu Youjian immediately asked: "Remember, Shen Tingyang, a member of your household department, also complained to me about this matter? He said that the control in various places is too extensive and wastes people's fat and money?"

Cheng Guoxiang answered in response: "Your Majesty is well-read and knowledgeable, and your ministers are ashamed. Shen Tingyang is indeed the head of the shipping department of our household department, and now he is on business in Suzhou."

Zhu Youjian: "Then tell me again, in the past years, in name, how much money from the rivers and lakes was received by various places?"

Cheng Guoxiang was a little unable to answer, so he had to ask the assistant waiting outside the hall to bring the accounts, and then explained everything.

Zhu Youjian was quite distressed when he heard that he really needed to levy a few more coins per stone:
"This year, the imperial court will increase the training salary, and the income is only more than [-] million taels. And the capital needs to transport more than [-] million shi of grain from the south every year. Now it seems that the freight for crossing Jiangyin and Huyin alone is as high as There are millions of taels, if the local government can save half of the money, it will be equivalent to two or three percent of the total training salary!
It would be great if this money was used to pay the imperial court!It’s true that if you are not in charge of the family, you don’t know how expensive the firewood is. Did your household department and the Governor’s Yamen of Water Transport never think about getting rid of the bad government in this area?Find a way to save some money! "

"Your Majesty, "Sun Tzu's Art of War" says that if you eat the enemy for one hour, you will be my enemy for twenty minutes. The cost of transporting food has been extremely huge since ancient times. Although the canal boats are economical, the water level of each section of the canal is different, and it is necessary to change ships one by one. It’s really not worth the money.”

Cheng Guoxiang was scolded so dumbfounded that he had no choice but to deal with it like this, thinking to himself that the emperor took the wrong medicine today?

Moreover, although the loss of water transportation is huge, it also feeds so many people.

Which of the hub loading and unloading nodes of each section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is not a big city with a population of one million?

Let’s say Linqing, Shandong, a county, has a population of 200 million just because it is at the hub where the Grand Canal crosses the Yellow River.Perhaps 100 million of them are the elderly, weak, women and children, and supporting family members, but there are at least 60 to [-] dock workers.

The other three major canal nodes, Tongzhou, Huai'an, and Yangzhou, are not too far behind, but the industrial structure is not as simple as Linqing.

However, Zhu Youjian would not let Cheng Guoxiang's slowness go. Seeing that the old Hubu Shangshu had no consciousness, he directly threw Shi Kefa's memorial in front of him:

"Don't say it's impossible. Shi Kefa, the governor of Anlu, wrote clearly that the Susong River was used to transport grain to the Luzhou army, and it cost only nine cents to cross the river and silver! Go back and check it carefully, if it's true. , Learn if you can!"

Cheng Guoxiang was startled, and quickly picked it up to look carefully, secretly regretting his recent neglect of government.

As the end of the new year was approaching, he really didn't want to work much, and many things were left to the subordinates to deal with casually.Since the emperor appointed him as Minister of the Household Department, he has not paid much attention to him. At most, he has not called for four or five months in a row, and he has become paralyzed.

Who would have thought that the emperor would suddenly have a sudden whim today and ask him such detailed questions.

Cheng Guoxiang had no choice but to plead guilty, saying that he would investigate it immediately.

……

Cheng Guoxiang's investigation didn't matter, and he immediately gave Jiang Dejing, a deputy servant of the household department, a chance to perform.

That Jiang Dejing was usually more diligent than the old pensioner, and when he got the news that night, he didn't care that he was not on duty, so he rushed to the palace to ask for an audience, to help the emperor clear his doubts, and handed in another report to the place where the records were kept.

Seeing Jiang Dejing's diligence, Zhu Youjian felt better at last, and asked Wen Yan, "What does the document submitted by Jiang Qing say?"

Jiang Dejing: "Returning to Your Majesty, this is the summary of this year's expenditure reported by Zhang Xuezeng, the prefect of Suzhou. It was originally to be filed with the Ministry of Household Affairs, emphasizing the financial achievements of the Suzhou government this year.

It is mentioned that the Suzhou government implemented new regulations to manage water transport and improved construction methods, which greatly reduced the cost of loading, unloading and reloading of water transport, hoping to spread it to the southern Zhili prefectures.

What Zhang Xue once said was much more detailed than Shi Kefa's memorial. I checked it carefully, and asked the Ministry of Industry to experiment with the method described, and found that it was indeed feasible.It's just that this performance came in a hurry, and the minister had just finished checking the effect, so he didn't report it. "

Shi Kefa's memorial was to report the military situation to the emperor and mention logistics matters by the way. Naturally, it is impossible to mention technical and management details in the main text, otherwise readers will definitely become impatient.

The document Zhang Xuezeng submitted was not for the emperor, but for the relevant competent authorities, and the content was much more detailed.

After Zhu Youjian heard this, he immediately lifted his spirits, and took a high look at Jiang Dejing, thinking that this servant seemed to be more diligent than the old Shangshu.

He quickly took Zhang Xuezeng's document and read it carefully.

Finally, when I saw the name "Su Songhe Dao Yamen Shen Lin" that Zhang Xuezeng made a great contribution to, I couldn't help asking:
"I remember that Shen Tingyang of your transportation department is from Suzhou, right? Here comes another Suzhou man named Shen, who is also in charge of water and grain transportation. Is there some connection between the two Shens?"

Jiang Dejing is still relatively familiar with his colleagues in the headquarters, and immediately replied: "Return to Your Majesty, as far as I know, Shen Tingyang, the carrier division, has a son who seems to be named Shen Lin. However, Shen Lin is still young, and maybe he was able to serve the court just this year. .”

Zhu Youjian sighed: "Go and verify this new law carefully. If it can really save a lot of money, such young talents should be reused."

(End of this chapter)