Hongwu Survival Guide

Bazhou.

Chang Yuchun, deputy general of Zhenglu, felt that these recent things were outrageous.

First, news came from Beijing that I suddenly got the position of the principal of Jinling Military University. I thought I was always illiterate, but I wanted to become the head of a school and teach students. decision made?
Today again.

When the messenger brought the lord's decree again, there was also a 'questionnaire' for him to fill out.

He only found out after asking Tu Xiao, who was also assigned to fill out the questionnaire, that it was similar to the imperial examination paper.

The imperial examination... is even more outrageous.

However, after Tu Xiao read the content, Chang Yuchun became interested. It was originally about the "Da Ming Monthly". "Da Ming Monthly", a good thing, in these days, many of its chapters have been read several times by the Confucian scholars around him.

For example, Chang Yuchun liked "Zhu's Entrepreneurship Chronicle" very much, and felt that it was indeed written too "briefly", and that it should be a thick novel, which would be wonderful.

And "A Chinese Ghost Story", which is interesting.

Sword Immortal in Shu.

I just happened to be in the middle of Shu, if I have time, I would send people to search in that mountain, catch one or two sword immortals and bring them back to the capital to present to the lord.

As for "Dream of Red Mansions", Chang Yuchun didn't like it anymore. The children were crying and crying, and they wanted to pay back their tears.

There is also a chapter that once again involves Juntian. Chang Yuchun specially asked people to copy many copies and passed them on to the guards.

Besides, the 'questionnaire', since it was arranged by the lord, let's fill it out.

I dictated it myself, and Tu Xiao wrote it. It was completed quickly in the time before dinner on November [-], and I was sent back at night.

After eating, the generals began to be summoned to discuss tomorrow's affairs.

In order to stock up enough food and grass to avoid supply difficulties when the army goes deep into Shu, the lord's decree is to launch into Shu at the beginning of next month.

However, there is simply no waiting.

It's not because of the continuous increase of troops from Central Shu to Wu Youren's army town, which has reached [-] at present, but because... in the past, three generals from Central Shu have quietly sent people over, saying that they would return and surrender, and they were willing to respond internally.

Therefore, we can see the military spirit of Bashu.

If the first place is still a false surrender, again and again, it is impossible to be fake.

Furthermore, even if it is fake, so what?
Wu Youren currently has 15 troops, which is half of the troops in Central Shu. On his side, even if he went south from Xingyuan to stay in defense, he would still have [-] troops in Bazhou City.

Three times as strong as the enemy, with great momentum, defeating Wu Youren is still easy.

Chang Yuchun called, and the generals arrived soon.

In addition to Tu Xiao, the surveying and mapping envoy of the third rank, there were mainly Chang Yuchun's two deputies. They are also fierce generals who have been trusted by Lao Zhu over the years.

Speaking of which, Chang Yuchun's Zhongshu Pingzhang, who is named after Zhu Yuan, is Cong Yipin.

The generals in Bazhou Chengzhou Yamen, which was enlisted as the main tent of the Chinese army, decided to attack Wu Youren's army town before dawn tomorrow, and went all out.

Chang Yuchun also summoned the three envoys who had been detained in the Ming army's camp these days, and arranged for internal and external cooperation.

November [-]th.

On a new day, God is also a blessing. This is a day without fog.The Ming army, which had been prepared overnight, launched on time at Maozheng, and all three internal agencies gave feedback. One caused civil strife, one opened the camp gate, and one took advantage of the chaos to capture Wu Youren who wanted to escape.

The [-] army that Xia Guo raised with all his strength became a joke for a while.

The battle lasted until noon and ended. The Ming army wiped out [-] enemies and took more than [-] prisoners.The Land of Abundance has completely opened its heart to the Ming army.

Chang Yuchun was not dazzled by this victory.

Because, problems ensue.

The decree sent by my lord yesterday also mentioned again that after entering Shu, they must not kill too much, so as not to arouse resistance in Shu.At the same time, even if they are under the city of Chongqing, if they can be appeased, they should avoid swords as much as possible.This is not the first time such an explanation, Chang Yuchun had to listen.

As a result, [-] soldiers were sent down, which became a problem for a while.

Escort to the rear... Qinling road is difficult, it is really inconvenient.

Putting in place...that's more dangerous.

Disbanded and released... I'm afraid that these people will become Daming's enemies again in the blink of an eye.

Kill them all... Chang Yuchun thought so. However, not to mention that the lord was going to suffer, even a group of subordinates would not agree with him to do so.

Now, if these 4 people are not handled well, the army will not be able to enter Shu with peace of mind.

After discussing for an afternoon, I finally came up with a plan.

First of all, all the generals with more than a thousand households in the Xia army were selected and escorted to the rear.

The rest of the soldiers stripped off their shirts and whipped them three times, and then they were given three days of rations and dismissed on the spot. They also agreed that if they saw someone with whip marks on the way to the army's subsequent expedition, not only would they not be forgiven, but their families would also be implicated.At the same time, if these people refused to return to their hometowns and wandered around in Sichuan to cause chaos and become robbers, once they were arrested, their families would also be implicated and all of them would be killed.

After dealing with [-] soldiers, Chang Yuchun didn't follow Xue Xian's suggestion to divide his troops to take Chengdu, and still adopted the strategy of capturing the king and thieves in the Battle of Dadu. The army went down the river and went straight to Chongqing, six hundred miles away.

……

The news that Chang Yuchun had opened up the Micang Road and successfully entered Shu arrived in Jinling the next day through a letter sent by a flying pigeon.

Chaotang was excited for a moment.

Lao Zhu sent an urgent order again, on the one hand, he asked Chang Yuchun not to kill indiscriminately, and on the other hand, if he can be gentle with Xia Guoming, he should still be gentle.

Lao Zhu also agrees with Chang Yuchun's approach of directly attacking Chongqing without dividing his troops. If Lord Xia can be forced to surrender, it will be difficult for other states and counties in central Sichuan to revolt, and both sides can reduce casualties.

The army of the North Route is in a state of invincibility, but the Army of the East Route led by Liao Yongzhong and Yang Jing is not going well. They are still stuck in Qutang Gorge, which is the White Emperor City that Shu Han Liu Bei retreated to after defeating Wu. It is one of the natural dangers of the Yangtze River.

Lao Zhu was not in a hurry, he just wrote to ask Liao Yongzhong and Yang Jing to contain the Qutang guards and prevent them from returning to rescue Chongqing.

Leave the rest to Chang Yuchun.

In this way, the time has entered December of the first year of Hongwu.

The main thing that Zhu Yuan has been busy in the past few days is to arrange another hundred thousand craftsmen from Dadu.

It was also learned that another [-] people were on the way and arrived in the second ten days of the twelfth lunar month. In addition, there was a joint letter from Xu Da and Jin'an, the prefect of Beiping. This side also agreed. The rest of the craftsmen will stay in the north and will not be transferred.

Besides, the resettlement of 10 people at one time is not a trivial matter, nor is it a major event.

According to the standard of militarized management, the words "set up a camp" are nothing more than four words. However, if you want these 10 people to have a sense of belonging and devote themselves to work as soon as possible, you must take a lot of trouble.

The placement site has been selected in advance.

This time it is still half and half, half in the capital and half in Taiping.Half of the capital is located at the eastern foot of the shogunate, on the Taiping side, or in the surrounding mountains where the iron mines have been proven.

In addition, the first step in resettlement is to build a house.

For this reason, Zhu Yuan specially transferred some people back from Mingzhou. After all, they are very experienced in making bricks, burning tiles, logging and building houses, including the girl Chaitoufeng's family.

Chai'er's father, Tu Rangchun, was originally a fisherman in Daishan. He was good at building and repairing ships and was a skilled craftsman.When he was assigned to work in a tile factory, Tu Rangchun proposed the idea of ​​movable molds for stamping tile-making machines, and Zhu Yuan casually offered him the position of "team leader".

This time, he was transferred and officially entered Liupin, and served as the supervisor of another tile factory set up at the eastern foot of the shogunate. His official position was Zhengbapin.

In addition, the mulberry picking family also came to Jinling.

This is because of Wu Sanniang, Wu Siniang and Wu Wuniang... Well, it is because of picking mulberries.

It's the little things.

On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, when he entered the palace in the morning, in addition to the new month's "Da Ming Monthly", he also had to help Lao Zhu with a big matter.

salaries of officials.

At the moment, near noon, in the meeting room of the East Pavilion, Zhu Yuan is talking to everyone about the concept of 'minimum wage' for later generations: "The so-called minimum wage is to determine a minimum wage according to the consumption standards such as food prices in a place that can guarantee the basic income of the people at the bottom. It is also a salary standard that is enough to barely eat, which needs to be differentiated. For example, the price of food in Jinling and Beiping must be different, so we need to set different standards. However, we are currently using real goods as The main salary is easy to unify. Zushang, Yuaner felt that the minimum wage standard, 1 stone is more appropriate. These are mainly for artisan households. A family of five, 1 stone of grain per month, and 1 catty per person per day, I It makes sense."

After Zhu Yuan finished speaking, before Lao Zhu could express his opinion, Li Shanchang who was on the opposite side had already said: "Pingzhang, if a household has two laborers, wouldn't it be possible to get two stones of rice grain every month, and that would be very rich, huh? "

"Left Prime Minister, the people are richer and the world is more stable. Isn't that good?" Zhu Yuan asked, "What's more, even if there are two laborers in one household, the more you work, the more you can eat. You know, The ration standard for our soldiers is two liters per day, which is three catties. Besides, there are two laborers in a family, but the average is two catties. Children and the elderly eat less, and the two laborers eat more, there will still not be much surplus."

Li Shanchang looked down at the information in front of him, and then raised his head to retort: ​​"Pingzhang, but have you ever calculated that if such a 'minimum wage standard' is established to increase the salary of craftsmen from six dou to one stone, how much extra money will be added? Affordable?"

"I have roughly calculated," Zhu Yuan said, "it is more than enough with the current annual grain tax revenue of the imperial court. What's more, we will increase the coinage in the future. Compared with using all grain as salary, I actually prefer a part of it." Adding some coins to the food as a means of payment can reduce the burden on the court, and the circulation of coins can also promote distribution.”

At the end of Zhu Yuan's speech, Li Shanchang, who was about to refute, was stunned.

This……

distribute? !
He has reached the blind spot of his knowledge again.

Old Zhu, who was at the top, interrupted at the right time and said, "Just as Yuaner said, set this 'minimum wage standard' and pay in half and half. Um... Let's talk about the salary of officials, shall we?"

Zhu Yuan looked across.

Lao Li bowed his head and flipped through the preliminary salary standards drawn up by the Ministry of Household Affairs, but did not speak.Because I was dissatisfied in my heart, I still let the kid on the other side talk about it.

Zhu Yuan waited for a while, and then said: "My ancestors, let me say one thing first, the salary of officials should be paid on a monthly basis, not calculated on an annual basis. 50 months a year, which is not neat. It’s better to lose two shi, an average of 12 shi per month, which is just right. The same goes for the others.”

Lao Zhu glanced at the form in front of him, pondered for a while, and nodded: "That's the reason, then... Well, you can come up with an integer later."

"And..." Zhu Yuan said: "Just like the wages of craftsmen, I think that the salaries of officials should be more silver, less rice, or even all silver. This can improve the efficiency of salary distribution, such as It is obviously more convenient to send one stone of food to officials, and to give officials money. The latter is obviously more convenient. Even, there is no need to send them. In the government office every month, everyone directly takes their salaries back. It is convenient and fast.”

Lao Zhu didn't nod for a while this time, and looked at everyone in the conference room: "Wait, tell me?"

Everyone looked at each other, Shan Anren, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, spoke first: "My lord, I think...it's not bad to give out money."

in fact……

Seriously, few of you here are living on a salary of several hundred shi per year.

Shan Anren opened his mouth, and Yang Siyi, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, followed suit: "Your Majesty, I think it's inappropriate. It's what Pingzhang said just now. Different places and different seasons have different grain prices. For example, at present, the capital Shimi As far as I know, in Beiping, as far as I know, the price of rice and rice is as high as three guan. If all the money is paid out, it will be better on weekdays. If there is a disaster year, I am afraid that the salary of the officials will not even be able to support their own families."

Hearing what Yang Siyi said, Lao Zhu wanted to sneer.

But hold back.

Lao Zhu has experienced the sufferings of the world, and he has also seen officials domineering in the countryside. Therefore, he also knows that most officials, how can they live on this little salary?

However, it is not appropriate to say this too bluntly.

After some discussion, it was finally decided that no matter whether it was an official or a craftsman, the next step would be half the money and half the food for the time being.

Later, Zhu Yuan offered to raise the salaries of officials.

This is one that was once neglected by Lao Zhu, and it was seriously neglected, so that it backfired. As a result, officials wanted to hire subordinates, so they had to find ways to extract money from the official finances... Once you get used to it, it is no longer just In order to support officials, how good it is to stuff them in your own purse!
The reason is simple, and Lao Zhu immediately agreed.

However, in the future, how many officials can be hired by each yamen will be discussed again.

So it's noon.

After the meeting was over and the others were dismissed, Lao Zhu brought his precious 23rd generation grandson to the dining room next door, and while asking the prince to have dinner with him, he asked with a smile, "Is there anything you can't say in public?"

"Yes," Zhu Yuan nodded, and said, "There is an example. In the Wanli Dynasty, a high-ranking official named Hai Rui was so clean and famous that the officials didn't like him at that time. The salary at that time was still open. Under the national regulations, it is impossible for an upright official like Hai Rui to have extra income. Therefore, the salary can barely support the family, and it is rare to even eat meat. Once, Hai Rui's mother celebrated her birthday and finally bought two catties of meat to honor her family. Mother, this matter, for some reason, has become a joke in the official circles, a group of high-ranking officials laughed at a poor man while eating a table of 1000 taels of silver, and my mother could only buy two catties of meat for her birthday."

Lao Zhu was silent for a while, and then said after a while: "Flowing water does not rot, and the door hinge does not moth. I have not forgotten your sentence, I will write what I should say in the ancestor's precepts, and in the future... descendants, everything will be the same. Be flexible."

Zhu Yuan also nodded, thought for a while, and then said: "This incident has also had a bad influence, and even distorted some values. This is what I think is the scariest."

"What... values?"

Zhu Yuandao: "There is a saying that if you are an official, if you can't even take care of your own family, no matter how talented and clean the official is, it is better to be a corrupt official who is capable and able to do things. Oh, the reason is that , Hai Rui was poor all his life, to the point where several children died young and had no offspring. Ancestor, do you think this truth is right or wrong?"

Lao Zhu didn't answer, but asked instead: "Yuaner, what do you think?"

Zhu Yuan shook his head: "Of course it is wrong, but the human heart is like this, and it is too easy to be influenced by these specious truths."

Old Zhu was silent again.

He couldn't figure it out.

Zhu Yuan said: "My ancestor, when I said this, I actually thought that we can only conform to the people's hearts, just like conforming to some fundamental principles. Now that we have become an official, why don't we give more. Of course, it is in the state's finances. If possible, give more. In this way, at least the upright officials will not be unsustainable because of poverty. After thousands of years of etiquette, there will be a lot of upright officials in any dynasty. Moreover, even if they are not completely clean, at least , if we give them more, we can hold their hearts so that they won't go too far, don't you think so?"

Lao Zhu nodded, and asked again: "You have a way to do it, right?"

"My ancestors, those shares in the maritime trade company are just one," Zhu Yuan said: "In the future, if various state-owned companies, directly under the central government, generate profits, they will distribute the profits to the central officials, and local enterprises will distribute the profits to them. Some places. These are what I mentioned earlier. How many shares are shared in the profit, one for the treasury, one for the royal family, one for the officials, and finally, the workers who do things must also have a share. Oh, actually... this is still The way of 'distribution'."

Lao Zhu thought for a while, then said, "Go back and write me a plan in the next few days."

Zhu Yuan agreed.

Old Zhu thought of another one: "Jiangzuo... Heh, it's the Ministry of Industry now, and it has produced several sets of silver coins and mother money. I'll have someone send it to you in the morning, but have you seen it?"

"Looked at it during dinner in the morning," Zhu Yuan said, "The specifics... I have to think about it."

"Make up your mind quickly," Lao Zhu urged, "Since the money and food are to be distributed in half, if the coins are not minted in time and cannot be distributed, the court will be ashamed."