I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 276 If you overdo it, you have to overdo it.
There are many Dan people along the coasts of Fujian and Guangdong.

Most of these Dan people are old Dan people who have gone to sea in the pre-Ming Dynasty or even earlier dynasties, and some are Dan people who have only gone to sea in recent decades.

However, no matter which kind, they still couldn't stand the oppression of the government and wanted to avoid the heavy taxes imposed by the court.

In fact, in addition to the gangsters along the coast, there are also many people in the interior who have committed crimes or cannot afford to pay taxes. They will also flee with their families and flee into the rivers and lakes to become water bandits.

There is not much difference in essence between the two. The ancients' Jianghu refers to this Jianghu.

Although Zhu Yijiong has decreed that all coastal residents should be organized into households, it is still difficult to implement it.

At least not that fast, not even with supervision.

As early as when Zhu Yijiong proclaimed himself emperor, some Dan people had been coming ashore on the coast of Fujian. Most of these Dan people had only entered the sea in recent decades.

Most Dan people still do not believe that the imperial court will treat them equally, let alone that the emperor will always maintain good policies.

It is a good policy for them to divide people into acres, cancel exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, abolish corvee, and reduce taxes if they serve in the army.

It's just that this matter can't be rushed, and it's not that urgent.

As long as the rule can be stable for another year or two and the court's policies can be implemented unswervingly, more and more Dan people will come ashore.

After all, no one would like to live on a boat all their life unless they have no choice.

The high-quality nanmu wood currently harvested from Hainan by the Fuzhou Shipping Bureau needs to be dried in the shade for at least ten years, or even 20 years.

There are also top-quality teak trees in the deep mountains and old forests of Vietnam, which are also waiting to be harvested by the Ming Dynasty army.

……

Nanjing.

The emperor's decree has been issued to completely ban foot and chest binding, regardless of gender, age or child.

Of course, the emperor's order must be consistent across the board, and the specific implementation standards and details still need to be summarized and supplemented by the cabinet.

As the capital, Nanjing was the first to be affected.

The Jiangning County Magistrate was a young scholar who had followed from Taiwan. As soon as he received the emperor's order, he immediately led the county government officers to inspect the entire county.

As the magistrate of Fuguo County in Nanjing, under the emperor's feet, this guy is eager to achieve some political achievements.

Even if there is no political achievement, at least you have to do it yourself and leave a good impression on the emperor as a diligent person.

After all, the founding emperor had made several big moves and clearly wanted to leave a strong mark in the history books during his lifetime. He would definitely not refuse officials who were diligent and practical.

It has to be said that although his idea was wrong, it really touched Emperor Zhu's mind.

In Nanjing, Jiangning, Shangyuan, and Guo County, a large number of government officials were dispatched to start a comprehensive investigation, mainly focusing on large and wealthy families.

Although footbinding has become increasingly popular in this era, it generally stems from the comparison mentality of the upper class.

Women with bound feet have difficulty walking due to severe deformity of their feet. They have to wear special bow shoes (the three-inch golden lotus shoes in history textbooks are a type of bow shoes). They walk with a sickly weak look. Beauty.

Most people at the bottom do not bind their feet, because footbinding means losing their labor force.

It was not until the Qianlong period that foot binding really started to get serious, and it worsened at an alarming rate.

Qianlong was only 60 years old, but the Manchu Qing Dynasty had completed the popularization of women's foot binding from top to bottom, and even the common people who did not have enough to eat followed suit.

It's like the whole population smoking opium.

"Stop the car."

On the street, several patrol officers stopped several sedan chairs.

The bearer quickly got off the sedan, and a middle-aged man next to the sedan quickly stepped forward and said with a smile, "My lords, what are you doing for me?"

He stretched out his hand to avoid hitting the smiling person. In addition, those who could sit in the sedan were either rich or noble. The head official was not embarrassed and said directly: "Let all the people in the sedan get down immediately and undergo inspection."

"This……"

The middle-aged man was a little embarrassed, and then he quietly took out a piece of silver from his arms and said, "Master, can you be accommodating? These sedan chairs are all the family members of nobles, and this time we are just inviting you to Qingliang Temple in the city."

The official confiscated the money, but instead shouted: "Your Majesty has decreed that footbinding is prohibited for a comprehensive inspection. If you don't come down and cooperate with the inspection, are you disobeying the emperor's order?"

The middle-aged man originally wanted to say more, but when he heard the word "Your Majesty", he was so frightened that he shut his mouth.

The official's voice was so loud that the people in the sedan could definitely hear it.

Without needing to be reminded by the bearer, the curtain of the sedan chair was opened, and six slightly flustered female relatives came down, all supported by maids.

The officer took a look and saw that they were all wearing normal shoes.

No, obviously wrong.

These days, even wealthy people who do not have their feet bound, or who have their feet bound normally (to modify the shape of their feet and not hurt their feet), still like to wear bow shoes, regardless of men or women.

Normal arch shoes can maintain the shape of your feet. Unlike ordinary shoes, the uppers are soft and can easily make your feet look big and bloated when worn, which is quite ugly.

Moreover, the imperial court currently only issues government orders to the government for execution, which is equivalent to a surprise inspection and has not been announced to the world.

It is impossible that none of these female relatives wear bow shoes, not even normal bow shoes.

The news got out!
The official immediately realized something, but he didn't say anything. He just said: "Everyone take off their shoes and check!"

The six female relatives felt insulted and all became angry.

The officer's face instantly became slightly angry.

The middle-aged man saw it with sharp eyes, and quickly stepped forward and secretly stuffed the previous silver into the official's hand, and said: "Sir, please calm down, I'm just thinking of inviting a few officials to tea. These are all members of the noble family." , I hope you can be accommodating. Thank you very much! Thank you very much!”

The official didn't look at it, but stretched out his hand to weigh the silver a little. It was at least ten taels, which was not a small amount, at least to him.

The official swallowed his saliva, then put the money into his arms with a calm expression, and whispered: "Go home quickly, don't walk on the street, the boss is not joking this time!" It's really not a joke. Just for fun, this official even had a target on his head.

Although it was not high, it still gave the official a keen sense of the direction of the wind.

The middle-aged man listened and nodded quickly: "Thank you, sir, for being so accommodating. We will go back soon."

Corruption among officials and subordinates is certain, especially as the Ming Dynasty regains more provinces, it can only be avoided as much as possible.

Fortunately, the system of subordinate officials in the Ming Dynasty has gradually been improved, and the low status has been abolished, and it has also provided channels for subordinate officials to rise.

Even if you are a junior official, if you work hard and work hard, you will have the opportunity to be promoted to an official position.

Therefore, these subordinate officials may still be corrupt, but they are much better than before, and even if they are corrupt, they will still implement the imperial decrees.

Even some subordinate officials worked hard to reap the founding dividends.They all want to take advantage of the opening of the founding of the country to get an official position and get rid of their status as a mud-legged person for generations.

Throughout Nanjing's first capital and two counties, the ban on foot binding was in full swing.

Shangyuan County and Jiangning County are both Fuguo County in Nanjing. The county magistrate is the same as Jiangning County Magistrate, except that the Shangyuan County Magistrate is a Fujian scholar who just occupied Jinxia by the emperor.

Hearing that the Jiangning County Magistrate actually led the team in person, the Shangyuan County Magistrate was not willing to be left alone. He also called on all the county officials to lead the investigation in person.

You won’t know if you don’t check, but it’s really shocking if you check.

Almost [-]% of the girls from the rich and gentry families in the two counties practice foot binding, and many even start binding their feet when they are only three or four years old.

Fortunately, it was discovered early. Apart from some of the women with bound feet, the remaining children were still young.

After calling a doctor for consultation, as long as it is stopped in time, it can still recover, but some serious cases will still leave some abnormal sequelae.

Now, even the two county magistrates and some county government officials who were initially motivated by political achievements could not help but become a little angry.

I have such pity for the parents in the world. I really see that there are so many parents who treat their children like this just for the so-called ladies and for comparison.

In particular, many young children had their feet bound at a young age and cried for their parents because of the pain. How could they bear to do it?

Your Majesty is truly a wise king and has put an end to such bad habits.

The rest will be simple, nothing more than a fine and a warning, and the correction will be stopped within one month.If it is determined that the suspension cannot be corrected, the report will be reported, and the central staff department will issue a formal document to remove the official from office.

Those who have gained fame and wealth will be handed over to the Ministry of Rites to be expelled from their positions and will never be hired.

For a time, the wealthy gentry in the two counties were crying and shouting.But it was useless. Jiangning and Shangyuan County magistrates and their subordinate officials all turned a deaf ear to this.

It had been more than two years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and all local officials had been roughly replaced by the central government.Half of the officials have been replaced by young scholars, and many local officials are even the old people who started their careers in Taiwan and Fujian.

These people have no scruples about being officials, and they are not afraid of offending others.Especially the large-scale crackdown on corruption last year made them realize that the emperor likes such honest officials.

Therefore, for them, any fear of offending people or local constraints are all nonsense.

They only care about political achievements, and some even think that by offending local dignitaries, they can gain a reputation of being loyal and honest without fear of powerful forces, and their career may be smoother.

This is also the effect Zhu Yijiong wants. Even if there are people who deliberately offend the powerful and sensationalize, the overall problem is not big. It is just that the local officials are afraid of offending local snakes and dare not work in politics. That is trouble.

In a sense, the emerging bureaucratic group composed of these young scholars has a feeling of being a censor in the former Ming Dynasty.

Of course, they did not dare to criticize the emperor.

Because this emperor really knows how to kill people.

The whole process of banning footbinding has a wide range of implications, and many people have been dismissed from office and dismissed from their jobs.

Fortunately, the highest-ranking person is the right minister of the Ministry of Justice. This guy seems to be doing a pretty good job. Not to mention outstanding political achievements, he is also conscientious in his work.

In response, Zhu Yijiong could only sigh after reading it, and then approved the official dismissal document: "Yes."

However, even if such checks are carried out and fines are imposed, there will definitely be fish that slip through the net.

But no matter, Zhu Yijiong was not originally targeting these adult women, but the young children who were about to have their feet bound and the entire bad custom of foot binding.

Once this wave of government decrees are issued, foot binding will become like the previous drug abuse, and it will definitely be completely banned on the surface.

Smoking opium is addictive, and some people may even take risks in secret.

But there is a high probability that foot binding is not possible. Foot binding was popular in ancient times, mainly because the upper class had enough to compete with each other for the sake of face.

Nowadays, foot binding cannot be shown to others openly, so it is still a woolly comparison.

If you can't compare, who will take the risk of being severely punished if caught?

Are you really full?

Unless he has a special habit, there is really no way to deal with this kind of Zhu Yijiong, except to try to correct him.

Also thanks to the victory in the frontline battle, the Ming Dynasty did not say that the whole world could be conquered, but at least the general trend in the south was achieved.

Even if Zhu Yijiong did implement some excessive decrees, those gentry would at most resent him privately, but they would never have the guts to oppose him openly.

This is a matter of carrying out reforms with the power of great victory.

Judging from the number of people dismissed from office this time and their ranks, Zhu Yijiong was considered ruthless.

It's just like this in the central government. It's not even more serious in the local area, but it's definitely not light.

I don’t know how many unlucky people will be dismissed from office, or be expelled from their jobs, and their futures will be ruined.

There are even many adult women who have their feet bound and become disabled, but there is nothing that can be done.

As a great man once said: "To overdo is to overdo."

This wave can only be regarded as forcibly suppressing the necessary pain.

(End of this chapter)