I'm a big dick

Chapter 596 Gao Yingxiang Li Hongji

The crossing of the Guandong has already started, and the crossing of the West Pass needs to occupy the Hetao first, to be precise, the front set.

Due to the accumulation of reserves in advance and the rigid promotion of drought-resistant and high-yield crops such as potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes, the impact of the catastrophe on the Ming Empire is not serious now.

This is just the beginning of the catastrophe. There is preparation and planning. From the court to the local government, whether it is overall planning or organization, there is a process of adaptation and smooth work.

Similarly, this is also an inspection and test of the various abilities of officials.Those who are capable go up and those who are inferior go down, so as to prepare for the catastrophe that will spread to several provinces and last for more than ten years in the future.

After all, the administration of officials is the most important issue. No matter how good the emperor's plan is, if the execution is poor, there will be no good results.

At this time, the emperor's foresight can be seen again.

The rectification of official administration began in the second year of Tianqi, and spread from the court to the localities. The inspectorate, Dongchang, and Zhenfusi can be described as three-pronged, beheaded and exiled.

The system of supervision and punishment has been tightened to deter officials, and the administration of officials in Ming Dynasty has greatly improved amidst the headcount.

With the sacking of a large number of officials, not only the country and the people benefited, but also the class called subordinate staff who had no prospects for promotion.

A large number of officials were appointed officials because they had grass-roots work experience and had a way to be promoted. Most of their work enthusiasm and work performance were relatively good.

The effect was transmitted from top to bottom, and the imperial court, local officials, and common people showed good signs because of this.

Especially in Shaanxi, despite the disasters throughout the province this year, there have not been a large number of refugees, and the social order has remained stable on the whole.

And the various reform measures did not stagnate because of the disaster, but continued to advance, changing the fate of the people of Ming Dynasty.

With the sound of hooves approaching from far away, Li Hongji drove the stagecoach to the gate of the station.

A postman opened the gate, and the carriage entered the yard and stopped. Li Hongji greeted the postman with a smile, jumped off the carriage, rushed to the office, and handed over official documents and mail.

After the handover was over, the mission was successfully completed, Li Hongji couldn't help but heaved a sigh of relief, sat down at the table in the corridor, picked up the teapot and poured it vigorously.

This is Yinchuan Post, which is located in Xifanzhuang in the middle of the Yinchuan River Valley. The Yinchuan River flows from the west of the post to the Yellow River. It is the first post from Hezhou to Qinghai, Hexi and other places. The location is very important.

During the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty, it was established in Yinchuanli, where the post station was located, which was a traffic hub long ago.The nearby Fenglin Pass, Fenglindu and Lianhuadu are famous passes and Jindu on the Silk Road.

Since Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty adopted the national policy of recuperation and comprehensive strategic contraction, northern Xinjiang has shrunk to the Great Wall, northeast China has shrunk to Liaodong, and northwest China has retreated to Jiayuguan. The Qinghai-Tibet region has been unable to effectively control.

However, after the Ping-Liao Dynasty, the imperial court increased its investment in the Northwest, and the three guards of Taozhou, Hezhou, and Xining increased their troops and updated their equipment, which showed the emperor's ambition to revitalize the Northwest military.

The northwest post stations such as Yinchuan Station have also received financial support, either newly built or renovated, and the number of postmen has also increased.

Since the establishment of post stations and post roads from the inland to Tibet in the Yuan Dynasty, after more than a hundred years of frequent exchanges, in the Yongle Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty, the original traffic organization was adjusted and repaired, and the traffic between the inland and important areas of Tibet became smoother. unimpeded.

At that time, there was an endless stream of monks, lay officials, merchants, and Buddhist pilgrims, and there was a situation where "the road was clear" and envoys traveled tens of thousands of miles.

Now, the emperor has shown his ambition to restore the post station to connect the envoys from the Western Regions, and to restore the communication between the inland and important areas of Tibet.

The Chinese Chamber of Commerce tried its best to repay the service, investing capital and manpower, and striving to extend the trade route relying on the post station, connecting the Western Regions and Qinghai-Tibet.

In the policy promotion of the imperial court, Ganshan did not stop expanding due to the disaster.On the contrary, with work-for-relief and military expansion and preparations for war, the common people have more choices, instead of fleeing famine or starving to death.

Affected by the benefits of the policy, the situation of Yinchuan Station has greatly improved.In addition to delivering official documents, mail packages have also begun to be delivered, and the income has naturally increased.

"Huang Wazi, someone is looking for you!" The gatekeeper called Li Hongji's nickname loudly, pushed the door open, and let two people in.

A middle-aged man is tall and burly, and he looks powerful when he walks; the other is still a teenager, but he is also strong.

Li Hongji got up and took a few steps forward, recognized the identity of the person coming, hurried up to greet him, and greeted him politely: "I have seen my uncle."

Gao Yingxiang nodded with a smile, and said, "Hongji, you seem to be doing well." As he spoke, he reached out his hand to gesture to the young man, "I haven't seen you for many years, but do you still recognize him?"

Li Hongji looked it over carefully, and said uncertainly: "Is it too old? Has it grown so big?"

Li Guo chuckled, and saluted, "Guo'er has seen Uncle."

"Okay, okay." Li Hongji nodded repeatedly, and patted Li Guo's shoulder, very satisfied with his strong figure.

Then, Li Hongji asked his uncle and nephew to sit down, poured tea, and started talking.

Gao Yingxiang traded horses as a business, but now he talked about it unsatisfactorily. He sighed and said, "The court and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce have already monopolized the tea and horse trade. The business of selling horses is becoming more and more difficult."

In the fourth year of Emperor Chengzu's Yongle reign, Yuanma Temple in Gansu was established in Nianbo, under the jurisdiction of six prisons, of which Ganquan, Qilian, Linchuan, and Zongshui four prisons were located in Qinghai, with more than [-] horses.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Qinghai’s animal husbandry economy was relatively developed. After the gold medal system was implemented in the last year of Hongwu, horses from Qinghai accounted for about 78% of the total number of gold medal horses at that time.

However, since the mid-Ming Dynasty, the Eastern Mongolians came to live in Qinghai, and the wars were frequent, and the animal husbandry production was greatly damaged.

Now the imperial court has re-established the Xining Tea Horse Department, implemented a tea monopoly, and opened a tea horse market.The purpose is obvious, to use officially controlled forms of trade to strengthen control over the minority economies.

Li Hongji also understood this, nodded and said: "Eastern Liaodong was pacified, and the Mongolian tribes were naturalized. The imperial court controlled the entry of war horses. There should be no shortage. It is also a means of control for the Mongols."

After a pause, Li Hongji suggested: "It's not easy to sell horses, but it's good to do transportation. A horse-drawn carriage transports goods to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and makes a lot of money. I've been thinking about it for a while, and I want to borrow some money to do this business." .”

The tea-horse market is just a inherited name, not just tea and horses.Cattle, horses and sheep of ethnic minorities, fur and medicinal materials, etc.; iron pots, silk, cloth, etc. of Ming merchants.

And the development of commerce, driving the transportation industry is a matter of course.The improvement of infrastructure such as roads and post stations has led to the rapid popularization of four-wheeled carriages with steel axles.

Gao Yingxiang nodded with a smile, and said, "This is indeed a good job, but I don't want to earn such hard money. I want to join the army to fight for wealth."

"Join the army?" Li Hongji was stunned for a moment, and then asked: "Which guard has recruited soldiers again? Being a soldier and fighting is a dangerous thing."

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(End of this chapter)