prosperous age

"Master, you are here."

Wei Guangde walked into the cabinet garden and soon arrived outside his duty room.

At this time, the door of the duty room was wide open, and Lu Bu was standing by to greet him.

"Well, there is urgent business today."

Wei Guangde walked into the house and asked casually.

"The Ministry of War sent a memorial last night. Altan Khan sent someone to Xuanfu. Xuanfu did not dare to neglect it and sent it to the capital overnight."

Lu Bu followed Wei Guangde into the duty room and whispered to him.

"Oh."

Wei Guangde stopped for a moment and then started laughing.

Calculating the time, it has been a month since the Battle of Liaodong. I think he should have received the news that the Tumed tribe led by Huang Taiji suffered heavy losses under the attack of the Ming army.

"Is this a letter of apology or a letter of censure?"

Wei Guangde muttered to himself, walked back to the desk slowly, picked up the memorial on the top of the case and took a look. It was indeed the memorial that Lu Bu had mentioned, and it needed to be dealt with urgently.

He returned to his seat, sat down, and then opened the memorial to read.

The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Public Security had already read the report from Altan Khan and even made copies. I guess by then some clerks outside had already started passing on the news.

Wei Guangde opened the memorial and read ten lines at a glance. He quickly finished reading Aldan Khan's memorial, but an expression of surprise appeared on his face.

Throughout the memorial, there was no mention of the war between the Ming army and the Tumed people in Liaodong, so naturally there was no apology or questioning as Wei Guangde guessed. Instead, Altan Khan actually requested the Ming court to build a temple on the grassland, and said that the life of Tibetan monks was hard, and requested the court to increase the tribute.

Bugong is actually the tribute trade between the Ming Dynasty and Tibet, or more precisely, the transaction between the Ming Dynasty and the Tibetan religious leaders.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang had no idea about Tibet, so he followed the convention and directly sent envoys to ask Tibet to surrender. The result was naturally that Tibet "did not surrender immediately."

Of course, at that time Tibet was still called Tubo in the Ming Dynasty.

Considering Zhu Yuanzhang's majesty, the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and Tibet naturally could not continue without a conclusion.

In June of the third year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang sent the monk Ke Xin to Tibet to recruit and pacify the people. After all, the Central Plains had a tradition of "appeasement and control" towards foreign countries, so although he had sent the general Xu Da to open up the road from the Central Plains to Tibet.

Afterwards, Xu Yunde, a deputy minister of Shaanxi Province who was more familiar with the customs of the western people, was sent to many places in the snowy areas of Gansu and Qinghai, successfully persuaded several Tibetan tribes to surrender, and opened up communication channels between the Ming Dynasty and U-Tsang, the core area of ​​Tibet.

At this point, Zhu Yuanzhang realized that Tibet's secular power was very weak and that it was mainly managed by relying on religion.

So starting from Zhu Yuanzhang, in order to win over Zhaba Gyaltsen, he respected him as "National Master of Initiation". Zhu Di gave the title originally bestowed by the Yuan Dynasty emperor to Sakya Sect's Phagpa, "The Great Dharma King of the West, the Buddha of Great Goodness and Freedom, who is endowed with all practices, the most supreme perfect enlightenment and wonderful wisdom in the ten directions, and is good at protecting the country and preaching the teachings", that is, the Great Dharma King.

At the same time, Kunze Siba of the Sakya sect and Sakya Yeshe of the newly emerging Gelug sect were respectively conferred the titles of “Mahayana Dharma King” and “Great Compassionate Dharma King”.

The political status of the Tibetan sect leaders was recognized and supported by the Ming Dynasty, and the exchanges between the Ming court and Tibet were also smoothly promoted under the communication of these upper-class figures.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty's tribute to Tibet was not conducted between the secular rulers of Tibet, but between the religious sects. Naturally, it could no longer be called tribute trade, but rather called tribute trade.

"Bu" means alms from the Ming Dynasty.

Tribute refers to the Tibetan religious leaders presenting treasures to the Ming Emperor.

The Ming Dynasty had always been very generous to Tibet's tribute, starting from the time of Zhu Yuanzhang. This was probably because Zhu Yuanzhang realized that conquering Tibet would be as difficult as conquering other places, and was unwilling to start a war easily.

Of course, Tibet was actually aware of the Ming Dynasty’s concerns, so it often appeared arrogant in its dealings with the Ming Dynasty, which made the Ming Dynasty officials who were ordered to go there very dissatisfied.

Wei Guangde took into consideration that the imperial court had already shouldered a heavy burden of Bugong. If it really agreed to increase Bugong as requested by Altan Khan, it would not only weaken the imperial court's own strength, but might also strengthen the Yellow Sect and even the Mongols.

Therefore, at the very beginning, Wei Guangde directly removed the option of adding Bugong and would never choose to agree to it.

As for the request to build a temple on the grassland, Wei Guangde thought about the Ming Dynasty's subsequent plans and it seemed difficult to refuse.

Anyway, the Ming Dynasty was already preparing to build a temple on the grassland, but Altan Khan had never returned to the grassland, so the follow-up plans were not implemented.

It seemed that this opportunity was taken advantage of to attract the Mongols to build temples.

Even though the imperial court was facing financial difficulties, Wei Guangde was determined to hold a grand ceremony and build a magnificent and solemn temple.

However, thinking that it would be another huge expense, Wei Guangde felt it necessary to talk to Zhang Juzheng first.

On the grassland, most of the stones and wood needed to build temples cannot be obtained nearby, but have to be transported from the Ming Dynasty, which is very costly.

"Master, the tea is here."

At this time, Lu Bu came in with tea and placed it on the side of the desk.

Wei Guangde picked up the teacup, took a sip and asked, "Has the Prime Minister arrived?"

"The Prime Minister has just entered the duty room."

Lu Bu said immediately.

He usually stood and served at the door, which was like Wei Guangde's eyes and ears, helping him to find out the news in the cabinet.

"Just arrived, I know, you go down first."

Wei Guangde did not go over immediately, but put the memorial aside and picked up another memorial and flipped through it casually.

After processing the two memorials, about an incense stick of time had passed. He then stood up, took the memorials and walked out of the duty room.

I think Zhang Juzheng should have heard about this memorial, Wei Guangde thought to himself, and walked briskly towards the Prime Minister's duty room.

Soon, Wei Guangde arrived at the door and said to the clerk, "Is the Prime Minister free? Go in and ask."

"Yes, Mr. Wei Ge."

The clerk agreed.

In fact, when he saw Wei Guangde coming over, he was already prepared to go in and report.

Soon, Wei Guangde received the message and walked into the duty room, where Zhang Juzheng had already stood up to greet him.

"Shandai, is there something important you want to discuss?"

Not sure if he was asking the question knowing the answer or what, Zhang Juzheng welcomed Wei Guangde in and asked after he sat down.

"This is the memorial from Xuanfu to Altan Khan. Uncle, you should take a look first."

When Wei Guangde came in, he looked around the duty room and saw the memorial opened on Zhang Juzheng's desk. He handed the memorial in his hand to him without beating around the bush.

After taking it and taking a quick look at it, I saw that his brows were furrowed.

After thinking for a while, Zhang Juzheng asked, "Shandai, what do you think?"

"At first I thought it was a memorial about the Liaodong issue, but I didn't expect it was about this matter. Altan Khan was testing our attitude."

Wei Guangde also spoke frankly.

Zhang Juzheng nodded slightly to show his approval.

"Since he doesn't want to talk about that, I think the court should just pretend that it never happened."

After all, the two sides had just fought a battle, with a total force of nearly 200,000 troops mobilized, which was already a huge war.

In theory, this kind of thing should not be so lightly brushed aside. But looking at Altan Khan's memorial, it seems that he really wants to just brush it aside and no one should talk about it.

The Ming Dynasty did not suffer any loss in this war, it just spent some money and food, and also received a pension.

Relatively speaking, Tumote not only lost a large number of strong men, but also a lot of cattle, sheep and food. Although it was not a serious loss, it was definitely not light.

On the grasslands, population has always been the main factor restricting their development.

"Then how should the court respond to the two requests he made?"

Zhang Juzheng nodded slightly. He and Wei Guangde both had the same idea. Now Altan Khan also thought the same, which just suited his mind.

It’s a good thing that the relationship does not break down, and border residents don’t have to worry.

"It's fine to build a temple, but adding more bugongs is not allowed."

Wei Guangde directly expressed his considerations, "We originally planned to build a large number of temples on the grassland. Altan Khan's request is exactly what we want. However, the time seems to be advanced by one or two years. I wonder if the Ministry of Revenue can support us."

"Even if the Ministry of Revenue has no money, it has to borrow money to meet the expenditure of this amount of money."

Zhang Juzheng also directly stated, "It is true that we cannot increase the amount of money given to Tibet because all the benefits have been taken by the Yellow Sect, and they are closely related to the powerful forces on the grassland.

Moreover, under the current circumstances, it is not appropriate to open this loophole, otherwise Altan Khan will think that our court is afraid of him."

"Since that's what my uncle means, I'll go back and draft a bill and submit it."

Wei Guangde said.

Having said that, Wei Guangde stood up and prepared to say goodbye and leave.

"Wait a moment, Shandai. I have something else to discuss with you."

Seeing Wei Guangde was about to leave, Zhang Juzheng immediately spoke.

Then, he walked quickly to the desk, picked up the spread-out memorial, handed it to Wei Guangde, and said, "This is the memorial from Fujian. The land survey has been completed there, and a total of more than 1700 million mu of land has been measured, an increase of more than 300 million mu over the original amount."

Wei Guangde was looking through the land area reported by Fujian when he heard the figures reported by Zhang Juzheng.

Although it increased by nearly 20% at once, he was not too surprised.

If you are mentally prepared, you won't be surprised.

After reading the memorial, Wei Guangde did not say anything, but put the memorial on the middle coffee table and waited for Zhang Juzheng's next words.

Sure enough, seeing Wei Guangde put down the report, Zhang Juzheng finally spoke up: "There are so many hidden farmlands in the fertile land of Fujian alone, how many are there across the country?

I want to have the Ministry of Revenue compile the "Land Survey Regulations" as soon as possible based on the land survey experience in Fujian, starting from northern Zhili, Shandong, and Shanxi, and starting from north to south. What do you think?

Wei Guangde thought for a moment and finally nodded, "Brother Uncle, if you have considered it, you can do it, but..."

After a moment's hesitation, Wei Guangde continued, "It would be better if the Land Surveying Regulations were first sent to various provinces for discussion before being implemented.

Provinces that agree with the regulations can first conduct land surveys, and provinces with objections can submit articles that need to be adjusted, and then conduct land surveys after the court confirms them.'

Wei Guangde suggested.

The experience of land survey in Fujian may not be suitable for the whole country. After all, the Ming Dynasty was too large, with huge differences between the east, west, south and north, so a one-size-fits-all approach was not advisable.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Juzheng said nothing, but just lowered his head to think.

"Let me think about it. It's better to settle this matter in the next two days. It's not easy to delay it."

Finally, Zhang Juzheng looked up and said.

When Wei Guangde came back from Zhang Juzheng's visit, he immediately told Lu Bu at the door: "Go and find out the amount of land reported by Fujian over the years, starting from the Hongwu Dynasty."

"Yes, sir."

Wei Guangde had heard some gossip, and Lao Kan also mentioned the land survey in Fujian. After all, he had served as the left governor in Fujian and had connections.

Otherwise, when he went to Zhejiang this time, the Fujian businessmen who came to visit him were actually there to complain.

According to current information, there were actually many mistakes in Fujian's land survey process, especially suspicion of deliberately inflating the numbers.

However, at that time, no one knew what figures Fujian had actually obtained, so Wei Guangde was unable to express his opinion.

Today, the results from Fujian were reported to the capital, and Wei Guangde also wanted to see how much farmland there was in Fujian under the Ming Dynasty.

From then on, Wei Guangde handled official business in the duty room.

If he doesn't finish drafting these memorials, he won't be able to leave work today.

I had lunch in the duty room at noon and took a short rest.

After he got up, Lubu brought him freshly brewed tea and a handwritten note.

Wei Guangde picked up the paper and took a look at it. On it was the number of fields reported in Fujian throughout the ages that Lu Bu had asked someone to check.

Then, I was surprised by the numbers.

The paper clearly records that in the 1462th year of Hongwu, the official statistics of Fujian's cultivated land were 1351 million mu. Then in the 1342th year of Hongzhi, the cultivated land dropped to million mu, and then last year's data was million mu.

The officially recorded farmland has decreased by 10%, which may seem small, but it does not take into account the additional farmland that may have existed in the past two hundred years.

It is true that Fujian is mountainous, but the slightly flatter hills have been continuously reclaimed into terraces by hardworking farmers, starting in the Western Jin Dynasty.

Well, Wei Guangde noticed the population changes again at this time.

During the Hongwu period, the registered population in Fujian was 372 million, which increased to 516 million during the Hongzhi period, and reached 642 million as of last year. The huge increase in population and the shrinkage of farmland highlighted the contradiction between a large population and limited land.

However, what really makes Wei Guangde feel dizzy is the total amount of arable land in the country.

The information that Lu Bu had his people check, perhaps because the person who copied it was diligent, in addition to copying the data from Fujian, he also included the number of fields reported in various years across the country.

Wei Guangde felt that the person who copied it might have also noticed the trick.

To put it simply, in the 3.66th year of Hongwu, there were 3.87 million mu of farmland in the country, and in the 8.5th year, it was million mu. But in the th year, it had skyrocketed to million mu in just two years.

After that, in the 4.25rd year of Hongwu, which was the 4nd year of Jianwen, the amount of farmland would be million mu. From then until the st year of Chenghua, it would be only more than million mu.

However, by the 8.25rd year of Chenghua, the amount of farmland had increased again to million mu, and remained near this level throughout the Hongzhi period.

By the 4.69th year of the Hongzhi reign, the amount of farmland had dropped again to 4.5 million mu, while during the Jiajing and Longqing reigns, the number remained around million mu.

Well, Wei Guangde was completely stunned.

He also wanted to figure out the mystery of the changes in the number of fields in the Ming Dynasty, but he didn't expect that he would be confused first.

The difference in these numbers is so huge that it is really incomprehensible.

"Lubu, is this number accurate?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked.

"Master, the person who copied it was afraid that he might have made a mistake, so he asked two people to check it and it was accurate."

Lu Bu understood why Wei Guangde was dizzy, and he was also dizzy. Fortunately, Zhongshu had his own guess, so he whispered: "It may be related to the 240 steps to one acre." (End of this chapter)