prosperous age

Wei Guangde was worried that the Ming court would cut down all the trees in the Greater and Lesser Khingan Mountains and the Greater Khingan Mountains, so he suddenly said, "Next year, the Yuheng Division and the Xixin Division will communicate to plant trees near the outskirts of Beijing."

Everyone in the room was already accustomed to Wei Guangde's spontaneous behavior, so no one seemed suspicious about his sudden mention of planting trees.

“Before, when Yuan Jing was in Jizhen, he ordered the Jizhen Guard to plant trees on the surrounding mountains, but he only asked them to plant fruit trees.

I wonder if this is what Shandai meant by planting trees?"

Tan Lun asked with a smile, stroking his beard.

“There are military families in the garrison, and planting fruit trees every year can increase income, which is naturally a good thing.

However, the trees near the capital were originally planted by the people of the capital for heating in winter, so when I say planting trees, I mean planting wood that can be cut down in preparation for heating.

You have all been out of the city, and you know what you see when you go out of the city: all bare mountains. Now the workers in charge of cutting down trees have to go to faraway places to cut wood and make charcoal to ensure the charcoal needs of the inner court and various government offices.

I intend to enact a decree that mountain factories will not only be responsible for felling trees for charcoal making, but will also be responsible for restoring forests on the mountain land after felling.

You must know that if we don’t plant trees in those places, what will the palace and major government offices burn for heating in the winter in a few years?

Do you rely on burning coal from the West Mountain like the common people?"

Wei Guangde replied, "Even if it takes many years for the trees to grow, as long as the mountain factory is properly planned and a dozen mining areas are divided to take turns to cut wood, wouldn't it be like agriculture, with output every year?

The inner court and the great officials will not have to worry, and can only burn coal instead of charcoal. "

After Wei Guangde finished speaking happily, he looked at everyone, waiting for their reply.

"This is in accordance with the laws of nature. It would be even better if we could set aside a few forests to continue to collect wood. Every time the palace undergoes a major renovation, we need to transport wood from the south of the Yangtze River or even the southwest, which is really too expensive."

Jiang Zhi spoke up, and everyone else nodded in agreement.

Wei Guangde's remarks were somewhat similar to the scientific logging remarks of later generations, but they did not make the Ming Dynasty ministers feel uncomfortable. Instead, they were able to understand them.

"This way, at least when we go out of the city, we will see dense forests instead of bare mountains."

Lao Kan immediately responded.

This feeling of desolation gradually emerges as you approach the Yellow River.

He had just come from the south and felt this most deeply.

Jiang Zhi was the most resolute supporter of Wei Guangde's proposal to plant trees. After all, it was the Ministry of Industry, and the materials they consumed on a daily basis were either stone or wood. A lot of the money the Ministry of Industry had spent in the past was spent on the transportation of materials.

"Shandai, didn't you ask the Agricultural Persuasion Department to be responsible for planting trees in the Yellow River section of Shanxi and Shaanxi? Why don't you take on this task as well? My Ministry of Industry really doesn't have much spare energy to do this."

Support is support, but we still have to fight for what we need to fight for.

Planting trees requires arranging people, which incurs some expenses.

If other government offices could do it, there would be no need to waste this money, and at least there would be no need to ask the Ministry of Revenue for money.

Now people from the Ministry of Revenue avoid officials from the Ministry of Works, because the Ministry of Works has no money during this period and keeps looking for the Ministry of Revenue.

"This matter must be the responsibility of the Shanchang managed by the Yuheng Division and the Xixin Division."

Wei Guangde said firmly that it was not that he was embarrassed to ask the Ministry of Revenue for money to persuade the Agricultural Bureau, but this involved planning and it would be best for them to do it.

Don't plant trees here, the mountain factories are mining indiscriminately.

Don't think that the charcoal from the mountain factory is all used by the inner court and government offices. In fact, they burn a lot of extra charcoal every year and then resell it privately for profit.

For the mountain factory, there is nothing to worry about, they just cut as much as they can.

Only when all the responsibility is placed on them will they take this matter seriously and not blindly mine for personal gain.

Those charcoal workers in the mountain factories plant trees in spring and cut wood to make charcoal in autumn. They can turn a temporary job into a profession and receive long-term wages from the mountain factories, which can also help some people in the suburbs of Beijing.

After some small talk, it was already midnight, but there were no stars to be seen today.

Under the lighting of several lanterns, Wei Guangde escorted everyone out of the mansion. He couldn't help but look up at the sky, which was pitch black.

"You'd better go back early. Looking at the sky, I'm afraid it will rain tonight."

Wei Guangde said.

After he finished speaking, Lao Kan also said, “Well, I felt it was going to rain this afternoon, but there was no wind, so I thought it would just be cloudy for a few days.

It's windy now, so I guess it's going to rain soon."

"The past two years have been pretty good, with rain from time to time, which is much better than the previous years. It can barely be considered good weather and good harvests."

Zhou Shouyu said happily.

After heavy rains in the upper reaches of the Yellow River the year before last directly caused floods, the rainfall in Shanxi and Shaanxi has been much smaller in recent years, and the number of disaster reports from provinces across the country has also decreased, not only for floods but also for droughts, which has made the Ministry of Households breathe a sigh of relief.

"That is, in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Songjiang Prefecture has had floods in the past two years. Some people in the Censorate said that Hai Rui was ineffective in controlling the floods and should be punished, haha."

Lao Kan smiled and told a few people about a small debate that happened in the Censorate some time ago.

During the Longqing period, Hai Rui served as the governor of Yingtian. He had begun to solve the flood problems in Taihu Lake and Susong River. However, floods have occurred frequently in the area in the past two years, so some people want to dig up old issues.

Upon hearing this, Wei Guangde said with a serious expression, "Ren Zhi, keep an eye on the Censorate. This may be caused by that incident."

Wei Guangde reminded.

The Left Censor-in-Chief Chen Yu has not yet decided whether to request the appointment of Hai Rui as the Assistant Censor-in-Chief, but Wei Guangde is worried that the matter might be leaked in the Censorate, so he said this.

After all, this matter is not small, so it is normal for Chen Yu to seek advice from someone.

Upon hearing this, Lao Kan immediately stopped smiling, became serious and nodded slightly.

"What's the matter?"

Tan Lun asked in a low voice.

At this time, everyone was already standing outside the mansion gate, with sedan chairs from various families next to them.

Wei Guangde waved to the servants and sedan bearers in the mansion. After they understood and moved away, Wei Guangde whispered, "It's about re-employing Hai Rui as Nanjing's Assistant Censor-in-Chief. Lord Chen is still hesitant. He agreed once before, but soon regretted it."

"He's not very useful."

Tan Lun shook his head and sighed.

Hai Rui's name was so great that it could be said that there was no official who didn't know him.

It takes courage to employ such a person.

"But his appointment as the Chief Censor is good for the atmosphere in Jiangnan."

Jiang Zhi gave a relatively fair evaluation.

If it were any other censorial position, Jiang Zhi would still be somewhat hesitant, or even worried.

But if it is the position of Chief Censor, who is responsible for supervising the Censors and has no other specific affairs, it can be barely accepted.

None of these officials are not afraid of the Censor.

It can be seen that the reputation of the censor is so great that with Hai Rui keeping an eye on them, those people will be more restrained.

When it comes to Ming Dynasty officials being corrupt, the censors were no less evil.

"Oh, I forgot to mention it just now. I estimate that within the next three to five days, the results of the investigation from Songjiang Prefecture will be reported. I'm afraid the port project will start soon."

Jiang Zhi seemed to suddenly remember and reminded before leaving.

"I know it well."

Wei Guangde nodded and said.

This does not need to be translated, everyone understands what it means.

There was a plan to some extent, but Lao Kan returned to the capital late, which was a missed opportunity.

However, he quickly wrote a letter home and arranged for his family in Nanjing to go to Songjiang Prefecture to try their luck.

Soon after the sedan chair left, the wind grew stronger and soon it began to rain heavily.

Nothing happened that night. The next day, Wei Guangde got up but did not exercise. It was still drizzling outside. It had been raining all night, but the rain was gradually decreasing.

While eating breakfast, Wei Guangde asked Zhang Ji, who was serving him, "The rain was a little heavier yesterday, but the capital was not flooded." "I haven't received any news, so it shouldn't be.

The drains were only cleared a few months ago, unless it continues to rain as hard as it did last night.”

Zhang Ji answered carefully.

"Master, Master."

As soon as Zhang Ji finished speaking, the voice of his long-time attendant Shi Luo's voice came from outside the door.

Zhang Ji's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. He was afraid that bad news would come at this time to embarrass him. He had just said that nothing had happened, and that the Ministry of Works and Shuntian Prefecture had made great contributions to clearing the channel.

Well, now Zhang Ji's status in the capital's housekeeper circle is second only to Xu Jue and You Qi, and he is firmly in the third seat, so he has received a lot of things in private, and has a particularly close relationship with Shuntian Prefecture.

There is no way. Shuntian Prefecture is almost the local tyrant. Many times, it is more convenient to find them than to find other people when encountering problems.

"what's up?"

As Shi Luo walked in, Wei Guangde immediately asked.

"It's raining outside."

Obviously, Shi Luo was frightened and he even stuttered when he spoke.

"Haha, why don't you pick it up then."

Wei Guangde laughed, and laughed very happily.

"Really, I dare not lie, Master."

As he spoke, Shi Luo stretched out his hand and opened it, with three copper coins quietly placed inside.

Wei Guangde's eyes widened, and he asked in surprise, "Did it fall from the sky? Are you sure it wasn't dropped by someone else?"

"No, we heard the noise and went to check, and then we saw two more falling down, right at the gate of the mansion, we all saw it."

Shi Luo was now speaking fluently and expressing his ideas clearly.

"Bring it over and let me take a look."

What an honest child. Shi Luo was bought by Wei Guangde from a human trafficker. He was only in his teens and had been raised in the mansion for several years before being sent to be his attendant, mainly because he was young and agile.

It was impossible for Wei Guangde to always recruit people from his hometown in Jiangxi. He also had to start training some gradually, so he bought people with a provenance from the dental clinic.

It can be considered that Master Wei is kind enough to give them something to eat.

Although the living conditions of the people in the Ming Dynasty were not as good as those in later generations, compared with previous dynasties, it was actually quite good.

Up to now, the Ming Dynasty's finances are still functioning well. Although it is in a difficult situation, it is not to the point where it cannot get any money out.

At least there is the treasure house of Changyingku, so the court officials all have peace of mind.

So the overall life of the people is actually quite affluent, but there are also unlucky people. For example, in the past few years, floods have occurred frequently, especially near the Yellow River. Once the dike burst, countless families were broken up and forced to sell their children just to find a way to survive.

It takes time for the fields washed by the Yellow River to recover, after all, there is a lot of yellow sand.

Even if the imperial court provided relief in a timely manner, it would still be difficult for families with large populations.

So, I sold the smaller one to create a chance for the family.

Therefore, the population trade of the pawnbrokers often increases significantly after a major disaster.

Although the Ming Dynasty banned human trafficking, it mainly focused on catching human traffickers.

"Anyone who devises a strategy to lure good people or abduct and sell them as slaves shall be caned 100 times and exiled 3,000 miles. If they are wives, concubines, children, or grandchildren, they shall be caned 100 times and sentenced to three years in prison."

Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, all dynasties have punished human trafficking collectively, basically by beating the offenders with a stick and then exiling the entire family.

Through the dentistry, it no longer exists.

After all, in the eyes of the imperial court, even a tiger will not eat its own cubs. To the extent that they had to sell their own children in order to survive, it was obviously extremely difficult.

This may also be a way to help them.

Wei Guangde had already picked up the three copper coins and took a look at them. Two were Dading Tong Bao and one was Zhenyou Tong Bao.

"The currency of the Jin Dynasty."

In Wei Guangde's impression, there seemed to be similar legends both at home and abroad, saying that money fell from the sky.

According to later explanations, it was a strong wind or a tornado that blew away the treasure buried by the unlucky guy, and it fell down through rain.

According to this theory, the money hidden by the Jin noble was blown into the sky by the strong wind and fell near the capital.

Thinking about that period of history, when the Song and Yuan dynasties conquered the Jin dynasty, it is estimated that some Jin nobles hid their wealth near the outskirts of Beijing.

"Zhang Ji, ask someone to go out and check. Exchange the Jin Dynasty's coins for our Ming Dynasty's copper coins and pick out the good ones to keep."

Wei Guangde said.

There is actually no such thing as collecting ancient coins these days. Most of them are used directly as money, and the imperial court generally does not prohibit private transactions.

So for these three copper coins, you can just give Shi Luo three Ming copper coins.

"Yes, sir."

Zhang Ji agreed immediately.

Wei Guangde threw the coin to Zhang Ji and said, "Just start with the small stone and give him the money later."

After that, he said to Shi Luo: "You all know that money is falling from the sky, why don't you go out and pick it up?"

"oh oh."

Shi Luo then turned around and trotted out of the house.

For someone like Wei Guangde, a few copper coins is nothing to be surprised about and not worth it.

But for ordinary people, the money falling from the sky is unexpected wealth.

For the whole day, even though it was still drizzling, people in the capital could be seen holding umbrellas and wearing straw raincoats and picking up money everywhere.

"You mean, a batch of potatoes was recently delivered from Luzon?"

In the cabinet duty room, Wei Guangde asked Director Zhao about the Agricultural Persuasion Bureau, and found out that in Luzon, the Spaniards still brought not only sweet potatoes, but also a kind of potato, which is also a very easy crop to grow.

"Tell someone to send some to my house later and teach the cook how to make it so I can try it."

Wei Guangde thought it was American taro at the moment, so he said.

"Yes, Mr. Ge."

Mr. Zhao quickly agreed.

After answering Wei Guangde's other questions, he said goodbye and left the cabinet. When he returned to the yamen, he directly transferred some potatoes that were originally meant for seeds. He took people to deliver them to Wei's house and asked people to teach him how to cook them.

After all, it is a new thing, and the chefs in the Ming Dynasty may not know how to make it, so it requires trial and error.

Let’s eat it the way they do in Luzon first. Anyway, the Ming army in Luzon has already eaten a lot of this and nothing happened.

The duty room of the chief minister of the cabinet.

"Shandai, you know that money is falling from the sky, right?"

Zhang Juzheng asked with a smile.

"Haha. The heaven seems to pity the people's hardship, so it sprinkles money from the clouds. If the people are still in hardship when the money is gone, why not just give them a good harvest?"

Wei Guangde pondered for a day and finally came up with this line of poetry.

"Yeah, what's the use of rain money? Wouldn't it be better if the weather was good and the harvest was good?"

Zhang Juzheng sighed. (End of chapter)