Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 538
"Crackling..."

On March 16th of the [-]th year of Apocalypse, when the sound of firecrackers rang out in Prince Qi's mansion, I don't know whether it was Zhu Youjian's superb archery skills or what. Anyway, he hit the target again this time, or hit the second target...

The people who are pregnant are Wei Pingyang and Li Shaoxi who are noble concubines. The time difference between their pregnancies is not much different, and the lucky days are also suitable.
The second daughter is pregnant, which is a great event for Zhu Youjian and Qi Wangfu.

Although there are already four sons and three daughters, in this era, the more male heirs there are in the Qi Palace, the more at ease the generals who bet on the Qi Palace will be.

Zhu Youjian stood at the entrance of the side hall of the Yuntai Hall, watching helplessly as Wang Kentang diagnosed their pulse and prescribed several anti-pregnancy medicines.

Immediately afterwards, Wang Kentang told the female officer what the two of them were taboo about, and then bowed and saluted, and left with Zhu Youjian's consent.

Zhu Youjian didn't know what to say to these two concubines. It seemed that he was born with no skills in speaking to women. After holding back for a long time, he finally said:
"Take good care of yourself. I will visit you from time to time. If you need anything, you can talk to the princess."

"Thank you, my concubine..." Wei Pingyang and Li Shaoxi saluted slightly, Zhu Youjian nodded and was about to go out, but at this moment, a female official's voice suddenly came from outside the hall.

"The concubine is here..." Perhaps she didn't expect her prince to come so quickly, the female official who sang the ceremony was stunned when she saw Zhu Youjian at the door, and didn't read the following words.

"Let them in." Zhu Youjian, who heard the voice outside the door, signaled to Wang Chengen, and Wang Chengen also nodded, signaling to the Jin Yiwei at the door to let them go.

Yuan Xipin brought Zhou Sujie, Tian Xiuying, Shen Xiangjun, Zhu Cihong, Zhu Cixuan, Zhu Cijiong, Zhu Cizhen, Zhu Yuyuan, Zhu Yuxi, Zhu Yuyu and others to the Yuntai Hall.

"Father (father)!"

They were still carrying some gifts in their hands. When they saw Zhu Youjian, the four sons and three daughters rushed forward and surrounded Zhu Youjian.

"Hehe..." Facing such a scene, Zhu Youjian seemed to have dealt with it many times, and smiled and took their hands.

There were more than a dozen small hands, and Zhu Youjian couldn't pull them out for a while.

"Your Highness..." The four of Yuan Xipin stepped forward, saluted Zhu Youjian dignifiedly, and then led the children back.

Seeing Concubine Yuan Xi, Zhu Youjian could only smile and said, "As the master of the harem, you should take care of the other concubines."

"The concubine obeys the order..." Yuan Xipin replied honestly, and Zhu Youjian was not afraid of any palace fights that would affect the heirs in the harem with her.

Yuan Xipin has a weak temperament, and often stands up as a peacemaker to relieve the concubines.

Competing for the position of the son, not to mention that she has no male heir at the moment, just her status as a princess, as long as she gives birth to a male heir, there will be no competition for the position of the son in the Qi Palace.

Rather than worrying about Yuan Xibing, it is better to worry about the two protagonists just now, Wei Pingyang and Li Shaoxi

One of the two was from a wealthy Korean family, and the other was from a noble lady from the Xun Mansion. I hope that the two of them don't have hot tempers...

After thinking about it, Zhu Youjian sighed in his heart, and then said to Yuan Xipin: "The government affairs are busy these few days, so you don't have to wait for me to rest."

"The concubine obeys the order..." Yuan Xibing replied with a touch of disappointment, but she didn't say much.

As for Zhu Youjian, he just gave Wang Chengen a glance, and then took Wang Chengen out.

"Respectfully send His Highness away from the palace..."

In the sound of everyone sending off, Zhu Youjian led people out of the harem.

After leaving the harem, Zhu Youjian went to the Chengyun Palace as he said. He still has a lot of things to do today.

If it wasn't for Wei Pingyang and Li Shaoxi's pregnancy, he would probably have finished processing dozens of memorials by now.

"It is always good to have a prosperous population, but the affairs of the court cannot be left behind."

While Zhu Youjian was happy that he had descendants, he did not forget his own national affairs, and it was a very important matter... to run a newspaper.

The importance of newspapers is self-evident, and at the same time it seems very simple. The reason why Zhu Youjian didn't run a newspaper when he came to Daming was mainly because Daming's literacy rate was not good at that time.

The literacy rate statistics of later generations are often only approximate and general statistics. For example, the literacy rate in the middle period of the Qing Dynasty was 3%, and it was 20% in the late Qing Dynasty. But the actual literacy rate depends on the literacy standard.

When studying ancient literacy rates, a misunderstanding has always been to simply discuss literacy rates without discussing literacy standards. In this regard, the modern "Xunwu Survey" has to be mentioned.

During the survey, the author pays special attention to the distinction between academic qualifications and actual reading and writing skills. His survey results are as follows:
At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, the illiterate population accounted for 60%, and the literate population accounted for 40%.

It may seem high, but if it is subdivided according to the standard, the population who can only read their names accounts for 40% of the 60%, and the population who can read more than 20 accounts for [-]%.

Only 15% of people can keep accounts, only 5% can read novels such as the Three Kingdoms without a dictionary, only 3% can write letters independently, and only 1% can write articles.

It can be seen that in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, when the literacy rate seemed to be as high as 40%, in fact, no more than 10% actually had the ability to read and write.

The situation in the Ming Dynasty was similar to this survey, but the situation was better than that in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China.

First of all, thanks to the promotion of official schools and private schools by Zhu Yuanzhang and successive emperors of the Ming Dynasty, there were a large number of such basic literacy classes, which led to many people knowing a little at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Officials over the years, about 80% of the population can write their own names, and about 40% of them can read more than [-] characters.

About 30% of the population can keep accounts, about 20% can read novels by themselves, 15% can write letters independently, and those who can write articles are basically children and above, accounting for about 5% of the population.

This kind of literacy rate, especially the children who know how to make a fuss, are basically people related to the country gentry.

It is useless for them to run a newspaper, because they often only look at the official newspapers that are beneficial to them, and most of the people can't read the newspapers, or they can't understand the newspapers.

Classical Chinese is bitter and difficult to understand in later generations, and it is the same in this era.

Only about 10% of the population can understand classical Chinese.

In such a situation, if Zhu You inspected the newspapers and promoted the spirit and policies, it was not for the common people, but for the gentry.

As long as the gentry want to distort the facts a little bit, newspapers everywhere will be smashed, just like Jiangnan's resistance to taxes.

If you want to promote newspapers, you must first ensure that the literacy rate increases so that the people can understand newspapers. This is why Zhu Youjian has been engaged in basic education for 15 years.

For example, at present, the number of students who have experienced the stages of Yanshan Official School and Daming Official School has reached more than [-] million.

Excluding those who are still literate in the first grade, there are more than 400 million people.

By the beginning of the 15th year of the Apocalypse, the 25 provinces of the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty had already arranged official schools.

As far as this volume is concerned, according to the standard of being able to write letters independently, Daming has reached about 16%.

As long as this level is reached, newspaper publishing is no longer a game between the court and the gentry, but a game between the court and the common people and the gentry.

Speaking of which, an artifact like a newspaper is really a good thing for a ruler!

For the ruler, the most intolerable thing is that the people below are in collusion, causing their own eyes and ears to be deceived.

Therefore, most rulers will have an espionage force in their hands, so as to ensure that the emperor has a more real understanding of the situation below, like the Imperial City Secretary in the Song Dynasty and the Jinyiwei in the Ming Dynasty.

Although Zhu Youjian has the Jinyiwei, but with the newspaper, it can also play a certain auxiliary role.

The most important responsibility of newspapers is mainly to convey information.

Therefore, after Zhu Youjian returned to Chengyun Hall, he explained to Wang Chengen and Cao Huachun what a newspaper is.

"Your Highness means to publish a mansion newspaper that the common people can read, right?"

Cao Huachun's reaction was very sensitive. After all, the Han people have been playing Dibao for 2000 years, and no one understands it better than the Han people. It's just that the dynasty's population is too large to implement it.

"If this newspaper wants to convey its due meaning, it cannot lack the editor-in-chief, otherwise no one will read it. Of course, the editor-in-chief needs everyone in the literary world..."

"I want to establish a National News Agency. The head of the National News Bureau is Ni Yuanlu, a member of the Ministry of Rites, and Zhang Maocai and Li Wanquan are the heads. They are in charge of newspapers and periodicals and compile imperial policies."

Seeing what Zhu Youjian said, Lu Wenzhao, the commander of Jinyiwei, was a little worried, and said in a low voice:

"Your Highness, although this move is good, it will inevitably be used by some people. If it falls into the hands of villains, it may cause chaos."

Zhu Youjian smiled slightly. Of course he understood that if the newspapers were not well controlled, the consequences would be very serious, but he had already taken relevant measures.

"Gu decided to set up a verification department under the National News Bureau to be responsible for book publishing and newspaper distribution across the country. Newspapers and periodicals to be published in the future need to be registered with the verification department."

"The review of its content is also the responsibility of the department, and it is up to you to recommend officials together."

Zhu Youjian's recommendation was actually to ask Lu Wenzhao to select a few good officials from the Jinyiwei of the Supervision Department.

After hearing this, Lu Wenzhao immediately saluted and said, "My minister obeys the order."

"The front of this newspaper can mainly focus on the court's decrees. Break up the decrees promulgated by Gu, break them up one by one, and tell everyone in detail, and then some major events that happened in the court can also be registered."

"Of course, many things are immature now, but it can be published once a month and added as needed in the future."

Zhu Youjian gave instructions tirelessly, he didn't want the first thing to be screwed up, and now this newspaper is not all.

In the future, we will gradually liberalize the journalism industry, and let more non-governmental newspapers participate in it under the premise of meeting the requirements, so that we can have more voices.

"I know, I just ask His Highness to give me a name for this report."

"This newspaper is for the people of the Ming Dynasty, so it can be called "Daming Newspaper". If there are too many words, the people may not remember it." Zhu Youjian said casually.

After all, for Zhu Youjian, now it is more about solving the problem of availability. Only with an easy-to-understand newspaper can it be spread among ordinary people. It doesn’t matter even if the people are illiterate, as long as they have children, Their children who go to government schools will read and write to them.

Strictly speaking, what Zhu Youjian has to do now is to tear a hole in the discourse power of traditional Confucian scholars.

After tearing open the hole, you can also instill some different things into it in the future. As long as the time is long enough, then sooner or later, the right to speak among the people will be completely held by Zhu Youjian.

However, if a newspaper wants to be established, it cannot be accomplished in a day or two.

First of all, the local printing factory has to be purchased, and then it is the preparatory work in the early stage.

Even if a large number of new officials are pouring in and the efficiency of the court is not low, no matter how you look at it, it will take about a year.

A year later, around the time when Zhu Ciran returned to Beijing, when Zhu Cihong was six years old, Zhu Youjian could also take a few of his brothers and sisters out for a walk, to see the great rivers and mountains of Ming Dynasty, to relax and rest.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian also lowered his head to deal with the memorial, and at the same time, Zhu Ciran also arrived at Lin'an Mansion in Yunnan Province on a bicycle, and was about to go to Taiping Mansion in Guangxi.

"Exhausted, hot...and sunburned..."

"This is obviously March...why is it so hot..."

On a long and rugged slope, Zhu Ciran and Liu Shun were pedaling their bicycles desperately, and behind them were two strong Jinyiwei.

But even Jin Yiwei, who had practiced martial arts since childhood, was still out of breath when faced with stepping on a bicycle uphill, and they didn't want to speak.

Like a dead dog, Zhu Ciran pedaled his bicycle in a trance, and there were white clouds hanging in the blue sky, as if they were within reach.

If it was three months ago, when Zhu Ciran first arrived in Yunnan, he would have stopped to admire the scenery and the four seasons like spring.

But right now, he just wants to step on this uphill as soon as possible and enjoy the cool breeze when going downhill.

Fortunately, the slopes in Yunnan are high but not long, so when a long slope is climbed by them, they will be greeted with a long downhill of tens of miles.

All four of them got a rest, and when the cool wind blew, they immediately became more refreshed.

"The wind and the sun in Yunnan must not have been born by the same father."

Zhu Ciran put his hands outside the car, and the hot wind blows, and puts it in the shadow of the car, and the cool wind blows.

Feeling this fantastic phenomenon, Zhu Ciran's words became more and more vulgar.

Liu Shun next to him didn't talk so much, but he kept looking around, but there was nothing in the surroundings except green water and green mountains and some karst hills.

"Everything is good, but there are too few people..."

Liu Shun's words made Zhu Ciran nod his head uncontrollably.

The two provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou are Zhu Youjian's key relocation targets. The reason is very simple, that is, the mountainous areas are actually not suitable for human survival.

Whether it is reclaiming fields, or building transportation and setting up government schools, the cost of building in the plains is much cheaper than in the mountains.

Therefore, for the relocation of Yunnan and Guizhou, Zhu Youjian basically asked for ten mu per person to be distributed according to the familiar land.

If the local fields are not enough for the local population to share equally, then the population will be relocated to Luchuan, Jiaozhi and other places.

Under such a policy, counting from the fourth year of the Apocalypse, Yunnan and Guizhou would not be able to allocate 5000 million mu of cultivated land to more than 500 million people.

Therefore, during the continuous migration, the population of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces has dropped to 300 million, but the arable land in the two provinces is still only [-] million mu.

Hong Chengchou is a person who makes Zhu Youjian worry-free, because he handles affairs quickly and does not cause trouble for Zhu Youjian.

This situation is not only in marching and fighting, but also in governance.

Therefore, Hong Chengchou gave the people of Yunnan and Guizhou a relocation condition of [-] mu per person, allowing them to relocate to Luchuan.

Under such a call, the population of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces further dropped from 300 million to 270 million in the entire year of last year.

Of course, there are many ways to "appeal", and Hong Chengchou's method is to force immigration.

For the few people living in the mountains, those who do not accept immigrants are often "called" to cut off water and destroy roads.

For the Han people living in high mountains and small plains, if the fields are not enough, they will directly send soldiers and horses to force you to move to Luchuan.

Under Hong Chengchou's means, by March of the 16th year of Tianqi, the entire population of Yunnan was less than 140 million.

140 million people are distributed in three 10,000+ square kilometers of Yunnan, and live on the alpine dams (plains) of more than 2 square kilometers.

Although this improved the lives of the people who stayed behind, it also made Yunnan sparsely populated.

Zhu Ciran and the others rushed all the way from Lin'an Mansion to Guangxi, and finally arrived at Guangnan Mansion in Yunnan. It is only 100 miles away from Guangxi, but there is no human habitation for more than [-] miles along the way.

If it weren't for the many rivers in Yunnan, it is estimated that they would die of thirst on the road.

"There is it!"

A long distance away, when Zhu Ciran saw thick smoke rising from the mountain in front of him, he immediately stepped up his stampede.

Like him, Liu Shun and the two Jin Yiwei stepped up their stampede, as if seeing the common people was a luxury for them.

With this kind of excitement, the speed of the bicycle soared suddenly, so that the Jin Yiwei who were still riding behind, who seemed to be watching the flowers, had to increase the speed of their horses.

The sound of wheels, chains, and pedals filled my ears, until they turned a corner, and Zhu Ciran's expressions instantly became crazy.

"I finally saw a living person!"

After turning the corner, what appeared in front of Zhu Ciran and others was a dam. People in Yunnan call high mountains and plains dams, but in fact, strictly speaking, they should only be counted as relatively low hills.

On the dam, seedlings have been planted in many paddy fields, which means that the busy time for farming has passed.

However, the people here did not rest at home, but cut down trees near the paddy fields and set fire to them under the scorching sun.

It's not that every household is doing that, it's that every household is doing that.

Zhu Ciran, who has gotten used to hundreds of miles of uninhabited people, suddenly saw a scene of thousands of people working, and it was inevitable that he would be a little excited.

Although their group was conspicuous, the people in this town didn't pay much attention to them, they just glanced at Zhu Ciran's bicycle with some curiosity in their eyes, and then continued to work hard.

It was already the four quarters of Shen Shi (16:[-]), and while Zhu Ciran was extremely thirsty, he was also very hungry.

As usual, he brought Liu Shun and others to greet the people, but the people couldn't understand what they were saying.

At the critical moment, the official from the Siyi Pavilion who had been following the team came up and started to translate for the two parties.

"Old man, may I ask if there is any food stall in the town?"

"No, they are all working now, and no one is doing business."

The translated dialogue made Zhu Ciran a little speechless. He walked all the way from the capital. In drought-stricken places like Shanxi, as long as there is a town, there are stalls to eat, but Yunnan is currently sparsely populated and the land is huge. It looks so rich. There is not even a stall for a meal.

"Where's... the stall?" Zhu Ciran hesitated to speak, and the translator of Siyi Pavilion also translated his words.

Seeing Zhu Ciran and the others not leaving for a while, the old man in the field rested on the spot with a hoe, and explained by the way:
"People in the town are working on land reclamation. If the reclamation of 630 mu of land cannot be completed by the end of the year, more than [-] families in the town will have to move out."

"The mayor asked all the big guys to contribute their efforts to open up wasteland for himself, so that he would not be the one who moved away."

What the old man said made Zhu Ciran speechless. He has been in Yunnan for more than two months. Of course he knows the relocation rules in Yunnan, but this town was the first one he saw, and he took the initiative to open up wasteland in order not to be relocated.

"Maybe I've seen too little."

Zhu Ciran muttered to himself, and then asked cautiously: "Aren't you angry that the government forcibly relocated you?"

"Angry?" The old man looked vigilant: "Who are you?"

While talking, the old man no longer held the hoe, but grabbed the handle of the hoe, as if Zhu Ciran could not answer well, he would knock Zhu Ciran to the ground with a hoe.

Seeing this, Liu Shun immediately touched his waist, but Zhu Ciran stood between the two of them, and said with a smile: "I am a student who just graduated from Beizhili, and I am going to take up my post in Jiaozhi right now."

"Ah... the village official." Hearing that Zhu Ciran said that he was a student, and seeing that there was indeed a village official's sign hanging on Zhu Ciran's waist, the old man stood there at a loss.

"It's okay, take it easy." Seeing this, Zhu Ciran smiled, showing a little affection, and then whispered:
"You told me in a low voice, what are you thinking when the government is doing this? I don't mean anything else. I just want to know how to solve the problems of our farmers after taking office in Jiaozhi."

Zhu Ciran's cautious appearance made the old man become more cautious, as if the two were whispering something.

However, such a posture did make the old man let down his vigilance a little bit.

If Zhu Ciran was a village official in Yunnan, he would have to be more vigilant, but Zhu Ciran would openly and honestly say that he was an official of Jiaozhi, so the old man would have nothing to fear.

Therefore, facing the inquiry, he could only sigh:

"Oh... this... I don't know how to say it..."

"Anyway, it's very happy to give us the land, but...but we have to relocate...this makes us...haha..."

"Forget it, anyway, we are a group of farmers, we will do what the court says...hehe..."

The old man smiled awkwardly, Zhu Ciran was deeply impressed by his dark skin and his restraint in facing Zhu Ciran's status as a village official, and he didn't know what to say for a while...

　PM update 05:30

　　
　
(End of this chapter)