Brother Zhu Youxiao

"Crackling... crackling..."

"Sing--"

"Respectfully, Your Majesty, Holy Ann..."

In the early morning, when the sound of firecrackers resounded throughout the capital, accompanied by the singing of Honglu Siqing, all the officials in court clothes began to sing salutes one after another.

Amidst their kneeling and singing, the first day of the first lunar month in the 17th year of Tianqi arrived as scheduled, and Zhu Youxiao, who had agreed to return to the capital on this day, was also wearing a mian suit and sitting on the dragon chair in the Huangji Hall .

"I'm safe... let's get back together!"

"Long live Long live Long live……"

Zhu Youxiao spoke in a flat tone, and his voice echoed in the Huangji Hall, and he quickly got a response.

All the officials holding wat boards stood up one after another, and the most eye-catching one was naturally Zhu Youjian who was also wearing a crown suit.

The two brothers hadn't seen each other for many years, and now they finally met, but the scene was at the New Year's court, which was embarrassing.

Although it was the first meeting after many years, and the scene was a grand court meeting, for Zhu Youjian, when he saw his elder brother who kept saying that he was "thin", but actually weighed nearly [-] catties, he was shocked. It almost didn't tense for a while.

Except for him, the other ministers thought it was nothing, after all, men have to be fat.

Although the aesthetics of the Ming Dynasty did not require men to be big and round, at least they had to be strong.

For example, the current Zhu Youjian is five feet nine inches (189cm) tall and weighs more than 140 catties (84kg), but in the eyes of people of this era, he is still a bit thin.

"I'm going back to court today with complicated affairs, so let's have a simple court meeting."

As the emperor, Zhu Youxiao was a little flustered by his younger brother's eyes, and quickly interrupted his younger brother's eyes. At the same time, he also thought of the mountains of memorials in the Qianqing Palace, so he couldn't help but cast a complaining look at Zhu Youjian.

As soon as Zhu Youjian saw this look, he immediately knew that his brother had already seen the memorials in the Qianqing Palace.

In fact, there are not many, but there are more than 600 copies. With Zhu Youxiao's speed of processing the memorials, it can be processed in a month...

"Since Your Majesty has returned to the court, I beg you to resign from the position of supervisor."

As soon as the court meeting opened, Zhu Youjian expressed his intention to hand over power, but when the officials below heard it, they even exploded:
"Your Majesty has just returned to Beijing, and your body has not yet adapted. If King Qi resigns at this time, I am afraid it will be detrimental to Your Majesty's health."

"There are too many matters in the court, big and small, and the six departments are still struggling, let alone Your Majesty? Please King Qi continue to supervise the country."

"Your Majesty, King Qi, please think twice..."

As the Yanshan sect who wished the emperor's death the most, they were all concerned about Zhu Youxiao's body right now, which made people speechless.

"I have been ill recently, and my resignation from the position of supervisor is also to prepare for recuperation."

"Even if His Majesty does not approve, please allow me to use the Muxiu accumulated over the years."

Zhu Youjian's words were neither humble nor overbearing, but once he said them, the faces of the officials in the temple changed drastically.

Muxiu is common sense, but the problem is that Zhu Youjian has accumulated too much Muxiu time.

Not to mention the 52 days before the fourth year of Tianqi, just say that since the fifth year of Tianqi, officials have [-] days of rest and various holidays each year, and Zhu Youjian often only rests for one or two days a year. Now Zhu Youjian Check the accumulated Muxiu for no less than [-] days.

Six hundred days... This is almost two years.

If Zhu Youjian really took a two-year break, wouldn't the temple be messed up?
Therefore, all the officials cast their eyes on Zhu Youxiao one after another, hoping that the emperor could say "fair words".

"This..." Zhu Youxiao, who was sitting in a high position, pondered for a moment, and said hesitantly, "Let's put aside the matter of supervising the country for a while. As for Muxiu, how about letting it go for a hundred days?"

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

The essence of human beings is to make progress. When Zhu Youjian said that he wanted to resign as the supervisor of the country, all the officials refused, but when Zhu Youjian asked Mu to rest for six hundred days, the officials felt that there was nothing wrong with resigning. .

Now the emperor retains the power of King Qi to supervise the country and restricts Muxiu, so they sing the ceremony happily.

"Minister Zunzhi..." Zhu Youjian breathed a sigh of relief after getting more than three months of rest.

"All departments report." Seeing that Zhu Youjian stopped talking, Zhu Youxiao was also anxious to finish the process, and then went back to deal with the mountain of memorials in Qianqing Palace.

It seems that they don't want to cause extra problems. Whether it is the Yanshan faction or the conservative parties, none of them jumped out to make troubles, but went through the process honestly.

"Scattered towards..."

"clang--"

Accompanied by Honglu Siqing's singing, all the officials finally breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew from the Huangji Hall one after another.

But after they withdrew, Zhu Youxiao signaled Zhu Youjian to follow him, and Zhu Youjian also detoured to the back door of Huangji Hall.

Here, the two brothers finally took off the camouflage on the temple, and Zhu Youxiao also complained: "My brother left more than [-] memorials for me to deal with. Is it because I am afraid that I will be too free?"

"Brother deal with more memorials, it's good to eat less." Zhu Youjian glanced at Zhu Youxiao's big belly and three chins, and responded angrily.

"Eh..." Zhu Youxiao was a little embarrassed when Zhu Youjian said that.

"The disadvantages of being obese, I have already told my brother that even if my brother eats too much in Yanshan, he should go out more to hunt, and it will not be like this."

Zhu Youjian really didn't know what to say. With Zhu Youxiao's height of less than five feet five inches (176cm), a weight of nearly [-] catties cannot be said to be obese, but to the point where he must lose weight.

"After returning to Beijing this time, I will pay attention, brother, don't be angry."

Zhu Youxiao took Zhu Youjian's hand, and kept comforting and admitting his mistake, but Zhu Youjian pulled his hand out, shook his head and said, "Brother, do it first."

After finishing speaking, he looked at the time on his pocket watch, then bowed and said, "From today onwards, my younger brother will have a bath for a hundred days."

"The court memorials are all handled by my brother. If my brother is incapable, let Ran'er help me deal with it."

"Where is brother Muxiu going?" Zhu Youxiao was worried about where Zhu Youjian was going, especially worried that he would go too far.

But to this, Zhu Youjian responded calmly; "It should be to go to Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Hexi provinces to inspect for my brother."

It has been almost a year since Zhu Ciran saw the situation in the three provinces. During the one year, Zhu Youjian made many new policies and changes in the three provinces. He wanted to see if there were any changes in the three provinces.

"That's okay." Zhu Youxiao was relieved to hear that Zhu Youjian was going to the three provinces with railways.

As long as you go to a place with a railway, it will take at most five or six days to come back, and you can deal with anything in case.

Zhu Youxiao was embarrassed not to let Zhu Youjian go, after all, he had been playing outside for three or four years, and his younger brother finally had a hundred-day holiday, so it was not good for him to stop him.

"The younger brother has retired."

Zhu Youjian bowed and took a few steps back. Although Zhu Youxiao was reluctant, he could only nod in response.

He watched Zhu Youjian retreat like this, then turned and left, until Zhu Youjian completely disappeared, then he looked at Wei Zhongxian:

"Let's go, go back to Qianqing Palace."

"The maidservant takes orders..." Wei Zhongxian, who had been silent all this time, finally dared to speak. Zhu Youjian's aura was so strong that he was afraid that he would be scolded if he spoke.

"Let's go..." Glancing at Zhu Youjian's back, Wei Zhongxian breathed a sigh of relief.

Under his care, Zhu Youxiao returned to Qianqing Palace, and Zhu Youjian also returned to Qi Palace at the same time.

The first thing he did when he returned to the Palace was to go to the Hall of Mind.

"Your Highness seems very happy today, because Long Live is back, right..."

When changing clothes for Zhu Youjian, Yuan Xipin laughed and joked, Zhu Youjian also nodded:
"It's not only because my brother is back, but also because I'm starting to prepare for a hundred-day rest today."

"Really?" Yuan Xipin looked up in surprise, and then said happily: "It's fine to rest, Your Highness hasn't had a good rest in recent years, and all my concubines are afraid that you will be exhausted."

"Well... But this time, I plan to rest in the mansion for three or four days, and then go to Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Hexi to see if the lives of the people have improved."

"After reading Ran'er's "Travel Notes", I was very worried about the life of the people in Shanxi, but I had to order a food ban to immigrate."

"In the past year, more than one million people in Shanxi have moved out, and now there are only more than 560 million people. I think life should be easier in the future."

"Just don't go and see, I'm always in a bad mood."

Zhu Youjian talked about his own thoughts, and at the same time discussed with Yuan Xipin: "I'm going to take Brother Lang, Brother Xuan, Brother Jiong, and Brother Yan to see it, and I won't bring my concubines along the way. .”

"As for Huan'er and Can'er who are too young, they have not yet turned one year old, let them stay in Beijing."

What Zhu Youjian said was already very euphemistic. In fact, he wanted Yuan Xibin, Zhu Cihuan, Zhu Cican and others to stay in the capital as hostages.

Although he didn't have to, he had to for the peace of mind of many people.

"Your Highness is right. The concubine will take good care of the house, but His Highness still has to bring at least one concubine there."

Yuan Xipin spoke with a smile, and Zhu Youjian nodded slightly when he heard the words: "I'll take Concubine Zhou Ping."

Zhou Sujie is Zhu Cihong's biological mother, so taking her there won't affect the situation.

Yuan Xibing also nodded her approval when she heard the words, and then continued to serve Zhu Youjian to change clothes.

After Zhu Youjian finished changing, she sent someone to pass the meal and had a family dinner with Zhu Youjian.

They are comfortable, but Zhu Youxiao is facing a mountain of memorials and writing quickly. Wei Zhongxian, who likes to feed him on weekdays, dare not take the initiative to feed desserts and fruits because of Zhu Youjian's words. Until Zhu Youjian Only when the school opened his mouth did he take the initiative to respond.

"Big companion, bring some fruits from the south to eat!"

"The servants take orders..."

With Zhu Youxiao's permission, Wei Zhongxian arranged for someone to bring the fruit.

Some bananas, watermelons, oranges, and pineapples that are not available in the north at this time of year were cut into pieces and brought up.

Zhu Youxiao was processing the memorabilia while eating the fruit. When he ate the pineapple, he couldn't help admiring:
"These fruits sent by Qi State taste pretty good. Are there any more fruits sent recently?"

"Yes, but they are all bred and grafted in Yongping Agricultural College. There is also a fruit called big strawberry, but it is too small." Wei Zhongxian responded to Zhu Youxiao's words, and Zhu Youxiao also nodded to show that he knew.

Ever since Qi State gained a firm foothold in America, some species have been sent back to Daming continuously.

Among them, the strawberries of later generations are the most famous.

Daming actually has its own local strawberries, but these strawberries are small and sour, not very tasty.

Not only strawberries, but even lychees, bananas, watermelons and other fruits are actually far less delicious than later generations, which is why Zhu Youjian doesn't often eat fruits.

But it's not good for Zhu Youjian. For Zhu Youxiao, a group of people who have never tasted modern fruits, the current watermelon is enough to satisfy them.

Eating fruit and dealing with memorials, the originally difficult time was not so difficult.

"Where is Brother Ran?" Zhu Youxiao looked at the mountain of memorials, and couldn't help but think of his elder brother.

"It seems to have arrived in Fuzhou, Fujian..." Wei Zhongxian responded, and Zhu Youxiao also followed his response, and his thoughts flew to Fuzhou thousands of miles away.

"It's so fragrant!"

Almost at the same time, Zhu Ciran cleaned his own bowl, smiled and raised his head.

Around him was a small village in the mountains, and they were now in the village square.

Today is the Chinese New Year, the villagers in the village put up a long banquet, and Zhu Ciran passing by also experienced the experience of celebrating the New Year outside for the first time.

"Eat more, don't think it's crude!"

The villagers sitting at one table smiled and persuaded Zhu Ciran to eat more, and Zhu Ciran also unceremoniously walked to the rice bucket and filled a bowl full of rice.

When he returned to the dining table, the food on the table had been refilled.

Chicken, river fish, river prawns, bacon, cabbage, green vegetable tofu...

It can be seen how rich the New Year banquet is in Chaohai Village, Fuzhou Prefecture, Fujian Province.

Zhu Ciran was eating at the table, answering questions from the elders around him from time to time. Of course, Zhu Ciran could also get some information from their conversations.

"There are more and more children in this village, and there are fewer and fewer fields."

"I heard that Zhang Wu and Liu Qiang's family are planning to go to Nanzhou. Do you think the land will be divided after they leave?"

"It should be divided. The court's new policy hasn't been implemented for a few years, and King Qi is still in power, so he won't go back on his word..."

"After the land tax is clarified, it will be much more convenient to pay taxes. I hope that the ten taxes will continue."

"You should say that you hope King Qi will live a long life."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Zhu Ciran, who is "thief-eyed and mouse-eyed", listened to all the conversations and jokes among the villagers.

Along the way, the most he heard were words praising his Uncle Qi, followed by words praising the New Deal.

One tax per ten, this seems to have increased the tax for the Ming Dynasty, which used to be taxed thirty one on paper, but in fact, with the sharing of the per-acre and the exemption of miscellaneous items, the tax has actually been reduced.

With the reduction of taxes and the distribution of land, the life of the people will naturally be easier.

Of course, the premise is that there are no natural or man-made disasters.

"Old man, how many acres of land does a family in your village have?"

Based on his experience along the way, Zhu Ciran asked a talkative old man, and the man really knew everything, and replied after taking a bite of meat:

"It depends on the number of people. It's less for two couples. There are only five or six mu. The more people, the more people. Anyway, each person is basically either three mu or four mu."

After the old man answered, he also drank with the person next to him who was holding a cup of rice wine, and asked Zhu Ciran to drink with him.

Through the old man's reply, Zhu Ciran also roughly knew the per capita land in Chaohai Village.

Three or four mu per capita is somewhat low according to the situation, because the fields in Fujian should be stable at five mu per capita.

But since it can only be three or four mu per capita, it means that the missing part of the land is the land of the powerful gentry, which is not much.

During Zhu Ciran's journey, people in Sichuan and Yunnan occupied a relatively large amount of arable land, basically accounting for about [-]% of the province's total.

For example, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Hexi can reach about [-]% of the province's total, while Guangdong, Guangxi, Huguang and other places can only reach [-]%.

According to this point of view, the proportions of Fujian and Sanguang are similar, the common people occupy [-]% of the fields, and the gentry occupy [-]%.

"By the way, how often can you eat meat here?"

Zhu Ciran asked while eating, and the drunk old man also turned his head and replied:

"It's not difficult to eat meat. There are a lot of fish and shrimps in the sea and rivers. It is difficult to eat poultry, pork and beef, but it is not a problem to eat two or three times a month."

"By the way, I haven't asked how many times you Bei Zhili can eat meat a month?"

The old man is also very curious about the life of the people in Beizhili, and Zhu Ciran naturally knows the life of the people in Beizhili the best.

"We are a little richer, and we can eat seven or eight times?"

"Seven or eight times? Then you should live better."

Zhu Ciran and the old man asked and answered, which seemed very interesting.

However, as time passed, many people at the village banquet also drank three rounds and were helped home.

Zhu Ciran was arranged for an abandoned house by the local village officials. Some of these houses were built only three or four years ago, and the reason why they were abandoned was very simple, that is, the owner of the house moved.

Looking at the house that seemed to be cleaned regularly by someone, Zhu Ciran took the main seat, and sat down with the posture of a superior:
"How many people and how many fields are there in your village?"

"Returning to Your Highness, there are 450 people and 520 people, and [-] acres of land." The village officials have long known Zhu Ciran's identity, so they can know that he should belong to the Yanshan faction.

"Are there many people who have migrated recently?" Zhu Ciran nodded slightly, and the village official also told the truth:

"It's been the same all the time. Basically, one or two families, with a dozen people, will move out every year."

"The reason for the migration is nothing more than the fact that there are too many children and there is no land to divide, so they left."

"People in Fujian are less resistant to relocation, which is much better than other places."

The words of the village official made Zhu Ciran nod his head and agree. After all, he has traveled all the way, and many people would rather die than leave their hometown unless they really can't afford to eat.

But after arriving in Guangdong and Fujian, the people in these places became more civilized.

Perhaps it is due to the long-term uneven land and experienced the hardships of insufficient land, so they often do not accept death so much.

It is precisely because of this that Fujian has been able to migrate more than 16 million people outwards in 500 years.

"Is the Ryukyu Mansion still accepting immigrants?" Zhu Ciran asked the Ryukyu Mansion across the sea, but the village official shook his head:

"As early as the eighth year of the Apocalypse, there are more than 290 million people in Ryukyu Prefecture, and the cultivated land has long been reclaimed. Many people can only cultivate terraced fields, so now the people of Ryukyu Prefecture are also migrating to Nanzhou and Jiugang. "

What the village official said surprised Zhu Ciran. After all, he had read the history of the Tianqi Dynasty and knew that the people in Fujian could not survive, so his uncle took Ryukyu and immigrated to the border.

It's just that he didn't expect that from the second year of the apocalypse to the eighth year of the apocalypse, in just six years, the population of Ryukyu Prefecture would be saturated.

"Now that there are steamships, it's cheaper for many people to go south, and it's also cheaper to come back, so they don't resist moving."

"Actually, from the point of view of the lower officials, relocation is also a good thing. If there are only [-] villagers in this village, then the villagers can live a life of eating meat every day."

Seeing that Zhu Ciran was interested in these things, the village officials couldn't help but take the opportunity to say something more.

In fact, after all, in the final analysis, per capita resources are insufficient.

With the productivity of future generations, it only takes two acres of land to feed a person with meat every day, and it can even be reduced to one or half an acre of land in the case of foreign trade in grain and meat.

But in this era, if you want to have enough food, you need at least three acres of land in the south and four acres in the north.

If you want to eat meat every day, you need at least seven mu of land in the south and eight mu in the north.

If you still need to buy clothes and drink some wine from time to time, you need at least eight acres of land in the south and ten acres in the north.

Therefore, if the people of Ming Dynasty want to catch up with the later generations in terms of "clothing and food", then Daming must at least develop at least [-] billion mu of arable land under the condition of unchanged population and productivity.

This process is destined not to be fast. Even though Daming is already promoting tractors, the production speed is always too low and the efficiency is not high.

In terms of technology, the Ming Dynasty was only in the middle of the nineteenth century, and due to the infirmity of basic physics and mathematics, the speed of technology was much slower than in previous years.

Therefore, the only way to reclaim as much arable land as possible is through immigration.

For places like Fujian, the current 2000 million mu of land is already at its limit. Instead of spending energy, it is better to immigrate directly to the border.

"Okay, I see, you step back."

Zhu Ciran waved his hand, signaling the village official to step down, and the village official didn't bother too much after hearing the words, but left after returning the salute respectfully.

Instead, after he left, Zhu Ciran asked Liu Shun to bring a pen and ink, and sat on the clean dining table with a pen to write about the situation in Fujian.

He wrote down his thoughts. Generally speaking, he felt that immigration is necessary in terms of Fujian's topography. Only through immigration and the promotion of chemical fertilizers can the people here live a good life.

Under the standards of the Guochao, Fujian must reach the level of eight acres of arable land per capita in order to achieve long-term stability for about 20 years.

To meet this standard, the population of Fujian has to be further relocated from more than 400 million to more than 200 million.

Although it is a bit cruel, the people who migrated can live a good life for decades, and the people who stay can also live a good life for decades. This is a temporary pain.

Writing here, Zhu Ciran also wrote down his understanding of Zhu Youjian's various policies in the past, and approved some "strong means" of Zhu Youjian's policies.

For example, the policy of prohibiting large quantities of grain from flowing into Shanxi and Jiangnan, and forcing people from all over the country to relocate while ensuring that the local government has the ability to provide disaster relief at any time.

Such a policy is a temporary pain, but it is a century-old achievement.

After writing this, Zhu Ciran asked Liu Shun to send his letter to the capital, and he also began to plan in his mind to leave for Zhejiang tomorrow.

It's just that Zhu Ciran doesn't know yet, his good days are coming to an end...