Brother Zhu Youxiao

"Money, money, money! Why is there no money again?!"

"Long live calm down..."

On the nineteenth day of the first lunar month, when Zhu Youjian and Zhu Ciran were having fun outside, Zhu Youxiao, who was pressed on the dragon chair in the capital, picked up the memorial and slammed it on the table.

Bi Ziyan, who came to play, bowed to Zhu Youxiao to appease his anger, but his expression was very indifferent.

While being indifferent, he also hunched his body and continued to play:

"Last year, Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Southern Zhili, Zhejiang, Hexi, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, Northern Zhili and other provinces all encountered droughts of varying degrees, with Zhejiang being the worst."

"The exempted arable land in the two Beijing and eight provinces totaled more than 420 million mu. In addition to the reduction in grain production in various places, only more than 890 million stone field grains were collected, and more than [-] million taels of tax money were collected."

"Although the Beijing-Liaoning Railway is connected, the Mo-Liao, Mobei, Liaobei, Songchuan, Shanshan and other railways have started construction one after another, and the expenditure is even greater."

"The balance of more than 2000 million taels and nearly 900 million taels of tax silver are not enough to make up for civil and military salaries, and the amount that the Ministry of Industry needs to spend is more than [-] million taels."

"Total of the two, the country will spend more than 600 million taels of silver at the beginning of this year. Even if it sells land tax and grain, there is still a shortfall of more than [-] million taels."

Bi Ziyan told the truth, but Zhu Youxiao asked back when he heard the words: "When King Qi is here, how should the vacancies be handled?"

"Usually it's the overseas gold and silver stocked by the Finance Department." Bi Ziyan bowed in response.

Hearing that there is a solution, Zhu Youxiao also waved his hand and said: "Then transfer the overseas gold and silver distribution of the Finance Department to make up for it."

"The minister leads the decree..." Bi Ziyan breathed a sigh of relief, and then said to Colonel Zhu You:

"Long live, there are more than [-] million shi of grain stored in Changping warehouses in various places this year. Do you choose to open warehouses to stabilize grain prices?"

"No!" Seeing that Bi Ziyan asked about Changping's grain storage, Zhu Youxiao refused uncharacteristically:
"Before the King of Qi left Beijing, he had already explained that the Changping granary can only be opened from summer to autumn harvest. There is no need to discuss this matter. We will discuss it when King Qi returns to Beijing."

"Yes..." Seeing that Zhu Youxiao did not agree to open a warehouse to stabilize grain prices, Bi Ziyan could only prepare to leave the Qianqing Palace after returning the gift.

But at this moment, Zhu Youxiao stopped him and asked, "How is the situation in Qi, Xiaoxiyang, Nankunlun, and Nanzhou?"

"Long live back..." Bi Ziyan went through what he wanted to say in his mind, and replied after confirming that there was no problem:
"According to the documents of the State of Qi sent by Yingzhou in the last month of the twelfth lunar month, the State of Qi has cultivated more than 110 acres of land, and there are 14 soldiers and civilians in the area, of which 12 are local naturalized natives."

"In addition, there are more than 12 local native laborers in Qi State, more than 16 laborers in Yingzhou, and a total of 46 military and civilian laborers."

"This year, the State of Qi will extradite 23 reformed-through-labor laborers from Yingzhou to the State of Qi. On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month last year, the King of Qi ordered [-] newly launched steam ships to be responsible for the transportation."

After talking about the affairs of Qi State, Bi Ziyan began to talk about Daming's own affairs:
"As for Xiaoxiyang, the current state mainly controls the northern defense line and Ceylon Prefecture."

"In Ceylon, there are more than 32 immigrants from the imperial court, more than 160 natives, more than [-] million laborers, and more than [-] million mu of arable land."

"Inspector Lu, together with Generals Qi Yuanfu and Qi Yuanbi, commanded the feudal clans and the troops of Xiaoxiyang in the north to resist the invasion of the southern captives."

"South Kunlun, there are currently six battalions of soldiers and horses, and more than [-] people. The number of labor camps is unknown, and the cultivated land is unknown. The news is estimated to arrive at the end of the year."

"As for Nanzhou, after His Royal Highness King Qi set up prefectures and counties, plus last year's severe drought in the south, there are now 67 people, stationed in the Sixth Battalion of soldiers and horses, and more than 150 million acres of cultivated land have been reclaimed. Food still needs to be supplied by Nanhai Mansion in Jiugang."

Bi Ziyan made it clear what Zhu Youxiao wanted to know about the various places, especially the development speed of Qi State, which surprised Zhu Youxiao the most.

It has only been five years since the Ming Dynasty formally established the Qi State.

In just five years, Qi State has cultivated one million mu of cultivated land. According to this speed, Qi State's cultivated land will exceed [-] million mu in at most six years.

Six years later...22 years after Apocalypse...

Zhu Youxiao unconsciously clenched his fists and frowned, but he didn't say anything.

"The minister will leave..."

Seeing that Zhu Youxiao didn't speak, Bi Ziyan bowed to leave and left Qianqing Palace.

Not long after he left, Zhu Youxiao looked at the pile of memorials and scratched his short beard involuntarily.

"Where is King Qi? When will you return to Beijing?"

He asked Wang An subconsciously, but Wang An was stunned when he heard the words: "This... Your Highness has just left Beijing not long ago, and it seems that he has just arrived at Zhangjiakou, Xuanfu."

"According to the schedule, I'm afraid I won't be able to return to Beijing until the end of March."

"At the end of March?" Hearing what Wang An said, Zhu Youxiao felt that the backlog of emotions in his heart was a little overwhelming.

Daming is too big, several times bigger than in history.

The larger the territory, the more and more complicated things will be, and the requirements for the ability of the ruler will be higher and higher.

For such a big Ming, Zhu Youxiao didn't have the confidence to handle all government affairs well, but he felt that if he continued like this, he would be exhausted to death sooner or later.

After only seventeen days in power, his weight has already dropped three catties. If he survives for three months, he may not even be able to support his weight of one hundred and sixty pounds.

At this time, he missed the days in Dading Palace and Zhongxia Palace.

"By the way, how is Gu Bingqian?"

Zhu Youxiao suddenly remembered something, which was Gu Bingqian's illness a few days ago.

"According to what the envoy of the king's court said, after suffering from a stroke, you can't speak, you can't move your body, and you need to cultivate for a year or two to recover."

Wang An's words made Zhu Youxiao frowned, but what he said next made Zhu Youxiao feel uncomfortable.

"The son of Mr. Gu Ge resigned on behalf of his father, long live, this..."

"Send the imperial doctor to have a look. If it really doesn't work, we'll talk about it later."

Wang An asked tentatively, and Zhu Youxiao also irritatedly ordered someone to go see a doctor for Gu Bingqian again.

Wang An responded respectfully and respectfully, and at this time Wei Zhongxian walked into the Hall of Mental Cultivation with a happy smile, and took a memorial to Zhu Youxiao to ask for credit:

"Long live, the Metropolitan Procuratorate dealt with more than 72 corrupt officials and their family members last year, and seized 6000 taels of property."

"Well... let's exile everyone in Wusi Tibet." Zhu Youxiao heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that he had gained something last year, and at the same time sat back in his seat.

"Apart from these, is there any other news from the Metropolitan Procuratorate?"

Zhu Youxiao's words meant something, and Wei Zhongxian also knew that the emperor was talking about Chengde and Yanshan School, so he shook his head: "Never..."

"Well..." In response, Zhu Youxiao stopped talking, but lowered his head irritably to deal with the memorial.

Of the more than 2000 memorials left to him by Zhu Youjian, there are still more than 800 copies left. I don’t know when such a day will end...

"arrive!"

At the same time, Zhu Ciran and others who were cycling in Zhejiang Province also arrived in Pingyang County, Wenzhou Prefecture.

This is the first county they saw after entering Wenzhou. In "Fish Scale Atlas", Pingyang County is a county surrounded by beaches and swamps. However, when Zhu Ciran and the others arrived here, what they saw was not like this scene.

Looking down from the mountain pass, Pingyang County, which is the "throat of the two Zhejiang provinces and the lips and teeth of Bamin", happened to be stuck on the plain at the exit of the mountain pass.

The so-called beaches and swamps are completely gone, and all that can be seen are the large paddy fields that are compactly put together and the marshy beaches washed out by the Feiyun River in the distance.

"Doesn't the "Fish Scale Atlas" say that there are swamps to the east of Pingyang? This is obviously fertile land?"

Liu Shun who walked to the top of the mountain with Zhu Ciran was a little surprised, but Zhu Ciran calmly said:

"At the beginning of the founding of the country, the eastern part of Pingyang was indeed a swamp, but after more than 260 years of vicissitudes, the mud and sand pouring down from the Feiyun River pushed the original swampy beach outward. You see..."

Zhu Ciran pointed to a dark field with his finger: "It should be the mud beach in the early years of the Kingdom, but now it is hundreds of steps away from the sea."

"This "Fish Scale Atlas" has not been updated for many years. Although the new policy is being implemented now, officials from various places push and pull each other. The compilation speed of the new "Fish Scale Atlas" is not very fast."

"In this county of Pingyang, I am afraid that the cultivated land has increased by more than ten thousand mu compared with the early years of the Guo Dynasty."

"The land is still like this, but the population..."

Zhu Ciran looked at Pingyang County, which was surrounded by cultivated land. The scale of the city had not been expanded, but market towns sprawled hundreds of steps out around the city.

The population that these market towns can accommodate may not be less than tens of thousands.

"The population of the Eleven Prefectures of Zhejiang in the "Yellow Book" is more than 2000 million, but along the way, the actual population may not be less than [-] million."

Zhu Ciran's words made Liu Shun swallow his saliva, especially when he saw Zhu Ciran's calm expression, he felt even more nervous.

"Your Highness, do you want to go in?"

Liu Shun asked cautiously, but Zhu Ciran shook his head:
"It's no longer interesting to go to county towns and market towns, and there's nothing to see along the coast. Let's go to Chuzhou and Jinhua instead."

"Yes!" Hearing Zhu Ciran's words, Liu Shun could only agree.

The two of them also went down the mountain, and then rode bicycles to Chuzhou and Jinhua, which are full of mountains.

In just three days, they entered the border of Chuzhou.

It has to be said that Zhejiang officials have spent a lot of effort on various projects in Zhejiang.

Township roads with a width of two feet have been passed through almost every village. Where there are no bridges, other provinces often use cement to build them, because there were no bridges in these places before, but Zhejiang is different.

Here, Zhu Ciran and the others can see ancient bridges that are hundreds of years old, hundreds of years old, or even more than a thousand years old.

And what is different from other places is that there are often very few pedestrians on the rural roads in other provinces. Among them, Yunnan and Guangxi provinces have reached the point of driving a hundred miles of rural roads without seeing people.

But when they arrived in Zhejiang, Zhu Ciran and the others could see many oxen and horse-drawn carts driving on the country roads, and even many sons of country gentry riding bicycles out of the city.

When they saw the four-wheeled vehicle that Zhu Ciran and others were riding, some would step up to ask curiously, and some would ask Zhu Ciran if it was for sale, and even offered as high as a hundred taels at one point.

Such a generous demeanor impressed Zhu Ciran deeply, but what impressed him even more was the scene when they crossed the border between Wenzhou and Chuzhou.

When they arrived at the boundary of Qingtian County in Chuzhou, a village relying on a small stream appeared on the opposite side of the bridge.

There are mountains all around here, only some land on both sides of the valley, but not much, only more than a thousand mu.

The reason why Zhu Ciran and the others were so impressed with this place is because of the village which is no smaller than a market town.

"Xiaoxi Village..."

After riding across the bridge, Zhu Ciran looked at the stone monument at the head of the village, and was a little speechless.

He got out of the car with Liu Shun and the others, and asked the other two Jin Yiwei to ride out of the village along the country road, while he walked towards the distant village on foot.

The village is surrounded by mountains and is built on a high ground.

There are only more than [-] mu of open farmland around the village, and it is impossible to open up fields further up.

But even so, the size of this village occupies one-third of the area of ​​the valley, which shows how many people live there.

"Where are you from?!"

Just as they were about to enter the village entrance, an old man sitting at the village entrance stomped the ground with his cane and questioned them loudly.

The Eastern Zhejiang dialect is somewhat different from the Jianghuai official dialect of Ming Dynasty. Zhu Ciran and the others were a little dazed, but they still guessed the meaning afterwards, so they replied in official dialect:
"Hi old man, we are passing students, we are going to Hangzhou to study in a government school, and we are here to ask for a drink."

Zhu Ciran showed a signboard as a student. Although they couldn't understand what the old man said, the old man could understand the official language.

He waved his hand and said in Mandarin with a strong Eastern Zhejiang dialect: "There is a well in the village, you can leave after you draw water."

After finishing speaking, the old man yelled into the distance, saying a lot of things Zhu Ciran and the others couldn't understand, and then they saw a young man in short clothes walking towards them.

After he arrived, he first chatted with the old man in dialect, then turned his head to look at Zhu Ciran and the others, and said vigilantly in official Chinese: "Follow me, and leave after fetching water."

"Thank you very much." The mandarin of the young people is very pure, it can be seen that they have learned it systematically, so Zhu Ciran and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

Under the leadership of the young people, they finally entered the village.

The old archway with a sense of history and the old buildings of blue brick and stone tiles are distributed on both sides of the road. As they gradually deepen, you can see ancient streets, folk houses, stele squares, plug gates and plug walls.

The walls of the local houses are all high walls made of yellow mud. After the houses were built, they were painted with white lime, forming the architectural features of white walls and gray tiles.

Although the white walls of some houses have been mottled and peeled off, they still look majestic. The streets and houses with a sense of history can make Zhu Ciran and the others feel the extraordinary here.

"The front is our ancestral hall, you'd better not keep staring at the ancestral hall."

Seeing that Zhu Ciran and Liu Shun had been looking at the village, the young man carefully reminded them, and Zhu Ciran and the others also followed his words and looked at the ancestral hall ahead.

The wall made of pebbles looks very strong, and there is an old stage on the left side of the ancestral hall, which can still be used to listen to operas, and there are two large stone lions at the entrance of the ancestral hall.

Judging from the mottled marks on it, the two stone lions have stayed here for a long time, and the "Zhang's Ancestral Hall" on the high card of the ancestral hall also tells the extraordinary here.

It's just a pity that because of the young people's reminders and warnings, Zhu Ciran just took a cursory glance and didn't continue to look. Instead, he continued to move forward under the young people's leadership.

From Zhang's ancestral hall to the water intake is a concrete street with a length of about [-] steps. Most of the houses on both sides of the street were built a long time ago. The only thing that is new is the concrete floor under their feet.

Although the concrete floor is not as artistic as Qingshi Road, it does not affect the simple beauty here.

However, simple and simple, the vigilance against outsiders has always been engraved in the hearts of villagers in various villages in this era, especially in clan-style villages like Xiaoxi Village.

On the way to fetch water, there were always many men on both sides of the road looking at Zhu Ciran and Liu Shun, which made Liu Shun always vigilant.

Different from Liu Shun's vigilance, Zhu Ciran smiled generously at the passers-by on both sides, and at the same time counted their number.

From the entrance of the village to the water point, Zhu Ciran counted more than 400 males in the distance of 2000 steps. If including their families, the population of Xiaoxi Village may not be less than [-].

With 2000 people, this could be a market town anywhere, but here it's just rural.

"Here we go, get some water."

The young people spoke, Zhu Ciran and the others also saw an ancient well in the village.

Seeing this, Liu Shun stepped forward to fetch water and put the water into the water bag, while Zhu Ciran looked around.

After Liu Shun got the water, the young people didn't say much, and sent them out of the village directly.

Zhu Ciran glanced at the back of the young man leaving, then walked with Liu Shun to the rural road ahead, and at the same time chatted: "The population of this village may not be less than 2000."

"It's a pity that they are too wary of foreigners. Otherwise, I would like to ask them how these 2000 people live. The 1000 mu of land can't support so many people."

"How about asking the village official?" Liu Shun suggested, Zhu Ciran also nodded happily.

The two came to the country road, and then they saw a four-wheeled vehicle parked on the side of the road.

After getting into the car, Liu Shun ordered a Jinyi guard to take a token to ask the village official about the matter, while the three of them sat in the car and waited.

After about two quarters of an hour, the Jin Yiwei returned to the side of the village road, and told all the things he had inquired about.

Similar to what Zhu Ciran and the others saw, Xiaoxi Village only has more than a thousand acres of arable land, and the biggest income of the men in the village comes from working in Wenzhou, Qingtian and other places after the busy farming season.

In other words, the entire village basically survived by working, and the village officials had no choice but to tell them about the population of the village after learning of Jin Yiwei's identity.

On paper, Xiaoxi Village has 930 seven people, but in fact it has 230 nine people.

The reason why the village officials didn't report it was mainly because the county didn't send anyone to make statistics, so in order to avoid embarrassing other village officials, he had no choice but to not report.

It seems that every village official can use his rhetoric. In the final analysis, he just follows the crowd.

"Zhejiang's population is definitely more than 400 million. I'm afraid even 3000 million can't handle it!"

After learning the real situation of the village, Zhu Ciran spoke firmly, and asked: "What is the food for the villagers? Have you read it?"

"Look!" Jin Yiwei nodded and said, "It's time for dinner now. The village officials and I will take a look around. Every house is basically filled with river prawns and river fish. Then add a pile of soy sauce, a bucket of rice and some soup. .”

"According to the prices in Pumen Town, a table of meals should only cost thirteen or fourteen."

Thirteen or four Wen, five people eat, the average person is less than three Wen, this kind of life is not good.

"Qingshan Village near Pumen Town, I remember that I can barely add a meat dish on the ground, can't it work here?"

Zhu Ciran asked Jin Yiwei, but the other party shook his head firmly: "No, I checked several villagers' houses under the mark, and there is no place to raise pigs or poultry inside."

"If the villagers want to eat, they can only go to the town to buy it. The price of meat in the nearby Dahe Town is 26 renminbi for pork, 22 renminbi for beef, and 35 renminbi for mutton."

"What the village official said should be true. The people in Xiaoxi Village can only support their families by working in market towns and counties."

"Did you ask them why they didn't move?" Zhu Ciran frowned and asked, Jin Yiwei nodded and said:
"I asked. They said that overseas is dangerous and not as prosperous as Zhejiang. They are afraid that they will not even be able to eat fish and shrimp after relocation."

"You bastard!" Liu Shun scolded, but Zhu Ciran comforted him: "This is due to the local village officials' inaction and non-publicity, and has nothing to do with the people."

After finishing speaking, Zhu Ciran also got on the bicycle, signaling to talk while riding.

Liu Shun and others got into the car, and the bicycles were stepped on by them, and they rushed towards Lishui, the capital of Chuzhou.

While riding, Zhu Ciran said: "The problem in Zhejiang is far more serious than the rumors in the palace."

"The imperial court sent so many village officials here, but these village officials did nothing to promote the relocation, so that the people in Zhejiang didn't even know that relocation would make them rich."

"Relocation is not allowed, in the final analysis, because too many people have migrated, and the local gentry will have no tenants and no workers to call on."

Zhu Ciran's words made Liu Shun gnash his teeth angrily: "These squires really deserve to be killed!"

"It's useless to kill, and there are people in the court who don't want the people of Zhejiang to move." Zhu Ciran felt a little uncomfortable when he said this.

He knew very well that those who prevented the people from Zhejiang from relocating were, to put it bluntly, the conservative parties under the imperial power.

For them, neither Zhu Youxiao nor Zhu Youjian could kill them all with a knife, because after killing them and cleaning up the gentry, Zhu Youxiao's position would be unstable.

"No wonder uncle has to wait for the severe drought..."

Zhu Ciran sighed, and finally understood why his uncle relied on the severe drought to immigrate to count the population of the three provinces in the south of the Yangtze River.

In the final analysis, the local gentry did not have the power to provide disaster relief and relief to tens of millions of people in the south of the Yangtze River, so they could only rely on the imperial court.

When they asked for help, Zhu Youjian could reach out to the three provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, which made it much more convenient for relocation or disaster relief.

"How many people were relocated in Zhejiang last year?" Zhu Ciran, who thought of this, asked Liu Shun.

"About 46, most of them moved to Yingzhou."

Liu Shun responded without thinking, which made Zhu Ciran frown.

Zhu Ciran was very aware of the drought in Zhejiang last year, but even on such a scale, only 46 people in Zhejiang were relocated.

46 people is a lot for the provinces, but for the three provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, it is just a drop in the bucket.

After 17 years of recuperation, the population of the Eleventh Prefecture of Zhejiang is definitely around 3000 million, and the relocation of 46 people will not relieve the pressure at all.

"Uncle must know...otherwise he wouldn't send so much food to Jiangnan, but how does uncle know that there will be a drought in Jiangnan..."

Zhu Ciran was full of doubts in his heart, but no one could solve his doubts.