Brother Zhu Youxiao

Chapter 590 The Son Is Not Like the Father
"I observe that ancient and modern virtuous and capable people have a slow speed when they meet the king, and their names are distinguished first and last. But when the luck is uneven, the prosperity and decline are close to each other..."

"Bi Ziyan, a scholar of Huangjidian, and Zhu Xieyuan, a scholar of Zhongjidian, are the pillars of the country. This year, they are high-ranking officials. Therefore, Bi Ziyan is appointed as Taishi and Zhu Xieyuan is appointed as Taibao."

"In the future, I will take care of myself at home, and I will go to Qinzai..."

On October 22, when Bi Ziyan and Zhu Xieyuan were on their way home from their official duties, Jin Yiwei from Nanjing stopped them and read Zhu Youxiao's imperial edict.

Zhu Youxiao didn't kill the two, maybe he thought they did the right thing, or maybe he was afraid that killing the two would make the veterans of the old school fall apart. In short, he not only didn't kill the two, but also granted them The false title of "Three Gu".

Even though Zhu Youzheng was in his prime, and it was impossible for the two of them to assist the future Zhu Ciran as the three orphans, with this official position and the false titles in the past, their lives were fully guaranteed after they became officials.

Facing the imperial decree, Bi Ziyan and Zhu Xieyuan respectively got off the car on the way back to their hometown to take it. Their expressions were calm, as if they had known the emperor would do this for a long time.

They dared to do this, and they were able to hide for so many years, mainly because of their status and means.

Not to mention that Zhu Youjian destroyed a large amount of evidence, just because the identities of the two conservatives are the mainstays, it is doomed that Zhu Youxiao will not dare to kill them.

However, it's one thing for Zhu Youxiao not to be able to kill him, but it's another thing whether he wants to kill him or not.

If he wants to kill, he can question Zhu Youjian.

It's just that in the end, he still pretended to be nothing, and gave Bi Ziyan the highest honor as civil servants.

Without too many words, the Jin Yiwei and the eunuch who delivered the imperial decree left afterward.

Also on their way home were Bi Ziyan and Zhu Xieyuan.

On the second day after the incident, Lu Wenzhao reported the matter to Zhu Youjian, but Zhu Youjian just nodded to show that he knew about it, and did not say anything about it.

He just turned around and looked at Cao Huachun, sighed and said:

"Your godfather confronted the emperor head-on this time. I'm afraid it won't be easy for you to do things in the prison of ceremonies."

His words made Cao Huachun salute in return: "The godfather wrote back to the servant girl, Wan Sui did not take his anger out on him, and he was not allowed to hand over his resignation."

"If the servant wants to come, it should be fine."

Cao Huachun explained, and Zhu Youjian in Chengyun Hall also turned to look at Lu Wenzhao after hearing this:
"Your family's child, with the prince now, will have a good way in the future, you don't have to worry."

"The prince is benevolent, and I don't worry about being humble." Lu Wenzhao replied with an embarrassed smile, obviously he was very helpless for his eldest son's actions, and he was also very grateful for Zhu Youjian's correction of his character.

He is not in the capital all the year round, and he doesn't know the temperament of the children at home. If it weren't for Zhu Youjian, Lu Yuangao might become a mercenary person.

Thinking of this, Lu Wenzhao couldn't help feeling ashamed.

"Qi's immigration will continue, and Huanglong's letter can basically express the attitude of most generals and officials."

Zhu Youjian walked back to his seat and sat down, and said to the three people standing in the hall:
"Don't talk about them, even the three of you are the same."

"The larger the population of Qi, the more blessed you will be in the past."

"This year, the major shipyards launched another [-] steamships. Although they can't all be used for immigration, it is still possible to take out [-]."

"Currently, there are 25 boats participating in the immigration of Qi State, each of which can make six round trips every year, and no less than [-] people can emigrate every year."

"If the enthusiasm of the people in the south of the Yangtze River fades, it is also possible to allow people from all provinces to emigrate to Qi."

"Whether it is a Han Chinese or a minority from the Southwest, if you immigrate to Qi, you are a citizen of Qi."

Zhu Youjian wants to speed up the immigration of Qi State, because the number of tractors reclaimed by Qi State is enough to feed millions of Qi State people.

In addition, Qi State is still increasing millions of acres of cultivated land every year, which is also the biggest advantage of Qi State ahead of other countries.

In addition, relocating the minority people in the southwest and reducing the proportion of minority people in Ming Dynasty is also what Zhu Youjian needs to do.

He can guarantee that he can control the few people, but he cannot guarantee that after he leaves, the local officials will not exploit them and cause them to riot.

"The servant (lower position) takes orders!"

The three of Lu Wenzhao bowed to each other, and Zhu Youjian waved his hand to signal that they could retreat.

The three of them retreated first to do what Zhu Youjian explained, and then Zhu Youjian himself checked the affairs of the Western Regions.

Five months have passed since the recovery of the Western Regions.

The transfer of food, grass and luggage is almost the same, and the attitudes of the people in various provinces towards the Western Regions can also be seen.

Five months have passed, and even Hexi Province, which is the closest to Anxi and Beiting, has only relocated more than 4000 people.

The other northern and southern provinces combined have less than [-] migrants.

That is to say, in the past five months, Daming has only managed to migrate less than 6000 people per month, and the average number of immigrants per province is only more than 2000 per month.

This situation is slower than the migration of the four northeastern provinces and the four southern provinces. Except for South Kunlun, Lingbei, and Xiaoxiyang, the three provinces of Shanyu, Beiting, and Anxi have the slowest migration.

Even in places like Nanzhou, the relocation department can relocate 5000 people every month.

It can only be said that the inland provinces and frontier provinces have a bad reputation, which has delayed the plan of immigrating from the Western Regions to the frontier.

The current problem in Anxi and Beiting provinces is not enough arable land, but a serious shortage of population.

According to the relocation policy of [-] mu per person and one tractor per household, not many people can be attracted to go there, and Zhu Youjian has nothing to do.

The [-] tractors he allocated to the two provinces, but right now there are not enough people to use them, so they can only be used temporarily by soldiers, horses and civilians of the Northern Army.

The daily salary of soldiers is [-] wen, and that of civilian husbands is [-] wen. The daily expenses are not a small sum.

Let them plant the land there for a year, and the imperial court would have to pay 10,000+ taels for the salary alone.

Zhu Youjian was also very anxious. It just so happened that this year's prisoners were exiled to Lingbei early, and there was no one available.

For this reason, he could only put down the document in his hand with a frown, and rubbed his stiff brows a little.

Just at this time, Wang Chengen came back after finishing his work first, and at the same time brought a lot of documents.

"Your Highness, the documents from Nanzhou have arrived."

Wang Chengen carried the Nanzhou documents to his desk, then picked up the summaries, walked up to Zhu Youjian, and handed them out with both hands.

"This year, the population of Nanzhou has exceeded 78, and there are [-] million mu of arable land."

"The Chief Secretary of Nanzhou said that the first land tax of Nanzhou will be paid by next autumn harvest."

Wang Chengen said, Zhu Youjian looked at it, the content was roughly the same, but tractors were also mentioned in the summary memorial.

The Nanzhou Yamen hoped that the imperial court would send more tractors over there. The current number of tractors is really not enough.

"The matter of transporting tractors to the Western Regions can be stopped. Let's digest the [-] units first and then discuss it later."

"Currently, Guochao's annual output of tractors is [-] units, right?" Zhu Youjian asked Wang Chengen, and Wang Chengen nodded slightly and said he was right.

"Since this is the case, the [-] units from Qi will continue to be transported, and the remaining [-] units will be divided equally among the six provinces of Luchuan, Jiaozhi, Donghai, Shanyu, Nanzhou, and Modong."

The technological content of Daming's tractors is not high. To put it bluntly, it is like a pulling machine, and the speed of reclamation has not been improved.

Tractors still have to use internal combustion engines to perform to their full potential in agriculture.

It's just that the military academy's research on internal combustion engines has been slow to advance. Zhu Youjian saw it in his eyes and was anxious in his heart, but there was nothing he could do.

"Next year will be the year when the third batch of industrial zones will be fully put into operation, and the fourth batch of industrial zones will also be ready, and we can start selecting factory sites."

Zhu Youjian told Wang Chengen that according to the speed of a batch of industrial zones in three years, he hoped to complete the fourth batch of industrial zones in Daming before he left, and open the fifth batch at the same time.

"Your Highness, the scale of the industrial zone is getting bigger and bigger, and the cost is getting higher and higher, and the cost is getting higher and higher."

Wang Chengen responded to Zhu Youjian about the scale of the industrial zone: "Leaving aside the steam engine, the current annual production of bicycles has reached 30, and the speed at which things can be sold is not enough."

"That's why I want to ask Your Highness, do you want to stop the construction of the bicycle factory?"

"If you stop, you don't need to stop." Zhu Youjian shook his head and replied: "The equipment will be produced as usual and sold to Qi State at the price."

"Da Ming's bicycles are abundant, but Qi's is not."

"The servant takes orders..." Hearing what Zhu Youjian said, Wang Chengen bowed in response, and then the master and servant continued to deal with other matters.

After a few days, the matter of Bi Ziyan and Zhu Xieyuan did not ferment, and not many people even noticed it.

Even Zhu Ciran, who was in the Eastern Palace, didn't know about this matter, and he just led his Eastern Palace team to deal with various matters in various places in Ming Dynasty every day.

Time passed a little bit, Hong Chengchou did not return to the capital in the 19th year of Tianqi, but went to Nan'an, Fujian by boat after Shangshu said that he had not returned home for many years.

Zhu Youjian didn't urge him, he knew that Hong Chengchou was still waiting and watching.

Since he wants to wait and see, let him wait and see, and when he calms down, he can better serve as the chief assistant.

But at the same time, the affairs of the Western Regions also came to an end as Lin Dan Khan moved westward to compete with the two major Khanates of Bukhara and Kazakhs for pastures.

It seems that Lin Danhan is determined to escape and is not going to fight the Ming army. This is in line with his character when facing Huang Taiji in history.

"Since the affairs of the Western Regions have been settled, we can reward them for their merits."

In the East Palace, Zhu Ciran sat on a chair and rubbed his own wrists and stiff muscles, talking with great ease in front of the cabinet team brought by Sun Chengzong.

Sun Chengzong, who was the chief assistant of the cabinet, also bowed on the chair and said:

"Our army did not fight the northern captives in this battle, but it is also a great achievement to recover the Western Regions that have been lost for nearly 800 years."

"According to the old minister's opinion, the commander-in-chief Mangui can be conferred a title, the commanders of other soldiers and horses can be granted the title of Zhu Kingdom, generals and generals can also be awarded ranks above the fifth rank, and the soldiers can receive an additional salary for one year."

Sun Chengzong's words are hard to fault. Although there were not many beheads in this battle, many horse bandits and bandits were wiped out, and some Mongolian rangers were killed, but the recovery of the Western Regions was at least a credit.

The generals are knighted, the rest are awarded ranks, and the soldiers who do not have much rewards are given an extra year of salary, with rewards from top to bottom.

However, Zhu Ciran added after he finished speaking:
"It's right for Man Gui to confer titles. I'm going to confer titles on him as Marquis of Xuanhua. In addition, Sun Shoufa and Cao Meng from Shangzhi, and Cao Bianjiao from Zhonglu, these three can all be conferred titles. They already have Sanjie."

"How about granting Sun Shoufa Uncle Changping, Uncle Cao Meng Hejian, and Uncle Cao Bian Jiaoshuo?"

"In addition, in this battle, I think Zhu Fuju and Li Dingguo both made contributions, and one of them was stationed at Luntai and the other at Suiye. They were both transiting frontier fortress cities, so it's a little inappropriate to only award scattered ranks."

"How about promoting Li Dingguo to be the commander-in-chief of Suiye Mansion and Zhu Fuju to be the commander-in-chief of Tingzhou Mansion?"

Zhu Ciran talked about his own thoughts, among which his relationship with Li Dingguo was already well known.

There is nothing wrong with the prince using his own people, not to mention that Li Dingguo is still equivalent to the adopted son of King Qi. His performance in this battle is quite satisfactory, and he is still capable of serving as the general soldier.

Just... younger.

"The veteran thinks it's appropriate..." Sun Chengzong thought about it for a while, and then agreed with Zhu Ciran's idea.

Since then, four titles, one marquis and three earls have been conferred during the first battle of the Western Expedition, and two chief soldiers have been promoted.

In addition, nearly 4 people who participated in the Western Expedition received silver rewards with a one-year salary increase.

The imperial decree for the payment of more than 80 taels of salary was quickly issued, but after finishing these, Zhu Ciran said again:
"I have already read the "Yellow Book" and "Fish Scale Atlas" in various provinces. The Jiangnan area is densely populated and urgently needs to be relocated."

"Jiangbei has been suffering from drought since last year, and it has been more than two years now, and the people don't want to stay away from their homeland. Is there anything the cabinet can do?"

Zhu Ciran brought the topic to the population issue in the south of the Yangtze River, which made the cabinet ministers a little speechless, and even Sun Chuanting couldn't help frowning.

Jiangnan's problems can be said to be from top to bottom.

The officials at the top did not want the people to move, and the powerful gentry in the middle did not want them to leave. As for the people at the bottom, they would rather work as laborers in the south of the Yangtze River than to work as self-employed farmers in other places.

For the common people who are used to working hard, it is really difficult for them to farm the land.

As for the tenants who actually farm the land, they are either afraid of being deceived, or they have a handle in the hands of the landlord.

"The arable land in the three provinces is only 7000 million mu, but there are more than [-] million people. Whenever each province encounters drought, the food prices in the three provinces soar."

"In the 57 years of Hongwu and Yongle, the population moved to the south of the Yangtze River to fill the southwestern provinces."

"When I toured the south and southwest, I saw many people whose ancestors migrated from Gaoshikan in Liushuwan, Nanjing."

"Since it was possible to relocate at the beginning, why not now?"

Zhu Ciran asked persistently despite knowing where the problem was. Obviously he was very dissatisfied with the immigration capabilities of officials from the three southern provinces.

In his opinion, these officials did not publicize at all, otherwise, no matter how rich and prosperous Jiangnan is, when the drought hits, the homeowner farmers should mourn and move actively.

Now that the drought has broken out for two years, with the availability of trains and ships, the three provinces in the south of the Yangtze River have only relocated less than 100 million people in the past three years.

According to this speed, I am afraid that by the year Zhu Ciran died, Jiangnan would still occupy the top three places in the population of the provinces of Ming Dynasty.

"The decree is that the disaster-stricken prefectures in southern Zhili and Jiangbei must relocate [-] farmers with less than five acres of land to Sichuan and Yunnan. There must be no mistakes."

Seeing that everyone was silent, Zhu Ciran had no choice but to ask government officials to "forcibly" immigrate farmers to Sichuan and Yunnan.

At present, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces have a population of only 580 million, while Nanzhili and Jiangbei have five prefectures and two prefectures. Even if 14 households are relocated from each place, there are only 80 households, or [-] million people.

Compared with the more than 700 million people in the five prefectures and two states in the "Yellow Book", one tenth of the people migrated away, which can make the local people live better.

Zhu Ciran knew how much land the people had to live on and how much land they could eat meat.

The populations in Sichuan and Yunnan are too sparse. Zhu Ciran has seen the local situation and knows that there are still large areas of undeveloped raw land.

If all of them are developed, the cultivated land in the two provinces may be no less than 8000 million.

At present, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces have only developed less than 5000 million mu of arable land, and there are more than 3000 million mu of undeveloped land, so they can already live a life of eating meat every day.

As long as those fields can be developed, it is not a big problem to move 70 people in the past.

However, this matter still needs to be discussed with Zhu Youjian, because Zhu Ciran needs enough tractors to help these 70 people cultivate land.

Therefore, after Zhu Ciran explained, he said to Sun Kewang next to him:

"Go to Prince Qi's mansion, tell Uncle Qi my opinion, and ask how many tractors Uncle Qi can distribute to the victims right now."

"Your minister takes orders..." Upon hearing this, Sun Kewang immediately bowed and left the East Palace, leaving behind Zhu Ciran, Sun Chengzong and other senior officials to chat about other state affairs.

It took half an hour before Sun Kewang rushed from the East Palace to the gate of King Qi's Mansion in Baiwangfang.

After passing the pass, Sun Kewang was summoned by Zhu Youjian.

This is Sun Kewang's first visit to Qi Wang's mansion, and it is also the first time he meets Qi Wang.

Walking in the Palace of King Qi, he marveled at the scale of the Palace of King Qi, and at the same time, he couldn't help being curious about the emperor who built the palace himself.

After walking through the steps, Sun Kewang appeared in the Hall of Mental Cultivation in Chengyun Hall.

After he entered the palace and saw Zhu Youjian, who was "the face of the sky and the appearance of a dragon and a phoenix", he was taken aback for a moment. He didn't expect King Qi to be so young and good-looking, and then he immediately bowed his head and bowed:

"Your Majesty Zhan Shi's Mansion Bosun Kewang, has been ordered by His Highness the Crown Prince to come and pay respects to His Highness King Qi, His Highness is a thousand years old..."

"Get up."

Zhu Youjian put down the "Xu Xiake's Travel Notes" in his hand, and took a look at Sun Kewang himself.

He is not outstanding in appearance, he can only be said to be relatively clean and mature, and his figure is not tall, about five feet two or three inches, which is the height of a normal man born in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty.

The height of the Han people is already very high. In addition, the materials during the Tianqi period gradually increased, and the meat, egg and milk were replenished in time. Therefore, children born in the Tianqi period are generally taller than those born in the Wanli period.

Zhu Youjian estimated that this phenomenon would continue. In 30 to [-] years, the average man would be five feet five or six inches.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youjian also asked Sun Kewang why he came.

After Sun Kewang told it, Zhu Youjian said:

"The amount for this year's tractors has already been allocated, and the amount for Mingfa this year has also been determined."

"The last few factories in the third batch of industrial zones are gradually being completed."

"If Jian Guo is not in a hurry, he can ask officials from all over the country to relocate the population in the spring of next year."

"At that time, there should be 14 tractors, which can be distributed equally to these [-] farmers."

After Zhu Youjian explained, Sun Kewang bowed honestly and said, "If that's the case, then I will return to the East Palace to report."

"Well... let's go." Zhu Youjian picked up "Xu Xiake's Travel Notes" again, and Sun Kewang also slowly withdrew from the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

After walking out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation and Hall of Chengyun, he recalled Zhu Youjian. He never thought that King Qi, who was feared by all officials like a tiger, was so easy to talk to.

Soothing his nervous mood, Sun Kewang took a deep breath, and then began to return to the East Palace.

This process took another half an hour, so when he returned to the East Palace, many cabinet ministers were already sitting impatiently.

After finally waiting for him to finish King Qi's reply, Zhou Yanru, the servant of the Ministry of Punishment, also bowed and said:
"Jianguo, with the current situation of the Military Armament Institute, it seems unrealistic to relocate 14 households at once. It is better to relocate [-] households first, just in line with the number of tractors."

Zhou Yanru wanted to procrastinate, after all, he was an official in Jiangbei, but it was a pity that Zhu Ciran didn't give him a chance.

"What? Now that you have a tractor, you don't know how to handle the cattle?"

Zhu Ciran asked Zhou Yanru back, then glanced at the ministers and said:

"Tractors are insufficient, but there are still more than 3 cattle and more than 1 draft horses in the officialdoms of Sichuan and Yunnan."

"One tractor per household is enough for 4 people, so why blindly pursue tractors?"

Zhu Ciran knew very well that this group of people was pushing ahead, so he didn't leave any room for concessions.

He turned to look at Li Yongzhen, the eunuch of the East Palace: "How many cattle and horses are there in the officialdom in the three provinces of Huguang, Guizhou, and Guangxi? Did you ask Wang Daban a few days ago?"

"Return to Your Highness..." Li Yongzhen, a eunuch, was not afraid of offending people from the south of the Yangtze River, so he boldly replied: "About 13 head, counting those from Yunnan and Sichuan, it is close to [-]."

Zhu Ciran and Li Yongzhen asked and answered, Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren immediately understood that Zhu Ciran came prepared to co-author.

Except for tractors, he had already sent people to ask about the number of cattle and horses in other official farms, so he set the standard of [-] farmers in each of the five prefectures and two prefectures in Jiangbei.

"The Ministry of Households, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Officials..." Zhu Ciran said after hearing this, Li Changgeng, Chen Qiyu, and Sun Chengzong could only bow to each other: "The minister is here..."

"Since the animal power is sufficient, let's arrange immigration early, and the tractors will be distributed at the end." Zhu Ciran sat on the seat of supervisor with a golden sword:

"After all, there are 14 households, and the migration will take a lot of time."

"In addition, if there is another drought in the three provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, one-tenth of the local farmers should be relocated."

Zhu Ciran's words made Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren feel toothache instantly.

It seems that not only King Qi wants to target them in the three provinces in the south of the Yangtze River, but also the crown prince.

They thought of everything, but they didn't expect that "the son is not like the father". Although Zhu Ciran has a playful heart, his sense of responsibility for the government is much greater than that of Zhu Youxiao.

Zhu Ciran is not like Zhu Youxiao, but like Zhu Youjian, which makes the Jiangnan officials who originally hoped to usher in "peace" after driving Zhu Youjian feel uncomfortable.

Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren had even thought about how many letters the powerful gentry in the south of the Yangtze River would send to themselves after this edict was issued.

Thinking of the end, the two can only put their hope on God:

"I just hope that Jiangnan will no longer suffer from drought..."

　Update at [-] p.m.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)