I'm really not doing business

Chapter 698: No one is perfect

Galileo needed a letter of surrender to make the Ming Dynasty accept him. This acceptance would be to treat him as a human being, not a barbarian. He knew very well that even if he passed the examination to become a doctor of Gewu, he would be opposed by those Confucian scholars. These Confucian scholars, like the priests in the West, were the ruling class. The biggest thing they had in common was that they held power.

This letter of allegiance was the cowpox vaccination that the Ming Dynasty was vigorously promoting. It was a simple and effective way to prevent and treat smallpox. After reading the theory of smallpox and cowpox vaccination, Galileo still had some doubts, but he was able to complete the vaccination and even teach others the method.

After bidding farewell to Xu Guangqi and Li Yashi, Galileo chose to go south to Zhejiang.

After arriving in Zhejiang, Galileo felt uneasy because the roads were full of soldiers, instead of the frequent commercial transactions like in the Southern Ya. This was an edict issued by the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, which blocked all roads and passes and carried out a major purge. This political turmoil plunged the entire Zhejiang into a dead silence.

"Such a blockade cannot last too long, because Zhejiang has five cities with a population of one million. Under such a blockade, plague, disease, food, clothing, housing and transportation will be severely affected. The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty has always declared that the people are the foundation of the country, and a solid foundation will bring peace to the country. It is surprising that no one opposes such an order." Galileo asked with some confusion after arriving in Hangzhou and meeting his medical teacher Pang Xian.

Galileo witnessed the supreme power of the emperor for the first time, so direct and real. The church did not have such terrible power at all. It is incorrect to translate the word Caesar into emperor. How can Caesar have such terrible power? The correct translation should be to translate God into emperor, or simply transliterate emperor, which is more correct.

Pang Xian smiled and said: "The blockade has lasted for half a month, but as you can see, it has not had too bad an impact. Hangzhou City is recovering its original prosperity."

"After the 9th Battalion of Zhejiang was mobilized, the 9th Battalion, which was supposed to go out to patrol and fight the flood, went to arrest people. Was there no one to fight the flood? No, Wang Ci Fu formed six temporary engineering regiment battalions to patrol and fight the flood."

"Five cities with a population of one million, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Jiaxing, and Jinhua, were not seriously affected by the shortage of rice, grain, and oil."

"Firstly, the confiscated property immediately became government-owned after just seven days. On the other hand, this time, Your Majesty only arrested wealthy families with more than 100 hectares of land, or more than 10,000 acres. The impact is not as widespread as imagined."

Galileo's eyes widened suddenly, and he asked blankly: "How did they do this? Was it those officials of the Ming Dynasty?"

"Reform must start with the administration of officials. Your Majesty can do it because the performance evaluation system and the fight against corruption have been carried out for thirteen years with considerable results. This is not a matter of course, it should be so. In fact, the Ming Dynasty could not do it before, not even in the early years of the Wanli period." Pang Xian shook his head and said. Not to mention Galileo, a Westerner, was surprised, even Pang Xian, an authentic Ming Dynasty man, was very surprised and moved.

Official administration is the restoration of administrative power and the basic guarantee for ensuring that policy implementation will not be excessively distorted. It can be said that without the performance evaluation system and anti-corruption efforts, the administrative power of the Ming Dynasty would not have been restored to its current level.

Pang Xian thought for a moment and said, "Ten thousand acres of land is very large. The surface of West Lake is only one thousand acres. Only a wealthy family with five acres of land in Renhe County will be arrested. In the whole Zhejiang Province, you need to own ten of them."

"Compared to the Prime Minister, Your Majesty is still a little soft-hearted."

The emperor's target in Zhejiang was land with more than 10,000 acres, while Zhang Juzheng's target was 100 acres. Any gentry with more than 100 acres of land had to either sell their land to the court, distribute it to their clansmen, or rebel.

Rebellion is impossible. The emperor has 30,000 troops in the capital and 30,000 navy under his command. These are not half-farmer and half-soldier garrison soldiers, nor are they family servants. They are elite troops who receive 18 silver coins a year as military salary and rewards separately. They are reluctant to sell their land to the court at a low price, and can only distribute it to their clansmen.

"Galileo, we will be very busy starting tomorrow. We have to vaccinate soldiers and civilians with cowpox during the day, and teach the doctors at Zhejiang Local Huimin Pharmacy how to vaccinate with cowpox at night. It may take a long time, and I hope you can hold on." The reason why Pang Xian was willing to say so much to Galileo was because he thought he was useful.

Galileo is smart, very studious, and quite hardworking, all of whom are excellent cattle and horses.

"For a foreigner to be accepted, these jobs are not that hard." Galileo did not think of himself as an ox or a horse. No matter how tired he was, he was not as tired as the poor laborers. The boatmen on the dock had their muscles deformed due to towing the canal boats for a long time. In terms of social division of labor, he was in the extremely relaxed position.

Galileo began his busy life. In his spare time, he was very emotional. He felt that the Holy See was wrong, extremely wrong.

The idea of ​​the Vatican to conquer the Ming Dynasty by preaching in the Ming Dynasty was extremely wrong. The land of Central Plains could not be alienated by religion because the emperor's power was too great. This land had already tested the upper limit of power. Whoever became the ruling class would pursue a higher upper limit of power.

This determines that here, religion can only be one of the tools of rule, rather than rule itself.

At night, Galileo wrote travel notes in poor and unfamiliar Chinese. He wrote the travel notes under the guidance of Li Ya Shi Xue, but his original intention of writing the travel notes was to learn Chinese so that he could integrate into the Ming Dynasty more quickly.

[From the prosperous city of Nanjing to the equally prosperous Hangzhou, this land is not as full of gold as Marco Polo said, but it is very close. I heard that before the Wanli Reform, the empire's ruling ability became inefficient in the face of the vast territory, the army was rotten, the politics was corrupt, and the civilians became numb.]
[All of this was indeed true, so much so that the Governor-General of the Philippines, Francisco Sander, believed that only two thousand soldiers were needed to conquer this land. Fortunately, the wise King of Spain did not listen to this advice and maintained good relations with the Ming Dynasty.]
[If we want to implement colonial rule, we need to garrison 10 soldiers just for the short distance from Nanjing to Hangzhou. This is just a small part of the vast Ming Dynasty. This is just a trap that looks very delicious. Resistance will appear at any time. Even if we defeat the Ming army and the Ming court, and the emperor and officials choose to surrender, if we want to colonize here, as long as % of the people choose to resist, it will be a terrifying force.]
[Even an emperor who is as powerful as a god descending to earth would handle this power with caution to prevent any greater accidents.]
[After the Wanli Reform, the Ming Dynasty exploded with terrifying vitality, and the source of this terrifying vitality lies in its huge population. In my opinion, this is not a causal relationship. It is not because of the large population that the amazing vitality exploded. This description is too complicated. This is actually a contradictory relationship that complements each other.]
[That’s enough of my nonsense. I hope that in my short life, I can figure out the two questions: how cowpox prevents smallpox and why objects fall downwards.]
At this time, Zhu Yijun was reading a memorial under a lime blowtorch. This memorial came from the Governor of Shaanxi, Shen Yikuan. Shen Yikuan did not plead for the powerful and wealthy people in Zhejiang. Through the court reports, Shen Yikuan was already aware of everything that had happened in Zhejiang.

After the new policy of selecting officials through examinations and relocating wealthy families to Beijing to enrich the capital area in the sixth year of Wanli, all the successful Jinshi candidates had their families relocated to Beijing. This was the general trend.

After all, when the Jinshi return to their hometowns, they will form local powerful families. Of course, if these Jinshi stay in the capital, there is also the possibility that they will form alliances and engage in factional struggles.

This also fundamentally severed the intricate ties between bureaucrats and local areas. In this era of slow transportation, the possibility of returning home after leaving one's hometown became very slim. In the past, people could hope to return to their roots, but passing the imperial examination meant that even returning home was a luxury.

Ever since Zhang Juzheng's parents were brought to the capital and his father was buried in the Western Hills, the Ming Emperor has been consistently implementing this decree.

Shen Yikuan was indeed a backbone of the Zhejiang Party, but he only said four words about what happened in Zhejiang: it's all his own fault.

Zhejiang did what even the rebel den in Nan Ya didn't dare to do, and Shen Yikuan didn't know how to plead for it.

Shen Yikuan spent a large amount of space in his memorial to the emperor talking about one thing, which is the development of Gansu Province. He is the parent official of Gansu and the judge of the people of Gansu. His main focus should be on the development of remote areas such as Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia.

The development of Gansu is a difficult problem. The most important problem is drought. With an annual rainfall of less than six inches, Gansu's agriculture is struggling.

Annual precipitation of twelve inches is a watershed. Above twelve inches, agriculture will flourish, but below twelve inches, agricultural development often does not pay off.

The Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun once said: All the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty is built on the prosperity of agriculture.

There is no agriculture without water. Gansu needs to find a way to break the deadlock and maintain the scale of agriculture. When Shi Maohua was the governor of Shaanxi, he began to explore the agricultural path of Gansu. Shi Maohua's initiative was to develop water conservancy, but he ultimately failed to do so because developing water conservancy requires costs and money. The huge investment and the distant return made everything very difficult.

The biggest problem here is that the cost of water and fertilizer will be far higher than the value of the land's output.

The biggest obstacle to the development of an agricultural country is that the costs outweigh the gains. The Ming Dynasty had actuarial culture, which was related to this aspect. This is a long-standing problem.

"Have we really found a way out for them?" Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial in his hand with a bright smile on his face. He was really satisfied with the changes in Gansu after it was established as a province.

Feng Bao also said with a smile on his face: "A tree that is moved will die, but a person who is moved will live. Living people must always find a way out."

Gansu has found a way out, which is breeding.

In the eyes of most people, seeds are food, and food can be used as seeds. However, the farming emperor Zhu Yijun knew very well that seeds can indeed be eaten, but food is not seeds.

It doesn't matter if grains are a little bulgy or a little shriveled, but seeds are different. The seeds must be full. Only full seeds will not affect the yield in the second year. To make the seeds full, it requires just the right amount of water, sunlight and fertilizer, and it is extremely difficult to get them just right.

Water sources can be used to build water conservancy projects, such as diverting water from the Qilian Mountains by building canals. Fertilizer is easy to come by after the Ming Dynasty had water and fertilizer production, and the original compost was added. However, light is difficult to control. When it rains, when it doesn't rain, and how many days it rains are all determined by God.

However, Gansu has only a few rains a year, and with sufficient sunlight, breeding becomes easier.

"For scholars who don't do farming, it's actually hard for them to understand these words. Every step needs to be explored through practice. For example, in Java, the locals sow seeds and cultivate during the rainy season. Because it's the rainy season, there's no need to water. The harvest depends on God's will. The amount of rain during the rainy season cannot be controlled. Too much rain and too few sunny days actually affect the harvest."

"But after the establishment of the Governor's Office of Jiugang, we changed to sowing in the dry season and irrigated the fields by building dams, which increased the yield. Later, as the population increased, we began to build water conservancy projects and were able to drain the fields, which led to the miracle of nine harvests in two years." Zhu Yijun said sincerely to Feng Bao.

Farming is a profound science, but the literati of the Ming Dynasty did not engage in farming. In fact, they could not understand the hard work behind Shen Yikuan's concise memorial.

Zhu Yijun saw it clearly.

Zhu Yijun picked up the red pen and said to Feng Bao: "At present, Zhangye can breed 40 shi of seeds, and these 120 shi of seeds can be exchanged for 120 million shi of grain. This is still the result of the exploration stage. If we invest heavily, in ten years, Zhangye alone may breed more than million shi of seeds, and all kinds of staple food, cash crops, fruits and vegetables can be bred locally."

"Your Majesty, do you want to push this matter forward?" Feng Bao asked hesitantly.

"I plan to give Shen Yikuan 1.5 million silver from the treasury to promote seed breeding in Gansu. Since water and fertilizer are limited, it is better to support the breeding of this special economic crop." Zhu Yijun did not write anything, but smiled and asked, "Feng Daban will not be reluctant to do so, right?"

"Your Majesty, I am worried about forcing things." Feng Baozhen was not reluctant to spend the money, but he was worried about one thing, that is, asking for money too hastily, and the already fragile Gansu agriculture would become a strange and chaotic scene. Gansu's agriculture was really too fragile. Your Majesty gave 1.5 million silver, which seemed to be a good thing, but it might turn into a bad thing.

Gansu is too poor.

"You are right. It's just like farming. Too much fertilizer or too little fertilizer is not good." Zhu Yijun heard it, thought for a while, put down the pen and said, "I haven't considered it yet."

no one is perfect.

Zhu Yijun was not really the embodiment of wisdom. He just wanted to support Shen Yiquan because he saw that his efforts had yielded results. But after careful consideration, he realized that with the size of Gansu and the scale of breeding, spending 1.5 million silver would be counterproductive. Feng Bao considered again and again and said, "Your Majesty, I think that giving money is not as good as giving policies. The most urgent task now is to build the highway from Kaifeng to Jiayuguan. Only when the highway is built, everything will go smoothly and come naturally."

"If we throw 1.5 million silver directly in, there will be too much silver and too little grain, grain prices will soar, the breeding scale will be too large, and the price of grain will fall, which will be detrimental to the development of Gansu. Gansu is too weak now."

"How about this? Let Shen Yikuan form six engineering battalions to build multiple sections of the highway. Reduce the 1.5 million silver to 500,000 silver, which will be used exclusively for the establishment of the battalions. In this way, the sooner the highway is completed, the more beneficial it will be to the stability of the northwest, and the sooner the Western Region can be reopened."

"Okay!" Zhu Yijun adopted Feng Bao's suggestion. There was a reason why this guy could stand out from the group of eunuchs and serve as the Prime Minister for thirteen years.

The harm caused by decision makers' wishful thinking is often more terrible than stupidity.

"Your Majesty, the Grand Tutor and the Master have been arguing fiercely recently over the issue of returning the land." Feng Bao carefully reminded His Majesty that the ministers were arguing fiercely over government orders, and the Emperor had to intervene.

Wang Guoguang firmly opposed the overly strict standard of one hectare, even though he knew that Zhang Juzheng's goal was to target the clan. He still opposed it, as he thought it was wishful thinking. Zhang Juzheng presented facts and examples, and showed Wang Guoguang the results of the implementation, but Wang Guoguang still opposed it.

Right now, this opposition is still being shared among ministers. Once this internal conflict overflows, it will easily lead to party strife. All those who oppose the new policy will flock to Wang Guoguang's banner and push him forward.

This internal conflict must be resolved before it overflows.

"Just prepare a few stools on the ruins of the Renhe County government office and call the ministers, the general Shuri Hou, and yes, call the Duke of Wei as well, to gather some people together. Anyway, he is involved in all the major events of the country. Let's set up a battle and let them argue it out." Zhu Yijun knew what was going on with their quarrel.

Xu Bangrui surrendered to the emperor, and Zhu Yijun also gave him the power to participate in major events of the country, which would not affect the outcome. However, his participation meant that the Duke of Wei's Mansion was still the Duke's Mansion of the empire.

The next morning was sunny and bright, and Qi Jiguang, Chen Lin and Xu Bangrui all arrived as scheduled. They were not stationed too far away, and they were always around the emperor to prevent any accidents that might prevent them from arriving in time.

"We have called everyone here today for a court discussion and also for a gathering. We want to hear the Grand Tutor's thoughts. He is against the order to return the land. The noise has been so loud in the past two days that even the people below have started to talk about it. Everyone can speak freely without any taboos." Zhu Yijun signaled everyone to skip the formalities and take their seats.

When discussing important matters, he held small meetings. Zhu Yijun did not summon all the ministers who were accompanying him, but instead summoned the ministers to discuss state affairs.

"Your Majesty, I am not against the order to return land. Returning land is a good idea, and I strongly support it. But the one hectare limit set by Yuan Fu is too harsh." Wang Guoguang was the first to state his position.

Returning the land to the land must be done. This has been the consensus since the order to return the land was proposed. What Wang Guoguang opposed from the beginning to the end was that it was too hasty.

Zhang Juzheng immediately said, "Grand Tutor, I wrote the Mao Dun Literature Review. I know that everything should be done step by step. A three-foot-thick ice does not form overnight. Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish. State affairs require patience. But some things must be corrected to the extreme. If you seek the best, you will get the middle. If you correct the wrong too much, it will be the same as not correcting it at all."

"Even when the Beijing camp was there, they still caused so much trouble. Now that the Beijing camp is gone, the people in Zhejiang are still doing their own thing, without any changes."

Wang Guoguang agreed and said, "What the Prime Minister said makes sense, but the question is whether one hectare is too little? Is this standard open to discussion? From what I have seen, there are many people who pretend to be doing something they are not doing. They bribed the officials who were responsible for surveying and returning the land, falsely reported their own land, or found someone to hold it on their behalf, or simply changed the land registration to a deed to circumvent government orders. The old story of the Xuzhou coal mine is still before our eyes."

Chen Wuyin, the former prefect of Xuzhou, ostensibly responded to the Ming emperor's decree on coal and steel monopoly. In reality, the money was spent and the coal mines were all controlled by the original owners. It was just a change of brand, and no problem was solved at all.

It is very common to pretend to obey while secretly doing something else.

In Hangzhou, some clans began to change their land deeds to deeds. For example, the Qiantang Zhao clan distributed all the land deeds to their clansmen, and then immediately obtained a lease contract from them. The lease was for ninety-nine years. After going around in circles, the policy was as if it had not been implemented.

Zhang Juzheng was of course aware of this, and he immediately replied: "Sometimes, the start is more important than the result. I know what you said, but how can we reach a general consensus without such a rule? Only by taking such drastic measures can we reach a consensus from the bottom up and from the top down, and let everyone know that more than one hectare is not in compliance with the law, and finally the return of land can be successful."

"No government decree can be fully implemented at the outset. It takes time and effort to improve it bit by bit in practice."

Zhang Juzheng first admitted that the problem mentioned by Wang Guoguang was real and that Wang Guoguang was not exaggerating just to win.

"Pause, everyone, seasonal fruits." Zhu Yijun interrupted the conversation. He waved his hand and asked Zhang Hong to bring up the props. He did it on purpose. As the host of the meeting, Zhu Yijun had to ensure the direction of the meeting. He asked people to eat fruits to prevent the two people from getting really angry.

When people are emotional, they are really easy to get excited.

Some angry words will be blurted out without thinking, and then the relationship will deteriorate for various reasons.

Wang Guoguang and Zhang Juzheng had been arguing for a while and were already getting a little heated.

"I have heard that both of you are ministers of the imperial court. You are arguing for the good of the imperial court and for the smooth implementation of government orders. This is the primary premise. Let's agree that after today's argument, this matter will be over. We cannot bear grudges against each other. This is all for the sake of state affairs, not for personal gain." Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "Keep going."

There is still a possibility of reconciliation for personal gain, since it is all about draining public funds, but the dispute over policies often develops into a life-and-death struggle.

The emperor's interruption calmed Wang Guoguang down a little. He almost blurted out: "Don't think you, Zhang Juzheng, are omnipotent!" This good order to return the land has failed. It will never be possible to return the land to the Ming Dynasty again.

Haste makes waste, anger makes you lose wisdom.

"Yuanfu, my specific idea is that we can increase one hectare to ten hectares, and then stipulate that the maximum rent shall not exceed 37.5%. In this way, the decree will not appear so harsh, and it will also be easier to be recognized by more people. Yuanfu, you and I know very well that these local celebrities, gentry, and powerful people are not powerless. If they really work together to disrupt the new policy, it may cause a disaster." Wang Guoguang took a sip of tea and said calmly.

The rent of 375 is a figure that Wang Guoguang has received for a long time as the empire's accountant. It is a figure that is acceptable to both tenants and landlords. This makes it easier to implement government decrees. Only decrees that are generally recognized can be thoroughly implemented.

Some things were not convenient to say in front of the emperor. What he was actually saying was that the powerful and wealthy people in the Ming Dynasty did not object to the emperor making things difficult for the rebels in Zhejiang.

Even the Southern Yamen, the rebels' lair, did not dare to burn down the imperial palace. Zhejiang's boldness went against the general consensus.

But once Zhang Juzheng's radical policy came out, people were in a panic. No matter how serious the turmoil was in Zhejiang, the fire could not reach the heads of the powerful and wealthy people in the southern government. However, once such a radical standard was announced, the fire of returning the land would surely spread all over the country, and things would become extremely troublesome.

"Fu Yuan, this new policy seems extremely complicated, but its success can be summed up in eight words: ten thousand men working together and the people's support. Its failure can also be summed up in eight words: the country has lost its credibility and the people's hearts have begun to doubt. As soon as this decree was issued, the people's hearts have already begun to doubt." Wan Shihe and this good old man joined the battlefield, agreeing with Wang Guoguang's statement and opposing Yiqing's strict standard.

"Ah." Zhang Juzheng sighed. He looked at Wang Guoguang and said, "I know what the Grand Tutor said, but I still insist on one hectare."

"You see, at this point, the Prime Minister doesn't give any reason and just insists on his decision. You have to convince the ministers, and then the ministers should work together to get this done. I don't agree with your stubbornness." Wang Guoguang leaned back in his chair and said angrily.

This was not the first time they had quarreled. Zhang Juzheng clearly agreed with Wang Guoguang's opinion, but he just didn't agree with it.

Zhang Juzheng was very stubborn and showed his reluctance to listen to any opinions on this matter.

Zhu Yijun's brows were twisted into knots. He immediately understood the crux of the problem. Zhang Juzheng's stubbornness was actually because of him, the emperor.

The emperor, the emperor carefully cultivated by Zhang Juzheng, was the core of all the new policies. However, the powerful and wealthy people in Zhejiang were rebellious because of their resentment, which made Zhang Juzheng sincerely worried that once the emperor was really gone, the new policies would inevitably collapse.

When he was alive, it was easier to deal with him. But after he died, who would protect the emperor? Who would continue to promote the new policy?

This is a very complicated emotion, not only about national affairs, but also about the friendship between teachers and students. Zhang Juzheng is a living person, not a machine.

This radical standard of Yiqing was actually a punishment and a display of power. It used more severe punishment to ensure the emperor's safety and let the world know the consequences of political assassination.

"Sir, before I started my southern tour, you came to me and said, why don't we not go on the southern tour, but just stay in the Northern Yamen to take charge of the situation." Zhu Yijun talked about the day before the southern tour, when Zhang Juzheng suddenly changed his mind and said why don't we go on the southern tour, it would be safer to stay in the Northern Yamen.

"For this matter, we will follow the advice of the Grand Tutor and the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan, and change the land from one hectare to ten hectares, and at the same time promote the 375% rent reduction." Zhu Yijun said to everyone, "There are also rules for this change. The maximum land that one person can own is one hectare, and the maximum land that a family can own is ten hectares."

"What does the Grand Master think?"

Zhu Yijun proposed a compromise. The standard of one hectare of land per person remained unchanged, but a household could hold a maximum of ten hectares of land. In addition, the 37.5% rent reduction was vigorously implemented to promote the implementation of the land return order.

"Or, just one hectare, no change." When Wang Guoguang heard the emperor suddenly mention Zhang Juzheng's hesitation before the southern tour, he immediately understood that Zhang Juzheng's other purpose was to warn. After understanding Zhang Juzheng's thoughts, he suddenly felt that it was okay not to change it.

"It is more important to implement the government policies." Zhu Yijun smiled and shook his head.

(End of this chapter)