I'm really not doing business

Chapter 721 The Emperor’s Will Is Not Omnipotent

Some of these infightings in the court were bloody and open, while others were gentle and undercurrent. They did not require such violence, or even whispering some slanderous words into the emperor's ear. All it took was spreading a rumor that seemed to be true, and the harmonious relationship that the emperor and Ningyuan Hou had carefully cultivated, and the result of thirteen years of joint efforts by the Ming Dynasty's monarchs and ministers, would be destroyed.

Rumors are scary.

If the rumor that "Marquis Ningyuan took advantage of the Japanese pirates' invasion of Korea and insisted that Your Majesty not allow the court to collect land tax in Liaodong" was allowed to spread, no matter what the final outcome of the Ming Dynasty's war to suppress the Japanese pirates was, Li Chengliang would be the loser, and it seemed that Li Chengliang was indeed capable of doing this.

Even if no disturbance could be caused in the court, there would be a huge uproar in Liaodong. From Li Chengliang's servants, to the foreign soldiers, to the soldiers in the military garrisons, to the officials of all levels in Liaodong, to the common people who came to Liaodong to reclaim wasteland and seek a living, they all had some thoughts in their hearts.

After all, it was Marshal Li who did it first!
Li Chengliang seemed to have many choices, but in fact there was only one way he could go, and that was to completely turn Liaodong into a warlord, and turn it into a Liaodong warlord who nurtured the enemy and supported his own troops. Because nurturing the enemy was like a run on the bank. Once the ministers in the court had doubts, the seeds would be planted and would inevitably take root, sprout, bloom and bear fruit. The distrust between each other would become a nightmare for the court and the local areas.

The country has lost its great trust, and people's hearts are filled with doubts.

Li Chengliang's return to Liaodong this time was extremely dangerous for Li Chengliang and the Ningyuan Marquisate, because Li Chengliang had already completely delegated power and made a comprehensive handover of Liaodong military affairs. Now, he had to come back for the war.

Li Chengliang said that the emperor was really powerful and had already controlled these despicable Confucian scholars. He told Li Chengliang directly that the Ming emperor could accept Li Chengliang's warlordization.

However, he could not replace the Lee Dynasty of Korea with a Li in Liaodong. When the time came, he could just compile a few family trees for the ancestors of Korea and change them into one family. Li Chengliang really had to take the path of nurturing the enemy and maintaining his own military power, and then he would go to Korea to wreak havoc.

Since ancient times, the Korean Peninsula has posed no real threat to the Central Plains regime, because its grain production is destined to prevent it from becoming a place where the country will rise.

A granary may not necessarily be the place where a dragon rises, but the place where a dragon rises is definitely a granary.

"You scholars, can you use your crooked ideas on the Japanese pirates? Why are you trying to use them on an old man like me? Damn it, I'd rather die." Li Chengliang leaned back in his chair and said with lingering fear, "If Your Majesty hadn't been smart since childhood and had been deceiving these cheap scholars for so many years, just for this sentence, I would be scolded for hundreds of years even if I die!"

"What a bad luck!"

Li Chengliang was a warrior. After becoming a marquis in recent years, he became more refined and seldom swore. But now, he was really a little broken.

After the Ming Emperor returned to Beijing after his southern tour, Zhang Juzheng confronted the emperor and refuted the imperial edict twice. Because both sides were very persistent, the emperor finally gave the lowly Confucian scholar detained by Lu Wang Zhu Yiliu a cold treatment and locked him up without any punishment.

Zhang Juzheng became a little extreme. In his opinion, what was the point of talking about absolute and limited freedom? It was more important to make these chattering Confucian scholars shut up forever.

Zhang Juzheng's tendency towards extreme conservatism was very obvious, especially when it came to the so-called free speech. He began to resist and even feel disgusted with it because he saw the danger.

Li Chengliang, who is now almost in trouble because of rumors, is a living example.

Sometimes, the Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun couldn't understand why Liaodong became the burial place of the Ming Dynasty?
Especially after the Wanli Campaign to Aid Korea, the warlordization of Liaodong was like a rock rolling down a cliff, which could not be stopped and eventually smashed the entire Ming Dynasty to pieces. All the people in Liaodong called themselves Liao people, and even kept clamoring for Liao people to rule Liao. Emperor Wanli and the ministers in the court showed extreme distrust of entering Korea to fight throughout the Wanli Campaign to Aid Korea. They would rather listen to the sophistry of King Yi Sun of Korea than have even the slightest trust in the soldiers who entered Korea to fight to the death.

These rumors spread by these despicable Confucian scholars are extremely harmful.

"This is what a mean scholar is like. If you ask him to do something, he can't accomplish anything. But if you ask him to do something bad, he is better than anyone else." Hou Yuzhao drank a cup of tea leisurely. He was incompatible with the mean scholar and always went against him, from beginning to end.

"I have to show some attitude on the matter of setting up the Liaodong Provincial Administration, so that the rumors will be self-defeating." Li Chengliang thought for a long time and decided to find a way out for himself. The establishment of the Liaodong Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office, the Criminal Supervision Commissioner's Office, and the Military Command Commissioner's Office, with the separation of political, legal, and military powers, should be done by him, Li Chengliang himself.

Li Chengliang left Liaodong in order to promote the establishment of a province in Liaodong. Now that he is back, he must win the battles that should be won and finish what should be done.

"It's not easy." Hou Yuzhao sighed and said, "In the first month of the fourth year of Hongwu, there were 5488 prefectures, counties and districts in the country, with 24683 officials. In the fourteenth year of Hongwu, Yunnan was settled, and there were civil and military officials inside and outside the country, not counting clerks and runners. Where there are officials, there are clerks, and where there are clerks, there are runners."

"In the fourth year of Zhengde, there were 24000 civil officials, 28000 military officials, and 168000 clerks. The clerks were seven times the number of civil officials, and the yamen runners were seven times the number of clerks."

"Even if we don't count the yamen runners, firemen, night watchmen, and inspectors, and only count the civil servants, the three yamen in one place will require 1800 officials and 13000 clerks. Even though Liaodong is vast and sparsely populated, it doesn't need so many officials and clerks. I'll cut it in half for you, to 900 officials and 7000 clerks."

"Old Li, where did you find so many scholars?"

Li Chengliang's Ningyuan Marquisate was not the main obstacle to the court's plan to establish a province in Liaodong. The lack of talent was the real attraction.

The reality is even more cruel. It cannot be cut in half directly as Hou Yuzhao said. The local government offices of the Ming Dynasty were mainly composed of local tyrants. The third-in-command clerk in the county was usually a local gentry. Guizhou was a typical example. Due to the lack of local scholars, they could only appoint hereditary local officials to control the rule.

"So many?" Li Chengliang said in a daze.

Hou Yuzhao nodded and said, "The chief clerk, the registrar, the head of the third shift, the six offices, the inspection office, the dam, the post warehouse, the river and lake office, the delivery office, the inspection office, the iron smelting office, the tax office, the county school instructor, the monk and Taoist office, the Huimin Pharmacy, and that's not even counting the staff managed by the master."

"So, the most important thing right now is to reclaim the wasteland. Once we have food and are well fed, we will have surplus food to hire scholars to teach. These things will gradually become available."

There are usually seven staff members under the supervision of a legal advisor. The functions of these seven staff members are to receive and send official documents, drafts (writing), waiting drafts (reviewing and signing), class hall (poetry, books, rituals and music), duty (arranging duty), attendants (attending the county magistrate), accountants (county magistrate's accountant), etc. This is already the most streamlined one. If it is a densely populated and very prosperous upper county, the legal advisor in charge of the staff must be divided into three, and the number of staff members under the legal advisor may not be much different from six rooms.

There were not so many educated people in Liaodong, but anyone who could read had been found by Hou Yuzhao, and after a simple training in mathematics, they started working immediately.

"There is another reason. Who would want to come to Liaodong to eat snow when they can be scholars in the hinterland? Scholars are delicate and weak, and they will never leave Shanhaiguan if they can stay there." Hou Yuzhao talked about the issue of migration of scholars and the influx and outflow of talents.

Jiayuguan was established two hundred years ago. Although Gansu is a little poor, it still holds the autumn examinations every year, with Jinshi, Juren, Xiucai and Shengyuan. In the past, the place was not big enough, so it was the Shaanxi Xingdusi. Now that the Western Regions have been reopened, the Ming Dynasty has extended its hands to the Seven Guards of Guanxi, and there are still people employed in Gansu.

Suiyuan can still rely on support from Shaanxi and Shanxi, both of which are extremely poor places. Hetao is relatively richer.

But Liaodong is very close to the capital, and Shanhaiguan is like a one-way valve. The scholars trained in Liaodong have to go to Shanhaiguan, and the scholars in Shanhaiguan are unwilling to come to Liaodong.

The absence of people is the obstacle of reality.

"After all, it is still necessary to rely on military settlements and garrisons and their schools to train scholars from Liaodong in order to completely solve this problem. There will always be scholars willing to stay in this remote area to build this black land." Hou Yuzhao couldn't help but think of the early days of the country, when Emperor Taizu Gao established military settlements and garrisons everywhere and built Confucian schools in the garrisons.

During the more than 200 years of the Ming Dynasty, 30% of the Jinshi were from military households.

Confucian scholars always shouted: "The teachings of the saints are applicable everywhere", "There is no distinction between the classes", "Confucianism educates", "changes customs", but there are no scholars in these remote areas. When it comes to practice, Confucian scholars start to shout "People in the border areas cannot be taught, so there is no need to set up schools".

Hou Yuzhao said somewhat disinterestedly: "Alas, the borderland of Liaodong is remote and desolate, and there are few Confucian scholars. There is no one to write letters and documents every year. The children of military officers are mostly illiterate and have no way to learn. After the war, it is very difficult to find scholars with knowledge. There are no teachers, even fewer books, and the classics are incomplete. How can Liaodong be defended for long?"

Hou Yuzhao came to Liaodong in the second year of Wanli. It has been thirteen years since New Year's Eve. He has taken root here. After a long time, he is very confused. This confusion is even a little desperate. He doesn't know, really doesn't know what the future of Liaodong should be.

The problem he was talking about is the gravity of reality. Ideals are always so grand, but reality is so cruel.

Li Chengliang said with dissatisfaction: "Aren't you a scholar? Haven't you settled in Liaodong for twelve years? My Liaodong may not be rich in natural resources, but it is also rich in products. Why don't scholars want to come here!"

"I'll take it as Old Li praising me." Hou Yuzhao laughed twice and shook his head. He did not refute, but Li Chengliang knew very well that he was talking nonsense. How many officials like Hou Yuzhao were there in the Ming Dynasty?

Look at the Zhejiang Governor Wu Shanyan. Even in such a wealthy place like Zhejiang, he was able to force the Nine Battalions of Zhejiang to mutiny.

"Your Majesty, you can send the students of the Imperial College and the failed candidates to Liaodong. There is not much else in the Ming Dynasty, but there are many poor scholars who have nowhere else to go!" Ma Lin expressed his opinion.

Li Chengliang looked at Ma Lin and then at his son Li Rusong. They were all from the imperial camp in the capital. They were used to the emperor's omnipotence, so when they encountered difficulties, the first thing they thought of was: Your Majesty can solve all problems with an order.

Li Chengliang exhaled, shook his head and said, "Your Majesty has provided food and clothing and sent students from the Imperial Academy to Liao for more than seven years. Some have stayed in Liao for a month, while others have stayed for half a year. Many have left Liao. Although schools have been set up, there is a lack of instructors, and the schools are still in name only."

The emperor's will is not omnipotent.

"You have received favors from His Majesty, but you don't work hard. You should be loyal to the emperor! Such a traitor should be executed!" Li Rusong's face changed and he said sternly.

"Then no one will come, right? When you were not punishing them, there were still people willing to come to Liaodong to try. Now you are shouting for war and killing, so who would be willing to come? If they are exiled here and harbor resentment, they will definitely collude with those barbarians, which will be a disaster." Hou Yuzhao looked at Li Rusong and answered the question.

"I am not good at political affairs." Li Rusong was speechless. He was really not good at these political affairs. Instead of thinking about these problems, it would be better for him to kill the Japanese pirates.

The elite soldiers of the Ming Dynasty's Beijing Camp are all young masters' soldiers. This is how the Liaodong Army soldiers evaluate the elite soldiers. This is not a humiliation, but a kind of envy.

In addition to envying the armaments, supplies, and pay standards of the young masters of the Beijing camp, the most important thing is that the young master soldiers do not have to consider so many messy things, they only need to think about how to defeat the enemy.

Liaodong is still under de facto military control. The generals of Liaodong often not only consider winning the battle, but also how to govern the jurisdiction to avoid unrest. It is normal for them to be in charge of military, political, financial and legal affairs.

Li Chengliang leaned forward, patted his son's arm, and said with a smile: "Don't worry about it. As the deputy general of the Beijing camp, you just need to think about fighting. His Majesty has treated Liaodong very well. We can go directly to Jilin and Liaodong! This is a treatment that even the Southern Court does not have!"

"I said this to Lao Zhao because Liaodong is good enough and we both hope it can be better."

Li Chengliang was unwilling to go to Korea to be a garrison commander and endure such hardship. He would return to the capital after the battle. As a military general, he had done everything he could, and the rest could be left to the scholars!
"In this battle, you must listen to His Majesty. Remember not to rush ahead rashly, and don't fight for those Koreans. If you have to fight, fight for His Majesty. None of those carnivores in Korea are human beings. They are not worthy."

"When you get to Jiuliancheng, you can suddenly occupy Yizhou. I will send an engineering battalion to build a port." Li Chengliang talked about the war in Korea, and urged his son to come back safely, and gave him some thoughtful advice.

Looking at the imperial edict issued by His Majesty, the throne of the King of Joseon was directly stripped away, and the successor was still called Gwanghaegun. The meaning was very clear that the throne of the King of Joseon ended with Lee Sun.

Bypassing the carnivores of Korea and directly occupying Yizhou will ease the pressure on Ming's logistics supply. Sea transportation is much cheaper than land transportation. The Chidao Road may take three to five years to repair, but this port only needs a few months.

In Li Chengliang's eyes, the meat eaters in Korea were all insects. Even if these meat eaters opened the port of Yizhou for silver and money, the elite soldiers and supplies of the Ming Dynasty's Beijing camp could reach Korea by sea, so that they would not have to transport them from Liaoyang and Lushun to Jiuliancheng by land. Land transportation was extremely expensive. Seventy thousand dan of grain and grass would cost 210,000 dan in transportation, but if it was transported by sea, it would only cost less than 10,000 dan.

"The Japanese pirates have already occupied Seoul, and those Korean bugs are still shouting nonsense like people's hearts have changed and the world is deteriorating. They refuse to open Yizhou, and even come to me and ask me to transport grain to them. They are ugly, but they have beautiful dreams!" Li Chengliang got angry when he talked about this.

The Korean envoys went to Liaoyang and asked Li Chengliang to send troops and food. They also insisted on the issue of the Yizhou Port at the mouth of the Yalu River and refused to do so.

"Your Majesty said that we should be wary of the Korean meat-eaters colluding with the Japanese pirates." Li Rusong remembered the instructions given by his majesty before he left.

"Listen to your majesty, be careful with these idiots and don't let them sell you out." Li Chengliang agreed wholeheartedly.

Li Rusong frowned and said, "Can we really take Yizhou directly?"

"Don't worry, it's none of your business. I'll have the soldiers from Jiuliancheng enter Yizhou first. If those Korean bastards dare to resist, I'll kill them all. If you can't defeat them, you can enter the city later."

"Didn't these lowly scholars in the capital say that I am a military leader? I will definitely be the military leader!" Li Chengliang could not contribute much to the king's rule of Liaodong, so he changed his strategy. He planned to contribute to the war in Korea and do what a military leader should do.

The Ming Emperor never interfered in the specific command of the Liaodong army, which gave Li Chengliang great autonomy.

Qi Jiguang has his gentlemanly style of fighting, and Li Chengliang has his rogue style of fighting. They fight without declaring war and take over without asking for permission. They will take Yizhou first.

Your Majesty is frugal. If I can save some real money and food for the court, I will please Your Majesty.

It didn't matter that some ministers in the court impeached Li Chengliang for acting on his own. Li Chengliang admitted the crime and returned to Beijing to receive (enjoy) his punishment (blessing) after the war.

"Old Li, what's the difference between what you did and raping a woman? You didn't even ask whether North Korea agrees or not?" Hou Yuzhao was impressed by Li Chengliang, who was thinking about these things all day long.

"If you don't agree, can you stop me?" Li Chengliang said nonchalantly.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month in the fourteenth year of the Wanli reign, the capital was still immersed in the joyous atmosphere of the New Year. For what was happening far away in Korea, the capital, which was enjoying prosperity and singing and dancing, did not have much empathy. The lights on Aoshan Mountain were like people's days, becoming more prosperous year by year.

The diligent Emperor of the Ming Dynasty received more reports.

"Marquis Ningyuan wants to take Yizhou without asking for permission. I think that although Marquis Ningyuan's behavior cannot be called that of a gentleman, he is definitely not a villain. His purpose is to drive the Japanese pirates into the sea faster." Zhu Yijun held Li Chengliang's report and asked Qi Jiguang about his opinion on the surprise attack on Yizhou.

Qi Jiguang stood in front of the geomancy map, looked at it carefully for a long time and said, "I think it is good, but I am afraid that Ningyuan Hou will be scolded again."

It would be best if we could capture Yizhou. Only when Ming has control of the sea can it advance and retreat more prudently.

Li Chengliang's idea of ​​taking Yizhou was actually to find a way to get the support of Te Niang, but this idea coincided with the Ming Dynasty's strategy of advancing step by step and taking inch by inch. A fulcrum was needed to fight into Korea, and this fulcrum was Yizhou.

"How many troops will Ningyuan Hou use to attack Yizhou? Jiuliancheng only has two thousand troops." Qi Jiguang asked doubtfully.

"One thousand." Zhu Yijun replied quickly.

"enough?"

Zhu Yijun shook his head and said, "I don't know either. Ningyuan Hou thinks it is enough."

"If Marquis Ningyuan thinks it is enough, then it is enough." Qi Jiguang thought about it and didn't say much. With the Ming cavalry battalion in support, there won't be any major problems.

It will take more than 20 days for the Ming cavalry camp to travel from Liaoyang to Jiuliancheng at the mouth of the Yalu River. By the time the cavalry camp arrives, let alone 1,000 Liaodong soldiers, even if there are 100 Liaodong soldiers to take Yizhou, the Yizhou defenders will have to weigh the severity of the situation before taking action.

This is what Li Rusong said, bypass the Korean royal family, ministers and other meat-eaters, and act on its own.

Zhu Yijun originally planned to give Li Chengliang the power to act at his convenience. Zhu Yijun had only given this power to Yin Zhengmao. Even Ling Yunyi did not have such great authority in Guangdong, Guangxi, Shandong, and Henan. But he was stopped by Zhang Juzheng in the end. If the war really turned into a mess, it would not be too late to give it to him. The court always had to hold a few cards in hand. Acting at his convenience was a matter of righteousness and status.

"Your Majesty, Henan has completed the population census. In the 13th year of Wanli, except for Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi and Suiyuan, the two capitals and 13 provinces of the Ming Dynasty have completed the population census." Zhang Juzheng reported on another important task of the Ming Dynasty, the population census, and presented a memorial.

Zhu Yuanzhang had two treasures when he governed the country. One was called the Fish Scale Book, which was the land book, and the other was called the Yellow Book of Taxes and Labor, which was the population book.

These two treasures gradually lost their effectiveness over the course of two hundred years. The survey began in the first year of the Wanli reign and was initially completed in the ninth year. It was not until the eleventh year of the Wanli reign that the survey was completed in Henan Province by the murderous Ling Yunyi.

In the eleventh year of Wanli, Zhu Yijun got the first treasure, the Fish Scale Book. Now, Zhang Juzheng handed the second treasure, the Yellow Book, to Your Majesty.

The first compilation of the Yellow Book of Taxes and Services was completed in the 26th year of Hongwu, 12 years later than in the 14th year of Hongwu. This was because there was a lot of population movement and migration during the Hongwu period, which caused great trouble to the compilation of the Yellow Book.

In the 1065th year of Hongwu, the Ming Dynasty had a total of 6054 million households and a population of million.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, everything was renewed. The Hu Yuan Dynasty had ruled roughly for a hundred years, and coupled with the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the population began to recover after the Hongwu period. 60 million people were really not a small number.

"At the end of the 1062th year of Wanli, the Grand Tutor told me that there were 6069 million households and million people in the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Yijun took the memorial submitted by Zhang Juzheng, exhaled, and told a joke.

"It is seriously inaccurate. We just haven't completed the census and are following the old practice." Zhang Juzheng said with his head down.

At the end of the 3th year of Wanli's reign, the census was not completed and the yellow book was not updated. In the two hundred years, the number of households in the Ming Dynasty decreased by 15 and the population increased by .

For two hundred years, the population of the Ming Dynasty remained stable to the point of being insane. Everyone knew that the data was distorted and everyone knew that it was a mess, but no one took the effort to investigate the matter.

In fact, it is very simple. The Ming Dynasty Fish Scale Book and the Yellow Book were copied directly from the previous one, and they were too lazy to even add or subtract anything. For example, Zhang Xueyan told the emperor: From the eleventh year of Jiajing to the ninth year of Wanli, the number of households in Yuzhou was 12277 and the population was 89470. In fifty years, the population data of Yuzhou did not change at all.

I'm too lazy to even fool around.

Now, the cabinet in the early Wanli period, headed by Zhang Juzheng, led the court officials to conduct a comprehensive census of this confusing account.

At the end of the 13th year of Wanli, the final audit was completed.

"At the end of the 2126th year of Wanli, the Grand Tutor and the Prime Minister told me that there were 13367 million households and more than million people in the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Yijun finally figured out an unresolved issue in history: how many people were there in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

1.3 million, 1000 million more than the Ministry of Households' previous estimate. The Ministry of Households seriously underestimated the population of Henan, Huguang, and Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia.

"Your Majesty, when I was doing a population census, I discovered something very interesting. The bureaucrats in our Ming Dynasty are all extremely capable and are masters of balancing accounts!"

"For example, in the 48022th year of Hongwu, Dongchang Prefecture had 110192 households, 327 people and 288135 odd households. In the 662473th year of Wanli, Dongchang Prefecture had households and people. In years, the number of households and people increased sixfold."

"But this six-fold increase in household registration and population immediately returned to its previous state when it reached the provincial governor's office."

Zhu Yijun frowned and said, "Sir, what you mean is that the local prefecture and county officials are very clear about how many acres of land and people are in their jurisdiction?"

"Indeed, the population in the county is increasing, the population in the prefecture is increasing, but the population in the imperial yellow book is not increasing. It is really a strange thing in the world." After Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, he was so angry that he laughed.

There is another case involved here. When Wang Yi'e was conducting a census of the population of Shandong, he was busy for more than a year before he finally found out the truth. He was exhausted and overwhelmed. Later, the prefect of Dongchang Prefecture was investigated and prosecuted by Hai Rui for corruption.

While questioning the prefect of Dongchang, Wang Yi'e got a yellow book from the prefect's private accountant. Only then did he realize that he had worked in vain. The prefects of various prefectures in Shandong watched their boss working in vain as if they were watching a joke.

This made Wang Yi'e almost turn into Ling Yunyi and raise the butcher knife.

These prefects knew exactly how much land and population there were in their jurisdictions, but the immortal who balanced the accounts was so magical that the land and population of a province remained stable for two hundred years.

"In fact, the governor is not responsible for labor service, the four types of silver, and the land tax is also perfunctory." Zhang Juzheng analyzed the reasons.

"The invalidation of the Fish Scale Book and the Yellow Book has actually turned the Ming Dynasty into a tax-farming system." Zhu Yijun's face looked extremely ugly. He didn't feel anything when he got the Fish Scale Book, but when he got the Yellow Book, Zhu Yijun realized that this group of literati had really turned the Ming Dynasty into a tax-farming system!

"That's still different." Zhang Juzheng corrected his majesty's statement in time. It is still far from the tax farming system. The tax farming system is an advance payment. After paying the money to the court, the tax farmer can collect money or make a profit or loss in the tax farming territory. It all depends on your own ability. To put it simply, it is robbery.

The Ming Dynasty's patinated fish scale book and yellow book still have a certain protective effect, and local officials cannot do whatever they want.

"Starting from the Southern Court, Jiangzuo and Jiangyou, we will implement the Single Whip System. First of all, we will allocate the population of each prefecture, county and city to the fields according to the Fish Scale Book and the Yellow Book. The taxes and labor service of each county and prefecture will be levied in silver based on the amount of land and the number of people. The officials will divide the money and hire laborers to pay for it." Zhu Yijun issued an imperial edict.

"Your Majesty, Zhejiang also has the conditions and foundation." Zhang Juzheng reminded His Majesty that Zhejiang was at the forefront of the new policy and the return of land was in full swing. Since it was going to be done, it would be better to do it together.

Zhu Yijun said solemnly, "Zhejiang... Sir, I think we should first sort out the issue of returning the land to the people. It is not good to trouble the common people too much. I plan to transfer Hou Yuzhao to Zhejiang. Shen Shixing is a bit too busy to handle it alone."

"Wait until Yu Zhao leaves, and then perform another whipping method."

(End of this chapter)