My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 661

In the Wuying Palace, Xia Yuanji and other cabinet ministers were reporting the floods in Henan to Zhu Zhanji.

It's an evil thing to say. Since Zhu Zhanji ascended the throne, heavy rains have continued in Henan for nearly a month. The water in the Yellow River and Ru River swelled so much that it even overflowed from the embankments, flooding a lot of farmland on both sides.

Kaifeng, Nanyang and other places were affected by the disaster. To make matters worse, the situation on the other side of the Yangtze River was not peaceful either. The river rose sharply at almost the same time, causing flooding in Xiangyang, Gucheng and other places.

"Your Majesty, there are floods in both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River. Now the disaster is getting more serious. The victims need timely rescue and epidemic prevention. After all, there will be a major epidemic after a major disaster. Please have mercy on Your Majesty and mobilize food to help the victims!"

Finally, Xia Yuanji solemnly requested Zhu Zhanji.

The heavy rain this time came strangely. Henan is inland and tilted to the north. It usually does not rain so heavily. However, this time it lasted for more than a month, and the Yangtze River area was also affected. The crops in the fields were probably affected. It's over, so disaster relief can't be delayed.

"Disaster relief is necessary. This matter should be handled by your cabinet. When the time comes, just write down the disaster relief memorial and submit it!"

Zhu Zhanji yawned and said.

It's not that he doesn't pay attention to it, but the Ming Dynasty has such a large territory. Every day there is one disaster or another disaster, so Zhu Zhanji has become accustomed to it. Anyway, now that the treasury is full, he doesn't want to go to war in the short term. He would like to save the court from a disaster. The impact is not big.

"The minister obeys the order!"

Xia Yuanji immediately saluted and then stepped aside.

At this time, Yang Rong suddenly stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, Xingzhou Fan Ji wrote a letter some time ago, saying that there is a serious shortage of military personnel in all states in the world. Do you want to send someone to check it?"

The issue of vacancies in the army that Yang Rong mentioned has been a big deal recently, mainly due to a memorial written by Fan Ji from Xingzhou.

This Fan Ji is not an ordinary person. He was once a Jinshi in the Yuan Dynasty, and later served as a prefect in the Hongwu Dynasty. Because he was implicated by others, he was demoted to Xingzhou to guard the border. He is 84 years old this year, and a few days ago he posted a message saying Some of the shortcomings of the frontier fortresses include the serious shortage of military personnel in various places.

The Ming Dynasty implemented the military household system. Once a military household was entered, it would be a military household for generations. At the beginning, the treatment of military households was not bad. At least the court allocated fields to them. However, as time went by, the fields of military households were Officers engulfed them, and even officers falsely reported the number of military households in order to receive more military pay, which was commonly known as "empty pay."

It has long been a secret in the army to pay empty wages, but this time Fan Ji's memorial made this matter obvious, especially among civil servants. It caused a great response, and many people wrote letters asking Zhu Zhanji to send someone to investigate the matter thoroughly.

But Zhu Zhanji's reaction to this matter was very strange. Although he also got angry in front of the cabinet and said that he wanted to investigate thoroughly, it has been several days and Zhu Zhanji has not made any move yet. That's why Yang Rong asked.

"This matter must be investigated, and since it needs to be investigated, let's get to the bottom of it. I am going to send a few more people to various parts of the country to investigate clearly and see what kind of mess our Ming Dynasty's army has become. ?”

Zhu Zhanji suddenly sat up straight at this time and glanced at the crowd with a burning gaze.

At this time, Zhu Zhanji swept away his previous laziness and exuded a heroic spirit unique to a young emperor.

"Your Majesty is wise. The issue of vacancies in the army is of great importance. I think that non-important ministers cannot hold the position. Why don't we let our cabinet draw up a list and then dispatch it to investigate the matter?"

When Yang Rong saw that Zhu Zhanji agreed, he immediately suggested it with great joy.

"You don't need to worry about the cabinet. I have already drawn up a list. You will send someone to notify them directly later and leave for the place immediately!"

Zhu Zhanji waved his hand, and a eunuch immediately came forward and handed Yang Rong the list Zhu Zhanji had prepared.Seeing that Zhu Zhanji had drawn up the list directly without going through the cabinet, Yang Rong and others also looked at each other, and everyone's hearts skipped a beat. Although this seemed to be a small thing, it meant that Zhu Zhan Ji was not willing to leave everything to the cabinet. Some important matters still had to be decided by Zhu Zhanji himself.

"Okay, if there is nothing else, let's stop the discussion today. Xia Shangshu will stay here for a while!"

Finally, Zhu Zhanji spoke again.

Yang Rong and others agreed and then retreated one after another, leaving Xia Yuanji alone.

"Your Majesty, I wonder why I am keeping this veteran here?"

Xia Yuanji also asked very casually. After all, he was often left alone by Zhu Zhanji to discuss matters, which also represented Zhu Zhanji's trust and reliance on him.

"I have heard Jin Yiwei mention it before about vacancies in the army, and from the intelligence collected by Jin Yiwei, I found something very interesting."

Zhu Zhanji picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip before speaking slowly.

"What did your Majesty find out?"

Xia Yuanji asked curiously.

"The army is generally stationed at the border, such as the northern border, Jiaozhi, and the coastal areas. According to the information found by Jinyiwei, many military households along the coast and Jiaozhi fled one after another, and then went to sea by boat. This matter is yours, Mr. Xia. Do you know?"

When Zhu Zhanji finished speaking, the smile on his face slowly faded.

The military households fled to the sea. As for the destination, they knew without asking. Apart from Nanyang, the only possibility was to go to Tianzhu.

"This one……"

Xia Yuanji hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded and said, "I have indeed heard about this matter. When Fan Ji submitted a letter before, I also asked someone to find out the details."

"What do you know about the situation?"

Zhu Zhanji leaned back, looked at Xia Yuanji and asked again.

"As far as I know, there is serious strife in the guard posts in various places. Officers took advantage of their power to occupy the fields of military households, and even took their children as slaves. Many military households have become tenants of the officers, and their lives are miserable. , and once they join the military, there is no possibility of deregistering in the future, so in desperation, they can only take risks and flee."

Xia Yuanji did not hide anything and told what he learned about the situation.

In fact, the military households along the coast and Jiaozhi were relatively good. At least they could escape overseas if they could not bear the oppression. However, some military households in the interior had no place to escape if they wanted to. In the end, many families were oppressed and their families were destroyed.

In fact, the military household system had huge flaws from the beginning. It was not obvious at the beginning, but as time went by, the shortcomings of the military household system became more and more obvious. The most intuitive manifestation is the sharp decline in the combat strength of the Ming army.

To give the most obvious example, when the Japanese pirates were so harmful, in addition to objective reasons, the most important reason was that the southern garrison of the Ming Dynasty had begun to deteriorate. There were so many guard posts along the coast, but even a small group of Japanese pirates could not do anything.

(End of this chapter)