Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 287 Daxing Education

"This year, there are tax exemptions all over the country. In addition, Jiangnan has used banknotes to offset taxes. The Ministry of Household Affairs has collected only more than 7,264,000 shi of land tax and 12,467,000 shi of army grain. The remaining stones total 19,732,400 stones..."

On the fifth day of winter in the thirty-third year of Hongwu, when the chief envoys and governors' Yamen of various places presented the land tax and military garrison documents, the financial situation of the Ming Dynasty was also exposed to Zhu Di.

Looking at the amount of documents in his hand, Zhu Di frowned and looked at Yu Xin, Xia Yuanji, Huang Fu, Li Zhigang and others who came to report.

"How much subsidy does the treasury need to support the government until next year to collect taxes?"

"About more than 28 million stones and more than 4 million strings." Yu Xin came prepared, so he answered subconsciously.

Hearing what Yu Xin said, Zhu Di felt a little sad and couldn't help but ask: "After the subsidies, how much food is left in the treasury?"

"About 16 million dan and 2.46 million guan." While responding, Yu Xin did not forget to say: "This is the sum total of the income of the inspection officials at the East Palace."

"If the imperial court continues to spend like this next year, it will probably spend more than four million dan more. The treasury left by Emperor Gao will be enough to last for four years at most."

Zhu Gaoxu has slowed down, but the Ming Dynasty exempted half of the world's taxes this year, and Shandong and Peking were exempted from taxes for the whole year, so the expenditure seemed very large.

The old bottom that could last for five years can now only last for four years.

"Is there any reply from the East Palace?"

Zhu Di remembered that Zhu Gaoxu had said that he could get a lot of money and food by going to Japan, so he asked Yu Xin and others.

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince went to the Longjiang Shipyard today and said that in May next year, the fleet to the East will be able to set off to establish tribute trade."

"That's only half a year." Zhu Di felt relieved when he heard the time.

If the money and food matters in the treasury are not handled well, then his construction of Beijing, analysis of Luchuan, and northern expedition to Mongolia will all be delayed.

However, if the voyage to the East fails to bring back enough profits, then I am afraid that people above the temple will attack in groups, and I will have to support my second son.

"I understand, is there anything else?"

Zhu Di responded to everyone. Among them, Huang Fu, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, also stepped forward after hearing the words: "Your Majesty, I have gone to Songjiang Mansion to investigate the situation."

"If we want to dredge the Wusong River and Huangpu River, we will mobilize no less than 200,000 manpower and spend no less than one million in money and food."

"What should be spent should be spent." Faced with Huang Fu's concerns, Zhu Di finalized the sorting out of Wusong's flood problem in one sentence.

Seeing this, all the ministers bowed in return and then left the Wuying Hall.

After they left, the memorials from the East Palace were also sent over, folded into a thick pile, with hundreds of copies.

Looking at these memorials, Zhu Di couldn't help but take a breath: "Did the second brother handle this last night?"

"Your Majesty, we took care of it last night." Yi Shiha responded. Upon hearing this, Zhu Di consoled him:

"When you get back, tell the second child not to work too hard."

"Your servant accepts the order..." Yi Shiha agreed, and then exited the Wuying Hall.

But while Zhu Di was concerned about Zhu Gaoxu, Zhu Gaoxu, who was still energetic, went to the Longjiang Shipyard to watch the launch of the big ship.

"Open the gate and release the water!"

In the Longjiang Shipyard, when the sound of water being released came, the sluices at a height of a person were opened, and the river water began to pour into the shipyard.

There were people around the dock, and Zhu Gaoxu was one of them, but his eyes always stayed on the big ship in front of him.

This large ship has a length of 18 feet and 4 feet, a width of 3 feet and 2 feet, a waterline of 14 feet and 7 feet, a draft of 15 feet and a main mast of 12 feet high. It uses 5,000 materials and more than 2,600 workers. There are seventy-two naval guns, ranging in weight from three thousand kilograms to one thousand kilograms.

The ship has a crew of 524 people and can carry 3,000 stone when full.

A total of twenty such ships have been launched in Longjiang Shipyard today, so there was an endless stream of cheers, from near to far.

"Get up, get up!"

"Check for any leaks!"

“Check for leaks!!”

"There is no leakage in Dock No. 1!"

"No. 2 has no leaks!"

"No. 3..."

In the twenty docks, almost the same order was issued, and all the boatmen responsible for launching began to inspect intensively.

Good news began to come. There was no leakage from Dock No. 1 to Dock No. 9. It was not until Dock No. 10 that a little trace of leakage was discovered, but the problem was not serious.

Further back, although some ships did leak, they were minor problems.

As the dock filled with river water, warships with five thousand materials began to sail out of the waterway from the dock and headed towards the Yangtze River, pulled by draft horses.

Zhu Gaoxu led everyone to follow the warships out of the dock and watched them slowly enter the Yangtze River Basin.

Soon, the hard sails were deployed, and twenty warships began to sail in the Yangtze River under the operation of experienced launch boatmen.

Soon, both sides of the Yangtze River were crowded with people.

As the first shipyard in Ming Dynasty, Longjiang Shipyard always attracts people's attention and excitement whenever a large ship is launched.

The ships coming out of Longjiang Shipyard are all amazing and shocking, whether it is the various innovative technologies in the construction process or the solemnity and blessings at the launching ceremony.

This warship can be said to be a representative of the highest craftsmanship of Ming Dynasty shipbuilding.

Whenever these warships with five thousand materials pass by some horse ships with one or two thousand materials, the impact of the contrast in size makes people's blood boil.

"It's done! It's finally done!"

Shipman Wang, the director of Longjiang Shipyard, shouted excitedly, and at the same time he did not forget to bow to Zhu Gaoxu: "Your Highness, these ships are finished!"

From July to the winter months, for five months, Longjiang Shipyard consumed a lot of inventory of shipping materials and experienced many failures. Finally, it successfully launched a batch of large ships with 5,000 materials before the twelfth lunar month.

But if we say happy, the happiest person should be Zhu Gaoxu.

Although he knew that Zheng He's shipbuilding skills during his voyages to the West were very superb, the length of Captain Bao in historical data was shocking, and he himself did not know what the actual situation was.

But for him, five thousand warships were enough for the Ming Navy to sail across the ocean.

You know, even if Columbus made his maiden voyage more than ninety years later, the flagship of the American fleet, the Santa Maria, only cost more than 500 materials.

In comparison, nearly ten times the Ming Dynasty's 5,000-material warship could sink the Santa Maria even in a simple collision.

"In the future, all warships with more than 5,000 materials will be collectively called treasure ships!"

Amidst the cheers, Zhu Gaoxu explained loudly to Shipman Wang next to him, and he was not satisfied yet: "Our ship can be bigger, five thousand materials is just the beginning, there will be six thousand and seven thousand materials in the future. It doesn’t stop until the wood can’t bear it anymore.”

"Yes! Yes! I accept the order!" Upon hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, Wang Shipeng also responded very excitedly.

Under their joint gaze, the twenty treasure ships galloped along the Yangtze River for an hour before returning to the Longjiang Pier not far away.

After waiting for a long time, Tang Qi brought the status of each ship back to the shipyard. After reading it, Shipman Wang also gave the results of this evaluation.

"Except for two treasure ships that failed, the other eighteen ships all passed!"

"Okay!" Zhu Gaoxu was happy and waved his hand directly: "Every boatman who participates in the construction of this treasure ship will be rewarded with ten guan each, and the dock captain will each be rewarded with 20 guan!"

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness!!"

Upon learning of Zhu Gaoxu's generous reward, a large number of boatmen began to kneel down to express their gratitude. Zhu Gaoxu helped boatman Wang up who wanted to kneel down, patted him on the shoulder directly and said:

"All the shipping materials that Longjiang Shipyard lacks can be obtained from Dingliao and Jinzhou Shipyards."

"In addition, for craftsmen involved in the construction of treasure ships, if they are willing to settle in Jinzhou and Dingliao Shipyard, their salary will be doubled!"

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Boatman Wang bowed excitedly, but Zhu Gaoxu stopped him again:

"The navy will sail to the East in May next year. Counting this batch, I need you to build fifty treasure ships and sixty horse ships with more than 5,000 materials before sailing to the East."

"Although the horse ships are mainly used to transport supplies, they must also be equipped with at least 24 naval guns."

"The entire Jiangnan, including the official shipyards in Dingliao and Jinzhou in the north, are at your disposal."

"I accept the instruction!" Wang Shipengong responded, and Zhu Gaoxu also turned back to look at Zheng He beside him.

"Transfer 500,000 yuan to the king for the boss's use."

"Slave, take the instruction!" Zheng He was no less excited than Zhu Gaoxu. You must know that he is the person in charge of the voyage to the East. Once the voyage to the East is successful, the subsequent voyages to the West will also be handed over to him.

Fifty treasure ships and sixty horse ships require at least 20,000 people to operate them to sail on the sea.

With a navy of 20,000 people, except for the Yuan Dynasty's expedition to Java, there has never been such a large-scale naval voyage in ancient times.

As long as he does this well, he can leave his name in history as a eunuch.

"Continue to launch it into the water for a few days, and after confirming that there are no problems, it will be delivered to the Navy Governor's Mansion immediately."

"Yes! I understand..."

Seeing that the launch was successful, Zhu Gaoxu did not stay in the shipyard for long. He just told Shipman Wang and left the Longjiang Shipyard with Zheng He and his troops.

It wasn't until they were two miles away that the cheers from the direction of Longjiang Shipyard became quieter.

"Your Highness's actions today will probably go down in history."

Zheng He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he praised Zhu Gaoxu's actions today.

In this regard, Zhu Gaoxu said modestly: "The matter has not been completed yet. It is too early to say this now."

"You don't have to be busy in the East Palace for the next six months. You will spend more time studying at the Navy Governor's Mansion, and wait for the favorable wind to sail to the East in May next year."

"I will teach you." Zheng He smiled and bowed in response. Zhu Gaoxu also suppressed the smile on his face and started processing the memorials on the carriage.

After entering the capital from Jiangdong Gate, he began to look outside the carriage from time to time. What he could see were many people buying new clothes.

Zhu Dixie's move to waive half of the taxes gave the people more spare money, so they bought new clothes and new farm tools.

Looking at the people wearing new clothes, Zhu Gaoxu breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is there any statistics on Yingtianfu's average yield per mu this year?"

Zhu Gaoxu specially sent officials to count the yields per mu in various provinces and prefectures, so when he asked, Yi Shiha said without hesitation: "The real grain yield per mu in Yingtian is about two stones and two buckets."

"Two stones and two buckets, how rich you are..."

Perhaps he was used to seeing nine or seven bushels of grain in Bohai and Liaodong, so when he heard that Yingtian's grain yield was two stones and two bushels per mu, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but feel a little envious.

If the yield per mu in the world could be that high, then the world would be worry-free. In today's Ming Dynasty, even the number of acres of land and population in the world cannot be clearly calculated.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu thought of the nursery fields in Bohai Sea.

Now there are many trees in the Bohai Sea, coal mining is relatively convenient, and nursery fields can continue to be maintained and promoted.

But once too many trees are cut down in the future and the cost of cultivating nursery fields increases, it will be difficult for people to continue cultivating rice.

Cultivating crops adapted to the Northeast climate is what he should focus on.

But in this era, it is not that easy to cultivate cold-resistant crops.

"If you go to Japan, remember to search for some cold-resistant crops from the north of Japan."

Zhu Gaoxu did not forget to tell Zheng He, and Zheng He also nodded and took note of it.

From the time he was selected as the person in charge of going to the East, Zhu Gaoxu had been telling him about the conditions of crops and animals in various places.

Not only that, he has also seen the "General Map of the Four Barbarians in the World". It can be said that he has never seen such an accurate and vast map.

Although Zheng He didn't know how his Highness knew the situation in all parts of the world, he chose to trust him.

"Although you have a map, you can't take it lightly."

Looking at Zheng He, Zhu Gaoxu took the trouble to explain: "Having a map can facilitate many things, but the hydrology of the ocean requires you to explore and study it yourself."

"There are seven continents and four oceans in the world, but when broken down, it can be divided into the Western Pacific Ocean, the Northern Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, the Eastern Little Western Ocean (Indian Ocean), the Western Little Western Ocean, the North Atlantic Ocean, the South Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean."

"These oceans are different, and their hydrology is also different. The Arctic Ocean is not within the scope of your future exploration, but if it is feasible, you still have to explore the other oceans."

"Drawing horses from Western Europe (Europe), crops from Northern Europe (North America) and Eastern Europe (South America), and southern continent (Australia)..."

Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth little by little. In his "General Map of the Four Barbarians in the World", the world is divided into seven continents, and the oceans are divided into the Great Ming Ocean, the Little Western Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Arctic Ocean.

The Ming Dynasty is located in Zhongzhou, Europe is located in Western Continent, North America and South America correspond to Northern Continent and Eastern Continent, Australia corresponds to Southern Continent, Africa corresponds to Kunlun Continent, and Antarctica is directly called Antarctica.

Regarding the origin of the map, Zhu Gaoxu only said that it was drawn based on the pre-Qin map and the map left by Du Huan of the Tang Dynasty, as well as the navigation maps of the two Song Dynasties.

Facing his words, not many people expressed doubts. After all, Zhu Gaoxu had too many resources at his disposal. As far as the "Ancient and Modern Classics Library" in the Ming Dynasty Palace City was concerned, apart from Zhu Di, he was the only one who could read all the books. All other officials There is no such qualification.

It is impossible for Zhu Di to read all the books in the "Ancient and Modern Classics Library", so no one can expose his lie.

As long as he used careful thought when compiling the "Yongle Dadian" in the future, the Ming Dynasty could create Chinese sovereignty over the Americas and Australia.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu told Zheng He almost everything he knew about the continents and ocean currents. Zheng He also wrote down everything and prepared to write it down with a pen after returning to the palace city.

"The voyage to the West will never end in one trip, so I will definitely sail to the West many times in the future. And every time I go to the West and East, if I need to bring back something, I will give you a manual. You can search according to the manual. ."

"I will teach you this slave..."

After saying the last sentence, the carriage the two of them took returned to Miyagi City and stopped at the entrance of the East Palace.

"Then this slave is going to the Navy Commander's Mansion first?"

Zheng He helped Zhu Gaoxu out of the carriage and asked carefully.

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu nodding, he let go of his hand and drove to the Navy Governor's Mansion.

After bidding him farewell, Zhu Gaoxu also returned to the East Palace and saw Yi Shiha from a distance.

"Your Highness, the tax documents from the Ministry of Revenue have been handed in."

"Okay, I'll go see it now." In response to Xia Yishiha's words, Zhu Gaoxu walked into the Chunhe Hall.

But he not only saw the manuscripts, but also the mountains of memorials.

There was no complaint. After sitting back, Zhu Gaoxu began to flip through the books of the Ministry of Revenue.

From money and grain, to acres of land, to population, I have to say that because of his own fooling around, Daming's paper data has been improved.

Mingming's Jingnan War lasted for a year, but the population of Ming Dynasty increased to 62.47 million, and the cultivated land also increased to more than 416 million acres.

As for taxes, if we follow the normal rules and do not encounter tax exemptions, Shandong, Liaodong and other places that have undergone Zhu Gaoxu's restructuring can contribute more money and grain than before the restructuring, but these money and grain will still have to be invested in the construction of Liaodong.

"Next year, the gap in Liaodong will be 6 million shi, Shandong will retain 2 million shi, and ship 4 million shi."

"In addition, Peiping also took the overland route of 2 million shi to Liaodong."

Zhu Gaoxu explained something, and Yishiha heard the words and said: "Your Highness, the teaching salary in Liaodong needs to be added."

"Based on the number of teachers and salaries in Liaodong and Bohai, we need to pay a salary of 600,000 stone."

The amount of 600,000 shi gave Zhu Gaoxu a headache, so he made an adjustment: "Lumi only pays out 12 shi every year, and the remaining ten shi are converted into four guans of money."

"My slave, please teach me." Yi Shiha agreed and asked the eunuch on duty in the East Palace behind him to take notes while he explained other matters.

"Jilin hospitals have graduated 377 people this year. Are these people going to be classified as military doctors?"

Yi Shiha reminded Zhu Gaoxu that his hospital in Jilin Lane had also begun to graduate students. Although the number was not large, they added up.

"Split Jilin Hospital into three hospitals, one each in Jilin, Shenyang, and Liaoyang, and the original teachers will lead the expansion of the 377 people who graduated."

The hospitals in Bohai focus on surgery and pediatrics. After all, the places where the Ming Dynasty needs the most doctors are the military and midwifery.

Since the establishment of Bohai Hospital, the mortality rate outside the customs has dropped sharply. In this era when there is no concept of sterility, alcohol disinfection and various methods of dealing with infections such as colds, flu, plague, etc. can be said to be very advanced.

It is very important for parents to wear masks and disinfect their newborn babies.

As long as the baby survives one or two months, it will be very safe to go home, and even if the baby is infected, the hospital can treat it as long as it is not congenital.

The efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine is naturally not as good as that of modern medicine, but it is already very advanced in this era.

If a microscope can be developed to study the ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine, and then an early version of traditional Chinese medicine can be developed, then the medicine of the Ming Dynasty can also reach a new level.

Of course, compared with this, Zhu Gaoxu has to focus on education.

The five-year education in Bohai actually cultivated students whose knowledge reserve was similar to that of primary school students in later generations, and even worse in some aspects. After all, Zhu Gaoxu was not proficient in every subject.

Five years of education had almost wiped out his foundation. After graduating from college, he didn't read any books at all.

If subjects such as geology and geography were not related to his work, he would not even be able to remember where in the world the minerals are famous.

The job content that he originally hated has now become his ability to lead the world.

"I should have known better to study science..."

While reviewing the memorial, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but lament that he had not been able to bring anything more to this era.

Even so, as long as his five years of education can be promoted, Ming Dynasty's basic mathematics, physics, geology, and astronomy can all be improved.

No matter how playful Zhu Gaoxu is, he still remembers the eight planets in the solar system, eclipses of the sun and moon, the seven continents and four oceans, as well as small things like cells and viruses.

Without him, this knowledge would have taken hundreds of years to be summarized, but now his "Five Years Education" directly solves most problems.

With this foundation and the encouragement from the imperial court, Zhu Gaoxu did not believe that the Ming Dynasty could not produce new theoretical knowledge.

But before that, he still had to promote education in Liaodong and Shandong.

The population of these two places has reached nearly 7 million. As long as education can be popularized in these two places, it will mean that nearly one million households will be freed from illiteracy, because there are already educated people in their families.

As long as there is such a person, the whole family will undergo great changes.

"Schools in Shandong can start accepting enrollment early next year and start enrolling students in February of the first year of Yongle."

"Look at what problems the court will encounter if the school starts running at this time."

Zhu Gaoxu stopped writing and gave the time when Shandong began to popularize education.

He rubbed his brows, and upon hearing this, Yi Shiha hesitated and said, "The biggest problems are still the issues of education and money and food."

"Shandong has a population of more than 5 million. Even if only 500,000 students sign up, the imperial court must prepare at least 50,000 students to teach in order to ensure that the number of students in each school is controlled at around 50."

"My slave has calculated that even if 20,000 students graduate from Bohai next year, there will still be vacancies of 30,000 teachers. However, the prefecture, prefecture, county, health and other schools under Shandong only have more than 1,600 teachers."

"It will be difficult to fill the gap in running schools in Shandong next year, unless it is postponed to the fourth year of Yongle and waits for the students from Liaodong to graduate..."

"In addition, if you want to support 50,000 teachers, then follow the salary distribution rules you just set..."

As he spoke, Yi Shiha began to calculate the abacus, and soon continued: "The annual expenditure is 200,000 guan, and the food is 600,000 dan. This is not a small amount."

"If we also add the students' textbook fees, pen and ink fees, and school lunch fees, then Shandong's academic administration spends no less than 300,000 gu each year, and 2 million shi on food, which is equivalent to 40% of Shandong's taxes."

After Yi Shiha finished speaking, he looked at Zhu Gaoxu anxiously. Based on his previous understanding of Zhu Gaoxu, Zhu Gaoxu would definitely continue to do it.

But if we really force Shandong to run schools, Ming's financial gap will only get bigger and bigger.

But something happened that he didn't expect, that is, Zhu Gaoxu actually nodded calmly:

"It is true that comprehensive enrollment cannot be carried out. In this case, next year's enrollment will be limited to those over ten years old and under sixteen years old."

"In addition, as long as you participate in the registration, it doesn't matter if you get older. Registration in Shandong lasts for two years, and the start of school will be postponed to the first month of the third year of Yongle."

"Schools must be run, but they must not put greater pressure on the local area, let alone let the quality decline."

"If you adjust like this, how many Shandong students do you estimate will enroll?"

Zhu Gaoxu slowed down his pace. He had to do something, but he was not as hurried and anxious as before.

"About three hundred thousand, and if that's the case, there will be no problem with teaching, and the money and food requirements can be reduced by half."

Yishiha breathed a sigh of relief and added: "However, the school recruits students every year, and the number of subsequent students should maintain an annual growth of less than 50,000."

"Follow-up matters will be discussed after the policy is promulgated and the follow-up situation will be discussed. You can go and do your work." Zhu Gaoxu interrupted Yi Shiha.

Hearing this, Yi Shiha immediately returned the greeting and left the Wuying Hall.

But when he left Wuying Hall, he couldn't help but look back at Zhu Gaoxu, who was sitting in his seat handling government affairs.

Now the feeling Zhu Gaoxu gave him seemed to be back to before.

　"Records of Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty": "On the 10th day of the 10th month of the 33rd year of Hongwu, the prince was ordered to set up a school in Liaodong. The prince ordered the official school to say: "If you are not a scholar above the age of ten, your father and brother will be punished."

　　

　

(End of this chapter)