Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 558 Harmony with light
"boom!"

"boom!"

In early April, when the sound of hammers hitting rails continued in Taiping Prefecture south of Nanjing, looking down from the sky, thousands of people were working hard with their shirts off.

They had smiles on their faces, some were carrying gravel to the front and laying it, while others were fixing the rails and laying sleepers.

They talked and laughed while they worked, and it seemed that everyone had a future to look forward to.

“Why are there so many old people in this place?”

With his hands behind his back, Yu Qian looked at the construction site in front of him with a frown, very dissatisfied.

In response to his inquiry, the person in charge of the construction site immediately bowed and said, "Sir, this is the imperial decree. If people under the age of 55 or over the age of 16 want to apply, all places will allow them to do so."

"Ridiculous..." Upon hearing this, Yu Qian interrupted bluntly and shook his head.

The chief officer next to him did not dare to respond to his words. Instead, a county official standing next to him bowed to Yu Qian and said:
"Yu Jingli, the court is doing this for the good of the people."

"The wages here are much higher than what merchants pay for workers. Although people over 45 are considered old, it is precisely because of this that merchants will not hire these people."

"These people have no one to hire them, and their families don't have enough land. If the court doesn't adjust its policies to accept them, where will they find a source of income?"

The official's words made Yu Qian turn around and look sideways: "What's your name?"

"I am Li Xian, the magistrate of Taiping Prefecture..." The young official bowed respectfully in return. Seeing this, Yu Qian nodded:

"You are right. I am obsessed with appearances."

Li Xian was surprised that Yu Qian could correct his thinking, but he did not think there was anything wrong with what Yu Qian said before.

Hiring people over fifty to work in the Ming Dynasty was equivalent to hiring people over seventy to work in later generations.

Even if it is done with good intentions, public opinion may not necessarily favor the kind-hearted person.

Li Xian always thought that the court's employment policy was a good policy, but many older officials did not think so, especially those in the Jiangnan officialdom.

Jiangnan was one of the last places to accept the New Deal reforms. Therefore, when people like Li Xian had already accepted the New Deal and new learning in Henan, students in Jiangnan were still learning the traditional Four Books and Five Classics and arithmetic.

Zhu Gaoxu continued to purge the bureaucracy in order to allow new ideas to take hold in the mainstream.

Only new thinking can deal with the new things that come next.

"How is the 50-cent daily wage settled at this construction site?"

Yu Qian had seen too many corrupt officials who took kickbacks, so he asked this official who impressed him.

"The lower officials will give it to the supervisor, the supervisor will give it to the supervisor, and the supervisor will give it to the workers."

Li Xian answered respectfully, but Yu Qian frowned and said, "Are you not afraid of being exploited in the middle of the journey?"

Yu Qian asked this question because many construction sites in the Ming Dynasty had previously settled wages in this way, but there were countless people who exploited others.

To the extent that even now, the daily settlement of most government-run construction sites is based on long queues, supervision by the county magistrate, and payment by the person in charge and the supervisor. Although it takes half an hour just to pay the wages every day, with the supervision of the county magistrate, exploitation is not likely to occur.

However, in response to his question, Li Xian bowed and said: "So-called exploitation has little to do with whether the county magistrate supervises. It mainly depends on the selection and employment of people."

"If only honest people are selected, then the wages will be what they deserve, and not a penny less will go into the hands of the workers."

"If those elected are those who forget their principles for the sake of profit, then even if there is supervision by the county magistrate, there will still be the expected exploitation."

Li Xian's words had a special meaning. Yu Qian nodded and said, "It seems that you are very confident in the person you chose."

"Indeed, I have carefully selected them. How can I not believe it?" Li Xian responded with a bow.

Seeing this, Yu Qian didn't say much, but just walked around the construction site.

During this time, he also saw some strong women working, a scene rarely seen in other places.

However, Yu Qian did not raise any further questions about this, because healthy women also need to earn money to support their families.

After several inspections, he wrote down Li Xian's name and then rode to other factories in Taiping Prefecture.

While he was investigating the people's sentiments in Jiangnan, the Ming Dynasty's westward movement was also in full swing.

On the sixth day of April, Zhu Di, under the supervision of Zhu Gaoxu, took Xia Yuanji and Zhu Qiyue to Hami.

At the same time, as the weather warms up in spring, trains are carrying truckloads of supplies to Hami in the northwest.

At some unknown time, Ganzhou and Suzhou suddenly assembled tens of thousands of cavalry and tens of thousands of laborers who came from Guanzhong to work.

The laborers wore a mandarin duck battle jacket and a breastplate on top, thus completing the transformation from laborers to auxiliary soldiers.

"Good man! Good man! Good man... serve your country now!"

Outside Suzhou City, teams of auxiliary soldiers are undergoing physical training.

The reason why they worked so hard was not only for the daily wage of fifty cents, but more for the work the court promised them.

"Everyone, run in line. Anyone who passes the selection and becomes an auxiliary soldier can be a soldier or a government servant in the future!"

"You all know what this means without me telling you."

"If you want to live a good life, just focus on training!"

On horseback, a young general angrily scolded this group of auxiliary soldiers who were just ordinary civilians two months ago.

The auxiliary troops were very long, and nearly 40,000 of them almost surrounded Suzhou City.

Standing on the top of the city wall, the 63-year-old Zhu Neng stroked his short beard and said with a smile: "Although Xu Tao's name has the character Wen Tao, his temper is exactly the same as that of Changchun Hou (Xu Sheng)."

"Indeed." The 54-year-old Chen Mao smiled heartily. After all, the scene of Xu Sheng and Chen Chang fighting with the civil servants in the Wuying Palace Square was still vivid in his mind.

They did not find it strange that Xu Tao was so strict in training the auxiliary soldiers. Instead, they were happy to see it happen.

"Your Majesty probably intends to station these 40,000 auxiliary troops there after conquering the Western Regions."

"As for the remaining 110,000 auxiliary troops, they will most likely be sent back to their hometowns after the war, or asked to be resettled locally."

Zhu Neng had a sharp eye. He knew very well that if he only wanted to recruit auxiliary troops, there was no need to deliberately pick out 40,000 young and strong men for high-intensity training and promise to give them jobs as yamen runners, soldiers and cavalrymen after the war.

The salary of soldiers and yamen runners was 15 strings of cash per year. If they lived in remote areas, they would receive an additional subsidy of about 3 strings of cash, which added up to 18 strings of cash.

Although working for the court could earn 18 strings of cash a year, the problem was that construction sites were not available everywhere, while jobs like yamen runners and military personnel could last for a long time.

According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, one could only be dismissed when he was at least 50 years old, and the normal consumption of a family of five was only 12 or 13 strings of cash a year.

If you can work hard for twenty or thirty years, it should not be a big problem to save one or two hundred strings of cash and buy twenty or thirty acres of land.

For some ordinary people who do not have lofty ambitions, the government office is always the most stable job.

"Forty thousand people, this would cost at least 800,000 strings of cash. I don't know if the Western Regions can produce 800,000 strings of cash in taxes..."

Zhu Neng sighed a few times, and Chen Mao also looked at the scenery outside Suzhou City.

"I remember that thirty years ago, there were only a few thousand households in Suzhou City, but now there are nearly 70,000 people in the city alone. The speed of development is really fast..."

Chen Mao sighed as he looked towards the city. The streets in the city were made of stone bricks, and the houses were built of concrete and stone bricks. The streets were clean and tidy, and there were even trees on the sidewalks for greening.

People were busy walking through the streets. With the arrival of tens of thousands of auxiliary troops, the local economy was developing rapidly and vendors had no worries about having things to sell.

Such a scene would be hard to see even in Guanzhong during the Hongwu period. One had to go to Jiangnan, Huguang and other places to see it.

Today, such scenes are everywhere. Among the more than 1,900 counties in the Ming Dynasty, more than 80% of the counties are as developed as Suzhou.

The remaining 20% ​​are either overseas or in the southwest where the policy of aboriginal rule has just been completed.

Compared with Chen Mao who looked inside the city, Zhu Neng mainly looked outside the city.

The snow water flowing down from the Qilian Mountains was diverted into the underground karez through canals and artificial rivers built by the imperial court in Gansu, and then flowed to the wells in the irrigation area.

Since the Imperial College developed a hand-operated well pump in the 13th year of Hongxi, even if there is no pump, people can now use manpower to manually extract well water and flow it into irrigation canals.

This type of hand-operated well pump is larger than the hand-operated well pumps used in some later houses to pump water from the wells, and requires two people to operate.

The amount of water flowing out is not large, so it takes a quarter of an hour to fill the canal with water and irrigate four or five acres of farmland.

Although it is not very efficient, its cost is much cheaper than a water pump, and its efficiency is several times that of manual water carrying for irrigation, making it more suitable for popularization.

Because of this, there are several hand-operated well pumps standing beside the country road canals in the vast farmland areas outside.

Looking further into the distance, patches of planted and protected forests block the sandstorms for Suzhou City. This is the change that the Ming Dynasty has brought to the northwest over the past thirty years.

Similar scenes can be seen everywhere in towns and cities across the Northwest.

Technology has increased regional productivity, making places that were previously uninhabitable due to lower world temperatures and the eastward shift of the precipitation line habitable, and places that were difficult to cultivate easy to cultivate.

Suzhou, which once had scarce arable land, now has more than 600,000 acres of arable land scattered across the city.

Of course, having arable land alone is not enough. Even if there is enough water to irrigate the arable land, the output of the arable land still remains at around 100 kilograms per mu.

However, with the use of phosphate fertilizer and soil fertilizer produced from sulfuric acid and phosphate rock, the local yield per mu has been raised to between 120 and 130 kilograms per mu.

In the past, five acres of land were needed to feed one person, but now only four acres are enough. This is the change brought about by the increase in productivity.

Of course, since phosphate fertilizer is expensive, its current promotion depends entirely on the court paying out of its own pocket to subsidize farmers, so it cannot be promoted throughout the world. It can only be promoted urgently in some places where food is urgently needed, or promoted in places with high output and then transported to areas with food shortages.

Steam engines, fertilizers, cement...

These three products have changed the environment of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Gaoxu supported the northerners to focus on industry in order to prepare for the future Little Ice Age. "The cost of phosphate fertilizer has now been reduced to 80 wen per 100 jin."

"At this cost, the imperial court only needs to subsidize 20 wen, which is enough for the people to buy phosphate fertilizer and take it home to engage in production."

Inside the Wuying Hall, Zhu Zhanhe was sitting in the main seat reading memorials, while standing inside the hall was the Minister of Revenue Wang Hui.

Wang Hui was reporting on the future industrial layout of the Ming Dynasty in the north, and was also reporting on the achievements made in the past few months.

Zhu Zhanhe looked at the contents of the memorial. He did not have the ability to predict the future like his father, but he knew that haste makes waste, so he did not urge the implementation of the three new policies that were currently being implemented. Instead, he told them not to rush but to pay attention to details.

"You can handle the phosphate fertilizer issue as you wish. As for industrial issues, don't worry too much."

"Your Majesty said before he rested that haste makes waste."

"Transforming agriculture into industry is unprecedented in history. We are the first group to do so, so don't be too hasty and move forward step by step."

"Slow down, so that when you find a problem, you can solve it and move forward."

"Also, tell the officials below that if there are any mistakes, as long as they are reported, they will not be recorded in the merit book. If they are not reported and the merit office finds out, don't blame me for being unkind."

When Zhu Gaoxu was alive, Zhu Zhanhe seemed like a man without his own opinions. However, after Zhu Gaoxu went to the Qianqing Palace to rest and compile books, Zhu Zhanhe became much more opinionated.

"Thank you for your understanding, Your Highness..."

Wang Hui didn't know how to evaluate the emperor in front of him. He did not have the great talent and strategy of the previous emperors, but he was patient enough, did things calmly and never rushed his subjects.

From this point of view alone, he is definitely the most considerate of his subjects among the current generations of emperors of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, Zhu Zhanhe would also show his majesty when necessary. For example, he would never tolerate some red lines of corruption.

"Is there anything else you want to say?"

Zhu Zhanhe asked Wang Hui, and Wang Hui came to his senses and bowed in return: "No more, I'll take my leave."

"Well, go down." Zhu Zhanhe focused his attention on the memorial in front of him.

Wang Hui withdrew from the Wuying Hall, and outside the hall were the ministers led by Yang Rong and Yang Pu.

Except for standing on the emperor's side at critical moments, Chen Chang and Xue Xuan basically handled memorials normally from nine to five and did not participate in any party struggles.

Over the past year, the fighting among the three factions has never stopped. If the three factions were not busy with the economic transformation of their respective regions, they would have probably started a fight like the Three Yangs versus Ji Gang.

After glancing at Yang Rong and the others, Wang Hui collected his thoughts and walked out.

Shortly after walking out of Wuying Hall, he saw Xu Shuo walking into the square as soon as he walked down the steps.

Their eyes met, and they walked forward and bowed as usual.

"I heard that the southwest is seeing a lot of railway construction and the war against Burma is also going on with success. If the issues with the Burmese Xuanwei Office, Babai Dadian, and Dagula are resolved, the southwest may be able to move to a higher level."

Wang Hui took the initiative to speak, but Xu Shuo frowned slightly, and then said: "We are all working for the court. If the southwest can produce something, the north will also benefit."

"Of course." Wang Hui nodded in agreement and said:

"The court allocated 20 million guan to the north, and 10 million guan each to the southwest and south of the Yangtze River."

"With the three wars in the southwest, northwest, and Southeast Asia, the national treasury is left with less than 40 million guan."

"Among these, there are nearly 30 million strings of national debts owed by the people."

"To be honest, being in such a high position, I am the one who most hopes that your new policies will be effective."

Wang Hui was not lying. He had read the memorials of Xu Shuo and Yang Shiqi. If his own memorial was included, the total investment in the economic transformation represented by the three memorials would reach 96 million guan.

Given the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, if the treasury had no money, it would take more than ten years to save up that much money and grain.

"Wei Zhong, I also know about the Ministry of Revenue. You transported coal from the north to the south and grain from the south to the north. This resale has increased the court's revenue by millions of strings of cash. I don't believe that you are not confident in dealing with the national debt in a few years."

Xu Shuo spoke frankly, and Wang Hui just smiled and did not refute. Instead, he stretched out his hand and motioned Xu Shuo to walk with him.

Xu Shuo frowned. He didn't want to walk with him, but he followed him anyway.

The two of them wandered side by side in the Wuying Palace Square, and Wang Hui said bluntly: "The Southwest and the North are originally one. The North wants the market in the Central Plains, while the Southwest pursues huge profits overseas. There is no conflict between the two."

"On the contrary, it's Jiangnan. They want both the market in the Middle Kingdom and the huge profits overseas. This is what you and I need to be wary of."

"In the final analysis, why did the Gengxu case happen in Jiangnan, and why did the Jiangnan Lixing case continue to occur? The reason is nothing more than that the population of Jiangnan is dense, accounting for nearly half of the population of the country."

The Jiangnan mentioned by Wang Hui already included Huguang, Fujian, Guangdong and other places.

Xu Shuo could not deny this, but he continued: "Normal competition is fine."

"Normal competition..." Wang Hui smiled. Although he didn't say anything, his words were full of sarcasm.

"Do you still want to stir up party disputes?" Xu Shuo frowned. He was a person who did not like party disputes.

As an official and old friend, he was very impressed by Wang Hui's methods.

However, he was particularly disgusted with Wang Hui's two attempts at factional strife against Jiangnan.

He is a fair man and rarely takes shortcuts.

If he was willing to take shortcuts, he could have bribed the Yan-Li Party immediately after his term in Sichuan ended in exchange for the opportunity to be promoted to Beijing, but he did not.

He chose to go to Guizhou, Guangxi and Yunnan, gradually accumulated merits and went to Beijing, where he formed his own team.

"Party struggles are for resources, and resources in Jiangnan are already abundant. The so-called equality is actually inequality."

Wang Hui was frank about his factional strife. If it were the Three Yangs, they would definitely not admit it, because gentlemen do not form factions.

"The imperial court withheld 30% of the money from the local government, and 70% was transported to the imperial court."

"The taxes in Jiangnan are much higher than those in the southwest and northwest. If they work together, the north and southwest will definitely not be their opponents. This is why Your Majesty is suppressing the factions in Jiangnan."

"According to the concept formed over thousands of years, as long as merchants rise, they will inevitably seek political representatives. You should know this better than me..."

Wang Hui reminded Xu Shuo meaningfully, and Xu Shuo's face darkened. He knew that Wang Hui knew about his affairs with merchants in the southwest, but he was only slightly surprised and quickly adjusted his attitude.

"The transportation in the southwest is complicated and cannot be separated from the support of merchants. I am cleaner than anyone else in this respect."

"I don't doubt you." Wang Hui interrupted, and then looked at some officials waiting for Xu Shuo not far away: "But it's hard to say about the people around you."

"..." Xu Shuo followed Wang Hui's gaze and then said with a smile: "You should worry about yourself instead."

Xu Shuo did not name anyone, but there are many cases of corruption in the north, not to mention officials.

Wang Hui reminded himself, so I also used this method to remind him.

However, in response to his reminder, Wang Hui smiled and said, "Black or white, that's a trick only children would think."

"As long as things can be done, even His Majesty will not judge people based on right or wrong."

"Although Your Majesty does not want to, if the matter gets out of hand, it must be dealt with." Xu Shuo spoke first, and Wang Hui smiled.

The two walked towards the group of people. As they got closer, Wang Hui spoke up, "If the Southwest and the North don't join forces, the Ming Dynasty may face disaster in the future."

"Haha..." Xu Shuo sneered: "If we allow you to continue your party struggle, that will be a disaster."

Xu Shuo hurried on, but Wang Hui stopped and said contemptuously: "If I hadn't stirred it up, would you be able to see the scenery from this position?"

Xu Shuo paused, turned around and looked at Wang Hui: "You mean, the achievements we have made depend on you to get to this position?"

"That's pretty much it." Wang Hui did not deny it, which made Xu Shuo very angry: "Go ahead and stir up trouble. Turn the world into a mess until His Majesty has to deal with you. Only then will you know what the wrath of thunder and the power of the emperor are!"

"In the end, it will be your Majesty and us who will clean up the mess you left behind!"

“A mess?” Wang Hui chuckled and said, “Whether it is a mess or not, you will know it later.”

"My contribution to the Ming Dynasty will be recorded in history books, but for you..."

Wang Hui shook his head and walked towards Wuying Gate. Seeing this, Xu Shuo also turned away.

The two men went their separate ways, and several of their officers followed.

An official from the Ministry of Revenue walked in from outside, with the sunlight shining on him, while Wang Hui and others stood in the dark corner of the corridor.

Both parties stopped, looked at each other, and then raised their hands to bow.

"Minister Wang..."

"Minister Jiang..."

The two of them raised their hands and bowed to greet each other.

Seeing Jiang Huai returning from Nanjing, Wang Hui specifically asked, "Is Minister Jiang here to report on his work?"

"Your Majesty has summoned me, but before that, I have to report some things in the south to your Highness."

Jiang Huai bowed and said, "I am busy, so I won't stay any longer."

"Walk slowly..." Wang Hui turned half of his body sideways, and the people behind him also made way for him.

"Thank you." After Jiang Huai saluted, he quickly walked into the dark area of ​​the corridor and headed towards the bright Wuying Palace Square.

Wang Hui looked at his back, and after a moment he led his men through the corridor and came to the bright place outside Wuying Gate...

(End of this chapter)