Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The Governor-General of Beizhi was a temporary position, which meant that, according to the previously established rules, the decision could be made simply by the recommendation of the Nine Ministers.

As one of the Nine Ministers, Shang Zhouzuo only needed to recommend himself to the emperor to obtain this position.

Therefore, after Zhu Youjian decided to appoint him as the Governor-General of Beizhili and to oversee the industrial development of Beizhili, he immediately began to discuss specific issues.

Given his current prestige, this appointment is practically a sure thing, with no problems whatsoever.

The ministers in the court were aware of this and had no objections whatsoever.

However, officials who were not from these regions had strong opinions about the emperor's concentration of resources on developing Beizhili and Suzhou-Songjiang, and they raised all sorts of questions.

In order to reduce resistance and concentrate resources on developing industries in both regions, Zhu Youjian convened a regular meeting, attended by Grand Secretaries, the Nine Ministers, officials from the Ministry of Works and the Privy Council.

Zhu Youjian first set the tone for the meeting, addressing his ministers:

"You have all seen the situation of the Liaodong Campaign."

"Industrial and logistical capabilities have become the decisive factors in war."

"The Ming Dynasty must develop its industry in order to remain strong."

These words clearly emphasized the importance of industry, and the officials of the Ministry of Industry naturally supported them, seeing an opportunity to elevate their status.

Privy Council officials also agreed, because if they wanted to control military commanders through logistical support, they had to rely on the industrial production capacity in the rear.

The support from both groups quickly made "no industry, no strength" a consensus among the attendees. The next point of discussion was not whether to develop industry, but how to develop it.

The Ministry of Agriculture, responsible for agriculture, was supervised by the Ministry of Revenue, and the Minister of Revenue, Bi Ziyan, stated:
"Your Majesty, industry is certainly important, but agriculture is the more critical issue for stability."

"Your Majesty cannot focus solely on industry while neglecting the common people who farm in the fields."

Zhu Youjian didn't want to bear this label, so he immediately declared:

"I have always attached great importance to agriculture, and I personally cultivate one and a half acres of land every year."

"Among the three major industries of agriculture, industry, commerce and commerce, agriculture is the primary industry and the foundation of all industries."

"Industry is the secondary sector, and it occupies the second most important position."

"The rest are the tertiary sector, including commerce and services."

When explaining the concept of the three major industries, Zhu Youjian said:
"The three major industries complement each other; without agriculture, there is no stability; without industry, there is no strength; and without commerce, there is no vitality."

"Agriculture is the foundation of all industries and should not be disturbed lightly."

"Therefore, although industry is important, I will only choose two places to develop it for the time being."

"Once the conditions are right, we will then develop other regions."

These words drew nods of approval from the court officials, who felt that the emperor was still clear-headed.

They didn't blindly develop industry just because they recognized its importance. They forgot that agriculture is the fundamental issue, and without food, the world would descend into chaos.

Now that the emperor has said this, they have begun to agree on prioritizing the development of industries in both regions.
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Upon hearing the emperor's words, Shang Zhouzuo was utterly filled with admiration:
The priority was clearly to develop Beizhili and Suzhou-Songjiang, but unexpectedly, the emperor described it as "cautious."

If he hadn't already learned the emperor's true intentions through his conversations with the emperor, even he would have been fooled.

Han Kuang was another one who understood. He felt that it was because of his words a few days ago that the emperor decided to focus on developing the industries in Beizhili and Suzhou-Songjiang, which he could control.

As a native of Shanxi, he was naturally somewhat dissatisfied and muttered to himself:
"Since Your Majesty recognizes the importance of agriculture, the court should allocate more of its finances to agriculture."

"The north is currently experiencing a severe drought, and water conservancy projects in various regions urgently need repair. This is also part of industry."

This statement is theoretically correct, but the imperial court's finances are limited. If it chooses to expand its economy too much, the outcome will depend entirely on the capabilities of the local officials.

Realizing that he could not fully control other places and would find it difficult to utilize their human and material resources, Zhu Youjian abandoned the idea and chose to focus on key development areas.

He listened to Han Kuang's words and said with a smile:
“Since the Prime Minister is aware of this, he should allocate more budget to agriculture and water conservancy.”

"When the Grand Secretary was in charge of the Finance Committee, didn't I instruct him to implement the budget and final accounts system?"

"How is this matter progressing? Minister Bi, please tell us."

Han Kuang was now in an awkward position, because he hadn't taken the matter seriously at all.

With budgets and final accounts in place, government offices could no longer spend money arbitrarily, which naturally drew opposition from many officials. Han Kuang did not put much effort into implementing this system; its success depended entirely on the heads of the various government offices.

Bi Ziyan replied to the emperor:

"Among the various ministries, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of War are relatively strict in their implementation, and they can generally list out each item of income and expenditure."

"Among all the agencies, the Privy Council is the best in its execution and has the clearest revenue and expenditure."

“Every time they apply for military funding, they can provide a detailed allocation plan.”

These words almost made the courtiers burst out laughing, because it was clearly a tactic to extract money.

The Ministry of Works was probably in a similar situation; they kept strict accounts so that it would be easier to request money from the Ministry of Revenue.

However, other government departments with financial power didn't implement the policy very well. Even the more powerful Ministry of Personnel and Ministry of Rites barely paid any attention.

Zhu Youjian's expression turned serious upon hearing this, and he said solemnly:

"I proposed the implementation of the budget and final accounts system when Minister Bi took office."

"Even the government ministries are not fully implementing these measures now. How will the public be able to audit the budget and final accounts after the establishment of parliament?"

"Prime Minister Han, you and the Finance Committee should formulate a plan to implement the budget and final accounts in the imperial court and Beizhili."

"If any government department fails to produce a budget next year, its head will be demoted or transferred due to incompetence, and replaced with a more capable official."

Han Kuang was given an additional responsibility: to reform the officials.

Han Kuang felt awkward and wished he could take back what he had just said.

He only got this arduous job because he didn't fully cooperate with the emperor.

Moreover, even if you do a good job, you won't get credit; it's all the Finance and Economics Committee's achievement.

This made him so angry he wanted to slap himself twice, deeply regretting his loose tongue.

However, his efforts were not without results. Zhu Youjian said:
"While maintaining agricultural stability, various regions can develop industry and commerce according to local conditions."

"Cement, in particular, is very useful for constructing water conservancy projects and should be a key area for development."

"But it is absolutely forbidden to occupy farmland, especially irrigable land."

"Freshwater in all regions should be prioritized for agriculture. We must not allow industry and commerce to compete with agriculture for water, nor should we allow them to pollute water sources."

This was a point he was particularly concerned about, because there had been reports of pollution from printing at the Mingzhi Press Park in Beijing. These pollutants, discharged into the ditches, would affect the surrounding water sources.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian had already prepared to relocate the printing workshops outside the city, and the development of water-intensive and polluting industries was not allowed within the city.

In order to keep local officials in check and to leave a legacy of green mountains and clear waters for future generations, Zhu Youjian instructed Bi Ziyan:

"Let the Land Administration Department and the Ministry of Agriculture compile statistics on high-standard farmland in various regions, which are high-yield and stable-yield farmland that is flat, concentrated and contiguous, well-equipped, fertile, ecologically sound, disaster-resistant, and irrigable."

"We must protect the ecology of these lands and not allow them to be arbitrarily occupied or converted to other uses. We must also prevent soil erosion and pollution of irrigation water sources."

"Except for Shuntian Prefecture and Susong New Area, other places are not allowed to compete for high-standard farmland between industry, commerce and agriculture."

This fully demonstrates the importance attached to agriculture, and also explains why industry and commerce are only being developed in these two places.

Agriculture is simply too important; the Ming Dynasty cannot support the development of industry and commerce in every region.

Those officials who were unaware of the situation simply assumed that the emperor valued agriculture and praised him accordingly.

Officials who understood the significance of developing industry and commerce wore distorted expressions, knowing that the emperor had completely blocked any space for other regions to develop industry and commerce.

A single land-use issue can make it difficult for the scale of industry and commerce in those areas to expand.

Without water, it would be impossible to develop.

Unless a large, flat area of ​​land happens to be unsuitable for planting and there happens to be a water source nearby.

But that's practically impossible; even sandy land in such areas could be reclaimed into farmland.

Ningxia is such a place, irrigated by the Yellow River, it has become known as the "Jiangnan of the Northwest." (End of Chapter)