Jiajing Chengming

Yang Yiqing had no choice but to agree and said nothing more.

He had not considered that Emperor Jiajing's benevolent act of paying to support a large number of orphans would actually solve the even more difficult problem of the princess choosing a husband.

Because he, like many other ministers, habitually thought that most of the world's talented people were controlled by local gentry and wealthy families, just like most of the world's beautiful women were in their hands.

But Yang Yiqing suddenly realized only now that His Majesty was now wealthy, and like the local gentry and wealthy families throughout the world, he also had many people under his control, so he was not afraid of the wealthy families throughout the world blocking the supply of talents in all areas.

Therefore, in terms of population, the gentry and wealthy families in the world can no longer cause trouble for the emperor.

Zhang Cong couldn't help but secretly sigh that the current emperor is indeed a wise and holy ruler who knows the correct way to raise orphans and love the people, and also knows the importance of having talents directly in his hands.

"Let's talk about reform and suppressing the rebellion."

"Is the military household verification going smoothly?"

Zhu Houcong then started asking about other things.

Yang Yiqing hurriedly bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, it's going well. Except for the rebellious areas where we can't send Qing army censors, the Qing army censors in other places haven't encountered too many obstacles for the time being. This is mainly because of your majesty's wisdom. They dare not act recklessly again, for fear that your majesty will also block them in the imperial examination."

"The military households reported by the Qing army censors are generally consistent with our speculation. This is because your majesty is wise and has used the trial censor system to cooperate with the Qing army, so that the Qing army censors dare not act recklessly."

"Still can't take it lightly!"

"The verification and payment of monthly rations and salaries must be carried out simultaneously. In addition, let the Qing army censors and Qing army trial censors work with the garrison officers to collect orphans. All orphans whose fathers and brothers died in battle and whose families have been wiped out or who have no relatives to adopt them, regardless of gender, should be sent to the capital to be adopted by the royal family!"

"The same goes for the rebellion areas. Tell Wang Yangming to urge the government troops to collect the orphans and children of the officials, gentry and civilians who died in the rebellion and send capable people to deliver them to the capital."

"Have him inform the officers and soldiers who participated in suppressing the rebellion to count the number of orphans they saved as rewards for saving the people, in order to show my benevolence!"

"All expenses for my son should be paid from the treasury, without any extra expenditure from the state treasury. I hope that all my subjects will understand my benevolence and show my kindness to the people. Do not be indifferent and betray me!"

Zhu Houcong spoke up at this time, and also emphasized that he wanted the bureaucrats to check the military households and opportunities to quell the rebellion and take in orphans and children for the emperor.

Yang Yiqing bowed and said yes.

At the same time, Zhang Cong's eyes turned red.

Although he knew that the emperor had his own agenda in using state power to take in orphans, he couldn't help but be moved when he thought that the emperor now had the financial resources and was willing to do so.

Because what he hopes is to see the king become a benevolent and virtuous king.

Moreover, Zhang Cong also knew that although there were orphanages established at the request of Emperor Taizu Gao in the early years of the country, due to insufficient local finances and corrupt bureaucracy, the welfare function of the orphanages in providing relief to orphans was far inferior to that in the early years of the country. Now, only adoption by the emperor could greatly solve the problem of the difficult survival of orphans in the world.

Li Zhong, a military household assigned to the Chihe Camp in Nanjing, has just received his salary for this month.

Two silver dollars.

This made him feel very happy.

What made him even happier was that he had received a message from his brother Li Yi, who had asked someone to bring it to him. He knew that after the court had carried out reforms on military households, surplus men like his brother really no longer had to perform any labor service other than military service, and they really received their own monthly rations, and they also reclaimed wasteland at home.

In addition, he also learned that there was a matchmaker willing to matchmake for his brother, but his brother wanted him to marry his sister-in-law first before he would marry her. The matchmaker said she was also willing to matchmake for his brother, and said that now the people were willing to marry their daughters to military households, so now she would wait for him to finish his military service and go home to ask someone to matchmake for him. Li Zhong had infinite expectations for this.

As far as he could remember, it was difficult for an ordinary military household like him to get married.

Not to mention that civilian households were unwilling to marry their daughters to military households, even the men in military households were unwilling to marry their daughters to military households.

Therefore, many ordinary military households like Li Zhong would become "older bachelors" as long as they did not surrender themselves as slaves.

On the contrary, military households who were offered as slaves to wealthy families would often marry and have children. With the grace of their masters, they would get a maid that their masters did not like, and then have children. Although the remaining children would still be slaves, at least they could continue the family line.

In this agricultural age, continuing the family line is naturally more important than becoming a slave.

Therefore, this further resulted in a large number of military households becoming slaves of powerful families.

Now, because of the military reform, military households like Li Zhong have had their burdens greatly reduced and their incomes greatly increased. They can marry and have children without having to become slaves. Naturally, he will have endless expectations for this.

Li Zhong touched the two silver dollars hidden around his waist, then straightened his chest, grinned at the rising sun over the Qinhuai River, and carefully looked at every passing ship and every passing person.

He had already found out that ordinary military households like him could have such a good change now because the current emperor dared to reform and eliminate abuses. But it was also because the emperor dared to reform and eliminate abuses that powerful families betrayed the emperor, were disloyal and unjust, and caused chaos in Jiangxi, and even in the future they would learn from the former King Ning to attack Nanjing.

Therefore, Li Zhong actively fulfilled his responsibility to participate in guarding the Qinhuai River area in the Southern Capital, and did not allow the rebel spies to have a chance to get here.

"Brothers of Jianyangwei's army!"

At this time, Li Zhong's general flag and fellow villager Wang Jiang came over and shouted.

Li Zhong hurriedly held the big iron spear and turned around with the other serving soldiers of Jianyang Guard to look at Wang Jiang who was wearing cloth armor.

Wang Jiang shouted at this time: "We will be dispatched by Wang Butang together with Captain Tang to Nanchang to escort the orphans sent from the front to the capital! The higher-ups have given us a ten-day holiday to go home and settle our families first, and then go directly to Anqing. Remember, you must not run away, otherwise if you are caught, not only will your life be in danger, but your whole family will also be implicated!"

"Now that the military household policy is so good, who would want to escape?"

"Don't even think about just sending an orphan from Jiangxi to the capital. Even if I risk my life, I won't run away. I can lose my life, but I can't lose the right to eat the emperor's food for generations!"

"That's right! My son is still waiting to go to the Medical College for free, and he will become a husband in the future!"

A soldier couldn't help but say something, and then the other soldiers followed suit.

Li Zhong just smiled. He didn't want to go to the place where the rebellion took place.

His main fear was losing his life in the rebel area.

After all, he hasn't married or had children yet.

But he did not plan to run away after returning home, because he did not want to implicate his younger brother, and he also knew that if he ran away, he would no longer be a military household but a refugee, which would make it even more difficult for him to marry and have children.

Therefore, he only planned to ask a matchmaker to find him a wife during the ten days he was back.

For this reason, he could not help but touch the two silver dollars on his waist again and decided not to gamble with the people on the way home, so as not to lose the money for his wife, because according to the prices of that era, this money was enough for him to start a simple family. (End of this chapter)