Ming Dynasty: Traveling through the harem, Zhu Yuanzhang was dumbfounded

Chapter 189 Heading to Zhenjiang Prefecture

Ten days later.

As time went on, the news that the Ming Dynasty issued war bonds spread throughout the entire Ming Dynasty like wings.

Originally, the imperial court was worried that no one would buy the government bonds, but unexpectedly, the public's enthusiasm for buying the bonds was very high.

For this reason, Zhu Biao sent people to investigate what was going on here.
Why would the people make such abnormal moves? Logically speaking, shouldn't the people sneer at this kind of spending of money when they see that it will not bring any short-term returns?

How is it that such perverse behavior is not only not despised, but everyone is flocking to it?

After Zhu Biao's own secret guards visited and investigated, they found out that all this was caused by the state-owned enterprise established by Yang Chen in Zhenjiang Prefecture.

Zhenjiang Prefecture has been allocated to Yang Chen for his own planning. Zhu Biao naturally knows about this, as it was what he and Zhu Yuanzhang promised to Yang Chen at the time.

He won't interfere with this.

However, there is one principle that cannot be changed, that is, Yang Chen needs to report everything he does. For example, if there are some policy reforms, Zhu Yuanzhang will agree as long as they are not too excessive.

Although it was said that Zhu Yuanzhang agreed, the current Zhu Yuanzhang no longer managed such matters and left everything to Zhu Biao to handle.

He and Empress Ma lived a happy life, usually fishing, chatting about family matters, or playing with their grandchildren.

Anyway, the young teacher Zhu Xiongying not only likes to teach his grandmother, but also likes to teach his grandfather more. This is mainly because Zhu Yuanzhang often says some words that belittle Zhu Xiongying, which causes this student to argue for his teacher.

In general, Zhu Biao is the current "emperor" of the Ming Dynasty. Even the emperor's seal is in his hands. If he is not the emperor, then what is he?
So, relying on his relationship with Zhu Biao, no matter what Yang Chen wanted to do, Zhu Biao would only take a look and agree to let him do it.

Various things have proved that although Yang Chen always does things that go against common sense in many cases, the facts prove that he is right.

Just like this state-owned enterprise.

At first, Zhu Biao would still be vigilant. Before, they sent people to suppress the other party, but now they take the initiative to cooperate with them and give them a lot of power.

Will this lead to some businessmen taking advantage of these power loopholes to engage in collusion between officials and businessmen and commit corruption on both sides?

Yang Chen told Zhu Biao that these kinds of things were unavoidable, but they could not rely entirely on the court to do things. Some things had to be done by professionals.

When it comes to economics, the people who are most adept at life are these businessmen, so cooperating with businessmen is the path that must be taken.

Use the economic power of merchants to develop the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Biao quickly discovered a loophole at the beginning. What if businessmen corrupted officials in the future and allowed him to interfere in the affairs of the court?
Can't it develop to a certain point and then be cut?

This kind of thing is simply a fantasy, and Zhu Biao knows very well that it is impossible.

Yang Chen originally wanted to tell Zhu Biao the story of mechanism, but he didn't expect that the other party would suddenly understand this truth.

And then he said it.

Just as Zhu Biao had expected, merchants would certainly corrupt people's hearts in the future, causing officials to turn against them and take advantage of loopholes to embezzle the interests of the court for the people.

Therefore, some actions must be taken, and that action is to lock the power of businessmen in a cage.

Let the people of the world see how this state-owned enterprise is actually run.

At the same time, relevant institutions will be established to conduct random inspections at fixed and irregular times. Once any problems are found, they will be eliminated immediately.

Because of this, the state-owned enterprises began to become a refuge for the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River. They took the initiative to surrender and enter the state-owned enterprises and became members of the state-owned enterprises.

State-owned enterprises also became a refuge for many Jiangnan gentry. They knew that this place could give them the ability to start over, so even if they sacrificed some things, it would not matter as long as the profits they brought back could make up for the losses.

Obviously, the issuance of Ming war bonds was an opportunity for them to gain profits.

According to the rules for purchasing government bonds, ordinary people can only purchase a maximum of 20 taels of silver, and the Chamber of Commerce family can only purchase a maximum of 100,000 taels of silver.

However, the wealth of those wealthy families was more than 100,000 taels of silver. In order to express their loyalty, they competed to spend a greater price to buy that part of the national debt from the people.

In this way, the court is happy, the people are happy, and the gentry can feel at ease.

Under the win-win situation of all three parties, Zhu Biao clearly saw that businessmen were not poisonous insects. As long as they were under extreme oppression, these people would still be willing to donate their money and become part of the contribution.

For now, Zhu Biao was very satisfied with their actions.

I think Yang Chen’s state-owned enterprise was established just right.

Judging from the performance shown by the other party so far, every single businessman in the state-owned enterprises is considered a kind-hearted person by outsiders. From this point of view, it is enough.

"It's time to go to Zhenjiang Prefecture and take a look. I haven't seen it for two months. I wonder what Zhenjiang Prefecture looks like now."

After packing up, Zhu Biao rubbed his eyes and said with a little tiredness.

But he did not forget what he promised Teng Yi, and the same went for Yang Siyi.

Almost three months have passed since the last time I met Yang Chen, and it is now the end of December in Daming.

There are still two months before the mission to Japan. During this month, the waves in the Bohai Sea and East China Sea area will reduce the probability of typhoons.

It is also the best time given by Yang Chen to go out to sea.

In fact, he mainly wanted to see what Zhenjiang Prefecture had become now, so he wanted to go there.

Two hours later, Yang Siyi and Teng Yi were sitting in a carriage together.

According to the system of allocating carriages and horses based on one's status, the two men, as important officials of the court, traveled in carriages pulled by four horses.

The two ministers sat face to face, with two stoves placed between them to increase the temperature inside the carriage so as not to make them feel cold.

Teng Yi reached out and took a steamed bun made of fine flour from the stove.

After being baked in the high temperature of the furnace, the surface of the steamed bun has turned partially brown. It smells very fragrant and tastes even more fragrant.

"Why don't you have one, Minister Yang?"

Teng Yi felt uncomfortable letting the other person watch him eat, so he took out another one from the top and handed it to Yang Siyi.

Yang Siyi smiled and accepted it tactfully:
"Thank you."

The two of them were eating steamed buns at the same time, looking at the scene outside the car. Heavy snow was falling. Although the Ming Dynasty had become much better than before in recent times, there were still refugees and victims.

It's just that the number is small. In Teng Yi's opinion, such a change is a complete prosperity.

"The Ming Dynasty seems to be heading in a direction that none of us can predict. Minister Yang, you and I are both people who work for His Majesty. From what you see, do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing?"

Yang Siyi was stunned, and after a moment of silence, he said:

"I don't know how difficult life was for the people in the Ming Dynasty. It was hard for the people to be enlightened. It was not until the first few years of the founding of the country that the people had a day that they could call 'peaceful'. But you and I should know how the people lived.

I thought that the Ming Dynasty would follow the old path of the previous dynasties in the future, but since the appearance of the censor Yang Chen some time ago, I suddenly realized that the times can actually be practiced in this way.

As a Han dynasty after a foreign race, the Ming Dynasty should lead everyone to the good days they long for, instead of using power to oppress and humiliate the people. A harmonious world is difficult to achieve, but we cannot be unwilling to work towards the goal just because it is impossible.

I used to be just a Confucian scholar who lived from meal to meal. It was Your Majesty who gave me the opportunity. I hope I can contribute to the world of peace.

I kept running around and trying to find solutions for this, but it was too difficult to accomplish it on my own.

Until the emergence of Yang Chen, he proposed to bring all countries under public ownership, reform agriculture, improve production, liberate people's power, broadcast knowledge, and open people's wisdom.

He slowly picked up these things that previous rulers had despised with his own hands and wiped off the dust.

In Zhenjiang Prefecture, a brilliance that is too brilliant to even look at! "

Yang Siyi held the steamed bun in his hand and praised Zhenjiang Prefecture where Yang Chen was without hesitation, which surprised Teng Yi.

What kind of young man could be so admired by Yang Siyi, who is called a genius by others?

Teng Yi began to feel curious about Yang Chen.

According to his understanding, Zhenjiang Prefecture did initiate the reform under his leadership, but to attribute all the credit to him, isn't that a bit too fake?

You have to know that there has been no shortage of similar people in all dynasties, but Yang Chen seems to be the only exception.

"So what Minister Yang means is that Yang Chen has the future of the Ming Dynasty? Or a broad and bright future?"

Yang Siyi nodded:

"It's not that I admire Yang Chen too much, but he has a kind of personal charm that I have never seen before. I believe that when Minister Teng meets him, he will definitely be impressed by his abilities.

By the way, Minister Teng, I still don’t know why you are following the prince to Zhenjiang Prefecture this time?
I want to understand how to govern the people's livelihood, using Zhenjiang Prefecture as a reference, and I also want to know the specific situation in Japan. What about you?"

Not wanting to talk too much about Yang Chen, Yang Siyi asked Teng Yi about his purpose of going to Zhenjiang Prefecture.

Hearing this, Teng Yi had no intention of hiding anything and said bluntly:

“It’s nothing, actually. A few days ago, I saw a report about an official transfer from Zhenjiang Prefecture.

They said they wanted to re-establish an official department. As you know, the Ministry of Personnel is responsible for managing this matter.

When I saw this news, I didn’t take it seriously at first. I just thought that this young man was too confident, so I put it aside for the time being.

But unexpectedly, the prince told me in person that this idea was indeed good and could be applied to the current Ming Dynasty, so I took the initiative to go and find out.

According to what Yang Chen said, in the future the Ming Dynasty will select some retired soldiers, teach them how to read and write, and then send them to the Ming Dynasty Mass Service Center, which is where they will work.

In addition, an additional department will be applied to connect with this place, which seems to be called the Street Office.

Responsible for managing the village heads in each place and letting them manage the villagers in each place.

At the same time, the Mass Service Center will convey His Majesty's will within a certain period of time and monitor the local government for signs of wrongdoing.

Once we find something wrong with the government office, we will be qualified to report it to the capital and have it handled by the Ministry of Justice."

Speaking of this, Teng Yi felt a little funny.

"Tell me, how whimsical is this guy Yang Chen?

What kind of people are in the army? It's not that I, Teng Yi, look down on them, but each of these soldiers is old and has a dull mind. Not to mention reading and writing, they may not even be able to read some children's books if you teach them.

Not to mention conveying His Majesty's will, in my opinion, this is pure nonsense!"

To this day, Teng Yi still can't figure out how Yang Chen could teach the rough guy hundreds of common characters.

Seeing Teng Yi's attitude, Yang Siyi knew that this guy would not give up until he got what he wanted, so he didn't say much.

He believed that when the other party saw Yang Chen's brilliant plan with their own eyes, they would definitely be shocked.

Inside another dragon chariot pulled by six horses.

There are several people sitting here.

They are Empress Ma, Zhu Xiongying, Zhu Biao and Zhu Yuanzhang.

The four of them got together, eating, drinking, and chatting, and they were having a great time.

"Xiongying, when we get to Zhenjiang Prefecture, you will be the one leading the way for Grandpa Huang and Grandma Huang. I haven't been to Zhenjiang Prefecture for several days. Do you still recognize the way?"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at his grandson with some doting.

Although Zhu Xiongying often said some irritating words to him, Zhu Yuanzhang gave all his favor to this grandson.

As long as it wasn't too excessive, Zhu Yuanzhang would just ignore it and not take it to heart at all.

Zhu Xiongying picked up a piece of osmanthus cake and chewed it in his mouth and said:

"Don't worry, Grandfather Emperor. I am very familiar with Zhenjiang Prefecture and I won't get lost. Besides, there are signboards on the road to Zhenjiang Prefecture, so I won't lose my way.

Anyone who can read can find the teacher’s position when they enter.”

Just when Zhu Xiongying wanted to continue eating the delicious food, he was suddenly hit by a hand and it hurt him.

When Zhu Xiong saw who hit him, he instantly became obedient.

"Father, I know I was wrong. I don't talk when I eat or sleep. I was talking to Grandpa Huang before and I was eating. This is Xiongying's fault. Please punish me, Father!"

As he said this, Zhu Xiongying stretched out his hand, indicating that he accepted the punishment with the ruler.

Zhu Biao really felt helpless in dealing with his son. He could feel that Zhu Xiongying was a good boy, but when he was left alone, this guy could act more wild than anyone else.

Just like what happened just now, doesn’t he know that you can’t talk while eating?
He knew it, but he still did it, because he was spoiled by too many people.

Just when Zhu Biao wanted to show his authority as a father, he was interrupted by Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Let's talk about Biao'er. Xiongying isn't that old. Don't be too harsh on him for making a mistake just now. If you suppress his nature in the future, it won't be good for him."

"That's right, Biao'er, come to Xiongying and give grandma a hug."

Queen Ma also echoed and wanted Zhu Xiongying to walk into her arms on his own initiative.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Xiongying showed a resolute look on his face and said:

"No! Xiongying knows that Grandpa Huang and Grandma Huang care about him, but if you make a mistake, you must be punished. Xiongying cannot avoid it. Please punish me, father!"

After he finished speaking, Zhu Biao symbolically patted the other person's hand lightly.

(End of this chapter)