The Holy Emperor of Ming

Chapter 279 Comprehensive Reform Begins
"Well, let's hold a grand court meeting tomorrow and announce it publicly." Zhu Houzhao finally made the decision.

"Yes." Everyone responded solemnly.

They knew that when this year's plan and goals were announced publicly, it would represent a comprehensive reform of the entire Ming Dynasty.

After all the ministers left, Zhu Houzhao thought for a moment and called the old man over.

"Your Majesty, you are back." Duke Zheng walked into the palace with a smile and said in a relaxed manner.

When he got close to Zhu Houzhao, he felt something in his heart.

Your Majesty's will seems...

He shook his head and laughed secretly, he has become stronger again, he is truly worthy of being called Your Majesty.

"Old man, I want to establish two more navies. After much thought, I think you are the most suitable naval commander.

How about it? Do you want to be one?" Zhu Houzhao asked directly.

Even Duke Zheng was so calm and composed that he couldn't help but be stunned.

He is the commander-in-chief of the navy!

He hasn't thought about this in decades.

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"Your Majesty, this old servant is not of the right age.

Besides, I have to guard the palace." After thinking for a while, Duke Zheng frowned.

"What's inappropriate? You are in the realm of heaven and you still have a long life ahead of you.

Isn't it I who is in charge of guarding the palace? Anyway, I won't leave the palace often, so it's a waste for you, old man, to stay in the palace.

Besides, when it comes to the ability to command the navy, no one in the entire Ming Dynasty can compare with you.

Our Ming Dynasty is still short of talents." Zhu Houzhao advised.

Duke Zheng hesitated for a moment and nodded: "Then I will hold on for a while."

As he spoke, his heart couldn't help but feel slightly excited.

It's time to return to the familiar sea.

"Okay." Zhu Houzhao nodded happily.

He immediately issued an official decree, appointing Duke Zheng He as the Grand Commander of the Military Cabinet, in charge of all naval affairs.

The imperial edict caused a stir.

Eunuch Sanbao was the most famous and wise eunuch in the Ming Dynasty, and he had a very great reputation.

More than eighty years have passed, and he has reappeared and served as the Grand Commander of the Military Cabinet, which is shocking.

Only those who had already known that Duke Zheng was a powerful celestial being quickly accepted it after being surprised.

Given Duke Zheng's qualifications, strength and ability, no one is qualified to say anything more.

After the imperial edict was issued, Duke Zheng began to deal with the affairs of the palace.

It seems that he has nothing else to do in the palace, but he is actually responsible for the most secretive matters.

For example, the training of shadow eunuchs, the management of retired eunuchs, the discovery and training of eunuchs and palace maids with martial arts talents, etc.

He had to go back to the sea and couldn't stay in the palace for long, so many things had to be arranged.

This is not difficult. There is no shortage of talents in the palace nowadays.

With Your Majesty here, the five eunuchs at the grandmaster level are all trustworthy and can be entrusted with important tasks.

In the afternoon, Lord Zheng came to the Qianqing Palace again and told Zhu Houzhao about his arrangements.

After listening to this, Zhu Houzhao had no objection and told Mr. Zheng to go ahead and do it.

In the evening, the family naturally had dinner together, and Zhu Houzhao kept talking about what he had seen and heard in Jin.

The lively dinner is over.

It was a normal night, with couples doing their usual stuff and practicing.

Early the next morning, the first court meeting of the fifth year of Shengwu began.

It was very direct, with each department announcing its plans and goals for this year.

The civil and military officials in the court became more and more solemn as they listened.

Because this year's plans and goals are too amazing.

The most important points are: 1. Thoroughly investigate all the population in the Ming Dynasty, including all the people in the martial arts world, and abolish the population tax.

This is not too important, after all, the population tax has been abolished.

Second, re-measure the land. Re-measure the land in all places in the Ming Dynasty.

All of them will be nationalized and distributed according to population.

As in Jin, adult men aged sixteen were allowed three acres and adult women were allowed two acres.

For every acre of land, one twentieth of the annual output is collected as tax.

Obviously, this was a major project that was bound to cause a sensation across the country and severely offend countless wealthy families who owned land.

This is an unprecedented tough battle.

3. Reform commercial taxes.

Except for small vendors, all businesses in the Ming Dynasty must register their information with the Ministry of Commerce and pay taxes according to regulations.

There is no doubt that this is also a tough battle.

A battle that is second only to, or even as tough as, farming.

Fourth, all minor officials in the Ming Dynasty, like in Jin, were transformed into official officials of the Ming Dynasty. They were no longer hereditary and could be promoted according to merit.

5. Abolish the household registration system and uniformly change it to civilian and military registration.

Except for military personnel, all others, including officials, martial artists, royal relatives and nobles, are civilians.

Of course, these three will actually be marked separately for easy management.

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In short, according to the situation in Jin, the imperial court will begin to carry out comprehensive reforms on the entire Ming Dynasty this year.

Although they had known that this day would come sooner or later, many officials still felt nervous and heavy when it finally arrived.

Is the imperial court really ready for comprehensive reform?

After the civil official made the announcement, the military general took over.

Duke Zheng also attended the court meeting and was the first to speak, saying that two navies would be formed this year.

In addition, this year the reorganization of all local garrisons in the Ming Dynasty will be completed and they will be organized into a new army.

At the same time, we made every effort to suppress bandits.

All the bandits in the Ming Dynasty must not be allowed to survive.

Clearly, the military is really starting to pick up speed.

There are not enough candidates for the military commander yet, but it doesn't matter. Let's reorganize the army first, and when there is a suitable military commander, he will take office directly. Afterwards, the Martial Arts Hall and the Factory Guards announced their plans and goals for this year.

The court meeting ended and nearly a thousand officials dispersed with solemn feelings.

Everyone knows that the Ming Dynasty is really about to start an unprecedented storm.

This is not something that can be resolved in a short period of time.

It could very well take several years.

Amid the solemn atmosphere, all the civil and military officials in the court began to get busy.

The Ministry of Personnel took the lead in large-scale action.

Immediately, a series of personnel appointments were issued, most of which were officials transferred from Jin to other places.

Last year, a group of officials from Jin who performed well were promoted to other places, but the scale was far less than this time.

More than a hundred officials were promoted, and several of them reached the level of provincial governor.

Among them, the two youngest provincial governors, Zhang Cong and Yan Song, attracted countless attention.

It rose too fast.

But at this time, no one dared to object.

First, they have enough credit.

Second, this is an unprecedented tough battle, and these promoted officials are the soldiers on the front line.

By then, it will be clear whether it is a dragon or a worm.

The Budo Hall was the second to carry out large-scale operations.

So far, there are two capitals and thirteen provinces in the Ming Dynasty, one main palace and fifteen branch palaces.

Only the four branch halls of Northern Zhili, Lu, Jin and Yu have hall masters, while the other eleven branch halls have no hall masters.

On the afternoon of the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, Zhu Houzhao issued an edict.

Zhu Wentian (Mi Wentian) was appointed as the King of Wu, and served as the deputy master of the Martial Arts Hall, and concurrently the master of the Nanzhili Martial Arts Branch Hall.

Wuming was appointed as the deputy chief of the Martial Arts Hall, concurrently the chief of the Guangxi Martial Arts Branch Hall.

Zhang Daoyun of Longhu Mountain was appointed as the deputy chief of the Martial Arts Hall and concurrently the chief of the Shu Martial Arts Branch Hall.

Three great masters who are at the pinnacle of power headed to the place.

This is obviously an arrangement to deter and suppress the local people and to take precautions.

The actions of other departments were not as big, but they were still not small, and they moved quickly.

After more than four years of preparation and accumulation, this day saw the full outbreak.

Zhu Houzhao was also busy, and he personally communicated with Old Man Zhang and the old monk to discuss some matters.

The entire Ming Dynasty was immediately shocked by the noise of a falling meteorite.

Countless martial arts forces were all facing a formidable enemy, with heavy expressions on their faces.

They didn't expect that the court would act so quickly and so cruelly, leaving no room for maneuver.

Population, fields, and commerce.

These three aspects are simply digging out the roots of all forces.

If the imperial court really succeeds, they will get hold of these.

From now on, the martial arts sects that used to dominate and live freely will be truly under the jurisdiction of the imperial court.

This is something countless people would never want.

Most people, including Shaolin and Wudang, don't want to do that either.

But before they could react, it was the thirteenth day of the lunar year.

Zhu Houzhao issued another decree, appointing Zhang Sanfeng and Wuji as the joint chiefs of the Martial Arts Hall.

Shaolin Hengdao Toudao was appointed as the deputy chief of the Martial Arts Hall and concurrently the chief of the Yunnan Martial Arts Branch Hall.

Appoint the Shaolin Tianshan divine monk as the master of the Jiangxi martial arts branch.

Appoint Wudang Mudao Ren as the master of Shaanxi Wudao branch hall.

Appoint Wudang Zi Yang Taoist as the head of Fujian martial arts branch hall.

When the news spread, countless people in the Ming Dynasty's martial arts world were shocked.

Shaolin and Wudang have officially joined the imperial court!

Moreover, the combined strength of the two sides is enough to make almost everyone feel terrified just by looking at it.

Two powerful celestial beings, five great masters at the highest level, and six great masters.

This is just a martial arts hall.

The Ming Dynasty had even more powerful forces, and Shaolin and Wudang also did not give their all.

too strong!
It was so strong that it made everyone tremble with fear.

The original dissatisfaction and anger have all calmed down.

They watched with gritted teeth as the court's increasingly ferocious actions became more and more ferocious, but few dared to resist.

In this way, under the powerful military deterrence demonstrated by the court, the reform of the entire Ming Dynasty began.

But everyone, including Zhu Houzhao, knew that this was just the beginning.

Now, because of the power displayed by the court, no one dares to move.

But as the reform progresses and deepens, when some people's flesh and blood are actually cut or even their heads are killed, many people will definitely jump out to resist.

Therefore, the imperial court must continue to strengthen its power to make the deterrence over everyone stronger and stronger so that they dare not move.

To this end, all departments are speeding up.

The main departments that control military force are the Martial Arts Hall, Factory Guards, and Military Cabinet.

For a period of time that followed, the Military Cabinet took the biggest action.

The 22nd Army was established in Henan.

The 23rd Army was established in Huguang.

The 24th Army was established in Jiangxi.

The 25th Army was established in Guangxi.

The 26th Army was established in Zhejiang.

The 27th Army and the 28th Army were established in Shaanxi.

The 29th Army was established in Shu.

These seven places were exactly where Wang Shouren, Han Shizhong and others reorganized the garrison troops last year.

(Yesterday's third chapter, thank you for your support.)
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(End of this chapter)