Ming Dynasty: Tanks blocked the door and you said to me, "Long live Ming Dynasty"

Wei Zhongxian then breathed a sigh of relief, climbed up hastily, held Zhu Youxiao's dragon claw with both hands, and served him forward.

Zhu Youxiao just shook his hand away.

"I am not so old that I cannot walk without help."

"Go, arrange carriages and horses. I want to go and see how the disaster relief is going outside the city!"

"Yes, I will arrange it myself!"

Wei Zhongxian felt very uncomfortable when Zhu Youxiao waved his hand. When he turned to leave, he caught a glimpse of Youtong and became angry.

When I was kicked away by the emperor just now, I seemed to see this guy covering his mouth and laughing out of the corner of my eye.

Could it be that ninety-nine out of a hundred pounds of body weight is rebellious?

What a traitor!

When he walked to Youtong's side, he couldn't help but kick him.

This kid actually dodged it, causing Wei Zhongxian to miss a step and almost do a split on the spot.

He was so frightened that he ran away quickly, fearing that the emperor would discover his little action.

Zhu Youxiao didn't pay any attention to him. After shaking off his hand, he strode out of Changchun Palace.

Soon, at the North Gate Tower.

"My dear ministers, how is the disaster relief work going?"

Guo Yunhou took the lead and bowed:

"Your Majesty, the relief grain has been distributed, and the two meals a day are being distributed as usual."

"Currently, officials at the Datong government office are registering the victims so that they can make subsequent arrangements for work-for-relief."

Zhu Youxiao glanced at the resettlement area not far away and saw a huge crowd of people, among which there were several long queues in an orderly manner.

Most of them were family members, all of them were ragged and had pale faces and thin bodies.

He couldn't help but sighed with sympathy: "There must be three or four thousand people here, right? Natural disasters have occurred year after year, and the people of our Ming Dynasty are suffering!"

Guo Yunhou and the other man were also quite moved when they heard this.

He looked at Zhu Youxiao, and couldn't help but recall the touching scene of the people sincerely bowing down to the mountain and shouting "Long live the emperor", and a glimmer of light appeared in his eyes.

"Natural disasters cannot be stopped by human power, but now that our Great Ming has a wise ruler like Your Majesty, I believe that the lives of the people of the Great Ming will be able to return to normal, stable and prosperous as soon as possible!"

"I second the proposal. Your Majesty is wise and there is hope for the revival of the Ming Dynasty!" Wu Chunfu was unwilling to be left behind when he heard this.

Although these words may seem like flattery, they come from the heart.

He believed that the current emperor attached more importance to the Ministry of Works than any previous emperor.

Look at the improvement of the fire bull, the invention of the mortar, the revolver, etc., all of which were personally promoted by Your Majesty.

This raised the status of the Ministry of Works, which had always been at the bottom of the six ministries.

He firmly believed that in the near future, under the leadership of His Majesty, the Ministry of Industry would invent many things that would change this era.

At this moment, the look in his eyes when he looked at Zhu Youxiao was no longer pure awe as before, but deep admiration.

"Yes! I have said that within five years, there will be no uneducated people in the countryside, schools will be everywhere, laws and regulations will be strictly enforced, and there will be guaranteed harvests during droughts and floods. The people will live and work in peace and contentment, and the Ming Dynasty will be as prosperous as before!"

As he spoke, Zhu Youxiao patted the two old ministers expectantly.

"The road to the Ming Dynasty's revival is long and arduous. I still need the two of you and the officials of the world to work together and perform your duties faithfully to achieve success!"

The two men bowed solemnly and said, "I will devote my whole life to the cause until my death, in order to repay your majesty's high expectations!"

"Everyone, get up, let's talk about the current situation first."

"I think that since we are going to use work as relief, the victims must be well fed and well-drinking so that they have the strength to work. So starting today, we will change the porridge distribution from two meals to three meals. What do you think, Lord Guo?"

Now the victims are coming from all directions, not only from the resettlement site at the North Gate, but there are even more victims at the South Gate.

Guo Yunhou hesitated for a moment. Adding one more meal every day would consume a lot more food.

But he quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, what you said makes sense. I will give the order now."

"Very good."

"How's the progress here, Wu Aiqing?"

"Your Majesty, I have already sent people to survey the river. Starting tomorrow, we can have the workers dig ditches and dredge the water conservancy."

"In addition, the location of the well outside the city has been surveyed, and the fire bull is on the way. I believe that the first well will produce water today."

Zhu Youxiao was delighted: "Very good! Well done!"

Wu Chunfu was a little embarrassed: "It's just..."

"What difficulties do you have? Tell me all of them and I will solve them with you."

"Your Majesty, I have hurried to Datong since I received your Majesty's imperial edict. I have no intention of presiding over water conservancy affairs here."

“As a result, the project is likely to progress slowly due to the lack of manpower.”

"How difficult is this! Water conservancy projects are related to the national economy and people's livelihood. It just so happens that all the officials from Shanxi Province and the ministry have come to Datong. I will immediately issue an order that all Datong officials, regardless of their official positions, can be deployed at your will."

"If there are officials who perform well, I can personally promote them to official positions."

Wu Chunfu was overjoyed after hearing this, but then a little surprised.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your understanding! But changing a clerk into an official is against the ancestral system, isn't it inappropriate?"

Zhu Youxiao looked at Guo Yunhou with a smile.

"I have already discussed this matter with Lord Guo, so you don't need to worry too much!"

"Where is the pen-holding official?"

Zhu Youxiao shouted loudly and Wei Zhongxian dodged immediately.

"The old slave is here!"

"Practice."

"Yes!"

The blank imperial edict was spread out, Wei Zhongxian held the pen in his hand and listened attentively.

Zhu Youxiao issued an edict in a loud voice:

"Today, the world is in turmoil, bandits are rising, and there are serious vacancies in the court and local government. This is really not conducive to the country. I am deeply worried about the urgent problems of Ming governance, and now I am promoting the system of 'changing officials to officials'..."

"After the decree is completed, it will be sent to Kyoto immediately, and the cabinet will be asked to discuss the detailed implementation details."

......

Chapter 374: I did hit him, so what?

After the decree to change officials into officials was issued, Zhu Youxiao and Guo Yunhou learned about the specific situation of the victims in detail.

Guo Yunhou's face was solemn: "Your Majesty, the disaster in Datong Prefecture is not the most serious in the whole of Shanxi."

Zhu Youxiao nodded seriously: "I have thought of these, how about other places?"

Guo Yunhou said: "Taiyuan Prefecture, which is adjacent to Datong, and Pingyang Prefecture, which is further south, are the hardest hit areas in Shanxi this year."

"According to my understanding, 80% of the refugees taken in by the South Gate are those who fled from these two states."

Zhu Youxiao was shocked.

He entered Shanxi from Zhangjiakou to Datong, a distance of only a hundred miles, and all he saw were deserted villages and towns, with no people.

He couldn't imagine how miserable the situation in Taiyuan and Pingyang would be at this moment.

Then I think of a vassal king like King Dai Zhu Dingwei, who ruled a prefecture, received titles and salaries from the court for generations, and enjoyed the support of the people.

When the country was in chaos and the people were suffering from disasters, not only did he not share the emperor's worries, help the people in their difficulties, but he took the opportunity to make a fortune from the national disaster.

He couldn't help but grit his teeth, looking towards Taiyuan and muttering to himself.

"I hope Prince Jin won't disappoint me too much."

Guo Yunhou and the other man who were standing nearby felt an inexplicable chill when they heard this. They looked at each other, as if they were observing a moment of silence for Prince Jin.

Zhu Youxiao came back to his senses and turned to look at Wu Chunfu.

"Lord Wu, take me to see how the well you dug is doing."

Wu Chunfu was wondering and was shocked when he heard the words. He quickly bent down and led the way.

"Your Majesty, please come with your attendants."

The group immediately went down the city wall, changed carriages and horses, and went straight out of the north gate.

After walking around in many twists and turns for a while, we could vaguely hear rhythmic rumbling and crashing sounds in front of us.

The rhythm is quite good, with up and down impacts.

As we got closer, the noise became louder and louder.

You can clearly feel the impact becoming more and more intense!

It was as if a giant was gasping violently.

When Zhu Youxiao and others came closer.

The collision seemed to have reached its climax.

puff! ! !

Just happened to witness a huge column of water rising into the sky.

At the same time, the crowd burst into excited cheers!

“It’s out of the water! Hahaha! It’s out of the water!”

"Great! We have water to drink anytime!"

People hugged each other and released the joy in each other's hearts.

A middle-aged bachelor was excited when he saw a couple in front of him happily hugging each other.

He turned around and saw an unfamiliar old woman, and suddenly hugged her.

The old woman was horrified and started dancing to break free. She picked up the broken bowl of porridge in her hand, and with her dry mouth with only two front teeth left, she kept cursing and chasing.

"Go to your hottie next door, and go home to hug your mother!"

When Zhu Youxiao saw this scene, he couldn't help laughing.

This old woman probably married here from Henan...

The joyful atmosphere here diluted his previous gloom a lot.

It turns out that as long as they can have a sip of water or a bowl of food, they will be so happy and satisfied.

The people of the Ming Dynasty are so kind and contented.

Wu Chunfu saw this and said hurriedly: "These people who came to watch are all vulgar vagrants. Your Majesty, please forgive me for making a fool of myself."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Youxiao turned around and glared at him fiercely.

"Rough vagrants?"

"Call them vulgar? Who is elegant?"

"Those scholars? Or you officials?"

"If you go back a few generations, who among us is not from the common people?"

"Even Master Hongwu was a beggar! Are you saying that Master Hongwu was also a vulgar person?"

The hat was too big for his size. Wu Chunfu turned pale with fright and fell to his knees immediately.

"I made a mistake and I am guilty!"

Zhu Youxiao snorted coldly: "You are a second-rank official. If I hear you say such words again, you can go home and hug your child!"

"Thank you for your forgiveness, Your Majesty!"

Wu Chunfu immediately banged his head on the ground and kowtowed three times.

At this time, the officials who had been digging wells in the past years noticed their arrival and hurried over to greet them.