Chapter 282: Using National Policy - Changing Rice to
Sang. In the 39th year of Jiajing's reign, there was a severe drought in the capital. The emperor ordered Lan Daoxing to pray for rain at the Temple of Heaven.
The emperor was in a bad mood.
According to convention, at the end of each year, before the sealing of the twelfth lunar month, the cabinet, the six ministries and the ceremonial supervisor will hold a year-end financial meeting in front of the emperor to determine the expenditures of each ministry last year and decide on important projects for next year.
This is also a meeting that Emperor Jiajing has attended every year since he began to seek immortality.
But at this year's imperial meeting, the cabinet and the Supervisor of Ceremonies kept arguing, and the Supervisor of Ceremonies never approved Hong.
The cabinet and the Supervisor of Ceremonies could only send the final results to the emperor's imperial court and request the emperor's sanction.
Over the years, Emperor Jiajing became more and more relaxed about government affairs.
Not only the government affairs, but also matters such as offering sacrifices to the mountains, rivers, sun, moon, and ancestors were also left to the honorable ministers to perform sacrifices on their behalf.
Over the years, Cheng Guogong Zhu Xizhong has been jokingly called the high priest of the Ming Dynasty by foreign dynasties. Almost all the sacrificial activities that should have been attended by the emperor were done by Cheng Guogong.
It's just that over the years, Chengguo Gong Zhu Xizhong has become older and increasingly unable to adapt to the back and forth between his hometown of Fengxiang, the two capitals in the north and south, and the imperial mausoleum in the suburbs of Beijing.
Although he was unwilling to admit it, Emperor Jiajing also felt that he was old.
A few days ago, the emperor summoned Duke Dingguo Xu Yande. Seeing that this honorable minister who was about the same age as himself was already old, Emperor Jiajing, who had never been affectionate towards his ministers, actually pulled Duke Dingguo to start a family affair.
The ancestor of Dingguo Gong can be traced back to Xu Zengshou, the third son of Xu Da, the founding hero of the country.
Ding Guogong and Wei Guogong in Nanjing are both descendants of Xu Da's two sons.
During the Battle of Jingnan, Xu Zengshou secretly supported Zhu Di in Nanjing. Although he was killed by Emperor Jianwen, Duke Dingguo of Xu Zengshou's lineage became prominent.
The Duke of Wei, Xu Huizu, who was in Nanjing, supported Emperor Jianwen, but was demoted and imprisoned after being imprisoned by the emperor Zhu Di, but his hereditary title was not removed. However, later Wei Guogong's lineage could only stay in Nanjing.
The current Duke of Wei, Xu Pengju, was dismissed from his military position because of the Zhenwu Camp mutiny, and is now idle at home.
In contrast, Xu Yande, Duke of Dingguo, gained the emperor's trust and could often visit the palace.
It can only be said that Xu Da's sons are very good at standing in line. Xu Yande, the current Duke of Dingguo, is also a taciturn person and never expresses any opinions on important court affairs.
"Is your eldest son Xu Wenbi also an adult?"
Xu Yande said respectfully: "The dog has grown up and will be accepted next year."
Accepted means that when the heir of an honor reaches the age of twenty, he can hold some positions and wait to inherit the title.
Jiajing nodded and said: "In that case, let the boy Wenbi come out to do something, and let him be the imperial guard first."
Even Xu Yande, the usually stable Duke of Dingguo, was overjoyed. The helmet generals are all the sons of honorable ministers, and Diansuwei is the leader of the imperial guards. This is a very critical position.
Although the status of the red-helmeted generals of the imperial guard has been greatly reduced since Tumu Fort, and has become a ceremonial guard of honor, the job of the Diansu Guard is still very important.
Emperor Jiajing suddenly said: "Lu Bing is dead."
Xu Yande once again restored the appearance of the wooden sculpture before. The death of Lu Bing, the commander of the Jin Yiwei, has now become a taboo topic in the capital.
Since the last incident with Yu Dayou, Lu Bing was recuperating in name, but in fact, the emperor deprived him of his right to be the commander of the Jinyi Guards and was imprisoned at home.
In November, something else happened.
Zhou Yunyi, the supervisor of the Qin Dynasty Supervisor, wrote to the emperor because of the celestial warning: "The imperial court's expenditures are excessive, the government is corrupt, the people are in dire straits, and the sky is angry and resentful." As a result, Zhou Yunyi was ordered to fight by the emperor because of his "monstrous words to confuse the people and make arrogant opinions on the government." He eventually died
in In front of the Meridian Gate of the Forbidden City.
After Zhou Yunyi's death, Lu Bing, the commander of the Jinyi Guards who had been recuperating at home, suddenly entered the palace, but this time Lu Bing did not come out of the palace.
On December 11, the 39th year of Jiajing's reign, Lu Bing, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, died violently in the palace, causing rumors in the capital.
The emperor said again: "Yang Shen is also dead."
Poor Xu Yande searched his guts and finally remembered who Yang Shen was.
Yang Tinghe's son, Yang Shen, who was demoted to Yunnan for a lifetime because of the Great Rites Discuss, finally died.
Emperor Jiajing took out a piece of paper and recited:
"The rolling waters of the Yangtze River pass eastward, and the waves wash away the heroes. Right and wrong, success and failure are all gone. The green mountains are still there, and the sunset is red several times. The
white-haired fishermen and woodcutters on the river are used to watching the autumn moon. Spring breeze. Happy reunion over a pot of wine. Many things in ancient and modern times are all laughed at."
After hearing this, Xu Yande almost clapped his hands and applauded. Yang Shen deserves to be the leader of the literary world. This poem is really superb!
However, Xu Yande did not dare to praise him. He secretly glanced at the emperor's face and quickly lowered his head.
"I have pardoned the Yang family and allowed his family to carry the coffin and return home."
Xu Yande then discovered that the emperor's hair also had white hair. Emperor Daojun, who once claimed to be immune to cold and heat, now also put on winter clothes.
Xu Yande quickly lowered his head again.
Emperor Jiajing knocked on Tongjin and said:
"Step back, Huang Jin!"
Xu Yande quickly stepped back, only to see the first eunuch among the eunuchs, Huang Jin, who was respectfully called the ancestor by the eunuchs in the palace, hurriedly Entered the hall.
Huang Jin's hair had also turned white. Xu Yande lowered his head and passed by this powerful eunuch, trying hard not to see or hear anything inappropriate.
However, when he walked to the palace gate, Xu Yande still heard the emperor's conversation.
"The construction of major works and palaces cannot be stopped, and the money of the Ministry of Industry must not be reduced. Let the important officials of the court and the ministers submit a letter on how to solve the holes in the Ministry of Industry next year!" The Chief of Ceremony naturally did not dare to neglect, and hurriedly prepared the work before the New Year
. The emperor's order was spread throughout the yamen of the capital.
After receiving the emperor's order, Yan Shifan, who was the Minister of the Ministry of Industry at the time and was known as Xiaoge Lao, immediately gathered in the mansion.
His confidants Zhao Wenhua and Yan Maoqing gathered at the house, and Yan Shifan paced back and forth, cursing.
"Old thief Xu Jie! His household department knows how to cry for poverty. Doesn't he know where our money from the engineering department is spent?"
Yan Shifan became furious when he thought of the verbal battle at the imperial meeting.
Zhao Wenhua quickly admonished: "Don't be angry, Mr. Xiaoge, this is also a good opportunity for Mr. Xiaoge to show off!"
Yan Shifan sat on the Taishi chair and asked, "Do you have any good ideas, Mr. Zhao, that can solve the court's deficit?"
Zhao Wen He also quickly said: "Mr. Xiaoge, do you know how much silk the Fuzhou Shipping Department sold this year?"
Yan Shifan was stunned for a moment and shook his head. The Shipping Department is an institution within the palace. As the Minister of Industry, of course he doesn't know. The accounts of the Shipping Department.
Zhao Wenhua said: "The silk purchased by the Ryukyu envoy in Fuzhou was worth two hundred thousand taels of silver."
Yan Shifan took a breath.
Zhao Wenhua added: "That's it, it's because there isn't enough silk sold. With the current market, the Ryukyu envoy can receive as much silk as the silk weaved." Yan Shifan was not a fool either. He asked doubtfully: "Ryukyu is no better.
" It’s a small country, how can it have so much money to buy silk?”
Zhao Wenhua chuckled and said, “Aren’t there still Japanese and Folangji people?” That’s it!
Yan Shifan suddenly realized, but he added:
"But there is only so much silk, why can't we get more."
Zhao Wenhua said mysteriously: "I have a plan."
Yan Shifan asked in a respectful tone: "Brother Yuanzhi Please enlighten me."
Zhao Wenhua stroked his beard and said, "Change rice to mulberry."
"Change rice to mulberry?"
Both Yan Shifan and Yan Maoqing were chewing on these four words that Zhao Wenhua said.
Soon Yan Maoqing clapped his hands and said, "Wonderful!"
Only then did Yan Shifan react and clapped his hands and said, "What a wonderful idea!"
Yan Shifan stood up again, raised his hands and said to Zhao Wenhua: "Brother Yuanzhi, since we want to change rice into mulberry , where should we start from?"
"Zhejiang!"
Zhao Wenhua said almost decisively.
Zhao Wenhua added: "However, there is a stumbling block in Zhejiang's conversion from rice to mulberry, Hu Zongxian."
Yan Shifan showed a fierce look and said: "Hu Zongxian treated me sincerely because he was my father's disciple, but this man fought against the Japanese in Zhejiang. It is very important to my father."
Yan Shifan added: "But if it is a national policy, Hu Zongxian will definitely implement it!" During the
entire New Year period, Yan Shifan gathered with Zhao Wenhua and Yan Maoqing all day long, and even his newly married concubine was not "taken care of".
At the same time, in the new year of the 40th year of Jiajing, Su Ze still took Fang Ruolan back to Changning Guard to spend it.
But this time they took a new type of clipper ship and arrived at Changningwei from Shanghai in only fifteen days.
After finishing all the New Year matters, Su Ze got on the boat without stopping and followed Lin Mojun out to sea to Dong'ao Island.
At this time, Dong'ao Island also looked like a Chinese New Year scene. Su Ze looked at the increasingly crowded Dong'ao Island and asked Lin Mojun next to him: "Why are there so
many people on the island?"
Lin Mojun sighed and said : "The situation in Fujian this year is not very good. These are the people who are fleeing."
"Fleeing?"
Lin Mojun nodded and said, "Not only are there Japanese pirates in Fujian this year, the government has also imposed a lot of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes. People in many places have fled. "Is
it so serious?"
Lin Mojun nodded and said, "There was even a civil uprising in Guangdong, but now that Fujian and Guangzhou have the elites of the imperial court, they were quickly suppressed."
Lin Mojun said, "You Aren't we trying to recruit immigrants to develop Damuan Island? People near Fujian have a tradition of going to Southeast Asia, so I recruited these immigrants in the name of going to Southeast Asia." Su Ze said with some excitement: "How many people are there now
? ?"
Lin Mojun said: "I will place the newly recruited immigrants on Dong'ao Island first, and then send them to Danyuan Island after they have adapted for a while." "There are currently more than 2,000
people on Dong'ao Island. Five thousand people have also been sent to Da Yuan Island."
Su Ze did not expect that Lin Mojun would achieve such results in just half a year.
Lin Mojun said: "In addition to the people who can't survive in Fujian and Guangzhou, there are also slaves redeemed from the Japanese country. There are more than 500 of them, and they have been resettled on Dayu Island." After inspecting Dong'ao Island, Su
Ze We took the clipper boat non-stop and went south to Da Yuan Island.
A blockhouse has been built on the place purchased from the original residents of Taiyuan Island, and a small city has begun to take shape around the blockhouse.
"According to your instructions, every citizen who comes to the island, regardless of male or female, will be given a hoe and a hammer; one household will be given an iron pot; five households will be given one farm tool. Every month in the first year on the island. For one stone per meter, they are allowed to open up wasteland on the island, and no grain will be collected from the first year's land income." A
special flag was raised, and a speedboat was immediately dispatched from Dayuan Island to escort the clipper ship to the port.
When the clipper ship docked, Su Ze saw a neat team of soldiers practicing on the dock.
"Dayuan Island is not that peaceful either. Nanyang pirates and Japanese pirates often infested it. It was only after building this fort that things became more peaceful."
Su Ze nodded. He soon saw a familiar figure among the officers leading the team. .
"Su Xianggong!"
Zhang Biao stepped forward quickly. He was the general banner that Su Ze took away from the Zhenwuying Incident half a year ago.
Su Ze not only rescued these rebellious officers from the military camp, but also moved their families out to sea to Da Yuan Island, thus avoiding the imperial court's reckoning.
In the past six months, Su Ze has been "lecturing on martial arts" in various military camps in Nanjing. As he continued to give lectures, he also picked out some seeds of progress.
Some of them were left by Su Ze in various camps in Nanjing, while some were smuggled to Dajuan Island by Su Ze.
Zhang Biao was holding a blunderbuss and wearing a Yanping blue dyed cotton military uniform. He was completely different from the last time Su Ze saw him in Nanjing. He was full of energy.
"Xiangong Su, these are the soldiers I led!"
Lin Mojun said from the side: "There are now 500 gunmen on Dayuan Island. They are all soldiers trained full-time, and they use the enlightenment textbooks you compiled. The training materials are all the drills you sent back last time."
Su Ze nodded with satisfaction, and Zhang Biao said to Su Ze: "Ms. Su, everyone is looking forward to you giving lectures to everyone!"
Zhang Biao was originally literate. , otherwise he would not be elected by the soldiers as the leader in asking for wages.
After the Zhenwu Camp mutiny, Zhang Biao originally had some illusions about the Ming Dynasty and was not ready to leave.
But after listening to Su Ze's analysis and Su Ze's short lecture, I completely gave up my illusions about the Ming Dynasty.
Later, the progressive soldiers sent by Su Ze to senior officials also told Zhang Biao about the Ming Dynasty's settlement of accounts after the fall and the arrest of Zhang Biao. Zhang Biao was both frightened and grateful to Su Ze.
Of course, Su Ze readily agreed. He gave three consecutive lectures at the auditorium built on Taiyuan Island. By the third lecture, even the aborigines on Taiyuan Island came to listen.
Immediately afterwards, Su Ze visited the newly opened farmland and sugar cane plantations on the island. It was not until before the Lantern Festival that he and Lin Mojun returned to Changning Guard.
On the ship, Lin Mojun hesitated and asked:
"If it is just to immigrate overseas, there is no need to prepare for war like this. Azze, what do you want to do?"
Su Ze said: "I will do this and wait and see. Just change."
A year later, the imperial court in the capital issued an order to promote the conversion of rice into mulberry in Zhejiang.
(End of chapter)