Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2361: A Secret Visit Before Returning to the Palace
Matteo Ricci had been gone for about half an hour, and Gao Youshi had already turned his attention from thinking about the world situation to the political affairs of the Ming Dynasty. At this moment, in the study room of the side hall of Chunhe Palace, Gao Youshi stood in front of a huge map with a calm expression, his eyes wandering back and forth between Nanjing and Beijing.

The end of the emperor's southern tour meant that a grand return trip was about to begin, and as the prime minister of the Ming Dynasty, the planning and arrangement of all this naturally fell on his shoulders.

Soon, he summoned Li Zhizao, the cabinet's pen washer, and said in a deep voice, "Zhenzhi, the emperor's trip to the south is almost over. The preparations for his return should be almost complete, right?"

Li Zhizao bowed respectfully and replied, "Reporting to Yuanfu, all arrangements have been made. Do you have any specific instructions?"

Gao Youshi nodded slightly and said slowly: "First of all, the itinerary and route should be based on the previous plan to ensure that there are no mistakes. Safety is the top priority, and the deployment of troops along the way must be arranged in advance, and there must be no slackness.

Especially the Imperial Guards, they should dispatch cavalry scouts to investigate along the way in advance to eliminate any hidden dangers beforehand. When you go and tell my cabinet, tell them that I hope they will seize the opportunity and not treat the escort back to the palace as a trip, but as a practical reconnaissance training. And I will check afterwards and see the march minutes they provide. "

"Yes, I have noted it down. I will go to Qingliang Mountain in person in a while." Li Zhizao quickly noted down the key points and replied. The Qingliang Mountain he mentioned is located in the city of Nanjing, west of the military camp (referring to the local military camp in Nanjing), and is the stationed place for the soldiers who will escort the emperor this time.

"Secondly, the supply of materials must be sufficient. The emperor's return is a very important matter. The food, water, accommodation, etc. needed along the way must be prepared in advance without any mistakes." Gao Youshi's tone revealed an unquestionable firmness.

"I understand. We have urged local officials to wait for approval from the court at any time and make arrangements in advance and ensure that all supplies are in place according to the scheduled time of the emperor's arrival. This matter has been arranged more than two months in advance, so I think there should be no mistakes." Li Zhizao replied.

"Etiquette arrangements must not be neglected. The emperor's return is a major national event and must be carried out strictly in accordance with court etiquette. The departure ceremony and the welcoming and seeing off along the way all need to be carefully planned."

"I have already discussed the relevant matters with the officials of the Ministry of Rites. I told Chunguan (Chunguan refers to the Minister of Rites) that he will personally supervise and ensure that all etiquette is proper and does not violate the state dignity." Li Zhizao's tone was very serious. It seemed that they cared more about etiquette than Gao Youshi.

"The reception of the public also needs to be properly arranged. When the emperor returns, there will always be gentry and elders along the way who are eager to see him, so maintaining order is indispensable." Gao Youshi continued to instruct, then paused for a moment and added with emphasis: "Especially for the gentry from all over the country who have been conferred honors, we must try our best to arrange opportunities for them to see the emperor, even if it means more people can see him at once."

"I will write to local officials in the name of the cabinet to make clear requests on this matter. This will ensure that the reception by the people is orderly and there is no chaos. It will also ensure that those who are honored will get the opportunity to meet the emperor, so that they feel that their previous contributions are worth it." A glimmer of understanding flashed in Li Zhizao's eyes.

Gao Youshi's system of honors and titles "sells" the title and courtesy given by the court, so he should naturally give them the highest level of status when he can, otherwise how can he continue to fleece these local gentry in the future? At least, fleecing the gentry is better than fleecing ordinary people.

In addition, Gao Youshi was not too worried that the gentry would immediately pass on these losses to the local people, because the honorary title was not something you would have forever once you were awarded it. On the one hand, there was a stipulated time limit for holding it, and on the other hand, the imperial censors and other disciplinary officials would judge whether you could continue to hold the honorary title based on your reputation.

Simply put, if you have a very bad reputation in the local area, the imperial court can revoke your honorary title. In the review of the reputation of these honorary title holders, "harsh treatment of tenants" is also one of the deduction items. Note that it is only "one of the items".

In short, if you want to obtain the title, you have to spend money, and if you want to maintain it, you have to continue to bleed - for example, in order to have a good reputation, you have to lower the rent a little. When others charge ten taels of silver, you may only dare to charge nine taels and five cents, or even nine taels.

"Transportation arrangements, health protection, information transmission, and financial budget, each one is related to the smooth progress of the return trip, and must be implemented and supervised one by one according to the previous plan. No matter where the problem occurs, this cabinet must be able to locate the person responsible at the first time." Gao Yousi's speech speed gradually increased, showing his importance to this matter.

Li Zhizao was not surprised by the words he used, as he had often heard them around him and had long understood them. As for Gao Yuanfu's obsession with "implementing the responsibility of the person", he had also long been accustomed to it - Gao Yuanfu hated people being ambiguous with him and shirking their responsibilities. Every time he gave an assignment, he would clearly designate the person in charge, and whoever caused the problem would be held responsible.

Li Zhizao often thought that this might be a habit that Yuan Fu developed when he was in charge of the army: One is one, two is two, don't tell me that one is OK, two is OK. I have decided that it is one, and you can't say two, otherwise you will be subject to military law.

Li Zhizao sometimes felt that Yuan Fu's style was a bit demanding. After all, some things did require a little redundancy. But sometimes he felt that perhaps this was the only way to ensure that the job was done efficiently and without deviation.

Later, he asked Gao Youshi about this question, and Gao Youshi answered without hesitation: "If you learn from the best, you will only be average; if you learn from the average, you will be below average."

This sentence was not originally written by Gao Youshi. Li Zhizao knew it was from Volume 4 of Emperor Taizong's "Emperor's Model". Communication between scholars is sometimes so simple. As soon as Gao Youshi said it, Li Zhizao immediately understood the whole cause and effect.

"I will do my best to ensure that every task is completed." Li Zhizao's forehead was slightly sweaty, but his voice remained firm.

"Finally," Gao Youshi's eyes fell on Li Zhizao, and his tone became gentle, "During this return, this cabinet will propose to the emperor that all the officials accompanying him be given three days off to rest and recuperate. By then, Zhenzhi can have a good rest."

"On behalf of all my colleagues, I would like to thank the Prime Minister for his magnanimity and the Emperor for his great grace. I will live up to the Prime Minister's trust and do my best to ensure a smooth return." Li Zhizao bowed deeply, his eyes full of gratitude.

It has to be said that Zhu Yuanzhang was not only a workaholic himself, but he also required his officials to become workaholics like him. The holidays he arranged were too few - his early regulations were that officials only had three days off each year: New Year's Day, Winter Solstice and his birthday.

This is not a joke! As a person of later generations, Gao Youshi was quite disdainful of this. This arrangement was neither humane nor scientific, and would not improve work efficiency at all. Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang was forced to add some holidays later, but it was still far less than that of the pre-Song Dynasty, so I won't go into details here.

But Zhu Yuanzhang's stinginess had an extra benefit for Gao Youshi at this time. It gave him an additional way to increase the favorability of officials. Whenever the court accomplished something big or had some major happy event, he would propose to the emperor that all officials should have a day off, usually for one day.

As a result, not only did many people think that he was "lenient" in politics, but his attitude towards the emperor also softened a lot - after all, although it was Gao Yuanfu who proposed it, the emperor had to agree to it. Don't you think so, Zhu Chongba?
After arranging these matters, Gao Youshi felt relieved. He asked someone to report to the Cabinet and the Imperial Household Department, saying that he would go to Nanjing in the afternoon to take a look around and investigate the development of industry and commerce in Nanjing.

Soon, the emperor seemed to have received the news. While sending someone to deliver today's imperial meal as usual, the eunuch quietly asked Gao Youshi that the emperor also wanted to go with the prime minister, and asked if it could be arranged for them to travel incognito.

This put Gao Youshi in a difficult position. First, he was not very familiar with the public security situation in Nanjing City - of course, it should not be too bad recently. Secondly, if the emperor was going to go with him, then in order to avoid mistakes, he should not go to too many places, and it would be best to identify a "key inspection target", which was inconsistent with Gao Youshi's original plan.

His original intention was "see how much change I have brought to the people of the Ming Dynasty." Now that the emperor has interfered, he can only change his plan and let the emperor see what results have been achieved after so many years of reform and innovation.

Gao Youshi was thinking about how to arrange the meal. In the end, for safety reasons, Gao Youshi suggested that the emperor only visit the Nanjing branch of the Jinghua Textile Factory under his name.

This textile mill not only uses Jinghua Textile's famous technology - Jinghua Loom (Jenny Loom Daming Edition), but also uses the latest water-driven spinning technology. In addition, judging from Jinghua's internal assessments over the years, this textile mill has strict management and relatively guaranteed safety.

The eunuchs came and went to convey the message, and the result was not surprising. The emperor agreed to this arrangement - he also knew that traveling incognito was no joke, and it was good enough that Gao Youshi agreed. So soon, the emperor came to Chunhe Palace, and the two of them changed into casual clothes, took a few followers, and quietly left the palace. Of course, this was only on the surface. Secretly, whether it was the Jinyiwei or the Jinghua Internal Affairs Department, after receiving the news, they were on high alert and arranged no less than ten secret stakes along the way as quickly as possible to ensure that if any accidents occurred, there would be strong people to come forward in time to ensure the safety of the emperor and Gao Youshi.

Jinghua Nanjing Textile Factory is located in the west of Nanjing, outside the "capital" and inside the outer city, and in the lower reaches of Mochou Lake. On the map, this place looks like a narrow strip, but in reality, it is actually a wide area, and it is close to the river and has abundant water sources. [Note: It is approximately southeast of the site of the Nanjing Longjiang Shipyard.]
When the emperor and Gao Youshi arrived, the scene in the workshop area made them brighten up. The Jinghua Nanjing Textile Factory covers a large area, and the factory area is probably equivalent to half of the Nanjing Imperial Palace. On the Qinhuai River in the factory area, huge water wheels slowly turn by the river, making a rhythmic creaking sound, transmitting power to the spinning machines inside the workshop.

Under the arrangement of the factory director, all the senior management of the factory went out to receive the two distinguished visitors in a low-key manner as possible - well, Gao Yousi should not be considered a visitor, after all, he is the boss.

After entering the factory, the emperor curiously observed everything around him, from the operation of the waterwheel to the working of the spinning machine. Every detail was new to him. Gao Youshi explained every link in detail, including the principle of water-powered spinning and the structure of the spinning machine. However, he was not very familiar with the workers' operating procedures, so he asked the factory director to explain this instead.

When the factory director learned that the emperor was coming, he was also extremely shocked and nervous. After all, he had no idea how to "welcome the emperor". If he made a mistake in front of the emperor, he would lose his head. Fortunately, the news from the boss also came at the same time. Gao Youshi asked not to make it public and not to worry about the reception. The factory director finally put down his worries.

Indeed, Zhu Yijun did not want to disturb the workers' normal work. He preferred to be an ordinary observer and quietly understand this industrial miracle. If he wanted to watch the imperial reception, he had plenty of opportunities, and he could even be said to have been tired of watching it.

Gao Guoshi took the emperor to a spinning machine and carefully observed its operation. The emperor saw that the spindles of the spinning machine were neatly arranged, and each yarn was spun evenly, with uniform thickness and texture, which was unimaginable in the previous manual spinning.

"How efficient is this water-powered spinning machine?" the emperor asked. From his simple question, we can see that he was indeed greatly influenced by Gao Youshi, and they all knew that the first focus was "efficiency".

The factory manager replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, our Jinghua spinning machine was invented a few years ago, which is twenty times more efficient than the hand-cranked spinning machine of the past. Now this water-powered spinning machine can spin more than 100 kilograms of yarn per day, which is several times higher than the Jinghua spinning machine that used manpower."

"I look at each... uh, Rixin, what's that called?"

"Just call it the Waterwheel, Your Majesty."

"Oh, I see that each waterwheel can drive multiple water-powered spinning machines. So... since the water is constantly flowing, doesn't this power never stop? If so, do these workers come to work at night?"

Gao Youshi's cheek twitched, and he thought to himself: Why do I think you, the emperor, are more suitable to be a capitalist than I am? These days, let alone electric lights, there is not even electricity, how can we light up at night? Working the night shift with lanterns in the textile factory, will you, the emperor, compensate for safety accidents?

He briefly explained the safety hazard, and then said, "Besides, Your Majesty does not need to worry about these spinning machines running idle. Look over there, as long as the gate is closed, the drive shaft will be cut off. Although the water wheel will still turn, the spinning machine can be stopped."

"I see." The emperor nodded. He was very satisfied with the efficiency. Under Gao Youshi's guidance year after year, he knew that such technological progress was of great significance to improving the country's productivity and the lives of the people.

However, he was still quite worried about something, and asked: "I remember that some years ago someone submitted a petition saying that this would cause many spinning craftsmen to lose their means of livelihood and become helpless. Have you paid attention to this matter? What is the current situation?"

"I said at the time that this was groundless worry." Gao Youshi shook his head and said, "The improvement of productivity will reduce product prices, allowing more people to afford new clothes, and at the same time attract more people to enter various links such as procurement, transportation, production, and sales...

Simply put, it is to create more jobs, produce more products, and ensure better people's livelihood. Even though every increase in productivity will take time for the public to adapt and adjust, when these are completed, people's lives will only be better. "

Zhu Yijun did not immediately express his approval, but thought of a question and asked: "Will there be a similar problem of 'low grain prices hurting farmers'?"

Gao Youshi shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, 'low grain prices hurt farmers' and the productivity improvement of the textile industry are not the same thing. There are four main reasons why 'low grain prices hurt farmers'.

The first is the relationship between supply and demand: when there is an oversupply of agricultural products, prices will fall, resulting in a reduction in farmers' income; the second is production costs: the costs of agricultural production, such as seeds, farm tools, and oxen, are relatively high for ordinary farmers, and when the price of agricultural products is too low, farmers may not be able to cover the costs; the third is price fluctuations: agricultural product prices are greatly affected by market fluctuations, and it is difficult for farmers to predict and respond when prices fall; the fourth is single income: farmers' income mainly depends on the sales of agricultural products, and price falls directly affect their income.

These problems themselves are not without solutions, but limited by current conditions, some things are easy to do, while others are difficult to do. For example, the court can build more granaries, store grain in good years and release grain in bad years, which can help stabilize grain prices, but this requires the court to invest in building more granaries, and they cannot be too concentrated.

Another example is to participate in more international trade, export grain in good years and buy grain in bad years. Your Majesty, Jinghua is doing this. In recent years, the grain sold to Ming Dynasty at low prices in southern Xinjiang has exceeded 30 million dan of rice alone. Some southern regions with better harvests are limited by poor roads, and occasionally there will be a situation of "low grain prices hurting farmers". Jinghua will resell them to Japan. This is the benefit of international trade."

Zhu Yijun let out a long "Oh" and then asked, "What about these yarns and cloths..."

Gao Youshi nodded and said, "Of course, we can also sell it to other countries to avoid a sudden impact on the domestic market. In fact, as far as I know, about 30% to 40% of the fabrics produced by Jinghua Textile Factory are sold overseas every year."

Zhu Yijun was very satisfied and thought to himself: That's great! The court can collect an export tax when exporting. No wonder the tariffs have been rising year after year... Thinking of this, he put aside his worries, patted Gao Youshi on the shoulder, and said: "God has given me a lot of support. You are the only one who can think through these things so clearly."

Gao Youshi was desensitized to such compliments. He just smiled and then introduced the maintenance of the spinning machines and the training of the workers to the emperor.

The emperor routinely expressed his appreciation for the factory director's management and the craftsmen's skills, then encouraged them to continue innovating and promised more support from the court - well, about this, he just said it, and everyone just heard it, so I guess neither side would take it too seriously.

Although this incognito visit was not long, it was at least fruitful for Zhu Yijun. He witnessed the development of Ming Dynasty's "industry" with his own eyes, felt the vitality that scientific and technological progress brought to the country, and thus became more grateful to Gao Youshi - although he was educated that the emperor did not need to be grateful to anyone, but people are made of flesh and blood, how could they really forget about emotions?

As the sun sets, Zhu Yijun and Gao Youshi finish their inspection of the Jinghua Nanjing Textile Factory, each with their own thoughts. As they walk out of the long gate, Zhu Yijun can't help but say to Gao Youshi: "Rixin, based on what I've seen today, I have more confidence in your reforms over the years. I will continue to support your reforms in the future, so that the Ming Dynasty's rejuvenation will be more worthy of its name."

After hearing what he said, Gao Youshi guessed that he still felt a little guilty about his Fengshan, so he said half-promisingly and half-consolingly: "The Ming Dynasty's revival is well-deserved. However, I will do my best to live up to the emperor's trust and make the Wanli Restoration even more glorious and prosperous."

The two smiled at each other, their passion unspoken.
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PS: It is expected that the next book will have a lot of important generals and officials under the command of the protagonist. If you are interested, you can leave a message to pre-order. Including but not limited to: name, courtesy name, origin, life story, personality, appearance characteristics, expected position or job direction, etc.

Uh, the above tentatively requires that the fan level of this book is "Hall Master" or above. [This is just a pre-order, no new books will be released before this book is finished.]