Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 198 Holidays
Should Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangsheng take the army with them when they take office?
This has to be carefully considered.

Because this will involve several issues.

The main problem is food supplies.

Lu Xiangsheng originally had 5000 Tianxiong troops, [-] Shandong soldiers, and [-] Sichuan troops. Considering the losses in successive battles, there should still be around [-] people.

This does not include the 5000 people from the newly demoted Liu Guoneng Department. After eliminating the old and weak, there should be 3000 people.

Zu Kuan and Li Chongjin were also excluded.

For the 5000 people alone, the monthly consumption of food and supplies is not a small amount.Xuandabian Town was not rich in the first place, if Lu Xiangsheng brought so many people there again, the Four Seas Trading Company would have to spend a lot of manpower and material resources to supply them, which would seriously affect the normal turnover of the trading company.Although there is no shortage of silver now, the more important role of the commercial bank is to allow the smooth and large-scale circulation of goods from the north and the south, which will more effectively promote the development of the manufacturing industry and drive more people in related industries to become rich.

Besides, it has been eight years since the Tianxiong Army left the Daming Mansion. Although the remains of the dead soldiers have been sent back, and the disabled have returned to their hometowns and been properly resettled, the surviving soldiers have not seen their relatives at home for so many years. I'm afraid it's reached a tipping point.In the past eight years, many families have undergone great changes, and many relatives have passed away. It is really inhumane not to let the soldiers go home to rest and have a look.

Lu Xiangsheng and Lu Xiangtong also had to go home to visit their relatives. Their old mother was not in good health.Lu Xiangsheng once mentioned in the previous book that if he wiped out the bandits, he would resign and go home to be filial to his mother. Although Zhu Youjian rejected it, but now he must let this filial son return home in good clothes, right?
Including Hong Chengchou, they all have to go home and have a look.

Lao Hong is very ambitious and has never mentioned the matter of returning to his hometown, but as his leader, he must be humane.

Anyway, it's fine for the time being, at least there has been no large-scale war this year.

The Sichuan army should also go home and have a look, and send back the payment and confiscation by the way, as well as the ashes of the fallen soldiers and the retired disabled with missing arms and legs.

Let's all go back.With money, go home and ask for a daughter-in-law, or help your brother marry a wife and get married together, continue the blood of your family, and fulfill your parents' wish.

When later generations went to university in other places, what they looked forward to most were the two holidays every year.When I think of going back to my home that is not rich but full of warmth, and see the joy from the heart on the aging faces of my parents, my heart is always full of can't wait.

People live not only for meritorious service, money and beauty, but the most important thing is the constant family affection and concern.It is the silent encouragement and support from the deep affection and expectation in my heart no matter where I am or what kind of predicament I am in.

Qin Liangyu's white soldiers should also go back, Zhu Youjian will arrange for people to send the salaries of the white soldiers to Shizhu.

Although the white-armed soldiers no longer participated in major battles, their loyal and obedient behavior was worth the salary.

Let the Shandong soldiers go back too. These honest boys have participated in the war since they formed the army, and they performed very well. It's time to go home and rest.

Huang Degong took Shandong soldiers to garrison fields in Shanxian County, and practiced while garrisoning fields. For the hard-working Shandong soldiers, it was also a way to cultivate their health and rest.

There are also the officers and soldiers in northern Shaanxi and the cavalry in Liaodong, who also have to go home. The specific date of returning to camp will be set by the general himself. I believe they will not set a short vacation in order to win the morale of the army.

I should be considered the most humane king in history, right?
A gentleman is the beauty of an adult.

This should be an unprecedented vacation for the entire army, and it is still a paid vacation, with monthly pay during the period.

I'm afraid all the officials and soldiers who received the order will be shocked, right?What a skill and boldness this is!
I am afraid that everyone has never heard of the emperor who is so tolerant and generous and treats soldiers preferentially.This move should surpass Li Er, who is the first emperor through the ages, right?Such a wise emperor did not dare to give the whole army a holiday on such a large scale.

Soldiers are not machines, but normal people with thoughts, emotions and desires.

Long-term tension, harsh military discipline, continuous battles of thousands of miles, bloody blood on the battlefield, screams and screams, under these huge pressures, the soldiers did not collapse. This is already incredible. Their bodies and minds should also be well nourished.Going home is the best way. All negative emotions will dissipate when you return home and see the faces of your loved ones.

Do you want to apply for Guinness World Records?

No matter how his courtiers criticize, Lao Tzu has the final say on Lao Tzu's army.

It's just that I wronged Cao Wenzhao and Cao Bianjiao, their uncles and nephews. They are far away in the northwest, and they are probably fighting bravely with the Tartars right now?

There is also Sun Chuanting, who is temporarily unable to return home to visit relatives, although his contributions are not inferior to those of Hong and Lu.

But he is different from Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangsheng.

The two were able to return to their hometown to visit relatives when they were relieved of their temporary assignments and had nothing to do for the time being.

As the chief official of a province, he cannot leave the local area without an edict.

In the next few days, teams of fast horses rushed out of the capital to spread Zhu Youjian's decree to Shaanxi, Huguang, Sichuan and other places.

Zhu Youjian didn't pay much attention to the upcoming exam.

Although the candidates are rushing to make up for the practical aspects of agricultural administration, but the results on paper are superficial, and everything has to be combined with practice to know the effect.

It will take two or three years for this effect and result to be seen. At that time, who is talented and who is mediocre can be seen at a glance through the living conditions of the people under his rule.

In the future, the censors and brocade clothes equipped in each prefecture and county will summarize what they have seen and heard one by one, and the Ministry of Officials will make a decision based on these situations.

This is an important step taken by Zhu Youjian to guide the transformation of the Ming Dynasty's officialdom to a pragmatic one, thereby gradually changing the concept of local officials who place more emphasis on politics than finance.

Whether the magistrate is doing well or not, and whether he will be promoted in the future, will no longer simply depend on taxes, but on the living standards of the people.Look at the newly added fields in a year, see whether the yield per mu has increased, see whether the water conservancy facilities are complete, and see whether the commodity market is prosperous.

The chief officials of the prefectures and counties should encourage the prosperity and development of various handicrafts with their own characteristics according to the local conditions.

For example, a certain county has a lot of forestry resources, and the local people have a tradition of weaving various utensils with tree branches. Then you, the county magistrate, should vigorously support this local characteristic industry, encourage farmers to start and expand various workshops, and strive to make more people In addition to food, there are other incomes.

Zhu Youjian will let Sihai Commercial Bank participate in it.

The Four Seas Bank wants to carry out small-amount loan business in this kind of state and county, and the interest needs to be reduced to a meager profit, and the purchase and distribution of its products are handled by the Four Seas Commercial Bank.

The main role played by ticket offices for such small and micro industries is to promote their development, rather than for the purpose of profit.This petty profit is insignificant to the colossus of the Four Seas Trading Company, but when it comes to the people who have been impoverished for a long time, one penny and ten pennies may solve their urgent needs.

In addition to the censors and Jinyis assigned to the county, the Inspectorate and Jinyiwei will also send special personnel to make unannounced visits to prevent any malpractice from happening in various places.

After this kind of subtle guidance and change, the administrative ability of a state and county chief official can only be seen after a few years, so the result of this test is not important.

If there are local officials with outstanding performance, they must be promoted and reused, and the imperial court will also promote their successful experience to the whole Ming Dynasty in the form of writing, so that they can have a good demonstration effect.

As for the disposal of lazy officials, Zhu Youjian has not yet thought about it.

In this era, there are too few officials with outstanding ability and down-to-earth attitude, and most officials lose their aggressiveness after being offered a golden job.

The unspoken rule that you can only go up but not down is hard to change. There are too many people involved and the area is too wide. Even the strict system of later generations can't solve it, let alone now.

The idea of ​​the capable going up and the mediocre going down is too idealistic. If you don't break the inherent system, how can you do it?

Although Zhu Youjian has ordered Sun Chuanting to take the lead in selecting officials based on ability regardless of status in Shaanxi, which was established after being destroyed, he has not received any specific report from Sun Chuanting on this aspect, and it seems that he dare not Easily change existing systems and rules.

The literati group's control over official positions and power is difficult to break.

No matter how capable you are as a subordinate official, but you have not passed the examination and the test, why do you want to be the chief official of the local government?Where do we put those of us who are studying hard in the cold window with the real name of Jinshi?
The only thing Zhu Youjian can think of now is the separation of powers.

Distribute the rights of officials with imperial examination background.

Isn't there a magistrate and a chief book under the county magistrate?Then try to strengthen the power of Zuo Erguan and imitate the sharing system of later generations.

The magistrates of counties and prefectures are still the chief officials of a land in name, and the chief officials still have the final say on major matters, but the power to handle specific matters must be dispersed.

In fact, these measures are all trivial. Zhu Youjian's ultimate goal is to reduce the government's intervention in local production activities, and to minimize the exploitation of ordinary businessmen by officials and subordinates, especially various tricky charging behaviors.

In terms of proportion, compared to Daming's population of about [-] million, there are not many officials in Daming.

Later generations once had data to prove that during the two hundred years from Taizu to Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty, there were only 10,000+ officials in total, of which there were more than 2 non-commissioned officers.

In other words, when the emperor of the Ming Dynasty had the most subordinates, there were more than 2 officials under his command, which was insignificant at all compared with the huge group of civil servants in later generations.

The number of more than 2 officials is calculated based on long-serving emperors such as Sejong and Shenzong.

But although there are not many officials, there are too many subordinate officials and servants in the prefectural and county yamen.

The imperial court will not pay the salaries of these people, so how can they support themselves and their families?
Exploiting and squeezing the people has become their most important source of income.

Although it is not clear what method they used to exploit Zhu Youjian, it is certain that they tried every means to search for it from the people.

The consequence of this is to let the people pass on their hatred to the government.

But local officials really cannot do without them.

The local government needs a lot of manpower to collect various taxes every year. Who will do things without these people?
How to limit this group of people?
The first is to include them in the payroll and make them a member of the system.

The second is to limit the number of handymen and reduce all kinds of temporary workers.

Then let the local Jinyiwei strengthen their supervision on them, and use ruthless means to eliminate the black sheep among them.

Dealing with these people will not arouse opposition from any party, but will only obtain unanimous praise from all parties.

All of this must be done after the imperial power comes down to the states and counties.At present, Jin Yiwei has not been dispatched to prefectures and counties on a large scale, and will start to be dispatched after the literacy campaign is completed. The huge team of tens of thousands of people is sufficient.

It is a bit troublesome to send the censor down, and the manpower itself is pitifully small, so it is unrealistic to send it to every state and county.

This is not difficult to solve.

Aren't the thousands of candidates who are currently preparing to take part in the examination in the capital the ready-made candidates for the censor?

The reconstruction of the Guozijian proposed by Zhu Youjian some time ago is one of the most important means for him to reform the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty.

　Thank you for your support. If you have less than 3 collections, everyone has more than [-]. It's too embarrassing, thank you.

　　Thanks to the book friend Starlight: Spirited Away for the reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)