Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 807
He didn't stay in Ningxia for long, and the emperor continued westward.

It was already December, and the westerly wind was blowing, but the emperor still went to Lanzhou.

Walking along the Yellow River, it was a world of ice and snow, but they were all the elite of the imperial camp, and they did not bring any palace eunuchs and concubines, so there was no problem in marching, and the emperor also rode on horseback.

The emperor rode on a horse, with his whip pointed at the Yellow River.

"It's winter now, and after the beginning of spring, it will be navigable from Liujiawan in the upper reaches of Lanzhou to Hekou Town in Qiantao Zhenwu, and the [-] miles in the middle reaches of the Yellow River will be navigable. At that time, Gansu and Suiyuan will be connected. The three sets of Hehuang and the lower reaches can be self-sufficient in grain, and there is no need to transfer grain in the Guanzhong Plain.”

Wen Anzhi also very much agreed with the emperor's plan for the middle reaches of the Yellow River, [-] miles, from Lanzhou to Guihua, building shipyards and wharves along the route, connecting Ningxia, Jiuyuan, Baotou, Suiyuan, etc., which is of great significance.

"From Yongjing in the upper reaches of Lanzhou to Wufang Temple in Jingyuan County, there are dangerous places such as Daxia, Xiaoxia, Five Brothers, and an old man. Only wooden rafts and rafts can be used in this section of the river. Wooden boats are not allowed. Wufang Temple Scripture From Zhongwei, Jinji, and Lingwu to Ningxia, there are dangerous obstacles such as Heishan in the middle, and the passage of ships is also very difficult. It is necessary to build wharfs and separate ships for transportation. Only from Ningxia and then north, passing Luoer to Shizuizi, Only then did the river widen further.”

Ningxia to Guihua can be navigated across the board, and Ningxia to Lanzhou, there are many dangerous canyons, but it is also possible to use leather rafts, wooden rafts, etc. It is still far more than land transportation, but it can only go down the water, not against the water.

From the source of the Yellow River to Liujia Gorge in Yongjing, the upper reaches of Lanzhou, Gansu, the Yellow River winds and winds among many mountains. There are about 2000 miles of river section with a huge drop. Shipping value.

The main stream of the Yellow River from Yongjing to Lanzhou, and the downstream channels of the two larger tributaries, Huangshui River and Tao River, have the convenience of primary navigation, but these river sections are limited to leather rafts and rafts from top to bottom, and cannot Pass up and down.

The Hehuang Valley in this section is the seat of Hehuang in the northwest, which is only smaller than the Guanzhong Plain and Hetao Plain. It is very fertile and plugged in the south of the Yangtze River. In the Ming Dynasty, grain, green oil, wood and coal were transported under the Huangshui River. Those who are lucky are mostly wood.

Huangshui can pass through rafts and rafts from Xining to Lanzhou for five hundred miles. It can not only transport grain, fur, timber, coal, but also carry passengers.

Shizuishan in the north of Ningxia, the Yellow River going north here is very flat and wide, and can be navigated up and down, so Zhu Yihai specially proposed to Erdos Khan to set up Shizuishan Town here, build a shipyard here, build a shipping center, and become an important mutual market transaction center.

In the future, wool and medicinal materials from Ordos and salt from Ningxia will be traded and concentrated here, and transported to Hekou via Dengkou and Baotou. From the beginning of winter to the Qingming Festival of the following year, they can be sailed for seven months.

Hekou Town in Suiyuan can be directly connected to Datong, and Datong is connected to Taiyuan or Zhangjiakou, and Beijing and Tianjin.

On the other side, Shizui Mountain leads to Ningxia, Lanzhou, and even Xining and Qinghai.

The emperor attached great importance to the water transportation of the Yellow River. In the final analysis, it is a slogan that everyone in the future will know. If you want to get rich, you must first build roads, and the big river water transportation is a highway for getting rich that is bestowed by God. It does not need to be repaired. of.

River port towns are built along the river, which are not only transit and distribution centers for inland water transport materials, but also can be connected with land transport.

Goods are connected to the world, and what is needed is exchanged. If a place wants to develop, it is unrealistic to rely on self-sufficiency alone, let alone become rich.

Especially places like the Northwest are relatively backward. Although there are Hetao Plain, Guanzhong Plain, Hehuang Valley, Hexi Corridor, etc., most of the other places are actually the Loess Plateau, desert, Gobi and other places. To get connected.

Ordos is a semi-arid grassland and sandy land, where grazing is the mainstay, fur and dairy products are produced, as well as mushrooms, etc. For example, northern Shaanxi is short of water and dry, and there are few grain fields, but there are also many salt ponds, and even coal in northern Shaanxi is very large. famous.

Similarly, the Hehuang Valley not only has its own fertile valleys, but also serves as an important channel leading to Qinghai-Tibet. It was a branch of the Silk Road during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and the development of trade was the focus.

Not to mention the Hexi Corridor, which is the main line of silk, transporting the Western Regions.

After the construction of the Grand Canal in the Central Plains, many towns and wharfs emerged along the canal. On the canal line in the Ming Dynasty, Yangzhou, Linqing and other big cities along the river even surpassed those provincial cities.

The current Shizuishan, Dengkou, Baotou, Hekou and other places, the emperor has just planned to build cities and troops to build docks, because the Mongols occupied these places before, many places are just wasteland, but as long as the shipping is open, then now In the unified market of Northwest China, these piers will soon flourish.

It was in the Qing Dynasty that Baotou became a fur distribution center in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, from a small village to a large town with more than 1000 shops and an annual trade volume of more than 500 million.

The river course can become both a cargo channel and an information channel. It can not only connect and distribute goods, drive upstream and downstream, but also bring in tax revenue. Tax revenue can also enrich the people and supply the army, forming a good closed loop.

In the final analysis, if the imperial court wants to control and stabilize the northwest frontier, it must garrison heavy troops, but the garrison requires a lot of military expenses to raise troops. If it cannot provide local supplies or even military salaries, it will be difficult to last.

From the Han Dynasty to the Sui and Tang Dynasties to the Ming Dynasty, it was always difficult to control the Western Regions for a long time. The biggest problem was that it was too far away, and the most important thing about this distance was the inconvenience of transportation and the difficulty of delivering materials.It is difficult to quickly transfer materials, which limits the delivery of troops and affects military control.

Although the Hexi Corridor is a natural passage, after all, people pull horses and carry it for thousands of miles, which is not as convenient and fast as river transportation.

If it can be completely self-sufficient in the Western Regions, it can supply more troops and ensure sufficient food and wages, but it can still be maintained.

Those small oases in the Western Regions are not enough to maintain a large-scale garrison, unless the Ili River Valley is taken, and if the Ili River Valley is not taken down, even if the major oases in the south of the Tianshan Mountains are controlled, it will not be enough, or the Fergana Basin west of Congling Down.

By choosing one of Fergana and Ili Valley, the Central Plains Dynasty can maintain a strong garrison in the Western Regions, and even migrate a large number of immigrants, so that the Han people can surpass other indigenous people and become the main ethnic group. This is the real long-term stability.

It is not enough to rely solely on the food supply of the Hexi Corridor.And oasis basins such as Hami and Turpan cannot support a large scale.

Now the Yarkand Khanate occupies various oases south of the Tianshan Mountains. They also once occupied the Fergana Basin and the Ili River Valley, but they are now occupied by the Heshuo Te tribe.

Zhu Yihai wants to win the Western Regions, and also plans to control Ili and Fergana in the future, but now he must first stabilize Shaanxi and Gansu, and then move westward step by step. The most important thing to truly control the Western Regions is not military success, but must Only enough Han Chinese immigrated there.

From Shaanxi-Gansu to Yumen, Dunhuang, then to Hami and Turpan, and then along the Tarim River, Korla, Kuqa, Aksu, Wushi, Kashgar, Khotan, etc., all the way to emigrate and colonize.

From the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, in fact, the Central Plains Dynasty’s immigration to the Western Regions was still very strong, such as the Long March athletes in the Tang Dynasty, etc., but in the end, with the weakening of the Central Plains Dynasty, those Han children in the Western Regions were eventually ruled by the Hu people, or even They assimilate.

In the final analysis, the number is still too small.

Mainly rely on the army. When the main force of the garrison returned to the Central Plains, a small number of garrisons and immigrants could not resist those nomads. During the Anshi Rebellion in the Tang Dynasty, the Anxi Army returned to the Central Plains and never came back. , Those left behind in Anxi have become white-haired veterans, struggling to support one after another, still looking forward to the return of the Central Plains Tang Dynasty to Anxi.

They didn't even know that the Tang Dynasty changed the emperor and the year.

Junggar once unified the Western Regions and Qinghai-Tibet in history, but they finally lost against the Qing Dynasty for decades. In the final analysis, their population is too small. The total population is only 80 million. How can the enemy occupy the Central Plains and have hundreds of millions of Han people? What about the supporting Qing court?

If Zhu Yihai can immigrate 100 million people to the Western Regions in the future, it will basically guarantee the stability of the Western Regions. If he can immigrate 200 million people, no one will be able to snatch them. Then he will be able to look at the Western Regions, and even serve Kazakhs. up.

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"Your Majesty, Beijing is in a hurry."

Pang Tianshou, deputy eunuch of the internal memorial office, brought a box of memorials that had just been delivered.

Zhu Yihai motioned him to put it down.

After brewing a pot of tea, he began to review the memorial.

These memorials were played by the left-behind prime ministers, some by the left-behind cabinet, some by the crown prince and officials of the East Palace, and naturally there were also those by the six ministries and the five military governors' mansions.

There are big and small matters.

The emperor still paid attention to the prince's memorial, and read it carefully several times.

The crown prince dealt with the incident of canceling the exam in Henan, killing Fan Xun and Ding Qixiang first, and then killing Ding Qirui, Ding Kuichu, and Ding Qiguang's uncle and nephew, and even convicting and disposing of Zheng Sanjun, Hou Xun, and Hou Fangyu together.

Some things were beyond his expectation.

He asked the prince to deal with it, wanting to see the prince's ability, but unexpectedly the prince not only dared to kill, but also dared to directly attack the big guys like Donglin Fushe.

The 15-year-old crown prince is really surprising.

After drinking a pot of tea, Zhu Yihai called the accompanying cabinet, prime ministers and ministers.

"I support the prince's disposal."

The emperor spoke directly.

"Your Majesty, Ding Kuichu and Ding Qirui have both served as governors of several provinces, and Ding Qiguang is also an official admiral. Would you like to be lenient?" It was Wu Yi who spoke.

"Zheng Sanjun and Hou Xun were also former bachelors, ministers, and governors. They wrote letters to plead for these students. Although there is something wrong, it is not a big mistake."

Zhu Yihai chuckled, "Ding Qixiang is the nephew of Ding Kuichu, the cousin of Ding Qirui and Ding Qiguang, he is also a student of Hou Fangyu, and Hou Fangyu is a student of Zheng Sanjun, the son of Hou Xun, the chief envoy of Henan, Zhang Shixia, Tixue and Chen Tinglu, and the inspector The deputy envoy, Fan Jinsi, was both their students and from Henan, and they were even related by marriage.

How dare you say that these people did not plan to collude in the matter of canceling the exam in Henan?Do you dare to say that Ding Qixiang and Fan Xun didn't get their orders?
How can these people openly oppose the imperial court? "

Wu Yi insisted, "Your Majesty, although they are close relatives, and even the troublemakers are their children, it cannot be said that they instigated them. Without evidence, it can only be said that the discipline is not effective."

The emperor looked at Wu Yi coldly.

"You want evidence? Could it be that they use the so-called alliances and associations to form cliques for private interests, and they are officials when they enter, and gentry when they leave, interfering in the imperial court and local policies, safeguarding their private interests, wanting to regain the tax-free privilege, and want to annex and occupy land?
Mr. Wu, please pay attention to your position! "

The emperor's words made Wu Yi terrified, "I am neither Wanli nor Chongzhen, and I will never allow the Donglin Party to interfere in the country's government affairs, and it is impossible to restore their tax-free privileges." It is a basic national policy for me to raise troops to restore the world, and it is also a basic national policy to prohibit forming alliances, establishing societies, and prohibiting party formation for personal gain."

The emperor was reminding Wu Yi that it didn't matter whether Ding Qixiang was instructed by Ding Kuichu and Ding Qirui and Ding Qiguang to sabotage the imperial examination.

Ding Qirui and others blatantly defended their cousins ​​and those examinees, and even began to attack the imperial court's policy of relocating gentry into Gyeonggi. Exemption policy, and then attacked the policy that officials and gentry should work together as officials.

This is a counterattack by some gentry landlords. They want the court to go back to the system before Chongzhen was hanged. They want to continue to maintain their privileges and interests. They want to continue to control the court policy, control the fields and common people, and even intervene. The monopoly of industry and commerce formed a special class of gentry lords in the Ming Dynasty.

They also want to restore the detached status of forming alliances and establishing associations casually, publishing public reports and newspapers attacking the government at will, and even publishing books and newspapers to criticize current affairs and the court at will.

How is this possible?

At the beginning of Zhu Yihai's army, he was on guard against these people, so while he recruited the former officials of the imperial court and recruited local gentry, but at the same time he relied more on the imperial camp he created. With his full support, the martial arts class and the Conglong faction among the bureaucratic gentry can be regarded as tearing apart the original gentry class.

It is because of these people that the old system can really be broken.

Now that the Ming Dynasty is restored, some people feel that they can do it again, and start to test the emperor again and again. Last time, the incident between Chen Zilong and Zuo Guangxian, the emperor did not expand it, and even intentionally minimized it.

Now that he is on a western tour, they are actually making such a move. Is this trying to coerce the young prince, or overthrow the left-behind cabinet?
Whether the emperor is now moving the gentry into the capital, or the previous integrated grain collection, clearing the land and limiting the land, etc., the emperor is dividing up the gentry landlords, supporting a group of upstarts and suppressing a group of old people. This kind of cleaning itself is also to enhance control. The key to centralization.

The emperor has been doing it more cautiously. Before, under the attack from inside and outside, those precarious nobles and bureaucrats didn't dare to make troubles.

For Zhu Yihai, whoever dances happily will be punished, especially those who are on the wrong team, he will never be polite when suppressing them.

Ding Kuichu's family was originally a loser, but now they still dare to dance so happily, and the prince dares to take them under the knife. Zhu Yihai agrees with both hands, so he doesn't care whether there is evidence or not.

If the emperor formed a clique for private interests and deceived the emperor, there would be no redemption for a hundred deaths.

This is the same as those major cases that Zhu Yuanzhang engaged in after the founding of the country. Those cases were just leads, not the real reason. The emperor just took the opportunity to clean up and achieve the result.

Wu Yi is still here to ask the emperor for evidence, isn't he confused about the situation?
What evidence do you want?They attack the emperor's basic national policy in this way, isn't it enough for the emperor to deal with them?
"Fan Xun and Ding Wenxiang were put to death immediately, and there was no need for autumn queens. The rest of those who participated in the boycott of examinations and disturbances will be expelled from their merits and will never be allowed to take the imperial examination again. Since they don't want to go to Gyeonggi, they will all move to Gansu to guard the frontier for reclamation."

"For the rest of the candidates who did not participate in the trouble, give them make-up exams."

"Ding Kuichu, Ding Qirui, Ding Qiguang, Hou Xun, Zheng Sanjun, Hou Fangyu, Zhang Shixia, Chen Tinglu, and Fan Jinsi were all beheaded. The three generations of their families who had achieved fame and official titles were all expelled as citizens, their property was confiscated, and the whole family was exiled to Anxi Prefecture, Gansu Province."

Zhu Yihai's treatment was very ruthless, unprecedentedly severe. In the past, Chen Zilong and Zuo Guangxian were at most exiled, and earlier officials were more likely to be dismissed, demoted, or fined.But now it's getting stricter every time, from demoting officials to dismissal, to expulsion from nationality and exile, and now it's even more direct execution and implicating the family.

For those gentry and bureaucrats who are still trying to restore the old system, especially those who did not contribute to the resistance to the Northern Expedition, and even simply surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, these people who are now running out to fight against the imperial government's policies directly made a big move up.

Kill the chicken to scare the monkey, if the chicken can't scare the monkey, then kill a few more, and kill a few big ones.

The emperor also used this to show his strong support for the prince.

Do they think that now is the same as before, that scholar-bureaucrats can kidnap the emperor and control the court?Although Zhu Yihai dismissed the eunuchs and didn't need to use eunuchs, he was still not afraid of those who dared to jump out.

The emperor has the sharpest knife, which is the hundreds of thousands of imperial camps, as well as those upstart officials from the dragon gentry. Ding Qirui and the others cannot represent all gentry and squires.

Just like Hou Fangyu, one of the four princes, was executed mercilessly by the emperor this time, the emperor once looked at him highly, appreciated him and reused him, and even gave him a chance after they made mistakes before, but this kind of opportunity will not Always give, especially when he was in the wrong team at the wrong time, and after making a serious mistake, the emperor didn't care that he was the fourth son of Fushe.

The fourth son of Fushe used to be his bright and beautiful feathers, but now it is an inducement for him to be killed.

Wu Yi's face was pale and he didn't dare to say anything, the emperor was really angry.

"Chen Qianfu wanted to build the embankment of the Yellow River in Henan, but the result was that there was not enough labor, and the government and the gentry were required to work together. I have no objection to this, but there is one thing he did wrong. Now that the labor for repairing the river costs at least two silver dollars a month in the market, the government Two silver dollars should be given instead of fifty pennies a day,

As for the lack of money, that is another matter. You can apply for more funds from the imperial court, or issue special bonds for repairing rivers, borrow money first, and then pay it back later, instead of actually hiring two silver dollars a month. .

The repair of the river is a major event that is closely related to everyone on both sides of the Yellow River. The repair of the river will also protect the safety of everyone's life and property. Although everyone has paid the land and silver, but now the construction period for the river repair is tight and the project is large, and there is a lack of labor. In fact, it should be, as long as the wages are paid. "

"It is the most fair to pay the land according to the mu. If there is a lot of land, you can hire people to do the work. The Henan government must ensure that no additional apportionment is made for the construction of Heyin in addition to the rated land, and it is not allowed to deduct wages, material costs, and food expenses. Then the Henan gentry should work together."

Building the river is a major event, and no one dares to be careless.

Chen Qianfu is a person who handles practical things. Although this policy has some flaws, Zhu Yihai thinks that it is better to reward and encourage it now. If there are deficiencies, it is good to make improvements.

For river repairs in Henan, fixed Dingyin is far from enough. The imperial court can issue river repair bonds, or borrow money from the Household Bank or the Royal Bank first. After all, the Yellow River does not need to be repaired every year, and the imperial court will draw money from the special funds for river repairs in the future. Repayment, or local installments.

The common people have handed over Ding Yin as a substitute, and now they have to send out Ding to build the river. Although it is unreasonable, nothing is perfect. The project of building the river is too big to recruit so many people, so there is only Ding. Just pay the wages according to the normal market employment rate.

"If other projects can be canceled or adjusted and repaired slowly, but the Yellow River embankment in Henan can't wait now and must be overhauled, then everyone will suffer. That is, with ulterior motives, the river embankment is not well repaired, and when the flood comes, the embankment will burst, just like the Tongwaxiang breach, causing more than [-] prefectures and counties to be flooded, tens of millions of people were affected, and it has been destroyed for several years. It was not possible to stop the mouth, and it was not until the imperial court invested heavily in the renovation of the new river channel in the past two years that the problem of flooding every year was solved. Do the people in Henan want the same?

Forgot about the Kaifeng breach?Now it turns out that the city of Kaifeng is still buried underground! "

Wen Anzhi also agreed with the emperor's method. Although it will increase a lot of expenses, it cannot be saved.

"The minister suggested sending a river patrol censor to Henan to supervise the repair of the river. In addition, the governor's office of the river, as well as the admonishment court and the procuratorate should send personnel to supervise. The Ministry of Industry should also send personnel to guide and supervise. Regarding the issue of funds, all ministries should work together to fully supervise, the river must be repaired, and more importantly, corruption and oppression of the people must be prevented.”

"Mr. Wen is right. Chen Qianfu and Yang Wencong will be in charge of this matter together. The ministries will work together. The private polders in the embankment will be demolished as soon as they need to be demolished, and the villages in the embankment must be relocated. Go to Suiyuan and Gansu.

Anyone who dares to incite riots will be severely punished. "

"Tell Chen Qianfu and Yang Wencong that the imperial court fully supports the construction of the Yellow River embankment in Henan. If it needs to be repaired, it will be repaired, and it will be guaranteed that there will be no major problems for 50 or 100 years. Plan ahead, just like the new river embankment of the Yellow River in Shandong. If it cannot be repaired in one year, plan it." In two or three years, if Henan itself does not have enough manpower and financial resources, the surrounding provinces should also provide people and money to support them."

Zhu Yihai personally made a decision on the matter of officials and gentry working together on errands, and it was officially implemented after raising the wages of the hired workers.

(End of this chapter)