Early Ming Dynasty: Turning Clouds and Rains into New Learning Saints

Chapter 171
Going south from the capital to Xiangshan County, he had never seen a concrete official road.Even before he was arrested, he had heard that cement would be used to repair official roads, but even in the capital, he had never seen it.

Perhaps, there are concrete official roads in the capital, but the official roads going south are not repaired.

However, in Xiangshan County, which is supposed to be very remote, and where it is even more unlikely to see a concrete official road, he saw this legendary official road, which was solid. The rainy season in Guangdong was coming soon. This kind of road should not be Will it be muddy?
Thinking like this, Zhu Liangzu came up with a question, where did Xiaoxiangshan County get so much money to build cement official roads?

To be honest, he was very curious.

However, his identity was soon discovered, which immediately attracted waves of onlookers.

"Come and see, the original Marquis of Yongjia has arrived in our county!"

"Just relying on him, he wants to fight our son-in-law, it's really beyond his control!"

"Isn't it true that in the past, this guy led the cavalry and wanted to come to our Xiangshan County to show off his power? He thought that our Xiangshan County was the same as Panyu County, but in the end he ran away in despair!"

"Fortunately, His Highness King Yan arrived in time with our Ming Dynasty's most elite navy, otherwise, if the pirate really came ashore, he would have been cut to pieces by a thousand swords under the court's investigation!"

"..."

The people in Xiangshan County didn't spit anymore, but their words pierced Zhu Liangzu's heart like a sharp arrow.

Xiangshan County is his place of shame.Even the people here expressed contempt for him in their words.

The dignified hereditary marquis has finally fallen to this level and is despised by ordinary people!
He wanted to be angry, but he couldn't.After passing through Guangzhou and Panyu, he has already experienced the consequences of facing so many ordinary people due to his status at this time.

In the end, Zhu Liangzu could only hold his head high and maintain his dignity as a marquis.

"Hey, why do they smell so bad?"

"Can it not be smelly? Now it's just a thief supporting the army, and you thought he was the original Marquis?"

"Don't you know? As for the good things he did in Guangzhou and Panyu County before, everyone yelled and beat him, and he was chased and spit on by the people. How can it not stink?"

"..."

After hearing these words, Zhu Liangzu lost his momentum and walked faster and faster, trying to reach his destination as soon as possible.Although these people from Xiangshan County did not spit on him, their words were too heartbreaking.

His destination was Qianhu Office in Xiangshan County, where he became a thief with the lowest status.

Once, when he led troops to Xiangshan County, Qi Xiang was just a member of a thousand households, and he didn't pay attention at all. But now, he has become the person who decides his fate.

Zhu Liangzu had already prepared to be tortured every day, but unexpectedly, Qi Xiang just asked him to guard the north gate of Xiangshan County.

Although this job is easy, people who come and go every day, who come in and out, can see what the original Marquis is like now.

At the beginning, everyone entering and leaving the city would point fingers at him; and he still tried to maintain his dignity.

Later, people who came in and out of the city chose to ignore him and stopped paying attention to him.The self-esteem of Zhu Liangzu who had once been a marquis was also exhausted day after day.

Come in the wind, go in the rain, just become a real ordinary person.Even though he was once an all-powerful general, time has worn away his temperament and arrogance.

After coming to Xiangshan County for a long time, he finally heard about the county magistrate Prince Consort and learned about the changes in Xiangshan County.

To be honest, he has led troops to conquer the north and south, and has been to countless places. From his perspective, he can see that even the capital is not as energetic as here!
The people here are full of hope, everyone is motivated, and the changes visible to the naked eye are witnessed by him, the gatekeeper.

Xiangshan County has long been crowded with people, but outsiders are still pouring into Xiangshan County. No, many thatched houses have been built outside Xiangshan County.From Zhu Liangzu's perspective, the city wall in Xiangshan County must be expanded.

However, he was wrong about this.

Zhang Yifan had actually seen the situation outside the city.No, he summoned the county officials to discuss the matter.

Just listen to him say: "Summer and autumn are hurricane seasons here in Guangdong, and hurricane disasters may come at any time. It is necessary to rebuild the thatched houses in the county with cement. Therefore, I have decided to announce a decision..."

Because Xiangshan County has a large demand for infrastructure and has a free construction team composed of pirates, Zhang Yifan expanded the cement workshop early, further increasing cement production and lowering the price for external sales.

The people who got rich first in Xiangshan County have already purchased cement to build their own houses and replaced them with thatched houses.

After all, housing is just needed, no matter what age it is.

However, Xiangshan County used to be too poor, and most people lived in thatched houses, with a large base. Today, a considerable number of people still live in thatched houses.

What Zhang Yifan announced was that Xiangshan County Bank issued a policy to provide housing construction loans to people with household registration in Xiangshan County, divided into several grades.

The first level is low-interest loans, which means the interest is lower than that of ordinary loans, and the interest difference is paid by the county government;
The second tranche is an interest-free loan, that is, only the principal needs to be repaid within the specified time, and the yamen will help repay the interest.

The third level is for the government to provide loans and rebuild cement houses for free.

These three files all need to be reviewed, and only those who meet the conditions can.For example, in the category of free, there are no adult laborers in the family, or the family income is lower than a certain amount, that is, poor households.

Regarding this, it is not Zhang Yifan’s original creation to gain fame, but Zhu Yuanzhang has stipulated that localities should establish almshouses, and orphans and the like can receive free care. Even the officials ordered by the imperial court must first visit the almshouses to express their condolences after arriving in the local area. of.

After hearing this, Zhang San reminded Zhang Yifan: "Prince-in-law, although these things are indeed a good thing for us in Xiangshan County, they are also a big expense!"

Zhang Yifan listened and said with a smile: "During my three years in Xiangshan County, I didn't have to pay taxes to the court. The salt shop, bank, fleet and other officials and merchants made a lot of profits. It's enough for me, so there's no need to worry!"

It should be that Zhu Yuanzhang never thought about how much money a remote low-level county could have, so when Zhang Yifan was asked to come over to open a special zone, Xiangshan County was exempted from taxes, which made Zhang Yifan cheaper.

In addition, salt shops make the most money, followed by cement workshops and banks. Passenger and freight fleets also make pure profits, and fishing boats also make money.

In terms of a county's income, Xiangshan County was probably the most profitable county in the entire Ming Dynasty.

However, Zhang San and others did not know that Zhu Jingjing controlled the general ledger.

Of course, if you really want to talk about it, the largest wealth income in Xiangshan County was given by Zhu Di, which is the pirate population of more than 2 and their ships. This is the big one.

Therefore, Zhang Yifan has enough capital to do what he wants to do.

At this time, I heard Zhang Yifan continue to say: "The county seat is no longer enough, and I don't want migrant workers to build thatched houses outside the city. Therefore, we plan to plan the areas outside the city and build them in a unified manner. They will be divided into traffic areas, including water transport terminals." and land-based carriage stations; the fresh food area, including aquatic products, will be sold again; the department store area and the dining area. After the construction is completed, all the shops in the city will be relocated, leaving only residential and school areas in the city."

In terms of function, this has never happened before.Of course, from the perspective of future generations, the entire county is equivalent to a community.

The reason for such planning is that the original county town was too small, and the influx of people made the city very crowded and traffic jams, which caused various problems and also caused great fire hazards.

"Prince-in-law, what if the shops in the city refuse to move?"

"Simple, increase the tax on opening stores in the city, and add sanitation fees, fire prevention fees, business taxes, etc. If you can bear it, you don't have to move. I won't use force."

"..." The people in the county government were speechless after hearing this.

According to this method, it is almost the same as using Qiang, right?

In fact, with Zhang Yifan's current prestige, there will be no problem no matter what he does, it's just about saving face.After Zhang Yifan said this, he began to talk about the things he was most concerned about: "Now the life of our people in Xiangshan County is pretty good. Therefore, social schools must be established in all eleven villages as soon as possible. As long as the age is appropriate, , both men and women can enroll. It is free for those registered in Xiangshan County. In addition, scholarships will be set up. Whether they are foreign or local students, as long as they excel in their studies, they will be awarded ten to one yuan of money every year."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked surprised.If this is the material for studying, it will be better to make money than to work in the prime of life at home!

With this scholarship, wouldn't every family send their children to social studies and spank them if they don't do well?
As they were thinking, Zhang Yifan continued: "In addition to the county school, there is also a library for hundreds of scholars. Any books can be collected as long as they pass the review and the collection fee is paid. No matter the household registration, any book can be collected. Borrow.”

Originally, Zhang Yifan planned to teach natural sciences, such as mathematics and physics, in schools.But considering that he has only been here for less than three years, and learning is a long-term process.If Zhu Yuanzhang had not agreed, the curriculum he set up in the school would have quickly faded away.

After all, in this era, the purpose of studying is to become an official. Forcing them to study natural science, which is still full of uncertainty, may not necessarily bring enthusiasm.

Therefore, after Zhang Yifan considered it, he decided to build a library first, put natural science in it first, and guide those who want to learn to learn.

In the past, Xiangshan County was poor, so there was no way to do education.But it is different now, and we can do more things in education.

Originally, he wanted to do more, but some of them, even if they were special zones, still needed approval from his father-in-law, so he was still waiting for a reply.

Zhang Yifan is just a little strange. According to past experience, if his memorial is sent to the capital, Zhu Yuanzhang will usually respond quickly.

I just don’t know why, but it seems a little late this time.

In this regard, he didn't care too much. Anyway, he was far away from the capital, so even if he wanted to, he couldn't.

After the county government meeting was over, and when the vigorous infrastructure construction started again, Zhang Yifan put on his casual clothes, and under the guard of Zhu Wu and others, he headed for the north city gate.

However, Xiangshan County is too small, and Zhang Yifan has appeared in public many times. In addition, he is handsome at a young age and has guards behind him. Even if he is wearing plain clothes, he is recognized by the people at once.

As a result, the greetings from "My Prince Consort" never stopped along the way.

So much so that Zhu Liangzu, who was working as a janitor, saw him immediately.

After such a long time, Zhu Liangzu has actually seen the son-in-law a few times, but at that time Zhang Yifan was always wearing an official uniform, and a large group of people went out or entered the city in crowds.

This time, he saw the prince-in-law wearing plain clothes and not riding a horse, coming towards the city gate. For some reason, his first feeling was that the prince-in-law was coming to see him.

After having this awareness, Zhu Liangzu originally thought that he would be calm and disdainful.At least he had seen the consort coming in and out before.

But this time, when he saw that the prince-in-law was getting closer and closer to him, and seemed to be really coming towards him, he was obviously a little nervous.

Zhang Yifan did come to Zhu Liangzu, but not to retaliate against him, but because he felt that Zhu Liangzu was a bit pity.

After all, he was a founding hero. He fought in the south and north, and made great military exploits, so he was ranked 27th among the founding heroes, and was awarded the title of hereditary marquis, the kind that holds an ironclad certificate.

After arriving in front of Zhu Liangzu, he stood still and looked at Zhu Liangzu.

As a result, Zhu Liangzu actually pretended not to notice him and just lowered his head and looked at the ground.

Zhang Yifan took a look and saw that there was nothing on the ground, not even ants.

The two of them remained silent for a while, without anyone speaking.

Zhu Wu is used to it now, knowing that the son-in-law doesn't need him to jump out and be a villain first, and then the son-in-law should be a good person, so he didn't say anything.

After a while, Zhang Yifan finally said: "Originally, I was thinking, after all, we have met each other, and I wanted to give you a chance to perform meritorious service, so that I can report to His Majesty and intercede on your behalf. Although It may not necessarily restore your glory and wealth, but at least it will make you suffer less. But I find that you don’t seem to need it and are used to guarding the door, so I am too troublesome!"

After speaking, he turned around and was about to leave.

However, just as Zhang Yifan turned around, he heard a hurried voice from behind: "Wait!"

When Zhang Yifan heard Zhu Liangzu's voice, he secretly laughed in his heart. After tempering him for so long, he really wasn't afraid that he would ignore him.

So, he turned around and looked over again.

At this time, Zhu Liangzu had already raised his head, but his expression was a little complicated. He looked at Zhang Yifan and said, "Why do you want to help me?"

Zhang Yifan listened and said calmly: "If you really want to say it, I can't help you. I just consider it for the Ming Dynasty and think you have some use. If it can be used, then use it; if it can't be used, why should I care? You, we are not friends!"

Hearing this, Zhu Liangzu felt relieved, and asked, "Then what do you want me to do?"

After Zhang Yifan heard this, he didn't answer right away, but said to him: "You go wash up first, and then find me in the private room No. [-] of Xiangshanju. I'm hungry, so go eat something first."

After speaking, he left.

When Zhu Liangzu saw it, he wanted to call him out, but in the end, he looked down at himself and saw that he was sloppy, and sighed without calling out.

Xiangshanju is a restaurant run by the county government. It should be regarded as one of the best restaurants in Xiangshan County.

The braised chicken here is a must, and the locals also call it Princess Chicken.

Of course, this is definitely not meant to be derogatory, but this practice comes from Her Royal Highness the Princess; they actually don’t know that the original source is actually Zhang Yifan, who taught it to Princess Lin’an when it was closed due to cowpox vaccination. Zhu Jingjing cooks food, and he is better than his master. In a government-run restaurant, Zhu Jingjing came to show off his skills.

Zhang Yifan ordered a table, which included braised chicken. He and Zhu Wu and others were eating when Zhu Liangzu arrived.

The clothes are ordinary clothes, with patches, and as far as the outfit is concerned, I really can't tell what Hou Ye looked like back then.

"Sit down and eat together, and talk while eating!" Zhang Yifan pointed to the empty seat and said to him.

Zhu Liangzu was a little surprised when he saw Zhu Wu and others eating at the same table as the consort.

When he was the Marquis, who dared to sit at the same table with him?
Maybe Zhu Wu and the others were eating too, so he didn't care anymore, just sat down and started eating without saying a word.

Zhang Yifan found that at the beginning, he was still a little particular about his food, as if he had the shadow of his former days as a marquis, but as he ate, he started gobbling it up.

He didn't laugh at him. Instead, after he had almost eaten, he said, "Xiangshan County is a special zone and handles special matters. I believe you know that."

Hearing the son-in-law speak, Zhu Liangzu looked up at him.

"In Xiangshan County, there are no hereditary household registrations, including military households. The compulsory military service system is adopted. That is to say, those with household registration in Xiangshan County, as long as they are of the right age, are obliged to serve in the military. After expiration, they can choose There are two kinds of not being a soldier and continuing to be a soldier..."

Zhu Liangzu was listening, feeling a little puzzled, wondering what this had to do with him?
Next, Zhang Yifan got to the point and said: "I won't go into the advantages of the difference between this compulsory military service system and hereditary military households. The disadvantage is that the capabilities of generals may not be as good as those of hereditary military households. Therefore, I want to establish a military training hall and select capable people as instructors to solve the shortcomings of the compulsory military service system."

At this point, he pointed at Zhu Liangzu with his chopsticks and said: "You are the most capable person in Xiangshan County in this regard. It is a pity that you are buried like this. Are you interested in becoming this instructor? First of all, you are still a prisoner, so you won't There will be corresponding treatment, but if you can teach well, I can report your results to His Majesty and show your merit. As for the final outcome, I can't promise you."

After he finished speaking, he saw that Zhu Liangzu was obviously hesitant, so he said to him again: "We are doing this because cooperation will benefit both sides. I can make up for the shortcomings of the compulsory military service system, and you can also prove to His Majesty that you are still useful." Yes, they are still loyal to His Majesty and able to serve His Majesty."

　Ask for support!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)