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

Chapter 176 Stunned
I saw that on the bank of the Pearl River, a dike was built with cement. It was very obvious and extended all the way to the south.

After Zhu Biao and his party entered Guangdong, they had become numb to the harm caused by the storm. They didn't think it was anything before.

However, after seeing the cement embankment, the difference is very obvious.

There are many gaps in the Pearl River without dams.Even though it has been many days since the typhoon, we can still see the damage caused by the Pearl River water when the typhoon struck.

On the downstream side, you can actually see some cement dams with gaps that look like they have been gnawed by dogs.However, it was basically effectively prevented, and no large sections of river water fell off along the coast.

It can be seen that the dams built with cement can indeed effectively prevent the invasion of river water.

"Is Xiangshan County really so rich?" Zhu Biao couldn't help but say when he saw it, "Even the river embankments have been built with cement!"

Seeing is believing. From this concrete embankment, you can see how wealthy Xiangshan County is.

Fang Xiaoru heard it from the side and said with emotion: "I heard from my father that these are all cement bought from the cement workshop with money from the county government. The construction team is the pirates captured before and does not need to pay wages, but it is said that I am also very active in working, because if I perform well, I can be transferred to Xiangshan County citizenship."

After Zhu Biao heard this, he couldn't help but think, these are all the result of the New Deal!It can be seen that Yifan is doing a really good job!
From this, he was even more looking forward to what the scene would be like after arriving in Xiangshan County.

He didn't wait long. From a distance, Zhu Biao could see a group of buildings appearing on the boat. When he looked closely, he was immediately surprised.

This is not to say, but how big is the scale?After all, no matter where it is, no matter how big it is, can it be bigger than the capital?
Zhu Biao is not a country boy!

However, at this time, he was actually just like a country boy.

Because the buildings he saw were all cement buildings.Just like what he saw in Liujia Village, they were all cement houses.

But what I saw before my eyes was much bigger than the original Liujia Village!
"Has this reached the county seat?" Zhu Biao pointed his finger in surprise and asked Lan Yu beside him.

After hearing this, Lan Yu shook her head and said, "No, the county seat is still about five miles downstream."

Having said this, he thought for a moment and then added: "When I first came here at the end of last year, I remember that this was just a village with more than 50 households, and they were all thatched houses."

In front of outsiders, he is more formal in his address.

After hearing this, Zhu Biao said in surprise: "You mean, not only have all thatched houses been replaced by cement houses, but they are also connected to the county town five miles away?"

Lan Yu did not answer directly, but just pointed to the building and said: "General, I remember that this was originally a wasteland, and so many houses were built here, that's what happened in the past six months!"

"Incredible, really incredible!" Song Lian stroked his long beard, shook his head and sighed.

The group stopped talking, and they all quietly watched the situation on the shore, with shock in their eyes.

Finally, the fleet docked at a port.

As you can see, there are many docks in this port and many ships are docked.But at this time, several piers were cleared, obviously there were people here ready to pick up the passengers.

When Lan Yu saw it, she said to Zhu Biao again: "The last general inspected the defense of Qi'ao Island last month and passed by here. There are not so big ones here yet."

Zhu Biao was speechless. What else could he say, except that the changes were too great!
"Your Highness, the consort and the princess are over there!" Mao Xiang, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, suddenly spoke up and reminded Zhu Biao with his finger.

Zhu Biao looked along his hand and saw Zhang Yifan and Zhu Jingjing.Especially Zhu Jingjing, who was already waving there happily.

As soon as he saw the two of them, Zhu Biao couldn't help but smile sincerely, and immediately ordered: "Inform the Crown Princess that she is here."

Because it was a private matter to visit relatives, Zhang Yifan did not lead the whole city to greet him with great fanfare. Instead, he and his wife came over.

As soon as Zhu Biao and his wife landed ashore, Zhu Jingjing rushed over with a smile. After calling "big brother and sister-in-law," she went to tease her nephew: "Little Xiongying, do you miss your aunt?"

"Auntie, where's the delicious food?" Zhu Xiongying actually remembered her and reached out to her to ask for something to eat.

Zhu Jingjing happily held him in her arms and said, "Don't worry, my aunt is the best at making delicious food."

Seeing this scene, everyone laughed.

Zhang Yifan looked at Zhu Biao and the Crown Princess and said, "Brother and sister-in-law, you have worked hard all the way. It's better to go to the county office as soon as possible. It's too hot outside!"

Xiangshan County is still very hot in autumn.

It was much cooler when we arrived at the Houya. Zhu Jingjing took the Crown Princess and Zhu Xiongying away, while Zhang Yifan sat with Zhu Biao in the lobby of the Houya, drinking tea to cool down and chatting.

He and Zhu Biao sat at the main seat, accompanied by Lan Yu, Song Lian, Fang Xiaoru, Mao Xiang and others on both sides.

Zhu Biao thought about what he had seen on the way here and couldn't help but asked curiously: "Yifan, are all Xiangshan County really filled with cement roads and cement houses?"

At least when he came all the way from the port, what he saw on the road, including the small alleys, were all made of cement.

"Yeah, basically everything." After hearing this, Zhang Yifan nodded and said, "There are many wind disasters in summer and autumn, and there is a lot of rain in this place near the sea. Naturally, we have to hurry up and repair it with cement, which will save the lives of the people." Suffer something!"

When Zhu Biao heard this, he couldn't help but ask: "How much will it cost?"

"Not much!" Zhang Yifan listened and replied with a smile, "Thanks to Fourth Brother for leaving all the prisoners to me, free construction teams were used in public places such as official roads and river embankments, which saved a lot of money. "

After hearing this, Song Lian was very curious and asked, "Husband-in-law, how much did it cost to have so many cement houses and cement roads now?"

The prince-in-law doesn’t say much, so there must be a number, right?

Zhu Biao also wanted to know the answer, so he looked at Zhang Yifan and waited for the answer.

Zhang Yifan already knew who was here, so he answered him: "The county government only spent about [-] yuan!"

Zhu Biao: "..."

Song Lian: "..."

……

Everyone was stunned when they heard it.

Fifty thousand guan?Isn’t this called much?
Zhu Biao came to his senses and immediately shook his head and said, "Yifan, brother, are you serious? How much is it?"

"It's about [-] guan, the specific number, Jing Jing will keep the account, and if I want to see it later, let Jing Jing show it to you!"

Hearing this, Zhu Biao couldn't help but said: "When you came to Xiangshan County, your father only gave you a total of [-] yuan. Your Xiangshan County is a remote and inferior county. It has only been about a year. , Where did the county government get [-] yuan?"

Others couldn't help but be a little surprised when they heard this.Unexpectedly, when the consort came to Xiangshan County, the emperor actually gave him [-] guan. It seemed that he really valued the consort!
At the same time, they were as curious as Zhu Biao, how did Xiangshan County become so rich?

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan smiled and said to Zhu Biao: "Brother, fifty thousand guan is just a small amount. When the accounts are settled at the end of the year, Xiangshan County should have at least 20 guan on its books!"

Zhu Biao: "..."

Sapphire: "..."

Everyone: "..."

The people present were all shocked. 20 yuan?Are you crazy?How can this be!

As a result, Zhang Yifan didn't know whether it was intentional or not. Seeing how shocked they all were, he continued: "A conservative estimate is that if the settlement is settled by the end of next year, it should be around 100 million yuan. Speaking of which, it's still the case for Xiangshan County Tai If I am young, I will allow officials and merchants from Xiangshan County to go to other places to do business. I am sure to make more money!" Because my father-in-law stipulated that he could only do business in Xiangshan County, so only businessmen from other places could come to Xiangshan County to do business. There would be a lot of profit. Just give it to these second-rate dealers.

At this time, when they heard that he said that it could reach 100 million yuan next year, and this was just a county, all these people were numb, because it was beyond the scope of their imagination.

In fact, in their understanding, where do government-owned enterprises come from, especially those that are very profitable?
Therefore, it is normal to feel numb!

After a long time, Zhu Biao came to his senses, coughed, and said to the others: "Everyone must be tired and want to rest. Come back tomorrow!"

Hearing him speak, the others came back to their senses. They actually had a lot of questions they wanted to ask, but they had no choice but to leave after His Highness the Crown Prince spoke.

Except for Zhu Biao and his wife who lived in the county government office and were escorted by Mao Xiang, everyone else was arranged to stay in an inn outside the county government office.

As soon as Song Lian and others came out, they didn't even think about going back to the inn to rest, but started walking around Xiangshan County.

I am really too curious about Xiangshan County. If I don’t take a stroll and take a look first, I won’t be able to have a good rest when I go back.

On Zhu Biao's side, after he sent away all the idle people, and even Mao Xiang, he looked at Zhang Yifan with a serious face and said: "It doesn't matter what Xiangshan County is like. I came here this time mainly because my father is a little unhappy with what you did, what's your explanation?"

After finishing speaking, he took out a folded piece of paper from his sleeve, unfolded it and placed it on the table between him and Zhang Yifan.

At first, Zhang Yifan was surprised. His father-in-law had a problem with him?
But then, he lowered his head and looked at the piece of paper. It turned out to be the missing notice, and he said with a smile: "I thought it was something, but it turned out to be this. What did the father say?"

Seeing that the brother-in-law he liked didn't seem to take it seriously, Zhu Biao had no choice but to explain: "You are the county magistrate, not the boss. Why do you recruit these secret servants? Do you just want to eat, drink and have fun if you don't want to do anything?" ? Are you too lazy to govern?"

Zhang Yifan listened and nodded: "Almost!"

When Zhu Biao heard this, he was stunned. He thought Zhang Yifan would defend himself, but unexpectedly he admitted it.

However, before he could recover and question, Zhang Yifan took the initiative to reply: "In the past, Xiangshan County was poor and I had to worry about everything. There was nothing I could do about it. But now, there are more than 23 registered residents in Xiangshan County. People, the permanent population has reached more than [-]. If I have to deal with every detail, even if I know the clone technique, just a few more people will not be enough to handle it!"

Zhu Biao was stunned after hearing this. He didn't expect that Xiangshan County really had such a large population. Just when he was about to ask a question, he heard Zhang Yifan continue: "And if I am in charge of everything, no matter how big or small, then there will be no focus and all my energy will be spent on it." Xiangshan County cannot get better and better when it comes to trivial matters."

When Zhang Yifan said this, he said to Zhu Biao: "Brother, wait a moment. I will get some documents and come over for you to take a look."

After speaking, without waiting for Zhu Biao's reply, he stood up and went out.

Zhu Biao did not stop him, but looked at Zhang Yifan walking out, his expression not as severe as at first.

Obviously, he felt that what Zhang Yifan said just now made sense.

Generally speaking, there is no need for high-level counties. In middle-level counties and above, there will be county magistrates and chief registrars to share part of the work of the county magistrate.Nowadays, Xiangshan County has far surpassed the size of a superior county, and Yifan is still alone, so he is indeed too busy.

With this thought in his mind, Zhu Biao felt that his father had also made an explanation.However, open recruitment is too ostentatious. You can write a letter to your father to explain the situation first.

This Yifan is still not mature enough to do things.

When Zhu Biao was thinking this, he saw Zhang Yifan coming back with a stack of documents.

"Brother, take a look at these documents." Zhang Yifan put the stack of documents on the table while talking, opened one of them, and pushed it in front of Zhu Biao.

Zhu Biao looked at it, but saw that on this document, there was a note with a suggestion written on it, and then there was a red pen saying to do it, and then an official seal.

He had been practicing government affairs for a long time, and he could tell at a glance that the content on the note was his opinion on the handling of documents; and the ugly red characters clearly belonged to his brother-in-law. No one else could write such ugly characters, nor could the official seal. prove.

After reading one book, he looked at other documents and found that they were all similar.

Of course, the difference is that some do not just say "comply", but write down what should be done, or miss something, and then write it back and rewrite it, and finally the signature and official seal of "comply".

After reading these, Zhu Biao's eyes brightened, and he felt that this was a good way!
The processing of all these documents is under the control of the county magistrate, but it does not require the magistrate to waste too much energy!

He didn't know that Zhang Yifan's approach was actually a transfer of the cabinet model established after the Ming Dynasty.

The recruited secretaries are equivalent to the assistant ministers of the cabinet. Their function is to draw up documents and votes, but there is a lack of a ceremonial supervisor, otherwise someone can even sign and sign for them.

Of course, if you delegate power in this way, you have to be careful about others taking over the power.

At this time, Zhang Yifan said truthfully: "Brother, I don't have the energy of my father and you, so I came up with such a way out of desperation, which can not only handle things well, but also make myself more relaxed. Take care of these things later in the evening.”

When Zhu Biao heard this, he felt very sympathetic. In fact, he wanted to say that I don't have the energy of my father, but in the end, he didn't say this. After all, he had to act like a big brother.

In fact, Zhang Yifan had planned this topic for a long time, but at the time he thought he was going to talk about it with his father-in-law.

But now it's the same with the prince.

No, just listen to him saying with emotion to Zhu Biao: "Brother, tell me, my father's energy seems to be inexhaustible. It's really amazing!"

After hearing this, Zhu Biao smiled slightly and said: "That's true. My father has always taught us to be diligent in political affairs. It concerns the people of the world, so we can't be careless!"

At this point, he looked at Zhang Yifan and said earnestly: "It's the same. My father was very unhappy when he heard that you had signs of Lai Zheng!"

"Hehe!" Zhang Yifan smiled after hearing this. Zhu Biao was indeed kind to his own people, and it didn't matter if he was a bit more presumptuous.

No, Zhu Biao didn't take it seriously at all.After he put aside the important matter of recruiting secretaries, he wanted to ask about the situation in other Xiangshan counties.

But at this moment, Zhang Yifan showed doubts and said: "Brother, now I have a doubt!"

"Well, what are the doubts?" Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao felt like a teacher. He immediately sat upright and prepared to teach Zhang Yifan.

When Zhang Yifan saw it, he still remained doubtful and said: "Brother, do you think that all of our Ming emperors will be as energetic and diligent in political affairs as my father?"

Having said this, he quickly added: "Brother, don't get me wrong, I know you can definitely do it, I mean in the future!"

When Zhu Biao heard this, he replied silently in his heart: You also think highly of me, and I can't do like my father!
But on the surface, he would definitely not reveal this intention.Instead, the image of Zhu Xiongying stretching out his hand and asking for something delicious immediately flashed in his mind.

Immediately, Zhu Biao's heart skipped a beat, and he was more cautious when answering Zhang Yifan's question: "Should...impossible?"

When Zhang Yifan heard his answer, he secretly laughed in his heart. It must be impossible. This father-in-law is from Superman. How could the future Emperor Shoucheng be as diligent in government affairs and as energetic and free of money as him?

With this in mind, he asked Zhu Biao again: "In my opinion, if my father sets future emperors according to his own standards, will there be any problems if the future emperors fail to do so?"

In fact, he didn't even need to ask this question. When Zhu Biao thought about his son, he became a little worried.

At this time, after hearing what Zhang Yifan said, Zhu Biao's heart moved, and he looked at Zhang Yifan and said, "Yifan, what do you think, please tell me?"

Zhang Yifan heard that Zhu Biao was not stupid, and already knew that he had an idea, so he replied: "I was reminded by my elder brother just now, and I thought of a question. If we want our Ming Dynasty to last for a long time, it should be consistent with a wooden barrel. Theory is good!”

When Zhu Biao heard Zhang Yifan talk about the longevity of the Ming Dynasty, he immediately became concerned, but it was even more strange because of this. Does the longevity of the Ming Dynasty have something to do with the barrel?

So, he quickly asked in confusion: "Barrel theory? What barrel theory?"

This brother-in-law always makes some shocking remarks, but they are often reasonable. Therefore, when he asked what to say, he became a little expectant.

　Ask for support!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)