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

Chapter 193 Do I Care?

Zhu Biao also smiled after hearing this.

Last time, this brother-in-law mentioned that fish floss could be used as military rations for the court to purchase, but his father ignored him.

Now, taking this opportunity, Yifan made this statement again. His father was in a good mood and he got what he wanted!

After thinking about it for a while, Zhu Biao said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Father, Yifan also mentioned in the letter that cement workshops in other parts of Guangdong have not opened yet and it is rainy in the south. They looked at the situation in Xiangshan County. They all couldn't wait. Therefore, he suggested that they just don't open it. Anyway, if they open another cement workshop, the cost will definitely be much more expensive than the cement factory in Xiangshan County. This kind of livelihood necessities is the same as table salt, the cheaper it is. The more beneficial it is to the court. What does the emperor think?"

After he came back from Xiangshan County, he asked Zhu Yuanzhang about the cement. It is true that many places did not have his turn.There are too few skilled cement craftsmen, and there are queues everywhere.Although the Zhongshu Province handled the matter, Zhu Yuanzhang also knew about it.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang listened and said a little funny: "This kid always does the same thing, and he can still make excuses, and his words seem to make sense. What do you think?"

After Zhu Biao heard this, he understood what his father meant. It meant that in the past, Zhang Yifan reported the improved salt field law in Xiangshan County to the imperial court, saying that it was suitable for national promotion, so that the price of salt in all places in Ming Dynasty could be reduced to the lowest level. , thus benefiting the people, and also creating the largest salt tax revenue for the court, thereby preventing salt profits from being divided up by private salt and salt merchants.

If we look at it this way, wouldn’t this cement be the same?
However, Zhang Yifan did not do this in this letter. Instead, he made the opposite suggestion, and he also made it plausibly.

Zhu Biaoyou had a face-to-face chat with Zhang Yifan, and he indeed understood Zhang Yifan's intentions better than Zhu Yuanzhang, so he explained to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Father, this is what Yifan thinks. He feels that there is not much improvement in the aspect of salt. , coarse salt and refined salt, have come to an end. Maybe there may be other better improvements in the future, but at least they won’t be visible in the short term. But cement is different!”

"He said that the current cement is only the most basic cement, and more manpower and material resources need to be invested to improve cement, such as whether there is stronger cement, whether it can solidify faster, and whether it can be used to build roads, bridges, and houses in the future. Wait, there will be more situations that may require specialized types of cement. Therefore, if cement and salt eat from the same pot at this time, no one will be willing to improve this cement, and cement will continue to be like this."

"If cement workshops from all over the country compete to see who has better cement and will earn more, then the cement workshops will have the motivation to take the initiative to improve the cement. Anyway, to the court, they are all government-run workshops. The profit is the same."

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he asked: "So, what kind of research department did he set up, and it was actually used to improve cement, right?"

"Yes, Father!" After hearing this, Zhu Biao immediately nodded and confirmed.

Although the reorganization of the workshop into a factory and the subdivision of various departments happened after he left Xiangshan County, but it has been a few months, and the situation in Xiangshan County has already been reported.Therefore, they all know.

At this time, Zhu Biao also added: "This is also related to the patent concept proposed by Yifan, which can encourage relevant people to continue to improve!"

After Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he did not speak immediately, but thought for a while before saying: "Xiangshan County handles special matters, so he can do whatever he wants, but now he wants to cause trouble outside Xiangshan County. The three-year period has not yet come, so first No need to change, no need to reply to Yifan."

Having said this, he paused and then gave instructions: "Go to Zhongshu Province later and ask them to send cement craftsmen there first in turn according to the province, and then to the prefectures with more cement requirements, one by one. Come. As for the Guangdong side, let’s not make arrangements yet.”

Zhu Biao laughed when he heard it.Although the father said not to change anything yet, it was obvious that he had accepted his brother-in-law's suggestion and was paving the way for it.When the three-year period is up, and then announce the brother-in-law's idea, it will be logical for various places to start competing.

Thinking this way, he was very happy and said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "With the support of my father, Yifan is showing off his talents in Xiangshan County. Now that I go to see it, it is already amazing. I don't know what will happen after the three-year period is up." I am really looking forward to what it will turn into!"

Speaking of this, he said with emotion: "Xiangshan County's income next year will reach 200 million yuan, and Yifan said it will be much more. Most of the money comes from his government-run workshops. Compared with Tian Fu, , it only accounts for a small portion! This business is really profitable!"

According to the "Da Ming Huidian", in 1578, 200 years after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the commercial tax revenue was only 15 taels of silver.Not to mention, at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, commercial taxes were actually very low.

The huge gap comparison can shock everyone.Because this is just one county!

This is also related to Zhu Yuanzhang's idea of ​​small farmers. When he taxed to a level he was satisfied with, he issued a fixed quota, which meant that he would collect the same amount of money in the future and never increase taxes, which defrauded his descendants.

Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang himself believed that this was done to reduce the burden on the people and that it was a good thing, but he didn't think much about anything else!

However, in this dimension, Zhu Yuanzhang has been influenced by Zhang Yifan, especially his several discussions on the Ming Dynasty Baochao, which gave him a vision for development.At the same time, he also clearly saw that the people's lives in Xiangshan County had made a qualitative leap just because the county government was rich.

Whether it’s good or not, you’ll know at a glance!
Therefore, after Zhu Yuanzhang heard his son's emotion, he suddenly thought of something and said to Zhu Biao: "Yifan has only been in Xiangshan County for a little more than a year. After three years, who do you think can take over Xiangshan County?" The position of county magistrate?”

It is also time to consider how Xiangshan County will deal with the situation in three years.

Hearing this, Zhu Biao did not answer directly, but asked: "Father, in three years, Xiangshan County will still be under the jurisdiction of Guangzhou Prefecture, or will it remain under the direct jurisdiction of the imperial court as it is now?"

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang hesitated, thought for a moment, and finally shook his head and said: "I haven't thought about it yet!"

After Zhu Biao heard this, he suggested, "How about asking Yifan what he thinks?"

"That's okay." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded after hearing this, "But some things must be prepared in advance. The candidate to succeed the magistrate of Xiangshan County must be carefully considered!"

Perhaps because he heard him talk about this again, a name suddenly flashed in Zhu Biao's mind, and he said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Father, this time Fang Xiaoru went with Er Chen. Er Chen seemed to have gained a lot when he saw him, and he was very interested in Xiangshan." Everything in the county is also admired. If there is no one else to choose, maybe he can?"

In fact, the reason why Zhu Yuanzhang asked Fang Xiaoru to follow him was actually his original plan.

Fang Xiaoru and Mei Yin were both talents he valued.It's just that at this stage, Mei Yin is still too young and doesn't know how to adapt. She still needs time to grow.Relatively speaking, Fang Xiaoru is more suitable.

At this time, when he heard that his son had also nominated Fang Xiaoru, he nodded and said, "In this case, I will send him to Xiangshan County at a suitable time after that year. I will not give him any specific arrangements, but just let him follow Yifan's arrangements. I think Yifan can do it." Do you know what this means?"

Originally, Xiangshan County did not have a county magistrate or a magistrate, so he could have chosen one of the two and lost his official position.However, before the three-year period came, Zhu Yuanzhang was afraid that others would have other ideas. He did not want to change the current situation of Xiangshan County, so he decided not to appoint officials in this way.

Zhu Biao listened and agreed.

Originally he thought that the matter was over, but unexpectedly, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly said to him: "Yifan also established a Xiangshan County Popular Literature Starting Point Society in Xiangshan County, and recruited people who had served Zhang Shicheng to write books there. To put it simply, he is promoting enlightenment on his own, right?"

Zhu Biao didn't know about this matter. Obviously, it was Jin Yiwei who reported it to the emperor.

At this time, Zhu Biao was surprised when he heard what he said, and quickly explained to Zhang Yifan: "Father, I'm afraid Yifan doesn't know that those scholars have served Zhang Shicheng. He may just be because Jing Jing likes to read stories. So I recruited people to help write the story!"

After Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, a smile appeared on his face. This son was really nervous about Zhang Yifan.

Afterwards, he said sternly: "It's just Zhang Shicheng, I would care? I used to only care about some people serving Zhang Shicheng but refusing to serve me. They are shameless. Naturally, I have to let them know, what are they?"

Zhang Shicheng, his subordinates were defeated, and now he is dominating the world, how could he still care about it, because those who have been loyal to Zhang Shicheng are not satisfied?

If this is the case, many of his founding generals have been against him in the past.

At this time, he said to his son: "The purpose of me mentioning this matter is that since Yifan is interested in doing this, he probably has any other ideas? I plan to publish it in "Hongwu Zhengyun" after the new year. After the decision was made, some knowledgeable people were sent to witness the achievements of Xiangshan County in order to build momentum for some things to spread all over the world in three years. How to simplify pinyin and Chinese characters and come up with a result that satisfies me!"

Some time ago, Zhu Yuanzhang had ordered Song Lian and Le Shaofeng to take the lead in revising "Hongwu Zhengyun" again.He is not satisfied with the current version, as in history.

When Zhu Biao heard his father's words, it turned out that he had no objection to Zhang Yifan, so he felt relieved.

The decree for Xiangshan County Wu Beitang was also issued years ago.

Zhu Liangzu, Marquis of Yongjia, went to Shaanxi to prepare for the establishment of the Military Beitang in Shaanxi. Among the fifty soldiers of the Military Beitang of Xiangshan County, Zhu Liangzu took ten people away, and King Zhu Di of Yan was leaving ten people, and another 20 people, accompanied by five They were sent to serve under Wei Guogong Xu Da. The remaining ten people were awarded small flags and returned to Wu Beitang of Xiangshan County. Guangdong was also ordered to mobilize elite troops from Guangdong to enter Wu Beitang of Xiangshan County for further training.

The Wu Beitang of Xiangshan County holds a sacrificial wine ceremony, and the consort Zhang Yifan is in charge.

There was no movement at the capital's Armed Forces Hall for the time being.

The ten years of Hongwu basically passed like this.

In the past ten years of Hongwu, Zhang Yifan's butterfly wings have had an increasing impact on history.

In particular, what he did in Xiangshan County was unprecedented in history, which triggered Prince Zhu Biao's tour.

Deng Yu, a famous general of the generation, did not die in this year, and he also served as the prime minister, which had never been seen in history.

Hu Weiyong, who was originally in a high-spirited state in history, no longer held the monopoly of power. Not only was his power decentralized, he was also deprived of his right to make decisions on some matters.The prototype of the Ming Dynasty's cabinet model has begun to appear.

The military academy system that was crucial to the Ming Dynasty's military affairs, that is, the Wu Beitang model, also began to further demonstrate its influence in the Ming Dynasty.

In the ten years of Hongwu, for Zhang Yifan himself, his biggest achievement was actually nothing else, but getting to know Luo Guanzhong, a famous historical figure, and closing his small black room for him to write articles.

This is not to say that Luo Guanzhong is the most famous in this era.

In fact, Zhang Yifan has long been numb to the celebrities at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, especially the civil and military celebrities from the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

However, in the history of literature, especially popular novels, Luo Guanzhong, the originator of "if you want to know what happened next, just listen to the next chapter," is like this.

Also, the book "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms" has created classic characters one after another and become well-known legends in China.Based on this alone, its influence is greater than that of countless emperors and generals.

Rare things are valuable, and so are people, so Zhang Yifan is very precious!
As for the reforms in Xiangshan County, to be honest, these are not Zhang Yifan's gains, but sacrifices.

On New Year's Eve, because Luo Guanzhong was just a person, Zhang Yifan invited him to celebrate the New Year together. Put aside political affairs and just talk about some interesting and interesting things. It was quite enjoyable to talk in a wide range of places.Even Zhu Jingjing likes this kind of chat, and by the way, they can also talk about how to write a book.

After the new year, it was the 11th year of Hongwu.

First, the soldiers of Wu Beitang returned to Xiangshan County and brought news about Wu Beitang.

This time, the military officers and soldiers of Xiangshan County were all rewarded and promoted, and the others who were selected had a bright future, which made the young men of Xiangshan County burst into enthusiasm for joining the army.Even if the county government didn't post a recruitment notice, many people were already asking about it.

It's just a pity that at the Xiangshan County Thousand Household Office, even if the army is recruited, it will only recruit people with Xiangshan County household registration, and it cannot be a low-level registration.

As a result, foreigners are even more envious of Xiangshan County household registration.Zhang Yifan took this opportunity to release the latest news about household registration.

(End of this chapter)