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Chapter 928: Return to the country
If someone had privately discussed Yuan Keli's whereabouts in Mengzi before the imperial meeting, I'm afraid there would have been a major purge from the Jinyiwei to the Tongzhengsi and then to the Silijian.

They would dig deep to find out who had secretly read the urgent official document, which had to be opened by the emperor in person in the presence of the Minister of Public Administration and had to make a copy at the same time.

Fortunately, the emperor never mentioned that someone had peeked at the official documents, which made all the ministers present feel relieved. Especially the Left Tongzhengshi Liu Zongzhou, who almost fainted. If someone really had peeked at the official documents, regardless of whether it was leaked from the Tongzhengsi, he would be the first suspect.

"When Chen Yongbin was in office, he sent me three memorials in a row, all of which said the same thing: Myanmar was unstable and the border was tense!

He has been the governor of Yunnan for 30 years, and has asked the court for troops and money almost every year since I ascended the throne. Every time I see the report from Yunnan, my heart will beat fast, fearing that there will be trouble again.

In my mind, Yunnan is more difficult to deal with than Liaodong. If I choose to appease it, the local chieftains will live in peace for a short period of time after receiving the money and food. But after spending and eating all the money, they will find ways to ask the court for more.

If we choose to suppress, sending too few troops will be useless, and sending too many troops will cause the rebellion to scatter and hide in the mountains and forests, making them difficult to find. This will waste money and food and achieve no effect.

In the past, I was bound by the Northern and Jianlu tribes, and even though I was extremely unwilling, I could only suppress it in my heart and allocate money and grain every year to fill this bottomless pit. Now that I finally have time, how can I bear this kind of humiliation again?

Change, must change! The saying that within the Three Rivers, it is better to be a streamer than a native, and outside the Three Rivers, it is better to be a native than a streamer is outdated. Yuan Keli's first priority when he went to Yunnan was to change the natives to the streamer.

My dear ministers, please help me discuss how to help Yuan Keli complete the important task of reforming the natives and returning them to the common people, and at the same time make the effect last long. It is best to change it completely and not repeat it frequently. "

But what the emperor said next was also very serious. These four simple words implied extremely complex changes. A slight negligence, lack of calculation, or accidental accidents could lead to a riot or even a rebellion. At the least, it would affect a village or a stronghold, and at the worst, it would destroy several prefectures.

"I think that if we want long-term peace and stability, we must take a two-pronged approach, using the army to suppress the people and the new policies to appease the people. Only then will it be effective. However, I don't know much about the customs and people of Yunnan, so I can't elaborate."

Local officials and officials are all officials, and as the Minister of Personnel, he certainly has an obligation to do so. Yuan Yingtai did not wait to be called, but took the initiative to stand up and express his views.

In principle, he supported the emperor's wishes. No one in charge would want someone to make trouble and be disobedient all the time. However, he did not know much about the situation in Yunnan, so he had no way to help.

"What Minister Yuan said is absolutely right. I have been negligent in my daily life and know very little about Yunnan..."

The Minister of Personnel took the lead in expressing his views, and the Cabinet Chief Ye Xianggao had to set an example. However, this matter came too suddenly, and there was no time to do homework, and there was no valuable suggestion at all, so he could only follow suit and ignore it.

"This happened suddenly, so it's understandable that you were not prepared. Don't blame yourself. I do have a solution. Let's talk about it and see if it's feasible."

Seeing the ministers around the table all looking aggrieved and confused, Hong Tao did not get angry, but instead excused them. Then he changed the subject and changed the topic from seeking solutions to discussing whether the solutions were feasible.

That’s right, Hong Tao’s meeting with the court officials was not to gather ideas, but just to go through the motions. In his mind, these people, including Yuan Keli and Yuan Yingtai, could not inspire him on some issues. It was not because they were stupid or lazy, but because of the limitations of the times.

Therefore, when you want to do something, it is best not to ask them if they can do it. Instead, after making a good plan, let them find out the loopholes, fill in the details, and unify their ideas, and then you can start working.

"I have looked through the case files of the past hundred years and found that 99% of the riots were caused by various ethnic groups, with all kinds of reasons. Sometimes, the loss of a cow or a marriage could cause two chieftains to fight each other.

I think there are three reasons for this situation. First, they are too idle! As the saying goes, idle people create trouble. If there is no law to restrain them, it is not surprising that a disagreement will lead to death.

Second, they are too poor! Compared with the Han people in Yunnan, the lives of the local ethnic groups are indeed not satisfactory. Some places may still be in a state of slash-and-burn farming, and most of them live by gathering and hunting. When they see that the Han people have no worries about food and clothing, while they are starving, they will inevitably feel jealous. At this time, if they cannot be relieved in time, they will easily be bewitched by those with ulterior motives and become a knife in the hands of others.

Third, the chieftains exploited too much! The chieftains in various places did not consider themselves as the people of the Ming Dynasty, nor did they think that the whole world belonged to the king. Instead, they regarded their territory as private property and disregarded the law. Not only were they greedy, but they also took human lives lightly, and could be called local emperors.

If they wanted to change the natives into officials without causing unrest in the area, they had to strictly distinguish the local people from the chieftains and explain to them in various ways that the imperial court was not here to be their enemy but, on the contrary, to help them with food and clothing. The chieftains and local officials were the source of their poverty.

How can we achieve this? I have summarized three points. First, the army. Using fists to make people listen is usually easier. But the fists cannot be too hard or too heavy. If you hurt people, it will be useless for them to understand the truth.

Second, role models. The ancients said that words are not as good as actions. I think this sentence is not complete, and the second half should be added: personal experience is not as good as teaching by example.

To give a real example, the Jurchen leader Huang Taiji followed me on the Western Expedition. In just seven months from departure to return, not only did his Chinese proficiency improve by leaps and bounds, he also learned and borrowed many rules of the army and applied them to the Eight Banners Army.

If I were to persuade him to learn, he would never be able to do so in seven months. If I were to place an army general beside him to teach him by example every day, I'm afraid it wouldn't be much better.

But when he is put with the army to march and fight, he will take the initiative to learn diligently and never get tired of it, without anyone saying anything or teaching him deliberately.

By the same token, if one wants the various ethnic groups in Yunnan to be loyal to the imperial court, it is impossible to do so simply by issuing decrees. One must find ways to set an example and create a good environment so that they can personally feel the stark difference between the new and the old, and only then will they be able to take the initiative to change.

Third, interest. Although it ranks third, it is the most critical and core. The world is bustling for profit, and interest is the ultimate driving force of the crowd. Without interest, the army and the role model are rootless duckweed and cannot last long.

The army is easy to solve. The Southwest Military Commission has a garrison in Kunming. If it is not enough, we can temporarily transfer troops. If one guard is not enough, we can use two guards, and if two guards are not enough, we can use three guards. I rushed thousands of miles to destroy the enemy's capital, but I only used three guards.

It is a little more difficult to set an example. It is unrealistic to expect local people to change themselves. We can only find solutions from the outside. Two years ago, I sent more than 3 family members of the Eight Banners Army to Shenglongtu to participate in road construction.

Now they have entered Yunnan and have reclaimed the mountains and forests along the way to settle down. Yunnan is just far away, but it is not barren. As long as you are willing to work hard, you can get rich. I can't guarantee that you can get rich, but your family will definitely have no problem with food and clothing.

It is not difficult to make profits. The families of the Eight Banners Army reclaimed wasteland in Yunnan and planted corn and tobacco leaves, and also opened up pastures. The results are quite good, and there is no problem in supporting the whole family. After the scale is expanded for another two years, the profits will be even higher.

I still have tens of thousands of Jurchen captives in my hands, but they are far from enough. It is also not appropriate to allow too many people of the same clan to live together in one place, so it is urgent to migrate Han people from the inland areas to settle in Yunnan.

During this trip, Yuan Keli will look for suitable locations near Mengzi, Jianshui, Ningzhou and Kunming to set up farms, with a minimum standard of 100 households to accommodate the disbanded garrisons, prisoners of war and immigrants from various provinces, and station the army to provide protection.

The houses, farm tools, seeds, and livestock needed for the farm were all purchased with loans from the Sun Moon Bank. In addition to land reclamation, the loans were repaid with road construction each year. The specific number of years was calculated separately by the Ministry of Construction and the Sun Moon Bank.

As the notebook in front of him was opened, Hong Tao did not even pretend to read it all in one breath. He first analyzed the origin of Yunnan's current situation, then analyzed the pros and cons, and finally gave a solution.

Although there are not too many specific details, the general structure has been formed. The emperor does not need to be too detailed, just give the direction, goals and requirements, and the rest will naturally be completed by the officials of various departments.

(End of this chapter)