Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 445: Solving the Jin Case

"Coming, coming, coming!"

"Let me see!"

"This is [Da Ming Pao]?"

"See what's written on it?"

A few days passed quickly. In Class 7 of Jiangning Middle School, as Zhu Zhanhe appeared with [Daming Daily] and [Nanjing Daily], the students in the class immediately surrounded him.

Most of the students in Jiangning Middle School are fifteen or sixteen years old, and those under the age of fifteen are basically students who were early in the New Deal.

In this era where young people shoulder the responsibility of the family at the age of fifteen or sixteen, the biggest interests and hobbies of young people are naturally related to family and national affairs.

Zhu Zhanhe bought five newspapers each and read them in groups of four or five.

He sat down and opened the [Da Ming Bao]. Each page on it was a section, and the two pages on the front were the policy directions of the imperial court.

[The introduction of Jiangxi's new policy encountered obstacles from powerful and wealthy households. The powerful and wealthy households incited the people, causing 14 military-civilian conflicts, affecting tens of thousands of people...]

"Thousands?!"

This may be the biggest conflict in the New Deal since Zhu Gaoxu's military reform, and the students can't help but be surprised.

"Is there any difference between the implementation of the New Deal in Jiangxi and the implementation in Xifan?"

A dark-skinned Xifan student asked Zhu Zhanhe, and Zhu Zhanhe shook his head: "It doesn't make any difference. In Xifan, it's about converting the chieftains back to their native land, while in Jiangxi, it's about confiscating the land from wealthy households who violated the regulations and transferring the land to them." Divide the people equally.”

"Then I understand." Student Xifan nodded. People around him looked at him, and he explained:

"My father and others were encouraged by the chieftain to resist the imperial army, saying that the imperial army would rob our land and herds when they arrived, so many people went to the battlefield with the chieftain and many died."

"But when the imperial army broke through Nayan City, they did not break their promise. Regardless of whether the men in the family went to the battlefield or not, the land was divided according to heads."

"However, due to insufficient land output, my family and many other families were relocated to Long'an Mansion."

"After arriving at Long'an Mansion, the imperial court gave us food, cattle, reclaimed wasteland, and built a primary school, so we had the opportunity to go to school."

The students from Xifan explained, and then many students looked at the bottom of the message with half-understanding.

As far as the news is concerned, the army and officials of the imperial court have implemented the New Deal in Nankang, Nanchang, and Raozhou Prefectures, and almost one-third of Jiangxi has begun to implement the New Deal.

This speed is not fast, because this is just the beginning, and Jiujiang Prefecture has not yet completed the implementation.

"Is it estimated that it will take more than a year to complete the implementation?"

Some people thought optimistically, while Zhu Zhanhe continued to look down.

Below, the news of Guangxi's land-returning movement is particularly conspicuous. Muchun, the Duke of Guizhou, killed tens of thousands of rebels in Dadeng Gorge. Li Jinglong, the Duke of Cao, also wiped out many rebel chieftains in Taiping Prefecture.

In terms of progress, the progress of Guangxi's reform is probably faster than that of Jiangxi's New Deal. After all, Guangxi's summer and autumn are the most difficult to fight, but spring and winter are easier to fight.

Being able to achieve such results in such a difficult season, it goes without saying much when winter comes.

"After finishing the toast from Guangxi, the next step should be the toast from Yunnan, right?"

"Look, there is indeed a chieftain rebellion in Yunnan!"

As a classmate pointed, many people looked at the location he pointed to.

There, newspapers recorded the rebellion of Yuanmou chieftain and Amizhou chieftain. Mu Sheng, the younger brother of the Duke of Guizhou, led 20,000 troops to quell the rebellion of Amizhou. Wang Xuan, the governor of Qianshi, led troops from Manmo Banshi to Qianya.

In addition to these, there are also matters related to the Three Announcements and Ten Comforts, such as the conflicts between some local officials, but most of them were resolved by the military attachés of Yunnan Dusi.

Looking further down, it is basically economic content, such as where to build cement plants, mines, iron smelting plants, and textile plants, as well as the discovery of a large number of gold mines in Kunlun Island, thousands of gold diggers who went there, and Jiaozhi , Luzon, Jiugang, Daning and other places’ immigration policies.

The people's livelihood column is mainly about road construction, as well as news about where roads have collapsed, river siltation will be repaired and dredged, and other news.

Many people see their hometown in the newspaper and want to use a magnifying glass to read every word.

Although the students in Jiangning and Shangyuan middle schools are mainly from noble and wealthy families, there are also many poor students.

My hometown suddenly got a project, which can solve the livelihood problems of thousands of folks in my hometown. After all, not every place has a lot of arable land.

[The Chief Envoy of Fujian reported to the Yellow Book that the number of households was 652,672, and the population was 3,264,500. The population has continued to decline for thirteen consecutive years]

"Liu Chu, what's going on in Fujian? The population has dropped so much?"

When Zhu Zhanhe saw the news about people's livelihood in Fujian, he couldn't help frowning and asking the classmates around him.

“They all migrated out for a living.”

Liu Chu is a relatively thin young man with ordinary appearance. He was born in Jinjiang County, Quanzhou Prefecture, Fujian Province.

Seeing that his classmates were interested in his hometown, Liu Chu explained:

"Our place is no better than southern Zhili or your north. It's not an exaggeration to say it has nine mountains and one river."

"The Jinjiang area I live in is not bad, but those living in the inland are quite miserable anyway. My father and others said that in the early years, people in inland prefectures and counties had only two or three acres of land for a family of seven or eight people. Not enough to eat at all.”

"Although the imperial court did not introduce new policies in Fujian, it migrated people from us to places like Guangdong, Guangxi, Jiaozhi, Jiugang, and Luzon very early on."

"Anyway, in my memory, even Jinjiang has been relocated with nearly 20,000 to 30,000 people in the past ten years."

"For me, it's better to move out more. Two million people will be enough."

Liu Chu's ideas were more radical, but no one had much doubt about his words. After all, Liu Chu's father was the Experience Secretary under the Fujian Chief Envoy Department, so he definitely knew more about the situation than they did.

"I heard that Fujian only has more than 13 million acres of cultivated land. Is it true?"

Zhu Zhanhe asked Liu Chu, and Liu Chu was surprised: "Does Guo He even know this?"

"There are really more than 13 million acres, but there are more than 3 million acres of sloping land, which produces very little. We can only grow some coarse grains and vegetables."

The words of Liu Chu and Zhu Zhanhe made people around them sigh: "Doesn't that mean that even if there are no powerful and wealthy households, there is at most four acres of cultivated land per capita?"

"Yes, that's why I said it's better to have fewer people." Liu Chu clicked his tongue several times:
"If malaria hadn't been so scary in Nanyang and Cochin, many people in Fujian would have to go out to live. After all, the immigration conditions offered by those places are too generous."

At this time, most people in the Ming Dynasty did not know about cinchona bark. This matter was only widely spread in Guangxi and temples. Therefore, miasma and malaria were regarded as terminal diseases that would kill people.

"Looks like I need to go back and talk to dad and the others..."

Hearing Liu Chu's words, Zhu Zhanhe was thoughtful. At this time, the bell for class also rang. Everyone reluctantly looked away from the "Newspaper" and returned to their seats, waiting for class.

Like the noisy Class 7, some people from each class bought newspapers to discuss.

People who buy newspapers are generally people from relatively wealthy families, and they buy newspapers for everyone to read and comment on, just because they want to find some talents with political opinions through comments.

Although we are all classmates, everyone is good at different things. Some people may not have good grades, but their political opinions are worth listening to.

Guo Shao also bought "Newspaper" and discussed reading it with Jiang Huai.

While watching, Jiang Huai didn't make any surprising remarks. Apart from mentioning that his home is in Xijiang Town, which is very close to Manmo, and mentioning Manmo's importance to the Ming Dynasty, he silently read all of it. .

After a class, Guo Shao went to Jiang Huai and asked in a low voice: "What do you think the direction of the court is?"

"Direction?" Jiang Huai frowned, and then said: "The direction of the imperial court is closely related to the emperor. The current trends of the emperor and the East Palace are the same as those in the newspapers. In the next few years, they should promote new administration internally and reform the southwest. Earth returns to flow."

"After these two things are done, we will either develop the gold and copper mines in Luzon or mine the silver mines in Japan. In short, the next thing to do is to increase fiscal revenue."

"The education system under the New Deal places a heavy burden on the imperial court. If there is not enough financial support, the education system cannot be maintained well and may be abolished in a few decades."

Jiang Huai expressed his opinion, and then added: "Of course, the information we have is insufficient, so it is possible that the research is not thorough. Just think that I am talking nonsense."

After Jiang Huai finished speaking, he stood up and tidied up his desk. Guo Shao also nodded in understanding.

Not long after, they left the classroom, and at the same time, the streets and alleys of Nanjing were filled with people discussing "Da Ming News" and "Nanjing Daily".

By the twelfth year of Yongle, the population of Nanjing reached 760,000. Although the New Deal was introduced late, there were still many literate people in Nanjing.

Men stood in the streets and alleys, discussing the newspapers, which were sold outside for five cents each.

Even with this price, many people bought two copies to try it out.

Compared with the "Daming Daily" which is suitable for bragging, "Nanjing Daily" is undoubtedly more valuable to the people of Nanjing.

The Nanjing Newspaper contains recruitment information for various government projects. For example, the construction of "Da Baoen Temple is recruiting thirty workers, and the daily wage is thirty cents" is one of the representatives.

In addition, there are also jobs such as cleaning the city's drainage ditches, sweeping the streets, etc. The wages vary, but those who master the craftsmanship have the highest wages. For example, the wages of a carpenter can reach a high salary of 100 cents a day.

Of course, working for people often does not earn the highest income, and some small vendors should not be underestimated either.

An oil seller can save more than 20 yuan in a year, and it is very stable.

"Look, it says you can advertise..."

"What is advertising?"

“There’s an introduction at the end... Store product promotion, recruitment information promotion, etc. are all advertisements.”

"It's probably not cheap..."

In newspapers, many people have paid attention to advertisements. Although as early as the Song Dynasty, there were reports of royal families advertising for large merchants, this was the first time that such advertisements were placed in newspapers.

Some businessmen with a keen sense of smell quickly judged the value of advertising by the number of newspapers sold at newsstands in various places every day, and then went to the newspaper office to inquire about the price.

After learning that the advertising price ranged from one guan to ten guan, many merchants backed off, but some big businessmen also began to advertise. The news was collected by the Western Factory and finally delivered to the palace.

"The Ming Newspaper sold 17,427 copies, and the Nanjing Daily sold 29,357 copies. There are only two companies that want to advertise in the Ming Newspaper. There are seventeen companies advertising in Nanjing Daily.”

"Da Ming Newspaper Company today made a profit of 140 guan and 352 guan. Each newspaper made a profit of 3 guan, and advertising revenue was 124 guan."

Standing in the Qianqing Palace, Yi Shiha reported to Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Di who were eating at the dinner table.

After Zhu Di heard this, he immediately looked at Zhu Gaoxu and said: "You have more than 3,000 people working in the Ming Dynasty newspaper office, and your annual salary is about 60,000 to 70,000 yuan, right?"

"This money is all coming from your East Palace. In the future, the profits of this newspaper will also be made by your East Palace. Then the court can't make anything?"

Regarding the matter of the newspaper office, Zhu Gaoxu did not go to the imperial court, but to the state-owned route of the East Palace.

Judging from today's situation, Daming Newspaper should be able to earn 50,000 to 60,000 guan per year. Excluding employee expenses, the net profit will basically be around 40,000 to 50,000 guan.

According to Zhu Gaoxu's intention, this money will go into the small treasury of the East Palace.

"If my father needs this money, I can just give it to him."

"My son, I thought about it. The royal family should not have taken money from the treasury to build palaces and gardens."

“If we follow the example of the ancients in constructing an imperial village, it will be suspected of usurping land.”

"In this case, it's better to get some properties that belong to the royal family. With the royal family's properties, they don't have to compete with the treasury for profits."

"There has never been an industry similar to a newspaper company before, so the royal family's control does not mean competing for the interests of the people."

"According to Erchen's estimation, when newspapers in various provinces are established one after another in the future, the annual income of the newspaper offices should be no less than 500,000 yuan."

"In addition to the normal one-tenth of the business tax that needs to be paid, plus the current salary of more than 70,000 guan and the horse feed expenditure of 30,000 guan, the royal family's annual net income is about 300,000 guan."

Zhu Gaoxu knew the consequences of the emperor's misappropriation of the treasury, let alone Wanli in the late Ming Dynasty.

Did Wanli really have no money? Not necessarily...

Not to mention anything else, Wanli's Dingling Tomb alone cost eight million taels, and the canonization of the prince cost tens of millions of taels.

You must know that when Chongzhen took over, Jiubian's accumulated debt was only 9.68 million taels, and Jiubian's annual fixed salary was only more than 5 million taels.

In other words, the silver spent on Dingling and the prince's canonization was enough for Chongzhen to clear Jiubian's arrears, and at the same time, he could pay Jiubian's full salary for another two years.

In addition to these two items, Wanli usually spends a lot of money on rewards, and his annual income from internal funds is around two million taels.

If Wanli had honestly saved some money, not misappropriated the gold and silver from the treasury to satisfy his personal desires, and reduced extravagance and waste, he would not have been embarrassed when using money.

If the emperor uses too much gold and silver from the treasury, it will definitely lead to resentment among the officials. Therefore, Zhu Gaoxu thought of formulating various regulations on the emperor's internal funds while he was alive.

"This is what I think. In the future, the money and food in the national treasury belongs to the national treasury and the imperial court. Even the emperor cannot embezzle it."

"As for the Tianjia's money and food, an inner treasury was built within the project, which is called the inner money."

"The imperial court allocates a fixed amount of two million guans or two million taels of silver to the internal funds every year. Tributes from various countries are also handed over to the internal funds, and the rewards are taken from the national treasury. After all, the tribute trade is the court's biggest profit, and it cannot be provided by the Tian family."

"In addition, newspapers and various Tianjia properties pay taxes normally, and the income is included in the internal funds. The emperor does not use the treasury, and the ministers do not use the internal funds."

Zhu Gaoxu put forward his own suggestion. Although this suggestion could easily make Tianjia the largest capital in the country in the future, the emperor would at least pay out money when the country was surviving. It would be difficult for government and business capital to pay out.

As long as the emperor is restricted from drawing money from the treasury, internal funds can be used as a weapon for the emperor to win over the people.

“It hasn’t changed much from now.”

Zhu Di stroked his beard, then nodded and said: "You can arrange this matter, but if you follow my wishes, all the proceeds from the voyages to the West and overseas should be classified as internal funds."

"That's too much, and since the imperial court has no profits, it will naturally not be able to maintain the Overseas Propaganda Department..."

Zhu Gaoxu smiled bitterly, thinking that the old man was just like in history, he wished he could put all the good things in his hands.

It is precisely because of this idea that during the years from Hongxi to Hongzhi, officials continued to oppose the voyages to the West.

Zhu Di's voyages to the West made money for the emperor and convenience for the people, but there were no advantages to take advantage of in the center and places of the imperial court.

It's good to meet an emperor like Zhu Di who keeps his internal funds open. The central government can take out the money in time if he needs it.

But if you meet emperors like Zhu Zhanji and Zhu Qizhen, you will be unlucky.

Zhu Qizhen provided disaster relief many times in history, but many of the problems were caused by his improper handling of the disasters, and then he quickly found compensation, and the number of times he used internal funds was infrequent.

Zhu Di probably felt that since the internal funds were rich, his ministers had to look after the emperor to earn their living, but he did not consider whether subsequent emperors would be as open-minded as him.

Overseas profits must be shared with the imperial court. Only sufficient profits can maintain overseas rule.

As for the country, Zhu Gaoxu is preparing to make the cake bigger, and the bigger part will be occupied by the royal family.

If you want to expand the market, you have to wait until steam engines enter the industrial industry.

Putting aside these thoughts, Zhu Gaoxu quietly had a family dinner with Zhu Di.

After finishing the meal, Zhu Di rinsed his mouth with tea and then said, "How is the situation in Jiangxi?"

"The conflict is intensifying, but it is still within control." Zhu Gaoxu explained:
"These people who participated in the conflict, I am going to use this opportunity to exile them to Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi and other places."

Before passing through the Western Regions, Zhu Gaoxu was not prepared to continue migrating to the north and northwest. After all, the population in the north was enough for the Ming army to march to Mobei at any time.

Compared with the north, Zhu Gaoxu is more concerned about consolidating the southwest and overseas areas.

"According to your method, I'm afraid the implications will be huge..."

Zhu Di frowned. He had read the memorial in Jiangxi. There were more than 20,000 people who were incited to clash with the government and soldiers. Behind these 20,000 people, there might be 20,000 families and hundreds of thousands of people.

Moreover, the New Deal has only been implemented in a quarter of Jiangxi. If it is fully implemented and the conflicts continue to fail to decrease, wouldn't it mean that hundreds of thousands of people will be punished?
"What we need is that the implication is big enough!"

Zhu Gaoxu wiped his mouth and replied without thinking: "Sichuan still has great potential, but it has always been limited by insufficient population."

"There are still many jade mines in Yunnan towards Mengyang, but the southern Yunnan area still has many native people and few Han people."

"If Jiangxi can involve hundreds of thousands of people this time, then moving all of them into Sichuan will undoubtedly make Sichuan more prosperous."

"As for Yunnan, this time there will be a slight migration to enrich the population in southeastern Yunnan. The details will have to wait until the Zhejiang New Deal."

"Your heart..." Zhu Di was a little helpless: "It's quite like your grandfather."

When it comes to migration, no one is more cruel than Zhu Yuanzhang. Although the Hongwu Migration in the early Ming Dynasty consolidated the basic structure of the two capitals and thirteen provinces for the Han people, many people suffered for it.

Zhu Gaoxu loves the people, but he also knows what must be done.

The temporary pain of hundreds of thousands of people will be exchanged for Sichuan to revive the prosperity of the Land of Abundance.

The population involved in Zhejiang will greatly enrich Cochin, Luzon, Jiugang, and Yunnan, making these places worthy of the name Han Dynasty.

"Let's arrange migrating boats and stations early."

Zhu Di explained, and Zhu Gaoxu also slowly stood up and bowed: "Father, don't worry, I have a sense of propriety."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhu Gaoxu walked out of the Qianqing Palace and took a carriage at the gate of the Qianqing Palace back to the Chunhe Palace.

As time passed, the implementation of the New Deal in Jiangxi became more and more intense, conflicts continued to occur, and people were suppressed and arrested.

The impeachment memorial came like snowflakes, but Zhu Gaoxu had someone convey the content to Ji Gang.

After learning the news, Ji Gang was like a mad dog, and he never let go of anyone who tried to impeach him, whether they were officials or officials, or just students and governors.

By the winter months, the conflicts in Jiangxi gradually diminished. At this time, almost all the prisons in Jiangxi were full, and some military camps were even transformed into prisons.

When the time came to the first day of the twelfth lunar month, Ji Gang had already cleaned up Jiangxi's officialdom. The entire Jiangxi officialdom had almost changed its blood, and the memorial data on Zhu Gaoxu's desk was also jaw-dropping.

"Arrested 2,590 criminal officials and subordinate staff, and 46,247 mob members..."

Yishiha swallowed and told Zhu Gaoxu this string of data.

Zhu Gaoxu took the memorial, glanced at it and said with satisfaction: "Let the three departments review the crime together. Officials and subordinates will implicate the nine ethnic groups, and the mob will implicate the whole family. The situation will be compiled and reported. After the spring, the officials will be assigned to Yunnan, and the mob will be assigned to Sichuan."

After leaving these words, Zhu Gaoxu stood up and walked to the window sill, and at this time, fine snow fell outside the window.

Looking at the fine snow, Zhu Gaoxu sighed softly:

"The auspicious snow heralds a good harvest... Since there are enough implicates, the implementation of the new policy should also be accelerated."

"After Jiangxi is sorted out, it's Zhejiang's turn next."

"Yes..." Yishiha responded cautiously. At this time, the eunuch on duty at the palace gate seemed to have gotten some news. He walked towards the palace and bowed at the same time:

"Your Highness, there is news from Songjiang Prefecture that the fleet from the voyage to the East has returned and arrived at Chongming Island in Songjiang Prefecture."

"Okay!" After hearing the good news, Zhu Gaoxu perked up:
"Instruct Song Li, the Minister of Rites, to prepare the state banquet as usual!"

　"Records of Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty": "In July of the twelfth year, the emperor regarded Jin as his talent and favored him. However, Jin tasted Qu Jin as his superior, and his favor became more and more prosperous. There was no one to treat him with courtesy, and cliques became a common practice. Officials protected each other. The tenants of the fields are hidden in each room.”

　　"The superior was furious when he heard that he sent Ji Gang to investigate. Ji Gang reported: "The style of protecting each other among Jiangxi officials is the same throughout the whole court! "

　　"I heard that thousands of officials were sent into Jiangxi, but mobs blocked the roads. They sent troops and horses to arrest more than 2,000 corrupt officials who were harmful to the good people. More than 40,000 resisting mobs fled to the southwest."

　　"Records of Migrants from Jiangxi to Sichuan": "During the Yongle period, Jiangxi Party officials tried to hide their land as tenants and disobeyed the imperial decree. The imperial court sent troops to find out more than a million acres of hidden paddy fields, and millions of gold and silver. The acres of land were evenly divided among the people. The gold and silver were returned to the treasury, and hundreds of thousands of people in Jiangxi were exiled, eight in Sichuan and two in Yunnan."

　　
　
(End of this chapter)