Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 535 Everyone has their own agenda
"Issuing construction treasury bonds?"

In Wuying Hall, when Zhu Gaoxu raised this topic, the minds of the officials in the hall gradually became active.

"Your Majesty, I wonder what the quantity and interest rate of this national debt issuance are?"

Yang Rong was the first to bow and speak, and all the officials also looked at him.

Facing their gazes, Zhu Gaoxu said without hesitation:

"Although the national treasury is full, enough to build the current Mobei, Jiangnan, Huguang, Northwest and other railways, the imperial court still has many projects to be built."

"For example, there are currently 278 prefectures in the Ming Dynasty, including 253 prefectural offices in Zhongzhou. However, most of the official roads in these 253 prefectures are still rammed earth roads, and only a few are cement roads. "

"This is true for the two hundred and fifty-three prefectures, so why bother talking about the following prefectures and counties?"

"The Ministry of Industry has previously calculated that if all prefectures and counties in the world were to build cement roads today, the mileage would be at least 600,000 miles."

"With the current cement production, it is not a problem to complete the construction of 15,000 miles per year. In addition, many rivers and canals can be repaired and constructed."

"As far as railways are concerned, there are few railways in many places and transportation is inconvenient, such as Shandong and Luxi to Denglai, Jiangxi and Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangxi and Guangdong, etc."

At that time, not to mention the interest, not even the principal of these 50 million treasury bonds will need to be repaid.

"In addition, the strength of concrete has been improved several times. Has the Ministry of Industry re-examined whether the construction standards of the Southwest Railway are met and how long it will take to achieve them?"

The Sixth Army Governor's Office did not care about government affairs. Only Chen Chang got involved in the disputes between palaces and palaces. However, after the decision to establish overseas prefectures and counties, he simply relaxed his mind.

"Treasury bonds are scheduled to be issued on April 15th next year, and the amount is tentatively set at 50 million yuan."

As Zhu Gaoxu said, these projects are all projects that benefit the people, and they are also political achievements and talkative items that can be shown off to his hometown.

Fifty million ten-year treasury bonds with an annual interest rate of 3%, the return on investment is much higher than that of land, so it will definitely attract enough funds to purchase it.

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu return to the side hall, the six ministers left one after another. Among them, Yang Shiqi gave Yang Rong and Yang Pu a look, and they nodded to express their understanding.

Zhu Gaoxu mentioned Jiangnan, which made Yang Shiqi and others very excited.

Zhu Gaoxu announced the amount, time and interest of the treasury bonds he planned to issue, which made everyone look at each other.

Xia Yuanji took the lead to stop him, and Guo Zi, the Minister of Household Affairs, also looked embarrassed.

"Your Majesty, the ten-year interest rate on the national debt of 3 million guan is %, which means that the court will need to repay million guan with interest in ten years. And the court is not short of money and food at the moment. This is totally a loss that outweighs the gain."

As for what Xia Yuanji and others said about the court not being short of money and food, it was indeed true, but Zhu Gaoxu built infrastructure not just for infrastructure, but to distribute wealth.

In the side hall, Yi Shiha bowed and said: "Your Majesty, do you want to arrange for the people below to recover that person?"

Just as Wang Yi said to him back then, Xun Chen joined the cabinet just to make it easier for Xun Chen to join the cabinet in the future. In fact, they didn't have to do much.

"In addition, there are currently more than 1,900 counties in the Ming Dynasty, and many cities are still built in the old style. Therefore, drainage problems are often common, and there is no need to talk about sanitation."

It is not feasible to directly distribute money, but it is feasible to give people jobs and let them become rich through their own efforts.

Even though this method has been used once, Zhu Gaoxu still believes that most officials and ministers will buy it.

Railways cannot be built in places such as Yunnan and Guizhou in southwest China, but official roads can be built.

After the words fell, Zhu Gaoxu was about to get up and leave.

As soon as Yi Shiha opened his mouth, Zhu Gaoxu's writing paused for a moment.

Ten years are enough time for Zhu Gaoxu to conduct his second nationwide inspection.

Seeing this, Xia Yuanji, Guo Zi, and Huang Fu could only look at each other helplessly, while the others had their own thoughts.

"In addition, the Ministry of Industry can re-examine railways and official roads in the southwest, southeast, northwest and other places, and report projects where railways and official roads can be built if certain conditions permit."

This alone is enough for the officials and ministers to buy it.

Zhu Gaoxu responded to Xia Yuanji and explained how to use infrastructure to distribute wealth to solve the gap between the rich and the poor among the people.

Based on the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, the Mobei Railway, the Northwest Railway, and the Liaodong Railway will be able to reach a balance of payments after completion, and this time will only take one or two years.

Of course, what the people buy still needs to be repaid with interest through normal procedures, but how many people can spend how much money to buy national debt?

This is indeed the case from a normal perspective, but this is not the case from Zhu Gaoxu's perspective.

"These projects are all projects benefiting the people from the imperial court. In addition, there are also breakwaters on the sea, etc..."

From now on, we will continue to make profits and build a large railway every two years. There is really no need to be so anxious.

"All projects are reported directly to me, and I read and take action."

Infrastructure construction is the fastest way to get money into the hands of ordinary people, at least in this era of selling labor.

"For this reason, I am planning to issue 3 million new treasury bonds with an annual interest rate of % and a term of ten years."

The reason is not complicated, that is, in the last issuance of national bonds, nobles and some officials who had not committed any crime normally received the principal and interest repaid with interest by the Ming Dynasty.

Soon, the Wuying Hall became empty again. Except for the seven cabinet ministers and a few officials standing behind them, the only sound left in the entire Wuying Hall was the sound of reading memorials.

Not to mention how many benefits these many projects can bring to the local area.

Given the current situation in the Ming Dynasty, when 5.6 million people have no savings, the 50 million treasury bonds will probably be robbed before they get to them, just like last time.

"I have made my decision. From now on, the newspapers in various places under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty News Agency will publish the matter of the imperial court's issuance of national bonds."

The southeastern coast is most susceptible to disasters such as wave erosion and seawater intrusion. Since the Ming Dynasty, concrete was poured into the breakwater according to Zhu Gaoxu's instructions, and the effect is remarkable.

“It’s not that the gain is worth the loss, but it’s to make the people richer.”

He naturally knew who Yishiha was talking about, but it was not the time to revive him yet.

Once he comes back to life, it's impossible for old foxes like Yang Shiqi not to be able to guess his thoughts.

"Take a break for now..."

Zhu Gaoxu continued to deal with the memorial, and Yi Shiha nodded in agreement, and at the same time continued: "Prince Zheng's Palace and Prince Yue's Palace have been completed."

"Now that it's completed, let's arrange for them to join the feudal clan after the Lantern Festival."

"In addition, the fifth, sixth and seventh children have been serving as officials for almost a year. They will be sent home after one year."

"After Lao Ba and Lao Jiu joined the army, they did not need to return to Beijing. They were directly assigned to the local area as officials."

Zhu Gaoxu was arranging his son's future without any emotion. Seeing this, Yi Shiha said:

"The talents of His Highness Five, His Highness Six and His Highness Seventh are not outstanding. Isn't it a bit unsafe to move them to the southwest of the domain?"

"I already have an idea in mind, you don't have to worry about this." Zhu Gaoxu exhaled a breath, and then continued:
"Lao Wu and the others are indeed talented, but they are not mediocre either, so I am going to ban them to Beizhou."

"But before that, they still need to join the cabinet to help with government affairs and let the boss take care of them."

"In addition, you should send someone to visit Beizhou and Dongzhou in person to see how the preparations for the second prince's palace are going, and also see how Beizhou Xuanwei Division's management of the east coast of Beizhou is going."

After the words fell, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Yisheha and said, "Is there a suitable candidate?"

"I have two godsons under my command. They are pretty good. You can send them on a trip."

Yishiha replied respectfully, while Zhu Gaoxu looked at Yishiha.

In two years, Yi Shiha will be sixty years old, and Zhu Gaoxu will be fifty years old.

Although he feels that his body is still strong and his appearance is not old, he also knows that people only age in a few months.

The only thing he is thankful for is that the old man is still living well today, and the eldest brother has lived a few years longer than in history. Although the third child does not know the situation, judging from the Jin Yiwei's report, it should be good.

They have all lived much longer than history, and their bodies are still relatively strong. There should be a long time left for him.

"I hope I have enough time..."

Looking at the pile of memorials in front of him, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but sigh.

At this moment, he really felt that the time left for him by history was too short...

"Show off!"

"Long live your Majesty..."

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye. When dusk arrived, Zhu Gaoxu drove back to Qianqing Palace.

After he left, Yang Rong and Yang Pu left Wuying Hall in a hurry.

Xue Xuan and Chen Chang went home after work as usual.

As usual, Zhu Zhanhe stayed behind to discuss matters with Wang Ji and the others.

He sat on the main seat, looked at the dusk outside the hall and said, "How are the promotion and arrangements for the people below?"

As soon as he opened his mouth, Lu Yu was the first to say: "In Nanyang, five people have passed the imperial examination this year. All five people have been attracted by the ministers and have not yet been awarded official positions."

"In addition, there are still more than 30 officials in Southwest China who can be promoted. Once the Ministry of Industry's documents are released, we can make further arrangements."

The reason why Lu Yu dared to speak directly and openly about the follow-up arrangements was that Zhu Zhanhe was also half a referee.

As long as the emperor did not make a clear attitude to stop him, Zhu Zhanhe could completely arrange his people to serve in places where they could gain the most achievements. This was the power brought by the prince.

"There are many people in Jiaozhi and Shanxi. If we count them carefully, there are more than 60 officials who are all dependent on His Highness."

After all, Wang Ji is the eldest among the three and has served as chief envoy. He does not need to personally select the Jinshi. He only needs to let the people below him win over him.

Seeing Wang Ji giving such help, Zhu Zhanhe turned his attention to Jianghuai.

He was very aware of Jianghuai's connections in Longchuan and Yunnan, but Jianghuai let him down.

"There are twelve incorruptible people in Yunnan, and we can choose from them..." Jianghuai only recommended twelve people to Zhu Zhanhe, which was not good news for Zhu Zhanhe who needed to quickly expand his power.

"Oh, I see……"

He responded very calmly, but Jiang Huai bowed and said:
"In the future situation, the more officials the better, the better. What His Highness lacks is people with integrity. Only in this way can His Highness see further."

His answer made Zhu Zhanhe frown slightly. He only knew that he needed to accumulate strength as quickly as possible now. Who could predict the so-called future situation?
"really"

Before Zhu Zhanhe spoke, Wang Ji and Lu Yu took the lead in nodding their heads and giving their comments one after another.

"Your Majesty's sudden issuance of national bonds today may not be as simple as simply building local roads."

"According to His Majesty's words, we should want to distribute this national debt well and use this national debt to distribute wealth to the people in the form of work-for-relief."

After Wang Ji finished speaking, Lu Yu continued: "Since the Guimao case, although project inspections in various places have been strict, not all fish have slipped through the net."

"Fifty million guan of national debt seems like a lot to invest in ten years, but the imperial court currently invests tens of millions of guan in local railways, water conservancy maintenance and construction every year, and that's hundreds of millions of guan in ten years."

"After all, in the next ten years, the imperial court will have to invest at least 150 million yuan in the local area."

"It should be noted that the investment in the Guimao case was only more than 80 million yuan, and then the Guimao case was triggered, and countless money and food were confiscated."

"With the current 150 million yuan, how many corrupt officials will be spawned?"

"Under such a situation, His Highness really needs some honest people to supervise his subordinates."

"Although His Majesty may not necessarily take action against the people below the East Palace, once the incident occurs, it is inevitable to be disappointed with His Highness."

Lu Yu made a good analysis, and the last sentence made Zhu Zhanhe wary.

He knew very well that he could sit on the throne not because of his outstanding ability, but because he was the legitimate eldest son and could inherit his father's ideas in governing the country.

If something goes wrong with him and his father begins to suspect that he is not qualified, then his position may not be secure.

Judging from the performance of the second child, if he gets help from his father, he will be able to compete with him in a few years.

"The following matters will be handled by the three of you. If anything happens, I will take care of it."

Zhu Zhanhe made his promise, and the three of them bowed to him in response.

Today's events can be seen clearly by the four of them, and naturally others can also see them clearly.

In a courtyard on East Chang'an Street, San Yang, who had changed into regular clothes, was sitting in the main hall of Yang Shiqi's home, discussing today's national debt issue.

Like Jiang Huai, Lu Yu and others, they all saw that the emperor was fishing, and the national debt was the bait, and corrupt officials were the big fish in the lake.

After the three people discussed, Yang Rong also said: "There are many people below. It is impossible to control them if we really want to. The most important thing is to save the most important people first."

"Back and forth, it's just the three axes." Yang Pu commented.

In response, Yang Rong and Yang Shiqi also nodded in agreement.

As far as Wang Hui's method of inspecting the three services of officials in various places regardless of their official positions was concerned, the lower limit of the imperial inspection in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty was no more than this.

"First keep an eye on Wang Hui's side, and ask the people below to sell off the farmland and house, take care of your own tail, and be more honest in the next few years."

"If they expose their tails and get beaten, don't blame us for not warning them."

Yang Shiqi picked up the tea cup and took a sip, his attitude really didn't care about the people below.

Yang Rong and Yang Pu looked ugly, but there was nothing they could do.

Facing a powerful emperor like Zhu Gaoxu, let alone them, even Huo Guang and Yi Yin had to act with caution.

After their conversation, news of the 50 million national debt sprung up from Beijing and spread outward.

In a burst of "crackling" sound, the twelve years of Hong Xi passed by in an instant, and the thirteenth year of Hong Xi came forward.

On the New Year's Day, the first quarter of the 13th year of Hong Xi's reign was also published in the "Da Ming Bao", and the interest in national debt became even higher.

For ordinary people, they do not know the methods used by the imperial court to harvest high-ranking officials and wealthy households with national debt. They only know that everyone around them who bought national debt made a lot of money.

National debt is nothing new to the people of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, after learning that the imperial court was planning to issue national debt, many families were eagerly waiting for the ten-year national debt, with a total interest of 30%.

Compared with them, Zhu Gaoxu hurriedly held the Zhengdan Dynasty Meeting in the 13th year of Hongxi's reign.

Facts have proved that the development of Ming Dynasty has reached a high-speed stage, in which the population economy has also driven the overall economy of Ming Dynasty.

In the twelfth year of Hongxi's reign, the Ming Dynasty's population reached more than 118.6 million, with a net increase of 4.8 million and more than 800,000 deaths.

In comparison, the cultivated land area reached more than 700 million 9 million acres, the fiscal revenue reached 62 million guan, the expenditure reached 64.8 million guan, and the national treasury had more than 46 million guan.

More than 38,000 prisoners who committed crimes in the same year were assigned to Jinghai Mansion in Dongzhou by Zhu Gaoxu, and he stepped up the construction of the Song Palace and Jinghai City and Port.

Comparatively speaking, it took Europe a full hundred years to reach hundreds of thousands of white people in the Americas after they discovered the Americas. However, it only took the Ming Dynasty more than ten years to have more than thirty white people on the two continents of the Americas. Wanhankou.

If this rate continues, it will only take more than a hundred years for millions of people to migrate to the Americas.

Of course, this requires the support of ships and money from the official level. Once it is cut off and people are allowed to migrate spontaneously, the efficiency will slow down.

"Woo-"

The whistle sounded, and with the end of the imperial meeting, Zhu Gaoxu issued an order for the first time to appoint Zhu Zhanhe as the supervisor to manage the government in Beijing, and he himself boarded the train to Nanjing.

Going south with him were Zhu Di, the Supreme Emperor, and his great grandson Zhu Qiyue, whom Zhu Di regarded as his treasure and never left his side.

"After the new year, your kid will be eleven years old. It's time to grow up."

Sitting in the spacious carriage, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zhu Qiyue, who was five feet tall and still had a childish face, and made his comments with a smile.

Next to Zhu Qiyue, the seventy-one-year-old Zhu Di habitually stroked his gray beard.

"You went south to worship your ancestors and you taught others a lesson." Zhu Di said dissatisfied.

"That's right!" Zhu Qiyue also chimed in.

"Huh?" Seeing the two singing in harmony, Zhu Gaoxu was helpless, and at the same time he looked at Zhu Di and said:
"Father, have you worshiped your mother?"

"We will go there after paying homage to your grandfather. I heard that Yanran City in the north has been well constructed. I am planning to take the train to Yanran City to have a look."

Zhu Di's eyes showed a bit of reminiscence, as if he was thinking about his glorious achievements in encircling and suppressing Alitai and others in Hulanhuwenwen.

The scenery outside the window keeps receding. Although it is Zhengdan, the further south you go, the more green you can see.

Since coal became popular, and large-scale infrastructure has brought enough wealth to the people, fewer and fewer people are cutting down trees, while more and more trees are being planted locally.

Few trees are cut down because there is no need. After all, the penalty for cutting down trees is too severe. Not only will you not be able to find a job, but you will also be recorded on the record.

In addition, after being recorded, they will also need to be punished according to the policy of "cutting one to plant a hundred".

Only those who plant hundreds of trees and survive, or report others who cut down trees, can be exempted from being recorded.

Therefore, in the past thirteen years, the greening in the north and south has become better and better, and Beijing has not suffered from sandstorms for almost two or three years.

Of course, this is also because the grassland environment in the early Ming Dynasty has not deteriorated as seriously as in modern times, not to mention the grassland, even in the Western Regions.

Zhu Gaoxu once wanted people to go to Lop Nur to investigate whether potash fertilizer could be made. However, when they went to Lop Nur, what they saw was a large saltwater lake that was more than 200 miles from north to south and hundreds of miles from east to west.

The fantasy of using Lop Nur to study potassium fertilizer was shattered, but Zhu Gaoxu did not feel bad. After all, the Ming Dynasty now had enough resources. Without Lop Nur and the potassium mines in Nanzhou and Kunlun, it would just be a waste of time.

"This green, I have never seen so many trees in South Zhili since I was born in Peiping."

Compared with Zhu Gaoxu, Zhu Di's sigh is more convincing. After all, he was eight years older than the Ming Dynasty from the time he was born in the late Yuan Dynasty to the present.

"You're right, my second brother. I am recuperating comfortably, and I have really lived to be as old as your grandfather."

Although Zhu Di was laughing and talking, there was always a sense of loneliness in his eyes.

That feeling of loneliness either belonged to Queen Xu, or to Yao Guangxiao, or even to his eldest son Zhu Gaochi, who had died just over a year ago.

If Zhu Gaoxu wasn't sitting in good health in front of him, and he could summon Zhu Gaoxu to the Daming Palace at any time, then I'm afraid he would be worried about Zhu Gaoxu's health every day.

Because of this, after Zhu Gaochi left, he felt very happy to see Zhu Gaoxu in good health.

"Grandpa, I heard that you want to issue national bonds?"

Zhu Qiyue's sudden words were shocking. Zhu Gaoxu was stunned for a moment when he heard the words. Then he realized and chuckled: "Why, do you have an opinion?"

"I read your book and it said that balancing fiscal revenue and expenditure can be done by increasing taxes, issuing more currency, or issuing national bonds."

"You said that among the three methods, increasing taxes is derived from the people and used by the people. However, there is a certain limit to increasing taxes. If the taxes are too heavy and exceed the affordability of private business groups and individuals, it will be detrimental to production. development and will affect future taxation.”

"Then I want to know, since this method is the most undesirable, why do you still write it in the book?"

Zhu Qiyue was only eleven years old, but he had already begun to study the economic books written by Zhu Gaoxu. This surprised even Zhu Gaoxu, but Zhu Di had already been shocked by his grandson, so he was very indifferent now.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zhu Di. Instead of being surprised, he could see a sense of pride on his face.

That expression reminded Zhu Gaoxu of Zhu Di's famous saying.

"Second brother, you really look like me..."

'Ahem! Zhu Gaoxu coughed to pull himself out of his memories, and then said to Zhu Qiyue:

“It is written in the book to prevent people in the future from only knowing about increasing taxes but not the problems caused by increasing taxes, so as to prevent them from happening before they happen.”

"Oh..." Zhu Qiyue was thoughtful. Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu also looked out the window.

They were getting closer and closer to the city of Nanjing. It had been more than ten years since he last paid homage to Lao Zhu...

(End of this chapter)