My Ming Dynasty, I have the final say

Now that he was recognized, Zhu Youxiao lost interest in continuing to pretend.

After a few words of instructions to Xing Yushi about collecting grain from the people, he left with the Jin Yiwei.

Before leaving, Zhu Youxiao gave instructions to the eunuch accompanying him.

"The Governor of Water Transport, Zhao Yukui, hasn't left Beijing yet. Let him come to see me tomorrow."

Zhao Yukui has indeed not left Beijing yet. He is busy asking for money from the Du branch.

"Your Majesty, Zhao Yukui, respectfully greets you."

Early the next morning, Zhao Yukui was taken into Xiyuan by the eunuch. As soon as he entered the imperial study, Zhao Yukui bowed respectfully.

Without asking him to stand up immediately, Zhu Youxiao stood up from his chair and walked around Zhao Yukui.

Turning his eyes, Zhao Yukui clearly noticed that the emperor was looking at him.

"I am safe, please be safe."

After turning around in a circle, Zhu Youxiao sat down on the chair with satisfaction.

He has tanned skin and a thin figure. He is a pragmatic official.

"I thank your Majesty for your kindness."

After hearing the emperor's words, Zhao Yukui breathed a sigh of relief and stood up.

"This is your memorial. Tell me about water transportation."

Throwing the memorial that Zhao Yukui had written a few days ago to him, Zhu Youxiao looked at Zhao Yukui and said.

“Let’s talk about the most basic aspects of water transportation.”

"The minister obeys the order."

Hearing this, Zhao Yukui bowed and started talking.

The original water transportation in the Ming Dynasty was based on the grain chief system. Each region's tax grains were transported to different destinations, and the person with the most local acres was responsible for collection and transportation.

In the twelfth year of Yongle's reign, after the capital was moved, Beijing's food supply began to be difficult, so the water transportation was changed to the army's transportation. The guards in Beijing, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Zhongdu, and Zhili were ordered to choose their own military and territory, regardless of garrison. The commanders and leaders of thousands of households all commanded the general manager to transport grain into the canals.

Divided into three stages, the first stage is

According to the transportation method, the still-serving grain chief and the Cao Army share the responsibility for grain transportation, with 40% of the grain chief and 60% of the Cao Army.

The second stage is the transportation method. The grain chief delivers the grain and freight to the guard station nearby, and then the Cao army transports it.

The third stage is the long-term transportation method. The government collects grain, and the Cao army directly goes to the south of the Yangtze River to collect grain. The grain captain does not even need to transport it to the guard post.

Now, the Ming Dynasty uses the long-term luck method.

After hearing about the development of water transportation in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youxiao was silent for a while and then asked slowly.

"Where's the water transport ship?"

"Your Majesty, the boats used for water transportation are mostly made of pine, nanmu, and fir. They are divided into two types: shallow boats and ocean-covering boats. The bottom of the shallow boats is five feet and two feet long, and the head is nine feet and five inches long. The bottom of the ocean-covering boats is six feet long. , the head is one foot long."

"The boats travel along the canal, and every government has a dock for the boats to be repaired."

"You went to court earlier and asked for some silver. You said that someone was using a public weapon for personal use. Who is this private person?"

Stopping tapping his fingers, Zhu Youxiao looked at Zhao Yukui, faintly.

"yes..."

Hearing the emperor asking himself this, Zhao Yukui plopped down.

For a while, there was silence in the imperial study room.

Unable to bear the silence, Zhao Yukui raised his head and glanced at the emperor. He found that the emperor was still looking at him and quickly lowered his head.

"Hehehe."

Seeing Zhao Yukui like this, Zhu Youxiao sneered twice.

"Let me guess, you are talking about the former governor of water transportation, Li Sancai."

"Return to Your Majesty."

When he heard the name spoken by the emperor, Zhao Yukui's eyes widened instantly.

Boldly, he raised his head and glanced at the emperor. Zhao Yukui was heartbroken and added.

"Back to Your Majesty, there are also Wang Zuo, the governor of the river, the right minister of the household department, the governor of Caoyun, and the governor of Fengyang, Wang Ji."

The name has been announced, and Zhao Yukui no longer hides it, and tells all the chaos he saw on the water transport.

"These three people worked together to embezzle money for river repairs, sell off the grain, and force the Cao army to serve for them."

As Zhao Yukui narrated, a huge public and private network involving Jingchen in the north and south slowly unfolded in front of the emperor.

The Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Governor's Office of Water Transport, the Governor's Office of River Transport, the governor's offices of various places, and the Cao Army Guards Stations of various places were all involved.

Corruption is a trivial matter. The biggest problem was that the Cao army, which was supposed to transport grain to the imperial court, was deployed by these people to do business, transporting cloth, tea and other items to people.

Bang bang bang.

When Zhao Yukui finished speaking, Zhu Youxiao was so angry that he banged his hand on the table several times.

Although I had long expected that there would be huge problems in water transportation, I didn't expect that it would involve so many problems.

"Okay, okay, my Ming Dynasty is full of loyal ministers."

Halfway through Zhao Yukui's words, the eunuchs and maids in the imperial study had already knelt down.

Seeing the emperor outrageously boasting that these people were loyal ministers, Liu Shimin felt a little confused and looked up at the emperor.

"Your Majesty, calm down."

"Where's the eunuch who oversees water transport? Has he returned to Beijing?"

"Go back, go back to your Majesty."

Raising his head and looking at the emperor in confusion, Liu Shimin lowered his head.

"There are no river eunuchs in the temple."

"..."

Looking at Liu Shimin kneeling on the ground, Zhu Youxiao felt speechless.

Wanli, you are a piece of shit.

There is no place to make money.

Don't go where you should strike, and be ruthless where you shouldn't strike, right?

Zhu Youxiao was very angry at Wanli's trouble and started pacing in place.

"Zhao Yukui."

"The minister is here."

Hearing this, Zhao Yukui quickly responded.

"I remember that you are a member of the military, right?"

"Your Majesty, I am indeed a member of the military."

Zhao Yukui raised his head and looked at the emperor, wondering what the emperor wanted to do.

"Can you do business?"

"Doing business?"

Hearing the emperor's words, Zhao Yukui was surprised and shook his head like a splashing drum.

"I won't."

Isn't it insulting to ask a civil servant if he knows how to do business?

"Get up now."

Signaling Zhao Yukui to stand up, Zhu Youxiao looked at him and said.

"The problem of water transportation cannot be solved by the yamen's method, but must be solved by the merchant's method."

"What you said is that people like Li Sancai, Wang Zuo, and Wang Ji use official weapons for private use and let the imperial cavalry army transport goods for merchants. Why is this?"

"It's because those merchants found that the cost of transporting goods northward through the imperial court's cavalry army was lower than transporting goods northward themselves."

"As the saying goes, it is better to open up than to block. Since the Cao Army is responsible for transporting grain in addition to transporting goods, let them transport it."

Zhu Youxiao's next words exceeded the imagination of everyone present, including Zhao Yukui.

"But Your Majesty, if you allow commercial goods to be transported, it may be difficult to maintain the capital's grain supply."

After hearing the emperor's words, Zhao Yukui immediately spoke up.

"Expand shipping volume and allow private merchants to participate."

Waving his hand to signal Zhao Yukui to calm down, Zhu Youxiao looked at him and said.

"Later, I will give you a statement. You can give me a memorial and change the water transportation according to my statement."

"As for the people you mentioned, Li Sancai, Wang Ji, Wang Zuo, etc., I will send someone to investigate."

"I kneel down to thank Your Majesty for your great kindness."

Upon hearing that the emperor finally decided to make changes to water transportation, Zhao Yukui quickly knelt down and thanked him.

"I will never dare to disappoint Your Majesty." (End of this chapter)