Zhu Yuanzhang can see my dreams

Chapter 306 Inspection
Military uniforms are uniform, but the sizes are not tailor-made and are mostly made to order.

So Wang Buli asked someone to find charcoal pencils so that he could paint the picture.

Ever since Wang Buli demonstrated his sketching skills, it has become popular in the palace.

Many concubines liked to draw for fun, especially after listening to Wang Buli talk about the nostril positioning method, which was even more interesting.

Zhu Yuanzhang watched Wang Buli formulate rules based on height, shoulder width, etc., roughly two inches as a size, so that the fit would be as close as possible.

The guards outside the hall were called in to measure the data, record it, and make a rough comparison.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Wang Buli busying himself and decided to ask the tailor to make the weapons in batches according to the required size and mark them so that they could be distributed to the soldiers later.

In this way, a large number of battle jackets can be distributed to the soldiers, reducing the trouble of soldiers having to redo the work.

"Good good."

Zhu Yuanzhang was more and more satisfied as he looked at it, and he said, "When the second batch of people and horses migrate over, if there are unmarried young men, I am willing to arrange marriages for them."

Wang Buli did not expect that Zhu Yuanzhang had the habit of being a matchmaker. Then he asked:
"Your Majesty, where are there so many women of marriageable age?"

"I encourage widows outside Shangyuan County to remarry."

Early Ming Dynasty.

Nanjing is a vast city with a sparse population, and urgently needs to be repopulated.

Out of consideration for the purpose of controlling the lesser ones by ruling over the powerful, the Ming court established a large number of garrisons here and allowed family members to live with the camp.

In order to facilitate deployment and control, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the construction of military camps as early as the first year of the Wu Dynasty (1367 AD), and required that "those living in the camps must be headed by the general flag, followed by the small flags, and then the soldiers, and live in rows of houses.

Whenever a man goes to war, even if women stay at home, they must protect and love each other. "

Zhu Yuanzhang included family members in the scope of militarized management. On the one hand, this allowed the soldiers to go to war with peace of mind, but on the other hand, it also implicitly intended to use family members as hostages.

After all, the regime was not yet stable at that time, and the army, which was mainly composed of surrendered soldiers, was not yet a state machine that could be fully relied upon.

But problems soon arose.

Wars were still frequent in the early Ming Dynasty, and many soldiers were killed.

The Ming court had to set up a special widows camp to accommodate the wives and children of soldiers who died in battle or due to illness.

Because there were so many widows, Liu Ji even cited this as one of the reasons why there had been no rain in the capital for a long time.

This farce of praying for rain became the reason for Li Shanchang to attack Liu Ji. No one cared about the real lives of the widows. They were just used as an excuse to attack political enemies.

Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang was not the kind of person who didn't care about anything. After all, there were so many living people watching him.

If she does not want to remarry, she will be given double salary every month, and if she is willing to remarry, she will receive a pension.

Nanjing Guard was under the jurisdiction of the Grand Marshal's Office, so the pensions for the dependents of soldiers living in the widow camp could only be allocated by the central government.

This was undoubtedly a heavy burden for the Ming government, which was still weak.

The Ming Dynasty's finances were divided into two parts: shipment and retention.

The taxes that are shipped out are the taxes that the local governments pay to the central government, and the remaining taxes are controlled by the local governments in accordance with relevant regulations, including pensions for the families of deceased soldiers living in the local areas.

In order to shift this burden to the local government, Zhu Yuanzhang specifically stipulated that the wives and children of deceased soldiers "who wish to return to their hometowns will be given two dan of rice each, and the government will provide labor to send them there", encouraging them to return to their hometowns.

However, simply encouraging widows to return home voluntarily has limited effect.

The Ming government, eager to get rid of the burden, thought of repatriating widows to reduce the burden on the central government, but another problem surfaced.

There are differences in the economic development of the Ming Dynasty. After finally settling down in Nanjing, do you have to go back to your hometown to suffer?

So the Widow Camp appeared. Anyway, I am registered in the Nanjing area, so if you want me to return home, it means I will return here.

My man died for the country and you want to drive me away. This is unfair. I beg the emperor to help us.

This made Zhu Yuanzhang very angry, and everything ended up here.

He wanted to send them back to their hometown by force, but since they were all acting like shrews, he couldn't just kill them.

At this time, Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was not yet very strict, and it was entirely up to the widow to decide whether to remain chaste or remarry.

On the surface, it is a gift to the families of soldiers, but in reality it is just to get rid of the burden.

Compared with these widows, Zhu Yuanzhang was more willing to support some disabled soldiers. He knew that although these people were disabled, they would still fight for him.

Listening to Zhu Yuanzhang's suggestion, Wang Buli nodded slightly and said nothing.

He could have taken out the looms and let the women in the widow camp work for the court, but since Zhu Yuanzhang didn't mention it, he didn't say anything either.

Hu Weiyong shook his head and bowed slightly:
"Your Majesty, they are used to receiving salaries and are unwilling to leave Nanjing. How can they easily marry into the deep mountains and forests of Guizhou?"

These widows are currently putting considerable pressure on the Ming Dynasty's treasury.

Even though the Ming Dynasty was always winning victories, it was still conquering on the corpses of its enemies.

However, many of their own soldiers were killed or injured, especially the failure of the Northern Expedition in the fifth year of Hongwu, which created many widows.

Especially outside Nanjing city, there are so many eyes watching.

However, no one would take the great risk of withholding their food rations, especially since Empress Ma would visit them from time to time.

After occupying Yunnan, Mu Ying mobilized the families of the garrisons outside Nanjing according to Zhu Yuanzhang's request.

However, Yunnan and Guizhou are located in remote areas and life is difficult. Although they can reunite with their families, the difficult life still makes many soldiers

The families of the soldiers were reluctant to move forward and remained in Nanjing. Zhu's policy of encouraging the families to leave Beijing for the capital did not produce good results.

Zhu Yuanzhang had no choice but to order the forced repatriation of family members from Beijing to the frontier. On the one hand, this allowed the soldiers to serve in the frontier guard with peace of mind, and on the other hand, it reduced the number of military families stranded in Beijing and freed up occupied barracks, killing two birds with one stone.

"Let's discuss this matter further."

Zhu Yuanzhang felt that only a preliminary version had appeared at the moment, and the specific details still needed to be further discussed.

Zhu Biao had just finished writing a reply letter to He Zhen, expressing his shock.

He is very satisfied with this matter. He will send someone to implement it personally, and he will need your assistance at that time.

So Wang Buli didn't stay any longer, but took his horse and went home.

When he strolled to the princess's mansion, he heard from the servants that the princess had gone out with the queen to visit the orphans, the elderly and the young.

Wang Buli nodded and went to watch them blowing glass.

I have to say that these three craftsmen are quite talented and have already put together quite a few items.

All these things will be sent to the imperial store for sale.

"You don't have to make them all the same. Now it's up to you." Wang Buli said with a smile while wearing a mask:
"There's no need to work too hard. The weather is getting hotter. I won't work in the afternoon. There's no rush to sell a lot."

All three of them thanked Wang Buli.

"I'll give you a few days off tomorrow. Go home and rest up. See if your family can introduce you to a suitable girl. Or if you need me to arrange a marriage for you, that's fine."

This time he knelt down to Wang Buli.

How can I not repay such a great favor?

Wang Buli smiled and told them to get up, and his main point was that if they followed him, they would have meat to eat.

When the sun was about to set, Zhu Mingxiu came back in a sedan chair.

Then she looked carefully and saw that Wang Buli had arrived earlier than her. With a smile on her face, she threw herself into Wang Buli's arms.

"Husband, I'm so tired today!"

"Let me massage your feet." Wang Buli said as he was about to take off her shoes.

"No." Although she was already a married woman, she was still very shy in the hall. Zhu Mingxiu whispered:
"I've walked a lot, so there must be some smell. It's easy to sweat in the summer, so I'll take a shower first."

After taking a shower, the couple had dinner together.

Wang Buli listened to Zhu Mingxiu chattering about what he had seen and heard today.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang was worried about the huge amount of money he had to support, he was not so stupid as to not even provide pensions, nor did he allow the later civil officials to set a rule of beheading people to record military merits.

"The lives of those women who don't marry are still somewhat miserable."

"Yes." Wang Buli picked up some food for her:
"There are countless people in all parts of Ming Dynasty whose lives are even more miserable than theirs.

At least the court gives them two dan of grain every month, which is more than when I was a minor official. Many farmers may not have as much grain left over in a year as they do. "

Zhu Mingxiu did not refute her husband's words because she believed that Wang Buli would not deceive her about such a thing.

“Why is everyone living in such hardship?”

Zhu Mingxiu would work in the palace on weekdays, but she had no shortage of food, clothing and other expenses, and she did not come into contact with such people.

It’s just that Empress Ma used to do this kind of good deeds herself, and only after her daughters got married would she take them out to see the world, hoping that they would not be overly extravagant at home.

The eldest sister, Princess Lin'an, has been accompanying Empress Ma on outings to visit these people since last year.

This year is the first time that Zhu Mingxiu goes out to see the world.

She thought that everyone in her imagination was already miserable, with no meat to eat, but when she really saw the miserable state of many people, it really exceeded her imagination. Zhu Yuanzhang boasted to his children that he had no food to eat, but he did not describe the miserable state in detail. After all, as a father, he still had to save face.

Wang Buli felt that the current situation of the Ming Dynasty was not good, it had only escaped from a situation of large-scale war.

However, local wars will continue to occur.

Zhu Yuanzhang always had a headache about not having enough money to accommodate a large number of people, but once the copper mine was conquered, Wang Buli also felt that Zhu Yuanzhang would not spend money to improve the economy.

"You want to help them?"

Wang Buli was certainly not a child, and he could understand the meaning behind Zhu Mingxiu's words.

Zhu Mingxiu put down the bowl and chopsticks, and turned his head slightly to look at Wang Buli: "My husband, I am not the soft-hearted god you said at the time, I just want to help my mother."

Wang Buli laughed twice: "I understand, you just want to take out the loom and let them use it."

"That's what it means."

"It's not possible at the moment." Wang Buli shook his head.
"It would be of no benefit to the Ming Dynasty to take it out now. Their throughput is too small just to sell the cloth to the Goryeo envoys.

The temporary benefits will cause the price of a large amount of cloth to fall. By then, the industry will become more and more competitive, and this loom will no longer be a benefit to the people. "

Zhu Mingxiu didn't quite understand, but seeing that Wang Buli insisted, he didn't insist on taking it out.

She knew that she was not as smart as her husband, and that he must have his reasons for doing so.

Otherwise, my father would not have asked my husband to give advice on many state affairs.

Wang Buli rubbed his wife's head and said, "Instead of helping those widows, it is better to let them remarry so that they don't have to live a lonely life.

In addition to doing laundry, these women can also weave cloth. When I ask the Ministry of Industry to make war jackets, I can select some skilled workers from these women and have them make clothes according to my instructions, which can be regarded as helping them. "

Zhu Mingxiu nodded slightly.

Wang Buli also knew that what he said was unrealistic, so he found men for them.

After all, the Ming Dynasty was established after going through a lot of wars. Many men, as the main force, were consumed, and it was only under the protection of the army that women survived in large numbers.

As a result, at present, there are more women than men in many places.

Moreover, these widows would not be able to receive pensions from the court after they remarried, so many of them simply did not get married.

If you eat less every month, you can exchange food for some money.

The Grand Canal meets the river.

Wang Buli was too lazy to give advance notice and just carried out a surprise inspection.

He stood on the intercepting dam. The water in the river had been drained, but it was all silt, and when he dug down, it was all water.

To do this, they had to dig a section and then get the water out artificially.

It's not like everyone doesn't know how to use the siphon phenomenon.

However, the height difference was a bit large at this time, and the sealing of the bamboo tube was not very good, so we had to push the fire truck over to absorb the water, and then put it up with great effort.

Lu Tang, the head of the Ministry of Works, hurried over to introduce the current progress of the project to Wang Buli.

As soon as summer comes, we are afraid of heavy rain, which will lead to all our efforts being wasted.

Soil has begun to pile up on the river bank in an effort to enclose the entire construction section to prevent rainwater from falling in from all directions.

Wang Buli put his hands behind his back, and the person behind him held an umbrella to protect him from the sun and heat:
"When it rains, we also need to arrange for people to patrol to prevent these mounds from being broken and rainwater from flowing in. It would be best if no one died."

The rainfall in Nanjing in summer is quite heavy.

"Don't worry, Prince Consort. Everyone at the construction site takes safety very seriously. They all come here to do hard labor and earn money."

"Well, with so many people, are there any troublemakers?" Wang Buli said again: "It is inevitable that some people will want to bully others after they have eaten their fill, and eat more and take more."

"The Prince Consort has already set the rules. Anyone who dares to disobey them will not only have to return the money they earned, but also have to do twice as much hard labor."

Lu Tang was very proud of this: "With such a heavy punishment, no one dares to commit crimes easily, not to mention that there are soldiers guarding."

"Ah."

Wang Buli took a look and watched from a distance as the dung tyrant led his men to transport the output of these people away to be made into fertilizer.

"Does that person dare to cause trouble?"

Lu Tang looked at the man who was carrying feces and shook his head. "The public toilets here are cleaned every day. From time to time, they are full. They are very busy."

"Row."

Wang Buli nodded again. As long as there were no safety issues on the construction site and no one gathered to cause trouble, it would be considered half successful.

The rest depends on the quality of the project.

I believe that under Zhu Yuanzhang's system of collective responsibility, the quality of Ming Dynasty's projects can still be guaranteed.

As the project commander-in-chief, Wang Buli never thought that he would one day be able to work on dam projects.

"I'm also bringing people here to eat a big pot meal today. Ask the chef to prepare more for the dozen or so people I have."

"clear."

Wang Buli was inspecting the construction site and had just reviewed the last stone burning incident.

Many people who are eager to make money must remember one thing when they arrive at the construction site: abide by the rules and don't be a black sheep.

Otherwise, not only will you be punished, but the wages of the workers in the same village as you will also be immediately paid, and you will be taken home by the yamen runners to have the punishment measures and reasons read out to public.

In other words, in order to protect everyone's income, there is an additional process of mutual supervision.

Wang Buli used the method of work-for-relief to build the dam.

The government invested in building projects, and the people had money from working, so they were more willing to spend it, and the economy prospered a little.

This is also a good medicine for the economic environment in the early Ming Dynasty.

This did save Zhu Yuanzhang from the idea of ​​always wanting to make people do corvee labor without paying, and those who did so had to pay for it themselves.

By then, the people will be even more miserable and will have no money to spend.

"My Lord, do you like this meal?"

Wang Buli sat on a chair and shoveled food into his mouth, looking at the people serving food to the craftsmen to see if any of their spoons were shaking.

"It's okay, not bad."

Wang Buli looked at the people in line and asked: "Are there any of them cutting in line casually?"

"There is such a phenomenon." Lu Tang nodded: "Mostly he goes to the toilet and asks people from the same village to bring the bowl to him first."

"Well, you just stay here, I'll take people around."

Wang Buli also knew that this phenomenon was unavoidable, so he stood up with his bowl in his hand and strolled around, looking at the group of craftsmen who were eating while sitting on the ground.

Lu Tang did not dare to stop him, for he knew that Wang Buli did not believe his one-sided story and wanted to go and visit him.

Wang Buli walked a hundred meters, slowly squatted down, sat on the ground, and looked at the crowd:

“Do we have so many meals on weekdays?”

The craftsman who was eating voraciously was a little confused when he suddenly saw an official not eating properly and coming to ask him questions.

The person next to him was more alert and quickly said, "Master, there are usually so many meals."

Wang Buli picked at the food in his bowl and nodded: "Are you full?"

"I can eat three meals a day."

Tang Po felt that this young man could become a registrar at such a young age, and would definitely become a high-ranking official in the future.

"That's good." Wang Buli looked at everyone and said:
"I am Wang Buli, the Dianshi of Jiangning County. I am here to inspect one or two construction sites today. I want to see how you are eating and whether anyone from the Ministry of Works dares to embezzle your rations."

"Wang Bansheng!"

People who were nearby immediately called out Wang Buli's nickname among the people.

"Yes, it's me."

Wang Buli responded first and continued to eat the rice in his bowl.

"That's the Prince Consort."

The craftsmen burst into laughter.

Everyone knows that everyone can come here to work and earn money thanks to the Prince Consort.

Now that I see him eating the same meal with everyone else, I feel even more at home.

Wang Buli stood up and said to the crowd, "The weather is getting hotter. Last year, the craftsmen working in Nanjing were able to take a two-hour break during the hottest time of the day at noon and drink cold mung bean soup. His Majesty has also granted you permission to do the same."

When the craftsmen heard Wang Buli's words, they cheered and many of them stretched their necks to look.

(End of this chapter)