Zhu Yuanzhang can see my dreams

Chapter 374 374 You have never been an emperor, so you don’t understand the difficulties of being an emperor.

Li Jinglong was serving on Empress Ma's ship. Until this time, except for a small number of personal guards, no one knew that the emperor had left the main force and set off earlier.

Queen Ma sat in the cabin, thinking about how to cover up properly, after all, Zhu Yuanzhang had never shown up.

Li Jinglong sat half of his buttocks on the round stool, seeing that Empress Ma looked very worried, so he said:

"Grandma, don't worry. With the Prince Consort by your side, there will definitely be no problems."

"I know about this."

Empress Ma was not worried about anything happening to Zhu Yuanzhang. She was just worried that Zhu Yuanzhang had seen many unpleasant things in the fairyland, which made him very upset.

Another point is that it is a rare opportunity for Biao'er to have such an independent experience, and he is secretly worried that his son will not be able to control the court.

After all, it involves imperial power, and all kinds of problems can easily arise even between close relatives like father and son.

From Emperor Wu of Han to Emperor Taizong of Tang and so on, the position of the crown prince was always very secure without exception, but what was the reality?
Chongba was so powerful under such high pressure that there would always be people who were unwilling to accept this and secretly made trouble by taking advantage of the opportunity when the crown prince was regulating the country.

The most important thing is that Empress Ma felt that Zhuge Liang brought Wang Buli out for a swim this time, but actually it was just for "fishing"!

After all, it has only been more than half a year since the death of Prime Minister Hu Weiyong, and his remnants have not yet been completely eradicated.

They are all terrified now, and perhaps someone who can't stand it anymore will jump out and cause trouble.

When Zhuge Liang returned to Nanjing, there was another bloody storm.

Hey.

Queen Ma sighed leisurely, it was not easy to conquer the world, and she had to think for a long time about how to defeat the enemy forces.

But after she came to power, she found that things were even more difficult.

Before Empress Ma could think more, someone from the Embroidered Uniform Guard boarded the ship and brought a letter from the emperor.

After Empress Ma opened it, she took a careful look and found that there was a small envelope wrapped in a large envelope. The contents of the small envelope had to be sent to the prince overnight so that he could make a response.

"Someone is coming."

Empress Ma shouted and handed the small envelope intact to the Embroidered Uniform Guards, asking them to rush to the palace and hand it to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince personally.

Even she didn't open it to see what was written inside.

After everyone left, Empress Ma finally showed a slight smile on her face. Chongba finally took the initiative to send news.

Seeing Empress Ma in such a state, Li Jinglong said, "Grandma, please have a good rest. We will reach the shore soon."

"Ah."

At this time, they were not far from Nanjing City. The Jinyiwei fell into the city in a basket and ran straight to the palace. No one stopped them.

There were only three cavalrymen riding on the street at this time, there must be some important news.

Zhu Biao continued his previous style and did not stop working hard just because his father was not around.

Zhu Yuanzhang handed over the government affairs to him, which was both to train him and to test him.

"Your Highness, there is an urgent report from the Royal Guards."

"Send it up."

Zhu Biao took the envelope and checked the lacquer seal carefully. Although no one dared to open it without permission, he still remained vigilant.

He unfolded the letter and read it carefully.

Zhu Yuanzhang's tone in the letter was very excited, saying that perhaps after a while the exact location of the Japanese silver mines and the Yunnan copper mines could be found, and by then the map of Yunnan would also be reproduced, but it would take much longer.

Moreover, I discovered this time that the Ming Dynasty is just a tiny country. I was too narrow-minded in the past. In the future, it doesn’t matter even if the emperor has many princes. The world is so big that they can be enfeoffed enough.

When I come back, I will find a way to drag you into the fairyland and experience it for yourself.

Then Zhu Biao felt more and more puzzled. What his father said about the round sky and square earth was wrong. The whole world was round and people lived in a big sphere.

At the end of the letter, Zhu Yuanzhang asked him to keep the letter well and never let anyone else know about it, otherwise the divine right of kings would no longer have any validity.

Can the emperor of heaven still take over the people's throne?
Zhu Biao actually understood what his father meant. The reason why he brought Wang Buli with him was that he wanted to stay away from the whirlpool as much as possible and take a good look at the functions of various places in the fairyland.

Now we have glimpsed such a map of the Ming Dynasty. No, it’s not just a map of the Ming Dynasty.

With this map, the Ming Dynasty will be able to explore more places in the future and find out about the mineral deposits in various places.

It's a treasure!
Previously, Wang Buli explored the fairyland "cautiously" by himself, but he only knew where the mineral deposits were, and was not very brave to study some things.

This boy was completely dazzled by those fairies and only cared about enjoying himself.

However, Wang Buli was still young in his early years, so it was normal for him to not be able to resist the temptation.

Although Wang Buli had helped the Ming Dynasty a lot in its early years, for now, with this kind of map, the Ming Dynasty will be able to move to a higher level in the future.

None of the Mongols' escape routes worked.

Zhu Biao felt refreshed. He immediately took out the key and put the letter into the heavy iron box.

It is very difficult for ordinary people to move away, let alone within the palace.

Zhu Biao held his composure, thinking that he would call Xu Da over tomorrow to have a detailed discussion with him.

The weather is getting hotter.

Wang Buli walked in front, and Zhu Yuanzhang walked side by side with him. There were people protecting him in front and following him from behind.

In recent years, Zhu Yuanzhang spent two million strings of cash and ordered each province to select elders to transport money and buy grain. He set up reserve warehouses in places where residents gathered, four in the east, south, west and north of each county, to prepare for famine relief. In addition, he selected "elders" or "rich families" to guard the warehouses.

The reserve warehouse, as a storage system whose main function was to store grain for relief, was unique to the Ming Dynasty.

From then until the late Ming Dynasty, the reserve granary "although occasionally abandoned and destroyed, was always repeatedly emphasized by the emperors and became the system of that generation."

In the early Ming Dynasty, reserve warehouses were widely implemented in the Suzhou and Songjiang areas.

Most counties set up warehouses "to store government grain, with the largest amount being over 10,000 shi and the smallest being four or five thousand shi. The warehouses were guarded by wealthy people, and in the event of floods, droughts, or famines, the grain could be loaned to the poor."

Zhu Yuanzhang was familiar with such granaries in the countryside, which were particularly prone to embezzlement.

We must be especially careful to guard against theft and misappropriation by large households, and be prepared for the situation where granaries are empty.

By the time Zhu Di ascended the throne, within just a few years of Jianwen's reign, nine out of ten government warehouses in the south were empty of grain, or even no grain at all, not even in the warehouses.

In response to this situation, many places carried out warehouse restoration work during the Yongle period, so that grain reserves could be replenished again.

During the Hongxi and Xuande periods, the reserve warehouse began to fall into serious difficulties.

In addition to bringing Wang Buli to explore the fairyland, Zhu Yuanzhang also wanted to take a good look at this kind of thing and see if there was anyone who acted like a rat.

"We issued an imperial decree in the third year of Hongwu, but now it seems that Wuxian, Kunshan, and Changshu counties have not yet taken such action. I remember that this is also a county with a large tax burden, so how could there be no money and grain?"

Faced with Zhu Yuanzhang's doubts, Wang Buli also shook his head.

He didn't know the tricks involved, nor did he really understand the dealings involved.

But at least he hadn't noticed any fire burning down Longcang.

"Father-in-law, if there is a shortage of crops or a flood or drought, there will be no storage, and we will not be able to perform our duties."

"Yes." Zhu Yuanzhang also knew that taxes in the south were heavy, but he would not ignore his orders.

I spent two million strings of cash, but I didn't even see a splash!
"I established this institution to prevent the situation where farmers have difficulty making ends meet and are forced to borrow money from the rich, who then take several times the interest, making the farmers even poorer.

When autumn comes, private loans are paid first, and then public taxes are paid. After both public and private taxes are paid, farmers become poor.
Poor farmers resorted to loan sharks, sold their children, or abandoned their jobs, becoming increasingly poor, and in time they disappeared from the list of tax payers to the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Yuanzhang was very clear about the tactics of these wealthy people.

"Father-in-law, this warehouse should be expanded a little bit." Wang Buli said with his hands behind his back: "It's just that the court gives some benefits to the people in order to stabilize them, so why not expand it."

Now when Zhu Yuanzhang heard about spending money, he didn't feel sorry at all.

In less than a year or two, we will have quite a few silver ingots and copper coins in our hands.

"Tell me more."

Wang Buli organized his words: "As a special storage system established by Your Majesty, Jinong Cang not only performs the function of "providing relief when there is a famine, transporting water to save seedlings, and providing relief to the people when they are short of food."

It was directly extended to every link of agricultural production, and the people who suffered damage in transportation and labor in building dikes were also lent so that they would not lose their homes.

Other expenses such as summer taxes on wheat, beans, silk and cotton, household salt, horse fodder, compulsory labor, grain from escaped and abandoned fields, miscellaneous levies, etc. were also mostly paid from the Jinong Warehouse.

The court decided to use the grain in the warehouse for land tax and paid service, which could indirectly reduce the burden of miscellaneous taxes and corvée on the poor, thus forming a more effective agricultural reproduction maintenance system, which would help stabilize the people's farming on the land. "

"Hey."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded repeatedly: "This is a good idea."

He also stood with his hands behind his back, watching the people working in the fields: "You know, I've been poor since I was young, so I always like to get things done without spending money. But you probably haven't been hungry since you were young, and you haven't been poor, so you like to spend money to get things done.

It turns out that money is a damn good thing, and everyone can’t live without it.”

Zhu Yuanzhang was very proud when he said this because he was going to own the largest copper and silver mines.

From now on, you will speak in a heroic manner.

There is no need to worry about the Ming Dynasty's treasure notes being printed in excessive quantities and becoming worthless.

At that time, we can also exchange the treasure notes for silver and copper coins, and we can completely stabilize the price of the treasure notes.

As long as the people use treasure notes, it will be extremely beneficial to the Ming Dynasty.

After becoming rich, Zhu Yuanzhang spoke in a firm tone and rarely took the initiative to talk about his stinginess.

"The emphasis is on agriculture. If agriculture is emphasized, the foundation will be solid. If the foundation is solid, all crops will be raised. The system of Changping and Yi Cang will also be implemented in this process!
Moreover, if the farmers know that it is set up for me, even if there is drought or flood, they will have something to rely on and not be afraid. Who would dare to be careless or insult me?

This is what it means to have one thing that combines the beauty of many things. "

After listening to Zhu Yuanzhang's words, Wang Buli still didn't quite understand, but he finally realized that Zhu was just boasting about his expansion initiative.

"If this can be implemented all over the country, the Jinong Warehouse will lend two shi of rice to the poor during the farming season, and they will pay it back to the government in the form of a bushel in autumn. No interest will be charged, and the government will only be required to pay back the full amount in autumn.
Farmers no longer have to suffer from debt due to lack of food seeds.

In this way, the people can avoid borrowing money from the rich and paying double interest, and their land can be used for governance, and their taxes can be paid without default, which will benefit both the public and private sectors!"

Wang Buli also painted a long-term vision for Zhu Yuanzhang, which made Zhu Yuanzhang very excited.

If this were really possible, then the people in the countryside of the Ming Dynasty would all be able to live in peace. Who would incite them to rebel? Who would be so foolish as to do such a thing?

"But although the policy is good, it still needs to be implemented better. There should be no cases of people pretending to be poor, and we need to send people to patrol properly."

"Ah."

Zhu Yuanzhang also knew that some of his policies were good, but they were not strictly enforced in later generations.

As far as the law is concerned, no emperor has ever taken it as seriously as this ancestor.

Wang Buli walked slowly and finally saw a granary. It was guarded by a local "rich man". He immediately took out his token and asked him to open the door of the granary so that he could check it out.

Ordinary officials would not go to the countryside, as Zhu Yuanzhang considered it illegal.

Most of them are petty officials, but these petty officials do not have much deterrent power over some gentry.

So when Wang Buli took out the patrol token, he still wondered what if it was fake?

But he still asked people to come and guard it and refused to open the door for Wang Buli.

So Wang Buli called Mao Xiang over and signaled Mao Xiang to slap the person who looked at the token twice. He even dared to deny the token. Maybe he was guilty because there was no grain in the warehouse.

After Mao Xiang and other Jinyiwei gave him a strong beating, the door finally opened.

Wang Buli covered his nose while standing at the door and looked inside. Great, the room was empty enough for horses to run in.

He didn't go in, but asked the Jinyiwei to go in and look for food.

Zhu Yuanzhang cared extremely about this policy which concerned the people's livelihood, but the first result disappointed him greatly.

"Report to the temple minister, there are less than 22 catties of food inside."

After hearing this report, Wang Buli snorted and laughed, and immediately sent someone to arrest the warehouse manager:

"Go to his house and search for the account book. We need to see who has eaten all the food in the granary."

Wang Buli was just talking about this and that with a grand vision, but reality gave Zhu Yuanzhang a hard slap in the face.

If I hadn't come here in person to see the current situation, I wouldn't know what the situation is.

There was a crowd of people.

No one expected that the official would come in disguise and directly arrest Mr. Zhao.

It doesn't look like a fake.

Even if they were protected by their clansmen, they would not dare to go forward easily. Didn't they see that those strong men were holding knives in their hands?
Those who didn't know would think that it was bandits coming down the mountain to rob.

Wang Buli did not reveal his name, but just sent someone to report the news and also informed the local county government.

"Wen Ke."

"My subordinate is here."

"You will be in charge of the follow-up. Don't let any of them go. Since we have come across this kind of case, we must conduct a thorough investigation to avoid His Majesty being worried."

"Yes, I understand."

Wen Ke had worked in the county government for many years, and Wang Buli had delegated power to him, so his face was full of joy.

The more problems you find, the more familiar you will appear in front of the emperor!
The most important thing is to bring honor to the prince consort.

Zhu Yuanzhang kept his mouth shut and followed Wang Buli without saying a word, but he was actually sulking in his heart.

He had so many excellent policies, but they were implemented like this in the rural areas.

No wonder many people joined the rebel army instead of supporting the imperial court.

Officials and gentry colluded and brought disaster to the local area. They gained benefits, while the emperor of the Ming Dynasty had to bear all the blame.

The Ming Dynasty will also have to bear the consequences. How can this be possible?

"I am really angry."

Zhu Yuanzhang had already controlled his temper and did not kill the beast in public.

Rats usually live in groups. What is a single rat called?
It’s just that some are fat and some are thin, but no one can escape.

"I trusted them so much."

In order to prevent officials from harassing the people in the countryside, Zhu Yuanzhang almost implemented self-government.

As a result, self-government has become like this.

This really made him angry.

"Father-in-law, human nature is greedy. We can only conduct random checks from time to time, punish them severely if they are caught, and then make them spit out double the amount."

Wang Buli has a deep understanding of corruption. After all, he has been warned and educated by many cases.

Can we really prevent such things from happening by setting so many rules?
Obviously it is impossible.

In addition to prevention and deterrence, most of the work still relies on self-awareness.

There was too little self-awareness among the people of the Ming Dynasty. Many people could not help but magnify the little power they had and seek benefits for themselves.

There are not so many selfless people in the world!

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang was very dissatisfied with Wang Buli's remarks. In his opinion, he must come up with a perfect way to avoid this kind of thing from happening.

But in fact, what Zhu Yuanzhang thought in his mind was the most unrealistic.

"Buli, you are wrong to say that."

After Zhu Yuanzhang opened his mouth to refute, he imposed his own ideas on Wang Buli.

Wang Buli quickly opened the fan and fanned himself carefully, trying to dispel the heat from his body as much as possible. He nodded:

"Your Majesty is far-sighted. I am not a man who can plan for the country. I can only see this small step ahead."

After hearing what Wang Buli said, Zhu Yuanzhang pinched his beard and said nothing.

He subconsciously felt that Wang Buli was being sarcastic. Did this guy think that what I just said was a clever way of trying to catch the moon?
Mao Xiang turned his head to the side, trying not to laugh out loud, and trying hard to keep a straight face, for fear of losing his composure in front of the emperor.

Even he could hear the sarcasm in the prince consort's tone.

Mao Xiang didn't believe that His Majesty couldn't hear it, so he pretended not to hear it.

Zhu Yuanzhang walked slowly. He had seen his son in power in the fairyland before and it was so unbearable that he wanted to take a walk out to see what the Ming Dynasty looked like under his hard work.

I never thought that under my diligent governance, it would still become so rotten, and now it is less than 300 miles away from the capital.

Looking further away, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that something big was going to go wrong!
"We all remember you saying that time is the only criterion for testing truth."

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly spoke, looking at the surprise that flashed across Wang Buli's face:
"That's why I wanted to go around and see if what was said in the official document is true, or if they are trying to make up a lie to make me believe that the world is on the road to great peace!"

"Your Majesty has the Imperial Guards by your side, so it will be difficult for you to be deceived."

Wang Buli's words of comfort did not comfort Zhu Yuanzhang. He just said indifferently: "You have never been an emperor, so you don't understand the difficulties of being an emperor."

(End of this chapter)