Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

It was already May, and there was still no rain in the capital.

It is certain that there will be a severe drought in the Gyeonggi region this year.

At this moment, more and more people believed the emperor's words and thought that there might be droughts in the next ten years.

Because of this, there was some panic in the capital, and even the price of rice rose a little. Some smart businessmen wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune.

Faced with this situation, Yuan Keli, the Minister of War who was in charge of the Anti-Rebellion and Disaster Relief Committee and concurrently served as the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, quickly made a decision.

Yuan Keli began to implement this policy in the capital, following the emperor's order to implement the minimum purchase price and maximum selling price of grain in Liaodong. He set a price range based on current and past grain prices.

Yuan Keli authorized the Weiwei Temple to investigate and deal with grain merchants who sold grain at prices exceeding the maximum selling price.

In addition, they joined hands with the General Administration of Food of Taifu Temple to purchase food without restriction at the lowest purchase price to replenish the granary in the capital and ensure that the capital would not suffer from famine due to drought.

He even asked the Ministry of Works to plan several projects to implement work-for-relief as previously stated, so that the disaster victims in the capital could have a livelihood and survive.

Because of this, Yuan Keli did not object to the emperor's plan to build a new city near Tsinghua Park as a residence for princes and nobles, but asked the Ministry of Works to cooperate and make it one of the pre-selected projects.

He knew that most of the princes and dukes who had been passed down for generations had family backgrounds, and most of them could afford to build a mansion.

Using the money and grain they provide to build a new city can help many disaster victims.

It can be said that although the news of the drought in Shaanxi has not been confirmed, Yuan Keli has taken a series of actions and started preparing for disaster relief after it had not rained in the capital.

This made Zhu Youjian, who was paying close attention to his actions, very satisfied. He felt that it was worth it for him to give Yuan Keli such great trust and even let him take charge of the Anti-Rebellion and Disaster Relief Committee.

With this capable minister working for him, he has time to take care of other things and pay attention to the martial arts tournament.

The holding of the martial arts conference was an important measure for Zhu Youjian to recruit talents from the public, and it was also a preparation for the future development of the sports industry.

From the very beginning, he modeled the event after the sports games of later generations, and therefore included such events as Cuju, track and field, gymnastics, swimming, and rowing.

Seeing that the winners of each event were about to be decided and the Dragon Boat Festival was approaching, Zhu Youjian decided to have fun with the people and go to watch the competition in person.

This time, watching the game, was the first time he had walked out of the palace since he ascended the throne. Previously, because of various concerns, Zhu Youjian had never left the palace since he entered it. Even in the two months before he overthrew Wei Zhongxian, he didn't even dare to go to the West Garden.

He attaches great importance to his own safety.

The same was true when he left the palace this time. Generals such as Cao Wenzhao, Yang Guozhu, Zhou Yuji, Huang Degong, who were appointed as guards when he took a concubine before, together with the generals of the Jinyiwei, served as guards beside the imperial carriage.

With the protection of these people, Zhu Youjian felt extremely at ease.

Generals such as Cao Wenzhao were extremely happy about this matter.

The last time they served as guards for the emperor's concubine, they did not see the emperor. They even only stood guard for a short while and ended their guarding after the concubine entered the palace.

They were a little puzzled at the time, but now they finally understood that the emperor was preparing to leave the palace.

Now that the emperor was leaving the palace for the first time, he asked them to serve as guards, which showed the emperor's trust in them.

Cao Wenzhao and the others were extremely delighted by this, and they kept a close eye on all the suspicious people along the way, as if they were expecting someone to cause trouble so that they could win the honor of saving the emperor.

What disappointed them was that nothing happened along the way. The people around were extremely obedient, and no one attacked the emperor. Even after the emperor repeatedly told the people not to be polite, many people still knelt down in front of the emperor.

After all, after the current emperor ascended the throne, he first banned purchases, and then asked the Taifu Temple to rectify the taxation in the capital, exempting many exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes.

Even after confirming the drought in the capital a few days ago, he ordered Shuntian Prefecture to reduce taxes and asked the court officials to find ways to provide relief. In the hearts of many people in the capital, he was a rare good emperor.

Today, the emperor travels to enjoy the Dragon Boat Festival with the people and watch the martial arts competition. Many people follow the emperor to the south of the city.

Nanhaizi, located in the southern suburbs of the capital, was the location of the royal hunting ground. Not only was there a great variety of prey, but also abundant water and grass. Even in this drought, there was still water.

Zhu Youjian's trip was certainly not for hunting. He was holding a dragon boat race in the waters of Nanhaizi.

After all, today is the Dragon Boat Festival, and there is a folk custom of dragon boat racing. Zhu Youjian decided to make the boat race the event of the martial arts conference.

Several preliminary rounds had been held before, and the contestants were familiar with the venue. After learning that the emperor and his ministers would come to watch the game in person, these people were eager to win the championship.

The people of the capital had not seen such a grand event for a long time. After following the imperial carriage to Nanhaizi, they gathered around to watch.

Seeing that there was no protection near the water, Zhu Youjian was worried about accidents, so he arranged for Yang Guozhu to lead the soldiers from the Beijing camp to maintain order, and also asked some people to row boats and be ready to rescue people at any time.

Then he looked at the dragon boats on the water ready to go, and said to King Han who was sitting next to him with a smile:
"The King of Han's vassal state is overseas and needs a lot of sailors."

"Shouldn't we offer a prize to the winners of these dragon boat races?"

"I have placed the opportunity to recruit talents in front of King Han!"

The meaning is very clear, asking King Han to recruit people.

Upon hearing this, King Han Zhu Danshen also smiled and said:
"Your Majesty is so kind to me, how dare I disobey your orders!"

"I dare to award the first place winner of the dragon boat race the title of centurion, and he can lead a fleet."

He offered a reward very generously and gave out a title of centurion.

After all, he had the emperor's permission to form a fleet equivalent to three guards. Now that he saw the opportunity, of course he had to recruit more people.

Zhu Youjian laughed heartily, very pleased with the King of Han's tact. Thinking that the winner of the dragon boat race might not be willing to go overseas, he said:
"The reward of a hundred households is acceptable, but whether or not they are willing to accept it is up to them to choose."

"In this way, the captains of the squadrons will be assigned to the captains, and the positions of the team leaders and others will also be given to the top dragon boats to choose from."

"The King of Han will accept any sailor who is willing to go overseas. And when distributing land, at least 100 acres will be given to them."

Refine the King of Han's rewards to benefit more participants.

King Han laughed when he heard this, realizing that the emperor really wanted him to recruit people and even encouraged him to recruit more. For him, who had a thousand miles of land, a hundred acres of land was nothing to him, so he immediately agreed to the emperor's reward and sent people to convey the decree.

When the dragon boat race participants heard the rewards from the emperor and the King of Han, their hearts were even more excited.

Although not everyone is willing to go overseas, this reward undoubtedly stimulates their competitive spirit.

Everyone gave their all and sweated profusely on the one-mile-long track.

Soon, the dragon boat race was decided, and Zhu Youjian signaled the King of Han to award them medals and redeem the rewards.

Some people who originally had no intention of going overseas were so excited about King Han's recruitment that they could not say no.

After awarding the prize, the King of Han successfully recruited hundreds of excellent sailors to enrich his fleet. (End of this chapter)