Go back to the Ming Dynasty to be a thousand households

Chapter 266
"Your Majesty, the governor of the Governor's Mansion, Huang Laifu, the commander-in-chief of Shanxi Town, kowtows to His Majesty, long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

Also in the Dongnuan Pavilion last time, Huang Laifu met Emperor Wanli again, but it was four years later, last time Huang Laifu was the deputy commander-in-chief, and now he is the commander-in-chief.

Emperor Wanli smiled and said, "Huang Aiqing, please."

He looked at Huang Laifu carefully. He hadn't seen him for a few years. This man became more mature and stable, with a typical image of a border military general.He said with a smile: "A few days ago, the news of the success of the frontier fortress came. Our Ming frontier army defeated the Hulu in Shuofang. Among them, General Huang contributed a lot."

Huang Laifu said: "Your Majesty has won the award. Killing enemies for the country and protecting our frontiers is the duty of this humble official. I dare not take credit for it."

Emperor Wanli nodded in satisfaction, and ordered the little eunuch beside him to bring Huang Laifu a chair and let Huang Laifu sit down.Then he took a copy of "Wuzhaibao News" beside him, and smiled at Huang Laifu: "Huang Aiqing's newspaper is very interesting, I read it every day."

Huang Laifu didn't expect that Emperor Wanli was also reading his own newspaper, and he read it every day. He couldn't help being surprised and delighted, and hurriedly said a few words of humility, and said: "The Guochao is now unscrupulous in speaking of officials, and has been rude to the emperor several times. , I am extremely dissatisfied, and this newspaper was founded for the sake of setting the record straight."

Emperor Wanli said meaningfully: "Huang Aiqing is a loyal minister, I know it."

Then Emperor Wanli asked about the Battle of Hetao and Huang Laifu's reclamation outside the Great Wall. Huang Laifu said, and then said: "Since 21, I have recruited refugees to move to the Great Wall. As of this year, the Qingshui River and Huangpu River outside the Great Wall Along the river, tens of thousands of hectares of fertile land have been reclaimed, and countless grasslands have been reclaimed. In the battle of Shuofang at the beginning of the year, I have suppressed the land of Dongtao. If the emperor intends to set up a Huangzhuang outside the Great Wall, I can handle it on my behalf."

Emperor Wanli said happily: "I knew Huang Aiqing was loyal, filial and righteous. This time I invited you to Beijing for this purpose."

Huang Laifu made a big splash outside the Great Wall, and Emperor Wanli certainly knew that now Huang Laifu had laid down a large area, with as many fertile fields and pastures as possible, and it was time for him to get a share of the pie.However, the affairs outside the Great Wall are being watched by the barbarians all around, so it is impossible to be handled by officials like in the mainland. It is best to follow the model of Wuzhai Fort and run it by Huang Laifu.

Emperor Wanli said: "Huang Aiqing has the full power to deal with the matter of Huangzhuang outside the Great Wall. In addition, there are Huangzhuang Huangdians in Guinea. This time Huang Aiqing comes, I will also hand them over to Huang Aiqing for management."

Speaking of this, he sighed, and said: "It's strange to say that the land of Huangzhuang in Guinei is considered fertile compared to Wuzhaibao in the northwest of Shanxi, but it is not harvested every year, and the grains are all in arrears every year." I hope Huang Aiqing can change this after taking over."

The Huangzhuang of the Ming Dynasty was located in Jinei. After the development of the three dynasties of Chenghua, Hongzhi and Zhengde, there were 36 Huangzhuang at the beginning of Wanli, covering an area of ​​590 hectares and 46 mu, which is more than 300 million mu. The eight prefectures, including Shuntian, are concentrated in Beizhili, especially Shuntian, Baoding, Hejian and other prefectures.Taxes were levied at three points per mu. At the peak, the total amount of silver collected from these Huangzhuang villages was no more than 10 taels per year.Since then, it has been worse year by year, far behind Wuzhai Fort.This made Emperor Wanli very strange. Why did Wuzhai Fort prosper year by year, but his own fields declined year by year?Emperor Wanli hoped that after Huang Laifu took over, he could figure it out.

Huang Laifu murmured, Huang Laifu was of course happy that Emperor Wanli entrusted his private property to him for management, and if he linked himself with the interests of the Ming royal family, he would have a greater guarantee for the safety of his future family.Emperor Wanli mentioned this a few years ago, and today he finally mentioned the reality.

However, this also means more responsibilities. If the management is not good, it will naturally reduce the impression of oneself in the emperor's mind.There are many reasons for the poor management of Huangzhuang in various parts of the Ming Dynasty. The small-scale farmer-like management method is unable to cope with frequent natural disasters. You must know that in the capital city of the late Ming Dynasty, it can be said that there are many disasters.In addition, the wrong management method of Huangzhuang is also an important reason. Huangzhuang is generally managed by eunuchs who manage the village. These people recruit the heads of the village and companions.In order to meet the needs of the eunuchs in charge of the village, Zhuang Dian often had to pay taxes that were heavier than that of civilian land.

Huang Laifu said: "Your Majesty loves you so much, I should do my best to repay the great kindness of the Holy One." He said: "In the past, there were many natural reasons for the poor management of Huangzhuang, but I hope that after taking over the management of Huangzhuang, the affairs of Huangzhuang will be handled by the minister Take full responsibility, and send people to guard the fields, and then hand over the amount of silver every year, so that the minister can be sure."

Emperor Wanli said: "According to what Aiqing said."

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Emperor Wanli decided to hand over Huangzhuang to Huang Laifu for management, but after a while, Huang Laifu couldn't start working immediately.Although he came to Gyeonggi this time, he guessed that the emperor might be talking about things related to Huangzhuang with him.However, when I came to the capital, I didn't bring many people related to farming, and there were many things in Huangzhuang. After all, I was the general soldier of Shanxi Town, and I had to manage the political affairs of Shanxi Town.

As for the management of Huangzhuang, you can only make sense after you have checked the relevant matters.Huang Laifu's plan is that there is no need to check all the Huangzhuang everywhere. After checking a few places and researching some typical problems, he will go back to Ningwuguan and hand over the matter to his subordinates. Anyway, Wuzhai The Fort Farm has a lot of experience, and there are still many relevant management personnel in the Grain Bureau.

At the same time, I have to negotiate with the members of the Imperial Horse Supervisor for the affairs of Huangzhuang. After all, in the Ming Dynasty, Huangzhuang was managed by them. Suspected of power struggle.In the 24 yamen of the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial horse supervisor was not an ordinary role. The imperial horse supervisor, together with the Ministry of War and the governor, held the military handle, and commanded the forbidden soldiers of the four guards in Tengxiang. They were actually the "shufu" of the inner court.Moreover, Yumajian also manages the pasture and Huangzhuang, operates the Huangdian, and handles finances with the household department, and is the "internal steward" of the Ming court.The West Factory, which was set up twice, was also supervised by the Imperial Horse Supervisor, and it competed with the East Factory, which was supervised by the Rites Supervisor.

At the beginning of Wanli, if the ranch, Huangzhuang, and Huangdian are calculated together, the annual silver confiscated by the Yumajian is 23 taels.This figure is nearly four times that of the 25 taels of craftsman's silver that was exempted from military service during the Jiajing period, and the total amount of [-] taels of ship material banknotes collected each year by the canals and the seven banknotes along the Yangtze River that were established during the Jiajing period. Quite, it can be seen the status of the imperial horse supervisor.

With soldiers, wealth, and power, this imperial horse supervisor is not a role to be easy to deal with, and I have to discuss with them carefully.Moreover, in Huang Laifu's plan, no matter how greedy and vicious the eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty were, they were the lackeys of the royal family after all, and they were on the side of the emperor. Looking for an ally, if he offends another powerful force in Daming—the eunuch force, then he will not know how he will die by then.

(End of this chapter)