Prodigal Son of the Ming Dynasty

  Chapter 1081 Father of the world

   Therefore, Pingwa is not just a credit.

  Its influence is too far-reaching.

  Emperor Hongzhi nodded: "Since that is the case, then the cabinet must formulate a resettlement strategy. It is necessary to restrain these vassals and prevent them from doing anything wrong, but they must also treat each other with courtesy so as not to lose the state."

  Liu Jian hurriedly said: "I obey the order."

Emperor Hongzhi suddenly said: "The new policies of Baoding Mansion and Tongzhou, I have read the censor's report, and it is said that they are all good, especially Yang Yiqing, the magistrate of Tongzhou. Yu, encouraging agriculture and commerce, seems to have revitalized industry and commerce, and no one in the whole state is dissatisfied with him. The civil and military officials of the Manchu dynasty also praised him."

  Liu Jian and Xie Qian looked at each other.

Speaking of it, this Yang Yiqing is a real person of his own, with an excellent reputation and the style of a minister. In fact, everyone prefers Ouyang Zhi because of selfishness. , is most suitable.

Xie Qian said with a smile: "Your Majesty, Yang Yiqing is honest and honest, and has experience as a governor. He is impeccable in terms of ability and virtue. The officials he selected are capable officials of our Ming Dynasty. They have such good achievements. It’s also justified.”

Emperor Hongzhi nodded: "You are right, but... I don't mean to discuss the merits of Baoding Prefecture and Tongzhou, I just hope that both of them can carry out the new policy well and set an example for the world. I hope that their brothers can climb the mountain, Let's do our best."

   "Your Majesty's words are true."

   "Ministry of officials, the Beijing inspection is about to be conducted, isn't it?" Emperor Hongzhi said later.

   "Exactly, the person who presided over the Beijing inspection of the Ministry of Officials this time is Wu Kuan, the left servant of the Ministry of Officials."

Emperor Hongzhi cheered up and said: "I have an impression of this man. He was the number one Jinshi in the eighth year of Chenghua, the number one scholar, and the number one in both the general examination and the court examination. When I was the crown prince, he also served as a lecturer in the East Palace. Oh. , Yes, "Xianzong Shilu" was edited by him, he is a fair person."

  Liu Jian and others nodded their heads one after another: "Yes, Wu Shilang has launched a Beijing inspection, and cleaning up the administration of officials is a major event. This time, Wu Kuan also made a pledge to be serious."

  Emperor Hongzhi nodded approvingly.

   Now, he found that he had a lot of leisure time, so he smiled, and suddenly remembered something: "By the way, who is the warrior Bian?"

   "Mr. Wu?" Liu Jian frowned slightly.

"Yes, many people call him Mr., saying that he is a great talent who has learned poetry and books, but this is the first time I have heard of him, and this man suddenly became famous. It is said that there are peaches and plums all over the world. Admire each other and be praised by people."

  Emperor Hongzhi was stunned: "No wonder this person has been mentioned in many memorials recently. What do you think about this?"

  Liu Jian disagrees: "The sensationalist is not worth mentioning."

  Emperor Hongzhi was thoughtful.

   Xie Qian didn't seem to have much impression of this person.

Li Dongyang smiled and said: "It's not wrong to say that it is grandstanding. However, this person was indeed a famous Confucianist before. Now, the reason why he has such a reputation is that this person has a lot of vision. The economic way he preaches, Right in the arms of many people. At present, many rich and small rich families are dissatisfied with Xishan Jianye and Qianzhuang. In the past, they can be said to be well-clothed and well-fed. Which one is not a big house covering an area of ​​ten or a hundred acres. But now I find that this mansion is more than ten times smaller than before, and some people even hoped for a luxurious mansion but couldn't get it, and felt worried and angry."

  Li Dongyang paused: "Your Majesty, do you know that the number of child servants in a middle-class wealthy family is different from previous years?"

  Emperor Hongzhi was surprised and said, "Your words are as good as you want."

Li Dongyang said: "Five years ago, there was a middle-class wealthy family with hundreds of children and servants. One was that the family was big and they could afford to support them. The other was that there were many refugees. Ordinary people had a mouthful to eat, even if they were immigrants. If you don’t starve to death in the mansion and eat bran and swallow vegetables, you are willing to sign the contract of selling yourself and surrender yourself to be your slave and your handmaiden. There are prostitutes in the market, but if they are mediocre, their value is not as good as half a cow.”

  When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Who would want to be a house slave? This is really impossible to live on.

"But now, it's very different. Even if it's a moderately wealthy family, it's good enough to have ten servants in the family. The reason is that people are no longer as cheap as worthless, and their value has doubled. Men have to work hard, You can go to Xishan Jianye to work as a coolie. After one month, you can get two or three taels of silver. If you have some skills, you can get five or six taels a month. Workers in textile workshops are enough to support themselves. Who is willing to sign a contract of sale? Right now, the price of a man with hands and feet is also very high, which is already worth more than a dozen cows. Not only that, but there are also quite a few fugitive slaves now. In the past, people were proud of being able to enter the high school, at least they would not starve to death, but now the slaves don’t know what happened. After signing the contract of selling themselves, the servants are no longer restless, if they still feed them leftovers and treat them roughly, it is not that they have no livelihood when they escape."

When Li Dongyang said this, he was very emotional: "I think that Xishan Jianye's move is really harmful, but it is just the person who is now applauding Mr. Wu, but your majesty... is the parent of the people in the world, These victims are His Majesty's children, and those who benefited from it are not His Majesty's children? A few years ago, the Ming Dynasty was full of refugees, and the situation of extreme poverty was shocking. Now, many people have food. , life has improved. As a result, the families of the rich and the small are obviously having a hard time. They can no longer afford it. With so many servants, the mansions they live in are becoming more and more suffocated. They hold a lot of money in their hands. In the past, they could sit back and relax, but now, they are panicked. They are afraid that there will be more and more money in the market, making their money worthless. They complain about this, and the so-called Mr. Wu is just Doing what he likes, playing tricks, won the applause of countless people, and people praised him one after another, even compared him to a national teacher, that's all."

Li Dongyang paused: "This person's reputation is already in full swing, but your majesty, those who praise him are certainly loud, but has anyone asked about those who work hard for three meals a day in the workshop?" People, has anyone asked if those ordinary and miserable people would deny this person, and the minister dared to use Fang Jifan's head as a guarantee..."

   "..."

  Li Dongyang smiled narrowly: "As expected, they don't recognize it. It's not a big deal for the billions of subjects of the Ming Dynasty to be praised by thousands of people. Your Majesty is the parents of the people, and you can weigh the benefits yourself."

  Emperor Hongzhi frowned after hearing this: "Li Qing's words made me suddenly enlightened. I know..."

  Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, and Xie Qian bid farewell to Fengtian Hall, and walked towards the cabinet while talking casually.

   "Mr. Li, the warrior Bian is making a big splash. There are many people in Beijing who want to sell their house. Doesn't Mr. Li have nine mu at home, do you have any plans?"

  Xie Qian seems to be undecided now. He is from a wealthy family in the south of the Yangtze River. He has bought a lot of real estate and is thinking about whether to sell it. Li Dongyang is the smartest among the three. Ask him and feel at ease.

Li Dongyang smiled, glanced at Liu Jian first, and then said: "In any prosperous age, there is no reason why this mansion close to the imperial city will suffer a thousand miles. It is nothing more than a question of whether it will rise or how much. Dare to speak, but Xincheng...is certain. Naturally, the only doubt is whether my Ming Guozuo will be prosperous now and in the future. Many people say that life is sad, but I don’t see it that way. Thank you, Mr. What do you think?"

   Xie Qian was thoughtful: "Okay, then I won't sell it."

But Liu Jian is not in the mood at all. The mansion, the land, the salary, these...he doesn't care anymore, he only cares about his son who goes to sea, God knows now, this guy who has beaten chicken blood, is going to preach everywhere, and speak for the saint , Where to now, is dead or alive.

  He sighed, and inexplicably, tears welled up in his eyes again.

  ...

  Zhu Houzhao rushed to Zhen Guo Mansion and cried.

   "The research can't go on." His eyes were red.

  Fang Jifan's heart was on fire, and after spending so much money on himself, you actually said that you can't go on, and you, Zhu Houzhao, spent the little hard-earned money I sold the house with peace of mind, you **** who has no conscience.

  Of course, Xiao Zhu is my friend, and now, I have just rejected the imperial order, and I am still waiting for Zhu Hou to follow his father and give another imperial order, so I can accept it coyly.

   This is called reluctance, and it belongs to the traditional way of scholar-bureaucrats to express their modesty. Although Fang Jifan is not a scholar-bureaucrat, he can still learn from advanced experience.

  Fang Jifan comforted Zhu Houzhao: "His Royal Highness, have you encountered any difficulties? Don't be discouraged."

"No, no, no." Zhu Houzhao was dejected: "My dozen or so old father-in-laws, I don't know what they heard, saying that our money and land are going to be unsustainable. In all likelihood, I'm afraid that my palace will return. I can't afford money, so I go to the steam research institute all day long..."

Fang Jifan was angry: "This group of dog-like things are so courageous. Your Highness is a prince after all. What are you afraid of? Hmph, is it a big deal to have some filthy money? How can it be decent to teach someone to beat them out if they are so presumptuous. "

"You don't understand." Zhu Houzhao waved his hand: "They didn't scold or make trouble, but just followed behind me with a smile, asking for warmth, saying that His Royal Highness is amazing and understands everything. They also said that their son is getting married , Poor. He also said that he was sick and couldn’t be cured, that he was poor. Although he didn’t mention the matter of money, this palace... was panicked.”

  (end of this chapter)