The differences between the Constitutional Council and the China Party can be discerned from their remarks. Although the overall positions are center and center-right, the latter, which advocates chauvinism, is undoubtedly more inclined to start a war as soon as possible.
The political demands of the Ming Dynasty's powerful elites were essentially for profit, which was actually a manifestation of "economics determines politics."
However, the reaction of politics on the economy cannot be ignored - the evolution model and system of the Ming Dynasty determined that the transformation of production relations was difficult.
Although the relatively mild policy of compulsory land redemption has achieved significant results, the huge financial needs limit the scope of its implementation.
Due to the diverse origins of its members, the Constitutional Council's internal opinions are rarely unified. Although it is not a loose group, it is difficult to work together as a group most of the time.
One of their current views is the most conservative one, which is to maintain the status quo or suspend the public redemption of land. In essence, it is to unite all classes in the Ming Dynasty.
Another point of view is that the crown prince led the whole policy before the war started, so as to lay a better foundation for the subsequent preparations and war; and after the war broke out, this policy was suspended to alleviate dissatisfaction.
Compared with the Ming Dynasty Constitutional Council, the Chinese Party was much more unified. Its mainstream view was to wait until the war broke out before launching a vigorous and large-scale public redemption, and the huge amount of funds required could be covered by the issuance of bonds.
"The differences in various regions of the Ming Dynasty are much greater than imagined, but not many people remember this. When making decisions, we should not make empty decisions. How can we do it if it is not based on reality? How many farmers and workers are there? What is the condition of the land? It should be noted that those who own a hundred acres of land are not the same as those who own a hundred hectares of land." The emperor said.
"But... there must be a general direction after all." Zhu Lizheng replied.
This reply made the emperor slightly angry. He put his chopsticks on the white porcelain chopstick pillow and made a crisp "bang" sound.
"Whether it's simmering on a low fire or frying on a high fire, the purpose is to make a good dish. I think the Constitutional Council has not even thought about what it wants to do. Isn't it ridiculous to redeem land for the sake of redeeming land?"
"The internal situation is chaotic and noisy every day, which is not good. In recent years, the Constitutional Council has been getting worse year by year, and Jiang Runcun is really unbearable."
The so-called Jiang Runcun is Jiang Jinlu, the top leader of the Constitutional Council in recent years. This incident was an introduction, which made the emperor's dissatisfaction with the Constitutional Council clearly revealed.
Of course, this is also a disguised criticism of Zhu Lizheng.
However, Zhu Lizheng refused to give in and replied bluntly: "Father, let's not mention the matter of the Constitutional Council. Let's just talk about public land redemption. In the past two years, the economic growth of Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Hubei has been obvious. The situation is slowing down, but it is not as good as in previous years; farmers are severely oppressed and are extremely susceptible to noise. No matter what you think, this is an imperative step, even if it is just a formality."
"You have your concerns, and I have my considerations!" the emperor said in a tone that left no room for doubt: "The matter should be brought back to its original state. Last year's expenditures will continue to be used, and the new national debt will be stopped."
The conversation between the father and son made the lunch on New Year's Day quite grim. Zhu Lingjing was quite helpless. She glanced at her brother, who had been silent and immersed in eating, and then withdrew her gaze.
This half-brother of the emperor is still young, not even close to his prime years, and he also has his own way of doing things and likes to tinker with things he likes.
In terms of image, he is Zhu Houzhao second.
Since Zhu Lizhen's position as crown prince is secure, there is no possibility of fighting for power, and he can simply live a leisurely life.
Compared with his criticism of the crown prince, the emperor's tone towards Zhu Lingjing was much calmer, "Always remember your own situation, be independent, and don't get carried away."
The meaning is also very simple. You must remember your royal status. Although your status is aloof, your words and deeds represent the royal family. You must look forward and backward when doing things.
"I sincerely follow my father's teachings." Zhu Lingjing immediately agreed.
From a macro perspective, the thirty-eighth year of Zhichang was a watershed year.
According to the fiscal budget finalized at the end of last year, Ming Dynasty’s fiscal expenditure plan this year is 25.3 billion yuan, of which 9.6 billion yuan is allocated for military spending.
The thirty-sixth year of Zhichang can be regarded as a relatively normal peacetime budget allocation. The fiscal expenditure plan was 24.1 billion yuan, including 6.1 billion yuan for military expenditure. The final expenditure was slightly more than the plan, at 24.2 billion yuan.
In the 37th year of Zhichang, due to the Basic War Preparedness Act, the fiscal expenditure plan was 24.8 billion yuan and the military expenditure was 6.9 billion yuan. However, due to the losses and relief from the Caozhou earthquake, the actual expenditure increased. However, overall the balance of payments is still balanced and there is no deficit.
This year’s planned military spending jumped to 9.6 billion yuan. Compared with last year, military spending suddenly increased by as much as 37%. The specific allocation is 2.96 billion yuan for the army, 3.45 billion yuan for the navy, and 3.19 billion yuan for the air force.
This is only the expenditure for war preparations. Considering that a special military operation will be carried out against Japan this year, the actual military expenditure must be far more than that.
With the sound of cannons and thousands of taels of gold, most of the supplies needed by thousands of people had to be transported thousands of miles from the mainland.
This is just the Army. A Navy battleship costs more than 6,000 tons of fuel, and a twelve-and-a-half-inch high-explosive bomb costs more than 3,000 yuan. The most important weapon of the country is powerful, and burning money is really burning money.
The maintenance of Air Force fighter planes is also extremely expensive, and the cheapness of aerial bombs is only relative. Each shot of the scorned "sweet potato"-50 kilograms of light aerial bombs is equivalent to half a month's salary of a white-collar worker in Beijing.
According to estimates by the Ministry of War, if all goes well, the additional military expenditure will be about 3 billion yuan.
The Ming Dynasty's dignitaries had already felt the atmosphere of impending war, but it had not yet spread to the people.
In fact, the powerful have no fear of war. On the contrary, they are full of expectations - only benefits and no harm, why not?
The military world longs for war to make achievements, prove their worth, and gain glory; the political world looks forward to war to enhance their prestige and realize their ambitions; private businessmen also long for war to win orders, earn huge profits, and expand business scale.
The attitude of ordinary people who will be directly affected by the war is ambiguous, such as the family members of active and reserve soldiers. On the one hand, they hope that their husbands or sons can make contributions to improve their family situation, but on the other hand, they are afraid that they will only receive a piece of paper in the end. Obituaries for those who died for their country.
Everyone wants to pursue a better life, but the possible price makes many people entangled.
How do you say that? I regret teaching my husband and son-in-law to seek the title of marquis.
"What? You want to practice?"
"Well, the period hasn't been finalized yet, but it will probably be early March."
After these days of deliberation, Zhou Changfeng decided to tell Xia Xiaoshi everything in order to avoid being too abrupt when the news was revealed.
The latter hesitated and asked: "I heard on a program that the imperial court was going to send troops to Japan. Is it true?"
Zhou Changfeng, who was smiling, just stared into her dark eyes and said nothing, but he said everything.
As a result, the atmosphere in the entire new home became much more solemn, as if something bad was about to happen.
Seeing her depressed look, Zhou Changfeng snapped his fingers and said casually: "If you think about it a little bit, relax, it's not that difficult at all. Let's go, it's time to cook."
Unlike a large family, a young couple can live a happy life, so there is no need to be too particular about eating.
Although today is the Lantern Festival, lunch is just to heat up the leftover rice from last night and make a new dish at the same time.
Both glutinous rice balls and seabass were bought from the market in the early morning. The former was saved for cooking in the evening, and the latter weighed two pounds per tael. The stall owner claimed that they were fished from the Yangtze River before dawn and were extremely fresh.
It is said that the sea bass is beautiful in the first month and the saury is fragrant in February. The sea bass is not only fat and tender, but also has no spines. Although it is more expensive, the eating experience is quite good.
The washed and gutted seabass was pressed on the chopping board by Zhou Changfeng, and he made five shallow and diagonal cuts on the fish.
Then heat the oil in a pan and fry both sides for a while, then add onions, ginger, garlic, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce, and sprinkle in a little salt.
Increase the firepower, reduce the juice over high heat, and finally throw in some coriander, and the simple braised seabass is complete.
As far as cooking skills are concerned, Xia Xiaoshi is not necessarily better than Zhou. Although she had always "boasted" about her excellent cooking skills before, it was not until now that they were living together after marriage that Zhou Changfeng realized that her so-called skills were limited to those few people. A few dishes, and my knife skills are not very good.
As for the other dishes, it’s hard to describe.
Therefore, he claimed that this kind of bragging was no different from lying. How could he brag when he was a teacher? So she was given a severe lesson that night, which directly caused the exhausted two people to get up late the next day.
It was still cold in Nanjing in the first month of the year, and the indoor temperature during the day was only over ten degrees. After having lunch in the cool east wing, the two of them fled back to their room on the second floor of the main house.
The holidays are very leisurely, with absolutely nothing to do.
The heater made the whole room warm as spring, and a cross talk show from an unknown program was playing on the radio. Xia Xiaoshi was knitting a sweater, giggling from time to time, while Zhou Changfeng was holding a copy of "Three Words and Two Pats" with great interest. look.
This kind of life is so comfortable and peaceful that people can't help but want to stay in this moment forever.
It's getting late, and the most anticipated annual Lantern Festival Lantern Festival is here as scheduled.
Since ancient times, people have attached great importance to the Lantern Festival. In a sense, it is even more joyful than New Year's Eve.
Compared with other festivals, the Lantern Festival is more like a carnival - lanterns are decorated, the people and the people enjoy together, and people often put a lot of effort into preparing various lanterns. The Ming Dynasty, which had the fewest holidays in history, also gave an unprecedented ten-day holiday on this festival.
"During the Yongle period, Emperor Wen granted a ten-day holiday for the Lantern Festival. It was also a grand event for peace and prosperity to cover the Yuan Dynasty."
After eating a bowl of glutinous rice balls almost perfunctorily, Xia Xiaoshi couldn't wait to drag Zhou Changfeng out.
In her words, there are all kinds of delicious snacks at the night market, so you have to save some food for them.
The last ray of sunset gradually faded, and night completely enveloped the sky of the capital. The bright stars were dimmed on this day, because the lights in the city really shone to the extreme.
Colorful neon lights and various lanterns are intertwined, turning the entire city into a sea of colorful light spots.
The streets were crowded with people, and the flow of people in many places was so dense that it frightened Zhou Changfeng - if a stampede happened, it would be too tragic.
The patrolmen were shouting and blowing whistles from time to time, but the usually sharp and harsh whistle sound was like an embroidery needle thrown into a frying pan, swallowed up without a trace in an instant.
Women seem to get carried away more easily in this situation? At least Xia Xiaoshi lacked sufficient awareness of the crisis, and was still a little unhappy after being dragged by Zhou Changfeng to a place with few people.
"It's obviously fine, aren't everyone doing fine..."
"Oh, I won't cry until I see the coffin."
Seeing her talking back, Zhou Changfeng became angry and subconsciously raised his hand and slapped her waist lightly.
As a result, while she was embarrassed, Xia Xiaoshi was even more embarrassed.
In this way, the two of them walked carefully through the busy streets, tasting snacks and guessing lantern riddles, and unknowingly arrived at the Jubao Gate.
The lantern riddle guessing game at the roadside stall was easy for Xia Xiaoshi. Although the bracelets and pendants she won were just cheap gadgets, the sense of accomplishment they brought was enough to make people feel comfortable.
"Come on, sir, let's go to the tower."
Walking on the bridge is a time-honored custom, also known as "walking on all diseases". Women in the Ming Dynasty usually wore white silk jackets and walked together on the bridge or the city wall on the Lantern Festival, hoping that everything would go well in the coming year. healthy.
After climbing one step after another, Zhou Changfeng and Xia Xiaoshi finally climbed onto the Jubao Gate Tower.
At this moment, a sky lantern was released somewhere in the distant city. Stars rose from the ground, rising into the night sky like stars.
Next, the fireworks burst into the sky suddenly, as if a colorful epiphyllum bloomed on the black screen.
Xia Xiaoshi's eyes reflected the prosperity of thousands of lights, and she couldn't help but sing: "The imperial capital is full of moonlight, and the narrow thoroughfares are full of fragrant carriages and chariots. I am prosperous in my leisure time, and I am ashamed to chase the villagers Sai Zigu."
"A good poem, worthy of being my little poem."
"Well...Sir, this is what Li Yishan did."
"..."
Even if the environment is so joyful and lively, danger and evil will never go away, they follow them like a shadow.
Just next to the city tower not far away, a couple not only took their young son on an outing, but their sister-in-law was also with them.
When they were having fun, their son was held by his sister-in-law. Suddenly, a handsome young man and a very kind-looking woman with crooked eyebrows walked over together.
The woman took out a bunch of candied haws and candy figures and started chatting with the sister-in-law, who was only a teenager. When she was distracted, the young man picked up the boy.
The two of them cooperated extremely skillfully and quickly got into the crowd.
It took more than ten seconds for people to notice this textbook abduction.
"kidnapper!"
"There's a kidnapper!"
Panic and angry shouts came from the crowd, and everyone was in danger for a moment. The couple who were traveling with children immediately hugged their children tightly, and then looked around.
A female patrol officer who was struggling to maintain order also quickly looked around. Regardless of her luck or professionalism, she immediately caught two abnormal figures in the huge crowd.
"Those two in front, stop!"
(End of chapter)
