Xiangyang.
The moon was high in the sky, and in the dead of night, this troubled city ushered in a long-lost peace.
Since he had recently returned to the Ming Dynasty, the management of the entire city was extremely important. As soon as Hai Shi (blackjack) arrived, the shops and restaurants in the city had to close their doors, which was commonly known as the night ban.
The side hall of Prince Xiang's Mansion was as brightly lit as ever at this time, and more than a dozen civil servants from the Military and Government Department were working diligently to handle government affairs.
"Ah -" Yan Chongxin stretched his waist and just yawned when he was reminded by the old official beside him.
"Keep your voice down. If you disturb the boss, it will be very bad."
"Thank you, Brother Qian, for reminding me." Yan Chongxin nodded and thanked. He was really speechless. Your reminder voice was louder than mine.
But it was helpless. He was an old man and had been with Chief Zhao as early as Xi'an. He only joined in Hanzhong and had no say.
"Shou Cheng, the yellow book of Yicheng County has arrived. Please go and hand it over to the chief."
The person in charge of the household hall gave the order casually.
"Yes!" Yan Chongxin reluctantly agreed and turned to look at the corner. A large pile of brand new pornographic books was piled up.
There are six offices in the Military and Government Office, including household, official, engineering, criminal, ceremonial, and inspection. Due to the shortage of manpower, each chief office often doubles as two offices, making it extremely busy.
Therefore, as the only subordinate in the official department, he is often ordered around.
"Dong dong dong——"
Knocked on the door.
"come in!"
Zhao Shu said without raising his head: "What's the matter?"
"Reporting to the Chief, the Yellow Register of Yicheng County has been registered."
Yan Chongxin looked at Zhao Shu, who had his head bowed and his majesty seemed to be frozen, and said cautiously.
"Yicheng?"
Zhao Shu was surprised and asked casually: "Which county in Xiangyang Prefecture is this?"
"The sixth county still lacks Junzhou and Zaoyang County."
Yan Chongxin lowered his head and whispered.
"I understand!" Zhao Shu nodded and asked, "How many household registrations are there in Yicheng County? How much farmland is there?"
"Today there are only 2,300 households left, with 260,000 acres of cultivated land and nearly 200,000 acres of wasteland."
"Seventy percent of it is deserted."
Zhao Shu sighed.
"You must seize the time and complete the yellow registration in Xiangyang Mansion as soon as possible."
"Yes!" Yan Chongxin responded hurriedly.
After he left, Zhao Shu breathed a sigh of relief: "Sure enough, with the help of those monks and Taoist priests, and the cooperation with the army, it will be convenient to be listed in the Yellow Book. In just half a month, Xiangyang Mansion will be healed."
The Yellow Book, also known as the Tax Book, is based on a household and details the township, name, age, address, land and property, and assets. The household registration is also divided according to occupation.
But according to Zhu Yixi's intention, everything should be kept simple. There is no need to distinguish between military households, civilian households, and craftsmen households. It only needs to record household registration and fields.
This makes it a lot lighter.
Even so, coordinating the construction of the Yellow Book still requires educated people, and the number of people is really not enough.
In this way, Zhu Yixi found another way to forcibly recruit Taoist priests, monks and other monks to serve the government, and even wanted to form customs.
Why don’t monks do corvee service?
There are many benefits to this.
First of all, monks who chant sutras and eat vegetarian food must be literate; secondly, their alms, incense, and believers are very familiar with the local area, which is equivalent to half a guide.
In this way, thousands of monks and Taoist priests in Xiangyang Prefecture were forced to travel as soon as they survived the military disaster and suffered unspeakably.
After this, the local subordinates were asked to identify and supplement.
To be sure, this is several times more real than the previous pornographic books.
Of course, the reputation is definitely not good.
In these troubled times, what do you care about reputation?
Zhao Shu praised: "In the past, Taizu drove Taisheng to create a yellow book after several years. Now Zhu Zongbing drives monks and Taoists, which is really comparable."
Smiling, he continued to bury his head in the papers.
Until the second watch, Yan Chongxin couldn't stand it any longer, so he said hello and prepared to leave.
After getting into the carriage and walking quietly along the quiet streets, Yan Chongxin lost sleep. He opened the curtains and saw sparse lights on both sides of the road.
"In Xiangyang County, there are 3,700 households and 16,300 people, which is nearly 90% less than in the early years of Chongzhen."
Thinking of the numbers in the yellow book and the dictation of the subordinate officials, Yan Chongxin shook his head and sighed: "In prosperity, the people suffer, in death, the people suffer."
Da da da--
Suddenly, there was a burst of rapid footsteps.
Looking up, he saw several groups of soldiers heading towards the city gate.
"Why is this happening?"
Yan Chongxin was startled and hurriedly asked the carriage to follow.
Soon, after revealing his identity, he climbed to the top of the city and saw dozens of carriages gathering under the city gate, escorted by thousands of people, and constantly discussing with the guards.
Before he could hear clearly, he saw a carriage approaching at a gallop. When he took a closer look, he saw that it was Zhao Shu, the head of the Military and Political Department.
"What kind of big shot is here?"
The lights were dim at night, and he couldn't see clearly, but he could vaguely see the luxury of the carriage.
The city gate opened wide, and Zhao Shu left the city with a solemn expression, holding Changju in his hand: "My Majesty, Zhao Shu, would like to welcome your three highnesses. I am in such a hurry at night, so please don't be surprised."
"Mr. Zhao is busy with military affairs, which is understandable to us. Regardless of this small detail, let's go into the city. After traveling for several days, we are exhausted."
King Rui opened the curtain and nodded, with a haggard look on his face.
Obviously, traveling long distances is very hard on your body at your age.
King Qin and the two princes of Yongxing County also had the same thoughts and couldn't wait to enter the city to rest.
"Enter the city and open the way!"
Zhao Shu nodded and shouted.
Immediately, the carriages filed in, and it took a long time to settle down.
Only then did Yan Chongxin understand that it turned out that he had brought three great kings from Hanzhong. No wonder they were so violent.
"That's all King Qin, why is King Rui here too? This is Lifan, a big crime!"
Muttering in his heart, Yan Chongxin did not dare to think deeply and left immediately.
Zhao Shu didn't mind the trouble, so he directly set aside several small courtyards in Prince Xiang's Mansion, sent troops to protect them, and then hurriedly returned home, ready to read for a while before resting.
"Sir, Mrs. Sun wants to see you."
As soon as he sat down, a voice came from outside the door. Zhao Shu suppressed his anger: "Which Mrs. Sun is it?"
"etc--"
He stood up quickly and hurriedly walked out. Sure enough, an unpretentious carriage appeared in front of him.
"Madam, why are you here too?"
Zhao Shu smiled bitterly and said, "You didn't suffer during this journey, did you?"
Mrs. Li got off the carriage, bowed and said, "Not only is I here, but also the snow lady, damselfly, and the whole family are here."
"I've met Mr. Zhao!"
Several young ladies saluted softly.
"this--"
Zhao Shu was shocked: "Hanzhong is safe, Xiangyang has just arrived, why come to Huguang?"
"If I don't come, I'm afraid I'll be delayed." Ms. Li stared at him dissatisfied and said, "You are still the matchmaker, so why don't you forget about it?"
Zhao Shu was stunned for a moment, and then realized what he was doing, fearing that he would slap his forehead: "Oh, I'm so busy that I forgot about this important matter."
"It was originally scheduled for the eighth day of February. It's almost April, so we can't delay it."
Li said helplessly and eagerly: "I'm not making things difficult or not knowing the general situation. Since General Zhu is busy and can't take care of it, let's come over so as not to delay the important matter."
