Henan is one of the origins of Chinese civilization. It is known as the Central Plains and has been a place with a strong sense of existence since ancient times.
Due to its unique geographical location, it is the east-west, north-south transportation center and has been a strategic location since ancient times.
Peaceful times are a little better, but once there is war, it will be a place where princes compete for power, and the war will not stop at all.
In Henan, disaster relief has already been provided once when the Yellow River burst its banks in February this year.
Before the floods were over, locust plagues and droughts came, and now there is a huge plague.
The report said that more than 300,000 people were affected by the disaster, but Zhu Yuanzhang was very clear about this statistics.
Far more than that!
If a disaster like the plague is allowed to spread, it is very likely that the number of people affected will increase tenfold.
And things like the plague cannot be counted at all. They are all avoided from a distance. No one knows how many people have been affected.
After listening to Ru Yu's story, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and showed no signs of relaxing.
After a while, he asked Zhao Mian, the Minister of Household Affairs, "How much food has been prepared for disaster relief?"
When Zhao Mian heard this, his body trembled, and he said in a trembling tone: "Reporting to Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue started emergency preparations last night after learning about the disaster. At present... we can mobilize more than 300 shi of food."
More than three hundred stones are equivalent to more than 40,000 kilograms of grain.
But in the face of tens of millions of victims, how long can more than 300 stones be sustained?
Zhu Yuanzhang was a poor farmer since he was a child. More than three hundred stones may sound like a lot at first, but for the disaster-stricken Henan area, it is really a drop in the bucket.
"Explain to us why there are only more than three hundred stones." Zhu Yuanzhang asked solemnly.
Zhao Mian quickly said: "Your Majesty, since February this year, the Henan area has been experiencing constant famines. The food for disaster relief has never stopped and has been transported as hard as possible."
"Now all the grain that the entire household department can prepare has been prepared. These more than three hundred stones still need to be purchased from grain merchants."
"Rice is so expensive now that the autumn harvest has not yet arrived. Even the grain merchants don't have much grain in their hands, and the expenses are far beyond it."
"Coupled with the continuous famines in various places this year and the reduction of taxes, the national treasury is now in urgent need, and I really can't think of a way to allocate it."
Zhu Yuanzhang scolded: "We asked the Bank of China to approve three million banknotes two months ago. Are you telling us that it's only been two months and it's gone?"
"The whereabouts of the money, you and the household department must have embezzled it for yourself."
Zhao Mian was so frightened that he quickly knelt down and explained: "Your Majesty is aware that I have not dared to slack off since I became the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Before Your Majesty's treasure came, the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Military Department already had a large amount of unpaid wages."
"As soon as the banknotes from the Bank arrived, they were immediately distributed to settle the arrears, which cost nearly 1.2 million guan of banknotes and 130 kilograms of rice."
"There are no accounts yet, but accounts continue to come out. I am really a clever woman who can't make a meal without rice. I hope your Majesty will understand clearly."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang grabbed the armrest of the dragon chair with his right hand to suppress his emotions that were about to go crazy.
Normally, when encountering such a situation, Zhao Mian would not say anything but execute him directly. He was dismissed and could not escape, but now Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't bear it anymore.
According to the method taught by Da Sun, Zhu Yuanzhang took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. Only then did Zhu Yuanzhang feel a little more comfortable.
Then he asked: "In this current situation, do you have any other ways to deal with this matter?"
Zhu Yuanzhang did not mention the matter of "relief through work". In such a large-scale famine, "relief through work" has no meaning at all.
Work-for-relief can only have significant effects on small-scale famines, where the number of people affected is within tens of thousands.
Once the number of people approaches or exceeds 100,000, relief-for-work has no meaning whatsoever.
Facing His Majesty's questions, the several ministers below looked at each other and remained silent, including the ministers behind them, who also bowed their heads and remained silent.
What can be done? When encountering a famine, the only way is to provide disaster relief first. But for now, Ming Dynasty's fiscal deficit and the national treasury are almost empty.
Squeezing out more than three hundred stones, it is obvious that Zhao Mian, the Minister of Revenue, is very capable. If it were anyone else facing the current situation, he would probably just stare blankly.
"As for the plague, the Imperial Hospital will send medical officers to study and deal with it. The Bank will also print another two million banknotes to be used for this famine. The local medical offices will coordinate to deal with the plague."
Zhu Yuanzhang said.
Taiyuan Hospital was under the responsibility of the Ministry of Rites, but now that there was no Minister of Rites, Zhu Yuanzhang gave the order directly.
The Ming Dynasty is now very familiar with famines. In the twenty-five years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, disaster relief has always been the main theme in the court. This matter must be discussed every year and every month, and the routines are very familiar.
But in the past, His Majesty would kill several people to sacrifice to heaven, but today there was no movement, and the ministers were still not used to it.
Zhu Yuanzhang has experienced things like this for twenty-five years, but every time he encounters them, he still feels powerless.
The finances of the Ming Dynasty have always been a sore point for the Ming Dynasty, and they are used to running deficits every year.
It has become a common practice not only for disaster relief, but also for the arrears of military salaries and ministers' salaries.
Of course, the part owed is not money.
The Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes have always been distributed on time. After all, it is not difficult for the bank to print a few pieces of paper.
At present, the salaries of the ministers of the Ming Dynasty are composed of treasure notes and real things.
In addition to Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes, there are also silk, satin, cloth and rice.
Silk and satin cloth are easy to talk about, but rice has always been in arrears. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang also knew the purchasing power generated by simple Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes in this era of soaring prices and depreciation of treasure banknotes.
It is just the adjustment of the market economy and the endless printing of treasure banknotes that will only cause the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes to continue to depreciate.
How could Zhu Yuanzhang not know that two banknotes could only be exchanged for one tael of silver? So what if he knew, what else could he do.
After retreating from the court.
Zhu Yunwen did not go to see Grandpa Huang. Going to Grandpa Huang to talk about his eldest brother at this time would not gain him any benefit.
No one will touch His Majesty's troubles at this point. Even if something happens, just suppress it if you can.
In the Huagai Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang did not directly review the memorial. Instead, he sat on the desk and was lost in thought.
Zhu Yuanzhang can completely sympathize with the current situation in Henan. This is what he experienced back then.
But I was lucky. Although it was a bit difficult, I finally managed to survive.
But there are not a few who can't survive it.
In today's Henan area, things like changing children and eating them are commonplace.
"Your Majesty, I think we might be able to talk to His Highness Changsun, and we might be able to find some solutions." Guard Jiang Yu stood aside, hesitating for a long time, and finally couldn't help but said.
"Dasun? How can we help him with such important national affairs?" Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said after hearing this.
Jiang Wei heard that His Majesty did not refuse immediately, so he explained: "Your Majesty, His Highness Changsun is good at business. The Qunying Chamber of Commerce he runs makes an inestimable amount of money every year."
"Just for the snow salt item, the profit is estimated to be in the millions, and it should be real money."
"When I investigated the power of His Highness Changsun, I found that it seems that His Highness Changsun has a large amount of food. Every winter, the Qunying Chamber of Commerce will conduct a round of expansion, and the main source of personnel is among the hungry people."
"The reason why His Highness Changsun was able to spread his power across the Western Regions, deserts, and grasslands so quickly was because of the sufficient food supply."
"Perhaps His Highness Changsun has a unique perspective on this matter. Why don't you ask about it?"
Regarding Zhu Ying's investigation, Jin Yiwei has actually not stopped yet.
As long as His Majesty does not issue an edict, this investigation will not stop until Zhu Ying enters the palace to announce her identity.
At first, Zhu Yuanzhang thought of stopping the investigation after he recognized the eldest grandson as his biological eldest grandson. However, every time the Jin Yiwei reported information related to the eldest grandson, Zhu Yuanzhang would be surprised.
It seems that every time something is investigated, it is just the tip of the iceberg of power under Da Sun, making it full of mystery.
Zhu Yuanzhang was also curious about how much his eldest grandson had done during the ten years he was in power.
So let's just let Jin Yiwei continue the investigation, so that we can become more familiar with Da Sun's situation.
At this moment, when Zhu Yuanzhang heard Jiang Yu's words, he immediately remembered that he had seen some records about the power of the Great Sun in the intelligence.
However, at that time, Zhu Yuanzhang was just watching it for fun, and did not think deeply about wanting his eldest grandson to take on the responsibility or do anything else.
The more thought was to train the eldest grandson, and never thought of letting the eldest grandson share the financial affairs.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang seemed a little embarrassed after hearing Jiang Yu's words.
Zhu Yuanzhang felt a little uncomfortable when his eldest grandson had not yet entered the palace, and he had to touch his money.
"Your Majesty, His Highness Changsun will eventually enter the palace. This Ming Dynasty matter is naturally also His Highness Changsun's business. I believe that His Highness Changsun has insights in this regard that ordinary people do not have."
"It was because of the last famine that His Highness Changsun proposed to provide relief through work. This is something I have never thought of. This time I think I can also ask His Highness Changsun what he thinks."
Jiang Wei said tactfully. Let’s not talk about how much wealth His Highness Changsun has, but let’s talk about it from the perspective of His Majesty’s school entrance examination.
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, thinking that this matter would be very good for the examination of the eldest son of the school.
Then he asked Liu He, the Chief of Ceremonies, "I brought back the memorial I sent to my grandson yesterday."
Liu He said: "Reporting to your majesty, His Highness Changsun made it clear to Guo Zhong yesterday. As of this afternoon, the time has not yet come."
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "That's just right. Let's prepare the car. Let's go directly this time and handle the two things at the same time. We've been eating the food in the palace these days, and there's almost no bird in our mouths. Let's go to Da Sun's place." It would also be nice to improve the food.”
"I obey the decree."
........
In the mansion of the Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth Army.
Lan Yu talks with his eldest brother Lan Rong.
Lan Rong currently serves as the commander of the right guard of the government army and is one of the twelve personal guards of the emperor.
Before Lan Yu came back, she had already received the news.
It was just a matter of confidentiality, and he did not tell his younger brother Lan Yu specifically about the matter, for fear of causing misunderstandings.
But I'm still quite happy about this in my heart.
In terms of blood relationship, Lan Rong and Zhu Ying are also related to their uncle.
In fact, the commander of one of the Emperor's Twelve Guards has a very powerful position.
"Brother, how could you let me know about such a big thing? It made me nervous when I received the order and returned to Beijing."
Lan Yu said with some complaints.
The Fifth Army Governor's Mansion is also the office of the Emperor's Twelve Guards. The two of them had a secret conversation in Lan Yu's unique office hall.
Regarding being called back, Lan Yu was a little uneasy when she received the order.
That's why he left his two sons and a group of loyal subordinates there instead of following him, because he was worried that his military power would be reduced.
"I'm not the first person you look for when you return to Beijing. You also know my position and you can't go out casually. Even if you returned to Beijing, if it hadn't been for the morning meeting today, I wouldn't have known about it."
Lan Rong explained that Zhu Yuanzhang's edict was conveyed directly. How could he, the commander of the right guard of the government army, go to inquire about the news of the Ministry of War?
On the contrary, as the emperor's personal guard commander, to a large extent, he needs to avoid suspicion.
When Lan Yu heard this, she had nothing to say, so she could only say: "You haven't met His Highness Changsun yet, right?"
Lan Rong replied: "While patrolling at night, I heard that His Highness spent the night in the palace."
"Already entered the palace?"
Lan Yu marveled that he didn't know about this yet.
Lan Rong smiled and nodded and said, "Yes, I think your Majesty has thoroughly investigated His Highness Changsun, and there is no deviation."
"In this way, with His Highness Changsun here, you and I don't have to worry too much in the future."
Lan Yu first nodded in agreement after hearing this, and then said: "Don't underestimate His Highness Changsun. Yesterday His Highness Changsun took me to the Gunpowder Department to inspect the latest firearms."
"Have you never seen that a musket called a matchlock has the power of a small general's cannon in one strike? The most important thing is that its accuracy is like that of a crossbow within fifty steps. It is simply incredible. "
"It's a pity that the current output is not enough, only a few guns per month. When the output increases in the future, and the army is equipped with such muskets, tsk tsk, I'm afraid it will become much easier to fight in the future."
When Lan Rong heard this, his face showed shock.
Coming from his younger brother Lan Yu, he certainly had no reason not to believe it. But this statement is indeed an exaggeration.
If there really was such a magical weapon, suppressing the enemy would be easy.
"Don't believe it. It's too early to say this now. I tried it with my own hands yesterday. As the emperor's personal guard, I think it won't be long before I see you. Then you will understand the authenticity of what I said."
Lan Yu saw the look in her elder brother Lan Rong's eyes and thought she didn't believe it, so she said again.
"Okay, then I'll wait and see. But are these the only things you asked me to come over today?" Lan Rong asked with some confusion.
Although they work together, the Twelve Guards of the Emperor and the Governor's Mansion of the Fifth Army are two distinct areas, and there is little contact between them.
Normally, the two of them would talk after get off work to avoid suspicion.
This time Lan Yi called Lan Rong over in the name of military affairs, so Lan Rong had such doubts.
"If you didn't tell me, I would have almost forgotten the real thing." Lan Yu said with some annoyance, and then explained:
"I am following His Majesty's order to mobilize 5,000 troops for His Majesty Changsun to train troops. Your Majesty said that some of the personnel will be drawn from various ministries. I don't want to draw some from you."
When Lan Rong heard this, he couldn't help but said: "Five thousand people? Your Majesty wants His Highness to build a bodyguard."
Lan Yu nodded and replied: "That should be the case."
