Zhu Youxiao glanced at his second son and smiled faintly.
As the emperor, he always knew the movements of people from all walks of life in the Ming Dynasty through Dongchang and other informants.
As for whether there are poor scholars who live in poverty, according to Zhu Youxiao's knowledge, there are indeed some, and his second son did not lie.
But the real reason is not that the court did not treat him favorably enough.
Rather, some scholars wanted a leisurely career, a good enough status, and a very wealthy income.
But this is not in line with Ming Dynasty’s current economic distribution principles.
Therefore, this kind of life style that meets the desires of some scholars was not available in the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Youxiao naturally knew that his second son suddenly mentioned this, which was obviously to attract people's hearts and establish himself as a virtuous person.
But Zhu Youxiao saw through it but did not break it.
He has not yet reached the point where he wants to personally educate what he considers to be a little kid, and a little kid who thinks he is smart.
It wasn't just Zhu Youxiao who didn't take Zhu Cican's words seriously.
The tactful Wen Tiren among the ministers did not take Zhu Cican's words seriously.
And Lu Xiangsheng was too lazy to argue with the prince.
In his opinion, His Majesty the wise would not be unaware of the tactics of the second son of the emperor.
Only Liu Hongxun, who wanted to dampen Zhu Cican's enthusiasm for expressing himself, refuted it and said: "I have never seen that there are scholars who are not as rich as the common people! Although there are some, they are mostly people with high ambitions and low hands!"
When Zhu Cizhuo heard what Liu Hongxun said, his face looked a little ugly.
Because he clearly remembered that Liu Hongxun had said before that he had high vision but low power.
Therefore, when he heard the words "high-minded but low-handed", he became extremely irritated.
"Please give me some advice from Yuan Fu!"
But Zhu Cizhuo still politely replied with his hand.
"There are as many scholars in the world as crucian carp crossing the river. This is an indisputable fact. This is true whether it is science, engineering or literature and history. Especially in literature and history, only Confucian classics scholars are still selected. There are countless people!"
"In this regard, the cabinet has also drafted many decrees to arrange for these scholars to realize their ambitions and gain wealth."
"First of all, the cabinet encouraged them to join the army and apply for the Ming Dynasty Lecture Hall and other newly established military academies."
"But there are still not enough people who are willing to abandon their studies and join the army, all because they are unwilling to suffer outside the customs and overseas."
"Secondly, the cabinet also issued a decree to encourage scholars to join the civil service, but many scholars are unwilling to start from the civil service, thinking that they should directly become seventh-rank officials!"
"They want to become officials directly, and the imperial court understands that. The cabinet has also issued a decree. Anyone who is willing to go overseas can be directly appointed as an official. Moreover, whether they are people-friendly officials who manage civil affairs or Confucian officials who study scholarship, they will all have double salaries. If they pass the examination The difficulty is lowered, but there are still not many people willing to sign up to go overseas."
"Because they only want to be officials in the customs!"
"And it must be an official of seventh rank or above. It is even better to stay in places like the two capitals or even Susong Lake!"
"But in these places, there are too many monks and too little food. There are hundreds of thousands of Jinshi waiting to be arranged every year. How can there be so many places in the pass!"
"And the food subsidy provided by the imperial court to all scholars is only the most basic living guarantee. It is impossible not to work and still get a high income. Moreover, even the food subsidy is about the same as the income of ordinary people. There is no problem in supporting a family. !”
"The problem is that they have high ambitions but low abilities. They are unwilling to join the army or serve as officials, nor to go overseas, nor to work hard. The key is that they do not know how to be thrifty. They still want to live the lives of wealthy people, obviously relying only on the royal family's wealth and wealth. To live a good life, you still have to keep concubines, go to various celebrity gatherings, and hang out among the rich and powerful, and because of this, the whole family eats porridge, and it is your own fault!"
Liu Hongxun said, "Just because they are Han people, the imperial court is willing to pay to support them for the sake of cultural prosperity. But if they are foreigners, such people will starve to death without caring."
"Then there is no need for the imperial court to give such high subsidies to veterans. The minimum scale of the veterans' subsidy is enough to cover the income of an ordinary family for five years! Even if you are willing to work as a supervisor in a mining area, you can get double or even triple it. Although no one is willing to go there because they are bitterly cold, remote, and receive less pay, but in fact, the imperial court does not have to open up colonial areas for mining overseas and outside the customs. There are also mines in many places within the customs, so it would be better to mine within the customs. Well, this way you can save costs!”
Zhu Cican said.
"This is different!"
Lu Xiangsheng replied at this time, and then explained: "Your Highness! The country is the land of the Chinese Dragon Vein, where the vitality lies. It cannot be mined. If the vitality is damaged, it will destroy the ecology! Academicians of the Academy of Sciences have demonstrated that the occurrence of natural disasters is indeed related to the excessive ecological environment. Destruction has something to do with it! Therefore, in order to recuperate and recuperate, for the long-term plan! In terms of mining to obtain energy, it is appropriate to exploit foreign land interests and vitality to nourish our country, rather than fishing in the lake, exploiting our own land interests, and damaging our own vitality!"
Seeing what Lu Xiangsheng said, Zhu Cican couldn't say anything anymore.
"As Lu Gong said, the reason why soldiers have high benefits is because they have to work hard for the court! Even if they retire and work as supervisors, they have to work hard. There is no guarantee that their income will be high, but for the scholars in Guan who only do things. , even if you eat steamed buns or even porridge every day, you can still create."
Liu Hongxun continued to reply.
Zhu Cican had no choice but to nod his head and said, "Yes! What this junior just said was not taken into account."
…
"Your Highness, is the imperial court willing to provide corresponding preferential and exemption regulations for the gentry?"
A group of scholars who were close to Zhu Cican also hurriedly asked about Zhu Cican after Zhu Cican returned home.
Zhu Cican shook his head and said: "Ashamed! Although my seventh brother and I strongly advocated the need to exempt the gentry, and the other ministers had no objections, Yuan Fu was very opposed to it, so it was not adopted by my father."
Zhu Cican was obviously lying. The real situation should be that all the ministers opposed it, and the seventh prince became a mute like the other princes.
But for his own benefit, Zhu Cican was obviously not willing to let Liu Hongxun stay in the court, so he said it without blushing and with a look of guilt on his face, which was a perfect inheritance from his father who told lies with his eyes open. a little bit.
Even Zhu Cikai followed suit and gave false testimony, saying: "That's true. That man named Liu even said that you should starve to death!"
"What?!"
"How could Yuan Fu say such vicious words!"
"Everyone is a scholar after all!"
"That's why we should starve to death."
"Sure enough, a person who is willing to break with the entire clan for personal power and life is not a soft-hearted person!"
A group of scholars became quite angry because of this.
"The imperial court received over 100 million taels of compensation, and the first batch of compensation alone amounted to 50 million. Liu, who controls the government, still refuses to show any kindness to the poor people in the world! It's really chilling!"
Even Chen Weisong, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, who was here, couldn't help but say something.
While he was very disappointed that the imperial court was unwilling to exempt the gentry even for the wealthy people, a Hanlin official named Zhang Ersu took the initiative to ask Zhu Cican something else with great concern: "May I ask your highness, is the imperial court willing to lift the ban on mining in the pass?" ?”
"My Highness mentioned it, but Yuan Fu still blocked it! Opening the mining ban in the pass will hurt China's vitality and cause more natural disasters. We should nourish the energy in the pass so that China can rest and recuperate."
Zhu Cican replied.
"What does this have to do with China's vitality! Natural disasters are related to the lack of moral governance and are caused by human resentment. How can this Yuan Fu be so comatose!"
Zhang Ersu said excitedly.
In his view, if the mining industry is not opened up in the customs, it means that private capital will not be able to enter the mining industry, and it will not be possible for wealthy businessmen like himself to achieve faster wealth growth through the hugely profitable industry of mineral energy.
For example, if mining is only allowed outside the customs and overseas, there will be only government-owned capital in the mining field.
The hugely profitable industry of minerals and energy belongs only to government-owned capital.
Because only government-owned capital has the strength to develop mining overseas and outside the customs, it can mobilize more financial resources and manpower with the help of the imperial court.
Therefore, Zhang Ersu hoped that the imperial court would allow mining in the pass, because this would allow private businessmen to get involved in mining.
After all, it does not cost much to open a mine within the pass.
Private businessmen can easily obtain business opportunities.
But Zhu Youxiao and his ministers not only considered the interests of businessmen, but also wanted private businessmen to make more money.
They consider the long-term interests of the entire nation.
Therefore, this opening was still not opened. As soon as possible, many officials and scholars who were bribed by wealthy businessmen were advocating or making circumstantial suggestions that the imperial court should open the mining ban in the customs.
Zhang Ersu was naturally disappointed.
Other civil servants who had the same purpose as Zhang Ersu were also quite disappointed.
"I really don't know what the imperial court is thinking. It would rather spend a lot of money to mine outside the customs overseas than open the mining ban inside the customs. What's the use of green mountains and green waters? It's better to allow its people to mine freely to increase the people's benefits!"
At this time, a Jinshi of Guanzheng from the Mining Department named Lu Shaolin joined in the conversation.
"Okay! You don't need to mention it again. How can national policies be changed so easily? Everything must be considered in the long term. To benefit the people, whether we should completely relax the ban and allow them to operate freely, or whether we should impose restrictions, these cannot be achieved overnight. Consensus was reached.”
Zhu Cican didn't let these civil servants talk any more at this time.
After these civil servants stopped talking, Zhu Cican began to express some opinions: "I believe that no matter what you do, you must comply with public opinion and destiny. This is especially true for those who hold power."
"After all, His Highness is a wise man! Nowadays, what the people of the world want the most is 'freedom'. The only reason for dissatisfaction is that the official power is very wide-controlled. Just like the water in a spring, if it is allowed to flow freely, it will become a clear stream and can be drank. It can be irrigated; but if it is tightly blocked and prevented from flowing, it will become a pool of stagnant water without any ripples!"
Chen Weisong induced Zhu Cican at this time.
…
"The compensation of 50 million taels is indeed not a small amount."
"After all the funds needed for basic engineering construction and research and development of major projects, there is still a lot of surplus. The main reason is that the current industry of the imperial court basically uses foreign slave labor, which does not require labor costs. Therefore, only domestic railways and government officials Road construction requires relatively high funds, but it won’t cost tens of millions.”
"I'm wondering whether we should really spend more money on ecological construction."
"Rivers, woodlands, and wetlands all seem to be under the control of the imperial court, as well as animals. In recent years, as the people have become richer, the demand for wild game has increased. As a result, many people have become sick from eating wild animals, and there have even been new cases. The outbreak of infectious diseases must also be caused by violating the laws of heaven."
When Liu Hongxun was meeting Zhu Youxiao alone here, he continued to talk about how to use the new compensation to do things that are beneficial to the national economy and people's livelihood.
"It's feasible! It's better to spend money to keep the green mountains and green waters than to put it in the treasury and wait for it to be taken away by selfish people."
Zhu Youxiao nodded.
He agreed with Liu Hongxun's approach, that is, while he could still make the decision, he would do more things that would benefit the country in the long run.
and are unwilling to save the compensation.
Because Zhu Youxiao can no longer guarantee that his descendants can insist on the supremacy of national interests like himself.
It is hard to guarantee that there will be no future monarchs like Qianlong, who clearly knew that his father Yongzheng left him more than 50 million yuan, but ended up spending money crazily and without restraint!
Therefore, Zhu Youxiao thought it would be better to spend it himself first.
"In every forest area in the world, there must be forest rangers, as well as forest rescue and fire-fighting officers and soldiers. In addition, river governors still need to be established, but they are no longer responsible for river transportation, but for dredging, flood control, and water quality protection of rivers all over the world. , there must also be river patrolmen, and the same goes for wetlands, which can also increase employment.”
"In addition, we need to increase the construction of parks and tourist areas, especially in the northwest and southwest of the pass and many areas outside the pass that cannot thrive due to terrain and sparse population. We need to make use of their scenery and provide corresponding convenient transportation and management teams funded by the imperial government. This will benefit the local people, increase employment, and enable more people to have income!"
"Just do this, and encircle a group of places that are conducive to the promotion of Chinese culture and the splendor of Chinese rivers and mountains, as parks and tourist areas, and set up levels, the highest being national level, and the central court will allocate huge sums of money every year for these parks and tourism District construction and maintenance are carried out first at the provincial level and all the way to the county level, so as to make it more convenient for people who are getting richer and richer to travel, and to prevent them from just thinking about buying more orchids to satisfy their sexual desires after they become rich. They eat more wild animals to satisfy their appetites, and even do other things that are not conducive to the world in order to seek stimulation. It is time for the imperial court to provide them with some entertainment arrangements."
Zhu Youxiao said.
"In this way, money can also be spent on some cultural and entertainment construction, not only ecological protection, but also good poems, articles and even lyrics, opera excerpts, folk songs and slang. It is best to produce more."
Liu Hongxun replied.
"This is also the correct way to start the construction of etiquette system!"
Zhu Youxiao nodded, and then added: "The imperial court must invest money to guide the world's customs! To prevent the entire nation from falling into depravity because of their affluence, I hope that the Han people should become more and more affluent. The more elegant and knowledgeable, no matter how bad, is still spiritually satisfied."
"In this way, in the name of the royal family, the imperial court came forward to establish the Royal Highest Literary and Art Award. The awards are divided into five categories: poetry, lyrics, articles, drama, music, songs, and paintings. Each category has a high bonus! I would rather use bonuses to let Literati who truly know how to serve the culture of the country and the spirit of the people can achieve wealth growth, and we cannot use preferential and exemption methods to allow them to obtain wealth privileges, so as to comply with the distribution principle of maximizing the interests of producers."
"The imperial court also regularly gives a sum of funds to local governments to promote the development of culture and entertainment, including in various colonial areas, to facilitate the spread of Han culture! Local governments can set up some awards to encourage literati to create more works that will benefit the prosperity of Chinese culture and Works that enrich people’s entertainment life, rather than traveling among the rich and powerful, only knowing how to work in officialdom!”
Zhu Youxiao therefore gave orders.
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