After Zhu Yijun received the letter from the prince, he was very happy and said to Tian Yi:
"Your Dongchang has done a good job over the years, and finally those with ulterior motives can no longer influence public opinion."
"This is all the result of the Emperor Ru Tian."
"If the emperor does not govern well and make the people prosperous, even if the people in Dongchang have a good tongue, it will be difficult to really convince the people."
Tian Yi replied with a smile.
Zhu Yijun said: "Having said that, your Dongchang has indeed done your best, especially you Tian Yi. I know that Dongchang is in your hands and you are indeed taking things seriously."
"It is the duty of a minister to serve the Emperor with loyalty."
Tian Yi replied again.
Zhu Yijun nodded and said: "However, what you just said is correct. As long as the lives of all people in the world continue to be prosperous, the people of the world will always be willing to believe in the imperial court. Even if someone throws dirty water on the imperial court, they will not succeed."
As Zhu Yijun spoke, he looked at Qi Jiguang and said, "Yuan Fu!"
"I'm here!"
Qi Jiguang immediately stood up and replied.
Zhu Yijun ordered at this time: "Has the county where the prince is going to practice has been decided?"
"Return to Your Majesty, it's settled."
"Now that the magistrate of Xiuning County is vacant, His Highness can go to Xiuning to be the county magistrate incognito."
Qi Jiguang replied at this time.
Zhu Yijun nodded after hearing this: "That's good!"
Afterwards, Zhu Yijun glanced at Wang Lin, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and said:
"If your cabinet and officials do a good job in this matter, all the royal family members and nobles must receive training, starting from the prince now."
Qi Jiguang and Wang Lin hurriedly raised their hands and said yes.
It turned out that although Zhu Yijun asked the prince to go to Nandu to supervise the country, in fact, after going to Nandu, the prince did not directly control the entire central government affairs in Nandu. Instead, he had to go to a county to receive experience and start by understanding the situation at the grassroots level.
The person who really took charge of the government affairs of various ministries in Nanjing was actually Shen Li, a scholar from the south who followed the prince.
Shen Li still reported directly to Zhu Yijun, but would copy a copy of the handling opinions to the prince.
As for why this is so.
Naturally, it was because he was worried that the prince would suddenly deal with larger affairs and cause too much damage to the country. At the same time, he also wanted the prince to get familiar with the grassroots first and have a deeper understanding of the internal affairs of the Ming Dynasty.
To know.
Although many yamen in Nanjing are idle yamen.
But this does not mean that all yamen do nothing and have no practical effect.
In fact, the Nanjing Ministry of War has to manage many Jiang defense and coastal defense affairs, and the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs also has to manage money and food, including population surveys and land surveys related to the Yellow Register.
In addition, many cultural works and many vassal kings are also here, coordinated by Nanjing officials.
In addition, after Ming Dynasty opened up the sea and expanded overseas on a large scale, many overseas government affairs will be handled directly in Nanjing. After all, Nanjing is closer to the East and Nanyang.
Therefore, it is easy to make mistakes if the prince directly oversees the country to handle many affairs in Nanjing.
Therefore, according to the current intention of Zhu Yijun and his ruling ministers, Nandu will first have a prince sitting there in name only.
In fact, the prince first went to the south to serve as a people-friendly official at the grassroots level, and became thoroughly familiar with the people at the grassroots level and the situation of the gentry and virtuous people in the county.
"Xiuning?"
The prince looked at the secret order that was urgently delivered from the capital, smiled slightly, and then said to Shen Li:
"Mr. Shen Ge, I will leave Nandu to you. If you need me to show up, remember to have someone come and report to me in advance. I will come back to deal with the etiquette of the scene."
Shen Li raised his hands and said yes.
Then, the prince whispered to Shen Li: "Xiuning!"
Shen Li nodded after hearing this.
In order to prevent more people from knowing where the prince actually went, the prince only told Shen Li in a low voice.
Half a month later.
The prince really came to Huizhou Prefecture, and under the name "Zhu Changming", he was appointed magistrate of Xiuning County, Huizhou Prefecture.
The officials in Xiuning County saw Zhu Changming in the public information, and they only knew that Zhu Changming was a new scholar, and naturally they did not know that Zhu Changming was a prince.
However, after the prince arrived in Huizhou Prefecture, he did not go to Xiuning County first. Instead, he went to Wuyuan County, Xiuning County incognito.
Because Qi Baoguo is serving as the county magistrate here and is about to be transferred to Zhejiang to serve as an official.
But before coming, the prince specially gave him a secret letter, asking him to wait a little longer in Wuyuan.
Therefore, Qi Baoguo was not in a hurry to leave Wuyuan County, but met the prince on the outskirts of Wuyuan County.
"When I first came to this place, I only knew that the mountains and rivers were beautiful and the people were simple and honest, but I was at a loss as to how to be a people-friendly official. Since you have been here for a few years, you might as well give me some advice."
"There is no prince here, only friends."
As the prince spoke, he actually bowed to Qi Baoguo and said, "Please enlighten me."
Qi Baoguo continued with a smile and said: "In this place, although the mountains are beautiful, they cannot be mined. Although the water is beautiful, they cannot be filled. Although the people are simple, they are also cunning. Not to mention the gentry and officials. They are all courteous and courteous in the open and many secretly. With all the martial arts skills and all the gods above, if your highness really wants to achieve something, you only need to remember to do your best to benefit the rich and not offend the poor. If you want to lose some people's interests, let the middle-class family suffer some injustice."
"Blessing the rich?"
The prince looked shocked.
Qi Baoguo nodded: "You are the county magistrate now, not the prince. If you don't benefit them, are you really going to watch them run away?"
After hearing this, the prince nodded in understanding.
"When I came to Wuyuan, there happened to be a dispute over Feng Shui. The big squires did not allow the gray households to dig mountains to collect lime, but the gray households insisted on digging. At first, I didn't care about the big squires. I just wanted the gray households to make money by selling some lime. It’s not easy, not to mention that Wuyuan has many mountains and few fields.”
"As a result, many large gentry families moved away, leaving Wuyuan without many teachers, and the unemployment rate increased. I was reprimanded by my superiors, saying that I did not strictly implement the imperial court's intention to ban mines. The official also impeached me. Fortunately, I Someone on top was punished with a fine of half a year's salary."
"Later, I had no choice but to invite the wealthy gentry back first, saying that I would strictly prohibit mining, protect Wuyuan's Feng Shui, and severely crack down on mining households."
"But as a result, many ordinary workers from gray households started to besiege the county government because of their unemployment. I had to think of another way. I had no choice but to write to my second brother and ask him to send some powerful technicians. Come to Wuyuan to serve as a minister's staff."
"Then, I personally mobilized the large squire households to invest in the industry and was responsible for manufacturing some simple parts for the steam engines built by the imperial court. This solved the problem of employment for the workers who used to mine lime under the name of Huihu."
Qi Baoguo told.
“What about the gray households who are mining?”
The prince asked immediately.
Qi Baoguo smiled and said, "What are they thinking about?"
"Naturally, they don't dare to come forward directly. After all, they are all middle-class families with some wealth. They don't dare to risk their lives. Anyone who dares to mine privately without knowing what is right will be arrested and exiled. After the eunuchs participate in the investment, they will also I will only praise you as the county magistrate for daring to restrain the powerful and make decisions for the people."
"In this way, these people will naturally become honest."
After Qi Baoguo said that, the prince nodded, looked at the red sun setting in the west, and became silent.
after awhile.
The prince then looked at Qi Baoguo: "This is indeed different from what my father taught me. My father said that the more middle-class people in the world, the more peaceful and prosperous the world will be. Why is it that when it comes to reform, we can only suppress the middle-class people? ?”
"What your Majesty said is actually correct."
"But the imperial court is different from the local area! The imperial court is not afraid of the migration of the local officials. Anyway, they are all moving back and forth in China, but they are afraid of being the parent officials of a county, let alone the parent officials of a county, including Bing Xian, Fang Bo and others. Touching and pressing are all something to be afraid of."
Qi Baoguo continued.
"Since it's true, but it's different, what should we do?"
the prince asked.
Qi Baoguo cupped his hands and said, "Your Highness, please forgive me!"
"Although the purpose of doing things in the local area is to make the middle-class people feel wronged, the ultimate effect is to make more and more middle-class people do it, so that we can do this! Otherwise, why bother to do it?"
"Everything can be done or not done, depending on whether it is necessary; if it is not necessary, then one would rather be known as mediocre than be a lackey for the local officials; just in this way, one may not be a famous minister, but people Why do we need famous ministers?”
"In my humble opinion, I would rather not be a famous minister than harm the people for my reputation."
Qi Baoguo then said something else.
The prince nodded, and then handed over to Qi Baoguo: "Thank you very much."
Qi Baoguo hurriedly returned the salute.
After meeting Qi Baoguo, the prince actually went to Xiuning County.
On the way to Xiuning County, the prince listened to the sweet sounds of birds on the roadside and thought about Qi Baoguo's words.
When he first came to the grassroots level, especially when he came to this mountain village and countryside, the prince was still very excited in his heart, so his eyes kept wandering between the plants, trees and stones, even if he was doing something by the river. The old woman wearing clothes and the shepherd boy herding cattle on the post can make him linger.
But Qi Baoguo's words made him frown slightly.
He did not expect that based on Qi Baoguo's experience, if you want to do well as a county magistrate at the local grassroots level, it also depends on luck. It depends on whether there are opportunities to reform things. If there are no opportunities, it is better to do nothing. The key is that even if there is this Opportunities also require a background and some extraordinary status.
after all.
Qi Baoguo was able to finally resolve the Feng Shui dispute in Wuyuan County. Although it was through the establishment of a steam engine parts manufacturing factory to absorb the employment of workers who made a living digging lime, it also allowed these workers to become middle-class workers due to the rise of the steam industry. family, but essentially Qi Baoguo did this by taking advantage of his status as the father of the Ming Dynasty steam engine and the younger brother of Zhangqiu Bo Qi Changguo.
If it were another magistrate, he probably wouldn't even know much about steam engines, and even if he did, he probably wouldn't be able to get help from Qi Changguo, at least he wouldn't be able to easily make friends with powerful people like Qi Changguo.
Therefore, the prince is also thinking, does he really want to achieve things at the grassroots level, or does he need to use his status as prince? (End of chapter)
