While everyone was discussing how to carry out the assassination, Zhu Youxiao also sent the foreman away and started chatting with the craftsmen and civilians at the scene.
After learning that their wages and two meals were in place, Zhu Youxiao was also very pleased.
This is no easy task.
It's rare that that old boy Guo Yingqi can act according to his will, which is indeed a blessing.
I don't know if it was his previous iron-blooded tactics that played a role, or if he was really grateful for entrusting him with such a heavy responsibility.
It's no longer important. The fact that he can do this is enough to prove that he is indeed a useful person.
Not levying corvee labor, but also paying them wages according to market prices and ensuring them two meals a day would naturally put great financial pressure on the court.
But this will also help drive economic development and create more employment opportunities and positions, thereby ensuring that the people at the bottom can have more economic income, and their lives will be relatively easier.
In fact, sometimes, Zhu Youxiao was also very puzzled as to why the rulers of all dynasties liked to force young people to do corvee work, and no matter what the background of the era, it would always be like this.
For example, when regulating the Yellow River, the government wanted to build cities or post stations and pipelines, or even march and fight. They completely relied on corvee labor to ensure logistics.
Although free labor is good, if the court only abuses it without considering other things, the disadvantages will be very obvious.
For example, during the Chongzhen period, peasant uprisings continued in various places. Part of the reason was that the imperial court abused the power of the people and conscripted people into corvee at will. After the work was done, they were thrown away without caring about their lives.
As a result, the common people who were already struggling to survive due to natural disasters and man-made disasters directly lost hope of survival, and thus fought to the death.
Zhu Youxiao didn't believe that all the officials in the dynasty, including the emperor himself, couldn't see such obvious shortcomings.
It's just that they all chose to ignore it because of their own interests.
After all, the emperor himself is the largest landowner in the world, and millions of people are his private tenants.
Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but sigh secretly. As long as there is desire, such things will always exist.
All people have selfish motives and spend their entire lives seeking the best interests for themselves.
He might be able to change the original fate of the Ming Dynasty and change the fate of the descendants of Yan Han as slaves to the barbarians, but what about after decades or hundreds of years?
Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao stayed in a daze for a long time. Ma Xianglin on the side saw that he was lost and didn't know why.
After a long while, I mustered up the courage to step forward and warn him carefully.
Zhu Youxiao, who came back to his senses, also smiled indifferently. The future matters were not his thing to consider, he could only deal with the current matters.
After wandering around for a while, the sky gradually became darker.
After confirming the overall progress and the true situation of the craftsmen and civilians, Zhu Youxiao was also ready to return to the palace.
"What's going on in your hometown now? The people's lives should be better than before."
On the way back to the palace on horseback, Zhu Youxiao also chatted with Ma Xianglin.
Regarding Southwest, Zhu Youxiao has never been very reassured.
Because it is too complicated and confusing, the various forces are intricate, and the collusion of interests is too deep.
Although they have now returned to their native land, all the semi-separated chieftain tribes have been wiped out.
But the southwest is too barren. With today's productivity, it is not easy to ensure that we are not hungry, let alone self-reliance.
Regarding the reports of those officials, Zhu Youxiao always believed them half as much as he doubted them.
The Jin Yiwei's power in the southwest is far less powerful than in the north, and the information they can provide is limited.
So on a whim, I started asking Ma Xianglin.
Ma Xianglin himself is actually a chieftain, and he is also a relatively powerful one.
But his mother and son have always given top priority to the court.
They are the weakest, so even though they are also the party suppressed by Zhu Youxiao, they still fully support it.
Of course, this also included the grace he had given his family over the past two years.
Needless to say, Ma Xianglin, as the commander of the Royal Forest Army, has always been at the emperor's side as a bodyguard. He is so young and has many military exploits, so his future is naturally unlimited.
Now some people are comparing him to Li Rusong. As we all know, Li Rusong is the most trusted and relied-upon general of Emperor Shenzong.
But now Ma Xianglin is more favored than Li Rusong.
And his mother, Qin Liangyu, holds military power, has been granted imperial orders and titles, and now leads tens of thousands of troops to suppress rebellion. She can be said to be the most powerful general.
Most of the brothers and nephews from Qin Liangyu's natal family also served in the leading army.
Of course, this was also Zhu Youxiao's intention.
In the Ming Dynasty, when the imperial power was in extreme conflict with the world's gentry and most officials, Zhu Youxiao could only subdue them by relying on military power.
As Ma Xianglin's family was born into a chieftain family, they were looked down upon by the civil servants and gentry who thought highly of themselves.
They are also a large clan in the southwest, and have no interest in Jiangnan, Liaodong and other regions, so Zhu Youxiao naturally wants to bind them together.
And if it weren't for Qin Liangyu's high prestige in the Sichuan-Guizhou area, Zhu Youxiao put down the She'an rebellion in time and won the battle.
His new policy of reforming the country and returning it to local people could not proceed so smoothly.
Although Ma Xianglin was young, he naturally understood this in his heart, so he had no hesitation or reservation in response to the emperor's sudden question.
"Although there are no more chieftains, the people's lives are still relatively difficult."
"When the rebels led by the two She'an troops passed by, they were like locusts, unable to grow any grass."
"What little wealth and savings the people in Guizhou had were plundered and have not been recovered yet."
"There is still a war in Yunnan now, and my mother has imposed a lot of corvee labor, which has made things worse."
"Fortunately, His Majesty's wisdom has exempted the people from paying taxes for three years. Once the war is over and there is peace and stability, and the people can farm with peace of mind for two years, everything will be better."
After receiving this answer, Zhu Youxiao felt heavy.
War has always been a waste of people and money, whether it is won or lost.
It seems that there is still a long way to go to strengthen military construction and improve the logistics and military storage system.
While the two were chatting, Qiangzi, who had been lying in wait on the roof of a private house for a long time, was also staring closely at Zhu Youxiao, who was dressed in rich clothes.
In his hand, he held a crossbow.
Although the crossbow's attack range is not very far, its accuracy is better than that of a bow.
Moreover, he was condescending and the opponent was defenseless. However, he was confident enough to hit him with just a few dozen steps.
The guards before and after Zhu Youxiao did not expect that at this moment, in this environment, someone would come to assassinate him.
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