After a few words of debate between the Minister of Hubu and the Minister of War, he turned to Zhi Zhi and said: "In fact, the ministers have already reported to the Holy One and His Highness the intention of reducing the horse administration. Compared with ordinary people, the cost of raising war horses for the imperial court is too high. , a horse plague will destroy the family, instead of wasting the people and ruining the money, it is better to let them farm with peace of mind."
"Also, Taipu Temple's horse farms in Hebei, Shaanxi, Hetao and other places are still too big. Weichen believes that they should be converted into cultivated land, and the horse farms can be moved to the southeast, west and south of Liaoning."
The Minister of the Ministry of War immediately refuted: "Nothing can move like a dragon in the sky, and nothing can move on the earth like a horse. Horses are the foundation of armor and soldiers, and are of great use to the country! The rebellion of the former Yuan Dynasty still exists, where is the southwest, Liaoning and northeastern frontier without danger? If we, the Ming Dynasty, do not take advantage of the victory to pursue us , but to abandon the horse administration at this time, wouldn’t it mean cutting off the feet to fit the shoes? I ask the palace for a clear warning!"
The Shaoqing of Taipusi tried to smooth things over and said: "Your Highness's intention is to change the government's policy of employing people to raise horses. Instead of the two ministers, it would be too extreme. Why is this?"
However, his words obviously did not carry enough weight. Officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War pretended not to have heard and continued to take the matter to extremes and argue endlessly, obviously for their own interests.
The Ministry of War and the Governor's Office behind it, that is, the Huaixi Warriors, obviously do not want any changes in the horse administration. The number of horses in the army has been increasing sharply. This is their confidence.
What's more, there aren't many ways to make money in the army, and privately sending caravans to trade with Mongolia is now strictly prohibited. If the annual supply of horses is further reduced, they will really be poor.
The Ministry of Household Affairs has a very simple idea. The imperial court now needs money in all aspects. Where does this money and food come from? It has to rely on the people to farm and pay taxes.
No matter how many horses there are, they can only eat food but not produce food. A horse, especially a war horse, needs a lot of food every day. If it is not on a natural pasture, the land required to raise a war horse will not be enough if it is used to grow grain. It can feed more than twenty people.
Zhu Biao lightly patted the book table and asked everyone to adjust their posture quickly. After they all calmed down, he said: "The Central Plains is not suitable for raising horses. The current prosperity is the result of the Ming Dynasty that has devoted all its national power. It is not a long-term goal." The way to last.”
"The imperial court gave the horses to the people in the south of the Yangtze River. The Hubu Temple and Taipusi Temple immediately bought them back at market prices and drove them to the southwest and Liaodong for pasture. They ordered the Ministry of Works Taipusi Temple to move the pastures to these two places. After the migration, they left The Ministry of Land and Household Affairs must promptly arrange for people to open up wasteland for farming."
The Central Plains was not a place suitable for raising horses. The Song Dynasty had no choice but to raise horses here after losing all its territory. Now that the Ming Dynasty has recovered even the Sixteenth Prefecture of Yanyun and Liaodong, the horses are not so nervous anymore, so they must give up the land. To feed the people.
Seeing that the prince had made up his mind, the officials of the Ministry of War were unhappy, but they could not say anything. If they dared to make a fuss in the court, they absolutely did not dare to do so in the Jinshen Palace.
The Minister of the Ministry of Revenue frowned and said: "Your Highness, there are probably more than 100,000 horses in Jiangnan, and the Ministry of Revenue cannot afford to buy them back. What's more, the horses were lent to them by the imperial court, and there are tax exemptions."
The young minister of Taipu Temple also hurriedly said: "I know that Your Highness is kind-hearted, virtuous and caring for the people, and is willing to take care of the people. If you can take back the horses without any damage, it will be enough to reassure the people."
Zhu Biao turned his attention to the Minister of Household Affairs. If others had given in, he would have given in. After all, the court's money was the emperor's money, and the emperor's money was the prince's money after all. People didn't feel sorry for him, so there was nothing to worry about.
It's just that Zhao Wenjing is worthy of being called a black-faced brave. He really refuses to let go when it comes to the money and food from the Ministry of Household Affairs. His meaning is very simple. Prince, there is absolutely no way to ask the Ministry of Household Affairs to spend such unnecessary money, unless you directly I took away my Wu Sha, otherwise the money cannot be touched as long as I am still the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. If I ask, I won’t have it.
Seeing this, Zhu Biao could only take a step back. He had no shortage of officials under his command, but he lacked talents like Zhao Wenjing who could manage money, food and taxes. Not only did he not have any, Lao Zhu had only this one treasure.
In the past few years, the father and son have been hard-hit by Zhao Wenjing not once or twice. Even Lao Zhu's violent temper can be tolerated, which shows that Zhao Wenjing is indeed dedicated to the country and is not a corrupt person.
Zhu Biao rubbed his eyebrows and sighed: "Then the grain tax exemption policy should be extended for another two years. The people spent a lot of money raising horses for the court. Now that the horses are suddenly taken back, their losses are not small. If there are wealthy households Those who are willing to leave the horse can do so.”
"There are a lot of issues involved here. After you go back, discuss it carefully and come up with a charter and send it to me. I can also send it to the Holy Lord to implement this matter as soon as possible."
Zhao Wenjing obviously still felt that the prince was a little too kind to the people. Of course, it was not bad. It would be a good thing if the country was prosperous and the people were safe, and the treasury was full. But now that there is a lot of waste to be done and the household department is not enough money and food everywhere, it is really difficult to support the prince. Give grace to the world.
But after all, Zhao Wenjing was not as stubborn as the censors. Knowing that His Highness had given him enough face, he temporarily tolerated it and told the Ministry of Household's difficulties in private when he returned home.
"The ministers and others hereby respectfully comply with His Highness's order and I shall retire."
Liu Jin sent them out of the palace. Zhu Biao relaxed his stiff body and leaned on the back of the chair. How could he not know about the difficulties in the Ministry of Household Affairs? It’s just that Jiangnan has been plagued by disasters in the past two years. The last time the Jiangnan case caused turmoil until now They haven't been completely settled yet.
The last time it was targeted at the scholar-gentry class, this time it was targeted at ordinary people. Neither one of them is scary, but the combination of the two is scary.
That's why he hoped to compensate and appease the people so that they would not have any resentment. Ma Zheng was not so angry that the people were angry. It would be good for the court and the people to stop it in time.
The imperial court has abolished the population tax, which means that no one, male or female, needs to pay a sum of money for the birth of a child. It can be foreseen that the next few decades or even hundreds of years will be an era of population surge. If the pastures of the Central Plains are not given up, , the conflict between man and horse competing for land is bound to intensify.
The interests behind the horse farm are very involved, and there is an honest reason for its existence. If this problem is not solved at this time, the future emperor may not be able to solve it.
Zhu Biao stood up and walked to the map of the Ming Dynasty hung in the side hall and looked at it with his hands behind his hands. The Saibei grassland and the Hetao Plain were the most suitable for raising horses, but they were also the most risky. Once Mongolia was suddenly unified, all the arrangements of the Ming Dynasty in Mongolia would be gone. Instead, she was making wedding clothes for others.
Historically, the Ming Dynasty paid great attention to the control of the Hetao area after driving the Mongols back to Mobei. It also regarded it as a treasure land for patrolling war horses and training cavalry. However, after the Tumubao Incident in the 14th year of Ming Yingzong's orthodoxy, the Ming Dynasty The military strength of the DPRK decreased sharply, and the Hetao area was gradually occupied by the Mongols. The Ming Dynasty once again lost this treasure land.
And there is another very important reason. Zhu Miao knew that the Hetao area gradually entered severe desertification during the Ming Dynasty, and it was basically extremely difficult for immigrants to colonize the land and raise horses.
So now the best choices are the southwest and Liaodong, that is, Guizhou, Yunnan and the northeast. These places have harsh climates, are sparsely populated, and have very few Han people, and not many people are willing to open up wasteland for farming.
In addition to the pasture of Taipu Temple in the future, there is a huge area. Instead of forcibly moving people to farm, for example, the people can be induced to go to herd and raise horses, and then the court will purchase it to form a trade market.
The government-run pastures ensure the most basic supply of horses, while the common people's pastures can compete with each other to produce good horses, which also solves the problem of the deteriorating war horses.
Liaodong is already in the Ming Dynasty's pocket. The battle between Naha and Goryeo was quite fierce. To this extent, even if he regretted it, it would be too late. He made a wrong step and made a wrong step. I believe he would not be so stupid. He had to do it. Death and reputation.
As for Yunnan, Zhu Biao was not in a hurry at first. He originally planned to recover Liaodong and then fight with the overwhelming power of the sky. Not only to completely eliminate the stubborn remnant of the former Yuan Dynasty, King Liang, but also to deter the Southeast Asian countries.
But now it seems that it is necessary to discuss it with the Duan family. Anyway, it is not necessary to deter the Nanyang countries in Yunnan. At worst, it is more convenient to find a reason to destroy a country in Nanyang.
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