Zhu Biao accompanied the Crown Princess to feed the fish among the pavilions of the water pavilion, watching them wander freely in the water. Half of the water pavilion was close to the water, and half was leaning on the bank. The spacious platforms fell down, and the breeze, the shadow of the sun, and the fragrance of lotus came all at once. , looking around at the surrounding peach red and green willows.
"A letter came from the palace, saying that preparations have begun for the wedding ceremony of the second child. My father, the Queen, and my mother want you and me to rush back before then."
Zhu Biao dropped a handful of fish food, and many koi fish jumped up to fight for it: "But there is no need to rush, the prince's wedding will take several months to prepare."
Chang Luohua leaned back on the flying chair with a bowed backrest and replied: "I remember it was not originally scheduled for next year, why did it suddenly move forward?"
Zhu Biao raised his lips slightly and said: "There is no war in the Western Xinjiang, Yunnan, Guizhou and Liaodong have been conquered one after another. My father is preparing to entrust the vassal kings."
Chang Luohua frowned instinctively. Her husband was the prince and her son was the grandson of the emperor. The enfeoffment of vassal states was hurting her interests, but her brows relaxed after a moment.
She couldn't interfere in this matter, and she also believed that with her husband's ability, there was nothing in this world that he couldn't solve. Since he didn't take action, there was a reason.
Zhu Biao's attitude towards this was naturally consistent with that of his father. The replacement of military power was very necessary. In the years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, there have been constant rebellions among the people in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Jiangxi, Huguang, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shandong and Zhejiang. It is extremely rare for a dozen provinces to still be like this in the early days of a dynasty, under an emperor who attached great importance to law and strictly controlled corruption.
It is so frequent and covers such a wide area. This is also rare in the past dynasties. It is not just corrupt officials and the like. The majority of them are actually in the local guards and towns.
In fact, it is not difficult to understand that civil servants sometimes have to make excuses, and military generals are really unscrupulous when they cause harm to the place. However, because at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, martial arts and culture were in decline, even Zhu Yuanzhang could not put a knife in his own thigh.
These people are no better than civil servants. As long as they have military power, it doesn't matter how many they kill. The so-called scholars can't rebel for three years, but the anger of the generals is enough to bring disaster to the country.
A decree can make a farmer ascend to the emperor's palace. There may be a shortage of officials in the officialdom, but there will always be people to replace them. It is nothing more than a difference in operation.
But it is different in the army. Without the ability to serve the people, and without brilliant achievements on the battlefield, even if Enyu is pardoned and becomes a general, it is impossible to command the generals below, and it will only provoke a mutiny.
Moreover, the transfer of military power is far from a simple matter, especially now. In the Song Dynasty, it is not that the soldiers do not know the generals, but the generals do not know the soldiers. After Song Taizu released his military power over a cup of wine, he made many arrangements to prevent Chen Qiaoyi's yellow robe from happening again in the future.
Successive kings followed suit, which led to a situation in the Song Dynasty where those who could mobilize the army could not directly lead the army, and those who could directly lead the army could not mobilize the army.
Judging from the purpose, it is naturally extremely successful, but this also prevents the generals on the battlefield from fully understanding their subordinates, and they are unable to know and appoint people well; similarly, the soldiers cannot fully trust their generals, and they cannot fully trust their generals. You won’t try your best to take the lead.
The Song Dynasty was rich in money and food, but it was rare in history that the country was destroyed and enriched. Lao Zhu also came from a military background, from a soldier to a general and marshal. In order to ensure combat effectiveness, it was natural for the soldiers to know the generals and the generals to know the soldiers.
This was naturally the advantage of the Ming army in maintaining its combat power in troubled times to compete in the world, but now, generals never leave their troops, soldiers never leave their generals, and generals form cliques based on their regions...
It is absolutely impossible to do it forcefully. You can only go along with it half-hardly and not softly. Using many princes as bridges and the status of royal relatives as commitments, concluding marriages and gradually transferring military power is a method that everyone can accept.
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A few days later, Zhu Biao was discussing the issue of Japanese pirates with Marquis Jiangyin. Although Marquis Jinghai had wiped out several waves at sea, there were still scattered Japanese pirates invading coastal counties and nuisance the smooth sea routes.
The magistrate of Hangzhou came to visit and submitted the true situation of land reclamation in various prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River. Due to the shortage of officials in the court and the turmoil of the Jiangnan case, most of the prefectural officials today are from Zhu Biao's command since long ago. Several major families.
Therefore, when the prince really wanted to know, he quickly calculated the number and was a hundred times more serious than dealing with the Ministry of Revenue. He deceived the superiors and concealed the information, but he did not dare to really conceal it from his own backers.
The government of the southerners to serve in the north, and the northerners to serve in the south, was temporarily shelved after the imperial examinations were stopped. There was nothing that could be done about it. There were too few people in the north who could serve as officials, which was not enough to govern the south, and there were too many people in the south. , the north is vast and sparsely populated, so it is temporarily unavailable.
Zhu Biao looked at the number they falsely reported to the court. Because he had already reprimanded them, and because this was not the problem of the Hangzhou prefect alone, he did not reprimand them again after reading it.
However, after looking at it, I found that as the situation improved, the land cleared in many places was not planted with food crops, but with cash crops, such as cotton and mulberry trees.
You must know that cotton was still a crop that was forced to be grown by the imperial court in the first two years. Now there is no need to force it, and the people have begun to expand the scale independently. It can be seen that people's livelihood is peaceful and they have already considered their interests.
A few decades ago, people would never waste any land to grow inedible things. For every morsel of food they planted, one more child or grandson might have a chance to survive in troubled times.
"Are people now willing to grow cotton independently for sale?"
The magistrate of Hangzhou bowed his head and replied: "Reporting to your highness, in the first two years, the cotton grown by the common people was only recycled by the imperial court. Now, businessmen come to buy it. The price is much higher than that of the government. It is rising year by year. Therefore, the common people Of course I am willing."
"Are there any people who don't grow food but only cotton?"
"Yes, but they are still very few. The older generation still talks about having food in hand and does not panic. They would rather earn less than take risks." "
"The land in the hands of the people is still small, what about yours?"
Zhu Biao’s question was so straightforward that the Hangzhou magistrate was a little embarrassed, but he did not dare to conceal it directly: “The profit from grain is small, but the profit from cotton is heavy. In addition to setting aside necessary acres of land to maintain grain stores in various places, the clan also uses it to grow crops. There are more and more acres of cotton, mulberry, silkworm, and oil-making crops."
Economic recovery is naturally a good thing, but Zhu Biao also has to think more about the fragile economy of small farmers, especially in the face of natural and man-made disasters. Once food is in short supply, what can cotton and mulberry trees do to withstand hunger.
Moreover, crops such as cotton are valuable nowadays, but that is because they have just been promoted and cultivated for a few years and are still in short supply across the country. The price is naturally a bit high, but they are not necessities of life. When the output reaches a certain level, the price will increase. It is bound to fall.
You can count on this to support your family now, and you may still be somewhat wealthy, but that may not be the case in the future. Naturally, it doesn't matter to a high-ranking family. They have a lot of capital and a deep foundation. They can delay selling for two years without delaying anything.
At that time, cotton was worthless, and the price of grain was bound to rise. If you turned around and grew grain, you would not be able to see results. The common people had to borrow money from wealthy families to make ends meet. The interest was too high and they could not pay back. Houses and acres may not be used to offset the account.
Without houses and acres, they become landless and jobless hooligans. They can only sell their lives and become tenant farmers, borrowing land from their masters to grow food and make ends meet. There is little room for improvement.
"There is a big hidden danger here, and I am very worried about it."
The Hangzhou magistrate was not surprised either. The common people were short-sighted and looked at Li Lan but did not see the crisis. This was normal, but for someone like the Crown Prince, how could he not be clear about his foresight.
Not only the prince, but people like them also know very well that they just disdain to control, not to mention blocking people's wealth, such as killing their parents, and no one will listen to them when they advise the people to increase their food rations and plant less cotton.
"We should immediately report to the imperial court and ask for an order to force the people to change the types and scale of planting."
The Hangzhou magistrate paused and said in a deep voice: "And if His Highness has an order, I and other families can make adjustments immediately, no matter the cost."
The first sentence is a normal reply as a local official of the imperial court, and the second sentence is a reply as a member of the East Palace Party. The former is based on the policy of the imperial court, while the latter is to satisfy the wishes of the prince and would rather destroy the seeds at a loss. The crops that fell were replanted with grain, just to please the emperor.
The benefits of cultivating close friends are evident here.
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