The establishment of the Ministry of Agriculture was a suggestion from Feng Ziying.
In fact, throughout the history of the dynasties, although the imperial court has repeatedly paid attention to agriculture, it has focused more on issues such as land and food prices and meeting the needs of the people. Other specific agricultural affairs have been mostly undertaken by local officials.
At the central level, more attention is paid to food security and tax collection. As long as there is enough food to eat, prices do not skyrocket, and people do not rebel and cause trouble because they have difficulty eating, then everything will be fine.
This is also a typical manifestation of the feudal dynasty's imperial government's management of social affairs.
The emergence of potatoes, sweet potatoes and corn is an opportunity, and their promotion in the North has achieved gratifying achievements, especially in Shaanxi, Shanxi and Liaodong. These three new ones come in handy and can largely make up for the old three—— Wheat, millet, and rice are dominant but have disadvantages in mountainous areas, riverbanks, and scattered terrain where the geographical and geological environment is not suitable.
Qi Yongtai, Gu Bingqian, Guan Huangqiao and others have to admit that these new crops derived from so-called Western medicine have greatly improved the plight of lack of food and land in the north, especially in Shanxi, Shaanxi and Liaodong. The adaptability makes it a treasure for the government, which is distressed by floods and droughts, and has spared no effort in promoting it in the past few years.
Even though there are still many people who are not used to the taste of new crops, in the face of the reality that filling their stomachs is the most important thing, potatoes and sweet potatoes are simply the most delicious delicacies compared to grass roots, tree bark and Guanyin soil.
The establishment of the Ministry of Agriculture can largely take over this area of work from the central level, such as the cultivation of new crops, research on land and soil, planning of new land reclamation, food security and reserves will also be transferred from the Ministry of Household Affairs to the Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry of Revenue focuses more on tax collection and use.
This has been announced to important ministers before, which means it will be implemented soon.
There is not much controversy about the selection of Minister of Agriculture.
Feng Ziying strongly recommended Xu Guangqi.
Xu Guangqi, who came from Songjiang, was an outlier among the scholars in Southern Zhili. He didn't make friends with scholars very much, and his hobbies tended to focus on agriculture and agriculture, so he was somewhat out of place among the scholars in Jiangnan.
But everyone agrees that this person is a practical person, especially the three new crops that were introduced and cultivated by him. No one can deny this merit.
In addition, they were also Jiangnan scholars after all, and Gu Bingqian and Huang Ruliang also recognized it, so Feng Ziying recommended him in one fell swoop. Qiao Yingjia, who was originally dissatisfied with Xu Guangqi's Catholic faith, acquiesced.
Feng Ziying was not very interested in the political opinions of several cabinet ministers on the affairs they were in charge of.
I have seen it a long time ago, and I have communicated with them a long time ago and put forward some of my own opinions. To be precise, these political opinions also include many of my own opinions.
For example, Gu Bingqian’s test method was supplemented and explained by Guan Yingzhen, the Ministry of Rites’ exploration of arithmetic education as a supplement to classics and poetry, Huang Ruliang’s exploratory opinions on the reform of the tax system, and Qiao Yingjia’s suggestions for further strengthening and improving Some opinions on infrastructure construction have Feng Ziying’s shadow in them to a greater or lesser extent.
There is no way, if we follow the same old routine, it will be difficult to show the new atmosphere of the new cabinet, and Feng Ziying always subtly suggests some new ways. These cabinet ministers also have their own senior advisers, who intercept and process them themselves. , mix it into routine affairs and take it out, it becomes their own thing.
Feng Ziying is also happy to see the success.
There is no need to take all the limelight on yourself. If you are in charge of your own affairs, some of your ideas and opinions on military affairs are enough to attract people's attention.
The examination method is the main topic of discussion.
Although we have communicated with officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs and even various ministries before, the scope of the examination method is too broad, and it is mainly based on local officials. The work of almost all ministries must be included, and the future needs to be discussed with the cabinet. The work plan is linked to one or even several years, so it is quite complicated.
Each department will put forward its own insights and opinions on its own jurisdiction and work. At the same time, it must be combined with the implementation of provinces, prefectures, prefectures, and counties. It involves many detailed actions, and each department needs to take action. Specific operating specifications and assessment rules.
The discussion on the test method alone lasted for an hour, so during lunch, it was only Guan Yingzhen's turn to add something.
After a short rest in the afternoon, we continued.
It is rare to have a major court meeting, especially when the new cabinet elaborates on its policy agenda. Everyone must watch and listen with wide eyes and listen as much as possible. At the same time, if their own interests are involved, they must also mention it without politeness. Fight for your own interests.
When it was Feng Ziying's turn to talk about military affairs, she was already at peace.
"Ziying, it seems that you are planning to burn the midnight oil and fight all night. How about you come back after dinner first?" Guan Yingzhen joked with a smile: "Ziying is new here and has prepared a lot of content for everyone, not only involving military affairs, but also In other words, a lot of content related to military affairs will also be covered in a meaningful way. It is estimated that everyone is also very interested, so I have to ask everyone to be patient and come back after dinner..."
Feng Ziying did not expect that the discussion in the Great Council would be so intense and fulfilling. It should be said that it had never been implemented in such a way before. It may have something to do with Gu Bingqian's relatively weak status as chief minister, and Guan Huang and others also wanted to He had to use this method to express his existence, so this scene happened.
However, Feng Ziying didn't care too much about this. Since he was sitting in this position, he would definitely come up with all his ideas. It was rare to have such a neat opportunity, and he would have to instill them in them from now on, or let them know. They have established in their hearts that they will always be the makers of inspiring and thought-provoking remarks in this cabinet, and they are also the leaders of the trend of this era.
As long as this concept is established in the minds of these important ministers, and they are constantly aware of the benefits and benefits brought by this new concept in the process of governance, then they will not subconsciously react every time they propose a new measure or path in the future. would prefer to try it out first to see if it would benefit from it.
With this kind of mental set-up, if you push forward anything in the future, you will encounter less resistance, and it will be easier to get support.
"When it comes to military affairs, your thoughts must be on the army. You may all feel that now that internal and external troubles have been eliminated, what should we do with the huge army? Especially the border army... Then we need to consider our big army. Where should this carriage go in the future and how should it go to make the scenery in front of this carriage more beautiful and the road wider..."
If Gu Bingqian only mentioned the vision for the next five years, Feng Ziying directly lifted the lid and directly touched the direction and goals of the Zhou Dynasty for the next ten years and a hundred years.
