Horses are not in great demand in peacetime, but extremely high in wartime, so they must be supported by the imperial government's finances.
After Yang Yiqing left, the imperial court also began to discuss specific implementation issues. The core of the complex was actually the cavalry, and the core of the cavalry was the war horse.
Nowadays, the horse farms in Shaanxi are gradually recovering. In the 17th year of Hongzhi, the imperial court restored the Anding Garden. Therefore, there are 7 horse farms in Shaanxi this year, with a cumulative capacity of 84,000 war horses.
In the 18th year of Hongzhi's reign, the imperial court planned to add a new Shangyuan horse ranch like Andingyuan in Shaanxi. The so-called Shangyuan is a horse ranch that can breed 20,000 war horses every year.
If you want to recover, you need money to repair the horse camp castle and barracks, and increase the number of stallions and horse herders.
Every horse and every soldier must be accumulated bit by bit. Only by doing these things seriously can the strength be achieved through repetition. And after reintegration, there will be better horse ranches on the Hetao Plain!
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao never relaxed his attention to horse affairs from beginning to end. Not only that, he sent instructions to the cabinet more than once, asking the cabinet to pay attention to the restoration and construction of official horse farms in various parts of the court.
Now that duplexing has been proposed as a national policy, horse politics has naturally become more important. And needing taels of silver has become the right thing to do.
Now that he had the extra 460,000 taels of silver, Zhu Houzhao felt more secure.
In fact, these silver coins are not the money that goes into the Ministry of Household Affairs, but basically disaster relief, money and food exemptions, the Ministry of Household Affairs is almost the same. It is not easy for the emperor Zhu Houzhao to be able to make no shortfalls without carrying out any large-scale construction projects or various image projects.
Moreover, when Yang Yiqing set out for Guyuan, he also received 100,000 taels of silver from the Ministry of Household Affairs.
With the current national strength of the Ming Dynasty, it cannot be achieved in three or two years to restore the number of millions of horses in the heyday of the Han and Tang Dynasties. What Zhu Houzhao wanted was to be able to support the needs of a medium-sized campaign.
In the era of human rule, the court paid attention to it and appointed capable officials, which could at least make the situation better.
After Liang Chu left the post of Minister of Taipusi, the new official was named Wang Zhen. He was neither an old minister of Qiandi in the East Palace nor a pragmatic minister that Wang Hao had longed for during his lectures. He was the general manager of the Anning Garden Horse Farm recommended by Yang Yiqing. .
He is just a scholar. At the age of forty, he has spent seventeen or eighteen years on the horse farm.
Yang Yiqing's review of Shaanxi Ma Zheng was clearly understood by Zhu Houzhao, so his recommendation of this person was naturally credible.
This time, the Ministry of Rites summoned provincial-level officials from all provinces to the capital, and officials at the same level in the capital were also included, and Wang Zhen was among them.
What is good at the top will be bad at the bottom. This sentence still makes sense.
Zhu Houzhao was particularly diligent in summoning officials, tried to be pragmatic in handling political affairs, and promoted officials with pragmatism in mind. Therefore, the number of people working in the court is increasing, and it is difficult to guarantee whether they are working hard.
But at least it's working.
In addition, the Jing Yan Ri Lecture can also be held normally, and if he is not dealing with government affairs, the emperor's daily life is in Kunning Palace or exercising.
Furthermore, the Supervisor of Ceremonies and the Imperial Guards were both restricted. As long as the big news is not raised frequently, some officials can't help but chant the saint.
Under Zhu Houzhao's promotion, the cabinet and the six ministries gave priority to handling national affairs. However, the previous complex national policies had been agreed upon, and the imperial edict to open the sea had not yet been issued, so the court fell into calm during this period.
Zhu Houzhao also entered a period of calm in his emperor's years, which was normal government administration.
For ancient emperors, the common reports they heard were local reports of disasters, requests for money and food exemptions, or some officials impeaching others. In addition, for him, the most common report was that various officials began to give him advice. , saying that this is a bad government, that is also a bad government, each and every one of them seems to want to revolutionize the fate of the empire.
But by this time, Zhu Houzhao would no longer agree easily.
In addition to the reform and opening up of the sea, the biggest move of the court this year is to cancel the pastoralism in Fucheng, Suning, Renqiu and Jiaohe counties of Hejian Prefecture in North Zhili.
The horses raised by the people are not only thin, but also malnourished, and they are also prone to diseases. If people don't have enough to eat, how can the horses get fat? If the war horses eat refined grains and beans, they cannot just eat grass.
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This horse-raising policy started because the Song Dynasty completely lost the territory suitable for horse herding, and Zhu Houzhao deliberately wanted it to withdraw from the stage of history.
Even for this reason, he must take back those territories suitable for raising horses!
"There are many government offices in the North Zhili region. Officials at all levels and noble families have occupied a lot of land. And once they take action, they will occupy the land. The people have no way to beg for a living and raise horses. It's still hard to live in these days. How can we survive? So many people have no food to eat. If they don’t rebel this year, they won’t rebel next year, and they will rebel the year after that.”
"And the capital is in this area. You always remind me that the southeast is dominated by finance and taxation. Don't you know that Hebei is also an important place in the capital. In the eighteenth year of Hongzhi, the facilities, personnel, stallions, and number of herding troops at Wu'anyuan Horse Racing Farm must be all If it is in place, with this racecourse, the court can raise another 20,000 war horses. In this way, the remaining four counties of Jinghai and Ningjin in Hejian Prefecture will be canceled next year. In this way, North Zhili will have Shuntian Prefecture and Baoding Prefecture. If the three prefectures of Hejian Prefecture and Hejian Prefecture completely cancel the pastoral care, the people can take a breather."
The emperor discussed government affairs with the main ministers outside Fengtian Gate.
The big thing is that there are a few old men. There is nothing big like today. There are also many ministers and chiefs from various ministries.
Han Wen and Gu Zuo from the Ministry of Household Affairs, Wang Chang and Wang Zhen from the Ministry of War, and a special person, Yang Tinghe from the Military Aircraft Department, were also sent to take charge of horse administration.
Because Ma Zheng and Fu Tao were linked, the Military Aircraft Department was responsible for all matters related to Ma Zheng, so Yang Tinghe could not escape.
According to the emperor's request, the Ministry of Household Affairs will provide support in the form of seeds and agricultural tools for counties that have converted from livestock farming to grain growing. Counties with particularly difficult conditions will be exempted from taxes for one year. After that, everything will be business as usual, and Zhu Houzhao will focus on these. It’s okay to falsify the county’s food payment status, but don’t get caught if you have the ability.
Because he wants to know whether the policy will be effective if it is implemented.
Fortunately, the results shown by Shuntian Prefecture and Baoding Prefecture are gratifying. Chinese people are like this. As long as you give them a way to survive, they will definitely survive tenaciously. Therefore, the money and food of these two mansions have increased by tens of thousands of dan in the past three years.
Coupled with the tens of thousands of workers employed in various construction projects in the capital, the number of refugees in the capital area has been greatly reduced, and social conflicts have also been greatly eased.
Seeing that the reign name was about to be changed to Zhengde, many people felt that this government affairs should be the outstanding achievements of the Zhengde Dynasty. Although the results were slow and the two governments were eliminated after seven years, it did work.
Since it is effective, the whole court will naturally go all out, so officials at all levels, large and small, are rushing towards it, waiting to gain fame while benefiting the people and showing their faces in front of the emperor to gain a sense of presence.
"Mr. Li Ge, Mr. Xie Ge."
Li Dongyang, Xie Qian and Han Wen bowed their hands in front of the emperor.
"I have received seven or eight disaster reports in the past few days. There are droughts in Fujian and Shaanxi, and floods in Anhui and Huguang. A total of 11 counties have been affected by the disaster. I have approved the batch. You can take it and follow the instructions as soon as possible. .”
"According to the order!"
Zhu Houzhao stood up and clasped his hands, "In mid-May, the imperial court held a lecture for provincial officials for the first time, which became a routine in the future. The purpose was to greatly improve the government affairs capabilities of officials at this level. More importantly, We need to provide them with greater possibilities for promotion, and let the person sitting in that position understand that there is a golden bench under his butt, and the gold does not refer to silver, but to this place, the Forbidden City."
"In this way, these people can cherish their official positions. Human psychology is like this. He knows that he has a high probability of being promoted, so he doesn't like to take risks in that position. Otherwise, thank you."
The cabinet and the six ministers all nodded.
Wang Hao then asked: "However, in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty, there were many local officials and few capital officials. In terms of quantity, it was always not enough."
Zhu Houzhao nodded, "It just has to be enough, so that the court can select the best, and there is a high probability of promotion, not a certain promotion. You can ask for this guarantee, but I won't say it anyway."
The ministers smiled, knowing that the emperor's words were a bit of a joke.
"In this way, officials in charge of a province must abide by the rules and produce results." Wang Hao stroked his beard, "This method has endless uses."
"The ultimate goal is to decentralize some government approval powers that are very time-sensitive." Zhu Houzhao explained to the group of old men, "Decentralization does not mean ignoring it. It is divided into two steps. In the first step, the county magistrate and prefecture report to the chief envoy In the event of a disaster, the Chief Envoy will make his or her own decision whether to approve or disapprove according to the situation, so as to facilitate quick disposal. In the second step, the Chief Envoy of each province will report to the court, and the Cabinet and the Supervisor of Ceremonies will jointly verify."
"If the verification is true and the handling is appropriate, the officer will be reported to the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Personnel will write a special commendation letter. The Director of Ceremonies will also keep a set of files. I will not be able to remember the resumes of so many provincial officials in the future. I still have to Look at these awards. If the verification is false or the handling is improper, I will give you different degrees of punishment if you report to the emperor. The wasted silver, money and food will be dealt with based on the principle of 'who pays for the treat'. If you treat the guest , If you can’t afford the bill, just confiscate his house. Generally, such officials are also corrupt and will have money.”
Of course, there will be fraud in this process. For example, those who have a good way are likely to be rewarded, and those who offend their superiors are likely to be falsely accused.
But under the rule of man, any system or any measure can be faked, and it cannot be perfect no matter what. Unless the person who rules is God. But even God has shot corrupt criminals.
"This system will be implemented on a trial basis in Shandong and Sichuan for one year, right?"
The chief envoy to Shandong was Liu Jian, and the chief envoy to Sichuan was Fei Hong. The emperor's arrangement in this way was obviously very cautious and stingy about delegating power, so that no one else would allow it unless he was the official he trusted most.
The civil servants did not have much opinion. To some extent, this is an expansion of vassal power.
After leaving the court, the cabinet immediately copied the emperor's decree in the imperial newspaper for the reading of officials of all sizes in the capital.
After Lu Shen, the new head of the Ministry of Household Affairs, took off his shift, he went to a tavern with his friend Lin Zhou. Lin Zhou was also a new Jinshi this year. However, he failed to stay in the capital. Instead, he got the position of magistrate of Wukang County, Huzhou Prefecture. In a few days, I'm going to take office tomorrow.
In the capital, merchants, big and small, were shouting along the streets. Various shops were lined up in rows, and people were coming and going, everyone enjoying themselves.
This situation made Lu Shen couldn't help but excitedly recited a poem, "There is a moon in Chang'an, and the sound of thousands of households pounding clothes. A peaceful and prosperous age, a peaceful and prosperous age. The Holy Emperor is in the dynasty, and I think that in another ten years, my Ming Dynasty will be able to restore the prosperity of the Han and Tang Dynasties." "
"Decision first, report later. Did Brother Lu see it too?" Lin Zhou shook his fan, looking like a scholar.
Of course Lu Shen nodded, "Blessed are the people who live in this life. Brother Lin, I'll be happy to report to you today!"
It was noisy and noisy outside, and there were people fighting along the street, but this was the scene they loved to see the most.
Meng Ying, who had just entered the capital, was directly shocked by this scene.
The prosperity of the capital!
Thousands of people were knocking at Zhengyangmen, saying that a city that never sleeps was going to be built. Outside Zhengyangmen, hundreds of people gathered along a small river and began to clean the ground attachments and level the land. After asking, they found out that a city was going to be built here. A tall building!
She even doubted that there was no need for sweet potatoes here. If this continued for a few years, not everyone in the world would have food to eat!
I don't know when Mei Kejia came behind her, "There are so many people?"
"There are so many! They are worthy of being at the feet of the Emperor!"
"Actually, this was not the case in the eleventh year of Hongzhi."
Meng Ying's mind flashed back to the emperor she saw yesterday, "That's why you keep telling me that the Ming Lord is in court."
"good."
