The recruitment of officials on the third day, the administration of officials on the fourth day, the increase of income and expenditure reduction on the fifth day, and the city that never sleeps on the sixth day. The bureaucratic elite of the Ming Dynasty gathered in one place to discuss all aspects of various issues.
For the appointment of officials, it was decided that in the first year of Zhengde, the imperial court would set up an additional imperial examination. In order to facilitate the candidates from all over the country to rush to the capital, it was scheduled to be held in October.
It’s good that Zhejiang’s collective dismissal of military honors is for the sake of opening up the sea, but it also has negative effects. Therefore, this measure is to win over the scholars from all over the world. This thing is the same as river work. It's not difficult. Symbolism accounts for half of it.
As for the administration of officials, it is not this time to start fighting corruption, but to continue to reduce redundant staff based on last year, especially in the capital. In addition, it advocates a practical work style and combines it with academies to try to cultivate technocrats.
The executive body of this is the Shaofu. The Shaofu opened a branch college in the academy, and the talents trained could work for the Shaofu or run their own businesses.
Considering the status of businessmen at this time, almost no one would do the second option. Zhu Houzhao just left an opening.
It is also normal to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. It is nothing more than a further reduction in palace expenses and palace construction. Speaking of which, the construction of royal palaces in various places in the mid-Ming Dynasty was actually an expense. Some princes had nothing to do and built their palaces to look like palaces. At this point, Zhu Houzhao was stingy. The limit he could endure was set by Zhu Yuanzhang No matter how much his salary was, he couldn't bear it.
The City That Never Sleeps is a little more complicated because it's a new thing overall.
Not to mention the officials in charge, even Zhu Houzhao himself had never tried to create such a thing in ancient times...
First of all, this area is relatively large. It is a rectangle as a whole, with two sides close to the city wall. It is about 1.6 miles wide from east to west and about 2.4 miles long from north to south. Because of the city wall, there are only two west and north gates, of which the west gate is As the main door, there is also an auxiliary door for transporting goods, which is not open to pedestrians.
There are two long vertical streets and three short horizontal streets in the Evernight City. The center is a circular three-story building, which is the highest point, and the rest are two-story structures. There are 112 shops, and all forms of shops are allowed, including brothels.
In fact, Jiaofangsi opened a brothel and a casino in it.
Under the Shaofu, the official name of Evernight City was established. All merchants renting shops must sign a contract with Evernight City and pay rent first and then operate.
Shaofu Evernight City itself also has administrative functions. It has established a Commodity Supervision and Inspection Department. All commodities from the Commodity Supervision and Inspection Department enter through the auxiliary door and are inspected by the Supervision and Inspection Department. After confirmation, they sign and release.
If there is a problem in the future, then follow the product to find the merchant and the merchant to find the signing supervisory inspector.
The place is small and somewhat manageable, so it’s not difficult to control.
Zhu Houzhao was deeply involved in these aspects, and he had to help figure it out, otherwise the Ming officials might not be able to figure it out.
In fact, in places like these, one is food safety and quality, and the other is safety and order.
With these two points, even if there are some other problems, they can be solved.
Needless to say about safety, the Beijing camp was stationed and swept away all the monsters and monsters.
In the corner of the city that never sleeps, four houses are built together. The houses are equipped with rockeries, streams and gardens.
Meifu in the capital has paid 20,000 yuan to reserve a place. Considering the relationship between Meifu and the royal family, maybe Zhu Houzhao can stay there for two days in the future.
The overall style of the City that never sleeps tends to be luxurious, which is contrary to the current trend of frugality advocated by the imperial court, so it has attracted opposition from some officials. However, the initial construction of the City that never sleeps requires more than 20,000 people, and there are also some "downstream supply chains", which can make the city more than ten thousand people. Tens of thousands of people have careers to rely on. This is a hard fact that cannot be refuted.
Furthermore, the city that never sleeps uses a lot of kerosene, candles and other lighting materials. In addition, in order to meet consumption, goods from various places will flow into the capital at an accelerated pace. A new urban pattern can be expected.
Driven by the city that never sleeps, tens of thousands of residents have gathered in Nancheng of the capital. These people live along the river, which in turn drives the commerce in this area, making Nancheng even more lively.
The Mei family built restaurants and opened cloth shops here, and merchants from far and near also opened taverns and medicine halls in these places. The more people there, the more business there was, and the bun shop was the most popular.
This is also the benefit of the city that never sleeps.
In ancient times, there was no such new term as big city disease. People gathered and commerce flourished. This was a prosperous age.
The city that never sleeps is scheduled to open in August, and the construction of the buildings along the street is currently being stepped up.
The one who moved quickly asked Zhu Houzhao to start planning. What would these people do if there was no place to work after the construction was completed?
He can't build these buildings everywhere. One day, commercial and residential buildings will be saturated, and so many workers will only build houses. When there are no houses to build, the court will not be able to support them.
So on the night of the sixth day, he summoned Gu Zuo and Mei Kejia into the palace to discuss the matter together. This is a move that truly benefits the people.
"The ministers in the court told me that agriculture is the foundation and business is the last. There are too many idle people in the capital. They are not engaged in production, but are keen on work. Because work is not limited by the weather, there is no so-called off-season. , one day's work earns one day's wages, and whether there is a drought or not, there will always be income. If things go on like this, won't the people rush to work and end up in a situation where no one is farming? What do you think, Mr. Li? "
Gu Zuo became more and more stable now. He reported back: "Everyone lives for profit. The people themselves know which one is better, work or farm, so naturally he will do it. If the people are good, how can the court be bad? Vice versa? Say, if the people are not good, what benefit can the court get? This is one of them."
Zhu Houzhao nodded, the logic was still clear.
"Secondly, the current situation of our Ming Dynasty is that there is only land for people and no land for people. If there is really uncultivated land, then I and your majesty do not need to discuss it tonight. We only need to send these workers back to their hometowns and distribute them. With the land, wouldn’t everything be fine?”
"That's right. Let the people cultivate the land, but there is no land to divide. This is really a joke."
Nowadays, land annexation is serious around Beizhili. After all, there are many government offices in the capital. Which family is not allowed to occupy hundreds of acres of fertile land?
Furthermore, in fact, the current people still value land very much. As long as they have a little extra money, they go back to their hometowns to buy fields. How can there be people who have land but don’t farm? Unless you can't survive.
】
"Your Majesty, Young Situ... I have something to say, but I don't know whether to say it or not."
Mekojia said slowly.
"Just say it."
Mei Kejia said: "What your Majesty is worried about is where the more than 20,000 workers will go after the completion of the Night City. In this regard, I have three strategies, the upper, middle and lower. The lowest strategy is to encourage private businessmen like me to build more buildings. , digest these workers among the people, otherwise they will always be a burden to the court; the middle strategy is to change places and build another city that never sleeps. Yingtian, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Kaifeng, Luoyang...anywhere can be used."
"What's the best idea?"
"Your Majesty, Young Situ, do you still remember that the shipyard does not have enough boat workers?"
Zhu Houzhao raised his brows. He was still a big businessman after all. He seemed to have caught something.
Mei Kejia lowered his head slightly, "Relieving too many places and not enough places. Although it is a bit troublesome, it will be done once and for all and kill two birds with one stone."
After being reminded, Zhu Houzhao was able to think of a solution, "Just open a technical school. It will be free upfront. It can also solve the problem of insufficient boatmen."
"In this way, all industries can prosper!" It's very simple. Since these people can be guided to become boatmen, they can naturally be guided to other livelihoods. "I'm just afraid that some people will be reluctant to leave their homeland."
Mei Kejia lowered his eyebrows and said, "Young Situ, many people who came to the capital have already left their homeland. And the people who lost their land are all looking for a ration of food. Whether they want it or not is not something they consider. How can they rely on it? It’s important to make a living with one skill.”
Zhu Houzhao couldn't help laughing, he thought of something.
Poor people have no choice.
"This is a way, and it has just entered March, and it will take about half a year. You two will each run a shipyard. After you go down, you will publicize it in the construction site of the Evernight City, because after the construction here is completed, the imperial court will not Build such a large-scale building again. The learning of shipwrights is based on the principle of voluntariness. By the way, the daily wages must be written clearly and can be progressive. Apprentice, apprentice, and skilled correspond to different wages."
"For now, the imperial court will definitely not just set up shipping departments in three places, and the scale of maritime trade will gradually expand. Therefore, shipyards must not only build more ships, but also encourage the construction of larger ships!"
"Yes, obey the order!"
Create jobs, encourage entrepreneurship, and re-regulate the job market...
Zhu Houzhao tried his best to make some tricks in the environment of small peasant economy. It is a pity that the objective laws of the economy are not subject to human will. For example, so far, changes can only be created through trade with the outside world. Shipbuilding originated from maritime trade.
But internally, when talking about river workers and farming, it is actually a bit helpless.
When he mentioned this, he remembered something,
"The last time you came to Beijing, the girl you brought back was named... named..."
Mei Kejia understood it and said, "Your Majesty, my name is Meng Ying."
"Oh, yes, yes." Zhu Houzhao pinched his waist, "Her father should have been released from prison. Have you contacted him? Can you bring back sweet potatoes that can be cultivated?"
"Your Majesty, Borneo is thousands of miles away. Moreover, I recently heard from merchants who returned from the sea that Hongyi has controlled this thing and is not allowed to take it away from the island at will."
"There is control? Doesn't that mean there is one in Borneo?!"
Gu Zuo and Mei Kejia were a little surprised by His Majesty's way of thinking, but after thinking about it carefully, it was not wrong, "...it should be so."
Zhu Houzhao looked delighted and waved his hand, "Xuanjin Yiwei! What are you afraid of in terms of control? I'm just afraid it doesn't exist!"
As long as there is, we must snatch it back! "
This is not the time to talk about being gentle, courteous and thrifty!
