In October of the fourth year of Zhengde.
The Shaofu ordered Gu Zuo to personally supervise the road construction project from Huai'an Prefecture to Yangzhou Prefecture and then return to Beijing.
The biggest event in the court today is Qingtun in Ningxia, but many people seem to have ignored it. In fact, the court has invested a total of 8 million taels of silver in two phases this year to build the official road between the north and south Zhili.
There were originally official roads between the two places, but most of them were unmaintained and unmanaged dirt roads, and the condition of the roads was really worrying.
This time the court intended to build a road with smoother and harder surfaces, so it needed so much money.
"Yellow ripe soil? What is that?"
"Back to the emperor, it is a mixture of lime, loess and sand. One part of the lime is put into the river sand, two parts of the loess, then mixed with glutinous rice and Yang peach vine juice, and then fixed in shape with square edge bamboo and fired It will be extremely strong from now on.”
Zhu Houzhao asked: "Will it turn into mud if it rains?"
"No. Wei Chen consulted "Zuo Zhuan" and found that the tomb of Duke Wen of the Song Dynasty was made of loess and lime. Since the Han Dynasty, the yellow ripe soil has been used to build houses because of its strong strength. It will not collapse even if it rains."
When Zhu Houzhao was very young, he saw that kind of house made of mud.
In fact, I was so young at the time that I never thought about what would happen if the soil softened and the house collapsed.
He was too lazy to take care of it. The ancients were also very wise. Bricks existed in the Qin Dynasty and were made very well.
In addition, paving the road with bricks and stones is also an option. This method was also used by the ancients.
"It's a bit interesting." Zhu Houzhao said to Gu Zuo: "The engineering team with good road construction materials should be appropriately rewarded."
"Yes, I obey the order."
"When the young master builds this road, I will come and take a walk first."
Gu Zuo didn't know how to answer, "Your Majesty, this..."
"It is still necessary to leave the palace once in a while. Of course, this is a matter for later, let's talk about it later."
"yes."
Because of the incident in Huai'an Mansion, Gu Zuo asked the emperor to reprimand him. He went home to reflect and then came out again. The first stop was to Huai'an Mansion, just to show his reformed attitude.
There was also some rectification within the Shaofu, especially the Engineering Cleaning Department. Zhu Weichun, the original doctor of the Shaofu, and others were all arrested.
In this organization, no matter how much attention is paid to employing people, it will easily lead to corruption. Zhu Houzhao has already asked Jin Yiwei to put people in it.
Only Gu Zuo knew about this matter. After all, it was easier for him to appoint officials within the Shaofu.
Zhu Houzhao was not always angry with Gu Zuo. Some things were not his fault. At least he was still a very attentive official.
"There is one thing. Let me give you an introduction so you can think about it."
"Yes, please give your Majesty's orders."
"This is the matter of road construction. These projects cost a lot. If we can't generate 'return money', even if I try to do it in the future, it will actually be unsustainable."
Gu Zuo understood and said, "Wei Chen has also thought about this kind of thing. He also roughly thought of two ways."
"Oh? Tell me."
"One is to rely on these well-established official channels to collect some money, not a lot. However, once this method is used improperly, it can easily cause bad effects."
Zhu Houzhao frowned and said, "You mean that the officials who work will be exploited at all levels."
"Your Majesty is holy."
This kind of thing is not difficult to think about. Even in the future of electronic payment, there are still people in some places setting up cards to collect money without authorization.
In ancient times, it was not just collecting money.
"What's another way?"
"I heard that your majesty is cleaning up the military camp, and the number of seeds will definitely increase significantly in the future, so...can we change the color to the true color?"
The so-called true color refers to the real thing, such as grain. Folding means converting these physical objects into cash.
This is a universal law of the natural development of society, because using currency, the general equivalent, is more convenient than physical transactions. Not to mention, how are hundreds of tons of goods transported back and forth?
Zhu Houzhao shook his head, "It's not good to go back and change it. You still have to use silver coins."
Generally speaking, when the ancient courts were governing the country, they always did whatever they had in hand and changed it to whatever was convenient for them. Because there was no limit to their power, they always considered themselves.
This was especially the case in the Ming Dynasty. Later, Zhang Juzheng reformed and all the original grain taxes were converted to cash. Fortunately, after the Longqing Switch, a huge amount of silver flowed into overseas. Otherwise, where would the people find enough silver? In fact, even this has caused people in some areas to go bankrupt.
A small-scale peasant society is not a commodity society. Commercial transactions are sufficient in several big cities, but insufficient in remote areas. After the court changed to collecting silver, ordinary people had to exchange grain or some local goods for silver to pay taxes every year.
How can this be easy? Nowadays, people can’t bear to walk even five kilometers. In ancient times, a simple trip would take more than ten or twenty days when the road conditions were not good, and there was so much food. What should I use? pull? horse? donkey? This kind of thing is not available in every household.
So it actually adds a lot of burden.
But the whip method does have its benefits. After all the money is converted into silver to collect taxes, it will be a lot more convenient for the court and the efficiency will be greatly improved.
Zhu Houzhao himself also intended to promote the monetization of social economy.
After the Ming Dynasty opened the sea, monetization was also a path that had to be taken, because the inflow of more than tens of millions of silver every year has greatly alleviated the silver shortage in society at this stage and promoted further economic activity. This cannot be given up. It will also involve some monetary and financial reforms later on, so he will not be so short-sighted.
"Consider the first option. We don't know how much the number of seeds will increase."
Gu Zuo looked forward to it, "I heard that Ningxia Qingtun has made considerable progress."
Zhu Houzhao pointed to some memorials at hand and said, "Xie Yuqiao (Xie Qian) from Huguang came to Sandaoshu. In addition to asking me for food, he also wanted me to be exempted from taxes. Everyone knows that the imperial court has a rich man like you, Minister of Li, and they are embarrassed to ask for it. If you open your mouth, you can only talk to me."
"There are so many refugees in Huguang, Jingxiang, and Yu Qiaogong can't bear the displacement of the people. This is also because of the people used by His Majesty."
Gu Zuo knew that the emperor was not really complaining. In fact, as long as the court had spare power, these demands would be met. Liu, Li, and Xie were all famous officials in the Qing Dynasty at the beginning, and the emperor spent a lot of effort to send them to places. Now it seems that the results are good.
While the two were talking, Liu Jin came in from outside. He lowered his head and walked to the emperor, leaned closer and whispered a few words.
Gu Zuo looked elsewhere.
"Where are the things? Bring them to me to see."
Liu Jin took out a thin piece of paper from his sleeve.
This is news from Dongchang.
When the incident in Qingtun, Ningxia reached this stage, not only Jinyiwei went, but Dongchang also went there, in order to let him, the emperor, know the truest situation.
After glancing at the piece of paper, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but frowned.
"Your Majesty..." Gu Zuo didn't dare to ask any more questions and tried to say, "But what happened?"
"It's okay. Li Qing, I'll just come here today. I'm a little tired. You can hand the note to the palace another day and we'll talk."
"Yes." Gu Zuo couldn't say much, so he could only leave obediently.
After the people left, Zhu Houzhao sighed. He had repeatedly asked people in the harem not to get involved in the affairs of the outer court, but it seemed inevitable.
About half an hour later, Jin Gui, the attendant, came to report that Wang Hua, the Minister of Rites, wanted to see him.
"Xuan."
Wang Hua came to Beijing in the middle of this year to serve as the Minister of Rites. The sixty-four-year-old Wang Hua is considered an old man at this age. His beard is gray and the wrinkles on his face are very deep, especially the bags under his eyes, which are very bulging.
"Old minister, see your Majesty."
"Give me a seat."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Wang Shangshu, why did you come to the palace to see me at this time?"
Wang Hua pressed his hands on his knees and lightly touched his buttocks to the stool, "Your Majesty, I'm here to report good luck."
"Xiangrui? What Xiangrui?"
Zhu Houzhao: "..."
He was originally irritable, but this was done to him.
"Wang Shangshu, if you have anything to say, just say it directly. There is no need to talk in circles. Am I the kind of monarch who cannot listen to offensive words?"
"Old minister, I don't dare." Wang Hua immediately stood up and bent over.
"Sit down and tell me what you have to say."
Wang Hua was particularly straightforward, "Old minister, I obey the order."
Liu Jin on the side had a special look in his eyes, this old guy did it on purpose.
"The reason why I am reporting to Your Majesty is because of the Ningxia Zhenqingtun incident, Ningxia Qianwei and Shen Shufei's maternal family..."
Zhu Houzhao saw that he didn't feel blocked at all when talking too much, and he gradually understood. This Wang Hua... had something to report to him, but he just played a little trick with him.
"Your Majesty, this matter involves the palace. The old ministers and others don't know how to deal with it, so I am writing to your Majesty to request a holy judgment."
The emperor sighed, "Wang Shangshu, am I too strict? You dare not even tell me the truth about one thing?"
"The emperor has misunderstood. The veteran minister lives in the capital and can receive the emperor's holy teachings every day. Naturally, he knows the emperor's sincerity. However, the ministers who are thousands of miles away do not have the blessing of the veteran minister. Moreover, this matter is extraordinary. All officials in Ningxia Being so cautious is also for His Majesty’s sake.”
Zhu Houzhao waved his hand, "Forget it, you also have your difficulties, I know. But next time, be more direct. You and Wang Shouren also say that no matter what, he just tells me the truth. How can I embarrass him? ?”
Wang Hua was inexplicably grateful. The emperor was extremely kind to his son. "I would like to express my gratitude to Your Majesty for your kindness! If there is nothing else to do, I will retire first."
"Resign? I haven't responded to what you said yet."
Wang Hua handed over his hand and said, "Your Majesty said that it is difficult to be a minister, but Your Majesty also has difficulties. There should be no rush to get an immediate result on this matter. Besides, I believe in Your Majesty."
"What do you believe in me?"
"Your Majesty is comparable to the wise kings of ancient times, I have no doubt about this."
"Sigh." Zhu Houzhao is a man who takes the soft side rather than the hard side. He is not afraid of those who are arrogant and wallowing, but is afraid of such 'reasonable' ones.
Looking at the veteran's back as he walked further and further away, he still said, "Come back."
"Your Majesty." Wang Hua turned around and leaned over to listen.
"Go and tell Bo'an to control that family first, but don't hurt them. The land purchased was carried out under a ban from the imperial court, so the official seal is invalid, and the transaction is not recognized by the official.
Don't make any noise about this matter for now. If the Shen family is willing to give in, the matter will be over as it is. If they are not willing, they will be locked up for half a year. After half a year, I will be able to handle it easily. "
Wang Hua understood what he was referring to. After this period of time, Concubine Shen Shu's delivery was over.
With such an emperor, what reason would he have not to devote himself to his life?
"My Emperor, Holy Ming!"
(End of chapter)
