"The Cao Gang Suzhou Hall on the canal has surrendered to the imperial court and will slowly surrender in the future. They will cooperate with you."
"There are two other things. One is to purchase grain. The property seized in South Zhili this time does not need to be sent back to Beijing.
The autumn harvest in Southern Zhili is still one to two months away. You immediately issue documents to repair the warehouses in each county, and use the seized finances to collect all the excess grain on the market into the warehouses.
You don’t have to use cash, you can use antiques, calligraphy and paintings as a mortgage to wealthy businessmen and gentry.
The second thing is to send people down there to find out the situation of cultivated land in various states and counties and get a rough idea.
The cultivated land in South Zhili is somewhat unusual. By the way, we should take a look at the places where farmland can be reclaimed and mark them. This is the key point. "
"I obey the decree!"
After chatting with Xiong Wencan for a long time, Xiong Wencan left with a solemn look.
During more than half an hour of listening to the hadith, the emperor mentioned several times the affairs of wealthy merchants and gentry, literary societies, and the administration of officials, which made him extremely interested.
In Dongnuan Pavilion, Chongzhen stared at the map of South Zhili and frowned.
The entire southern Zhili included Anhui, Jiangsu and Shanghai in later generations, with at least 1.5 million hectares of cultivated land in the three areas.
But now there are only one million hectares in the Yellow Book, and the difference is half a million hectares. Whether it was annexed by wealthy businessmen and gentry and concealed, or it has not been cultivated.
Natural disasters in the late Ming Dynasty affected all the northern provinces. Only the southern provinces of Nanzhili, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong and Guangxi were less affected. This is one of the pillars of the Ming Dynasty five years later. It must be understood clearly.
"We need to get rid of the Jiannu, Fusang, and Mongolian tribes as soon as possible. After the north is stable, the army will go straight to Annam, Siam, India, etc. in the south. The further south, the less impact of the drought will be, and the more stable the food will be..."
"In the Ming Dynasty, the biggest problem in the Southern Zhili area will be more honest in two or three years after this rectification. Now the only ones left are the Kong family. After finishing the Kong family, next year we will concentrate on the Northern Expedition. The rest will take our time. !”
…
Chongzhen stared at the map and reviewed the gains of this southern tour, thinking about his future plans.
The whole of Nanjing became lively because of an edict.
"Why is this edict different from what we thought? Why is it that it only recruits talents in taxation, household registration, military supplies, salaries, food and wages, finance, salt transportation, etc.?"
"I don't understand. Nanjing has five ministries and six prefectures. Although it is only responsible for the southern Zhili area, it still has eighteen prefectures. Why aren't they hiring?"
"I don't understand. Although the household department is the busiest, the other departments and institutes are also responsible for many things!"
"Hey, I originally wanted to show off my skills, but in the end I didn't even give him a chance! Hey... this is the court's loss!"
"It's understandable. Nanzhili, which is controlled by the Ministry of Revenue, controls more than 60% of the Ming Dynasty's taxes. Naturally, it has to recruit more people. Matters that other ministries are responsible for are handled by the state governments themselves!"
"Hey, have you seen that the name behind this is the Governor of South Zhili? When did South Zhili have a governor? Who is it? How strange!"
…
An edict caused mixed feelings and speculation among the people of Nanjing.
Those who were ready to show off their talents but had no way to serve the country were angry and scolded, while those who were within the scope of recruitment by the Ministry of Household Affairs were smiling.
More importantly, the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue and the Governor-General of South Zhili were combined to speculate on the emperor's movements, which were quickly conveyed to South Zhili and the surrounding areas with caravans and merchants.
All of this has nothing to do with the initiator, Chongzhen, because he suddenly became interested and wanted to take a stroll around the most famous Qinhuai River in Nanjing before leaving.
There are many restaurants on both sides of the strait, with cornices and leaky windows, and gold-plated balconies lined up in rows. Flute and drums are played in the middle, and the lights pour into the river through the windows and break into circles of ripples with the water waves.
Although a large number of officials were cut off and the members of the society were frightened, the Qinhuai River returned to prosperity after only a few days of sluggishness.
"The smoke is in the cold water, the moon is in the sand, and I stay in the Qinhuai River at night, close to the restaurant. The merchant girl does not know the hatred of the country's subjugation, but she still sings the flowers in the backyard across the river."
Under the moonlight, looking at the restaurants and brothels on both sides of the Qinhuai River, listening to the sound of silk and bamboo orchestral music and the duets of the literati, Chongzhen on the bow of the boat chanted in a low voice with his hands behind his back, and his eyes were full of melancholy.
If he hadn't traveled through time and tried his best to change the status quo, more than ten years later, tens of thousands of Han people would have been slaughtered here, and most of the people here would not be as prosperous as before.
"Your Majesty, today is different from the past. Ming Dynasty is full of vitality and can cope with all disasters. Du Mu's worries will not happen."
"If the Ming Dynasty were richer, these singing girls would not come out to support their families by singing!"
"Your Majesty, with all due respect, although this idea is good, it is impossible to realize. Even without these ten miles of Qinhuai, the only thing that should be done is singing.
In this world, some people are rich and some are poor. Just like the prosperous Tang Dynasty and the two Song dynasties, there are still many poor people. In order to survive, they just sell and sing.
What's even worse is prostitution, or even prostitution. There are not many of these in these ten miles of Qinhuai River.
Some of these women are from poor families and have no choice but to enter here voluntarily because their families have been ruined and they have no other options, and some are sold here. "
"Um?"
Li Ruolian's words reminded him, and she said in a low voice: "I heard that some people adopt orphans, or even abduct them from other places, and train them in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, singing and dancing from a young age, and then sell them for a good price when they grow up. Is this true?"
"I heard something while I was walking outside!"
Li Ruolian's face also darkened: "Not just here, there are also beggars, porters, etc. Some people steal children, break their legs or maim them, and then let them beg on the street to make money.
If you can't get enough copper coins, you won't be given food. If you run away and are caught, you'll be beaten severely, or even killed directly to frighten other children!
Not only children, but also some helpless elderly people are also among their targets. "
"Xiong Wencan was conducting a secret investigation in Nanjing. If he found someone like this, he would be killed immediately after being captured!
In addition, Jin Yiwei was ordered to take a look at the local area to see if there is anything similar when handling the case. If there is, then it will be cut down directly! "
"I obey the decree!"
"Let's go, let's go!"
Seeing that the emperor was not in high spirits, Li Ruolian waved his hand behind him, swung the boat across the river, and rowed forward.
Looking at the restaurants and brothels on both sides of his sight, Chongzhen shook his head.
The singing girls here either died of old age in brothels, or married celebrities and became good friends, or were accompanied by ancient Buddhas with green lanterns. Most of them were honest people who took the blame.
This kind of thing, let alone now, cannot be solved even in future generations. Although there is no brothel, it has just changed from light to dark.
Some people even put forward the nonsense view that if brothels were still there, there would be much fewer crimes such as rape and obscenity.
As for the "Eight Beauties of Qinhuai" and so on, he had never heard of such a title in Nanjing in the past few days. If based on the stories of Wu Sangui, Chen Yuanyuan, Hou Fangyu and Li Xiangjun, he would estimate that most of them were six or seven years old at this time.
Even if there was, he was the king of a country and couldn't find any beautiful women. It would be shameless to come to a place like this.
Two quarters of an hour later, the boat turned into the canal and headed north.
Next stop... Qufu, of course, I left quietly.
