"Urgent report! Urgent report!"
In the Forbidden City, the postman was busy all the way and worked hard to deliver the urgent report to Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang's face was serious. Such an urgent report usually meant that something big had happened.
Sure enough, when he saw the contents of the emergency report, his face became a little ugly.
"Zhejiang's autumn floods have been followed by heavy rains for days and river banks burst!"
Zhu Yuanzhang read it out in a deep voice. Of course, there were also the tragic scenes described later, but Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't bear to read it anymore.
flood!
This was an absolute disaster for the ancient self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy.
After a flood, countless farmlands are submerged, people are displaced, and people's livelihoods will surely wither.
Disaster relief and control have always been a major event in ancient feudal dynasties.
"Go to court immediately!"
Zhu Yuanzhang did not hesitate and immediately decided to go to court to discuss the matter.
In the Jinluan Hall, a group of ministers stood respectfully on both sides with serious expressions.
They had long been accustomed to Zhu Yuanzhang's sudden appearance in court.
Sometimes it is possible to go to court three times a day.
Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the dragon chair with a heavy face, looked at the ministers below and said:
"Dear dear friends, I have just received an urgent report. There have been heavy rains in Zhejiang during the autumn floods. River banks have burst their banks and several counties have been affected. Please tell me, what should we do now?"
Zhejiang has been hit by floods, and it’s autumn floods. This is a big deal!
The expressions of all the ministers changed instantly.
Food is the top priority. Once this flood occurs, a large amount of farmland is destined to be submerged and no harvest will be harvested.
If you don't have enough to eat, there will be chaos.
The foreign troubles of the Ming Dynasty are still there, and if the internal troubles arise again, the problem will be big.
"Your Majesty, I believe that the most urgent task now is to organize local warehouses to release grain and appease the victims."
Yang Siyi, the Minister of Household Affairs, immediately stood up and said.
Although he is not the highest-ranking minister among these ministers, he really cares about the people.
Zhu Yuanzhang did not express his position, but continued to wait.
"Your Majesty, I think we should immediately offer sacrifices to heaven and pray for the people, so that the people of the Ming Dynasty can see that your Majesty is worried about the world."
Cui Liang, the Minister of Rites, said.
If you hear this in modern times, it must be very ridiculous.
But in ancient times, it was common practice to offer sacrifices to heaven and pray for blessings from gods in the event of natural disasters, even for the royal family.
The Ministry of Rites is in charge of this matter, so there is no problem with Cui Liang's suggestion.
"Prime Minister Zuo, what do you think?"
Zhu Yuanzhang still did not express his opinion on Cui Liang's words, but asked Li Shanchang.
The Prime Minister Zuo of the Ming Dynasty, in the court at this time, was superior to one person and inferior to ten thousand people.
Li Shanchang walked out of the queue slowly, bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang and said: "Your Majesty, I believe that Zhejiang is flooded, and the court should allocate food for disaster relief, but the local government offices should also actively organize self-rescue and station troops to prevent chaos."
As Prime Minister Zuo, Li Shanchang knew a lot of Zhu Yuanzhang's difficulties.
Although Zhejiang is flooded and urgently needs disaster relief, the Ming Dynasty will still send troops to attack Yuan in the coming year. If there are too many grain and grass reserves, the army will not be enough.
But it is impossible not to save the people affected by the disaster.
Once the impact is too wide and there are too many victims and they gather together, it will be easy to be instigated and exploited by people with intentional intentions, causing the victims to turn into chaos.
Therefore, what Zhu Yuanzhang was thinking about at this moment was how to comfort the disaster-stricken people with the least amount of money and food.
This is not to say that Zhu Yuanzhang is hard-hearted, but that in his position as emperor, there are some things that he can only be cruel to.
If the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty are not dealt with, the people will also suffer.
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "This is reasonable, but Prime Minister Zuo may have to think about how much food should be allocated and how the local government can save itself."
In matters related to people's livelihood, Zhu Yuanzhang still trusted Li Shanchang.
Li Shanchang did not disappoint Zhu Yuanzhang and immediately began to answer.
This is what he does on a daily basis. As soon as he heard the news about the floods in Zhejiang, he had already begun to think about it. When he spoke, his draft was ready.
".These are some of my humble opinions."
Li Shanchang said slowly.
After Zhu Yuanzhang listened, he nodded slightly and said to the other ministers: "What about you, do you have anything else to add?"
Above the court, it was a little quiet.
Li Shanchang's countermeasures were already quite detailed, covering everything from direct relief to appeasing the victims to preventing chaos, to offering sacrifices to heaven, and so on.
It can be said that it is already a relatively standard template.
It is not easy to find the problem.
But now there is no one to comment, not because there is really nothing to add, but because this is what Li Shanchang said.
Since the implementation of the last anti-corruption decree, Li Shanchang's prestige among officials has increased a lot.
Who dares to add to his suggestions?
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at the crowd and looked at a bowed voice in the distance:
"Hu Weiyong, what about you, what do you think?"
Hu Weiyong was suddenly called by name, and his body shook and he was very excited.
This is a great opportunity for you to express yourself.
However, just now was Li Shanchang's last speech.
After simply thinking about it, Hu Weiyong made a decision.
He slowly stepped out of the queue, bowed towards Zhu Yuanzhang and said with cupped hands: "Reporting to Your Majesty, what the Prime Minister said is what I think. I believe that it should be implemented immediately. If you delay for a while, more people will suffer disaster."
Hu Weiyong still restrained himself. This Li Shanchang was none other than Prime Minister Zuo, but also his noble person.
At this time, you must not lose your mind and lose your name.
Sure enough, after hearing Hu Weiyong's words, although Li Shanchang's expression did not change, his body obviously relaxed a little.
This was not because he was worried that Hu Weiyong would say something that would threaten his position, but because his confidant did what a confidant should do.
"This statement makes sense. Disaster relief must not be delayed."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Then just retreat and do it."
Lao Zhu also has a resolute character. After discussing this matter, he immediately asked the following to start executing.
After all, floods wait for no one.
The court in the early Ming Dynasty handled matters very efficiently.
Everything is going on in an orderly manner.
Zhu Yuanzhang had no time to spare. He had to go back to his "office" to continue handling government affairs.
Floods are a big deal to the people.
But in Zhu Yuanzhang's case, it can only be said to be an urgent matter. If the court handles it quickly, it will be over.
Zhu Yuanzhang was most worried about what might happen next due to this flood.
After reading more than a dozen memorials in a row, Lao Zhu also felt that his eyes were a little tired.
He closed his eyes and meditated.
But he was still thinking about the flood and how much was left in the treasury after the court allocated food.
Can the deployment of the military play a role in maintaining stability?
How long will it take for those disaster victims to be able to resume production again after being rescued?
Will next year's Northern Expedition be able to proceed normally?
One after another, one after another, it is overwhelming.
Ming Dynasty still needs a capable minister to assist him!
Zhu Yuanzhang sighed slightly in his heart and couldn't help but think of Su Jing.
If Su Jing could offer advice, what would he think?
"What's wrong with me? For disaster relief, the most Su Jing can do is donate money and food."
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed at himself and then continued to deal with government affairs.
Not long after, Gong Weilang appeared, delivering Zhu Biao's latest reply.
"Biao'er has news again."
Zhu Yuanzhang was a little excited, picked up the letter, and immediately went straight to Kunning Palace.
He knew that Queen Ma had missed Zhu Biao and Zhu Ji for a long time.
Although there are reports from the archguards from time to time, they are just cold narratives.
Zhu Biao's handwritten letter was so warm.
"Chongba, why are you here? Didn't you just go to court to deal with the flood in Zhejiang?"
Queen Ma asked in surprise when she saw Zhu Yuanzhang appear.
Even though she is basically in Kunning Palace, she knows about many things.
If in other dynasties, the queen was so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about political affairs, she would probably be jealous of the emperor.
It is a rule that the harem does not interfere in politics.
But in Zhu Yuanzhang's case, he did not have these thoughts.
After all, this is his "wretched wife" who accompanied him all the way during the uprising. Many things were implemented because of Queen Ma's suggestions.
When Queen Ma is involved in politics, that's not called doing politics. It's about helping each other as a family.
Zhu Yuanzhang raised Zhu Biao's letter and wrote back: "I just finished processing it and this letter came from Biao'er. I specially brought it for us to read together."
"Has it been dealt with?"
Queen Ma did not ask about her son's letter at the first time, but was concerned about the handling of floods in Zhejiang.
Empress Ma always knew which one came first, her family and her country.
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, but his face became a little heavier and he said: "Everything has been dealt with. As long as there is good, we should be able to survive peacefully."
When Empress Ma heard this answer, she breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good. Floods in Zhejiang may cause many people to be displaced again. Chongba, as the emperor, you must set an example and not let the world find out." Something to point fingers at.”
Although Zhu Yuanzhang has become emperor, the situation is still complicated.
Queen Ma's worries are entirely justified.
"Sister, don't worry, I know it."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.
After chatting about this important matter, the two of them opened Zhu Biao's letter.
Zhu Biao's reply was relatively long this time, after all, he hadn't written for a long time.
He first briefly introduced the current situation of himself and Zhu Ru. With Su Jing, both of them were fine and there was no need to worry.
Then Zhu Biao described Zhu Xi's learning situation in detail. What Su Jing mainly taught Zhu Xi was.
Considering that Zhu Yuanzhang might not be able to understand it, Zhu Biao did not go into too much detail. He simply described it and said that he could ask questions on his own when Zhu Yu returned.
Then it’s about himself. First of all, he talks about what he did in the past nearly a month.
Finally, there are Su Jing's teachings to Zhu Biao, those important teachings.
Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma looked at it very carefully, even though they had already understood many things through Gong Weilang's report.
But parents, they always care about their children.
Until Zhu Biao talked about Su Jing's discussion of corvee.
The suffering of corvee, and the nature of corvee.
This made Zhu Yuanzhang's face look a little solemn. Different from Zhu Biao's habitual understanding of corvee, Zhu Yuanzhang also served in corvee in his early years.
He knew how hard the corvee was.
But as the emperor, he could not ban corvee.
Su Jing's explanation of the nature of corvee made Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly enlightened.
The essence of corvee is part of the national finance.
Money and food are material resources, while corvee is human power. They are both property.
The abolition of corvee means that the state needs to come up with the property that can be used to purchase this part of the corvee representatives.
If not, we can only continue to let corvee exist.
"Mr. Su's words are simple but his meaning is profound, and his words penetrate deeply. It's really admirable!"
Queen Ma looked at this paragraph and said with emotion.
Zhu Yuanzhang also nodded and said: "Su Jing's words really explain the corvee that has lasted for nearly a thousand years very clearly."
"Let's see if Mr. Su can teach me how to solve the problem of corvee."
Queen Ma urged.
The two of them continued to look back, but they didn't see the content of sharing Ding into his mother's land, only Ding Yin.
This was Zhu Biao's attempt to protect Su Jing. The last time the officials and gentry paid for the food together, he had already had a big quarrel with Zhu Yuanzhang.
At present, we can’t mention the matter of sharing the land.
But even if it was just a Dingyin system, Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely happy.
"Okay, this Ding Yinfa is indeed reasonable."
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said: "If this move can be carried out, there will be no such thing as fire consumption."
Zhu Biao's explanation of the advantages and disadvantages of the Ding Yin system is quite clear.
Zhu Yuanzhang also agreed very much.
But Queen Ma on the side said: "Although Chongba, Ding Yinfa is good, it must be easy to use."
"Why?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said doubtfully.
Queen Ma said: "You have been a farmer. How can a farmer's family who grows grain have any extra silver?"
"Doesn't this cash register allow them to sell grain into silver coins? Given the character of those grain merchants, it is the farmers who are unlucky in the end."
"I think this method is inappropriate."
(End of chapter)
