Zhu Biao accompanied the Crown Princess to feed the fish among the pavilions of the water pavilion, watching them wander freely in the water. Half of the water pavilion is close to the water, and half is leaning on the bank. The spacious platforms fall down, and the breeze, the shadow of the sun, and the fragrance of lotus come together.
, looking around you can see the pink and green willows all around.
"A letter came from the palace, saying that preparations have begun for the wedding ceremony of the second child. My father, the Queen, and my mother want you and me to rush back before then."
Zhu Biao threw down a handful of fish food, and many koi fish jumped up to fight for it: "But there is no need to rush, the prince's wedding will take several months to prepare."
Chang Luohua sat back on the flying chair with a bowed backrest and replied: "I remember it was not originally scheduled for next year, why did it suddenly move forward?"
Zhu Biao raised the corner of his mouth slightly and said: "There is no war in Western Xinjiang, Yunnan, Guizhou and Liaodong have been conquered one after another. My father is preparing to entrust vassal kings."
Chang Luohua frowned instinctively. Her husband was the prince and her son was the grandson of the emperor. To divide the vassal kingdom was harming her interests, but her brows relaxed after a moment.
She couldn't interfere in this matter, and she also believed that with her husband's ability, there was nothing in this world that he couldn't solve. Since he didn't take action, there was a reason.
Zhu Biao's attitude towards this was naturally consistent with that of his father. The replacement of military power was very necessary. In the years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, there have been constant rebellions among the people, all over Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Jiangxi, Huguang, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shandong and Zhejiang.
It is extremely rare for a dozen provinces to still be like this in the early days of a dynasty, under an emperor who attached great importance to law and strictly controlled corruption.
It is so frequent and covers such a wide area. This is also rare in the past dynasties. It is not just corrupt officials and the like, but the majority are actually in the local guards and towns.
In fact, it is not difficult to understand that civil servants sometimes have to make excuses, and military generals are really unscrupulous when they cause harm to the place. However, because at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the military was prosperous and civilized was in decline, even Zhu Yuanzhang could not put a knife in his own thigh.
These people are no better than civil servants. As long as they have military power, it doesn't matter how many they kill. The so-called scholars can't rebel for three years, but the anger of the generals is enough to bring disaster to the country.
A decree can make a farmer ascend to the emperor's palace. There may be a shortage of officials in the officialdom, but there will always be people to replace them. It is nothing more than a difference in operation.
But it's different in the army. Without the ability to serve the people, and without brilliant achievements on the battlefield, even if you are pardoned and become a general, you will not be able to command the generals below, and it will only trigger a mutiny.
Moreover, the transfer of military power is far from a simple matter, especially now. In the Song Dynasty, it is not that the soldiers do not know the generals, but the generals do not know the soldiers. After Song Taizu released his military power over a cup of wine, in order to prevent the drama of Chen Qiaoyi's yellow robe from happening again in the future, many arrangements were made.
Successive kings followed suit, which created a situation in the Song Dynasty where those who could mobilize the army could not directly lead the army, and those who could directly lead the army could not mobilize the army.
Judging from the purpose, it is naturally extremely successful, but this also prevents the generals on the battlefield from fully understanding their subordinates, and they are unable to know and appoint people well; similarly, the soldiers cannot fully trust their generals, and they cannot fully trust their generals.
You won’t try your best to take the lead.
The Song Dynasty was rich in money and food, but it was rare in history that the country was destroyed and enriched. Lao Zhu also came from a military background, rising from a soldier to a general and marshal. In order to ensure combat effectiveness, it was natural for the soldiers to know the generals and the generals to know the soldiers.
This was naturally the advantage of the Ming army in maintaining its combat power to compete in the world in troubled times, but now, generals never leave their troops, soldiers never leave their generals, and generals form cliques based on their regions...
It is absolutely not possible to do it forcefully. You can only go along with it half-hardly and not softly. Using the many princes as bridges and the status of royal relatives as commitments, concluding marriages and gradually transferring military power is a method that everyone can accept.
…………
A few days later, Zhu Biao was discussing the issue of Japanese pirates with Marquis Jiangyin. Although Marquis Jinghai had wiped out several waves at sea, there were still scattered Japanese pirates invading coastal counties and nuisance the smooth sea routes.
The magistrate of Hangzhou came to visit and submitted the true situation of land reclamation in various prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River. Due to the shortage of officials in the court and the turmoil of the Jiangnan case, most of the prefectural officials today are from Zhu Biao's command since long ago.
Several major families.
Therefore, when the prince really wanted to know, he quickly tallied up the numbers, and he was a hundred times more serious than dealing with the household department. He deceived the superiors and concealed the information, but he did not dare to really hide it from his own backers.
The policy of letting people from the south take official positions in the north, and people from the north taking office in the south, was put on hold temporarily after the imperial examinations were stopped. There was nothing that could be done about it. There were too few people in the north who could serve as officials, and they were simply not enough to govern the south, and there were too many people in the south.
, the north is so vast and sparsely populated that it is temporarily unavailable.
Zhu Biao looked at the number they falsely reported to the court, and because he had already reprimanded them, and because this was not the problem of the Hangzhou magistrate alone, he did not reprimand them again after reading it.
However, after looking at it, I found that as the situation improved, the land cleared in many places was not planted with food crops, but with cash crops, such as cotton and mulberry trees.
You must know that in the past two years, cotton was still a crop that was forced to be grown by the imperial court. Now there is no need to force it, and the people have begun to expand the scale on their own initiative. It can be seen that people's livelihood and peace have been considered and interests have been considered.
A few decades ago, people would never waste any land to grow something they couldn't eat. For every piece of food they planted, one more child or grandchild might have a chance to survive in troubled times.
"Are people now willing to grow cotton independently for sale?"
The magistrate of Hangzhou lowered his head and replied: "I'm reporting back to your highness. In the first two years, the cotton grown by the common people was only recycled by the imperial court. Now, businessmen come to buy it. The price is much higher than that of the government. It is rising year by year. Therefore, the common people
Of course I am willing."
"Are there any people who don't grow food but only cotton?"
"Yes, but they are still very few. The older generation still talks about having food in hand and does not panic. They would rather make less than take risks."
"The land in the hands of the people is still small, what about yours?"
Zhu Biao asked so bluntly that the Hangzhou magistrate was a little embarrassed, but he did not dare to face it and concealed it: "The profit from grain is small, but the profit from cotton is heavy. In addition to setting aside necessary acres of land to maintain grain stores in various places, the clan also uses it to grow crops."
There are more and more acres of cotton, mulberry, silkworm, and oil-making crops."
Economic recovery is naturally a good thing, but Zhu Biao also has to think more about the fragile economy of small farmers, especially in the face of natural and man-made disasters. Once food is in short supply, what can cotton and mulberry trees do to withstand hunger.
Moreover, crops such as cotton are valuable nowadays, but that is because this crop has just been promoted for a few years and is still in short supply across the country. The price is naturally a bit high, but it is not a necessity of life. When the output reaches a certain level, the price will increase.
It is bound to fall.
You can count on this to support your family now, and you may still be somewhat wealthy, but that may not be the case in the future. Naturally, it doesn't matter to a high-ranking family. They have a lot of capital and a deep foundation, so they can delay selling for two years without losing anything.
At that time, cotton was no longer valuable, and the price of grain was bound to rise. It would not be possible to grow grain for a while, and the common people had to borrow money from wealthy families to make ends meet. The interest was too high and they could not pay back the money.
Houses and acres may not be used to offset the account.
Without a house or land, one becomes a hooligan without land and a job. He can only sell his life and become a tenant, borrowing land from his master's family to grow food and make ends meet. There is little room for improvement.
"There is a big hidden danger here, and I am very worried about it."
The Hangzhou magistrate was not surprised either. The common people were short-sighted and looked at Lilan but did not see the crisis. This is normal. But for someone like the Crown Prince, how could he not be so far-sighted?
Not only the prince, but people like them also know very well that they just disdain to control, not to mention blocking people's wealth, such as killing their parents, and no one will listen to them when they advise the people to increase their food rations and plant less cotton.
"We should immediately report to the imperial court and ask for an order to force the people to change the types and scale of planting."
The Hangzhou magistrate paused and said in a deep voice: "And if His Highness has an order, the ministers and other families can make adjustments immediately, at any cost."
The first sentence is a normal reply as a local official of the imperial court, and the second sentence is a reply as a member of the East Palace Party. The former is based on the policy of the imperial court, while the latter is to satisfy the prince's wishes and would rather destroy the seeds at a loss.
The crops that fell were replanted with grain, just to please the emperor.
The so-called cultivating close friends, the benefits are evident here.