"It's just admonishment. If it is correct, correct it; if not, be exempted." Mengzhu advised tactfully: "Master Guo doesn't know that His Highness has unparalleled talents. How can he be comparable to Wang Mang, who is stubborn and refuses to remonstrate and hide his faults?"
Hey, Zhu Yongxing patted Mengzhu's little hand knowingly, and praised sincerely: "You are going to be a good concubine. It's a pity that Guo Zhiqi doesn't know it, and your hard work was wasted."
"The private conversations between His Highness and I are not allowed to be known to outsiders!" Mengzhu curled her lips nonchalantly and said, "As long as Your Highness handles things properly and is extremely heroic, no one will dare to criticize me."
Haha, Zhu Yongxing felt comfortable when he heard the word "concubine". He held Mengzhu in his arms, kissed and touched him, and after a while of frivolity, he asked Mengzhu to write a reply to Guo Zhiqi. It was nothing more than a message of comfort and comfort.
, Anyway, Guo Zhiqi has a prominent official position but no real power. He only talks about it. Zhu Yongxing can tolerate the noise in his ears.
At the same time, this is also a wake-up call for Zhu Yongxing. In addition to not being too self-righteous in everything and stubbornly refusing to give advice, he must also constantly make adjustments based on the actual situation during reform or improvement. The most important thing is to establish an efficient and authoritative leader.
If the team is staffed by inhumane people and there is no supervisory authority, no matter how good the policy is, it may be implemented beyond recognition.
Although Zhu Yongxing has a relatively comprehensive plan, he is still focusing on the military. Although a small shogunate has been established to help him handle most political affairs, the lack of personnel still restricts the improvement of various institutions.
For example, he changed the Military Intelligence Department into the Investigation Department, which consists of the Military Intelligence Department and the Supervision Department. The functions of the Military Intelligence Department expanded rapidly, and personnel were prioritized. The Supervision Department could only have a few personnel and could not fully assume its due responsibilities. The Xuanfu Department was
The upgraded Propaganda Department is similar. The Military and Administrative Department has relatively sufficient personnel, while the Civil Affairs Department has a lot of vacancies.
The old bureaucrats who are stuck in the past and have high ambitions but low abilities do not want to be employed, and new people who are brave enough to do their jobs are recruited very slowly, so the management and supervision agencies cannot operate effectively. At this time, it is not a good time to hold the imperial examination to recruit talents. After discussion, Zhu Yongxing and his staff only decided
You can take some flexible measures to deal with emergencies.
Therefore, in addition to the government offices in the five major cities of Yen Bai, Tuyen Quang, Son La, Lai Chau, and Ha Giang, three facilities were added: the Yan'en box, where those who submitted letters and asked for official positions were thrown in; the admonishment box, where those who expressed the pros and cons of policies were thrown in
If the people hear the drums and have grievances against them, they will be punished.
The Yan'en Box and the Remonstrance Box were modeled on the court-installed boxes invented by Wu Zetian. They were used to open up roads for good people and solicit opinions. The drums and drums were used in all dynasties and played a role in reaching the people's sentiments and supervising the bureaucracy. However, after the cancellation of the
After the Song Dynasty, the conditions for hitting the Dengwengu became increasingly stringent, and this measure no longer became a mere formality.
In this way, the purpose of selecting talents, listening to opinions, and supervising officials can be achieved to a certain extent, and the management omissions caused by insufficient personnel can be solved to a large extent.
Yu, Tang sinned against himself, and his prosperity flourished; Jie, Zhou sinned, and his death was sudden. Zhu Yongxing displayed the image of a wise man who is thirsty for talents, broad-minded, and humbly accepting advice, and strives to maintain stability in order to
Get a few months to concentrate on planning and preparation for the counterattack.
It was already early August. Zhu Yongxing finally straightened out the government affairs and handed them over to officials such as Chief Shi Yicheng and Minister of Propaganda and Fu Liu Zuochen who were trustworthy and could understand the key points of his policies. Then he was escorted by hundreds of fine cavalry.
Rush to Shaba, a military industrial base.
It was Zhu Yongxing's intention to take the road instead of water. He wanted to take a look at the situation in the occupied areas. This was much more intuitive than sitting in a house reading documents, and it was not easy for him to be deceived by the officials below.
………………
The sky is as clear as clear water, and the wind blows in the slightly yellowed rice fields. The waves in the rice fields undulate, making a "swishing" laughter. The sweet potato seedlings and vegetables in the dry land in the distance have emerged, and the green pavement
The fields are full of ridges.
Li Laomen was walking in the field, weeding with a short-poled hoe. As a retired disabled soldier, he was resettled in a village in Zhaihu. With twenty acres of land, he was also the director of the village security station.
, there is another salary to get. Moreover, he does not have to participate in heavy labor, and someone in the village will farm for him. But he is a stubborn man. Although he only has one hand, he is learning to work with one hand and looking for someone to do it.
I made light short-handled hoe, shovel and shovel, and did some work that I could do.
As soon as the peace treaty between the Ming army and the Zheng family of Annan was signed, the Ruan family in the village sold off their land and property, packed up their belongings, and prepared to move away with their families. Obviously, the Ming army's IOU and the policy of supporting the poor put the Ruan family in danger.
I was frightened and felt that it would be safer to go back to the place managed by the Annan people. But after this war, there were not many people who had the financial resources to buy large fields and deep houses. What's more, the wealthy families all had the same business as Ruan Dahu.
idea.
At this time, the Annan Governor's Office posted a notice that the land and real estate of the relocated family could be sold to the government at a price. The government would pay 20% in cash, and the balance would be compensated by IOUs, and should be paid off in five years. Although the conditions were harsh, it was better than nothing.
Throw it away and run away! Many families who had no confidence in living in the areas occupied by the Ming army reluctantly accepted this fact and left with soft goods, cash, and a lot of IOUs.
A field is just a field, but it does not include the crops in the field. Li Laomen was assigned ten acres of paddy field. In more than half a month, he will be able to harvest new rice. He stretched out his hand to twist the rice ears, and they were very slippery. He weighed them in his hands.
After weighing it, it was quite heavy, and Mr. Li grinned.
From next year on, ten acres of land will be taxed at 20%; ten acres of farmland will be exempted for thirty years. But this year, all taxes will be waived. I should be able to live a good life with no worries about food and clothing.
Li Laomuan felt comfortable, and when he turned his eyes, he frowned slightly, walked a few steps, waded through the water to the field, and walked towards a woman carrying a big wooden bucket.
This is his wife, a servant girl liberated from an Annan official's house, named Chun. Chun has the typical Annam woman's body shape: a long waistline, a slender and elastic waist and a low width.
Her hip circumference; her facial features also have the characteristics of typical Annan women: slightly raised cheekbones, rounded chin, and slightly pursed lips.
Chun was struggling to carry the two barrels. Li Laomen came up to meet them, grabbed them with one hand, bent slightly, and put the burden on his shoulders. He didn't say anything and walked straight forward.
"Husband, husband." Chun followed behind and called out in Chinese somewhat timidly and strangely.
"Yeah!" Li Laomeng liked hearing such a title. His expression softened a little and he said, "I'll do some light work in the future."
Chun responded softly. Two people at the edge of the field poured the small fish they caught from the river into the rice field, and stood side by side, watching the fish in the water swim away.
The rice-fish symbiosis system of "where there is a pond, there is water, where there is water, there are fish, and the field fish are used as poultry" is not Zhu Yongxing's original creation. In fact, it has a history of more than a thousand years in Zhejiang. The field fish is delicious, but Zhu Yongxing just
I told civil affairs officials about this working method on a whim, but I didn't expect it to be gradually popularized.
"Can we eat it during the Chinese New Year?" Li Laomeng said uncertainly.
Although it is still difficult to speak, Chun can already understand a lot of Chinese. She nodded and said: "I can eat it. I can eat it."
The sound of horse hoofbeats came from afar. Mr. Li was stunned for a moment, looked up, and then dressed up and walked towards the road.
The supplies are not abundant now, and the public security station does not distribute uniform uniforms. Li Laomen is still wearing the soldier's clothes, but he wears a white cloth cuff on his arm. On it are the sun and moon cut from red cloth.
pattern.
"Salute!" Li Laomen stood on the side of the road and saluted with one hand to pay tribute to the galloping Ming army cavalry.
"Salute!" The leading cavalry captain saw a veteran-looking man standing by the roadside with an empty sleeve. He immediately showed admiration, raised his hand in return, and issued an order to his men.
One person and a group of cavalry kept paying attention and passed by each other while maintaining a saluting posture. Mr. Li's eyes were a little wet. I wonder if he remembered the days of bloody fighting? Or maybe the sonorous cavalry made him change from comfort and peace again.
Looking back in comfort, recalling the days of fighting and iron horses?
Zhu Yongxing gently reined in the horse's head and looked at the disabled veteran on the roadside. A famous saying came to mind: Veterans never die. They just wither slowly.
"Your Highness—" Mr. Li's eyes straightened, and his saluting hand trembled a little.
Zhu Yongxing dismounted from his horse, threw the reins of the horse to his guards, walked over, nodded appreciatively, and said: "Well done. Although he has retired from the army, he still has the spirit of a soldier of our Ming Dynasty."
"Your Highness, you, that——" Li Laomeng was not good at talking to begin with, and now he was even more clumsy.
Zhu Yongxing didn't take it seriously, and asked about other things in a friendly and easy manner, as if he were chatting at home. Li Laomeng answered each one respectfully, and his speech gradually became fluent.
"Oh, that's your new wife? Annan woman is very capable, isn't she? Let her come over, I don't want to eat people." After a series of teasing words came out, Mr. Li's face turned red and he looked at Chun.
He waved to her, but seeing his wife shrinking back, he had no choice but to run over and forcefully pull Chun over.
"Quickly, salute His Highness Chitose. Also, there is Your Highness the Princess." Li Laomen urged.
Chun knelt down with a plop and kowtowed deeply. Zhu Yongxing didn't understand what he said. He nodded with a smile and pursed his lips at Mengzhu standing beside him.
"Get up quickly!" Mengzhu understood and stepped forward to give him a hand. He took out a gem and put it in Chun's hand. He said with a smile: "I'm a little thinner. I'll eat more in the future. Well, we must live a good life in the future and treat each other as guests."
.This is for you, it can be regarded as a gift for you to get married!"
Chun was so flattered that her lips moved and she couldn't even say thank you while holding the gem.
Haha, Zhu Yongxing smiled and nodded. Such vulgar words were suitable for the occasion. He said a few words casually, then got on his horse, waved at Li Laomeng and his wife, and set off on the road.
"Your Royal Highness, the future princess sent me a congratulatory gift. Your Highness personally asked me questions and patted me on the shoulder. This is a blessing that has been cultivated in several lifetimes!" Mr. Li looked at the crowd of people going away and murmured.
.
Chun had already moved his gaze to the gem, as if in a dream, his eyes were dull.
…………
The situation is not bad. At least in Mr. Li's mind, all his promises have been fulfilled. After the food was distributed, the mood of the people in the village was relatively stable. After the autumn harvest, the people should be able to breathe a sigh of relief and maybe buy some from it.
Military rations.
Zhu Yongxing let out a long breath, and while feeling somewhat relaxed, he also realized that large-scale conscription would have to wait until next year. After all, before the occupied land could be fully developed and planted, Siam's aid alone would support too many retired troops.
There are still difficulties.
"Your Highness." Mengzhu leaned the horse's head this way and said with a smile: "You allocate those Annan female officers from various government officials to the disabled and retired soldiers. It is a bit of a mess, but it seems to be effective.
good."
Zhu Yongxing pursed his lips and smiled, then lowered his voice and said, "Have you ever heard of this saying: Love comes from sleeping on the bed."
Whether a woman in this era is bought, or told by a matchmaker she has never met, as long as she goes to bed with a man, regardless of whether she will be completely committed in the future, 99% of them will live peacefully with this man. What about relationships?
, sleeping back and forth. That’s it. If you add a baby, it will be deeper. Talking about free love and equality between men and women is out of date and goes against tradition!
Mengzhu shook her head slightly, then blinked and stared at Zhu Yongxing thoughtfully.
"Haha, this sentence is not suitable for us." Zhu Yongxing quickly waved his hand and said with a smile: "We have a deep relationship, don't get it wrong!"
After such a long time, Zhu Yongxing is as fragile as a piece of paper. If Mengzhu takes more initiative, he will definitely transform into a moonlit wolf.
Mengzhu's eyes rolled around, she laughed slyly, and whispered: "Don't say this nonsense, let Long'er hear it, hum -"
Little cutie! Zhu Yongxing nodded helplessly. He really wanted to reach out and pinch Mengzhu’s cheeks and kiss her lips twice. Although he had solved it himself, Mengzhu was still with the unseen, future Han family.
The concubine was preparing for a fight. As for the inner treasure, she would naturally not be able to become a princess in the future, so she brought Long'er as a substitute to prevent others from taking advantage of the situation. Long'er is from the Baiyi tribe and is younger than herself.
, they are considered allies, if two fight against one, there is always some chance of winning, right?
In fact, it is no wonder that Mengzhu had such thoughts and made such preparations. In that era, it was very common for people with good family backgrounds to have wives and concubines. Not to mention that for a noble royal family like Zhu Yongxing, if he only had one wife,
No one believes it. I am afraid that the pressure of rumors will be concentrated on Mengzhu.
Along the way, Zhu Yongxing and others did not move slowly. They only stopped briefly in large towns and passed through small villages. However, the inspection and inspection were not just a formality. Zhu Yongxing observed the construction conditions of the places he passed and the people.
The mental outlook of the people, as well as the attitude of the people towards the passing Ming troops, can also lead to a conclusion that is closer to the truth.
The amount of wasteland, the condition of the roads, the faces of the people, and the reactions of the girls - these small aspects are often more credible than long and rhetorical reports.
The wasteland has been greatly reduced, and the labor efficiency of tens of thousands of prisoners is good; women can be seen in the fields, fields, and villages, and they are still looking curiously from a distance. The public security situation can only be said to be slightly better; prosperity is far from being mentioned.
But compared to when I first entered Annan, there have been great changes.
Zhu Yongxing watched and took notes, making judgments in his mind. The further north he went, the better the situation. More immigrants from Yunnan Province were resettled here, and the attitude towards passing Ming troops was better. Especially in Xiuli and Shenyuan,
This was already the territory allocated to the Mengshan tribe. Mengzhu met her relatives, and Zhu Yongxing and his party were warmly welcomed by the clan leader Siwei and the village leaders.
Because they were the first to follow and contribute the most, the Mengshan Croats got part of each of Laizhou and Son La provinces in Annan, which is as big as a province. Although the province area of Annam is different from China, the area is also larger than when it was in Myanmar.
It has expanded several times. The population is small and the territory is large. In order to support Zhu Yongxing and gain favor for Mengzhu, Siwei adopted a compromise approach in management policies. That is, the Mengshan Ke tribe used various small villages to
The people of other ethnic groups live together in centralized units and still use the original method, and the people of other ethnic groups are managed according to the decrees issued by the Annan Governor's Office.
In Zhu Yongxing's view, this is a smarter approach. The Annan Governor's Office only charges a small amount of tax on these land grants, while the Mengshan Ke tribe can have a large part of the surplus if they collect it in accordance with the law.
It is said that the Mengshan Croats can live without worries about food and clothing just by relying on the hard work of the people under their control.
Originally, Zhu Yongxing was a little worried that the Mengshan Croats did not have so many talents to govern. When he saw Zheng Yanbei here and saw a government affairs school, he knew that this worry was a bit unnecessary. They had to recruit talents themselves.
, ways to cultivate talents.
It's just that if the Zheng family and the Mengshan tribe join forces, will they be too big to lose in the future? Zhu Yongxing could not help but have such worries, but he did not show it on his face. This is not the time to make random suspicions and cause civil strife. Moreover, after experience
After several battles, the Mengshan Croat warriors have gained considerable experience, their weapons and equipment have also been greatly improved, and they are also responsible for the important task of defending the Shanluo Zheng family!
With the native soldiers of various ethnic groups as the main force, coupled with a small number of Ming troops to defend the Annan occupied area, the main force of the Ming army could withdraw to advance into Yunnan Province and Guangxi. This was Zhu Yongxing's established strategy. Therefore, he attacked various native officials and Mengshan
The Croats adopted quite favorable policies.
Although Siwei was Zhu Yongxing's prospective father-in-law, his attitude was still very respectful. After drinking for three times, he asked tentatively: "Your Highness, the Annan Zheng family has occupied Shanluo City and poses a threat to our clan. A large number of the strongest members of the clan need to be here."
Patrol and garrison to take precautions. This is quite an obstacle to His Highness our clan, Xiangzhu, and is not a long-term solution!"
Zhu Yongxing pondered for a moment and said tactfully: "The Annan Zheng family wants to take back the seven counties of Lanjiang from Nanruan. They have sent clan Zheng Gen to lead troops south. There will be no war in the short term. My Ming army will also enter Yunnan to fight in the near future.
, the stability of the rear is the overall situation. Taking advantage of the newly occupied land to learn how to manage it so that the people can live and work in peace and contentment is not only a way to accumulate strength, but also a political propaganda offensive for the land occupied by the Zheng family in Annan. In the future, they will expand their territory.
Maybe we don’t have to fight with each other, we don’t know how things will work out!”