Let the common people eat better and grow stronger... This is indeed a great thing. Zhu Di also likes burly warriors and military men. This is the case.
If everyone in the world could grow tall and strong, it would be something to be proud of.
"Xu Jingchang, you are still pouring ecstasy soup on me. What you said is wrong."
Xu Jingchang asked curiously: "What's wrong?"
Zhu Di held his knees with one hand and thought for a while, "It's not wrong, but...let's put it this way, even if the people of the Ming Dynasty were tall and strong, who would believe it? Look, there are so many new territories.
Those territories can be written clearly in the history books, but how can what you said be written in the history books and be believed?"
Xu Jingchang paused and asked: "Does your Majesty's work have to be praised by Qianqiu Shibi?"
Zhu Di pondered for a moment and sighed softly: "I always have to prove myself!"
Xu Jingchang smiled and said, "This is so easy. It's so easy. It's easy to do."
Zhu Di was surprised, "How do you do it? You can't measure everyone's height, right?"
Xu Jingchang laughed, "No need, just a sample survey is enough."
Zhu Di was still puzzled, and Xu Jingchang was too lazy to talk nonsense and directly deployed... Fortunately, after these years of accumulation, the Ming Dynasty definitely had a lot of talents who knew mathematics, at least in Yingtian City.
Soon Xu Jingchang got a result... Based on Yingtian and the surrounding area, various age groups, different people, heights, weights, and even age distribution were all mapped out.
Various tables and data are filled with books.
"Your Majesty, please take a look!"
Zhu Di looked at it silently, and every item made him feel quite novel.
When he picked up a form, glanced at it briefly, his brows suddenly furrowed.
"Xu Jingchang, what do you mean by the 25% infant mortality rate? Do you mean that one out of four children will die?"
Xu Jingchang nodded, "To be precise, the mortality rate within one year of age is 25%. In fact, less than seven out of ten children can successfully grow up."
Zhu Di frowned, "Is it really that few?"
Xu Jingchang said: "Your Majesty, you might as well think about your surroundings."
Zhu Di was surprised for a moment and said that the royal family failed to grow up smoothly, and there were many children who died early. Everyone knew that it was difficult to feed children... including the mother of the child, giving birth once was creating a door to hell.
Empress Xu gave birth to several sons in succession, and her body became ill.
In Xu Zengshou's generation, there were four brothers in total, and one of them was Zaiyao. Only 75% survived and grew up... As for Xu Jingchang's generation, some people died, and the rest of the noble families were almost the same.
Calculated in this way, the mortality rate of more than 20% is not an exaggeration at all.
"Have you ever tried to figure out the reason?"
Xu Jingchang said: "Currently, most of them are due to lack of medical treatment and lack of medicine, and they don't know how to take care of mothers and babies. There are also a small number of cases of infanticide, especially among girls."
Zhu Di took a deep breath and gritted his teeth, "Killing the one who was born, even if it is the parents! If you really do evil, it is not an exaggeration to kill!"
Xu Jingchang nodded, "What your Majesty said is that tiger poison does not eat its seeds. If a baby is drowned, it is not as good as tiger poison, so it is natural to kill him. But there are still some things that cannot be ignored, and that is a medical issue. It seems that we can ask the King of Zhou for this matter."
"
Zhu Di was startled for a moment and said with a smile: "What is my fifth brother busy with, but he has achieved results?"
Xu Jingchang smiled and said: "His Royal Highness King Zhou has done a lot by writing medical books to benefit the people. Maybe we can ask him to help, summarize some experiences and promote them to the world."
Zhu Di sighed, "From such a thing, it can be seen that I still have many shortcomings. The Ming Dynasty is far from a prosperous age. I am really ashamed."
Xu Jingchang smiled and said: "Your Majesty, if you can collect this information and start to improve it, our Ming Dynasty has far surpassed the previous dynasty. I am fully confident that the Ming Dynasty has a bright future and it will only get better and better."
Zhu Di nodded, "As a general ambassador, you are still competent. Send me more of these things in the future. I want to know more about this country."
Xu Jingchang readily agreed, fearing that you might not like to watch it. Since you are willing to watch it, I promise to let you watch it to your fullest.
Xu Jingchang returned to the General Administration Department and immediately started to make arrangements.
He believes that with today's development, how to govern a country does not depend on who is more reasonable... but depends on what the data says.
As a general envoy, it is necessary for him to make the matter of governing the country scientific.
"Do you understand it? If so, we will implement it separately and come up with the conclusion as soon as possible and hand it over to me."
In front of Xu Jingchang, seven bachelors, Yang Rong, Yang Shiqi, Yang Pu, Jin Youzi, Huang Huai, Hu Guang, and Hu Yan, sat down neatly.
These few were originally from the Imperial Academy, and were promoted to the cabinet by Zhu Di. Later, they also served as counselors of the General Affairs Department. Recently, they were promoted to the left and right general administration, and they have entered the ranks of second- and third-rank officials.
It's just that although their ranks have risen, the power they hold is really unable to compete with the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers.
Especially for the General Affairs Department, due to the vague functions, although Xu Jingchang can intervene in everything, they cannot.
But this time after Xu Jingchang assigned the task, the seven people's ideas became clear instantly.
Each of them stared at one department and conducted a comprehensive review of the government affairs of each department.
This kind of review is not just the kind of examination, but a thorough inspection from top to bottom, from the inside out.
The seven people happily accepted the order and went down to implement it.
Xu Jingchang crossed his legs and was in an unusually good mood.
Xu Jingchang would never refuse something that could quietly increase his power...it would depend on who would be unlucky next.
The results came out soon. Yang Rong took a detailed report and went to see Zhu Di.
This time it was not Xu Jingchang who did it, but Yang Rong who suggested it.
"Your Majesty, looking at the past dynasties, it is unprecedented that the salary of officials is so high. If it is not restrained, I am afraid that it will shake the foundation of the country and damage the foundation of the Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Di frowned slightly, "You can just say that. I know that the salary of officials in the Ming Dynasty is far worse than that in the Tang and Song Dynasties. Especially in the Song Dynasty, it is even worse."
Yang Rong immediately shook his head, "Your Majesty, according to my investigation, it seems that this is not the case."
Zhu Di was curious for a moment, so he simply asked Yang Rong to sit across from him and have a good chat.
"Your Majesty, take the officials of the Song Dynasty as an example. Their salary is indeed higher than that of officials of the same level in the Ming Dynasty, and it is more than a little bit higher. But if we count the seventh-grade officials, my salary in the Ming Dynasty is not lower than that of the Song Dynasty.
And considering that...the Ministry of Civil Affairs has repeatedly increased subsidies, our salary should be higher."
Zhu Di was surprised, what do you mean?
Salaries recognized as high in the Song Dynasty were actually higher in the Ming Dynasty than in the Song Dynasty. Is this too subversive of the impression?
"Do you have proof?"
"Your Majesty, please see, this is verified by many sources. The monthly salary and allowance that a seventh-grade official of ours can get is equivalent to fifteen times that of an ordinary craftsman!" Yang Rong said again: "
The problem of officials in the capital is just the tip of the iceberg and is not worth mentioning. The salary of the local vassal king has been taken away, but several provinces continue to withhold money and food from the imperial court. Furthermore, after the implementation of Baobao, the fire consumption that should have disappeared
, the local government is still collecting taxes, and it is unscrupulous and unstoppable. If you count it carefully, the money spent on official salaries in the Ming Dynasty is probably much more than that in the Song Dynasty!"
As Yang Rong spoke, he sent the results of his investigation to Zhu Di.
The more Zhu Di looked at it, the more he frowned, and the more he looked at it, the more frightened he became. This is so nonsense!
"Scholar Yang, what is going on? Are these people so greedy and don't know how to restrain themselves?" Zhu Di clenched his fists, "You are really forcing me to kill!"
Yang Rong's heart moved slightly. He had the intention of raising a big prison. If His Majesty did not take any action, how could he break the stagnant situation in the court?
He just had no idea how to reform and how to adjust it.
…
"Dong Guo Gong, I heard that Zuo Tongzheng Yang Rong wrote a letter and raised the shortcomings of the salary of hundreds of officials. You should be aware of this, right?" Jian Yi said calmly.
Xu Jingchang immediately shook his head, "I don't know. What they submitted was only a personal report, not the opinion of the General Secretary... It's just that after so many years, can't your methods be smarter? Make the salary look like less expenditure."
Jian Yi snorted: "We have been using the method you used back then, which was to include local income... But the problem now is that local officials are leaving more and more benefits for themselves, and there is nothing I can do about it!"
Xu Jingchang smiled lightly, "Is there really nothing you can do?"
Jian Yi was stunned, "Ding Guo Gong, the place is as high as the sky and the emperor is far away. I am really powerless. No matter what, you shouldn't doubt me."
Xu Jingchang smiled and said: "I'm not doubting Jian Tianguan, I'm saying that cutting local government expenditures will threaten the safety of officials in Beijing... After all, the methods that are applicable to the local government are also applicable to the court."
Jian Yi's face changed slightly, and Xu Jingchang continued: "I mean, if, if I become the official of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, I will find a way to protect the place and let them continue to be a mess."
"It's like, although the local government offices are rotten, they are like a pile of dung, nourishing the gorgeous flowers of the imperial court." Xu Jingchang pointed to Jian Yi with a smile, and then to himself.
"If you count, you and I should be peonies among the thousands of flowers in the court?"
Jian Yi suddenly changed his expression, and Xu Jingchang had already made it clear that the officials in the court were deliberately inciting the local officials to let them rot without restraining and rectifying them.
If this charge is proven, it would be a serious crime of dereliction of duty at worst.
Jian Yi couldn't help but be afraid, "What Duke Dingguo said just now is really too condescending. If Duke Dingguo is the peony of the imperial court, I can only think of it as peony and hibiscus."
Xu Jingchang paused and said with a smile: "Tianguan's words reminded me of two poems. Peony and you are close servants. Where can hibiscus avoid the fragrance?"
Yes, with your peony as Dingguo Gong, we can only surround you and be your foil willingly.
Xu Jingchang smiled and said: "In that case, I should come down and figure out how to organize the place. I hope the heavenly officials can cooperate."
Jian Yi nodded quickly, "How dare you disobey me!"
