Zhu Yunxi, who was behind the case, raised his head and said, "Give me a seat!"
After saying that, he immersed himself in the heavy paperwork.
Qi carefully touched half of his buttocks to the stool, lowering his eyebrows and not daring to squint.
"If I remember correctly, this is the first time that we, the emperor and his ministers, have met in Qianqing Palace!"
The voice came from behind a thick stack of memorials. Qi hurriedly raised his body, "Yes!" After saying that, he thought for a while and continued, "I once submitted a memorial to the emperor when he lived a long life. I prayed for the emperor's grace. I am going to see the beauty of heaven..."
"This is the same thing whether I see the emperor or not!" Zhu Yunxi suddenly smiled, sat up straight after the memorial, and said with a smile, "Just like you, I have one nose and two eyes!"
Hearing this, Qi Zhu lowered his head and smiled silently, and the fear in his heart subsided a lot.
"You may have won the trust!" Zhu Yunxi said again, "As the Chief Secretary, you will be transferred to the capital in August this year and serve as the left minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs!"
The dragon chair was very high, and when Zhu Yunxi spoke, he could clearly see the changes in Qi Zhu's expression.
He keenly caught the slight disappointment and regret in Qi Zang's eyes...
It is actually a good thing for a province's frontier official to be transferred to the position of Minister of Household Affairs! Qi Zhu is only in his early forties, and his official reputation has always been good.
Being transferred to the position of Minister is equivalent to entering the central government. Although there will be some lack of power compared with the feudal officials of a province, the future is more promising.
The one who goes up from the minister to the minister is the minister. Even if he is not the minister, high positions such as the left and right governors and censors are within easy reach...
Logically speaking, he shouldn't have this look.
What is he disappointed about?
What is he regretting?
"I would like to express my gratitude to the Emperor for your kindness..."
"Don't say nice things yet!" Zhu Yunxi interrupted him, "What troubles do you have in your heart?" He said with a smile, "Speak directly!"
Qi Zhu hesitated for a long time, "The emperor transferred me back to the capital, which is a great favor from the emperor. I am very grateful, but when I took office in Guangdong, there are actually a few things that have just begun..."
"Yeah!" Zhu Yunxi nodded, looked at Qi's awkward sitting posture and said, "Sit down and talk to me slowly!"
"Yes!" Qi said respectfully, still with half of his butt resting on the round stool, "The world says Guangdong is rich, but in fact... it's just the Guangfu area... Guangzhou, Foshan, Dongguan County, etc. ."
"As for the western part of Guangdong, there are many mountains, few people, strong customs, different pronunciations for ten miles apart, and clan fights in the countryside are commonplace... And because the land is small and the people are poor, many strong men go to sea to become pirates, or... .... Or simply rob passing merchants, killing people and stealing goods!"
Qi Zhu's words were a bit rambling, but Zhu Yunxi still listened patiently and carefully, and at the same time he was making a judgment about Qi Zhu in his heart.
"This person has the stinking habit of traditional scholars making long speeches. He always talks and does things without leaving a sentence on his lips..."
"It is said that only those who have sufficient resources can know etiquette!" Qi Zhu continued, "I have thought about it, the reason why people become evil people is because they are not living a good life..."
"Then why are they not living well? The land of Guangfu is prosperous in commerce, and there are many workshops. All walks of life are short of manpower. There are even dental shops that specialize in sending workers to various workshops..."
"So many strong laborers in this province are trapped in the local area and unable to move, and in places such as western Guangdong, it is difficult to transport local specialties and turn them into money..."
"So I took advantage of the fact that the imperial court was going to build Guangzhou, Huizhou, and Humen Port this time, and raised funds to start building roads..." As he said, he looked up at the emperor, "to build the originally rugged mountain roads in Guangdong. Connecting western Guangdong and Guangfu..."
Zhu Yunxi didn't expect that after he said a lot of things first, what he finally wanted to say was road construction.
He thought about it seriously, went through it in his mind, and said, "I have neither seen it mentioned in your memorial nor the Ministry of Works' report on road construction in the past six months!"
"I also have selfish motives for building roads. If I submit it to the Ministry of Industry first, it must be reviewed first, then the drawings and then the budget..." Qi Zhu stood up, bowed and said, "If that's the case If so, I'm afraid we won't be able to start construction within three to five years..."
"Haha!" Zhu Yunxi smiled.
How can there be anything wrong with someone who is a high-ranking official in a feudal territory?
Qi suppressed the Ministry of Works without saying a word! The local officials proposed to build roads, and it would take you three to five years just to review them... Then why not build them?
"Building roads is a good thing!" Zhu Yunxi said again, "But where do you get the money for it?"
"Guangzhou's city gate tax has a surplus every year!" Qi Zhuo said, "In addition, there are many lakes in Guangdong, so the annual fishing tax and boat tax are only a lot more..."
"Besides, there are also gentry who generously donated money. In Dongguan County alone, the Luoding Chamber of Commerce contributed 38,000 yuan in silver..."
Zhu Yunxi was slightly surprised, "You mean, you want to build roads for the people, but you don't use all the money from the court. Instead, you use the balance left by the chief secretary of the province under my charter and the donations from the officials and gentry to build the roads." Mountain roads in western Guangdong?”
"Exactly!" Qi paused, "The road really can't be repaired! First of all, once the maritime ban is lifted, if pirates take advantage of the situation and come in, and the land road is blocked, the coastal counties will have to fight on their own."
"Secondly, if you want to get rich, you must first build roads! If you don't build roads, the people will not be able to go out, and the products will not be able to go out. There are more and more people, and less and less land..."
"People in the mountainous areas of western Guangdong need roads..."
Zhu Yunxi looked at Qi seriously again, "You repaired it when the people needed it? Even because you were unwilling to argue with the Ministry of Works, you would rather risk the disapproval, use the Chief Secretary's balance, and collect the donations from the gentry to repair it?"
"If the people have needs, the government will definitely do something!" Qi said seriously, "Squires from all over the country not only donated money enthusiastically, but because of the clan autonomy in Guangdong, all families and surnames also expressed their opinions. Maybe they don't have money, but they do. There must be someone..."
As he spoke, he took out a piece of paper from his arms and carefully placed it on the case aside.
"This is the list of squires who have made donations, totaling 168 people!" Qi Zhu said, "Actually, strictly speaking, they are not squires... Most of them are businessmen... .”
Deng Ping held the list in both hands and quickly sent it to Zhu Yunxi.
What catches the eye is the extremely neat small regular script written by a hand, which is pleasing to the eye.
The name of each squire who donated was neatly written on it, as well as the amount donated.
The person with the most, ten thousand silver dollars.
The smallest person, ten silver dollars.
"I thought that building bridges and paving roads has been a good thing since ancient times, so the names of these people will be engraved on the bridge after it is built to inspire future generations!"
As he said that, he looked at Zhu Yunxi's expression again and whispered, "Among the squires who donated money, there are several who have studied for fifty years but have failed repeatedly. I... made my own decision and let Guangdong study politics. With the reputation of several of them as talented people..."
Zhu Yunxi almost always hears his words in one ear and out the other.
As for the last sentence, which gave the status of a scholar to an old boy who failed the exam, he didn't take it seriously.
The imperial examination relies on true talent and practical learning, but sometimes it does not rely on true talent and practical learning. County examinations in various places mostly depend on the mood of the examiner.
If your handwriting is pleasing to the eye, you will become a scholar.
If you don't like your face, it doesn't matter how talented you are.
But what moved Zhu Yunxi the most was that sentence.
"Since the people have what they need, the government must do something!"
Zhu Yunxi read softly and put down the list of winners, "Qizhu, you are very good!" He said, "You are worried that after you are transferred to the capital, your successor will not be able to follow the rules, but will change his mind. Right?"
"Yes!" Qi smiled bitterly.
Local officials preside over road construction, which is a thankless job.
First, where does the money come from?
Let’s not talk about spending more and spending less. If you reach out to the court, just wait. The Ming Dynasty was so big and there were so many state capitals that needed road construction. It is impossible for you to come first.
Second, the issue of civilian husbands.
This involves abusing people's power and taking risks. You must know that most rebellions in the past and present were caused by civilians gathering to make trouble.
Third, accounts.
No matter whether your heart is good or not, since ancient times, those who are virtuous cannot do anything against those who are immoral. If you manage the administration of a province and personally preside over road construction, are you doing something wrong?
Is there any way to line your own pockets?
Is there collusion between officials and gentry?
The money you use to build roads is the surplus that the local province can set aside every year, which is the private money given to each province by the central government.
If the province is safe for several consecutive years, the surplus will naturally become everyone's profit. Even if you are the chief official of a province, why should you use this surplus for road construction?
Furthermore, the big bosses in the capital will also have deep complaints.
oh!
When you build roads, you only need to use the surplus and donations from officials and gentry.
how dare you?
How dare you build a road that is cheaper than the road we built after careful verification for several years?
Qi Zhu's worry was that after his successor came to power, he would deliberately forget about road construction as soon as possible and ignore it.
"This man's courage is rare!"
Zhu Yunxi thought to himself, "The richest provincial chief minister in the world is not greedy for money or power... He is responsible and decisive... Although he has a bit of a verbose habit, it doesn't hurt!"
Qi Zhu continued to speak, "Your Majesty, the people have been looking forward to it for many years! I also have some selfish motives and want to do some good things during my term of office."
"Come here!" Zhu Yunxi suddenly said.
Qi raised his head in surprise and saw Zhu Yunxi saying to Deng Ping, "Go to the South Study Room to deliver the message to Xin Yande!" As he said, he counted the list of squires on the table who had made donations, "Such a squire should be given a big reward. Again. Send an edict to Jie Jin, this kind of thing should be known to everyone in the world..."
"I obey the decree!"
"And!" Zhu Yunxi said again, "Tell Hu Guan and let him withdraw 200,000 yuan from the inner treasury..."
At this point, he looked at Qi and smiled and said, "For the people of Guangdong Province, the squires have donated. If I, the emperor, don't get a dime, it can't be justified!"
"I want money from the Ministry of Household Affairs, and Zhang Yan is going to start a lawsuit with me. This is my private property, you can use it to repair the road when you go back!"
"You will be transferred back to Beijing in August, and there will still be half a year. You can start repairing the roads now. Even if you go to Beijing to join the company in August, your successor will have to continue repairing the roads!"
"My lord, I thank the Emperor for His grace!"
"If there's anything else you can't let go of, let's talk about it!" Zhu Yunxi said with a smile.
(Everyone, I shamelessly owe a chapter today...it's just a single update. Please don't scold me.)