"Mr. Liu, we are here." After more than half a month of long journey from Changsha, Liu Xuanchu finally set foot on the land of Chengdu. The accompanying guide changed one after another, and now he is a sergeant sent by Chengdu.
Already.
"Thank you, brother." Liu Xuanchu looked tired. He had been tired of traveling all the way, especially the sparsely populated and bumpy road from Chongqing to Chengdu. He really suffered a lot.
"Mr. Liu, are you going to see His Highness now?"
Liu Xuanchu shook his head: "I want to walk around Chengdu, Master Jun can do whatever he wants."
The sergeant nodded, but did not leave. Instead, he reminded: "Mr. Liu, His Highness has issued an order. Anyone who comes to Chengdu must report to each pavilion and village to register information and receive a temporary identity plate. Since Mr. Liu wants to
If you want to walk around, you might as well come with me to get your number plate first." He pointed to the guard at the city gate and continued, "Although Mr. Liu has changed his clothes, he has shaved his hair after all, so it is quite inconvenient to have no number plate."
Liu Xuanchu was a little surprised that Chengdu Prefecture had such strict control over the population. Thinking that Zhu Cixuan had only been in Chengdu for a few months, he couldn't help but feel awe-inspiring. This young prince of Nanming was quite talented in governance. In this case
, I need to take a closer look at Chengdu.
"Okay, brother, please lead the way." Liu Xuanchu nodded as he followed the Romans.
The sergeant took Liu Xuanchu to the city gate, took out a paper order with a bright red seal, and pointed at Liu Xuanchu and said a few words. The gate guard nodded, and when Liu Xuanchu came over, he behaved kindly.
Li Li reminded: "Mr. Liu's residence is on Chunxi Road. The pavilion director is next to his residence. Remember to register with the pavilion director first." Chunxi Road is naturally the golden finger of Zhu Cixuan, a time traveler. He made it the widest in Chengdu.
He renamed a street Chunxi Road in the hope that there would be more elements he was familiar with in this world. Of course, the name he chose casually triggered various conjectures among the civil and military officials in Chengdu, but he was not aware of it.
Entering the city, Liu Xuanchu followed the sergeant step by step, looking around with his eyes. His first reaction was that it was lively. Although there were many roads outside the city, it looked like a prosperous pastoral scene, but there were few people around, and he didn't see many busy farmers. Inside the city, there were only a few busy farmers.
It was a huge crowd. The crowds gathered from all over and rumbled in all directions. The rush of people made Liu Xuanchu think that he had returned to the legendary Wanli period, the last golden age of the Ming Dynasty.
"Well, why are there so many people in Chengdu?" Liu Xuanchu couldn't hold it in any longer, so he grabbed the sergeant and started asking questions.
The sergeant scratched his head and said blankly: "How many? Well, it's a bit more than usual. Maybe it's because the people brought back by Wang Shishuai from Hubei have arrived, right?"
As if to confirm his words, a loud shout came from afar: "Your Highness has issued an order. The homeless people coming from Hubei this time will no longer be directly divided into fields, but will have to work in various workshops for three years. Everyone, hurry up.
Go to Chunxi Road Square to rob people. If you arrive late, you will take advantage of those blacksmiths again..."
A group of people surged out from the shops on the roadside with a roar. They were robbing people. Chengdu seemed to have a lot of people now, but most of them were farmers with land outside the city. Workshops all over the city were short of people.
, not to mention the salt production industry in Xuzhou, which is a big labor force.
Liu Xuanchu was stunned and asked: "How many people are there in Chengdu now?"
"Well, about half a million, right?" the sergeant replied uncertainly.
"More than half a million! This is no less than the number of people in Nanjing. Why is there still a shortage of people?"
The sergeant thought for a while and replied: "There are a lot of people, but many of them farm outside the city. Your Highness has built many workshops to make farm tools, ships, weapons, salt, and textiles.
There’s not much left to divide the land among the people. Look, wouldn’t His Highness just give land to the people who came this time?”
In fact, Zhu Cixuan originally planned to directly divide the land. There are countless fields around Chengdu, and hundreds of thousands of people could throw them into it, and the waves would not even make a splash. However, this plan was collectively opposed by the workshop owners in Chengdu. Their opinions
It's very simple. They couldn't recruit anyone. Tan Hong, who was in charge of industry and commerce, also agreed. He went to Zhu Cixuan and tried to persuade him. Zhu Cixuan was also troubled by the frequent turnover of people in the workshop. He was willing to agree, but he was just worried.
He asked: "We are all common people who have traveled thousands of miles. Is it inappropriate to treat them differently?"
Tan Hong greatly disagreed, thinking that Your Highness is good in every way, but he is a little too benevolent as a woman. He smiled and said: "Your Highness has a kind heart, and is too kind to the people under his rule. But Your Highness, you have to think about it.
, what kind of life did these people from Hubei live under the Tatar rule? When they came to Chengdu, even if they were not given land, they could still have enough food, clothing, and monthly wages. The people were smart, and as long as they were better than what they originally had
How can they be dissatisfied if they are living a good life? Besides, you can set a time limit and how many years will pass before you are eligible to be allocated land in the workshop. In the future, it will be treated as such and form a customization."
Zhu Cixuan suddenly realized that he had committed a common mistake of later generations. After pondering for a while, he got off the road and decided on this policy. Only then did the scene Liu Xuanchu saw happen.
"Agriculture is the foundation of the country, and only when the foundation is strong can the country be prosperous. Your Highness prefers miscellaneous industries, isn't it like abandoning the foundation and chasing the weak?" Liu Xuanchu said worriedly.
The sergeant disagreed: "As long as there is enough food to eat, it will be good. The land in Chengdu is fertile. Anything you plant will grow well. Besides, His Highness also divided the land in the beginning. Isn't there no shortage of food?"
Liu Xuanchu asked doubtfully: "How can there be no shortage of food? Didn't the army transport so many people back from Hubei this time? And His Highness has been in Chengdu for less than half a year. Even if the land in Chengdu is fertile, has there been a harvest?"
"No, aren't the crops still growing outside? Your Highness has transferred food from Kunming. I heard that the traitor Sun Kewang saved a lot of military rations back then. The King of Jin sent it to Kunming. Your Highness can use it here.
Some are coming.”
Liu Xuanchu was silent. He had almost forgotten that even if he was in a more difficult situation now, Zhu Cixuan was still the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty and the top second generation of power. He could still use these resources.
"Then we can't always rely on Kunming for relief..." Liu Xuanchu was not convinced.
The sergeant was even more unconvinced and said: "Master Tan said, His Highness said that we don't need to all farm the land. If we want to fight the Tatars, we can't just have farmers. We must have soldiers, craftsmen, and people from all walks of life. Food is very scarce."
It’s important, but we can’t lack armor and weapons, otherwise we’ll grow food and wait for the Tatars to rob us with swords and guns?”
Liu Xuanchu was silent again. Also, now that the Ming and Qing Dynasties were fighting for hegemony, the need for war was higher than anything else. Zhu Cixuan did not accept all ordinary people as garrisons like Sun Kewang. This was considered a kindness, and he really couldn't be too harsh on him.
The sergeant said proudly: "His Royal Highness said when he first came to Chengdu that he would make Chengdu a pure land in troubled times. There will be hunger, but there will be no more death; there will be grievances, but there will be no way to complain; there will be hardship, but there will be no more death.
The income will no longer be taken away for no reason.”
"Do you believe this?"
"It was just a matter of listening in the beginning." The sergeant said sheepishly, "How could ordinary people like us take everything the big shot said seriously? After listening, we continued to live our own lives. However, His Highness is different. He is serious.
He cares about us, the common people."
"Why do you see it?" Liu Xuanchu asked with great interest.
"His Royal Highness is so busy with his affairs that he sleeps less than three hours a day. He also regularly sets aside an hour to meet with the people. If you have any grievances or hardships, you can go to him directly to complain. He is worried that the subordinate officials have been colluding with the powerful from generation to generation, and stipulates that subordinate officials must also be evaluated. Not only can they not be
Even if it is passed down from father to son, he cannot always work in the same position. He has to rotate every few years. He is afraid that the powerful will control the local people and not allow the rich to buy and sell land. He also sends veterans as pavilion chiefs. He is afraid
The government oppresses us and specially conducts a public opinion survey. In addition to the court's evaluation, the tribunals also need to be judged by the people's ratings. We have never heard in our lives that the people can decide the position of the official. You say, Your Highness
Can we not believe what you say?"
Liu Xuanchu murmured: "Your Highness, you are following Emperor Taizu..." Emperor Taizu did not believe in the ethics of being an official, and would rather let local gentry share the power of the government. Zhu Cixuan did even more extraordinary, he did not even believe in the gentry
, not even allowing the appearance of the squire.
Hearing that the sergeant was talking about ordinary people, Liu Xuanchu asked curiously: "You are an officer and soldier now, why are you talking about ordinary people?"
The sergeant chuckled and said: "Your Highness said, we serve the people at home, and we serve as soldiers in the army. The soldiers and the people are one. We are all soldiers who are the sons of the common people, and of course we are also common people. What's more, unless we make great achievements and are promoted to officers, we are all
Those who want to retire, what are they if they are not ordinary people?"
Liu Xuanchu heard about retirement several times and couldn't help but ask: "Your Highness really wants you to retire?" In these troubled times, wars continue and veterans are so precious. Zhu Cixuan actually asked the veterans to retire and go home to farm. Isn't this nonsense?
"How could His Highness lie to us?" The sergeant glared and said displeasedly, "Many of the pavilion chiefs are retired veterans. When I retire, I will also become a pavilion chief."
Liu Xuanchu didn't want to argue with him. In his eyes, the sergeant had been successfully brainwashed by Zhu Cixuan. He changed the subject and asked: "As the pavilion chief, you have to deal with official documents. Will Your Highness also assign you a master?" In his opinion,
Although this sergeant's conversation was not vulgar, he could not be compared to a scholar, so he was probably illiterate.
The sergeant smiled brightly and said: "What do you want, master? Your Highness does not allow officials to use masters, saying that public weapons cannot be taught privately. Masters only recognize their employers and not the court. What is most corrupting the officialdom is that there is not a single master in Chengdu. Originally, all those masters were
Your Highness has become a civil servant. Besides, we can read and write ourselves, so why do we need a master?"
Liu Xuanchu was in awe: "I didn't expect that the strong man turned out to be from a scholarly family, and he was Liu Menglang." The literacy rate was surprisingly low these days. Since the sergeant said that he could handle official documents, he must have had scholars in his ancestors.
The sergeant said sheepishly: "Mr. Liu, please don't praise me. I don't come from a scholarly family. Counting eight more lifetimes, I won't be able to find a single scholar in my family."
Liu Xuanchu asked curiously: "Then where did you study?"
"We learned how to read after serving in the army. His Highness arranged for a gentleman to teach us how to read every night."
"This..." Liu Xuanchu was speechless again. This Zhu Cixuan is really not an ordinary maverick. It's enough for soldiers to dare to go into battle without fear of death. Is it easier to kill people by making them literate? Make great efforts to make them literate.
They were allowed to retire, what was their purpose? But Zhu Cixuan did this, and the Ming army continued to win consecutive battles in Hubei, which really made Liu Xuanchu confused.
"Mr. Liu, this is where the pavilion director of Chunxi Road is. Shall we go and register now?"
Liu Xuanchu thought to himself and nodded absently in agreement. After the registration was completed, he also received a temporary certificate representing his legal identity.
"This little prince is really good at troubles." Looking at the crowds coming in and out of the pavilion and the complicated affairs being dealt with in an orderly manner, Liu Xuanchu suddenly decided that he would stay in Chengdu for a while and take a good look around.