Chapter 236 Those who obey the Ming will prosper, and those who go against the Ming will perish.
This time the military household guard system was abolished very thoroughly. Even the four newly established capitals near the capital and the three capitals in Datong Xuanfu were all abolished and changed to Fuzhou County.
Although those hundreds or thousands of households still retain their official status and stay in the local area, they no longer have any power, and those scholars and officials will be transferred to the southwest and northwest to be responsible for presiding over the land reform.
From now on, the defense of each province will be completely taken over by the garrison. Each provincial government will establish a guard, dispatch a commander, several adjutants, and five thousand garrison troops.
A thousand-household office is established in the state capital and one to two thousand troops are garrisoned. A hundred household office is established in counties and scattered prefectures and one to two hundred troops are garrisoned.
The second batch of 100,000 new soldiers recruited by Nanjing will be transferred to the four northern provinces. The service period of these garrison soldiers is three years. They do not receive military pay in peacetime. When they retire, they will be given a uniform sum of money.
In order to better reform the native land and return it to the locals, 30% of the garrison troops across the country will recruit ethnic minorities from chieftains in the southwest and Huguang areas.
After studying and training like this for three years, after returning to their respective hometowns, the assimilation of ethnic minorities in various places will definitely be accelerated, and it will also increase the sense of belonging and identification of ethnic minorities with the Central Plains dynasty.
In the days that followed, Zhu Cixiang sat in Beijing and continued to make personnel appointments and transfers.
Almost half of the thousands of Beijing officials in Beijing were removed and sent to the southwest, northwest and newly added Fuzhou counties to serve as prefects and prefects.
This paralyzed the six ministries in Beijing, but all officials were eager to go to local officials, and no one wanted to stay in the capital and continue to sit on the bench.
By now, I am afraid that even ordinary people know that this set of central institutions in Beijing will definitely be replaced by the one in Nanjing.
The first assistant, Wei Zaode, was sent back to his hometown for retirement. The second assistant, Qian Qianyi, went on a mission to North Korea, but was eventually captured by slaves and made a traitor. Liu Rushi, who was jumping up and down, was thrown into prison. This completely put the central institutions of the capital on the back burner.
Even Shi Kefa and Hou Xun were devastated, living in intoxication all day long and no longer had any illusions about the future.
But for the two of them, Zhu Cixiang did not intend to let them continue to be decadent.
Hou Xun was appointed as the chief envoy of the Andong Protectorate, responsible for coordinating disputes among various Mongolian tribes and daily government affairs. Huang Degong also served as deputy envoy, mainly responsible for military affairs.
Shi Kefa was also told by Zhu Cixiang that after a new Protectorate was established in the future, he would serve as the envoy to protect the border for the Ming Dynasty.
This immediately cheered them up again, filled them with energy and restored their confidence.
After all, Qian Qianyi became a traitor, which was a huge blow to the two of them. The creed they had adhered to for their entire lives was almost shattered.
As for the two chief officials in the northwest and southwest, after much thought, Zhu Cixang finally decided to transfer Ni Yuanlu to serve as the patrol envoy to the northwest, and Li Banghua to serve as the patrol envoy to the southwest, fully responsible for the government affairs and land reform in the two places.
Shanxi and Henan can assign any governor at will.
Although the two of them have not done much in Shanxi and Henan in the past two years, they are still doing well overall. Of course, the main reason is that Zhu Cixiang does not allow big moves, so the two have nowhere to perform.
After the two came to the capital to meet the emperor, they were shocked when they heard Zhu Cihong's land reform plan.
"Do you two have any objections to my land reform?"
Zhu Cixiang looked at the two of them calmly. If they did not support him, no matter how loyal and good his character was, he would not be able to use it and would have no choice but to retire and return home.
"Your Majesty's land reform is the first of its kind in history, will benefit the country and the people, and will surely lay the foundation for the Ming Dynasty for all eternity. With your Majesty's trust, I will definitely dedicate myself to my life and die to repay His Majesty's holy grace!"
After some hesitation, the two finally chose to completely side with the emperor and support the new land policy.
Because the two of them knew that with His Majesty's temperament, let alone the two of them, even if all the gentry in the world opposed it, it would probably be of no avail.
His Majesty actually dared to propose such a shocking land policy. He must have been prepared for the rebellion of all the gentry in the world. With such courage and determination, looking at ancient and modern times, I am afraid that only Qin Shihuang and Ning Weiyusha, not Waquan and Emperor Sui Yang could match him.
Already.
"Okay! I have indeed read your two dear friends correctly. The new land policy is related to the national destiny of our Ming Dynasty and the future of our Chinese ethnic group. Even if the sky falls apart and the sun and the moon move, there will be no wavering. It must be completed.
Do you two dear friends have confidence?"
The two secretly murmured, and sure enough, His Majesty's determination to implement the new land policy was as firm as ever. He even said things like the sky would fall apart and the sun and the moon would shift. It was obvious that he had made all preparations.
The two people's faces also showed determination involuntarily.
"I will not give up until my death, and I vow to implement the New Deal in both places."
Immediately, Zhu Cihong explained in detail to the two people the many measures to protect the ecological environment of the Yellow River Basin.
As a result, the two of them were shocked and stunned again.
Because except for the Guanzhong Plain, the population in other areas of the northwest will all be relocated to the Central Plains area for resettlement.
Northern Shaanxi, Ningxia, Lanzhou, Gansu and the entire Hexi Corridor will all become protected areas.
"Your Majesty, these areas were developed by our Chinese ancestors after two thousand years of hard work and hard work. You must never give up!"
"Your Majesty, please think twice."
The two of them obviously thought that Zhu Cihong was giving up these remote areas. They were so anxious that they almost cried. They could no longer care about anything else and knelt on the ground to persuade him.
"The two dear ladies have misunderstood. How could I give up these lands? These areas lack rain and water and have been over-exploited for two thousand years. The environment has become very bad. In addition, they are located in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. This has made the lower reaches of the Yellow River poor in years."
It is flooded every year, so I want to move all the people in these areas to the Central Plains area in order to restore the ecological environment of these areas. Although there will be no people in these areas in the future, they will still be my land of the Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Cixi slowly explained.
One of the reasons why he went to war so aggressively was that he really wanted to restore the natural environment in the northwest.
Just imagine, after moving all the people out, in a hundred or two hundred years, the entire northwest will probably become a virgin forest, which will greatly enrich the water source of the Yellow River and benefit the entire north.
Secondly, the population in the Central Plains region is now declining, and it may not be fully recovered within ten or twenty years, so he wants to move all the population from the border areas here, concentrate their reproduction, and strive to restore the population in the Central Plains region as soon as possible.
"But Your Majesty, once all the Han people in these areas are moved to the Central Plains, other local ethnic groups will definitely take the opportunity to grow bigger, and foreign ethnic groups from Tibet and the Western Regions will also take advantage of it. If things go on like this, these areas may really be separated from our Ming Dynasty.
It’s over!”
"Yes, Your Majesty, the only place where the Han people exist is the real land of the Ming Dynasty!"
Both of them still looked worried.
Emperor Taizu did not hesitate to relocate hundreds of thousands of military households to the Hexi Corridor to garrison the fields in order to allow these Han people to take root in these places, defend these lands, and at the same time continue to assimilate the surrounding ethnic minorities.
But now, His Majesty actually wants to move all these Han people back to the Central Plains. The people of the old Zhu family are really capable of doing things.
"It seems that the two beloved ministers still haven't really understood what I mean. When I say that all the population will be moved to the Central Plains, I mean not only the Han people, but also other ethnic groups. All of them will be moved to the Central Plains.
Moreover, there must be an official road from Jiayuguan to Chang'an, and a post station will be set up every fifty miles. The court will also send people to station along the way, rotating every five years. Appropriate farming and grazing can be done near each post station, and a large army will be stationed at Jiayuguan.
We are not afraid of foreigners taking advantage of the situation.
What’s more, in the future, the territory of the Ming Dynasty will never be the same as it is now. The entire northwest will become the land of recovery. Where will the foreigners come from to take advantage of it?"
After Zhu Cixiang finished speaking, the two of them were completely stunned. They found that they, or everyone in the world, had far underestimated His Majesty's ambition.
After being silent for a long time, Li Banghua said solemnly: "Your Majesty, if you want to relocate the Han people, it should not be difficult as long as you understand them with reason, move them with emotion, and make some compensation. But if you want to move other ethnic groups to the Central Plains as well,
, I’m afraid it will be extremely difficult!”
"Nothing is difficult, those who obey the Ming will prosper, and those who go against the Ming will perish!"
Zhu Cixi waved his hand and said slowly.
Although the tone was light, the two people were frightened by what he heard. They obviously understood the emperor's consciousness and heard the murderous intention contained in those words.
The two of them opened their mouths, but the words that came to their mouths were not spoken after all, and were kept deep in their hearts.