Zhu Gui was not worried about the 'decisive battle' one month later. He completely trusted Xu Yingxu's ability.
Moreover, with the intelligence officer Hu Shidao, there are fewer uncertain factors.
What is before his case now is the issue of Yunzhou's autumn tax.
During the Hongwu period, the Ming Dynasty implemented a two-tax system.
It is divided into summer tax and autumn tax.
When Zhu Gui first arrived in Yunzhou, the summer tax had passed and the autumn tax had not yet arrived.
Now more than two months have passed, and it’s time to collect autumn taxes again.
However, this year is slightly different from previous years, mainly because of Zhu Gui's previous policies, which exempted some farmers who participated in road construction from part of the agricultural tax, and their proportion was very large.
Coupled with a series of measures to divide the land, Zhang Mao, the county governor, had to go to the palace of Dai Wang every two days, hoping to discuss the autumn tax with Dai Wang.
Zhu Gui had been trying to resist for a few days, but Zhang Mao blocked him again today.
"Your Majesty, please think of a way. Now we have only received half of the tax money of previous years. If this continues, I will not be able to pay my dues."
Zhang Mao cried with runny nose and tears.
Zhu Gui frowned and said: "There is a big disaster in Shanxi. The government's relief measures have not been announced yet, so the tax collection can be postponed."
"My lord, you don't know. The imperial court has sent special disaster relief envoys to inspect various states and counties. Based on the current situation in Yunzhou, it may not be qualified for disaster relief."
Zhang Mao said with a wry smile.
There was no way, Zhu Gui had already taken the lead and solved all the problems of the victims.
Since the special envoy could not see the tragic situation of "thousands of miles away from hunger", there would naturally be no need for disaster relief.
This was originally a good thing and could be counted towards Zhang Mao's political achievements.
But now that the taxes can't be collected, that's his problem.
"How many gaps are left?"
Zhu Gui thought for a while and asked.
"Last year's autumn tax was 1.2 million taels, but this year we only received 500,000 taels."
Zhang Mao took out his account book, flipped through it and said.
"Is it so different?"
Zhu Gui was also shocked.
"There's nothing we can do about it. The prince has distributed all the land to farmers. Those squire families are the ones who pay the bulk of the tax. They can't collect it this year. In addition, the farmers have newly acquired land. As usual, they won't be taxed in the first year.
.”
Zhang Mao explained.
Zhu Gui nodded and said: "This million acres of land in Yunzhou can only receive 700,000 taels of agricultural tax a year, and it's not all because those squire and landlords are greedy. Well, you don't have to complain. This
The king has given you the money."
During this period, the Datong Chamber of Commerce's profits far exceeded Zhu Gui's own business of selling refined salt.
More importantly, he only needs to provide refined salt now, and he does not need to do anything else personally.
The business of Datong Bank is getting better and better, so seven hundred thousand taels seems like a lot, but in fact it is just a small sum of money to him.
"However, I can give you money, and I won't even treat you local officials badly. But once I find out that you have done something extraordinary, I will not let you go."
Zhu Gui asked Butler Wang to get the banknote and at the same time sent someone to deliver it back to Zhang Mao in person.
Looking back, Zhu Gui thought for a moment that it was time to give these officials some sweetness to prevent them from causing trouble behind his back.
So he drew up a "high salary to support integrity" policy. Every official in Yunzhou could get the royal salary for that year at the Prince Dai's Mansion every month.
In other words, they can get thirteen times their salary a year.
The money may not be as much as what they earn from annual taxes, but it is enough to make most officials grateful to the acting king.
At the same time, Zhu Gui once again issued a notice, this time not only for Datong Prefecture, but for the entire Shanxi and even the entire Ming Dynasty.
That is the ‘Recruitment Order’.
All capable craftsmen can go to Datong Prefecture for testing. If they are recognized as talents, Datong Prefecture can fund the construction of workshops for them.
Datong Prefecture also provides orders every month, which does not restrict the freedom and other rights of the craftsmen at all.
At the same time, Datong Prefecture will hold a craftsman skills competition every six months, and the top 100 will receive generous rewards.
This recruitment order was sent to other areas at an extremely fast speed by the Datong Chamber of Commerce and intelligence personnel under Hu Shidao, and spread throughout half of the Ming Dynasty within half a month.
Nanjing City Imperial Palace.
Zhu Yuanzhang was looking at the memorial that had been corrected by the prince.
On the other side of him were many open secret letters.
After a long while, Zhu Yuanzhang's gloomy face suddenly showed a strange look.
"Recruitment order? It's Datong Mansion again, and that boy Zhu Gui actually did such bad things."
But this time he was not angry, but emotional.
"Come here, summon Concubine Guo Hui and the prince."
…
At the emperor's feet, there are all kinds of interesting stories every day.
However, what has been circulated the most and most widely recently is the incident of the acting king Zhu Gui who once made people jealous.
Not only did he kill the gangsters and save the princess alone.
Even his "bloody battle with Mongolian cavalry" and "fierce battle with horse bandits" were rumored.
But some people still have doubts about these stories.
After all, Zhu Gui's image in Nanjing was so deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Many people are as afraid of it as a tiger.
Among the neighbors, there was an old man wearing a straw hat sitting at a tea stall drinking tea, and beside him was a handsome young man.
"Dad, do you think that king was really that brave? I feel like it's just rumors?"
The young man scoffed at these gossips.
The old man took off his straw hat, closed his eyes, and moved the five fingers of his right hand. After a while, a strange look appeared on his face.
"Dad, what did you expect?"
The young man was not surprised by the old man's behavior.
"This generation of kings is so strange. His fate should have been very tortuous, but for some reason he suddenly became straight."
The old man had a thoughtful expression on his beautiful face.
"Perhaps something big happened? I heard that he saved the princess alone, killed more than a dozen gangsters, and was seriously injured himself. Maybe it was because of that incident."
The young man said unconsciously.
The old man nodded and said after a while: "Zhong Jing, there is not much that my father can teach you. The rest is up to you to understand. Now there is a destiny in front of you. You can get up and go there tomorrow."
Yunzhou, meet the acting king."
"Dad, the imperial examination is about to take place, I think..."
The young man said with some embarrassment.
"The imperial examination can only allow you to enter an official career, but an official career may not change the world. I have calculated the fate of King Dai, and his fate is closely related to the Ming Dynasty."
The old man brushed his beard and showed a deep look in his eyes.
The young man stopped talking and just sat there drinking tea.
At this time, a woodcutter passed by and seemed to recognize the old man.
"Hey, Mr. Liu, you brought your son here to understand the sentiments of the people. You are really a good official."
Liu Bowen nodded helplessly, put on his straw hat again, and led the boy into the deep alley.