Chapter 004 A private interview before returning to Luan
Matteo Ricci has been gone for about half an hour, and Gao Pragmatic has already turned from thinking about the overall situation of the world back to the government affairs of the Ming Dynasty. At this moment, in the study room of the side hall of Chunhe Palace, Gao Pragmatic stood in front of the huge map, with a calm expression.
, eyes wandering back and forth between Nanjing and Beijing.
The end of Emperor Nan Xing meant that a grand return to Luan was about to begin, and as the chief minister of the Ming Dynasty, all the planning and arrangements naturally fell on his shoulders.
Not long after, he summoned Li Zhizao, the cabinet minister, and said in a deep voice: "Zhenzhi, the Emperor's visit to Nanjing is coming to an end, and the preparations for his return to Luan should be almost complete, right?"
Li Zhizao bowed respectfully and replied: "Back to Yuanfu, all arrangements have been made. I wonder if you have any other specific instructions?"
Gao Pragmatic nodded lightly and said slowly: "First of all, the itinerary and route will be as planned before to ensure that everything is foolproof. Safety is the top priority, and the deployment of troops along the way must be arranged in advance without any slack.
In particular, the Imperial Guards should dispatch cavalry to investigate in advance along the way to eliminate any hidden dangers before they happen. If you tell the Ministry of Defense, tell them that we hope they will seize the opportunity and never treat the return of the escort as a one-time event.
Instead of traveling, we should treat this mission as a practical reconnaissance training, and our ministry will also inspect it afterwards to see the march minutes they provided."
"Yes, I have written it down. I will go to Qingliang Mountain in person soon." Li Zhizao quickly wrote down the key points and replied. The Qingliang Mountain he mentioned is located in the city of Nanjing to the west of the military camp (the local garrison military camp in Nanjing).
This is where the escort soldiers will be stationed.
"Secondly, the supply of materials must be sufficient. The emperor's return trip is no small matter. The food, drinking water, accommodation, etc. needed along the way must be prepared in advance without any mistakes." Gao's pragmatic tone revealed unquestionable determination.
"The official understands that before this matter, local officials have been urged to ask them to wait for approval from the court at any time, make arrangements in advance and ensure that all supplies are in place according to the scheduled time of the Holy Emperor's arrival. This matter has been arranged for more than two months in advance, so I think it should be
There won't be any difference." Li Zhizao replied.
"Don't neglect the etiquette arrangements. The emperor's return is a major event for the country and must be carried out in strict accordance with court etiquette. The starting ceremony and the greetings and farewells along the way all need to be carefully planned."
"Before I came to the official position, I had discussed relevant matters with the officials of the Ministry of Rites. Yu Chunguan (Chun Guan refers to the Minister of Rites) said that he would personally supervise to ensure that all etiquette is appropriate and does not lose the national integrity." Li Zhizao's tone was very solemn. It seemed that
When it comes to etiquette, they are more pragmatic than Gao.
"Public reception also needs to be properly arranged. When the emperor returns home, there are always gentry and elders eager to see the dragon's face along the way, so maintaining order is indispensable." Gao Pragmatic continued to give instructions, then paused and added in an emphasis: "Especially
Gentlemen from all over the country who have been awarded honorary titles should try their best to arrange opportunities for them to meet the saints, even if there are more people to meet the saints at one time."
"The lower official will write a letter to the local officials in the name of the cabinet to clearly request this matter, not only to ensure that the public reception is orderly and without chaos, but also to ensure that those who have the honor will get the opportunity to meet the saint, so that they feel that the previous offerings are worthwhile.
It’s worth it.” A glimmer of understanding flashed in Li Zhizao’s eyes.
What Gao Pragmatic's honorary system "sells" is the title and courtesy given by the court. Naturally, he must maximize his honors when he can. Otherwise, how can he continue to reap the benefits of these local gentry in the future? At least,
It is better to gather the wool of the gentry than to gather the wool of ordinary people.
In addition, Gao Pragmatic is not very worried that the gentry will immediately pass these losses on to the local people, because this honorary title does not always exist after you are granted the title. The prescribed statute of limitations is on the one hand, and there is another.
On the one hand, the imperial censor and other discipline officials will judge whether you can continue to hold the title based on your reputation.
To put it simply, if your reputation in the local area is too bad and your reputation is bad, then the court can take back the honorary title. In the review of the reputation of these honorary title holders, "treating tenant farmers harshly" is also considered a deduction.
One of the sub-items, please note that it is only "one".
In short, if you want to gain the honor, you need to spend money. If you want to keep it, you have to continue to bleed. For example, in order to have a good reputation, you have to lower the rent a little. When others charge ten taels of silver, you may
I only dare to charge nine taels and five cents, or even nine taels.
"Transportation arrangements, health protection, information transmission, and financial budgets are all related to the smooth progress of the return trip. They must be implemented and supervised one by one according to the previous plan. No matter where there is a problem, our department must be able to do it as soon as possible.
Locate the responsible person." Gao Pragmatic's speaking speed gradually increased, showing that he attached great importance to this matter.
Li Zhizao was not surprised by the words he used. They were all heard around him often and he had already understood them. As for Gao Yuanfu's persistence in "implementing the responsible person", he had also long been used to it - Gao Yuanfu
Yuan Fu was most afraid of anyone being ambiguous and shifting the blame. Every time he handed over an errand, he would clearly designate the person in charge, and who would be responsible for any problems.
Li Zhizao often thought that this might be a habit developed by Yuan Fu when he was commanding the army: One is one, two is two, don't tell me that one is okay or two is okay. I have decided that it is one, so you can't say two.
Otherwise, military law will be engaged.
Sometimes Li Zhizao feels that Yuan Fu's style is a bit too demanding. After all, some things do require a little redundancy, but sometimes he feels that perhaps this is the only way to ensure that things are done efficiently and not out of shape.
Later, he asked Gao pragmatism about this question, and Gao pragmatism replied without thinking: "If you take the method from the top, you can only get it in the middle; if you take the method in the middle, it will be the bottom."
This sentence was not Gao Pragmatic's original work. Li Zhizao knew it as soon as he heard it. It came from Volume 4 of Emperor Taizong's "Emperor Fan". Communication between scholars is sometimes so simple. When Gao Pragmatic said it, Li Zhizao immediately explained all the causes and consequences.
It's clear in my heart.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "The official will go all out to ensure that every task is implemented." Li Zhizao's forehead was sweating slightly, but his voice remained firm.
"Finally," Gao's pragmatic eyes fell on Li Zhizao, and his tone became gentle, "This time when I return to Luan, my cabinet will propose to the emperor that all the accompanying officials should be given a three-day leave, so that they can recuperate and recuperate.
Then you can have a good rest.”
"On behalf of all my colleagues, I would like to express my gratitude to Yuan Fu for his generosity. I will certainly live up to Yuan Fu's entrustment. I will do my best to ensure that my return to Luan goes smoothly." Li Zhizao bowed deeply, his eyes filled with gratitude.
It has to be said that Zhu Yuanzhang is not only a workaholic himself, but also insists on requiring his officials to follow him in becoming workaholics. The holidays arranged are too few - his early rule was that officials only have three days off every year:
New Year's Day, Winter Solstice and his birthday.
Isn't this a joke? Gao Pragmatic, as a later generation, was quite disdainful of this. This arrangement was neither humane nor scientific, and would not improve work efficiency at all. Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang was later forced to add some holidays,
However, it is still far less than that of the former Song Dynasty, so I won’t go into details here.
But Zhu Yuanzhang's picky search had an additional benefit for Gao Pragmatic at this time, that is, it gave him one more way to increase the favorability of the officials. Whenever the court accomplished something big or had something
For major happy events, he would suggest that the emperor give all officials a holiday, usually one day.
As a result, not only did he, the chief assistant, make many people feel "lenient" in politics, but his attitude towards the emperor was also much softer - after all, although it was Gao Yuanfu who made the proposal, the emperor had to agree.
.Are you right, Zhu Chongba?
After arranging these things, Gao Pragmatic felt basically relaxed. He asked someone to go to the cabinet and report to the Supervisor of Ceremonies, saying that he was going to visit Nanjing in the afternoon and conduct an on-the-spot inspection of Nanjing's industrial and commercial development.
Not long after, the emperor seemed to have received the news. While sending someone to deliver today's royal meal as usual, the lieutenant-general quietly asked Gao Pragmatic, saying that the emperor also wanted to go with Yuan Fu and asked if he could arrange to travel in private.
.
This put Gao Pangshi in a bit of a dilemma. First of all, he didn't know much about the security situation in Nanjing - of course, it shouldn't be too bad in the recent period. Secondly, if the emperor also wanted to go with him, in order to avoid any mistakes,
, don’t go to too many places, it’s better to identify a “key inspection object”, which is inconsistent with Gao Pragmatic’s original plan.
His original intention was to "see how many changes I have brought to the people of the Ming Dynasty." Now that the emperor had interfered with it, he could only change his plan and let the emperor see how many years of reform and innovation had been achieved.
What achievements.
Gao pragmatically thought about how to make arrangements while eating. In the end, for the sake of safety, Gao pragmatically suggested that the emperor only visit the Nanjing branch of Jinghua Textile Factory under his name.
This textile factory not only uses Jinghua Textile's famous technology - Jinghua Textile Machine (Jenny Textile Machine, Ming Dynasty Edition), but also uses the latest water-driven spinning technology. In addition, judging from Jinghua's internal assessments over the years,
This textile factory has strict management and is relatively safe.
Zhongguan came and went to convey the news, and the result was not surprising. The emperor agreed to the arrangement - he also knew that traveling incognito was no joke, and it would be good if Gao Pragmatic could agree. So not long after, the emperor came to Chunhe Palace
, the two of them each changed into casual clothes, took a few entourages, and quietly left the palace.
Of course, this was only on the surface. Secretly, both the Jin Yiwei and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Beijing were ready to prepare after receiving the news. They arranged no less than ten hidden stakes along the way as quickly as possible to ensure that there would be strong manpower in case of any accident.
Come forward in time to ensure the safety of the emperor and Gao pragmatism.
Jinghua Nanjing Textile Factory is located in the west of Nanjing, outside the "Beijing City", inside Waiguo City, and downstream of Mochou Lake. This place looks like a narrow strip on the map, but from the actual point of view, it is actually a wide area.
It is also close to the river and has abundant water resources. [Note: It is approximately southeast of the Longjiang Shipyard site in Nanjing today.]
When the emperor and Gao Pragmatic arrived, they were struck by the sight of the workshop area. The Jinghua Nanjing Textile Factory occupies a large area, and the factory area is probably equivalent to half the size of the Nanjing Imperial Palace. Along the Qinhuai River in the factory area, there are huge buildings
The waterwheel rotates slowly by the river, making a rhythmic creaking sound, transmitting power to the spinning machine inside the workshop.
Under the arrangement of the factory director, all the factory's top management went out, but they received the two distinguished visitors as quietly as possible - well, Gao Pragmatic should not be counted as a visitor, after all, he is the owner.
Entering the factory, the emperor observed everything around him curiously, from the operation of the waterwheel to the work of the spinning machine. Every detail made him feel novel. Gao Pragmatic explained every link in detail, including the hydraulic spinning.
The principle of yarn, the structure of the spinning machine, etc. However, he was not very familiar with the workers’ operating procedures, so he let the factory director explain this instead.
When the factory director learned that the emperor was about to arrive in person, he was shocked and extremely nervous - after all, he didn't know how to "welcome the emperor respectfully", and if he behaved inappropriately before the emperor, it would be a shame.
Fortunately, the news from the owner was also conveyed at the same time - there was no need to make public his pragmatic requirements, and there was no need to worry about picking up the driver. The factory director was finally relieved.
Indeed, Zhu Yijun did not want to disturb the normal work of the workers. He preferred to be an ordinary observer and quietly understand this industrial miracle. He had many opportunities to watch pick-up cars, and it could even be said that he was tired of watching them for a long time.
Gao Pragmatic took the emperor to a spinning machine and carefully observed its operation. The emperor saw that the spindles of the spinning machine were arranged neatly, and each yarn was spun evenly, with the same thickness.
The texture is uniform, which was unimaginable in previous hand-spinning yarns.
"How efficient is this water-powered spinning machine?" the emperor asked. From his simple question, it was clear that he was greatly influenced by Gao Pragmatism, and everyone knew that the first focus was "efficiency."
The factory director respectfully replied: "Your Majesty, in the early years of our Jinghua spinning machine, it was twenty times more efficient than the hand-spinning machine of the past. Now this water-powered spinning machine can spin every day."
The yarn can weigh more than 100 kilograms, which is several times higher than the Jinghua spinning machine that originally used human power."
"Let me look at each one...uh, Rixin, what's that one called?"
"Call it the waterwheel, Your Majesty."
"Oh, I see that each waterwheel can drive multiple water-powered spinning machines. So... because the water is constantly flowing, doesn't this power never stop? If so, do these workers also come to work at night?"
Gao Pragmatic's cheek twitched, and he thought to himself: Why do I think you, the emperor, are more suitable to be a capitalist than me? Let alone electric lights these days, there is not even electricity, how can you light up at night? In the textile factory, you work the night shift with lanterns, and you, the emperor, have a safety accident.
Is compensation guaranteed?
He briefly explained the safety hazards, and then said: "Besides, the emperor doesn't have to worry about these spinning machines idling. Look over there, as long as the gate is closed, the drive shaft is cut off. Although the waterwheel is still spinning, the spinning machines
But it can be stopped.”
"That's it." The emperor nodded. He was very satisfied with such efficiency. Under the guidance of Gao Pragmatic year after year, he already knew that such technological progress would greatly improve the country's productivity and improve people's lives.
has important significance.
However, he was still quite worried about something and asked: "I remember that someone came to Shu in the early years and said that this would cause many craftsmen who were originally engaged in spinning to lose their means of livelihood and become homeless from now on. This
Are you paying attention to this matter? What is the situation now?"
"I said at the time that this was unfounded worry." Gao Pragmatic shook his head and said: "The increase in productivity will lower product prices, allow more people to afford new clothes, and at the same time attract more people to enter the procurement, transportation, production, sales and other fields.
link...
To put it simply, create more jobs, produce more products, and ensure better people's livelihood. Even if every improvement in productivity will take corresponding time for the people to adapt and adjust, when these are completed, the people's
Life can only get better."
Zhu Yijun did not immediately express his approval, but thought of a question and asked: "Wouldn't there be a similar problem of 'low price of grain hurting farmers'?"
Gao Pragmatic shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, 'low grain prices hurt farmers' and productivity progress in the textile industry are not the same situation. There are four main reasons why 'low grain prices hurt farmers'.
The first is the relationship between supply and demand: when the supply of agricultural products exceeds demand, prices will fall, resulting in reduced farmers' income; the second is production costs: the costs of agricultural production, such as seeds, farm tools, cattle, etc., are relatively high for ordinary farmers, while the prices of agricultural products are too low.
farmers may not be able to cover costs; third, price fluctuations: agricultural product prices are greatly affected by market fluctuations, and it is difficult for farmers to predict and respond when prices fall; fourth, income is single: farmers' income mainly depends on the sale of agricultural products, and price drops directly affect their income
.
These problems themselves are not without solutions, but they are limited to the current conditions. Some things are easy to do and some things are difficult to do. For example, the court can build granaries extensively, collect grain in good years, and release grain in disaster years, which can stabilize grain prices.
, but this requires the court to invest in the construction of more granaries, and it cannot be too concentrated.
Another example is to join more international trade, export grain in good years, and buy grain in disaster years - Your Majesty, Jinghua is doing this. In the past few years, Southern Xinjiang has sold more grain to Ming Dynasty at low prices. Rice alone has exceeded
Thirty million dan. However, in some southern areas with better years, roads are not smooth, and sometimes the situation of 'low grain prices hurting farmers' is about to happen, and Jinghua resells it to Japan. This is the benefit of international trade."
Zhu Yijun said a long "Oh" and then asked: "What about these yarns and cloths..."
Gao Pragmatic nodded: "Of course, we can also sell it to other countries to avoid a sudden impact on the domestic market. In fact, as far as I know, about 30% to 40% of Jinghua Textile Factory's fabrics are sold overseas every year.
"
Zhu Yijun was very satisfied and thought to himself: That's great. The court can impose an export tax on exports. No wonder the tariffs have been rising year after year... Thinking of this, he put down his worries, patted Gao Pragmatic's shoulder, and said: "God-given sunrise and prosperity."
I, only you can think about these things so clearly."
He was so pragmatic that he was desensitized by such praise. He just smiled slightly and introduced the maintenance of spinning machines and the training of workers to the emperor.
The emperor routinely expressed his appreciation for the management of the factory director and the skills of the craftsmen, and then encouraged them to continue to innovate, and also promised that the court would provide more support - well, regarding this, that's what he said anyway, and that's what everyone said.
Listen, neither party will take it too seriously.
Although this private visit in Weibo was not long, it was at least very fruitful for Zhu Yijun. He witnessed the development of Ming Dynasty's "industry" and felt the vitality brought by scientific and technological progress to the country, which made him more pragmatic.
Gratitude - Although the education he received told him that the emperor does not need to be grateful to anyone, but the human heart is made of flesh, how can it really be too forgetful?
As the sun set, Zhu Yijun and Gao pragmatic ended their inspection of Jinghua Nanjing Textile Factory. Both parties had their own thoughts. When they walked out of the long door, Zhu Yijun couldn't help but said to Gao pragmatic: "Rixin, based on what I saw today,
I have become more confident in your reforms over the years. I will continue to support your reforms in the future to make Ming Zhongxing more worthy of its name."
When Gao Pangshi heard what he said, he guessed that he still felt a little guilty about his being granted Zen status, so he half promised and half comforted him: "The Ming Dynasty's resurgence is worthy of its name. However, I must do my best to live up to the emperor's trust.
Let this Wanli ZTE be even more glorious and glorious, like the sun in the sky."
The two of them looked at each other and smiled, showing all their pride and affection without saying a word.
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