Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 134: System
All the ministers in the hall bowed and said they dared not

Zhu Lang ignored the responses from the crowd and looked at Chen Bangyan below.

"Chen Bangyan, you are most familiar with the situation in Guangzhou City. You will take care of this matter. Go to Jiao Lian to ask for help after dawn and collect all the food and wages from the grain stores in the city for the imperial court."

"Starting tomorrow, the city will begin to ration food. The government office will take out 300 dan of grain every day and distribute it to various places in the city. The people in the city can buy half a jin of rice according to their household registration, and each household is limited to buying one jin."

Chen Bangyan thought for a moment and then said

"If Your Highness wishes to ration rice and save on the city's food and salaries, I ask that you raise the price of rice."

Zhu Lang was stunned when he heard this, but before he could say anything, Lu Daqi frowned and immediately said

“Why the price increase?”

"People in the city are in a panic right now. If the price is raised at this time, people in the city will definitely be uneasy. If it is instigated by someone with ulterior motives, it may even cause chaos."

"Since the two thousand dan of grain has already been allocated, it is better to distribute it to the people in the city for free. This will not only allow the people in the city to enjoy the emperor's grace, but also calm the people's hearts. How can we take advantage of this opportunity to collect more?"

Seeing Lu Daqi's questioning, Chen Bangyan's expression remained unchanged. He bowed to Lu Daqi and then said

"I proposed to raise the price, not to deprive the people of their money. Even if the price of just 2,000 dan of rice is increased tenfold, how can we raise any money?"

"I proposed to raise the price to prevent people from rushing to buy rice."

"The people in the city must have some grain stored in their homes. If we sell it at normal prices now, the people will see that the four gates are closed and will surely rush to buy grain."

"If the price is raised, the people will see the high price of rice and will first eat the food at home. When the food at home is exhausted, they will use the silver to buy high-priced rice. This will help alleviate the urgent need for food."

Lu Daqi frowned slightly when he heard this, but after a little thought, he felt that what Chen Bangyan said was very reasonable. The most important thing for the city right now was to save food and money and hold out until the reinforcements from Zhaoqing arrived.

Since the people's food and wages could not be seized and distributed uniformly, they had to find a way to let them eat up all the food and wages in their homes first.

In this way, the court could reduce the payment of food and wages without causing panic in the city.

"What do you think?"

Zhu Lang asked, and seeing that no one among the ministers below said anything, he stopped paying attention to them and made a decision directly.

"Then let's do this. The government-sold grain will be sold at three times the price."

“That’s a good idea, any other suggestions?”

Zhu Lang looked at Chen Bangyan below, with a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. This Chen Bangyan is still useful.

As for what Lu Daqi was thinking, it was hard to say.

Lu Daqi's statement cannot be said to be wrong. If he really has this doubt, it can only be said that Lu Daqi has been in the center for a long time and his thoughts are too abstract and grand. In other words, he is too high and has lost touch with reality.

But if he knew Chen Bangyan's intention and still refused, it would mean that Lu Daqi had bad intentions and wanted to force him to leave Guangzhou.
If Lu Daqi were to distribute grain for free, people in the city would flock to the city and would probably snatch all the rice and grain immediately.

When the people who did not get rice see that others got free rice while they got nothing, they would certainly gather together to cause trouble.
If the city is in chaos, is there another reason to withdraw?
Zhu Lang looked at Lu Daqi, who was frowning slightly below him, and couldn't guess his true intention for a moment. Chen Bangyan thought for a moment and spoke again.
"If we follow your highness's method, we need to limit the purchase of rice by household registration, in order to prevent the treacherous people from repeatedly hoarding rice, then every time rice is sold, we need to check the household registration. This will require a lot of manpower, and I'm afraid the government office doesn't have enough manpower."

Zhu Lang's eyes flickered when he heard what Chen Bangyan said. He had already decided to implement his plan of granting official positions, and now Chen Bangyan immediately gave him a perfect excuse.
Thinking of this, Zhu Lang immediately said
"If you are short of manpower, you can hire people. What the city lacks the least right now is people."

"The city is divided into districts of 3,000 people, and literate scholars or people with reputation in the city are recruited."

"Put three to five people in each district. These people will be responsible for the distribution of food and wages in the district, as well as the security of the district. They will also be responsible for recruiting strong men to defend the city."

Zhu Lang's method is actually the so-called grid management method in the previous life, which divides the area, assigns tasks, and changes the management of hundreds of thousands of people into the management of dozens of areas.
Otherwise, with only a few hundred thousand people in Guangzhou, Zhu Lang would not be able to find strong men to defend the city even if the Qing army entered the city.
"Now that the four gates of the city are closed, the people in the city are in a panic. I'm afraid not many people will come out to help defend the city," Chen Bangyan said.
As soon as Chen Bangyan finished speaking, Wu Bing stepped out from below.

"What is this that Prefect Chen is talking about? Your Highness has disregarded his own safety and tried his best to defend the city. If the people in the city still do not know how to be loyal and serve the court, then what is the difference between these people and beasts?"

"As long as a notice is posted in the city to inform the people of His Majesty the Regent's order, the people in the city will certainly come with food and drink. If the people in the city still refuse to respond, then these people are truly disloyal and have failed the grace of the emperor," Wu Bing said in a loud voice with a solemn expression on his face.

Zhu Lang looked at Wu Bing, who had a serious expression on his face, but his eyes suddenly turned cold. He glanced at Lu Daqi, but found that Lu Daqi was also frowning and looking at Wu Bing below.

Zhu Lang looked at Wu Bing, who looked loyal, and couldn't help but feel murderous.

Wu Bing was really too presumptuous. He seemed to be speaking for Zhu Lang, but in fact he was still obstructing Zhu Lang's plan to defend the city.
Moreover, he even used his name Zhu Lang to shut up His Majesty the Regent.
What does it mean to be without a king and father? What does it mean to be unfaithful to the emperor? Are the people of this city without a king and father? Is it for you, a subject, to say?

Wu Bing is actually still sabotaging the emperor. What he said is even more ridiculous. If the emperor asks you to defend the city, will the people come to defend the city?

If this is true, how could the Ming Dynasty have reached this point today?

The city belongs to the emperor, but your life is your own. It doesn't matter who you pay taxes to. If you go out to defend the city now, not only will your life be in danger, but if the city is not defended, once the Qing army breaks in, it will be no joke to hold them accountable afterwards. On the contrary, if you do nothing and wait in the city, there will be no danger. No matter whether the Ming wins or the Qing wins, the people will still have to farm and pay taxes. Could it be that the Qing army will massacre the people when they enter the city? Even if they do, they may not be able to massacre the common people like them.
If we really follow what Wu Bing said and just post a notice, with the great kindness of the Ming Dynasty to the people, I am afraid that by then we can only recruit ten people, which is all the merits of the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty.

And if you can't find people, recruit soldiers, distribute food, and there is chaos in the city, shouldn't Your Highness realize that the people in the city are really ungrateful and ungrateful, and are not worth saving, and there is no way to save them?
Should we then obey their orders and evacuate Guangzhou as soon as possible?
When the ministers below heard what Wu Bing said, some of them had a gleam in their eyes, while others had no expression on their faces. They all secretly looked at the young man above.
Everyone was silent, waiting to see how the young Regent would respond.

Chen Bangyan looked at Wu Bing who was swearing solemnly, but his face was a little surprised. His expression changed several times, and he didn't know how to respond for a while.

How could he respond? If he refuted Wu Bing, wouldn't that mean that the people of Guangzhou did not appreciate the emperor's kindness and had their own selfish agenda?
But if he agrees, it will be impossible.
His Highness has already told him to be in charge of this matter. If the manpower issue is not resolved, there will definitely be trouble with the food distribution.

Su Guansheng looked at Wu Bing below with a slightly cold expression. This kind of drama of sabotaging the emperor in the name of justice almost made him think that he had returned to the court of Longwu.
Seeing Chen Bangyan's hesitation, he nodded slightly to Gu Yuanjing below.
Chen Bangyan passed the imperial examination during the Longwu reign. Although he was capable, he had been in office for too short a time and was inexperienced in dealing with the cold swords and arrows in the court.

There are some things that Chen Bangyan can't say, but Gu Yuanjing can. Gu Yuanjing received Su Guansheng's hint and nodded slightly, and was about to refute it.
But before he could stand up, His Royal Highness the Regent spoke up.

The Regent looked indifferent, ignoring the half-white-haired Wu Bing below, and said:

"If rewards and punishments are not clear, then the authority will not work. If you want to recruit people to help defend, you should clearly announce the rewards and punishments. This is the correct way for the court."

"Inform the city that once the applicants are selected, they will be granted the rank of ninth-rank military official and will serve as inspectors and deputy inspectors in various districts."

"After the war, those who apply for the job will be rewarded according to their merits. Those who have made achievements can directly participate in the provincial examination. Those who want to be officials will be granted the status of Jiansheng. After passing the Jiansheng examination, they can directly enter the Ministry of Personnel for selection. If they want money, it is also easy. If they don't want to be an official, they will be directly given 100 taels of silver."

The ministers below all changed their expressions when they heard this. If His Royal Highness the Regent was not still above, they would have been shocked.

Hearing this, Lu Daqi looked at the cold-looking Regent above him, and frowned.
The court is all about reputation and position. If your Highness follows your way, after the war, perhaps one or two hundred people will be able to be granted official positions directly, and they can also wait for vacancies in the Ministry of Personnel.
How can one get an official position without taking the imperial examination? This is against the rules of the imperial court!
More importantly, these people were promoted by His Highness himself.

If His Highness is determined, once these people enter the court, they will probably immediately challenge the positions of people like them who come from decent backgrounds. How can this be possible!

The ministers looked dissatisfied, and then all looked up at Lu Daqi
The rules and regulations of the imperial court are the laws of our ancestors. How can we break the rules of the imperial court just for defending a city? Even if we lose the city of Guangzhou, we must not break the rules of the imperial court!
As the chief minister, Lü Daqi should take the lead in advising the king to rectify the rules and regulations.
Below, Lu Daqi was still hesitating, but Zhu Lang had already looked directly at Su Guansheng and said

"What do you think, Mr. Lu and Mr. Su?"

Su Guansheng felt Zhu Lang's gaze, but he did not hesitate and stood up and said
"Your Highness is wise. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. At this moment, defending the city should be our top priority."

"The Qing army is approaching, and we must not hesitate at this moment. We should quickly recruit people with a generous reward to stabilize the city, and then recruit the young and strong in the city to help defend the city. I think your highness's proposal is feasible."

Su Guangsheng spoke loudly, with a gleam of brilliance in his eyes. He was originally a student of the Imperial Academy, and was excluded from the officialdom of the formal imperial examination. Even if he became a cabinet minister, the situation would not be much better.
Although he was promoted to the position of Minister of Works by His Highness after entering the court and was given the title of Grand Secretary, in the end, only Gu Yuanjing and other attendants who followed him from Guangzhou to Zhaoqing were willing to join his army.

But if you do as your Highness said and grant these people official status, once they enter the court, they will immediately become Su Guansheng's helpers.

Why is Su Guansheng so sure? Because these people, like him, are not from a legitimate background.

These people from the wrong stream will definitely not be accepted by people from the right path such as Lu Daqi, Qu Shisi, Chen Zizhuang, etc. If they still want to climb up, they can only join the army of Su Guansheng who is also not from the right path.

By then, he only needs to carefully select and immediately have a large number of available manpower, instead of being so short of resources as he is now.

Su Guansheng served in the government for more than ten years, rising from a local official to a cabinet minister. He had seen all the people in the court, and he no longer believed in the argument that a Jinshi was definitely more outstanding than a Juren.
It is one thing to take the imperial examination, and it is another to actually do the work. Without going through the county government for a few rounds and fighting with the clerks and the gentry, no one can tell who is the useful person.

"Lord Su said it well. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Our lives all depend on this city. If we cannot defend Guangzhou, we will all die at the hands of the enemy."

"Besides, those who are willing to volunteer in times of danger must be loyal subjects of the Ming Dynasty. It is right that loyal people should be rewarded."

Zhu Lang glanced at the ministers below, and when the ministers heard Zhu Lang's words that they had lost their lives at the hands of the enemy, their faces changed slightly, and fear and dissatisfaction arose in their hearts.
Why has it come to this? If His Highness is willing to give in now, everyone can sail away and save their lives. There is no need to break the court system and let a group of ignorant people serve as officials. Wouldn't this be the best of both worlds?

But I don't know what's wrong with His Highness. He is holding on to the justice of the people of Ganzhou and Guangzhou, and he wants to take them on risks.
If they had known this earlier, they would not have followed His Royal Highness the Regent to leave Zhaoqing first.
Now that the Regent is gone, they will just have to enthronize another one. They only have one life to live!
But they found it hard to say this. Zhu Lang's excuse for protecting Li Shu was too good. As long as Zhu Lang didn't change his words, they had no way to refute it.
Once the rebuttal is made, no matter how much the people accompanying him agree with it, they will definitely criticize the person who persuaded the regent to leave. If they persuade the regent, everyone can escape, but they will be ruined afterwards. Who would be willing to do such a loss-making deal?
Therefore, although the ministers who accompanied him had their own thoughts, no one dared to refute Zhu Lang's proposal to defend the city.
Once they defended the city, they would have to stay in the city. If they opposed His Royal Highness the Regent's plan to reward officials to defend the city, it would be very likely that the city would not be able to recruit soldiers to defend the city in time, which might lead to Guangzhou being captured by the Qing army and endangering their lives.
Therefore, all the ministers present were in a dilemma for a while. It was not right to agree, nor was it right to refuse.

Zhu Lang's eyes flickered slightly. Although his plan was to place a group of people in the court, the main purpose of this method was to recruit soldiers to defend the city as soon as possible. After all, if Guangzhou City could not be defended, all this would be in vain.

Wu Bing listened to the words of His Royal Highness the Regent, and suddenly he was furious. Their lives depended on this strong city. They could have taken advantage of the Qing army's arrival to allow everyone to escape safely. Why did they want to tie their lives to this city of Guangzhou?

But this Gui Regent disregarded the lives of these ministers and insisted on taking risks to defend a city. Emperor Hongguang did not want to defend it, and Emperor Longwu did not want to defend it, so why should you, Gui Regent, defend a city?
Now, not only are they defending the city, they are also planning to grant official positions to a group of ignorant people, which is a serious violation of the imperial system.
If it was a military officer, that would be fine. But the rank of Jiangshilang is a civil official. Suddenly, he granted one or two hundred civil officials. What on earth did Gui Jianguo want to do?

Does Regent Gui understand what he is doing? If he does not rely on scholars like them, how can his Zhu family rule the world?
Seeing that Lu Daqi was hesitant to speak, Zhu Lang was about to cut the Gordian knot and directly pass the matter.
But Wu Bing, who was standing below, had a red face at this moment. He immediately stepped out of the line and said

"I think this is not possible. The court is all about reputation and position. If one or two hundred people get official positions directly from common people, where is the dignity of the court?"

"The country has its own imperial examination system for selecting talents. Scholars from all over the world have studied hard for ten years and made progress step by step before they are qualified to serve as officials. If these people can be appointed as officials just by helping to defend the city, how unfair it is to the scholars of the world."

"This matter is a serious violation of the imperial system. Your Highness's proposal is inappropriate. I ask Your Highness to think twice."

Wu Bing had a serious look on his face and spoke loudly to His Royal Highness the Regent above him.

(End of this chapter)