I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 398 Executive Vice Emperor

Zhan Bin swallowed hard, he could no longer express his inner thoughts in words.
Shuntianfucheng, the official position that many people dream of, is just a transitional position.
Zhan Bin felt like he was going crazy
In a few months, he will become the third-rank governor of Shuntian Prefecture.
If he didn't know Zhu Houxuan very well, he would have thought that Zhu Houxuan was making fun of him.

Moreover, Zhu Houxuan still spoke in such a casual tone, as if he did not take the position of Shuntian Prefecture Governor seriously at all.
This was the second time he had felt Zhu Houxuan's power in the capital so directly.
He suddenly understood why the Minister of Rites treated him so courteously. It seemed that they had already predicted Zhu Houxuan's next move, and judging from their expressions, they seemed to know that they were powerless to stop Zhu Houxuan, so they treated him so courteously to win him over.
"Your Highness, this is not a good idea. The prefect of Shuntian Prefecture is a third-rank official, while I am just a juren." Zhan Bin said with difficulty. He decided to remind Zhu Houxuan.

"Why not? If you don't become the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, how can I rely on you?" Zhu Houxuan said gently.

Zhan Bin was speechless again. Zhu Houxun and he had completely different focuses. He focused on whether he was qualified to become the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, while Zhu Houxun focused on whether he was willing to become the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture. As long as he was willing, everything else seemed not to be a problem.

"Not only that, now Shuntian Prefecture only governs Wanping and Daxing counties, which is a little too small. I plan to add Changping, Liangxiang and other 22 counties to Shuntian Prefecture after you become the governor of Shuntian Prefecture. By then, Shuntian Prefecture will have 24 counties under its jurisdiction." Zhu Houxuan said the most shocking words in the most calm tone.
In real history, Shuntian Prefecture was incorporated into 19 prefectures and counties such as Changping in the 15th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign. In the 8th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign, it was divided into 24 prefectures and counties. Zhu Houxuan just did it in one step. Not only that, he also planned to expand the jurisdiction of Shuntian Prefecture according to needs in the future.
Zhan Bin was completely stunned after hearing this. This was beyond his understanding. Even if Zhu Houxuan was the Prince Regent, he couldn't do such a drastic change in the jurisdiction. This should be the power of the emperor.
Zhu Houxuan made the decision so casually, and his tone was still so firm.
This was the third time he had felt Zhu Houxuan's power in the capital so directly.
In fact, Zhan Bin was right. Zhu Houxuan's power in politics now far exceeded that of the Prince Regent. If he had to be given a position, it would only be the Executive Vice Emperor.
This position can aptly describe Zhu Houxuan's current power in political affairs.
Zhan Bin was stunned for a long time before he came back to his senses. He stared at Zhu Houxuan blankly and said, "Why? Why me? Why did you choose me?"

Zhu Houxuan smiled slightly after hearing this question and asked, "How long has Mr. Zhan been in the Prince of Jing's Mansion?"

"I entered the palace during the Hongzhi period. Now sixteen years have passed in the blink of an eye," Zhan Bin said with great emotion.

"Yes, it has been sixteen years. How many sixteen years are there in a lifetime? You have been promoted from a low-level official in the palace to the chief historian of the palace, and you have watched me grow up. So I trust you very much, and you are the only candidate." Zhu Houxuan said solemnly.

Zhan Bin's eyes turned red, and he choked up and said, "I also trust Your Highness. As long as Your Highness needs me to go, I will definitely go."

"Thank you sir for your help!" Zhu Houxuan bowed and said.

"Your Highness is too polite. I would like to thank you for your promotion," Zhan Bin said quickly.

"We are all family, there is no point in thanking each other all the time," said Zhu Houxuan.

Then they both burst into laughter.
After the two stopped laughing, Zhan Bin asked seriously, "Your Highness promoted me to be the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, and also wanted to make major changes to the jurisdiction of Shuntian Prefecture. What is your ultimate goal?"

"The purpose is very simple, which is to build the capital into the second Qizhou, so we must fully control the political power in Shuntian Prefecture." Zhu Houxuan did not hide it at all. Zhan Bin's eyes flashed with a gleam, and he said solemnly: "Then I have no choice but to do it."

Watching Zhan Bin leaving, Zhu Houxuan let out a long sigh.

Every word he said to Zhan Bin was true. He just wanted to build the capital into a special economic zone.

In fact, this is also his helpless move to some extent, because he really can't push the reform now.
Reform is not as simple as formulating innovative policies. Formulating policies is only the simplest step. The most difficult part is always execution and implementation.

Why did Wang Anshi's reform fail?
A very important reason is that there are huge problems at the implementation level. There is a lack of effective publicity and training when promoting reforms, which leads to officials' inadequate understanding and improper operation when implementing policies. Conservative forces are very strong and directly misinterpret the reform policies.

Under such circumstances, even a good policy can turn into a bad one.

Take the Qingmiao Law as an example. The main content of the Qingmiao Law was that the government loaned government money and grain to farmers and urban handicraftsmen at an interest rate of 20% to ease the phenomenon of usury exploitation among the private sector and increase the government's fiscal revenue.

The original intention of the Qingmiao Law was good, but the quality of the new party members was uneven and they were eager for quick results. In addition, conservative forces at the local level misinterpreted the new law, which led to the Qingmiao Law changing from a voluntary loan to a forced loan. The interest rate increased from 20% to 30% or 40%, and later to arbitrary interest rate increases. There were also various forms of extortion, which made the people miserable.

In this way, the Qingmiao Law degenerated into a harsh and evil policy in which the government lent money at high interest rates and collected interest.

Learning from history, Zhu Houxuan could already imagine the consequences of implementing a reform policy.

As soon as the decree leaves the capital, control will be completely out of control. They will turn the policies that Zhu Houxuan painstakingly formulated into evil policies that exploit ordinary people.

Zhu Houxuan could use various means to assess the effectiveness of the reform policies and dismiss officials who failed to implement them, but this was only a temporary solution and did not address the root cause!
After those officials are dismissed, the people who replace them can only be scholars with official titles. This is completely the same old story!
The reform policies formulated by Zhu Houxuan will definitely affect the interests of the feudal landlord class. When faced with reform policies that harm the interests of their own class, will these newly replaced officials choose to betray their class and faithfully implement the court's reform policies? Or will they choose to continue to muddle through and try to ruin the new law and get rid of Zhu Houxuan, who is in charge of the reform?
I believe the answer will be obvious.
(End of this chapter)