My uncle is Zhu Di

Chapter 193 Pilot Area

After Zhu Gaochi had ground the ink, Xu Qin began to tell Zhu Gaochi about the details of the land tax and things that needed attention.

Zhu Gaochi was recording there the whole time, and Zhu Di was also repeating Xu Qin's words beside him, asking Zhu Gaochi to record quickly.

After we finished talking, we decided to distribute the tax based on the land area.

The three of them sat there drinking tea and all needed to take a break. Zhu Di needed to think about this matter, Zhu Gaochi wanted to stretch his hands, and Xu Qin needed to drink water.

"Shakyabao, boy, why don't you go to the East Palace? Is that okay?" Zhu Di leaned there and said to Xu Qin.

Xu Qin looked at him depressedly, and Zhu Di immediately stretched out his hand and said, "Okay, okay, just pretend I didn't say anything, just pretend I didn't say anything, you are still young anyway."

"You're so embarrassed. I'm an unmarried person, but you have to deal with so many things. How many people are as busy as me? When other children from noble families were my age, they all went to the Qinhuai River when they had nothing to do? How about, uncle, take me there?" Xu Qin said to Zhu Di with a smile.

Zhu Di turned to Zhu Gaochi and said, "Next time you go to your uncle's house, tell him that this kid wants to go to Qinhuai River and ask your uncle to beat him up."

"Hehe, okay!" Zhu Gaochi said with a smile.

Xu Qin looked at Zhu Di speechlessly. He actually played like this.

"Okay, I'm just trying to scare you. If you dare to go to Qinhuai River, I will break your legs." Zhu Di pointed at Xu Qin and warned.

"I haven't been there." Xu Qin shouted.

"Okay, okay, then tell me, what should we do next?" Zhu Di said to Xu Qin.

"It's very simple. We can create a pilot area, and use Yingtian Prefecture as the pilot area. However, my idea is that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince should personally select suitable officials and appoint them to various departments in Yingtian Prefecture. It doesn't matter if there are more than one. For example, we can assign a county magistrate and some deputies, such as five deputy county magistrates. Once the pilot is qualified, these deputies can be transferred to other places at any time to serve as county magistrates.

Anyway, we can assign more officials to Yingtian Prefecture, but they must be young officials, because we need to promote it to the whole country in the future, and we need them to handle matters for the court. I think that the prefectural level should not be over 40 years old, and the county magistrate level should not be over 35 years old. "Xu Qin thought for a moment and said to Zhu Di.

"Yeah. That makes sense. Besides, even if the young officials are corrupt, they are probably not corrupt enough. We can still give them a chance. Besides, young people are ambitious. Boss, pick people. You can be the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture, and you can appoint all the people yourself. The more the better." After Zhu Di heard what Xu Qin said, Xu Qin immediately said to Zhu Di.

"Yes, Dad. Can Sakya Bao be my deputy?" Zhu Gaochi immediately bowed and replied.

"Hey, you just told me to trust you, but now you go back on your word, cousin, this is not right!" Xu Qin immediately pointed at Zhu Gaochi and said.

Zhu Gaochi immediately said to Xu Qin with a wry smile: "Shijiabao, I feel relieved that you are here. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, what shall I do?"

"How could it be wrong? Even if it is wrong, what does it matter? It's just Yingtian Prefecture. What are you afraid of?" Xu Qin said to Zhu Gaochi.

Zhu Di also nodded and said, "Okay, as Shakyabao said, you go by yourself this time. If you have any questions, it doesn't matter. It's just Yingtian Prefecture. Besides, Shakyabao is in Nanjing City. If you have any questions, you can ask Shakyabao. It's convenient. There's no need to let Shakyabao go. This guy is lazy. Don't count on him."

"Okay, Dad, when do we start?" Zhu Gaochi said.

"Hmm!" Zhu Di was sitting there stroking his beard, and then he sighed and said, "Hey, I'm worried that once we start, those civil officials will understand."

"How is that possible?" Xu Qin immediately said disdainfully.

Zhu Di just stared at Xu Qin.

"You are the one. All officials say that the salaries in our Ming Dynasty are too low and they want to increase them. But everyone knows how much money the treasury has every year. So, a pilot project is needed. However, the current income is not enough to pay high salaries, so tax reform is needed! When those civil officials hear that their salaries are going to be increased, do you see anyone who disagrees? I guarantee they will agree." Xu Qin said to Zhu Di with a smile.

Zhu Di stroked his beard and nodded, saying, "You kid, that's true, but why don't we kill those corrupt officials?"

"Why kill them now? It's okay to keep them alive. We'll confiscate their property later anyway. Let's do it now. But it's not that we won't kill them. We'll just let the Royal Guards and the Censorate start investigating the case and arrest those corrupt officials.

I just don't believe that the civil officials would oppose the arrest of corrupt officials? They might secretly stop it, but who dares to oppose it openly? "Xu Qin said to Zhu Di with a smile.

"Yes, that's right, we can clean it up first!" Zhu Di nodded and said.

"And try to clean up some key places first. For example, if we are going to reform Jiangxi Province next, we should first focus on cleaning up the officials in Jiangxi Province. For the vacant officials, we should transfer officials from Yingtian Prefecture to serve there. We should complete the work slowly. By the time those civil officials react, I think the reform will be almost complete. Besides, they won't have any chance." Xu Qin said with a smile. "Boss, remember this!" Zhu Di said to Zhu Gaochi.

"I understand, Dad!" Zhu Gaochi nodded immediately.

"Is there anything else we need to pay attention to? Tell me!" Zhu Di continued to look at Xu Qin. Xu Qin gave him too many unexpected surprises today. Before, he always thought that there was an expert behind Xu Qin. Now it seems that he was really stupid. What Xu Qin is doing now are all extremely beneficial to the Ming Dynasty. What's more, ordinary experts don't have such insight. The expert is Xu Qin himself.

Xu Qin could only continue to tell them some precautions. Soon it was noon, and Zhu Di invited Xu Qin to dinner directly in the Qianqing Palace. Empress Xu knew that Xu Qin had come to the Qianqing Palace, and fortunately Zhu Di and he chatted for the whole morning, and they chatted for the whole morning behind closed doors.

Empress Xu was very happy, as this showed that Xu Qin was highly trusted and valued by Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi, and that her nephew was very capable.

Near noon, Empress Xu had prepared the roast goose and went straight to the Qianqing Palace with her palace maids.

Just then Zhu Di started serving the meal.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!" Empress Xu came in and saluted Zhu Di first.

"The Queen is here. I was thinking of having a simple meal so as not to disturb you. Okay, come and sit down together." Zhu Di said very happily.

"Mother!" Zhu Gaochi also saluted Empress Xu.

"Greetings to Her Majesty the Queen!" Xu Qin also bowed to Queen Xu.

"Bao'er, come and sit next to your aunt and taste my cooking. You are so busy every day that you can't see anyone. It's hard for your aunt to see you." Empress Xu smiled and took Xu Qin's hand, sat down, and was very happy.

"No way. Ask His Majesty, how many tasks did he give me? I'm already very busy. Really, I was supposed to go load the ship today, but His Majesty pulled me here." Xu Qin immediately complained to Empress Xu.

Zhu Di also smiled and said, "Today we have something very important to discuss. The eldest brother and I didn't sleep well last night, so I'm going to ask Baoer to come over and ask for his advice."

"Well, okay, Baoer, you can take a break after you're done with this. The mirror you gave to my aunt really made her proud. I heard that there's no such big one on the market!" Empress Xu said with a smile. She was so smart. Zhu Di invited Xu Qin to dinner, didn't that mean the problem was solved? As for what the problem was, Zhu Di didn't say it, and he wouldn't ask. After all, it was better for him not to interfere in the affairs of the previous dynasty.

Of course, if Zhu Di asked me to make a decision, I would definitely help find a solution.

"Hehe, of course not. Your Majesty's piece is the largest, followed by my aunt's. The one in the East Palace is even a little bit smaller than my aunt's." Xu Qin said with a smile. This involves the issue of etiquette, and he doesn't want those civil officials to find out.

"Well, how are the mirrors selling?" Queen Xu continued to ask.

"It's very good, but not enough to sell. I need to store a batch. This thing is made of stone, and of course some silver is used, but not much. Sell it and exchange some silver for my Ming Dynasty. Your Majesty, I will sell it in bulk to the Trade Bureau. Can I give you a 95% discount? I still want to make some money from foreigners with this thing." Xu Qin said, looking at His Majesty.

"What do you mean by 95% discount? You should pay the same amount to the Trade Bureau as you sell to others. You are not short of money. Who would dare to say anything if you sell it to the Trade Bureau at the original price? Anyone can be corrupt, but you are the least likely to be corrupt. For you, corruption will make money too slowly." Zhu Di said with a smile, pointing at Xu Qin.

"That's right. If I have the time to be corrupt, I can set up one or two more workshops and the money will come in continuously." Xu Qin said proudly.

"Well, Baoer, the affairs of the Trade Bureau are now handed over to you. You are also helping your eldest cousin. Otherwise, your uncle will ask your eldest cousin for money every day, and your eldest cousin will be worried. The eldest cousin doesn't know much about business, so he can only rely on you." Empress Xu said to Xu Qin with a smile.

"Don't worry, aunt!" Xu Qin nodded immediately.

"Aunt is now looking forward to the construction of your new mansion. Aunt wants to go and see it." Queen Xu said with a smile.

"I'll ask my aunt to go back and take a look when the time comes!" Xu Qin said with a smile.

Zhu Di immediately said, "Okay, I will go and see the mansion you built. I heard that it was all built by you. I am really curious about this."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Empress Xu bowed to Zhu Di and said.

"No need for formalities, come and eat, no more chatting." Zhu Di greeted with a smile.

After dinner, Xu Qin left the palace and headed straight for the Trade Bureau. In the evening, Xu Qin returned to the Duke of Wei's mansion. Before he could go to the living room to greet his father, he saw flames rising from the East Palace. +-
(End of this chapter)