Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 46 There is still hope for the Ming Dynasty!

April 29th, the 16th year of Zhengde.

After Qi Daluan received the document and seal from the Ministry of Personnel to work as a post station chief in Yunnan, he left the capital with a sad look on his face.

Censor Wang Jun and Right Censor of the Ministry of Personnel Yan Hong were both depressed and looked solemn when they watched Qi Daluan leave.

But because of this, they began to clearly realize that the cabinet headed by Liang Chu would not offend the emperor on behalf of their censors.

Therefore, Wang Jun, Yan Hong and other censors did not continue to submit memorials to argue for Qi Daluan because he was convicted for impeaching Luo An.

Wang Jun and Yan Hong also carried out the cabinet's arrangements seriously. According to the cabinet's instructions, they treated the task of investigating adultery assigned by the emperor as a matter to safeguard the new policy of clearing land. They did not dare to talk about other things at this time like Qi Daluan did.

Starting from this day.

The new policy of clearing land approved by Zhu Houcong also officially began.

After Zhang Yong and Gui Yong had mobilized enough cavalry, they, together with the imperial envoys Xia Yan and Fan Jizu who were in charge of clearing the fields and had already mobilized the stewards, and the cabinet ministers who were ordered to assist, received the imperial edict yesterday to meet the emperor at Yuntai Gate today, and they arrived at Yuntai Gate together at dawn that day.

There was no real Secretariat in the Ming Dynasty.

The cabinet is only an institution with the power to draft documents and issue imperial edicts, and cannot directly issue decrees and instructions to officials.

In terms of the system, the emperor also holds the power of the prime minister.

Therefore, Xia Yan, Fan Jizu, Zhang Yong, and Gui Yong needed to receive the emperor's orders directly in front of him and then carry them out.

Xia Yan, Fan Jizu, Zhang Yong, Gui Yong and other ministers of the cabinet arrived at Yuntai Gate early and stood solemnly at the palace gate.

Xia Yan, Fan Jizu and Gui Yong, who came to Yuntaimen for the first time, were quite nervous. They pursed their lips tightly and adjusted their clothes and belts slightly, fearing that the emperor would blame them for their improper appearance.

They had long known through the "Di Bao" and rumors that the current emperor was diligent in his work and loved his people. He was pure, kind and strict. Just ten days after he took the throne, he summoned cabinet ministers frequently to inquire about the people's livelihood and sufferings. He also quickly imprisoned Wei Bin, the eunuch in charge of the Silijian, one of the "Eight Tigers" of the Zhengde Dynasty, and Wang Qiong, the Minister of Personnel who formed a clique with Jiang Bin. Even Mao Rui, the guard general on duty at the Donghua Gate, was stripped of his title and demoted for irregularities in etiquette. The censor Qi Daluan was also demoted to Yunnan to eat mushrooms for dereliction of duty. His actions were swift and decisive, and formidable.

This naturally made them dare not take the matter of meeting the emperor and receiving his instructions lightly.

Snapped!Snapped!
At this time, the sharp sound of whips rang out.

"Your Majesty is here!"

Following the eunuch's voice, rows of burly generals in brocade clothes came to the palace gate and stood in order.

Soon, Zhu Houcong ascended the throne.

Xia Yan and others also performed great salutes.

After Zhu Houcong said that there was no need for formalities, Xia Yan and others stood up again and took a serious look at Zhu Houcong who was sitting on the throne.

Zhu Houcong sat upright on the jade-white steps with a calm expression, which made Xia Yan and others feel solemn and respectful, and secretly admired that the current emperor really had the dignity of an emperor.

Zhu Houcong first asked the eunuch Qin Wenxuan to announce the decree, and after Xia Yan and others received the decree, he said:

"When Taizu was alive, he put the country and the people first, so he issued an edict to check the land throughout the country. Although I cannot bear to disturb the people, I often carry out the policy of checking. However, I cannot but respect the virtues of my ancestors and care about the hunger of the people. Therefore, I issued an edict to check the land to ensure the safety of the people in the capital. You should follow my wishes, understand the people's wishes, and earnestly check the land to achieve a virtuous policy."

"I will obey the Holy Instructions."

Xia Yan and others kowtowed and answered.

Zhu Houcong nodded.

Xia Yan and others then really left the palace and began to carry out the task of clearing the fields.

The entire Qingtian team, with men in brocade clothes leading the way and men in black armor at the rear, included civil officials, military generals, and eunuchs. They looked majestic and murderous. If you didn't know better, you would have thought they were going to war.

But although the clearing of fields is a civil policy, it is, after all, a reform that aims to forcibly take profits from the powerful and wealthy and distribute them to the people. It is about redistributing the pie, not making it bigger, so naturally the state violence machinery must be used.

Because no one can predict whether there will be extremely stubborn dignitaries and wealthy people who would rather collude with bandits and robbers to prevent the clearing of land than give benefits to the people and the country.

That's right.

Clearing up the farmland in the capital area will not only benefit the people, but also the country.

Because the cleared farmlands will be increased as tax fields, they can bring new tax revenue to the court.

According to historical records, during the Yuan Dynasty, Toghto followed the advice of the left chancellor Wugusun Liangzhen and the right chancellor Wulianghatai to establish military farms and reclaim wasteland in the capital area, which resulted in an annual income of 200,000 dan of grain that year. This greatly alleviated the problem of the Yuan court's lack of timely food replenishment caused by the war in the south.

Therefore, as long as the land clearing is successful, the Jiajing New Deal will undoubtedly be off to a good start.

When the powerful and wealthy people in the capital saw these armed and well-armored teams coming to collect land and land, they could only sigh helplessly, and even had to take the initiative to restrain their own slaves and farmers.

Let’s talk.

At this time, the refugees in the suburbs of Beijing did not know that the court was going to clear their farms for them.

Most of them are running out of food.

More and more people needed grain relief from the imperial court.

However, the imperial court only managed to prevent these refugees from starving to death, but did not ensure that they had enough to eat, so the meals they were provided with were often only enough for one meal a day.

Many people could not bear it, and as May approached and the weather got hotter, many people had already started selling their children or voluntarily became slaves in wealthy families.

"Xiu Lian, you can't eat anymore. You have to save this fried rice for tomorrow!"

"Because the next time the officials distribute fried rice will be the day after tomorrow."

Wei Changgui, who came from Huguang, held the cloth bag of fried rice that day and stopped his six-year-old sister Xiulian from reaching out to eat the fried rice.

Xiulian stared at her brother in a daze.

Wei Changgui touched her hair which was piled up on her head like dry grass.

"Brother knows Xiulian is not full."

"But if I don't save some, I'll be even hungrier tomorrow."

After Wei Changgui said this in a gentle voice, Xiulian didn't say anything. She just lowered her little head and bent her legs on the ground, exposing the patches on her knees.

Suddenly.

Xiulian picked up a grain of fried rice from the ground and said to Wei Changgui with a smile: "Brother, there are more on the ground!"

After saying that, Xiulian continued to lower her head and search carefully. When she saw a grain, she picked it up with her hands and put it into her mouth along with mud and sand, like a chick pecking at rice. Soon her little mouth became black.

Wei Changgui resisted the urge to pick up rice grains from the ground. He raised his head and his hands that were stretched to the ground, and picked out the lice from his sister's head.

Wei Changgui and Xiu Lian's parents had died in last year's disaster. The clan elders half-coaxed and half-profited by selling the land left by his parents at a low price, and also planned to sell Wei Changgui's sister Xiu Lian, and sell Wei Changgui to a temple to be a monk. They said he was a monk, but in fact he was a slave to the monks.

After Wei Changgui told his clansmen about his plan in advance through a kind neighbor, he fled with his sister and some food obtained from selling the land, becoming a refugee. Then, because the successor emperor allowed refugees to follow him to the capital, he followed most of the refugees into the capital. Because according to some knowledgeable refugees who were with him, following the emperor to the capital would make it easier to get food even if they became beggars. Even if they became slaves to a wealthy family, they might be servants to a minister or servants to a duke, which was better than being a servant in a rich man's house, doing farm work and serving people day and night.

Therefore, Wei Changgui took advantage of the once-in-a-millennium opportunity to travel to the capital with the emperor's carriage and came to the capital, where he gathered with refugees from all over the country in the area designated for them by the government.

"This girl has a good foundation. If she is taken care of for a few years, she should be a beauty."

In this refugee settlement area, human traffickers came every day to buy people, adopt them, and then take them back to sell them to wealthy families, brothels, taverns, and gangs.

In order to reduce the pressure of keeping the people safe, the government naturally did not prohibit it, but it only prohibited forced buying and selling.

Yang Tingyi, the right vice minister of the Ministry of War, and his 3,000 guards have been ordered to stay in the suburbs of Beijing to guard these refugees.

These guards are basically responsible for preventing forced buying and selling or direct kidnapping of people.

So, when a fat-bellied human trafficker came to Xiulian, he smacked his lips and said something, then asked Wei Changgui politely:
"Who is she to you?"

"younger sister."

Wei Changgui replied.

Ren Yazi patted the bag of fried rice on his waist and asked, "Will you sell it?"

"Do not sell!"

Wei Changgui was reluctant to sell his sister because she was his only relative.

Xiulian looked at Wei Changgui with her big eyes: "Brother, why don't you sell me? Then you can have enough food to eat."

“I’d rather not have enough to eat.”

Wei Changgui said stubbornly.

"Sir, my family is selling people! My family is selling people!"

At this time, a short and thin woman came over dragging a girl with grass on her hair, and knelt in front of the human trafficker with a pleading look on her face.

The human trafficker took one look at the woman and kicked her to the ground: "Get lost! I don't buy everyone."

The woman curled up on the ground, holding her stomach, without saying a word.

"mother!"

The little girl next to her started crying.

"Hey! Just pick the person you want to pick, don't do anything. If someone dies and I lose my job, I won't let you have an easy life."

A cavalry guard nearby rode over, pointed his whip at the man and yelled at him.

The human brigand knelt down obediently and said, "Yes! I won't dare to do it again next time."

Upon seeing this, the guard cavalry went somewhere else.

The human traffickers also went somewhere else.

Only the woman was left lying in the loess with a distorted face.

Zhang Bin, who was also here and was being laid off, saw this and shouted to Ma Jun who was heading elsewhere: "Brother Mou Peng!"

"Brother Zhang!"

Mou Peng could not help but look back and saw that it was Zhang Bin, with whom he had participated in the Yingzhou battle in the past. He was immediately overjoyed and got off his horse and walked over to Zhang Bin, asking, "Brother Zhang, why are you here too?"

"After being laid off, I originally wanted to return to Xuanfu to join my eldest brother, but because I knew that the new emperor was kind and had brought many people to the capital, I decided to stay and see."

Zhang Bin replied.

Mou Peng said with a laugh, "What's so good about this? Brother Zhang, if you had listened to me earlier and paid some money to the higher-ups, you might not have been laid off."

"My family isn't as rich as yours."

Zhang Bin replied with a wry smile.

then.

Zhang Bin looked at the endless procession of refugees and the large amount of wasteland in the distance near the Chongwen Gate of the capital, and asked Mou Peng:

"You said that the imperial court laid off soldiers like me in order to make life easier for the people and save grain. I can still go back and rely on my brother to survive. Even if I have to sacrifice my life and become a bandit, I can still survive by robbing merchants and officials with my riding and archery skills!"

"But they don't want to strengthen the army for the sake of the people. Why don't they take care of the people? There are so many wastelands, let people cultivate them!"

"Why do they only know how to bully people like us who are truly loyal? They dare not let the powerful and wealthy suffer any grievances."

Because Mou Peng was his comrade-in-arms who had shared his life with him, Zhang Bin vented his frustration without restraint.

"Are you crazy? Is that something you can say?!"

Mou Peng quickly covered Zhang Bin's mouth, and then he couldn't help but put his hands on his hips and said:
"No way, this is the way the world is!"

"I heard that the senior ministers in the court are more concerned about discussing the grand ceremony. I'm afraid they have forgotten about the people."

Zhang Bin was furious after hearing this and clenched his fists. "Don't they always say that they care about the people of the world? Has His Majesty also forgotten about the people he brought to the capital?"

"Mou Peng!"

"What are you doing!"

"Captain Qian has issued an order to drive out all the traffickers immediately and stop selling people. The troops to clear the fields are coming soon. Tell the people not to run around and to gather according to their lijia numbers. When the time comes, they will be given grain and land according to their lijia numbers!"

Da da!

Da da!

As soon as Mou Peng finished speaking, his superior Liu Xun came on horseback, spoke loudly to him, and issued the latest orders.

"Kiyata?"

Mou Peng could not help but exchange a glance with Zhang Bin, then quickly put away his shock, jumped on his horse, and did as he was told. He whipped the man who had not yet walked far and drove him out: "Get out! You are not allowed to sell people anymore!"

"Kiyata?"

Zhang Bin also muttered to himself in shock, and then he laughed, a very bright laugh.

"There is still hope for the Ming Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)