Ming Dynasty: Traveling through the harem, Zhu Yuanzhang was dumbfounded

Chapter 127 Looking for a Pilot
Zhu Biao was in his study room looking over what his mother had told him to do.

"Father is really a man who tells everyone everything. Now that Mother is angry, what good can he get?"

Zhu Biao already knew everything that happened last night, and Empress Ma personally wrote a letter and had someone give it to him.

Zhu Biao has just finished reading it.

Old Zhu let slip last night that he had almost forced Yang Chen to commit suicide.

After Zhu Yuanzhang's repeated persuasion, Empress Ma finally did not hold him accountable.

Otherwise, this Hongwu Emperor would probably have been twisted by the ears by Empress Ma. Zhu Biao found that scene ridiculous just thinking about it.

Putting aside his belief, he also wanted to find a reason to get Yang Chen to speak.

"Last time, Father used some tricks to get Xiongying to ask Brother Yang, and he took this opportunity to talk about the class issues that have existed in China for thousands of years.

If I want Brother Yang to mention it again this time, I’m afraid.”

Zhu Biao felt a little embarrassed for a moment, but soon he smiled with relief.

"What am I struggling with? With Brother Yang's generosity, if I want him to talk about it again, isn't this a very simple matter?"

Thinking of this, Zhu Biao took paper and pen, wrote a letter himself, and asked someone to deliver it to Yang Chen's residence immediately.

He was thinking of getting back to work once the matter was settled.

A servant reported from outside the door.

"Your Highness, the Prime Minister requests an audience."

Zhu Biao put down the pen in his hand, frowned slightly, and said with a little curiosity:

"Hu Weiyong? What is he doing here?"

As the Left Prime Minister of the Secretariat, the head of the civil servants, Hu Weiyong's daily task was to handle memorials signed by Zhu Biao and Zhu Di in his office.

In the past, the two sides had frequent contacts. However, ever since Zhu Biao had a grudge against Hu Weiyong and wanted to abolish the position of prime minister, Zhu Biao had fewer and fewer contacts with Hu Weiyong.

He would not meet with the prime minister unless there was something important.

Now that the other party has come to him on his own initiative, how could Zhu Biao not feel confused?
Although he was curious, the prime minister had come, and as the regent he naturally needed to meet him.

Immediately responded:
"Let him in."

"Yes."

Less than three breaths after the servant outside the door responded, the door of the study opened and Hu Weiyong walked in wearing the prime minister's uniform.

During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, high officials all wore crimson official robes as their main decoration. What he wore today was very formal.

"Hu Weiyong pays his respects to the Crown Prince."

"You are too polite, Minister Hu. Please don't be polite. This is not the court, so why should we bow?"

Zhu Biao raised his hand, indicating that Hu Weiyong did not need to be too strict.

Seeing this, Hu Weiyong stood casually.

"I wonder why Minister Hu could take time out of his busy schedule to come see me today?"

Although the other party has been isolated by his father, the prime minister has not been abolished in a fair and open manner. He still holds the status of the head of the civil servants and handles a lot of government affairs every day.

Zhu Biao went straight to the point and asked the other party what his purpose was.

Hu Weiyong laughed and responded immediately:
"Your Highness, it is like this. Some time ago at the Grand Court Meeting, you proposed three reform policies that would benefit the people of the world.

First, regarding the officials, I have already explained the situation to the relevant consuls including the six ministries, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Imperial Households, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Rites, and the Five Military Commissioners' Office.

They all responded without objection.

But I am worried that it would be even more difficult to announce this matter all at once."

During the speech, Hu Weiyong's tone seemed very embarrassed.

In fact, it was just as he said.

It is obviously impossible to promulgate all policies in one grand court meeting.

How big was the territory of the Ming Dynasty? It had more than a dozen provinces under its jurisdiction, and each province had many officials with iron rice bowls.

These people will definitely be very excited when they suddenly know that they can get a salary increase.

However, it was actually very difficult for the Ming Dynasty court to manage itself properly.

Originally, Hu Weiyong had no intention of telling these things, but after discussing them with Li Shanchang yesterday, he went home and thought about them.

In the end, some things still have to be decided by him. If Zhu Biao or Zhu Yuanzhang comes to ask him personally, then small problems will become big problems.

You can tell that the other person is talking with a hidden meaning.

Zhu Biao's expression suddenly became serious.

"It seems that Prime Minister Hu has discovered something incredible. Please speak frankly. After all, this matter concerns the court and the people's livelihood. We cannot be careless."

Hu Weiyong frowned and said as if the matter was very serious:

“According to the Crown Prince’s first strategy, the full attendance reward and the last-place elimination system, I have discovered that, except for the capital, many places cannot implement it smoothly.

The reason is simple, that is, there is no supervisory person or institution. No matter whether it is the Six Ministries, other temples, or the Censorate, no one can represent the court to supervise them.

If someone wants to take advantage of the opportunity to hide the truth, the Ming court must never know the real details.

There are also the distribution of labor service and land measurement. Clans from all over the country have united together. They seem to be very unhappy with this move by the Ming Dynasty, so they deliberately find various reasons to make things difficult for the envoys we sent down.

It would be fine if there were only one or two people or even dozens of people.

But I discovered that, except for those in the capital, almost everyone had conspired together to resist the court. I had already ordered their arrest, but there were too many of them, so in the end I had no choice but to let some of them go.

All in all, the above two strategies are much more difficult to implement than we expected.

Only the third strategy, which targets official silver and reduces the printing of silver banknotes, can be implemented. However, we don't know what the people will do. People's minds are ever-changing. If they don't say anything, then there will be no silver.

As a minister, when you are out on duty, you represent your majesty and the court, so it's not easy for your subordinates to take action, right?"

Hu Weiyong described almost all the problems he found one by one.

Zhu Biao nodded:

"Prime Minister Hu is worthy of being Prime Minister Hu. I really admire him for being able to discover these small problems.

The last-in-first-out system is actually a lack of candidates for supervision. Not to mention the other six ministries and temples, they do not have enough staff themselves, and the same is true for the Censorate responsible for supervision.

The Censorate was originally the Imperial Censorate, but was later changed by my father to the office of the emperor's ears and eyes. However, this was not taken into consideration when the candidates were first summoned.

Now the Ming Dynasty lacks supervisory personnel, which is a problem.

As for the reform of the land, I ask you, who are the people responsible for the resistance? "

"The clan and the local people."

Hu Weiyong answered without even thinking.

"How could the people rebel together?"

He was surprised to learn that some people were resisting the government's policies.

You know, it was Yang Chen who told them that the world had suffered from corvee labor for too long, which led him and Lao Zhu to come up with the idea of ​​making changes.

He could understand the clan’s rebellion, but why did the common people also join in the trouble?

Hu Weiyong smiled bitterly and shook his head at this question. "I don't know why, but the envoys we sent told us that the people, instigated by their clans, took their farm tools and resisted the envoys. They refused to agree to the land survey, as if this matter touched their interests."

After getting the answers, Zhu Biao wrote all the questions on paper.

"If Prime Minister Hu could tell me about this today, I would definitely go back and ask my father for a reward for you."

No matter what Hu Weiyong came for, he could tell these things, and Zhu Biao would also clearly distinguish his merits and demerits.

Hearing these words, a smile appeared on Hu Weiyong's face. The purpose of his visit today was achieved.

"As the Prime Minister of the Central Secretariat of the Ming Dynasty, I naturally have to share the burden with Your Majesty. I am just doing my duty and cannot take the responsibility of asking for credit. If Your Majesty misunderstands me, I am afraid I cannot explain myself even if I speak three times."

Looking at Hu Weiyong's humble appearance.

Zhu Biao smiled and said:

"Minister Hu, there is no need to shirk responsibility. I just reported the truth to the emperor. It is up to the emperor to decide whether it is a merit or a fault.

But Mr. Hu, there is something I need to talk to you about.”

"What's the matter?"

Hearing Zhu Biao's tone being very close, Hu Weiyong subconsciously thought that this was a sign that the other party was familiar with him.

"Do you remember the Censor Yang Chen who made great contributions at the Grand Court Meeting?"

As soon as Hu Weiyong heard Yang Chen's name, he understood something.

"Of course I know this. He is now a good friend that many people want to make friends with. However, as far as I know, after the court meeting, he stayed at home and did not go out. It seems that he was waiting for something.

The prince mentioned him, could it be that he wanted to get him involved in this matter?

But he is a minister of the Censorate, under the direct jurisdiction of Your Majesty. If I join forces with him, would that be bad?"

Zhu Biao waved his hand to dispel the other party's concerns.

"Minister Hu, there is no need to worry. Yang Chen is from Ningming County and grew up eating at many people's homes. Father promoted him because he saw that he had the ambition to serve the people.

I have also found out that this person is a talented person. Even if he is not extremely gifted, he at least stands out among the crowd.

At the beginning, he proposed to be granted a vassal title and was rewarded with merit, so his father rewarded him by allowing him to return to Ningming County to govern.

If my guess is correct, he will go back soon.

Ningming County is a county under the jurisdiction of Zhenjiang Prefecture, with a population of tens of thousands. Various departments of the imperial court also arranged for selected officials to be stationed here.

Then may I suggest that they use Ningming County as a pilot jurisdiction to carry out the three reforms? Once successful, we will then extend this law to Song, Su, Jiaxing, Hu and other prefectures.

In this way, they have no reason to obstruct. If the pilot is successful and someone still deliberately obstructs it, I believe Prime Minister Hu should know that with my father's temper, there will definitely be rivers of blood."

The pilot project was originally the result of a discussion between Yang Chen and Zhu Biao.

At the beginning, Zhu Biao did not propose the idea of ​​a pilot project in front of all the ministers. To a certain extent, he wanted to see whether Hu Weiyong would choose to conceal the information or report it truthfully.

Now it seems that the other party also understands that some things cannot be continued, which makes Zhu Biao very relieved.

His father's idea of ​​abolishing the prime minister was too advanced.

Once the Secretariat of the Prime Minister is no longer connected with the six ministries and various departments, all matters will be the responsibility of the Regent and the Emperor.

Apart from his father who was a workaholic and able to take on these government affairs, I was afraid that there would be few subsequent emperors who would be as devoted to handling state affairs as he and his father were.

His own younger brother Zhu Di is a living example.

Didn't Zhu Yuanzhang hear that he had finally abolished the prime minister and independently exercised imperial power, but Zhu Di ended up setting up a cabinet?

The power of the cabinet chief alone may not be as great as that of the prime minister.

But the entire cabinet taken together was tantamount to going against Zhu Yuanzhang's original intention of abolishing the prime minister.

When Hu Weiyong heard the proposal for a pilot project, his eyes rolled around in his eye sockets, and then he nodded and said:

"If Ningming County is used as a pilot, it may be feasible. Yang Chen is the Censor of the capital and a native of Ningming County. He has great advantages. If he can succeed, I believe other places will have no objections. After all, it is all for the people of the world.

As a minister, I naturally do not want your Majesty to have too much blood on his hands. I will go back and tell the rest of the Secretariat about this method. If Yang Chen has nothing to say, I think this method is feasible. "

"Then it's decided."

Zhu Biao looked delighted and nodded without hesitation.

After Hu Weiyong left, Zhu Biao asked someone to prepare the carriage in advance, packed up his things, and went to Yang Chen's mansion.

At the gate of the mansion, Zhu Biao stepped down from a luxurious carriage. Originally, the servants wanted to use the prince's dragon carriage, but he refused.

It was Zhu Biao's rule not to use these fancy things in informal occasions.

After all, the prince's dragon chariot was too ostentatious when he went out.

He was also a frequent visitor to Yang Chen's mansion, and the servant outside the door hurriedly opened the door as soon as he saw his appearance.

“Prince!
This servant greets the prince!"

Zhu Biao saw Xiaochun just after entering the mansion. As a former maid in the Eastern Palace, Xiaochun naturally knew Zhu Biao's identity.

He quickly bowed to him according to court etiquette.

Zhu Biao put his hands behind his back, waved quickly and said:
"No need to be polite. Don't treat me like a royal family when you are out. I am here to look for your master. Where is Brother Yang now?"

Without thinking twice, Xiaochun pointed at the battlefield:

"In reply to the prince, the head of the family has been doing something with Mr. Tao and Mr. Wen in the backyard since a few days ago. I don't know what they are doing. It seems that they are trying to make fertilizer! That's right! Fertilizer."

"Fertilizer? Brother Yang, why do you suddenly want to make fertilizer instead of preparing to go to Ningming County?"

Zhu Biao certainly knew about this thing. He once learned from Yang Chen that the reason why grain yields could reach 10,000 kilograms per mu in later generations was largely due to chemical fertilizers.

If there were no chemical fertilizers, even with sweet potatoes, corn and potatoes, it would be impossible to achieve a yield of 5,000 kilograms per mu, let alone 10,000 kilograms.

However, Yang Chen once told him that the level of fertilizer production was very high, and it could almost be said that only a country with nuclear weapons could produce it independently.

Zhu Biao was very surprised that the other party was actually making fertilizers.

"You go ahead and do your work. I'll go find him myself."

Zhu Biao said something casually and hurried towards the battlefield.

When he found the battlefield, he discovered that the place had changed a lot from before.

The most intuitive thing is that the row of earthenware jars originally used to refine sulfuric acid have now been replaced with translucent glass.

It looks extremely sacred under the sunlight.

This is in stark contrast to the alchemists who are working hard around them.

"Oh my god, what on earth has Brother Yang been doing these days? How did he end up like this?"

Yang Chen had made small transparent glass objects before and showed them to Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma, but this was the first time he had made something this big.

Even though Zhu Biao was well-informed, he was subconsciously surprised.

"Wait here, don't enter without permission, this place is dangerous."

For the safety of his guards, Zhu Biao did not let them step into the sand.

He still remembers the scene where a chemical experiment exploded and caused a group of alchemists to lie on the ground wailing in pain.

(End of this chapter)