Chapter 605: Your Majesty, please make decisions for the people!
Zhu Yijun and his entourage stayed at the nearby Hongjiaqiao Post Station, and thousands of his followers set up camp around them. They were all selected from the frontier army, and setting up camp on the spot was commonplace.

At the command, thousands of tents were pitched in the wild, and wooden fences and carriages formed circular camps. The Hongjiaqiao Post Station was treated as the central military tent and was surrounded tightly.

In the afternoon, Zhu Yijun summoned more than a dozen village elders and village representatives, more than a dozen factory managers and worker representatives, the Luanzhou prefect who came in a hurry, as well as the garrison commander and the co-magistrate, the Fengrun county magistrate, the county lieutenant and the county magistrate’s chief clerk, and had a long talk with them.

I talked to the villagers about harvest, taxes, water conservancy, and other family matters.

I talk to the workers about production, treatment, equipment, and also about family matters.

Talk to officials about the various problems they encounter in governing, including administration, finance, transportation, education, public security, and military preparation.
After the talk, several officials came out with their backs soaked. They were secretly amazed at each other, saying that the emperor knew the situation very clearly and all the questions he asked hit the nail on the head.

On the contrary, the Prime Minister Zhang Xiang, who was accompanying the emperor, became the emperor’s advisor, speaking less and listening more.

At dusk, Zhu Yijun entertained everyone with military meals.

At first everyone thought that the emperor was just putting on an act, but when they saw him holding his own bowl and eating the two separate dishes with such relish, they found it incredible.

Doesn’t the emperor eat from a golden bowl? Shouldn’t there be 108 dishes?

How come except for the eunuch’s tasting which was the same as what I imagined, the rest were completely different.

On the contrary, Zhang Xiang next to him frowned slightly while eating the military meal and finished it with great difficulty.

During the meal, Zhu Yijun spoke, sometimes to the villagers, sometimes to the workers, and from time to time he would bring up a topic for both sides to discuss.

Everyone could see that the emperor wanted to make peace between the two sides.

However, both parties only kept smiling and complimenting each other when the emperor was speaking. When they came face to face with each other, their faces immediately turned cold, as if they would never have any contact with each other again.

Zhang Juzheng laughed inwardly, Your Majesty, these two groups of common people don’t give you any face at all.

But he felt a little sad.

To share happiness with the people, this is what it means to share happiness with the people.

It seems that only Emperor Taizu was able to randomly invite common people who had not been repeatedly trained by the Ministry of Rites to have meals together in the countryside and read the records of emperors of all dynasties.

Zhu Yijun did not care at all about the villagers and workers’ lack of face. When he sent them to the gate of the “Xingzai”, he repeatedly told them that he liked to make surprise attacks and would go to a place they would not expect tomorrow, so they did not need to bother making preparations.

Zhang Juzheng thought to himself, it’s already evening now and it’s too late for everyone to get ready.

The next morning, Zhu Yijun, dressed in casual clothes like a traveler, and Zhang Juzheng, who was also dressed in casual clothes and turned into an accountant, went to the fields where “the water was robbed” for on-site inspection under the escort of more than 20 plainclothes guards.

Liu Yi brought three hundred elite soldiers, divided them into three teams, and followed from a distance.

Song Gongliang led a group of people, under the pretext of being the emperor’s guest, and went to Yahongqiao Town first in a pretentious manner to attract everyone’s attention.

The road was dusty and dotted with a few sparsely planted trees that could only be considered seedlings.

The fields were flat, divided into neat squares by roads and paths. The golden ears of wheat were covered with a layer of dust, making them gray and hiding the most eye-catching gold color, leaving only khaki color.

Under the blue sky and white clouds, it is lonely and gloomy, not beautiful at all.

At this time, the North China Plain had begun to show the first signs of damage from the Little Ice Age.

Little rain and more drought.

After hundreds and thousands of years of development, the North China Plain is now bare and lacks trees.

Firewood is a big problem in the countryside. All the trees near residential areas have been cut down, and people can only go to the farther mountains to chop firewood, or burn wheat straw and cotton stalks.

In recent years, under the strong advocacy of Zhu Yijun, the imperial court has vigorously promoted afforestation, and the cabinet has even issued a number of preferential policies. For example, if a tree is planted and reaches the survival standard, some corvée can be exempted, or some salt can be purchased at a discount.
But today, the few small trees in the fields seem to be mocking Zhu Yijun’s tree planting policy.

Zhu Yijun and Zhang Juzheng looked at each other.

Are the people indifferent to the reduction of the corvee labor they hated, or the extremely expensive salt?

It’s definitely not.

Good policies have become such a mess because of local officials.

When a tree is planted and reaches the survival standard, who will inspect it?

Of course it’s the local officials.

But their reputation has always been bad. The people would think in their hearts that planting trees takes time and energy. When the time comes for acceptance, will the work be accepted if they don’t give these officials some money?
When paying land tax, the clerks’ harsh punishments have caused great harm to the people. Now there is something beneficial coming, will they let it go easily?

The common people thought about it again and again and felt that the benefits would eventually fall into the hands of the clerks, and they would be wasting their time and energy. Why bother?

“Your Majesty, if the government is not fair, no matter how good the national policy is, it will not be implemented. The benefits that Your Majesty has painstakingly planned will not be passed on to the people.

That’s the biggest worry.”

“Master Zhang, after the implementation of the performance evaluation system in the central government, local governments should also follow suit as soon as possible. The Central Steering Committee of the Performance Evaluation System of the Ming Dynasty should not only focus on the six ministries and temples, but also on the lower levels.

They are officials close to the people, and their every move and every word will affect the people’s well-being and their trust in the court.”

“Your Majesty, I will remember this.”

Zhu Yijun and Zhang Juzheng took a walk around the fields and found various problems.

The canals and ditches have been clogged over the years.

All fields are cultivated without the rotation system recommended by the Agricultural Science Institute.

Without chemical fertilizers, relying solely on the natural fertility of the land and greedily demanding from the fields, the crops will fail in a few years.

Therefore, the rotation cropping system was developed in the Han and Tang Dynasties.

The Northern Wei Dynasty’s “Qimin Yaoshu” records: “Grain fields must be replaced every year. If you want good fields, don’t use old ones. For all grain fields, mung beans and red beans are the best, hemp, millet, and old hemp are the next best, and turnips and soybeans are the worst.”

The Ming Dynasty Capital Agricultural Science Institute summarized the experiences of past dynasties and proposed the four-field rotation system, which is to divide the farmland into four plots and cultivate different crops in each plot, such as soybeans, barley/wheat, turnips/beets, and Elymus/Duckgrass, which are rotated in turn every year.

Soybeans are used for oil extraction or food, barley and wheat are food, turnips/sugar beets are cash crops, and Elymus/Duckgrass are forage grass, which is eaten by livestock such as pigs, cattle, and sheep.

This kind of crop rotation can prevent the soil from becoming clumped and hardened, restore the fertility of the fields, and has many benefits.

Looking at the fields full of wheat, Zhang Juzheng sighed: “I have seen the four-field rotation system in the experimental fields of the Ditan Agricultural Science Institute and the Nanyuan Agricultural Science Institute.

Compared with the fields without crop rotation, the difference is like heaven and earth. Guo Zhengqing of the Ministry of Agriculture worked hard to promote this good idea, but it turned out to be a dead letter in the local area.

Your Majesty, this is Zhili, not far from the capital, but the result is like this. You can imagine the results in other places. Official administration, local official administration. Whenever I think of this, I can’t rest day or night. “

Zhu Yijun shook his head: “It’s not just a problem of officialdom, but also because the land tax is too heavy. Ordinary people have to pay taxes and support their families, so they can only do this thing of draining the pond to catch fish.”

Zhang Juzheng nodded, “Your Majesty is wise, and you have explained the reason in one sentence. Our dynasty attaches great importance to agriculture, not only attaches great importance to it, but also places great pressure on it.

Since Emperor Taizu, the main taxation in the Ming Dynasty has been tax on land and grain.

The land tax was extremely heavy, but the commercial tax was shockingly light.

In the 21st year of Jiajing, Sichuan produced 5 million catties of tea, but only collected 20,000 taels of silver in tea tax. In Zhejiang, another major tea-producing province, the amount of tea produced was a mystery, as it was sold to various places and overseas by merchants, so no one knew the exact amount. In the end, the court collected only 6 taels of silver in tea tax.

Zhang Juzheng laughed bitterly, “The great burden of the Ming Dynasty is all on the people who farm the land. They have to endure natural disasters and man-made disasters, the annexation of land, the false taxation, and all kinds of corvee labor.

The people can’t even afford to eat, so how can they care about crop rotation?”

Zhu Yijun stood beside a dry canal, his hands cupped in his sleeves, looking at the fields in the distance and near that were full of harvest but seemed a little lifeless, with a deep gaze.

“Master Zhang, the people in the north, especially those in the five provinces of Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, Zhili, and Shaanxi, suffer from forced labor, fertile and dangerous land, and being too close to the nine borders.”

Zhang Juzheng turned and looked at Zhu Yijun.

“There is less literary talent in the north. Even if there is a northern list, the number of Jinshi and Juren produced is much less than that in the south, and there are also fewer masters who can submit to them.

They could not avoid those imposed corvée labor by paying tribute like the people in the south of the Yangtze River did, so they could only grit their teeth and endure it.

Because of their fertile land and strategic location, Emperor Taizu granted many vassal states to the royal family, and the five provinces were the most numerous. How many vassal states were there in Henan alone?

The iron rice bowl that has been passed down from generation to generation, as well as food, corvee labor, and miscellaneous chores, are all huge mountains weighing on the people’s heads.

The five provinces of Shanhe were close to the nine frontiers. Once an incident occurred, they would be required to pay additional taxes, build city walls, and perform corvée labor. Not only did Zhili, Shanxi, and Shaanxi have to pay additional taxes, they also had to endure the consequences of the northern barbarians’ invasion of the borders, looting, and the destruction of their families.

During the Jiajing period, the emperor realized the problem. Compared with the south, the per-acre yield of fertile fields in the north was one-third less. Coupled with the annual drought and little rain, the output was even pitifully low.

As a result, the land tax in the north decreased, while corvée and miscellaneous labor increased. When the land tax in the north decreased, it naturally increased in the south.

Xu Zhenming, the governor of Gansu, once mentioned in a memorial, “Many people in the southeast are exempt from labor service, and people in the northwest suffer from heavy labor service. This is because the taxes in the south are heavy but the labor service is light, while the taxes in the north are light but the labor service is heavy. Therefore, there is a saying that people in the south are troubled by food, and people in the north are troubled by labor service.”

“The southerners are in trouble with food, and the northerners are in trouble with labor? I have also read Xu Rudong’s memorial, which is a true insight! Since the founding of the country, the country has attached great importance to agriculture and water conservancy. Among all the good policies, none is better than those proposed by Xu Rudong.

only”

Zhang Juzheng looked at Zhu Yijun, feeling helpless.

“Your Majesty has given me great support for my reforms. You have good policies and capable ministers, but after a year of governing, I feel like I am struggling in the mud.”

Zhu Yijun encouraged him, “Master Zhang, you only see the various bad policies of the dynasty, which have accumulated over the past two hundred years. But what I see is the accumulated evils of a thousand years.”

Zhang Juzheng’s eyes flickered. “Thousands of years of accumulated problems? Your Majesty, are the words of the saints completely outdated?”

Zhu Yijun did not give a direct answer, “Emperor Taizu claimed that the laws and policies he formulated in his early years were perfect, and he also strictly ordered that his descendants could not change a single word of them, and they would be the ancestral system forever.

However, anyone who knows a little about state affairs knows that the ancestral system had already seen its drawbacks during the Yongle period, and by the Xuande period, it could be said that it had to be changed. However, the ancestral system was there, so the changes could only be made in a covert manner.

During the Jiajing period, the ambitious people in the court knew that the ancestral system was no longer sufficient to govern the country and that it was time for a major change. The ancestral system of Emperor Taizu had to be changed after a hundred years to keep up with the times. How could the words of the sage from two thousand years ago be followed until now?
‘If you move more and more, you will make more progress every day; all the ways to benefit you will be carried out in accordance with the times.’

Master Zhang, there is no best national policy in the world, only the most suitable national policy. Only by keeping pace with the times can the Ming Dynasty truly become a strong country and a prosperous people. If you stick to the old ways, you will only end up dead! “

Zhang Juzheng remained silent, looking at the fields in front of him that had produced a good harvest but could not bring joy to people. His eyes flickered, and no one knew what he was thinking.

In the distance, a group of people came running hurriedly, led by the prefect of Luanzhou, the magistrate of Fengrun, and several village elders.

Liu Yi and Song Gongliang surrounded them with thousands of guards and kept them outside.

“Let them in.” Zhu Yijun waved his hand.

Liu Yi ordered the guards to search everyone carefully before letting them in front of the emperor.

“Whose land is this?” Zhu Yijun pointed to the endless fields in front of him, drew a circle in front of him, included the nearby fields of more than a hundred acres, and then asked.

Everyone looked at each other, not daring to answer.

Several village elders knew the inside story but did not dare to speak out.

The magistrate of Fengrun guessed something, his face changed and he hesitated to speak.

The prefect of Luanzhou was a little anxious at first.

The emperor is asking questions, and you are still hesitating! But he changed his mind and understood something, and his eyes turned to the Fengrun County Magistrate.

Zhu Yijun asked: “Whose land is this?”

The prefect of Luanzhou narrowed his eyes and said in a stern tone: “The emperor is asking questions, you should answer quickly. Fengrun County!”

The magistrate of Fengrun County made up his mind and answered simply: “Your Majesty, I can’t remember the details. I will immediately ask someone to go to the household office to check the files.”

Zhu Yijun did not comment, turned around and looked at several village elders and asked: “The county magistrate is in the county town, so he may not know these details. Don’t you villagers know who owns these fields?”

The village elders shirked their responsibilities one after another, “Your Majesty, I am old and confused and cannot remember.”

“In reply to your Majesty, I passed the imperial examination many years ago and have been busy pursuing my career outside. Later, I was assigned to Shanxi and Shandong and served as an official for several years. I only came back in the first half of the year. I really don’t know.”

“It’s strange,” Zhu Yijun said with a smile, “Master Zhang, it seems that the land survey by the cabinet was in vain. It’s only been a year or two since Mr. Gao conducted the survey in Zhili, and it has become a mess. The good land has become a land without an owner.”

Zhang Juzheng bowed solemnly and said, “Your Majesty, please forgive me. This is indeed a failure of the cabinet. I will submit a petition to apologize when I return.”

Listening to the conversation between the emperor and his minister, everyone knew in their hearts that the emperor and Prime Minister Zhang knew the secret behind the land like a mirror.

Zhu Yijun did not ask any more questions about the owner of the land. Accompanied by everyone, he inspected other fields and went to the place where the water of the Beng River was diverted.

Several village elders pointed at the dried-up canal, each of them indignant and beating their chests and stamping their feet, cursing the four factories across the river for wasting farming time and destroying the country’s foundation. Then they knelt down in unison and asked the emperor to make a decision for them.

Thousands of villagers who rushed to the scene after hearing the news knelt down at a loss, and followed the concerned people in the crowd to plead with the emperor to seek justice for the people.

Zhu Yijun tried to comfort them with kind words, then led everyone across the Yahong Bridge to the east bank of the Bing River. Just as they reached the middle of the bridge, the scene in front of them suddenly changed.

(End of this chapter)