My life skills in Daming Liver

Xu Wei did not directly respond to Su Ze's words, but said: "Then please invite the governor to summon the prefects of Nanzhili and ask everyone what they think."

Su Ze nodded and said: "One person is short-term and everyone is long-term. This is how it should be. Then in the name of the Metropolitan Governor's Office, issue a government order to the governments of the Southern Zhili Province and ask them to rush to Nanjing to discuss government reform matters."

There were originally fourteen prefectures under Nanzhili, but the twelve prefectures were controlled by the southeast, and Xuzhou and Huai'an were still in the hands of the Ming court.

The most important and prosperous among them are Yingtian Prefecture near Nanjing, Suzhou Prefecture where He Xinyin is the prefect, Songjiang Prefecture where Shen Shixing is the prefect, Fengyang Prefecture where Zhu Congjin, a member of the Zhu Ming Uprising clan, is the prefect, and Li Zhi temporarily The prefect of Huizhou Prefecture.

The other prefectures are not unimportant, but their population is not as large as these prefectures, and their commerce is not as developed as these prefectures.

After Su Ze returned from a great victory in the north, he convened a meeting with the prefects of Southern Zhili. Naturally, everyone did not dare to delay, and soon gathered in Nanjing.

During this period, Su Ze learned through the Clippers what happened in the capital after he left the north.

After King Yu ascended the throne, all kinds of troubles occurred in the capital. As expected, given the virtues of the Zhu Ming royal family, the capital's life was still so bad after Long Qing ascended the throne.

In the historical timeline before Su Ze's time travel, some people had a relatively high opinion of Long Qing, and even believed that if Long Qing could remain emperor for a few more years before dying, the Ming Dynasty would still be able to revive.

In fact, the reason why the emperor Longqing was rated well was that he died early.

If Wanli had died early, he would probably have been hailed as a wise king.

After Longqing ascended the throne, his inner court expenditures were even greater than those of Jiajing.

For example, the Aoshan Lantern Festival that had been discontinued during the Jiajing Dynasty was resumed as soon as Long Qing ascended the throne. Such a Lantern Festival Lantern Festival would cost tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Another example is Long Qing's enrichment of the harem. His sudden death soon after taking the throne was also related to excessive indulgence.

Many of the Longqing Kaihai and Longqing New Deals were just a continuation of the policies of the Jiajing Dynasty. For example, the maritime ban had already existed in name only in the last years of Jiajing. What's more, the Longqing Kaihai specifically opened a port like Zhangzhou Yuegang, which was inconvenient. It was not at all the comprehensive opening that later generations thought it would be.

So Long Qing's series of operations were all within Su Ze's expectation.

After being King Yu for so many years! Can't you still enjoy it after ascending to the throne?

Such Ming court does not even need to specifically smear it, the people in the capital will naturally make up various rumors and jokes to attack them.

Su Ze still focused on the reform of southeastern government affairs.

The reason why it is so urgent is because there is a huge talent gap in government affairs!

Relying on the accumulation of Fuzhou Naval Academy, and Su Ze relying on Chang Ningwei's team, there is no shortage of military talents.

After the Battle of Dagu, the Ming Dynasty will not continue to have large-scale conflicts with the southeast in the short term. Military construction only needs to develop steadily at the original speed.

However, with the expansion of territory, there is an increasing shortage of talents in government affairs.

Even for a magistrate like Zhu Congjin who resigned from office in an official letter a month ago, Su Ze could not find a replacement for him and could only let him continue his job.

All the prefects gathered in the court hall of the governor's office in Nanzhili. Su Ze had a large table brought in, printed out the meeting materials, and then asked everyone to sit at the table to discuss the matter.

Looking around, everyone is in different states.

Shen Shixing was in the most relaxed state. Songjiang Prefecture under his rule was the prefecture with the highest tax revenue in Zhili Province in the whole of South China. The annual commercial tax paid by Songjiang Chaoguan was equal to the taxes of two or three prefectures in Fujian.

Shen Shixing is very capable at work. It only takes him half a day to handle ordinary government affairs. The next time he will be patrolling the Suzhou Mansion. He has an easy-going personality and is good at communication. He has a good relationship with everyone in the Songjiang Mansion. Songjiang Scholars in the mansion all said that he had the talent of being a prime minister and an assistant.

Second only to Songjiang Mansion is Suzhou Mansion. He Xinyin has lost a lot of weight compared to the last time we met. His thick dark circles look like an old scholar with a bright head but no experience.

He Xinyin rarely interfered with other affairs of the government office in Suzhou. He only focused on writing and revising the code.

Although he seemed to be indifferent, if his officials violated the law, He Xinyin would also be ruthless when enforcing the law.

People at that time called these two magistrates, Shen Shixing governed Songjiang with Huang's family, and He Xinyin governed Suzhou with Legalism.

Li Zhi, Su Ze's uncle-in-law, was originally a county magistrate in Zhejiang Province. Because of his good political performance, he was promoted to Huizhou Prefecture as acting magistrate.

Huizhou Prefecture is also an important commercial town, and Huizhou merchants have huge influence throughout the Ming Dynasty.

Li Zhi was influenced by the New Learning over the years, and his thoughts gradually matured. When he served as the magistrate of Huizhou, he put forward a series of new views on the New Learning.

For example, Li Zhi advocated the "True Self Theory" and believed that "pursuing human desires" is the law of nature, and was particularly opposed to the ethical relationship of the Three Cardinal Principles and the Five Constant Virtues.

Li Zhi wrote several articles in succession, "On the New Family", "New Life", and "On Marriage", all of which criticized the father-son relationship and husband-wife relationship in marriage and family, advocated women's liberation, and advocated the small family model.

At the same time, Li Zhi also resolutely opposed all forms of slavery, severely cracked down on various personal dependence relationships in Huizhou Prefecture, liberated domestic servants, domestic slaves and generations of tenants, strictly controlled adoption relationships, and prevented large families from controlling through adopted children. Personal freedom.

Li Zhi also advocated business, believing that pursuing profit was a behavior consistent with human nature, and believed that businessmen were no lower than scholars.

At the same time, Li Zhi abolished the privileges of officials and scholars on a large scale in Huizhou Prefecture, and resolutely implemented Su Ze's policy program of "the officials and the gentry should work as errands and pay the grain together".

Therefore, Li Zhi received the most criticism and attacks when he was in power. Scholars in Huizhou Prefecture published articles in the "Jingshi Bao" to criticize him.

As for Li Zhi, who was an arrogant Confucian, he also quarreled with these Huizhou scholars in the "Jingshi Bao", and the exchanges between the two sides were very lively.

Finally, there was Zhu Congjin, a member of the Zhu Ming clan. He looked like a good old man and was trembling in front of the conference table.

Su Ze appointed him as the magistrate of Fengyang, which was considered as a gift to let the Ming court officials know the treatment for the first contributor to the uprising. Su Ze did not have much expectations for Zhu Congjin's ability.

When there are enough government personnel, they will naturally find a noble position to support him.

In addition to these prefects, Su Ze also arranged Wang Xijue and Xu Guo to attend the meeting.

The two of them and Shen Shixing looked at each other, and they both saw the joy in the other's eyes to meet old friends. In the future, this three-member team will serve under Su Ze.

Shen Shixing also smiled bitterly. Since the beginning of the imperial examination, the top two candidates in the imperial examination have rebelled one after another. I am afraid it will be an anecdote in the history books in the future.

After everyone was seated, Xu Wei presided over the meeting and said:

"The Grand Governor has convened a meeting to discuss the reform of southeastern government affairs."

Su Ze took the words and said:

"South Zhili is the most important thing in the southeast, so reform will naturally start from South Zhili. All of you are officials at the prefecture level in South Zhili. Please feel free to speak out."

Everyone looked at me, and I looked at you. What surprised Su Ze in the end was that the first person to speak was Zhu Congjin, the prefect of Fengyang Prefecture.

Zhu Congjin first said: "Grand Governor, my subordinates read the "Book of the Ming Dynasty" you wrote in the capital, and felt that something was enlightening. This article really hits the mark."

"Among them, the Yuan-Ming revolution said that the monarch's power was changed from heaven-given to the people's sovereignty. In fact, it shook the legal authority of the Ming court!"

Su Ze looked at Zhu Congjin, but he didn't expect that the first person to say such words would be him, Zhu Ming's former clan member.

Su Ze's theory of the Yuan and Ming revolutions is precisely the most important part of his article, but most people's attention is focused on the warning to the Ming court in the second half.

Zhu Congjin added: "When I was in Shanxi and when I was the prefect of Fengyang, my subordinates thought of a problem."

"It has been two hundred years since the Ming Dynasty had many famous ministers and good ministers. Why is it still declining day by day?"

"Power comes only from the top. All the officials in the department are subordinate to the superior officials, all the subordinate officials are subordinate to the superior officials, and all the ministers are subordinate to the emperor. This is the cause of the corruption in the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Congjin said: "I want to tell a little story about Fengyang Mansion."

He said slowly: "Fengyang Mansion's government office has two hundred people including department officials and office workers. They have to have a meal at the government office at noon, so my subordinates handed over the matter to Hu Ke. A scribe came to do it and set a standard for food, one tael of silver per person per month."

"Half of this money will be deducted from the salary, and the remaining half will be subsidized by Fengyang Prefecture Yamen."

"This clerk usually works reliably and his hands and feet are clean. However, just a few days after the implementation, the ordinary clerks and government officials complained and brought the matter to his subordinates."

"It turns out that the scribes in this household department are paid a standard of four taels of silver per month to the officials of the magistrate's yamen, the clerk's office and other third-level and above officials (as mentioned above, the scribes are divided into six grades). Officials and government servants are paid half a penny a month."

"Therefore, every meal of my subordinates has meat, while ordinary government servants only have vegetables every meal. It is better to buy vegetables, cook them and bring them to eat."

"This clerk was not greedy for the money, but he turned the government's good policy into a bad one. His subordinates removed him from his job, but instead of punishing him, they were thinking about why he did this. Something?"

After listening to Zhu Congjin's story, Su Ze immediately said:

"Power is only responsible for the source of power. The power of these scribes comes from you superior officials. Naturally, there is no need to care about the opinions of ordinary government officials."

Zhu Congjin was startled, and he quickly said: "The Governor really hit the mark! That's exactly what he said!"

Zhu Congjin added: "When I was in Shanxi, I belonged to the Zhu Ming clan. According to the regulations of the Ming court, I should be able to receive Lumi every month."

"But for a poor clan like us, even if we use the name of the clan and go to local officials to receive rice, we will often be pushed around, short of money, and sometimes even directly deducted."

"And those princes from close clans, or large princes, can often occupy a large amount of official and private land, and there will be no shortage of the lumi they should have."

"The Governor's words really explain the crux of the Ming court's problems."

Su Ze asked: "How did Magistrate Zhu solve the problem of Fengyang Prefecture's lunch?"

Zhu Congjin said: "So it's easy to get started. There are many restaurants in Fengyang Prefecture, so I asked the officials and government servants in each office to introduce representatives, and then asked the restaurants in Fengyang Prefecture to deliver food according to Japanese standards. , and finally selected one with good quality and low price, and now everyone in the government office is very satisfied with the lunch.”

Su Ze looked in surprise at the Zhu Ming clan who became the prefect for his first contribution in the uprising. His generous face was like that of an ordinary farmer. He didn't expect that he could come up with such a method.

Zhu Congjin added: "Later, after reading the "Book of the Ming Dynasty" written by the Governor, my subordinates felt enlightened and realized some truth."

"The problem with the Ming Dynasty is that both the emperor and his ministers believe that the king's power is God-given. It is precisely because the king's power is God-given that there are all claims that the king is superior."

"As for officials at all levels in the Ming Dynasty, if they want to be promoted, they only need the satisfaction of their superiors. Naturally, they have no regard for the common people."

"Everyone just needs to serve their superiors well, and the officialdom has become a fighting ground for tigers and a den for jackals and wolves. That's why there are so many corrupt officials in the Ming Dynasty who prey on the common people, and there are so many subordinate officials and government servants who work for the tigers."

"The Grand Governor said that power is only responsible for the source of power. Power comes from above, so it only needs to be from above."

Everyone was silent.

He Xinyin looked at Su Ze worriedly.

Su Ze immediately applauded: "Zhifu Zhu's words are truly my close friend!"

Su Ze said: "Zhifu Zhu's approach is to change the monarch's power from heaven to the sovereignty of the people. The people who eat in the government will recommend the evaluators, and they will decide the dishes and tastes. This method is wonderful!"

But after Su Ze finished speaking, Li Zhi suddenly said:

"Grand Governor, it is true that sovereignty belongs to the people, but how can we sum up this people in one word?"

"The officials and servants of Fengyang Prefecture have the same position when eating. They want to eat delicious meals with less money."

“But when it comes to governance, people are diverse.”

"Rich businessmen are the people, farmers are the people, and workers in the workshops are the people. Their ideas are very different, and their desires are completely different."

"Even if you are a hired worker, I have seen all kinds of things."

"For example, the ink workers in Huizhou Prefecture are famous all over the world. Most of the ink workers are passed down from family or from master to apprentice. There are well-known ink-making masters, and the Hui ink they make is more expensive than gold."

"But in recent days, craftsmen in Huizhou Prefecture have invented a new ink-making process. They don't need to use lamp ash as raw material as before. Instead, they improve the process and directly use coal ash to make ink ash in large quantities, and then use cheap medicinal materials to mass-produce Hui ink. The price of ink has also dropped a lot. Although it is not as long-lasting as traditional Hui ink and the ink has a clear fragrance, it is still cheap enough that many people can afford it."

"The craftsmen who made traditional Hui ink united and went to the government to sue, demanding that the ink produced by the workshops that used the new method to make ink should not bear the name of Hui ink."

Everyone present laughed at first, and then began to think.

In Suzhou Prefecture and Songjiang Prefecture, there were also incidents where traditional weavers wanted to burn down the looms in their workshops.

Li Zhi said: "Sovereignty lies with the people. Which people are these people? How to balance the needs of various people?"