Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

Wow...

The messenger stepped heavily on the newly formed puddle with one foot. The water in the pit splashed everywhere, but he had successfully attracted the attention of all officials.

The rain came quickly and fiercely, and most of the officials had already been soaked.

When the officials who had been forcing the palace just now saw someone running out from behind to interfere with their plan to rescue Zhou Nai, a Kedao official immediately stepped forward and scolded: "This is the place where the early dynasty was held, don't let it go..."

It was just that the last word "四" was not spoken. Through the rain curtain, I could see clearly that the messenger official who appeared here was holding a Tang newspaper in his hand, so I swallowed the last word.

After Hongzhi ascended the throne, the Ming Dynasty established the Tangbao system.

Now that Tang Bao officials are anxiously sending Tang Bao over at this time, either a major military situation has occurred in the border area, or something terrible has happened.

For a moment, more than a thousand civil and military officials present looked at the incoming person, wondering what kind of Tongpao officials actually allowed Tongpao officials to directly break into the morning court scene.

hehe……

Liu Jian, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, looked at the official's panic, but he knew that this time must be a misfortune rather than a blessing. He couldn't help but laugh secretly, but he looked at Zhu Youtang with gloating.

He knew that the Ming Dynasty's biggest military operation recently was to prepare to clear out the Jurchens in Jianzhou on the grounds of insufficient deer tendons. At present, the granaries in Liaodong have been consolidated, and various armies have stationed troops in Shanhaiguan.

As long as the emperor gives an order, the army stationed in Liaodong can invade the Jianzhou Jurchen territory.

Obviously, this Tangbao is related to Liaodong. Now I am afraid that something unexpected happened in the war in Liaodong, and the Jurchens of Jianzhou may have captured Shanhaiguan in turn.

Originally, the best way for the Ming Dynasty was to recuperate, use the Great Wall as a defensive line to consolidate the world, and then rule the world with the scholar-officials and share the blessing of peace.

As a result, this emperor with great ambition and talent dared to provoke the Jurchens. It was a stupid move to ask for trouble, and now he was slapped in the face by the Jurchens.

Shameful, really shameful, how could I teach such a stupid student?

thump!

When they came closer, the reporting officer revealed the poor physical condition of the scholar. He was already out of breath and suddenly fell to the ground.

But that loyalty is still worthy of recognition. As if he didn't dare to delay the Tangbao in his hand, he still raised it towards Zhu Youtang and said: "Your Majesty, no... it's not good!"

not good?

Although Li Yu, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and other officials had already made some guesses, their hearts sank to the bottom when they heard what the reporting officer said.

Obviously, Ming Dynasty did not report a great victory, but a bad situation occurred.

Boom!

There was another thunder in the sky, and the rain falling on everyone seemed even colder. The celestial phenomena at this time seemed to indicate that the dynasty was suffering a catastrophe.

The commander of the Jin Yiwei made Wang Xiang let the rain fall on himself, quickly stepped forward to take the Tang newspaper, and then turned around and handed the Tang newspaper to Zhu Youtang.

"What bad thing happened? God bless me!"

Officials such as Li Si, the Minister of Household Affairs, were attracted by the Tang newspaper, but they were curious about what kind of devastating bad news the Tang newspaper brought, and at the same time they prayed silently.

Zhu Youtang opened the Tang Bao in full view of the public. He only saw the contents of the Tang Bao, and his qi-nurturing skills since he ascended the throne were defeated. First his eyes turned red, and then a surge of anger surged up from his feet.

Huh?

Wan An and Liu Ji couldn't help but look at each other. They were the closest to Zhu Youtang, so they could clearly feel the rare anger emanating from Zhu Youtang.

this……

Officials such as Li Yu, the Minister of Personnel, also realized that Zhu Youtang was like an awakened lion. When they saw Zhu Youtang looking around at all the officials present, they immediately surrendered silently to the emperor.

Zhu Youtang finally suppressed his anger, but asked without any emotion: "Who just said that I should order the Metropolitan Procuratorate to release Zhou Nai?"

"Yes, my minister! Zhou Nai has made great contributions to canal and flood control for so many years. I beg Your Majesty to order the Metropolitan Procuratorate to release Zhou Nai!" Liu Jian, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, felt a little uneasy, but he had no way out and stood up to express his position.

Zhu Youtang knew that Liu Jian could be kicked out, but he suppressed his anger and asked, "Who else is there?"

"Reporting to your Majesty, there are nineteen people in total. I have already noted them down!" Li Yu, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, has the ability of photographic memory and immediately stood up and responded.

Zhu Youtang was very satisfied with Li Yu's ability and said calmly: "After the court, you will copy the list to me immediately!"

"Your Majesty, Zhou Nai has contributed a lot to the canal and flood control for so many years. If the Metropolitan Procuratorate arrests people without evidence, even if they sign and sign, they will be suspected of being beaten!" Liu Jian knew that something might have happened to Zhou Nai, but he still tried to get away with it. .

Other officials realized that Zhou Nai's situation might have changed, and secretly admired Liu Jian's quick wit, so they all agreed: "Your Majesty, the Metropolitan Procuratorate arrests people without evidence. This approach is suspected of being beaten into submission. Please ask. Think twice!”

Zhu Youtang looked at the officials who were about to seize the "subdued" officials, but he raised the pond newspaper in his hand: "News just came from Henan. The night before yesterday, Kaifeng Mansion's embankment burst several times, and Kaifeng City was flooded. Millions of people were killed." All the farmland was destroyed, and countless people were displaced. Last year, the imperial court ordered the river channel to be strengthened to strengthen the Kaifeng embankment, and the Ministry of Household Affairs allocated a total of more than 300,000 taels. This summer, the embankment collapsed before the floods came, and the newly built Jinglongkou embankment was actually an earthen one. Dam, who dares to protect the governor of such a river? You stand up and let me take a good look!"

A white lightning flashed in the sky, as if it was looking for a target, and it seemed that it would strike down at any time, causing everyone to be too nervous to breathe heavily.

Did the new embankment fail?

Liu Jian, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, and other officials thought that Zhou Nai had confessed the fact of corruption, but they were dumbfounded when they heard that the Kaifeng Mansion embankment burst and the entire Kaifeng city was flooded.

Although everyone has long been tacitly aware of corruption in projects. After all, the main way for local officials to exploit local people is salt. However, the salt policy was rectified last year, so now the biggest source of corruption is project funds.

But no one expected that the gang of river officials would be so bold this time. The newly built Jinglongkou embankment was a river project that the court focused on, but the result was that they cut corners to an outrageous level.

Who dares to protect such a river governor? Who can protect him?

this……

Liu Jian, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, suddenly felt burning pain in his face. He originally wanted to portray the image of a straight minister to get out of trouble, but he did not expect that Zhou Nai, whom he wanted to protect, would indirectly kill thousands of people.

When the Dongchuang incident on the new embankment built last year happened, Zhou Nai was destined to be guillotined, and even a large number of officials and supervisors and eunuchs were implicated in being beheaded.

The Minister of Civil Affairs and other officials were greatly saddened, and immediately knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, please thoroughly investigate the river channel, and do not let innocent people die in vain!"

The voice was very loud. Since it was a petition issued by more than a thousand civil and military civilians, the voice of Liu Jian and others who just saved Zhou Nai seemed insignificant.

Looking back in time, the disaster in Henan reappeared.

It's night, the Yellow River is full of water.

The newly built Jinglongkou in Kaifeng Prefecture burst its banks, and the Yellow River suddenly changed its course to the north. However, the new river course was blocked by the mountains, causing the river banks to rise suddenly, and the Yellow River water temporarily became a barrier lake.

This incident seemed to have a domino effect, and something shocking happened to the world. The embankment in the north of Kaifeng City burst.

As the north embankment collapsed, the entire river flowed into Bian. The river's roaring waves were as loud as thunder. The north gate rushed to the edge. The men and women of Shecheng wailed.

In the middle of the night, the water was several feet deep and corpses were floating like fish. It was too horrible to see.

Kaifeng was the capital of the Song Dynasty, and even once hoped to become the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

In the first year of Hongwu, Kaifeng Mansion was upgraded to Beijing, which was equivalent to the accompanying capital of the Ming Dynasty. Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang personally went to Kaifeng to inspect and came up with the idea of ​​moving the capital to Kaifeng.

In the second year of Hongwu, in view of the dilapidation of Kaifeng Prefecture's city walls and various projects, large-scale infrastructure construction around Kaifeng Prefecture began.

It was only during the construction process that the Ming Dynasty discovered various shortcomings in Kaifeng City.

Because Kaifeng Prefecture has convenient transportation and extends in all directions, there is no danger to defend it. The most important thing is that Kaifeng City is located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, so breaches and flooding often occur, submerging large areas of cultivated land and villages.

In the eighth year of Hongwu's reign, the river broke through the embankment of Taihuang Temple in Kaifeng, and he was ordered to block it by 30,000 people from Henan Province participating in politics and An Ran.

In the 17th year of Hongwu's reign, the Dongyue Embankment in Kaifeng was decided, and the river flowed for dozens of miles from Chenqiao to Chenliu.

In the 30th year of Hongwu's reign, Kaifeng was defeated in August, and the city was flooded on three sides.

However, in the second year of Hongzhi, the imperial court was worried that the river section of Kaifeng City would burst its banks. After all, the Yellow River was now known as the "Heavenly River", so it specially allocated funds for embankment protection.

No one expected that the corruption in the Daming River was so serious. Not only did the newly built Jinglongkou embankment fail to perform its duty of protecting the river better, but it became the biggest culprit in the breach of the north embankment of Kaifeng City.

The dike broke in the north of Kaifeng City, and the entire Yellow River changed its course to the south. The Yellow River water directly broke through the breakwater outside Kaifeng City, and a large amount of river water poured into the streets of Kaifeng City from the north gate.

It happened late at night, and countless people were drowned by this sudden flood while they were still sleeping, and became dead souls one by one.

This is both a natural disaster and a man-made disaster. Even if Zhou Nai, the governor of the river, did not take any money, Xindi's poor performance alone was enough to have Zhou Nai Lingchi executed.

As the water from the Yellow River was diverted and poured into Kaifeng City, not only the lives of a large number of people were threatened, but the crops waiting to be harvested were flooded, and even the land was no longer found.

Preliminary estimates put the economic losses at several million taels, and it is likely that there will be millions of victims throughout Henan.

The news reached the capital. Although Zhu Youtang wanted to kill all the river officials, his top priority was how to provide disaster relief and find a way out for the affected people.

The morning court ended in Zhu Youtang's rage, while Liu Jian, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, and other officials left in despair.

Liu Jian knew that even if His Majesty could continue to tolerate him, just because of his position of protecting Zhou Nai, the governor of the river, it would be impossible for those officials to let him go.

It's just that China's giant ship is rolling forward under the helm of Zhu Youtang, but it is impossible to stop for half a minute because of Liu Jian.

Imperial study room, the highest meeting.

The officials of the six departments and the two pavilion elders gathered together, while Emperor Hongzhi was drinking tea in the attic.

In this kind of agricultural society, although this time was caused by human factors, natural disasters cannot be avoided, so a strong court is needed to solve disasters in various places through resource allocation.

For example, when there was a flood in Shandong the year before last, the imperial court allocated rice and grain for disaster relief, so an effective disaster relief system was already in place.

It's just that the area affected by the disaster is too wide. Not to mention the surrounding counties, it will be difficult to mobilize enough rice, and the court's disaster relief expenses will be a huge expense.

In addition, no one can guarantee that the officials responsible for disaster relief will not line their own pockets, and how much disaster food or disaster money will reach the hands of the victims.

Of course, even with all kinds of concerns, there are many places where officials can take advantage of loopholes, but human lives are at stake, and the court still needs to distribute disaster relief grain and disaster relief money as soon as possible.

After finalizing the disaster relief in Henan, Zhu Youtang proposed that this disaster relief should have innovative thinking, better rescue the millions of victims, and even consider how to better settle the victims.

After careful consideration, Li Si, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, proposed an innovative plan: "It is now the summer flood period in Henan. It is not only rainy, but also the roads are muddy and difficult to navigate. If escorting silver and grain will consume a lot, the imperial court will issue food stamps for disaster relief this time. Bar?"

"What are food stamps?" Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, listened very seriously and immediately asked in confusion.

Li Yu, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and other officials vaguely felt that this was a great innovation, and they couldn't help but turn their heads to look at Li Si.

Zhu Youtang was drinking tea on the pavilion, and the corners of his mouth could not help but raise slightly.

He found that his hard work was not in vain. Today's important ministers are more and more willing to use their brains instead of following the rules in everything they encounter.

Li Si, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, faced everyone's attention and expressed his idea: "Food stamps are similar to cloth stamps, except that instead of cloth, it says one stone of grain. This stamp is printed by our Ministry of Household Affairs, and the Ministry of Household Affairs will also know how to do it." The purpose of recycling is to stimulate the enthusiasm of grain merchants. One stone of grain can be exchanged for five coins. In addition, this ticket can be used to offset the grain tax levied by local officials. It can also be exchanged for rice and grain at the Changping warehouse in the capital or local government, and can also be exchanged at the doorstep. The government or the royal bank directly exchanged money for silver. In this way, the court no longer needed to escort silver and rice grains to Kaifeng, and the people who got the food stamps could travel to surrounding places to exchange for grain to survive the famine."

"This is a strategy for the country!"

"If this is the case, more victims can be saved!"

“Although this method is good, what if local officials don’t recognize it?”

“We give food stamps to local officials’ salaries so that they can be identified easily!”

"This method is very good. As long as we can work together as one, we will be able to help millions of victims survive the disaster!"

…

After hearing Li Si's idea and improving it, officials such as Li Yu, the Minister of Civil Affairs, unanimously approved Li Si's innovative plan and felt that food stamps were more convenient for disaster relief.

The flood in Kaifeng Prefecture was mainly caused by man-made factors. The affected area was not thousands of miles of red soil, but was mainly concentrated in the flooded area.

Tongzhou has enough grain of 20 million shi, which is more than enough for disaster relief.

There's just one problem here. It's good to have half of Tongzhou's 20 million stone grain shipped to Kaifeng, not to mention how much time it will take?

If the flooded people get food stamps and then order the government to set up porridge sheds along the way, then the affected people can disperse and find a chance of survival with the help of local or capital granaries.

This is why the disaster relief method proposed by Li Si, although one tael per person is a huge expense, is undoubtedly more efficient than the traditional disaster relief method.

Zhu Youtang was impressed by the fair-looking Li Si, and he made the final decision: "Since all ministers and workers have no objections, it is settled this time! The Ministry of Household Affairs will take the lead, and the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War will assist, and the Ministry of Personnel will also Contribute to urging local officials to implement government orders!"

"Your Majesty is wise, and I obey your decree!" A total of twelve officials from the Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of Household Affairs, Ministry of Industry and Ministry of War expressed their stance at the same time, showing high-spirited fighting spirit.

They like the current way of handling government affairs. They discuss problems together and now the various yamen cooperate with each other to get things done beautifully.

Now they are facing millions of victims. If they can get things done, they will be remembered in history instead of just a mediocre official with a corpse to eat.

But everyone was not happy for long. Another more difficult question followed: "How to resettle the millions of affected residents after the disaster?"

"This matter has been decided for a long time, do you still need to ask? Naturally, let them return to their respective residences to continue production!" He Qiaoxin, the Minister of Punishment, said naturally because of his high qualifications.

Wu Yu, the right minister of the Ministry of Revenue, looked at the Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice who had been promoted from Nanjing, but shook his head gently: "What Shangshu said is inappropriate! The yellow water is sandy, which is the consensus of the whole world. After this flood, many victims even If they return to their hometown, their fields will definitely be buried by the sand of the Yellow River. If dealt with in this way, hundreds of thousands of people may not be able to continue farming, or even become refugees and die in the mountains!"

At the end of the sentence, I seemed to be remembering a past incident, and tears welled up in my eyes.

Upon seeing this, He Qiaoxin, the Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, cast a look of disdain. Such a young official who had been moved up did not understand that this was an era of cannibalism. He immediately said disapprovingly: "This is something they should consider. Since ancient times, It’s been this way until now, but if it doesn’t work out, they’ll work as tenants! As long as you’re not a lazy person, you’ll always have something to eat!”

"Tenant, tenant, you just think that the common people have to sell themselves to your gentry's family as slaves and maids, right?" Wu Yu asked with tears in his eyes as if he was stimulated.

He Qiaoxin, the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment, looked gloomy, but responded loudly: "This is the practice of all dynasties. Why are you trying to harm me? If you are really that capable and come up with a feasible plan, then I won't mention it anymore! "

"I...I didn't think of a good way, but I...I believe that your Majesty must have a way to solve it! Your Majesty, I am incompetent, please come up with the charter!" Wu Yu had a mysterious trust in Zhu Youtang, but suddenly he Kneel down and say.

this……

Li Yu, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and other officials glanced at Wu Yu with complicated eyes, but they did not expect that this little minister of household affairs would dare to kick the ball towards the emperor. However, the current emperor is probably the only one who can solve this thousand-year-old problem. Difficult people.

For a moment, all the officials present looked at the attic, looking at the emperor who was flying without a trace above.