Starving!
As soon as the word "Jian" came out, Zhu Yuanzhang's face, which was originally full of smiles, suddenly solidified and turned into frost.
And from his old, wrinkled face, Zhu Yunxi could see all kinds of complex and intertwined emotions. There were melancholy, anger, worry, and bitterness.
"My grandson saw two beggars, an old man and a young man, on Chang'an Street. Later, he saw many beggars, dozens of them, in the ruined temple on Luoyang Lane!"
Zhu Yunxi slowly stirred the rice grains in the bowl with chopsticks and whispered, "Others told my grandson that there are more hungry people in the shacks outside the west gate of Yingtian City!"
Having enough food has been a big problem that has troubled the Chinese people for thousands of years. No matter how beautiful the times are, there are imperfections in invisible corners.
After meeting two beggars, an old man and a young man, Zhu Yunxi looked for a long time in the corners of the capital of the Ming Dynasty that were deliberately forgotten by people. He saw the incompleteness of the prosperous age, and saw some helpless people under the splendor of the Ming Dynasty.
common people.
No society or government is perfect. If there are problems, don't be afraid. If there are problems, you must face them and deal with them so that such problems will never happen again.
"We have asked Yingtian Mansion to provide relief!" Zhu Yuanzhang's voice was a little helpless and lonely. He was the emperor and the emperor, but he could not make everyone fed.
"Grandpa Huang!" Zhu Yunxi whispered, "Isn't just relief a thing?"
"Then tell me what to do!" Zhu Yuanzhang said with a bitter smile.
Remember https://m in one second.
"My grandson inquired about it and found out that there was flooding in Huaixi in the spring this year. Many poor people had no choice but to flee to the capital." Zhu Yunxi carefully organized his words, "The capital is a place under martial law. There are only so many in the capital. There are only so many in the capital.
Just don’t mention it!”
Bang, Zhu Yuanzhang threw away his chopsticks and became furious, "Everyone above and below should die!"
Zhu Yunxi lowered his head and remained silent. He knew who the emperor was scolding, those officials who failed to report in time and handled the situation improperly.
"Grandpa Emperor!" Zhu Yunxi continued, "Our Ming Dynasty is so big, there will be natural and man-made disasters every year. Once the people who farm the land are hit by disasters and have no harvest, they have no choice but to flee with their families!"
"You know this very well, my child!" Zhu Yuanzhang rubbed his forehead, "Back then, our hometown had no harvest. Your eldest grandfather died of illness. Your second grandfather and third grandfather all went out to escape and died on the road. Only your grandfather is left in the family.
one person!"
As he spoke, Zhu Yuanzhang sighed, "At that time, we were thinking, if those officials in the government had some conscience and knew how to help the people, how could so many people die? National taxes are taken from the people and used by the people.
Isn’t it only natural that the food grown should help the people?”
Speaking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head, "But, it's as if the official didn't see it. Do you know what the official is most afraid of?"
Zhu Yunxi shook his head.
"The most fearful thing is lack of conscience!" Zhu Yuanzhang continued, "The flood in Huaixi has washed away more than 10,000 acres of land, and nearly 10,000 victims are crying for food. We have been talking about relief and relief since the beginning of spring, and the local officials have also been giving discounts.
How to resettle it. But look now, the people who fled the famine have all gone to the capital!"
"Which one of you is right? There are so many things in the capital, but what about other places?" Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes flashed with a hint of cruelty, "They think we stay in the palace every day and don't know? Hehe, let's scold them for damning it because
They really deserve to die, they just want to be officials and have no conscience!"
"If we put all our efforts into resettling the homeless people, how could they become beggars? They are just lazy and unwilling to take the initiative to do things. If they can't see it, they think it's not there. If they can't see it, they think we can't see it either!"
Zhu Yuanzhang got angry, but Zhu Yunxi remained silent.
The emperor had a very bad temper, especially when it came to the people. Zhu Yuanzhang was a perfectionist with obsessive-compulsive disorder. He believed that his officials should not only be honest, but also care about the people of the world like him.
Therefore, if something is slightly unsatisfactory, he will get angry and make all the officials tremble. And for dealing with officials who are not doing well, his method is also very simple, that is, kill.
Corruption is only one part of the officials who were dismissed, exiled, or even killed every year in the Ming Dynasty. The other part were officials who were doing nothing, or even failing to improve the livelihood of the people under their rule.
After getting angry, Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to feel comfortable. He said to Zhu Yunxi, "Even though we are an emperor, there are many things that we cannot control ourselves!"
The emperor is a human being, not a god, and even a god cannot take care of everyone in the world.
Zhu Yunxi looked at Zhu Yuanzhang's face and said again, "It is the emperor's virtue to provide relief when there is a disaster. However, my grandson wants to..."
"What are you doing hesitantly? If there is anything we, my grandfather and my grandson, cannot say, just say it!" Zhu Yuanzhang said.
"Every year there will be disasters in places. It's okay here in the south of the Yangtze River. In the mountains and Shaanxi border areas in the north, the original places on the edge of the Yellow River, including Huaixi and other places, there will be either droughts or floods every now and then!"
Zhu Yunxi slowly said, "The local government is not rich to begin with. It is a burden to provide food relief to the people year after year. And..." He said, looking at Zhu Yuanzhang's face, "Besides, those local officials may not be rich either."
It’s all about helping!”
"Heh, some even put the court's disaster relief money and food into their own pockets, right?" Zhu Yuanzhang sneered.
Zhu Yunxi was silent for a moment, in agreement.
"So, Sun'er thought, why doesn't the court organize these victims and provide work relief when there is a disaster?"
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and thought, "This is a good idea! But I am afraid that the local officials will use the idea of relief with work and increase the corvee for the people!"
This old man!
Zhu Yunxi laughed in his heart. It turned out that he was afraid that local officials would abuse people's power.
In addition to paying taxes, the people of the Ming Dynasty also had to perform corvee services every year. For example, they built city walls, dredged waterways, laid official roads, etc.
In order to avoid corvee, some people would pay money and food to the government, so this is also one of the ways for local officials to make money.
Now that Zhu Yuanzhang is the emperor, he keeps his eyes on it, so local officials naturally dare not act recklessly. However, in the late Ming Dynasty, the people were overburdened, which became one of the triggers for the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
"The work-for-relief that the grandson said is different from the past!" Zhu Yunxi continued, "For example, take the Yellow River. The grandson looked through the palace files and found that starting from the 20th year of Hongwu, a total of one hundred and twenty silver was spent on regulating the Yellow River three times.
There are more than 10,000 taels, and more than 300,000 civilians have been used!"
"Sun'er thinks that if the civilian husbands are replaced by disaster victims, the court can not only provide relief to the victims, but also save a lot of unnecessary expenses!"
"Take the flooding in Huaixi this spring as an example. It was caused by the failure of the Huaihe River to dredge the river. Floods are better to block than to dredge. Dredging is a meticulous and long process." Zhu Yunxi thought as he said, "Since there are victims affected by the disaster,
It is a ready-made labor force. Instead of constantly providing relief, the imperial court should organize it."
"They also work for themselves. After dredging the rivers, there will be less floods in the future! With less floods, the people's lives will be better. So my grandson thinks that working for relief is a way to get the best of both worlds!"
Listening to Zhu Yunxi's eloquent talk, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but nod.
The frown that was originally caused by anger slowly faded away, and a smile even appeared on his face.
What he is most satisfied with about his grandson is his unique vision and courage to do things.
There were so many princes and grandsons, but he was the only one who knew how to look through the palace archives and how much money was spent on regulating the Yellow River and how many people were employed.
There are so many princes and grandsons, but no one dares to express his inner thoughts in front of him at this age.
After Zhu Yunxi finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a moment and spoke slowly, "Xie'er, we heard that you were kind-hearted and saved two homeless beggars, an old man and a young man?"
"Yes!" Zhu Yunxi knew what he was doing, and someone must have told Zhu Yuanzhang, so he immediately said, "My grandson asked Liao Yong from the Duke of Chu's family to take him home and settle him down. I think he should not have more than two mouths in the Duke of Chu's house!"
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "There are so many refugees and beggars, why did you only save those two people?"
This was a casual question, but Zhu Yunxi's expression became serious.
"The old man and the young are the grandson, and it is the grandpa who brings a granddaughter!" Zhu Yunxi whispered, "They are helpless, grandson..."
Zhu Yuanzhang understood what he meant and sighed, "Good boy!"
Zhu Yuanzhang felt something about his helpless grandparents and grandchildren, and looked at Zhu Yunxi with an even more loving expression.
"Besides, there are so many refugees and beggars and my grandson can't save them!" Zhu Yunxi smiled and raised his head confidently, "Saving one person is a small thing, but saving ten thousand people is a big thing. If your grandson can save the world, he will be the enemy of ten thousand people!"
"Well said!" Zhu Yuanzhang slapped his thigh, "This is what a man from the Zhu family should do!"
This chapter has been completed!