"Your Majesty, this time I was ordered to go to the border to preside over the reorganization of military settlements. This lasted for several months, and a total of 58,042 hectares of land for military settlements was recovered. There was a difference of 32,000 hectares of privately cultivated land.
There is a difference of six hundred and four hectares."
"Among them, 11,500 hectares of privately reclaimed land were verified by the government and found to have nothing to do with military settlements. The remaining privately reclaimed land was redeemed in accordance with imperial regulations."
"Of the land in the military garrison, the generals took the initiative to report that the imperial court redeemed it as usual, totaling 23,620 hectares. The remaining 34,800 hectares were forcibly taken back by the imperial court because the generals and officials deliberately hid them.
If the circumstances are minor, the imperial court has issued an edict to reprimand him. If he commits other crimes or deliberately resists the imperial court, he will be dismissed from his official position by your majesty’s order and taken back to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment to await trial.”
"This time, there is a shortfall of 79,146 hectares of farmland returned to the army. Among them, the redemption proceeds total 44,172 hectares. I am not talented, so I will reply to your Majesty's decree."
In the Wenhua Hall, Zhu Qiyu was sitting on the throne, carefully looking through the memorial handed over by Jin Lian. Although he already knew these data, as he read it at this moment, Zhu Qiyu could not help but feel a burst of joy in his heart.
.
Jin Lian is very good at being an official.
This time, he was aggressive and harsh on the border, so much so that many ministers in Beijing openly and secretly talked about him overstepping his authority and dealing with officials privately.
However, only Zhu Qiyu knew that Jin Lian was very cautious.
He and Yu Qian were responsible for organizing the advance of the military garrison, one in the south and the other in the north, but their styles were completely different.
Yu Qian's acting style is also tough, but he is tough but measured. He always controls the local gentry and even the clan, within the limits of what they can just tolerate, to the extent that they will not cause big troubles, and his temper.
Grasp, it can be said to be perfect.
However, his shortcoming is also obvious, that is, he kills first and reports later. By the time Zhu Qiyu gets the news of the report, Yu Qian's affairs are often finished.
Of course, this is a bit inappropriate to say, because Yu Qian rarely exceeds his authority, so he does everything within his authority, and naturally he does not report everything one by one. This is also the norm for most officials when they are ordered to do errands.
But Jin Lian was different. He acted very openly on the border, but what few people knew was that every move he made would be sent to the palace for instructions.
After the appointment ceremony was concluded and Jin Lian officially started to deal with the military settlement, he sent a secret message to the palace almost every day.
The content is that he found out what new situation, who was involved, what evidence he has in hand now, and then what he plans to do next, and what he plans to do if these people don't cooperate. The writing is extremely detailed.
Let’s not talk about anything else, let’s just talk about the generals who he killed on the spot with the king’s order flag. Although they seemed to be arbitrary, except for the commander who wanted to mobilize troops to resist, the rest of them,
All of this was done after Zhu Qiyu nodded.
From this perspective, Jin Lian is the one who really knows how to be an official.
Frankly speaking, many of the people he killed did not need to be killed immediately, which is why many ministers in the capital were dissatisfied with his methods.
These people were incapable of resisting the imperial court, so it was too late to find out the evidence of their crimes and escort them back to the capital for detailed interrogation before dealing with them.
However, Jin Lian just killed him because he needed to scare the monkeys. These generals were very cunning. If they were entangled with evidence of crimes little by little, it would be difficult to solve them all even in another three to five years.
Therefore, sometimes, you just have to be a little unreasonable.
When organizing military camps, the border was especially important. There were many soldiers on the border, many fields, many generals, and it was close to the grassland. Various factors were complicated.
Faced with such a situation, even Zhu Qiyu himself found it very difficult.
After more than a year, most of his energy has actually been on border rectification. Not mentioning the censor officials sent by the imperial court and overcoming many obstacles, he will only talk about the plans he made behind the scenes.
, which is also very painstaking.
First, he used the flag of Ningyuan Marquis Mansion to intimidate the officials. Then he asked Zhu Yi to run secretly to persuade various nobles to obtain a detailed atlas. He even asked the Prince Min Mansion to persuade the Prince Dai Mansion to take the initiative to submit the hidden field.
.
After all the arrangements, he finally got a good start. Jin Lian took over and naturally wanted to make a big push.
There are many side generals, and if they cannot be successfully frightened, then most of the early efforts will be in vain.
What Jin Lian did was to let them see the determination of the imperial court. If you obstruct the imperial government, your life will be in danger regardless of whether the evidence of your crime is conclusive or not.
It was this kind of determination and strength that made the border rectification go so smoothly. As an emperor, Zhu Qiyu would not be able to use this slightly unreasonable method.
So, Jin Lian has to do it!
Zhu Qiyu understood this, and Jin Lian also understood it, so he was public in public and cautious in secret. The secret message in the envelope was his way to serve as an official.
Of course, Jin Lian's caution is also reflected in the fact that the people he selected to sacrifice the flag are all people with numerous crimes. In other words, perhaps some of their crimes cannot be fully clarified, but any one of them is enough.
Let them die.
In addition, the intensity was also well controlled, achieving a deterrent effect without being too presumptuous. This is what Zhu Qiyu is most satisfied with.
"There are more than 79,000 hectares. Including what the Prince's Palace and various nobles have previously reported, it's about nearly 100,000 hectares. This number should be close to the actual number of military camps on the border."
Zhu Qiyu put down the memorial in his hand, nodded with satisfaction and said.
"Mr. Jin, thank you for your hard work. This is the end of the matter. The morale of our border officers and soldiers can be corrected. The garrison is restored and the border army's combat strength will gradually increase. In addition to the current civil strife in the grassland, our border will be stable within a few decades. Thanks to this gentleman's contribution
also!"
These words were extremely complimentary, and they were naturally comfortable to hear. However, how could Jin Lian dare to just accept them like this, so he hurriedly stepped forward and said.
"I am frightened. Your Majesty made a wise decision and everyone in the court is united. I dare not take credit."
"Your Majesty has learned clearly that although the military farmland has been taken back to the imperial court, the follow-up affairs cannot be relaxed."
Even though everyone is carrying the sedan chair, we still have to talk about the business.
His expression became slightly solemn, Jin Lian said.
"This time when I inspected the border, I saw that generals from various places often colluded with local gentry, oppressed the people, and bought and sold people's land. This time the imperial court organized the order, and in accordance with the imperial decree, I have taken down a number of generals with serious crimes. However, after all, it is not the root cause of the problem.
Policy."
"This time the military settlements were reorganized in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of War, in order to prevent the tenants from suddenly losing their land and causing public resentment. Therefore, although the imperial court took back the military settlements, they did not fully transfer them to military settlements. When I left the border, I found that a few gentry were trying to bribe them.
Tenants, for their own benefit.”
"The imperial court spent so much energy and material resources, and finally it became clear that without follow-up measures, the military garrison may collapse again within a few years. Therefore, I consider how to ensure that the garrison garrison can be used by the imperial court at this time is a top priority.
Heavy!"
After hearing this, Zhu Qiyu also suppressed his smile and nodded lightly.
What Jin Lian said is right. Although it has gone through the civil war, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, at least internally, the control is still very strong.
Therefore, at this time, it is not too difficult to clear the private land reclamation and organize the military settlement. As long as the emperor Zhu Qiyu is determined enough and is willing to provide sufficient support to the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Punishment, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and other yamen, it is not difficult to implement.
Disaster.
If this decree were to be implemented during the Long-Wan period, it would not have taken more than a year or two. Take Zhang Juzheng's reform as an example, even if we don't talk about all the accumulation and preparations he has made for the reform, just
As for the reform itself, it took him a full ten years, and in the end, he failed to succeed.
The reasons for this are extremely complex, but in the final analysis, firstly, as time goes by, the interests of gentry and officials from various places become more deeply connected and their influence becomes more deeply rooted; secondly, because the imperial court is full of internal problems, and its control over local areas gradually weakens.
If the situation is reduced, it will inevitably become more difficult to reform.
Therefore, although so much military land was recovered this time and it only took a year, this does not mean how strong Zhu Qiyu's ability is.
On the contrary, what you should be more worried about at this time is the problems that may arise later.
Clearing land, redeeming it, and returning it to the military garrison is only the first step. As long as you are determined enough, it is not difficult to accomplish.
The real difficulty is how to restore the military garrison to normal operation, or in other words, the gains from these fields will no longer be pocketed by the gentry and border generals through various methods, but can actually return to the court.
In hand, use it on the officers and soldiers.
After pondering for a moment, Zhu Qiyu turned to Chen Yi and said.
"This matter will first fall on the Metropolitan Procuratorate..."
"Now the imperial court has regulations for the operation of military camps, and all the land that should be taken back has been taken back. All the diseases in the past have been cleared away, and there are no longer chronic diseases that have developed over the years."
"Therefore, all officials and military commanders only need to abide by their duties and act in accordance with the imperial regulations. The Metropolitan Procuratorate should strengthen its supervision of all officials to prevent anyone from engaging in malpractice for personal gain, deceiving the superiors and concealing the inferiors, and from encroaching and concealing the military garrison.
, an act of oppressing tenants.”
"Ministry of Staff?"
All the ministers below were listening attentively, so as soon as Zhu Qiyu spoke, Wang Wen immediately stepped forward and spoke.
"I'm here."
So Zhu Qiyu said.
"In this rectification of the army, many censors who have been transferred to trial positions can step up their examinations. If they show diligence and make meritorious deeds during this rectification of the army, they will be dismissed from their trial positions. The rest will be dismissed from their trial positions.
They will be transferred or re-elected depending on their circumstances."
"In addition, five more military censors were added across the border to take charge of the military settlements. The specific regulations, plus the examination of the imperial censors. These two matters were handled by the Ministry of Civil Affairs in conjunction with the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
After deliberation, report back to me."
In order to organize the army and the villages, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has selected and appointed a large number of censors to add to the official system. Now that the matter is over, the whereabouts of these people should naturally be determined. This is what it should be.
However, the addition of the censor for farming was an unexpected event.
However, since the emperor's golden words were not asking for their opinions, Wang Wen naturally had no objections. At that moment, he and Chen Yi stepped forward and exchanged hands.
"I will accept the order."
"In addition to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War also need to pay more attention to this matter."
Zhu Qiyu waved his hand, signaling the two of them to stand up, and then turned his attention to Yu Qian and Shen Yi.
"Although the military garrison has been taken back, the original people are still farming. This is inconsistent with the imperial court's intention of setting up garrison. Therefore, how to let the border troops return to garrison without affecting the people's livelihood? This is
It is also the top priority.”
"On this matter, the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of War also need to come up with a charter as soon as possible."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Yi beside him suddenly turned into a bitter-faced person.
This is not an easy job...
As the emperor said, the essence of military garrison is to make the officers and soldiers self-sufficient. According to the different regions and defense tasks, some officers and soldiers will be stationed and some will be garrisoned. The two will rotate with each other to minimize the financial pressure on the court.
Nowadays, the military garrison was depleted and gradually became completely dependent on the imperial court. Therefore, the emperor made up his mind to rectify the military garrison. Now the military garrison is clear to the Qing Dynasty, and all the things that should be taken back to the imperial court have been taken back.
However, in order to ensure the livelihood of ordinary tenants, most of the land was not returned to the hands of the official army, so this reform was bound to continue.
However, the problem is that the emperor wants to return to garrison and also solve the livelihood of this large number of people. This is not a typical need to have both...
Moreover, among all the people present, the one who is most worried right now is Shen Shangshu.
Reorganizing military camps is a move that benefits the country and the people. However, taking the border as an example, the land that has been redeemed as a rule amounts to more than 44,000 hectares. The results from the Ministry of War have not yet come out, but it can be imagined.
Yes, there will only be more.
It is not an easy task to withdraw such a large amount of money from the Ministry of Household Affairs.
Therefore, after hesitating for a moment, just when Yu Qian was about to step forward to receive the order, Shen Yi finally stepped forward and said.
"Your Majesty, I know that the return of troops to garrison is an important matter, but now the national treasury is about to bottom out..."
While talking, Shen Shangshu settled an account carefully for the emperor.
"...the land all over the border, the homes of nobles in the capital, and the land voluntarily submitted by clans in various places need to be redeemed according to the imperial regulations. Now the border is in good condition. According to His Majesty's decree, in order to ensure the peace of the border, more than 40,000 hectares More than 30,000 hectares of land have been redeemed."
"However, the various clans and noble families in the capital are still shelving it. The court said to the outside world that the accounts are huge and have not been sorted out clearly, but in fact it is because the national treasury is no longer enough."
"If this matter cannot be resolved, it will be very difficult to return the reclaimed land to garrison."
"and……"
Looking up and glancing at the other ministers present, Shen Yi sighed, but in the end he had to speak and said.
"Your Majesty clearly knows that there have been a lot of projects in the imperial court in the past two years. Although your Majesty has ordered a halt to all the projects since the Earth Dragon turned over, the imperial court is still in a state of being unable to make ends meet. Most of the reasons why it has been able to be more relaxed in the past two years are because of It’s because His Majesty reopened the mutual market.”
"However, nowadays, there is civil strife in the grassland, and mutual trade between various ministries is intermittent. In the past year, when the Ministry of War has sorted things out properly, the redemption matter is imminent. I have been thinking about how to solve this matter for a long time, but I still can't find a good way. If If it is not resolved, I am afraid that the subsequent implementation of major policies will have to stagnate..."
This chapter has been completed!