In the early years of Hongwu, Xuanwu Lake became the place where records of the country's population and land were stored.
The public is also prohibited from entering.
A poem by a contemporary said: To store the map, few people came, leaving only the pavilions and the setting sun.
However, in the 20th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang issued another edict to encourage students to study.
Every spring, Xuanwu Lake can be opened to the public, only those with meritorious status.
In other words, you must first be a student to be eligible to enter.
Of course, this item doesn't mean much to wealthy people. If you have a distinguished family background, you don't need to care so much.
Several years have passed.
Every spring, this place becomes a place for scholars and talented people and children of wealthy families to spend their spring outings.
Rather than talking about a spring outing, it actually means a blind date.
Some unmarried women, including members of the royal family and nobles, can come here.
Just like what Zhu Mingyue asked for, he also came here.
Under the Xuanwu Gate, a carriage drove in and entered Xuanwu Lake.
There are five oases with different characteristics in Xuanwu Lake, namely Huanzhou, Yingzhou, Liangzhou, Lingzhou and Cuizhou.
Liangzhou, Wenji Pavilion.
Such a good place has naturally been occupied by people for a long time.
Judging by his attire, he must be a student from the Imperial College.
But it didn't matter. Jin Yiwei went straight over, drove everyone away, and banned Liangzhou.
"The Jin Yiwei cleared the area with such great magnanimity that the entire Liangzhou Island was not allowed in, and I don't know who the big shot is."
"What kind of big shot can there be? It's the time for the court meeting now, and all the big guys are basically in the palace. From the looks of it, it's just a member of the Jinyiwei family who came here with his concubine to have fun."
"That's too arrogant, Qianhu still dares to do this?"
"What are you afraid of? Just rely on His Majesty's trust and do whatever you want."
"Hmph, my father is a fourth-rank minister, but he is only a member of a thousand households. Today I have to ask to see which one of you, Qianhu, is the Jin Yiwei. How dare you act like this... Hey, why are you dragging me along?"
"Are you crazy? This is the Jin Yiwei. Not to mention you, your father would not dare to provoke him. If he is really targeted by them, he will have to shed his skin even if he doesn't die."
"My father is an upright official and is not afraid of them."
"There is no way to guard against thieves for a thousand days. If you are really targeted, it may not be a good thing. If your father knew about it, he would probably break your legs."
"I...."
After a long while, the Imperial Academy student who wanted to be in the limelight finally became dejected and refused to go through.
The enthusiasm I felt just now was extinguished by my classmates’ explanation.
Now when I looked in the direction of Liangzhou, I no longer had the urge.
Inside the Wenji Pavilion.
"Brother, I want to go visit Yingzhou, is that okay?" Zhu Mingyue asked with anticipation in her eyes.
Zhu Ying teased her a little: "Okay, then let Yunxi go with you. You come from a girl's family, so it's not good to go alone."
Zhu Mingyue was dumbfounded, but then she rolled her eyes and said, "Okay, come on, let's go together."
When Zhu Yunxi heard his sister's cheerful voice, he couldn't understand what she was thinking.
But he couldn't stay with his eldest brother and sister-in-law.
"Okay, let's go together. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom and I want to see them too."
Now in March, it is the romantic season of cherry blossoms. Although it is not the best viewing time, most of the cherry blossoms are already in bloom.
Seeing the two children leaving, Zhu Ying waved her hands gently, and several Jinyi guards clasped their fists and bowed before following behind.
There were only two people left in the pavilion, and even the guard in Jinyi turned his head knowingly.
Well, love is really not suitable for Zhu Ying.
Might as well talk about serious business.
"Spring plowing has begun. I don't trust the officials very much. The Chamber of Commerce can send people to conduct unannounced visits."
"We have to ensure that all high-yield crops are distributed to farmers, especially those without farmland."
When they started talking about business, the two of them immediately had a common topic.
Ye Yueqing nodded and said: "Your Highness, the Chamber of Commerce has recently discovered that a foreign minister wants to secretly obtain the seeds of these crops. Do you want to provide protection?"
Zhu Ying shook his head and said: "There is no need. Even if these seeds are taken away by them, they will not be of much significance. If they can be cultivated and produced in large quantities, it will be a good thing for our Ming Dynasty."
Whether it is the surrounding small countries or the larger countries further away, they are really too poor.
It was so poor that Zhu Yuanzhang didn't even want to conquer it. No one thought there was any benefit in conquering it. Even if it was included in the Ming Dynasty's territory, it would be a thankless task.
Throughout the five thousand years of the Central Plains, conquest has never been the main focus.
As long as a dynasty in history has completed its unification, it will inevitably start to develop with internal affairs and people's livelihood.
The same is true for the Ming Dynasty.
However, only Zhu Ying knows now that after thousands of years, this world will undergo major changes that have never been seen in eternity.
In just a few hundred years, the entire world will become completely strange.
This prosperity, because of Zhu Ying's existence, will not happen in the west, but will reverse the destiny of heaven. This great sun that shines on the heaven and earth must rise from the east.
Early Ming Dynasty is the best opportunity.
The Little Ice Age has arrived, and high-yield crops do not need to be limited to the Ming Dynasty.
Compared with farming, who in this world can be as powerful as the Ming Dynasty?
Besides, if the surrounding small countries have enough food, it will be a good thing for the Ming Dynasty.
Trade surplus is no joke.
As long as there is enough force to protect it, the surrounding wealth will only continue to flow towards the Ming Dynasty.
Ye Yueqing actually didn't understand. In her opinion, whether it was grains for high-yielding crops or secret recipes for cement, they must be strictly guarded and not leaked.
But this did not hinder her decision to support her grandson.
"Your Highness, there is news from Jinyiwei that Pierma Heima wants to bribe officials, but now he has no money, so he plans to write a letter to the grassland and ask Prince Shaharu for help."
General information will not be conveyed directly to Zhu Ying. Ye Yueqing knows that Zhu Ying has always paid more attention to and paid attention to Pi'erma Heima.
Zhu Ying laughed and said: "This guy has good taste."
After thinking for a while, he said: "Let the Jin Yiwei pay more attention, and at the same time notify our manpower on the grassland to pay attention to Shaharul's actions at all times."
"Shaharu can be considered a talented person. He can lead an army to continuously oppress the Golden Horde. It shows that he is excellent in all aspects. As long as he understands things like cement, he will definitely not let him go."
"There will definitely be a large amount of money transported to the capital, and it will be carried out secretly to integrate all our cavalry in the grassland and desert."
"I'll just wait for the news and grab them all for him."
After a pause, Zhu Ying continued: "Pier Ma Heima, who is not familiar with our Ming Dynasty court, will definitely find ways to explore it. Although he has contacted Yunwen, he probably also knows that Yunwen is not familiar with this matter.
I will definitely not help him."
"Then the only one he can find is Mr. Zhou."
Ye Yueqing's eyes lit up and she said, "What your Highness means is to use a fake cement recipe to lure Pi'erma Heima into the situation."
Zhu Ying shook her head with a smile and said: "The situation is small, so naturally this secret recipe must be real, and this transaction must also be real."
"Let Mr. Zhou lay out the plan, use the real secret recipe, and continue to make Pierma Heima pay more money."
"Pi'erma Heima doesn't have any money now. It doesn't matter. Let him issue an IOU. As long as the money is in place, the secret recipe for cement will be given to him directly."
Ye Yueqing hesitated and asked: "If Pi'erma Heima really spends enough money, will we really give him our secret recipe for cement?"
Zhu Ying said with a smile: "In business, one must be sincere. Since someone else has paid this price, there is no harm in selling to him."
If Tamerlane gets the cement formula, will he build roads aggressively?
The answer is yes.
With Timur's great talent and strategy, he will definitely build various cement straight roads with Samarkand as the center, just like the Ming Dynasty.
His cavalry and his army can reach where they want to go faster, and their mobility is not only enhanced several times.
And the control of those conquered areas can also be very powerfully enhanced.
From this point of view, Zhu Ying seems to have a feeling of endearing himself to the enemy.
However, Zhu Ying knew very well that no matter how powerful Timur's empire was, as long as Timur died, the entire empire would inevitably fall apart.
It is even said that the stronger it is, the faster it will collapse.
The main reason for this is inheritance.
It's not that Timur's successors are not good enough, but it's the result of his system.
There is precedent for such a system before.
Whether Genghis Khan was strong or not, and whether the area he ruled was large or not, the Mongol Empire still left nothing behind.
It does not have its own culture or unique institutional support.
After all, it's just a flash in the pan.
Zhu Ying was very confident that he would survive Timur in his lifetime.
Timur is a few years younger than the old man, but even so, he is already fifty-seven this year.
Zhu Ying, who is only 19 years old, said she doesn't feel any pressure at all.
Timur and Ming were so far apart that the only thing they could do was an arms race.
Now Timur, nominally speaking, is still a minister of the Ming Dynasty.
Besides, Zhu Ying can think of it.
When the cement formula was passed to Timur, it would inevitably intensify the escalation of class conflicts.
Timur will inevitably continue to forcibly recruit slaves for construction, and all conquered places will have to be depopulated.
If Timur had built a concrete straight road between Eurasia and Europe during his lifetime.
Then I really need to thank him very much.
After this, how much time will be left?
Thinking of this, Zhu Ying felt that it was too small a plan to secretly rob the money that Shaharu had brought to the capital.
Better grab it.
After all, Tamerlane was only fifty-seven years old and could still live for many years.
When Timur dies, it would be a good choice to support Pierma Heima to stabilize a piece of territory.
Intervening in name only makes sense.
Zhu Ying didn't realize while thinking that the distance between him and Ye Yueqing was getting closer.
...
The story of Zhu Ying and Ye Yueqing's outing soon spread to Zhu Yuanzhang, who had just come down from the court.
"This kid has finally come to his senses. It makes us all anxious."
"Jiang Wei, how long is the date set for the Qintian Prison?" Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and asked Jiang Wei next to him.
Jiang Wei said respectfully: "Reporting to Your Majesty, the date set by the Qintian Prison is March 18th, and there are still thirteen days left."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.
In another seven or eight days, according to Da Sun's budget, Zhengyang Avenue can be completely opened.
However, this time will be postponed to the thirteenth day.
It will only be officially opened after the Grand Sun Ceremony is completed.
At this time, in the Huagai Hall, in addition to Jiang Yu and Liu He, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, there were also five ministers.
Apparently there was a ceremony just now.
What happened to Da Sun was just a small episode.
"Zhao Shangshu, please continue talking about spring plowing." Turning around, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered.
For a farming civilization like the Ming Dynasty, spring plowing at the beginning of every spring was the most important time of the year.
This is related to the great luck of the entire next year.
Before spring plowing, we should not only offer sacrifices and pray, but also pray for good weather this year.
And the release of high-yield crop grain seeds this year is also a very critical issue.
After Zhao Mian, the Minister of Household Affairs, bowed and bowed, he began to report on his current situation.
Although there seems to be a lot of food seeds for sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn and other crops after last year's fall, it is naturally impossible to fully cultivate such a vast territory like the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, the choice of region is very important.
At present, the main areas where it is released, according to Zhu Ying's previous proposal, are mainly in the northwest region.
Among them, Shaanxi and Shanxi are the most important places, accounting for 60% of the total.
The remaining 20% will belong to Beizhili.
In the first half of last year, northern Zhili suffered severe drought and flooding, resulting in serious food shortages.
Just because high-yielding crops do not drink water, they only account for 20%.
The remaining 20% was shared equally among the other Chief Secretaries.
Because rice cultivation areas are vast in other provinces, it is impossible to destroy farmland to plant these high-yielding crops. The main distribution targets are those who do not have farmland at home.
Among them, farmers who grow sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn and other crops will receive a preferential policy from the court that halve their taxes for three years.
The Ministry of Household Affairs is now in full swing. Not only the local Ministry of Household Affairs, but also the capital has sent a large number of officials to conduct extremely strict inspections of all areas where grains have been distributed.
Be sure to ensure that the grain seeds are in place and planted carefully.
It must be said that Zhao Mian, who was able to become the Minister of Household Affairs, was very strict in the designated regulations.
If you don't have any talent these days, you won't be able to survive in Zhu Yuanzhang's place.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the memorial filled with charters and plans and listened to Zhao Mian's narration. He frowned slightly from time to time and nodded lightly from time to time.
Don't underestimate the current Ming Dynasty.
After Hu Weiyong and other cronies were eliminated by Zhu Yuanzhang, it seems that the Ming Dynasty does not have any particularly powerful talents.
But in fact it is just a historical record.
Whether comparing the entire three hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, or comparing the previous dynasties and dynasties, the current ministers in the Ming Dynasty are all superior in terms of comprehensive talents and serving the people. Politicians
Qingming.
Zhu Yuanzhang controlled the government alone. Although this method was extremely tiring, the benefits were also very obvious.
Regardless of whether it is a large or small matter or a variety of military emergencies, there is never any possibility of delay.
It is difficult for officials in the court to get promoted without practical talents, and most of them are constantly demoted.
The situation that the capable are promoted and the weak are demoted is very clear in today's Ming Dynasty.
This is true even for local officials.
As the saying goes, imperial power does not go to the countryside.
But now Zhu Yuanzhang's edicts are carried out without hindrance, whether in the county, in the countryside, or even within the clan.
This is why when Zhu Yuanzhang issued most of his edicts, except for some official announcements such as sacrifices, the rest were in the form of vernacular.