Early the next morning, before Zhong Jinwei set out for the Forbidden City, an eunuch came to Duke Xingguo's mansion to convey the order, asking him to enter the palace immediately to see him.
Zhong Jinwei was startled, thinking that another accident had happened. As he set off quickly, he asked the eunuch who was returning to the palace with him to tell him what happened.
But the chamberlain didn't know, and there was no urgent delivery or anything like that. The emperor just made this decree after discussing the matter with Wen Tiren, the chief minister of the cabinet, for a while early in the morning.
Zhong Jinwei had no choice but to rush to the Forbidden City with doubts and met Emperor Chongzhen and Wen Tiren in the Wenhua Palace. What was different from what the chamberlain said was that there was also an additional minister of household affairs, Bi Ziyan.
"Master Zhong, the matter of the allocation of grain and grass has been resolved. There is also some news. After discussing with Wen Qing, I will find you to discuss it again, so as not to waste time by looking for you later.
." As soon as Emperor Chongzhen saw Zhong Jinwei, he explained to him the reason for recruiting him into the palace.
He said this because Zhong Jinwei is now just the Duke of Xingguo, with only a title but no position. In theory, he does not need to go to the palace to discuss matters every day and can enjoy peace and happiness at home.
Previously, Zhong Jinwei had to go to various research institutes to inspect the situation. Emperor Chongzhen was afraid that if he went there today, he would not be able to find him for a while, so he sent his chamberlain to recruit Zhong Jinwei into the palace early.
Zhong Jinwei had already inspected several important research institutes yesterday and had originally planned to enter the palace early this morning. Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen actually made an unnecessary move.
Zhong Jinwei was very concerned about the allocation of grain and grass. Whether Liaodong could be stabilized, whether it could start reconstruction in a short period of time, and whether military households from various places could be resettled to immigrate to Liaodong was of great importance.
Therefore, as soon as Zhong Jinwei heard what Emperor Chongzhen said, he immediately asked: "Your Majesty, how about the food allocation?"
Emperor Chongzhen did not answer directly because there were professionals present. He nodded to the Minister of Household Affairs, and Bi Ziyan introduced to Zhong Jinwei: "After the official received the order, he allocated grain and grass to various places. Some have been allocated and are ready.
Sent to Liaodong. However, the quantity is not large and may only be enough for the military and civilians of Liaodong, including the original population of Liaodong, for two months."
"How come it's only been two months?" Zhong Jinwei frowned upon hearing this.
Bi Ziyan knew that Zhong Jinwei would say such a thing, and he immediately explained: "Xing Guogong's battle in Liaodong was quick and the various places were basically not damaged. This is a good thing. But it also brought another problem, the population of Liaodong
It has not been reduced much because of this war..."
When Zhong Jinwei heard this, he guessed what he wanted to say. Because Jianlu itself was short of food, and because of the policy of fortifying the wall and clearing the country, the food reserves were even less. In addition, there was no harvest this year due to the war. Although it was a demographic dividend,
But at the same time, it also added a huge food burden to the Ming Dynasty.
What was originally a headache for Huang Taiji has now been transferred to the imperial court. As the territory controlled by the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong continues to expand, this pressure will become greater and greater.
Sure enough, what Bi Ziyan said next was the reason Zhong Jinwei had in mind. Emperor Chongzhen interjected at this time and added: "I have also decreed that Zhenbei Bo should temporarily postpone the expansion to the north. As for Kolbo, because it needs to be done first.
Building a city will not expand first, but it will also consume a lot of food."
The key to everything is food. Zhong Jinwei thought for a while and then asked: "Can some of it be allocated in the future?"
"We can only allocate as much as possible and appropriate some from various places. If the harvests in various places are good in the second half of the year, this year's food problem may be solved." Bi Ziyan thought for a moment before answering Zhong Jinwei.
When Zhong Jinwei heard this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly, how could the harvest be good! This was during the Little Ice Age, and there was not much snow at the end of last year. The drought in various parts of the north is now more serious than in previous years.
Wen Tiren didn't speak just now, just listening. At this time, he added: "Xingguo Gong, judging from the news from China and France about the opening of grain in various places, the situation is not optimistic. The originally set exchange price for salt and grain,
It is already difficult to attract grain merchants. The imperial court had already adjusted the exchange price of salt and grain once when you went to Liaodong, but the effect was not obvious."
Emperor Chongzhen also nodded after hearing this, and then added: "I and Wen Qing discussed this morning, and we will also let Liaodong implement the grain opening method. No matter how much, we can increase the grain supply, but we can't put too much hope in it."
In the near future, Liaodong will also see a large increase in population, including soldiers eliminated from the northern provinces and military households in various guard posts. One is to enrich the Han people in Liaodong, and the other is to reduce the food pressure on the northern provinces. After all, these provinces are all
If the disaster is serious, it would be best to relocate to Liaodong, because at least there is a large amount of land that can be allocated for planting.
As things were going on, Emperor Chongzhen frowned even more tightly. He said to Zhong Jinwei: "Master Zhong, we have discussed it a few days ago. Now is the best time to solve the problem of the northern army. Therefore, various matters have changed.
We can’t delay it. We can’t delay the construction of various large-scale supply points either. And all of this requires food.”
Having said this, he felt a glimmer of hope again, looked at Zhong Jinwei and asked: "Master Zhong, have you gained anything?"
One of the original tasks was for Zhong Jinwei to inspect new crops, because he was most familiar with this content.
Zhong Jinwei saw that the three people in the hall were showing great concern, and couldn't help but smile slightly: "There is a harvest, but it will be of little help to the current situation. It may take several years for large-scale harvests to be possible."
Having said this, Zhong Jinwei took out a memorial he had summarized last night and asked his chamberlain to forward it to Emperor Chongzhen.
Emperor Chongzhen looked disappointed after hearing Zhong Jinwei's words. He could ignore what happened in the future. What the court needed most was to get through the past few years.
After reading it quickly, he asked the chamberlain to pass it on to the other two ministers, and he said to Zhong Jinwei: "Master Zhong's suggestions are very good. I will arrange people to do them immediately, but these are not short-term.
.”
After reading it, Wen Tiren also said: "Yes, the promotion of farming technology and the construction of water conservancy facilities will take time to show results."
After Wen Tiren finished speaking, Bi Ziyan added insult to injury by reminding the people in the palace: "The construction of these water conservancy facilities will require a lot of money and food, which is also a problem."
Emperor Chongzhen had a headache, and he said helplessly: "If in the past few years, new crops have been harvested on a large scale, supply points have been built everywhere, and the feudal kings have begun to feudal North America, some domestic pressure, water conservancy facilities, and farming can be alleviated.
Technology can also produce results. I believe that the food problem will be greatly alleviated by then. The difficulty now lies in the moment!"
All the conflicts were focused on the current food issue. After Emperor Chongzhen finished speaking, several people in the palace remained silent, and the Wenhua Palace fell silent.