After getting on the carriage, Liu Afu quickly patted the snow off his body and complimented him with a smile.
"I just can't bear to see him suffer."
Zhu Yixi smiled and sat on the soft couch: "From selling by the piece to selling by the pound, once the idea changes, it will naturally be very different. Maybe we can save a few families."
"By the way, do you know how many people in Beijing live on coal?"
"About a few thousand people!"
Liu Afu hesitated and said: "Rich families all use bamboo charcoal, but only those middle-class families are reluctant to spend money, so they all use honeycomb briquettes, which are cheap and warm."
"more than."
Zhu Yixi shook his head: "Xishan digs coal, makes coal, travels all over Xishan, and then sells it. There are several turns in the process, tens of thousands of people."
Coal is the peak sales season in winter, but it is also an important fuel in ordinary seasons. Whether it is boiling water or doing other things, coal is always better than firewood.
The carriage moved accordingly, and soon it arrived at the Duke's Mansion.
The Zhao family went out to greet him.
Zhu Yixi went inside and visited Zhao Shu on the sickbed.
Since the beginning of winter, the Duke of Feng's palace has been shocked three times a day. Zhao Shu lingers on the sick bed, and it seems that his time is running out.
The emperor also attached great importance to this, and constantly sent imperial doctors to treat him, and finally he was rescued.
However, Zhu Yixi was still worried and went to see him personally to find out what he looked like.
"The old minister was so frightened that he asked Your Majesty to come in person..."
Zhao Shu opened his thin lips and smiled bitterly.
His cheeks were thin and his eyes looked huge. At the same time, he had not seen the sun for many days, and his skin looked very pale.
Seeing this, Zhu Yixi couldn't help but sit by the bed, hold his hand and said, "Mr. Zhao, you can have a good rest."
"I'm only over sixty now. I need to enjoy this great time more, but I can't abandon me."
Zhao Shu smiled bitterly and said: "I don't like this, but I can't bear to leave you, Your Majesty. Today I can see the holy body as before, so I feel relieved."
"What Hutu talk?" Zhu Yixi said angrily: "I order you not to give up easily. The imperial doctor said that you just need to have a good rest and you will be fine after you survive this winter."
After saying that, I felt a lot more relieved and then let him sleep peacefully.
Old kid, old kid, it’s true.
The Duke of Fou's family showed worry, but there was some joy in their hearts.
Although my father is in poor health, the sacred scroll remains unchanged and will be a blessing to my family sooner or later. This can be regarded as a blessing among misfortunes!
The honorable family has developed by watching your grace and favor.
After comforting his sons and others, Zhu Yixi took a carriage back to the Forbidden City.
The city of Beijing, covered with heavy snow, does not have much excitement to see.
Back in the palace, the cabinet sent a lot of votes and some secret boxes.
As time goes by, the number of candidates to receive the secret box has expanded from dozens to over two hundred. Almost every day, two or three secret boxes are sent for review.
The Jin Yiwei, the Cabinet Memorial, and the Secret Box can be combined for reference to avoid misinformation and concealment to the greatest extent.
As for the secret box, Zhu Yixi is not prepared to expand it any more, otherwise it will sooner or later become like the Manchus, which went from rare to popular.
When everyone can play secretly, then the fundamentals of secretly playing are lost.
Isn’t it that Yongzheng was so tired from reviewing secret reports and was bombarded with spam messages every day?
In order to prevent this from happening, Zhu Yixi repeatedly emphasized that the words should be specific, and the specific words should not exceed 500 words, and 200 words is appropriate.
Liu Afu placed the secret box in front of the emperor and took a few steps back, not daring to look around.
Zhu Yixi took it apart and saw that it was just a snowstorm.
Every year there are places affected by disasters.
When I opened the cabinet draft, I found the corresponding memorial.
It's just that Mi Zhe said that there was corruption in the place, which caused Chang Pingcang to suffer a loss.
The memorial did not contain any words, but the draft requested the local governor to provide pension relief.
After all, the governor now has savings. The money is basically used for disaster relief, but he is not allowed to spend it?
"Accurate." He wrote with a red pen, and then added: "There seems to be something hidden in Changpingcang in this province, so I ordered the governor to investigate."
After writing, I put down the pen.
If the local governor fails to detect the situation, he will have no choice but to send a censor.
He picked up another banknote and opened it again.
The memorial is called "Trial Implementation of the Establishment of the Xuzhou Province". It has only about 500 words, adopts the eight-legged pattern, is straightforward and full of momentum, and has practical arguments. It must be said that it is a good article.
Due to the use of punctuation marks, the emperor does not have to break sentences himself, making it very enjoyable to read.
"Tian Xi, a native of Xuzhou, minister of the Ministry of Punishment..."
The article believes that when Liu Bang rose up and competed with Xiang Yu for the world, he discussed the Huaihai area as a vast and vast plain.
On the one hand, it is possible to control the Huaihai Sea, control the situation of war and defense, colonize the products of the original land, and use the materials of Fuji horses.
, the followers of Xiao Jie, those who died first and then rose later, most of them were headed by Xu. They have been a hidden danger to the court for a long time, and if the general wants to adapt to the current conditions and diversify the territory as the key point, it is better to build Xuzhou as a province.
'
Tian Xi has clear instructions on the jurisdiction of this province:
With Xuzhou as the moon of stars, it extends from Haizhou in the east, Shangqiu in the west, Sizhou in the south, and Yishui in the north, including the forty-five prefectures and counties in the intersection of the four provinces of Su, Anhui, Shandong and Henan.
That is the place of ancient Xuzhou in the late Han Dynasty.
There are two conveniences and four requirements for the new construction of this province.
The second convenience is to take care of the military households since the canal transport governor was abolished, so as to better coordinate the canal, dredge the Huaihe River, and benefit the Yellow River.
The second thing is that the people here are strong and strong, and it has been a place of heroes since ancient times. They cut Anhui and Su's power to care for the people.
The four essentials are studying, managing rivers, building canals, and conducting trade.
It seems that once a province is established here, it will be able to get rid of the previous poverty and no longer become a depression.
Zhu Yixi smiled, this was a typical scholar's view.
Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Henan are divided into provinces. There will be countless differences and troubles, and it will be difficult for vested interest groups to satisfy them.
Moreover, if the people have a feeling of being rural, the sudden establishment of a province will inevitably lead to a lot of rebellious psychology and make people unhappy.
At the same time, the establishment of a new province also requires the addition of a large number of bureaucrats, which puts great pressure on finances.
Zhu Yixi looked at Piao Xiang again.
He said: "Xuzhou is located in the northernmost part of Jiangsu. If you build a military government on the plains, it will be complicated and expensive. It will divide more than 40 states and counties in Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, and Henan, and it will also involve many changes. The current and past situations have changed.
From the end of the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, Huai'an was an important town in the Xu Dynasty; during the Song Dynasty and the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, Xuzhou had been reduced to a scattered state. From the Ming Dynasty onwards, the focus was on Huai'an, which was the seat of the governor of Cao in previous dynasties, and Xuzhou declined."
"If Su-Huai is divided into two provinces, the political leader must be in charge of defining the boundaries. Since ancient times, the borders have been demarcated, and the mountains and rivers must be used to control and set up dangers to defend the country. When there is nothing, the provinces can be divided from Jiangsu and Anhui.
, it is not as good as when it was restored, but across the river in Su Province, Xu Huai still has the strength to control the upper reaches. Now it is divided into rivers and ruled, Jiangsu only has four prefectures and one state, the terrain is completely lost, and it is almost impossible to survive as a province.
In the Tang Dynasty, the Jiangnan Road had 42 unified prefectures; in the Song Dynasty, the Jiangnan Road had 14 unified prefectures, and the disparity is also great."
"Therefore, the land of Xuzhou is declining day by day, and the imperial court does not need to move an official or raise an additional salary. The province has been established, the construction is appropriate, and the name and reality are consistent. There is no need to add superfluous things."
"allow--"
Zhu Yixi directly picked up the ink pen and drew a circle to express her agreement with his opinion.
Xuzhou's ambition to be the boss is really too ambitious.
In fact, there is one point that remains unsaid.
The land in northern Jiangsu is relatively poor. Basically, the entire Jiangsu was brought up by southern Jiangsu, which is equivalent to a rich man bringing up a poor brother.
In this way, it will naturally be dragged down.
This is also the reason why when the province was first drawn, it was cut vertically rather than across the Yangtze River.
We cannot allow localities to be too rich and too united, thus threatening centralization and being unfavorable to governance.
The memorial was sent back, and the emperor ignored it.
But this matter was known to the officials from the four provinces in the capital, and they immediately rushed to tell each other, and they were very angry.
When they are abroad, they make friends with each other by the provincial registration, then the prefecture, and then the county.
This is true for distance relationships. The smaller the scope, the closer the relationship.
Who could not be angry if his or her province was split up, which would destroy political resources and insult their feelings for their hometown?
Even the scholars whose hometowns were in this area disagreed and were indignant.
These places are originally poor places. If Zhou was imprisoned together, wouldn't he be with a group of poor people?
It has a great impact on their development prospects.
You know, the township party plays a huge role in the officialdom.
Tian Xi was widely criticized and had to file a lawsuit to close the family to avoid controversy.
This turmoil ended just like that.
The establishment of a province in Huaihai was aborted before it even started.
And the Winter Solstice Dynasty has begun.
The emperor got up early, went to the Fengxian Palace to burn incense and pray, and then drove to the Qianqing Palace to entertain the officials.
Looking at the courtiers lined up neatly at the entrance of Jiulong, they performed the grand ceremony of kneeling three times and kowtowing nine times. The mountains shouted long live, and the emperor smiled with satisfaction and said, "Get up, everyone."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Time flies, another year has passed, and all the ministers and ministers have worked very hard to serve me during this year. Now that the office period is about to come, all the officials should take care of themselves mentally and recuperate their bodies in preparation for the coming year.
"
"Your Majesty is good at singing and praying, and I am deeply grateful."
"I won't say much. I'll just pass on the order and prepare a banquet."
Without further ado, let’s just lay out the food.
After returning to the palace, he had to accept the obeisance of his concubines and children below the queen.
Seeing that all the sons have grown up, and each of them has a certain spirit, he immediately felt happy: "Everyone, get up, today is the family banquet of the Heavenly Family, please take a seat. It is a family banquet now, there is no need to talk about etiquette."
The princes took their seats, while the dozen or so little ones sat on the round table in the same manner, very well-behaved.
As for the smaller ones, they are held to nurse or coaxed to eat snacks.
Everyone took their seats, and the family banquet was also arranged in the warm pavilion of Qianqing Palace.
But growing up in Tianjia, we have seen a lot of such delicacies on weekdays, and we don't take it seriously, so most of them only eat it for a few seconds and then stop eating.
What is surprising is that King Qi returned a few days ago and had this reunion dinner.
After staying in the feudal kingdom for many days, he was already tanned and made a group of princesses and princes laugh.
"Second brother, how is your country of Qi?"
After the emperor had eaten a few mouthfuls of food, he lost interest and asked casually.
"Thanks to my father's great fortune, Qi State has annexed Sulu State. Now there is no shortage of craftsmen and we are on the right track."
King Qi hurriedly stood up and spoke respectfully.
This trip to Luzon Navy was of great help, otherwise Qi would not have been able to carry out the snake-eating elephant attack.
A labor force of hundreds of thousands, as well as gold and silver treasures, as well as mature craftsmen, were enough for Qi to rise rapidly and officially lay the foundation for eternity.
"Yes!" Zhu Yixi nodded: "The Ancestral Temple of Qi State is also going to be built. Assimilate the indigenous people as soon as possible. Don't underestimate the enemy."
"Yes." King Qi responded.
"Next year, the King of Liao will also ask for a vassal."
Suddenly, Zhu Yixi looked at the idle King Liao: "You have to manage your business well and learn from your elder brother and second brother. If you get into trouble, I won't beat you."
"Father, please rest assured that I will live up to your trust."
King Liao patted his chest and said.
The emperor looked at the King of Yue again.
The latter stood up knowingly and reported on the situation in Yue.
"The country of Yue is close to Korea and Japan, and will benefit from it. Within two or three years, the number of people in the country of Yue will exceed 200,000, and it will stand tall in the North Sea."
The King of Yue also maintained his momentum.
At this time, the emperor looked at King Wei.
King Wei hurriedly stood up and said: "My son has sent the vanguard to Saigon. He is recruiting troops and horses, and hoarding money and food. When everything is ready, we can wipe out the Khmer in one fell swoop and occupy Phnom Penh."
"The Khmer are so weak that they won't be able to use them for even half a year."
"After the New Year, you go to Saigon."
The emperor said solemnly: "I asked Zhu Shen to lead the troops just to help you lead the troops. I didn't ask you to stay in the capital and enjoy the blessings."
"The Khmer have a long history and are not as ignorant as the Tatars. Therefore, if you, the king, want to establish your authority, you must go there in person to establish your authority."
“It’s unacceptable to sit in Beijing and enjoy the success.”
"I understand." King Wei agreed bitterly.
This is the end of my happy life in Beijing.
Soon, this family dinner turned into a school exam, and no one could escape.
Those who have not been crowned kings will take the academic examination.
Princesses also have to take exams, and they have been taught by others.
As time approaches, in the middle of the twelfth lunar month, all major government offices begin to close their offices for a month.
This sealing of yamen means that each yamen works overtime to handle all matters as soon as possible, and then seals the yamen for the New Year.
Except for the central yamen like the Cabinet, which cannot be separated from people for a moment, the other eight departments have long since disappeared.
The same is true locally.
No more cases, taxes, etc. will be accepted, everything will have to wait until next year.
By the time of the Zhengdan Dynasty, all ministers and foreign envoys knelt down one after another.
Because of the ambassador system, these vassal states also set up embassies in Beijing to keep an eye on the situation of the Ming Dynasty.
Once you encounter an important event, such as the Longevity Festival, you can also send gifts in time to avoid loss.
However, an episode occurred during this court meeting.
The Korean envoy burst into tears and asked the emperor to change the rank of Korean envoy from ministerial envoy to imperial envoy.
After all, Korea cannot be the same as foreign vassals like Japan.
They also enjoy the royal honors.
Zhu Yixi couldn't laugh or cry.
He did not expect that North Korea was still struggling with such a trivial matter.
After hesitating for a while, Zhu Yixi agreed: "North Korea is different. From now on, I will be promoted to the imperial envoy level."