Zhang Huangyan stared at the three people with sharp eyes and said: "If we are in Ryukyu and we can only replenish fresh water, I am afraid that most of the ships will leave and find another deserted island."
"When the time comes, where will the tax be collected?"
The three magistrates immediately became speechless.
It is true that in the past, Ryukyu served as a transit point and the best place for ships to supply supplies.
But now Ryukyu has become the palace of the imperial court, and thousands of soldiers and horses are eating and drinking here. This situation will inevitably lead to insufficient supplies and drive people away.
As expected, he is a magistrate with a long-term vision.
"This strategy is a variation of the method of opening the middle."
"What about taxes?"
"When the food comes, the ships will also come. When they arrive, they will definitely spend money to buy food, replenish water, and even rest and settle down."
Zhang Huangyan smiled: "As long as they use money, we can collect commercial taxes from the shops. The more people there are, the more shops there will be."
"Why worry about taxes then?"
"As long as there is sufficient food and the garrison is not short of food, any difficulties will disappear."
To put it bluntly, only after the food crisis is resolved can the next thing about Ryukyu Prefecture be considered.
Sure enough, after this policy was issued, a large amount of food poured into Ryukyu Prefecture, and supplies were immediately abundant.
The army has military pay to spend, and merchants and sailors also have money to spend, which greatly promotes the economy of Ryukyu Prefecture.
The prosperity of the economy also prompted many sailors to settle here. Even if it was difficult, they would find a house to stay.
Many farmers left their land and came to the port to help work, which alleviated the land tension and caused a sharp reduction in land conflicts.
At the end of February, an envoy from the imperial court arrived in Ryukyu.
The person serving as the special envoy this time is Zhu Jing, the deputy envoy from the previous time.
The reason for using it is also very simple, you are familiar with it!
The emperor took such good care of him, and the officials naturally had nothing to say.
Zhu Jing was shocked when she looked at Ryukyu, whom she hadn't seen for half a year.
I saw that the previously dilapidated Shuri Earthen Fortress had begun to erect city walls at this time, and it looked impressive; in the desolate and dilapidated port, trestles were built one after another, and many sailors came in an endless stream.
If he hadn't been here before, he would have thought it was a port on the coast!
However, the dilapidated government office is very real.
"My lord, Zhang Huangyan, the governor of Ryukyu, together with local officials, would like to express your sincere greetings to the Holy Spirit——"
"Saint Gong'an——"
Zhu Jing nodded and asked for the imperial edict.
There are only a few hundred characters in the forty-six parallel prose, which is very simple and very different from the past.
The content is very simple, requiring the Donghai Navy and the Ryukyu government to cooperate with the angel's mission to Japan.
Although Zhang Huangyan didn't know what the purpose of this mission was, seeing the hundreds of large ships brought from the East China Sea Navy and the cooperating Ryukyu Navy, this was not a trivial matter.
At the banquet, Zhang Huangyan was also a refined person. After walking around for a few times, he asked about Ryukyu Mansion.
When did you upgrade from the fourth grade to the third grade?
Several magistrates also craned their necks to look forward, and they also heard the news.
"At this time, the court is already discussing it."
Zhu Jing drank a glass of wine and said calmly: "There is resistance, but it's almost the same."
"What is being discussed now is what kind of mansion should be of the third rank."
"Oh?" Zhang Huangyan was delighted, and then guessed: "But it's like Ryukyu?"
"That's right." Zhu Jinggao glanced at him and said: "During the Hongwu period, those who paid more than 200,000 shi were Shangfu, and the prefect of Shangfu was the third grade; those who paid more than 100,000 shi and less than 200,000 shi were Zhongfu, and the prefect of Zhongfu was the fourth grade.
Rank; if the price is less than 100,000 shi, it is the lower house, and the prefect of the lower house is from the fourth rank."
"Now, except for Yingtian and Shuntian, the rest are all in the fourth grade, and they have not changed in two hundred years."
"Many people in the imperial court say that they can pay millions of silver coins to become a superior, and the official will be from the third rank..."
"So, doesn't it mean that it is occupied by Jiangnan?" Zhang Huangyan shook his head: "As far as I know, Songjiang Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture, Changzhou, and even Yangzhou Prefecture, I am afraid they will all be Shangfu!"
"Yes, the officials in the north think that this is Jiangsu's plan for itself, which is definitely not allowed."
Zhu Jing laughed and said: "You must know that there is not a single southerner in the cabinet."
This is also a characteristic of the Shaowu Dynasty. There are middle and upper-level officials, six cabinet ministries, the Metropolitan Inspectorate, Xiao Jiuqing, and very few southerners.
In the middle and lower classes, most are from the south.
When Zhang Huangyan heard this, he felt dark in his heart. He had no choice but to surrender in Nanjing and was exiled to Guangxi to teach and educate people.
"In my opinion, Ryukyu must be stable, and a Taiwan prefecture, as well as Liaodong, Suiyuan, and Gansu prefectures must be added. The more remote and remote the place, the higher the official rank."
Zhu Jing said it without hesitation, leaving everyone stunned.
However, he went on a diplomatic mission to Japan and would not be able to come back for a few months. By the time the dust had settled, his words would not make any waves at all.
We talked about the Ryukyu incident again. Zhu Jing praised Zhang Huangyan’s effective governance for two months without hesitation, and then talked about an interesting thing:
"Not long ago, the secretary of the cabinet, Hanlin, who had scars on his face, boldly wrote to the court to denounce the sparse and complicated memorials."
"As the saying goes, there are a thousand words in a title book. If you look through dozens of pages, only one or two are useful, and the rest are just nonsense."
Good guy!
Zhang Huangyan and others were completely shocked.
You must know that those who are qualified to submit letters to the court are all local officials, and the prefects can only do so reluctantly.
This suggestion directly scolded all the middle and upper-level civil servants, which can be described as audacious.
"What's this person's name?"
"It seems to be called Wang Fuzhi."
Zhu Jing clicked his tongue and said, until now he still had some admiration:
"After some words, the whole hall became silent."
"When the elders saw this remonstrance, they immediately ran to the emperor, as if their buttocks were on fire, for fear of being delayed."
"Where's the back?"
"The back part is even more bizarre!"
Zhu Jing sighed: "Your Majesty was greatly shocked when he heard this."
"Just think about it, the elders of the imperial court went through the title books of the memorials and spars in the past, and attached a chapter of paper to explain the reasons and put forward opinions. The emperor did not care about the number of words in the memorials."
"Now that I was reminded by him, Your Majesty immediately went to check it out, and it turned out to be true."
"There are 100 memorials, more than 70 of which have more than 1,000 words, and quite a few of them have 700 or 800 words, and these can be expressed clearly with only a hundred words..."
"Then what?" Zhang Huangyan continued to ask.
"Then?" Zhu Jing smiled, clapped her hands and said, "From now on, all memorials and sparse titles must not exceed 500 words."
"Even the imperial edicts are only a few now. In the past, you would have to kneel for more than a quarter of an hour!"
Zhang Huangyan and others naturally raised their hands to the north and praised the emperor for his wisdom.
Zhu Jing reorganized in Ryukyu for two days, and then headed for Japan with a large number of ships.
This time, the Emperor of Ming Dynasty wanted to confer a title on Japan's young general, and by the way, he wanted to talk about the issue of the title of the Japanese king.