ps: Isn’t it a surprise that you didn’t ask for leave today?
The cool breeze of Yuquan Mountain is blowing and the cicadas are chirping. It is the most refreshing in this hot summer.
Several people in the cabinet worked separately. Although the words of the chief minister were soft, they were heard clearly.
Everyone was silent and continued to work.
Actually, I can't help but complain because the territory has expanded so much recently.
Anyone who is ambitious about territorial expansion is happy to see the results, but this cannot be done blindly.
Regarding the country's territory, the cabinet also has an account in mind.
They divided the territory of the world into three parts according to taxation.
The first is surplus, that is, the harvest is greater than the administrative cost. Southern provinces such as Jiangsu, Anhui, and Zhejiang are of the type that supply cows, supplying 70% of the country's tax revenue.
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The second one is Ping, which means the no-profit-no-loss type, such as in Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Guangxi and other provinces, where taxes can be self-sufficient.
Third, there are dangerous borders, such as Liaodong, Gansu, Suiyuan, Tiannan and other places, which are financially dependent on the central government and have extremely high governance costs.
In this case, the more third categories there are, the greater the financial burden will be, leading to an imbalance in the balance and inability to make ends meet.
It is precisely because of this concern that during the Xuande period, civil servants abandoned Annan, a financial black hole, for fear of falling into a sea of uprisings.
This was the case with the Chongzhen Dynasty, which tried its best to export to Liaodong. Then Shaanxi, Henan, and Huguang were all in chaos, and their finances collapsed directly.
If we accept the people of Liaodong and abandon the land of Liaodong, and do our best to quell the civil unrest in Shaanxi, the situation will inevitably be very different.
Therefore, if Emperor Shaowu had conquered fertile lands like Jiangxi and Zhejiang, the civil servants would have been happy. How could they be dissatisfied?
Unfortunately, the reality is that both Tiannan and the current Luzon Governor's Office require strong support from the central government and increased financial expenditures.
"The budget has gone over again."
Yan Chongxin sighed, his face full of worry.
"I've made a lot of surplus in the past few years, so I can make do with it."
Wang Yingxiong's deep voice sounded: "In the end, if we want to expand the territory and punish the people, the Luzon Governor's Office must be established."
As he spoke, he raised his head and said loudly: "I heard that Luzon is different from other barbarians. There are tens of thousands of people here, several cities, and countless farms."
As he spoke, Wang Yingxiong waved the memorandum submitted to the Taiwanese government: "Taiwanese government says that after taking Luzon, the net income will be hundreds of thousands every year. How can the imperial court make ends meet? This is a huge profit!"
"Um?"
The other people were shocked and quickly circulated it.
This time, the atmosphere in the cabinet instantly relaxed a lot.
This is not a loss-making trade.
Zhao Shu and others finally had smiles on their faces.
If there is one more Taiwanese prefecture, it will be a huge profit.
"The Governor's Palace of Luzon is newly built, so what are the rules there?" Jiang Yueguang hurriedly changed the subject.
The emperor only said to establish the governor's office, let them recommend the governor, and list the charter and establish the governing regulations.
The grades of officials, the number of left and right officials, the number of troops, laws, etc. all need to be drafted by the cabinet and approved by the emperor.
At this time, several people talked about it and discussed it for more than half an hour before they finally reached an agreement.
The Luzon Governor's Mansion has a governor with a rank of two, who is also in charge of civil affairs and the military.
At the same time, the Governor's Mansion has a navy and an infantry commander each, who are in charge of the navy and infantry. They are ranked in the fourth rank.
Although the emperor said he wanted to delegate power, the nature of civil servants forced them to consider checks and balances, so they set up an inspectorate to handle judicial and administrative matters.
According to the inspection envoy, he is in the second rank.
Among them, the navy is called the Luzon Navy, and some people are selected from the East China Sea and the South China Sea Navy to form a navy of 3,000 people.
There are three thousand infantrymen stationed in Luzon.
"With this charter, the Luzon Governor's Yamen needs thirty-eight officials and one hundred and fifty officials."
Lu Daqi said with great satisfaction: "In this way, after two or three years, when the rule is stable, it can be set up as the governor's office, just like the governor's office."
Everyone was also satisfied.
The high level of Luzon means that the cake is big and can accommodate a lot of people.
For example, the governor of Luzon is the second-rank official. As soon as he comes back, he can immediately serve as the minister of the nine departments. He is a very good ladder.
After several years of adjustments, the nine departments of the imperial court were officially formed.
Among the six ministries, the names of the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Households, and the Ministry of Punishments remain unchanged, plus the Ministry of feudal lords, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the Ministry of Finance.
Among them, a few years after the birth of the Organization Department, the Provincial Examination was officially incorporated into the Ministry of Rites, and the officials also had grades, so the Organization Department was re-merged into the Ministry of Personnel, and its powers were restored, worthy of the first department.
The diplomatic attributes of the Ministry of Rites were all eliminated, and the full-time responsibility for imperial examinations, education, etiquette, and diplomatic attributes were all handed over to the Lifan Yuan.
The Lifanyuan was also renamed as the Fanbu, which was specifically in charge of internal vassals, external vassals, and foreign affairs with other countries.
Needless to say, the Ministry of Civil Affairs was born out of the Ministry of Household Affairs and is in charge of household registration, land, population, minerals and other matters; the Ministry of Finance is responsible for tax collection and budget matters.
Later, the household department was only responsible for managing the warehouse, storing money and grain, keeping accounts and other miscellaneous matters.
At the central level, the cabinet chief and the nine ministries execute and verify matters.
At the local level, at the provincial level, the chief envoy, the inspector general, and the general military commander are in charge of administration, punishment, military affairs, and the governor is in charge.
At the government level, the prefect is the commander-in-chief. The prefect is in charge of administration, and the general magistrate is in charge of prisons.
At the county level, the magistrate-general and the county magistrate assist the magistrate in managing county affairs. The chief bookkeeper is in charge of the county's grain taxation and household registration. In addition, the county magistrate is also responsible for litigation, prison and other matters.
There are also patrol battalions responsible for local suppression.
In the countryside, the three township elders, the township chief, the township elders, and the township police are responsible for civil affairs, education, litigation, and security respectively, and they all do their own thing.
It can be said that by the 10th year of Shaowu's reign, the entire imperial court had been straightened out, with communication between superiors and subordinates. Although it was not as powerful as an arm, it was still people-friendly and well-organized.
The biggest change is that all the former subordinate officials have been promoted to higher grades, which has led to a large increase in the number of officials and a rapid increase in expenditures.
After all, the former subordinate officials did not receive a salary.
The total number of officials, civil and military, reached 20,000, including more than 3,000 officials in the capital and about 16,000 local officials.
As for the number of officials, the number is exaggerated to about one hundred thousand.
Fortunately, these officials are all from the ninth rank, with an annual income of ten yuan and ten shi of grain, which is worth forty or fifty to a county magistrate.
In each county, there are about two hundred officials who receive imperial salary:
Officials are county magistrates, prime ministers, lieutenants, bookkeepers, historians, patrollers, jailers, tax collectors, edicts, and instructors.
The officers are the catchers, horse guards, jailers, treasury guards, people strong, long shift, waiters, footmen, guards, watchmen, sweepers, and sedan bearers.
Those who have increased the most are the county clerks, old officials, and the three local elders.
However, the establishment of townships was originally to bear the pressure of the county government, so there are only three or five townships in a county, and the number of three elders is not too many.
The cabinet was busy with discussions here, and the emperor took advantage of his free time and came to the outside of Beijing.
After galloping for an hour, Zhu Yixi came to a septic tank.
To put it simply, it is a large-scale septic tank specially responsible for receiving the night fragrance in Beijing.
In the past, there was a special Yexiang guild in the city, which was controlled by some beggar gang members and specialized in oppressing the poor workers.
Workers dug out manure every night and sold it to people outside the city, thus earning a large amount of income.
But after the emperor took control of Beijing, he couldn't see these lazy people.
Therefore, idle elements and jobless vagrants such as the Beggar Gang are disruptors of social order and must be strictly controlled, so they were all caught and forced to undergo labor reform.
Building bridges, paving roads, and cultivating fields to build canals all require a lot of labor.
Since the Beggar Clan was no longer rampant, the Yexiang Guild was operating as usual. However, after a period of time, it was controlled by the vassals of some powerful families.
Although Yexiang is inconspicuous, its annual profits are beyond imagination, no less than 100,000 yuan, so it will naturally be taken away by others.
But it's a little better than the previous Beggar Gang, and people have to pay attention to it.
The emperor can't control it, and he can't control it anymore. It's impossible to include them in the establishment, right?
He tried his best to let the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses Department supervise and prevent mistakes.
In a big city like Beijing with a population of one million, as long as no one collects feces for a day, all the toilets will overflow, even to the point of overflowing on the streets.
This is not a lie. In medieval Paris, there were only tens of thousands of people, but excrement piled up like mountains outside the city, submerging the moat and actually becoming a barrier.
Going a step further, the establishment of septic tanks is mainly about planning the management of feces, thereby ordering and regulating it, making Beijing cleaner and tidier.
Of course, he was just passing by the septic tank. Zhu Yixi glanced at the farmer who was happily buying manure and said calmly:
"After standardization, cooperation will benefit both sides and everyone will be happy with it!"
The nostrils were filled with a foul smell, and the mud on the road was even black. The emperor couldn't help but want to vomit.
After forcibly suppressing it, he got on the carriage again and continued to move forward.
What he will inspect is the water source issue in Beijing.
Although deep well water is dug so that people in Beijing no longer have to worry about water, after all, it is groundwater, which quenches thirst but does not relieve water supply. Sooner or later, water source problems will arise.
The water source in the Yuan Dynasty was diverted from the Changping Baifu Spring in the Wenyu River Basin, and finally flowed into Wengshan Bo, and then flowed to the Gaoliang River.
By the Ming Dynasty, a major failure occurred in the water conservancy system. The imperial mausoleum was located in Changping, which led to the abandonment of the Baifu Spring water source. The water from Yuquan Mountain and Wengshan Po was no longer distinguished, and a new spring was dug south of Taiye Lake.
The lake forms the "three seas" in the north, middle and south, giving priority to the water from the western suburbs, but seriously damaging the original waterway system.
Trees are planted on both sides of the streets in Beijing, and open ditches are dug on both sides to drain and release floodwaters, which are then discharged to the moat and then to the lower reaches of the Haihe River.
When there was a problem with the water source, Zhu Yixi first thought of the Miyun Reservoir.
However, the amount of this project was too large, and water from far away could not quench the thirst for water nearby. After discussion, the Ministry of Industry set the target at Xishan Mountain and Yuquan Mountain.
That is to say, all the spring water from the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, Biyun Temple in Xiangshan and Yuquan Mountain will be funneled into Wengshan Bo through the diversion stone canal, dredging will be carried out, and the east embankment will be built.
By blocking the water flowing eastward from Yuquan Mountain, a large area of water was formed. The catchment area of Wengshanbo was three times larger than that of the previous dynasty.
Then, a sluice gate was built on the east embankment and at the north and south ends of the lake.
The three sluices are usually closed to store water. The south sluice is opened to supply water to the city through the long river; the east sluice is opened to replenish water for gardens and rice fields in the western suburbs; and the north sluice is opened to release floodwaters to the Qinghe River.
The expanded Wengshan Lake has a new name, Daming Lake.
In fact, this was Kunming Lake, the first reservoir that appeared in the suburbs of Beijing during the Qianlong period.
It is precisely because of this that when faced with a one-million-dollar project, he approved it without hesitation.
However, what the emperor cared about most was the Miyun Reservoir in the northeast.
However, this is a large project, hundreds of miles away from Beijing, and it cannot be completed in just a few years. The Ministry of Industry estimates that it will take five years and five million yuan.
The diversion canal from Xishan is called the Yongding River Canal.
These two large and small projects are enough to make the Ministry of Households feel heartbroken for a long time.
But who told this to be Beijing?
The family records of all civil and military officials all live in Beijing. No matter how reluctant they are, they must be stamped and sealed for the sake of their wives, children, and children.
After walking a zigzag, Zhu Yixi saw Yongding Canal at noon.
Thousands of mules and horses carried a large amount of soil, while workers sweating profusely had to dig continuously, which was extremely hard.
At this time, a supervisor in charge saw an army approaching quickly from a distance. When he took a closer look, he saw that they were actually guards.
And the carriage in the center, don’t you know the emperor’s chariot who likes to travel incognito?
Seeing this, he hurriedly summoned the management at the scene, walked away quickly, and knelt down: "I'm going to pay homage to your Majesty——"
"Get up!"
Just as Liu Afu was about to scold him, the car curtain was opened, revealing a mature and handsome face.
The emperor was dressed in a fish-white, close-fitting robe, with a hosta on his head and a paper fan in his hand.
"Come and talk—"
Zhu Yixi said casually, and the chief bowed down, his face full of excitement.
It is the behavior of a cabinet minister to remain unfazed by favors and humiliations.
It would be strange for a low-level boss like you.
There was soil on my feet, and there were grains of sand and broken soil, which were quite harsh on my feet. As expected, this place belonged to the remnants of the Western Mountains and was not easy to dig.
"How many people are here?"
The emperor looked at the workers who continued to work.
"Reporting to your Majesty, there are nearly 3,000 people here in the diversion canal. They are all construction camps of the Ministry of Industry."
The boss said in a low voice.
The so-called construction camp was actually the Ming Dynasty version of the Production and Construction Corps. Inspired by the emperor, the Ministry of Industry recruited people from the countryside and mountainous areas to be responsible for construction matters.
Things such as official roads, Yellow River dams, and ditch dredging were all excavated and carried out by the construction camps, without the need for private labor.
These people are like soldiers, working hard with food and accommodation, and receive one silver dollar per month.
Basically, after working for three to five years, you will take your savings and go home to build a house, buy land, marry a wife and have children.
Although the burden on the Ministry of Industry is heavy, there are many benefits.
First of all, it does not disturb the people, and can continue to work during spring plowing and autumn harvest, without damaging private production, and the construction efficiency is extremely high.
The Ministry of Industry supports nearly 20,000 people in such construction camps, which account for 30% of the ministry's annual budget.
"On a hot day, don't work at noon, otherwise you will die."
The emperor felt pity and said, "Just take an hour's rest at noon."