GBP Chapter 103 Treating the Zhu Emperor Like an Ox or a Horse
Chapter 103 Treating the Zhu Emperor Like an Ox or a Horse
After Zhu Lao Er finished explaining the whole story, Zhu Lao San summarized, "In short, we must first establish the rules so that even if they are beaten, they will accept it willingly."
Emperor Zhu Chongba couldn't help but laugh out loud twice, and even his gaze towards the two rotten pieces of wood carried a hint of satisfaction.
"Good, good, you've made progress." Zhu Chongba said with a smile, "This trip to Ningyang County, learning about cement was already a good deal, and now you've learned to establish rules before punishment, that's double the benefit, good, good!"
Zhu Lao Er couldn't help but roll his eyes and said, "You think that's all?"
Emperor Zhu's laughter stopped abruptly, like a duck that was quacking wildly suddenly being choked.
"Anything else?" Emperor Zhu Chongba looked at Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San with anticipation and said, "You two tell me everything in detail."
Zhu Lao Er chuckled again, "For example, merchants and the flow of goods, road construction, and the conscription of laborers—we've learned all of these from my brother-in-law."
Zhu Laosan added, "My brother-in-law also mentioned the money issue!"
The Emperor Zhu didn't bother to care about how the two addressed Yang Shaofeng anymore. Instead, he stared at Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San and said, "You two tell me about the business and the flow of goods."
Zhu Lao Er, head held high and chest puffed out, looked at Emperor Zhu Chongba with a smug expression and asked, "Then let me ask you first, what is your opinion on merchants?"
Emperor Zhu originally intended to say that "most merchants are disloyal and greedy, and forget righteousness for profit," but upon seeing Zhu Lao Er's appearance, Emperor Zhu felt that there must be something fishy going on.
After careful consideration, Emperor Zhu spoke, “As the saying goes, there are all kinds of people, all kinds of crafts, and all kinds of industries. Although merchants are considered to be in lowly professions, they bear the responsibility of the circulation of wealth in the world. The world cannot do without merchants.”
"Moreover, although business is risky, the profits are far greater than those from farming. People will inevitably want to make money through business, so the world will not lack merchants."
"However, most merchants are disloyal and greedy, and if they are allowed to gain power, the people will surely suffer. They must be strictly controlled."
As Emperor Zhu finished expressing his views on merchants, Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San's eyes widened in surprise.
Seeing the bewildered looks on Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San's faces, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but laugh and said, "What, do you think we hate merchants and wish we could get rid of all the merchants in the world?"
Zhu Laosan blinked and said, "What my brother-in-law told us is almost the same as what you just said. They both said that the world cannot do without merchants, but we must strictly regulate them."
Zhu Lao Er stopped keeping him in suspense and continued along with Zhu Lao San's words: "Brother-in-law also said that building roads is not only to facilitate the flow of goods among merchants, but also to make it easier for ordinary people to dry their grain and travel between places."
“My brother-in-law said that when merchants make money, the government and the court can collect more commercial taxes, and the burden on the people can be lighter. This is the essence of valuing agriculture over commerce.”
"My brother-in-law also said that businessmen must be kept in check and they must never be allowed to reach out to the government. We must also guard against collusion between officials and businessmen."
"..."
Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San took turns speaking, recounting everything they had heard from Ningyang County and everything they had figured out themselves.
The more Zhu Chongba, the more astonished the emperor became, and by the time Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San finished speaking, the emperor was completely dumbfounded.
It's a bit of a waste to put such a talented person as the magistrate of a small county like Ningyang.
Or should we send him to the capital to be an official?
After a moment's consideration, Emperor Zhu Chongba had to abandon this tempting idea.
The fact that he can angrily confront his colleagues is enough to give anyone a headache—what if Magistrate Yang takes a dislike to all the officials and offends them one by one? Should the emperor side with Magistrate Yang or with all the officials?
The more he thought about it, the more his head ached. So Emperor Zhu simply waved his hand at Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San and said, "You two should go and rest. We'll set off for the capital first thing tomorrow morning."
……
The road construction in Ningyang County has finally accelerated a little.
The so-called "slightly faster" means that what used to be able to repair a little over one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) of road per day can now be repaired two zhang (approximately 6.3 meters) per day after the introduction of mortar and concrete.
The distance from Ningyang County to Yanzhou Prefecture is about fifty li, which is more than seven thousand zhang.
If Yang Shaofeng's original plan had been followed, with the road being about ten zhang wide, the construction period might have dragged on until the Ming Dynasty was completely ruined.
Even if we build it the way it is now, which is one zhang wide, it would still take more than 20 years to complete the entire road.
Magistrate Yang Shaofeng leaned back in his recliner, looking utterly dejected.
I have twenty years to build roads, but can I serve as a county magistrate for twenty years?
The more Yang Shaofeng thought about it, the more he felt that Ningyang County was short of people. Suddenly, a sentence came to mind, and he jumped up from the recliner and plunged into the study.
As the famous decadent writer Mr. Xuezhi once said, those who are truly good at being officials can order their superiors around, while those who are not good at being officials can only be ordered around by their superiors.
For Magistrate Yang, his highest-ranking leader is Emperor Zhu Chongba. If he doesn't use Emperor Zhu, then he's just wasting his time as an official.
Therefore, Yang Shaofeng directly spread out the paper for writing the memorial and began to wield his brush.
"Yang Jin, the magistrate of Ningyang County, Yanzhou Prefecture, reports that there is a shortage of men for road repair. The reason is that the roads in Ningyang County have been in disrepair for many years and become muddy and difficult to travel after rain... Please assign the captured Tartars and convicts from other places to Ningyang as laborers to repair the roads, so as to atone for their crimes."
"The above contains 203 characters, starting with the character '兖' and ending with the character '罪', and consists of two sheets of paper."
"I respectfully submit this report."
"On the 28th day of the seventh month of the first year of Hongwu, Yang Shaofeng, a minister of Ningyang County Government."
According to the established format of memorials in the early Ming Dynasty, each memorial consisted of six lines, with twenty-four characters per line, two characters at the beginning, and twenty-two characters written in parallel. A single page of a memorial could contain approximately one hundred and thirty-two characters. The first line was to indicate the author's identity, beginning with the three characters "谨奏为" (respectfully submitted for the purpose of the memorial). The character "为" (for the purpose of the memorial) indicated why the memorial was being submitted, and the reasons were then explained below.
Presumably to prevent alteration, the memorials were required to include a note at the end indicating the total number of characters, the starting and ending characters, and the number of pages used.
Once the ink had dried, Yang Shaofeng packed up the memorial and handed it directly to Lame Wu, asking him to arrange for someone to deliver it to the Office of Transmission.
If Emperor Zhu Chongba agrees to send over some of the prisoners under Xu Da and Chang Yuchun, as well as some of the criminals sentenced to exile by local officials, the road construction in Ningyang County can be accelerated significantly.
Watching the limping Wu's departing figure, Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but think smugly to himself, "Old Zhu wants to treat me, Yang, like a beast of burden, little does he know that I, Yang, can also treat him, Old Zhu, like a beast of burden."
"What's this called?"
"Me and Lao Zhu sharing the same ox and horse?"
"It doesn't matter. Before Lao Zhu becomes my father-in-law, the important thing is to mess with him as much as possible."