Ming Dynasty Strategy Notes [Transmigration Book]

The chief of the Sichuan Third Division is under military control, and the eradication of corruption in Sichuan has just begun.After three months of open and unannounced visits, Zhu Chun and Xia Ziling finally got a general idea of ​​the intricacies of Sichuan.

In addition to the salt tax in Syria, the taxes levied in various places in central Shu, such as grain, Shu brocade, Shu fans, etc., were all levied heavily by deception, and then shared by officials at all levels.However, Zhang Jing is very cunning. The places where taxes are increased are usually places far away from Chengdu in western Sichuan or in southern Sichuan where Fan people gather. In the past seven years, some Beijing officials have occasionally come to Chengdu. The great crime Zhang Jing committed in Shu.

According to Emperor Hongwu's death penalty for embezzlement of more than 60 taels of silver, based on the detailed accounts of the past seven years, not to mention Zhang Jing, Wang Zhengxiao and Zhao Xin, almost all officials above the seventh rank in Sichuan can be killed.Xia Ziling discussed with Zhu Chun and decided to ask Emperor Hongwu for a lighter punishment.The so-called law does not blame the public, the current situation in Sichuan, although Zhang Jing and other culprits cannot be blamed, it is also related to the unreasonable system of our dynasty. It is unnecessary to kill all the officials in Sichuan.

Judging from the joint deceitful behavior of the officials of the three divisions in Sichuan, Xia Ziling realized that the current system of the Hongwu Dynasty was very fatal-the term of office of local officials was too long, and there was a lack of top-down assessment and bottom-up evaluation. It is very easy to breed corruption under such circumstances, and perhaps the problem in Sichuan still exists to varying degrees across the country.

To solve this problem, the Ming and Qing dynasties later derived a very important system - the governor system. At first, the governor went out to patrol places, only to supervise the tax and grain, the prime minister's river course, the refugees, and the border. The role of the three local divisions.The governor was dispatched by the imperial court and returned to the imperial court to discuss matters every year. It was an important measure for the imperial court to rectify the administration of officials and get rid of long-standing abuses by sending courtiers to manage local affairs and carry out some reforms on the original local institutions.

The importance of the post of governor is extraordinary. Although there are not a few governors who are corrupt and corrupt in history, these things are unavoidable under the rule of man in the feudal era.From the perspective of the current imperial court system, the establishment of the governor system is still very necessary.

The origin of this important system began when Zhu Yuanzhang sent the crown prince Zhu Biao to governor Shaanxi in the 24th year of Hongwu.Now that Zhu Biao has passed away ahead of schedule, I don't know if this system will be established as it has been in history. Xia Ziling feels that he has to shoulder the responsibility of repairing the omissions, and now, with the help of the big Sichuan case, it happens to be a suggestion to the emperor. Chance.

Xia Ziling brought up the idea of ​​the governor system to Zhu Chun, and Zhu Chun strongly agreed with it. After that, the two discussed carefully for a long time and finalized the details.After the New Year's Day in the 23rd year of Hongwu, taking the opportunity of writing to the emperor to report the corruption case in central Shu, Zhu Chun also wrote a memorial, explaining the concept and ideas of establishing the governor system one by one.

When these two memorials from Zhu Chun were sent to Nanjing, Emperor Hongwu was furious at first, annoyed that the officials of the Third Department of Sichuan were living on the imperial salary, and actually committed such evil deeds of bullying the people and enriching their own pockets.However, after being furious, I was very relieved after reading the second memorial. The governor system proposed by Chun'er is really a good strategy to restrain local officials from doing evil, and he praised the king of Shu in the early court that day.

While punishing corrupt officials, Zhu Chun also started to do two things in Sichuan——

First, tax relief.

At the beginning of the new dynasty, the lives of the people in all parts of Sichuan were still not well-off. In addition to asking the court to reduce or exempt taxes, Zhu Chun also took the initiative to exempt the tributes from various places to the palace, leaving only a small amount of Shu Brocade and Shu Embroidery as a custom every year.

Xia Ziling wondered why Zhu Chun left some Shu brocade and Shu embroidery since he had avoided most of the tribute. However, when he asked the question in his heart, he was astonished by the answer he got.

Zhu Chun raised his handsome eyebrows at that time, and asked Xia Ziling strangely: "Don't you like this thing? Zhang Jing bribed you with many things back then, but you kept the Shu embroidered screen."

"..." This was indeed a beautiful misunderstanding, but Xia Ziling didn't say anything to explain it, considering Zhu Chun's care for him.

Second, appease officials.

After Zhang Jing and others were convicted, most of the officials involved in the matter in Sichuan still took the blame and retained their jobs.However, it has to be said that Zhu Chun took over the chief of the Third Department of Sichuan in one pot, and also cut off the financial resources of many lower-level officials.

The salaries of officials in the Hongwu Dynasty were really small, but Emperor Hongwu was used to hard work and simplicity, so he felt that it was calculated and sufficient.This matter cannot be resolved by writing a letter and admonishing him, so Zhu Chun simply didn't bother to deal with it.

In order to win over Sichuan officials, Xia Ziling came up with a trick—to buy a batch of goods from the Shu Palace during the festivals and distribute them to officials big and small.

When Zhu Chun approved Xia Ziling's performance, his complexion was not very good, and he frowned slightly and complained: "Xia Ziling, the mansion has to support a lot of literati every month, and you still want me to set aside such a large sum of money. Are you going to spend all of my annual salary of [-] shi before giving up?"

Xia Ziling smiled lightly, and said, "My lord, money is something outside of your body, and you have never been a stingy person. After this visit, all the officials in Sichuan must be grateful for your lord's kindness."

Zhu Chun was one of Emperor Hongwu's favorite sons. In addition to the salary, the emperor also gave him a lot of extra rewards every year. Zhu Chun would never fail to spend this money, and he only proposed this plan after careful calculation.

"Hmph..." Zhu Chun snorted, but after hearing Xia Ziling's praise, the corners of his lips rose slightly, and Zhu Chun approved the performance with a tick.

After these two incidents, both the officials and the people benefited, and the prestige and reputation of the King of Shu in Sichuan was finally established.

The king of Shu has been in power for more than a year. He has pulled out the shortcomings, innovated policies, and managed the Shu land in an orderly manner, which is obvious to all.

Zhu Chun's side is very busy, and King Yan's side is not idle either.Since last winter, the Tatars, which have been restored to their ancient names, have frequently harassed our northern border. Remnants of yuan are as annoying as wildfires that burn endlessly. Emperor Hongwu was so angry that he finally mobilized troops to launch the seventh Northern Expedition at the beginning of the year.And the main general of the Northern Expedition - Zhu Di, King of Yan.

After Yu Yuer returned from the sea, Sapphire's power grew day by day, which made Emperor Hong Wu feel a little worried.How can relying on outsiders be at ease when relying on one's own family?And Emperor Hongwu really had a good candidate in front of him.Zhu Di participated in the previous Northern Expeditions, and Emperor Hongwu was quite pleased with his gradually revealed military talent.

After Emperor Hongwu killed all the generals, apart from Lan Yu, there was really no general in the court who was better than Zhu Di. In this regard, even Zhu Chun, who was always excellent, was far behind.If we talk about fighting alone, Zhu Chun may be a bit better than Zhu Di, but he is not as talented as Zhu Di when it comes to fighting with soldiers.This is something that can't be helped, Zhu Chunwen's poems are the best among the princes, and it is impossible for a person to be omnipotent.

Zhu Di won the true biography of his father-in-law Xu Da in marching and fighting. Whether it is the overall plan or the grasp of the fighter, he is very precise.This time he led the army to the Northern Expedition, which lasted three months, defeated the Luting court, and captured the former Yuan Taiwei Naier Buhua, which can be regarded as a perfect mark for his first army expedition.

Although the actions of King Shu and King Yan over the years are quite different, they are equally remarkable. However, another strong contender for the position of the East Palace—— King Qin Zhu Xi, did something in the opposite direction.

Zhu Yu made many mistakes in the fief, and committed many incidents of occupying people's fertile land and beautiful concubines, and the evidence of the crime was conclusive, so he was ordered by Emperor Hongwu to return to Beijing to think about his mistakes.At the critical moment when several vassal kings were vying for the position of the East Palace, Zhu Xi made such an incident, which instantly deducted all his low points in the emperor's father's heart. Zhu Xi wanted to enter the East Palace. There is no more play.

Speaking of why Zhu Xi's fault was made public, I have to talk about the cause and effect——

After seeing the governor system proposed by Zhu Chun, Emperor Hongwu thought it was very good, so he wanted to choose a place to try it. After several discussions, this place was selected as Shaanxi.It doesn't matter what place you choose, but the person who served as the first governor is a bit intriguing. I don't know who Hongwu listened to and chose Zhu Yunqi.

When Zhu Chun got the news that Zhu Yunwen was inspecting Shaanxi under the order of the emperor, his expression was very meaningful. He stared at Xia Ziling for a long time before returning to the room without saying a word.

Zhu Yunqi has always given people the impression of being cute and weak like a little white rabbit. Everyone thought that his visit to Shaanxi this time was just going through the motions and didn't have high expectations. , really found something.

Zhu Yunwen stayed in Shaanxi for two months, and returned to Beijing to give Emperor Hongwu an eloquent article of dozens of pages.From the official administration and military status in Shaanxi to the taxation and living conditions of the people, Zhu Yunqi’s final evaluation of the officials of the Third Division of Shaanxi is that although there are minor flaws, they do not hide their merits. The officials of the Third Division of Shaanxi are conscientious and will Shaanxi is well governed.

But after talking about the officials of the third division, Zhu Yunqi’s highlight this time came—in addition to inspecting the officials of the third division, he also inspected his second uncle Qin Wang who was entrusted in Shaanxi, but the result of the investigation was not good. The King of Qin, Zhu Xi, was domineering and evil in the fief. No matter how successful the officials were, if his second uncle was so ruined, the reputation of the imperial court would be lost.

Zhu Yunqi listed several crimes against the King of Qin, which are all based on conclusive evidence, and there is no half-fabrication to truthfully tell the truth.When Emperor Hongwu saw it, he was furious, and immediately issued an imperial edict ordering Zhu Yu to return to Beijing to think about his mistakes.

After this incident, everyone had to re-examine Zhu Yunqi. You must know that he was only 14 years old at this time. The act of exposing King Qin's negligence made Emperor Hongwu feel that his eldest grandson was really an upright person.

After all these things came to an end, it was the middle of the year without knowing it. Zhu Yuanzhang was already sixty-two this year. People lived a long life in ancient times, and with the fact that Lao Zhu and Laomo only slept for two or three hours a day, it was unavoidable for civil and military officials to worry that the emperor might die at some point.

And the position of the Eastern Palace has been vacant for more than three years, and if it continues to be vacant, if one day Mount Tai collapses, the vassal kings who enfeoff all over the country will have military power in their hands, and they will fight for the throne. It is hard to settle down The society of more than [-] years will be in chaos again.

Therefore, admonishing the emperor to appoint a crown prince became the top priority of Hongwu officials, no, more precisely, it was the only thing at present.Not to mention the memorials flew to Emperor Hongwu's imperial court like snowflakes, and recently there were quite a few people who knelt down outside the palace gate and refused to die.

Today, in the early morning court, the left and right censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the top and bottom officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the thirteen censors who went to Beijing to report their duties knelt outside the Meridian Gate, imploring Emperor Hongwu to quickly establish a prince for the sake of the century-old Ming Dynasty.

Although Emperor Hongwu was used to doing things in his own way, he couldn't just sit idly by when nearly a hundred people knelt down to accept advice.So I talked with the censors outside the Meridian Gate for a long time, how important it is to register a prince, and he can't be careless, he will make up his mind as soon as possible.

Emperor Hongwu has been saying this sloppy thing for three years, how could he deal with it with a few clichés this time, with the combined efforts of the officials and officials, so the two censors remained unmoved and led the officials as usual He knelt down and couldn't get up, and only said one sentence in his mouth, "Please the emperor, for the sake of the country and the country, quickly establish the prince."

These speech officials didn't get a drop of water, Emperor Hongwu became angry after talking for a long time, so he ignored them and went back to Qianqing Palace.I thought that these speech officers would leave after kneeling for half a day, but I didn't expect that Nanjing and Japan would be very hot in summer. Not long after noon, the servant came to report in a panic——

"Your Majesty, Mr. Yang Zheng just fainted from the fever, and the slaves hurriedly carried him to a cool place to be examined by the imperial physician, but...but he couldn't be saved anymore."

Emperor Hongwu's expression turned serious. Yang Zhengzheng was the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. He was the leader of hundreds of officials. He was [-] years old this year. He died so suddenly outside the Meridian Gate. Reasonable, the officials are going to make a fuss, but they really want to call themselves a fool.