Chapter 74 Preparation for spring plowing

It's the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

The opening of the Yamen seems to indicate that the 10th year of Xuande has officially passed and the first year of Zhengtong has officially arrived.

But even so, the court was still a little lazy.

All the officials seemed to be intoxicated by the excitement of the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month and the Yanjiu Festival on the 19th day of the first lunar month, unable to extricate themselves.

Once I feel better, February will be around the corner.

In the second half of the first month, a major event was decided in the imperial court. In other words, the major event that Zhu Qizhen thought was worthy of his attention was the Beijing army's planting near Beijing.

When Zhu Qizhen heard the news, he had mixed feelings and didn't know what to say, especially that day was also the first time he summoned Yu Qian.

Yu Qian was trying his best to tactfully tell Zhu Qizhen about the Ming Dynasty's more than 3 million troops and 1.2 million deserters.

Zhu Qizhen thought he was calm. He was already well-educated, but after learning the news, he still had the urge to kill.

Of course he knew that this matter was the result of many factors from the Taizu Dynasty to the present. It was not the fault of any one person, nor could it be solved by killing one person or ten thousand people.

But he still wants to kill people.

Killing someone may not solve the problem, but it can at least vent your anger.

This news ruined Zhu Qizhen's good mood when he met Yu Qian for the first time.

If you look at this news together with the incident of planting in Beijing, Zhu Qizhen will feel even worse.

The reason is very simple. After learning that the number of people fleeing from various military bases was as high as 1.2 million, Zhu Qizhen no longer had any hope in the combat effectiveness of various military bases.

Maybe Yu Qian believed the estimate given by Yang Shiqi. But Zhu Qizhen didn't believe it. He would rather think the worst about these things.

Are Yang Shiqi’s data accurate?

Is there no concealment below?

He couldn't help but wonder if more than half of the guards below had already escaped.

If this happens, the hundreds of thousands of troops in the Beijing camp will be the only force the Ming Dynasty can rely on.

Now it is being cultivated in Beijing.

Of course I know that the imperial court is not doing very well financially, but it shouldn't be like that.

Zhu Qizhen took a deep breath for a long time, suppressed all kinds of emotions in his heart, and said: "Mr. Yu, do you have any advice for me on this matter?"

Yu Qian said: "I am too stupid to tell lies, but the King's Ministry of War actually intends to recruit troops instead of stationing troops."

After hearing this, Zhu Qizhen smiled slightly and said, "Where does the money come from?"

Yu Qian was speechless for a moment after hearing this. He could only say: "Your Majesty is wise."

Zhu Qizhen said: "I would rather not be wise."

Zhu Yuanzhang's garrison system claimed to be able to raise millions of soldiers at no cost.

But in fact, the imperial court did not have no expenditures. Many people cannot tell how much land the Ming Dynasty guards occupied. There were one-eighth and some half.

Anyway, if these lands could be moved together, they would definitely cover more than one or two provinces.

The imperial court gave up this large amount of land tax.

Let’s not talk about these invisible losses for now. Among the various expenditures of the imperial court, there is actually no expenditure on raising soldiers. If soldiers are recruited, it will be an expenditure in addition to expenses.

Now that the imperial court is still overwhelmed, Yang Rong is determined to know the importance of the Beijing Camp, but the cabinet still agrees that the Beijing Camp will be planted near Beijing.

This shows that Ming Dynasty’s finances are not optimistic.

Zhu Qizhen sighed in his heart. Financial problems are a barometer of a country's politics. In many cases, as long as there are no financial problems, even if there are some problems elsewhere, the court can still support it.

This is especially true for the Ming Dynasty.

It's just that this problem cannot be solved by Zhu Qizhen today.

Zhu Qizhen changed the subject and said, "Can Yu Qian grow rice?"

Yu Qian said: "I am from Qiantang, and I went to the fields when I was young. I'm just not very familiar with it."

Zhu Qizhen said: "In that case, just follow me and have a look."

Zhu Qizhen gave the order and the group left the Qianqing Palace and all the way out of the Forbidden City before they all mounted their horses.

Many people think that the Imperial Palace is only the Forbidden City. In fact, it is not the case. The Forbidden City is just the Imperial City, and there is a palace city outside the Imperial City.

The palace city is larger than that of the imperial dynasty, and there are several lakes in it, which Beijingers call the sea, namely the famous Beihai, Nanhai and Zhongnanhai.

There are a large area of ​​gardens and palaces, which are often mentioned in history books as Xiyuan, Nannei, Beiyuan, etc.

The Empress Dowager will not let Zhu Qizhen leave the palace. But now, the homework that the Empress Dowager has prepared for Zhu Qizhen is farming. Of course, this farming does not require Zhu Qizhen to go to the fields himself, but at least Zhu Qizhen must watch people working. .

Let Zhu Qizhen know the hardships of the people.

But there is no such a big place in the palace.

If you find a place in the palace to cultivate land, it is possible, but at worst, a certain garden will be eradicated. This can be regarded as an old story of Emperor Taizu.

When Emperor Taizu was in Nanjing, no flowers were planted in the palace, but all crops and vegetables were grown. As a result, most of the expenses in the palace were produced and sold by oneself, and no purchases were made from outside.

The Empress Dowager simply asked Zhu Qizhen to choose a place in Xiyuan and go on an outing.

Zhu Qizhen led more than a hundred guards to support him. Yu Qian followed behind him, all riding horses. He went west and arrived at the lake not far away, looking at the vast ocean. Zhu Qizhen was in a good mood.

Today there are no large palaces here.

It looks extremely light and refreshing.

Now the ice and snow have begun to melt. There are already some water birds flying above the lake.

Zhu Qizhen couldn't help itching his hands, so he took out his bow and arrow and prepared to shoot. When Yu Qian saw this, he said: "Your Majesty, no, there is no hunting in spring."

After Zhu Qizhen heard this, he immediately said: "I know I was wrong." He asked his left and right men to put away their bows and arrows.

Spring is a time when birds and beasts reproduce, and many birds and beasts are pregnant. It would be unkind to hunt.

In fact, Zhu Qizhen didn't care too much.

After all, Zhu Qizhen could shoot a few of them himself. Zhu Qizhen even estimated that with his archery skills, he might miss his arrows. After all, practicing archery is not an easy task.

It takes hard practice. Zhu Qizhen can only shoot the bow and arrow now. As for the accuracy, forget it. And he can't shoot far. This is not a problem of Zhu Qizhen's talent.

It's just that he is weak.

However, as an emperor, it is politically correct to benevolent to birds and beasts.

Zhu Qizhen has long been used to this kind of thing. Under the education of the Empress Dowager, Zhu Qizhen keeps these two words in mind every day.

The more you are in front of outsiders, the more careful you are.

Zhu Qizhen said: "Mr. Yu, do you think we can open fields nearby?"

Yu Qian looked at it and said: "This place is close to the water. Although the soil quality is not very good, if you want to open up wasteland, it is possible."

Zhu Qizhen said: "Ruan An."

Ruan An immediately stepped out of the queue and said, "My slave is here."

Wang Zhen looked at Ruan An and couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

Now Wang Zhen, Jin Ying, and Ruan An have become the new giants among eunuchs.

Needless to say, Wang Zhen and Jin Ying, Zhu Qizhen hired Ruan An not because of his intention, but because he found that the person in the palace who could really get things done was Ruan An.

After all, when the city of Beijing was built with the greatest effort, there were as many as 700,000 people, and Ruan An was able to arrange it properly.

It can be said that with such ability, it would not be an exaggeration in Zhu Qizhen's view to place a feudal official.

But Ruan An is a eunuch after all.

When Zhu Qizhen wanted to do something, he just asked, Ruan An was definitely the best at it, if nothing else.

Ruan An has done all these things including building roads, building thermal pavilions, and farmland water conservancy. He is a first-rate builder. These things are all done with ease.

Zhu Qizhen naturally had one miracle after another fall on Ruan An.

As long as Zhu Qizhen makes a request, Ruan An can handle it properly. He has always satisfied Zhu Qizhen, Party A. In this case, if Zhu Qizhen doesn't use Ruan An, who should he use?

Zhu Qizhen said: "I want to open a hundred acres of fields here. All the crops that I can grow in Ming Dynasty must be grown here, especially rice. I will leave this matter to you."

There is still some time before spring plowing, so you need to hurry up and not miss the weather. The canals and waterwheels must be repaired. You must also leave room for the future."

Ruan An immediately said: "This slave accepts the order."
Chapter completed!