Kang Hai and others are indeed a little ashamed, they are all elites who came out of the road of the imperial examination, and they have also passed all the way through the officialdom to the point of today's extremely popular ministers, and the flattery of their colleagues and their own experience make them instinctively feel that they are the pillars of the country, and they govern the country with the belief that the worries of the world before and the joy of the world after the world are happy.

However, they also did not think that governing the country required officials in this regard, and they also had to know the amount of coal produced in the empire, and even the number of mines opened and the number of people who died in mining disasters every year, and also had to deal with the problem of the loss of mineral resources.

Kang Hai also had to admit that the questions that Emperor Zhu Houzhao was asking now were indeed very important, and even the neglect of his own courtiers today would lead to the collapse of tomorrow.

"What crimes can I cure you, the law does not stipulate what punishment the courtiers will have if they fail to govern, I just want to warn you, as a ruler, take precautions, although some things are difficult but you can't do nothing, you must dare to be the first in the world, even if you can't do it temporarily, you must learn to investigate, so that you know in your heart."

Zhu Houzhao saw that these courtiers all lowered their heads, and it was not easy for him to turn a prelude into a criticism meeting, so he softened his tone.

Kang Hai and the others also breathed a sigh of relief: "The ministers must obey the holy decree!" ”

"Okay, let's get down to business, let's talk about the problem of land use outside the Sai, now I and Zhongqing have reached an agreement, knowing that the only way to develop land that can be used at present is to develop minerals, so as to solve the problem of rising demand for ore brought about by the use of steam engines;

However, at present, we are encountering a difficult problem that if the minerals that have been opened in the customs are not stopped, it will be difficult to achieve this goal, after all, once the mining in the customs is not stopped, the people in the customs will not buy the mines outside the gates, and the merchants in the customs will not be willing to come to the mines outside the gates. ”

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, he looked at the ministers present.

After thinking for a long time, Zhang Xuan stood up: "Your Majesty, as the chief said, now the miners in the Guannei whether gentry or the common people make a living from this, if the court bans it, it is equivalent to cutting off their way of life, and the ministers think that this will only force the people to rebel." ”

"As for the mining tax, I can allow them to open mines in the Guannei, but they must pay taxes to make up for the losses of the imperial court, and at the same time establish a pension system to give heavy pensions to the dead miners," Zhu Houzhao asked.

"I'm afraid that the gentry and the common people will also act because of tax resistance", Xia Yan also replied at this time, he had to admit that the emperor's idea was very right, but he also had to admit that whether it was a ban on mining or a ban on mining or allowing mining to only collect mining taxes would provoke a popular uprising.

"Is it just to watch the destruction of cultivated land due to mining, and just watch the loss of publicly owned mineral property, and let these private officials and gentry accumulate wealth by mining to deter the imperial court? We have to come up with a solution to this matter, ban mining or collect mining taxes, choose one! ”

Zhu Houzhao said angrily.

Kang Hai couldn't help but hang his head, although he was the first assistant of the cabinet, he really didn't dare to choose any of them, because he knew that no matter which one he chose, he was going against the gentry and people of the world, and if it really caused a big change, he, the first assistant, would be unable to escape the blame.

Zhang Xuan and Xia Yan also fell into deep thought, and they naturally understood that no matter which one they chose for this kind of thing, they were challenging the entire interest group.

But they also know that if they don't do this and let it go, it will also make the Ming Dynasty ruined by the gentry and people who opened mines without permission, and now it is just that the Ming Dynasty will have to give up many military strategic places and mineral-rich territories outside the Seychelles, but in the long run, there will be more and more landless displaced people in the Ming Dynasty, once there is a famine, the imperial court is unable to provide relief because of the sharp decline in money and grain income, and the civil change caused by it is terrible.

"The gentry and the common people in this pass are like a stubborn disease that grows in my Daming, if it is not solved at this time, it will be more difficult to solve it after a long time, and even make my Daming terminally ill because of this!"

Wang Tingxiang, the head of the household, added at this time.

Zhu Houzhao nodded, and only said: "Governing a big country is like cooking a small fresh, this kind of thing naturally can't be finalized at once, the best way is to let the whole world discuss and discuss, after all, this peaceful and prosperous world in the world is not something that I need to maintain alone, but also needs to be maintained by the people of the whole world, but obviously this is also unrealistic, the people are busy with their livelihoods, and the scholars are mostly scholars, businessmen only focus on profit, and the discussion can't get a result, which still requires us in power to make the most reasonable result, so I decided." ……”

Zhu Houzhao paused when he said this, and the courtiers hurriedly turned around and asked, "Please show your majesty!" ”

Although it is difficult to have the most clean civil officials in the world, but in the current Ming Dynasty, the quality and ability of civil officials are not as in the late Wanli period in history, and they only know how to make profits for their own small groups, and even like Chongzhen, they have begun to consider the next family, and the civil officials at this time still put the interests of the court and the people in mind.

Even, in history, fifty or sixty years later, there will be a group of civil officials who will revolutionize their own class, no matter how unrealistic the reforms of these civil officials are, but even if they betray their own class and damage their own interests, even if they are great figures, even if they will fail, they can still give the dynasty a life for decades.

Zhu Houzhao believes that there can be such civil officials in the early Wanli period in history, and in the nineteenth year of Zhengde today, there should also be such civil officials, and maybe even more, in fact, they already exist, such as Ma Wensheng, Jiao Fang, and Zhang Xuan and Xia Yan, who stood in the court at this time and repeatedly asked to prohibit the noble gentry from accepting contributions.

At this time, Kang Hai, Zhang Xuan, Xia Yan and other courtiers also admitted that His Majesty the Emperor said that the gentry and common people in the Guannei had to open mines without permission must be resolved, and they all admitted that although they did not dare to face the difficulties when they thought of these behaviors were dereliction of duty, they did not know what to do, and now the only thing they can be sure of is to unswervingly follow the emperor's decision, and always take the emperor's instructions as the core, since your majesty the emperor you want to take the lead in dealing with this stubborn disease, Naturally, you, who are ministers, will follow you without hesitation and be the vanguard for you.

"I decided to let you follow the previous example, go out for a walk, Shoufu Kanghai, I know that you are not good at general affairs, you stay in Beijing to continue to preside over the affairs of the school department and the Ministry of Rites, the second assistant Zhang Xuan, you have been outside the Saiwai, but now I want you to go out of the Guannei, go out of Tongguan and enter Shu, go from Yungui to Guangxi, from Huguang to southern Fujian, northern Zhejiang, and then return to Beijing, these places are mostly barren mountainous areas, and the people mostly make a living from mining, you go to investigate them, ask them what they think, and seek the best solution!"

After Zhu Houzhao said, Zhang Xuan also had to admit that His Majesty the Emperor was indeed more thoughtful than himself, and would decide to investigate first and then make a conclusion.

Before becoming an official, he always thought that Dongchang was an institution that should not exist than Jinyiwei, because Dongchang had no other meaning except to set up a private court to destroy the imperial court decrees, but he no longer wanted His Majesty the Emperor to ban Dongchang.

He had to admit that Dongchang was now investigating and counting various data, such as the number of deaths in mining accidents, the number of widows illegally executed by the gentry clan, and the number of female babies abandoned by the people, all of which were of great help to the empire's governance.

"Obey the order!"

Zhang Xuan received the decree, and he also admitted that whether these mines in the Guannai were banned or banned, the most important thing to care about was not the gentry, but the people in these agricultural and industrial underdeveloped areas.

"Sanfu Xia Yan, you have been in the south for the most recent and are familiar with the situation of maritime trade, but now I want you to go out to patrol and survey the minerals outside the Saiwai, if the mining outside the Saiwai is opened and the mining in the customs is banned, can it meet the needs of Daming minerals, and see how much it costs to open a mine outside the Saiwai, if it is a private businessman, how much loan the imperial court needs to prepare at that time, in addition, to see how many miners can be satisfied, by the way, compare which is better between the official camp and the private operation of the imperial court only tax."

After Zhu Houzhao said, Xia Yan also received the decree, and when he hung the title of Nanyang minister, he had his own group of staff teams who were familiar with various government affairs, some were familiar with navigation, some were familiar with money law, some were familiar with exploration, and some were familiar with statistics, so he did not feel embarrassed when Zhu Houzhao gave him such a task.

"Of course, Shoufu Kangqing staying in Beijing does not care about this matter at all, the capital is mostly noble gentry, you can also ask their opinions, I know that these people are all wealthy families, one by one to the Ming Dynasty is either meritorious or related to the royal family, moving their knives will make them feel uncomfortable, but let them know that the people can do without the Ming Dynasty, the big deal is to change the dynasty and continue to be the common people, but they can't do without the Ming Dynasty."

After Zhu Houzhao said, Kang Hai also received the order.

And Zhu Houzhao then said: "I also have a decision, the Ministry of Household has to set up an audit office, add a waiter to be responsible for the audit office, specifically responsible for the audit and control of state-owned assets, not only minerals but also forests, land, sea areas, etc., this by the Ministry of Household Shangshu Wang Tingxiang to build a team, the main hall of the Audit Office is hung with the title of Household Department Zuo Shilang, by the cabinet and the ministries of Shangshu and left and right are all Yu Shi Ting, I hope that by the 20th year of Zhengde next year, I can know the actual annual steel production of Daming, The actual production of coal also includes the known reserves of various minerals. ”

When Wang Tingxiang heard this, he hurriedly received the order, thinking that this time he had to go to major universities to recruit students who were good at arithmetic and geography, and it was becoming more and more difficult for Confucian scholars to be useful.

But at this time, Zuodu Yushi Jin Xianmin still couldn't help but stand up: "Your Majesty, let the cabinet ministers go out to patrol the place, of course, they can ask the people about the sufferings of the people, and know the hidden dangers of the society, but the ministers think that the central ministers are not suitable to go out of Beijing, and all the big people cross the border, which is a matter of tiring the people. ”

Jin Xianmin's meaning, Zhu Houzhao can also understand, he also knows that whether it is himself, the emperor or these courtiers in front of him, once he goes out to patrol the place, it will inevitably make the local officials and people have to work hard, in Zhu Houzhao's memory, in the future generations of leaders to visit, will cause schools or companies to suspend classes and businesses in advance, clean up, and block traffic to strengthen security, not to mention the current Ming Dynasty.

"What you say is reasonable, but the cabinet ministers can't be listed in the temple like Arhats and don't know about general affairs, although it is inevitable to disturb the people, but as long as the cabinet ministers come in accordance with the rules of the imperial court, it will not hurt much, and I will now strictly order again, no free conscription of people, all expenses are used public funds, so that even if the people are disturbed for a while, the people can benefit for a while."

As soon as Zhu Houzhao said this, Jin Xianmin couldn't say anything more.

The ministers left the Royal West Garden one after another, and Zhu Houzhao was also tired, lying on the dragon collapse and looking at the blue sky in a daze, still thinking that outside the Great Wall was already a snowy place, and he didn't want Daming to really have to give up the northern outside of the fortress because of the inability to rectify the mining industry in the Guannei.

But Zhu Houzhao also knows that the rectification of the mining industry is not a thing that can be accomplished overnight, he very much hopes that Zhang Xuan and Xia Yan can find the best way to rectify the mining industry, and also hopes that with the establishment of the Ministry of Household Audit, the Ming Dynasty can have a more scientific basis for dealing with the state in the future, and also know which aspects need to be reformed.

Zhu Houzhao closed his eyes, enjoying the gentle breeze from outside the palace gate, and seemed to have a trace of the body fragrance of the palace maid, and at this time, Zhu Houzhao felt that his shoulder was pressed up, and he couldn't help grabbing the jade hand on his shoulder, so he opened his eyes and saw that it was Queen Xia, so he directly raised his head and got up and choked Xia's plump lips.

Xia's familiar turn over fell into Zhu Houzhao's arms, and each other danced in the warm winter sun.

When the sun fell, the first piece of winter snow landed on the vermilion eaves, the winter day was always darker than the summer, Zhu Houzhao also pulled away from the body of the queen Xia, got up and walked into the wooden barrel that Gong'e had prepared, soaking in the hot water that exuded the fragrance of flowers, while letting the queen Xia, who had just received the rain and dew, pour the hot water on himself with a soft jade hand, and touch it once he poured it, while listening to the queen Xia: "How many cows have been cultivated in Xihua Mountain at the moment?" ”

"There are already tens of thousands of cows, and now we have to go to new pastures, otherwise there will not be enough to graze these cows," replied Queen Xia.

"I plan to give the grassland of Hulunbuir to your Xihuashan Dairy, you let the people of the Imperial Horse Prison go to Hulunbuir to breed dairy cows, and strive for the people of the Ming Dynasty to drink milk in the future, and then the animal husbandry of these grasslands will also have a new space for development!"

As soon as Zhu Houzhao said this, Queen Xia couldn't help but smile: "In this way, the milk produced by the concubine can also make some contributions to the Ming Dynasty." ”

"That's natural, but the milk produced by your queen can be drunk, but the milk on your body can only be touched by me", in the inner court, Zhu Houzhao also changed his seriousness in front of the ministers and laughed with the queen, and the queen Xia blushed and pushed Zhu Houzhao away: "It's already that, Your Majesty, can you be more modest." ”

"After coming back from Mobei, I haven't seen the taste of this place for several months, so it is inevitable that this will be the case", after Zhu Houzhao said, the queen just glared at Zhu Houzhao with disgust, then widened the phoenix robe and walked into the barrel.

"I plan to go to Jiangnan once", Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but say to the queen early the next morning.

The queen was a little surprised: "Why did Your Majesty go to Jiangnan?" ”

"The towns in the south of the Yangtze River are developing very rapidly, the urban population rate is very high, the number of workers is also very high, the proportion of land for cash crops exceeds that of grain crops, and it is the place with the most gentry.

Zhu Houzhao remembers very well that there must be a special topic on the development of Jiangnan towns in the history of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and it is called the germ of capitalism by many people.

One of the two ministers went out to patrol the pass, and the other went out to patrol the pass, and they both showed their identities, Zhu Houzhao could guess that this should have attracted the attention of most people in the world, and he happened to take advantage of this to secretly go to Jiangnan.

After Zhu Houzhao arrived in Tongzhou, he informed Kang Hai, the head of the cabinet, that he had left Beijing, so as to avoid letting Kang Hai know in advance and causing some officials to prevent him from leaving the capital.

However, Kang Hai did not feel too surprised and nervous after knowing that Zhu Houzhao had left Beijing, and he had been accustomed to Emperor Zhu Houzhao's frequent departure from the capital after standing in the court for many years, and he now had to pay attention to the reactions of the magnates to the private mining of the people in Guannai.

"From Kong's point of view, whether it is a strict ban on mining or the collection of mining taxes, it is difficult to do, after all, no matter what you do, it is to compete with the people for profit, as for the safety of the community, to say something that should not be said, since ancient times, you and me, the scholars, will still be reused even if the country changes the dynasty, so why risk the world's disapproval."

Kong Wen, a scholar who wandered among the important ministers and magnates in the capital, said to Kang Tian, a disciple of Kang Hai.

"That being said, according to the meaning of our lord, since he is a prince, he naturally has to do his best, and the change of dynasty will inevitably lead to misery, and the peaceful and prosperous era is what everyone thinks, how can he sit back and watch the world chaos in the future because he does not dare to compete with the people, not to mention that my lord is also the first assistant, so he naturally has to work more for the peace of the people! It's not a foolish ear to the Zhu family! Kang Tian also replied softly.

"Shoufu is well aware of the righteousness, Kong is admired, but no matter what the mining industry does, it is not conducive to the community, and inaction is the best, Kong believes that Zhang Gong and Xia Guild who will go out on patrol will understand the difficulties here", Kong Wenhe said.

Kang Hai here learned from Kang Tiankou that Kong Wenhe's views on the mining matter, although on the surface of the ancient well Wubo, but also a lot of helplessness in the heart, but also hope that the illegal mining of the people in the Guannai can be solved instead of laissez-faire, after the court discussed politics, he has a clear understanding of what kind of consequences will be brought by laissez-faire, but he has to admit that even the sage descendant Kong Wenhe is such a thought, it can be seen that the scholars of the world are only afraid that the court would rather let the people open mines in violation of the ban and perish when the time comes, rather than sacrifice their own interests.

However, Xu Guangzuo, the Duke of Dingguo, also expressed his opinion at this time, and said to Kang Hai: "Xu believes that this mining industry naturally cannot be banned, after all, there are many small people in the world who make a living from it, and it is better to directly ban the mining tax, but the noble family should be treated preferentially by the imperial court, so it should naturally be tax-exempt." ”

Kang Hai only smiled awkwardly when he heard this, thinking that Xu Guangzuo had a good wishful thinking, and he didn't want the Ming Dynasty to be impoverished in the future because of the loss of mineral assets, but he didn't want to pay mining taxes, and he used the guise that the nobles should be treated preferentially.

Zhu Houzhao couldn't laugh after receiving Kang Hai's remarks about Kong Wenhe and Xu Guangzuo, and only threw a pebble in his hand into the canal, he could imagine how much resistance he encountered whether it was a mining tax or a strict ban on mining.

Now Zhu Houzhao has arrived in Linqing, an important canal town, although he has not yet reached the south of the Yangtze River, he can already hear the continuous roar of steam engines in this important canal town, as well as the white vapor that almost wants to cover the blue sky.

However, at this time, Zhu Houzhao found that there was a ship full of coal moored at the dock of Linqing Town, Zhu Houzhao asked Jin Yiwei to inquire, and after a while, Jin Yiwei came back and said: "Your Majesty, according to the porters at the wharf, this is the coal of Yanshenggong's mansion, Yanshenggong has a coal factory in Dongchang, and it is now ready to be transported to Baoding for sale." ”

Zhu Houzhao was in a worse mood, thinking that he had removed Kong Wenshao's title of Yansheng Gongfu, and the people actually called him Yanshenggong, and it was really a hundred-legged insect that died but did not stiffen, but Zhu Houzhao was more interested in this Kong Wenshao's coal mine operation, after all, he was worried about the gentry and the common people who were forbidden to open mines.

"Let's go, go and see this Confucian coal mine", so Zhu Houzhao made a will.

When Zhu Houzhao came to the Kongjia Coal Mine in Dongchang Mansion, he saw that the entire mine still maintained the original forest landform except for the east and west ends, and the gentle slope in the middle had been dug with holes, and a field under his feet had been filled with cinders, only some ridges were slightly exposed, and no less than a thousand miners were picking out the coal basket by basket under the whipping of some overseers.

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but shake his head when he saw this, thinking that a Confucian family was still mining such a large coal mine, and he didn't know how many powerful people in the world were devouring state-owned assets and destroying cultivated land, mining and burning mountains.

"Let you escape, according to the rules of the house, all your hands and feet will be cut off, and thrown into the coal pit and buried alive!"

But at this time, Zhu Houzhao saw five or six ragged people in front of him being escorted over by a group of Kong family slaves, and one of them was still whipping and still reprimanding, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but order: "Go and inquire, what's going on?" ”

The next day, a brocade guard ran back and said: "Back to Your Majesty, it is the people of Qufu, I heard that they want to go to the south to make a living, but they were arrested by the Confucian family to serve the Kong family, because Qufu Zhixian is the Confucian family, so they can serve the people of Qufu, but the Confucian family only serves the people but does not pay the people, so there are many people in Qufu who flee, most of them flee to work in Jiangnan, and the Confucian family prohibits these people from escaping, and the clan covenant stipulates that people with the surname Confucius in Qufu are prohibited from escaping, otherwise they will be punished for the crime of betraying the clan!" Most of Qufu are surnamed Kong, so this clan covenant can restrict the people of Qufu from fleeing, but it is still difficult to suppress the phenomenon of fleeing, but those who do not succeed in fleeing naturally find it difficult to avoid being severely punished by the clan covenant. ”