On 17 July, a 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck Changde Prefecture, Huguang, affecting Changsha, Baoqing, Yuezhou, Hengzhou, Jingzhou, and other prefectures, killing and injuring countless people in one fell swoop, and property losses were incalculable.

Huguang was now the most important grain-producing area in the empire, and the earthquake was so widespread and impactful that the cabinet quickly responded to the disaster.

Zhu Youxiao took the opportunity of this earthquake to formally propose the implementation of the new policy again at the court meeting. For Zhu Youxiao's proposal of the new policy again, the court has actually been prepared for a long time, and they all know that Zhu Youxiao will definitely carry out the new policy with the momentum of Jin's great victory after the Northern Expedition, and they have also thought of countermeasures, and this time the court has already reached an agreement.

"Do all Aiqing think that military reform should be implemented at this time? The other new policies should be postponed, and other new policies will be considered after the implementation of Article 5 of the new policies. Zhu Youxiao asked.

"Your Majesty, it is precisely because of Your Majesty's military reform that the empire has won the victory of the Northern Expedition, which shows that the military reform is not only effective, but also imminent." Sun Chengzong said.

"Since this is the case, then according to what everyone Aiqing said, implement military reform. At present, the four major governors of Shenyang, Jingshi, Chengdu and Jinan have been established, and the four major governors of Yingtian, Guangzhou, Luzon and Xi'an need to be established, a total of eight metropolitan governors, the eight major governors are under the unified jurisdiction of the metropolitan governor's office, and the metropolitan governor is still the British public Zhang Weixian, and the metropolitan governor's office is directly responsible to me, and the appointment and dismissal of its personnel is also decided by me. Zhu Youxiao said. Zhu Youxiao's principle is to always grasp military power in his own hands.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, Longen!" Zhang Weixian didn't expect that he would become a real power figure again, compared to before, but he is not directly commanding the army now, but the actual power has expanded compared to before.

"Lu Xiangsheng was appointed as the governor of the Yingtiandu Governor's Office, and the Yingtiandu Governor's Office led and commanded the military forces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, and Taiwan provinces, as well as Songjiang Prefecture, including 200,000 land forces and 50,000 East China Sea Navy, which was reorganized on the basis of the Fujian Navy." Zhu Youxiao said.

"Commander Longen!" Lu Xiangsheng said.

"The Xi'an Governor's Mansion is headed by Ma Shilong, and the Xi'an Governor's Office leads and commands the military forces of Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, with a standing strength of 100,000." Zhu Youxiao said.

Ma Shilong is now in Xi'an, and when the time comes, it will be conveyed through the holy decree.

"The Guangzhou Governor's Office was headed by Sun Chuanting, and the Guangzhou Governor's Office led and commanded the military forces of the four provinces of Huguang, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Qiongzhou, including 200,000 troops and 50,000 South China Sea navies." Zhu Youxiao said.

Sun Chuanting was still in Chengdu Mansion at this time, and he could only convey it through the Holy Decree.

"The Luzon Governor's Office is headed by Wang Mengxiong, and the Luzon Governor's Office is responsible for leading and commanding the military forces of Luzon and Lengzhou, with a standing strength of 100,000 troops and 50,000 Luzon Navy." Zhu Youxiao said.

……

Through this military reform, Zhu Youxiao not only achieved a complete separation of military and political affairs, but also controlled the total strength of the empire at 1.5 million. All the armies of the empire will be unified and reorganized according to the establishment of the new army, and Zhu Youxiao has raised the troop allocation of one division to 10,000 this time.

"Your Majesty, what should be done with the 120,000 officers and soldiers of Caoyun?" Han Yi asked.

"The Governor of Caoyun, the chief military officers, and the 120,000 officers and soldiers will be abolished, and the Yingtiandu Governor's Office will be responsible for reorganization." Zhu Youxiao said.

In the Qing Dynasty, the Cao Gang was already too big to fall, and the Cao Gang evolved into the later Qing Gang, and in the Qianlong period, the strength of the Cao Gang was so great that the government was helpless, and there was even a legend of "Qianlong joining the Gang".

"The Cao Yun involves a wide range of people, not only involving 120,000 officers and soldiers, but also the interests of the majority of the people." Han Yi said.

"I have decided to contract the transportation of grain to private merchants from next year, and they will be responsible for transporting grain, and I believe that they will definitely do a better job than the imperial court." Zhu Youxiao said.

"Your Majesty, this matter is related to the stability of the country, and you must not act rashly." Sun Chengzong said.

"A fixed amount of four million stone grain is transported every year, but in order to transport these four million stone grain, the imperial court costs millions of taels of silver dollars every year, and if it is handed over to a private merchant to be in charge of this matter, I believe that it will only take 30% of the cost at most to transport the grain to Jingshi. It can be seen how many corrupt officials Caoyun has to support, and I didn't care if I was greedy before, but whoever dares to obstruct the dismissal of Caoyun, don't blame me for turning my face and not recognizing people. Zhu Youxiao said coldly.

"Your Majesty, businessmen are mercenary, and they should not be trusted." Xue Sanxing said.

"Regarding the matter of the merchants' transportation of grain, I am in charge, and Lu Xiangsheng is in charge of the reorganization of the officers and soldiers of Caoyun." Zhu Youxiao said.

"Commandment." Lu Xiangsheng said.

"Salute first, then soldiers, I allow you to seconded 30,000 troops from the Beijing Governor's Mansion to go out of Beijing to deal with this matter." Zhu Youxiao said solemnly.

"No."

Zhu Youxiao's attitude has been very clear, he will do whatever it takes to remove Caoyun. The ministers are no longer entangled in the matter of Cao Yun.

……

After the court meeting, Li Qiyuan asked Gao Lao to return to his hometown, and now Li Qiyuan is 72 years old, and after Zhu Youxiao repeatedly retained him, he agreed to Li Qiyuan's resignation, and Sun Chengzong succeeded Li Qiyuan as deputy assistant to the cabinet.

On the second day, for the sake of Cao Yun, Zhu Youxiao specially summoned Zhang Guoji.

"I want to change the shipping to the sea, and leave the shipping to the merchants." Zhu Youxiao said.

"The minister has already heard that Caoyun can indeed save a lot of money by changing to sea transportation, but Caoyun involves the interests of many people, and I am afraid that no one dares to accept it." Zhang Guoji said.

"Merchants who are willing to undertake the sea will be designated as royal merchants, and royal merchants will be allowed to open private banks and in the future be allowed to engage in the tobacco business." Zhu Youxiao said.

"Tobacco?" Zhang Guoji asked suspiciously.

"Yes, it's tobacco leaves, and I'm going to monopolize tobacco leaves." Zhu Youxiao said.

"Why do you want to monopolize tobacco leaves?" Zhang Guoji asked incomprehensibly.

"It should be said that the monopoly on tobacco products. I am ready to open a cigarette factory in the Empire. Zhu Youxiao said.

Tobacco was introduced to China in the 16th century, at this time all people did not realize the harm of tobacco, at this time the records of tobacco in medical books are positive, known as "soul grass", "forget worry grass" and so on, and even in the "Food Materia Medica" also recorded that tobacco can be eaten as a meal, which also makes the smoke all over the southeast coast for decades. After Zhu Youxiao saw the tobacco from Luzon, he had the idea of opening a cigarette factory for the first time.

(End of chapter)