After Guo Yunhou, the secretary of the household department, finished the report, it was Gong Yonggu, Yang Shouchun and Xu Guangqi who reported the profits of the Royal Industrial Company, the Royal Bank and Huangzhuang this year. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Although the heads of these three state-capital enterprises have the official title of household department, they are only responsible to Zhu Youxiao.

Moreover, Zhu Youxiao is still the largest controlling shareholder, so the ministers present can only listen and know the basic situation, but there is no way to interfere with His Majesty's income.

However, in many cases, it is the internal treasury that replenishes the treasury, so it is difficult for ministers to say anything even if they want to.

But on the whole, the finances of the eighth year of the Apocalypse are obviously much better than the seventh year of the Apocalypse, and the imperial court has surplus money to benefit the world.

Next is the Ministry of War's report on the military strength and national defense of the Ming Dynasty.

Since Lu Xiangsheng, the secretary of the military department, is now in charge of the affairs of Liaodong and Denglai, the person who presides over the daily affairs of the military department is replaced by Yang Sichang, the left attendant of the military department.

Yang Sichang has a good memory, and he is the only minister among the six ministers who does not have a booklet.

Yang Sichang saluted Zhu Youxiao with the elephant wat in his hand, a few degrees more than Shangshu Lu Xiangsheng, and when he reported on the entire Ming border defense situation and the number of troops and food expenses, he was also full of words and gushing.

According to Yang Sichang's report, Zhu Youxiao increased the number of the entire army a lot after removing the chief military officer and allowing the chief military officer of the nine border towns to recruit troops independently.

Among them, the original border army of about 200,000 has increased to more than 300,000.

But most of them were tuntian soldiers, no different from ordinary people, except that they farmed and paid rent to their respective officers.

However, the newly added officers and men were recruited in strict accordance with the standards of professional soldiers, and Zhu Youxiao also issued a special decree for this purpose, and put forward several principled instructions for the recruitment of the chief military officers in the border towns.

Zhu Youxiao's main purpose in allowing Cao Wenzhao, Zhou Yuji, Zhao Shujiao, and others to recruit troops was to enhance the combat effectiveness of the border army, and in the case that they generally raised private soldiers, Zhu Youxiao only explicitly allowed the border army generals to recruit private soldiers.

Of course, this will definitely lead to the emergence of warlords, but the emergence of warlords cannot be curbed by allowing them to recruit troops.

With the increase in the frequency of wars, even if Zhu Youxiao did not promote the status of the warriors, the status of the warriors became important because the way of survival changed from non-violence to violence.

Moreover, compared with letting the Manchus enter the customs and the fate of the nation, it is nothing to make these military aristocratic forces stronger, not to mention that Zhu Youxiao himself recruited troops and established the Royal Praetorian Guard, which can be regarded as the largest military aristocracy in the empire. If Da Ming really turns into a violent group one day, then he is the biggest warlord in it.

Therefore, Zhu Youxiao did not have to worry about Cao Wenzhao and others becoming a military group, and they would be like Guan Ningjun and Zuo Liangyu in history to the imperial court.

Not only because these chief military officers were loyal ministers who had been tested by historical development, but more importantly, although Zhu Youxiao allowed them to recruit soldiers, their salaries, weapons and equipment, and official promotions were still firmly controlled by themselves.

Not only that, according to Zhu Youxiao's plan, once the border troubles are eliminated in the future, or the size of the Praetorian Guard reaches a certain level, that is, it is fully capable of taking over the important task of national defense of the entire Ming Dynasty, the outstanding officers and soldiers of these warlords will be disrupted and integrated into the Praetorian Guard, while the others will be eliminated.

At present, most of the ace armies of the chief military officers of these border towns have also replaced their flintlock pistols, and they have also been reorganized in the manner of the Praetorian Guard, paying attention to ideological education and propaganda, and emphasizing discipline.

But they also have their own characteristics, such as Cao Wenzhao's Qin soldiers dare to fight to the end, Mangui's Meng-Han hybrid army is good at cavalry combat, and Mao Wenlong's Dongjiang soldiers are more good at long-distance raids and big roundabout sports warfare after Lu Xiangsheng appeared.

Since it involved the military affairs of the Ministry of War, Zhu Youxiao turned to look at Man Gui at this time.

The restless Man Gui smiled embarrassedly, and wanted to stand up and salute Zhu Youxiao, but Zhu Youxiao pressed back again: "Sit down well and take out the bearing of a first-class master!" ”

Saying that, Zhu Youxiao asked Man Gui with a smile: "Man Gui, how many troops do you have, how many cavalry, how many auxiliaries, the soldiers can eat well and dress warmly, especially those Mongolian heroes who serve the Ming Dynasty like you, but they are still used to it, whether the credit has been taken away and the food and salary have not been paid." ”

The king of Liaodong Jingluo, who was sitting under Sun Chengzong, saw that His Majesty asked Man Gui like this in Jin, and his heart couldn't help but tighten, Man Gui is now a general under his command, and he is in moderation when he dispatches money and grain.

Man Gui did not expect that His Majesty would personally inquire about himself and his subordinates, and his heart was naturally greatly moved, although he and his Mongolian officers and soldiers were still good at archery and horse archery, but in fact they were no different from the soldiers and civilians of Liaodong, they had official positions in the imperial court and their own farmland in the local area.

"Back to Your Majesty, the last general has 20,000 cavalry and 30,000 auxiliary soldiers, and with His Majesty's blessing and the care of the marshal, the last general and the soldiers are very good, and the morale is also very high, everyone is waiting for the day when they can go out of the customs to kill the enemy for Your Majesty."

It is precisely because they want to protect their homeland and safeguard their own interests that they will be determined to serve the Ming Dynasty, and he did not say it directly because of the fact that the king of Liaodong Jingluo detained some of the military sounds and some rewards and punishments in Jinke, first, because of the reason of the noble and lowly martial arts; The second is that Wang Zaijin is already good compared to his predecessor Yuan Chonghuan.

After all, it has long become a common saying that for border generals, they are not afraid of civilian corruption and are afraid of civilian officials being lenient.

And Yuan Chonghuan belongs to the latter, and Wang Zaijin belongs to the former.

Wang Zaijin saw that Man Gui did not take advantage of this to slander Zhu Youxiao, and he was relieved in his heart, and began to secretly admire Man Gui, thinking that he would go to Shanhaiguan in the future, and he would definitely share weal and woe more than before, at least he could not despise Man Gui, after all, it seems that His Majesty attaches no less importance to him than he is a civil official.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Wang Zaijin, and saw Man Gui say this, and nodded approvingly in his heart: "This is very good, there is a way that civil officials are not greedy for money, military generals are not afraid of death, it is a sign of prosperity for the country, as a border town minister, we should keep this in mind, and more importantly, do not hinder each other, we must be in the same boat, understand each other, be lenient, civil officials should not be arrogant, and military attaches should not be cowardly!" ”

Lu Xiangsheng, Sun Chuanting, Wang Zaijin and other governors, as well as Man Gui, Mao Wenlong, Zhao Shujiao, etc., all responded: "Yes!" ”

Next is the report of the Ministry of Rites, and compared to the other six ministries, the Ministry of Rites has not been idle this year.

From the meeting examination and the palace examination at the beginning of the year, to the denial of the Confucian sect of the Northern Sect and the establishment of the Confucian sect of the Southern Sect from the ritual system, to the present Majesty's sacrifice to the filial piety tomb, and the drastic reduction of the privileges of the imperial family and nobles, and the joint ministry to arrange a large number of literati and gentry to go to backward areas to reform and support teaching, etc., can be regarded as a decisive event.

Qian Qianyi, as the head of the cabinet and at the same time in charge of the Ministry of Rites, although it seems that he has not done a few earth-shattering things, but the Ministry of Rites, which he presided over together with Li Mingrui and Wen Tiren, has undertaken the legal interpretation and promotion of these deviant acts of His Majesty today.

There are many civil officials who are dissatisfied with Zhu Youxiao, the emperor, but none of them say that he is building a lot of buildings.

However, in fact, the Ministry of Industry has been building large projects, but because Zhu Youxiao paid for it himself, it was not taken out by the civil officials.

For example, the construction of Liangjing Avenue cost a lot of money, but it was the government at all levels that was responsible for the fees, and it was the big businessmen behind them who enjoyed the benefits of convenient transportation.

The focus of the role of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Six Sections has obviously shifted from restricting the emperor to monitoring hundreds of officials, and the matters reported by them are only reports on the number of officials and local officials impeached, and there is no mention of the affairs of the court, especially the number of times he has admonished His Majesty.

Originally, the Hanlin Academy should not be linked to the new changes, but since Zhu Youxiao regarded the Hanlin Academy as the Ming version of the Academy of Social Sciences, the Hanlin Academy now not only represents the nobility and honor, but also has become the official interpretation authority of a series of social science issues.

Now, Zhu Youxiao has also assigned them a new task, in addition to revising history and writing books and biographies for various figures in the Ming Dynasty, he also has to cooperate with the household department to survey the total population of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ministry of Rites to determine the literacy rate and illiteracy rate of the Ming Dynasty, and even cooperate with Qin Tianjian to do climatological statistics.

In short, Zhu Youxiao's purpose is to no longer make the Hanlin Academy just a place to raise his hope, and he wants to let him have more functions.

What the Royal Academy of Sciences and the Royal Academy of Engineering are doing now, not to mention, now even Zhu Youxiao himself can't remember how many topics these two academies are currently on, anyway, he remembers that the current Royal Academy of Sciences is already exploring the question of what light is, and even has started a debate about whether light is a particle or an invisible wave like sound.

The Royal Academy of Engineering was a little more pragmatic, but what Zhu Youxiao remembered most was that a member of the Academy of Engineering named Wan Long Cheng Xuanlang applied for the bold conjecture of collecting lightning through some kind of container. Zhu Youxiao was very pleased that the Ming Dynasty could have such avant-garde people and began to ponder the thing of electricity, just as Wan Hu, who had the same surname as him, dared to make a rocket and send himself to the sky.

For the two scientific research institutions of the Royal Academy of Sciences and the Royal Academy of Engineering, Zhu Youxiao has always been laissez-faire, even if the imperial history impeached them for damaging the dragon vein for doing an explosion experiment, Zhu Youxiao didn't do anything to them, and even sent the imperial history to prison for punishment, and the charges naturally confuse the public.

Therefore, for this kind of collection of thunder and lightning, Zhu Youxiao did not stop it, but he still approved Zhu on the performance of the subject application: "Although I am righteous, but the thunder and lightning mother are ruthless, pay attention to safety!" ”

Finally, there are reports from the Ordnance Department and Guozijian, as well as Dali Temple, Taichang Temple, etc., Zhu Youxiao did not say much after a few words of instruction.

……

The Spring Festival is approaching, just when His Majesty the Emperor Zhu Youxiao and the important ministers of the imperial court are holding a year's summary court meeting, Wang Siren, who is far away in Taiping County, Kuizhou Prefecture, also began to prepare for the New Year.

Looking at the Qinling Mountains in the distance, listening to the sound of reading aloud in the academy, and asking about the aroma of bacon wafting from the Tujia Village at the foot of the mountain, although Wang Siren still misses Jiangnan a little, he is also used to the life in the depths of this Daba Mountain. Teaching children in the mountains to read the Three Character Scripture and helping the locals write inscriptions, Wang Siren sometimes asked local farmers for advice on how to grow good crops in the barren mountains.

What is even more legendary than Wang Siren is that Ni Yuanlu, who was also exiled to Dongxiang County, Suiding Prefecture, was also arrested by the local female bandits to be the prime minister of the village, and at the same time became a military advisor.

When he learned that Wang Siren was also in Taiping County, Ni Yuanlu rushed to meet him, and the two were naturally fellow villagers with tears in their eyes, but at the same time, they also decided to take advantage of this reunion day to unite with the local squire to build a academy under the local scenic spot Motianling, for local education.

This day is the Lantern Festival, it is the first day of class after the academy holiday, as the head of the mountain, Wang Siren is preparing to assist a few Mengtong to do a few simple problems, then go to the market town to buy a big pepper fish (baby fish) and go back to let the concubine who was exiled with him make a rich Lantern Festival meal, when he heard Ni Yuanlu's voice from the mountain.

"Mr. Ji Chong!"

Wang Siren is older than Ni Yuanlu in his twenties, so Ni Yuanlu respectfully calls him Mr. Ni Yuanlu, who has always been a good cleanliness fetish, has now stayed in this poor country for a long time and has lost his old habits, wearing linen clothes, his hair is only curled with rattan, he climbed up the steep stone ladder with his hands and feet, and sat on the mountain stone as soon as he came up, took out a newspaper, and panted and said: "Look at it, good news, just a month ago, Concubine Hui gave birth to the emperor's eldest son, Your Majesty was happy, and pardoned the lives of hundreds of officials and soldiers who were detained." ”

Wang Siren obeyed and hurriedly grabbed the newspaper, which was the Shu newspaper presided over by Chen Qiyu, the deputy envoy of Sichuan University, and its front page page was directly reprinted from the content of the Daming Daily, and the content was naturally the birth of the emperor's eldest son. The language is very plain, and the content is not very much, but Wang Siren is tearful when he watched it.

"Your Majesty!" Wang Siren couldn't help but kneel down towards the north, and shouted out of the mountain, and couldn't help crying with joy. And Ni Yuanlu on the side couldn't help but smile bitterly, they were relegated here, although they were isolated from the world, but their concern for the government and politics has never been diluted.

"Go, go, go to my house, just have a few drinks together, the Ming Dynasty is worry-free, the world can be peaceful for several years, I have no regrets even if I die of old age", Wang Siren said and went to lead his donkey, and pulled Ni Yuanlu towards another more winding road, the two talked and laughed along the way, the sunset is at the end, and the scenery is infinite.

Zi said: "Taber, it can be said that it is also the most virtuous. Third, let the world let it, and the people have nothing to gain and be praised. Chen Jiru, who is in Kaili in the Yunnan-Guizhou Mountains, is still alone, with no wife, no friends, and no relatives, and even the students are only four or five peasant children who have only a little time because of farming, and there is no classroom, so he can only sit on the straw pile and teach four books.

But Chen Jiru was never tired of this, and when the orthodox church was in full swing, he saw the county government's Wang Shuban coming with a basket: "Chen Jiru, by the order of the prefect, because the emperor's eldest son was born, the whole world celebrates, and the scholars who come to this mansion to transform can get two catties of meat and a bucket of millet and rice, this is yours, take it, go back and have a good meal." ”

"What are you talking about, Your Majesty has a prince", Chen Jiru, who was dressed in rags, grabbed this Wang Shuban, but this Wang Shuban thought he was dirty and broke free: "It's not steamed, it's not boiled, the emperor's eldest son is called Zhu Cijiong, if you want to know the truth, you can go into the newspaper kiosk in the county town to have a look." ”