"Bell... Clang... Clang... Bell ......"

"Crackling—"

In the early morning, when the bells and drums of Beijing sounded, the people of the capital who were looking forward to it began to light firecrackers, and for a time the whole capital was shrouded in the lively New Year's flavor.

In the smell of sulfur and the sound of bells, six thousand Beijing officials gathered outside the Daming Gate.

With the opening of the Daming Gate, the prelude to the fifteenth year of the Apocalypse has officially begun.

Hundreds of officials flocked into the outer court, passed through the end gate, the noon gate, and the Huangji gate, and finally stood on the square of the Huangji Hall according to their grades.

Only the Beijing officials above the fifth rank, they climbed the steps towards the white jade platform, and entered the Imperial Palace in the sound of the whip of the Han general.

All the officials were dressed in court clothes, but when they entered, there were two chairs under the dragon chairs, and the scene was dumbfounded.

"Singing ......"

"Bell!"

Without waiting for everyone to discuss, Honglu Temple Qing rang the bell and sang the salute, and the officials also knelt down one after another: "I respectfully ask Your Majesty to ...... peace"

In the singing of the officials, the two people in crown robes walked up to the high platform, and sat on the chair representing the position of the prison in front of the ministers.

Compared with Zhu Youzhen, thirteen-year-old Zhu Ciran watched the court meeting from this angle for the first time.

Sitting in this position, he experienced for the first time what it means to be under one person and above ten thousand.

Even at his age, after enjoying it, he couldn't help but shake his heart.

At this time, he couldn't help but look at Zhu Youzhen, who was calm and relaxed next to him.

"I really don't know how my uncle endured it......"

He muttered secretly in his heart, and at this time, Honglu Siqing also struck the bell again: "......"

"Hooray... Banzai... Hooray......"

The ministers got up, and it was at this time that they saw Zhu Ciran with a young face.

"Poor...... It's so much worse......"

As the crown prince, Zhu Ciran actually didn't show any face to the ministers, speaking of which, this is the first time he has shown his face in a place like the Great Imperial Meeting.

Such a thing should have been done by Emperor Zhu Youxiao himself, but now it is being done by Zhu Youzhen.

For Zhu Ciran, the ministers actually did not have any expectations, even the Zhejiang party officials who had been looking forward to it, in fact, after the siege of Emperor Yanshan broke out in the eleventh year of the Apocalypse, they also died in favor of the prince's heart.

Because they all knew that the King of Qi already had the ability to depose the emperor.

Whether he wants to do it or not, that's up to him.

Before he completely left the Ming Dynasty, betting indiscriminately would be deadly......

It's just that, although there are no expectations, many officials of the old school who have seen Wanli, Taichang, Tianqi and King Qi still inevitably compare Zhu Ciran with these people.

Among the old ministers, whether it is Gu Bingqian, Yuan Keli, or Zhu Xieyuan, Bi Ziyan, Shi Fenglai, Feng Quan......

In short, they looked at Zhu Ciran and only felt that this was a child who had not grown up.

At the same age, the most amazing person they have ever seen is probably Zhu Youzhen.

This kind of amazement does not refer to Zhu Youzhen's appearance, but to the things that the two of them did at the same age.

What is thirteen-year-old Zhu Youzhen doing?

While leading his troops to sweep the White Lotus Sect and suppress the rebellion, he went to the palace to rebuke the ministers and prepare for the battle of recovering Liao.

What about thirteen-year-old Zhu Ciran?

"......" looked at the immature face behind the crown, and thought of the news that had come out of the inner court over the years, they could only sigh.

The minister is strong and the lord is weak, who can not sigh......

However, compared with the sighs of the old-school officials, the Yanshan officials were sarcastic.

Sitting in his position, Zhu Ciran could clearly see that the courtiers in the palace who were below forty years old were all looking at him with a contemptuous gaze.

Who is he? He's the crown prince!

How dare this group of people look at him with these eyes?

Zhu Ciran was surprised, but also saw Chengde standing on top of the temple with his head down.

Chengde is Zhu Ciran's second teacher, but for this teacher, Zhu Ciran knows very well in his heart that he is not willing to teach himself too many things.

The feeling between what he taught and what Kim Hyun taught can be said to be very different.

Most of what Chengde teaches is still knowledge from books, and he often does not say the words in Kim Hyun's mouth, such as "practice produces the truth" and "hearing is false and seeing is believing".

But even so, Zhu Ciran is still relatively close to Chengde, after all, he is a teacher for one day and a father for life, even if he is a prince, this theory does not apply to him, he is also very close to Chengde.

"The Metropolitan Inspectorate's Zuo Yu Shi Xiao Daogui has something to do......"

The court meeting has just begun, and logically speaking, it should be Zhu Youzhen as the supervisor to speak, but Xiao Daogui directly interrupted the process.

"Quasi-......" Zhu Youzhen sat firmly on the Diaoyutai with a calm face, but in the next second, Xiao Daogui said:

"Please forgive the ministers of the prison country, since ancient times, even the crown prince, as long as he has not been granted the position of the prison state, he will not be allowed to ascend the royal platform, and now His Royal Highness the prince not only ascends the jade platform, but also sits on an equal footing with the prison country, which violates the law of etiquette!"

"Uncle Qi Wang......" Xiao Daogui's words made Zhu Ciran feel like he was on pins and needles for a moment, he turned his head to look at Zhu Youzhen, but Zhu Youzhen raised his hand and signaled him not to speak.

Immediately afterwards, in the face of Xiao Daogui's questioning, Zhu Youzhen's tone was very calm: "Can the etiquette remain unchanged for eternity?" ”

"It can change, but it must change before it can be implemented!" Xiao Daogui's response was neither humble nor arrogant, this is the point that the officials of the Yanshan faction are stronger than the officials of the old faction.

They are good at using new rules and old rules to put themselves on the moral high ground, they can use the rituals that the old school can use, and they can also use the new methods that the Yanshan school can use.

In a word, as long as they can be used to impeach political opponents, they can use them to complement each other's strengths and weaknesses to make themselves invincible.

It's just that their methods are not bad in the face of Zhu Youxiao and the old school, and they are facing Zhu Youzhen......

"Since it violates the etiquette law, then change the etiquette law and implement it immediately, is it feasible?"

Zhu Youzhen's eyes were flat, looking at Xiao Daogui as if he was looking at cattle and sheep waiting to be slaughtered, so Xiao Daogui couldn't help but lower his head: "This ...... Although it is possible, the prince should ......"

"Since it's possible, there's nothing controversial!"

"Yes......"

Zhu Youzhen accentuated his tone, so that Xiao Daogui couldn't help but shut up and responded: "Yes." ”

Replaced by Zhu Youxiao and Gu Bingqian, Xiao Daogui would not be so honest, after all, he is the best at sophistry in the Yanshan faction, and Zhu Youxiao is often unable to get off the stage by him.

It's a pity that this kind of sophistry depends on people, and Zhu Youzhen is obviously a person who can't make him surrender by sophistry, because he has the existence in his hands that all sophists can't argue.

Rule ......

Xiao Daogui retreated to his position, and Zhu Youzhen glanced at the ministers, the sense of oppression that arose for no reason made the ministers can't help but be half a head shorter than him, and he could only bow his head in an evasive manner while his gaze scanned.

This scene was seen by Zhu Ciran, and at the same time, he also felt the momentum of his uncle.

Judging from the momentum alone, it is true that he is more like an emperor, or an emperor above the emperor......

"The things set by the dynasty, Gu Ge Lao has not forgotten it!"

As soon as Zhu Youzhen spoke, Gu Bingqian hurriedly stepped forward and returned the salute with a wat board: "When I returned to the prison country, I have not forgotten that the 846,300 officials of the national dynasty are all voting to end." ”

"Supporters, sixty-nine thousand two hundred ...... two"

"Opponents, fifty-two thousand one hundred and ninety-seven ......"

"The remaining 724,871 abstained from voting......"

Gu Bingqian's words were up to three points, because he knew that in the next sentence, except for Zhu Youzhen, everyone else, who said who would die......

"In this case, from now on, the title of Duke of Yansheng will be abolished, all the official land received by the Confucian Mansion will be recovered, and the private land will be checked by the household department, and it will be entered into the "Fish Scale Atlas", and it will be added to the tax collection list from now on!"

Zhu Youzhen knew in his heart what Gu Bingqian, the old boy, thought, but he didn't care, to put it bluntly, he didn't care about reputation.

"His Royal Highness Chitose ......"

Despite the dissatisfaction in their hearts, many officials could only bow their heads in front of Zhu Youzhen and chant his sage.

This scene made Zhu Ciran feel the benefits of power, and also made him feel the danger in the court.

He never thought that his uncle was such a talkative character, but today he saw another side of his uncle.

"Let's talk about the situation of the last year."

After all, the Great Dynasty Meeting is mainly to celebrate the Spring Festival, and it should not be said too much serious thing, but after all, it is a Great Dynasty Meeting, and officials in Beijing will participate, so it is not a bad thing to talk about some things that increase the self-confidence of hundreds of officials.

In this regard, Gu Bingqian, who is the elder of the cabinet and is also the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, stepped forward and said:

"Last year, the foreign vassals of Joseon, Siam, Gan Xiaozhi, Nanzhang, Boni, Sulu, as well as the thirty-two princely vassal states of the world, and the two hundred and thirty-seven county vassal states all sent people to pay tribute, with three hundred and twenty-nine boxes of tribute treasures and more than 230,000 taels of gold and silver."

"In addition, the four countries of Europa, including the Great Franc, the Lesser Franc, the Franc, and the Dark Elia, all paid tribute to the Lesser Western Supervision Envoy and offered twelve boxes of treasures and more than 8,000 taels of gold and silver."

With the canonization of the Ming Dynasty at home and abroad, the role of the Ministry of Rites is still very large, and it is also the head of the six departments.

After he finished speaking, he took a step back, and Yuan Keli, who was the second secretary of the sixth ministry and the second assistant of the cabinet, walked out as a Shangshu official.

"Last year, 96,457 officials were added to the ministry, all of whom were appointed."

The words of the officials sound like good news, but they are not good news for the officials.

More than 90,000 officials have been appointed, which means that there are many officials who have been implicated and dismissed, and everyone has a toothache for a while.

According to the "Da Ming Law", at least ninety percent of these thousands of Beijing officials will be exiled to Wusizang and Nanzhou.

"The household department has balanced its income and expenditure last year, and the hundreds of officials and the officials and schools, the soldiers and horses, the five military governors' mansions and other yamen have all been distributed into the passbook."

"In addition, last year, a total of more than 3,376,000 people relocated overseas and outside the customs were found, and more than 3,514,000 hidden households were found, with 2,364,372 acres of land."

"On the first day of the fifteenth year of the Apocalypse, there are 32,695,329 households in the country, and there are 16,391,735 mouths."

"On the first day of the fifteenth year of the Apocalypse, the dynasty has a total of 97,263,400 mu of cultivated land, which is divided into two waters, four watering and four droughts."

"On the first day of the fifteenth year of the Apocalypse, the territory of the dynasty started from Qizhou in the east, Kunlun in the west, Nanzhou in the south, and Beihai in the north, with 23,000 li to the east and more than 21,600 li from north to south."

"Whether in terms of cultivated land, population, or territory, they all surpass the previous dynasties and go far as the Han and Tang Dynasties!"

Bi Ziyan talked about the situation of the Ming Dynasty and boasted about the breadth of the Ming Dynasty's territory.

Of course, what he said is basically true, except for the current Ming Dynasty, which did not plant flags in Antarctica, South America, and Europe, all other continents have Ming territories.

According to the Ming dynasty's vassal system, the outer and inner domains were actually part of the "Tomorrow Xia", so the territory of the Ming Dynasty actually reached 25 million square kilometers.

Of course, if according to the legal system, then North and South America are already called Qizhou, and the south of the Sahara Desert in Leviia is also called South Kunlun, so as long as the Ming Dynasty wants to, these three states can be counted as a sphere of influence, anyway, it is a "since ancient times".

However, the trick of "since ancient times" was played, and under the Ming Dynasty's vassal system, its territory was close to 70 million square kilometers.

Of course, the people of the Ming Dynasty also knew that it was not advisable to open up the territory on the map, so in terms of actual control, except for the feudal domains, the territory of the Ming Dynasty should be Yingzhou in the east, Kunlun in the west, Nanzhou in the south, and Beihai in the north, with an area of about 22 million square kilometers.

Even so, this is very sufficient, on average, the land area that each person in the Ming Dynasty can own is 200 acres, and the later generations only have 10 acres......

That is, under the condition of maintaining this territory unchanged, even if the people of the Ming Dynasty skyrocketed tenfold, the per capita resources would be more than those of later generations.

However, undeveloped resources are not considered resources, and unusable land is not considered land.

The current Daming seems to have a lot of people, but in fact there are very few people.

To sum up, there are too many people inside the customs and too few people outside the customs and overseas.

Even today, the population of the Ming Dynasty overseas and outside the customs is only 40 million, while the population inside the customs is 120 million.

However, it is worth noting that the proportion of Han Chinese in the 40 million people overseas and outside the border has only reached 37%.

This is still on the whole, in fact, the proportion will be lower, especially after the removal of the three provinces outside the northern pass, the proportion of Han people is even reduced to 20%.

It can be said that if there is no continuous immigration, then these territories will be reduced to the extent of inhabitation if they are not careful.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen also needs to consolidate the territory he has conquered, and at least let the Han people become the main ethnic group in the local area, so as not to cause chaos at every turn.

"Last year's drought is doomed, even if there is no drought this year, it will not be a good year, and the migration will continue."

"The Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household must increase the migration of Guanwai, Yingzhou, Jiaozhi, Luchuan, Nanzhou and other places, and at the same time encourage Yingzhou men to migrate to South Kunlun and Xiaoxiyang."

Zhu Youzhen sat in his seat and talked eloquently, but what he said was remembered by the officials one after another, after all, what is the end of not doing things, and the tragic situation of tens of thousands of officials who were dismissed last year is still vivid.

"Before June of this year, the household department should estimate the tax, and in addition, how much grain is there in the warehouse this year?"

Zhu Youzhen asked Bi Ziyan, and the household servant in charge of the Chang Liquidation Matter among the hundred officials also came out, holding a wat board and responding:

"The 24 provinces of the two capitals of the country and the dynasty are always closed, except for Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Luchuan, Jiaozhi, and Jiugang, the rest are all empty......"

"That is, the seven provinces are often closed, except for the three provinces of Luchuan, Jiaozhi, and Jiugang, the remaining four provinces are only half of the grain stock, and the total is only 9 million stones."

"The reason why the quantity is so small is because the price of grain in the north and south of the Yangtze River soared last year, and the grain in the provinces also rose.

Many officials were pessimistic about this year, as everyone could see that although the scale of the drought had been reduced by the winter snow, it was still widespread.

In this situation, as a stable grain price of the permanent liquidation, there are only 9 million stone of grain, how can people not be pessimistic?

You must know that after the autumn harvest in the thirteenth year of the Apocalypse, Chang Ping saved 30 million Shiping to suppress grain, but it was exhausted in May, and he could only rely on steam ships to transfer grain from Jiaozhi and the old port to the north, so that he was able to tide over last year's difficulties.

Many people in the court have calculated that the court used more than 60 million stone of grain to stabilize last year's grain price, but even so, the final grain price was still unsatisfactory.

When Shanxi and Henan were at their worst, the price of grain rose to 227 yuan and 1 stone, which was the amount of silver that ordinary people could earn by working for at least eight months, and one stone of rice was only enough for a family of five to eat a month's gruel.

That's why so many people migrated last year.

"Right now, what is the number of people in Shanxi and Henan provinces?"

Zhu Youzhen did not directly blame the household department, but asked about the number of people in Shanxi and Henan.

Before the disaster, the population of Shanxi was about 7.8 million, and that of Henan was about 6.2 million to 500,000.

At present, Shanxi has suffered a year-long harvest disaster, and Henan has also suffered a year-and-a-half harvest, and Zhu Youzhen has to understand the population of the two provinces before issuing policies to deal with it.

Faced with his thoughts, Bi Ziyan also responded:

"By the 30th day of the 14th year of the Apocalypse, the population of Shanxi was more than 5,316,000, and that of Henan was more than 5,573,000."

"In addition, there are more than 4,763,300 people in Shaanxi, more than 8.69 million people in Shandong, and more than 6.93 million people in Beizhili."

Bi Ziyan reported on the population of the provinces, and in general, the main force of the population of this migration was mainly in the north, which was suffering from a severe drought.

Although the floods in Jiangnan also caused many fields to be harvested, due to the development of the handicraft industry and the developed economy in Jiangnan, there was a large amount of work to accommodate the hungry.

In this way, the people of Jiangnan naturally will not leave Jiangnan too much, and the group of people who really leave are the people who live on the food and clothing line.

This is like a first-tier city in later generations, even if something happens, there will still be a large number of people who are unwilling to leave.

In this regard, Zhu Youzhen knew very well in his heart that only the great drought in the south that began next year could the people in Jiangnan further understand the reality.

Leaving aside the matter in Jiangnan for the time being, just as the means of using the drought to relocate the population this time are concerned, the results in front of Zhu Youzhen are indeed good.

Shanxi plummeted by more than 2.5 million people, Henan plummeted by more than 700,000, and Shandong and Beizhili also dropped by hundreds of thousands each.

In the provinces north of the Huai River and south of the Great Wall, except for Hexi and Shaanxi, many people have migrated.

In just two years, the distribution of 50 million people in the north has gradually become more even.

"What is the population of the five provinces of Hexi, Guanwai, and Liaodong?"

Zhu Youzhen asked Bi Ziyan, and Bi Ziyan replied unhurriedly when he heard this:

"More than 5.7 million in Hexi, more than 2.9 million in Modong, more than 3.2 million in Donghai, more than 6.8 million in Liaodong, and 400,000 in Beishan."

"The population of one of the nine provinces in the north is more than 5,390,000 people......"

Bi Ziyan's report made Zhu Youzhen see the situation in the northern provinces more intuitively, and in terms of cultivated land, Shandong is still densely populated.

However, Zhu Youzhen is not worried, because the next Shandong will start in two years, and it will suffer from a major drought that has wiped out half of the province's harvest for four consecutive years.

According to the number of fields in the north, it is still a bit difficult to feed 50 million people with less than 260 million mu of fields.

Historically, the Manchu Qing Dynasty slaughtered the north to the extent that it had a population of about 20 million, and Zhu Youzhen naturally could not do that.

However, he can also grasp an average value from it, that is, according to the calculation of more than 230 million mu of land and more than 20 million people in the north in the early Qing Dynasty, it is basically a level of 1:11.

Even in the Kangxi period, the ratio still reached one to nine.

At present, the ratio of land to population in the north of the Ming Dynasty is one to five, so if you want the people in the north to produce steadily, you must continue to increase this ratio.

For the north, apart from the use of mechanical reclamation, plus the development of the Western Regions and Mobei, Zhu Youzhen had no other way.

Fortunately, as long as there are enough machines, if nothing happens, Zhu Youzhen should be able to make the cultivated land area in the north reach more than 300 million mu before leaving the Ming Dynasty.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youzhen was slightly satisfied with Bi Ziyan's head:

"According to the drought situation, the provinces in the north can be exempted, which is nothing more than the loss of more than 20 million stone fields and grain."

"As for how the provinces will produce the grain to suppress it, there is no need to worry about this, Luchuan will import more than 13 million stone rice and wheat to Yunnan this year, and the grain from Yunnan will be sent to Huguang along the Yangtze River, and the grain from Huguang will also be sent to the land south of the Yangtze River."

"After the grain in the south of the Yangtze River became rich, the household department did a good job of coordinating and transporting the extra grain from the south of the Yangtze River to Shandong and Henan, so as to stabilize the grain prices in the two places."

"As for the grain price in Shanxi, you can first use the grain of Beizhili to calm it, and Huangdian will then transport more than 15 million stone rice and wheat from Yingzhou, Jiaozhi, and Jiugang to the three provinces of Beizhili, Donghai, and Modong."

"In the end, the grain prices in Hexi and Shaanxi are stabilized by the grain in Sichuan."

Zhu Youzhen gave the matter a given, and the specific details were perfected by Bi Ziyan and Cao Huachun.

After hearing his words, the ministers breathed a sigh of relief, and Zhu Youzhen himself was relieved.

If it weren't for the fact that Daming had three granaries in Jiaozhi, Luchuan, and Jiugang, and a steamship that could transport grain from the three provinces to the north, I am afraid that this year and next year, millions of people would have starved to death......

Millions of people will starve to death, and the resulting plague will kill tens of millions.

In other words, as long as people are kept with food to eat, plagues will not be so frequent, and even if they exist, they will only be confined to some areas, and will not be the entire north as in history.

Food can't be conjured out of thin air, and if you want food, you can only grow it yourself.

As long as the Ming Dynasty has sufficient steamships, the grain will be sent back to the north of the Ming Dynasty in a steady stream, so that the Ming Dynasty can withstand rounds of drought.

Thinking of this, Zhu You's eyes became more calm after the coronament.

"Only by holding the grain in our hands can we hold the hearts and minds of the people......"