"Pension?"

"Yes, the new policy newly promulgated by His Royal Highness King Qi, in addition to the bank's interest-free loan policy for the people of Shanxi, can borrow from twenty to one hundred taels."

On the twenty-first day of the first month, when Zhu Youzhen's new policy was transmitted back to the capital, Bi Ziyan immediately found Zhu Youxiao.

At this moment, Zhu Youxiao was dining in the Qianqing Palace, and there were only pepper and vinegar shrimp, goose meat, steamed fresh fish, mutton crystal dumplings and three fresh soups on the table, as well as fragrant rice, tea and other meals.

The configuration of four meat and one soup is not very high for his status as an emperor, and it can only be said that it is barely enough.

"How many disabled soldiers are still there? How much pension money does the imperial court have to allocate each year? ”

While eating, Zhu Youxiao asked Bi Ziyan, Bi Ziyan stood at the dining table, bowed his head and responded respectfully:

"The last statistic was the tenth year of the Apocalypse, and there were about 96,000 disabled veterans of the Wanli, Taichang, and Tianqi dynasties that survived that year, and now it should be even lower, after all, the dynasty has not experienced much war, and only the third Northern Expedition has injured many soldiers in the sweeping battle."

"More than 90,000 people...... Not too much. Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao responded:

"Just follow King Qi's new policy, and the same goes for the bank."

......Seeing that Zhu Youxiao had no opinion, Bi Ziyan didn't say anything, but soon Zhu Youxiao asked again:

"How many people are in this bank right now?"

"About 230 million taels, of which there are 140 million taels of silver in the imperial store and about 90 million taels of the people."

Bi Ziyan's timely response made Zhu Youxiao say that he knew, and the reason why he asked was to know how much silver the people of Shanxi would borrow.

According to his younger brother's policy of four mu of paddy fields per capita in the north, Shanxi will relocate at most 16.7 million people, and this group of people will borrow at least more than 30 million taels of silver, and at most 167 million taels of silver.

Of course, it is impossible for a bank to borrow 100 taels of silver from everyone, and the policy of borrowing is based on households, and 16.7 million people are only 300,000 households at most.

"Alright, you can step aside."

got the answer, and Zhu Youxiao also asked Bi Ziyan to step down.

Seeing this, Bi Ziyan saluted honestly, and then withdrew from the Qianqing Palace, and walked out of the Qianqing Palace Gate alone.

Zhu Youxiao also ate and drank enough after he left, and returned to sit on the dragon chair in the Heart Cultivation Palace.

He still had more than 500 notes on hand that he had not dealt with, in addition to more than 400 notes per day.

He was dealing with the slack, and Bi Ziyan also returned to the household department.

In the household department, after discussing with Li Changgeng and Dong Yingju how to implement the new policy, he officially issued a note.

After Zhu Youxiao briefly read it, he circled the red seal, and by dusk, the household department had already begun to prepare for the new policy, and issued documents to the provincial political departments.

It was also when they promulgated the new policy that Zhu Youzhen also arrived by train in Fengzhou County (Hohhot) in Shuofang Prefecture, Shaanxi.

Fengzhou County, as the ancient land of Yunzhong County set up by China during the Warring States Period, the Ming army in the early Ming Dynasty was stationed in this place for a long time, and Zhu Yuanzhang also set up Dongshengwei in Fengzhou County.

It was not until Zhu Di's martyrdom that the northern population suffered another blow, and the population here was relocated to Beizhili.

But even so, there were still Ming troops stationed here, and it was not until the restoration of Yingzong during the Jingtai period that the Ming army here was withdrawn.

After the withdrawal of the Ming army, the Mongol-Tatar tribes in the north began to invade the Hetao frequently, but because the Chenghua Emperor constantly attacked the Mongol tribes who tried to entrench the Hetao, no tribe was willing to stay here for a long time.

It was not until the Jiajing period that the world temperature warmed up slightly, and the Oda Khan of the Tumut Department led people to settle here and establish a naturalized city.

Nowadays, the city of naturalization has been overthrown, and Dingxiang County, the prefecture of Shuofang Prefecture, has been re-established, and Fengzhou County in the north has also become a de facto inland city after Mobei was taken into account by the Ming Dynasty.

The stability of the north brings about the growth of population and the stability of production, which is also the case in Fengzhou County.

Since the fifth year of the Apocalypse, Shaanxi began to immigrate to various places on a large scale, and Hetao, as one of the few places with abundant water sources, has become the first choice for Shaanxi immigrants.

At present, the Hetao is divided into Ningxia Prefecture and Shuofang Prefecture, and Ningxia Prefecture supervises the five plains of Ningxia in the West and Houtao, while Shuofang Prefecture manages the former set area separately.

By the end of the 16th year of the Apocalypse, the number of Shaanxi people in Ningxia Prefecture had reached more than 820,000, while the number of people in Shuofang Prefecture had reached more than 1.36 million.

】

Twelve years of development have led to a sharp increase in the cultivated land of the two prefectures, of which the cultivated land of Ningxia Prefecture has reached 6 million mu, and the cultivated land of Shuofang Prefecture has reached 10 million mu.

Since the beginning of the apocalypse, the local area has been self-sufficient.

Thirteen years after the Apocalypse, the local annual grain supply was about 1.3 million stones, and it undertook to supply Yan'an, Qingyang, Pingliang, Gongchang, Minzhou and other five provinces of peace and suppression.

Although this is rare, it is much better than having no output in history.

Moreover, of the more than 4 million people in Shaanxi at present, less than 500,000 live in Wufu, which has no output, and the rest are either in Ningxia, or in Fengxiang, Xi'an, Shuofang, and Hanzhong, which are not affected by the drought.

However, this does not mean that it is completely unaffected, but it is less affected and does not affect life.

When Zhu Youzhen came to Fengzhou County, he did not tell everyone that he was coming, but wore regular clothes and took Zhu Cihong and the four of them to the street together.

The scale of the county seat of Fengzhou is not large, the city wall is only one zhang and three feet high, and the circumference is only six miles.

But even so, there were still 120,000 people living in the city, and 340,000 people begging for a living in its territory.

The soil nutrient content in Fengzhou County is relatively low, so it is difficult to meet the needs of stable and high yield of various crops without fertilization, but even so, the local annual yield per mu can still average about eight buckets of rice.

The reason why Zhu Youzhen wanted to come to Hetao first was because Zhu Ciran had never been to this place, and he wanted to see how the life of the immigrants was doing.

When he came to Toyosu Castle, he was somewhat relieved by what he saw.

The streets of Toyosu Castle during this season are filled with all kinds of people, most of whom are trading in the city and come to buy and sell things.

The streets here are not as pompous as those in Beijing and Jiangnan, except for some food stalls, there are some ready-to-wear shops, shoe and hat shops, blacksmith shops, and farm tool shops.

It can be said that the city of Toyosu does not look like a city at all, but like a large rural area.

There are almost no high-rise buildings with more than three floors in Fengzhou City, and even the "street market" that runs through the east and west is at most a two-story small building, with shops and stalls and rest on the second floor.

All the walls of the houses are made of adobe, the difference is that they are painted with white lime, while the roofs are made of cheap gray tiles.

The main reason for this is that ten years ago, cement production was not very large, and it could only be used for road construction, not for housing construction.

Even now, in addition to provincial roads, government roads, county roads and township roads, other places that can use cement to participate in construction must also be approved by Zhu Youjian.

Therefore, most of the houses in this city are this kind of loess walls painted with white walls.

Not only houses, but also shops.

That's why Zhu Youzhen said that this city appeared for agriculture.

This can be seen from the fact that there are few flower shops, tea shops, theater and other shop stalls on the streets.

In Toyoshu City, one of the few entertainment shops for the common people is a bookstore and a variety of food stalls.

The cuisine of Shaanxi in the Ming Dynasty was very different from that of later generations, but even so, Zhu Youzhen could vaguely see some similarities.

Due to geographical climate and soil restrictions, the pasta is still engraved in the bones of Shaanxi people, the difference is that they can only eat rough noodles before, but now they can eat refined grains.

Snacks such as cold skin, meat buns, pickled buns, and oil cakes are placed on the street, as well as baked sweet potatoes, roasted potatoes, sugar water balls, etc., all of which have their own shops, rather than directly on the street.

At present, the farming has not yet begun, so many people in cotton clothes walk the streets.

Their only characteristic is that they are wearing new clothes, and this is what Zhu Youzhen is pleased about.

"Dad, I'm going to eat this!"

"Dad, I'm going to eat that!"

"Daddy......"

Walking on the street, the four little ones stared at many snacks in Shaanxi, and Zhu Youzhen would also let people buy them one by one.

He wasn't afraid that someone would poison him, after all, these shops had been secretly inspected by Jinyiwei in advance, and no one would be stupid enough to poison him.

On a sunny day, the cement pavement is not as comfortable as the dirt road, but it is easy to clean, so the entire castle looks very clean.

The streets are clean, the people on the streets are wearing new clothes, and people don't say that they are fat for nothing, but at least they have some flesh on their bodies, and they won't be as hungry and skinny as they were ten years ago.

"How do you sell this?"

"Three Texts and a Bowl of ......"

The Shaanxi dialect heard from all around, but he didn't stay long, but after walking through the market, he went to the place where the residents lived.

The houses where these residents live are also supervised by the Ministry of Works, and like the shops in the market, they are made of white lime with yellow adobe and gray tiles.

Compared to Zhangjiakou, the houses here are clean and tidy, the courtyard walls are seven feet high, and the wooden doors are painted with tree paint.

Although he couldn't see inside, he knew by hearing the sound of cows, horses, and mules in the alleys as he walked, that the people were not doing badly.

Zhu Youzhen saw the life of the people in the city, and then he took four small ones and went down to the outside of Fengzhou City under the escort of Jinyiwei.

They found a small village, briefly informed the village officials, and then began to walk around the village.

Since the Lantern Festival has just passed, there are some children with firecrackers around the village.

Dressed in new clothes and holding firecrackers, they searched for all sorts of things that could show off the power of firecrackers.

Waterholes, cow dung, mud, mounds......

They found all kinds of things, planted firecrackers, lit them with a lit incense, and ran out happily.

With a "pop", the water in the waterhole was blown up, and the cow dung was blown away...... A group of children applauded and continued to look for their next target.

The behavior of these village children can make Zhu Youzhen guess that this village is not bad, and the truth is just as he thought.

Although it is a village, the houses where the people here live are similar to those living in the city of Toyoshu, with lime white walls and gray tiles of loess adobe.

Zhu Youzhen walked into the courtyards of some houses, which were divided into three rooms in the front yard and two rooms in the back yard.

The three rooms in the front yard are the main house and the ear house, and the back yard is the thatched house, the pig barn, and the cowshed.

The twenty-square-meter transept is divided into two halves, with the kitchen for cooking on one side and the bedroom on the other.

In the kitchen, several clay pots where oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea are placed more than half, and the rice jar that is enough to hold a year's grain is also full of rice, and there is a flour jar of more than 40 catties next to it, which is also full.

Above the stove in the kitchen hangs some smoked bacon, which, judging by the color of the meat, is divided into old bacon and new bacon that has just been hung on the New Year.

There are seven or eight pieces of old bacon, each weighing more than a dozen pounds, and there are more than a dozen pieces of new bacon.

Just judging from the kitchen, Zhu Youzhen had a general understanding of the living standards of the people in Fengzhou, but he still went to the backyard to take a look.

In the pig house, two big white pigs and a dozen small white pigs are sleeping in the pigsty, humming a few times from time to time.

"These big white pigs issued by the imperial court are okay, right?"

Zhu Youzhen looked sideways at the thirty-year-old man who followed him stiffly, and the man in the room nodded desperately when he heard this:

"Good! Grow a lot of meat, although the meat is not as delicious as the eight-eyed pig, but it grows big, and the food is not pretentious, and it can grow to more than 300 catties of meat for a year and a half, and some have been raised for two and a half years, and can grow to more than 500 catties. ”

This simple farmer used the best words he knew and could praise, and Zhu Youzhen smiled when he heard this:

"You grow big, but you eat a lot and consume a lot of food, right?"

Although the Ming Dynasty uses rice from India as feed, the basic areas that can use feed are in the southwest and coastal areas, and the northwest regions like Fengzhou have no opportunity to use feed, and can only use bran as feed.

"There are a lot of them, but there is also a lot of meat, as long as they can be full, sometimes they can gain a pound of meat every day."

"Selling this meat to butchers is much more profitable than selling grain directly."

The man smiled innocently, and Zhu Youzhen also nodded approvingly.

He walked out of the pig barn and saw two ploughing cows in captivity in the backyard: "How much land does the family have?" Can two ploughing oxen be planted? ”

"There are 26 acres of land, and there are six people in the family, who can plant it."

The man replied with a smile, and Zhu Youzhen also nodded:

"Are all taxes charged on the basis of 10 levies?"

"It's according to the ten-for-one."

"Are all the people in the village the same as your family?"

"Same ......"

The two asked and answered, without too many words for whitewashing, until Zhu Youzhen walked out of this house and looked at several other houses, he finally believed the words of these people.

As in Zhangjiakou Town, he stayed for a light meal, and the food on the table was very different from that of Zhangjiakou Town.

A plate of fried bacon with chili peppers, a bowl of fried chicken offal, a pot of stewed chicken, these three meat dishes plus stir-fried Chinese cabbage and a bowl of tofu soup, this is the meal that the villagers cooked for Zhu Youjian's six people.

"That's how you usually eat?" Zhu Youzhen asked with a smile about the dozens of villagers crowded at the door.

"Just eat it!" They responded loudly, but Zhu Youzhen shook his head with a smile and said:

"That being said, you must be reluctant to eat such a good meal on weekdays."

"Tell me honestly, don't be afraid of what the village official will say about you, if he dares to say anything about you, I will clean him up."

As soon as Zhu Youzhen said this, the village official next to him also hurriedly explained to the villagers: "To be honest, if you hide it, you will kill me." ”

"......" The words of the village official and Zhu Youzhen made the villagers look at each other, and finally the man who was the first to be seen by Zhu Youzhen at home said:

"It's really not that rich, this smoked bacon, we can only eat it in seven or eight days."

"Like an old hen, which is only eaten by the sick, and is kept for it to lay eggs on weekdays."

"It's normal to eat fried tomatoes and leeks with eggs, and eat them with two soup dishes."

Scrambled eggs, this is the only meat dish that the people of Hetao can eat on weekdays, such as stewed chicken and bacon, which are only eaten by entertaining distinguished guests, and can rarely be eaten occasionally.

As soon as the man's words came out, the other villagers also followed suit, and Zhu You also looked at the village official who had been wiping sweat after listening:

"Don't be afraid and worry, you have to listen to the people, besides, your people here don't eat badly, why should you be weak-hearted?"

"Student...... The student ......, "The village official didn't know what to say for a while, but Zhu Youzhen patted him and told him to continue eating, don't be nervous."

But it was himself, after patting the village official, he said to the people at the door: "How is life now compared to when I was in the gate? ”

"That's not comparable!"

"Can't compare!"

"We didn't even have enough to eat before, but now it's fine."

"In the past, it was a day that only a squire could live."

"It's already good......"

The people were talking nonsense, and Zhu Youzhen kept smiling and listening, and only after they finished speaking, Zhu Youzhen spoke:

"In the future, the imperial court will work hard, and when the trains in other places are completed, even in winter, Toyosu will be able to eat fresh fruits and vegetables."

"There are still millions of acres of land waiting for you to reclaim in Fengzhou, and it depends on you how much you can reclaim, the more you reclaim, the more days you can eat meat every day......"

"Your Highness! The imperial court won't raise taxes, right? ”

"Who said that?!"

Before Zhu Youzhen finished speaking, someone in the crowd shouted loudly, which made the village official feel that the blood was cold for a moment, and he hurriedly scolded loudly.

It's just that in this regard, Zhu Youzhen raised his hand to stop him and turned his head to look at the villagers at the door.

It seems that the village official's reprimand made the villagers realize that they had said the wrong thing, and they lowered their heads when they faced Zhu Youzhen's gaze.

"It's a big deal, so why can't you ask it?" Zhu Youzhen asked the villagers rhetorically.

yes, why can't you ask? Some of the villagers raised their heads, but quickly lowered them again.

It's not that you can't ask it, it's that you can't ask it, they are just ordinary people.

"The taxes of the imperial court are never a constant ......"

Zhu Youzhen began to answer this question, but he tried to be as tactful as possible: "Now that the imperial court is rich, it can be reduced to one out of ten, and if the imperial court is richer in the future, it is possible to exempt the field endowment." ”

"It's just that if the imperial court runs out of silver at any time, it will naturally increase taxes at that time."

"It's normal to increase and reduce taxes, but this increase or decrease can't affect your eating problems."

"It's like, if the northern captives come over now, the court will have no silver, and the soldiers in the north will have no military salaries, and at this time, the imperial court will add three catties of rice per mu to each of your families, what do you think?"

"Jiaobei...... Three catties per mu is not much. Some villagers replied, after all, they had experienced the situation of paying twenty or thirty catties per mu of land.

"What if it's ten pounds?" Zhu Youzhen asked again, and at this time the people hesitated.

"What if it's thirty pounds?" Zhu Youzhen asked again, and this time the villagers lowered their heads one after another.

"Thirty catties per mu, ten mu is three hundred catties, and according to the situation in Fengzhou, ten mu is only more than 1,200 catties of rice."

"Let you take out a quarter of the grain and hand it over to the imperial court, it will affect your life, right?"

......The villagers did not dare to answer, and Zhu Youzhen also took the opportunity to say:

"If the imperial court asks you to hand over a quarter, or even a third, or a half of the rations, then you don't have to scruple, rebellion is."

Zhu Youzhen's words were shocking, which made all the people raise their heads one after another, and the village officials and Lu Yuangao next to him were also taken aback.

"You are the emperor's people, the people of the Ming Dynasty, if the people can't eat, it's the problem of the court and the emperor."

"When the people in Shaanxi were in turmoil, I felt that they had done a good job."

"People say that children who don't cry don't have milk to eat, but you are actually the same."

"If it weren't for the Shaanxi Civil Rebellion back then, how would the imperial court know that the Shaanxi officials were so greedy that they deprived you of your rations?"

"If you are wronged, you will sue the official, if the village official has a problem, you will find the town official, if the town official can't solve it, you will find the county official, and if the county official can't solve it, you will be the prefect, and the political envoy and the capital will be dispatched."

"If you are honest, the corrupt officials in that place will intensify their exploitation of you, and if you become tough, they will not dare to bully you."

Zhu Youzhen said eloquently, but these words made the villagers swallow their saliva when they heard it.

They had never heard of an official who would teach them how to rebel, and most importantly, when Zhu Youzhen said these words, he turned to the officials behind him and said:

"Write down all these things and report them in Daming Daily."

"This ...... This...... Your Highness...... Isn't that not good? The official broke out in a cold sweat when Zhu Youzhen's order was said, but Zhu Youzhen asked:

"If you don't even dare to listen to the needs of the people, and you don't even know why the people are rebelling, then what's the point of such an imperial court?"

"If when the Ming Dynasty becomes corrupt officials everywhere, and the emperor only knows how to enjoy happiness, only knows about tyranny, and does not care about the life and death of the people, then even if such a Ming Dynasty is overthrown, it is not worth a pity."

"Emperor Taizu Gao made tenants and landlords equal, so why can't officials become equal to the common people?"

"The court is fed by the people, and if the court can't make the people live a better life, then the court should examine itself."

"If the imperial court can't even solve the problem of food and clothing for the people, then the people should overthrow the imperial court, and that's what I'm going to say."

"Only when the people make their voices heard, so that the emperor and the court can hear it, so as to solve it, can the Ming Dynasty continue to continue."

"People say that the dynasty has no national fortune for three hundred years, and now my Ming Dynasty has been established for two hundred and sixty-nine years."

"The Two Song Dynasty and the Two Han Dynasty have long been destroyed at this time, and the Tang Dynasty has been declining, but I am still there."

"If you don't innovate, don't admit your mistakes, and don't give the people a way to live, how long can you last even if the current national fortune is prosperous?"

"After the prosperity of the Kaiyuan Dynasty, there was the Anshi Rebellion, and if you want not to experience prosperity and decline, you need to save our country three times a day."

"These words have been published in the "Daming Daily", since Lone dares to say it, he is not afraid that some people with intentions will take the opportunity to cause trouble."

Zhu Youzhen looked directly at the official in charge of the record, and under his pressure, the official could only record what he said in the next issue of "Daming Bao".

This scene was seen by Lu Yuangao, and the image of King Qi in his heart became more plump.

It's just that Lu Yuangao is extremely self-interested, and these things that Zhu Youzhen said are good for the people, but for people of his identity and family, there are not many benefits.

But even so, Lu Yuangao still sincerely admires Zhu Youzhen, at least in this era, in terms of his identity and status, these words are the most unlikely to come out of his mouth.

However, he not only said it, but said it even more boldly than people thought.

Today's words will inevitably go down in history, but whether they are positive or derogatory, there is no way to know.

At least from the perspective of people like Lu Yuangao, his words are not conducive to the rule of the imperial court......