Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 141 The So-called Backdoor Listing
After the campaign to investigate military households around Nanjing began last December, not only the officials of the garrisons around Nanjing, but also the small flags, general flags, centurions, thousand households and even commanders of other garrisons across the country, all stood up straight, stared at Nanjing with eyes wide open, and looked at Nanjing intently as soon as they heard the news.
As a result, after receiving the results of the investigation, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince did not say anything harsh and did not do anything specific.
When the country was founded, there were more than 60,000 households in the Twelve Guards of Nanjing. After more than 200 years, the number of households increased to 600,000, which was considered small. In the end, there were only a few thousand households left? Where did those people go?
First, the military households fled and then went to the local area to forge the yellow book to become civilian households - this was the best option, after all, civilian households also had to pay taxes and perform labor service to the state.
Second, the military households flee and become refugees - this is the worst because it will seriously affect the stability of the country.
Third, the tenants and slaves of officials at all levels in the garrisons, especially the thousand-household commanders, the commanders and even the generals of the Five Military Governor's Office, were hidden by these big guys and disappeared from the national register.
Fourth, military households in the Ming Dynasty could also take the imperial examinations. There were more than 27,000 Jinshi in the Ming Dynasty, of which 6,506 were from military households (the most famous among them was Zhang Juzheng). According to the folk custom of the Ming Dynasty, once a person passed the imperial examination, he must accept the contributions of his neighbors and accept a certain number of poor neighbors as his tenants, otherwise it would be unkind. This is the folk custom, not to mention that most people will actively expand their land and the number of tenants after passing the imperial examination? When people from military households pass the imperial examination, when expanding their land and tenants, should they give priority to military households?
Therefore, before there is complete preparation and absolute strength, the investigation of military households can only be done. Subsequent matters such as investigating escaped military households, investigating hidden populations, and clearing the land of garrisons cannot be done.
Back then, during the Zhengtong and Jingtai reigns, Yu Qian investigated the garrisons across the country and directly removed one million vacancies for military households. As a result, when he was executed, not to mention the military commanders who were directly interested in the garrison system, even the civil officials were happy to see it happen.
So, just clear it up and that's it. Zhu Youdong doesn't want to do anything about the follow-up, at least for now.
Of course, the results of this investigation could not be concealed. After hearing the results, the censors in Nanjing would definitely file a collective impeachment against Liu Maoxun. Zhu Youdong's solution was to ask Liu Maoxun to resign from his post as the Nanjing garrison commander, and Xu Hongji, the contemporary Duke of Wei, would take over.
Is that it?
Yes, that's it.
However, His Royal Highness had done a lot in Nanjing in the past two years, and his tactics were really powerful. Therefore, no one thought that His Royal Highness was retreating in the face of difficulties this time: If His Royal Highness did not take action now, he would be held accountable if he did not do well in the future.
However, it was the Wanli Dynasty after all, and the government was still quite strict. So the officials of the local guards did not dare to make a fuss: Your Highness did nothing, at most he dismissed Liu Maoxun. What's the big deal? Old Liu has been making money for so many years, it's time for someone else to come up and make money. In short, we must keep our tails between our legs at this time, and we must not attract the attention of the crown prince. If the crown prince really wants to thoroughly investigate the military households across the country, he will definitely not have a good ending in the end, but before he steps down, someone will definitely be unlucky. Therefore, you must hide yourself at this time, there is no need to sacrifice yourself for the welfare of everyone.
That’s it! This is the effect we want.
When are nuclear weapons most useful? Of course, when they are in the silo. Before Zhu Youdong really cut down the sword to clean up the military households, the officials of the local garrisons were always afraid. In this way, even if Zhu Youdong slightly infringed on their interests in the subsequent operations, these guys would tolerate it.
That's enough.
In April 1609, Zhu Youdong submitted a memorial to Emperor Wanli in his capacity as the crown prince guarding Nanjing .
In this memorial, Zhu Youdong said: Recently, I found out during the investigation of the military households in the garrisons around Nanjing that the Henghai Guard established by Emperor Taizu is now in name only. Of the 5,600 households in Henghai Guard, only 30 or so households are left on Jingjiang Island. The original intention of Emperor Taizu to establish Henghai Guard was to protect the estuary of the Yangtze River and prevent the enemy at sea from invading the Ming Dynasty through the Yangtze River. Now, more and more red barbarians from the West are appearing along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, and the responsibility of Henghai Guard is becoming more and more important. However, with only more than 30 households left in Henghai Guard, it is obvious that it cannot bear this responsibility. Therefore, it is very necessary to rebuild Henghai Guard.
Moreover, many domestic merchants now do not conduct normal sea trade through Yuegang. They covet the convenience of Yangtze River water transportation and go out to sea directly at the mouth of the Yangtze River. Such behavior not only causes a large loss of national commercial taxes, but also affects the mood of the people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas to farm with peace of mind. Many people are actively involved in smuggling activities, and a large amount of land is used to grow mulberry, hemp and tea, resulting in a reduction in grain production. In addition to adhering to the original intention of Taizu and guarding Nanjing, the reconstruction of Henghaiwei can also reduce smuggling and increase tax revenue for the country. At the same time, it can also reverse the current situation where a large number of grain fields on both sides of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River have been converted into mulberry fields.
As for the personnel for rebuilding Henghaiwei, there are many refugees in the country now, and there are still hundreds of thousands of victims of the Yellow River and Huai River floods in recent years who have not been effectively resettled. Therefore, the reconstruction personnel can be selected from these people.
After the reconstruction of Henghai Guard, the state did not need to pay the soldiers like the military garrison soldiers. On the contrary, since one of the main duties of Henghai Guard was to suppress smuggling near the mouth of the Yangtze River, the state could collect a certain amount of money and grain from Henghai Guard. Zhu Youdong estimated in his memorial that it could provide the state with about 50,000 taels of income each year.
The location for rebuilding Henghaiwei was, of course, on Jingjiang Island. After all, the location of this island was too important: downstream of Jinling, the gateway to the river and the sea. It was a strategic point to defend the entire Wu.
Of course, Jingjiang Island has now established a county, and it has a prosperous population and abundant production. However, the future Henghaiwei will mainly be based on the navy. Therefore, Henghaiwei does not need to allocate too much land like other guards. It only needs to allocate the sandy land along the Yangtze River on the south bank of the island to Henghaiwei. Anyway, the production of these sandy lands is not good. The local people value the land on the north bank of the island more: it is almost connected to Taizhou in the north of the river, the water flow is much slower, and the land is extremely fertile.
In short, such an arrangement can not only increase the security of Nanjing, but also reduce the burden of refugees and disaster victims for the country, and increase taxes for the country, while basically not disturbing the people. Therefore, this matter can be done!
If the emperor approves, please send new commanders, thousand-household officers, and hundred-household officers to Henghai Guard. And ask the Ministry of War to re-establish military registration for the refugees who have just entered Henghai Guard.
This memorial was written by Yuan Keli under the instruction of Zhu Youdong. It can be said that this memorial fully reflects Mr. Yuan's level.
First of all, if we only talk about the Henghai Guard, without mentioning the entire Nanjing Twelve Guards, the generals will feel much better.
Secondly, since its establishment, the main responsibility of Henghaiwei has been to guard against enemies at sea. Therefore, its attribute is navy, and navy itself does not have much military farms. Since there are not many military farms, the successive garrison chiefs have not been able to embezzle much. Moreover, Henghaiwei has been basically abandoned since the Yongle period, which means that its military households have almost been lost. In short, the military officers at all levels in Nanjing have not gained any benefits from Henghaiwei. Therefore, the rectification of Henghaiwei will not cause a backlash from the vested interest military officers in Nanjing. Not only that, it will also make the military officers in Nanjing and even the whole country feel that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince knows how to behave and do things!
Third, selecting personnel from refugees and disaster victims to rebuild Henghaiwei would reduce the burden on relevant local officials, so local civil officials fully supported it.
Fourth, after the reconstruction of Henghaiwei, its main function is to investigate smuggling at the mouth of the Yangtze River. This will definitely hurt the interests of the maritime merchants in Nanzhili. But you should note that the Donglin Party, the spokesperson for the merchants in Nanzhili, was hit hard some time ago and cannot make any waves at the moment. Moreover, once the anti-smuggling at the mouth of the Yangtze River is effective, the national logistics center will inevitably shift to Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong. Therefore, in addition to the strong support of officials from the north, officials will definitely support it.
Fifth, His Royal Highness the Grand Prince said that after the reconstruction of Henghaiwei, the court would not need to allocate much for military farms, nor would it need to occupy the good farmland that had been reclaimed by the people. Instead, it could earn money for the court every year. In this way, even if the Ministry of War did not do it, the Ministry of Revenue would vigorously promote it!
Sixth, Henghai Guard is actually in name only. To rebuild it, officers of all levels will be transferred from all over the country. So the Ministry of War will also strongly support it - there are so many new positions, why don't you stinking soldiers hurry up and give money to the master? So that all the sons in your family can be assigned a real position as soon as possible? His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that this guard can make money, and it is a lucrative position!
In short, after such an operation, the opposing forces were reduced to the minimum, and the supporting forces were fully mobilized. Zhu Youdong not only got the title of forming a new army, but also legitimately recruited young generals from all over the country!
Therefore, after reading the draft submitted by Yuan Keli in Nanhua Palace, Zhu Youdong couldn't help but imitate Cao Mengde: "Mr. Yuan is my Zifang!"
