Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 192 The World Becomes Transparent Again (I)
"Your Highness, I respectfully welcome you back to Nanjing in triumph."
"No need to bow, everyone."
On the ninth day of the fifth lunar month, Zhu Youdong and his entourage returned to Nanjing by sea. After getting off the ship at Jubao Gate, they were warmly welcomed by officials at all levels in Nanjing and hundreds of thousands of Nanjing citizens.
As the headquarters of the Jinling Daily, the people of Nanjing were the best educated . They were full of the feeling that "this is our own people in Nanjing" towards His Royal Highness. During the expedition against the Jianzhou Jurchens, the Jinling Daily reported on it for several months in a row, explaining in great detail the history, geography, humanities, output and specific conditions of the Jurchen tribes in Liaodong. Therefore, the whole of Nanjing, as well as the Jiangnan region, paid great attention to this war.
When the news of the great victory came, especially the invincible performance of Henghaiwei on the battlefield, the people of Nanjing were so excited! Now that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has returned, how could the whole city not come out to welcome him?
Regarding this situation, Zhang Yicheng, who was stationed in Nanjing, had already informed Zhu Youdong many times in letters. So this time Zhu Youdong did not let the soldiers of Henghaiwei disembark at Jingjiang Island: Follow me to Nanjing City first, so that the local people there can see your heroic figures.
Therefore, this time Zhu Youdong and his party did not get off the boat at Zhengyang Gate, but directly at Jubao Gate: to walk from here to the Nanjing Imperial Palace, they would almost have to cross the entire Nanjing city area.
After the emperor and his ministers finished their greetings, Zhu Youdong nodded to Cao Wenzhao. The new commander of the Henghai Guard, with high spirits, led thousands of soldiers who were all dressed in modern military uniforms and stepped steadily into the Jubao Gate.
"Hey, look, why are the uniforms of our Henghai Guard different from those of the other guards?"
"Humph, Boss Huang, you are ignorant, aren't you? Didn't you read what the Jinling Daily said? This is a new military uniform designed by His Highness himself! Don't say it, a young man like this looks mighty in this uniform!"
"Boss Zhou is right. It's normal for a man to look a bit heroic. Damn my disappointing nephew. After studying, he didn't learn good things. He even learned from his classmates to spray perfume on his body, carry a folding fan, and wear sachets... If he continues like this, I think he will become a rabbit god in the future!"
"Yes, yes, why don't men carry Wu Gou? Men should have some masculinity."
The shop owners on the street gathered together to discuss what men should consider beautiful. In the brothels facing the street, the girls drooled at the soldiers who exuded the scent of male hormones.
"Hey, look, this soldier is so burly. His shoulders and chest , oh my! If I could touch them, they would probably be harder than bricks, right?"
"Well, he is strong and has good features, but his skin is a little dark."
"Haha, what do you want, sister? Didn't you hear what the Jinling Daily said? These soldiers are exposed to the wind and sun all day long, how can their skin be white? That Mr. Zhou who often comes to see you has white skin, but he has to take three breaths every time he takes a step. Is such a fair-faced man useful?"
"I'll beat you to death, you slut... Hey, hey, hey, look, the guy riding a white horse and wearing a big hat, is that the new commander Cao of Henghai Guard?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, so heroic! Commander Cao, Commander Cao! Look here!"
"Hey, he saw me, he saw me!"
"Shame on you, you obviously saw me."
The girls were having more and more fun, so they simply wrapped a piece of osmanthus cake or something like that in their handkerchiefs and threw it directly at the people downstairs.
One person took the lead, and the others followed suit. Suddenly the whole street became bustling with activity.
"Your Highness, our army is so supported by the people, and we have a foundation for our next move."
"I hope so. After all, this involves the interests of many people. Mr. Yuan, please notify the relevant personnel to gather at Nanhua Palace in one hour."
…
In Zhu Youdong's Nanhua Palace main hall, Zhu Youdong sat at the top, with Yuan Keli, Cao Huachun, Wang Chengen, Zhang Shize, Li Chunzhong, Yang Tingyun, Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao, Zhang Yicheng, Cao Sanxi and others sitting on his left, and Li Ruzhang, Cao Wenzhao, Tian Ergeng, Li Guozhu, Yan Siqi, Li Shizhong, Cheng Zongyu and others sitting on his right.
His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's shogunate has already grown to a considerable size.
Among these people, Yang Tingyun had already taken over as the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture in April of this year, and Li Zhizao was promoted to the position of Right Censor of Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate. However, the official positions of Zhang Yicheng and Xu Guangqi did not change, one was the academician of Yingtian Prefecture, and the other was still the director of the Imperial College. However, in fact, these four people are typical of not doing their jobs properly. Zhang Yicheng is still in charge of Jinling Daily, and the focus of the other three is of course on Fangshan Laboratory.
After everyone greeted each other, Zhu Youdong cleared his throat and said, "Everyone, more than five years ago, on the second day after we arrived in Nanjing, I took you to the Yellow Book Library, and later invited Mr. Lu Fengyi to explain it to everyone. I don't need to say more about the importance of the Yellow Book Library to the country and its current corruption.
More than five years ago, we came from afar and had no foundation. So, although the Yellow Book Library needed urgent rectification, I still held back. But now, I am determined to rebuild the Yellow Book Library! If I don’t succeed, I will die! "
"We, the ministers, will follow Your Highness and rebuild the Yellow Book Library. If we fail, we will die!"
"Okay!" Zhu Youdong clapped his hands vigorously and stood up: "Before I left Beijing this time, I have made an agreement with Grandpa Huang. No matter how big the things I do in Nanjing are, no matter how big the changes are, as long as the country is not about to fall, Beijing cannot interfere with my reconstruction of the Yellow Book! This time, we will succeed in rebuilding the Yellow Book Library!"
"I have no doubt about it!"
"Although we are all determined, it is extremely difficult to actually do it. Therefore, after discussing with Mr. Yuan for a long time, I have formulated a rough plan. Please review it."
"I dare not. Your Highness, please give us your instructions."
"Yes." After pacing for a few steps, Zhu Youdong said in a deep voice: "First of all, we have to set a principle, that is, the current Yellow Book Library is completely unreliable. So, what we just said is to rebuild the Yellow Book Library, not to rectify it. In other words, this time, we are actually re-checking the household registration of the whole country and re-registering.
In view of this, the second principle of this operation is: let bygones be bygones. Those who used various tricks and robberies to change land rights in the past will not be held accountable. Those who fled in the past will not be held accountable. Because the original yellow book is not reliable at all, we have no basis for land changes over the years, and we can't verify where the people who are not registered now came from. I know that this is very regrettable for those of you who have bright hearts. But in politics, appropriate compromise is necessary. "
Seeing that young men like Zhang Shize and Li Chunzhong were somewhat unhappy, Zhu Youdong smiled gently and said, "However, in this re-inspection of the household registration, if we find that upper households have been changed to lower households to avoid corvée labor, or lower households have been forcibly designated as upper households, which has led to the destruction of their families, we must vigorously correct it and impose heavy penalties on the relevant clerks!"
"Your Highness is wise!"
"In short, there are two main purposes for this rectification. First, to have a firm grasp of the actual arable land in the Ming Dynasty, which is the basis for future national taxation. Second, to have a firm grasp of the population of the Ming Dynasty. As long as these two items can be achieved, the entire goal will be largely accomplished."
"Well……"
"Zhang Shize, what's your problem?"
"Your Highness, what is the remaining half?"
"Haha~ Of course, a new Yellow Book will be created and then reincorporated into Houhu's management!"
"Oh, yes. I am a little bit dumbfounded."
"Okay. Now that we have discussed the goal, let me talk about the specific steps. The first step, Mr. Zhang, is that starting tomorrow, Jinling Daily will focus on reporting on the significance and current status of the Yellow Book Library. Let's stir up public opinion first."
"Yes, I have been preparing for this for five years, and I have written hundreds of articles on this."
"The second step is to recheck the household registration. With our strength, it is impossible to carry out . We can only proceed step by step. The first place to start is Yingtian Prefecture! Mr. Yang, how are your preparations going?"
"After I took over as the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture, I have locked all the household registrations in Yingtian, and they can be checked at any time according to the household registration of this prefecture."
Yes, although the national yellow book is completely unreliable. But in order to maintain operations, local governments still need to control certain real data. Therefore, in the current Ming Dynasty, each local government has its own household registration: although there are many distortions, it is much more reliable than the yellow book of Houhu. This thing is called the white book.
However, the current problem of the Ming Dynasty is that the central government can no longer effectively govern the local governments. The central government has repeatedly asked the local governments for blank books, but the local governments dare not hand over relatively accurate blank books!
Therefore, we can only use Yingtian Prefecture as a pilot: after all, the number of registered permanent residents in this place has been reduced by half in the past hundred years. It is relatively easy to find out the problem.
"The third step is to check the personnel. Mainly the teachers and students of Fangshan School. Mobilize 4,000 people in advance. Cao Wenzhao and Li Guozhu."
"I am here!"
"I will form an investigation team. Its members will be ten teachers and students from Fangshan School who will be responsible for investigating the population and land, and ten guards from Henghaiwei or Chongmingshasuo. In the initial stage, we will form 400 investigation teams. At the same time, we will deploy them to all counties and towns in Yingtian Prefecture! During this process , if anyone dares to violently resist the investigation, I will allow you to kill them directly. If anything happens, I will be responsible for you!"
"Your Highness, please rest assured that the Henghai Guard (Chongming Sand Station) will definitely protect all teachers and students."
"Zhang Shize, Li Chunzhong."
"I am here!"
"You two are both fourteen years old this year, it's time for you to take charge. I'll have Henghaiwei and Chongmingshasuo allocate a general flag to you, and you'll each lead these five hundred soldiers as a reserve force. Wherever there's a large-scale riot, you'll go out and suppress it! In short, we'll first reason with the ignorant people, and if they still don't listen, I'll allow you to resort to force!"
"I obey your orders!"
"Mr. Yang."
"I am here."
"You should spread the word to the two capitals' inspection offices. If any censor dares to impeach me or my subordinates because of the Yellow Book, I will lead people to investigate his hometown first!"
"Yes, I obey your command!"
"Li Ruzhang, Yan Siqi."
"I am here!"
"I'll leave it to you to dispatch small boats and coordinate the routes of the various inspection teams."
"I obey your orders and will escort the inspection team on the waterway!"
"The rest of you, stay in your positions. I will transfer you temporarily at any time when necessary. In short, from now on, all matters in Nanhua Palace must give way to the re-inspection of household registration!"
"I obey your orders!"
"Good!" Zhu Youdong clapped his hands once more, and after standing back in the main seat, he breathed a sigh of relief: "Everyone, I am the crown prince of this country, and I can speak openly about some things. If the Yellow Book Library is not rebuilt, the Ming Dynasty court will be in a fog about the situation of the country. If this continues, the country will surely perish within a hundred years! Whether the country can reverse this situation and whether the world can be transparent again in front of the court depends on this move!"
