Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 330: Ming Prepares to Counterattack (I)
"Your Highness, I greet you. Did you have a good rest last night?"
"Uh..." Zhu Youdong was about to answer, but suddenly realized: this group of old drivers were making fun of him, the newbie!
But it doesn't matter. The soul of the time traveler in this body has been tested for a long time. So Zhu Youdong was not shy at all. Instead, he said carelessly: "The yin and yang are balanced, and the spirit is refreshed. Very good, very good."
"Hahaha~ It really is His Highness!"
After the king and his ministers joked with each other for a while, they took their seats one by one. Then Zhu Youdong cleared his throat and said, "Let's begin."
"Yes, Your Highness." Cao Sanxi stood up first: "The first round of fundraising for the War Foundation has ended, and a total of 24.3 million yuan in membership funds have been received from more than 530 merchants."
"Very good! Now, building ships and re-equipping the entire army will not be a problem."
"Da Sima, what are you thinking about now? Is this money all from your Ministry of War? "
"Haha! Da Situ, what do you want to do? Did you hear my name? The war fund, the money here is not from my Ministry of War, could it be from your Ministry of Revenue?"
"Ha~! So, Sima, you have always been in the front line of the Ministry of War in your life. This is your limitation. Is war just the business of soldiers? I dare say you haven't read the statement in the Yanjing Daily in recent months that war is the business of all soldiers and civilians in the country..."
"Xu Zhangzhi!"
"Alright, alright, stop arguing." Zhu Youdong knocked on the table. "I'll tell you how to use the money later. Now let's start the meeting according to procedure. Sanxi, do you have anything else to say?"
"This is the only thing I have to do during today's meeting."
"Okay then, Ministry of Industry."
"Yes, Your Highness, everyone, at the Ministry of Works, Shaanxi's twelve water conservancy projects have all been completed and put into use. Although Shaanxi suffered another drought this summer, the reduction in production was not serious. According to the communication between this minister and the Grand Tutor, Shaanxi should be able to pay the full amount of summer taxes this year."
"Well, Yuan Yingtai is really capable in developing water conservancy projects!"
"That's true. After Yuan Yingtai went to Shaanxi, the progress of various water conservancy projects in Shaanxi was significantly accelerated, and the funding was about 10% less than the budget of the Ministry of Industry."
"Great! After the meeting, I will ask the Emperor to issue a nationwide commendation for such a capable minister. Zhang Shize, your newspaper should send reporters to Shaanxi to conduct on-site interviews and report extensively."
"Yes, I obey your command."
"Your Highness, the Ministry of Works also wants to report that the Jingluo (Yang) and Jingji (Nan) highways have been completed. His Highness the Prince of Shu reported that the Chengyu Highway has also been completed."
"Okay, so after these two roads are completed, what will the distance be?"
"Yes, Your Highness. In the past, the official road from Luoyang to the capital was more than 1,800 kilometers long. If a normal two-wheeled carriage traveled twelve hours a day, it would take more than two months. Now, the Beijing-Luoyang Highway has been shortened to more than 1,200 kilometers (modern highways are more than 700 kilometers long). It only takes twenty days for a four-wheeled carriage to travel at normal speed. If it is expedited in case of emergency, it only takes four to five days."
"good."
"Your Highness, the Ministry of Works has other matters to report. Because they are too confidential, I have already written a memorial and will present it to Your Highness separately."
After taking the memorial handed over by Xu Guangqi, Zhu Youdong briefly flipped through it and quickly came to the conclusion: Now we just have to wait for the smokeless gunpowder!
"I know what it is. You have done a great job. What I mean is that Experiment No. 1 (steam engine) should not be put into practical use for the time being. A larger model should be developed to further improve it."
"Yes, I obey your command."
"Then, next, the Ministry of Justice."
"Yes, Your Highness. The Ministry of Justice has completed the revision of the Ming Code last year. According to Your Highness's order, we will try out the new code in Northern Zhili first. Since last month, the Ministry of Justice has sent a large number of personnel to conduct field visits and commissioned the Yanjing Daily to conduct a questionnaire survey. In general, the people's satisfaction with the new law is over 70%. The satisfaction of officials at all levels is only over 40%. The reason for this situation is that many officials said that the new law has increased their workload. In addition, many clerks secretly reported to us that many chief officials in Northern Zhili said that after the implementation of the new law, their freedom to judge cases was severely restricted, and it was not as comfortable as before."
Humph, where are we going now? Being an official will only make things more and more uncomfortable.
However, Zhu Youdong did not say this. He nodded, and then said: "The new law will continue to be implemented in the northern Zhili. Starting from the second half of this year, the new law will also be implemented in the southern Zhili. The Nanjing Ministry of Justice and Jinling Daily must closely monitor the implementation of the new law. In addition, the two Zhili are the most fertile places in the Ming Dynasty. If it is implemented only here, it will not be representative. The Ministry of Justice will find three more prefectures with relatively backward economy and culture, and try out the new law there as well."
"Yes, I obey your command."
"Okay." He patted the table lightly and stopped Wang Xiangqian who was about to stand up: "Grand Marshal, wait a moment. We will talk about the Ministry of War last."
"yes."
After that, the Ministry of Rites was doing routine work. With the State Council meeting held every ten days, the Ministry of Personnel did not need to finalize every matter at this level of meeting.
"Your Highness." The Minister of Revenue Xu Honggang stood up and said, "The Nanjing Revenue Department reported that in June this year, all the Yellow Books from various places were stored in the warehouse. Since the Xuande period, our Ming Dynasty has once again had a detailed and reliable Yellow Book. The foundation of the country has been repaired and is close to completion. I, your Highness, would like to congratulate you!"
"I, your Highness, congratulate you."
"Hahaha, let's congratulate together. Congratulations on behalf of the Emperor and the Ming Dynasty!"
"Yes, we also congratulate the emperor and the Ming Dynasty." After saying this, Xu Honggang continued: "Next, starting from the second half of the year, I plan to start redrawing the fish scale atlas. This requires the Ministry of War to send a letter to the garrisons in various places, asking them to continue to assist the staff of the Ministry of Revenue. Of course, we can't let everyone work in vain. The Ministry of Revenue has made a budget of 500,000 yuan for this. Um, Grand Marshal?"
"Humph!" Although the two old men were the ones who argued the most at the State Council meeting, Wang Xiangqian also knew that this was the last step to consolidate the foundation . So, although he muttered all kinds of nonsense such as "only giving us 500,000 and not treating us soldiers as human beings", he still stood up honestly and expressed his firm support.
After all these things were done, Zhu Youdong announced a recess and asked Fang Zhenghua to arrange for the eunuchs to rearrange the seats in the meeting room.
Ten minutes later, when the ministers re-entered the venue, the entire venue had completely changed: the perimeter of the venue had become convex due to the placement of many wooden frames, and a huge sand table appeared in the center of the venue, which was relatively concave!
