jdhmnovel Chapter 945 What does it mean that this official must exterminate them all?
Chapter 945 What does it mean that this official must exterminate them all?
Yang Shaofeng suddenly felt a pang of envy for Hu Weiyong.
That old scoundrel has been swindling and cheating all the time in Liaodong. It's one thing for him to ask for favors from Lao Deng and the imperial court, but after all, it's a trick I've already learned, nothing new.
The key issue is those chieftains and barbarians who falsely claimed their status.
Although that old scoundrel Li Shanchang kept saying he wouldn't let Hu Weiyong have any designs on those falsely registered chieftains, commoners, and barbarians, those falsely registered chieftains, commoners, and barbarians would still migrate to Liaodong without hesitation.
Because only in Liaodong will no one know their past.
Only in Liaodong, where local residents are scarce, is there no problem of discrimination against outsiders by local residents.
To put it bluntly, it's like a pie falling from the sky and landing perfectly in the mouth of that old scoundrel Hu Weiyong.
When I was the magistrate of Ningyang, I had never encountered such a good thing.
Yang Shaofeng mentally ranted, and his gaze toward Hu Weiyong turned hostile.
Hu Weiyong felt uneasy under Yang Shaofeng's gaze and tentatively asked, "Why is Your Highness looking at me like that?"
Yang Shaofeng snorted and said, "It's nothing, I just wanted to remind Hu Buzheng that you promised to send some laborers to Liaodong."
Upon hearing the word "laborer," Hu Weiyong immediately breathed a long sigh of relief.
If you, Yang the Madman, had come to me a few months earlier to fulfill your promise, I would have had to find a way to delay it.
Now……
Hu Weiyong chuckled twice and said, "I know the Prince Consort is in a hurry, but don't rush."
Ok?
You old scoundrel, are you planning to renege on your debt?
Yang Shaofeng stared intently at Hu Weiyong, who then chuckled twice and said, "Didn't His Highness the Crown Prince and the Prince Consort intend to seal the Wolf Mountain?"
"I've been thinking that it's one thing to delay other things, but the matter of sealing the wolf's lair is something that absolutely cannot be delayed."
"Therefore, all the laborers I originally prepared for Dengzhou Prefecture have been transferred to build the city walls."
"Once the city is completed, all these laborers will be sent to Dengzhou without exception."
"..."
Looking at Hu Weiyong's annoying old face, Yang Shaofeng unconsciously clenched his fist.
Sure enough, the old scoundrel chose to renege on his debt, and he did so openly and blatantly.
……
The weather in Liaodong is gradually getting warmer.
What was even hotter than the weather was the mindset of the many laborers in Liaodong.
"For each mine, is there one quota for registering a household in the Ming Dynasty per year?"
"As long as you can register your household, your wages will increase from ten coins a day to sixty coins, the same as ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty. You will also be allocated fifteen mu of land, seeds, oxen, and farming tools?"
Although they had long known that the people of the Ming Dynasty were treated well, the laborers were always envious and resentful, never daring to imagine that they could receive the same treatment.
To put it bluntly, household registration is something you either have at birth, or you can only watch helplessly.
The laborers had considered the idea of impersonating others.
The problem is that the prerequisite for impersonating someone else is to have a family genealogy, be able to speak Chinese, and be able to write Chinese characters.
In many vassal states, those who had the opportunity to learn Chinese were mostly high-ranking officials and nobles, or at the very least, wealthy gentlemen with considerable assets.
People like them, who would come to the Ming Dynasty to work as laborers for a mere ten coins a day, have no opportunity to learn Chinese characters or the Chinese language.
For the laborers, impersonating someone else was more like an unattainable dream.
But it is different now.
Although there is only one spot per year, having a spot is always better than having no spot at all.
What if it happens to me?
Even if I were to risk my life, could I possibly secure that spot for my son?
Most importantly, there is only one spot available for registering as a citizen of the Ming Dynasty, but there are not many restrictions on the eligibility to buy a house.
What?
You're saying that you only earn ten coins a day, and you don't even get to keep those ten coins. You could never save up a hundred strings of cash in your whole life.
Have you ever heard of the term "overtime"?
His Highness the Crown Prince is kind. Originally, we had to work for five hours a day, but after His Highness arrived, the work was reduced to four hours.
Moreover, His Highness specifically instructed that for every additional hour of work beyond the four-hour workday, five coins would be awarded as wages.
The wages were paid directly to us.
His Highness also specifically instructed that if we laborers have a hard time making a living, the Crown Prince's Palace would subsidize half of the money for the mine if we wanted to buy a house.
In addition, His Highness also introduced a loan program, allowing us to move into the house by paying only 30% of the cost, with the remaining amount to be deducted from our overtime pay each month.
His Highness the Crown Prince is benevolent!
Working two extra hours a day would earn you ten coins, which would amount to three hundred coins a month and three strings of cash a year.
In ten years, just ten years, we can save up 30,000 guan for a down payment.
If you can bring your brothers, children, and other family members over to work as laborers, earn money together, and save money together, wouldn't it be possible to save up for a down payment in five or even three years?
The workers became increasingly excited as they thought about it.
Some clever people have even thought of another aspect in advance—would the annual quota for citizenship be prioritized from among the workers who have bought houses?
According to the Ming Dynasty, having a house meant settling down and no longer being a homeless vagrant.
work overtime!
Overtime is mandatory!
We have to work two extra hours every day!
No, we need to work three more hours every day!
Try to save up the down payment as soon as possible!
A large number of workers began to voluntarily and consciously work overtime.
Yang Shaofeng then opportunely suggested, "The Ming Dynasty is a warm-hearted Ming Dynasty, and we must give more care to the laborers from the outer regions."
The so-called "care" involved the Ministry of War setting up post stations in various vassal states.
In addition to transporting goods, they were also responsible for delivering letters home for the workers.
As for the interpreters needed at the post stations?
Yang Shaofeng stated confidently that this was a problem of the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War, and had nothing to do with him.
Li Shanchang glanced at Yang Shaofeng and said, "The post stations are the Ministry of War's business, and the interpreters are the Ministry of Personnel's business. So why do you Jinyiwei have to send people to the post stations?"
"You Imperial Guards can't possibly take advantage of the post stations and then do nothing at all, can you?"
"Also, shouldn't you Embroidered Uniform Guards tone it down a bit lately?"
"Among the memorials sent by superiors, dozens of pounds could be picked out to impeach your Embroidered Uniform Guard."
"Frame-ups, torture, and forced confessions—is this what your Embroidered Uniform Guard does?"
Li Shanchang finally couldn't help but sigh and said, "The lives of the gentry in Jiangnan are also lives. Does Your Highness really have to exterminate them all?"
Yang Shaofeng was furious.
What is meant by framing someone?
What is meant by forced confession?
Just as the title of Grand Tutor naturally carries an aesthetic appeal of a treacherous minister, the name Embroidered Uniform Guard naturally carries an aesthetic appeal of committing all kinds of evil.
Besides, what do you mean I have to exterminate them?
How dare you, you old scoundrel, frame me!