jdhmnovel Chapter 422 His Emperor Zhu has a bigger headache than us!
Chapter 422 His Emperor Zhu has a bigger headache than us!
As it turns out, Zhu Chongba was a typical hypocrite.
For example, if Zhu Chongba said he wanted to kill the entire family of a certain minister, Xia Yu and his men could catch the earthworms in the minister's house, split them vertically, and even pour boiling water on the ant nest.
However, the reliability of Zhu Chongba's claim that he would break Zhu Biao's dog legs is basically the same as that of empty boasting.
When Zhu Biao finally arrived at the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Zhu merely remarked sarcastically, "Oh, so His Highness the Crown Prince knows to return to the capital?"
Then, Emperor Zhu chuckled coldly twice, held up two fingers, looked at Zhu Biao and said, "You need to make two things clear to us, and then we'll consider your secret trip to Dengzhou Prefecture over."
Zhu Biao secretly pursed his lips, then bowed and said, "Please give your orders, Father."
Emperor Zhu grunted in agreement, withdrew one finger, and said, "The first matter is the Blank Seal Case."
"We'll have Xia Yu and the others send all the files to you later, and you can handle the rest."
Then, Emperor Zhu raised a second finger and said, "The second matter is the spring imperial examination in the fourth year of Hongwu's reign. I'm entrusting you with this as well."
Zhu Biao stared blankly at the Emperor Zhu for a moment, then pointed at himself and said, "Me?"
Emperor Zhu picked up his wine cup, took a sip, glanced at Zhu Biao, and asked, "What's wrong? Is something wrong?"
When asked this question by Emperor Zhu, Zhu Biao was momentarily at a loss for words.
If you're asking about difficulties, then there are definitely no difficulties.
Take the Empty Seal Case for example. It was simply a matter of killing all the corrupt officials who deserved to die, exiling nine generations of their families for those with serious offenses, and exiling three generations of their families for those with minor offenses.
Take, for example, the imperial examination in the spring of the fourth year of the Hongwu reign. This was even simpler, since the matter of the examination had already been planned when the candidate was in Dengzhou Prefecture, and the questions were readily available.
The problem is that this isn't what I envisioned.
In Zhu Biao's mind, he would most likely be scolded when he returned this time, and if he really couldn't avoid it, he might even get a beating.
Next, he should take out the fine salt from the Dengzhou salt fields, along with his brother-in-law and the memorials he had written, causing his father, the Duke of Han, and the Earl of Chengyi to lose their hair like crazy.
What now?
Whether his own father, the Duke of Han, and the Earl of Chengyi lose their hair or not is another matter, but he himself has to worry about the Empty Seal Case and the Imperial Examination.
Zhu Biao pondered for a moment, then cupped his hands and replied, "Father, rest assured, I will definitely handle both matters properly."
Emperor Zhu gave a forced smile and a "hmm," but Zhu Biao's eyes darted around. He pulled a small pouch from his sleeve and said to Emperor Zhu, "Father, this is salt from the salt fields of Dengzhou Prefecture."
While the Emperor Zhu was untying his bag, Zhu Biao continued, "Dengzhou Prefecture, with only Penglai County, already has a hundred acres of salt fields, each of which can produce a thousand catties of salt per day."
"According to Wang Shaoyu, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, Dengzhou could have developed at least a thousand acres of salt fields before the fifth year of Hongwu's reign."
Even taking into account factors such as weather, tides, and manpower, Dengzhou Prefecture can still produce about 100 million catties of salt a year.
"Based on the calculation that each person consumes ten catties of salt per year, it would take ten million people in Dengzhou Prefecture to consume enough salt for a year."
"If there were more salt fields, or if other coastal areas adopted the sun-drying method of Dengzhou, wouldn't our Great Ming Dynasty be able to obtain millions of catties of salt a year?"
As Zhu Biao finished speaking, the wine cup in Emperor Zhu's hand crashed to the ground with a loud bang. Emperor Zhu himself stood up abruptly and looked at Zhu Biao, asking, "Biao'er, are you telling the truth?"
Zhu Biao chuckled, then took out several more memorials from his sleeve, picked one out, and handed it to Emperor Zhu.
"This is a complete account of the construction and salt production process of salt fields, written by Wang Shaoyu, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, and others."
"As long as people can read, and a few salt-making households with experience in salt production or drying can be found, new salt fields can be opened up along the coast."
The Emperor Zhu's hands trembled as he held the memorial.
"Okay! Okay!"
"Once the salt-making method in salt fields is widely adopted, the people of our Great Ming Dynasty will be able to afford salt!"
"Five coins! No, no, three coins a pound! From now on, salt from our Great Ming Dynasty will sell for three coins a pound!"
"Let's issue another decree to abolish the salt and grain industry."
"Damn it, the people of our Great Ming Dynasty no longer have to exchange eight bushels of grain for three catties of salt!"
Seeing Emperor Zhu so excited that he was incoherent, Zhu Biao finally felt a little relieved.
This is right.
I, the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty, traveled thousands of miles to Dengzhou to ask my brother-in-law for help with the salt issue for the people of the Ming Dynasty. Not only did I suffer through wind and rain on the way, but I also got a beating on my way back to the capital. Was it easy for me?
Of course, these are not the point.
The key point is that when I heard about the salt field's output, I was extremely shocked. My brother-in-law didn't say a word, but the way he looked at me like I was a bumpkin said it all.
Do you know how embarrassed I felt at that time?
Now, even my own father, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, isn't doing much better than me. I finally feel a little better, you know?
wrong.
One salt field alone is not enough!
We need to intensify our efforts!
Zhu Biaoshuang picked out a new one from among the many memorials in his hand and handed it to Emperor Zhu.
"This is a memorial I wrote requesting the repair of the straight road. Please take a look, Father."
Upon hearing that the memorial was written by his own eldest son, Emperor Zhu immediately opened it and began to read it.
After only glancing at it twice, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but sigh, and then instructed Chen Zhong to give the memorial to Li Shanchang.
Li Shanchang took the memorial, glanced at it, and then handed it to Liu Bowen without expression. Liu Bowen glanced at it twice and then handed it back to Chen Zhong without saying a word.
Destroy it.
"I respectfully submit this petition to request the construction of a straight cement road, the reason for which is... I humbly submit this petition."
The preceding text listed a long list of reasons why a straight cement road must be built.
For example, accelerating the circulation of goods and money.
For example, enabling people in remote areas to access affordable refined salt.
For example, it facilitates troop transport during wartime.
Anyway, there are a whole bunch of reasons.
What followed was a straight cement road connecting all the prefectures, states, and counties in the country.
Roads between prefectures are called national roads, roads between counties are called county roads, and even roads between villages are paved with cement, only the name is changed to rural roads.
Different types of straight cement roads correspond to different road construction standards.
For example, rural roads should be built to be one zhang wide, county roads should be built to be three zhang wide, and national roads should be built to be ten zhang wide.
Such a ridiculous reason, coupled with even more ridiculous road construction standards...
Liu Bowen subtly winked at Li Shanchang.
“Your Highness must never be allowed to go to Dengzhou again. He’s been corrupted by that madman Yang.”
Li Shanchang nodded slightly to indicate that he had received the message, but then shook his head and winked at Emperor Zhu.
"What are we compared to Emperor Zhu? He has a much bigger headache than us!"
Seeing Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen exchanging glances, Emperor Zhu was furious.