jdhmnovel Chapter 291 Is this some kind of badge?
Chapter 291 Is this some kind of badge?
The second year of Hongwu passed in the blink of an eye.
This means that Magistrate Yang finally had a five-day holiday that was not free.
“Every year on the first day of the lunar new year, civil and military officials shall have a five-day holiday.”
During these five days, Magistrate Yang had to accompany the Chang brothers to pay New Year's visits to various powerful figures, including but not limited to the old Emperor Zhu, Li Shanchang, the various nobles of Huaixi, and Old Master Liu Jizu, who was acting as Magistrate Yang's marriage envoy.
After visiting each household to offer New Year's greetings, it was already the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. Magistrate Yang could finally relax and enjoy the carefree life of a prince consort.
Compared to Magistrate Yang, Emperor Zhu and the officials in the capital were much busier.
The first issue facing Emperor Zhu and the officials of the court was the upgrading of Dengzhou to Dengzhou Prefecture, with Magistrate Yang Da serving as the first Prefect of Dengzhou Prefecture.
In other words, Yang Shaofeng is currently a first-rank imperial son-in-law, vice minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, prefect of Dengzhou Prefecture, and concurrently magistrate of Ningyang County, receiving four salaries in one person.
Of course, a few salaries are not a problem. As long as Emperor Zhu is willing to give them, the officials in the court will not have any objections, let alone any headaches.
What truly troubled the officials was Emperor Zhu's sudden proposal to use Dengzhou Prefecture as a pilot area to implement a whole host of reforms, including a progressive tax system, a royal land system, a household registration system, and a salt administration system.
As the saying goes, in officialdom, sometimes you can't just look at what your superiors say, and you also know what they haven't said.
Emperor Zhu said that Dengzhou would be used as a pilot area for reforming the land system, tax system, salt administration and other systems. What he didn't say was that it was possible that the reforms would be rolled out from Dengzhou to the whole Ming Dynasty in the future.
In other words, many reforms that were originally just on paper are finally about to take the first step towards implementation.
The second problem facing Emperor Zhu and his officials was the gradual implementation of the two treaties that Yang Feng had signed with Goryeo and Annam.
The first issue that needs to be addressed is the market.
First, we need to determine where the border market should be located, and second, what should be traded in the border market.
Especially for the Ming Dynasty, the border markets were designed to control the pricing system. What could be sold and bought there, and how to price the goods, all required careful discussion before a decision could be made.
In addition, most of the border markets used for tribute in various dynasties were temporary and random in nature, only opening during the tribute period and closing after the tribute period ended.
Even the border markets set up by the Song Dynasty were mostly short-term and periodic in nature.
However, Yang the Madman wanted to change the border market to a long-term one, which would involve the management and taxation of the border market. After all, the management and taxation of short-term border markets are relatively easier, while long-term border markets are prone to many messy problems.
The second issue that needed to be addressed was the Ming Dynasty's embassies in Goryeo and Annam. This involved selecting envoys and assistant officials suitable for long-term residence in Goryeo and Annam, as well as the centurions responsible for their protection, and choosing which merchants to trade in Goryeo and Annam.
Of course, the selection of the assistant officials for the envoy was easy to solve, after all, there were four scholars that Yang Dianfeng had brought from Ningyang County to the capital, and who had now officially taken up their posts in the Court of State Ceremonial.
As far as the Secretariat, the Ministry of Rites, the Court of State Ceremonies, and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices were concerned, Yang the Madman was no good, and the four scholars he brought with him were no better. They dared to beat up their colleagues in the capital of the Ming Dynasty. They might as well send them to Goryeo and Annam as soon as possible, so that they would not have to see them or be bothered by them.
Similarly, the task of protecting the embassy was easy to handle. After all, the Ming Dynasty had no shortage of troops at the moment. They could just take a hundred households from anywhere and station them there. At worst, they could rotate them every few years. It wouldn't be a big problem.
The real problem is how to select merchants.
After all, these merchants didn't go to Goryeo and Annam simply to do business; they all had some other miscellaneous missions to fulfill.
The third issue concerns the Ming Dynasty's official paper money.
This "treasure note" refers to the Ming Dynasty treasure note issued by the Ministry of Revenue's Treasure Notes Bureau, not the treasure note created by the Treasure Notes Bureau to help Emperor Zhu solve his genital problems.
From the moment the Ming Dynasty Treasure Notes were created by the Treasure Notes Administration, they were tasked with replacing gold, silver, and copper coins, and also with the heavy responsibility of drawing gold and silver from outside the Ming Dynasty into it.
Besides the fact that the border markets had clearly stipulated that only Ming Dynasty banknotes could be used for transactions, were merchants who went to various vassal states also allowed to use Ming Dynasty banknotes for transactions?
How can we make the Ming Dynasty Treasure Notes officially circulate in the Ming Dynasty and its various vassal states?
How should the gold, silver, and copper absorbed into the Ming Dynasty's treasury be managed?
In short, there were a whole host of problems, and any one of them could be discussed for an hour or two.
The high-ranking officials in the imperial court even began to envy Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu.
At least they only needed to focus on compiling the "Hongwu Great Dictionary" and the "Hongwu Great Encyclopedia," instead of worrying themselves sick like the officials in the imperial court.
Emperor Zhu truly deserves to be called the number one workaholic in history.
Besides having to hold meetings with officials to discuss these messy issues, Emperor Zhu also had to deal with a huge pile of memorials every day, and incidentally prepare for the investiture ceremony on the thirteenth day of the first lunar month.
As a result, Emperor Zhu always looked exhausted whenever he visited the Kunning Palace.
Until the thirteenth day of the first lunar month.
Emperor Zhu changed into a leather cape in the Hall of Diligent Governance, while Empress Ma changed into a pheasant-feathered robe. The couple sat on the dragon throne in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, while Zhu Biao, wearing a four-clawed dragon robe, stood on the imperial steps. Female officials knelt to present the imperial edict of investiture and then carried the edict to the Hall of Magnificent Canopy.
Jin'er and Yu'er were dressed in pheasant robes and wearing nine-phoenix crowns, waiting for the female official to read out the imperial edict of investiture.
"By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: In ancient times, rulers of the world would bestow titles upon their daughters. Now that you have come of age, you are hereby granted the title of Princess Funing, and betrothed to Yang Shaofeng, the Imperial Son-in-Law. He will be the Imperial Son-in-Law, and you will be the Princess. Now that you have entered the Yang family, you must strictly adhere to the virtues of a wife, and serve your parents-in-law faithfully. Maintain order and discipline within the household, and be a good wife and mother, so as not to fail the kindness of your parents who gave you life. Be respectful!"
After the imperial edict was read aloud, Jin'er and Yu'er first accepted the decree and expressed their gratitude. Then, guided by the female officials, they went to the Qianqing Palace to express their thanks and performed the eight-bow ceremony to Emperor Zhu and Empress Ma respectively.
Then, Emperor Zhu suddenly felt inexplicably displeased.
Although Jin'er and Yu'er were adopted, they are still Old Zhu's daughters, right?
It would be one thing if all the benefits went to that bastard, but that bastard also caused Old Zhu so many headaches, while he himself was just lying at home leisurely drinking tea. Is this even reasonable?