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But in fact it is not wronged, because the Datong New Dynasty continued the policy of the Ming Dynasty, stipulating that officials should not marry women from the places where they work.This is a replica of the prohibition of intermarriage with rich families, and it is all to prevent officials from colluding with local rich people.

Zhao Han asked, "Did you go back to Wuxing Town all these years?"

Huang Shunde replied: "I was transferred two years ago, and I visited once on the way out. Thanks to His Majesty's kindness, Wuxing Town now lives and works in peace and contentment. It is one of the most prosperous places in Luling County."

Zhao Han said: "If you keep talking nonsense and flattering, you can get out."

Huang Shunde hurriedly said: "Although it is not ranked first or second, it is certain to be ranked in the top three."

Zhao Han suddenly lost the mood to chat. What he wanted to talk about was about the family affairs of the owners and families in Wuxing Town, and talk about the current situation of those old people in the past.Huang Shunde was still so blind, to talk about the prosperity of Wuxing Town to the emperor was simply wrong.

Of course, Huang Shunde couldn't talk like that.He rarely goes back to his hometown, and even if he does, he doesn't care much about the situation in the village.

Afterwards, we could only talk about business. Huang Shunde reported on the people's livelihood in Zhenjiang Mansion, and was sent away by the impatient emperor after he finished speaking.

Although it was not very pleasing, after the officials disembarked, they still looked at Huang Shunde with envious eyes. After all, the emperor spent most of his time chatting with the magistrate.

With his hands behind his back, Huang Shunde strode forward with his head held high, listening to the flattery of the accompanying officials.

The magistrate of the mansion is Wei Xin, a scholar from Hunan, he followed Huang Shunde flatteringly: "The mansion is in the emperor's heart, and he really deserves to be an old minister from Conglong."

Huang Shunde bragged: "Your Majesty raised his troops back then, and after he captured Wuxing Town, there were no scholars around him. Although I was not a scholar, I was still a boy. I was the first scholar to work with Your Majesty. It was a difficult time. It is said that it is a town, but it is actually the territory of two villages, and it has to deal with the encirclement and suppression by officers and soldiers."

Lin Yingchen, magistrate of Dantu County, also followed him, smiling and jokingly said: "Your Majesty, why not tell everyone how His Majesty defeated the officers and soldiers of the former Ming Dynasty."

"Yes, yes, we all want to hear it." Other officials echoed.

"Let's talk about this mansion," Huang Shunde said as he walked, "At that time, His Majesty only had three or four hundred troops, and Jiangxi governor Xie Xuelong led an army of tens of thousands to attack. Today's old Li Ge also recruited brave men from the countryside to go around Then they rushed to Wuxing Town. Everyone, facing such a predicament, what can you think of to break the situation?"

The officials frowned, unable to think of a solution.With only a few hundred troops at hand, facing tens of thousands of troops to conquest, and being surrounded by troops led by Li Banghua, no matter how hard they fight, they are doomed.

Huang Shunde smiled and said: "Your Majesty is the son of the real dragon, and he is a genius in heaven. Xie Xuelong came to fight Wuxing Town, and His Majesty went to fight Ji'an County. If you are sure, the city must be empty of troops. Then Xie Xuelong is not easy to deal with. Early Just keep the troops to defend the city. Why do you say that Ming Dynasty will perish? No matter how good the governor can fight, he can’t hold others back. Guess what?”

The officials really didn't know, and they pricked up their ears to listen.

Huang Shunde stroked his beard and said with a whetted appetite: "The guarding eunuch of Ji'an Mansion was afraid that his banknotes would be robbed, so he sent half of the city guards to guard the banknotes. Your Majesty personally led the rebel army to attack at night, not only killed The officers and soldiers were defeated, and the guarding eunuch was arrested."

"I see." The officials suddenly realized.

Huang Shunde asked again: "Do you know how His Majesty captured the city?"

Lin Yingchen said: "But let the eunuch go to cheat the city?"

Huang Shunde said with a smile: "A deceitful city is a deceitful city, but how to defraud a city is beyond your imagination."

"My lord, please explain in detail." Wei Xin felt itchy when he heard it.

Huang Shunde said: "Ordinary people, if they want to defraud the city, they must be quick, and the defenders have not reacted. But your majesty said that if there is a night attack outside the city, the city must be prepared. Your majesty allows the defeated soldiers to flee, and the soldiers from the other side will be killed." They hid them all in the eunuch's mansion, making the appearance of evacuating overnight after looting the bank."

"After dawn, there were rout soldiers calling the door one after another, wanting to return to the city. The guards and soldiers did not dare to be careless, and they checked their identities before letting them in. When more and more rout soldiers returned to the city, His Majesty disguised himself as a rout soldier and brought them back to the city. The eunuch came out from the mountain. So many fled back to the city before, the guards thought that the rebels had withdrawn long ago, how could they expect to be able to kill the carbine? The eunuch shouted a few words, the city gate opened, and all the officials at the prefecture and county levels came Welcome, I will be killed by His Majesty!"

"You are really brave and careful, Your Majesty is a good stick!" The officials next to him praised sincerely.

Huang Shunde suddenly sighed: "Your Majesty is extremely strict in governing the military and government. In order to prevent collusion between officials and the people, officials are prohibited from marrying gentry. I am a person close to Your Majesty. Unexpectedly, my family concealed it. I really married a gentry, so I was relegated and severely punished. Otherwise, if you don't talk about Shangshu, how can you be a servant. How can you be an official in Zhenjiang Mansion now?"

The officials suddenly realized that it was no wonder that Huang Shunde did not do well, this is really unlucky.

……

"Why is Your Majesty unhappy?" Liu Rushi asked.

Zhao Han looked at the surface of the Yangtze River, and said something confusing: "People's hearts are like this river. The surface is calm and calm, but there are many undercurrents surging under the water."

Although Liu Rushi couldn't understand, he was able to pick up the words: "Don't be afraid of the undercurrent, just build the embankment and prevent the flood from flooding both banks."

"That's a good statement." Zhao Han said with satisfaction.

Mainly because of the exchange just now, Zhao Han found that Huang Shunde hadn't made much progress, and his ability was not worthy of being a magistrate at all.Regarding the situation of Zhenjiang Mansion, Zhao Han asked carefully, Huang Shunde answered vaguely, obviously he was not a competent official.

But such a person really became a magistrate.

Seniority is one aspect, and there are connections in the court.

Zhao Han tried his best to balance the forces of all parties, deliberately promoted officials who were not from Jiangxi, but he still formed a "Jiangyou faction", which is a bit similar to Zhu Yuanzhang's "Huaixi faction" at that time.

The Jiang You faction is centered on Li Banghua, with Song Yingxing as its arm, and Zhao Han's old friends are all leaders.

When the cabinet was first formed, Pang Chunlai was from Liaodong, Li Banghua was from Jiangxi, and Tian Younian was from Shaanxi.In addition to qualifications and credit, it is also balancing power.

It's a pity that Tian Younian is old and sick, otherwise Zhao Han would never let him go.

After Tian Younian retired, he was replaced by Song Yingxing, who was from Jiangxi like Li Banghua.Most of the chief officials of the Ten Departments and the Ten Caos are from Jiangxi.

Even if they are impartial and selfless, when promoting officials, they will inevitably favor Jiangxi officials.

Now there is even a jingle: "Full towards Jiangxi, half towards Ji'an."

The Donglin Party and the Fushe are small forces compared with the Jiangyou faction.

This year, Pang Chunlai once again retired from his old age and returned to his hometown, wanting to return to his hometown in Liaodong to take care of his old age.But Zhao Han refused to let him go. If Pang Chunlai left, the court would really become the Jiangxi people's world.

Zhao Han thought about it carefully, and wrote down the three characters "Zhu Zhiyu".

Zhu Shunshui is an old friend of Zhao Han, and his knowledge and ability are very outstanding.Now that he is a political envoy outside, he can find an opportunity to be transferred to the center, first as the left servant, and then promoted to minister.

Then, write the name "Wang Tiaoding" on it.

Wang Diaoding is the head of the Imperial Academy and has made outstanding contributions to Datong Theory.Officials of the Imperial Academy are not allowed to be easily transferred to political affairs. They can be released to serve in local areas first, and then transferred back to the Ministry of Rites for promotion.After Chen Maosheng entered the cabinet, he asked Wang Diaoding to be the Minister of Rites.

Wu Yingji, an Anhui native, is already in the center, and Zhang Bingwen, who is also an Anhui native, can also find an opportunity to be transferred back as a court official.

Within ten years, the number of cabinet officials from Jiangxi must be reduced to only [-]%.Otherwise, as time goes by, there will definitely be troubles in the future, and maybe Zhao Han will have to learn from Zhu Yuanzhang to kill heroes.

This is really not alarmist talk. If one side is allowed to dominate, it will be impossible to suppress it at that time.

As the leader of the Jiang You faction, Li Banghua, even if he is selfless, the people below will use his name to mess around.

Li Banghua is 73 years old this year. Although he is physically strong, he won't be able to work for a few years.When both he and Pang Chunlai leave the court, Song Yingxing will be the next chief assistant, and then the cabinet officials will be able to make major adjustments.

Chapter 610 [Yangzhou, a city with a population of one million]

The Zuo Buzheng of Jiangsu is also the emperor's old friend, although the relationship was not so good at the beginning.

Outside the city of Yangzhou, a fast boat came.

Before the boat came to a complete stop, he jumped down to an officer, and reported, "Uncle Fang, the Son of Heaven is driving more than ten miles away. There is a sailor clearing the way ahead, and the small ones can't get through, but I guess there will be no mistakes."

"Thank you." Fei Yuanjian nodded with a smile.

The domineering and domineering young master of the Fei family has long since become calm and restrained.His knowledge is still not good, his articles are rough and simple, but he does things very methodically, he is not the kind of Huang Shunde who relies on his qualifications and connections to get promoted.

The right chief envoy is called Han Chengxuan, who was originally the county magistrate of Nanchang in the Ming Dynasty. After he took office, he found that he was taken over by the rebels.Moreover, those anti-thieves are good at governing the people, so they turned a blind eye and closed their eyes, traveling around the mountains and rivers to have fun.Facing the great flood, he fought against the flood together with the rebels. It was not until the entire province of Jiangxi fell that he took advantage of the situation and joined Zhao Tianwang.

"Brother Fei, who will tell you when you see His Majesty?" Han Chengxuan asked.

Fei Yuanjian said, "I'll do it..."

Han Chengxuan said, "Alright."

In fact, there is nothing else, but the population of Yangzhou is too large. Although they have immigrated to the north one after another, more and more residents in the city have migrated.It is almost overcrowded. Either a large number of people will immigrate to the north, or build a new city quickly.

The old city of Yangzhou covers an area of ​​2 square kilometers.The new city built during the Jiajing period covers an area of ​​3 square kilometers.

The urban area of ​​5 square kilometers was not enough by the time of Chongzhen.In the 11th year of Chongzhen, the eunuch Yang Xianming, the governor of salt, planned to build an outer city, but he gave up because of the funds and the war.

After the establishment of the Datong New Dynasty, more than 5 urban residents of Yangzhou immigrated to the north.However, there are still more than 50 local hukou, more than 10 non-local hukou registered here, and a large floating population that cannot be counted. These do not include children under the age of 12.

Including children, the resident population is estimated to be more than 80, and the floating population may be close to 100 million.

Waiting and waiting, Yu Jia finally came.

On both sides of the canal, people stood densely and densely, and they all came to see the emperor together.

Zhao Han stood on the deck and frowned, because the closer he was to Yangzhou City, the more small and simple shacks on both sides of the river, many of which were even built directly on the river embankment.Are the people of Yangzhou so poor?

"Your Majesty, the local officials are waiting at the pier, do you want to call for an audience?"

"Call the left and right chief envoys onto the boat, and leave the rest. There are too many people on the shore. If I get off the boat, I will definitely clear the place and disturb the people."

Not long after, the fleet docked.

Fei Yuanjian and Han Chengxuan were brought to the boat, and they bowed to each other immediately.

Zhao Han didn't make any detours, and asked directly, "Why are there so many simple shacks on the embankment along the river?"

Fei Yuanjian said: "I am going to report to Your Majesty that there are too many people in Yangzhou city, so they can only live in sheds outside the city. And the farmers in the nearby villages and towns are used to doing odd jobs in the city. During the slack season, there are people everywhere inside and outside the city. Recently, a factory was opened outside the city, but no dormitories were built for the workers, and the shacks on the embankment were all workers’ residence.”

"Is there no Yishe (affordable housing) in Yangzhou City?" Zhao Han asked.

Han Chengxuan explained: "Your Majesty, there is no land to build houses in Yangzhou City. It was already full a hundred years ago."

There is a description of the streets and alleys in Yangzhou in the Ming Dynasty: the entrance of the alleys is narrow and the intestines are curved, every inch is thick, and there are sophisticated houses and secret households... There are hundreds of them in the front and back of the alleys.

That is to say, the alleys in Yangzhou are narrow and winding, and the houses are densely built, and any vacant land is used to build houses.There are at least a hundred families living in the front, back, left and right of an alley.

The five square kilometers are all so crowded, and there are still many people living outside the city.

On the 80th in Yangzhou, the Manchu Qing massacred [-] people. There is no loophole in terms of population. Those who want to question must question it from other places.

Fei Yuanjian said: "Your Majesty, please immigrate [-] residents of Yangzhou city to the north at one time. Or, please allocate funds to build the outer city of Yangzhou. These two proposals have been applied for since last year, but the court has always refused to accept them." approve."

Zhao Han nodded and said, "Immigration by the imperial court focuses on the whole country. All provinces, prefectures, villages and towns are all allocated quotas. It is normal that the Ministry of Household Affairs does not approve more immigrants in Yangzhou."

"Guo Shangshu is always strict in politics and doesn't know how to be flexible." Han Chengxuan couldn't help complaining.

Zhao Han laughed and said, "He was scared."

Today's Minister of the Household Department is Guo Shunyu, the son of a medicine merchant in Zhangshu Town.After the Linjiang water battle, seeing that the officers and soldiers were dying, the Guo family completely turned to the rebel army and donated medicines, food and ships to the Datong army.And Guo Shunyu, who also worked under Zhao Han, was responsible for transporting supplies.

In the past two years, a major case broke out in Henan, and the transfer system collectively embezzled resettlement food for immigrants.Guo Shunyu was terrified, because several of the chief officials under investigation were his old subordinates.

From then on, Guo Shunyu was timid, followed the policies and systems in everything, and didn't talk about flexible ways to do things. Anyway, let's put his own responsibility first.

There are obvious advantages and disadvantages in doing so, but Zhao Han has no reason to punish him.

Zhao Han thought for a while: "Inside and outside of Yangzhou City, [-] people will immigrate to Hebei this year. Those who have no regular livelihood and those whose houses are too crowded can give priority to resettlement."

"According to the order!"

Fei Yuanjian and Han Chengxuan cupped their hands together.

Zhao Han really wanted to go to Yangzhou City, but after careful consideration, let's forget it.There are no skinny horses in Yangzhou, and the city is very crowded. Security work can drive the guards crazy.

In fact, the Yangzhou skinny horse has reappeared, but it is not as crazy as before.

Specially buy little girls from Japan and North Korea, and select the handsome ones for training.It will be out of the cabinet in three to five years. The quality is definitely not as good as before, but it can still barely satisfy the tastes of wealthy businessmen.

The top-quality Yangzhou skinny horses were bought by wealthy businessmen and given to high-ranking officials in the past.

Now, no one dares to send any more. Once discovered, both the briber and the briber will be investigated and dealt with.As a result, the price has dropped sharply, losing the attribute of bribery, and the Yangzhou thin horse has completely become a tool for businessmen to show off their wealth.

On the contrary, it is a Persian girl, and the price has risen all the way.

Why do you say that such an honor as Gu Jianshan can't afford a Persian girl?Because it costs thousands of taels of silver at every turn, and the price of a top-quality Persian girl is even inflated by more than ten thousand taels.Gu Jianshan has the money to buy one, but can't he survive the rest of the day?It's like if you have a deposit of [-], why spend [-] to buy a pet dog?

Speaking of these, Zhao Han has always been curious, where did Chen Yuanyuan go?

After all, he was a historical celebrity, but now he disappeared, as if he didn't exist, and it was not easy for Emperor Zhao to send someone to inquire about it.

The biggest possibility is that she was semi-forced to immigrate to the north, changed her name and surname, and married an honest man.

Chen Yuanyuan originally sang operas and was a famous actor in Yiyang tune. If he was still in the south, now that Yiyang tune is popular, he must still be famous far and wide.

Among the eight beauties of the Qinhuai River, three of them are currently working as palace ladies, namely Li Xiangjun, Dong Xiaowan and Bian Yujing.

It's not that Zhao Han did it deliberately, but that all three of them are talented.When recruiting female officials in the palace, there were a lot of applicants in Nanjing, and even more applicants in Qinhuai River. Talented girls were easily selected—after all, the humble status has been abolished, and they are still young and have not yet formally engaged in the romantic industry. .

Especially Dong Xiaowan, who was asked to be dispatched by Pan Qimei.

Because Dong Xiaowan is particularly good at making desserts, it is said that she invented "Dong Tang", which coincides with Pan Qimei's hobby.

At night, the fleet docked at the shore, and Fei Yuanjian and Han Chengxuan had already left.

Zhao Han is meeting the leader of the Black Guards in Yangzhou. Nanjing and Yangzhou are the two bases of the Black Guards.

The most famous cook in Yangzhou was also called to the boat.

"What is the most famous dish in Yangzhou?" Dong Xiaowan asked standing beside Pan Qimei.

The cook wanted to say that there are many famous dishes in Yangzhou, so she thought for a few seconds and replied, "Yangzhou red goose."

Yangzhou Red Goose is the rouge goose in "A Dream of Red Mansions".

Pan Qimei smiled and said, "Xiaowan, you write it down."

Dong Xiaowan took out a pen and paper, and heard the cook say, "Kill the goose, remove the feathers and wash it, and remove the internal organs. Butcher the goose in half, add water to boil, and boil the blood...add rice wine, green onion, cinnamon leaves, apples..."