Chapter 292 Hai Rui can’t bear it
The stronger the wind and snow, the colder the chill.
But it still blocks people’s excited and enthusiastic hearts.
The construction site outside Chongwen Gate was also covered with white snow. The workers and civilians also got off work early and went to the nearby work sheds and dormitories to rest to relieve the fatigue of the day.
These workers and civilian husbands are in a good mood, because since they were recruited to work on the expansion project of the outer city of the capital, the imperial court has not deducted their construction period once, and they have a meal of meat every now and then. eat.
I heard that the caravans going north bought this meat from the Tatar territory at a low price. A porcelain bowl can be exchanged for a sheep!
When these workers and peasants heard about the huge price gap between the Ming Dynasty and Tatar, they couldn't help but sigh and envy them. If they had the opportunity to do business in the north, they might do the same. There is too much meat to eat and too much money to spend.
But in fact the danger of this kind of thing is still very high.
Not to mention how harsh the natural climate of the northern grasslands is, that is, the grassland tribes have been maimed, and their hearts are still barbaric. If it were not for the caravan going to the north, there were Ming officials. On the back, there are also powerful manpower and weapons.
It is estimated that before they go deep into the grassland to do business with these grassland tribes, they may be attacked and massacred by these greedy grassland tribes, and disappear silently on the grassland.
Not to mention replacing common items such as porcelain, silk, tea, etc. in the Ming Dynasty with cattle, sheep, and horses that are abundant in the grassland. Therefore, if you want to do business on the current grassland, in addition to having strong strength, you must also have ordinary people. It takes courage.
After all, the hostility between the grassland and the Ming Dynasty is still very strong, and both sides still have the ruthless heart to kill the other.
There is no natural and beautiful peaceful coexistence like in later generations.
Therefore, the ethnic integration and ethnic exchanges between Han and Mongolia still need a long period of time to fully integrate the two.
So this requires not only the efforts of this generation, but also the efforts of the next generation and the generations that follow.
Otherwise, such a vast and boundless grassland will never be able to be integrated with the Central Plains. What a historical regret would that be?
But fortunately now, because this is the initial success of the caravan, it has gradually changed the attitude of some people within the Ming Dynasty towards the grassland. They no longer show extreme hatred and dissatisfaction towards the grassland as before. A sense of trust.
We also began to look at the possibility of easing the conflicts in the grassland from the practical benefits.
After all, no matter how greedy the meat-eaters in the imperial court are, they are not villains who ignore the interests of the country at all. When faced with some big issues, those who can make decisions will still think more about it. Realistic issues.
If we can reduce the friction in the war with the grassland, it will be an extremely cost-effective deal for the court.
After all, the Ming Dynasty's tax revenue is only a little per year. If the current situation of people's livelihood and finance is not taken into account, and the hostility and friction with the grassland must continue to be maintained, then the court will spend at least two to three million dollars on Jiubian every year. Two giants.
Such a huge financial expenditure can only be seen on the books.
If you include the losses of the people in the Jiubian area, it is an astronomical figure that cannot be estimated.
Therefore, taking advantage of the fact that Ming Dynasty can obviously suppress one end of the grassland, it is also in line with the interests of Ming Dynasty and the interests of Emperor Jiajing and the court ministers to adopt a superior attitude and carry out a certain peaceful coexistence with the grassland.
Because once this peaceful trend persists and continues for many years, someone will record it in future history books: "During the Jiajing Dynasty, the gods were wise and wise, defeating the sharpness of the grassland, and fighting against The cabinet officials and others worked together to formulate good policies to stabilize the northern border, achieve unprecedented success, and create a pioneering trend for the unity of China. ”
Therefore, they are extremely eager for this kind of eternal reputation, whether they are the so-called clean streamers or the real corrupt people.
After all, this is a beautiful historical story that can be passed down through the ages, and after reaching their current status, no amount of financial enjoyment can compare with the temptation of these historical reputations.
“Brothers, today the masters of Daxue City Jiansi feel sorry for everyone’s hard work during this time, so they have specially prepared hundreds of jars of fine wine to warm everyone’s bodies!”
A few days ago A group of people appeared out of nowhere, using more than a dozen carriages to pull hundreds of jars of good wine, and just showed up in the work shed dormitory where workers and husbandmen gathered. And from the tone they just spoke, it seemed that they were coming from The Urban Construction Department is here. The current workers and civilians are all familiar with the new government office of the Urban Construction Department.
They knew that this new yamen was responsible for calculating their wages and assigning work.
In addition, during this period, they did not feel that they were being deducted in the slightest, whether it was wages or food, so they also had a good impression of this new yamen.
You must know that when they were originally affiliated with the Ministry of Industry, let alone wages, sometimes even the meal subsidy had to be deducted by the people above before they could get it.
In the end, after a hard day's work, I only had a few dozen copper coins to barely support my family.
But now, after working for one day, they not only have a wage income of nearly one hundred copper coins, but their food is much better than the original clear soup and water.
Therefore, when these workers and civilians heard that it was a man from the Department of Urban Construction who brought them wine to warm themselves up, they were immediately moved.
“Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir.”
The workers and husbandmen immediately expressed their gratitude to the person who came to deliver the wine, and enthusiastically helped move the wine to the dormitory.
The person who delivered the wine looked at these enthusiastic workers and husbandmen with a proud smile on his face.
They greeted and shouted: "Let's drink tonight. There is no need to worry about tomorrow's affairs in the snowy weather. Our Urban Construction Department is still very considerate of you guys."
While these people were moving wine jars and distributing wine, Hai Rui, who had been busy finishing work for several days, also looked at the heavy snow outside and worried about the heating problem in the work shed and dormitory outside Chongwen Gate, so he sent Zhu Zaijing to Under the protection of several of his guards, he came here on the squeaking snow, holding a lantern with the word "supervision" on it.
When Hai Rui saw a motorcade that he had never remembered before appearing in front of a work shed, Hai Rui couldn't help but feel a little surprised and curious. Hai Rui asked the guard beside him: "Who is that person in front of you? "
The guard stretched his head and took a look, but could not clearly see the writing on the lanterns hanging on the carriage, so he did not respond clearly to Hai Rui.
He only replied: "It's too far to see clearly."
Hai Rui didn't mean to blame him. After all, these guards were sent to him by Zhu Zaijing to protect him. , is not a subordinate who completely obeys his orders.
So sometimes he couldn't blame the guards when they couldn't accurately answer some of his questions, because these guards were not junior officials who came to supervise the work in person, so it was natural for them to be unclear about some things, even though they were famous for their strictness and uprightness. Hai Rui couldn't find fault with anyone.
Hai Rui said, "Let's go and have a look."
The guards immediately walked ahead with lanterns, clearing the way for Hai Rui, heading towards the bustling work shed dormitory.
As they were approaching, they finally saw clearly the words on the lanterns hanging on these carriages: "City Construction Department".
Hai Rui frowned when he saw the lantern of the City Construction Department. The City Construction Department sent so many carriages and brought so many people to the dormitory at night, why didn't they report it to him?
This obviously does not comply with the regulations governing the expansion project of the outer city of the capital.
So, Hai Rui's face suddenly darkened. Hai Rui walked towards the lively work shed dormitory without saying a word. When he got closer, he saw that these carriages were actually pulling When there was a jar of wine in front of him, Hai Rui's face became even more ugly.
According to one of the work regulations jointly formulated by Prince Yu's Mansion, the Ministry of Industry and Shuntian Mansion, drinking is not allowed.
But now the Urban Construction Department has actually brought so much wine to the work shed dormitory. This is obviously breaking the rules, and Hai Rui cannot tolerate it!
——————
There is another chapter in the evening
(End of this chapter)