Chapter 140 This king is not good at governing the people! (Second update)
The side of the camp.
Zhu Di looked at Xia Zhibai walking over.
His expression still hasn't recovered, and he still has doubts in his heart.
When Xia Zhibai approached, Zhu Di still couldn't hold it back and took the initiative to ask: "Why do the soldiers under my command treat you so differently? It can even be said to be respectful. I want to know the reason. .”
Zhu Di stared at Xia Zhibai with his eyes.
He must ask why.
Otherwise, it will be difficult to calm down.
Xia Zhibai stopped, turned his head, looked at the soldiers behind him who looked confused and a little longing, and raised a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.
Xia Zhibai said slowly: "Everyone in the world cares about whether they fly high or not. Only I asked them if they were tired."
"This is why they are close to me."
Zhu Di was not satisfied with this answer and said coldly: "You are lying."
"They are soldiers. Since they have joined the army, You should charge forward, you should risk your life!"
"Soldier?" A strange look appeared at the corner of Xia Zhibai's mouth. He looked at Zhu Di suspiciously, shook his head and said, "Your Highness. , you are wrong, they are not soldiers."
"They are." Zhu Di said with absolute certainty.
"No." Xia Zhibai continued to shake his head. He leaned slightly, his eyes stopped on the soldiers behind him, and said calmly: "They are not soldiers, they are farmers. This identity of soldiers was imposed on them by His Highness and the imperial court. .”
“They don’t have much recognition for this.”
Zhu Di’s face sank.
He looked at Xia Zhibai gloomily, clenching his fists tightly.
Xia Zhibai looked at the angry Zhu Di and said calmly: "Your Highness, you think what I said is wrong?"
"Of course it's wrong. They are military households. They work as farmers in their spare time and as soldiers in war. They already have two jobs. Now in the camp, they are soldiers." Zhu Di did not soften his words at all.
Xia Zhibai chuckled lightly and said: "Has your highness ever farmed?"
Zhu Di was stunned, "What does this have to do with it?"
"Yes, and It has a lot to do with it." Xia Zhibai pushed down the corners of his clothes that were blown by the wind, straightened his clothes, and continued: "If His Highness had really worked in the fields, he would not have said such ridiculous things."
“Farming is very hard and tiring.”
"Military households are actually farmers. They cultivate in the spring and work in the summer so that they can have a harvest in the autumn. They cannot be lazy at any time. Once they are lazy, it means that they will not have a livelihood for a year, and they may even lose their land rent and payment. They can’t afford it.”
“They have families to support, wives and children, so they have to work day and night to make ends meet.”
“They have no free time. "
"It has always been a busy time for farming."
"Perhaps in His Highness's heart, the imperial court has clearly allocated them fields and exempted them from certain corvees. This is already a big deal. ”
"They only need to come to the camp to practice when the imperial court needs them, and they only need to follow the imperial edict and rush to all parts of the world. Everything they do should be extremely glorious, because it is for the sake of the Ming Dynasty. Sheji, for the long-term peace and stability of the world."
"But does your Highness know what these military households are pursuing?"
"What is it?" Zhu Di said.
“Live!” Xia Zhibai said with blurred eyes.
"Live" Zhu Di was completely stunned, staring straight at Xia Zhibai, somewhat in disbelief.
Xia Zhibai sneered and said: "Is it incredible for Your Highness?"
"When did the military households reach the point where they can no longer survive? But this is the bloody reality under the Wei command."
"Military households can't survive."
"The imperial court thinks everything is too good."
"Even His Majesty once boasted of saying, 'Raise millions of soldiers without costing the people. A grain of rice'."
"Of course that's really the case?"
"Military households currently follow the principle of 'when there is something to do, they will be mobilized for military expeditions, and when there is nothing to do, they will return to the farmland', that is, they will join the army in wartime and farm in their spare time, and then achieve self-sufficiency in food. The court The Open China Law was even implemented in the border areas to satisfy the border salt problem."
"This is all so beautiful."
"But the court has always ignored it. One thing.”
“It’s not possible to cultivate the land by yourself. It needs people to cultivate it.”
"In real farming, there is no leisure time in the spring, summer and autumn of the year, and there is no time for leisure. But will the imperial court allow military households to be farmers all year round?"
Xia Zhibai looked sarcastic.
Zhu Di's face sank, this is naturally impossible.
If military households are allowed to stay in the fields all year round, the army's combat effectiveness will decline too quickly.
It is impossible for the court to agree.
Throughout the year, the imperial court would recruit military households for drills from time to time, for ten and a half days at a time, and sometimes even longer, to maintain the combat effectiveness of the army.
Xia Zhibai said: "They don't have so much time for farming, and every time they are recruited under the Wei system, two young men will be forcibly recruited. One family is missing two young men. Your Highness knows this. What does it mean? "
"The grain output will definitely decrease"
"The military households were exempted from a lot of corvee taxes, but their harvests were also forced to decrease."
“For military households, the so-called policy support from the court is just to maintain their normal life. But your Highness must not forget that this is because in the eighteenth year of the Ming Dynasty, there were only three Northern Expeditions. If the court Determined to destroy Bei Yuan, the fourth, fifth, and even more Northern Expeditions will definitely be launched.”
"Wars cost lives."
"It also consumes a lot of food, grass and baggage." "And this part originally came from these military households."
"On the one hand, fighting will kill people; on the other hand, fighting will consume surplus food. The longer the fighting lasts, the worse the lives of military households will be."
"The reason why they work so hard during military training is to The only thing I want to do is to please His Highness and satisfy His Highness so that I can end these exercises early and return to farming.”
"Perhaps in the eyes of His Highness, farming is nothing more than that."
"There are farmers in the palace."
"Your Highness needs to know that whether it is His Majesty or the past Longxi For the prince (Li Zhen), farming is just a pastime for those in high positions. They want to experience life and reminisce about the hard days of the past. They do not value the harvest, but for the common people, it is Life!"
"There is an essential difference between the two."
"It is too difficult for His Majesty to expect farmers who only care about the fields to maintain the country of Ming Dynasty."< br>
"They can't bear such a heavy burden."
"I don't want to bear it either!"
"Isn't there still winter?" Qiu Fu said.
Xia Zhibai glanced at Qiu Fu coldly and sneered: "Winter? In winter, the government sends corvettes to the people south of the Yangtze River. At that time, it is the people who contribute their strength. At that time, the weather in the north of the Yangtze River was extremely cold. It was good for these military households to collect firewood for the winter. In the winter north of the Yangtze River, even the horses and cattle would lose weight due to the cold. How can we expect these military households to endure hunger? Are you coming to the military camp for training?"
Qiu Fu blushed.
I feel a little regretful that I spoke too quickly.
Xia Zhibai stood with his hands behind his hands, looking at the 'Yongle' ministers below, and said indifferently: "It is a good thing for Your Highness to have ambitions, but ambitions also need material support. Today, His Highness only has eyes for When you climb higher mountains, you can’t see the mud under your feet.”
“But if the mud is allowed to overflow, it will no longer be mud.”
“But. It’s a quagmire.”
“These swamps will drag Daming and His Highness down until they drown.”
"Your Highness, please don't think that I am exaggerating when I say that His Highness's military discipline is corrupt. Your Highness grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth. Although Your Majesty asked Your Highness to go to Fengyang several times and told His Highness some things about the sufferings of the people, Your Highness does not understand. "
"Even the prince is not enough."
"Although I don't like many of your majesty's actions, one thing is that your majesty does understand human nature and has a deep understanding of local conditions. Dark, so he carried out killings again and again. Maybe many people have complained about His Majesty's killings, especially some scholar-officials and some military generals, but if you ask the people among the people, you will get another answer. "
“Well done!”
“Your Majesty has experienced the suffering of the people.”
"I also know the local power and the boldness of the officials."
"If the court does not strictly control it, all the chaos in the late Yuan Dynasty will appear in the Ming Dynasty."
"The land During the annexation, the bold and greedy military officers and the local powerful colluded with each other to seize the land of ordinary military households. "
"The military households had no land and could not make a living, and then gradually became. In the past, the tenants, or the coolies and servants of those wealthy families, His Highness can actually secretly check how many of these "military registrations" in Peiping have lost their fields, and how many of them have not been enlisted."
“By the way, let’s investigate again and see how these military households who have not been enlisted are living now.”
"There should be a 'surprise'."
Zhu Di's eyes darkened, a little in disbelief.
Beiping, under my nose, someone dares to do such a thing?
But when he thought of the reaction of the soldiers just now, Zhu Di's heart suddenly sank, and a murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
He said coldly: "I will check."
"If someone really dares to do such a thing under my nose, I will definitely make his life worse than death."
Xia Zhibai shook his head.
He said calmly: "If His Highness really cares about the soldiers, he should bend down, go to the soldiers at the bottom, and listen to the voices of these soldiers, instead of sitting on the chair and waiting for others to give him advice. What you say is not as true as what you hear with your own ears.”
“Okay.”
“I have answered the question your Highness asked. >
"Didn't His Highness say earlier that he can mount the horse to run the army and dismount the herdsmen?"
"I have seen the army."
"Isn't it time to go see the people now?"
"I'm also curious, how are the people of Peiping living under the rule of His Highness King Yan?"
Hearing this.
Zhu Di's face darkened.
The military, which he was most proud of, was criticized by Xia Zhibai for being useless. If he took Xia Zhibai to see 'governing the people' again, he might be scolded a lot.
Zhu Di denied it flatly: "I am only responsible for the military in Peiping, not the governance of the people. Governance of the people is the responsibility of the local Chief Secretary. It's just that recently, officials in the Chief Secretary of Peiping have had troubles one after another, so I was ordered to take over. A few days, but the time of taking over is still short, and I have not had much contact with the political affairs of the city. I have not had time to show my ways of governing the people."
"I will not show my shame."
"Besides, it's getting late."
"Xia Zhuangyuan has been tired from traveling and traveling. He must have been tired for a long time."
"It's better to rest early."
"Come on, hurry up and send Xia Zhuangyuan down to rest." Zhu Di didn't tolerate Xia Zhibai. He opened his mouth and shouted loudly to the surroundings. Then he seemed to think of something and said: "As for the iron factory, we should wait until tomorrow to discuss it. There is enough time, so there is no need to rush."
Xia Zhibai hesitated for a moment. , also nodded in agreement.
(End of this chapter)