Chapter 609: Nationwide Inspection of Guard Posts

Inside the imperial palace.

Zhu Youxiao stood before a mirror, examining his attire.

He looked like a scholar—though his clothes were made of silk and satin, they didn't appear particularly luxurious. The jade pendant at his waist was merely an ordinary ornament.

Satisfied, he nodded and said, "Bring me my fan."

Hearing this, Empress Zhang shot Zhu Youxiao a look and handed him the fan, asking, "Your Majesty, with this getup, are you planning to put on a play about a gifted scholar and a beautiful maiden?"

After all, theatrical performances of all kinds were thriving in the Great Ming right now, beloved both inside and outside the palace—and Empress Zhang was among their most avid fans.

The gifted-scholar-and-beautiful-maiden storyline had become quite the trend.

Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao laughed. With a swish, he snapped open his folding fan and said, "What is this? This isn't some scholar-and-maiden affair—this is called 'The Dragon Sporting with the Phoenix.'"

"Your Majesty, do bring someone along this time when you go out." Empress Zhang said with some helplessness.

"Bring someone? Bring who?" Zhu Youxiao asked, puzzled. "Isn't it enough to have Wei Chao following along?"

"I meant women of the harem—bring one or two to attend to you by your side." Empress Zhang looked at Zhu Youxiao, her voice tinged with melancholy. "So you don't go out and bring someone back again."

"Are you saying there are too many people in the palace?" Zhu Youxiao looked at Empress Zhang, finding her jealousy rather amusing.

Shooting Zhu Youxiao another look, Empress Zhang said with some exasperation, "It's not proper to keep bringing people back from outside. If Your Majesty wants company, why not hold a selection of maidens? Your Majesty has been on the throne for nine years, yet you've only held one such selection."

The smile on his face slowly faded. Zhu Youxiao reached out and took Empress Zhang's hand, his expression tender, his tone wistful as he said, "Yes, nine years have passed in the blink of an eye. Time truly flies."

"Even now, I can still recall the day we wed. Now you're the mother of two children. I haven't had my fill of it yet—if only life could go on like this forever."

Hearing this, Empress Zhang was initially moved, but then she suddenly shuddered and asked cautiously, "Your Majesty isn't harboring thoughts of immortality, is he?"

Empress Zhang was genuinely afraid that Zhu Youxiao might seek eternal life and go looking for someone to refine elixirs.

Throughout history, emperors who sought immortality through alchemy were hardly few—especially in the Great Ming. The imperial family revered Daoism, and the pursuit of longevity through elixir refinement had become something of a tradition.

Not just emperors—princes across the realm were also quite fond of this practice.

Zhu Youxiao had never shown such tendencies, which had set Empress Zhang's mind at ease. But who would have thought he'd suddenly bring up the matter of immortality? How could she not worry?

Reaching out to pinch Empress Zhang's nose, Zhu Youxiao said, "Where has your mind wandered? I'm not a superstitious man. Han Li of the Azure Cloud Sect is dead—who else is there to refine elixirs for me?"

Hearing Zhu Youxiao say this, Empress Zhang burst out laughing.

It wasn't that the words themselves were funny, but rather that she recalled the Daoist priest he'd mentioned—that old fellow who had lived in the palace all along, that so-called Han Li of the Azure Cloud Sect.

Empress Zhang had originally believed this old Daoist was truly some kind of master that His Majesty greatly trusted. But later, during a casual conversation, Zhu Youxiao had told her the truth.

That was when Empress Zhang learned that this man was nothing but an out-and-out old swindler that Zhu Youxiao had snatched off the street. At the time, Zhu Youxiao had used his name as a front to get things done.

The man had remained in the palace the whole time and eventually died there. Zhu Youxiao had him properly buried—one could say he ended his days decently enough.

Now, hearing Zhu Youxiao bring up this old Daoist again, Empress Zhang couldn't help but laugh.

"Your Majesty always knows how to amuse me." Empress Zhang said with a smile. "But this time, when Your Majesty goes out, you must bring people along. If there's no one by your side to attend to you, I won't feel at ease."

Though Zhu Youxiao wasn't sure whether Empress Zhang's insistence truly stemmed from jealousy, he didn't mind. Bringing two women along on an outing was hardly a big deal.

Things were different now than they had been before. Back then, the places he'd gone were dangerous, and he never knew what might happen. The state was unstable, and he'd had no heart for touring mountains and waters with women in tow.

But now it was different—the regions were peaceful, and the nation's strength was formidable. He was in good spirits, so taking some people out for a stroll wasn't a bad idea.

After thinking it over, Zhu Youxiao said, "Then let it be Noble Consort Yuan and Noble Consort Tian. I've done them wrong all these years."

Empress Zhang nodded and said, "I'll make the arrangements."

Back then, Noble Consort Yuan and Noble Consort Tian had entered the palace together with Empress Zhang. However, to showcase the bond between emperor and empress, Zhu Youxiao had waited a long time before consummating his marriage with them. Moreover, to ensure Empress Zhang gave birth first, he'd kept them from conceiving all that time.

Even after they'd borne children, Zhu Youxiao had never showered them with excessive favor over the years—there was indeed some guilt there. Since this was an outing for pleasure, bringing them along was for the best.

"Alright, off you go then." Zhu Youxiao waved his hand.

At that moment, Wei Chao approached. He glanced at Zhu Youxiao, then at Empress Zhang, and said cautiously, "Your Majesty, Chen Sihai of the Office of Transmission requests an audience."

Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao was taken aback.

Wei Chao had to be careful—after all, the affection between emperor and empress had always been strong, and now it seemed even stronger. If he disturbed their mood at a moment like this, he might well earn their resentment.

Nothing of the sort had happened in all these years, but even one occurrence would be too many. Especially these past couple of days—Her Majesty the Empress's mood was bound to be less than pleasant, so he'd best not stir up trouble.

If it weren't for the fact that the visitor this time was Chen Sihai, Wei Chao would certainly have waited.

Chen Sihai had gained great renown throughout the Great Ming, presiding over the Office of Transmission.

Many people spread word that Chen Sihai's reputation was that of "Chen Sihai the Impartial and Unyielding." Of course, corrupt officials had also given him a title of their own—"Chen Sihai the Flayer."

But regardless of his nicknames, Chen Sihai was an official who showed no favoritism, possessed formidable ability, and had eyes like lightning. According to rumor, one glance from him was enough to scare the wits out of anyone.

Zhu Youxiao hadn't expected Chen Sihai to come at this time. He said, "Have him come in."

"Then I shall take my leave." Empress Zhang said to Zhu Youxiao.

"Very well." Zhu Youxiao nodded, then reached out and took Empress Zhang's hand. "I'll come to your chambers tonight."

"Then I'll be waiting for Your Majesty." Empress Zhang said with a smile, then turned and left.

Before long, Chen Sihai walked in from outside.

Upon seeing Zhu Youxiao, he was startled—he hadn't expected His Majesty to be dressed like this.

Was His Majesty planning to leave the palace?

But Chen Sihai dared not delay in his actions and promptly performed the ritual of obeisance.

Zhu Youxiao waved his hand and said, "Speak, then. What brings you here?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty," Chen Sihai said directly, "the Office of Transmission has accumulated many memorials over the years, all concerning the guard stations across the realm. Most pertain to land matters, and many have gone unaddressed."

"This time, as the court undertakes a comprehensive survey of farmlands nationwide, I was wondering—should we also conduct a survey of the military farmland attached to the guard stations?"

Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao's face turned grave.

This was no small matter. The lands of the guard stations were all military farmland—in plain terms, a leftover institution from Zhu Yuanzhang's era.

The army farmed the land locally to sustain itself, requiring no expenditure of the court's tax revenue or provisions. One could say it was a sound policy.

In the early Ming, the realm had been thrown into chaos by war, and production urgently needed to recover. The land lay barren, the population was decimated, and the court's income was pitifully small.

Under such circumstances, maintaining a massive standing army was simply unrealistic. So Zhu Yuanzhang had instituted the military farmland policy—the armies of each region would fight in wartime, and in peacetime train and till the soil, ideally achieving self-sufficiency in grain.

But after the early Ming period passed and the middle period arrived, the guard stations collapsed, and the hereditary military household system became a chronic ailment of the Great Ming. Those military farmlands became fat meat in many people's eyes.

Especially those hereditary military officers—they would turn the fields into their own, then have the military households farm for them. Aside from a few personal guards who kept up their training, the remaining money all went into their pockets.

And those military households became tenant farmers earning money for them, unable even to eat their fill, living worse off than ordinary tenants, becoming slaves of this era.

Too many people depended on this system for their livelihood—it could be said that the entire military system of the Great Ming relied on it.

The Great Ming's state finances were extremely unhealthy, and wanting to drill new armies and abolish such a system was simply impossible to achieve. So throughout the entire Ming dynasty, this problem was never solved.

This time, Chen Sihai had also spotted the opportunity and felt it could be done.

Now the court's main military forces were the border troops and the Imperial Guard Corps. With such a solid foundation, this problem could be thoroughly tackled—at the very least, the land could be investigated and clarified.

Those officers who had embezzled the court's farmland needed to be completely purged.

After all, many officers were hereditary, passed down from generation to generation, and the wealth, grain, and land in their households were considerable. Much of it was public land belonging to the court—if it wasn't cleaned up, that wouldn't do.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Chen Sihai.

He wanted to make a move on this matter, but not now.

This matter was truly too big. In the original history, a major reason local military commanders could wield such great power in the late Ming was that they had grain in hand and men at their disposal.

Although it hadn't reached that point yet, if the civil officials and local generals joined forces, problems could easily arise.

This part was actually part of Zhu Youxiao's military reform. Only after the matter of officials and gentry paying taxes together was resolved would Zhu Youxiao make a thorough move on this front.

On one hand, resolving the problems of military farmland and military households; on the other hand, resolving the problem of the Great Ming's hereditary military system.

This was an extremely complex system. If it wasn't resolved all at once, merely investigating the land wouldn't have much significance.

But now, having heard Chen Sihai's words, Zhu Youxiao felt that investigating first seemed to do no harm. At the very least, it could clear out a batch of pests.