Chapter 29: Words That Shock!

At this moment inside Fengtian Hall, everyone was stunned.

In their hearts, they repeated Zhu Gaoxu's words over and over again.

Zhu Di had long since cast his previous thoughts to the back of his mind.

What "pit-father"?

Clearly, it is "to have a son such as this, what more could one ask for?"

Those present were not ordinary people; aside from Mao Xiang, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di were thinking much more deeply.

They even thought of levels that Zhu Gaoxu had not even considered.

First, there are many garrison troops in the North, most of whom are the Southern sons and soldiers who previously fought alongside Lao Zhu.

These people could also move their families to the North.

Second, in the current state of Great Ming, the attitude toward the North must always be to guard against the Later Yuan.

If the Later Yuan were to move south and break through a city, with their wives and parents in the rear, the soldiers would surely fight even more desperately.

Their combat effectiveness would increase by at least thirty percent, if not more.

As for the hidden costs, how much effort and time the imperial court would save, and so on—these are not even worth mentioning.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but feel his very breathing grow hot.

Yet Zhu Gaoxu seemed not to see the expressions of the few, continuing to say, "In the current state, it can only be said to be similar to the Marquis of Xiping, but there are a few points that must be noted."

"Even the border of Yunnan, which the Marquis of Xiping guards, should be improved."

These could be called matters of detail, but Zhu Gaoxu still decided to speak of them.

And hearing Zhu Gaoxu continue to speak, the words of praise Zhu Yuanzhang had just wanted to utter were swallowed back, for fear of disturbing his precious imperial grandson.

Three grown men in Fengtian Hall, with a combined age of over a hundred, were staring unblinkingly at a four-year-old child speaking eloquently, and all were acting with such caution; if others saw this, their jaws would surely drop.

Yet everyone present did not have this feeling, as if it should be just so.

Zhu Gaoxu was even more so; after pausing slightly to catch his breath, he continued to speak.

"The Marquis of Xiping's policy of garrison farming to support the army is to have soldiers open up wasteland, then turn over twenty percent of the yield each year to prepare for military provisions, with the remaining eighty percent belonging entirely to the soldiers."

"Afterward, several Thousand-Man Commanders are responsible for their own areas."

"This is equivalent to everything from production to collection being managed by the local Ministry of War."

"Whether it is the local government or the imperial court, neither can exercise control."

"This leads to the Thousand-Man Commanders having too much power, and it is inevitable that they will privately levy taxes and engage in corruption; if the weather is favorable and the heavens provide, it is fine, but if the harvest is poor, it may even become a burden on the soldiers. Under such circumstances, the soldiers' combat effectiveness might decrease rather than increase."

As Zhu Gaoxu's voice fell, the heart Zhu Yuanzhang had just set at ease rose up again.

It is still that same saying: there are no fools present.

There is no need to make the words too clear.

Especially Zhu Yuanzhang; he was originally from a peasant background and understood the psychology of those at the bottom too well.

At the same time, he knew even more clearly what kind of people officials with power are.

The soldiers work hard to clear land and farm, and after a year, the imperial court only takes twenty percent, but the Thousand-Man Commander wants fifty percent.

He invents all kinds of taxes and then stamps them with his own seal.

Those soldiers who do not know better can only comply; with fifty percent of the yield, they can barely scrape by for a year, and that is assuming there is no illness or disaster.

Otherwise, they have to borrow grain from the Thousand-Man Commander, and at that point, it becomes like a black hole—borrow one, repay ten...

In this way, how could the soldiers have the heart to fight, and when a strong enemy invades, how could they fight to the death?

In fact, although the Yunnan border is indeed implementing the strategy of garrison farming as Zhu Gaoxu said, it has not reached such darkness.

But this is only temporary; as time passes, it will sooner or later become like this, and it may even be worse.

Zhu Yuanzhang hated corrupt officials most in this life; thinking of this, his eyes turned red, and he secretly clenched his fists, clearly ready to start a massacre again.

Regardless of whether they have been corrupt or not, I will kill them directly and nip every possibility in the cradle.

As if sensing Zhu Yuanzhang's murderous intent, Zhu Di and Mao Xiang did not speak, standing to the side motionless as if it were none of their business.

Zhu Gaoxu also sensed Zhu Yuanzhang's murderous intent, so he did not keep them in suspense and directly stated the solution.

After all, Zhu Gaoxu did not wish for Zhu Yuanzhang to make a huge fuss over this.

For one, in the Great Ming military system, although there are many mid-level officers and their quality is quite high.

They really cannot withstand Lao Zhu's killing; after all, there is still a large group of people waiting on Lan Yu's side, so it is really not worth it for the Marquis of Xiping's side.

Another thing is that, regardless of anything else, the Marquis of Xiping's management in this regard is currently quite good, not too excessive, and the crimes do not warrant death.

So Zhu Gaoxu directly said, "Actually, wanting to solve this is also very simple."

"Establish another department to collect grain, directly responsible to the imperial court, and controlled directly by the imperial court."

"As for the candidates, talent can be selected from the imperial examinations, replaced every three years, and accepted under the joint supervision of the local military and the local government office."

"At the same time, the focus of the assessment should be changed from how much grain is collected to how much grain is stored in the local soldiers' homes, letting officials help the soldiers escape poverty."

Listening to Zhu Gaoxu's words, Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but clap his hands and laugh.

"Good, good, good! My Great Ming has such an imperial grandson; it shall stand for nine thousand years!"

At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang felt the frustration in his chest swept away, and for an instant, he felt as if he were ten years younger.

It must be said that this method of Zhu Gaoxu's is too brilliant; even if all the civil and military officials were gathered, I fear they would not be able to think of these things.