Chapter 1020

There is a complete, comprehensive plan for inviting the Emperor to the Songjiang area, which requires leveraging the Emperor's authority to implement.

In terms of class identification, this plan leans closer to the impoverished populace and laborers rather than the powerful, wealthy, local gentry, or scholar-officials.

This is not only a self-transformation that bureaucrats must undergo under the rule of a strongman, but also a move by bureaucrats to ensure their own transcendent status.

During these twenty years of the Emperor Wanli Reform, as Songjiang Prefecture transformed from a small fishing village into a global trade center, the bureaucrats keenly discovered that the classes of the powerful and wealthy, and the rich merchants and tycoons, could be created.

Simply put, when the Great Ming firmly occupies a dominant position in commodities, relies on first-mover advantages, firmly occupies the upstream of high-profit industries, and occupies the position of the "meat-eaters" in maritime trade, it can continuously create countless powerful, wealthy, and rich merchants.

Once the bureaucrats discover that these two classes below the "official-selected officials" can be replaced, and that these two classes can threaten the "official-selected official" class, the moment arrives for the bureaucrats to exert their capabilities.

The Wage Arbitration Office, a method devised by Li Le and Wang Qian, is fast—with a fifteen-day deadline for assessment—striving to regulate labor-capital conflicts as quickly as possible; it is a tool aimed at the behemoth of monopoly capital.

Regarding the regulation of labor-capital conflicts, Li Le and Wang Qian have some disagreements.

Li Le believes that occupying a dominant position in commodities is more important, while Wang Qian believes that the imperial court fulfilling its function of regulating conflicts is more important. Although the two have some disagreements, it does not mean their paths are different; the Seven Orders of Culture and Education and the Ten Articles of People's Livelihood were planned by both of them together.

Li Le and Wang Qian also did not ignore the important role played by the vast number of impoverished people and laborers in the mediation of labor-capital conflicts.

In the ninth year of Emperor Wanli, after the order to abolish the lowly slave status was issued, large-scale slave uprisings occurred in Jiangnan, including Songjiang Prefecture; the moderate ones sat and demanded contracts, the intense ones took up arms and demanded contracts, and the even more intense ones killed people to demand contracts, such as the "Nose-Cutting Class."

The slave uprisings greatly promoted the implementation of the system to abolish lowly slave status.

In the tenth year of Emperor Wanli, at the Tang Hongyuan Dyeing Mill in Wang Chongyi Ward, Shanghai County, craftsmen occupied the factory to demand wages; if not for the Shanghai County Magistrate Yao Xu Guangqi handling it properly, relying on a scar on his own face to exchange for the craftsmen's trust, it would likely have ended in a bloodbath.

It was also that time that labor-capital conflicts received the attention of the imperial court.

In the thirteenth year of Emperor Wanli, the Emperor toured the south to Songjiang Prefecture and personally handled a mass murder case; at the same time that labor compensation was refused, craftsmen were harshly scolded and humiliated, eventually triggering a riot by the craftsmen. In the end, the Emperor stepped in to quell it, allowing the labor contract policy to gain widespread recognition.

In the seventeenth year of Emperor Wanli, His Majesty toured the south again. Songjiang Prefecture indeed had no incidents, but the land restitution in Zhejiang was completed, and there were "returning-home bandit groups" destroying the land restitution decrees. Hou Hou Yuzhao consolidated the land restitution decrees by utilizing the power of the vast majority of producers and laborers, rather than the local gentry.

The success of the Zhejiang Land Restitution Decree completely kicked off

the prelude to land restitution and farmstead establishment in the Great Ming.

In the view of Li Li Yashi, the people of the Great Ming have never been docile; they refuse to die quietly, but will instead gather together and perish together with the "meat-eaters" who refuse to share the benefits downward.

In the mediation of labor-capital conflicts, the Great Ming relied on the resistance power of the vast majority of laborers and relied on the authority of His Majesty the Emperor to continuously push forward.

"Wang Qian, on the third day of the fourth month, you will accompany Marquis of Marquis Sishui Yin Yin Zongxin to Luzon to take up the post of Luzon Viceroy," Zhu Zhu Yijun spoke of the appointment for Wang Qian and gave detailed instructions on the many arrangements the Great Ming had for Luzon.

Wang Qian listened in detail to the imperial instructions, although these matters had already been stated in great detail in Wang Wang Jiaping's letters.

Wang Qian pondered for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, I believe it is appropriate to stop issuing Luzon Treasure Notes and replace them with Huang Jinbao Notes, and to exchange all past Luzon Treasure Notes."

"To reduce trouble, Luzon Treasure Notes can not only be redeemed for Emperor Wanli Zhiyuan Tongbao but can also be redeemed for silver coins; in fact, there is no difference from Huang Jinbao Notes anymore. Distinguishing them further, I fear, is not conducive to communication and trade between the two places."

Zhu Zhu Yijun frowned and said: "The Grand Minister of Works you mentioned has also told me this; the imperial court has already prepared to stop issuing Luzon Treasure Notes."

"But in this way, the Huang Jinbao Notes are actually over-issued. There are 12 million strings of Treasure Notes a year, but I can only store 1.5 million taels of gold. One tael of gold equals five taels of silver; the Huang Jinbao Notes are over-issued by nearly double."

"At the earliest in twenty-five years, at the latest in thirty years, the total issuance of Huang Jinbao Notes will exceed the lower limit of the 20% reserve silver. The Huang Jinbao Notes will collapse just like Felipe's gold bonds."

Zhu Zhu Yijun recalled last year when he wanted to stop issuing Treasure Notes but was blocked by the Cabinet and the Ministry of Revenue; in the end, he was persuaded.

Huang Jinbao Notes are like a bomb ready to explode at any time, making Zhu Zhu Yijun deeply worried.

Wang Qian's expression was strange; he hesitated to speak, deliberated repeatedly, and then whispered: "Your Majesty is not in Songjiang Prefecture; in fact... Treasure Notes circulating overseas do not need to be redeemed."

"Hmm?" Zhu Zhu Yijun was startled, looked at Wang Qian in surprise, and frowned.

"Your Majesty, those circulating overseas do not need to be redeemed." Wang Qian repeated his words. Everyone is a scholar; when he said this, as long as His Majesty could turn the corner, he would understand exactly what he meant.

The redemption volume of Luzon Treasure Notes is actually very, very small because Treasure Notes need to circulate throughout the Nanyang, and there is even not enough of them. Only a very small portion needs to be redeemed in the hinterland of the Great Ming. Most of the time, the act of redeeming them for silver will not happen; instead, they turn into various goods.

Huang Jinbao Notes are redeemable currency in the hinterland of the Great Ming; overseas, they are non-redeemable currency. They only have value because people believe they can be redeemed in the distant hinterland of the Great Ming.

To put it more bluntly, Treasure Notes are an important tool for the Great Ming to plunder overseas wealth.

Your Majesty, on the issue of Treasure Notes,

you mainly consider the Emperor's credibility, but the officials who actually do the work, such as Li Le and Wang Qian in Songjiang Prefecture, see it more clearly: Treasure Notes circulating overseas do not need to be redeemed at all, so the problem of over-issuance is actually not worth worrying about.

Zhu Zhu Yijun was silent for a long, long time before saying: "I was one-sided in my thinking. Do not speak of this outside, absolutely do not speak of it recklessly."

"I obey the decree." Wang Qian hurriedly agreed. He was just talking to His Majesty; to go outside and talk nonsense, wasn't that waiting to be beheaded by His Majesty?

In Wang Qian's view, His Majesty the Emperor's considerations were of course correct, but His Majesty's considerations were not entirely comprehensive because His Majesty was far away in the capital and not in Songjiang Prefecture. He did not know much about the specific operation of Luzon Treasure Notes, so it was natural that he could not think of this aspect, which is why he walked into a dead end.

There has never been a problem of over-issuance of Emperor Wanli Huang Jinbao Notes because there is no need to redeem Treasure Notes overseas; overseas barbarians do not have the ability to make the Great Ming redeem Treasure Notes.

Do the barbarians have fast sailing ships? Do they have 36-jin cannons? Do they have 160,000 well-trained naval troops? Without these, wanting to make the Great Ming redeem Treasure Notes is courting death.

These words are very immoral, so the Emperor did not allow Wang Qian to speak recklessly, which would be detrimental to Wang Qian himself.

Wang Qian and His Majesty the Emperor communicated for a long time before he bowed and withdrew.

"These scholars, full of bad water!" Feng Bao said with a click of his tongue after seeing Wang Qian leave. When he could speak ill of civil officials, Feng Bao would never say a good word, but Feng Bao did not think what he said was bad.

This Wang Qian is really too bad, confusing the monarch's heart!

A person cannot stand without credibility; how can he bewitch His Majesty into falling into a crisis of no credibility?

These things, the ministers did them quietly; there is no need for His Majesty to know.

"The Duke of Yan is also a scholar." Zhu Zhu Yijun flipped through a memorial in his hand, "Summary of Luzon" written by Yin Yin Zongxin. The whole text was full of benevolence, righteousness, and morality, but Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at it and only saw the two words "eating people."

In the fourth year of Emperor Wanli, Yin Governor Yin Zhengmao promoted allowing the people to farm their own land. It looked like both Han and barbarians could be self-farming peasants, which looked beneficial to the barbarians no matter how you looked at it.

But looking at it again in the twentieth year of Emperor Wanli, among the self-farming peasants in Luzon, there were no barbarians at all. Barbarians who scattered seeds and relied on heaven for the harvest could not farm as well as the meticulously farming Han people, not to mention the plantations with lower labor costs.

In the end, these barbarians reclaimed wasteland and became part of the plantations, so the barbarians were the actual main force of reclamation, but the reclaimed land eventually flowed into the plantations.

In the sixth year of Emperor Wanli, Yin Governor Yin Zhengmao promoted another decree: outside the copper towns, people were allowed to manage themselves, which meant allowing barbarian tribes to handle their own disputes. This policy looked even more benevolent and seemed to respect the barbarians very much.

But by the time Yin Governor Yin Zhengmao passed away, the scope of the copper towns had expanded who knows how many times, and most of it was not through attacking cities and seizing land or military conquest, but rather these tribes

dissolved themselves and completely attached themselves to these copper towns.

The reason why this happened was entirely because the moral bottom line of the Great Ming colonists in Luzon exceeded the upper limit of the local rulers.

Luzon's natural endowment is very good: long sunshine hours, abundant rainfall, and fertile land. If the barbarians ruled themselves, wouldn't that be a utopia in fantasy?

But in terms of the actual implementation results, the local chieftains would only pack up the able-bodied men and sell them to merchants as barbarian slaves, drag women in batches to copper towns and Han townships to be Nanyang prostitutes, and use all the proceeds for their own pleasure.

The Great Ming's pioneering allowed these local rulers to see a prosperous world. In order to enter this world, they began to squeeze downward vigorously, and then perished in intense contradictions and conflicts, eventually all becoming part of the copper towns and Han townships.

This process is very similar to the "replacing native chieftains with imperial officials" in Yunnan over the past two hundred years. Many native chieftains disappeared and became part of the Mu Garden of the Qian State Duke's Mansion. It's just that because of the Great Ming opening the seas, trade in Luzon is more developed, and this process has been greatly accelerated.

There are many, many similar decrees, all of which are Yin Governor Yin Zhengmao's benevolent governance.

Before Yin Yin Zongxin really became the master of the Marquis Sishui Marquis Mansion, he did not need to consider these problems. When Yin Yin Zongxin really became the head of the family, the more he pondered, the more he felt something was wrong, but in the memorial, he naturally would not question his father, only saying that he would cooperate with the new Viceroy Wang Hua in Luzon.

After Zhu Zhu Yijun arrived in Songjiang Prefecture, the biggest change was that the place for drilling troops and horses changed from the Northern Camp to the Songjiang Navy.

The Songjiang Navy camp was established at the old Shanghai County wharf, ten miles away from the Huangpu River Imperial Palace. When the Songjiang Navy chose this place to station troops and built the Maritime Academy, this place was still a barren beach.

More than twenty years have passed, and this place has become very prosperous.

The Songjiang Navy's Huimin Pharmacy has also become the place where nearby people most often go to see a doctor; the price is very cheap, and the medical skills are superb.

Of course, there is another change, and that is that his rest time has increased. Not all memorials need to be circulated to Zhu Zhu Yijun's hands. The imperial court remaining in the capital can also handle some less thorny routine affairs. Zhu Zhu Yijun's workload is about half of what it usually is.

Empress Wang, as the person beside His Majesty's pillow, clearly felt His Majesty's leisure and immediately began the task entrusted by Empress Dowager Li: to select concubines for His Majesty.

The last time new people entered the palace was in the seventeenth year of Emperor Wanli, Gu Gu Meisheng, whom His Majesty took in during his southern tour. That was already four years ago. Empress Dowager Li asked Empress Wang to arrange this matter, which also meant handing over some power; previously, it was Empress Dowager Li who arranged it.

At thirty, one stands firm. From now on, the affairs of the harem will be managed by Wang Wang Yaozhuo.

Feng Bao, the flower-and-bird envoy, immediately began to exert his strength, arranging for the Imperial Commissioner in charge of the Nanjing Garrison, Zhang Jin, and the Imperial Commissioner in charge of the Songjiang Garrison,

Zhang Cheng, to start selecting beauties half a year before the Emperor began his southern tour.

Seven days after His Majesty the Emperor stayed in Songjiang Prefecture, the beauty selection began under Empress Wang's insistence.

"These imperial descendants are the foundation of the country; we must be cautious. Husband, the beauties in this palace are all old and yellow; it's time to bring in some new sisters." Wang Wang Yaozhuo led a group of eunuchs and prepared a full three painting boxes, containing six hundred beauties waiting to be selected.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Where are they old and yellow? In my eyes, you are even more beautiful, my lady." Zhu Zhu Yijun did not think Wang Wang Yaozhuo's beauty had faded at all.

Wang Wang Yaozhuo was wearing a bright red woven gold phoenix-pattern regular dress, which set off her skin as white as snow; at the age of thirty, it did not reduce her color by half, but instead brewed the bright beauty of her youth into intoxicating charm. Her moist and full lips were very much like a peony in full bloom.

Her peaks were gathered, full and undulating; although her waist was tightly bound by a jade belt, it revealed the softness of her figure like flowing water. Every frown and smile was even more enchanting, and the light sound of her jade pendants was like the gurgling of a stream when the spring mountain snow melts.

"Husband just likes to coax me to be happy." Wang Wang Yaozhuo smiled and sat beside Zhu Zhu Yijun.

Zhu Zhu Yijun grabbed Wang Wang Yaozhuo's hand and said with a smile: "Didn't I tell you, my lady, don't you know best?"

Wang Wang Yaozhuo's eyes were full of joy that could not be dispersed. Before the southern tour, her husband still followed the rules and summoned other concubines to serve him. After the southern tour, as long as she was not having her period, it was only her. It was truly joyful every day. When she had her period, it was basically her too. Her husband rarely summoned other sisters to serve him, preferring to hold her and rest.

Wang Wang Yaozhuo was a little worried. She of course liked this favor, but her husband was the Emperor, and imperial descendants were state affairs. Giving birth to a few more was also His Majesty's duty.

"They are all very afraid of me. The later they enter the palace, the more afraid they are, like wood, very boring." Zhu Zhu Yijun did not really want to select; he just didn't want to have a bunch of "fake people" around him, which looked too scary.

Zhu Zhu Yijun said helplessly: "My lady, you say, I don't eat people, are they afraid to that extent?"

Consort Ran Ran Huiniang, who made the family restless and dared to rely on the Emperor's favor to express her thoughts on the position of Empress, had become more and more honest in the past few years. Sometimes when Zhu Zhu Yijun thought about state affairs and put on a straight face, she would be terrified, doing everything carefully, and often pleading guilty, fearing to provoke imperial anger.

"It is quite scary." Wang Wang Yaozhuo also sighed and said sincerely.

For anything, Empress Dowager Li didn't dare to tell the Emperor, but asked Wang Wang Yaozhuo to pass the message. Empress Dowager Li's father, Li Wei, had three sons who were all exiled because of the Treasure Note case.

Li Wei was ill some time ago and asked someone to pass a message to the palace, hoping that his eldest son could return to the capital to see him. Li Wei was at this age; if he left, he would be gone. If he unfortunately died of illness, there would be someone to see him off.

Empress Dowager Li hesitated for two full days before finding Wang Wang Yaozhuo to pass the message. Zhu

Zhu Yijun approved, but the title was taken away, so it was taken away; it would absolutely not be granted again.

Zhu Zhu Yijun lazily looked at a dozen portraits, and the more he looked, the more he felt they all looked the same. He waved his hand and said: "My lady, you choose."

Palace painters were all like this; they all had the same style when painting portraits. After seeing too many, naturally, one would be a little confused.

Wang Wang Yaozhuo knew at a glance that he was dazzled, so she clapped her hands and said: "Okay, then listen to me! Feng, bring these six hundred beauties to the palace and let His Majesty take a look at them one by one."

She didn't let His Majesty look at the portraits anymore; he couldn't understand them. It was better to choose people directly, and keep whichever one he liked.

Zhu Zhu Yijun specially set aside half a day to look at these six hundred beauties one by one. He did not let down the hard work of Feng Bao, Zhang Cheng, and Zhang Jin. Finally, he chose the first one and the last one. These two were the most beautiful and had the best figure.

The first one to appear must make His Majesty's eyes light up, and the last one to appear must let His Majesty know that everyone is working hard.

The two Zhu Zhu Yijun chose were indeed the two most beautiful flowers among these six hundred people.

They were tender, and they were also boring. These two new concubines who entered the palace had learned many rules and did things in a very rigid way, not daring to have the slightest overstepping behavior, which made the Emperor, who did not value the cumbersome etiquette very much, feel more and more boring.

"The Battle of Pingbo started in September last year, and it's already May. It's been eight months, and there's still no result?" Zhu Zhu Yijun's expression was solemn as he flipped through the memorial. The Battle of Bozhou still had no result, and it seemed to be evolving into a protracted war.

"I think that no news of victory is a victory," Feng Bao placed a memorial in front of His Majesty and said: "Commandant Liang and General Liu are not on the battlefield for the first time. What they are seeking is not just a military victory, but a political victory."

"Defeating Yang Yang Yinglong is not a skill; the victory is to make the native chieftains in the southwest dare not have any rebellious hearts again and honestly accept the replacement of native chieftains with imperial officials."

According to the Ministry of War's plan, the Battle of Pingbo would be over in at most six months. It had already been eight months, and there was still no result, so the Emperor naturally had to ask.

The situation Feng Bao learned from the Ministry of War was that Liang Liang Menglong and Liu Ting deliberately did this, with eight armies advancing to suppress, screening all the native chieftains along the way.

"I will wait a little longer. Liang Liang Menglong and Liu Ting are not people who don't know the importance. If they are unable to do so, they will inevitably ask the imperial court for reinforcements. I hope it's not a defeat and they are thinking of covering it up." Zhu Zhu Yijun picked up the memorial and chose to believe.

Victory or defeat is a common matter for soldiers. Losing a battle is not terrible; it is ridiculous to desperately try to cover it up but fail to do so.

Zhu Zhu Yijun opened the memorial, his eyes lit up and he said: "Hou Hou Yuzhao has finally finished his deep plowing? Summon him to see me."

Zhu Zhu Yijun issued an imperial decree for Hou Hou Yuzhao to be promoted from Zhejiang to the Ministry of Revenue as Minister. Hou Hou Yuzhao asked for another three months to finish the last

bit of finishing work. This "Deep Plowing," which had been written for five years, was finally completed.

Hou Hou Yuzhao rushed from Hangzhou Prefecture to Songjiang Prefecture for an audience and had been waiting for the summons early in the morning.

"I pay my respects to Your Majesty. Long live, long live, long live Your Majesty." Hou Hou Yuzhao entered the Imperial Study of the Imperial Palace and performed the great ceremony of five kowtows and three bows.

"No need for ceremony, sit, sit." Zhu Zhu Yijun said with a full face of smiles: "Minister Hou is really hard to invite. Last time I went to Zhejiang, Minister Hou refused to return to the capital. A few days ago, I issued a decree, and Minister Hou still refused. Now I have finally invited Minister Hou."

Hou Hou Yuzhao almost made the Emperor fall into embarrassment. Three invitations and three resignations were the etiquette for the Emperor's accession. Hou Hou Yuzhao let the Emperor invite him twice. If he invited him again, it would be a bit contrary to the ritual system, and those old pedants in the imperial court would bite and not let go.

Hou Hou Yuzhao hurriedly arched his hands and said: "I am terrified. Please forgive me, Your Majesty. It is not that I do not obey the decree, but that the work is not finished. I really feel unwilling. Only with Your Majesty's leniency do I have a little merit."

Zhu Zhu Yijun waved his hand, picked up a book from the table and said: "If 'Deep Plowing' is finished, I must be the first to see it. Last time's 'Turning Over,' I often read it. Any official who restores land needs to read this book from time to time."

The corners of this book were curled. Zhu Zhu Yijun really read it often, and he often read it with new gains every time.

"Your Majesty, I request to move the Viceroy's Mansion from Hangzhou to Zhenhai to prepare for the Japanese pirate threat." Hou Hou Yuzhao held his hands and made a suggestion.

The Zhejiang Viceroy's Southern Yamen was in Hangzhou Prefecture. In the fourth year of Emperor Wanli, the Magistrate of Qiantang County, Zhao Guo Siji, flattered the Viceroy Wu Wu Shanyan and built a very spacious Viceroy's Mansion.

The Zhenhai City mentioned by Hou Hou Yuzhao was the "Imperial Commissioner in charge of the Military Gate," which was specially built by Hu Hai Zongxian during the Hu Hai Zongxian era to pacify the Japanese pirates, mainly for patrolling the seas.

At that time, civil officials called Hu Hai Zongxian "Minister Hu," and military officials called Hu Hai Zongxian "Military Gate Hu."

"The Viceroy is better off in Hangzhou Prefecture." Zhu Zhu Yijun gave a clear answer to this question.

This was not the first time Hou Hou Yuzhao had made this suggestion. In fact, since the time of Zhu Wan, this problem had been discussed repeatedly many times, and finally, the pattern of dual stationing in Hangzhou Prefecture and Zhenhai City was formed.

Hou Hou Yuzhao said with sadness: "I have been the Viceroy of Zhejiang since the fourteenth year of Emperor Wanli, for more than eight years. Even though the Japanese pirate threat has ravaged Zhejiang for so many years, I still witness its tragedy from time to time, so I make this remonstrance."

Time is the best medicine, but after more than forty years, those scars have not been wiped away and are still stinging the people of Zhejiang.

For example, the people of Taizhou do not eat zongzi during the Dragon Boat Festival, but eat "shibingtong." They eat shibingtong during the Beginning of Summer, Dragon Boat Festival, and the thirteenth day of the fifth month to commemorate the achievements of Qi Qi Jiguang in resisting the Japanese pirates.

Moreover, there is an activity in Zhejiang called "dragging stones." Every Mid-Autumn Festival, every village and township, ranging from dozens to thousands of people, drags stones as big as millstones, racing around the village, imitating the scene of resisting the Japanese pirates.

The Viceroy's Southern Yamen is at the Military Gate in Zhenhai City, which is to prepare for the Japanese pirates and prevent the Japanese pirate threat from ravaging again.

The reason why the imperial court kept the Viceroy's Southern Yamen in Hangzhou is very simple. During the Emperor Jiajing era, there was no large-scale navy to resist the Japanese pirates. Now the Great Ming Navy is enough to protect the peace of the sea borders.

The Viceroy's Southern Yamen is more about presiding over local government affairs, which is obviously more convenient in Hangzhou than in Zhenhai City.

Hou Hou Yuzhao took out the "Deep Plowing" he had written and presented it to the imperial front.

Zhu Zhu Yijun flipped through this book of a full 200,000 words. This book needs to be carefully pondered and must not be swallowed whole. He asked curiously: "In Minister Hou's view, what is the most important thing about this deep plowing that guarantees the results of land restitution?"

"Do not deceive yourself." Hou Hou Yuzhao immediately replied: "In the eight years I have been the Viceroy of Zhejiang, I have found that the biggest problem is the habitual shaping of a fantasy by officials, that is, 'there is no way for the people'."

"Officials are always deceiving themselves like this to make their inaction, dereliction of duty, lawlessness, and corruption look reasonable."

"I believe that there is absolutely no such thing as 'no way for the people'."

Once they open their mouths, it's about the darkness of the world, pursuit and interception, the people's wisdom not being opened, self-preservation, the hardship of everything, and the impossibility of success. In fact, these are all reasons and excuses. There has never been "no way for the people." Even before the Emperor Wanli Reform, it was not "no way for the people."

This point was particularly evident in the process of protecting the achievements of the land restitution decree.

Hou Hou Yuzhao only looked at the stance. Officials who did not resolutely crack down on the "returning-home bandit groups" and condoned annexation were all treated by Hou Hou Yuzhao with the same crime. In two or three years, the atmosphere of officials in Zhejiang changed.

Hou Hou Yuzhao's definition of annexation was very broad, including not only the buying and selling of land, but also various long-term leases, forced inclusion of clan righteous fields, righteous sons and daughters, long-term tenant contracts, etc. All actions aimed at concentrating land into private hands were characterized by Hou Hou Yuzhao as annexation.

Zhu Zhu Yijun flipped through the first chapter of "Deep Plowing." The content of this first chapter was all about how to govern officials, which was consistent with the methodology of Zhang Zhang Juzheng's reform: govern officials first, then do things.

It really won't work if you don't govern officials.

The coal in the Coal Market of Hangzhou Prefecture mainly came from the Gaokeng Coal Mine in Jiangxi, and the price to Hangzhou was only 6 wen per jin. The official price of coal in the Coal Market was 8 wen per jin. In the sixteenth year of Emperor Wanli, the official price remained unchanged, but the people could not buy coal from the Coal Market at all.

The entire Hangzhou city needed 400 million jin of coal every year. The Gaokeng Coal Mine could fully meet the needs. More than 600 million jin of coal arrived in Hangzhou every year because it had to be transshipped from Hangzhou to Suzhou, Shaoxing, Ningbo, and other places.

But the people of Hangzhou just couldn't buy official-priced coal and could only buy high-priced coal, ranging from 16 wen to 20 wen per jin.

After Hou Hou Yuzhao investigated carefully, he found that this was simply official speculation!

The Coal Market deliberately did not release coal. The supervising officials in charge of the Coal Market, the clerks of Qiantang County, and the judges of Hangzhou Prefecture only released coal to their own relatives and

friends or lackeys, leading to abnormal coal prices.

Hou Hou Yuzhao did not tolerate it either. He arrested them all and sent them to the capital, all of which became anti-corruption indicators for the Censorate.

Local officials dared to do this because they were certain that Hou Hou Yuzhao, this Viceroy, could not discover the price fluctuation at all. Hou Hou Yuzhao was a Viceroy, a scholar-official, and a noble person; he would not buy coal himself.

But Hou Hou Yuzhao discovered it. The reason he discovered it was also simple because he would look at the Yao Xu Guangqi Index, especially the changes in affordable commodities. Any abnormal fluctuation would be discovered by Hou Hou Yuzhao.

There has never been "no way for the people." Methods are thought up by people, and roads are walked out by people.