Chapter 406: The Great Ming, Flourishing and Prospering!

Zhu Yijun, who had long been reviewing memorials, had actually mastered a skill: extracting keywords, distilling key information from the long, flowing streams of data.

He was always able to precisely extract those keywords from memorials nearly a thousand characters long.

Some fellows suffering from the common ailment of "base scholars" were refined, complete egoists and habitual liars; their memorials usually had several characteristics, which Zhu Yijun called "smoke bombs."

There were generally four types: supplementing details, useless piling up of emotions, being filled with subjective judgments, and sophistry that disregarded the facts.

Even for a trivial matter like sending greetings, they would never be concise; instead, they used long, disordered, and useless information to supplement details, to craft a more complete story, to bombard the Emperor with information, and to use useless streams of information to make people ignore information unfavorable to themselves.

In their memorials, they loved to use long-winded arguments to describe their loyalty to the Emperor, their worry for state affairs, and their pursuit of ideals. Their emotions were extremely rich, interfering with the Emperor's emotional sense of smell, thereby inducing the Emperor's approval and sympathy. This rich emotion seemed to shape an image of someone sentimental and concerned for the country and the people, but in reality, every one of them was a parasite.

In their memorials, they loved to use phrasing like "I feel," "I believe," "I hope," "I only," "I did not," and so on. While stating facts, they would then use a large amount of embellished fallacies to excuse the mistakes they had committed, thereby hoping to obtain forgiveness or begging for more opportunities. Corrupt officials who had been dismissed and trash filtered out by the Evaluation Law all loved using this method.

Finally, there was the sophistry that disregarded facts, where the initial motivation for every mistake was based on good intentions—the idea was good, but the execution went wrong—to cover up the fact of their own incompetence.

For a long time, the memorials of the former Sichuan Provincial Governor Luo Yao were just like this. His memorials were full of nonsense, talking about various things he had seen in Sichuan and expressing his loyalty to the Emperor, but he alone would not speak clearly about the major task of land surveying. He was always saying, "I feel Sichuan should develop in such and such a way," speaking quite eloquently, but when it came to practice, it was a completely different route. He never once conducted a land survey because he couldn't do it.

So, in just three short years, Luo Yao was thrown to Nanjing by Zhang Juzheng to retire. Soon after the investigation was clear, Zhang Juzheng beheaded him to clean up the ranks.

The situation Wang Tingzhan faced when entering Sichuan was arguably exactly the same as when Luo Yao entered Sichuan, but the final outcome was worlds apart.

Even when the Emperor wanted to show Zhang Juzheng some face and privately pardon Luo Yao a little, Zhang Juzheng had already clearly written his attitude on the floating slip in advance.

If Luo Yao is spared, who will spare the people of Sichuan?

Zhang Juzheng had this ability; he could extract the key points from complex information with a single glance at a memorial. Zhang Juzheng also understood the Emperor's brilliance, so he never worried about court officials deceiving the Son of Heaven.

Fool the Emperor?

The Emperor is sharp; what could one use to fool him?

After Zhu Yijun dealt with the Luo Yao affair, he looked at Wang Qian's memorial. Wang Qian was a villain, a great villain who acted recklessly, relying on his father's power, the Emperor's favor, and his own background.

The tragedy at Huayang Academy would definitely become one of the stains on Wang Qian's life, but for this matter, he was the most suitable person to handle it.

Wang Tingzhan still had to continue land surveying in Sichuan. Besides Chengdu Prefecture, there were several other prefectural offices, county offices, and Tusi in Sichuan. To complete the land survey, Wang Tingzhan still needed the cooperation of local officials. Liu Xian and his son Liu Ting still needed to sharpen their weapons and horses, actively preparing for war to deal with the drastic changes in the Toungoo Dynasty in the southwest.

As the Emperor's envoy, Wang Qian would leave once the errand was done. After Wang Qian himself bore all the sins, he could pull away, and Wang Tingzhan and the Liu father and son could continue to preside over the work in Sichuan without having to stand completely in opposition to local forces.

Wang Qian's audacity happened to become the most excellent solution in the major case of Sichuan's "weighing fees," the national policy of land surveying, and the strategy of preparing for war.

"Issue an order to the Ministry of War: for the military merit of pacifying the Japanese pirates, specially promote him to Right Commander of the Left Chief Military Commission, concurrently serving as Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent; furthermore, for the merit of pacifying Jiusi and pacifying the southwest, enfeoff him as Earl of Jiang'an, with an annual salary of 800 piculs, grant him a hereditary certificate, and issue an edict for him to enter the capital to recuperate."

"The loyalty of Liu Xian and his son, thread by thread, only Heaven can witness."

"Liu Ting, clad in armor and holding a sharp weapon, shall serve as the Regional Commander of Sichuan." Zhu Yijun put down the memorial and let Feng Bao transmit the edict.

Liu Xian's military merit, in the Han Dynasty, would have been more than enough to be enfeoffed as a Marquis within the Pass.

But under the Great Ming's trend of exalting literature and suppressing the military, Liu Xian had never received fair treatment. Having campaigned for years, Liu Xian's body had many old injuries. Issuing an edict for him to enter the capital was to let Liu Xian live better. As a local, his body could no longer support the struggles to come.

Liu Xian was old, but Liu Ting, "Liu the Saber," was in his prime. Both political and military struggles required a good body.

Zhu Yijun had no intention of appeasing the wealthy families of Sichuan with this move; otherwise, Liu Ting would also have been ordered to enter the capital instead of remaining in Sichuan as Regional Commander to continue deterring the powerful clans.

In the tragedy of Huayang Academy caused by Wang Qian, Liu Ting was one of the executioners. If Liu Ting did not leave, these powerful clans would be afraid. If they were afraid, then that was right—this was Zhu Yijun's goal: the land must be surveyed and returned.

Liu Ting was very capable in battle; he was one of the most capable after Qi Jiguang left the capital and Li Chengliang began harboring enemies to ensure his own importance. Zhu Yijun was actually very curious as to who was more formidable, Li Rusong or Liu Ting; both were outstanding figures among the young generals.

Of course, Zhu Yijun couldn't beat either of these two; he still had self-awareness.

Xu Wei, Governor of the Great Ming Nagasaki Governor's Office, and Sun Kehong, former helmsman of the Songjiang Sun clan, were now the Superintendent of the Nagasaki Maritime Trade Office, in charge of the merchant ship traffic and cargo dispatch between Nagasaki and the Great Ming, as well as the Tax Office that collected taxes. Last year, the tax money sent to the capital by the Nagasaki Maritime Trade Office was 120,000 taels, and the Japanese silver sent to the Great Ming by the Governor's Office was 1,570,000 taels.

120,000 in tax money naturally couldn't be mentioned in the same breath as the 1,230,000 taels of silver from the Songjiang Maritime Trade Office or the 720,000 taels from the Fujian Maritime Trade Office, but as a Governor's Office established on enemy territory, its significance was far greater than the tax money.

Xu Wei and Sun Kehong returned to the capital to report on their duties with extremely anxious moods. Everything in the Nagasaki Governor's Office was left to be managed by Chen Lin, Earl of Shuri. Chen Lin brought five five-masted ocean-crossing ships to Nagasaki to conduct armed patrols, deterring Japanese pirates, which gave the two the opportunity to leave.

The Shuri of the Regional Military Commander of the Naval Forces, the Commandant of the Barbarians, and the Earl of Shuri, Chen Lin, was originally the capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom, Shuri Prefecture.

Xu Wei had been in the capital for a very long time, over seven years, but the memories were not very pleasant; he had been living in the Celestial Prison for these seven years. When he landed at Tianjin Wei, looking at the extremely prosperous Tianjin Port, he felt many emotions. In the development of opening the seas, the Great Ming had gone a bit too far in correcting errors.

Tianjin Wei Tanggugang, because of the Bohai Sea freezing, was not an international port; it was more like a port connecting the interior. But even Tanggugang had a "City of Ten Thousand Nations." Although this City of Ten Thousand Nations was not large, there were some merchants from Persia, the Red-Haired Barbarians, and the Japanese inside.

From being completely closed to being completely open, the speed of the transformation made Xu Wei feel gloomy.

Those who correct errors must go beyond the right; this was the basic logic of politics. Xu Wei understood this very well.

"Before, this place was just a fishing village. After I left the capital and traveled here, there were starving people everywhere. Now, it is flourishing like flowers." Xu Wei spoke of the past to Sun Kehong. This was his second time in Tianjin Wei. The last time, he had just been released and went from here to Liaodong. He used four characters to describe the dilapidation back then.

"Starving people everywhere"—that is, people starving to death. One could see them after walking a short distance. These four characters were a sign of a chaotic world. At that time, Xu Wei was extremely worried that there might be great chaos under Heaven.

Because of two invasions, the population of the Capital Region and Northern Zhili had plummeted, and the farmland was desolate. Everything one saw was gloomy. Now, everything was flourishing.

"The first time I came to Tianjin Wei, I came on a painted pleasure boat. His Majesty came to Tianjin Wei to pick up Regional Commander Yu to return to the capital. That time, the pleasure boat was caught red-handed by His Majesty. I was worried for a long time, fearing that I had provoked the wrath of Heaven." Sun Kehong had also been to Tianjin Wei. The changes in Tianjin Wei were truly too great, so great that Sun Kehong couldn't recognize the place at all.

Xu Wei smiled and said, "Then let me test you: what do you think is the reason for the prosperity here?"

"Opening the seas? This student is dull," Sun Kehong answered immediately.

"It is, and it is not." Xu Wei walked toward the Huitong Hostel and told Sun Kehong his thoughts.

This prosperity was naturally because of opening the seas. As the Great Ming capital's gateway to the sea, Tianjin Wei became increasingly important as the policy of opening the seas was pushed forward. On the other hand, it was also the reason Xu Wei considered more important: the influence of land surveying and returning land. The people of the Great Ming were extremely hardworking; as long as they had a piece of land, they could survive.

Or rather, Zhang Juzheng's New Policies were the foundation of everything.

The Evaluation Law, setting times and limits, the "grass list" and pasting names, and filling in the registry—these allowed the Great Ming's administrative power to be reborn from the ashes. And land surveying and returning land was the method to supplement the foundation of the country. Strengthening the military and giving military generals authority was to add ballast to the Great Ming's ship. And rectifying the academic administration was to clear the atmosphere and was the merit of education.

Production is humans changing nature; the subject is humans. If there were no humans, no matter how many means of production or tools of production there were, there would be no way to produce.

The restoration of administrative power and the restoration of the population were the reasons why the Emperor's will could be carried out.

"I respectfully receive your instruction." Sun Kehong understood Xu Wei's reasoning. The Emperor's and the Master's New Policies were different paths to the same destination, and they supplemented and complemented each other; neither could be dispensed with.

This was what scholars often called "the ruler is sage and the ministers are virtuous."

Xu Wei and Sun Kehong entered Tongzhou from Tianjin Wei, entered the capital from Zhaoyang Gate, and stayed at the Huitong Hostel. The Huitong Hostel had a huge flow of people, and news was also the most convenient there.

Xu Wei and Sun Kehong washed up, and before they could rest, they received invitations. Clearly, many people wanted to communicate with the Governor of the Nagasaki Governor's Office. Xu Wei refused them one by one. This was not because Xu Wei, an outsider, was not giving face to the locals, but because he had to see the Emperor, figure out the direction of the wind, and then engage in activities.

If the general direction was unclear, random socializing could easily lead to problems.

Xu Wei took Sun Kehong to the Qianmen Tower. Listening to storytelling at Qianmen Tower was not just the hobby of Shah Mamet alone.

What Xu Wei and Sun Kehong wanted to listen to was still "The Three Beatings of Xu Jie." Xu Wei was a staff member of Hu Zongxian and had a grudge against Xu Jie. Sun Kehong's older brother had his leg broken because of Xu Jie and also had a grudge against Xu Jie.

This storytelling and drama compiled by Wan Shihe were widely circulated in the Great Ming, and there had already been secondary creations of scripts.

Nagasaki was a cultural desert. Having returned to the capital, naturally, one had to enjoy it a little.

"Have you heard? Young Master Wang caused a huge stir in Sichuan! The massacre at Huayang Academy was truly tragic; blood flowed like a river, and heads rolled. In the capital, with his father's discipline, his innate playboy nature could only be restrained. This time, arriving in Sichuan, he acted directly; it can be called ruthless and extremely decisive." A diner was communicating with his tablemate before the storytelling began.

"Hey, why don't they call him the contemporary Yan Song or Yan Shifan? No, this Wang Qian is much more ruthless than Yan Shifan. His Majesty sent him to Sichuan to handle the weighing fee case, but he did well—just because he was competing for favor with that Yang Ningren and snatching that beauty Luo Xiangxian, he acted directly. Tsk tsk, he truly doesn't know the height of Heaven or the depth of Earth."

Competing for favor and snatching the beauty Luo Xiangxian? If Wang Qian were here, he would probably flip the table directly. Who are you scolding! Wang Qian is at least the second-ranked playboy in the capital. As for that Luo Xiangxian, he doesn't even look down on her; Wang Qian likes decent women the most!

But people are always like this, feeling that this reason is more appropriate and fits the image of Young Master Wang Qian outside.

"That Yang Ningren deserves it. Their old Yang family was causing a major weighing fee case in Sichuan, and Zhang Juzheng's disciples were caught in it. If he didn't do it this way, Wang Qian is ignorant and incompetent; what other method could he have?"

"But I heard Young Master Wang went to Dujiangyan and submitted a memorial saying that the annexation of land by powerful families outside, the unevenness of taxes and labor, the splitting of land, and the fraudulent registration, relying on stubbornness to not pay land taxes, were burdening the small people. Dujiangyan irrigated three million mu, but now only one million and thirty thousand mu remain. It caused a huge uproar, saying he wanted to repair a 'Jimin Canal' (Canal for Benefiting the People), costing 430,000 silver, and he, Young Master Wang, would pay for it."

"I also heard about this matter. Some time ago, the *All-Jin Miscellaneous News* even published a special article saying that Young Master Wang's words were the words of the Jin Party. This money, their Jin Party would pay. Isn't it just 430,000 silver? As long as His Majesty is happy, 1,430,000 they would also be willing to pay."

Xu Wei asked quite curiously, "Where can one see the details of this expansion and irrigation of the Jimin Canal?"

"There are miscellaneous news reports on that table. Every issue has them. You can take them to read, but if you want to take them away, you have to spend money to buy them." The diner had a sharp eye. Although Xu Wei and Sun Kehong were not wearing gold and jade, their bearing was extraordinary. The diner did his best to clear up Xu Wei's confusion.

Sun Kehong immediately got up to take the miscellaneous news. Nagasaki's news was blocked, and the wide variety of miscellaneous news was not in every issue, and they were seriously delayed and missing.

"Take it to buy tea." A Han language full of exotic flavor sounded in Sun Kehong's ear. A silver bag with a quite elegant arc fell into Sun Kehong's hand.

?!

Shah Mamet wanted to take the miscellaneous news to pass the boring time before the storytelling began. Having cut in line, naturally, he had to be a bit polite.

Sun Kehong, one of the helmsmen of the Songjiang Sun clan—it's not said that he has mountains of gold and silver in his hands, but he is a master who doesn't treat money as money! Who are you scolding!

Sun Kehong weighed it; it was a full tael or more of silver. His expression changed, and he said, "You go first."

If you cut in line unreasonably, that is destroying order. But if you are willing to throw out a tael of silver, this is respect, not humiliation.

"Thanks!" Shah Mamet took a few copies of the miscellaneous news. When he threw out the silver, he saw the other party's bearing and felt that it was probably another gentleman who would not accept food given in contempt. He didn't expect the other party not to mind at all.

A tael of scattered silver is not a small amount. A soldier of the Great Ming Capital Battalion only gets 18 taels of silver a year, and that is life-selling money.

Sun Kehong told this strange story to Xu Wei. Xu Wei was also full of smiles. The wealthy Sun Kehong also had a time when he was smashed by silver. Who would think they have too much money? This tael of silver was enough for them to listen to storytelling at Qianmen Tower for several days.

Xu Wei picked up the miscellaneous news and read it carefully for a long time, not even noticing when the storytelling began.

Jimin Canal, first phase: the total length is only 21 *li*, with a total of 12 sluice gates. It draws water from the left bank of the Fu River at the two-road intersection in Pixian County, passes north of Phoenix Mountain, and enters the Longquanyi District south of the Min and Tuo River watershed. This is the first phase of the project, involving an irrigation area of over 90,000 mu. This is just the main canal, that is, the first phase of the project. Because it involves the restoration of the Dujiangyan project, the first phase investment is 430,000 silver.

Water conservancy projects are all about repairing and patching. The Dujiangyan repaired by Li Bing and his son back then now only has a piece of stone left in the middle of the river. For example, when Zhuge Liang governed Shu, he specially set up an agency to manage repairs, benefiting countless people. Water conservancy projects are not "repaired once and good for thousands of years." Any water conservancy project that is not repaired for more than five years will lose its function; if not repaired for more than ten years, it becomes a ruin. Water conservancy has always been a tug-of-war between humans and nature.

Even the most beautiful woman, if she doesn't wash her face for half a month, will be full of grease, and it has nothing to do with being beautiful.

Speaking of which, it's funny: Wang Qian's first-phase investment in Dujiangyan, 430,000 silver, was all from the bribes he collected along the way plus the travel expenses his father gave him.

The reason Xu Wei was so engrossed that he even forgot to listen to the storytelling was that the total planning of the Jimin Canal exceeded 600 *li*, with a planned irrigation area of over 9 million mu. It was planned to take ten years to build, and the total investment of the entire project exceeded 3.5 million silver, equal to the total investment of seven former emperors' mausoleums.

This was a grand project, and it was also a wonder.

Wang Chonggu announced that the Dujiangyan repair and the 600-*li* Jimin Canal construction would all be paid for by the Jin Party. The purpose was to reduce their own scale to prevent themselves from reaching the Emperor's beheading line during these ten years. Following the Chonggu Chidao (Chonggu's Road) from the capital to Shanhai Pass, this canal would definitely go down in history.

Why Sun Kehong wanted to develop the Yuanxu Islands was the reason why Wang Chonggu wanted to invest in the Dujiangyan project.

9 million mu of land—in the seventh year of Wanli, when the entire Sichuan was surveyed, the taxable land was only 14 million mu.

"Treacherous official? Loyal official? What is treachery, what is loyalty?" Xu Wei put down the miscellaneous news, just in time to hear the story of Xu Jie in the storytelling.

Xu Jie's reputation was actually quite good. Is he a loyal official?

Bullshit. To the country, there is no benefit; to the greatest interest group, the Great Ming state, there is no benefit—how can there be the word "loyalty"? No matter how rotten Yan Song was, he was the one who solidly supported Hu Zongxian in pacifying the Japanese pirates.

Qi Jiguang, Tan Lun, Chen Dacheng, Yang Wen, Wang Rulong, Liu Xian, Wang Daokun, and so on, were all loyal and good officials who emerged during the pacification of the Japanese pirates.

Xu Wei had no backing in the capital. He was not a Zhang Party or a Jin Party member; he could barely be counted as a Zhe Party member. After all, the father of Shen Yiguan, the direct descendant of the Zhe Party, was a colleague of Xu Wei, and both were staff members of Hu Zongxian. But Xu Wei was not, and could not be, a Zhe Party member; he could only be an Emperor Party member.

On the 22nd day of the 8th month of the 8th year of Wanli, Zhu Yijun met with Xu Wei and Sun Kehong at the detached palace. The reason he chose the Imperial Study of the detached palace was that it was more private, which was a way of expressing importance.

"We subjects pay our respects to Your Majesty. Long live, long live, long live Your Majesty." Xu Wei and Sun Kehong performed the grand ceremony of five kowtows and three bows to see the Emperor.

"Beloved subjects, no need for ceremony. Take your seats." Zhu Yijun was all smiles, saying quite gently, like a sunny, cheerful, and incomparably bright big boy.

Zhu Yijun's first impression of Xu Wei was that he was a mad scholar, unrestrained and beyond the bounds. Hidden beneath the refined and easygoing appearance of a scholar-official was a madness that didn't take his own life seriously. Madness was Xu Wei's true face.

When Xu Wei initially cleared out the Nagasaki Roman Catholic diocese, he had all the Red-Haired Barbarians and Golden-Haired Barbarians pit-buried, totaling 143 people, completely erasing all activities of the Western Nestorian Church in Nagasaki.

Xu Wei was a madman. Although he was very rational now, Zhu Yijun could still see the madness in Xu Wei's eyes.

"If it is inconvenient for Your Majesty to take action, then leave Ashikaga Yoshiaki to me." Xu Wei's first sentence upon seeing the Emperor was to solve a difficult problem for His Majesty: the King of Japan, Ashikaga Yoshiaki of the Japanese Royal Palace.

Ashikaga Yoshiaki no longer had any utility value; his only value was to allow the Great Ming to "console the people and punish the guilty," intervening in the situation in the Japanese islands in a bright, upright, and grand manner.

Now that the Great Ming had already entered, Ashikaga Yoshiaki should die. 20,000 taels of silver a year—that was bright, shining silver. Giving it to Ashikaga Yoshiaki, wasn't that committing a sin?

"The King of Japan and the King of Ryukyu have been splashing dung at each other recently, and they have been fighting over tunes recently. It's quite lively. Forget it, let him live for now." Zhu Yijun did not intend to let Ashikaga Yoshiaki die gloriously; otherwise, the Nagasaki Governor's Office would be very passive. This was to give Oda Nobunaga an excuse to integrate the Japanese *daimyo* to attack the Great Ming together.

Ashikaga Yoshiaki's political value, the name of righteousness, 20,000 taels of silver a year—it was still worth that money. Ashikaga Yoshiaki was the bone stuck in Japan's throat, the thorn stuck in the throat.

As long as Ashikaga Yoshiaki was still alive, Oda Nobunaga was a rebellious minister. Exiling Ashikaga Yoshiaki was his crime. Even in Japan, in the Western world where rites and music had collapsed, betrayal was a bad record that was not recognized.

"Your Majesty is brilliant." Xu Wei thought about it and still intended to listen to His Majesty's words. In his plan, once Ashikaga Yoshiaki died, Oda Nobunaga would inevitably raise the banner of opposing the Ming. At that time, the Great Ming could fully intervene in Japan.

As for whether the Nagasaki Governor's Office was dangerous or not, Xu Wei did not consider it. If he died, he died; it didn't matter. Back in the Celestial Prison, he had committed suicide seven times. If it weren't for the jailer watching closely, he would have died the first time.

Xu Wei was truly mad, not even caring much about his own life.

Zhu Yijun and Xu Wei chatted about the situation in Japan. The Mori family and the Oda family were engaged in a protracted struggle over the Iwami Bai Yin Mine. The Mori family withstood the pressure, and Oda Nobunaga could not advance further. This was mainly due to the support from the Great Ming. Of course, the Great Ming's support was never free. All the support the Mori family received was clearly priced.

Among the silver flowing into the Great Ming from Japan, nearly one million taels flowed directly into the Great Ming court and were minted into silver coins. This nearly one million taels of silver every year was provided by the Mori family, mainly used to purchase military equipment.

The war wealth business has always been this profitable.

An interest group hidden beneath the water surface was quietly forming. Led by the Great Ming Songjiang Shipyard, major military weapon bureaus and military equipment factories were quietly expanding their scale. The military, military workshops, and court officials supporting the strengthening of the military were forming an unstable triangle. As the arms trade continued to flourish, this triangle would slowly become a composite body, thereby ensuring that the Great Ming would not fall into the rut of exalting literature and suppressing the military again.

Even with the strengthening of the military during the Wanli period, the status of Great Ming military generals was still below that of civil officials. Although the trend of exalting literature and suppressing the military had been curbed, there was still a possibility of it breaking out again after Zhang Juzheng and Zhu Yijun left. The wind of the Great Ming's military strengthening also needed an interest composite body to maintain it.

After Xu Wei finished chatting with His Majesty about the Japanese affair, he chatted about the Jimin Canal affair. It was a ten-year grand project. As long as Xu Wei looked at the miscellaneous news, he would understand its gold content. Xu Wei wanted to grasp the wind and chatted about this matter, probing the Great Ming's future movements.

"Wang Cifu (Junior Assistant Minister Wang) is not shooting without a target. He hopes that the first phase of the Jimin Canal, a one-year project, can form an experience, which can then be carried out in the Great Ming: repairing water conservancy, increasing farmland, using work as relief, and settling displaced people." Zhu Yijun had no intention of hiding it and told Xu Wei about Wang Chonggu's plan.

The development of the Great Ming wool official workshops had come to an end. Wang Chonggu set his sights on Dujiangyan, a place thousands of *li* away, mainly to cultivate the experience of using work as relief. Sichuan was a very good testing ground. The contradiction between people and land was extremely obvious, and there were many displaced people. This was Wang Chonggu fulfilling his political commitment upon entering the cabinet.

"Memorial on the Distress of Annexation and Relief of Displaced People"—official workshops were one method, and water conservancy was another method Wang Chonggu thought of. Repairing water canals, repairing roads, and reclaiming wasteland by oneself—the reclaimed farmland would be used for recuperation, allowing the people to catch their breath under cruel exploitation.

This path had existed since ancient times. For example, the teacher of Zhu Yijun's agricultural teacher Xu Zhenming, Ma Yilong, used this method to reclaim wasteland, investing the first year's harvest into the next reclamation, thus promoting reclamation and settling the people.

If the first phase of the Dujiangyan Jimin Canal project obtained sufficiently rich experience, in areas with abundant hydrology, the experience could be promoted and popularized. Guizhou, Huguang, Nanya, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangzhou, Jilong, and Luzon—none of them lacked water. More water conservancy projects meant fewer displaced people, more good families, more farmland, more population, and more projects would inevitably bring more technological innovation, higher productivity, and higher potential.

The Great Ming's nearly exhausted foundation of the country—the people—would be further consolidated on the basis of land surveying and returning land. The Great Ming's nearly collapsed centripetal force would also be gathered again.

The people are the foundation of the country; when the foundation is solid, the country is peaceful.

"Good, good, good." Xu Wei said "good" three times in a row, quite moved. Who was saying all day that Wang Chonggu was a treacherous official? It made Xu Wei feel that way even in Nagasaki. As a result, looking at it now, this was clearly a loyal official of great integrity, managing the people and benefiting the country.

Standing from different positions to look at it, the views were naturally different.

The Great Ming, flourishing and prospering! ===== CHAPTER 407 =====