Chapter 712: The Emperor's Edict Is Not Omnipotent

Some of these dogfights in the court are bloody and blatant, while others are gentle and subtle, with undercurrents surging. They don't need to be so violent, and they don't even need to whisper slanders in the Emperor's ear. They only need to release an ambiguous rumor to destroy the harmonious relationship that the Great Ming monarch and ministers have worked together for thirteen years to build, and that the Emperor and the Marquis of Ningyuan have carefully managed.

Rumors are terrifying.

If the rumor that "the Marquis of Ningyuan is taking advantage of the Japanese pirates' invasion of Joseon to stand up to the Emperor and not let the imperial court collect land tax in Liaodong" is allowed to spread, no matter what the final result of Great Ming's war to pacify the Japanese pirates in Joseon is, Li Chengliang will be a loser. And this matter looks like something Li Chengliang could indeed do.

Even if it cannot create any waves in the court, it will cause a huge uproar in Liaodong. From Li Chengliang's retainers to the guest troops, to the soldiers in the military colonies, to the officials of various sizes in Liaodong, to the people who came to Liaodong to seek a living, they all have some thoughts in their hearts.

After all, it was Marshal Li who did it first!

Li Chengliang seems to have many choices, but in fact, there is only one path to take, and that is to let Liaodong completely become a warlord, becoming a Liaodong warlord who nurtures bandits to maintain self-importance and holds troops to maintain self-importance. Because nurturing bandits to maintain self-importance is like a run on the bank. Once those ministers in the imperial court have doubts, the seeds are planted, and they will inevitably take root, sprout, bloom, and bear fruit. The lack of trust between them will become a nightmare for the court and the local area.

When a country loses great trust, people's hearts become suspicious.

Li Chengliang's return to Liaodong this time is very, very dangerous for Li Chengliang and the Marquis of Ningyuan's mansion, because Li Chengliang had previously completely delegated power and fully handed over Liaodong's military affairs. Now, he has to return because of the war.

Li Chengliang saying the Emperor is amazing is because the Emperor is truly amazing. He had already held these lowly scholars firmly in his hands and told Li Chengliang directly that the Great Ming Emperor could accept Li Chengliang becoming a warlord.

However, it cannot be in Liaodong. Replace the Li of the Li family in Joseon with another Li. When the time comes, compile a few genealogies for the ancestors of Joseon and change them into one family. If Li Chengliang really has to go down the path of nurturing bandits to maintain self-importance and holding troops to maintain self-importance, he should go to Joseon to wreak havoc.

Since ancient times, the Joseon Peninsula has never been able to pose an actual threat to the Central Plains regime, because the grain production here is destined to never become a place of dragon rise.

A granary is not necessarily a place of dragon rise, but a place of dragon rise must be a granary.

"You scholars, those crooked brains, can't you use them on the Japanese pirates? Why use them on an old man like me! Damn it, it would be better to just die." Li Chengliang leaned back in his chair, still feeling lingering fear, and said: "If it weren't for the Emperor being smart since he was a child and playing tricks with these lowly scholars for so many years, just this sentence, even if I died, I would be scolded for hundreds of years!"

"Really damn unlucky!"

Li Chengliang is a military man. Over the years, he became a Marquis and became a bit more refined, rarely swearing. But now, he is really a bit broken.

After the Great Ming Emperor returned to the capital from his southern tour, Zhang Juzheng stood up to the Emperor and rejected the imperial edict twice. Because both sides were very persistent, in the end, the Emperor treated the lowly scholars arrested by Prince Lu, Zhu Yijun, with cold treatment—just locking them up and not dealing with them.

Zhang Juzheng became a bit extreme. In his view, what kind of absolute or limited freedom? Letting these lowly scholars who wag their tongues and drum their lips shut up forever is more important.

Zhang Juzheng's tendency toward conservative extremism is very obvious, especially regarding the so-called "smooth path of speech." He began to resist and even resent it, because Zhang Juzheng saw danger.

Li Chengliang, who was almost put on the fire by rumors this time, is a living example.

Zhu Yijun sometimes couldn't understand why Liaodong became the burial ground of Great Ming.

Especially after the Wanli War to Aid Joseon, the warlordization of Liaodong was like a stone rolling down a cliff, unable to stop, eventually smashing the entire Great Ming to pieces. Everyone in Liaodong called themselves "Liaoren," and even kept clamoring for "Liaoren governing Liaodong." The Wanli Emperor and the ministers in the court showed extreme distrust in the entire Wanli War to Aid Joseon, preferring to listen to the sophistry of the King of Joseon, Li Yan, rather than have even a trace of trust in the soldiers who died in battle in Joseon.

The rumors spread by the lowly scholars are lethal, and extremely so.

"Lowly scholars are like this. If you ask them to do something, they can't do anything, but if you ask them to ruin things, they are better than anyone else." Hou Yuzhao drank tea leisurely. He was incompatible with the lowly scholars and was always going against the grain, from beginning to end.

"The matter of establishing a provincial administration commission in Liaodong, I must take an attitude, so that the rumors will be self-defeating." Li Chengliang thought for a long time and decided to find a way out for himself. The Liaodong Provincial Administration Commission, the Provincial Surveillance Commission, and the Regional Military Commission—political, legal, and military powers should be separated, and he, Li Chengliang, should do it himself.

Li Chengliang left Liaodong to promote the establishment of a province in Liaodong. Since he is back, he must win the battle that should be won, and the things that should be done must be done.

"It's not easy to handle." Hou Yuzhao sighed and said: "In the fourth year of Hongwu, there were 1,239 prefectures, departments, and counties in the world, with 5,488 officials. In the fourteenth year of Hongwu, Yunnan was settled. The internal and external civil and military officials—this does not count clerks and yamen runners. If there are officials, there are clerks; if there are clerks, there are runners."

"In the fourth year of Zhengde, civil officials, military officials, and clerks—clerks were seven times the number of civil officials, and yamen runners were seven times the number of clerks."

"Even if you don't count yamen runners, firemen, night watchmen, inspectors, etc., just counting civil officials and clerks, the three-division government office in one place requires 1,800 officials and clerks. Even if Liaodong is vast and sparsely populated and doesn't need so many officials and clerks, I cut it in half for you: 900 officials, 7,000 clerks."

"Old Li, where are you going to find so many scholars?"

The Marquis of Ningyuan's mansion is not the main obstacle to the imperial court's plan to establish a province in Liaodong. The lack of talent is the real gravity.

The reality is even more cruel. It cannot be cut in half as Hou Yuzhao said. The local government offices of Great Ming are mainly composed of local snakes. The third-in-command of the county, the registrar, is usually a local gentry. Guizhou is a typical example. Because of the lack of local scholars, they can only appoint hereditary local officials for loose rule.

"So many?" Li Chengliang said blankly.

Hou Yuzhao nodded and said: "Registrar, jail warden, squad leaders, the six departments, police inspectors, sluice gates, post warehouses, river and lake offices, transport offices, verification offices, iron smelting offices, tax sections, county school instructors, monk and Daoist offices, medical bureaus—and this doesn't even count the staff managed by the private secretaries."

"Therefore, the most important thing at the moment is reclamation. Only when there is grain and people are full can there be surplus grain to invite scholars to teach. These will all have them slowly."

The staff managed by the private secretary usually has seven people. The functions of these seven staff members are to send and receive official documents, draft manuscripts, wait for manuscripts, manage the library, be on duty in the hall, follow the class, and keep accounts, etc. This is already the most streamlined. If it is the kind of upper county with dense population and great prosperity, the private secretary who manages the staff even has to split into three, and the number of staff under the private secretary is even almost the same as the six departments.

Liaodong does not have so many scholars, but anyone who is literate has been found by Hou Yuzhao, simply trained in arithmetic, and immediately started working.

"There is another reason. If you can be a scholar in the hinterland, who would be willing to come to Liaodong to eat snow? Scholars, with delicate skin and tender flesh, without the strength to truss a chicken, if they can stay inside the Shanhai Pass, they will never leave the Shanhai Pass." Hou Yuzhao talked about the problem of scholar migration, talent inflow and outflow.

The Jiayu Pass has been established for two hundred years. Although Gansu is a bit poor, there are still autumn examinations every year, with *jinshi*, *juren*, *xiucai*, and students. Before, the place was not big enough, it was the Shaanxi Regional Military Commission. Now that the Western Regions have been reopened, Great Ming's hands and feet have reached the seven guards of Guanxi, and Gansu is still useful.

Suiyuan can also rely on Shaanxi and Shanxi for support. They are all poor places, and the Hetao is a bit richer.

But Liaodong is very close to the capital. The Shanhai Pass is like a one-way valve. The scholars cultivated in Liaodong also have to run inside the Shanhai Pass, and the scholars inside the Shanhai Pass are unwilling to come to Liaodong.

No people, that is the real obstacle.

"In the final analysis, we still have to rely on military colonies and the schools of the military colonies to cultivate scholars belonging to Liaodong to completely solve this problem. There are always scholars willing to stay in this poor countryside to build this black land." Hou Yuzhao couldn't help but think of the early days of the country, when Emperor Taizu Gao built military colonies everywhere and built Confucian schools in the military colonies everywhere.

In the two hundred years of Great Ming's national fortune, 30% of the *jinshi* came from military households.

Confucian scholars always shout: "The teachings of the sages are everywhere," "There is no distinction in education," "Confucian education," "Changing customs." But in these poor countrysides, where are there any scholars? Once it comes to practice, Confucian scholars begin to shout: "The people on the border cannot be taught, so there is no need to set up schools."

Hou Yuzhao said somewhat listlessly: "Alas, Liaodong is on the border, a poor and desolate place, with few scholars. There is a lack of people to write memorials during the year. The children of military officers are mostly illiterate, and there is no way to learn. After the chaos, it is not easy to find scholars. There are no teachers, fewer books, and the classics are incomplete. How can Liaodong be guarded for a long time?"

Hou Yuzhao came to Liaodong in the second year of Wanli. After the New Year, it was already the thirteenth year. He took root here. After a long time, he was very confused. This confusion was even a bit desperate. He didn't know, he really didn't know where the future of Liaodong would go.

The problem he mentioned is the real gravity. Ideals are always so magnificent, but reality is so cruel.

Li Chengliang said with some dissatisfaction: "Aren't you a scholar? Didn't you take root in Liaodong? This took root for twelve years! My Liaodong cannot be called a place of rich products, but it is also rich in products. Why are there no scholars willing to come!"

"I'll take it as Old Li praising me." Hou Yuzhao laughed loudly and shook his head. He didn't refute, but Li Chengliang knew very well that what he said was nonsense. How many honest officials like Hou Yuzhao are there in Great Ming?

Look at that Zhejiang Governor Wu Shanyan. In such a rich place as Zhejiang, he could force the Zhejiang Nine Battalions to mutiny.

"Your Majesty, you can send the students of the Imperial Academy and the failed *juren* to Liaodong. Great Ming has nothing else, but there are quite a few poor scholars who have nowhere to go!" Ma Lin put forward his own views.

Li Chengliang looked at Ma Lin and then at his son Li Rusong. These were all children of the Beijing Camp who came from the capital. They were accustomed to the omnipotence of the Emperor, so when they encountered difficulties, the first thing they thought of was: the Emperor can solve everything by issuing an edict.

Li Chengliang exhaled a turbid breath, shook his head and said: "The Emperor gave grain and clothes to send Imperial Academy students to Liaodong. It has been more than seven years. Those who came to Liaodong stayed for a short month and a long half a year. Many abandoned Liaodong and left. Although schools were set up, teachers were often extremely lacking, and schools were still in name only."

The Emperor's edict is not omnipotent.

"They took the Emperor's preferential treatment but didn't work hard. If you take the monarch's salary, you should be loyal to the monarch! Such rebels should be executed!" Li Rusong's face changed, and he said sternly.

"Then no one will come! If you don't execute them, some people are still willing to come to Liaodong to try. If you shout and kill now, who will be willing to come? If they are exiled here, they will be resentful, and they will inevitably collude with those barbarians, which will also be a great disaster." Hou Yuzhao looked at Li Rusong and answered this question.

"I am not good at politics." Li Rusong was speechless. He was really not good at these political affairs. Thinking about these problems was not as good as letting him kill Japanese pirates.

The elite soldiers of the Great Ming Beijing Camp are young master soldiers. This is the evaluation of the Beijing Camp soldiers by the Liaodong soldiers. This is not an insult, but a kind of envy.

In addition to envying the equipment, supplies, and military pay standards of the Beijing Camp young masters, the most important thing is that the young master soldiers don't have to think about so many messy things, just think about how to defeat the enemy.

The Liaodong generals are often not just thinking about winning, but also how to govern the jurisdiction so as not to be turbulent. It is the norm to grasp politics, military, finance, and law.

Li Chengliang leaned forward, patted his son's arm, and said with a smile: "You don't have to think wildly. As the Deputy Regional Commander of the Beijing Camp, you just think about fighting. The Emperor has already treated Liaodong with extra kindness. Our Jilin and Liaodong roads can reach directly! This is a treatment that even the Southern Yamen doesn't have!"

"I said this to Old Zhao because Liaodong is good enough, and we both hope it will be better."

Li Chengliang didn't want to go to Joseon to be any guarding Duke. Why eat that bitterness? After this battle, he would return to the capital. As a military general, he had done everything he could, and the rest would be left to the scholars!

"In this battle, you must listen to the Emperor. Remember not to advance rashly, and don't risk your life for those Joseon people. If you want to risk your life, risk it for the Emperor. None of those meat-eaters in Joseon are human. They don't deserve it."

"When you arrive in Jiuliancheng, take Yizhou by surprise. I will send a battalion of the Engineering Corps to build the port." Li Chengliang talked about the war to aid Joseon, urged his son to return safely, and thoughtfully gave a "bastard" suggestion.

Looking at the imperial edict issued by the Emperor, directly stripping the King of Joseon of his throne, and the successor is still called Prince Gwanghae, the meaning is very clear. The throne of the King of Joseon ends here with Li Yan.

Bypass the meat-eaters of Joseon and directly occupy Yizhou to reduce the pressure on Great Ming's logistics and supplies. Sea transport is much cheaper than land transport. The road cannot be built in three or five years, but this port only takes a few months.

In Li Chengliang's eyes, the meat-eaters of Joseon are all vermin. Even if these meat-eaters opened the Yizhou port for silver and money, the Great Ming Beijing Camp elite soldiers and supplies could reach Joseon by sea. In this way, there is no need to transport by land from Liaoyang and Lushun to Jiuliancheng. Land transport is extremely expensive. 70,000 *shi* of grain requires 210,000 *shi* of transport loss, but sea transport only requires less than 10,000 *shi* of loss.

"The Japanese pirates have occupied Hancheng, and this group of vermin in Joseon are still shouting about 'the hearts of the people are not ancient' and 'the world is declining.' They refuse to open Yizhou, and they even ran to me, wanting me to transport grain to them. They are ugly and think beautifully!" Li Chengliang got angry when he mentioned this.

The Joseon envoy ran to Liaoyang, asking Li Chengliang to send troops and grain, and on the issue of the Yizhou port at the mouth of the Yalujiang, they were very firm and refused to agree.

"The Emperor said, be wary of the Joseon meat-eaters colluding with the Japanese pirates." Li Rusong remembered the Emperor's instructions before he set off.

"Listen to the Emperor, keep an eye on this group of idiots, don't be sold by them without knowing it." Li Chengliang deeply agreed.

Li Rusong frowned and said: "Can we really take Yizhou directly?"

"Don't worry, it's none of your business. When the time comes, I will let the soldiers of Jiuliancheng enter Yizhou first. If those Joseon bastards dare to resist, I will kill them all. If they can't win, you enter the city."

"These lowly scholars in the capital are not saying I am a warlord? This warlord, I am determined to be!" Li Chengliang couldn't do much in the matter of transforming Liaodong, so he changed his fighting style. He planned to make a good effort in the war to aid Joseon and do something a warlord should do.

The Great Ming Emperor never interfered in the specific command of the Liaodong soldiers, which gave Li Chengliang great autonomy.

Qi Jiguang has Qi Jiguang's gentleman's fighting style, and Li Chengliang has Li Chengliang's rogue fighting style—attack without declaring war, take without notifying, and take Yizhou first.

The Emperor values frugality. Saving some real gold, silver, and grain for the imperial court is to please the Emperor.

Some ministers in the court impeached him for acting without authorization, but it didn't matter. He, Li Chengliang, accepted this crime and would return to the capital to accept punishment after the war.

"Old Li, what is the difference between this and raping a woman? You don't even ask if the Joseon people agree." Hou Yuzhao was convinced by this Li Chengliang, who was thinking about these things all day long.

"Even if they don't agree, can they stop me?" Li Chengliang said indifferently.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month in the 14th year of Wanli, the capital was still immersed in the joy of the New Year. For the things that happened far away in Joseon, the capital, which was singing and dancing, did not have much empathy. The lights of the Aoshan Mountain were like people's days, becoming more prosperous year by year.

The diligent Great Ming Emperor received more intelligence reports.

"The Marquis of Ningyuan wants to take Yizhou without declaring war. I think the Marquis of Ningyuan's behavior, although it cannot be called a gentleman, is definitely not a villain. In any case, it is to drive the Japanese pirates into the sea faster." Zhu Yijun held Li Chengliang's memorial and asked Qi Jiguang for his opinion on the surprise attack on Yizhou.

Qi Jiguang stood in front of the map, looked at it carefully for a long time, and said: "Your minister thinks it is good, but the Marquis of Ningyuan is afraid that he will be scolded again."

Being able to take Yizhou is the best. Great Ming has maritime supremacy, so it can be more flexible in advancing and retreating.

Li Chengliang's idea of taking Yizhou is actually to try to do a big job, but this idea coincides with Great Ming's step-by-step, inch-by-inch progress. Entering Joseon to fight requires a fulcrum, and this fulcrum is Yizhou.

"How many soldiers does the Marquis of Ningyuan intend to use to attack Yizhou? Jiuliancheng only has 2,000 soldiers." Qi Jiguang asked suspiciously.

"One thousand." Zhu Yijun answered quickly.

"Is it enough?"

Zhu Yijun shook his head and said: "I don't know either. The Marquis of Ningyuan thinks it's enough."

"If the Marquis of Ningyuan thinks it's enough, then it's enough." Qi Jiguang thought for a while and didn't say anything more. The Great Ming cavalry battalion was pressing the formation, so there wouldn't be any big problems.

It would take another twenty days for the Great Ming cavalry battalion to go from Liaoyang to Jiuliancheng at the mouth of the Yalujiang. By the time the cavalry battalion arrived, let alone 1,000 Liaodong soldiers, even if 100 Liaodong soldiers went to take Yizhou, the Yizhou defenders would have to weigh the importance of it if they wanted to do it.

This is what Li Rusong said: bypass the meat-eaters like the Joseon royal family and ministers, and Great Ming will act on its own.

Zhu Yijun originally intended to give Li Chengliang the power to act according to circumstances. This power, Zhu Yijun had only given to Yin Zhengmao. Even Ling Yunyi didn't have such great authority in Liangguang, Shandong, and Henan, but in the end, it was blocked by Zhang Juzheng. If it really becomes a messy war of nurturing bandits to maintain self-importance, it won't be too late to give it. The imperial court must always hold a few cards in its hands. This power to act according to circumstances is righteousness and status.

"Your Majesty, Henan has completed the census of the population. In the 13th year of Wanli, except for Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi, and Suiyuan, the thirteen provinces of Great Ming have completed the census of the population." Zhang Juzheng reported another important work of Great Ming, the census of the population, and Zhang Juzheng submitted a memorial.

Zhu Yuanzhang had two treasures for governing the country: one was the Fish-Scale Register, which was the land register, and the other was the Yellow Register of Taxes and Corvee, which was the population register.

These two treasures gradually became invalid over two hundred years. The land measurement started in the first year of Wanli and was initially completed in the ninth year of Wanli. In the eleventh year of Wanli, Henan completed the land measurement in the hands of Ling Yunyi, who liked to kill.

In the eleventh year of Wanli, Zhu Yijun got the first treasure, the Fish-Scale Register. Now, Zhang Juzheng handed the second treasure, the Yellow Register, to the Emperor.

The first compilation of the Yellow Register of Taxes and Corvee was completed in the 26th year of Hongwu, twelve years later than the 14th year of Hongwu. This was because there was a lot of personnel movement and migration during the Hongwu period, which caused great trouble for the compilation of the Yellow Register.

In the 26th year of Hongwu, Great Ming had 10.65 million households and a population of 60.54 million.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, everything was renewed. The rough rule of the Yuan Dynasty lasted for a hundred years, coupled with the wars at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the population began to recover after the establishment of the Hongwu period. Sixty million people is really not a small number.

"At the end of the 12th year of Wanli, the Minister of Revenue told Me that Great Ming had 10.62 million households and 60.69 million people." Zhu Yijun held the memorial submitted by Zhang Juzheng, exhaled a turbid breath, and told a joke.

"Seriously inaccurate, just didn't complete the census, and followed the old example." Zhang Juzheng bowed and said.

The audit at the end of the 12th year of Wanli was not completed, and the Yellow Register was not updated. For two hundred years, the number of households in Great Ming decreased by 30,000, and the population increased by 150,000.

For two hundred years, the population of Great Ming was stable to the point of insanity. Everyone knew that this data was distorted, and everyone knew that this was a muddled account, but no one put in the effort to check it.

In fact, it is very simple. The Fish-Scale Register and the Yellow Register of Great Ming were all copied directly from the last time, and even the increases and decreases were too lazy to do. For example, Zhang Xueyan told the Emperor: From the 11th year of Jiajing to the 9th year of Wanli, the number of households in Yuzhou was..., the population was... In fifty years, the population data of Yuzhou did not change at all.

They were even too lazy to fool people.

And now, the cabinet in the early years of Wanli, led by Zhang Juzheng, led the court officials to conduct a comprehensive census of this muddled account.

At the end of the 13th year of Wanli, the final audit was completed.

"At the end of the 13th year of Wanli, the Minister of Revenue and the Senior Grand Secretary now tell Me that Great Ming has 21.26 million households and 100 million-plus people." Zhu Yijun finally figured out a historical problem that had been unresolved: how many people were there in the middle and late Ming Dynasty?

130 million, 10 million more than the Ministry of Revenue had previously estimated. The Ministry of Revenue seriously underestimated the population of Henan, Huguang, and the three borders of Shaanxi and Gansu.

"Your Majesty, when your minister was conducting the census, I discovered a very interesting thing. Our Great Ming officials are all capable of reaching the sky, and all of them are immortals of balancing accounts!"

"For example, this Eastern Depot Prefecture, in the Yellow Register of the 26th year of Hongwu, had... households, and... people, plus 327 deformed households. In the 9th year of Wanli, in the Yellow Register of Eastern Depot Prefecture, there were... households, and... people. In two hundred years, the number of households and people increased sixfold."

"But these households and people, which increased sixfold, arrived at the Provincial Administration Commission, and immediately returned to their previous state."

Zhu Yijun frowned and said: "Does the Teacher mean that our local prefectural and county parents' officials are extremely clear about how much land and population are in their jurisdiction?"

"Exactly. In terms of population, the county is rising, the prefecture is rising, but only the imperial court's Yellow Register is not rising. It is truly a strange story in the world." After Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, he was angered to laughter himself.

There was also a case here. When Wang Yie was conducting the census of the population in Shandong, he was busy for more than a year before he found out clearly, making him exhausted and overwhelmed. Later, the Eastern Depot Prefect was investigated and handled by Hai Rui for corruption.

In the process of investigating the Eastern Depot Prefect, he got a Yellow Register from the private clerk of the Eastern Depot Prefect, and Wang Yie found out that he had been busy in vain. And the prefects of Shandong watched their boss busy in vain, as if watching a joke.

It made Wang Yie almost become Ling Yunyi, raising a butcher's knife.

These prefects knew exactly how much land and population were in their jurisdiction, but the account-balancing immortals were so magical that the land and population of a province remained stable for two hundred years.

"In fact, it is because the Provincial Administration Commission is not responsible for corvee and the four-difference silver, and the land tax is also perfunctory." Zhang Juzheng analyzed the reasons.

"The invalidation of the Fish-Scale Register and the Yellow Register has actually become the tax-farming system of the Yuan Dynasty." Zhu Yijun's face was extremely ugly. He didn't feel it when he only got the Fish-Scale Register. When he got the Yellow Register again, Zhu Yijun realized that these scholars had really played Great Ming into a tax-farming system!

"That's still different." Zhang Juzheng corrected the Emperor's statement in time. There is still a long way to go from the tax-farming system. The tax-farming system is an advance payment. After paying money to the imperial court, the tax-farmer collects as much as he wants in the tax-farming territory, whether he loses or earns, it all depends on his own ability. To put it simply, it is plunder.

Great Ming's "pasted" Fish-Scale Register and Yellow Register still have a certain bottom-line effect. Local officials cannot do whatever they want.

"Starting from the Southern Yamen, Jiangzuo, and Jiang You, implement the Single Whip Law. First, according to the Fish-Scale Register and the Yellow Register, allocate the corvee of each prefecture and county to the land, measure the land and calculate the corvee, all collect silver, and the officials will decompose and hire people to pay." Zhu Yijun issued an imperial edict.

"Your Majesty, Zhejiang also has the conditions and foundation." Zhang Juzheng reminded the Emperor that Zhejiang was at the forefront of the new policy, and the return of land was in full swing. Since it was to be done, it would be better to do it all at once.

Zhu Yijun said with a heavy face: "Zhejiang... Teacher, I think it's better to figure out the return of land first. It's too tiring for the small people, and going too far is as bad as not going far enough. I plan to transfer Hou Yuzhao to Zhejiang. Shen Shixing is a bit too busy alone."

"After Hou Yuzhao goes, we will implement the Single Whip Law." ===== CHAPTER 713 =====