Chapter 187: Swinging the Axe Boldly

Zhu Cilang turned to Gu Wei of the Military Law Department and said, "After the spring plowing, you will begin inspecting all areas of Fengyang Prefecture. If any yamen dares to levy taxes on its own authority, arrest them all. No matter who they are or who backs them, I will strip them of everything and execute every last one!"

His voice was severe, and those present scarcely dared to breathe. In particular, Zhu Dadian, the Governor-General of Grain Transport, broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead. It seemed he would have to strictly order all departments of the Grain Transport yamen to stop collecting taxes on Fengyang land from now on.

Gu Wei of the Military Law Department rose solemnly to his feet, cupped his hands, and accepted the order. This was a man who could execute even his own younger brother according to military regulations — no one believed he would ever bend the law for personal gain.

Zhu Dadian reminded him, "Your Highness, should the salaries of officials be increased somewhat?"

Zhu Cilang shook his head and said, "Not for now!"

The salaries of Ming officials were indeed not high and did need to be raised, but not at this time. Zhu Cilang felt that no matter how hard officials had it, could it compare to the suffering of the common people? If you cannot even govern your own jurisdiction properly and still think of raising your pay, I am already being lenient by not cutting off your head. If you want a high salary, wait until you produce results!

Next came the distribution of land by division. Zhu Cilang established the Military Farmland Department and appointed Yang Tinglin as its director, giving him full authority over military farmland matters in Fengyang Prefecture.

Based on the military fields of the eight guards, plus the confiscated lands of various gentry, Zhu Cilang currently had nearly ten million mu of land available for distribution.

Zhu Cilang ordered the land to be divided into three grades — upper, middle, and lower — according to soil quality. The upper-grade land near rivers was to be distributed first, followed by middle-grade land after the upper was exhausted. The lower-grade wasteland could be gradually reclaimed anew.

At fifty mu per newly recruited soldier, even just the upper-grade good land could recruit tens of thousands of farming households. With one garrison soldier per household, that would also mean an army of tens of thousands.

Reclaiming wasteland was not difficult — a single able-bodied laborer could reclaim over one mu per day. What Zhu Cilang lacked least right now was labor. As long as there was food to eat, many people would willingly come to work. Moreover, he still had six thousand captured roving bandits in his hands — it was time for these people to undergo a proper period of reform through labor.

Seeing there was nothing for him to do, Zhu Dadian felt somewhat disappointed. He had thought about throwing in his lot with the Crown Prince, only to find himself shut out — this was truly rather awkward.

Just as Zhu Dadian was feeling somewhat embarrassed, Zhu Cilang looked at him and said, "Zhu Dadian, I want to entrust you with a task. I wonder if you are interested?"

Seeing that his opportunity had come, Zhu Dadian immediately performed the kowtow ceremony and said, "Your servant is willing to die for Your Highness!"

If not now, when would he pledge his loyalty? If he hesitated and missed this opportunity before him, he estimated he would not even remain Governor-General of Grain Transport in the future.

Zhu Cilang nodded with satisfaction and said, "I want you to conduct a thorough survey of the land in Luzhou Prefecture, Anqing Prefecture, Taiping Prefecture, Chuzhou Prefecture, Huizhou Prefecture, and the surrounding prefectures. I wonder if you can handle this well this time?"

Zhu Dadian was momentarily stunned. Land surveys again, damn it? Are you going to kill people too? Survey all the prefectures around Fengyang as well?

Zhu Dadian steeled himself and said, "Your servant will surely do his utmost to complete the land survey of all prefectures as quickly as possible!"

Zhu Cilang smiled and said, "Minister Zhu need not worry. Cleaning up these few prefectures will not be enough to make those people in Yingtian jump up and down. Just go ahead and do it. I will personally tour the prefectures in a while to lend you support!"

Hearing this, Zhu Dadian's heart relaxed considerably, and he hastily gave thanks again.

From Zhu Cilang's attitude in executing offending officials and rebel troops, Zhu Dadian knew that although this Crown Prince appeared approachable on the surface, his methods were extremely seasoned and ruthless, and his desire for control was extremely strong.

As a veteran who had navigated officialdom for many years, Zhu Dadian could already see many hidden methods of the Crown Prince from the reorganization of the Yongwei Camp alone.

He knew very well that opposing this young master would lead to no good end. When even eunuchs stationed as garrison supervisors — the royal family's own household slaves — could be killed at a word, could one expect him to show mercy to his enemies?

As household slaves of the royal family, eunuchs who committed offenses were normally dealt with leniently. After all, eunuchs represented imperial authority to a certain degree — dealing with eunuchs was tantamount to weakening imperial power by one's own hand. This was also why the garrison eunuchs and supervising eunuchs in various regions were so arrogant yet no one dared to provoke them.

After the meeting concluded, Zhu Cilang issued another decree: any land within Fengyang Prefecture that had not been planted with crops after the spring plowing would be confiscated entirely!

Whether landlord or commoner, over seventy percent of a household's land must be planted with food crops — grain, vegetables, or sweet potatoes. As long as land lay idle, the government would take it all back! Those who wanted to use land for commercial purposes must apply to the government and only after obtaining qualification would they be permitted to put their land to other uses.

Overdeveloped commerce was not necessarily a good thing. The flourishing of commerce drew the farming populace into the cities to work for wages, causing more and more land to lie abandoned and grain output to decline year after year.

Historically, Jiangnan — the land of fish and rice — not only failed to become an asset to the Ming in its final years, but actually had to import grain from Huguang and Guangdong due to shortages.

Zhu Cilang did want to develop commerce and levy commercial taxes, but not now. If the agricultural problem was not solved, commercial matters were not even worth considering.

The agricultural revolution and commercial revolution were preconditions for the industrial revolution. Only when agriculture developed to a certain degree could society possibly develop commerce. Agricultural development could promote the exchange of goods, and only then would society have surplus labor to engage in the development of a small-commodity economy.

When society's demand for goods exceeded what the small-commodity economy could supply, reform of production methods became inevitable. The direction of that reform was the use of large-scale production and large machinery — only then would industrial production emerge.

The relationship among these three was one of gradual progression. Trying to leapfrog development would only be like pulling up seedlings to help them grow — leaving endless troubles behind!

Zhu Cilang said to Yang Tinglin, "Minister Yang, you will have to work hard during this period. If you encounter any difficulties, just speak to me directly. Whether it is power or money, I can give you the greatest degree of freedom to do as you see fit. But you must be clear — military farmland and troop recruitment bear on the great policies of the state. Reaping the benefits of the land, relieving the people's strength, and ensuring sufficient food for the soldiers determine whether we can completely pacify the roving bandit rebellion in the Central Plains. Please do your utmost!"

Yang Tinglin said seriously, "The great matters Your Highness has entrusted to me, your servant will surely complete with all his effort!"

Yang Tinglin continued, "Your Highness, I originally had several dozen Imperial Academy students under my command, but now they have been dispatched to various regions to serve as officials. What remains under me are mostly rough military officers, and I am quite short-handed."

Zhu Cilang nodded, indicating understanding. After all, he had nearly executed all the civil officials in all of Fengyang Prefecture, so personnel were indeed somewhat scarce.

He pondered for a moment, then said, "Transmit my decree: have the Imperial Academy in Nanjing transfer one thousand students to Fengyang Prefecture. Priority to juren students and tribute students — do not send yin students!"

So-called juren students were those who entered the Imperial Academy as juren, while tribute students were those who entered as xiucai, also called tribute scholars. Once a xiucai became a tribute student, he was no longer under the discipline of local Confucian schools — commonly known as 'going out on tribute.'

Yin students, on the other hand, gained admission through their fathers' official positions. There were also li students who gained admission by donating grain or money.

These people who entered the Imperial Academy through nepotism or by spending money — what use did Zhu Cilang have for them? Could they understand the hardships of the common people? Once officials, could they act for the people?

Perhaps a rare few could, but so what? Gold will shine wherever it is. As long as you have ability, there will always be opportunities to rise in the future.