amaotonovel Chapter 774 Our Yangzhou Prefecture is like a stepmother's child!
Chapter 774 Our Yangzhou Prefecture is like a stepmother's child!
As the third prefect of Yangzhou in the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Xingchen never expected that one day he would be visited by the Crown Prince and the famous Yang the Madman.
To Zhang Xingchen's surprise, Yang Dianfeng immediately adopted a confrontational stance.
"By the end of the fifth year of the Hongwu reign, how many households and how many men were there in the entire Yangzhou Prefecture?"
How much newly reclaimed land?
"How much commercial tax did Yangzhou Prefecture collect throughout the entire fifth year of the Hongwu reign?"
How many kilometers of roads and bridges have been newly built in recent years?
"How many schools were there in total—community schools, county schools, and prefectural schools? How many students were there?"
"Bring me the treasury ledgers from the third, fourth, and fifth years of the Hongwu reign for inspection."
Then look at His Highness the Crown Prince... Good heavens, His Highness the Crown Prince seems to be obsessed with studying the roof structure, staring intently at the roof the whole time.
Zhang Xingchen was furious, but he still sent someone to fetch the account books. He then honestly answered Yang Shaofeng's question: "As of the end of the fifth year of Hongwu, the entire Yangzhou Prefecture had 5,315 households with a total population of 20,713."
"There are over 100,000 mu of newly reclaimed wasteland."
"However, in the fifth year of Hongwu, Yangzhou and Huai'an both suffered from drought, resulting in poor harvests. This year, there is another minor drought, and the harvest may continue to be poor."
"If taxes were collected normally, last year we could have harvested about 15,000 shi of wheat and about 80,000 shi of rice."
"As for commercial taxes, a total of 50,000 strings of cash were collected in the fifth year of Hongwu's reign, most of which came from salt merchants."
Zhang Xingchen was displeased, and his answer to Yang Shaofeng's question was inevitably tinged with anger: "As for the construction of new roads, bridges and schools, Yangzhou Prefecture is ultimately no match for Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture. The higher authorities are unwilling to allocate laborers to Yangzhou Prefecture, and the national treasury is unwilling to allocate funds. The meager amount collected is not enough to build even a few miles of roads."
"There was no other way. Apart from the community schools donated by the many gentry and salt merchants and the roads and bridges they built on their own, only a few community schools were set up in the entire Yangzhou Prefecture. They also built a hundred or so miles of roads during the off-season for farming."
"As for the number of students, there are some, but there aren't many schools, so the number of students is naturally not many."
"Moreover, ordinary people are poor and destitute, how could they bear to let a young adult go to school?"
Zhang Xingchen's words were barbed, but Yang Shaofeng was not annoyed at all. Instead, he smiled and said, "The fact that you can repair several community schools and travel a hundred miles or so shows that Prefect Zhang has put his heart into it."
Zhu Biao withdrew his gaze from the rooftop, smiled, and said, "Minister Zhang, please don't be angry. As the saying goes, no one visits a temple without a reason. My brother-in-law and I have come to Yangzhou Prefecture not to cause you any trouble, but because we have good news to share with you."
Zhang Xingchen immediately changed his expression and obediently bowed to Zhu Biao, saying, "Please give your orders, Your Highness."
Zhu Biao pointed at Yang Shaofeng and said with a smile, "Last year, my brother-in-law invented a water pump because of the drought in Huai'an Prefecture. This time, I came to Yangzhou Prefecture to ask Zhang Qing to take me and my brother-in-law to visit more villages and communities to see how the people are farming and to see how we can deploy the water pump as soon as possible."
Zhang Xingchen really wanted to say a few more sarcastic remarks.
Yang the Madman had been to Huai'an Prefecture, so the water pumps were first deployed there.
Later, Yang Dianfeng's former subordinates went to Huai'an to serve as prefects, and as a result, the imperial court always gave Huai'an Prefecture the best chance to get all the good things.
The relocated people first moved to Huai'an Prefecture.
The Ministry of Works also first went to Huai'an Prefecture to explore mineral deposits.
What's going on? So Huai'an Prefecture is the legitimate offspring of its own mother, while Yangzhou Prefecture is the illegitimate offspring of its stepmother?
The favoritism is so outrageous, you might as well just let our Yangzhou Prefecture, this stepmother's daughter, fend for itself. Why bother pretending to be so hypocritical about setting up a water pump?
No matter how unhappy he was, Zhang Xingchen ultimately didn't have the guts to confront Zhu Biao head-on.
Even the few sarcastic remarks he made just now had already pushed Zhang Xingchen to his limit.
After a long silence, Zhang Xingchen bowed respectfully and replied, "Your subject will obey Your Highness's command."
Zhu Biao simply hummed in agreement and continued, "In addition, Zhang Qing should also be prepared. There is a great difference between being the head of a prefecture and the head of a province."
Zhang Xingchen was immediately stunned.
The supreme ruler of a prefecture?
The head of a province?
Seeing Zhang Xingchen's bewildered expression, Yang Shaofeng smiled and said, "Your Highness is preparing to give Prefect Zhang more responsibilities."
Otherwise, how idle must I and Black Sesame Dumplings be to make a special trip to Yangzhou to find a prefect to amuse ourselves with?
……
While Yang Shaofeng and a certain black sesame dumpling were wandering aimlessly in Yangzhou Prefecture, Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen were arguing together.
"In addition to the five-year plan, there is now a century-long plan."
"It's a wonder that Yang the Madman dared to think that way!"
Li Shanchang immediately launched into a tirade: "Doesn't he realize that the changes in just five years are dazzling? Who can predict what will happen in a hundred years?"
"Goodness, disaster relief requires planning, schools and everything else need planning, even steam locomotives and steamships need planning."
"He really can't stand to see me have a single day of free time!"
Unlike Li Shanchang, Liu Bowen did not directly hurl insults, but his expression was equally unpleasant.
Is there any place in this world where reason prevails?
I am the Grand Censor of the Censorate!
He is the top official in charge of the Imperial Archives!
Now look what's happened! That black sesame dumpling and its incredibly dark-skinned father have not only put me in charge of the Imperial Archives, but they've also made me take time out of my way to help Li Shanchang formulate plans.
reason?
The reason they gave was that I had once proposed the Ming Dynasty's garrison system, so they believed that my vision was far-sighted and that my talents should not be wasted.
Ah.
That fart has a long-term vision!
If I had such foresight, would the Ming Dynasty's garrison system have needed such a crazy overhaul?
If I truly possessed such profound knowledge, how could I have almost been swindled to death by those fellow villagers from eastern Zhejiang!
They're just feeling sorry for me because I'm getting a salary!
Li Shanchang openly cursed, while Liu Bowen cursed inwardly.
After a long while, Li Shanchang, tired of cursing, finally snorted coldly and asked, "What are your thoughts, Brother Qingtian?"
Liu Bowen glanced at Li Shanchang and asked in return, "Didn't Brother Shanchang just say that a five-year plan is already dazzling, let alone a hundred-year plan?"
"but……"
Liu Bowen stroked his beard and chuckled, saying meaningfully, "As the saying goes, those involved are often confused, while bystanders see things clearly."
"If it were just the two of us, along with the officials from various departments, temples, academies, and monasteries, this century-long plan would most likely be riddled with errors."
"But there are more than just us in the imperial court."
"There are fourteen students from Ningyang County who have come to take the imperial examination this time. We have met them all last time."
"Moreover, there is also Xu Jingyu, the executive deputy prefect of Dengzhou Prefecture who has been following behind the Duke of Ying for two or three years, and is now the prefect of Huai'an."
"If we add Zhou Jingxin to the mix..."
Li Shanchang shook his head directly: "Xu Jingyu is easy to deal with, but Zhou Jingxin is currently in charge of the water pump project in Huai'an Prefecture, and will later be in charge of promoting the water pump throughout the entire Southern Zhili region. How can he possibly free himself up for the time being?"
Liu Bowen said, "There's no need for him to do it personally. With Zhou Jingxin here, those dozen or so monkeys in Ningyang County won't be able to cause any trouble."
"Moreover, Ningyang County also has three hundred Jinshi graduates from last year."
"Wouldn't it be a waste not to get these people up?"
Li Shanchang suddenly frowned and said, "If that's the case, then we need to go and persuade the person in charge."
Liu Bowen was slightly taken aback and asked, "Persuade the person in charge?"