Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 264 Zhu Chongba knows the national treasury is empty!

After these two trips to Ningyang County, Chen Zhong felt that he had come to understand some things better.

First of all, this Magistrate Yang is definitely not a kind person. When he was a sixth-rank official, he would not hesitate to beat up a fifth-rank official. Moreover, when he beat him, he would specifically target the thickest parts of the body that were not easy to injure, and his punches were always brutal.

Secondly, this Magistrate Yang has a very special status in Ningyang County. I didn't realize this when I came last time, but I could tell from the smiling faces of the villagers of Liumiao Village when they brought him lotus roots. After all, it's easy to tell the difference between a genuine smile and a fake one.

Secondly, Magistrate Yang truly considered the people of Ningyang County in every way, as evidenced by his arrangement for them to grow lotus roots and sell lotus leaves and stems.

So, which one is the real him?

Is this really the "madman Yang" that His Majesty speaks of?

Or is he the big boss in the eyes of the people of Ningyang County?

Why does he always have to provoke His Majesty and go against the officials in the court?

Just as Chen Zhong was pondering wildly, the lotus roots in the pond of Liu Miao Village had been almost harvested. Magistrate Yang got up from his recliner and said to Chen Zhong, "Let's go. We'll go to Shawo Village first, and then we'll go to Xihe Village later."

Chen Zhong looked at Magistrate Yang with a bewildered expression and asked, "Are there two more villages to visit?"

Magistrate Yang nodded and said, "We need to visit three villages today, and if we have enough time, we'll visit four."

At this point, Magistrate Yang couldn't help but complain again: "The various villages have long sent people to the county office to tell me that they want me to go to their villages to check on the lotus root harvesting. But lotus roots are a crop, and we can't keep putting it off. So I have no choice but to hurry up. Today I have to visit several villages in the west of the city, and tomorrow I'll go to several villages in the north of the city."

After complaining, Magistrate Yang turned to Lame Wu and instructed him, "Take these melons and lotus roots with you. I can't have made this trip for nothing. Take these melons and lotus roots back and fry them into lotus root sandwiches."

Liu Miao Village in the west of the city, Shawo Village a little further south, Xihe Village a little further west, Heshan a little further northwest, and Fushan a little further north—these are the villages in the west of the city. I basically had to visit each one.

Then, Chen Zhong watched as Magistrate Yang went from village to village, collecting lotus roots from each village until the sun began to set and it was getting late. Only then did Magistrate Yang lead everyone back to the county office.

Upon arriving at the county government office, Magistrate Yang first summoned the cook and instructed her, "Go and wash all these lotus roots, pick out a few good ones and fry them into lotus root cakes, and stir-fry the rest."

Turning his head to look at Chen Zhonghe's experience as a secretary in the Ministry of Rites and the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs, Magistrate Yang added, "Bring a few more dishes."

The cook immediately agreed, and Magistrate Yang began to complain to Chen Zhong and the others: "You all see, it's not that I'm unwilling to learn various etiquettes, but there are too many troubles in the county. Those unruly people take advantage of my kind heart and insist that I watch them harvest lotus roots, plow the fields, harrow the fields, and so on. I really can't get away from it."

Chen Zhong gave Magistrate Yang a forced smile and bowed, saying, "Yes, Magistrate Yang is indeed very busy. We misunderstood you before because we didn't understand the situation."

Liu Yang, the secretary of the Zongzheng Temple, also laughed and said, "Lord Yang has to worry about the affairs of the entire county during the day, and at night he has to practice various etiquettes with us. He must be very tired."

Wu Liang, a senior official in the Ministry of Rites' Department of Ceremonies, was internally ranting: "Your so-called busyness, Magistrate Yang, is just running around to various villages to lie down and drink tea, and incidentally taking away the lotus roots from the people? If you're so busy, do you even have time to study how to make delicious lotus root sandwiches?"

And you, Chen Zhong, as the chief eunuch by His Majesty the Emperor's side, what are you afraid of? Why can't you stand up straight in front of Yang the Madman?

And you, Liu Yang, you're a former official of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs, a fifth-rank official. Why do you have to lower yourself in front of Yang the Madman?

Despite his inner complaints, Wu Liang, a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Rites' Department of Ceremonies, greeted Magistrate Yang with a smile and bowed, saying, "Magistrate Yang, last night I discussed with Chen Laogong and Liu Jingli that we should remove many unnecessary formalities and keep things as simple as possible."

Magistrate Yang smiled with satisfaction and said to the three men, "In that case, I'll trouble you three."

……

Zhu Biao, along with Zhu Lao Er, Zhu Lao San, and the Chang brothers, rushed back to the capital almost without stopping, before the beginning of winter, and told Emperor Zhu everything he had seen and heard.

After hearing what Zhu Biao had seen and heard on this trip, Emperor Zhu immediately sent someone to summon Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen to the Qianqing Palace once again.

"Everything else can be put off, but this school matter cannot be put off any longer."

Emperor Zhu went straight to the point, saying, "I plan to have schools built in every prefecture and county of the country to educate people. Other matters can be put on hold for now."

Li Shanchang cupped his hands and said, “Your Majesty, building schools and promoting education is a great thing that benefits the country and the people. Logically speaking, I should not oppose it. However, the national treasury is empty now. Where will the manpower and materials needed to build many schools come from?”

"Moreover, schools must have teachers. These teachers have the responsibility of educating and nurturing students, so the court must provide them with a certain salary and monthly stipend. Now, our Great Ming has thousands of prefectures and counties. Even if each county only has two teachers, and each person is given six dou of rice per month, it is not a small amount. Moreover, some counties have a large population and many children who need to go to school, so they need many teachers."

"If this is the case, how will the national treasury have enough money and grain?"

"Don't forget, Your Excellency, Xu Da is still leading the Northern Expedition. Even if there is some surplus grain in the national treasury, it can only be reserved for the Northern Expeditionary Army and cannot be used lightly."

As Li Shanchang finished speaking, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but feel somewhat displeased.

Poor, poor, poor! Whenever money and grain are mentioned, the national treasury is empty! Doesn't our Great Ming Emperor know that the Ming national treasury is truly damn poor?

Zhu Chongba knew that the national treasury was empty!

That dog is a real piece of work. You can run away if you want, but what the hell is the meaning of taking all the gold and silver with you?

Now look what's happened! Iron Pot is rich, but the treasury of our Great Ming Dynasty is so empty that rats can run around in it!

However, we can't blame the iron pot entirely; Liu Bowen also has to take the blame. If it weren't for his intervention, we would have sent troops to fight those short and ugly Japanese long ago. With mountains of gold and silver in hand, would we have any worries about not having enough money to build schools?

As for the paper money... Although the Ming Dynasty has already created paper money, it will take more than a day or two to issue and promote it. Even if Ningyang County tries to implement it, it will take at least several months to get a result.

The thought of Ningyang County only made Emperor Zhu even more displeased.

How come Ningyang County can become so wealthy, while other counties and prefectures can't?

Ultimately, it's either that the officials in other prefectures and counties are too stupid, or that they simply didn't put their hearts into it!

The more Emperor Zhu thought about it, the more agitated he became, and he simply snorted coldly, "Then what about according to Brother Shanchang's opinion?"

After careful consideration, Li Shanchang cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I think it would be better to first establish prefectural schools. After all, there are only a little over a hundred prefectures in the country. If prefectural schools are established, the number of teachers needed will be greatly reduced. In the future, students who graduate from prefectural schools but fail to pass the imperial examination can be assigned to other prefectures and counties to become teachers."

Liu Bowen also bowed and said, "Your subject seconds the motion."

However, to Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen's surprise, Emperor Zhu was determined to establish schools in the prefectures and counties first.

Emperor Zhu said directly, "How about this, let's issue an edict first, ordering all prefectures and counties in the country to inspect the Confucian temples in their respective prefectures and counties. If the Minglun Hall in the Confucian temple is still usable, then it can be used as a school."

"If they have been destroyed in the war, or are not suitable for use as schools, then let them report it. We can either conscript laborers or send people from the Ministry of Works to oversee the reconstruction."

"As for the matter of teachers, let each prefecture and county recruit them themselves. Those that can recruit teachers can start school, and those that cannot recruit teachers should not start school for the time being, and wait for the imperial court to assign teachers to them."

"As for the money and supplies needed..."

After a moment's consideration, Emperor Zhu said, "Let each prefecture and county make their own preparations. After all, we didn't ask them to deposit all their taxes into the national treasury. Each prefecture and county must have some money and grain in their treasuries. It shouldn't be difficult to support a few schoolteachers."

"Also, we have a new idea about the teaching materials, and we need Brother Shanchang and Mr. Qingtian to help us think about it together."