Chapter 151 See what I can do
Hu Weiyong said, "Your Majesty, Lord Li is old and has asked for retirement several times, but Your Majesty always refused. The affairs of the court are now mostly handled by the Right Prime Minister Princess Wang, and even the Central Secretariat is not able to issue orders. I think... Your Majesty should make plans early."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and looked at Xu Da, "It seems that I should let Shanchang take a rest. Wang Guangyang will be the left prime minister, and Hu Weiyong will be the right prime minister. What do you think, Mr. Xu?"

Although Xu Da was also a meritorious official in Huaixi, his relationship with Hu Weiyong was extremely bad. Historically, Hu Weiyong tried to assassinate Xu Da many times but failed.

But in front of His Majesty, Xu Da still hesitated for a moment and said, "If Your Majesty thinks it is feasible, then it is fine."

Hu Weiyong felt an indescribable feeling in his heart, because theoretically, he was only the Vice-Chancellor and should have first become the Right Prime Minister and the Left Prime Minister before he was qualified to become the Right Prime Minister.

But now, Your Majesty directly made him the Right Prime Minister. In this way, his position in the Secretariat is equivalent to being second only to Wang Guangyang and above everyone else.

Your Majesty's thinking clearly shows that he wants to use Hu Weiyong to control Wang Guangyang.

On the other hand, he and Wang Guangyang are at loggerheads, and the battle for the position of prime minister has probably just begun.

In any case, he achieved his goal and became the prime minister at least before Li Shanchang retired due to illness.

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "The Secretariat must supervise the tax system and draw up a set of regulations. Mr. Deng's family..."

Deng Qianqiu said: "I am here."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Deng Qianqiu and said, "I'll leave Jiangning County to you."

"Ah?" Deng Qianqiu asked in surprise, "What about my father?"

Zhu Yuanzhang gave Deng Qianqiu a strange look, but said, "He has another job!"

Deng Qianqiu said: "I...will serve as the county magistrate?"

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "No, Jiangning County will set up a guard. From today on, the Jiangning Guard will be temporarily established. You, the captain, will temporarily stop the affairs of the guard."

Deng Qianqiu was dumbfounded for a moment.

Jiangning County was a county of the capital, and the Ming Dynasty's guard system had different responsibilities. For example, the main responsibility of the Beijing Guard was to train soldiers. Or in coastal areas or border towns, the Beiwo Guard or the Shouhu Guard were set up, mainly for military settlement and reclamation, as well as garrison duties.

There is also a kind of guard post, such as Jianchang Guard, Yanjing Guard, and Huichuan Guard in Panxi area. This is actually a military defense encirclement established by the court around ethnic areas to limit and weaken the development of Tusi power and prevent and suppress Tusi resistance. This political institution, in which Tusi and guard posts coexist and local officials and officials are involved, has achieved the purpose of understanding the border situation and preventing local chieftains.

Local garrison officials not only had to assume military duties, but were also responsible for local civil affairs.

Zhu Yuanzhang turned Jiangning County into a military-political system.

The decision was so sudden that Deng Qianqiu couldn't understand Zhu Yuanzhang's intention for a while.

So Deng Qianqiu said: "Your Majesty means..."

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "The duty of the Jiangning Guard is to implement what you just said. I want to see results."

Deng Qianqiu said: "The Jiangning Guard's immediate superior is... the Five Military Commander's Office, or..."

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Deng Qianqiu, but fell into deep thought.

He paced subconsciously, saying, "You are no one's boss, you are just kidding yourself."

When Deng Qianqiu heard this, his heart sank.

It seems that even Zhu Yuanzhang knew that following Deng Qianqiu's approach might be a precedent in the world, and the consequences would be unpredictable.

If the emperor or the prince were to use this name, I'm afraid the whole world would understand Zhu Yuanzhang's intention.

Deng Qianqiu's eyes began to panic. Shit, you are asking me to take the lead, right? I am a wise counselor, not a brave warrior who rushes into the enemy line first.

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes slanted slightly, as if he could see through Deng Qianqiu's thoughts with his buttocks, but he said slowly: "Let your disciples serve in the army, and these sons of mine should have some experience."

Deng Qianqiu finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

Zhu Yuanzhang meant, "My three sons are all here, don't worry. I'm not asking you to charge into battle. If you really want to provoke opposition from the whole world, aren't my sons here too? Will I not care about them in the end?"
Deng Qianqiu finally felt relieved and said, "I obey your order."

Zhu Yuanzhang added: "As for your father..."

Deng Qianqiu immediately pricked up his ears.

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Let him join the Imperial Academy. He has enough experience and has made some achievements in Jiangning."

Zhu Yuanzhang said as he sat down on a chair, then looked at Deng Qianqiu and continued, "I only half understand what you said about productivity. But it doesn't matter, just treat you as the first city-state in ancient times that changed the production relations. Whether it succeeds or not, I want to see it with my own eyes."

Deng Qianqiu said: "Thank you, Your Majesty. Your Majesty, it is getting late. How about you take a rest here?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

After arranging Zhu Yuanzhang to bed.

Deng Qianqiu stuck out his tongue in fear and couldn't help shouting, "I think I should arrange more sentries in the future. Who can stand this? I was so scared."

Zhu Gang tilted his head and asked curiously, "Master, what does Father mean by this?"

Deng Qianqiu was quite direct, saying, "They are going to use us as guns." "Ah..." Zhu Di's body shook, and his burly body seemed to burst out with strength. His eyes lit up, and he said, "Being a gun? Being a gun is good, I love being a gun."

Zhu Gang and Zhu Su rolled their eyes at Zhu Di.

Zhu Gang said: "Master, this is how my fourth brother is. Don't take it to heart."

Deng Qianqiu sighed and said, "It doesn't matter. Next, I really need to think carefully about what to do."

Zhu Gang said: "After all, isn't it just about making money? My mentor said that developing productivity is about making money. If you make more money, you can develop more productivity..."

Deng Qianqiu smiled: "You have made some progress, but... have you ever thought about whose money you are earning?"

Zhu Gang was stunned: "This...my mentor didn't teach me."

Deng Qianqiu immediately squatted down, picked up a few stones in the courtyard with the light of the lantern, and pointed them out one by one, saying: "These small stones are the people's money. They are so poor that they can't even afford to wear pants. You can't squeeze oil out of stones. What's more, Your Majesty always talks about the people's blood and sweat. If we want to make money from the people, it will not only be costly, but also require a lot of manpower and material resources, and the money we can collect may be limited."

Zhu Gang and the other two listened attentively, all with thoughtful expressions.

Deng Qianqiu picked up another big stone and continued, "This is the merchants' money. We must earn their money, but we can't drain the pond to catch fish. We still hope that they can cooperate in the future."

"Another one... is the money of the gentry. They have money. After all, they have been rich for so many generations. They also have a lot of land and property. I don't know how much silver is hidden in the cellar. When I was a child in the countryside, sometimes when I saw people building houses and digging foundations, guess what, they would often dig out a lot of gold, silver and coins in the ground, and dozens of baskets couldn't hold them all. Oh... what a waste, so much money, they buried it and never used it, accumulated it from generation to generation, and when one day many people couldn't survive and the world was in chaos, they also died for some reason, leaving behind so much gold and silver coins in the ground that they had accumulated for countless generations but never spent."

Zhu Gang scratched his head and said in surprise, "Master, what you mean is... we carry hoes and go to the countryside to dig the ground? See what we can dig out?"

Deng Qianqiu glanced at him speechlessly and said, "Your idea is very good. You should go to the countryside starting tomorrow."

"Ah..." Zhu Gang said, "Master, you are really good at digging."

Deng Qianqiu looked at Zhu Gang with strange eyes.

After pondering for a moment, Deng Qianqiu decided not to bother with him. Otherwise, if he continued to argue, he would not be able to bear it and would want to commit a violent crime.

So Deng Qianqiu said patiently: "What I mean is, we have to find a way to make them take out the money from the cellar and finally hand it over to us."

Zhu Gang and the other two were all silent.

Deng Qianqiu asked: "Why are you silent?"

Zhu Gang said: "Master, guess why we are not talking?"

Deng Qianqiu sighed and said, "Forget it, I won't bother with you guys anymore."

Deng Qianqiu raised his head and glanced at Zhu Di: "Don't sleep tonight. Allocate more troops and place them around here to strengthen the garrison. Tell our captains to be alert. Your Majesty is here, and I am worried about those people..."

After hearing this, Zhu Di suddenly became serious: "Master, you always talk about those people, who are they?"

Deng Qianqiu said: "I can't explain it clearly. If I tell you now, wouldn't it be wrong to accuse someone? Let's just be careful and take precautions."

Although Zhu Di was full of doubts, he still nodded obediently and said, "Master, don't worry. Even if it's a chicken, don't think of getting in or out from here."

Zhu Su said, "Fourth brother, it's a fly."

Zhu Di angrily said, "That's bullshit. Even a fly can't get in or out. Do you believe what you said? This fly is small and flies around. How can it not get in or out?"

"Alright." Seeing them quarreling again, Deng Qianqiu felt a headache and had to yell, "Stop making trouble and get to work."

"Here."

…………

Hu Weiyong was arranged to sleep in a wing room, but he did not fall asleep and seemed anxious.

The dim oil lamp shone on his dim face, making his expression even more gloomy and uncertain.

He murmured, "Will those people...will they...will they...take action?"

…………

Beijing.

Somewhere in a house.

Someone rushed into the house, and then the lights here began to light up one by one.

Then, someone came out with his hands behind his back and walked out of the small hall. When the visitor saw this person, he bowed and said, "Your Majesty has indeed left the palace and went to Qixia. It is absolutely true."

The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. The man had his back to the light of the lantern and was hidden in the shadows. He smiled faintly and said, "Zhu Chongba, you are really not a quiet person. It seems... you were right. Ha, these new hatreds and old grudges..."

His voice suddenly stopped here.

(End of this chapter)