bullyxtreme Chapter 574 Coordination
Chapter 574 Coordination
As the year draws to a close, the entire officialdom of the Ming Dynasty is filled with complaints.
It wasn't an insult against Emperor Zhu, nor against Zhu Biao, but rather against a certain Jinyiwei commander and commander of a thousand men who held various official positions, including Imperial Son-in-Law, Prefect of Dengzhou, Magistrate of Ningyang, and Vice Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies.
It's because of the bad precedent set by Yang the madman that everyone has to write such ridiculous year-end summaries and work reports.
What Zhu Biao is currently struggling with is the year-end summaries and work reports submitted by the county magistrates from Ningyang County.
The data in the report looks very good.
Every county we pick is experiencing positive growth, whether it's the number of people, the amount of arable land reclaimed, the number of workshops, or the number of livestock raised within the county—all the data is excellent.
After all, if there are few people, you can lead the yamen runners to kidnap people; if there are few livestock, you can go to the neighboring county to fish and hunt; as for the rest, such as establishing workshops, settling people, and leading people to reclaim wasteland, there are ready-made examples to follow.
It's normal for these county magistrates to submit impressive data; it would be truly bizarre if the data they submit were not.
The problem is that these officials have learned the good aspects of Ningyang County, but they have also adopted almost all of the bad aspects without any changes.
To feign poverty.
Selling miserably.
They cried out that the people were struggling to make a living and demanded that the court exempt them from taxes.
They complained that there were too few people under their rule and demanded that the court relocate the people.
For example, a county magistrate in Shanxi Province complained in his work report that the people under his jurisdiction were not even properly clothed.
"He's treating me like a prince raised by women in the inner palace."
Zhu Biao handed the memorial to the eunuch, his face dark, and said, "What a pity. I have actually seen what a mine looks like, and I know that workers don't wear too much clothing when they go down into the mine to dig coal."
"And the forging workshop in that iron smelting factory, it's not much hotter than that, if not unbearably so."
"These bastards, not one of them is good."
Li Shanchang took the memorial from the eunuch and said as he read it, "Your Highness is wrong. They don't see Your Highness as a prince raised by women in the deep palace. They are just taking a chance."
Liu Bowen nodded and said, "It's nothing special that the practice is passed down from generation to generation."
Zhu Biao didn't take it to heart.
In any case, the students who came from Ningyang County were not good people.
The twenty-five scoundrels who were sent to serve as county magistrates were no good, and the only son left in the capital was no better. Whenever he had the chance, he would write sarcastic and sarcastic remarks in his memorials, enough to drive a person crazy.
"Ok?"
Zhu Biao picked up a memorial and glanced at it. Suddenly, he laughed and said, "Look, look. I just said that none of those scoundrels in Ningyang County were any good, and now one of them has popped up helping other prefectures and counties set up workshops."
Li Shanchang took the memorial from the eunuch with a bewildered expression.
The officials from Ningyang County did not rob other prefectures and counties of their valuables; instead, they helped officials from other prefectures and counties find ways to set up workshops.
That's amazing, that's really amazing.
However, after reading the memorial, Li Shanchang felt a tightness in his chest.
The reason why Li Hui, the magistrate of Boye County in Baoding Prefecture, who was from Ningyang County, helped the magistrate of Yangjiang County under the jurisdiction of Zhaoqing Prefecture to set up workshops was not only because the magistrate of Yangjiang County was a fellow Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) of him, but more importantly because this kind of workshop could only be set up in Yangjiang, or rather, only in certain places in Jiangnan, and it was impossible to set up in Shandong.
Dragon-shaped leather shoes.
Li Hui's suggestion was simple: skin the alligator dragon and make shoes, then send a few pairs to the palace as tribute, and then sell them at the Dengzhou market after gaining the reputation of being a tribute item.
This guy even suggested setting up a fenced-off area specifically for raising alligator dragons to extract their skin.
They'll take advantage of any opportunity to profit from the tribute goods or the shops at the border markets. Their main goal is to squeeze every last drop out of everyone they meet, even a passing goose.
Li Shanchang examined the memorial two or three times, turning it over in his hands, but in the end, he handed it to Liu Bowen with a dark expression.
"It's pretty good."
Li Shanchang said with a dark face, "At least they know how to help other counties, and at least there are officials in other places who know how to take the initiative to set up workshops and seek benefits for the people under their jurisdiction."
Liu Bowen clicked his tongue and mocked, "Isn't it because they can't compete with him? If Boye could raise alligators, this Li Hui would never have missed the opportunity to use alligators to make leather shoes."
"However, raising alligators and then using their hides to make shoes could actually be something they might start."
Zhu Biao glanced at Li Shanchang, then at Liu Bowen.
Are these two old guys pretending to be stupid?
Zhu Biao said with a dark face, "It's hard to say whether the workshop that raises alligators to make shoes can be established. It's a great blessing that there are officials in Jiangnan who can consider the people's interests, but what benefits can Li Hui gain from it? Or rather, what benefits can Boye gain?"
"Don't forget, this Li Hui studied in Ningyang County."
"Aside from deliberately causing trouble for people, would they do anything else that doesn't bring them any benefit?"
"Moreover, this is also helping other prefectures and counties find ways to set up workshops."
After Zhu Biao said that, Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen hesitated for a moment.
If anyone else had done this, Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen would have simply thought that the person was a kind-hearted person who was eager to help others and was offering advice to a colleague without harming their own interests, which would have been understandable.
But those county magistrates who came from Ningyang County...
It can't be said that he's exactly the same as Yang Dianfeng, but it's only roughly the same.
They're all people who won't get up early for nothing.
They will definitely do things that harm others for their own benefit, and they will also do things that harm others without benefiting themselves.
However, they would never do anything that would benefit others at their own expense, or even something that would benefit others without harming themselves.
Of course, the "self" here does not only refer to themselves, but also includes the people under their rule.
Li Shanchang tentatively said, "Asking Yangjiang for alligator dragons? That doesn't make sense. Let alone whether alligator dragons can be artificially bred, even if they could, Boye's situation might not be suitable for raising alligator dragons, right?"
Liu Bowen shook his head directly, "Boye definitely can't raise alligators. Otherwise, the Prince Consort would have already been raising them on a large scale in Dengzhou or Ningyang County, and might even have already made Ningyang alligator leather shoes. How could it be their turn?"
Zhu Biao simply rummaged through the table and found the memorial from the magistrate of Yangjiang County. Only then did he sigh and say, "I only realized today that it is possible to coordinate the cases of prisoners detained in various prefectures and counties."
coordination?
Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen were slightly taken aback, staring blankly at Zhu Biao.
Zhu Biao said with a helpless expression, "Look at this memorial from the magistrate of Yangjiang County. It says that there are too many prisoners in Yangjiang County and requests that some be transferred to Boye."
"Damn it, these bastards are insane! They'll agree to anything!"