allonlinenovel Chapter 58 Zhu Yuanzhang's Generous Spending
Chapter 58 Zhu Yuanzhang's Generous Spending
As a clerk in the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Wang Qiong had never heard of the sage surnamed Ma mentioned by Magistrate Yang. However, he had no doubt about what Magistrate Yang Shaofeng said about the gentry changing their names to Hu names, speaking Hu language, and wearing Hu clothes, or deliberately leaving the land barren in order to force the people to sell their land at low prices.
Wang Qiong had not only heard of similar cases, but had even seen similar files and archives in person.
After silently following Magistrate Yang Shaofeng for a while, Wang Qiong finally spoke up and asked, "Magistrate Yang just mentioned that Ningyang County has eight communities and sixteen neighborhoods. I suppose it follows the old system of the Yuan Dynasty, with fifty households forming one community? But I wonder how these neighborhoods are divided?"
Yang Shaofeng said, "Although the Eight Communities are still called Communities, they are actually based on villages. The neighborhoods in the city are based on the county government as the central axis, with four neighborhoods in each of the four directions: east, west, south, and north. The community leaders have existed since the Yuan Dynasty, and the neighborhood leaders are elected by the people of each neighborhood."
With a slight smile, Yang Shaofeng continued, "Ningyang County was in dire need of reconstruction. At that time, the only people available in the county government were myself and my lame brother Wu. No matter what, we couldn't take care of the more than 500 households in the eight communities and sixteen neighborhoods. We could only govern them separately by neighborhood and community."
Wang Qiong nodded: "Magistrate Yang has good methods."
Yang Shaofeng smiled again and said, "There are no special methods, it's just that there's nothing we can do."
After leading Wang Qiong into the county town and arriving at the county government office, Yang Shaofeng asked with a smile, "Wang Sheren said he came on the orders of His Highness the Crown Prince, but I wonder what His Highness's instructions are?"
When Yang Shaofeng asked her this question, Wang Qiong's face turned embarrassed.
How was Wang Qiong supposed to answer that?
I originally intended to conduct a covert investigation, so I left the items near Xiao Meng, which is still half a day's journey from Ningyang County.
When I went on my undercover investigation, I didn't get to the bottom of things and ended up being fooled and beaten up for nothing.
Although these are all facts, and Magistrate Yang Shaofeng already knows most of them, asking Wang Qiong to repeat them again would inevitably make Wang Qiong feel as if her wounds had been reopened.
After a moment's hesitation, Wang Qiong spoke, "To inform Magistrate Yang, I was curious about how Magistrate Yang governed Ningyang County, so I had my carriages and horses parked outside Ningyang County. I disguised myself and thought I could take a look in private and ask Magistrate Yang for advice."
After saying this, Wang Qiong instructed his attendant to quickly go to Xiao Meng and transport all the gifts bestowed upon Zhu Chongba (Emperor Zhu) by Zhu Biao to the Ningyang County government office.
Although Magistrate Yang Shaofeng was secretly hoping that Zhu Biao would give him something, he did not show it on the surface. Instead, he smiled and said to Wang Qiong, "Wang Sheren, why don't you rest for a while? I have already sent people to prepare a banquet. I would like to invite you to join me later."
The banquet wasn't particularly lavish, given the time constraints and lack of ingredients; there simply wasn't enough time to prepare the renowned Ningyang Four-Eight Banquet. However, for Ningyang County at this point, the banquet was still quite decent.
The whole chicken was a young rooster from the first batch of chicks that Magistrate Yang Shaofeng had collected. Although it was only about three months old and lacked spices, it was prepared using the Dezhou braised chicken method that Yang Shaofeng had mentioned to the cooks. After the cooks carefully prepared it, the chicken meat was tender but not falling apart, chewy but not dry, and smooth but not greasy. The taste was absolutely top-notch.
The whole fish—this is a large carp that was just caught this morning from the Dawen River. After removing the black membrane inside the fish's belly, making incisions on its body, coating it with a thin layer of flour, deep-frying it, and then stewing it—it's slightly crispy when you eat it, yet incredibly tender when you chew it, and the taste is quite good.
Braised pork belly is made by cutting pork belly into squares, frying it in oil used for frying fish, then slicing it and putting it in a bowl. It is then seasoned with soy sauce and other seasonings before being steamed. The lean meat is not dry and the fat is not greasy. It melts in your mouth and has an excellent flavor.
There is also a dish called "Qingtang Wanzi" (literally "clear-boiled meatballs"), which is taken from the Ningyang Four Eight Banquet. After being cooked and scooped out, vinegar and sesame oil are added to the soup. The meatballs, which are about the same size, float in the bowl and are accompanied by a few vegetable leaves. It can be said to be a dish with perfect color, aroma and taste.
Aside from these four dishes, which can be considered the main course, the rest consisted of some common green vegetables and wild greens.
Yang Shaofeng picked up the bowl of water and raised it apologetically to Wang Qiong: "Ningyang County is small and poor. We couldn't find any wine in the county town, so the banquet is indeed rather meager. I hope you won't mind, Wang Sheren. Please."
Wang Qiong also raised his bowl in acknowledgment and said with a smile, "It was originally my fault for being so abrupt, but now I am troubling Magistrate Yang. If Magistrate Yang is even more polite, I will be so ashamed that I will have nowhere to hide. Please."
The two drank the water in their bowls together, and Wang Qiong asked with a smile, "May I ask Magistrate Yang, that old woman from Shawo Village schemed so much that she almost ruined your reputation. I wonder how you plan to deal with her?"
Yang Shaofeng chuckled and said, "Let her be—as the saying goes, different strokes for different folks. She has a mouth, and if she has some complaints, can I punish her for her words?"
Shaking his head helplessly, Yang Shaofeng continued, "Moreover, this old woman is nearly seventy years old, the oldest among the two thousand one hundred and six people in Ningyang County. Moreover, the three shifts of yamen runners have just arrived, and the prison hasn't been prepared yet. It just so happens that we are at a critical moment of digging canals and storing water. Even if I wanted to punish her, I wouldn't have the time to spare right now."
In fact, although the Ming Dynasty was often criticized, and Emperor Zhu Chongba was often subjected to harsh criticism, the Ming Code often included a clause stating "those over seventy years of age are not included" when describing the punishments for various crimes. This meant that people over seventy years of age rarely faced punishment unless they were rebelling.
To put it more bluntly, once someone is over seventy years old, even if they defecate in public in the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City, the emperor can only grit his teeth and bear it. If he wants to retaliate, he can only do so privately afterward.
Even the emperor couldn't do anything about the elderly men and women in their seventies, so what could Yang Shaofeng, a mere seventh-rank official, do to them? Although a corrupt county magistrate could certainly punish them severely if he really wanted to, wouldn't that just be helping the censors and officials complete their performance evaluations?
After silently grumbling to himself, Yang Shaofeng picked up the bowl again: "Forget it, justice will prevail. The 2,106 people of Ningyang County have witnessed how I have treated the people. It's not something that old woman can ruin with just a few words."
Hearing Magistrate Yang Shaofeng mention the 2,106 people twice, and recalling how easily Magistrate Yang had described the population data of each community and neighborhood when introducing them, Wang Qiong couldn't help but ask curiously, "Magistrate Yang remembers the situation of each community and neighborhood so clearly. Do you have any secret to it?"
Yang Shaofeng laughed and said, "Wait a moment." Then he went to the county government office and retrieved several household registration books, which he handed to Wang Qiong. "I personally led people to visit and register each household. I remember exactly how many households there are in each community and how many people are in each household."
Wang Qiong opened a household registration booklet and glanced at it. She saw that it clearly recorded where the household was located, how many people were in the household, who the head of the household was, where they were from, the age of each person, whether they were educated, and whether they knew any skills such as carpentry or blacksmithing. All kinds of information were complete.
Wang Qiong's heart stirred, and he asked, "I have never seen such a household register before. I imagine His Highness the Crown Prince would be interested in it. May I ask Magistrate Yang if I may make a copy to take back with me?"
Yang Shaofeng nodded and replied, "Please proceed with copying, Your Excellency."
As the saying goes, "a good deed is a good deed in return," and seeing that Yang Shaofeng had allowed her to copy a copy of the household registration book to take back, Wang Qiong didn't mind revealing some information to Yang Shaofeng in advance: "Does Magistrate Yang know what His Highness the Crown Prince has bestowed upon you and the people of Ningyang County?"
Before Yang Shaofeng could ask, Wang Qiong continued, "Ten silver ingots of ten taels each, twenty bolts of silk, a set of the Four Books and Five Classics, a pair of palace lanterns, and a fine horse—these are all gifts from His Highness the Crown Prince to Magistrate Yang."
"As for the people of Ningyang County..." Wang Qiong smiled and said, "In fact, His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince already know about Magistrate Yang's distribution of land to the people. Not only did they not blame him for it, but they also bestowed enough bean and wheat seeds for 50,000 mu of land."
"In addition to these, there are three thousand shovels, three thousand hoes, one thousand rakes, one thousand plowshares, one thousand hoes, one thousand pickaxes, and countless other miscellaneous items such as scissors and needles and thread. There are also one hundred oxen, one hundred fodder horses, one hundred sheep, including ten rams and ninety ewes, thirty fat pigs, and one thousand chickens and ducks each... These are both rewards for the people and rewards for the Ningyang County government. His Highness the Crown Prince said that Magistrate Yang will be in charge of arranging these things."
As Wang Qiong's mouth opened and closed, Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate, opened his eyes wider and wider. If it weren't for the eye sockets, Yang Shaofeng's eyeballs would probably have popped out.
What is Xiao Zhu doing?
Having a hard time?
No, Zhu was born in a military camp. At that time, Zhu was just a general under Guo Zixing. It wasn't until Zhu was ten years old that Zhu declared himself King of Wu.
As the saying goes, one is influenced by what one sees and hears, so it's not surprising that Xiao Zhu understands military and political matters. But he has never farmed, so what does he know about farming?
Most of these farm tools, cattle, and horses were bestowed by Old Zhu under the guise of Young Zhu.
Then the problem is coming.
Both historical records and later online novels say that Zhu Yuanzhang was stingy and not like a native of Fengyang, but more like a stingy person from Shanxi. How could he be so generous this time, giving so many things to the people of Ningyang County with a wave of his hand?
After just a little thought, Yang Shaofeng, the county magistrate, couldn't help but feel a bit troubled.