The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Wei Guangde initially wanted to train the Jizhen Army only in Jizhen and Liaodong. However, when talking to Tan Lun, Tan Lun mentioned the current problem of the decline of various military stations, so Wei Guangde made plans to abolish and rebuild the military stations.

However, this matter cannot be done too hastily, after all, it involves a huge scope.

In fact, this scope does not lie in the military households, but in the farmland on the accounts of the guards.

Who doesn’t know that these fields on paper have become someone’s private land?

If the guards were to be reorganized, these fields would definitely not be taken back, but there had to be a name to remove them from the court's books.

From now on, Wei Guangde plans to supply all the inland garrison posts from the state capital where he is located, and no longer have to farm. In fact, he will gradually transfer the garrison troops to the camp troops.

Even if there is still land, it will be allocated to the state government as official land.

Upon hearing Wei Guangde's plan, Zhang Juzheng withdrew his hand from stroking his beard and asked solemnly: 'Have you discussed this matter with Tan Sima? What is the opinion of the Ministry of War? ’

Wei Guangde nodded slightly when he heard the words, "This matter has been discussed with Tan Zili, but he has not expressed his position. The matter is important, and he has to go back to the Yamen to discuss it and see the attitude of others."

"I support the redistricting of the guard posts, but what should we do with the abolished guard posts and military households?

The matter of farming is also worthy of discussion. It is too big to deal with. "

Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said.

"First let the Ministry of War send personnel to investigate and see the actual situation below. Once the results are available, we will discuss it later."

Wei Guangde suggested.

"Okay, I'll call He Qing with me when the time comes."

Zhang Juzheng nodded and smiled: "Usually it's just communication, you and I can just talk casually, but if it really involves government affairs, we still have to be cautious."

Wei Guangde returned to the capital and returned to his original life track. He went to the cabinet to handle government affairs every day. safe.

In the remaining period of the first year of Wanli, nothing major happened, and it was very comfortable.

It should be said that the first year of Wanli was a year of good weather, and I don’t know if it was because of the new emperor’s accession to the throne that God had to give him some mercy.

The Son of Heaven, isn't he the son of God? He should still be given the face that should be given.

"It will be sealed in half a month. This year will pass smoothly, haha."

In the cabinet, the first assistant was on duty. Zhang Juzheng summoned Wei Guangde and Lu Tiaoyang to finish talking about the government affairs handled today. They sat down and chatted for a while when they had free time.

The things Wei Guangde had arranged before were all launched in the coming year and were led by the Ministry of War, so he was actually not busy.

As for the documents sent from various places, most of them are just customary. Just follow the rules of previous years to deal with trivial matters, so at this moment, he also joked: "No, it seems that nothing big happened this year. It's all An old practice from previous years.

It seems that this is the most relaxing year since I joined the cabinet. "

"Haha, the weather is good and the world is at peace, so the cabinet's errands will naturally be easy to do."

Lu Tiaoyang also answered happily, "I hope it will be like this next year, and we can be more relaxed."

Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde both smiled and nodded, creating a harmonious and festive atmosphere.

At this point, a valuable clerk came in and reported: "Brother Ge, Wan Shi and Wan Shangshu, the Minister of Rites, have arrived, saying that they have something to ask for." ’

When they heard someone asking for a meeting, the three of them instantly stopped smiling.

Zhang Juzheng glanced at Wei Guangde and then at Lu Tiaoyang, his eyes full of inquiry.

Wei Guangde understood what he was thinking, but just shook his head, saying that he didn't know what happened in the Ministry of Rites.

Lu Tiaoyang shook his head after thinking about it, but still asked tentatively: "Isn't there any royal clan causing trouble?"

Well, as the new year is approaching, the only thing the three of them can think of that has something to do with the Ministry of Rites is the matter of the clan's Solu.

Wei Guangde had previously reported the permanent quota proposal, and the palace had already approved it. All that was left was for the Ministry of Household Affairs to check the Lumi of the past three years to determine what the permanent quota quota was.

The report will be summarized below, and the Ministry of Household Affairs will send people to verify it, and the figures will not be available in a short time. Therefore, the three pavilion elders really don't know what Zong Lu's situation is now.

That is to say, I only thought of this after knowing that Wan Shihe was coming.

However, when someone came in to report, the faces of the three people were filled with surprise and uncertainty.

"I'm telling you, three elders, you should have something to say about the matter reported by the Qintian Supervisor. You should discuss it with the Ministry of Housing and Industry and the Ministry of Industry. The court should make plans early."

Wan Shihe saw the changes on the three people's faces, but none of them spoke, so he urged them eagerly.

Wei Guangde noticed that Zhang Juzheng glanced at him a few times, knowing that this man wanted him to speak, so he probably had to think about it again.

After all, Zhang Juzheng is now the chief minister. This attitude cannot be expressed easily. If you don't think carefully, it will lose face.

No matter what, what Wan Shihe came to report today was considered an emergency, and it was a huge emergency.

"Shang Shu Wan, Qin Tian Jian paid tribute to Datong Li last month, how come he didn't notice it at that time?

It took more than a month for him to realize what he was doing, so he urgently reported it?

Is this an attempt to catch the court off guard? "

"I said Mr. Wei Ge, what time is it? Even if we want to investigate, should we call the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry to discuss the matter first?"

When Wan Shihe heard that Wei Guangde was pursuing the Ministry of Rites, he immediately said.

Speaking of which, although the Qintian Prison is an independent yamen, it is under the control of the Ministry of Rites. If anything goes wrong, the Ministry of Rites will not be blamed.

"We'd better ask the Ministry of Household Affairs to raise some money and food for disaster relief as soon as possible. The Ministry of Industry would also be better off asking local river guards and censors to mobilize to review the river defense in the region as soon as possible."

Wan Shihe hurriedly added.

"One dragon controls the floods, ten oxen plow the fields, how come they all come together."

Lu Tiaoyang didn't answer, just smacked his lips and murmured.

What Lu Tiaoyang said about one dragon controlling the water and ten oxen plowing the fields are actually folk sayings and farmers' proverbs. They are all things that have been circulated for a long time and have been recorded in many ancient books.

Proverbs about agricultural production are farmers' experiences summed up in long-term production practice. Although they are not necessarily sure, the accuracy is still more than half.

As for this, it is actually an ancient method summarized by the ancients to predict the success or failure of a year, which is to predict the future of the year by looking at the time when the corresponding stems and branches first appear after the first day of the first lunar month.

For example, "How many dragons control the water" means that starting from the first day of the first lunar month, the first day when Chenri (Chen is a dragon) appears is on the first day of the first lunar month, which is how many dragons control the water.

For example, on the sixth day of the first lunar month, it is called "six dragons controlling the water", on the eighth day of the lunar month, it is called "eight dragons controlling the water" and so on.

Because the ancients believed that the dragon represented a natural god and was in charge of rain.

There is also a folk saying that "dragons are more droughty and dragons are less flooded", which means that the more dragons there are, the less rain will fall that year, and the fewer dragons there will be, the more rain will fall. This is also a folk belief. As the proverb goes, "If there are many dragons, it won't rain."

Today, Wan Shi and Baoqin Tianjian discovered that next year, a dragon will control the water. That naturally means that the first day of the Lunar New Year is Chenri, and a dragon will control the water. Doesn't it mean that there may be a lot of rain next year.

If it's not in this position, everyone would naturally think it doesn't matter, but the cabinet has been troubled by floods in recent years. How could they not be shocked when they heard that there might be heavy rains next year.

There is also ten oxen plowing the fields, which means similar to one dragon controlling floods. It means that the first Chou day (Chou is an ox) every year falls on the first day of the first lunar month, which is "a few oxen plowing the fields".

In ancient times, cattle were the main farming animals and a good helper for farmers.

Next year will be "ten oxen plowing the fields". Is this a good year?

There is also a proverb among the people, "One ox plows the field without leaving, but nine oxen plow the field with no rest." This implies that the number of cattle is closely related to people's farming.

If the number of cattle is small, then the cattle will work very hard, but it also means that the fields are easy to cultivate.

If there are a large number of cows, it may be easier for the cows, but this also shows that the fields were not very easy to cultivate in that year. Usually a few cows can complete the work, but in such a year, ten cows are needed to complete the work, which only means that The fields are very difficult to cultivate.

There is a dragon in the front to control the water, and ten oxen in the back to plow the fields. Doesn't it mean that there will be floods in the coming year, which will not only affect the water transportation, but also affect the agricultural production in various parts of the Ming Dynasty. This is not a trivial matter.

Well, the function of Qin Tianjian is to observe celestial phenomena, calculate solar terms, formulate almanacs, and the art of yin and yang.

Now that I have discovered that the weather will be bad next year, why not report it to the Ministry of Etiquette immediately and report it to the higher authorities so that the court can make preparations in advance.

To talk about the origin of this farmer's proverb, there is quite a bit of history.

Farming proverbs such as "It takes half a year to seep rice", "You need to water wheat buds, and vegetables need watering flowers", etc., were found in "Shen's Agricultural Book" of the Ming Dynasty; "An inch of wheat is not afraid of a foot of water, but a foot of wheat is afraid of an inch of water", etc. The farmer's proverb can be found in "Tiangong Kaiwu" in the late Ming Dynasty.

Farmers' proverbs such as "If you want wheat, see three whites of wheat", "Three whites of wheat in the first month, the field man smiles brightly" are found in the Tang Dynasty's "Chao Ye Qian Zai"; "If you want to know the five grains, look at the five trees", "Plow without working hard" , it is better to commit violence", which can be seen in "Qi Min Yao Shu" in the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

Farmer's proverbs quoted in ancient books are often labeled with the words "Proverbs Cloud" or "Ancient People Cloud", indicating that the quoted farmers' proverb originated earlier, and it is not always possible to find it in the literature.

At least as far as is known, some farmers' proverbs can be traced back thousands of years. For example, the Zhejiang farmer's proverb: "There is no rich grass under the big trees, and there are no beautiful seedlings between the big trees." It is also seen in Huan Kuan's 1st century BC in the Western Han Dynasty. "Salt and Iron Treatise" Severity No. 14: "There is no abundant grass under the dense forest, and there are no beautiful seedlings among the large blocks", "Sudden rains last all day, and hurricanes never end."

It is similar to Chapter 23 of Laozi's Tao Te Ching, "The wind does not end, and the rain does not last all day."

Since the origin of agricultural proverbs can be continuously traced, later generations also believe that the origin of agricultural proverbs is consistent with the origin of agriculture.

The origin of agriculture predates written records, so the origin of agricultural proverbs may also be before written records.

If music, dance, and ballads all originated from labor, then agricultural proverbs may be a branch of ballads differentiated from agricultural labor.

There are similar proverbs used by the ancients to predict the climate of the coming year and guide agricultural production.

Among them, Bingtong refers to the "pie", the pie is only so big. If too many people share it, no one will be full. The fewer people who share it, the better.

As the saying goes, "One dragon controls the water, ten oxen plow the fields, and three people share the pie." These indicators respectively correspond to the rain conditions, the difficulty of cultivating the fields, and the grain harvest.

They were originally sitting here relaxingly drinking tea and chatting while waiting for the appointment, but unexpectedly they were interrupted by Wan Shihe. Naturally, the expressions of the three of them were not relaxed.

"That"

Zhang Juzheng pondered for a moment and then said: "Then invite Wang Guangguang and Ge Shouli to come to the cabinet to discuss matters. Over at the Ministry of Industry, Zhu Shangshu is still in Xuhuai at the moment, so he can take charge of this matter. Just let us know when the time comes."

What the imperial court can do now is to send censors to inspect the river embankments, and the Ministry of Household Affairs to raise money and food to prepare for everything. "

In the past, Wei Guangde actually disagreed with this kind of peasant proverb, but in the Ming Dynasty, even if he didn't believe it, he had to consider the opinions of people around him, so when he heard Zhang Juzheng's words, he nodded slightly.

Soon, Zhongshu left to look for someone from the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Wei Guangde was not familiar with disaster prevention and relief. He had never presided over similar government affairs, so today's affairs mainly consisted of Zhang Juzheng, Wang Guangguang, and Ge Shouli discussing and making arrangements. He just listened on the side.

In fact, it was mainly arranged by people on Ge Shouli's side. The Metropolitan Procuratorate would send a censor to inspect the Yellow River before the year, and would also send a letter to the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate to send a censor to inspect the Yangtze River Basin.

Of course, for the people in the room, what everyone is more concerned about is the water transportation involved in the Yellow River.

Therefore, the first request for Wang Guoguang is to go back and clean up the accumulated grain in various places and keep it in a safe and convenient place so that the court can mobilize and transfer it. The second is to ask the Cao Si to order the Cao Army to advance the sailing time this year and be sure to rush to the canal. After thawing and resuming north-south traffic, it entered Shandong via the Yellow River.

To do this, it is natural to arrive in Huai'an and wait for navigation within a short period of time after the new year.

"Fortunately, as far as I know, the Yellow River is not freezing too badly this year, so there should be no freezing floods. Otherwise, the canal boats will have to wait until the Yellow River freezes to pass before they can transfer to Shandong, which will take a lot of time."

Wang Guoguang said.

"Ask Wang Zongmu to make some preparations in Huai'an. If the water is too heavy and the canal ships cannot transport it, we can unload the canal grain to a safe warehouse and load it to the north after the flood."

Wei Guangde just suggested.

Wang Zongmu is now the governor of water transportation, and his main task is water transportation. If something big happens, his head will be in danger.

“Ontario has only been a province for one year, is it going to change again next year?”

Zhang Juzheng just sighed.

This year was really easy. Cao Liang arrived at Tongzhou warehouse safely early. Although there was a small war between the north and the south, the government calmed down quickly and did not cause a major incident.

But it seems that after this new year, the court's life may not be easy.

After Wang Guoguang, Ge Shouli and Wan Shihe left, the three of them sat there and sighed.

"Uncle, actually this is not necessarily a bad thing.

As the proverb goes, sometimes things work well and sometimes they don’t, and it’s hard to say what the situation will be like next year.

On the contrary, my brother introduced the examination method, which was just used for this matter. The various inspection censors went down. After they reported it, if something unbearable happened, it was just right to take action on them, so as not to use the examination method promoted by the imperial court. Doing superficial things, picking up a pen and fooling around. "

Wei Guangde said.

Zhang Juzheng's examination method improved the work efficiency of officials and made each government office more diligent in handling errands. However, some people also cheated and just randomly recorded in their notebooks how to deal with the censor and the six subjects inspection.

There were so many things that Zhang Juzheng couldn't sort them out. As the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning. (End of chapter)