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

Chapter 49 Let's just say Biao'er is smart!

Emperor Zhu Chongba chuckled and asked, "What do you mean by 'not being able to get along'?"

Zhu Biao frowned slightly and replied, "This person's origins are unknown, yet he managed to win over the hearts of the people of Ningyang County in just two or three months. Even Uncle Xu, Uncle Chang, and Lame Wu praised him highly. Later, he even gathered three hundred young men to dig an artificial lake without any chaos, which shows how skillful he is."

At this point, Zhu Biao frowned even more: "I just can't understand it. Judging from the performance of this Magistrate Yang in Ningyang County, he should have already made a name for himself during the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. He should not be some unknown nobody. Yet Uncle Chang has tried his best but couldn't find any clues. It's as if he appeared out of thin air."

Emperor Zhu Chongba nodded, and Zhu Biao suddenly changed the subject: "Actually, these things don't really matter. After all, the world is full of people, and there is no shortage of people with extraordinary talents. If this person is truly devoted to our Ming Dynasty and truly cares for the people, then his or her background is not that important."

“That’s right,” Emperor Zhu Chongba laughed. “What does it matter what his background is? As long as what he does benefits our Ming Dynasty, why should we care about his origins? As an emperor, the most important thing is to be tolerant. Emperor Gaozu of Han was able to tolerate Yong Chi, Han Xin, and Kuai Tong, which led to the four hundred years of Han Dynasty. Our Magistrate Yang is just of unknown origin, so why can’t we tolerate him?”

Zhu Biao nodded in agreement, but Emperor Zhu Chongba suddenly sighed and asked, "Do you know how many years the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun have been ravaged by the barbarians?"

Zhu Biao replied, "It has been more than four hundred years since the time when the puppet emperor Shi Jingtang ceded the territory."

Emperor Zhu Chongba hummed in agreement: "Indeed, more than four hundred years. The Han people speak the language of the barbarians, yet they curse the Han people from the city walls. Heh heh, what a fine example of the Han people speaking the language of the barbarians, yet cursing the Han people from the city walls."

"You have read all the memorials sent by your Uncle Xu and Uncle Chang. Among them are Han gentry who have adopted Mongolian names, and Han scholars who want to remain loyal to the Mongol Yuan Dynasty and would rather die than serve in the Ming Dynasty."

"Your Uncle Chang said he would spend a thousand taels of gold to buy a horse bone, to sell this Magistrate Yang as a horse bone to the world. But in our opinion, this horse bone of Magistrate Yang is worth more than a thousand taels of gold, even ten thousand taels or a million taels of gold would not be too much."

Emperor Zhu Chongba picked up a memorial from the table and handed it to Zhu Biao: "Look, they distributed fifteen mu of land for food rations to the people, and two mu of land for vegetables. Before distributing the land, they told the people that our Great Ming had driven out the Tartars. Isn't this just trying to win over the hearts of the people?"

"And this too," Emperor Zhu Chongba stuffed another memorial into Zhu Biao's hand: "Xu Da and Chang Heitan promised that the court would provide disaster relief after the drought. He told the people that our emperor and our Ming Dynasty would not ignore the lives of the people and would allocate grain for disaster relief after the drought. This is still an attempt to win over the hearts of the people."

Zhu Biao nodded and echoed, "That's right. As the saying goes, 'Observe his words and actions.' Looking at Magistrate Yang's every move, he is indeed a good official who loves the people like his own children, and he is truly devoted to our Great Ming. If there were more officials like him, why would we have to worry about the people of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun not being loyal to us?"

Emperor Zhu Chongba grunted and said, "If there had been more officials like him back then, why would I have rebelled? But it's fortunate that the Tartar court didn't have officials like him back then, otherwise I wouldn't have met your mother, and I wouldn't have become emperor."

Again!

Seeing that Emperor Zhu Chongba was about to reminisce about the past and stab himself in the heart again, Zhu Biao couldn't help but frown slightly and said, "You summoned me here not to reminisce about the past again, but to remind me of those days, right?"

Emperor Zhu Chongba glared at Zhu Biao and snorted coldly, "You bastard, how dare you talk back to me? You've really gone too far! I want to tell you that when you become emperor, you'll have to carefully distinguish what kind of people your officials are. If any of them are corrupt and harm the people, the common people will blame you."

After reprimanding Zhu Biao a few times, Emperor Zhu Chongba lost all interest in reminiscing about the past.

After a moment of silence, Emperor Zhu Chongba slowly said, "I called you here for two reasons. First, to show you the memorials about this Magistrate Yang, so you know that such a person exists. Second, there are two things I want to discuss with you."

Zhu Biao asked curiously, "What is it?"

Emperor Zhu Chongba said, "The first thing concerns this Magistrate Yang. Can those chicken farms, pig farms, livestock farms, lighter workshops, and the like that he's been running in Ningyang County be expanded to other prefectures and counties? If so, the people will benefit, and the court will benefit as well."

Zhu Biao hummed in agreement, then asked, frowning in thought, "And the second thing?"

Emperor Zhu Chongba said, "The second matter is still related to this Magistrate Yang. We are thinking that since the North can have a Yang Shaofeng, why can't there be a second Zhang Shaofeng? If the officials are selected properly, wouldn't it be possible to win the hearts of the people in the North and submit to our Great Ming sooner?"

Zhu Biao pondered for a moment and replied, "The first and second things are actually one and the same, but some things can be learned while others cannot."

“For example, we can learn from the land distribution, especially since the northern lands are mostly barren. Distributing them to the people will naturally win their hearts.”

"But things like chicken farms, pig farms, livestock farms, and lighter workshops can't be learned. After all, different people have different tastes, and not just any official can love the people like our Magistrate Yang, nor can just any official invent something like a lighter. So these things can't be learned."

Emperor Zhu Chongba smiled and then asked, "Then tell me, can this land redistribution be implemented in Jiangnan?"

Zhu Biao nodded, then shook his head, and replied, "It may work in some places, but not in others. We must adapt to local conditions and not generalize."

Emperor Zhu Chongba burst into laughter and praised, "I knew Biao'er was clever! He truly is worthy of being my son!"

After praising Zhu Biao with a hint of self-praise, Emperor Zhu Chongba continued, "Then let me ask you again, are you confident in your ability to manage this Magistrate Yang?"

Zhu Biao was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said, "If you crave fame, then use fame to drive you; if you crave profit, then use profit to drive you; if you crave beauty, then use women to seduce you. I don't believe there are saints in this world who do not seek fame, are not greedy for wealth, and are not interested in women."

Emperor Zhu Chongba was even more pleased and asked, "Then tell me, what does our Magistrate Yang like? Is it fame? Or profit? Or perhaps women?"