Zhu Yunying said, "The soldiers who have been dismissed or retired this time will be transferred to military farms. I will discuss this matter with my grandfather again."

Everyone knows that the Ming Dynasty used the garrison system, which was not only to ensure the source and supply of soldiers for the army, but also because the military household and tuntian (military agricultural settlement) system was implemented at the same time.

All soldiers were hereditary and registered as military households. All garrisons and outposts implemented land reclamation to ensure the supply of military pay.

Therefore, the soldiers were divided into two groups: those who farmed and those who defended the city. Those who farmed were responsible for cultivating the land and supplying the army with food, while those who defended the city were responsible for defense and training. The ratio of soldiers defending the city to farming was roughly three parts in border areas and seven parts in inland areas, and two parts in inland areas and eight parts in inland areas.

At present, the Ming Dynasty basically has almost no military units that are not engaged in farming. The army is generally able to farm and support itself, and the income from farming becomes the main source of military pay. This frees the country from the cost of maintaining the army and greatly reduces the burden on the people.

The imperial court had previously opened up the salt trade, largely because military farms could not be self-sufficient in salt; grain was a different matter altogether.

Zhu Yunying's move to address the garrison system clearly doesn't mean he intends to abolish it outright. Although Zhu Yunying probably knew that the garrison system had seen many deserters in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, with military officers embezzling much of the land, soldiers going bankrupt and fleeing, leaving very few survivors, and lacking combat training, they were only used by landlords and officers and unable to fulfill defensive duties.

At this stage, Zhu Yunying doesn't need to worry about those things; at most, he can only consider things as a precaution.

What Zhu Yunying wanted to do was to further improve the garrison system and provide better treatment for the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty.

These things can't be done overnight; this is just a briefing to let some people know what's going on.

The next period of time will be for specific discussions, etc. Sometimes the emperor cannot decide everything at once; some things require continuous communication and discussion.

Including Zhu Yunying's previous dissatisfaction with the opening of the middle class in court, and his opinions on taxation, the court officials naturally listened attentively and were all preparing. It's just that they haven't implemented it immediately yet.

These things shouldn't be surprising; they're perfectly normal.

After Fu Youde and the others left the Wuying Hall, they followed the young eunuch toward the Qianqing Palace. They were going to discuss some matters with the Emperor Emeritus, but it was highly likely that they would become tenant farmers of Zhu Yunying, a fact that Zhu Yunying had no doubt about.

That's exactly how it was. Old Zhu, who didn't like flowers and plants, had the simple honesty of an old farmer. He cultivated a plot of land within the palace grounds. He didn't just pretend to farm occasionally; he genuinely farmed, and when he was too busy, he naturally handed it over to his children and grandchildren.

Just like Empress Ma, who was the mother of the country, she often led the concubines and princesses in the harem to weave cloth.

"Little Nineteen, you can't even hold a hoe properly? You think digging a ditch will kill you?" Old Zhu, holding Little Zhu, sat in the pavilion, saying with utter disdain, "We should keep all you good-for-nothings confined in the palace. We're good at farming, but you can't even harvest grain! If you weren't born into the royal family, you'd all starve to death begging!"

Little Zhu was very filial and whispered, "Great-grandfather, Father forbade you to say you were begging!"

"We've begged for food before, we're not afraid of people talking about our background." Old Zhu said with a smile, holding Little Zhu. "Your father is filial to us and doesn't allow others to gossip, we don't care about those things."

Zhu Hui, the emperor's nineteenth son, along with his brothers Zhu Song and Zhu Mo, were deeply worried. They were just over ten years old when they returned to their ancestral home in Fengyang to observe their ancestors' legacy and experience the hardships of starting a business. Upon their return, they were immediately forced to help their father harvest rice and wheat.

Their younger sisters weren't much better off; those who weren't married had to busy themselves picking up wheat and rice ears and helping with threshing.

If only Father hadn't abdicated. If he hadn't, he would have been busy with state affairs and wouldn't have had so much time to torment them. Even if some of his brothers came to the palace to farm, it was only because they had been punished for making mistakes.

Old Zhu patted Little Zhu's soft belly and said cheerfully, "Our Yin'er has eaten and drunk his fill. Great-grandfather will take you to pick up wheat ears."

Little Zhu jumped up immediately. Children love to be praised, and they often want to do what they can, even if they end up making things worse.

Old Zhu is a professional at farming. And Young Zhu is also thinking about getting more people to farm, cultivating more land, and having more stable grain bases.