This naturally means huge expenses, which may not be good news for many people.

Zhu Yunying disregarded all of this and continued, "Regarding the military households for land reclamation, my esteemed ministers should submit their proposals as soon as possible. The matter of relocating people also needs to be adjusted. Jiangnan is prosperous, and the capital is bustling; there is no need to relocate people here now. The direction for relocation should be to Jing and Xiang."

Relocating people is something that the Ming Dynasty has been doing all along.

Initially, this was because many places had fallen into disrepair due to the previous chaos, and with insufficient population, the only option was to simply and brutally relocate people to fill the gaps. After all, even though the country seemed peaceful now and the court was encouraging childbirth, this would still take time, and the population shortage could only be addressed by relocating people from certain areas.

Previously, the main destination was Jiangnan, as it was a prosperous area favored by the imperial court, but years of war had led to a population shortage there. Another option was Fengyang, the ancestral home of Emperor Zhu, which couldn't be overlooked. Previously, it also didn't have a large population, so now the only option was to relocate some aristocratic families and ordinary people from other regions.

Zhu Yunying's change in the direction of resettlement is somewhat surprising, but not entirely unexpected.

Jingxiang has a certain foundation, and developing it will be an important policy of the imperial court for a long time to come. This is no secret; many people know that a significant amount of resources will be allocated to Jingxiang in the future.

Zhu Yunying sighed and said, "During the Qin and Han dynasties, Guanzhong was the foundation of the empire. Whoever controlled Guanzhong would naturally control the empire. Guanzhong was a strategic location fought over by military strategists, not only because of its important position, but also because those places had abundant resources. We have ordered people to consult ancient books and carefully calculate that Guanzhong's grain production is not as good as before, so the development of Jingxiang is inevitable."

The praise for Zhu Yunying naturally resounded once again, as if he were incredibly wise and insightful in establishing the Jingxiang region. In reality, this was somewhat exaggerated, but fortunately, everyone felt it was only natural.

When Chen Youliang occupied the Jingxiang region, his power once surpassed that of Zhu Yuanzhang. Besides the sheer size of his territory, this was also because while Jingxiang might not have seemed as prosperous or wealthy as Jiangnan, it possessed a solid foundation. With proper management, Jingxiang could have been a prosperous region comparable to Jiangnan.

Moreover, it's essential to manage this area well in order to control Sichuan and Yunnan-Guizhou, and also to protect Yingtian Prefecture. Such a place inevitably needs development, a consensus shared by many.

It's not just that Zhu Yunying was so farsighted and decisive; in recent years, many people have also suggested that we should pay attention to the development of Jing and Xiang.

"When Hubei and Hunan are prosperous, the whole country is well-fed"—this was the foresight of many. However, perhaps no one anticipated the immense potential of Hubei and Hunan, or that they would one day surpass Jiangnan to become the imperial court's grain base.

After discussing these matters with these important officials, Zhu Yunying felt much more at ease. These officials naturally returned to their respective offices to work, and Zhu Yunying couldn't afford to be idle either; there were still many memorials on his desk that needed to be reviewed. Although he didn't consider himself a workaholic like his father, Zhu Yunying, he was definitely a diligent emperor.

Some things should be done well, and some things are the emperor's duty; there's no way to slack off.

"The cabinet is at most a secretariat." Zhu Yunying rubbed his temples, also feeling a bit of a headache. "The cabinet will definitely be established, but how to better control it is a problem. I'm still too greedy. On the one hand, I want the cabinet to help me share the burden of government affairs, and on the other hand, I'm afraid of the emergence of another Zhang Juzheng. That's greedy enough."

Wanting both substance and appearance, it has to be said that Xiao Zhu is actually a very greedy person with high demands.

Perhaps it's precisely because of his high standards, and because Xiao Zhu likes to consider things more comprehensively, that the progress of some matters seems rather slow; at least the cabinet hasn't fully materialized yet.

These were matters that Zhu Yunying could not afford to be careless about. Once the cabinet gained power, the civil service group would quickly expand its influence. Furthermore, if not careful, the cabinet might undermine the emperor's authority.

These potential risks also need to be considered and resolved!