Chang Mao laughed, stroking his long beard, and said, "Your Majesty, then we'll send someone to Southeast Asia again later. If you ask me, we can't clear our land without a thousand or eight hundred land slaves."

"We should be a little more considerate and not overuse them," Zhu Yunying reminded him. "There's no shortage of talk outside about how cruel we are, comparable to Jie and Zhou."

Chang Mao chuckled, feigning ignorance. There were indeed such rumors circulating outside, especially among those who admired the ways of the sages, who felt that their Emperor Ying Shi was indeed comparable in cruelty to Jie and Zhou.

The labor reform system was different from the imperial corvée labor system, but it could be considered one of Emperor Ying Shi's masterpieces.

Gu Hu

Corvée labor was a form of forced labor imposed on ordinary people by the imperial court. This phenomenon existed in every dynasty, and many people considered it normal. Even in the present Ming Dynasty, there were still some forms of corvée labor.

For example, the Lijia service includes the affairs of a village, the regular corvée service provided by the government, and all other temporary corvée services.

Even the civil officials didn't think that corvée labor was anything wrong. At most, they just felt it shouldn't be too numerous or too harsh. That was everyone's understanding of corvée labor.

However, if it weren't for Emperor Ying Shi's suggestion, many prisoners would simply be wasting their lives in jail, never seeing the light of day. But now, except for some prisoners who committed extremely minor crimes, most are to be sent to labor camps.

Building bridges and roads was nothing unusual; farming and cultivating land were commonplace activities; constructing city walls and so on were also common forms of labor reform. Even highly dangerous activities such as mining were workplaces for serious offenders and death row inmates.

Many civil officials naturally had objections, feeling that the court's actions were somewhat cruel, but their opinions seemed to be of little use. The court would continue the labor reform program, since the Ming Dynasty was in dire need of reconstruction and genuinely lacked sufficient labor, especially for highly dangerous jobs.

Besides these labor reforms, many people also know that in the early years when the imperial court attacked Busan and Japan, many people were arrested and killed in the mines.

Xu Huizu and Chang Mao were well aware of these matters, and it could even be said that they understood the intricacies of the situation better than most civil officials.

They shouldn't say too much about these matters for now; it's better to remain silent for now, especially in front of the emperor. To offend the emperor would only invite trouble.

Zhu Yunying smiled and waved his hand, saying to Chang Mao and Xu Huizu, "We know that the military officers are somewhat resentful these days. The military officers of our Great Ming are still led by the Prince of Zhongshan and the Prince of Kaiping, so we need you two to keep an eye on them for us."

Chang Mao and Xu Huizu naturally nodded in agreement. Xu Huizu was already one of the military bigwigs and was also Xu Da's eldest son. If he stepped in to oversee things, any military officer from the Xu faction who dared to go against the emperor would truly be cutting himself off from the Xu faction.

As for Chang Mao, needless to say, as the emperor's maternal uncle and the eldest son of Chang Yuchun, even though Chang Mao currently holds no specific position in the military and doesn't seem to have much ability, many people know that his involvement represents the emperor's will, and the Chang faction dares not say anything more.

Moreover, the Chang faction is not without power in the army; Lan Yu is a representative of the Chang faction, although he is capable of establishing his own independent faction.

Chang Xi's current situation is special because of Song Guogong Feng Sheng, who is considered by Zhu Yuanzhang to be "one of the eight most respected and meritorious officials listed in the imperial edict, with Feng Sheng ranking third." However, the title of Song Guogong was inherited by Chang Mao's second son.

And don't forget Feng Sheng's nephew, Feng Cheng, who is also the emperor's brother-in-law. All of these people are now firmly bound to Emperor Ying Shi's chariot.

The most outstanding military officers were either close relatives of Emperor Ying Shi or had received tremendous favors from Zhu Yunying.

For example, Lan Yu and Feng Sheng used to only have daughters and no sons, so they could be considered "without heirs." But now, with the succession of their titles in order, they both have their own descendants. If it weren't for the emperor's favor, they wouldn't have received such treatment.

Zhu Yunying was in a good mood; there was really no need to worry too much about the situation with the military officials. After all, the key figures in the military, regardless of their motives, would stand with the emperor through thick and thin.

And don't forget that Zhu Yunying didn't just keep suppressing the military officers. Although the land tax reform would indeed limit the military officers' land annexation, Zhu Yunying would still protect some of their basic interests, so there was no need to worry about them strongly resisting.

Chang Mao and Xu Huizu received the emperor's reminder, and they naturally knew what they should do, which was why Zhu Yunying summoned them to the Wuying Hall.

Some things have already been made clear, and Zhu Yunying has great faith in Xu Huizu and Chang Mao's abilities and loyalty, so there's no need for him to say anything more about this matter.

As for the situation among the imperial clan, it's likely that some members do have grievances. However, whether it's the elder Zhu or the younger Zhu who intervenes, any dissenting voices can actually be suppressed, and the imperial clan members don't really have much of a voice to make.

Furthermore, since Zhu Yunying could take care of the interests of scholars, he would also treat military officers relatively well. Therefore, there was no reason to be harsh on the imperial clan. At most, he would simply follow suit and impose some restrictions on the land annexation by the imperial clan, such as limiting the amount of land exempt from tax according to their rank.

Zhu Yunying was handling important state affairs in the Wuying Hall, further defining some national policies of the Ming Dynasty, and he was working hard to govern the country.

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