The Jiannu were a major threat, but even after pacifying the Liao and destroying the Nu, the world was not completely at peace. In other words, the emperor still had many more battles to fight.
The ultimate victory in suppressing the She'an Rebellion was not to force them to surrender, but to resolve it once and for all. Otherwise, the day one rebellion was suppressed would also be the day the next one would be brewing.
The reason is simple: if the land problem is not solved, it will become more serious.
Because the court had approved the proposal of Fu Zonglong and others to resettle the officers and soldiers transferred from various provinces to suppress the rebellion in Guizhou. Although not all of them, the amount of land to be given was not a small amount.
With so many people and so little land, the contradictions of survival still exist and will only intensify. Just like the rebellions of ethnic minorities in Guangxi, which have been recurring one after another, they are most closely related to land.
Moreover, in Zhu Youxiao's thinking, the transformation of the natives into officials was the general trend, and he would never allow so many local emperors to be independent of the Ming Dynasty's rule.
Therefore, although he could not live another 500 years, Zhu Youxiao also wanted to solve the chieftain problem as much as possible during his lifetime.
Now, the surrender of the rebels was also forced by the situation. Seeing that they were about to lose the battle, they wanted to surrender in exchange for unchanged status and treatment.
Zhu Youxiao would rather delay the time to quell the rebellion than give these two-faced guys the chance to act again.
Moving them all to Mekong Province would not only ease land shortages but also increase the population of overseas territories, killing two birds with one stone.
Of course, Sun Chengzong's idea was to combine suppression and appeasement to put down the rebellion as soon as possible.
In theory, this approach was not wrong; it saved the court money and restored stability to Guizhou as soon as possible. However, he could not foresee the future, and this was the biggest difference between him and the emperor.
The emperor's thinking was changing, based on the improvement in finances. The Jiannu had only been active for a few days, so why were they still pampering those chieftains? Now that they had money, they were going to beat them to death!
After the border affairs were reported, the Minister of Rites Dong Qichang came out to report that the provincial examinations in various provinces had ended this year and the Ministry of Rites had begun preparing for the metropolitan examination in the spring of next year.
It was time to hold the imperial examination again. The emperor was distracted for a moment while listening to the report.
The year he came to the Ming Dynasty, apart from the good news of getting married, there was also the impending disastrous defeat of Guangning, as well as the joint and palace examinations of the Tianqi Renxu year.
In the blink of an eye, three years had passed and the Jiannu army was already on the verge of extinction, which was one or two years earlier than his ambition of pacifying Liao in five years.
But the real turning point was the victory in the defense of Guangning, which was also the beginning of his use of foresight to change history.
"...Your Majesty..." Dong Qichang did not notice the emperor's distraction. After finishing his performance, he bowed and waited for the emperor's decision.
Zhu Youxiao's eyes flashed, and he came back to his senses. He said in a deep voice: "Approved."
The emperor's drastic reforms over the past few years have brought many changes to the Ming Dynasty. However, the smallest change has been in the imperial examination system, which has seen almost no changes.
Although the emperor's attitude towards scholars was not very favorable, he was not too afraid of their rebellion. However, he did not hastily change the imperial examination system, which also prevented scholars from causing a greater unrest.
The path to studying and becoming an official cannot be blocked, and the emperor is well aware of the pros and cons.
The system of transferring civil servants to government officials had been introduced, but it was still in the exploratory and improvement stages and could not completely replace the imperial examination. Zhu Youxiao had not yet fully figured out how to make the transition to the civil service examination as stable as possible.
Moreover, it would be too absolute to say that all the candidates selected according to the eight-legged essay were useless. Take the imperial examination in the second year of the Tianqi reign as an example. Many of the Jinshi were good, which satisfied the emperor.
The emperor must master the balance between priorities. He cannot rush into everything, nor can he blindly follow the teachings of later generations.
After all, the ancient times were different from later times, and the changes in ideas and concepts were the slowest.
After the Liao Dynasty was successfully pacified, the imperial examination system would also undergo some changes. The emperor tapped his fingers lightly on the armrests of the dragon throne, making a new decision.
Today's court session went quite smoothly. Although the emperor wore a dignified expression, he seemed in good spirits. He approved most of the memorials submitted. Even those that did not meet his liking were not made too obvious, and were left to the court to resolve.
The pacification of Liao and the extermination of the slavery were imminent, and all the ministers believed that this was the main reason why the emperor was in a good mood.
"All of you ministers are the pillars of the court and my loyal followers." When the court was about to be dismissed, the emperor spoke again, and his clear voice echoed in the hall.
"Victory in Liaodong is in sight, and there's hope for suppressing the rebellion in the southwest. The court's finances are becoming more relaxed, administration is becoming more efficient, and the people's lives are gradually improving." The emperor enumerated the achievements one by one, his face becoming increasingly serene. "This is all due to the contributions of all of you. I see and remember them all, and I feel deeply gratified."
"Long live the wise emperor, and only then will the country prosper." Minister of Rites Dong Qichang immediately flattered him.
"Long live the wise emperor." The ministers bowed in agreement.
Of course I am wise and intelligent. I have already put myself in the right position without you telling me.
"The most important thing is the assistance of all the ministers." Zhu Youxiao smiled, and the atmosphere in the hall became more relaxed. "The harmony between the ruler and his subjects is the only way for our great Ming Dynasty to prosper and flourish. I hope that we can encourage each other and make progress together, share honor and disgrace, and stand together from beginning to end. With a wise ruler and virtuous subjects, this story will be recorded in history books."
After saying this, the emperor stood up, glanced at his ministers, nodded with a smile, and turned to leave.
"Dismiss the court!" The eunuch's sharp voice sounded, but it did not sound harsh to the ministers.
No matter how powerful an emperor is, he still has to rely on his ministers. Otherwise, even if he works himself to death like Zhuge Liang, he may not be able to govern the country well.
Ultimately, it’s about official administration.
Although the emperor was ruthless towards corrupt officials, he was very kind to his loyal ministers. He increased their salaries and benefits, and showed respect to senior officials. Such an emperor was rare.
"If the ruler treats his subjects like his own hands and feet, then the subjects will treat the ruler as their own heart and soul; if the ruler treats his subjects like dogs and horses, then the subjects will treat the ruler as a fellow countryman; if the ruler treats his subjects like dirt, then the subjects will treat the ruler as an enemy."
This is what Mencius said. The meaning is very clear and can be understood without translating it into modern Chinese.
The ancients also had a shorter saying, "If the common people meet me, I will repay them with the common people; if the great man meets me, I will repay him with the great man."
To put it bluntly, it's like treating others with kindness. How you want others to treat you depends on how you treat others.
If a leader does not care about his subordinates and does not treat talented people with courtesy, but requires his subordinates to make selfless contributions without regrets, isn’t that a daydream?
The best example is Chongzhen, the king who lost his country. It is not wrong to say that he is pitiful, but there must be hateful aspects of a pitiful person, and it is not unfair to him at all.
An emperor who was harsh, unkind, suspicious and jealous would eventually end up hanging himself.
"The weather is getting colder, and it's time to give heating subsidies to our ministers." After the emperor returned to the Palace of Heavenly Purity, he ordered someone to summon the Minister of Revenue to calculate the number of officials in the provinces north of the Yangtze River and set standards according to their ranks.
Boilers and heaters?! The emperor was thinking about heating the palace again. I wonder how the Academy of Sciences is doing with their research?
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