Ruyang County is an upper county with a population of nearly 150,000 and relatively developed commerce.

However, the 40,000-strong army camped just a few miles outside the city, which put a lot of pressure on Ruyang County.

The government office in the county town.

Several people, including the county magistrate, gathered together to discuss matters outside the city.

The official structure of the county government was basically arranged in the order of chief officials, assistant officials, subordinate officials, teaching officials, miscellaneous officials, clerks, and runners.

The assistant officials were the county magistrate and the chief clerk, who were in charge of grain affairs, water conservancy, river defense and other matters.

At this moment, in addition to the county magistrate, the chief clerk, the county magistrate and others, the clerk as a subordinate official was also among them.

"Sir Yuan, it is said that the person leading the army outside is the current Royal Highness Chang Sun. I wonder why such a distinguished Royal Highness Chang Sun came to us."

"He said he came here because of the plague." The Ruyang County Magistrate asked the County Magistrate with some confusion.

Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Yuan raised his eyebrows slightly, but did not respond to the county magistrate's words.

The surname Yuan is a big surname in Ruyang, and the ancestors can be traced back to Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao in the late Three Kingdoms period.

Yuan Zhixian's position as county magistrate was not obtained through merit, but through recommendation.

There are only a few juren and jinshi in a year. Most of the officials in the Ming Dynasty were appointed through recommendation.

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang was able to have such prestige that even in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, which was rotten to the core, he was still able to maintain it and was very popular among the people.

It is inseparable from the recommendation system used by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang's recommendation system can be seen as mainly aimed at winning over local wealthy people.

In the sixth year of the Hongwu reign, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict saying: "Without talented people, there is no way to govern."

The subjects for recommending talents include: smart and upright, virtuous and upright, filial and hardworking, Confucian scholar, filial and honest, scholar, talented, and elder.

The scope of recommendation during the Hongwu period was very broad, mainly to encourage the people to improve themselves morally, and the commendation for filial sons was very good.

For example, Li Decheng, a resident of Laishui County, Yizhou, braved the severe cold and lay on the ice to seek his mother's corpse. He was selected as a filial and honest official and was appointed to an official position by the court. Later, he became a provincial governor.

Judging from the recommendation system, Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty attached more importance to a person's moral character rather than ability. He wanted to change the social atmosphere for the better and cultivate a group of officials who were loyal to the emperor and patriotic.

Zhu Yuanzhang promoted the recommendation system and even selected officials directly from wealthy people.

They spared no effort in winning over the landlord class.

For example, in the 30th year of Hongwu, the Ming government investigated the provincial governments of Zhejiang and other nine places, as well as the landlords in the 18 prefectures and counties of Nanjing who had land of more than 700 acres, totaling 14,241 households. They compiled a list, summoned them in batches, and directly hired them.

With the support of the landlord class, the Ming Dynasty was naturally extremely stable. In particular, these supporting landlords highly valued the ideas of loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, and could be considered a source of positive energy.

It is not difficult to imagine Zhu Yuanzhang's prestige among the people. Of course, they would speak well of Zhu Yuanzhang.

For example, poor farmers basically have to rely on the rich people to survive. Rich people who can be elected as officials must have a very good reputation in the local area and are also supported by the local poor.

At least when there is a disaster, they usually set an example and come out to help others.

Therefore, the poor peasants also supported Zhu Yuanzhang and believed that he was a truly good emperor.

Where there is winning over, there is suppression.

Zhu Yuanzhang naturally responded with a smile to the landlord class who supported the Ming Dynasty's rule.

Those who did not support or cooperate, or even those landlords and literati with a bad reputation in the local area, were killed decisively.

Talented people from Suzhou such as Yao Run and Wang Mo were not summoned and were all executed and their families were confiscated.

For example, those landlords with stronger power are more ruthless.

The landlords and tyrants in the south of the Yangtze River were the most powerful. They owned a large amount of land, and they bullied the people and acted tyrannically. They even hid the population and land, and shifted the burden of taxes and labor service onto the peasants, so that the court's rule could not extend to the grassroots level. Occasionally, when there was an uprising, it was these people who supported it behind the scenes.

Zhu Yuanzhang issued several orders to move all the Jiangnan landlords and powerful people who had been attached to Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng, Fang Guozhen, and other people, as well as the loyal ministers of the Yuan Dynasty, to Fengyang.

Keeping it far away from home and without any roots will make it easier to control it, while also allowing us to develop our hometown of Fengyang.

Some of the bigger ones were even moved to Nanjing, where they lived right under Zhu Yuanzhang's nose, under the pretext of strengthening the capital.

It was this combination of hard and soft tactics that laid the foundation for the Ming Dynasty's nearly three hundred years of national prosperity.

Otherwise, those eccentric emperors in the middle and late Ming Dynasty would have destroyed the Ming Dynasty long ago.

Later, Zhu Di personally led three wars and made the Ming Dynasty impoverished, but it was only because of the support of the landlord class that the foundation of his rule was not shaken.

County Magistrate Yuan was a member of the landlord class, so he was extremely supportive of the imperial court, especially Zhu Yuanzhang.

Henan spent a lot of money and grain to provide disaster relief.

Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Yuan did not answer immediately, but after a moment of silence, he said, "Your Highness Changsun's visit to Ruyang shows his respect for Ruyang."

"Since Lord Changsun has come, we in Ruyang must also show our sincerity."

The county magistrate below heard this and replied with a somewhat worried look on his face: "But sir, His Highness did not respond today, but told us to wait and see tomorrow. Does His Highness have any opinion about us?"

Magistrate Yuan shook his head and said, "Don't speculate on His Royal Highness Changsun's thoughts. I heard that His Majesty has decided to confer the title of Crown Prince in September. His Royal Highness Changsun must have come here to deal with the plague."

Even the important officials of the court were almost unaware of Zhu Xiongying's existence. Even in the palace, unless they were from the older generation, they were not aware of him.

So County Magistrate Yuan subconsciously thought that it was Zhu Yunwen.

After Magistrate Yuan finished speaking, several officials nodded in agreement. The clerk said, "Mr. Magistrate, since His Royal Highness Changsun has come, we must organize the wealthy families in the county to express our sincerity together."

Magistrate Yuan remained silent, while other officials spoke out in agreement.

As an official under the county magistrate, the clerk would naturally serve the county magistrate if he was reluctant to speak.

It was obvious that this clerk was very understanding, and County Magistrate Yuan also gave him an approving look.

In the eyes of County Magistrate Yuan, the greater the sincerity this reflects, the better.

This is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the future Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. If I am lucky enough to make him have a good impression of me, I won't have to worry about a different official career in the future.

In the eyes of County Magistrate Yuan, the arrival of His Royal Highness Changsun was simply the greatest opportunity in his life.

So when His Royal Highness Chang Sun arrived yesterday, I couldn't help but want to visit him.

Now that I think about it, I was a little reckless.

However, since His Highness has not explicitly refused, there must be a chance. Judging from the situation, His Highness Changsun should stay for more than just a day or two.

"Sir, what is the scope of this sincerity?"

The chief clerk asked hesitantly.

To be able to become the chief clerk, he must have enough emotional intelligence.

The chief clerk is not from Ruyang and has no roots here, but he has been working here for more than seven years.

Unlike the recommendation by County Magistrate Yuan, the chief clerk was selected as an official by the Imperial College in addition to recommendation and imperial examination.

It is promoted by the college.

Recommendation, imperial examination, and Imperial College, these are the three ways to become an official in the Ming Dynasty.

Moreover, the Zhubu's family was not wealthy, and his parents were once tenant farmers.

During the Yuan Dynasty, tenant farmers were in a dependent relationship with landlords, and more like master and servants. Yuan Dynasty laws stipulated that tenant farmers had to show respect to landlords as master and servants should.

This is not much different from being a slave.

After Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming Dynasty, he issued an edict stipulating: "When tenants meet the landowner, regardless of age, they should be treated as younger people serving older people. If they are relatives, regardless of whether they are the landlord or the tenant, they should be treated as relatives."

The relationship between tenant farmers and landlords changed from master and servant in the Yuan Dynasty to senior-senior relationship in the Ming Dynasty, and their status improved a lot.

What is even more rare and precious is that due to the continuous wars at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the people were living in poverty, and many ordinary people even sold themselves into slavery when fleeing famine.

In response to this, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict: "Anyone who is weak, lonely, or poor and unable to support himself during the war and has become a slave in the homes of common people will be released on the day the edict arrives."

On this basis, it was further decided that the court would pay money to redeem the freedom of those who were enslaved due to famine.

In the 19th year of the Hongwu reign, the Henan Provincial Government alone redeemed 274 men and women who had been pawned and sold into slavery.

To put it simply, this has raised the status of the poorest people.

In a broader sense, this was the emancipation of slaves.

By the 25th year of Hongwu, there were no longer any enslaved people in the Ming Dynasty.

These measures took into account both the landlord class and the poor class, and were especially implemented by direct decree of Zhu Yuanzhang.

In addition, the content of the edict, which was written in plain language, made it not only clear to the people who could not understand the elegant language, but also made them feel very familiar with it.

Zhu Yuanzhang's former identity as a farmer made the vast majority of farmers feel a strong sense of identity.

This is even more true when it comes to killing corrupt officials.

You should know that 80% of the Ming Dynasty's current army are garrison soldiers, who usually do the same work as farmers.

Therefore, the personal worship of Zhu Yuanzhang penetrated into all levels of the Ming Dynasty, not to mention the upper-class dignitaries.

These various aspects are the important structures that make Zhu Yuanzhang so deterrent.

Despite the large-scale massacre of meritorious officials and the fact that more than 15,000 middle-level military officers were implicated and executed in the Lan Yu case in history, this had no effect on Zhu Yuanzhang's personal dignity.

Throughout history, only Zhu Yuanzhang killed most of the founding heroes and yet his imperial power remained stable.

If I had known earlier, it wouldn't just be the heroes who were killed. Before this, the officials would have been killed several times.

Therefore, among these officials in the county government, whether it was the magistrate Yuan who came from a landlord family, the chief clerk who came from a tenant farmer family, or the county magistrate who came from a military household family, they were all staunch supporters of Zhu Yuanzhang.

Ruyang County Yamen is just a microcosm of the more than one thousand counties in the Ming Dynasty. Almost most of the county yamen are similar to Ruyang County Yamen.

With such profound ruling power, who can shake Zhu Yuanzhang?

The chief clerk spoke up because he wanted County Magistrate Yuan to set the tone.

However, everyone still underestimated County Magistrate Yuan's methods.

The Yuan family in Ruyang is considered a scholarly family. How could they ask for something as vulgar as money? Wouldn't they be the same as those cheap merchants?

"I will inform all the wealthy families in the county later. I will prepare a dinner tonight. Your Highness Changsun is coming. We must not be careless."

"As for sincerity, each family has different circumstances, so there is no standard number. How much or how little depends on the individual. Can I force it? Wouldn't that ruin my reputation?"

County Magistrate Yuan paused for a moment before adding.

"We can't let you all down. Let's spread the word. Those who are most sincere can bring a few people along to meet His Royal Highness Chang Sun."

As soon as Magistrate Yuan said this, the scene suddenly became lively, especially the clerks, whose eyes revealed a look of surprise.

Anyone who is well-informed knows that His Royal Highness Chang Sun is the future emperor.

As the saying goes, a new emperor appoints new ministers.

If I could show my face in front of His Royal Highness Chang Sun, even if it's just to say my name.

In the future, there will be a possibility of rapid rise.

In today's Ming Dynasty, such an opportunity is truly rare and is actually possible.

His Royal Highness Chang Sun has lived in the deep palace for a long time. If he sees a familiar name, he will naturally pay more attention to it. This is something that no amount of money can buy.

The official's name was Zhou, and he was a native of Ruyang.

Zhou is a big surname in Ruyang, and its origin can even be traced back to the Shang and Zhou dynasties.

It is a very ancient surname.

The surname Zhou ranks fifth in "Hundred Family Surnames". There is a saying in later generations: The famous family comes from Runan - all the famous surnames in the world must be Zhou.

What later generations refer to as Runan is the current Ruyang County of the Ming Dynasty.

It has undergone several name changes.

As a big family in Ruyang, Zhou Dianli has considerable support behind him. Coupled with his relationship with County Magistrate Yuan, Zhou Dianli has made up his mind that his sincerity must far exceed that of other families.

Thinking of this, Zhou Dianli became a little restless. He wanted to go back quickly to discuss it with the elders of the clan. He must not miss this opportunity.

County Magistrate Yuan took in everyone's expressions. To be able to become a county magistrate and to have maintained his position steadily for so many years, County Magistrate Yuan must have had some skills.

"Everyone, please go away. But this matter is a bit urgent, so please don't rush me. I'm afraid that there will be too many people coming, so I have to ask the chefs to prepare more delicacies."

"In my opinion, let's temporarily set it at half past midnight. I think the time is about right now."

Magistrate Yuan gave enough time and scheduled the banquet for 8 o'clock in the evening.

After hearing this, the officials all agreed. There were still more than two hours until the 15th hour of the night, which was enough time for them to discuss the matter.

After setting the tone, County Magistrate Yuan didn't waste any time. He asked everyone to disperse and, while notifying the wealthy families, he also went back to discuss how much sincerity they should show.

The news that His Royal Highness Chang Sun had arrived near Ruyang County quickly spread among the wealthy families in the city.

Almost all the wealthy families didn't even have dinner, but directly held a family meeting to start discussing as much as possible what level of sincerity was needed in order to have a chance to show their face in front of His Royal Highness the Chang Sun.

This news was soon known to the people of the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce in the city.

In a large county like Ruyang, there are naturally leaders of the Qunying Chamber of Commerce stationed there.

Communication had already begun long before Zhu Ying came.

Although the Qunying Chamber of Commerce has not been in Ruyang for a long time, it has enough reputation because of the snowflake salt business, and at least it does not have to worry about sales.

Although Snowflake Salt was a government-run business, Zhu Ying's profits from it naturally mainly came from smuggling.

This is also the reason why Zhu Ying has not yet directly incorporated Snowflake Salt into the government-run business.

Private salt is the fastest way to make profits.

Coupled with hunger sales, although the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce has been in Ruyang for a short time, its status is not low.

The news spread by County Magistrate Yuan reached Zhu Ying in less than half an hour.

Zhu Ying felt helpless when he heard this.

This feeling seems to be no different from the sky-high priced lunch at auctions in later generations.

If Zhu Yuanzhang, or people of the Ming Dynasty at the same time, knew about these circumstances, they would certainly be unhappy or even furious.

But as a person who has experienced this in later generations, Zhu Ying was very interested in it.

He even asked the head of the Qunying Chamber of Commerce, "Will you go there too?"

The person in charge was a middle-aged man. He bowed his head and said respectfully, "Your Highness, I can go."

Zhu Ying smiled slightly and said, "When the time comes, raise the price a bit."

"Well...if it's too low, it will be a slap in my face. You must bring this up at the banquet."

"Take this opportunity to test the background of each family in the city. Record all the details carefully."

Upon hearing this, the person in charge breathed a sigh of relief.

In fact, he was still a little nervous when he came.

In his opinion, his boss, His Royal Highness the Grandson of the Ming Dynasty, was of such a noble status that such a behavior would be a disgrace to His Royal Highness.

How can we use money to measure the standard for meeting His Highness? It should be based on virtue.

But how could Zhu Ying care about these face-saving projects that even reach the bottom?

The best way is to get more money to treat the plague.