For Zhu Ying now, he has reached the pinnacle of power.

This is something that many people envy.

But now Zhu Ying is still very busy every day.

In fact, he could have lived a miserable life.

When awake, he holds the power of the world; when drunk, he lies on the lap of a beauty.

Some fantasies from previous lives can now be easily realized.

For someone like Di Yusen, just a few words could turn him from a low-level official into a high-ranking official of the third rank, holding great power.

If Zhu Ying had lived in the palace at the beginning, this would have been a very likely choice.

But after experiencing many things in the Western Regions, especially when he was so hungry that he had to compete with wild dogs for food, his character changed a lot.

He is cruel, because if he is not cruel, he will not be able to survive.

At the same time, he is kind-hearted, because if his heart is not kind, he would not have so many people following him loyally.

I wish I had thousands of spacious houses to shelter all the poor people in the world and make them happy.

The scenes from history in his memory always appear in his mind.

If Zhu Ying does not make changes, the current prosperous era may be just a flash in the pan in the history of the Ming Dynasty.

Just like Zhang Juzheng's Wanli Restoration, how long can it last?

Especially the danger from the West.

During his lifetime, he could eliminate the Jurchens, wipe out Mongolia, and even control the Southeast Asian countries.

But will this allow the Ming Dynasty to prosper forever?

No.

You should know that when the Qing Dynasty fell, there were mountains of firearms in the warehouse.

Therefore, Zhu Ying had to complete the reform of the Ming Dynasty and truly realize his ambitions.

On this point, with the support of the old man, there is the most hope now, as the Ming Dynasty has only been established for 26 years.

High-yield crops did indeed continuously boost the Ming Dynasty’s national strength.

However, in some poor areas, many people still starved to death.

The city of Nanjing is indeed prosperous now, and can be said to be the best in the world, but currently it is limited to Nanjing and its surrounding areas.

This is because there is an extreme shortage of talent in Zhu Ying's hands.

As for the current situation, all we can do is to develop Nanjing first and then drive other places.

Maritime trade is currently the fastest way to increase wealth.

It seems that we have a lot of money nowadays, but in fact there are more places to spend the money.

The construction of the North-South Avenue involved a large amount of manpower, food, and money.

Even with Zhu Ying's many methods to get many landlords and gentry to share this sky-high fee, it was still a huge expense for the Ming Dynasty.

From Nanjing to Beijing, the total distance is more than 2,000 miles, and it was extremely difficult to build it.

Especially some problems encountered during road construction can easily delay the project.

However, it is expected that this north-south highway will be completed by the beginning of next spring.

Almost a year.

It sounds a little unbelievable, as if road construction in previous lives was not this fast.

In fact, it is not.

The North-South Avenue is currently being built by the Ming Dynasty with almost the entire country's strength. There are probably more than one million people involved in it alone.

It is different from ordinary road construction.

Zhu Ying divided the North-South Avenue into hundreds of sections.

Each section was under the charge of an official from the Ministry of Works, and there were strict requirements on the completion time.

The local people were also required to participate after receiving a certain amount of wage subsidies.

Since there is money to be made, people will naturally be more motivated.

Moreover, this north-south highway was not newly opened, but an expansion of the original official road.

Ninety percent of these floors have been prepared, and relatively speaking, cement is laid directly on them.

What is affecting the progress of the project now is not the manpower but the fact that the production of cement cannot keep up.

This is also why Zhu Ying made the cement formula public before this and allowed many businessmen to participate.

It would certainly be unrealistic to ask the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce to open hundreds of factories.

But of course the cement formula is not given for free. Every factory in the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce will occupy a certain share because of the cement formula they provide.

And in the Ming Dynasty.

If a businessman wants to open a factory, he needs approval from the government.

You can have any cement formula you want, but the government approval means that you must hand over your shares to the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce.

The current Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce is actually no different from the Royal Private Chamber of Commerce.

In other words, it has now been planned to be included in the imperial treasury.

In the words of the previous life, this place was equivalent to the private property of the royal family.

Now, the support for many royal descendants is gradually being transferred from the Ministry of Revenue of the imperial court to the imperial treasury.

For example, the shops on both sides of Zhengyang Avenue belong to the private property of the royal family.

The rent collected every year is put into the treasury.

This also saves the emperor from having to fight with the Ministry of Revenue for silver.

The money and grain that the Ministry of Revenue now has can all be used within the Ming Dynasty instead of being embezzled by the emperor himself.

It's equivalent to public funds.

Zhu Ying is fully aware of the pros and cons of distinguishing between public and private funds. Although it is not convenient for him to bring it up with the old man now, he has begun to gradually change the old man's habit of touching the user department's money.

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang was very cooperative in this regard.

There was now so much money in the treasury that Zhu Yuanzhang felt he could not spend it all.

Not only the treasure notes, but also the assets have increased dramatically.

You should know that all the land deeds and documents related to the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce have begun to be transferred to the palace.

A special place was set aside for this purpose to store the land deeds belonging to the royal family.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who had been poor for almost his entire life, would take a walk in this warehouse after handling government affairs every day.

Every time Zhu Yuanzhang went in for a walk, he would come out with a smile on his face.

Previously, he said he enjoyed the world, but now he has to deal with the daily necessities of life.

The Ming Dynasty had always relied on printing banknotes to make the transition, and the income and expenditure were not at all proportional.

Otherwise, the story of Fengyang Huagu would not have spread.

Even his hometown could not become prosperous, which was always a concern for Zhu Yuanzhang.

At dinner that evening, Zhu Yuanzhang said, "My great grandson, I am from Fengyang. I was born in Fengyang since I was a child. Now I have money in my hands, but those folks in Fengyang are still living in poverty."

"Can you think of a way to make life a little better for our hometown? Even if everyone is not rich, at least they can have enough to eat."

Zhu Yuanzhang still had deep feelings for his hometown Fengyang.

At the beginning, he had no soldiers, so he could only return to his hometown to recruit soldiers. The first 500 people, including the 24 generals who founded the Ming Dynasty, were all from Fengyang.

From this perspective, it seems that Fengyang has produced many talents.

However, in reality, talent is nothing compared to opportunity.

There are many more places in the world with more talents than Fengyang, but it’s just that the opportunity has come, so so many great generals and famous officials have emerged.

Otherwise, even if you have great talent, it will be buried in daily food and clothing and farm work.

How can someone who doesn't even know where his next meal is coming from care about what's going on in the world?

Zhu Yuanzhang felt a little guilty about his hometown Fengyang.

Although the Fengyang Flower Drum incident made Zhu Yuanzhang somewhat sad, it was indeed he who did not make Fengyang better.

I had been thinking of moving the capital there, but now I have to give up.

Now that his life was getting better, Zhu Yuanzhang had many ideas in mind, but before that, he would naturally seek advice from his eldest grandson.

Hearing this, Zhu Ying nodded and said, "Don't worry, Grandpa. I know that Fengyang is a good place. It can't be said that there will be great development, but there will be no problem in promoting it."

"Let my grandson handle this matter."

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded happily.

Developing a place is certainly not a difficult problem for Zhu Ying.

The simplest way is to attract investment.

All we need to do is let the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce decide on Fengyang as the location for opening a factory, and then implement certain incentive policies to attract other businessmen to come. The employment problems of a large number of people will be solved, and the matter will be settled.

"We heard that the first batch of students at the Military Academy are about to graduate."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked casually while resting after dinner.

Zhu Yuanzhang has always been concerned about the Ming Military Academy, or in other words, when it comes to some changes in military power, Zhu Yuanzhang has never been indifferent.

Zhu Ying replied: "In a few days it will be October 1st, which is also the day these students will graduate."

Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a moment and asked, "Are you planning to place all these students in the garrisons?"

This was no simple matter. From a small perspective, it meant that Zhu Ying had begun to place his own disciples there. From a large perspective, it was also a major reform of the existing Wei system.

Because according to what Zhu Ying had said before, the preparation was to build a professional army.

Professional soldiers are full-time soldiers who do not need to do any other farm work except training. Their combat effectiveness will naturally be extremely high. However, it is also a big shock to the current military system.

At present, the burden of the Ming Dynasty's million-strong army still lies on the garrisons, and has not fallen on the imperial court. This has saved an enormous amount of money and food.

Once the Wei Suo system was changed, the burden on the imperial court would become extremely heavy.

Zhu Yuanzhang had no choice but to take it seriously.

Zhu Ying shook his head and said, "For this first batch of students, my grandson does not want them to enter the army first, but to continue to serve in the academy as instructors."

"They are students who have received the latest military knowledge, which is invaluable in many aspects, so training new students can be of great help."

There are too few teachers in the Ming Military Academy, and even fewer teachers with comprehensive talents.

At present, those who teach are teaching, and those who practice are practicing.

There has not been a complete systematic training, and this first batch of students has actually only studied for about half a year.

If we talk about proficiency, that's all. Of course, this is actually better than many generals.

If they leave the academy, it will be hard to achieve snowball development.

Zhu Yuanzhang reminded: "A true general is one who fights on the battlefield, not one who learns from reading."

"On this point, the eldest grandson should be clear in his mind."

Zhu Ying nodded and replied: "Grandpa taught me that my grandson has an idea in his mind to establish grassroots work experience for students."

"After the new students graduate next year, they will be transferred to various guard posts in the Ming Dynasty for internship. They will not be granted a formal official position, but will serve as deputy centurions for three years."

"After three years, we will evaluate each student based on their situation, including the overall changes in their garrison and their performance. Then we will determine each student's position."

Zhu Ying had to obtain the old man's approval before implementing these institutional changes, especially those involving changes in military power.

Perhaps for many crown princes throughout dynasties, this feeling seems to be that their power is restricted.

They are simply unable to develop their own political ideas, which is why many princes are not in harmony with the emperor.

No matter how the crown prince behaves, once the emperor feels that he is not doing well, he can overthrow him completely.

This has been the case since ancient times when people were forced to abdicate.

However, this does not exist for Zhu Ying, because he believes in the old man's wisdom. If there is anything wrong, he will definitely be able to find out and correct it.

If it is feasible, we will implement it.

In the distribution of power, Zhu Yuanzhang gave Zhu Ying a lot of free space for development, and accordingly, every time Zhu Ying made a change, he would first seek Zhu Yuanzhang's approval before implementing it.

This also made the relationship between the grandfather and grandson more tacit, and even if there were disputes, they were very peaceful.

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang thought deeply and said, "This idea of ​​yours is good, but it should also be considered based on some special circumstances."

"A centurion may not mean much to Dasun, but in the garrison, every centurion has made meritorious contributions to the Ming Dynasty."

"Most of the military households in the garrisons are from my hometown. If an outsider is inserted rashly, it won't be a problem in the capital, but it will easily cause conflicts in other places."

At this point, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but sigh: "In fact, we also know some of the situations in the garrison. It is so difficult to make a complete change. Some things don't need to be rushed. We should wait until the time is right."

Zhu Yuanzhang was actually well aware of the military officers' greed for money, but there were certainly social reasons for his failure to discipline them.

Since ancient times, being a soldier has not been a good livelihood.

Even though Zhu Ying was trying his best to raise the status of soldiers in the hearts of the people, for now, the effect was not very strong when it came to any territory of the Ming Dynasty.

Some plans need to be adapted to local conditions, and the situation in the capital cannot be generalized.

After hearing this, Zhu Ying naturally had more thoughts in his mind.

There is a huge gap between imagination and reality. Some policies that seem absurd cannot be implemented, but in fact there is no problem in the concept.

However, the development of things does not always go in line with our ideas; it is common for them to go in the opposite direction.

Such a situation is unavoidable even in later generations, let alone now.

"Grandpa taught me that I was not very thoughtful in this regard."

Hearing the reply from his grandson, Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile: "Grandson, don't underestimate yourself. This arrangement seems good to me, but we have to do it step by step."

"The situation at the garrison has reached a point where it is time to make some adjustments."

Everyone wants to have a more powerful army, and Zhu Yuanzhang is no exception.

The emergence of the Wei Suo system was actually a helpless choice for Zhu Yuanzhang. Now that the Ming Dynasty had become rich, the Wei Suo system could no longer keep up with the development.

It's just that the scope of this is too broad and any sudden change could easily cause unrest.

Especially after the change, it affects the inheritance of hereditary succession, which must be considered carefully.