Chapter 1649 Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi

In May, Zhao Hao bid farewell to his father-in-law and took a boat down the river to Wuchang to meet with Chen Rui, the governor of Huguang.

The two sides met when Zhang Wenming was buried. At that time, Chen Rui invited Zhao Hao to meet in Wuchang.

Mr. Zhao had to give face to the governor of Huguang. Besides, Chen Rui was from Fuzhou, Fujian, and his second and third sons were Zhao Hao's students, so they were his own people.

On the Dragon Boat Festival in May, Zhao Hao and his entourage arrived in Wuchang. In accordance with his strong request, Chen Rui did not personally greet them, but only sent the prefect of Wuchang as a representative to greet them at the official wharf outside Hanyang Gate.

Afterwards, Chen Zhongcheng led the chief officials of Huguang vassal state, prefecture and city government to hold a banquet at the Yellow Crane Tower to welcome the young cabinet minister.

After the banquet, Chen Rui invited Zhao Hao to stay in his governor's office to show their close friendship.

~~

In the back garden of the governor's office, Mrs. Chen accompanied Ma Xianglan to appreciate the flowers and chat, while Zhao Hao and Chen Rui were drinking tea and talking in the pavilion in the middle of the lake.

"Mr. Lin is so polite." Zhao Hao stroked the teacup with the lid and said with a smile, "I can't afford such a grand ceremony."

"Hey, what you said, how many people in the Ming Dynasty are better than you?" Chen Rui waved his hand and smiled, "If you hadn't told me so many times, I would have gone to Jiangling to pick you up."

"What? Are you afraid that I will run away?" Zhao Hao couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm really scared." Chen Rui smiled and said, "I heard from Yi Jie's letter that Henan Governor Zhou Jichuan wanted to meet with you alone, but he didn't find the opportunity."

"The date for the old Lord Feng's burial had already been set, so I really didn't have time to see him. I'm really sorry to Minister Zhou." Zhao Hao smiled embarrassedly and said, "I've already written a letter to apologize to him."

"Haha, do we still need to use official rhetoric when we talk to each other as brothers?" Chen Rui patted Zhao Hao's shoulder and laughed.

Yi Jie was the second son of Chen Rui, Chen Changzuo. He was one of the first batch of Jinshi trained in Fenghuang Academy and was granted the title of Magistrate of Bianyang, Henan.

Chen Rui's third son, Chen Changmian, completed three years of science studies at Phoenix Academy. He passed the imperial examination last year and is now studying at the Hanlin Academy.

"Okay." Zhao Hao nodded with a wry smile, put down the teacup and said, "I know what Zhou Zhongcheng wants, but I can't give it to him."

Officials in the Ming Dynasty have always been very relaxed, especially those who have reached the level of governor. Political achievements are no longer important, as long as the people below are stable and do not make any mistakes. The right thing to do is to save energy and build good relationships with the senior officials in the court, so that someone will think of you and recommend you when the court recommends you.

On the contrary, the so-called capable officials and efficient officials were not commendatory terms in the context of Ming officialdom, because they were often associated with haste and harshness, which were not tolerated in this harmonious officialdom.

However, all this changed after Zhang Xianggong came to power. Under the performance evaluation system, officials could no longer be relaxed and respectful, or live in harmony. Because if they failed to complete their tasks, they would be demoted or dismissed!

Other tasks are easy to handle, but the most critical one is taxation. Currently, at least 90% must be collected to be qualified, and it is estimated that it will increase to 100% in two years.

In addition, there is the task of collecting long-standing tax arrears, and if this is not completed, there will be no eligibility for promotion.

Under the pressure of assessment, superiors are naturally anxious and push their subordinates. At this time, academic qualifications are not important, and only capable officials who can collect taxes are popular.

But a good cook cannot cook without rice. In a place like Henan, no matter how capable the county officials are, they still cannot complete the tax collection task. If the pressure is too strong, the people will either abandon the land and flee in large numbers, or sell themselves into slavery and seek shelter in the powerful families of the royal family, making it even more difficult to collect taxes.

If there are too many counties and prefectures that fail to complete their tasks, the prefecture will naturally fail to complete its tasks; if there are too many prefectures and prefectures that fail to complete their tasks, the province will naturally fail to complete its tasks. The governor has to report to the capital every year, and being scolded by Zhang Xianggong is simply worse than death.

Henan Governor Zhou Jian placed his hope that he would no longer be controlled by the Emperor, and placed it on Jiangnan Group and Zhao Hao. He hoped that Zhao Hao could integrate Henan into the Jiangnan integrated region, or lend money to local gentry to allow them to set up their own development companies and engage in farm management.

It seems that as long as we enter into integration or turn it into farming, all problems will be solved.

However, Zhao Hao avoided him, leaving Governor Zhou feeling lost.

~~

"Why can't you give it to me?" Chen Rui asked in a deep voice with a nervous look on his face.

"Other difficulties can be overcome, but there is one thing that cannot be solved. There are too many royal family princes in Henan." Zhao Hao said calmly: "The group's rule is to respect the royal family and keep a distance. We will never share the same pot with them."

“Uh…” Chen Rui was stunned for a moment, then he laughed out loud: “Hahaha, Master, you are scolding a bald man in front of a monk!”

In terms of the number of royal families, Henan cannot compare with Huguang. Huguang has ten lines of vassal kings!

Zhao Hao didn't even give him any room to speak.

"Hahaha, please forgive me, Lord Lin. Otherwise, why couldn't I become an official? It's because I can't speak!" Zhao Hao spread his hands, and the two of them laughed again.

"Well, I can't make things difficult for my own brother." After laughing, Chen Rui said, "There's another thing you have to help me with."

"Please speak, Mr. Lin." Zhao Hao nodded.

"Since the great flood of the Yangtze River in the 39th year of Jiajing, the Jingzhou area has suffered from floods year after year. Every year, the dikes have been repaired, but they have collapsed every year. The people have suffered terribly." Chen Rui sighed:

"Since I took office in the third year of the Wanli reign, I have been trying to solve this problem. After a field survey, I invited Pan Butang to be my senior advisor and came up with the idea of ​​building dams in the Three Gorges to block the water flow, slow down the flow of the flood, and reduce the pressure of flood discharge downstream. Specifically, it is to build 20 stone dams at selected locations in the Three Gorges."

Then he looked at Zhao Hao and said, "Pan Bu Tang said that if you were to do this project, it would only take half the cost and time, but it would take a hundred years to complete."

"Is this Old Pan helping us get the project, or is he trying to cheat us?" Zhao Hao smiled bitterly and nodded, "Okay, this is a matter of alleviating the suffering of the people, I'll take this job."

How dare he refuse? Jingzhou is Mr. Zhang's hometown...

Of course, if not for this, Governor Chen would not have taken it so seriously.

In addition, although Zhao Hao did not agree to incorporate Huguang into the Jiangnan integration, he took the initiative to propose that Huguang could be absorbed into the Jiangnan Mutual Economic Cooperation Association.

If we exclude the factors of the princes and royal families, the economic endowment of Huguang is actually very good. If Huguang is prosperous, the whole world will be prosperous. Moreover, the water network is dense, and the Yangtze River directly connects to the south of the Yangtze River. In Zhao Hao's plan, the entire Yangtze River will be connected sooner or later.

Although the group does not dare to invest in Huguang due to objective reasons now, the issue of vassalage will eventually be resolved. Strengthening trade and economic exchanges first can also lay a solid foundation for future integration.

After listening to Mr. Zhao's explanation that CMEA members can enjoy all the benefits granted by the group to integrated regions, including the purchase of staple food at a protective price, which is what he cares about the most, Governor Chen was overjoyed.

In fact, he wanted Huguang to join the integration of Jiangnan. There was a very important practical pressure. That is, as the Jiangnan region achieved self-sufficiency in grain, it could even supply the coastal areas of Fujian, Guangdong and Shandong, which made Huguang very passive.

The Huguang region, with its vast land, sparse population, fertile soil, mild and humid climate, has always been the granary of the world. With convenient water transportation, 70% of the commercial grain exported was supplied to the Jiangnan region, which was the richest region in the world but had long been short of food.

It was precisely because Huguang guaranteed food and tax grain that the landlords in the Jiangnan region could abandon their grain fields and plant cotton and mulberry trees. The people could also leave the land and specialize in cotton spinning and silk weaving. Therefore, Jiangnan and Huguang have always taken what they needed and complemented each other, forming a stable supply and demand structure.

Now Jiangnan not only does not need to import grain, but can even compete with Huguang for business. Huguang's grain prices have naturally fallen again and again, and the active implementation of the "One Whip Law" has made grain prices even worse.

The officials and landlords in Huguang rely on commercial grain for their main income, so they are naturally worried and desperate. They ask the governor to intercede with Mr. Zhang or the young cabinet minister to see if the Jiangnan Group can continue to purchase their grain.

Now Zhao Hao has helped Governor Chen get rid of a big worry, and he has also given an explanation for all aspects of the province. Naturally, the resistance to the implementation of the "One Whip" system in the future will be much smaller.

Isn't it the desire of a provincial governor to complete his term of office in a dignified manner? Chen Rui was extremely grateful to Zhao Hao and invited him to stay in Huguang for a few more days. He then sent Zhao Hao to the provincial border before reluctantly bidding him farewell.

Zhao Hao's boat had just left Huguang when he was stopped by Jiangxi Governor Xu Fengzhu, who warmly invited him to visit Nanchang. Xu Zhongcheng was from Changshu and a genuine Jiangnan gang member, so Zhao Hao could only treat him equally and give him a chance to fulfill his wish.

Xu Fengzhu’s request is similar to Chen Rui’s, and he also hopes to allow Jiangxi to join the Jiangnan integration.

In fact, during this dynasty, Jiangxi was in a similar situation to Jiangnan, with flourishing culture and education, a developed economy, and a large population and limited land. This led to more people engaging in industry and commerce, especially the ceramic industry, which ranked first in the world, and the silk, medicinal materials and other industries were very prosperous.

For a long time, Jiangxi was not much inferior to Jiangnan. However, everything changed since the Age of Exploration. Jiangnan and even the southeastern coastal areas began to rise rapidly with the advantage of maritime trade. Jiangxi was deep inland, with heavy vassal burdens and the shackles of the imperial court on Jingdezhen, making it impossible for them to compete with Jiangnan and the southeast, and the gap became larger and larger.

Even the most powerful Jingdezhen ceramics lost out in the competition with the export porcelains fired in coastal counties and prefectures. Although the latter were not as good as Jingdezhen ceramics, they were too cheap.

Moreover, they poached people crazily with high salaries, causing a large number of porcelain workers to leave Jingdezhen, which made the situation even worse.

The porcelain merchants in Jiangxi tried their best to fight them, but later found that they were no match for them. If they couldn't beat them, they had no choice but to join them...

Unfortunately, there are quite a few vassal kings in Jiangxi, and they occupy the area from Nanchang to Jiujiang and the entire Poyang Lake. Southern Jiangxi is a mountainous area, so this is the only prime area in Jiangxi, and it is full of royal family members who are sucking your blood.

Therefore, Zhao Hao could only refuse and only let them join CMEA, strengthen economic and trade exchanges, try to unify the market, and incorporate Jiangxi into the industrial chain...

Alas, if the vassal states are not eliminated, Huguang and Jiangxi will never have a chance to rise.

The same applies to Henan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Shandong and Shanxi.

In this Ming Dynasty, there were no vassal kings. Apart from the already integrated Liangzhi, Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangzhou, there were only Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou, the southwestern border areas where even the vassal kings were unwilling to go...

Therefore, the expansion of the three major groups in the country has reached its limit. Even if Zhao Hao is rich, he dare not invest in the bottomless pits of the seven vassal provinces.

The harm of the imperial clan can be seen from this. If the imperial clan is not eliminated, there is no hope for the Ming Dynasty!

ps. Thank you for your concern. After two days of rest, my eyes are much better. But in order to fully recover, I still need to save my eyesight in the next few days. This chapter was edited after voice input. Practice has proved that this method does not work...

Just one update today.

(End of this chapter)