On the dock of the Huitong River, the water transport ships were parked on the water surface in disorder. The ships were connected at the front, which was a spectacular sight.
The Ming Dynasty's inland river transportation system was already very developed, and the benefits of water were very rich.
On the dock, there were countless men wearing coarse shirts.
In a pergola, officials dressed in black were distributing wages to the people.
However, what they gave out was not silver, nor was it Hongwu Tongbao. Instead, it was Ming Treasure Notes.
After a long day of hard work, he begged the government to give him some small coins, but the government refused him on the grounds that the people could not privately reject the notes.
The laborer could only helplessly shake his head and sigh, accepting the rapidly depreciating notes.
The treasure notes worth three hundred wen were the fruit of their labor in a day, but if they were converted into small coins, they would at most be converted into two or three coins.
In other words, the amount of small coins they could actually exchange for with treasure notes was only sixty to ninety wen, or even less.
Zhu Houzhao's face turned red with shame.
The officials were the officials of the Zhu family. The water transport yamen was also the yamen of the Zhu family. The laws they enforced were also correct, but in the end, only the ordinary people sighed helplessly.
When the small things in the world gathered together, they became big things.
These seemingly inconspicuous people's livelihood that did not even attract the attention of high officials Zhu Zi were brought to the attention of the Crown Prince by Su Ce.
Zhu Houzhao now understood the helplessness of the common people. The harm of banknotes could be seen.
In fact, the purpose of the Ming Dynasty's initial issue of treasure notes was naturally good, and the credibility of Hongzhi Baiguan's implementation of treasure notes was also good.
As for which part went wrong, perhaps even the high officials of Great Ming might not know.
Of course, the minor officials knew that the value of treasure notes was very low. In the financial budget issued by the imperial court, they kept the small amount of money in their yamen to provide for their own salary expenses, but they gave the rapidly depreciating treasure notes to the people.
Because this was the law of the Ming Dynasty, the common people could not refuse the treasure notes. In the end, it was the common people who swallowed the consequences with tears in their eyes.
Su Ce looked at the embarrassed Zhu Houzhao and asked,""Now do you know why the commoners are unwilling to take on the government's work?”
This was just a small matter, but it reflected a huge problem.
If the water transport dock was like this, if the Ministry of Works were to bid for a large project, which citizen would be willing to take on the work of the court? Which businessman would dare to accept a project from the imperial court?
Zhu Houzhao heaved a sigh of relief and said in a low voice,""Understood."
Every policy would have loopholes when it was implemented. The officials of the imperial court could not only formulate policies but not check the implementation.
No matter how good the original intention of the policy was, when it was issued, the people were very satisfied. In the end, it was the final target to assess the quality of the policy.
"Brother Ce, are you very disappointed in the Imperial Court?”
Zhu Houzhao said carefully.
For some unknown reason, Zhu Houzhao started to value Su Ce, and he also started to value the good and bad of this country.
He was becoming more and more responsible and was no longer the playful Crown Prince from before.
Su Ce, who was so seriously ill, was paying attention to the people's attitudes, paying attention to the Ming Dynasty, hoping that the Ming Dynasty would be fine.
As the future ruler of a country, what reason did he have not to pay attention?
Zhu Houzhao gradually realized that doing something good for the people within his power was also something that gave him a sense of accomplishment.
Of course, this wasn't something he could do. It was something he had to do.
If Brother Ce recovers, I will definitely promote him to the cabinet and let him be the chief assistant.
With Brother Ce around, would those small fries in the north and those jumping bridges in the southeast still be a problem?
Zhu Houzhao thought a lot.
Su Ce smiled and shook his head. If the Imperial Court's true intention is to ignore the lives of the people, I will naturally be disappointed.”
"But now, our Ming emperor is working hard to govern the country. The mess left behind by the previous dynasty will be dealt with by the emperor. The country will gradually improve.”
To put it bluntly, the mess that Chenghua Emperor Zhu Jianshen had left for Hongzhi Emperor Zhu Youtang was too big.
By the end of Chenghua, Zhu Jianshen basically did not deal with political affairs. Noble Consort Wan was in power, and her minions were all over the cabinet.
The six departments of the cabinet did not do anything, and the Ming government was too big to be destroyed. There were countless cases of corruption and oppression of the people. There were constant civil uprisings in Shandong, Henan, and other places. The southwest chieftains often attacked the Han officials. Every time the Tartars in the northern border invaded, thousands of people and soldiers would die.
The country owed the military expenses of the nine sides again and again, so much so that they had no choice but to use the salaries of the officials in the world to tear down the east wall to pay the west wall to pay for the military expenses of the nine sides.
If the officials 'salaries were not paid, the local yamen would not have the money to support the petty officials. In the end, they could only think of ways to deduct money from the people.
It seemed like the bureaucrats were bullying the people, but the source was still the palace.
The Son of Heaven was the driving force of the country. If the Son of Heaven was incompetent or slack, could the country run well?
However, it was in this situation where the river was riddled with holes that Zhu Youtang took over the Ming Dynasty.
He used fifteen years to reverse the predicament at the end of Chenghua and paid off all the military expenses and salaries of the officials he owed.
In history, Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty was highly regarded. In fact, only those who had experienced the Chenghua and Hongzhi dynasties would truly feel the greatness of Zhu Youtang!
Su Ce looked at Zhu Houzhao meaningfully and said,""Our Tian Zi is a good Tian Zi. I hope that our future Tian Zi can also achieve something and surpass our Tian Zi. Only then will I be truly happy.”
Zhu Houzhao's entire body turned solemn as he said seriously,""Brother Ce! He would! He definitely would! Whether it was the current Tian Zi or the future Tian Zi, he would definitely be a good Tian Zi!”
Su Ce nodded and said,""Then let's continue watching. I hope I can see that day.”
Zhu Houzhao was a little upset. He knew that Su Ce's health was not good. He would eventually die from the consumption. It was just a matter of time.
Thinking of this, Zhu Houzhao's heart felt stifled.
The spring breeze blew gently, but the face did not feel cold.
Su Ce tightened the cloak around his neck. The jade pendant hanging from his waist was exposed, making him look even more delicate, attracting the attention of the surrounding men.
However, they were caught by the surrounding Imperial Army soldiers with just a single vicious look in their eyes. It didn't matter if they were guilty or not, they couldn't have such thoughts!
In the end, these people were beaten until they were almost crippled. Only then did the Imperial Army force them to open their dog eyes wide and not think about what they shouldn't.
Well, although they didn't do anything, they couldn't even think about it!
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