After careful consideration, Zeng Cheng changed his mind again: "How about this, let's establish a new government department responsible for collecting money, temporarily placed under your Ministry of Revenue, but this department will only be responsible for collecting money. As for the construction of railways, it will still be the responsibility of the Ministry of Works' Railway Department. In the future, the Ministry of Revenue will be responsible for allocating funds for railway construction."
Liu Huaiwen was immediately satisfied – the department that spends money belongs to the Ministry of Works, and the department that collects money belongs to the Ministry of Revenue, isn't that perfect?
But Song Yucheng, the pillar of the Ministry of Works, was not satisfied: "It would be great if the department responsible for collecting money was also under the Ministry of Works! At least we could use the collected money to build railways, and then we wouldn't have to kowtow to that Liu Pixiu in the future."
Zeng Cheng's face immediately turned grim, and he said in a deep voice, "The Railway Department can be responsible for building railways, but it absolutely cannot be responsible for collecting money. This is the rule – His Majesty asked us to discuss, what do you think he wanted us to discuss?"
Song Yucheng immediately shut his mouth.
After Liu Huaiwen and the others had also recovered their senses, Zeng Cheng continued, "Furthermore, His Majesty is currently dissatisfied with many aspects of the court, or rather, the local government. It's just that there hasn't been a suitable opportunity, so it hasn't erupted yet. If possible, we should take advantage of the opportunity to undertake major railway construction to conveniently resolve these issues."
Song Yucheng was taken aback and asked, "His Majesty is dissatisfied with many aspects of the court and local governments? With the Censorate's offices, the Grand Censorate's offices, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the administration of officials now is many times more upright than during the Qing regime, and the people's livelihoods have also improved so much. His Majesty..."
Liu Huaiwen also asked with a bewildered look, "Old man Song is right. The livelihoods of the people in our Great Ming are, not to mention better than during the Qing regime, even compared to before the Wanli era, they are likely far superior. What dissatisfaction can His Majesty have?"
Zeng Cheng shook his head helplessly and sighed, "The people's livelihoods are better, and the administration of officials is upright, is that not enough?"
"During His Majesty's southern tour, the extended working hours case encountered in Yongcheng, the case of killing and dismembering for profit encountered in Fengyang, and the case of clan feuds encountered in Jiangxi, three major cases in a row, do you think His Majesty will just let them go?"
Liu Huaiwen said, "That doesn't make sense either – the extended working hours case and the clan feud case can be overlooked, but the case of killing and dismembering for profit involved a huge number of people. Hundreds of people were executed by lingchi, and if you count those who were dismembered at the waist, beheaded, and exiled, there must be at least tens of thousands."
"Such a major case, let alone the Qing regime, even during the Hongwu era, perhaps only the Hu Weiyong case and the Lan Yu case could be compared, right?"
Zeng Cheng retorted, "There are so many Daoist temples and Buddhist monasteries in the world! Just a Buddhist temple in Fengyang County could involve such a big case. Can you guarantee that the temples in other places are all clean?"
"And the extended working hours case, Yongcheng is also a small county town, yet people there want to stir up trouble."
"Many times, if His Majesty doesn't say it, it doesn't mean that we, as his ministers, can do nothing. Otherwise, what are ministers for?"
"Before this, His Majesty put it aside temporarily because of the matter of the 'broken pot.' Now that the matter of the 'broken pot' has been resolved, His Majesty will certainly begin to deal with the impact of these cases, and also some of the matters behind these cases."
"Later, both your Ministry of Revenue and Ministry of Works should send some personnel to cooperate with the Department of Monks and Daoists to begin investigating all monks, Daoists, and nuns throughout the empire, including their ordination certificates and the land and properties of monasteries and Daoist temples, especially issues like 'son money' and tenant rent left over from the past."
"If there are problems, deal with them first. It will be easier to explain when His Majesty asks later. If His Majesty comes to handle them personally, it might lead to another series of monstrous cases."
Reminded by Zeng Cheng, Song Yucheng, Liu Huaiwen, and other bigwigs' foreheads immediately broke out in cold sweat.
Zeng Cheng continued, "The same applies to that extended working hours case. If such many tricks can be played in a small county town like Yongcheng, then what about the situation in Dengzhou, Laizhou, Jimo, Songjiang Prefecture, Guangzhou, and Dan Port, Lanfang, and other places?"
Speaking of this, Zeng Cheng couldn't help but sigh and say, "Apart from these messy problems, that troublesome business of clan feuds is also about time to be resolved."
Liu Huaiwen doubted, "Hasn't the clan feud matter been resolved already?"
Zeng Cheng coldly snorted, "Resolved? Then I ask you, if two villages engage in a clan feud, and over a thousand people can come out, several cannons can be deployed, and hand grenades from the Farmers' Association guard can be obtained, what does that indicate?"
"This indicates that the clan forces in various places are still quite strong. If similar situations occur elsewhere, and local officials and troops are unable to arrive in time to handle them, what do you think the final outcome will be?"
"You have all fought with His Majesty, so you should all understand what happens when people get red-eyed on the battlefield; they will no longer care about anything else, especially these clan feuds. They might even involve women, children, and the elderly, and the final result could only be a river of blood."
"If such a situation occurs, who will bear the responsibility? Will it be borne by local officials? Or by local garrisons? Or by the few of us? Who can bear it?"
Song Yucheng, Liu Huaiwen, and other bigwigs continued to sweat.
As Zeng Cheng said, these bigwigs had all fought with Zhu Jinsong, and they all knew what the battlefield was like, and even more clearly what the consequences would be if clan feuds became bloody.
If the scale was smaller, or if there were no firearms involved in the clan feuds, it would be better. But if there were a few more instances of clan feuds involving cannons, no one could bear the consequences.
After thinking about it, Liu Huaiwen said, "I think this matter can be accomplished by taking advantage of the opportunity to relocate the populace."
Zeng Cheng was taken aback and asked, "Relocate the populace?"
Liu Huaiwen nodded and said, "Elder Zeng just said that the clan forces are too strong, which is nothing more than the people banding together. Sometimes a household registration book might contain dozens or even hundreds of people."
"Therefore, let's simply induce the people to separate into different households. For example, when relocating the populace in the future, we will directly issue resettlement allowances per household, rather than just per person."
"Many other matters can also be handled in this way. Once there are sufficient benefits, the people will voluntarily separate their households. When it's time for relocation, they will be moved to different places, so that they cannot band together. This matter can be considered partially resolved, right?"
After a brief period of thought, Zeng Cheng nodded and said, "In that case, let's try it out with the people being relocated to India this time."
However, just thinking about relocating the populace to India made Zeng Cheng start to scratch his head.
Just like Zhu Jinsong's headache, Zeng Cheng also realized the biggest problem in the Great Ming now – the uneven distribution of the population. Many places are sparsely populated. Even though the population density in the eighteen provinces of Han is relatively normal, don't forget that there are also a large number of workshops in the eighteen provinces of Han, and these workshops are also short of people!
Thinking of the workshops controlled by the court also crying out for people...
Zeng Cheng really wanted to pull his hair out.
...
Compared to Zeng Cheng and the other bigwigs who were so troubled they wanted to pull their hair out, Zhu Jinsong, the Emperor of the Great Ming, was much more leisurely.
After inviting Louis XVI, George III, Paul I, and Huasheng Dun to a meal, Zhu Jinsong first proposed a new way of playing.
The Great Ming intended to donate a batch of books to Europe, including but not limited to the Four Books and Five Classics, as well as introductory books like "The Classic of Filial Piety," "Three Character Classic," and "Thousand Character Classic."
In addition, the Great Ming also planned to donate a batch of hospitals to Europe and send some doctors there to practice.
Of course, this "Europe" not only referred to France and England, but the entire European region, plus Russia and the foolish eagle.
In other words, the priority was to help fellow "Five Benevolent Ones" like France, England, Russia, and the foolish eagle, and everyone would advance together.
This made Louis XVI and the others deeply moved.
If it were just donating books, it wouldn't be much, but when it involved hospitals and doctors, Louis XVI and the others couldn't help but be moved.
In fact, at this time, Europe, Russia, and the foolish eagle were still practicing bloodletting, and even Huasheng Dun in the original history died from bloodletting.
George III, who originally suffered from madness and even earned the title of "Mad King," has now stabilized considerably after being treated by doctors from the Great Ming.
Otherwise, why would George III directly return India to the Great Ming?
On the one hand, it was because George III knew clearly that England could not compete with the Great Ming in the Far East, and could not afford to fight across the sea. India was definitely indefensible.
On the other hand, it was not necessarily not a gesture of goodwill, hoping that doctors from the Great Ming could save his life – compared to his own life and the lives of his family, what was India?
However, Louis XVI and the others could not guess Zhu Jinsong's deeper thoughts.
Donating some hospitals and doctors, on the surface, was of course beneficial to Europe, Russia, and the foolish eagle, but in unseen corners, this matter had great benefits for the Great Ming.
For example, there were more sources of medicinal materials, and perhaps many unknown medicinal materials would be discovered. These were already negligible benefits.
The real benefit lay in the image of the Great Ming.
Through the students sent to the Great Ming by these countries, combined with the hospitals and doctors donated by the Great Ming, it would be possible to stage a "The Moon of the Great Ming is Rounder" more than a hundred years earlier, thereby cultivating a European version of "rolling the eyeballs" in Europe.
Some people might think that the Moon of the Great Ming was indeed rounder, and Europe itself also envied the Great Ming. Some Ming enthusiasts even wanted to introduce all of the Great Ming's things to Europe, and no longer needed to deliberately cultivate "rolling eyeballs."
In fact, this idea is wrong.
Most of the former Ming enthusiasts were nobles, academicians, and missionaries from Europe. There was a chasm between these people and the common people of Europe. Even if the common people of Europe had heard of and envied the Great Ming, they would still not generate any "rolling eyeballs."
If large numbers of Ming fans cannot be cultivated among the common people of Europe, then even if there are many "rolling eyeballs" among nobles, academicians, and missionaries, their practical significance is not very great.
At the very least, these people might lead the way for the Great Ming, but they might also oppose the Great Ming. After all, they are nobles now, and will continue to be nobles in the future. Who knows what will happen after the Great Ming arrives?
Instead of leading the way for the Great Ming, it would be better to earn money from Europe and then enjoy themselves better in the Great Ming.
If it were the common people of Europe, it would be different.
After all, the common people of Europe were the oppressed side, and they were in opposition to the European governments – as long as they were cultivated properly, it was not impossible for them to hold some referendums or something similar.
Smiling and waving his hand, signaling Louis XVI and the others not to be too moved, Zhu Jinsong then shifted the topic to the wars in Europe.
"If nothing unexpected happens, within one or two years, the Habsburg family will be finished, right?"
Zhu Jinsong asked with a smile, "After the Habsburg family is finished, what are your thoughts? Will it be completely divided, or?"
Louis XVI picked up the hard-pack Quancheng on the table and took a satisfying drag before smiling and saying, "Let's see. Russia will definitely want a share, right?"
Paul I nodded and said, "Of course we have to get a share. Such a large territory, if the few of us divide it up, it should be about right."
Louis XVI chuckled and said, "The few of us? The Great Ming and the foolish eagle are quite far from the Habsburgs, how can we divide it? Should the Great Ming and the foolish eagle get a piece of exclave there?"
Being told this by Louis XVI, Paul I and George III immediately became displeased.
You all know that France likes to grovel and praise the Great Ming, but do you have any shame?
Why bring the Great Ming into European affairs?
Is the Great Ming your biological father?
Alright, even if the Great Ming is your biological father, and you insist on bringing the Great Ming, we won't say anything. After all, the Great Ming is that awesome, and we can't compete with them, so we have to endure when necessary.
But you have to bring the foolish eagle too?
Don't you know that the foolish eagle has a holiday with England, you scoundrel!
However, since Louis XVI had already brought it up, it was indeed difficult for Paul I and George III to say anything more at this time – as long as the Great Ming got an exclave, they couldn't help but let the foolish eagle also pick up some benefits.
After all, they were all "Five Benevolent Ones," and on the surface, they still had to be of one mind.
It's not like everyone can throw a table without any scruples like the Great Ming.
However, what no one expected was that Zhu Jinsong actually smiled and waved his hand, saying, "It makes me happy that you think of the Great Ming when you have benefits, but Europe is too far from the Great Ming. I will not interfere in your affairs."
Louis XVI immediately looked at Zhu Jinsong with a bewildered expression.
Did the Emperor Zhu change his ways?