First Minister of Ming Dynasty

Zhang Ximeng said: "Since a few years ago, when the fields were just divided, water conservancy was built...At the same time, the Lord encouraged the planting of fruit trees and hemp. In terms of the amount of grain produced, the impact is not great. But in other places, floods are more important, and there is no one to manage them. In addition, wars are frequent, and the people of the people are in dire straits, suffering from misery!"

Zhang Ximeng paused and said: "When the world is unified in the future, we must devote all our efforts to harnessing the Yellow River and planting trees in the Central Plains to preserve water and soil. This disaster cannot continue."

Several people nodded together.

Zhang Ximeng said again: "It's just what should we do now? Liu Futong is indeed short of food, but no matter how much food he buys, he will probably use it for the Northern Expedition, and he doesn't care about the lives of the people."

Zhu Sheng frowned, and suddenly said: "Then force Liu Futong to manage the people... If we sell him [-] shi of grain, we have to spend [-] shi to help the people and control the flood! If he doesn't listen, we won't sell the grain !"

Chapter 228 Exams are a beautiful thing

After hearing Zhu Sheng's words, Zhang Ximeng laughed... This old man is always resourceful and thoughtful, how could he come up with such an unreliable idea.

Even if Liu Futong agrees, it's useless!

How can they supervise?

Send someone there?

Isn't this the same as a joke!

Seeing that Zhang Ximeng had other thoughts, Zhu Sheng also smiled, "Mr. Zhang, do you think the old man is confused?"

Zhang Ximeng waved his hands again and again, "Mr. Fenglin's love for the people is well known, and it's better if we say it than not, right?"

Zhu Sheng chuckled, "That's right, in fact, as long as Liu Futong can make the matter public, it's enough for the people below to know. As for whether he distributes food to the people, I don't really care much."

Zhang Ximeng lowered his head and frowned. After thinking about it for a while, he understood Zhu Sheng's intention... This old man is really bad.

In fact, judging from Liu Futong's current situation, he wants to send troops to the Northern Expedition, but he is short of food. The farther he goes, the more food he will consume, which is almost an exponential increase.

In this case, Liu Futong would agree no matter how excessive the conditions were.

In fact, he came here to be slaughtered.

At this time, Zhu Jiajun proposed to take care of the people and distribute food to the people. .

Liu Futong complied, because he paid for it, and Zhu Jiajun won the hearts of the people.

He obediently obeyed, and the common people could not get food, and their grievances would fall on Liu Futong.

No matter what, Zhu Jiajun has won, and it's hard to win.

This old man Zhu Sheng is simply a thousand-year-old fox, and no one can escape his schemes.

"Hey, it must be the old man's scheming. It's just that the current society is falling apart and the people are displaced. To end the troubled times, unify the country, and save the people from the fire and water, you have to be superior. We also want to unify the world as soon as possible!"

Zhu Sheng's words attracted Jia Lu's approval. With tears in his eyes, he sighed softly: "There are still some shortcomings in the governance of the Yellow River. If the superior can unify the world as soon as possible, the old man can take care of the rest before closing his eyes." After the work is done, even if you die, you will gain! Otherwise, leaving the Yellow River as a disaster, I will not be reconciled!"

Jia Lu was very worried. He was really afraid that his old bones would not wait for that day.

Zhang Ximeng told Zhu Yuanzhang about the results of several people's discussions, especially his views on the floods in the Central Plains. After hearing this, Lao Zhu immediately looked solemn and worried.

"It's so serious? So, even if we gather the strength of the whole country in the future, it will be difficult to solve the flood?"

Zhang Ximeng pondered: "It may not be difficult to repair the dams and prevent the Yellow River from flooding, but it may not be successful in the next few decades to control the sandstorm and salinity and restore people's livelihood. Have the opportunity."

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't speak, just stood up silently, pondered for a long time, he turned around suddenly, and when he came again, there were more children in his arms.

Lao Zhu carried him to the desk, then grabbed the little guy's hand, and slowly wrote two words on the paper with a brush: water control!

Zhu Yuanzhang grinned, "My good son, you have to remember that your father failed to manage the Yellow River well, so you have to continue... Our Zhu family, for generations, must manage the Yellow River well. We came from a humble background. God has given us a chance, we can't live up to our destiny, we should be ashamed of our hearts!"

Zhu Yuanzhang babbled, talking to his son.

Zhu Biao was just over one year old, how could he understand these things, he just called "Daddy", which made old Zhu Xi smile.

Saying these words to a kid is simply out of his mind. Is Zhu Yuanzhang crazy?

Obviously, this eldest son has an unusual position in Lao Zhu's heart. Although children are the continuation of their parents' lives, there is no doubt that Zhu Biao is the orthodox one. He compares.

Zhang Ximeng understood Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts very well, but he also knew that even if Zhu Biao could grow up smoothly and succeed Old Zhu, he might not be able to surpass his father.

Maybe when this kid grows up, there will be a situation where everyone is in charge. After all, Lao Zhu is the only one.

The most important thing is to cultivate more talents. Only by forming a strong enough talent team, possessing new ideas, accepting new concepts, and being able to actively continue the concept of governing the country, can the future be expected.

Thinking of this, Zhang Ximeng couldn't help laughing.

Li Shanchang is really good at calculating, he proposed to the chief grain officer.

This hand is simply wonderful.

Since Zhang Ximeng, Song Lian and others controlled the academy and mastered the cultivation of talents, it would be difficult for Li Shanchang to expand his influence no matter how hard he tried.

That being the case, then introduce a brand new force, use the food leaders from all over the country, and occupy a high position.

These people were promoted by him at his suggestion, and they worked for the sixth department, who would dare not listen to him!

Moreover, those who can be food managers are all rich in food and rich in food, and at the very least they are rich households. If we draw them over and echo each other from afar, there is hope for some things to relive old dreams.

It has to be said that Lao Li's calculation is shrewd.

It is a pity that he met Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Ximeng.

Lao Zhu directly came to take an exam... These people were not directly promoted by you, Li Shanchang, they had to pass the exam.

And how to take the exam fell into Zhang Ximeng's hands.

This is not just as simple as adding an extra procedure, but a major matter involving the selection criteria.

Soon there was an order that the [-] grain chiefs who were the first to send the grain to Jinling should get ready to go to the academy and accept the assessment.

This order was quickly passed on to those food chiefs who entered Jinling first.

Among them, "Jiang Ke", who ranked third, naturally couldn't run away, and also received orders.

She took the order and was a little dizzy.

How can this be good?

"Uncle Qi, do you think I can not go?"

Lao Qi grinned wryly, "Girl, this is an order, not an invitation, so don't be afraid."

It turned out that the head of the Jiang family was not Jiang Ke, but Jiang Nan who came here for her brother. She was worried, "Seventh Uncle, the imperial examinations are all about verifying one's integrity. If I go, I'm going to reveal my truth!"

Lao Qi was stunned, and really shook his head, "Girl, you are worrying too much. I have inquired about it. People say that the superior regards the grain chief as an official position, which means that he has become an official. Since he is an official, there is no need to search him so carefully. This time It belongs to the test officials. There are only thirty people, and the superiors will personally invigilate the exam... It sounds like a palace exam, and if you pass the exam, you will be a disciple of the Son of Heaven!"

Jiang Nan couldn't help laughing bitterly, "He's a disciple of Duke Wu, not a disciple of the Son of Heaven!"

"It's the same, sooner or later!" Uncle Qi said with a smile, appearing full of confidence.

Jiang Nan became more and more worried, "If this is the case, then you can't go, it's a crime of deceiving the emperor!"

Uncle Qi was also taken aback, is that really the case?

He was still a little regretful, and couldn't help but said: "Girl, you transported tax and food all the way without leaking, especially when you delivered an extra thousand shi in advance, it was really leak-proof. Even if it is the young master who does things, you may not be there careful."

Jiang Nan's brows twitched, his face flushed, a girl was naturally happy to get Uncle Qi's affirmation.

But no matter how happy she is, as a daughter, she ran to take the exam of the Academy of Sciences, if her identity was revealed, there would be endless troubles.

She thought about it for a long time, and decided to write a document and hand it to the academy to explain the matter clearly, so don't make up her own mind and cause trouble for the family.

After Jiang Nan finished writing, he told Uncle Qi repeatedly that he must send it to the Academy.Then she was ready to go home.

Forewarned is forearmed, without prejudging the waste.

She had just escorted the grain into Jinling. Although she had already prepared [-]% more, due to the rain on the road, several carts of tax grain were wet.

Jiang Nan felt that it might not be possible to send it to the granary smoothly, so she specifically asked Uncle Qi to buy an extra thousand shi to be prepared.

And it is.

Harvesting and storing grain is not that simple.

In order to preserve for a long time, all the grains in the granary are shelled grains. This can be seen from the grains found in the Hanjia warehouse. After more than 1000 years, it can still germinate, which is a miracle.

The harvested grain cannot be stored for a long time if it is piled up casually.

First of all, large-scale granaries must be kept dry. Without so many advanced means, they can only use earthen methods, digging cellars for storage, and first choose places with higher terrain to avoid groundwater.

After the cellar is dug, it should be dried with fire first, and then the plant ash should be spread on the bottom of the cellar, and wooden planks should be laid on top of the cellar, mats should be laid on top of the planks, and mats should be laid on the mats, and the cellar walls should also be sandwiched between two layers of mats. A layer of bran, so that grain can be filled inside, and the pit mouth must be carefully sealed and covered with soil.

All in all, we must try our best to preserve food.

As long as there is a little negligence, it is easy to cause a pit of grain to rot.

This is just the part of the cellar. In fact, the most important thing is to keep the grain dry and reduce the moisture as much as possible when harvesting the grain...

For this reason, Zhang Ximeng designed a set of methods for assessing the moisture content of grain for the granary.

The first thing is to make two wooden boxes that can hold five stones of grain and put them on a special balance.

On one side is the grain that has met the storage standards, and on the other side, five stones are randomly extracted from the grain transported and poured into wooden boxes.

If the two sides are balanced, it means that the grain sent is qualified, and if the grain sent is heavy, it means that the water content is too large.

Pay attention to one thing. In ancient times, stones were often used to measure food, and this stone can also be converted into how many catties... But this is not rigorous. In fact, stone is a volume unit. One stone is equal to ten buckets. Dou is the kind of wooden square box. It's a bucket full.

If you want to bully people, make the fight bigger, and you can cheat more food. The landlord cheats people, so there is a saying that big fights come in and small fights come out.

The same volume, if the humidity is too high, it will naturally be heavy, and such grains do not meet the storage standards.

However, if the moisture content of the grain is found to be too high, the next step is to take a bucket of grain, put it in a wooden box prepared in advance, and dry it with a stove at a certain distance.

Once the grain is no longer steaming, recalculate the weight and get an approximate moisture content.

Although Zhu Jiajun is very kind to the people, he is also very strict in his work. The moisture content of the food is too high, and it will rot and deteriorate after being put into the warehouse. This is absolutely unacceptable.

Jiang Nan was ranked behind the top ten when she arrived in Jinling, but because she purchased a batch of grain preparations in advance, she surpassed the people in front and ranked third, allowing the taxed grain to be put into the warehouse smoothly.

Thinking of this, Jiang Nan was quite satisfied. Anyway, this trip to Jinling should be over.

But just when she was about to return, the academy suddenly sent a document.

"This test does not restrict men and women. Please take the test on time and make no mistakes!"

Chapter 229 Old Zhu is also in trouble

Jiang Nan was dizzy, she didn't know how she entered the examination room, and she didn't know how she got out, but she just felt that there were so many trees in the academy, and the cicadas on the trees were really annoying.

She filled up the examination papers desperately, then hurriedly handed in, and was the first to escape from the examination room... When she came out of the examination room, she suddenly smiled. In the past, she had also seen some women disguised as men, going to school, and even Participating in the drama of the imperial examination.

But drama is drama after all, not reality.

How could a woman take the imperial examination?

Even if the knowledge is good enough and the ability is great enough, there is absolutely no chance.

This time, the bachelor's college exam was simply an accident.

If the eldest brother's leg was not injured, he might be able to get an official job if he came to participate. I don't even think about it, I just play around, take a good look at Jinling, and then go home.

Jiang Nan simply let herself go, wandered around, visited places of interest, tasted gourmet dishes, and she had no taboos. After all, she even went to such a sacred place as the examination room, so what else could stop her?

After a few days, Jiang Nan suddenly gained a lot of weight, and her face became much rounder.

Ask yourself, nothing can scare her anymore.

Jiang Nan couldn't imagine that around her, Zhu Jiajun's big shots were caught in a dilemma.

Earlier, Zhang Ximeng had imagined that a woman would be an official, but to be honest, even Mrs. Ma thought it was impossible.

It is not a problem for women to read and write, and to care for their husbands and children. It is said that a woman's lack of talent is virtue, and that is not to make women blind.

The wife of a wealthy family must be knowledgeable about books and etiquette, and understand the world affairs in order to deal with all kinds of things calmly. If she is too vulgar and rude, she will embarrass her husband, and she may even be divorced.

But it is completely impossible for women to come out to do things, or even enter the court as officials.

Even though hundreds of people were admitted in the previous imperial examinations, there was not a single woman.

Because there is no such soil at all.

Not to mention the layers of resistance, but the women themselves, how many people are willing to come out to take the exam, and dare to show their faces?

So for a time even Mrs. Ma gave up hope. She just wanted to set up a girls' school and let the girls read and write.But who would have expected that there would be a female food chief who replaced her elder brother, and she performed well when paying taxes and food, she was a capable girl.

When Ma heard the news, he immediately put pressure on Zhu Yuanzhang, even at the expense of turning against Lao Zhu.

"No matter what, she must be allowed to take the bachelor's college exam, otherwise, otherwise, don't sleep in my room!"

Lao Zhu was mercilessly threatened, "Sister, don't make trouble, she is a girl, how can she be an official? It won't work!"