The 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, Fuzhou, Fujian.

Emperor Longwu Zhu Yujian had just received the news from Gao Jie that the capital city of Guangzhou had been captured. The army under Gao Jie had taken control of the entire Guangdong Province. After the Spring Festival, they would set off in the direction of Guangxi.

Ordinarily, Zhu Yujian should be happy to receive such a report, but there was no smile on his face. Gao Jie also mentioned in the memorial that Guangdong Province is generally barren, and even Guangzhou Prefecture is not much better. The rogue bandit Zhang Xianzhong

When they plundered Guangdong Province, they plundered a lot of wealth and destroyed many cities. As a result, the people and farmers in Guangdong Province were unable to relax. Moreover, many officials in Guangdong Province were missing, and soon they were missing.

It is possible that Zhang Xianzhong abandoned his official position and returned to his hometown to avoid the rogue bandit Zhang Xianzhong. What's even more terrible is that Zhang Xianzhong nominally occupied Guangdong Province, but he did not really control Guangdong Province. Therefore, officials at all levels were left to their own devices, depending on the local situation.

Very confusing.

Gao Jie's report severely damaged Zhu Yujian's plan to move the capital to Guangzhou.

Liu Zeqing, the commander-in-chief of Zhejiang, and Liu Liangzuo, the commander-in-chief of Shanxi, who were entrenched in Zhejiang, still did not take any action and did not mention the expedition against the rogue Zhang Xianzhong at all. This made Zhu Yujian quite angry, but there was nothing he could do.

Zhu Yujian knew very well that if Gao Jie alone relied on Gao Jie to defeat the bandit Zhang Xianzhong, it would be almost impossible to win. If Zhang Xianzhong tried his best and Gao Jie could not support him, he would probably suffer a disastrous defeat. After all, the Daxi Army under Zhang Xianzhong was known to have millions of soldiers, and even more

The terrible thing is that Liu Zeqing and Liu Liangzuo did not move, so Zhang Xianzhong could concentrate his troops to deal with Gao Jie.

Zhu Yujian realized more clearly that the power that the Longwu court could rely on was pitifully small, and there was currently no army that could be controlled. Although Gao Jie wrote a memorial to show his loyalty, what would happen when he actually faced Gao Jie?

No one can explain the situation clearly.

The thorn in Zhu Yujian's heart has always been there. Although Zuo Mengeng has been killed, what Zuo Menggen said is by no means groundless. If Gao Jie really surrenders to the Wu court, then the Longwu court will lose the most important thing.

The reliance is still directly controlled by the Zheng family and Pinglu Marquis Zheng Zhilong.

Slowly putting down the memorial, Zhu Yujian stood up and prepared to go to the harem.

"Your Majesty, Mr. Huang, the chief minister of the cabinet, would like to see you..."

Zhu Yujian was surprised by the guard's report. Today was New Year's Eve and all the officials had taken a break. Huang Daozhou came to see what was going on at this time.

Zhu Yujian had no concept of celebrating the New Year. He had too many things on his mind and had no intention of celebrating the Spring Festival.

Huang Daozhou's hometown is in Zhangzhou, Fujian. He can go home during the Chinese New Year. Zhu Yujian also specifically asked Huang Daozhou to take a break during the Spring Festival and go home to see him.

When Huang Daozhou entered the hall, Zhu Yujian had a smile on his face.

"I pay my respects to the Emperor, wish him good health, and wish me a speedy recovery tomorrow..."

Zhu Yujian was naturally happy to hear such auspicious words on the 30th of the twelfth lunar month.

"Sir Huang, I want to thank you for your blessings. Today is New Year's Eve and thousands of families are reunited. I have already told you to go back to your hometown to celebrate the New Year and take advantage of this time to have a good rest. What do you think?

Still in Fuzhou..."

Huang Daozhou clasped his fist at Zhu Yujian again.

"Your Majesty has been working hard at night to restore the Ming Dynasty. How can I dare to slack off? My family is just a small family. There will be no eggs left after the nest is overturned. I will do my best to restore the Ming Dynasty. Everyone is safe. My family is small.

Only then could it be preserved..."

Zhu Yujian was a little moved by Huang Daozhou's words.

In fact, many ministers in the DPRK have stayed in Fuzhou. Ma Shiying, who has just been appointed as the Second Assistant to the Cabinet, is from Guiyang Prefecture in Guizhou. The distance is a bit far away and the journey is not peaceful. It is impossible to go home for the New Year. There is also the Cabinet

Minister Ruan Dacheng is from Anqing Prefecture in Nanzhili, and it is even impossible for him to return to his hometown to celebrate the New Year.

Although the Spring Festival has arrived, these ministers are still busy and have no rest.

"I know Mr. Huang's loyalty. I have been thinking about regaining the Ming Dynasty. More than half a year has passed with little success. I don't know what to do. Since Mr. Huang has not gone home to celebrate the New Year, let's take a look.

It’s the memorial just sent by Governor Gao.”

While Zhu Yujian was talking, he handed the memorial on the imperial case to Huang Daozhou.

Huang Daozhou took the memorial and read it carefully, his face as calm as water.

"Your Majesty, I believe that what Governor Gao said must be true. Guangdong Province is remote and has always been barren, and cannot be compared with Fujian. I have heard in the past that Guangzhou Prefecture is slightly better, but the rogue bandit Zhang Xianzhong is rampant.

They plundered Guangdong Province and plundered a large amount of money and grain, causing the people and farmers to fall into difficulties. Governor Gao regained the entire Guangdong Province and the pressure he endured was huge."

"I believe that the emperor should issue an order to Governor Gao to make decisions on the affairs of officials at all levels in Guangdong Province. No matter what, the officials at all levels must do their work in a down-to-earth manner. The emperor can send some officials to enter Guangdong Province.

Province, as long as the government at all levels can manage the people well, the entire Guangdong Province will be able to stabilize quickly..."

Huang Daozhou said nothing about moving the capital, but he made the most important suggestion, which was to send officials.

As long as the imperial court sends a large number of officials to Guangdong Province to serve as the chief officials of the provincial capitals and counties, the imperial court will be able to truly control Guangdong Province. In time, when the stability of Guangdong Province is restored, the imperial court can consider moving the capital.

Zhu Yujian nodded slightly, with a smile on his face again.

"Lord Huang is right. I will give an order to Governor Gao right now. After the Spring Festival, I will send officials to Guangdong Province."

Putting down the memorial in his hand, Zhu Yujian looked at Huang Daozhou and spoke again.

"In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, the imperial court held the joint examination and the palace examination. I was wondering if the imperial court would open Enke, conduct provincial examinations, joint examinations and palace examinations, and find a large number of talents for the imperial court..."

Huang Daozhou was stunned for a moment. Of course he understood what the emperor meant. The Great Wu Court was already conducting the imperial examination. I heard that many scholars were participating in the examination. Seeing that all the scholars in the world were being won over by the Great Wu Court, if the Longwu Court did not have any

expressed that there may really be no talent left in the end.

However, the strength of the Longwu court was not comparable to that of the Wu court. The Wu court controlled the entire north, as well as southern Zhili and Jiangxi. What the Longwu court could really control was Fujian, plus Zhejiang province.

The province of Guangdong is not included for the time being. To put it bluntly, the strength of the Longwu Imperial Court is not even as strong as the Daxi Dynasty founded by the rogue Zhang Xianzhong.

Under such circumstances, if the imperial court holds the imperial examination, how many scholars can come to participate?

As the chief minister of the cabinet, Huang Daozhou had never thought about the imperial examination at all. If he was not strong enough, he would be very likely to humiliate himself by holding the imperial examination rashly.

But it is definitely not appropriate to express opposition directly.

After a few minutes of silence, Zodiac Zhou spoke.

"Your Majesty, I believe that the cabinet can consider the matter of the imperial examination, but this matter is not the most important matter. After the beginning of the new year, the court will mainly focus on the situation in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, and consider sending officials to Guangdong Province.

There are enough officials in the DPRK and central government, and some need to be sent out. Regarding the tax collection by Guangdong Province and Guangxi Province, the cabinet still needs to come up with specific regulations..."

Huang Daozhou's words made Zhu Yujian look a little sad.

Not only did the Longwu court not have an army under its own control, it also had very little money. Most of the money to maintain the court's expenses came from the Zheng family, which also gave the court no confidence.

If agricultural taxes can be collected in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, then the court will have real money and grain that can be controlled, and it can barely maintain the court's expenses without having to act based on other people's faces.

"Master Huang is right, but I am a little impatient. I will temporarily put aside the matter of the imperial examination. I will give it some thought to the matter of dispatching officials to Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. As for the collection of agricultural taxes,

I think we should be cautious. In Guangdong and Guangxi, we have encountered the persecution of the bandit Zhang Xianzhong. The people and farmers are already poor. Under such circumstances, we need to rest with the people instead of immediately collecting taxes. The court can save some and try its best.

Reduce overhead..."

Huang Daozhou's expression also dimmed. Matters concerning people's livelihood are already very complicated. For more than half a year, he has tried his best, but the effect is not very good. The agricultural taxes collected by Fujian are pitiful, and the taxes collected by governments at all levels are pitiful.

At that time, Zheng Zhilong, the Marquis of Pinglu, was still somewhat opposed and hindered officials at all levels. Zhejiang Province was relatively wealthy. However, after Ma Shiying, the governor of Zhejiang, came to serve in the imperial court, he lost control of Zhejiang Province. The person who currently controls the situation in Zhejiang is

Commander-in-Chief Liu Zeqing doesn't care about the Longwu court, he only thinks about strengthening his own strength.

If taxes are not collected for a long time, the court will have no source of income, and it will definitely be in trouble and be controlled by others.

This situation must be broken.

"Your Majesty, I understand. I will definitely pay attention to this matter of collecting agricultural taxes. I will discuss it in detail with my colleagues in the cabinet and come up with the best terms..."

After Huang Daozhou left, Zhu Yujian let out a long sigh, stood up, and went to the harem.

There were too many things to consider. Even though Zhu Yujian was ambitious and capable, he was helpless in the face of such a situation. If the situation could not be clarified quickly, there would still be no improvement in the coming year. The Longwu court would have no way to deal with Da Wu.
Chapter completed!