Hearing Zhu Yijun's words, Pan Jixun was stunned. Flood control?
There didn't seem to be any places that needed to be controlled in recent years.
They didn't see any floods or disasters anywhere. Was there a need to mobilize so many people?
Pan Jixun didn't know, but Zhu Yijun did. From now on, the court would have to spend a large sum of money on disaster relief every year.
Drought, flood, earthquake, and locust plague didn't stop for a single day. Compared to other disasters, floods were the most damaging. Since ancient times, water and fire were merciless.
Drought or locust plague, the only solution was food. Zhu Yijun felt that he could definitely get enough food.
But floods couldn't. Once a flood happened, with the disaster relief ability of this era, it would be too late.
As for earthquakes, they couldn't be predicted or prevented.
Another key point was Pan Jixun. Zhu Yijun thought that the flood control had a lot to do with Pan Jixun.
After all, there weren't many people in history who could control floods like Pan Jixun.
Since the weather was still good and Pan Jixun wasn't old, it was a good opportunity to control the flood.
Of course, Zhu Yijun also planned to use the flood control to do something else, but it wasn't suitable for Pan Jixun to know.
Seeing that Pan Jixun didn't speak, Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "I'm going to give you the title of River Governor, Minister of Processing, and Right Imperial Censor of the Imperial Censorate. You will patrol the rivers of the world."
When this official title came out, Pan Jixun was shocked.
In fact, the River Governor was a very important official position. It could be traced back to the Yongle period. But at that time, officials were sent to control the rivers. Most of the time, it was the Minister who was in charge. Later, it was the Assistant Minister and Imperial Censor.
In the Chenghua period, there was a River Governor stationed in Jining, Shandong. The first River Governor was the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Works, Wang Shu.
When the country was founded, the Yellow River was less of a threat. The court also had the Governor in charge of river affairs.
When there was a flood, the Minister in charge of the river was temporarily sent to control it. After the matter was over, he left.
In the Zhengde period, it was the Imperial Censor.
During the reign of Jiajing, he was given the title of Minister of Processing or Assistant Minister of the Imperial Censor. During the reign of Longqing, he was given the position of Commandant of Military Affairs. In the fifth year of the reign of Wanli, he was changed to Commandant of Rivers and Commandant of Military Affairs. At that time, the River Governor's power was at its peak. However, in the eighth year of the reign of Wanli, the River Governor's yamen was abolished.
As a river official, Pan Jixun knew this very well.
Now that he heard that the Emperor was going to make him the Governor of the River Valley and even give him the title of Minister of Works, as well as the Left Deputy Imperial Censor of the Imperial Censorate, it was clear that this was no small matter.
If these nominal titles reflected the importance that the emperor attached to this matter, then there was a problem with the inspection of the rivers under the sky, and it was a big problem.
Patrolling on behalf of the Emperor was equivalent to an imperial envoy, leading the Emperor to inspect the rivers of the world. This power and responsibility was very heavy!
"Ever since the Daming Empire was founded, he has never thoroughly investigated the rivers in the world. I want you to do this."
Zhu Yijun looked at Pan Jixun and said, "Draw a map of the Daming River."
"Draw the main rivers of the world on it, and I will send enough people for you."
"At the same time, I also hope that you will inspect the rivers of the world and see where it needs to be repaired and rebuilt. The people of the Daming Empire have suffered from floods for a long time.
Every time there is a flood, countless people are hurt, and the property of the people is destroyed. The people are destitute and homeless, and they have to exchange their children for food. This is not what I want to see. "
"The Daming Empire should not be like this. My Empire should not be like this."
Pan Jixun opened his mouth and his expression was very serious, but his trembling body showed his excitement.
In reality, Pan Jixun had encountered countless difficulties when he was successful in controlling the flood.
Not having the support of the court was the biggest difficulty Pan Jixun had encountered. Other difficulties could be overcome, but this was not possible.
After seeing the heavy losses of the people after the flood, Pan Jixun was very obsessed with repairing the rivers. Now that he heard Zhu Yijun's words, it was impossible for Pan Jixun not to be excited.
This was an achievement that would last for thousands of years. If he could achieve it with his own hands, then his life would not be in vain.
"Your Majesty, are you serious?" Pan Jixun stood up excitedly and asked with a trembling voice.
Zhu Yijun could see that Pan Jixun was really excited, or he would never say something like this.
Nodding seriously, Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "It is the responsibility of the court to build irrigation works, build canals, and control the flood."
"Even if it is ten or twenty years, I will keep going, as long as I am alive."
"You don't need to worry about money and food. I can't say much, but three million taels of silver a year, it can only be more, not less.
But you have to make sure that the money is spent in the right place. If it is spent in other places, I will not let it go easily. "
Pan Jixun knelt on the ground and said loudly, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will do this for you even if I have to sacrifice my life."
Reaching out his hand to help Pan Jixun up, Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "I will wait for that day. When you do it, I will hold a feast for you and write a book for you. I will make sure that the people of the future will remember what you have done."
Pan Jixun left with an excited heart, while Zhu Yijun fell into a long silence.
Compared to Pan Jixun's simple plan to control the rivers, Zhu Yijun had more ideas.
Zhu Yijun had thought about the original intention of controlling the rivers for the people, but more importantly, he wanted to eliminate the possibility of a rebellion.
His plan to distribute grain to the government and the gentry, as well as the commercial tax, would offend the gentry.
The number of people who were dissatisfied with him would definitely increase, and some ambitious people might jump out.
At this time, stabilizing the people at the lower levels became the key. If there were no people involved, it would be called a rebellion. If there were people involved, it would be called an uprising.
There was no rebellion that could not be quelled, but it would be much more troublesome to quell an uprising.
Through the construction of irrigation works to avoid floods, increase the area of land for irrigation, and stabilize grain production, these were all to deal with future disasters.
Although he could go to Southeast Asia to rob grain, it was limited. Daming so many people, so many people, was not a long-term solution!
Moreover, once a natural disaster broke out, what if the grain could not be transported in?
Maintaining stability was the first priority.
The people's lives were stable. Even if a natural disaster broke out, with the aid of disaster relief, the situation would be stabilized to the greatest extent.
At that time, even if there were ambitious people who wanted to rebel, not many people would follow them.
What he had done had touched too many people. If he continued according to the historical process and did not change, Zhu Yijun felt that he would definitely be blown away by his own little wings.
Of course, there were considerations for the people in this.
Let them live and work in peace, let them produce more grain, and live a good life.
But Zhu Yijun himself did not know how much of this thought accounted for in this decision. It was definitely not a lot.
After settling Pan Jixun's matter, Zhu Yijun's matters for this year were considered done. He could now wait for the New Year in peace.
Zhu Yijun had already experienced this kind of New Year for more than 10 years. It was nothing new.
This was supposed to be another peaceful New Year. But when Zhu Yijun saw a New Year gift, Zhu Yijun instantly lost his calm. His good mood was swept away, and he even wanted to kill someone.
There were two things in the box in front of Zhu Yijun. Zhu Yijun was very familiar with these two things.
The one on the left was a plant's leaf. It was already dry, and Zhu Yijun immediately knew what it was.
He had seen this many times in his previous life. It was tobacco, and it looked like it was flue-cured tobacco.
In his previous life, everyone smoked cigarettes. But in the countryside, there were still many old people who smoked tobacco leaves.
Zhu Yijun's grandfather in his previous life was one of these old people. He used to roll his own paper and sometimes used a tobacco pipe. But this was the tobacco he smoked.
If this thing made Zhu Yijun annoyed, then the thing beside it made Zhu Yijun afraid.
In Zhu Yijun's eyes, that pitch-black lump was like a demon.
That was the Great Smoke Paste!
This was what the old people in the countryside called it in the past. Zhu Yijun had seen the old people in the countryside growing one or two plants in a pot.
If they were old and had an incurable disease, they would use this to relieve the pain.
The method was also very simple. Basically, they just had to roll it in a cigarette and smoke it.
In fact, Zhu Yijun was more used to another name for it: Opium!
When it came to opium, there was no one in China who did not know about it. It was all because opium had caused great harm to the people.
No one would forget the Opium War. That period of history was also engraved in people's bones.
Zhu Yijun listened to Zhang Jing explain how to use this thing and how to roll it and smoke it. Zhu Yijun's face was frighteningly gloomy.
Before he transmigrated, Zhu Yijun had heard that the Wanli Emperor smoked a lot of cigarettes. Many people said that the Wanli Emperor had this habit.
The Wanli Emperor's excuse for going to court was dizziness and blurred vision. In fact, the main reason was that he had overindulged in debauchery and was addicted to opium.
In 1958, after the Ding Mausoleum was excavated, scientists conducted tests on the Wanli Emperor's body and found that his bones contained morphine.
Before this, Zhu Yijun had been busy with these things. He really did not expect such a thing, or rather, he did not have time to deal with it.
But now that this thing was placed in front of Zhu Yijun, he was shocked.
Glancing at Zhang Jing, Zhu Yijun asked in a deep voice, "You said that this thing was presented by the eunuch guarding Nanjing?"
"Your Majesty, it was presented by the eunuch guarding Nanjing, Cui Fu."
Zhang Jing had already realized that something was wrong. The emperor's voice was very cold. He quickly lowered his head and cursed Cui Fu in his heart. You are cheating people!
"You said that this is' black incense '?" When he asked this question, Zhu Yijun's voice was even colder.
In fact, black incense had been recorded for a long time. In the past, when the tribute system had not collapsed, Siam and Java would pay tribute every year. However, after the imperial court reduced the tribute, it had basically disappeared in recent years.
Obviously, Cui Fu had gotten these things. This time, it was clear that he had come to please him.
However, his flattery was destined to fall on the horse's hoof. Glancing at Zhang Jing, Zhu Yijun said coldly, "Send an edict to Xu De. Ask him to find out where this thing came from and how it was sent to me."