Chapter 581 0576 [The Bell Rings]

In the winter of the first year of Hongwu, the first snow fell.

The weather was not too cold, but officials could already receive cold weather subsidies.

As a cabinet minister, Zhong Shidao took a carriage to the imperial city, and even he could only use inferior horses to pull the carriage.

The Tiansijian Royal Horse Farm has been restored, but there are only a few hundred horses there, most of which are supplemented from Lanzhou.

The snow is not big, and it melts quickly after landing, and the streets are wet.

Various hawking sounds are heard incessantly, and patrol soldiers are checking along the streets. If they find beggars, they will immediately report to the wing officials. (Patrol soldiers are similar to community police, and they already existed in big cities in the Song Dynasty.)

The wing officials will send people to investigate. If the beggars have families, they will order their families to take good care of them.

Those who have no family or whose families are poor will be temporarily taken over by the charitable institutions, and different arrangements will be made depending on the situation.

Those who are not too old and healthy will be relocated to the northwest frontier.

The elderly or disabled will be adopted by the charitable institutions and arranged for work, usually in the production of military equipment. For example, making ancient compressed biscuits, making vinegar cloth, sewing soldiers' clothes, etc.

The first batch of soldiers' uniforms have been set, and the first priority is to change the uniforms for the capital army.

The style is not too outrageous, only slightly modified from the Song Dynasty's crotchless robe.

This kind of military uniform is very convenient for movement and is the standard uniform for soldiers in the Song Dynasty. But in the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, even the imperial guards may not be issued, at most they will be given a few small coins to let the soldiers make it themselves.

The officers' uniforms are more advanced, but the general styles are not much different.

The hats include futou and lizi, officers wear leather lizi, and soldiers wear straw lizi.

Officers can wear leather shoes, while soldiers wear cloth shoes.

Zhu Guoxiang and Zhu Ming are too lazy to care about the five elements of life and death, and the soldiers' daily clothes are all dyed red.

Zhong Shidao looked at the street scene through the curtain, and he was more satisfied with the current Tokyo.

Although Tokyo used to be prosperous, there were too many beggars in remote corners. In winter, they could not withstand the wind and snow, and some could only freeze to death, or hide in the underground canal and be absorbed by the underground world.

Now the imperial court has set up a special fund to send all the people to the northwest frontier to cultivate the land.

The carriage drove to Donghua Gate, and Zong Shidao got off and went in. After a few steps, he came to the "waiting room".

This is a new rule set recently. Officials from the fourth rank and above can ride in carriages when entering the imperial city to meet, work or attend court. Officials over the age of seventy can also ride in carriages.

On the one hand, it can give officials dignity, and on the other hand, it can improve work efficiency.

The imperial palace has also specially prepared some large carriages that can accommodate twelve people at the same time.

There are already three people in the "waiting room", and they all stand up and bow: "Prime Minister Zong is polite!"

Zong Shidao hurriedly returned the greeting.

Immediately, a female official came to serve tea. It was a female official, not a palace maid.

Although this is the imperial city, it is not the East Palace or the harem, but an office area inside the imperial city.

Based on the principle of not using eunuchs if possible, the servants are all healthy people with clean backgrounds. There were both men and women, and they had special uniforms and badges, and could only move around in certain office areas, and even the cabinet and other institutions were not allowed to approach.

There was a charcoal fire burning in the "waiting room", and there were snacks and hot tea, which was quite comfortable in this winter.

When almost ten people were gathered, there was no more waiting, and all the ministers went to the Political Affairs Hall in a carriage.

Today was not a grand court meeting, but a meeting of important ministers of the cabinet, and some ministers were also invited to participate.

After sitting down in the Political Affairs Hall, another group of ministers came in after waiting for a while, and soon even the prince arrived.

"The emperor is here!"

With several shouts from far and near, all the ministers stood up in unison and bowed to Zhu Guoxiang.

Zhu Guoxiang smiled and said, "Sit down."

"Thank you, sir!" Everyone sat down one after another.

Zhu Guoxiang said, "Let's talk about the Ministry of Revenue first."

Qian Chen stood up and said, "The maritime system is still being revised and should be promulgated after the beginning of spring. The arrears of taxes in Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces have been ordered to be exempted this year. Reliable officials must be arranged as soon as possible to take over the various market supervisions in these places. In particular, the gold, silver and copper supervisions must be changed to minting new Ming coins."

"Is there any difficulty in the Ministry of Personnel?" Zhu Guoxiang asked.

Li Hanzhang replied, "The third batch of officials has been selected, but it snowed today and it will snow heavily soon. I am afraid they will have to wait until the beginning of spring to take office."

Zhu Guoxiang said, "Let them set off immediately and go as far as they can before the heavy snow blocks the road, and try to take over the affairs as soon as possible."

"Yes!" Li Hanzhang accepted the order.

Zhu Guoxiang asked again: "I heard that ministers in the Tang Dynasty could sit down to attend court regularly. Have you found the exact source?"

Meng Zhao replied: "I have read through the Tang Dynasty books, and there is no exact record of the Tang Dynasty's regular court ceremony. But there are some clues between the lines. Tang Dynasty officials often attended court, and officials of the fifth rank and above could sit down."

Zhu Guoxiang nodded and said: "Then restore the Tang system, and officials of the fifth rank and above will be given seats when attending court. Officials below the fifth rank will still stand to attend court."

"Your Majesty is wise!"

The ministers in the government hall immediately shouted that they could all sit down to attend court in the future.

Zhu Guoxiang said again: "Are you preparing for the Spring Ministry of Rites Examination?"

Meng Zhao replied: "It is already in preparation, and the examiners and supervisors must be decided by your majesty himself."

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Now the state affairs are busy, and the important ministers of the cabinet have important tasks. Just find a minister to be the chief examiner, and the chief supervisor will be the censor of the Supervisory Office. The rest of the examiners and supervisors will be selected from the Hanlin scholars."

The Song Dynasty learned from the lessons of the Tang Dynasty's imperial examinations. Officials from the Ministry of Rites could only serve as organizers, that is, preparing and arranging examination rooms and examination numbers, and being responsible for reviewing the qualifications of candidates, etc.

The Ministry of Rites was not allowed to participate in the actual process of setting questions, invigilating exams, marking papers, etc. This rule was also followed by the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Zhu Guoxiang asked again: "Have the uncles and nephews of the Jiangxi Fan family not surrendered yet?"

Zhao Yu, the Minister of the Ministry of War, is a little transparent. He represents the Zhao and Song clan and has no say in the Ming Dynasty. The prince Zhu Ming is more like the Minister of the Ministry of War.

Zhao Yu replied: "Fan's uncle and nephew have occupied the entire territory of Jianzhou. The report a few days ago is that they are also traced at the border of Shaowu Army. The Fujian chief envoy sent people to surrender many times, and Fan's uncle and nephew kept bargaining. He killed too many gentry and monks, and he may have had doubts, fearing that he would be punished after being recruited."

Zhang Gen suddenly said: "If the Fan family does not surrender, Li Bao can be ordered to send troops to fight against it. These uncles and nephews killed innocent people indiscriminately. Their crimes are really serious. If they are caught, they will be sentenced to death. Even if they are willing to recruit people, they cannot be entrusted with heavy responsibilities. It’s a mercy to let them serve as county captains.”

The ministers were convinced that Fan's uncle and nephew were killing landlords in Jianzhou to divide their property. Their methods were much more radical than Ju Ming's, and they were almost as good as Zhong Xiang on Jinghu Road.

But Zhu Ming smiled and said: "Let Li Baoti force them. If they are willing to recruit troops, let them go to the capital. I will come and ask a few questions myself."

Zhang Gen hesitated to speak, and finally said nothing more.

Shi Yuangong also attended the meeting: "The Jin Kingdom migrated a large number of Bohai people and Xi people this year and resettled them in Youyun Prefecture for settlement and cultivation. I heard that the wheat harvest is good, which can be said to be a great increase in national strength!"

The Jin people did not go south this year, mainly because they were digesting their internal affairs.

The Bohai people and the Xi people have always had a tendency to rebel, and this migration can be said to achieve multiple goals. It not only eliminated the hidden danger of rebellion, but also enriched Youyun's population, increased food production, and was more conducive to Jin's recruitment.

The only shortcoming is that the Jin Kingdom's methods of relocating people are extremely rough.

Many resettlement tasks were not done well, resulting in some migrant populations starving to death, or causing famine due to failure to farm in time. Some tribes also rebelled due to lack of food. The Jin Kingdom directly sent troops to suppress them. Anyway, it was enough to kill all the rebels.

Shi Yuangong added: "It is difficult to send detailed work in the Kingdom of Jin. Our detailed work is mainly in the territory of the Pseudo-Song Dynasty. The shaving order of the Jin Kingdom was strictly enforced for about four months. Because too many Han people in the Pseudo-Song Dynasty fled, they entered After Qiu, it was slightly relaxed. Now the officials of the pseudo-Song Dynasty were forced to shave their heads and change their clothes. Even the emperor of the pseudo-Song Dynasty had his hair shaved."

Huan Guo sarcastically said: "How can the pseudo-Song monarchs and ministers who shave their heads and have their heads shaved to the left have any trace of Han family style left?"

After talking about many military and political affairs to let the ministers know more about the situation in the country, the enlarged cabinet meeting came to an end.

Zhu Ming called Zhang Bor to leave together, and whispered: "Although Shandong has stabilized, some of the bandit generals who were recruited for peace were dissatisfied when reorganizing the army. After the spring, I will personally visit Shandong. You can arrange the route when you go back."

"Yes!" Zhang Bor accepted the order with his hands raised.

Today, the number of firearms workshops has increased to ten. In particular, the Xuzhou Firearms Factory has just started construction, but as long as the craftsmen can become proficient, the firearms output can quickly increase.

By next summer, there should be 3,000 musketeers, and the number of artillery can also be increased a lot.

It's just that the newly trained musketeers and artillerymen will definitely have to slowly adapt to this thing.

Hua Rong has returned to Kaifeng with the Shenji Battalion, and the number of soldiers has also reached 3,500. Half of the soldiers had no weapons and had to borrow muskets from veterans for training.

Saltpeter has also been included in the scope of the franchise this year and requires a license from the court. Merchants can only operate with a franchise license. And priority must be given to supplying gunpowder factories, and the rest can be sold to private customers.

"Dangdangdangdang..."

Bells suddenly sounded from two areas on the left and right of the city.

"Why are there bells ringing at this time? Go and have a look." As soon as Huan Guo left the palace, he heard the big noise.

Not only him, but other officials and people also followed the direction of the bell to see the excitement.

From a distance, you can see the four-sided clock of the Bell and Drum Tower. This thing has been repaired for half a year, and the big bell has only been installed in the past few days.

There has been one in Daqing Hall for a long time, but it is small and does not have four sides.

Countless people look up at the four-sided clock. Currently, there is only an hour hand and no minute hand, so it is difficult to feel the movement of the hour hand. And it cannot tell the time automatically, so people have to ring the bell when the time comes.

Huan Guo raised his head and looked at it, stroking his beard and smiling: "This thing is very good. It is more convenient than making a sundial."

The clock face is inlaid with Arabic numerals, and Ju Ming is using the clock to promote this thing.

There are also notices posted below the bell tower to teach people how to tell the time.

I just heard a scholar read: "This big clock divides morning and evening, and one hour is one hour. The vertical one is one, and the earlier one is 'Zi Chu'. The one that looks like a duck is two, and two o'clock early is 'Zi Zheng'..." …”

In the Song Dynasty, the twelve hours were refined into twenty-four hours.

For example, the hour of Zishi is divided into two hours: Zichu and Zizheng.

In order to adapt to people's habits, Ju Ming moved the modern hour as a whole by one hour.

In Ju Ming's version of the clock, "1 o'clock" is directly above "12 o'clock", but it represents "11 o'clock" in modern time.

It seems complicated to modern people, but it was very intuitive to ancient people.

When the hour hand moves to a point directly above, the beginning of Zi hour (or the beginning of Noon hour) begins. When the hour hand reaches the two o'clock position, the middle hour (or noon hour) begins.

The beheading will be carried out at three quarters in the afternoon, and preparations can be made when the bell rings.

On the first day when the four-faced clock started to tell time, groups of people came to watch the fun.

Some people even stood there and looked up from time to time to observe, and found that the hour hand was indeed moving slowly.

It has become the number one attraction in Tokyo!