The officialdom is like this, it never talks about conditions, the only thing it emphasizes is that a higher rank suppresses a lower one.
Difficulties?
Who isn't facing difficulties?
Take the county magistrates and peasant association chairmen in various prefectures and counties of the Great Ming. They need to lead the yamen runners in their respective counties to scour every single mountain ravine. If they find any residents living in these ravines, they are responsible for persuading them to leave and move to the outskirts.
If they truly encounter residents who have been hiding in mountain ravines, engaging in anti-Qing activities for over a hundred years, and who are now completely unwilling to leave, they must then communicate with the engineering departments in various regions to build roads and bridges into those ravines, and then carry out the work of the peasant associations within those ravines.
This may seem rather fantastical, yet it is the reality. The local officials and peasant association chairmen are truly as exhausted as dogs.
Compared to them, the officials in the capital are relatively more at ease. At the very least, they don't have to venture into ravines. If they are short of money, they can approach the Ministry of Revenue; if they lack personnel, they can also approach the Ministry of Revenue; if they need laborers, they can approach the Five Military Commissions. In comparison, their situation is much easier.
Therefore, Song Yucheng, the Minister of Works, stated that railways and equitable roads needed to be built, and the two leaders of the Railway Department and Road Department could only obediently agree. The sole consequence of daring to refuse would be that someone else would agree on their behalf the next day, and coincidentally handle their original official duties.
However, compared to the scene in the Ministry of Works, the situation in the Ministry of Revenue was far more enthusiastic.
"Our Great Ming currently has over fifteen hundred counties, averaging about a hundred households per county. Relocating such a small number of people should not be a difficult task, right?"
Seeing his subordinates sitting there playing dumb and feigning ignorance, with no one wanting to be the first to speak, Liu Huaiwen smiled and said, "His Majesty mentioned that there are many gemstones in Tianzhu. While it's not to the extent that you can pick them up by merely lowering your head, it's more or less like that."
Upon hearing the word "gemstones," the directors of several Clear Office Divisions in the Ministry of Revenue became excited. "Our Shandong Clear Office Division has five thousand households!"
The director of the Shandong Clear Office Division stared at his colleagues and smiled, "This is His Majesty's land of origin. Five thousand households isn't too many, is it?"
The director of the Henan Clear Office Division also chimed in, "Our Henan Clear Office Division also wants a quota of five thousand households. The rest will be yours."
The problem was that the Great Ming had over forty provinces.
It was relatively better for the Heilongjiang Clear Office Division, Lanfang, and Jiugang Clear Office Division, as the people in these areas were migrants and currently relied on other Clear Office Divisions. However, the Clear Office Divisions in Huguang and Liangguang were not so polite.
"Why do you two, with just a few words, take away ten thousand households first? Are you looking down on our Fujian Clear Office Division? Fujian has ten thousand households!"
The director of the Jiangxi Clear Office Division directly targeted the director of the Fujian Clear Office Division, "Do you still have any shame? Your region is so rich, and our region is so poor! If you ask me, Jiangxi should have ten thousand households!"
Who is foolish? His Majesty said there were gold mines in Liaodong, and indeed gold mines were discovered in Liaodong. His Majesty said there were jade mines in Myanmar, and indeed there were many jade mines in Myanmar.
Now the Emperor says there are gemstones in Tianzhu...
Seeing that his subordinates were on the verge of arguing, Liu Huaiwen immediately coughed and said, "Alright, everyone, except for those that still need to relocate their residents, the rest will be divided equally."
Only after Liu Huaiwen finished speaking did his subordinates glare at each other fiercely, and then they all agreed with smiles.
After his subordinates quieted down, Liu Huaiwen said with a serious expression, "You have all received the benefits. But regarding the tasks ahead, if any of you dare to let this official down, don't blame me for being ruthless."
"This time, the Ministry of Works will definitely be planning roads and railways, requiring a significant amount of manpower, steel, and machinery. It should be close to mobilizing a million laborers, if not exactly that."
"I do not require you to worry about the matter of the laborers, but the steel, machinery, and other such items are related to our Great Ming's national treasury. All of you must pay attention to this. When purchasing from the private sector, you must be economical where possible, and when collecting taxes later, you must collect them. There must be no mistakes at this time!"
The subordinates of the Ministry of Revenue immediately bowed and agreed.
There was no other way. The output from the Ministry of Works and the Grand Ministry alone could only satisfy about ten to twenty percent of the demand. The rest would definitely have to be purchased from the private sector, and private sector purchases inevitably involved money.
Were the prices inflated?
Did the merchants pay their taxes truthfully?
These were all issues that needed attention. With the slightest carelessness, the national treasury might lose tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, or millions of taels of silver.
How many rats would starve to death because of that?
...
As the Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of Works, and Ministry of Personnel of the Great Ming were working busily as if injected with chicken blood, George III was strolling through the capital with William I.
William I's mindset had also relaxed.
It was all about giving up, wasn't it? Since he, George III, and Louis XVI had chosen to give up, why should William I feel embarrassed?
With this thought in mind, William I chose to indulge in feasting and eating in the capital. If he saw roast duck, he had to try it; if he saw flatbread, he had to try it; if he saw stewed offal, he didn't want to miss it either.
As a result, all the merchants in the capital knew that a foolish and rich European barbarian had recently arrived in the capital.
"Do you see that? That vast area, it's all within the scope of the Ming Imperial Palace."
George III pointed towards the Forbidden City and began to impart some "common sense" to William III.
"Compared to the Forbidden City, Louis XVI's so-called Palace of Versailles is simply a joke built with money by a nouveau riche. Only this imperial city, which has weathered centuries of storms, deserves to be called the center of the world."
"Do you see that gate? The very center of that gate is where the Meridian of Greenwich was located, as announced by the Ming Emperor last year. It is said to be precisely in the middle of the Ming Emperor's imperial throne."
"Corresponding to the Meridian of Greenwich is this flagpole in the square. Every morning, the honor guards of the Ming army will emerge from that gate and raise the Ming national flag here. What's even more miraculous is that every time the Ming national flag reaches the top of the flagpole, it coincides precisely with the moment the sun rises."
"If you are willing to wake up a bit earlier, you can also come here to watch. However, I do not recommend you do so, as this place is crowded with people watching the flag-raising ceremony every day. Some people come to queue up in the middle of the night, so it is difficult for you to secure a good spot."
"Also, I heard that the Ming national flag is changed daily. The used flags are said to be used to cover the bodies of soldiers who died in battle, because in the Ming, covering oneself with the national flag and being buried is one of the highest forms of etiquette."
William I raised his candied hawthorn and interrupted the garrulous George III, "I think the current time is better spent savoring the delicacies of the Ming."
George III stared at William I blankly and asked, "I've told you so much, and you only care about food?"
William I shrugged and retorted, "What else?"
George III slapped his forehead and then made the sign of the cross on his chest, "God, please forgive the foolish William – Listen, William, I'm telling you this because I hope you can learn from the Ming in the future, and make your Netherlands stronger."
"Don't forget, those damned French frogs are learning everything from the Ming, including the flag-raising ceremony. Although not many French frogs will go to the front of Versailles to watch the flag-raising, and the French frogs can never accurately calculate the time of sunrise."
"But, William, you should know that the current French frogs are no longer the frogs of the past. They have become stronger than before. Even our England is not entirely confident in defeating them."
"If you don't want to be bullied by the French frogs anymore, then you should learn properly from the Ming and make your Netherlands stronger, understand?"
William I nodded, his mouth full as he mumbled, "I understand, I will."
George III shook his head helplessly, and after walking a bit further with William I, he pointed to a courtyard not far away and said, "That is the headquarters of the Ming's Embroidered Uniform Guard. It is said that the Ming's Embroidered Uniform Guard can make the dead confess – of course, you know this is impossible; it's just a saying to describe how terrifying they are."
"If we continue along this road, we will reach the Yuanmingyuan."
"That was a garden built by the Qing Emperor, the undisputed Garden of Gardens. You can find countless treasures there, and almost all garden landscapes in the world. "
"Now, this garden has been opened by the Ming Emperor to the people of the Ming, allowing them to purchase tickets for a small fee, after which they can freely visit the Yuanmingyuan. Of course, if you want to buy a ticket, you will have to pay twice the price of a common Ming citizen."
William I continued to gnaw on his candied hawthorn, "Aren't they afraid that someone will steal things from inside?"
George III retorted, "William, why are you always concerned about these trivial matters? You should know that this is the capital of the Ming, and this garden belongs to the Ming Emperor. Out of love for their Emperor, I believe that nothing will be lost here even if no one is watching!"
William I finally finished his candied hawthorn, "George, you are exaggerating too much. You must know that the Ming is not without poor people. I believe that if they have the opportunity, they will definitely steal the treasures in this garden."
George III was finally defeated by William I.
After a long silence, George III finally said, "William, I know you don't like the Ming. In fact, many English people and many French people don't like the Ming, but have you ever thought about why they don't like the Ming?"
Before William I could answer, George III continued on his own, "Because we are not the Ming!"
"Many people hate the Ming because of the prosperity of the Ming people, because of the Ming's military strength, because many merchant ships have to give way to Ming merchant ships, because the Ming can act with impunity in the world, even though the Ming has never bullied anyone."
"But you don't know, the reason why many people hate the Ming is actually very funny – the reason they hate the Ming is because they want to join the Ming nationality but cannot."
"William, which category do you fall into? Why do you have so much resentment towards the Ming? Did the Ming bully you?"
"No."
"You think you lost the Dutch East Indies, but you must know that the Dutch East Indies have been the Xuanwei Division of Jiugang in the Ming for over two hundred years. It originally belonged to the Ming."
"Just like the British East Indies, which was originally called Tianzhu, it also belonged to the Central Plains' Tangkou. The Ming has the right to inherit all of this."
"Be more open-minded, William. Stop looking at the Ming with hatred. You cannot afford to hate the Ming, and you certainly cannot afford to provoke the Ming. If you continue like this, I can guarantee that you will bring great trouble to the Netherlands!"