"Have Hong Chengchou arrived in Beijing?" Zhu Yinglong suddenly remembered that it had been almost half a month since Hong Chengchou's intention to enter Beijing. It's almost time for the people to arrive?

"Your Majesty, he is on the marquis outside the hall. Did the emperor summon him to meet him?" Huang Zunsu, the Minister of Personnel, reported.

"I still have to see you, but I will be spared from this hall. I'll see you alone later." Zhu Yinglong thought for a while and said.

"Emperor, there will be a large-scale drought in Shanxi, Shanxi, Shandong and other places this year. I ask the court to raise food, cotton coats and bedding to ensure that the victims can safely survive this severe winter!" Chen Yangmei, the left censor, reported.

"Song Yingxing!" Zhu Yinglong shouted.

"I am here!" Song Yingxing hurriedly stepped out.

"What are you doing when I asked you to test corn and sweet potatoes?" Zhu Yinglong suddenly remembered these two drought-resistant grain crops. He asked Song Yingxing to find seeds to try planting them two years ago. Today, it should have achieved some results.

"Report to the emperor, as the emperor expected, the corn and sweet potatoes can grow in relatively arid soil, and the yield per acre is no worse than that of wheat and rice. If farming is promoted on a large scale, the minister believes that even if it is a year of drought next year, the people will at least be able to survive the winter." Song Yingxing replied.

"Great, Song Aiqing, you have made great contributions!" Zhu Yinglong was not suspicious of what Song Yingxing said, and said happily, "I immediately made an appointment to promote the arid areas. First of all, let's go to Shandong and western Liaoning areas. You guys, what do you think!"

"The emperor is wise!"

Next, Zhu Yinglong promoted Song Yingxing to a doctor in the Ministry of Works, and was responsible for this matter. He issued an order for officials from Shandong and Liaoxi to cooperate. If any one does not cooperate or even obstruct, officials from prefectures and counties can be removed from their posts on the spot.

The next thing was big and small. After nearly an hour of nagging, Zhu Yinglong was not dragging on the spot and transferred to the cabinet for anything difficult to decide. He sorted out a unified opinion and transferred it to him for approval. After Chen Shi, Zhu Yinglong was hungry and announced his retirement. It was too tiring to go to court every day and reformed it. Zhu Yinglong thought so in his heart, but it was not possible now. If he didn't go to court every day, he would have been in chaos.

Zhu Yinglong returned to the office Yangxin Hall. Yanhong had already prepared his breakfast, a bowl of rice porridge, two exquisite steaming buns, and a plate of pickles. Zhu Yinglong was so hungry that he reached out to grab a bun and chewed it. While chewing, he said to Xu Yingyuan, "Go, call Hong Chengchou for me and make these three things for him. I guess he must not have breakfast."

Xu Yingyuan was no longer surprised by Zhu Yinglong's appearance of eating, so he ran out quickly.

In a blink of an eye, a bun entered Zhu Yinglong's stomach, reached out and grabbed the other one into his hand, and started to chew it.

"Your Majesty, eat slowly, don't choke!" Yanhong, who was serving in front of him, looked at the savory emperor with a smile, looking satisfied, because she made these things by herself.

Although the second bun was a little slower than the first one, it soon disappeared from Zhu Yinglong's mouth. He asked Yanhong with unsatisfactory feelings: "Yanhong, why are the buns you made today so delicious? Go and get two more for me!"

"I obey the order!" Yanhong smiled, and Zhu Yinglong picked up the bowl of rice porridge and ate it with the salty and crispy pickles.

"I am the governor of Yangzhou, Hong Chengchou, respectfully invites the Holy One!" Hong Chengchou walked into the Yangxin Palace under the leadership of Xu Yingyuan and knelt down.

"Get up, get up!" Zhu Yinglong quickly swallowed the last bite of porridge, put down the bowls and chopsticks and said.

"I thank you for your kindness!" Hong Chengchou stood up after thanking him, lowered his head and looked down.

Zhu Yinglong saw his restrained appearance, how could he look like a murderous devil? He couldn't help but laugh and said, "Hong Aiqing, why do you seem to be afraid of looking at me?"

"The emperor is the true dragon emperor. I am just a small prefect. How can I not be afraid of being extremely nervous?" Hong Chengchou still lowered his head and replied.

"Hong Chengchou, you are so brave. Are you dissatisfied because I demoted you to the position?" Zhu Yinglong still had some vision when he saw people. Hong Chengchou was angry, how could he not see it?

"Your Majesty, I'm sorry for your crime!" Hong Chengchou looked down on Zhu Yinglong in his heart, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to restrain his emotions and reveal them so easily.

"I think you don't know the crime at all!" Zhu Yinglong stood up and walked up to him and said, "I asked you and Li Yingqi to suppress the thieves in Shaanxi, with the thieves as the main and the auxiliary. What about you, regardless of the reason, to kill all the thieves in your hands. Are you killing the thieves for me, or killing my people?"

"Your Majesty, it's not that I don't follow your will. It's just that these thieves are hard to change in nature and are too cunning. They obey the will of the court on the surface, but after they get the rations and farm tools, they become thieves again in a blink of an eye. I really have no choice but to drive them away!" Hong Chengchou said.

Zhu Yinglong was silent for a while and said, "Even if there is such a thing, you can't kill innocent people indiscriminately. I don't believe that all of them are like this. Have you carefully investigated whether all of them are difficult to change in nature? Is there any other reason?"

Hong Chengchou's thin face was stunned. It was obvious that he had decided on this and started killing, saying, "Weichen did not expect it."

"The art of war says: know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles. I ask you, do you know what kind of person I am?" Zhu Yinglong asked, "Answer truthfully, there is no false statement in half a word!"

"I, I am the first time I met the emperor. I don't know what kind of person the emperor is." Hong Chengchou's tone was obviously much more humble than before.

"It is the first time I have seen you. I have read your resume from the Ministry of Personnel and I don't know anything else. But from the conversation and eyes I just saw that you are brave and knowledgeable, and you know how to correct your mistakes. This is what I think of you."

"Your Majesty, I am guilty of death!" Hong Chengchou knelt down and leaned over and said.

"Get up!" Zhu Yinglong shouted, "I want more than just a slave who can kowtow!"

"My deceased..." Hong Chengchou stood up from the ground, and the words "death crime" were swallowed into his stomach.

"I have read Li Yingqi's memorial. Although everything he said is true, it also shows that he knows these thieves better than you. He said that the disaster of the thieves is not the thieves themselves, but the leader of the thieves. To put it simply, I am the leader of the thieves now, and you are my subordinates. Now that you have accepted the court's pleading, surrendered to the court, and went home to farm and pay food, then I have become a bare-headed person? I originally had thousands of people who were surrounded by people, and life is much happier than farming. How could I bear to let go of such a life? Therefore, I must keep my life and power that I have gained for nothing. For the court, he naturally wants to

Resist, then the court has already almost pacified the people around me. If the court suddenly distrusts you and wants to kill you, then you will naturally be unwilling to be killed and return to me to be a thief. Then I will promote this again that the court will not recruit thief at all, but trick them into killing them to get rid of the roots. In this way, will there be more and more thiefs gather around me? This is why, after you kill so many thiefs, more and more thiefs, and the situation is getting worse and worse. The court originally only needed three years to calm the thiefs, but now it takes five years, or even more, and the silver is also getting more and more."

Hong Chengchou suddenly heard that cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Now, killing him ten times was enough. It was no wonder how much grace it was to be demoted to the prefect.

"The emperor's kindness is so kind to the emperor, and I will never repay my death!" Hong Chengchou said excitedly.

"Do you know why I asked you to be the prefect of Yangzhou?" Zhu Yinglong asked with a smile when he saw that Hong Chengchou was almost devoted to him.

"I am ignorant, please tell me."

"Yangzhou has been a transit station for transportation between the north and the south since ancient times. Many wealthy businessmen in the north and the south are concentrated in Yangzhou, and they are not much more willing than the capital. Although some provinces in Jiangnan are now controlled by the pseudo-Ming court in Nanjing, Wei Zhongxian cannot completely interrupt business transactions between the north and the south. After all, merchants travel around the world. Wei Zhongxian cut off their financial path, so they naturally refused. Even if he wanted to do this, he had to consider the consequences. Therefore, in addition to food and other daily necessities, I think that in other aspects, Wei Zhongxian may not be too stuck. Merchants pursue interests. The food prices in Jiangbei are so high, and some people will definitely be able to do it.

I took risks, so the first task I gave you is to use these people's channels to buy grain, how much can I buy. The second task is to ask the rich salt merchants in Yangzhou to donate money. I want to dredge the canal. If this is done, the benefits to them can be seen. You tell them that if you don't donate money, then I will let the canal yamen set up checkpoints on the canal and collect tolls. When the dredging fee is charged, I will remove the checkpoints. Third, this is the most important task I give you. Build a seaport for me in Tongzhou, and I will develop shipping."

"Your Majesty, you give me three heavy responsibilities at once. But I am not familiar with these ways of doing business!"

"It's okay, I have equipped you with a deputy. With him to cooperate with you, I believe there is no problem." Zhu Yinglong said with great confidence in Hong Chengchou.

"Dare you ask who the emperor is?" Hong Chengchou asked curiously. Yanhong took Zhu Yinglong and ordered the breakfast arranged for Hong Chengchou, and also brought two more buns for herself. Zhu Yinglong said, "Hong Aiqing, I know that you will definitely not have breakfast when you enter the palace early in the morning. Come on, this is what I specially prepared for you, so you can eat here."

"Here's someone coming, bring a desk and a stool to Lord Hong!"

"Your Majesty, how can this be done? I used it when I entered the palace." Hong Chengchou was immediately flattered and quickly refused.

"Why, I invite you to have breakfast, you don't appreciate it?"

"No, no, no, I'm just eating it!" Hong Chengchou felt that a child died for his confidant. No one was so kind to him. Hong Chengchou lost his worries since childhood and had a poor family. He went to Xiyiguan to study in his childhood. Due to his poor family, he dropped out of school at the age of 11 and helped his mother make tofu dried beans at home. Every morning he had to go to Yingxupu to sell tofu dried beans. At that time, Hong Qiyin, a talented man in Xixuan's long house, held a village school in Shuigouguan, and Hong Chengchou sold tofu dried beans at the end of the day.

He often listens to classes outside the school and occasionally helps students to make friends. Hong Qiyin found that Hong Chengchou is very talented and ambitious, so he accepted Hong Chengchou as his disciple for free and returned to school. It can be said that in addition to his mother and mentor Hong Qiyin, the best thing he treated him was the son who was less than 20 years old in front of him. How could he not let him be loyal to life and death? Now, there is another defeat in Songshan, and Hong Chengchou will never surrender to the Later Jin Dynasty.

Hong Chengchou was indeed hungry. How could the things made by Yanhong be delicious? In a short while, a bowl of rice porridge, two buns and a plate of pickles entered Hong Chengchou's stomach.

Seeing that he was not full, Zhu Yinglong asked Yanhong to hand over a bun that he could not eat. He almost cried Hong Chengchou in a state of emotion and refused to accept it. Yanhong said, "Master Hong, the emperor hopes that you can have the strength to do things for the court when you are full."

Hong Chengchou immediately moved to take the buns, turned around and ate them with his back to the noodles, and then left.

Of course, Zhu Yinglong is also sincere to the kind of people and what kind of means to use. Hong Chengchou is indeed a talented person, otherwise he would not have done so. Together with kindness and power is the king.
Chapter completed!