At the beginning of the new dynasty, the war continued, and all the officials felt great pressure.
Not only were the local officials in charge of local able-bodied men and food dispatch exhausted, but the central officials were also exhausted. On the one hand, they had to carry out the emperor's decree, and on the other hand, they had to provide basic security for the army. A lot of ordnance and materials needed to be transported from the capital to the battlefield.
The officials were exhausted, but there was still a war this year. The emperor pitied the officials for being too tired, so he gave them a day off. They had a reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, and a day off on the first day of the first lunar month. Then they began to work on the second day of the first lunar month.
Because the army was still marching and fighting.
The generals and soldiers gave up the chance to reunite with their families to quell the rebellion for the country. You and other officials can't be lazy, and you can't ignore the sacrifices of the generals and soldiers.
Xiao Ruxun made such a stern statement.
The officials dared not disobey the emperor's order, so they could only come to work and work overtime. They were busy day and night, and they were so tired that they didn't know why.
The officials of the Daqin Empire were not dissatisfied with their holidays.
This was because after Emperor Xiao of the Qin Dynasty carefully studied the vacation system of the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, he found that the Song Dynasty was too relaxed. If one were to calculate it, an official could have a vacation for one-third of the year, while the Ming Dynasty was too strict and only had a few days of vacation a year.
The holiday system of the two dynasties was not desirable, so Xiao Ruxun made a new law for the officials. First, he restored the law of one day off every ten days, and then on this basis, he stipulated the law of rest on holidays.
They went to work on New Year's Eve, but they didn't have to work overtime at night. From the first day of the first lunar month, they were given five days off for the Spring Festival, one day off for the Lantern Festival, two days off for the Cold Food Festival and the Qingming Festival, one day off for the Shang Si Festival, one day off for the Dragon Boat Festival, one day off for the Double Ninth Festival, one day off for the Laba Festival, one day off for the Winter Solstice Festival, and one day off for the Emperor's birthday.
These holidays could be taken on consecutive days of rest or adjusted depending on how the Emperor arranged them. All in all, there was more than a month of rest in a year. This kind of rest was much more relaxing for the officials than the previous Ming Dynasty, so they did not have any complaints.
During these holidays, the Emperor would specially organize banquets or celebrations to reward the common people and officials. In short, their lives were better than before the Ming Dynasty.
However, there was a prerequisite for all of this, and that was that there was no major disaster or war. Once there was a major disaster or war, the Emperor would personally rule that even his own birthday would not be celebrated, and he would not be able to come back to work.
This was the case now. The war had been going on for the entire first month, and the officials had been working hard for more than the entire first month. They had been preparing for the war since the tenth month. Not only did the Emperor not hold any big celebrations for the major festivals that began in the tenth month, even the common people were affected and did not hold any big celebrations.
But for Daqin, no one had any complaints.
For the officials, if they won the war, the Emperor would naturally compensate them with a bigger celebration and more rewards. Everyone knew this in their hearts. For the common people, they contributed to the Daqin's frontline war, and they could also get a preferential policy of exemption from taxes for a year. Why not?
They could celebrate the new year every year, but one year was not a big deal. But exemption from taxes for a year was a great benefit. They might be able to live a good life with three full meals, and they could also leave more seed grain and grain reserves for the next year.
The Daqin exempted a lot of exorbitant taxes, and explicitly prohibited the establishment of new taxes. The local areas were not allowed to increase taxes, and only the central government had this power. Instead, these taxes were added to the merchants, and the merchants were heavily taxed to increase the financial revenue and reduce the burden of the farmers.
The people of the three southeastern provinces were the first to benefit from this policy. Their burdens were greatly reduced, and their living conditions were significantly improved. They were deeply grateful to the Daqin Emperor. In this war, the people of the three southeastern provinces had also contributed the most.
Now that the war was over and they had won, they could rejoice.
When Xiao Ruxun received the news, it was the third of February. The people of the capital had just spontaneously organized a dragon raising its head ceremony on the second of February. This year's ceremony was not organized by the government, so the people were more or less puzzled. But when they thought that the dynasty was at war, they more or less understood.
On the second of February, the people in the cities and towns were all sacrificing to the gods related to agriculture, praying for good weather and a good harvest in the coming year. This was a very symbolic festival, and the government should actually make some response, such as sending people to organize it.
But this year, the government did not send people to organize it. Instead, it directly held a spring plowing meeting under the leadership of Zhang Zhihe, the Minister of Agriculture, who was separated from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
With Zhang Zhihe taking the lead, the officials of the Ministry of Agriculture spread out to survey the whole of North Zhili and estimate the harvest of the northern agriculture.
Spring plowing was a major event. According to the customs of the previous dynasty, at the beginning of spring, the Emperor and the Crown Prince had to personally farm the land, and the Empress had to personally raise silkworms and reel silk. The royal family had to set an example and pray for a good harvest in the coming year. No matter how ridiculous the Emperor was, he would not be absent.
Xiao Ruxun naturally could not be absent either. Since last year, although he did not send people to organize the ceremony, he still brought Zhenbang and Yingying to the Imperial Plantation outside the capital to personally farm the land for half a day. He had Cai Yun lead the palace maids to personally raise the silkworms and set an example to the people of the world, showing that the dynasty's emphasis on agriculture would not change.
Unlike the previous times when the Emperor would push the farming tools back and forth four times, Xiao Ruxun requested Zhenbang and Yingying to follow him to do the farm work for half a day, plowing the land and sowing the seeds. They were not allowed to slack off for even a moment until the three mu of land was cultivated.
With the Emperor taking the lead in farming, the civil and military officials and their families did not dare to show off. One-tenth of the cultivated land in the Imperial Plantation was given to the civil and military officials and their families to cultivate and sow.
Of course, Xiao Ruxun knew how effective this would be. Thus, after they worked themselves to death, Xiao Ruxun still had to send the eunuchs who managed the farms of the royal family to reorganize the land.
The establishment of the Imperial Plantation was not for profit. It was to provide a certain amount of vegetables and fruits to the royal family and reduce the burden of the various regions paying tribute to the royal family.
When Xiao Ruxun moved around the various regions, he knew how exhausting it was for the local regions to pay tribute to the Emperor. It required a large amount of manpower because the tribute had to be perfect and flawless. Sometimes, it could even cause the commoners' families to break up and die.
Thus, after ascending to the throne, Xiao Ruxun ordered to abolish two-thirds of the tributes from the local regions. He only kept some of the local specialties that had to be offered, such as tea leaves, silk, porcelain, and other things that could not be produced in the capital.
Even more insignificant things were abolished or only one-tenth or one-twentieth of the tributes were left. It was fine as long as it was enough for the royal family.
In order to enrich the palace, the Imperial Plantation and Noble Manor that Xiao Ruxun had taken from the Ming Imperial Clan and the Ming Noble Nobles became the main supply areas. The eunuchs were managed by the eunuchs who cultivated the land and grew fruits, vegetables, and other crops that were not normally grown.
Most of the land was used to grow food, but it was still not enough to feed the people, let alone produce fruits and vegetables. Only when the production of food greatly increased would people be able to use some of the land to grow more food.
At the moment, the royal family could not allow the people to go without food for their own selfish desires. Thus, the Imperial Plantation could be used to its proper purpose.
It just so happened that the palace did not need so many palace maids and eunuchs. Thus, Xiao Ruxun set the rules. The eunuchs and palace maids that had just arrived would be sent to the Imperial Plantation to farm or raise silkworms to supply the palace. After two years, they would be transferred back to the palace to serve.
The palace maids could be released when they reached the age of 23, but the eunuchs could not. They had to stay in the palace for the rest of their lives.
Sometimes, the palace did not need so many eunuchs to serve. Keeping them was a waste of food and money. But without the descendants, it was impossible for them to be released to the common people. However, they still needed a place to go.
Thus, the various Imperial Plantations and mines were the best places to go. There was a lot of land in the Imperial Plantation that could be cultivated and provided to the royal family. Sending eunuchs to the Imperial Plantation to cultivate the land could reduce the burden on the common people and save money for the royal family.
In addition, Xiao Ruxun also nationalized all the existing iron, copper, and other metal mines and forbade private mining. He also sent out experienced miners, eunuchs, and the army to form a prospecting team to explore metal mines and establish a new royal mine.
There were some large mines that Xiao Ruxun had a deep impression of. He specially marked them out for the prospecting team to focus on.
It turned out that the mines of the Wanli Emperor and the mines of the local tyrants were all nationalized. The best managers were the eunuchs, the servants of the Emperor. As for the money obtained from mining the mines, it was all deposited into the royal treasury.
It was not that he was greedy. The Emperor was the richest person in the world and held absolute power. He was the only one who had the final say and controlled everyone's life and death. However, only the Emperor himself knew how many tricks were played and how many grievances he had to keep to himself.
However, there was only one thing that was true. The person who lacked money the most in the world and would always lack money, and it was impossible for him to not lack money, was the Emperor himself.
The rewards during the festive season, the various kinds of rewards for disaster relief, were truly extravagant, so Xiao Ruxun quickly understood the meaning of the existence of the Emperor's personal funds.
All kinds of rewards and rewards, as well as all the internal expenses of the palace, all came from the royal treasury and not from the national treasury. The more you earned, the more you spent.
It was indeed very important for the Emperor to keep the royal treasury and property. Otherwise, if the money bag was controlled by others, life would be really difficult.
To prevent the servants of the Emperor from going out to bully the local areas, Xiao Ruxun also gave the local Central Investigation Division branch the power to control the eunuchs. Once they were found to be corrupt, bullying the local people, or embezzling the salary and food of their subordinates, they would be immediately escorted to the capital.
They would be executed without a second word.
Xiao Ruxun knew the needs of these eunuchs.
Without the roots of descendants, they would lose a lot of enjoyment, and there would be no hope in life. The only enjoyment was spending money to eat delicious food, and there was no need for them to leave behind for future generations. If they had money, they would definitely spend it and enjoy themselves. Therefore, to the royal family, eunuchs were the best servants.
They definitely hoped that the dynasty would continue to exist and protect them. If the dynasty was gone, they, the parasites, would also be gone.
For their own sake, they would serve the Emperor more loyally than the ministers, especially those who could get into the position of local mining and farm managers. They knew this very well.
The Emperor did not mistreat them. He gave them what should be given. Those who went out to work would receive more than those who worked in the palace. Moreover, it was a rotation system. There was no such thing as being punished and sent to work elsewhere. Instead, it was a proper rotation system.
The workers would be changed every year, and the managers would be changed every three years. They could also be transferred to the capital at any time.
The surplus labor in the palace was put to use. At the same time, it could promote the flow of people and prevent the eunuchs and old female officials in the palace from forming a community of interests to deceive the superiors and subordinates. Only then would the water not rot.
By doing so, it could also train a group of capable servants who were good at managing people and taking care of assets. With better management of the royal family's assets, Xiao Ruxun did not need to spend a lot of energy on these things, and he could focus on dealing with the state affairs.
With the royal family's money bag active, the Emperor had money in his hands and was not dependent on the national treasury. Then, the restraint on the officials would be stronger. If he could not afford a meal during the New Year or give out red packets, what kind of Emperor would he be?
The civil and military officials had nothing to say. Even if they had something to say, they naturally did not dare to say it.
At present, the Emperor was trying his best to consolidate the imperial power. All kinds of tricks emerged one after another, firmly holding the power in his hands. He did things swiftly and decisively without hesitation. He had extremely high requirements for the officials. Under such a high-pressure situation, the officials were also forced to move forward at the same pace as the Emperor. Otherwise, it was very likely that they would be left behind and would not even be able to eat the ninth-class banquet.
Although it had only been a year since the founding of the Daqin, its new atmosphere and new trends were already clearly on display, leaving the officials in awe.
Now, the news of the great victory at the Battle of Bozhou, which had been viewed as the founding battle, had reached the capital. The rebellious Chieftain Yang clan in the southwest had been completely exterminated, and the Daqin's prestige had soared. Now, all the officials immediately realized that the Emperor was about to move against the southwest.
The Emperor was certain to use the momentum of his victory to carry out a land reform in the southwest and completely control the southwest.
While they rejoiced, they also sensed that an even busier future was about to come.
The pressure on the central government was truly enormous.
The majority of them still did not know that Xiao Ruxun had the idea of mass-migrating people to fill the southwest. They only knew that the Emperor would definitely not let go of the things held by the Chieftains of the southwest.
Killing Yang Yinglong, who possessed the strongest military strength, would greatly boost the will of the Emperor and the military to fight, and the war would probably not be over in a short period of time.
But it had only been a year since the founding of the Daqin, and its foundation was still not deep enough. There were still many places that needed food and money, and the Emperor could only use the reserves in Luzon and Burma.
Only now did many officials see the significance of the Emperor's management of Burma and Luzon. After three or four years of development, the Emperor had gained the productivity of two provinces.
Large amounts of food were transported by ship to the Yangtze River and transported to the battlefield at Bozhou, relieving the pressure on the provinces of Jiangnan.
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