Author: Wang Zixu

The Ankang decade is coming to an end, and Zhu Jingyuan's two-year term in Xi'an is also coming to an end.

Zhu Jingyuan's reform work in the northwest provinces and vassal states can only be regarded as the beginning so far.

There are still various small problems, but the direction and solutions have been basically determined.

If we insist on statistics, we can see a lot of results now.

In the reports submitted by the Chief Secretaries, you can see the list of completed relocations, which is densely packed on many pages.

The first to migrate were remote settlements with only a few dozen or even a dozen families.

It might be in a valley at the foot of a mountain, in an oasis on the edge of a desert, or on a small grassland.

Going to such places to repair roads, pull wires, organize and build schools, go there regularly to register household registration, and handle certain disputes in grassroots administrative affairs are things that the real grassroots officials at the county and township levels in the Ming Dynasty hate deeply.

Objectively speaking, it is basically impossible to completely realize it under the current level of technology and productivity.

Even in Zhu Jingyuan's previous life, the super-industrial country of the 21st century did not realize that all residential areas were connected to roads...

The vast majority of officials responsible for relevant matters have been in a de facto state of inaction for a long time.

There is a requirement above, but in practice it is not possible.

The settlements in this type of place are basically in a primitive state of autonomy.

Most grassroots officials only know that there is such a place and how many households there are.

That is to say, when I first took office, I might go there once for a tour, but then I would basically not go to the local area again.

I can’t say that I don’t know everything about the real-time situation, but I can only say that it is very limited.

Of course, this is already a huge improvement compared to any dynasty before the Renwu Dynasty.

Previous dynasties and regimes may not have even known about the existence of small settlements of similar levels.

Now the Central Court of the Ming Dynasty, the Daming Royal Consortium, and the Daming Airlines jointly fund the work. The Daming Royal Consortium and the Daming Airlines provide fairly good jobs at the same time, and provide a relatively reasonable resettlement plan.

Local officials are now required to take responsibility for relocating the population of such residential areas to designated large cities.

Of course this is hard work.

Ordinary officials at the grassroots level are not very happy to do this kind of work.

However, once this matter is completed, the long-standing potential crisis of "negligence" can be eliminated.

In the past, the imperial censor wanted to investigate the maladministration of these inherited officials. As long as he visited the registered remote villages, he could easily find out what they were doing.

Coupled with practical subsidies and the push back of assessment tasks, officials in various places have the motivation to solve this kind of work regardless of whether they are really willing to do it or not.

Specific to different regions, the place with the best migration effect is the snowy plateau.

Officials in other regions have to handle the original daily management affairs and establish and organize government-run manufacturers.

Plan future urban expansion plans for core cities, assess the rate of in-migration and arrange the construction of residential areas.

While handling these affairs, I will also be responsible for relocation and arrangements for residents from remote places.

The tasks of officials on the snowy plateau are relatively simple.

Except for big cities like Luoche City, the capital, all other affairs in other areas can be basically given up.

They just need to focus on migrating people overseas.

After residents send it outside, local officials are responsible for accepting and managing it.

The construction of corresponding target cities is of course also a matter for local officials.

The work arrangements for the relocated population are also a matter for local government-owned manufacturers, the royal consortium, and Daming Airlines.

As for the several yamen in Luoxue City, the capital of the Snowy Region, they have become the most leisurely departments in the past two years.

Since the Renwu Dynasty transformed the Snowy Plateau system, the Snowy Plateau has tended to spontaneously urbanize.

The capital, Luoche City, initially had less than 20,000 people. After more than a hundred years of continuous development, it now has 200,000 people.

At present, the entire population migration work plan in the northwest region is carried out in order from small to large.

The difference is that other areas migrated from remote settlements to local big cities.

The Snowy Plateau is a place where people move from remote settlements to big cities in other places.

Luoche City does not need to accept the remote residents of the snowy plateau.

At the same time, since the residents of Luoxue City will gradually move out in the future, several major reforms do not need to be implemented.

The residents of the areas under Luoche Prefecture moved out, and the affairs of Luoche's own yamen also decreased at the same time.

However, neither Zhu Jingyuan nor the corresponding departments in the imperial court could leave these bureaucrats idle.

In the past two years, officials from Luoche Prefecture have been gradually transferred to other places to guide and lead local residents to relocate.

Only after all the dispersed population on the snowy plateau has moved out will they consider moving to big cities such as Luoche.

This is not a project that can be completed overnight.

It is impossible to see any news about relevant progress changes before Zhu Jingyuan leaves office this time.

Overall, results have indeed been achieved, but it will take several years to truly achieve the expected final results.

At the end of the year, Zhu Jingyuan browsed various summary reports compiled by various yamen.

After having a good idea of ​​the local situation, the main focus turned to the next stage of practical training.

After the New Year holiday in the eleventh year of Ankang, Zhu Jingyuan received new appointments from his father and the court.

This is Zhu Jingyuan's last stage of local governance training.

After excluding the places where he had already served and supervised, and considering his current special status, Zhu Jingyuan had already made guesses about his last local mission.

After the local governance training is over and before returning to the capital, I have only one place to go.

Jianghuai, Jiangnan.

Finally, the news and appointments from his father and the court also verified Zhu Jingyuan’s guess:

"Chief envoy of Jianghuai Province, governor of military and political affairs in the southern region, and involved in foreign affairs."

The southern region referred to by the Ming Dynasty refers to the core native provinces including Jianghuai Province, most of which are located south of the Qinling Mountains and the Huaihe River and north of Jiaozhi.

Jianghuai, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Huguang, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong.

Among them are the most affluent places in the Ming Dynasty, as well as truly remote mountainous areas. The overall situation can be said to be very complex.

Specific to possible problems, there are problems in remote minority areas in the northwest, problems with people's livelihood, capital, and bureaucracy in highly developed areas, as well as problems with foreign trade and out-migration.

And, the clan forces prevalent in these areas are more powerful than those in the Northwest and Central Plains...

This is likely to be one of my priorities in the next two years.

After Zhu Jingyuan received the appointment letter, he said goodbye to officials from all over the northwest and took his family to the south again.

Among the family members traveling this time was Queen Charlotte of the United States.

During the Chinese New Year last year, Charlotte came to Xi'an to meet Zhu Jingyuan, and then Charlotte started pregnancy preparations.

I asked the doctor to do a physical examination, took good care of my body according to Dr. Daming's advice, and started to quit drinking.

Two months later, Zhu Jingyuan began working with Charlotte to have a baby.

After three months of trying, Charlotte was finally pregnant.

It was May of the 10th year of Ankang.

By the end of January of the 11th year of Ankang, the child in Charlotte's belly is already eight months old.

Eight months has reached its maximum, but now it’s time to go.

If he were to give birth in Xi'an, he would have to wait another two months for the delivery date, and then recuperate for one or two months after the birth before setting off.

After all this trouble, it may not be until June when Zhu Jingyuan takes office in Yingtian Mansion.

Zhu Jingyuan's other concubines also followed him with seven or eight months of pregnancy when he took office. Now it is impossible for them to stay alone to take care of Charlotte.

Zhu Jingyuan is both a king and a prince, and there will be no shortage of caring staff around him, as well as special trains and ships.

As long as it is not really the time of delivery, the fact that the wife and concubine are pregnant with the child will not affect the trip.

At the same time, Charlotte died in childbirth historically.

Although the child's father has changed and the child himself has also changed, it may not be a difficult delivery this time.

But to be cautious, it is best to be prepared for a caesarean section when giving birth.

In this world, caesarean section is not a particularly common technique, and it relies more on the doctor's experience.

Compared with Xi'an, which is far inland, doctors in Yingtianfu, the most prosperous area of ​​Ming Dynasty, have more experience.

The overall local medical level is also higher, and it is obviously safer to give birth in the Forbidden City in Nanjing.

Zhu Jingyuan can arrange for the imperial doctors from Yingtian Mansion and Shuntian Mansion to be dispatched, but it is obviously safer to let the doctors work in places they are familiar with.

So Zhu Jingyuan had no reason to let Charlotte continue to stay in Xi'an.
To be continued...