194: Five-year plan

Chapter 193: Five-Year Policy

After leaving the Lanling Palace, Zheng Yi thoroughly indulged himself.

He had been in secluded cultivation in the underground palace for three months; although several consorts accompanied him, Consort Cui and the others were all pregnant and could not share a bed with him.

As for Dongyun Jie and Dongyun Yu, they were at a critical moment in their Cultivate, so he did not disturb them too much.

Only after emerging from secluded cultivation could he truly enjoy himself.

And during these past few days, the words spoken by Lan Consort had been lingering in his mind.

Can one really not Cultivate without a Spiritual Root?

They wanted to accompany him was one aspect, but the bigger reason was probably also wanting longevity.

Furthermore, Empress Lu Liner, Xu Qingluan, Yang Huan, Bi He, Li Changle, Consort Wan, Miao Consort, and others had also secretly inquired about these matters to varying degrees.

What a pity...

Without a Spiritual Root, it was bound to be impossible to Cultivate.

Thinking of this, the appearance of the Reincarnation Nine Infant Fruit appeared in Zheng Yi's mind.

"Once the Reincarnation Nine Infant Fruit matures, I wonder if it can Awaken Spiritual Roots for them?"

"Unfortunately, the Reincarnation Nine Infant Fruit requires at least nine thousand years to mature, unless I can blood-sacrifice it and then force-ripen it with my essential blood!"

"Nine thousand years of time, which means nine thousand drops of essential blood..."

Zheng Yi's mouth twitched slightly; as for this matter, he would wait until his next secluded cultivation to blood-sacrifice the Reincarnation Nine Infant Fruit seeds before deciding.

After resting for a few more days, Zheng Yi finally received Liu Chengen, the cabinet, and others.

"We pay our respects to Your Majesty! May Your Majesty live for ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand years!"

Liu Chengen, Lu Xiangqing, Wang Anshi, Zheng Xuanyue, and others lined up on both sides, knelt on the ground, and shouted long live.

"Rise~"

Zheng Yi gave a hollow supporting gesture with his hand, motioning for the several lords to sit on both sides.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"My beloved ministers, these past few days I have been in secluded cultivation seeking the Dao of Cultivate, thus neglecting state affairs."

Zheng Yi said: "Fortunately, with the assistance of several lords, I have been able to rest easy."

"Right, during my recent secluded cultivation, have any major events occurred?"

"Taking advantage of the several days before I leave secluded cultivation, let us resolve them all together."

The several people exchanged glances, and Lu Xiangqing stepped out to say: "May I ask Your Majesty, are you truly Cultivating?"

"Could that be false?"

Looking at the few who were somewhat disbelieving, Zheng Yi did not explain much and spoke: "Once my Cultivate is accomplished, I will naturally give back to the Great Yu Dynasty."

"Now that the court is stable, we still need the wholehearted assistance of all beloved ministers!"

"We subjects obey the decree."

Wang Anshi stepped out and said: "Your Majesty, this subject has a memorial to present."

"Speak, beloved minister."

"Your Majesty, currently our Great Yu army has suppressed the rebellions in Yong Province, Bing Province, Shu Province, Yun Province, Yue Province, and other places, and Yuanhe Mountain in Hai Province has also been breached by Grand General Xu, so recovery is just around the corner."

"Currently, the people in these major provinces are exhausted, corpses of the starved litter the fields, and quite a few defeated soldiers have gathered together to become bandits, turning into outlaws, making the survival of the people extremely difficult."

"Coupled with the aftermath of the rebel army, the imperial government offices have been destroyed and officials are extremely few. This subject requests that the court dispatch many officials to various provinces and prefectures to serve as officials and govern the realm."

"Have suitable officials been selected?"

"This subject, along with my colleagues in the cabinet and the Directorate of Ceremonial, have finished discussing. Please review it, Your Majesty."

With that, he took out a memorial from his sleeve and handed it over.

Liu Chengen walked over quickly and passed it to Zheng Yi.

Leaning against the dragon throne, Zheng Yi casually opened it and began to review.

Down below, Lu Xiangqing, Zheng Xuanyue, Liu Chengen, and the others exchanged glances and then averted their eyes.

Only Wang Anshi, Yuan Qichang, Cai Dashi, and others quietly awaited something.

The content on the memorial was very little, merely a list of names.

It was about the official arrangements for recovering these six provinces.

It included governors, tour-inspecting commissioners, prefects, county magistrates, and others.

Most of them were officials dispatched from the court, a small portion were filled by local officials who had fortunately survived, and another portion were transferred from officials of other provinces and prefectures.

Some names on this list were known to Zheng Yi, for example, several people who became metropolitan graduates during the imperial examination a few years ago.

There were also quite a few people he did not know and whose names he had never even heard of.

However, Zheng Yi knew all of these high-ranking officials of the second and third rank, such as the governors and tour-inspecting commissioners.

For example, Zhao Chengzhi, a member of the Emperors Party.

Lu Xianghe, a person of the Lu Family.

Zhao Jingzhong, a vice minister of the Ministry of Rites, and so on.

Soon Zheng Yi reacted and discovered the trickery within it.

The positions of governors and tour-inspecting commissioners in the five recovered places were respectively occupied by four factions: the Emperors Party, the Lu Family, the Directorate of Ceremonial, and the Pure Stream.

Among them, the number of Pure Stream was the smallest, while the number of people from the Emperors Party and the Directorate of Ceremonial was the largest.

In certain aspects, the people of the Directorate of Ceremonial could also be counted as members of the Emperors Party.

He closed the memorial, glanced at Liu Chengen, Wang Anshi, Lu Xiangqing, Zheng Xuanyue, and others, and said indifferently: "Censors Hanyang, Chen Yu, and Sima Kang are upright and incorruptible, and can serve as prefects of a locality."

The expressions of the few present shook, all unable to believe their ears.

The three censors Hanyang, Chen Yu, and Sima Kang were the very three people who had been beaten with staves by Liu Chengen several months ago.

That day, in order to admonish Your Majesty to be diligent in state affairs, the three wanted to break into the imperial palace, but were subdued by the people of the Directorate of Ceremonial.

At the grand court, they were publicly beaten with fifty staves right then and there.

The three censors were almost beaten to death at that time!

If not for Wang Anshi speaking up to help, the three would either be dead or crippled.

Now several months had passed, and the injuries of the three had healed a lot, but they frequently cursed Liu Chengen in court, making Liu Chengen exceptionally furious yet helpless.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, Your Majesty actually bestowed the position of prefect with his own imperial words!

Of course, the position of local prefect certainly could not compare to a censor; after all, a censor was an official of the capital.

However, this position of prefect was spoken by Your Majesty's golden and jade words.

The three being sent down to the localities as prefectures would definitely return to the court after three years to become high-ranking officials in the imperial court.

That is to say...

Everything that happened at the grand court that day, Zheng Yi knew it all!

With a thump, Liu Chengen's legs went soft, and he directly knelt on the ground.

"Your, Your Majesty..."

"Liu Chengen? Why are you kneeling?"

"Your, Your Majesty, this subject, this subject beat the three lords including Hanyang with staves because of some minor matters that day, hoping..."

"Oh~ That minor matter. You did it for me, while Hanyang and the other three did it for the Great Yu Dynasty."

Zheng Yi said casually: "I will not take this matter to heart. Rise."

"Th-Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Zheng Yi threw the memorial in his hand onto the table and spoke: "Aside from these three people, I approve all the names on the memorial."

"How you plant officials is not something I wish to manage, but what I want are talents to govern the country; manage the localities well for me!"

"If I discover any acts of committing crimes, corruption, and breaking the law, do not blame me for turning hostile and merciless, carrying out execution of Family members!"

"We subjects obey the decree...!"

The few hurriedly knelt on the ground and shouted loudly.

"Alright, are there any other matters?"

Zheng Yi rubbed his temples and said: "If there are none..."

"Replying to Your Majesty, there are!"

Lu Xiangqing suddenly stepped out again and said: "Your Majesty, during the zhengyong fifth year, you once discussed and formulated the 'First Five-Year Plan' with us subjects. Now five years have passed, and we subjects have always been pushing forward state affairs according to the 'Five-Year Plan' established by Your Majesty at that time."

"Now the time for the First Five-Year Plan has arrived. I wonder if Your Majesty is prepared to push forward the Second Five-Year Plan?"

"Five-Year Plan... So fast?"

Zheng Yi was somewhat dazed; had five years passed by so quickly?

Indeed, the First Five-Year Plan was promulgated in April of the zhengyong fifth year.

Now it was already the zhengyong tenth year, and a full five years had passed.

And in these five years, how many things had happened?

Not to mention anything else, just the cabinet members alone had mostly been replaced.

Among the cabinet ministers of back then were seven people: Xu Mujun, Lu Xiangqing, Cui Jinghao, Wang Ze, Wang He, Li Yuanhao, and Zheng Zongbing.

And what about now? Xu Mujun was still around, but unfortunately had lost his left arm and was currently commanding troops in battle outside.

Lu Xiangqing and Zheng Zongbing were still around, but were advanced in age.

Cui Jinghao and Li Yuanhao had both retired from office and were living in seclusion in the localities.

Wang Ze and Wang He, furthermore, because the Wang Family rebelled en masse, were captured and imprisoned, and had long since committed suicide for various reasons.

The current cabinet ministers were five people: Lu Xiangqing, Zheng Zongbing, Wang Anshi, Zheng Xuanyue, and Li Changfeng.

Yuan Qichang and Cai Dashi were only considered cabinet walkers and could not decide major matters.

The vicissitudes of worldly affairs were nothing more than this.

"Lord Lu, you shall summarize the achievements of the First Five-Year Plan."

"Understood!"

Lu Xiangqing pulled out a thick memorial from his bosom and said respectfully:

"Your Majesty, in our Great Yu's First Five-Year Plan, there were a total of nine large-scale plans."

"The first item: suppressing the rebellious commoners in the northern region."

"This plan was long completed. The six provinces of the northern region were successively suppressed within four years, and our Great Yu even captured Black Mountain Pass and Mang Huang Two Prefectures."

"Unfortunately, last year, due to Wu Country's new emperor Wu Siming ascending the throne as the first female emperor, she waged a campaign with the entire nation's strength."

"Rumor has it that Wu Siming had Immortals assisting under her command, and our Great Yu's cavalry could not win on the plains, so we could only retreat and hold Black Mountain Pass until now."

"However, the overall plan can already be considered completed to Perfection!"

Lu Xiangqing turned a page and continued:

"The second item: the Ministry of Works vigorously developed military meritorious industries and recruited fifty thousand refugees."

"According to the statistics submitted by the Ministry of Works, this plan has also been completely over-fulfilled."

"Firearms are a secret; the Ministry of Works is directly under Your Majesty, and this subject does not have specific data here."

"However, the recruitment of refugees reached over eighty thousand people, far exceeding the plan of that year."

"The third item: repelling the invading army of Wu Country."

"Needless to say about this matter, our Great Yu celestial army has long repelled Wu Country and even occupied Wu Country's number one mighty pass, Black Mountain Pass!"

"The fourth item: centered around the capital, the Ministry of Rites built national schools in every village and county, striving to educate school-age children to enter school."

"This policy..."

Lu Xiangqing hesitated for a moment, then still said: "This policy was presided over by the Ministry of Rites, but these five years our Great Yu has constantly waged external wars, especially after the zhengyong seventh year with ceaseless major battles, leaving the national treasury empty."

"This policy... has not been entirely completed."

Zheng Yi said: "How many were specifically established?"

"Replying to Your Majesty, only twelve were established."

"Twelve?"

Zheng Yi's brows slightly furrowed. He knew that books, knowledge, and the like were all controlled in the hands of large families and high-ranking officials.

For the bottom-tier commoners, wanting to change their fate through studying was extremely difficult.

However, what he did not expect was that the local officials actually feigned compliance with this policy to such an extent.

Five years had passed, and only twelve schools were established!

Suppressing the anger in his heart, he asked: "How many school-age children can be provided with schooling opportunities?"

"Replying to Your Majesty, less than eight hundred people."

Lu Xiangqing said: "Aside from the tight national treasury and having to support frontline combat, the most main reason is that ordinary commoners are simply not willing to let their children enter schools to study."

"They would rather let their children work in the fields or enter the capital to become workers in major factories..."

Zheng Yi shook his head. Ordinary commoners could barely even survive, how could they possibly let the laborers in their households go study?

Furthermore... opening up the wisdom of the common people.

Did he really want to open it?

Once the wisdom of the common people was opened, complete rule could no longer be achieved.

Just like the thirty-three taels of silver in his past life.

This matter still had to be considered long-term.