As an important town on the edge of the canal, Cangzhou has always been one of the densely populated cities, and the registered population, according to Zhang Shou's reading statistics in Changlu County during this period, is a smooth upward curve.

At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the population of Hejian Prefecture was 210,000, and the population of Cangzhou was 30,000. Obviously, this is the result of the chaos at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. In the early years of Yingzong, the population of Hejian Province was 370,000, and the population of Cangzhou was 60,000, which was faster than the population growth rate of the entire Hejian Province.

In the tenth year of Yongchen, when the world registered the population again, the population of Cangzhou was 80,000, and the population of Hejian Province only exceeded 410,000. From this point of view, the population of Cangzhou has indeed been growing steadily at a higher rate, even if the change of the throne once led to all kinds of chaos in the capital, but it did not harm this important canal town.

Incidentally, in the tenth year of Yongchen, that is, the year when Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying were born, the imperial court recounted the birth population, which was the first major event that the current emperor personally presided over and implemented - the other things that the young emperor made at the time aroused the dissatisfaction of the courtiers, and finally the various chaotic decrees that the clan thought had an opportunity to set off chaos, of course, were not counted among them.

Although the population of Cangzhou has not been counted again, according to Zhang Shou's speculation, seventeen years have passed, because the current emperor is the longest reigning son of heaven over the years, there has been no major change in the court situation, and there are occasional wars in the frontier, but most of the results are good, so the people of the world are multiplying, and the population of the entire Cangzhou, including hidden black households, is likely to exceed 100,000 people.

Of course, these 100,000 people can't all live in Cangzhou City, the three counties under the jurisdiction of Cangzhou, Yongping has a registered population of more than 20,000 in the past ten years, and now it has exceeded 30,000, plus the townships and villages have diverted a large number of people, and Cangzhou is a plain area, and there can be 40,000 people in Cangzhou City.

If this is placed in an important town in the south, such as Suzhou Prefecture, which has a population of 2 million and a population of more than 500,000 in the city, Cangzhou is naturally a small city to the extreme, but in the north, a city of 30,000 or 40,000 people is already considered prosperous.

Therefore, when Zhang Shou asked Zhu Er, the place to investigate was Shuishi Street and Washi Backstreet-the former was with the help of contacts who had been familiar with Lao Xianyu, and the latter was with the help of Lao Xi's ability to deal with the three sects and nine streams-he knew that although the two samples that Zhu Er had assigned had a certain reference significance, he had to wait for Zhang Chen's results to come out before he could make a final judgment.

But even so, he still asked about the specific figures, and Zhu Er was also very happy to show his results.

"There are a lot of people living in the backstreets of Washi, 74 people who are in the prime of life who are landless and unemployed, and most of these people are alone because they can't afford to support their families. A total of 193 people live on odd jobs, including their wives and children, because almost all of them do odd jobs for a living. Men do dock laborers, women wash people......"

Zhu Er just wanted to be in front of Zhang Chen at this time, and his speech was naturally methodical, and he obviously put a lot of effort into it.

After talking about the back street of Washi, he began to talk about the Shuishi Street where the old salted fish shop is located: "And the Shuishi Street is full of shops, and the thirty-two people who have no land and no job are mostly beggars sleeping nearby, and there are some idle men in the market...... By the way, the eldest brother has only cleaned up a batch before, and he has killed two ......."

Zhu Ergang wanted to continue talking about this topic, but suddenly looked up as if he was aware, and when he saw Zhu Tingfang standing at the door of the county government hall, looking at him condescendingly and leading people in, he suddenly realized that he shouldn't mention the stubble of the eldest brother's murder, and immediately regretted it and quickly shut up. Sure enough, when Zhu Tingfang went straight down the steps and walked towards them, it was straightforward.

"Those who die are all damned people, what are you doing in front of Zhang Shou and Yingying!"

Only then did Zhu Ying know that the eldest brother actually picked them to kill people when they were away, and was about to question the reason, but was directly dragged by Zhang Shou, and when she found that Zhang Shou held her hand quietly, her stupid expression suddenly became aggrieved. When did she and her eldest brother need Zhang Shou to reconcile? The eldest brother also underestimates her too much, and she is not the one who screams when she sees blood!

But Zhu Tingfang's next sentence finally made Zhu Ying's face show a little smile: "I already saw that Cao Wu yesterday evening, Yingying, you can be regarded as a subtle acquaintance this time, and you have made a contribution." ”

But after praising his sister, Zhu Tingfang put away his smile: "As for you kicking over the son of a prefect, it's nothing, but you shouldn't have just driven someone down the mountain like that, at least you should have tied it up and brought it back to ask for guilt, so that he could wake up his mind." Because you can't say anything disrespectful, these people should be scolded and let his father take it back! ”

Although Zhang Shou wanted to skip this topic, he still didn't hold back the words that came to his lips in the end: "This person is really hateful, but can he really punish him?" ”

"Why not?" Zhu Tingfang raised his eyebrows slightly, and then said lightly: "Anyone who slanders the prince and the prince and the two capitals will be punished and the flail will be issued in a month." Since he scolded the Zhao Guogong Mansion, then this crime can be used. You don't have to say that those who don't know are not guilty, and if they are not guilty, there will be no such article in the law. ”

A month in the flail? If it is really so strictly enforced, then a son-in-law will definitely get rid of half his life, right? Sure enough, no matter how ruthless he is, he is the uncle who is crazy about protecting his sister!

Zhang Shou couldn't help but shudder when he saw Zhu Er on the side, he secretly wanted to offend no one and don't offend Zhu Tingfang, and then saw Zhu Ying's eyebrows fluttering, looking very happy that the eldest brother was protecting his shortcomings, he decisively stopped such a topic, because he said with a smile: "I haven't seen you for a few days, the eldest brother and Yingying will say goodbye first, and the second brother and I will go back to the room to talk." ”

After he finished speaking, he dragged Zhu Er away, and when he arrived at the gate of his courtyard, he saw Zhu Er breathe a long sigh of relief, so he quipped: "I really don't know how you came here when you were a child......

"How did you get here? Of course, he was beaten by his eldest brother every day. Zhu Er sighed, did not continue to tell the mood of the miserable world back then, cheered up, and continued to start his research report. Of course, he will never forget to exaggerate his hard work, including his cross-dressing, including the fact that he was almost thrown out by the vigilant.

In short, the process is very tortuous, and the ending is very happy - although it is impossible for Zhu Er to really visit every household and understand more than ten or twenty families through the mouths of one or two households, this is the method he takes most of the time, but Zhang Shou certainly does not think that this is laziness. Time is tight and the task is heavy, Zhu Er can have such results, he is already very satisfied.

When the exchange between Zhang Shou and Zhu Er came to an end, Ah Liu's voice came from outside the door: "Young master, just now, the envoy from the capital arrived, and General Zhu invited you to come over." ”

Hearing that it was from the capital, Zhu Er suddenly perked up. When Zhang Shou went out, he followed without thinking, and he was in high spirits with his head held high. He has always felt that he is a hero recently, if he and Lao Xianyu "risked death" to rush to the palace, and then persuaded the eldest prince to come forward, delaying the time, there may not be room for the eldest brother to rush in time to suppress the situation.

Since he is a hero, how can he weaken his voice before the capital comes? Especially when he still has a reputation for running away from home, he has to let someone go back to tell his father with some rumors, so as not to be beaten when he goes back......

Zhang Shou was not surprised by the envoy from the capital - after all, some people Zhu Tingfang can quickly cut through the mess, and some people Zhu Tingfang has no right to deal with it, or it needs to be treated carefully.

For example, the eldest prince who was directly sent back to Beijing by Zhu Tingfang, for example, Xu Cheng, the commander of Changlu County, who is now being detained in the palace, and a cadre of officials, and for example, Xian Yunhe and other eight chaotic people.

Even if the scope is a little wider, the hundreds of people who have occupied the palace with Xian Yunhe and others have been exonerated by Zhu Tingfang. Once the court repents, these people who have long been registered on the official roster may be imprisoned again at any time.

When Zhang Shou hurriedly entered the lobby and saw the familiar figure, he was stunned. Not to mention him, Zhu Erna behind him was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped, and he blurted out: "Ancestor...... Ancestor...... Ancestor...... Master Zu? ”

Ge Yong, who has white hair and a white beard but is still fairy-like, couldn't help but wonder: "Don't give me a seniority, I'm not so old!" ”

After saying a witty remark like a cold joke, Ge Yong smiled and helped up Zhang Shou, who stepped forward to salute, and patted the shoulder of the closed disciple twice: "The first time I went out of Beijing to do business, I was still dragged by the Zhu family, I didn't expect you to have some ideas, even I read your playbooks, and I felt fresh." So, I got the errand out of Beijing this time. ”

Speaking of this, Mrs. Ge paused, beat her waist and said, "Hey, if the emperor hadn't lent me a car, my old bones would have walked so many hundreds of miles in three days, and they would have almost been scattered......"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Zhu Er running over to beat his waist for him, and Zhang Shou supported him with a smile, feeling the filial piety of his disciples and grandchildren, he was extremely proud in his heart, and he had to cough lightly.

"Your spring winding machine is good, but it's almost impossible to use it in a carriage. However, it is much more convenient than Emperor Taizu, who specially made a group of people to make steel and supported a group of skilled craftsmen to make springs by hand. ”

Only then did Zhang Shou realize that the Xuanxuan on the emperor's carriage probably had a spring shock, so he lent it to Ge Yong, the emperor. As for the springs he made by hand-winding machines, to be honest, the strength and reliability could not be used on a means of transportation such as a horse-drawn carriage - the reason was simple, the spring could not meet the load-bearing requirements of the horse-drawn carriage, and could only be used on a loom.

These fragmentary thoughts just swirled in his mind, and then, he couldn't help but smile and said: "Teacher, these digressions will be put aside first, you should first talk about what kind of will the court brought this time!" ”

"Hey, guess what?"

Facing the old child-like Teacher Ge, Zhang Shou was really helpless. He glanced at Zhu Tingfang, who was full of helplessness, and Zhu Er, who was dazed, and said thoughtfully: "If you just deal with corrupt officials and so-called chaotic people, even if the teacher takes the initiative to ask for help, the emperor should not be willing to send you down...... So, is it for the long-term peace and stability of Cangzhou? ”

"Ahem, you kid has a good eye."

Ge Yong smiled happily, but the indecent expression on his face disappeared then, and was replaced by solemnity: "The book you sent to the capital quickly mentioned that there are many people who have no land and no job in Cangzhou, and many people whose household registration is not local to Cangzhou, but may live here through various means, and there are actually more people who have no land and no job, so the emperor pays more attention to it." ”

"Although the emperor doesn't have no other henchmen, but sending your father-in-law here is too eye-catching, Qin Guogong, the Shuntian Mansion Yin, can't get out of the body, and the other few are a radish and a pit, the position is too high to move, what kind of capable imperial history can be sent to the matter, those guys with eyes above the top may not be compatible with you, so it seems that there is no suitable person for a while, I volunteered, and he had to agree."

The old lady had just gotten off the carriage after a bumpy ride, and felt a little tired standing at this time, seeing that Zhu Er had moved a chair directly over with great doggedness, he asked him to sit down in the center of the lobby, and he sat down politely, and then asked directly: "Zhang Shou, didn't you say that you asked Zhang Chen and Zhu Erlang to investigate?" Hurry up, I'll hear it. ”

Zhu Er was immediately glad that he had come back just right, and quickly cleared his throat and started today's second report.

Zhu Tingfang, who was still a little prejudiced against his younger brother, listened quietly beside him, and saw that Zhu Er was so focused that he didn't see himself at all, just talking there, he remembered that people couldn't fight well since they were children, and they didn't have a qualitative appearance like a monkey, and they only felt that the scene in front of him was incredible, but it was extremely harmonious.

Perhaps, he has always wanted such a younger brother, so he wanted to beat Zhu Er into the way he wanted since he was a child?

And Ge Yong didn't have such a big prejudice against Zhu Er. Although he would rather teach Zhu Ying than Zhu Er, that was the decision he made after examining Zhu Er's qualifications and temperament, but now that the prodigal son has turned back, of course he is happy to see it come true. Therefore, for Zhu Er's occasional miserable words and deeds, not only did he not get angry, but praised people with a smile.

After listening, he heard Zhang Shou say that Zhang Chen had not come back yet, and people were still running around, so he couldn't help but laugh and said: "These little guys who used to give people a headache in the capital have actually become hard-working and hard-working under your hands...... Well, although he hasn't come back yet, it's obvious that he's in the middle of the situation. ”

He took a light breath and said in a deep voice: "Cangzhou is like this, and presumably Jiangnan is even more so." There are many people and few places, and there are many people living less, and I am afraid that there will be chaos in the long run. You say, what to do? ”

Seeing that Mr. Ge asked himself in turn, Zhang Shou did not hesitate too much, and said bluntly: "Internally, more labor industries are needed to accommodate more people to work, but it is not enough to work internally, with all due respect, I heard that since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there have been people sailing to the South Seas, first for trade, and then for development and settlement......"

"In that case, why not take a bigger step? By the way, has the teacher heard of the good peasant I recommended to the emperor? Actually, I went to one of his plantations this time and had a good harvest. ”