Chapter 88 My money (please give monthly tickets, brothers)
The grassland forces rebelled, something Zhu Yixi had long expected.
Because no matter how gentle the policy is, it still cannot avoid the birth of careerists.
The change of power will naturally create a group of lonely people. No matter how good the money is, there are still people who are unwilling to take it and want to be kings and hegemons.
This is human nature.
In fact, Zhu Yixi never relaxed in the face of the grasslands that had been submissive for many years. After all, the Qing Dynasty, which claimed to be one with Manchu and Mongolia, also rebelled constantly.
For example, during the San Francisco Rebellion, the grasslands became unstable, and the Chahar tribe almost invaded Beijing.
No matter how much Buddhist scriptures the lamas recite, wouldn't it be Jebtsundampa who took the lead in becoming independent and proclaiming emperor in the later generations of Outer Mongolia?
Lama temples are just buildings that consume manpower and material resources, but they cannot consume people's ambitions.
Zhu Zhuyixi has always seen it very true: in the Kashag government during the plateau period, the great lama took the lead in seizing power.
Therefore, the number of border troops has been expanding, reaching the current scale of 200,000.
In Suiyuan, Chahar and other places, the number has been maintained at 10,000 to 20,000.
The entire grassland, Mobei, Beihai, Suiyuan, Chahar, and Horqin, with hundreds of thousands of border troops suppressing the city, did not dare to slack off in the slightest.
"The Mongols want to show kindness and power at the same time." Zhu Yixi felt a hint of warmth and took off his cloak: "It has been many years since I have been kind. A generation has passed, and it is time for them to understand the military power of the Ming Dynasty."
As he spoke, he chuckled: "Even those people are eager to get military glory!"
Hearing this, Du Yinxi suddenly said: "Are you saying that you should respect yourself when raising bandits?"
"This possibility cannot be ruled out." Zhu Yixi said casually.
Du Yinxi said cautiously: "I thought that most of these soldiers and horses came from the Zhasak Tuhan tribe. They were originally occupied by the Qing Dynasty, and their cattle, sheep, food and grass were plundered. Now that they are in chaos, they naturally go eastward.
Food……"
"We have reported to Anxi that we have seen some evil herdsmen with white eyes..."
"Oh?" Zhu Yixi was slightly surprised: "That really comes from the Zasak Tuhan tribe. It seems to have originated from there."
"The birth of careerists must lead the party, and these noble nobles will certainly not be left alone."
"I speculate that this winter, this group of people will not be able to bear the loneliness and want to march and rob the tribe." Yan Qiheng said in a deep voice:
"In winter, most of the border troops are in the city, and the tribes, large and small, are like isolated islands, allowing them to be slaughtered."
"After gathering enough cattle and sheep and soldiers and horses, they will definitely attack the city."
Group Assistant Liu Xiangke frowned and asked, "Where did they get so many weapons?"
"So we have to attack the city." Yan Qiheng said seriously: "The blacksmith and salt are both in the city."
"We can't let him plunder the tribesmen unscrupulously." Yan Yingyuan squinted his eyes and said, "But we can't relax in the city. This is a dilemma."
"It depends on their wisdom."
Zhu Yixi said in a deep voice: "Let the governors and generals everywhere be prepared and act according to their capabilities. They must protect not only the city, but also the tribes."
"I will give them an easy way."
"In addition, the Beijing camp must also be prepared to support at any time and suppress the bandits."
"Yes!" The five pavilion elders nodded in agreement.
The atmosphere became more relaxed, and Zhu Yixi took out a memorial: "The minister stationed in Qin sent it, saying that Qin, Wei, and Qi have gathered together to prepare for an exchange of materials."
"What do you think, gentlemen?"
Several people glanced at each other, and finally the chief assistant Du Yinxi said: "Your Majesty, I believe that the advantages of this matter outweigh the disadvantages."
"In Nanyang, Qin's national power is stronger than other countries, and it is also the uncle of the vassal state. It is inevitable that the imperial court will be unable to do so, so it is also beneficial to let Qin take care of it."
"Of course, the Qin State seems to be a bit presumptuous..."
"Qin!" Zhu Yixi squinted her eyes and thought carefully.
Whether it is the moral order of King Qin or his national power, he deserves the title of leader of the vassals, but he is afraid that future kings will not be able to take care of him, so Qin will take care of him and become a suzerain state.
This would harm the interests of the imperial court.
Immediately, he laughed and shook his head. How could he think so far away?
Just let Qin Guo be the uncle, as long as they are all Han people.
After talking about these, the third topic is the flood in northern Jiangsu.
After many years of combing the Yellow River, building ponds, and building a diversion river, the northern Jiangsu area gradually became prosperous. Although it was not as prosperous as southern Jiangsu, it was still richer than before.
In this way, after this once-in-a-century flood, the level of damage was somewhat less severe than in history.
In addition, Yangzhou's disaster relief was timely, so apart from the initial flood deaths, very few people died of starvation later.
After several months of statistics, the disaster affected 23 counties in various prefectures in northern Jiangsu, leaving 180,000 people homeless. At the same time, only over 80,000 people were dead and missing.
After several months of disaster relief in Jiangsu, they immediately took out two million silver yuan and barely managed to survive.
After all, the governor has the title of relief, and if he can't even do this, he might as well go home and plant sweet potatoes.
"Jiangsu Province, if we want to revitalize northern Jiangsu, we still need the support of two million from the imperial court..."
"Two million!" Zhu Yixi tapped her fingers unconsciously. To put it simply, this is not too much.
By the end of this year, after the Ministry of Household Affairs has spent its budget, it will still be able to increase to 20 to 30 million. Giving 2 million is nothing.
But if it were another province, Zhu Yixi would not hesitate, but Jiangsu was also different:
"As far as I know, the commercial tax in Jiangsu Province is about 16 million, right? The reserve is 20%, which is 3.2 million."
"It's only two million, plus the savings over the years. Isn't this enough money?"
The so-called retention refers to the provincial government finance.
In the Ming Dynasty, the basic administrative unit was the county.
In theory, the government and province are only supervisory systems and do not directly manage the people. County taxes are directly connected to the Ministry of Household Affairs, so they do not have their own finances.
Therefore, once a major natural disaster occurs, there is nothing you can do but ask the court for money.
This is a centralization strategy, and we cannot leave too much money and food in the local area.
In the Shaowu Dynasty, the governors were given titles such as disaster relief and river patrol, which were relatively equivalent and required financial resources.
In this way, retention was born.
The imperial court took half of the commercial tax, that is, 50%, and left 30% to the county. The remaining 20% was managed by the chief envoy's Yamen and used by the governor.
For example, Jiangsu reserves three to four million a year, while in Guizhou and Yunnan, it would be highly incense to reserve one million eight hundred thousand, and three to five million is normal.
All the pavilion elders bowed their heads.
Of course, the officials did not dare to keep the local reserves openly, but they were willing to use public funds for food, drinks, entertainment, and receptions. This had even become an unspoken rule.
The court can rest assured, this is better than using it for rebellion, right?
"The Ministry of Household Affairs proposed one million." Zhu Yixi said in a deep voice: "The other one million should be paid out equally by each county in southern Jiangsu. After all, we are from the same province, how can we ignore death?"
Among the five prefectures in southern Jiangsu, Suzhou ranks first in the world, Songjiang ranks second, Changzhou and Zhenjiang cannot be underestimated. Although Tongzhou Prefecture is a little weaker, it is still stronger than ordinary prefectures.
Over the years, each county has saved a lot of money, and it is time to spend it.
After saying that, Zhu Yixi saw that everyone was still silent. He thought about it and said with a smile: "I will take this opportunity to inspect the warehouses of each government."
"As long as the accounts are not correct, the cabinet will strictly investigate them and no one will be missed."
"I obey!" Several people bowed down one after another.
In the exchange of eyes, they all realized that the emperor was thinking of setting off a major case again.
You know, I just passed Jingcha last year!
After the ministers had retreated, Zhu Yixi lay down on the couch. At this time, Duan Mengshu, the minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, asked to see him.
During this year's southern tour, the Songjiang prefect was dismissed. Wang He, the Minister of Internal Affairs, was transferred from inside to outside and became the new Songjiang prefect.
This moment immediately shocked the entire court.
You know, Wang He was not born as a Jinshi, but he directly became the prefect. It is too exaggerated.
Although the official ranks are the same, internal ministers and foreign ministers are ultimately different.
However, the emperor did not listen to everyone's objections and carried out the plan arbitrarily.
The cabinet did not dare to refute it and could only accept it.
It was precisely because of this that everyone coveted the position of Minister of Internal Affairs, but the emperor did not give them much time before letting Duan Mengshu, the co-minister, take over.
After all, they are making money for the royal family, and maintaining stability is the most important thing.
The reason Duan Mengshu came here was naturally to bring good news to the emperor:
"Your Majesty, although the new year has not yet passed, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has estimated this year's income."
"How many?"
"Customs remains the same, around 21 million, but this year, due to sugarcane wine and the development of gold mines in North America, the total revenue has reached around 33 million."
Duan Mengshu said with a smile, his face full of pride.
The income of 12 million excluding customs is such a huge amount.
"Oh? How much do the royal merchants have to pay?"
"About five million." Duan Mengshu said honestly:
"The number of imperial merchants has expanded to 328, 24 have a net worth of one million, and 90 have a net worth of 100,000."
"No more than two million?"
Zhu Yixi said thoughtfully.
Your net worth is directly proportional to the offerings you make.
The net worth here does not mean that someone made millions in so many years, but the total profit in a year.
An ordinary imperial merchant with a net worth of one million would pay at least three to five hundred thousand a year, and if he could have one or two hundred thousand left, it would be a good year.
That is 60-70% of net profit.
But there is no other way. If the emperor has this skin, he must obey his obligations.
You must know that after wearing this skin, you can not only run large trades such as wine, tea, mining, etc., but also avoid local bullying, and protect your personal safety.
Therefore, the imperial merchants had a wide network of contacts and a large business scope, and there were not a few who opened banks.
It is precisely because of this that Zhu Yixi feels that he should have a net worth of two million.
After all, it is normal to conceal something. Who doesn’t want to earn more? Turn in less.
For example, if you just mine a mine, you can earn at least hundreds of thousands a year, just by mining seven or eight mines.
Therefore, Zhu Yixi would not believe it if there were not two million people.
Of course, in the final analysis, Bian Yujing has the final say:
It earned 2.8 million this year.
The Ximenggou coal mine alone made a profit of 300,000 yuan. The caravans, tea, wine, vinegar, grain, sugar, etc. were all mixed together to reach this figure.
However, when it was turned over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it was based on 1.8 million, and a million was withheld.
And this number has lasted for two or three years and has not changed.
Duan Mengshu's heart trembled when he heard this, and he said hurriedly: "I estimate that there should be some."
"Then go check it out!" Zhu Yixi said seriously: "If it's his court's money, I might be willing to forgive him once because of my past kindness, but this is internal money, it's my money."
"I will never allow anyone to take my money."
As he spoke, the emperor glared angrily and said: "Anyone found to be corrupt will have their homes confiscated and exiled to Luzon."
"In addition, the Ministry of Internal Affairs must establish an audit system. I don't want something like this to happen next time."
"Yes!" Duan Mengshu immediately knelt down and responded in a low voice.
If it were a foreign minister, how could a fifth-rank official kneel down? But this is an internal court.
Even if their homes were confiscated directly, the civil servants would not be able to control them.
This is especially true for the imperial merchants. They are just tools to make money. They ransacked their homes and asked the imperial guards to help, but no one said anything.
At this time, Zhu Yixi felt that the Ministry of Internal Affairs was really good and more obedient than the outer court. Only here could one truly experience the incomparable power of the imperial power.
The civil servants were too disobedient and troublesome.
As time goes by, the winter solstice is getting closer and closer, and the 21st year of Shaowu is about to pass.
For ordinary people, this time is just like any other time.
But for Juzi, the 22nd year of Shaowu was the year of the great competition, and the examination was about to be held in early April, which was extremely important.
As early as before the Chinese New Year, many people rushed to the capital to rent a house in advance and adapt to the life in Beijing.
After all, being acclimatized is a fatal thing.
Guo Junyi sighed, lifted the quilt, looked at the snow falling outside the window, and couldn't help but shiver: "It's really cold in the north."
"Sir, would you like to add some charcoal?"
"No need." Guo Junyi shook his head and said: "Winter is still growing, save some flowers, honeycomb briquettes are expensive!"
During the winter that lasts for three to four months, at least a thousand pieces of coal are needed, and the price of three cents for a piece of briquettes is really high.
At this time, a basin of hot water was brought over, and he washed himself under the service of the book boy. He put on a scarf and went to the yard.
"Brother Guo, this northern country is very different!" At this time, Ma Zhiyuan, who was in the same hospital, chuckled and walked out of the door with half of his face exposed.
The two were from the same hometown and good friends, so they went north side by side to participate in the examination.
"Come on, let's go to Jijiu's house to pay a visit."
"Okay!" Guo Junyi asked the book boy to prepare gifts, and then he ran into a carriage when he went out.
This is leased.
"Why did you just prepare a knife of rice paper and a few boxes of pastries?"
Guo Junyi wondered: "I am the examiner!"
"It's quite a lot. It's worth twenty silver dollars!"
Ma Zhiyuan said casually: "I'm just an examiner, so I can't arrange official positions for us."
"What's wrong? You want to step into someone's door?"
Guo Junyi was speechless.
In order to avoid cliques and selfish interests, in accordance with the regulations of the imperial court, the chief examiner and co-examiner will basically be arranged to have the Imperial College's sacrificial wine and doctors.
They are all high-ranking figures, with high status but low power. They can give you a good reputation, but they cannot help the advancement of the officialdom at all.
Literary people are very realistic. If you can't help me get promoted, why should I ask for a shitty teacher?
In this way, it is impossible to form a teacher system at all, which naturally makes the emperor's disciples more practical.