Chapter 171 Tributary trade that disastrous to the country and the people
Chapter 171 Tribute trade that harms the country and the people
Xu Qin was furious. For noble children like them, spending more money, indulging in sex, wandering dogs, and looking for flowers and willows are undoubtedly the behaviors of prodigal.
Not only will the family refuse to agree, but outsiders will also point fingers. If you don't do it well, you will be impeached by the censor and accused of bad conduct.
But the Ministry of Rites is so generous and keeps giving out gifts, so why is no one criticizing it?
Not only did no one criticize him, but he was also said to have the magnanimity of heaven and the heart of the country.
Isn’t this a prodigal?
No, this is a loser!
It doesn’t feel bad for them to sell their fields!
Xu Qin couldn't help but said: "Brother Xian, do you think you can impeach the Ministry of Rites? Are you saying that they are wasting national money and people's money in vain?"
Xu Jingchang smiled and said, "Aren't you afraid of offending others? You just entered the officialdom, and before you did anything, you offended the Ministry of Rites. I think you don't want to do it."
Xu Qin was stunned for a while, but then he broke the pot and said: "What can I do? In the worst case, I will resign and go home. Anyway, there is a prince waiting at home, so I have nothing to fear!"
That's right, not only Xu Jingchang has the title of Duke of the State, but I also have it, and I am a serious Duke of Wei, very majestic!
You are not afraid of offending others, and neither am I.
Xu Qin suddenly understood why Xu Jingchang was so arrogant. He was really confident.
I'm a little more powerful than you, and I also have Tan Hua Lang!
When Xu Qin thought of this, he said: "We, our nobles, share weal and woe with the country. We are destined to share weal and woe with the Ming Dynasty. When we see injustice, we have to take care of it. We have to say that if we can win a point for the country, it is a victory."
Anyway, we have a clear conscience and are not afraid of harming our descendants, don’t you think?"
Xu Jingchang had nothing to say. His cousin thought more clearly than he did!
"The words are good, but I think we can't just talk in vain. We must argue carefully and write things clearly. We not only have to call people bastards, but also prove that they are bastards. This is our true ability!"
Xu Jingchang said with a smile.
When Xu Qin heard this, he also became energetic.
"I thought I could just wait to die and be a Taiping Duke, but this time I suddenly got the top grade in the exam. I think I can do something bigger. I can't continue to be so mediocre in my life. I want to do something
Make some noise!"
This is what Xu Qin said, and this is what he did... In fact, this boy's mobility is still higher than that of Xu Jingchang. After he made up his mind, he went to the Hanlin Academy first.
He only checked here the certificates of credence, gift orders and other items of tribute paid by foreign vassals over the years... Then he went to the Ministry of Rites to check the status of the rewards, and finally he had to go to the Ministry of Household Treasury to check the amount delivered.
Usually I go out before dawn and don't get home until midnight.
Occasionally I have to stay up all night writing articles.
Xu Jingchang was sleeping soundly at home, while Xu Qin next door was immersed in writing. When he was tired and sleepy, he washed his face with well water and then continued writing.
He was so busy that even Xu Huizu felt distressed.
If he hadn't made a big mistake, the Xu family wouldn't have ended up in this situation... First his nephew fought against the court officials, and then his son forgot to eat and sleep. It was all because of his incompetence as an elder!
He couldn't say anything to stop his son, so he could only order the kitchen to prepare something delicious for the child, so as not to exhaust his body.
In this way, after half a month of continuous work, an ambitious article of 10,000 words was finally completed.
"Take a look, what do I write?"
Xu Jingchang took it and looked at it carefully, his eyes gleaming.
"Your article is very powerful, with detailed data, accurate analysis, decent summary, and far-reaching ideas... I think the Ministry of Rites is probably going to be in trouble."
Xu Qin smiled naively, "I don't care much about the Ministry of Rites. I just feel sorry for us. Our people have suffered so much, why is no one speaking for them? What are those courtiers thinking? Haven't they always said that they must make decisions for the people?
?Where did they put the people?"
Xu Jingchang hummed: "How do I know! But with this article of yours, the suffering of the common people may be lessened."
Xu Jingchang got up, called a general and asked him to invite Zhao Wang Zhu Gaosui.
The general turned to leave. Xu Jingchang turned around and wanted to chat with Xu Qin again, but found that he was leaning on the desk and there was no movement... Xu Jingchang was startled and moved closer. Then he was relieved that it turned out to be just
Fell asleep.
Fortunately, I am young and in good health. Otherwise, it would have been Enke, the imperial examination, and writing this article, which would have cost me my life.
Xu Jingchang took a cloak and covered Xu Qin's body.
After waiting for a while, Zhu Gaosui hurried over.
"What's the matter? Are you so anxious?"
Xu Jingchang handed the article directly to Zhu Gaosui and asked him to take a look.
Zhu Gaosui read it carefully. After a while, he said in surprise: "You wrote this? It's very good!"
Xu Jingchang shook his head, "It was written by Tanhua Lang of our family. Please tell me, how should this thing be sent out so that it can be most powerful?"
Zhu Gaosui thought seriously, and after a while, he clicked his tongue and said: "If we publish it all at once, it will be a 10,000-word long article. I'm afraid not many people will be able to read it. Let's cut this article into three parts."
"Three parts? How to do it?" Xu Jingchang asked curiously.
"This is easy to handle. The first part is the tribute trade over the years. We take out as much as the foreign vassals give us. Because the thicker things are getting thinner, how much money do we lose every year."
Xu Jingchang nodded, "This is an obvious account. It is not difficult to calculate. Tens of thousands of pieces of silk alone were rewarded. Even if the local products are deducted, there are still hundreds of thousands of taels. The loss of wealth in the Ming Dynasty was very serious."
Zhu Gaosui nodded, gritting his teeth and said: "This is the first time I know that it costs so much money to dare to love all the countries to come to court. It is really a matter of saving face and suffering."
Zhu Gaosui then introduced to Xu Jingchang that the second part of the article was about the harassment of several coastal cities and the people along the way.
For example, in Ningbo, where foreign vassal missions frequently visited, there were as many as 300 people in a city-occupying mission. After they came, the local government was responsible for their accommodation, food and daily living.
And the local government will allocate it to the people, so that the people will bear the expenses.
There were hundreds of people, and they had to supply rice, meat, chickens and ducks... The people tightened their belts, had empty stomachs, and gave away good things that they could not bear to eat to outsiders.
Who knows that this is a country of etiquette, and the country of heaven must have hospitality!
This is not all. The native products sent by the overseas vassals still need to be recruited and sent to the capital... The prefectures and counties along the way have to contribute civilians, carriages and horses, playing music and playing, and bringing them to the capital.
The food for those missions must not be bad, it would be bad if outsiders laughed at them.
After all this trouble, the people along the way and the local officials were miserable.
The second part of the article is about this.
Seeing this is already too much. Wait until you watch the third part, and your blood pressure will explode.
Because most of the products sent from overseas are some local products...including gold, pearls, ivory, etc., but these things are only a small number after all. They are usually sent to the palace, and then used to reward important ministers and nobles every New Year...
These things are not considered a loss.
But the bulk of the tributes are serious local products, such as pepper!
Although as a kind of spice, everyone can use it, but the poor people can only buy some salt, but they can't bear to buy pepper.
Only a few wealthy families would buy a little bit, and the result was that pepper from outside was piled up in large quantities in warehouses.
When he couldn't stand it any longer, he took the pepper as a salary and distributed it to all the officials.
At the end of the year, many officials were looking forward to getting a salary and enjoying the New Year in good times, so they were given two liters of pepper to compensate for their salary.
You want to have a full meal, but you are given a belt to tighten your belt...
What is this?
Xu Qin concluded at the end that in this tribute trade, the court lost money, the people suffered, and the officials did not get benefits... In summary, it was three losses.
But it just so happens that such a deceptive thing keeps going on and on, and I never tire of it.
I really don’t know what the people in the imperial court and the knowledgeable people are thinking.
Zhu Gaosui really understood how to play with newspapers. On the first day he released the new work of Tan Hualang... he released the upper part first.
As soon as this article came out, some people immediately criticized Xu Qin, saying that he did not understand etiquette and was not happy to have friends from far away. He had no sense of the state of the country, was petty, and cared about every detail.
Zhu Gaosui unceremoniously published these articles criticizing Xu Qin together with the middle chapter.
Now the fun begins.
You are scolding Xu Qin, and Xu Qin is speaking for the people. Is it possible that you just watch the people in Ningbo, Quanzhou, Fuzhou, Guangzhou and other places suffer?
Which is more important, your face or the livelihood of ordinary people?
Moreover, Xu Qin also discovered that in order to transport local products and recruit civilian husbands, sometimes even women were not spared. Yamen officials looked on and beat the people of the Ming Dynasty with whips.
And those foreign vassal missions also watched helplessly.
Look at Ming Dynasty beating its own people!
I wonder how you can make outsiders fear the Ming Dynasty if you don’t even care about your own people?
When those envoys from foreign vassals go back, will they tell them that at home, they can kill people of the Ming Dynasty at will, and capture them as slaves? The Ming court doesn't care anyway, so we don't have to be polite.
After this article was published, those who criticized Xu Qin immediately changed their tone and could not continue to criticize him. They quickly changed their thinking.
They began to criticize local officials, saying that they were not good at scheduling, did not make thoughtful arrangements, were disturbing the people and harmed the people, and needed to be severely punished.
On the third day, the last article came out.
Let you scold the officials and see what benefits they got from this matter?
There was a large amount of pepper stored in the national treasury. When the government's expenditure was tight, pepper was used to pay off the salary, and the officials complained endlessly.
Good guy, straight up good guy!
It turns out that even officials are victims.
Who was the brain behind this national policy of losing three times?
Those who were still scolding Xu Qin two days ago were speechless after reading this article.
If we ignore the facts, will no one make a mistake?
By the fourth day, all the firepower was focused on the Ministry of Rites, and we needed an explanation!
Why is the court still insisting on something that is so harmful to the country and the people?
Could it be that the Ministry of Rites has some unknown benefits?
Thoroughly investigate the Ministry of Rites, uncover corrupt officials who have harmed the country and the people, and give an explanation to the world.
"Congratulations, one article has put the Ministry of Rites into a passive position. He is indeed my cousin, but he is just a little behind the two ministers I won when I first became an official." Xu Jingchang laughed.
Xu Qin was not as shameless as him, on the contrary, he was on tenterhooks.
"Your Majesty decreed that I should enter the palace to confront you."
Xu Jingchang smiled and said: "It's okay, as long as I follow you, we brothers can work together and be as powerful as gold!"
After hearing this, Xu Qin was inexplicably trembling and felt confident.
What a good brother!
At this time, Hou Xian came over to announce the decree, and Zhu Di called the two brothers.
