The next day, Zhu Houcong, who had calmed down, called Xian Ruxing and Wang Qiong over again, intending to discuss it again.
Xian Ruxing was doing everything as usual, but Wang Qiong, who had witnessed the rage of Emperor Long Yan, was always uneasy. You must know that when it comes to corruption, he was the leader in the entire Ming Dynasty. Not to mention accepting his subordinates with filial piety, he only gave Liu Jin and Jiang Bin that year.
, The first move is worth tens of thousands of gold. Until now, Fei Hong and other Qingliu have been displeased with him. Since Jiajing came to power, it is obvious that he wants to rectify the officialdom. Since half a year ago, many officials with stains have been suspended from duty and investigated.
Wang Qiong knew that if others had stains on their bodies, then he had someone else's stain. If he wanted to continue to maintain the status quo, the only way out was to cling to the emperor's thigh, so even though he knew that the emperor was destined to be in a bad mood, he still insisted on it.
He said everything he knew without hesitation.
Fortunately, Jiajing did not embarrass him too much. Instead, he continued yesterday's discussion and brought up the issue of floods in Dongting Lake. He said again: "Wang Shangshu, I looked through the previous records at night and found that from Hongzhi
Since the Ming Dynasty, many places have begun to pay attention to water conservancy, and local officials have also taken this into consideration, and there are indeed some relatively clear-minded and good officials among them. But why do floods still occur frequently in places like this? What is the difference?
?”
Wang Qiong thought for a long time and said slowly: "Your Majesty, I also thought about this when I was dealing with floods. In the end, I thought there were two main points. One is that the local money and food are not enough..."
"You..." As soon as Jiajing heard about local finance, he remembered what happened last night and couldn't help but want to get angry.
Wang Qiong quickly apologized, "Your Majesty, please finish Rong Chen's speech. Yesterday, he indeed said that local officials are exploiting everyone, but in fact, in many places, even if corruption is not eliminated, the financial reserves are not enough."
The Ming Dynasty's policy of giving local governments a certain degree of financial freedom can be considered good or bad. Take Huguang, which is neither better nor worse than the Ming Dynasty, for example. If the weather in Huguang goes well this year and there are no natural disasters, then local taxation will be smooth. After paying the money
, the rest is shared equally by everyone, it’s fine for you and me. But if there is a bad harvest or a peasant uprising, then the central government of the Ming Dynasty will rarely care about this, and the money handed over cannot be less. This kind of
At that time, the local government had no choice but to distribute the money to the common people.
"In recent years, as the clan population has increased, thieves and bandits have frequently caused chaos. In fact, many local finances are already on the verge of collapse. Not to mention building river embankments, even official salaries cannot be paid."
Wang Qiong also took the risk at this time, and pointedly pointed out that the central and local governments of the Ming Dynasty were like crows landing on pigs, and no one should blame anyone for being dirty. Your Majesty, you complained about your money yesterday, and many officials also wanted to cry and complain about where their money went.
Jiajing's face turned green and red. Although he had made many reforms to the clan, the results would take at least two years to show. Now Wang Qiong is using this to block himself, feeling that he will take the blame even though it is not his fault.
The feeling of frustration.
Xian Ruxing on the other side quickly smoothed things over and said, "What about the other point?"
Wang Qiong continued: "The second point is even more helpless. Those in charge of local water conservancy are all civil servants, and all their subordinates have passed the imperial examination. It is okay to let them handle government affairs, judge cases and write memorials, but it is okay to let them handle government affairs, judge cases and write memorials.
When it comes to repairing river bottoms, even veteran craftsmen with more than ten years of experience don’t say they fully understand it, so many officials are actually powerless.”
Even Wang Qiong himself worked tirelessly for more than a year on site inspections, almost peeling off a layer of skin before he managed to solve the flood problem.
It is indeed true that the imperial court has always been worried about the officials who are obsessed with studying and cannot understand the general affairs. After listening to this, everyone present fell into deep thought.
After a long while, Xian Ruxing sighed, "There is a certain order of learning, and there is a specialization in the art. Speaking of things like this, we can find a mature and stable person to coordinate the logistics, but it is impossible without professionals on the front line to command and take charge. But the craftsmen
Often they are of low status and no one listens to what they say.”
"That's not easy," Zhu Houcong waved his hand, "I can just imitate the emperor and appoint a few ministers there."
"Absolutely not!" Xian Ruxing and Wang Qiong's expressions changed drastically, and they all stopped him.
The so-called ministerial officials refer to officials appointed directly by the emperor without going through the selection of the Ministry of Personnel and the review of the cabinet. It was first pioneered by Zhu Qizhen of Yingzong and later carried forward in the hands of Chenghua.
Although Chenghua was regarded by many people as the "hawkish emperor" and suppressed the civil servant group to death, the imperial power in his hands could not help but be too expanded, especially the establishment of the West Factory, which further deepened the hidden dangers of eunuch dictatorship.
Serious scholars would naturally disdain such nondescript products as the official officials, so those offered to Chenghua were often craftsmen and artists from all walks of life. In essence, they were recruiting talents to serve the royal family. However, as time went by,
It gradually became a tool for selling official positions and winning titles.
Due to Chenghua's daily extravagance, in the later period, as long as someone presented rare treasures to the emperor through the Supervisor of Ceremonies, he could become a minister, and some ministers even held power. Later, Hongzhi came to power, although few ministers were granted the title.
Although they were officials, they were not abolished. When it came to Zhengde, not to mention, a large part of those people Yang Tinghe dismissed were ministers.
Jiajing never mentioned it after he came to power, but now he wants to move the ministers out. Wang Qiong was frightened and said quickly: "Your Majesty, during the Chenghua period, the harem was extremely poor. Xianzong originally wanted to use the ministers to increase his private treasury.
, the result was indeed the destruction of officialdom, and later the frequent redundancy of officials led to an increase in the burden on the country. And those officials who were appointed to the throne were even more harmful to the countryside and caused public resentment, which was really harmful to no good."
Xian Ruxing was even more straightforward, saying: "You are not short of money, so why bother fighting with the courtiers over this matter?"
Zhu Houcong thought about it. It is no exaggeration to say that he may now be the emperor with the richest private treasury since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. He has invested in the businesses that Xian Ruxing has done, such as sugar and mimeographs, and the money is pouring in like water. Even
The last time he built a Taoist temple in the palace, he paid for it himself and successfully silenced the ministers.
Since this road was unavailable, another plan was devised. In fact, the Ming Dynasty currently had an institution that specialized in managing craftsmen, called the Yingfu Institute. The institute was in the seventh rank, and it was filled with craftsmen who came from all over the country to serve in the capital.
When the country was first established in the early Ming Dynasty, it learned from the Yuan Dynasty, compiled the world's craftsmen into a book, and adopted a "live-and-sit" and "shift" service system for craftsmen. The Ming Dynasty assigned a very heavy share of corvee labor to craftsmen, and they had to serve from generation to generation, so even if
Nowadays, craftsmen are not prevented from becoming officials and taking the imperial examinations. Many people also really want to leave the craftsmanship.
Zhu Houcong wanted to expand the rectification and repair center, give the craftsmen formal official positions, and then select those with outstanding skills and experience to go to various places to provide professional engineering guidance.
"That's okay," Xian Ruxing thought for a while, then added: "In addition, the current service system of craftsmen can also be changed. If craftsmen pay enough silver levy, they can be exempted from the corvee for that year. This will not only increase the tax revenue for the court, but also
If something happens, you can still save money to hire some good people, but the standard of today's official craftsmen is so bad!"
Because she ran a factory, she also had lessons with many officials and craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty, and she was deeply aware that the corvee system in the Ming Dynasty had lagged far behind today's market-oriented operations. A printer once settled an account with her.
He said that a mature printer like himself could earn about three taels of silver a month in a bookstore in the Jiangnan area. However, while serving in the capital, the court only gave them more than a dozen taels a year, and they might get less than 10 taels.
Being far away from home, having little money, and being bullied by others, craftsmen used various means to escape from corvee labor. Those who couldn't escape were unwilling to work, and the quality of the products they produced was very low.
With the rapid development of today's commodity economy, it is better for the imperial court to train a group of experts to supervise and guide when big things happen, and the rest directly spend money to hire folk craftsmen.
When Jiajing heard that it made sense, he and Xian Ruxing began to refine the decision. In fact, what the two discussed had some shadow of the "one whip method" in history. If it is implemented, the court will indeed be able to accumulate savings in a short period of time.
A fortune.
But even so, Zhu Houcong was still dissatisfied. After this period of time in power, he had realized that there were huge hidden dangers in the Ming Dynasty's tax system. Not to mention that Taizu stipulated that only a fixed amount of land tax could be levied. The commercial tax alone was almost equivalent to
The absence of this was enough to make Zhu Houcong feel very sad. Because he was also involved in big business, he knew very well how much profit there was in business, so he paid attention here again.
"It's too urgent."
, then the country can easily fall into chaos. Moreover, if this thing affects the whole body, we don’t know how effective it will be after the modification. It is best to find a pilot. Your Majesty can find someone to try to put forward this suggestion in the court tomorrow. Be more subtle and you can
Act out a play together."
Zhu Houcong nodded repeatedly, "Yes, I have that intention, but who should I find to cooperate with it?"
As they talked, their eyes couldn't help but drift to Wang Shangshu, who had been silent for a long time and tried to reduce his presence.
Wang Qiong: "..."
…
In the morning of the next day, Jiajing first proposed a plan to expand the camp and "collect silver for the class."
No one said anything about the latter. After all, it was now common for officials and craftsmen to pull their hips, and even the rewards sent by the court to officials were in tatters. But when it came to the camp, the courtiers disagreed.
The officialdom itself is very discriminatory against officials with craftsmanship. Now there are special promotion channels for them, and they even seize the power from civilian officials. It is naturally intolerable! So someone immediately jumped out and said: "Your Majesty, you
Now that officials are rewarded excessively, their salaries have to be increased. The imperial treasury cannot afford this endless expense. I sincerely ask you to take back your life for the sake of the world and the people."
Normal people would be confused when this big hat was thrown off, but Zhu Houcong had already discussed the words with Xian Ruxing, and said calmly: "In the future, the imperial court will take into account the responsibility of researching and developing things that benefit the people.
The salary is borne by oneself and does not go to the state finance."
At this time, some people said that they, civil servants, still had to take the imperial examination to gain fame, while military attachés had to exchange their lives for military service. So how could craftsmen directly become officials, and how would they be evaluated.
In response to this, Zhu Houcong said: "I will naturally appoint imperial officials to take charge, and there will also be special selection criteria. This matter is just a prediction. If it is really to be fully implemented, I am afraid it will take several years of preparation. Let's discuss it today.
.”
When the officials heard this, they relaxed a lot. As long as the promotion of the craftsmen was still in their own hands, it would be fine. Anyway, there was still time. Let's wait until then, so they did not object anymore.
Zhu Houcong nodded, and then suddenly threw a thunderbolt.
"I have often heard that the Emperor Xingxian's seven temples were built in Zhaomu. Now that Emperor Xingxian died in Anlu, my father and son are thousands of miles apart. I can't help but yearn for it day and night. So I want to take over the old land and worship Emperor Xingxian in the Ancestral Temple. According to the marriage, I will change the name to Taizong.
In order to become the ancestor, I enshrine Renzong outside the temple. What do you think of the family's wishes?"
According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, a total of nine emperors can be worshiped in the royal ancestral temple. Now it has been passed down to Jiajing that it is the eleventh generation. Among them, Emperor Jianwen was kicked out by Zhu Di, and Emperor Jingtai was not recognized by Zhu Qizhen, so Zhu Yuanzhang's father is included.
Dezu Zhu Bailiu, there were exactly nine people in front of him.
But as the number of emperors increased, the number of people in the Ancestral Temple could not increase. If you wanted to squeeze in, you had to follow the rule of "Kindly kiss each other until you see each other." It means that if an emperor wants to enter the Ancestral Temple, he will leave you.
The emperor who was farthest away was kicked out. But kicking "Zong" did not kick "ancestor", so the first two emperors could not move. Now that Zhu Houcong wants to carry his own father into the Taimiao, it stands to reason that he should kick Taizong Zhu Di out.
However, Taizong's achievements were high and he was still the ancestor of their branch. It was unreasonable to drive him out, so Jiajing expressed that he would change Taizong's temple name to Chengzu, but kicked out the next Ming Renzong Zhu Gaochi.
After hearing this, the civil and military people in the court were furious. If it might have been ethically unjustifiable to prevent the emperor from recognizing his father before, Jiajing's move made no sense at all.
Before anyone could speak, Wang Qiong stood up and angrily said: "Your Majesty, King Xingxian has never been an emperor, how can he enter the Ancestral Temple? Moreover, in all dynasties, the founder of the country was Taizu, and the successor was Taizong. You are changing it like this, isn't it?
Talk about Taizong, he..."
Is he a usurper...
Everyone completed what he said in their minds. Although it is indeed true, how can you, a grandchild, be so straightforward!?
Jiajing glanced at the officials, and sure enough, everyone was focused on entering the Ancestral Temple, and no one expressed an opinion on the "old land of the general" he mentioned. This was indeed what he had discussed before, in short, it was a very excessive proposal.
decision, and then take a step back with the courtiers.
But, now that the words have come to this, Jiajing has his own thoughts. What an honor it must be to carry his father into the Ancestral Temple. Even if he dies and sees his father underground, he can still hold his head high.
chest.
So he gradually got up and began to argue with the courtiers.
It didn't matter to him, but Wang Qiong on the other side was anxious.
How is this different from what was promised!?
Now all the officials know that they have a close relationship with the emperor, and if it succeeds in the end, it will be like the two of them acting for everyone to see!
Although it was indeed an act, Wang Qiong had been an official for so many years and knew very well what he could and could not do. If he really sided with the emperor in such a thing, it would be a complete betrayal of scholars. Even a die-hard like Zhang Cong
No one made a sound.
Thinking of this, he gritted his teeth, took off the pipe cap, and touched the pillar angrily. Although he controlled the force, blood still spurted out.
Even if Wang Qiong is willing to be killed, he will escape alive today!
Sure enough, the inexperienced Zhu Houcong was completely shocked and quickly called the imperial doctor.
Although nothing happened in the end, the ministers were shocked when they saw each other's stubborn stance.
Wang Shangshu, great Qingliu! Great loyal minister!