Du Yushi's words were like poking a hornet's nest directly. If it hadn't been in the court, if Zhu Yunxi hadn't been in person, I'm afraid those distinguished veterans would have jumped in and yelled at him in retaliation.
Even so, several old military princes had red eyes, rolled up their sleeves angrily, and looked at Hou Yong, Yan Zhenzhi and others fiercely. There were even some people who opened and closed their mouths silently.
Judging from the shape of the mouth, it is definitely not a good word.
"Your Majesty!" Hou Yong continued to speak without even looking there, "Yunnan is located in a remote area, where Han and barbarians live together. It is also close to Myanmar and has many chieftains and barbarian kings. The amount of money the imperial court allocates to Yunnan every year is more than the taxes paid by a province in the Central Plains.
There’s more!”
"Over the years, the imperial court has immigrated to Yunnan from the Central Plains. The local Chief Secretary has built water conservancy projects, built cities, cut mountains and cut roads, and it has been prosperous. If the salt, iron, sugar, cloth, cotton, etc. are taken back as state-owned, I think the Chief Secretary of Yunnan can be completely self-sufficient.
Self-sufficient.”
At this time, Ru Yu, Minister of the Ministry of War, suddenly said, "Your Majesty, what Hou Shilang and the two imperial censors said is absolutely true!"
Zhu Yunxi did not expect that he would second the proposal, and it was also completely beyond the expectations of the veterans and nobles.
"His grandma's scholar who suffered from the plague is unreliable, and even when he became Minister of the Ministry of War, he didn't agree with us!"
"Your grandma is such a naughty Rujun. I will make you the Minister of the Ministry of War, and I will let you wear small shoes later!"
The distinguished veterans cursed in their hearts, and Ru Yun continued, "Because it is the southwest border, there are 80,000 troops stationed in Yunnan. These 80,000 people now rely entirely on farming, and they can barely make ends meet. And this number is only for soldiers, not counting them.
They bring their families and dependents with them. Every year, their food and salary are drawn from several surrounding provinces."
"When one thousand kilograms of grain reaches the local area, the loss will be as high as 30%. This does not include the farmers and livestock. If it catches up with the rainy season, the loss will be even greater."
"In addition to food, there is also money. The military salary of 80,000 people is also allocated from the national treasury every year. There is also the cost of building bridges and paving roads in the local area, which also requires money from the central government."
"In my opinion, if these salt and iron transactions are brought under the control of the Chief Secretary, Yunnan's local finances will definitely be relaxed, and the local vassal treasury will have a balance, so there will be no need to repeatedly ask for money from the central government!"
After Ru Yu finished speaking, civil servants such as Fu Youwen, Zheng Ci, Xia Yuanji and others all agreed.
What's strange is that Ling Han, the veteran minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, didn't express anything at all, as if he was dozing off while standing.
"Damn it, the scholars are going to kill us!"
"These bastards talk the same thing!"
"Damn it, why is it bothering you that I'm making money?"
The nobles were cursing in their hearts and their eyes were burning, but no one could stand up and challenge these civil servants. It's not that they didn't dare to stand up, but they knew that they were the stupidest. They could not speak up and others would not speak up, and it would be easy for them to behave disrespectfully in front of the king.
If you can't control it and say things like "I'm sorry for you, mother-in-law" come out, that would be disrespectful!
"It is an expedient measure for the state to run a monopoly and allow ministers to do so. It is neither legal nor decent. If the monopoly power is not taken back, how can Yunnan be the Yunnan of the Ming Dynasty? Is it a private land for some people? A back garden?"
At this moment, Fang Xiaoru, a bachelor of the Imperial Academy of the Qin Dynasty, suddenly said among the civil servants, "Your Majesty, if things continue like this, the country will not be a country!"
Suddenly, the surroundings were silent.
The destructive power of these words is too great, and it directly rises to the point of whether Yunnan is the Yunnan of the Ming Dynasty. It directly talks about whether a country will be a country or not.
"My lord, be bold and speak out!" Fang Xiaoru continued, "For example, in matters such as salt and iron monopoly, in the past dynasties, only when the building was about to collapse, the feudal town was used to raise troops. Nowadays, a province's commerce and trade are in the hands of several families, which is no different from the feudal town.
?”
As soon as he finished speaking, those quiet people in the court who had been silent for a long time due to the scientific investigation case began to speak out, and the court was abuzz for a while.
Suddenly, Zhu Yunxi raised his hand slightly, and the court became quiet again.
He sat on the dragon chair, seemed a little embarrassed and pondered for a moment, and then said, "These franchise rights were originally obtained by the distinguished veterans in exchange for acres and population, and the number of years was also specified at the time, so they were not allowed to franchise forever!
"
"Your Majesty, I know that you are kind and generous." Yan Zhen, the censor of the capital, said directly, "But in the past few years, the wealth that your nobles have gained far exceeds the land and population they handed over. Furthermore, this
The wind must not rise! If we let them continue to operate as a monopoly, even if the court takes it back in the future, it will be difficult to continue..."
"Your Majesty, you must not damage the foundation of the Ming Dynasty just because you pity the old ministers. You must not ignore the administration of a province just because you are kind!"
Dozens of civil servants spoke out in unison, creating such a huge momentum, which was slightly beyond Zhu Yunxi's expectation.
But it makes sense when you think about it. The civil servants are displeased with these old nobles. Furthermore, in Yunnan, the annual salt and iron monopoly is an astronomical figure. From a national level, it is impossible to fall below
In one's hands.
Over the years, these old nobles have made a lot of money and made people envious. Having said that, if it were not these veterans who held these exclusive powers, the civil servants would have cleaned up the bones and dregs long ago.
Furthermore, it was said that the promise was given to them in order to ease the conflicts at that time, so that they would willingly hand over the land tenants in their names, and even use these benefits in exchange for military power in their hands and influence in the military.
In other words, Zhu Yunxi was not the emperor at that time, but Zhu Yunxi is the emperor now. At one time and another, different positions led to different decisions.
"How much revenue can a franchise in Yunnan make in a year?" Zhu Yunxi asked slowly.
"The Ministry of Household Affairs has the account books, and the Chief Secretary of Yunnan has statistics!" Fu Youwen, Shangshu of the Ministry of Household Affairs, said, "Your Majesty, let me go back and bring someone to do the calculations!"
"Well, it's all settled and presented to me!" Zhu Yunxi nodded and smiled.
"I obey the decree!"
Immediately, Zhu Yunxi stopped his smile, looked in the direction of Chang Sheng and Zhao Sili, and changed the topic, "You are relatives of the emperor, and your status has been degraded by doing business. If you have created the first floor of the capital, then you should not be officials at all.
Forget it, let’s go open a restaurant!”
Chang Sheng and Zhao Sili were still thinking just now. They were clearly meant to be impeached, so why did the civil servants turn their guns and directly target those distinguished veterans?
Just as he was thinking about it, the emperor changed the topic again.
"I am guilty, please punish me!" Chang Sheng kowtowed.
"You are my uncle, and Marquis Cheng'en is the queen's father!" Zhu Yunxi said with a straight face, "When doing things regardless of your own status, you must also think about me, the queen, and the prince. You must do this for other relatives of the emperor.
Set an example, be a role model!"
"For the sake of petty profit, you have to give up your face?"
After saying that, Zhu Yunxi glanced at the two of them again and said, "Relinquish your official position and go home to think about your mistakes behind closed doors!" At this time, he looked at Chang Sheng and frowned and said, "I took off the Zheng Guogong sign in front of your house!
"
After saying that, he stood up and said, "Dismiss the court!"
The emperor waved his sleeves and left, and the ministers had different thoughts.
There does not seem to be an accurate answer to the matter of accepting the exclusive rights from the nobles, but there is an accurate answer. Because a little thing happened to Zheng Guogong, it seems to have nothing to do with this matter, but it seems to be related to it.
Anyone with a smart mind can figure out that the emperor even dealt with his own uncle and father-in-law, so why are there so many others?"
Whether it is Zheng Guogong or Cheng Enhou, they are all displayed for those nobles to see.
Whether you are a hereditary noble or a relative of the emperor, your life, death, wealth, and wealth depend on the emperor's thoughts. He can give you anything and can take back everything.