Wu Tingju was rudely fed a lot of the essence of strategy, and he thought he was the only one who was a novice.
When he attended the first national policy meeting, His Majesty was late.
Huang Jin told them: "Your Majesty is teaching you the ten methods of physical fitness. Sirs, please wait a moment. Your Majesty will be here soon."
"...What are the ten ways to stay fit?"
Huang Jin hesitated for a moment, and then demonstrated in front of the Huagai Hall: "That's it... Jiazijue: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai; Yizijue, Zi
, Chou, Yin..."
The Seventeenth Counselor and the two accompanying readers looked at Huang Jin's demonstration of techniques and were not sure how powerful they were.
"May I ask Eunuch Huang, what is the effect of this method...? Why does Your Majesty teach you ladies..." Yang Tinghe asked.
Sun Jiao's face was solemn: After his daughter came home the night before, she did this in the courtyard yesterday morning.
"Your Majesty said... I learned it from ancient books. The effect is just as the name suggests, strengthening the body. Your Majesty used to insist on practicing when he was in the palace. After the Queen Mother entered the palace, he advised your Majesty to run less, so your Majesty changed and started practicing again.
For this method, run once every three to five days."
The emperor hasn't come yet anyway, so Huang Jin is here to chat with them.
But the point remains: Why do we need to teach our concubines this?
In the imperial garden, only Wen Suyun and the other nine concubines were here.
When Zhu Houcong said no touching, he meant no bang bang bang, not no contact.
"The arms should be more relaxed." He corrected Zhang Qinghe's posture, "The steps should be wider..."
Zhang Qinghe flinched. Now that the emperor touched her arms and waist, she blushed with embarrassment.
The girls were confused.
Even the most lively Wen Suyun never expected that the emperor would be like this.
She couldn't help but boldly asked: "Your Majesty, are you teaching these concubines to train them into a women's army?"
Zhu Houcong was amused: "What nonsense are you talking about? If there is a war, will my concubines be needed to fight? You all practice these ten physical fitness methods. Your body is too fragile. I am afraid that pregnancy and childbirth will be very dangerous in the future. Who doesn't?
After practicing well, I won’t go to anyone’s palace to have a look.”
After saying that, he looked at them meaningfully: "Xian Fei has also practiced."
Although Lin Qingping has not practiced it, I believe they can understand it.
Now that he has entered the harem, Zhu Houcong really doesn't want to hear about the death of this concubine today or the death of a prince or daughter tomorrow.
He was a little young, and if it weren't for the fact that it was really important for Sun Ming to give birth to a legitimate son, Zhu Houcong would have been prepared to do his best to only farm.
After hearing what the emperor said, except for a few three or four people who couldn't see their inner thoughts, the eyes of the rest of them obviously lit up.
"I am busy with state affairs, but since you have entered the palace and have your status, as long as it doesn't rain, I will come here at six o'clock in the morning. I will practice this method with you." Zhu Houcong said to Wen Suyun, "Suyun
Yun, you are the fastest learner. If you practice one or two more with them, you will be able to master at least the four techniques A, B, C and D today. I will go to the Imperial Study Room."
"I obey the decree..."
The ten girls looked at His Majesty striding towards the Qianqing Palace in a neat and tidy way, and then looked at each other in disbelief.
The emperor was very different from what they thought before.
"...Sister Concubine Shu, you have learned the best. Do you have any tips?" A certain concubine said sweetly.
Wen Suyun now only wonders whether she was a little selfless because she found it too interesting before? His Majesty gave her the title Shu. Could it be that he was just teasing her?
"Qinghe, you are too restrained. Look how relaxed your Majesty is when he does it..." She spoke but looked at Zhang Qinghe.
The palace maids and eunuchs who were waiting not far away in the imperial garden just watched the ladies dancing together and gradually getting into fights.
After a while, Zhu Houcong came to the imperial study room, having cleaned up his clothes and tidied up his appearance.
The seventeen counselors all looked at him strangely.
It’s another draft, it’s another theory of three principles, and there are also ten ways to keep fit.
Your Majesty, how did you learn so much knowledge that is so complex and amazing?
Huang Jin just said it euphemistically. The reason why Concubine Xian is pregnant is because of the secret method. Do you think these ten methods of keeping fit are part of the secret method?
They didn't ask any more questions. This was probably part of the plan: maybe in the next year or so, good news would spread in the palace. The first queen, the second concubine, and the nine concubines all learned the secret technique, so some of them would be princes, right?
If your descendants are prosperous, there will be one less cause of chaos in the world.
But this secret method... Although most old men can't use it, what if they really want to learn it? The children at home can use it.
"This is the first time for Xianchen to come to the imperial study. Are you used to it?" Zhu Houcong asked directly.
When Wu Tingju heard the emperor's question, he stood up and bowed solemnly: "I... am still getting used to it. When I saw this national policy that will last forever, I know that your majesty is so angry that he has conquered the world..."
Compared with any new law, the spectacular view of the Great Wall on the South Sea makes people even more bald when they think about it. It is really difficult to imagine how this national policy was established before the drama of "party struggle".
The water in this royal study is very deep.
"Fei Qing has left for Sichuan, and Jiang Qing is in Jiangnan. We have repeated all the suggestions. Let's discuss the next step for the new law in Guangdong." After hearing Wu Tingju's flattery, Zhu Houcong just smiled and started the formal discussion, "This We will implement it in full once we return. If there are any difficulties and how to solve them, we should make plans in advance. Zhang Fujing is still waiting for the imperial decree."
The people in the internal files department are ready, and after the counselors get used to it, they will also come with blank books to record some key points.
When the emperor asked something, the others looked at Wu Tingju first, asking him to speak first.
Wu Tingju cursed in his heart: Yang Ting and the party leader still had a glimmer of hope, hoping that the emperor would slowly change things.
Yesterday, the court held a meeting in Wenlou after the postponement. They actually asked themselves, a newcomer, to charge forward and tell the emperor about the current difficulties.
He stood up and saluted seriously: "Although I am still studying the general outline of the new law and other new laws, I have served in Guangdong. Please briefly outline your opinions and provide some suggestions."
Zhu Houcong nodded: "Speak directly. At national policy meetings, there is no formality."
After Wu Tingju sat down, he thought for a while and then said: "Now the new law has the potential to open up a new world. Compared with the current laws in Xining, the laws are only a small step. I think that if the new law in Guangdong will be effective in three to five years
, there are five major difficulties.”
Zhu Houcong motioned to him and said.
This not only allowed Wu Tingju to charge, but it also gave him a chance.
How much he can digest the new law in a short period of time and whether he can come up with practical action strategies also determine whether he can gain points in the emperor's mind.
Yang Tinghe was happy to have someone charge, Wang Qiong and others wanted to strengthen their own forces, and Wu Tingju also wanted to gain a foothold in the national policy meeting.
He opened his mouth and said: "One of the difficulties is spending money. The imperial court has to spend money to purchase the annual offices and offices that Guangdong will bear. Guangdong also has to spend money to purchase other offices and miscellaneous offices. This is a lot of money.
Guangdong officials began to apply for taxes and services. In order to appease the situation, the official salary was increased, which was another large sum of money. I made a rough estimate and found that the amount of silver that the Ministry of Revenue has to pay to Guangdong is probably around 120,000 taels of silver per year. Guangdong
Additional salaries need to be paid to local officials, and the total official expenditures add up to an additional nearly one hundred thousand taels."
Zhu Houxun took notes a few times: "Continue."
"The second difficulty lies in the rights and responsibilities. If the officials and gentry apply for land tax and the unified tax collection can be implemented, the land tax and silver annual income will increase a lot. However, things such as purchasing, treasury transfers, commercial taxes, etc. may be
It is necessary to set up more yamen and more officials. The new laws are more practical and more practical, and they are all complementary to each other. I am afraid that Guangdong needs to reconsider the responsibilities of the provincial, prefecture and county yamen, and what responsibilities each official has."
"The third difficulty lies in the changes in the market. If the officials and gentry pay land tax, and the unified collection of money by the government can be implemented, the trend of people's donation may subside. In the past, many people in Guangdong's hidden households received grain from large households.
, Now if the government imposes a levy on silver after unification, how will the people exchange grain and rice for money? If the local big households are allowed to exploit it, there may be chaos. Therefore, in terms of market transactions, the new law must be prevented from becoming a law that harms the people."
"The fourth difficulty lies in education. The wealthy gentry have the intention to resist, and the people suddenly hear the new law and are at a loss what to do and are easily incited. Even the officials in Guangdong need time to understand the gist of the new law. I think that if the people in Guangdong cannot educate and educate the new law first,
If you want, the benefits are so many, the old system is easier, but it is extremely difficult to implement."
"The fifth difficulty lies in the officials. After all, the new law must be tried out by the officials in Guangdong. Although there are officials who treat the law to appease them, and there are test laws and Ming Dynasty regulations to encourage them, they still have to guard against it and use it to harm the people. Moreover,
...Since Your Majesty has ordered his ministers to speak out, they will not be restrained. There are many officials in the world who are afraid of the dangers of reform."
After Wu Tingju finished speaking, he could only look at the emperor anxiously.
In the short term, there has been a lot of financial pressure, wide-ranging institutional reform pressure, changes in the use of silver in lieu of grain that are related to all people, the understanding threshold caused by the new law being too "new", and the laziness and even resistance of officials when implementing the new law.
These are very real issues.
Even the important ministers at the National Policy Council became the new party reluctantly only after you exerted your influence, didn't they?
"That's a good question." Zhu Houcong gave an answer that made Wu Tingju breathe a sigh of relief, and then said, "Do you have anything to add?"
This time everyone was looking at Yang Tinghe, so the party leader bit the bullet and said: "In addition, currently only Guangdong is trialling the new law, and the other provinces are still the same. There is another difficulty, that is, the six departments, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, etc. are in Beijing Yamen and have official exchanges with Guangdong. The new and the old go hand in hand.
, there can be no chaos in the Beijing Yamen."
"On my side, I am concerned about how the examination law will be implemented in Guangdong." Wang Qiong added, "Guangdong's officialdom has experienced two major turmoils. At this time, there must be fear and even resentment. The restrictions of the examination law will be used improperly.
It may be counterproductive. In addition, how to become an official in Guangdong can only be determined after the new laws in Guangdong are implemented one by one."
Zhu Houcong waited for a while and then asked: "There is nothing to add for the time being. What about the solution? Guangdong does not need to start implementing it within this year, but Xianchen is right. The new law needs to be widely publicized in Guangdong to educate the officials and the people. Therefore, the National Policy Conference
We still need to come up with one, two, three, four as soon as possible. Otherwise, the government and the opposition will discuss it again, and the counselors spent more than a year only coming up with some shocking new laws, and then they did not start to implement them for a long time. Then I'm afraid it's still
They are using the new law to fight for power."
Wu Tingju broke into a cold sweat: Are you speaking so directly?
But the basis of the new law was proposed by Your Majesty. Are you now accusing the counselors of not sincerely wanting to change the law?
Yang Tinghe replied: "In the past few days, I have summoned all ministers to hold several meetings on the implementation of Guangdong's new law policy. After public discussion, I believe that there are many new laws and it should be trialled step by step. Next year, Guangdong will first compile and review the regulations, and only
Order officials, squires, and wealthy households to apply for land tax. By the end of next year, there will be a figure for how much land tax Guangdong can actually collect, and all officials will have a clear idea. By the next year, the annual income will have increased, and expenses will be sufficient.
Initiate corvee labor and carry out various procurement methods. In this way, Guangdong will have time to adapt, and the court can also make arrangements calmly."
After he finished speaking, he looked at the emperor with some anxiety: In fact, he has said it many times before, corvee is the foundation. But the next step is to only touch the land tax, and I don't know what the emperor thinks.
Zhu Houcong just asked lightly: "In the early days of the country, the more than 230,000 hectares were 1.05 million shi, and now the more than 70,000 hectares are 1.08 million shi. Officials, squires, and wealthy households have all paid.
In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, were the expropriation standards for various fields based on the current standards? Or should they be based on the current standards? After the compilation and review of the scientific code, after the unified conversion of silver, should it be shared based on people or acres? If the acres are allocated, it should be based on land rights.
, or based on land rights?”
One sentence made the room in the imperial study become depressing.
If we go by the current standards, Guangdong's land capacity will more than triple. If we go by the standards of the early days of the Republic of China, Guangdong's land will not expand much even if it is all clarified.
In the end, with the extra three to five million stones, should we use them together to mount them?
The most important thing is to distribute money to corvees. Should it be based on people or acres?
The reform was about to enter the substantive area, and Yang Tinghe could only say: "Your Majesty, the laws are really too involved, and I am such a fool..."
"You and others are all stupid. Does the Ming Dynasty still have smart ministers?" Zhu Houcong looked at them, "I know that it is true that there are too many people involved. If the new law cannot be achieved, I may retreat to the next best thing, but you and others will feel that they are gone.
The way out. Things have come to this. If we don’t have the courage to do what our predecessors didn’t dare to do, it will naturally be difficult everywhere.”
Zhu Houcong did not blame them. After all, he had never seriously thought about reforming the law. Even if he was forced to start thinking about it now, his lifelong thinking would still imprison them in the old system.
The plan proposed by Zhu Houcong was a bit ahead of their time.
They can all see that the current benefits brought by the wealthy officials and gentry by evading taxes and servitude will be greatly harmed.
They can also see that they are under great financial pressure to purchase and improve officials' remuneration.
But they have no idea how much the annual income can be increased by imposing business taxes, and whether doing business can make wealthy officials and gentry households who are willing to change more profitable so as not to violate the new law.
"Then let me say it." Zhu Houxuan smiled, "I just need to be able to make room for it in the eyes of the world, and all the counselors will make overall arrangements. If it succeeds, the credit will be yours, and I will enjoy it.
It’s convenient.”
The counselors who were familiar with the rhythm felt a little bitter: It's coming again, it must be class again.
So Wu Tingju saw them skillfully picking up their brushes and preparing to record key points.
Zhu Houcong said slowly: "First of all, it's money. I can borrow the extra expenses for the annual affairs of the imperial court from the internal funds to the Ministry of Household Affairs, which will be used as the training cost for the trial implementation of the new law in Guangdong, without causing additional pressure on other provinces and the Ministry of Household Affairs. Xianchen then
You can write a memorial, I will get it right."
He has money for the time being, and Zhang Fuking will surely give a lot more after he starts killing again this time.
Take it from Guangdong and use it in Guangdong. It is very reasonable to kill the rich and help the poor.
Wu Tingju:...Is this how the counselors work? His Majesty told him that he could write an IOU to the inner treasury.
Everyone was refreshed: After many years, the emperor was finally willing to lend money to the Ministry of Revenue.
Zhu Houcong continued: "As for local procurement, the additional expenses caused by official remuneration, the issues of authority at the provincial, prefecture, and county levels in Guangdong, as well as the problem of officials' laziness and resistance, we might as well look at it in a different direction. Guangdong not only needs to spend more
, and more expenditures are required. There are too many officials under the ancestral system, and the subordinate staff have no hope of promotion. Their salaries are meager. How can we live a life of superiority without exploiting the countryside? Guangdong expansion! Huang Jin."
So everyone saw that the emperor was obviously ready again. Huang Jin had someone carry a shelf from behind the map of the Ming Dynasty and placed it on the side.
Zhu Houcong pointed there and said: "It is terrible to have redundant officials, but we cannot go to the other extreme. I have calculated that among the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty, there are a total of 1,852 officials in the two capitals. The remaining 13 chief ministers
Adding up the envoys and ministers, there are a total of 6,930 magistrates, of which only 1,899 are seventh-rank or above."
The rest of the people are now only looking at the chart above.
The Song Dynasty was full of redundant officials, while the Ming Dynasty went to the other extreme. There were only 8,782 officials in the country who were paid by the government.
The remaining expenses of the officials are paid by officials or government agencies. There are no such items in the financial expenditures, so naturally they can only be counted as various corvee and apportioned.
Zhu Houcong discovered these problems from statistics and felt incredible.
Even so, there are still people who point the finger at the phenomenon of stipends among military officers and criticize the serious redundancy of officials in the Ming Dynasty.
In a future where technological conditions are already very advanced, although the population has increased several times, the overall size of civil servants will be in the millions.
In the current state where communication efficiency is so low, Ming Dynasty relies on a total of less than 9,000 civil servants to maintain the operation of daily government affairs.
Zhu Baba had such a miserable experience in his early years that he adopted such a management method with a very small establishment.
However, it is conceivable that the human resources required to manage the actual needs of various places are huge. The expenditures required by the huge staff and staff system are all flexibly controlled by various places and eventually distributed to the people.
As a result, there is a vicious cycle, and the finances cannot support a more efficient state machine, which eventually collapses.
So Zhu Houcong said categorically: "Starting from Guangdong, we will expand the number of officials. Many necessary officials will also be included in the ranks of Mingguan. The increased annual income in Guangdong can be used to protect their official treatment. This is what they are also willing to implement the new law.
Motivation. From the ninth rank upwards, the opportunities for promotion will increase. There are about 3,000 Jinshi in the world, and only more than 13,000 people, minus the old and sick among them. How can such a small number of people help me manage the Ming Dynasty?"
The staff looked at the tower-shaped figure on the left and the tree-like figure on the right with their mouths open.
...Your Majesty always plays new things.
Zhu Houcong looked at them and said: "To implement the new law, all the footholds are officials. I see all the high-ranking officials in Guangdong. They know that as long as they complete their missions, they will have a bright future. But what about the officials of the fifth, sixth and seventh grades?
What about the lower-grade officials? Let more talented people in Guangdong be able to serve as officials, and let capable officials have dignity, security, dignity, and promotion. Then no matter what new laws are introduced, they will help the court.
Carry it forward!”
Don't you know that being an official can make more money and have a higher status than just escaping some taxes and servitude?
But it is too difficult to pass the Jinshi examination, and the ceiling for candidates is right there.
Doesn’t the scholar want to be a high-ranking official?
You are not qualified, but becoming an official completely limits your status. You will be a slave who is ordered around all your life.
Officials have no "official power". In the eyes of the people, they are lords, but in the eyes of officials, who do they count?
Zhu Houcong stared at them: "Province, prefecture, and county levels have all been established. Ordinary officials who have not entered the mainstream can also be promoted. The total number of officials below the fifth rank has expanded to nearly 10,000. Can we absorb the gentry in Guangdong who are willing to be loyal to the court? We have it.
Official status, official treatment law, examination law, under the laws of the Ming Dynasty, can they be restrained and motivated to implement the new law in Guangdong? There are nearly 18,989 and unqualified officials added, with an average of eight new grades
The annual salary is one hundred and twenty dan, which is only one million dan!"
The counselors only felt that a naked picture of war was before them:
If this idea is realized, the land tax in Guangdong can theoretically be increased to more than two million dan. In addition to the 400,000 dan annual grain required by the court, will the remaining tax and grain not be enough to support the salary in Guangdong?
What's more, Guangdong will also have other income from commercial tax levels.
What Your Majesty did not elaborate on, naturally includes what so many officials can earn by participating in business in various ways.
In short...separate the gentry and wealthy households from the simple chain of land interests.
Let a large part of the gentry officially enter the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty. How strong can the other part of the gentry stubbornly resist the new law?
Those who adapt to new rules will survive and thrive.
Those who don't adapt will be destroyed.
"Below the eighth rank, each government can make its own selections. Below the sixth rank, Guangdong Province can make its own selections. Above the fifth rank, people can be selected by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Below the seventh rank, people can serve in their place of origin. Scholars, candidates, and Jinshi are not required.
The threshold is to give talents who have failed the examination for a long time the opportunity to be promoted. When social studies are launched in a big way, all future officials must be educated, literate, and know etiquette. The examinations of each government and academy are unified by each province to reduce the difficulty; the provincial examinations of each province are sent by the imperial court to take the exams.
Set up the main and deputy lists. The main list can be used for the examination of the Ministry of Rites, and the deputy list can be awarded officials." Zhu Houcong pointed to the right, "As for the local government offices, I have also considered it. Can you see clearly?"
Yang Ting and the others could see the tree-like picture clearly.
They saw that Guangdong Province has a governor-general, and under him are the chief envoys, the chief envoys, the criminals, the public security, the taxation, and the general inspection.
Each prefecture has a government office, a criminal bureau, a public security bureau, a taxation bureau, and a metropolitan police bureau.
Each county has a county government office, a criminal department, a public security department, a taxation department, and an inspection department.
They saw the secret: criminal law, inspections and anti-theft, taxation, and supervision were all dealt with, and they were not subject to the control of the same level of yamen. Although they were in a local area, they were probably leading to the imperial court.
In provinces, the governor makes the final decision, but what about prefectures and counties?
Yang Tinghe asked this question.
Zhu Houcong smiled and pointed at them: "Don't you think this national policy meeting is quite effective?"
The Seventeenth Counselor was stunned. They were familiar with this, and it was indeed very efficient to have a small meeting behind closed doors.
Suddenly I felt that the old system of the Ming Dynasty was going to be wiped out, and the spirit of Taizu in heaven was probably very excited.