The internal problems of the Ming Dynasty could not be solved in a day. Even if Zhu Houcong delegated power and emphasized that the country is above the king, his own ideological and values did not need to change, but it was extremely difficult for others to change.
What's more, there is eternal humanity.
Take for example the report coming back from Cochin.
Zhu Houcong looked at Zhang Boring: "What's the news from you?"
"In general, what Tian Qin said is correct." Zhang Bor calmly reported, "The news I received is that Ruan Gan has been defeated in repeated battles and has fled into Ailao Mountain. Although there are other people in Jiaozhi who are loyal to the Li family.
, but fewer and fewer people raised troops, and they were all quickly wiped out by the Mo family. Among these people, not one of them is a descendant of the Li family, but just an old minister of the Li family."
Zhu Houcong frowned and looked at Yang Yiqing: "Tian Rucheng knows the purpose of this trip, right?"
"Of course it is clear." Yang Yiqing paused for a moment, and then said, "Your Majesty, if Tian Shuhe can succeed in this plan, he will be able to capture Jiba Island. Over time, Yuntun and other ports will be no problem."
"The purpose of Ming Dynasty is not just this."
Yang Yiqing looked sad and stopped talking.
The emperor's purpose is indeed more than that, but now the situation has changed. The strategic purpose of the Great War was to cripple the Tumote tribe, which not only eliminated the real enemy in the emperor's heart, but also allowed Bodi to let go and try to control the left and right.
Two wings. In this way, the Khan Court will not be able to care about the Ming Dynasty within a few years.
Before the heavy snow fell, there were still bandits in Bian Town, but now they were concentrated on the three west sides.
"In all provinces, prefectures and counties, after reductions and exemptions for major and minor disasters, the total is more than 70%. Judging from the figures before Jiajing five years ago, it is 40% more than in the past. South Zhili and the three provinces can receive 60% more this year
, one and a half percent more than before.”
"What's the use of just procrastinating?" Zhu Houcong said lightly, "Mo Dengyong wants my canonization. Until the Cochin Propaganda Embassy is officially established, trade will not stop. Of course, there will always be money to be made. In the meantime,
, we should lend a helping hand to Ruan Gan. Now that the situation has changed, whether the descendants of the Li family are true or false is not that important anymore."
Yang Shen sneered.
Zhang Fujing took a deep breath and said loudly: "The river governor Liu Tianhe has a strategy to control the floods in the Huanghuai River. It will benefit the future. However, controlling the river is not a day's work, and it will involve all the prefectures and counties in the lower reaches of the Huanghuai River. In order to avoid future problems.
There are many government offices and the traffic is not smooth, so I ask Nanzhili to set up a Huaiyang Chengxuan Envoy Department north of the Yangtze River!"
The emperor only gave him three months, and the emperor's anger that day was not fake. Zhang Fuking also needed to give Zhang Fuking a warning in the first year when the Ministry of Household Affairs in Beijing directly levied grain taxes from South Zhili and the three provinces.
Needless to say, Tian Rucheng had already revealed the Ming Dynasty's intention to get involved in the Yuntun ports. Sea Trade House and Jiaozhi had been trading for many years, and ships had frequent exchanges. Tian Rucheng must have said it euphemistically, he just wanted a place to anchor and concentrate trade, but Moden
How can Yong not see it?
Just as Yang Tinghe didn't care much about Tuen Mun Island at that time, Mo Dengyong didn't care that Ming Dynasty had a harbor on Cat Ba Island, as long as Ming Dynasty could give him what he needed.
In Yang Yiqing's mind, it would be a good thing if he could obtain a steady stream of money, grain and other goods from Jiaozhi through trade.
Yang Yiqing frowned even more tightly and did not say anything immediately.
Zhu Houcong could hear the helplessness in his tone.
Even for the younger important officials of the generation like Zhang Fujing, Yan Song, and Yang Shen, the best Ming Dynasty in their minds was that of the Han and Tang Dynasties: it conquered the world, all nations came to court, and the people within the country lived and worked in peace and contentment. This was enough.
Zhu Houcong did not blame him for being conservative on the Jiaozhi issue. Yang Yiqing did not understand the turbulence of the Age of Discovery, nor did he accurately understand what the emperor had in mind for the future Ming Dynasty.
"So, it involves not only a member of the current General Directorate of the Ministry of Industry, but also the current Minister of the Ministry of Industry and the Right Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing, and seven rural sages from South Zhili?" Zhang Fujing spoke.
He looked at Tian Rucheng's memorial again: Mo Dengyong said that it was just the Li family who had no choice but to receive Zen as a last resort. He had no intention of becoming the lord of Jiaozhi. He was willing to abdicate in favor of others and enjoy fishing as a career. He only hoped that the heaven would clearly understand the strength of the Li family.
When the imperial envoys from the Celestial Dynasty arrived, Jiaozhi became extremely excited. When they heard about the establishment of a diplomatic embassy to facilitate trade, they could even build a harbor on Catba Island and use it as a gateway for ships from the Ming Dynasty.
…
"Let him tell Mo Dengyong that since there has been such a change in Jiaozhi, it is appropriate to send envoys to Beijing to report the details. Li Shi has always paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty, and hastily made him the master, which is inconsistent with etiquette. I also want to see if Li Shi has lost his temper.
After all, whether the Mo family is in the hearts of the people of Cochin and whether it is respectful to the Ming Dynasty. Let the envoy retreat to Cat Ba Island first and wait and see what happens."
Zhang Fujing's brows furrowed even more tightly, fearing that Zuo Du Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate also had a headache.
The money and grain of the Ming Dynasty naturally had to go to Shaanxi via a longer, more difficult, and more costly route.
Zhu Houcong also did not speak for the time being.
The matter has been investigated so far, and the results are not beyond Yang Shen's expectations at all.
It is naturally false to say that those seven families have made up their minds many years ago to take advantage of natural disasters to destroy their fertile farmland. But there is a new situation this year. Taking advantage of natural disasters, I can use my knowledge of those river sections to do something.
, it is possible to lose part of a year's harvest and present the court with a difficult problem.
Although after the implementation of the Commercial Law, the amount of directly collected taxes and money was much larger than in the past, but the money would eventually be exchanged for various materials.
Zhang Bor's eyes flashed: "Your Majesty's intention is... to find someone to pretend to be Li's family?"
Anda's troops were recharging their strength, but Xuanda calmed down.
Yang Yiqing sighed: "Then let's wait and see for a while. Even if Li's old ministers are still in trouble, it would be good for Mo to be more filial to the Ming Dynasty."
What results can be obtained from this? Who can handle it? What rules should be established?
Seven points of truth, three points of falsehood, truth that is hard to break, and falsehood that is human nature.
What about the grain tax?
Jiangxi, Huguang, and Zhejiang are grouped together around Nanzhili, and they are always lagging behind. Many decrees issued by the State Council and the Six Ministries in Beijing always have to go through the Six Ministries in Nanjing.
Now, it is already the ninth year of Your Majesty's accession to the throne, and it will be the tenth year soon.
Who else could he abdicate in favor of a worthy person? Of course it would be his son.
"The state affairs are as expected." Yang Shen confirmed his assessment, "It is not easy to achieve an increase of 10%."
But the current situation is that we can only receive more than 70%. The reason is that it is like Suzhou. Although it is not the wind in the sky, there are still earth dragons, rogue bandits, and floods.
What's more, the Mo family has clearly firmly controlled Jiaozhi, and it will be difficult for the old Li family to make any more waves? The strategy of sitting back and watching their internal friction has no basis for implementation.
The special case of Southern Zhili has not been restructured so far. When the water conservancy was rectified, only project procurement was implemented in Guangdong. However, in order to do things in various places, in addition to allocating money, local taxes and labor were also collected. In the end,
, most people actually pay money to do the work, and then the government organizes manpower to work and purchase materials for construction.
At the Wangri court meeting in the twelfth month of the eighth year of Jiajing, before the three-month deadline set by the emperor to find out the truth about the disaster in Suzhou Prefecture, Zhang Fujing, who was secretly called Zhang Behead by many people, came out and said solemnly: "Minister of State
Zhang Fujing, the official in charge of household registration, please report me if you have any questions."
One thing is clear. Your Majesty really does not have the mentality of being a lord of the heavens towards the vassal states and clans like previous monarchs. He uses means like this to stimulate people's internal worries and seek practical gains. To be honest, although Yang Yiqing knows that he is good to the Ming Dynasty, he still
This was not the education he received since childhood.
An extra process means an extra layer of oil and water, an extra layer of wear and tear for the court, and an extra layer of space for people to move their hands.
"Sixty percent, huh..." Zhang Fujing also had a cold look, "This year it's Huguang Tianqian, Nanzhili and Zhejiang Tianfeng. What about next year? Especially Nanzhili, the prefectures, because in the past Nanjing's Ministry of Household Affairs collected taxes on their behalf, the accounting system even
No new account has been implemented, which makes it more troublesome to check. In addition, the new Zhenwu camp in Nanjing means more remains. From the beginning, the number of shipments to Beijing is only 10% more than in the past."
"That's right. Although there are no provincial or county-level rural virtuous institutions in southern Zhili, in the past three years, the number of rural virtuous people who have petitioned for approval has accounted for nearly 30% of the entire Ming Dynasty. Especially when the war was announced the year before last, money and donations were made.
There were many grain collectors, so they petitioned and approved sixty-three people at one time. This time, 40% of the destroyed fertile fields in Suzhou belonged to the families of these seven village sages. In the past, when the water conservancy was rectified, these seven people also came out.
They put in a lot of effort, and they even undertook the construction of many river sections and seawalls.”
Yang Shen was shocked and couldn't help but stand up: "Zhang Guowu, could it be that..."
In the official hall of the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, Zhang Fuking sat at the top, Yang Shen accompanied him on the other side. There were several people of fourth rank and above below, one of whom was standing.
One of the biggest reasons is that Southern Zhili and the three provinces are lagging behind. Together, these four places accounted for nearly half of the Ming Dynasty's taxes. If they can collect more, the total increase will be considerable.
In the face of the Northern Troubles, Yang Yiqing had no shirking responsibility and could actively plan, because the Northern Pirates were a serious concern of the Ming Dynasty.
However, Huguang is suffering from a serious drought this year, and the government still needs disaster relief.
In the distant southeast, Suzhou Prefecture in Nanzhili was in turmoil. The disaster relief censor sent by the Beijing Metropolitan Procuratorate was supposed to be supervising the disaster relief work, but in fact, he and Governor Yingtian had been investigating the real reasons why Suzhou suffered such a severe disaster.
Xia Yan ran on three sides, trying his best to support the intrusion from the north and south by thousands of households in Ordos commanded by Gunbilik.
Regarding Jiaozhi, Yang Yiqing was worried that it would involve Ming's energy, and also felt that Ming was bullying others.
Last year, there was another 15% increase.
Now that he is ten years old, Zhang Fujing still remembers what the debate was between the emperor and his ministers in the year of his imperial examination.
“Your Majesty’s intention is to delay it further?”
However, Tian Rucheng did not insist that the certificate of credence could only be given to the Li family of Jiaozhi, who was canonized by the Ming Dynasty. Instead, he proposed such a memorial. On the surface, he asked the emperor and the court to make the decision, but in fact, I am afraid that he was knocked unconscious by sugar-coated bullets, right?
Zhang Fujing showed his unstoppable momentum in Guangdong: "In such a small case, nothing can be found and nothing can be done. If not forced into a corner, who will jump? Ming Dynasty cannot have only one Nanzhili who will always be an outlier, Qian Fa
The implementation is imminent, and we will not allow Southern Zhili to continue to be a world of its own. Don’t worry, we are well aware of our national affairs.”
Although the actual amount received is more than in the past, it is not very effective, not to mention that the government's financial expenditure is now greater than in the past.
Now faced with Tian Rucheng's petition and Yang Yiqing's opinions, Zhu Houcong could only make his own decision.
According to the yellow book created by the newly Qingzhangtian soil, if the quota is collected in full, the money and grain of the Ming Dynasty will really be able to "double the annual income" and there will be much more.
"With my words, Mo Dengyong thought there was hope, so he would pay tribute to me with all his heart. As rumors spread, he would definitely suppress them frantically, and would rather kill the wrongdoer than let go, in case I thought Li's strength was not exhausted.
Zhu Houcong looked at Yang Yiqing, "What does General Staff Yang think of doing this?"
"If you want to use the extra 10% to buy a peaceful life, you are wrong!" Zhang Fujing stood up, "I will go back and discuss with Mr. Fei. Your Majesty, with the important responsibility of the Civil Affairs Commission and the State Council, is responsible for South Zhili
Aren’t most things civil affairs? Things that are inconvenient for Your Majesty to do should be done by the State Council!”
He didn't object, just because he was already very old. If it weren't for the fact that there was no one with enough weight to take over his position, Yang Yiqing would have planned to become an official this time. Therefore, the subsequent changes in Jiaozhi would not be caused by his taking office.
’s matter.
He knew that later there was a drama about the Li family asking the Ming Dynasty to send troops, but now more than two years have passed since the Mo family usurped power, and no descendants of the Li family have appeared yet. Most of the other Li family's old ministers have surrendered, but they have not surrendered.
Some were defeated, some were defeated, and some fled.
Now the effect of this new law on grain tax is increasing at a slower and slower rate, and I am afraid that it will only reach more than 80% of the quota in the end. After all, it is inevitable that some places will be hit by disasters every year and need to be reduced or exempted.
Zhang Fujing frowned.
Zhu Houcong thought for a long time and finally said: "I have sent an order to Tian Rucheng, but the request is not allowed."
This timing refers to the Chinese New Year approaching.
Yang Shen opened his mouth and said coldly: "During the Qing Dynasty, there must have been no problems with the river embankments and sea embankments. But for so many years, the people have been fighting for water, digging and renovating them randomly. The wind has damaged them, and the water has washed away violently. What happened?
The problem is normal. In short, no matter how you investigate, these seven village sages are the victims, and there must be no ironclad evidence against them. If you really want to argue, it is because the Suzhou government was negligent and lacked preparation. Who has been punished for this crime?
, I’m afraid it will only chill the hearts of other prefectures and counties. People are not saints, let alone natural disasters. Who can guarantee that they will not be unlucky next time?"
They do not pursue a clear level for the people's living conditions and living standards. The foundation they imagine for eternity is nothing more than a set of improved systems, and will not be specific to the level of geography and resources, and what new things they control.
Only solid soil will be beneficial to future generations of China.
Yan Song, who had never spoken until now, noticed the emperor's determination and suddenly said in a stern voice: "Then I will draft an official document and send it to Jiaozhi!"
How many local officials can be considered saints?
"I'll discuss it with Yong Xiu first. You can go down first." After the others left the official office, Zhang Fujing looked at Yang Shen: "Based on the new amount, what percentage of the total amount of money and food can be collected by the provinces this year? Southern Zhili and the three provinces
What’s the percentage again?”
Zhu Houcong looked at him and said calmly: "Speak."
This year, Southern Zhili, Jiangxi, Huguang, and Zhejiang were all included in the direct taxation system of the Ministry of Household Affairs in Beijing, but only half a percent more, a total of only 40 percent more than in the past.
Nothing could be done, and Mo Dengyong's posture was extremely low. Since the Ming Dynasty had no name for its troops and was now unable to prepare for war in Nanyang, could it just wait for the situation in Jiaozhi to change and the descendants of the Li family to raise a flag to ask the Ming Dynasty to send troops to suppress the rebellion?
?
Zhang Boring's words corroborated the internal situation in Jiaozhi. The reason why Tian Rucheng dared to disobey the instructions he received before setting off was that he naturally believed that he was making a meritorious deed.
The tax amount has doubled, but that is the result of the imperial family members and relatives under the emperor's pressure, so many companies must pay taxes every year in accordance with commercial and tax laws.
Yang Shen reported the number, and Zhang Fujing remained silent.
Light snow was falling outside the National Assembly Hall, and many court officials shuddered: Split South Zhili?
Zhu Houcong's eyes lit up: Zhang Fujing found a good reason! Good time!
Since the first national grain collection in the sixth year of Jiajing in accordance with the new standards after the Qing Dynasty, the grain tax that year was 20% more than before.
Unexpectedly, Bodi was killed in the first battle, but Anda grew stronger. Now that Qinghai has changed hands again, the Ming Dynasty must focus on the northern border.
"As long as Ruan Gan doesn't give up, he will definitely be looking for it. If he can't find it, he will definitely think of this method. The Li clan has been completely slaughtered. I think only some old ministers and old servants in the palace can prove it.
What is fake is real." Zhu Houxuan looked at Zhang Boring and asked, "Can your people over there do this?"
But Yang Yiqing also thinks that this result is also acceptable.
"I understand! Ruan Gan will be tempted even if he just spreads some rumors. Even if what he finds is actually false, he will definitely have a way to make it true." Zhang Boring's eyes suddenly lit up.
This bright color was immediately hidden by him, and after a while he slowly said: "This is a big matter, let's discuss it after the year. Mao Gong should have a memorial to explain the pros and cons in detail, right? Submit it first, I want to
Think carefully."
He needs to think carefully, and the meeting after the new year means that this matter is not impossible.
This year, many people are destined to be uneasy, and the year after the year will also be very lively.