At the cabinet meeting, the cabinet ministers fell into deep thought.

Everyone is a high-level elite of the empire, knowing that Huang Zongxi's theory is undoubtedly correct, in order to solve the situation of scarcity of silver in the country, the Ming Dynasty relied on overseas trade in exchange for the amount of silver needed in China, so there was large-scale overseas trade.

The tea, porcelain, and silk produced by the Ming Dynasty were continuously sold to overseas countries in exchange for a large amount of silver, which was used as the salary of domestic officials and the capital for purchasing peasants' grain, and the overseas market became prosperous.

Silver, as a currency, prospered the domestic market of the Ming Dynasty and led to the development of the commodity economy and the market economy.

However, this price is that farmers are being exploited more and more!

Because the peasants could not get greater benefits from the superficially prosperous market and overseas trade, they became more and more impoverished because the imperial court taxed the land regardless of whether it was good or bad, and the wealth was increasingly concentrated in the hands of the government and some merchants, so that the problem of land annexation in the Ming Dynasty was exacerbated!

After pondering, Yang Tinglin, the first assistant of the cabinet, asked: "Huang Butang, do you have a solution?" ”

"Yes!"

Huang Zongxi said: "If we want to completely solve the maladministration of the people and reduce the burden on the people, we need a thorough reform, not a change in the policy!" ”

Yang Tinglin said: "Let's talk about it! ”

Huang Zongxi glanced at Yang Tinglin and other cabinet members, and said, "The only way to do this is to cancel the agricultural tax on public grain!" ”

"What?"

The first to react immediately was Qiu Zhizhong, the celebrant of the celebrant supervisor, who exclaimed: "The imperial grain tax is a law since ancient times, and it has been practiced in my Chinese land for thousands of years, how can it be abolished!" ”

Everyone was a little surprised, the air in the entire hall froze at once, and several cabinet ministers looked at Yang Tinglin, the first assistant.

Although Yang Tinglin was a little mentally prepared, these words came out of the mouth of Huang Zongxi, who had always been cautious and obedient, and his eyes still widened in shock.

He thought for a moment and said slowly: "Huang Butang's words are not unreasonable, it's just ......."

Before he finished speaking, Qiu Zhizhong's eyes were fixed on Yang Tinglin, and he almost shouted: "Since ancient times, it has been a matter of course for the people to pay the emperor's grain and national taxes, what does your cabinet want to do?" ”

His low roar echoed the very quiet Wenhua Palace.

Yang Tinglin frowned slightly, his face was displeased, and he slowly closed his eyes.

Zhang Guowei, the head of the household department, had a slight face, patted the sandalwood table, stood up and said, "Father-in-law Qiu, this is a cabinet meeting!" ”

Everyone's eyes became more and more nervous, looking at Qiu Zhizhong and then at Zhang Guowei.

In the end, Li Yan stood up, coughed, and said comfortingly: "Elder Zhang Ge is angry, and Gong Qiu is angry, today is just a bill, and it will have to be judged by His Majesty in the end." ”

Qiu Zhizhong didn't speak anymore, but pushed aside a team of documents on the table in front of him.

This matter was caused by Huang Zongxi, so he naturally couldn't be a turtle with a shrunken head, so he had to bite the bullet and say: "Don't be impatient, don't be impatient, and listen to my analysis." ”

He opened the general account book of the Ministry of Finance in front of him and said: "Last year, I had a total of 185,367,000 silver yuan in taxes and silver in the Ming Dynasty, of which agricultural taxes accounted for 20 percent, customs duties 3 percent, and commercial taxes 5 percent!" ”

"My Ming Dynasty's annual tax revenue continues to create record highs, and it is the most in all dynasties!"

Huang Zongxi paused and continued: "With this achievement, it is not that our dynasty implements a system of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes and heavy taxes, on the contrary, the tax rate of our Tianwu Dynasty is almost the lowest among all dynasties!" And the types of taxes are also minimal! ”

This fully proves the correctness of His Majesty's mercantile policy, and the fiscal revenue is more and more dependent on commodity circulation! Even if these two percent of the agricultural tax is removed, it will not affect the annual expenditure of the imperial court, on the contrary, there is still some surplus, which is enough to deal with emergencies! ”

Hearing this, Qiu Zhizhong's face softened slightly.

He has always thought that the main body of taxation in the Ming Dynasty still relies on agricultural taxes, such as before the Chongzhen Dynasty, the total tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty, the proportion of agricultural taxes accounted for nearly ninety!

However, Qiu Zhizhong still adhered to the bottom line, and he said: "Your cabinet can vote on this matter, but the celebrant will never approve it, this matter is important, and our celebrant has no right to decide, we have to wait for His Majesty's holy ruling!" ”

All eyes looked at Yang Tinglin, who had been slightly closed, and Yang Tinglin was still expressionless at this time, obviously angry at Qiu Zhizhong's sullenness that did not understand the rules.

Finally, he said: "The cabinet will not sign the bill of the Ministry of Finance, and then submit it to His Majesty when he returns to Beijing. ”

Qiu Zhizhong looked outside the hall and saw that it was already dark, so he said, "This cabinet meeting is here, our family ......."

Before he could finish speaking, he saw a eunuch hurrying outside the hall, anxiously shouting from afar: "Godfather, it's not good......

Qiu Zhizhong frowned, the scars on his face became more and more hideous, and he shouted in a deep voice: "Bastard, howl!" ”

The eunuch who rushed to mourn was the Shunzi who was ordered to check the collection of the main hall during the day, he didn't care about anything, and directly knelt down into the hall, shouting: "Godfather, the main hall is out of water!" ”

"What!"

Not only Qiu Zhizhong was shocked, but even several cabinet ministers had dilated pupils and widened their eyes.

Honglu Siqing Mao Xiang sat on the silver needle like an ass, jumped up and walked quickly to Shunzi, grabbed his collar and asked, "What about His Royal Highness the Prince?" ”

The main hall is the place where the prince reads, and according to Mao Xiang's understanding, the diligent and studious prince should be reading by the lamp!

Surrounded by the chief eunuch and a group of cabinet ministers, Junzi's face trembled, and he trembled: "The fire starts from within...... It's too violent, the palace people below are fetching water to put out the fire, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince should still be inside......"

"Bastard!"

Qiu Zhizhong's straight teeth grinding, kicked away the straight, and hurriedly led people to the main hall.

The Wenhua Hall is not far from the main hall, and as soon as the group turned left out of the hall gate, they saw a raging flame burning on the entire main hall.

There was a panic in the palace, hundreds of eunuchs and palace maids came and went to carry water to extinguish the fire, and hundreds of royal guards stationed at the noon gate rushed to hear the news.

After being shocked, Qiu Zhizhong screamed: "Come in and save the driver!" ”

As he spoke, without waiting for others to act, he took the lead and rushed towards the main hall.

Mao Xiang was stunned for a moment, and then buried his head in the scorching sea of fire.

Before the two of them could get in, they saw a thin figure running out like an ape in the main hall of the main hall, with a person behind him.

"It's the little marquis!"

Qiu Zhi stopped, squinted at the firelight, and finally identified the person.

It was Sun Zhiyuan, the eldest son of Yingyuan, the prince of Qin, who was carrying the crown prince Zhu and His Majesty all the way out and escaped from the sea of fire.

Qiu Zhizhong and Mao Xiang immediately greeted them and escorted the two to retreat to Wenhua Palace.

Sun Zhiyuan, who was only thirteen years old, put down the crown prince Zhu and His Majesty, sat on the steps of the main hall and gasped for breath, wiping the ash on his face.

"Your Highness, are you alright?"

A circle of celebrants, eunuchs, and cabinet ministers surrounded the prince and kept greetings, for fear that something would happen to this little ancestor.

"Hongu is fine!"

Zhu He's majesty except that his hair was a little curly from the fire, and there was a circle of sweat on his forehead, so there was no problem.

He ignored the group of ministers and eunuchs, sat on the steps, hooked up with Sun Zhiyuan's shoulders and said, "Brother Zhiyuan, are you burned, do you want to call the imperial doctor?" ”

Sun Zhiyuan stood up and said respectfully: "The minister is fine, thank you for your concern." ”

Zhu He patted him on the shoulder and said, "Hey, I said that I can break through by myself, you have to run behind me, no, this palace will owe you a personal favor!" ”

"As His Royal Highness's companion, it is the duty of the minister to protect His Highness's safety!"

Although Sun Zhiyuan is small, he knows more truth than anyone else.

Zhu He Majesty waved his hand, smiled, and said, "In the palace, this is not your duty. ”

He suddenly turned cold, glanced at his side, and asked, "Qiu Banban, did you say yes?" ”

The hearts of the important ministers of the surrounding court suddenly burst into the hearts of the princes, although they were only eight or nine years old at this time, but they launched their prestige, but their faces were as fierce as when Emperor Tianwu was young, and he was full of murderous aura.

Qiu Zhizhong knelt down at once, and said with a panicked face: "The old slave is incompetent.......

His Majesty Zhu interrupted him and snorted coldly: "You are your father's person, what is the palace to do with you, wait for your father to return to the palace, you know the consequences, why don't you go and find out who set this fire!" ”

"Yes...... Be. ”

Qiu Zhizhong's forehead was sweating profusely, but it was like falling into an ice cellar.

He glared fiercely at his godson Junko, who was also kneeling on the ground, and seemed to have gunpowder stuffed in his chest, wanting to explode.

Junko was no better, his whole body was like a big fish, wet, and when he saw the hideous scar on his godfather's gloomy face, he was directly stunned on the spot.