In the spring of the twenty-fifth year of Zhengde, Yang Yiqing, the second assistant of the cabinet.

Peng Ze, the head of the household, was awarded a scholar of Dongge University, and Yang Dang entered the cabinet.

Wang Zhan, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, was awarded a scholar of Dongge University, and Wang Dang entered the cabinet.

Wang Hong, the left servant of the Ministry of Officials, was promoted to the head of the household department, and the imperial party controlled the household department.

Zhao Huang, the waiter of the household department, was promoted to the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, and Wang Dang controlled the Ministry of Industry.

Li Chengxun, the left waiter of the Ministry of Rites, was promoted to the cangchang Shangshu, and the Wang Party controlled Taicang.

This series of official post transfers did not make waves, and they were arranged smoothly and smoothly.

The current cabinet ministers are ranked in order: Yang Tinghe, Jiang Mian, Mao Ji, Wang Qiong, Peng Ze, and Wang Zhan.

On New Year's Day, the imperial court issued a decree -

All taxes (national taxes) of the Ministry of Liberation are no longer paid in kind, and must be converted into new money, that is, silver and copper coins minted in the Zhengde Dynasty, and the old money shall not be used for taxation.

Taxes (local taxes) that do not need to be levied under the old system are still levied according to the old system.

Daming treasure banknotes shall not be used for tax purposes. If there is a place to forcibly collect treasure money, the landlord and adjutant do not need to be interrogated, and all of them will be exiled overseas!

The third decree is specifically designed to deal with corrupt officials and profiteers. Some guys specialize in hoarding Daming treasure money and colluding with officials to exploit the people. Officials specify a certain tax, must pay treasure money, and the common people do not have treasure money, so they can only find hoarders to exchange at a high price, causing huge losses to the court and the people.

The news of the tax reform caused the old money to depreciate in an instant, and all kinds of rejections continued to flow to rural areas.

Many farmers do not know that they cannot pay taxes on their old money because of poor information. As a result, when it came time to pay taxes, they could not come up with new money at all, so they could only exchange old money at a high price, and they had to pay two or three times more taxes for nothing, and I don't know how many peasants had no livelihood because of this.

In this regard, Wang Yuan can only express helplessness, the quality of the old money is uneven, and it is mixed with many privately counterfeit coins. Even when Zhang Juzheng was reforming, he only dared to collect cash, not copper money, otherwise the entire country's taxes would be chaotic.

Fortunately, the farmers can only be pitted for one year, and everyone will learn well in the second year.

At that time, the old money will still be circulating in the market, but it will definitely depreciate wildly again, and the peasants will also deliberately collect new money to pay taxes.

In the spring and summer of the 25th year of Zhengde, the wind and rain were smooth across the country, and officials at all levels were happy.

It is also the flood season, and there are floods in some places in the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, and the Huai River. Moreover, these floods are not large, only a few states and counties have been affected, and relief can be provided casually.

This is the best year for the climate since Zhu Houzhao succeeded to the throne, and it seems that it has come and gone all of a sudden.

Zhu Houzhao rarely went back to the city, and went to Wenyuan Pavilion to convene a meeting of cabinet ministers, and opened his mouth to be very scary: "This autumn, I want to personally conquer Mongolia!" ”

"Your Majesty think twice!"

The six ministers knelt on the ground in unison.

Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "Don't think twice, I've been thinking about it for three years, and I should have been going to do it last year, but who knew that I encountered a major drought in eight provinces." This year, the wind and rain are good, and there is no worry about running out of food, which is a good time to attack Mongolia! ”

Yang Tinghe persuaded: "Your Majesty, the military is dangerous, and the outcome is unpredictable. What's more, if the Mongols take the initiative to attack the steppe, if the Mongols avoid the battle and leave, will Your Majesty chase or not? If Your Majesty pursues it, it will be a waste of food and grass if you can't find the enemy, and it will be even more difficult if you encounter an ambush. ”

Zhu Houzhao had already prepared a rhetoric: "You don't understand, I have rifled flint firearms, with a range of 60 zhang (nearly 200 meters), paper shell ammunition can fire at least two rounds per minute, and a few elite leopard room elites can fire three rounds per minute. Moreover, my firecrackers were also equipped with bayonets, which were made of stainless steel, and the firecrackers could also fight in close combat. ”

Except for Wang Qiong and Peng Ze, the other four ministers were all confused, and they couldn't understand what the emperor was saying at all.

Wang Qiong was dumbfounded and said, "Your Majesty, this kind of fire gun can really shoot two or three shots per minute, and it can hit sixty zhang away?" ”

"You don't have any jokes, can you still fake it?" Zhu Houzhao is full of confidence.

Wang Qiong asked again: "How many of these muskets have been made?" ”

Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "Last year, there were 10,000, and this year there are 5,000 new ones. Fifteen thousand new guns with bayonets cost more than 500,000 taels of silver before and after. ”

O loser!

The ministers had blood in their hearts, and it cost more than 500,000 taels to make guns. If it is replaced by before, it will be worth half a year's salt tax in the country, and it would be better to take it out to build more embankments on the Yellow River.

Desperate soldiers, poor soldiers!

The ministers had this word in their hearts, and they couldn't let the emperor mess around anymore, otherwise no matter how rich the Ming treasury was, it would not be able to withstand the waste.

Zhu Houzhao also said: "I also spent 600,000 taels to build artillery, and the guns and cannons on the battlefield will be fired, and the Tatar thieves will run wild!" ”

That's more than a million taels of silver, gone?

Yang Tinghe almost fainted when he heard this, he only knew that in the past few years, Zhu Houzhao had been tinkering with weapons in the northwest suburbs. Before, he was secretly happy, there were no eunuchs and generals Hu Lai, and the cabinet was very comfortable, but he didn't expect the emperor to be quietly holding back his big moves.

Peng Ze looked at the emperor stupidly, how many cannons do you have to build for 600,000 taels. When he quelled the chaos back then, if there were so many artillery, he would have been in chaos and looking for his mother.

More than one million taels were used to make guns, which shows the emperor's determination to fight, and no matter how much advice he advises, it is impossible to have an effect.

Yang Tinghe could only retreat and ask for the second: "Your Majesty, it is okay to attack Mongolia, but you can't drive the expedition in person, and everything should be based on the dragon body." ”

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This sentence poked Zhu Houzhao's heart, and he said with a displeased face: "What dragon body is important?" I am very good, I can eat two catties of rice and half a catty of meat a day, and I can control ten girls in one night! ”

You just blow it, and the ten girls at night, there are not even a few palace maids in Haoshan Garden, and it's all a bunch of rough men tossing there.

Wang Qiong suddenly knelt on the ground: "The minister is willing to go on behalf of His Majesty, please stay in Beijing to plan for thousands of miles!" ”

Peng Ze also knelt down: "The minister is willing to go on behalf of His Majesty!" ”

Zhu Houzhao said with a smile: "Although you two know soldiers, you don't know how to use the new gun. Let you lead the Northern Expedition, it is better to let Wang Erlang go. ”

Yang Tinghe took the opportunity to kneel on the ground: "Your Majesty, please let Wang Shangshu command the troops, and Your Majesty can coordinate it in Beijing." ”

Zhu Houzhao said angrily: "Anyway, you won't let me do it?" ”

"Your Majesty, please think twice!"

The six ministers kowtowed again.

Zhu Houzhao suddenly clutched his chest, feeling a little difficult to breathe, his brain was dizzy and couldn't think, and he couldn't seem to lift his breath.

There was a dead silence, and no one spoke.

A little sweat broke out on Zhu Houzhao's forehead, and he sat there for a long time, and finally relieved his breath.

"Whew!"

A mouthful of turbid breath was spit out, and Zhu Houzhao's passion and fighting spirit seemed to be spit out most of it. He didn't want to quarrel with the ministers anymore, and said in an almost pleading tone: "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid that time is running out, so I will fulfill my wish before I die." ”

The six ministers didn't know how to answer, and they didn't dare to confront each other in person, what if the emperor was angry to death?

Finally, Yang Tinghe said with tears in his voice: "Your Majesty, the minister has asked the imperial doctor, Your Majesty's condition, it is best to recuperate in Jiangnan." The leopard house and the good mountain garden are both beautiful mountains and rivers, which are suitable for His Majesty Jiangyang's disease. But the north wind is very strong, can Your Majesty really hold on? If the old disease recurs in the battle, where will the Northern Expedition army be? ”

Zhu Houzhao was silent.

Yes, what if the emperor personally led an army of 100,000 to the Northern Expedition and suddenly fell ill during the war?

Zhu Houzhao clenched his fists and let go, after all, he was still not as willful as when he was young, he sighed: "Let Wang Erlang go out on my behalf." Take my imperial chariot to Datong, take my dragon banner to Hetao, and follow the ministers and Jinyi guards along the way. This battle, as if I am here! ”

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

The six cabinet ministers finally breathed a sigh of relief, as long as the emperor did not personally levy it, the imperial chariot, the dragon banner and the ministers of the interior and exterior could toss it casually.

Wang Qiong asked, "Which wing of Mongolia does Your Majesty want to destroy?" ”

Zhu Houzhao said: "I want to take back the Hetao!" ”