"Ministry of Households, how much is the salt tax of the two Huai in the first half of this year?" Zhu Cihong smiled and asked.

"Back to the Chitose Lord, because the court is displaced, the archives and accounts are scattered, the specific number is difficult to come to fruition, and the minister only remembers a rough idea." Hou Sui, a scholar of the Middle Pole Hall and a scholar of the Ministry of Officials, got up from his seat and replied, "Since the beginning of the year, the total amount of salt taxes in the Ministry of Liberation has only been more than 80,000 taels. ”

"More than 80,000 taels in half a year, almost 170,000 taels a year." Zhu Cihong shook his head, "For the sake of 170,000 taels of silver, it is really not Renjun's work to let the people of the world suffer from the high price of salt and eat lightly every day."

The palace decided to abolish the salt law from now on, and the six major salt transportation envoys should be abolished, and the two Huai Du salt transportation envoys should be abolished first! The three subordinate divisions, two salt inspection institutes, and eleven inspection divisions were abolished at the same time and implemented immediately! ”

What? Emperor Chongzhen was stunned.

The salt law and salt administration formulated by the ancestors have been implemented for more than 270 years, and you say that it will be abolished? Do you really think that you are the reincarnation of Emperor Taizu Gao?

However, Emperor Chongzhen did not open his mouth to stop him, he is now a half-ruined emperor, and he has no authority, so he has to look at his son's jokes.

The interests involved in this salt law and salt administration are huge! The cabinet and courtiers will definitely stop it! If the rebel son quarrels with the officials in the court, I can speak......

But at this time, Wei Zaode, the first assistant of the cabinet, just said respectfully: "Follow the order!" ”

What the? That's it? Emperor Chongzhen was so surprised that he looked at the other pavilion elders below.

No one stood up against it! Several pavilion elders nodded slightly, obviously fully supporting Zhu Cihong's wise decision......

When did the ministers of the Ming Dynasty become so well-behaved?

"That's all!" Zhu Cihong said, "Let's make an order." ”

"Commandment." Li Shichun, a scholar of Zhan Shi Mansion and a bachelor of Hanlin Academy, didn't say anything, and immediately put pen to paper.

After the draft was completed, he asked the chamberlain to hand it over to Wei Zaode, and Scholar Wei immediately drafted the decree and pasted it. Then the order was sent to Zhu Cihong, Zhu Cihong nodded after reading it, and handed it to Huang Dabao to pick up the pen and approve the red.

The whole process was less than a stick of incense, no one raised objections, and there was no need to beat the court staff...... And that's it!

Emperor Chongzhen was stupid! Who are the cabinets and courtiers this time? Wei Zaode's soft bones are just that, Hou Sui and Qian Qianyi are the leaders of Donglin, and the Donglin Party likes to raise the bar the most, how can they be better than rabbits now? Why are you so disobedient when I am in power?

There are also six subjects for the middle of the matter...... It seems that there are no six departments to do now, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate is almost empty!

"Chitose Lord," Qian Qianyi, the leader of Donglin, finally spoke, but he was not against it, "There are hundreds of thousands of people who rely on salt to eat on the ground in Lianghuai, and if their livelihood is cut off, I am afraid that someone will take the opportunity to incite trouble, so I have to guard against it." ”

"It's on guard!" Zhu Cihong said, "Fortunately, Zheng Zhilong's tribute has arrived, more than 300 turtledove foot fire guns made in Foshan, and more than 4,600 Japanese bird guns...... Whoever dares to make trouble, the bird gun of the new army will be useful! ”

This is going on a killing spree! Those are all good citizens of the Ming Dynasty, and you, the prince, want to force the people to rebel? Emperor Chongzhen set his sights on the courtiers again, but was still disappointed. The courtiers all resolutely support Prince Zhu!

Zhu Cihong said: "The Japanese bird guns are lighter than the turtledove's foot firearms, and they are more suitable for field soldiers, so they should be distributed to all departments as soon as possible." First of all, the four fire gun associations will be equipped, and all three battalions in each association will be equipped with Japanese bird guns, and the remaining one battalion will be equipped with turtledove foot fire guns! There is a fire gang association in the four divisions of the front, left, center and right. Then he ordered the craftsmen who accompanied the army to make the spurs as soon as possible, and to equip all the bird guns with the spurs. ”

Zhu Cihong's new army now has five divisions, including four divisions in the front, center, and left and right, of which four divisions follow him south. These four divisions are all fully staffed, and each has four associations. Among them, one of the two divisions on the center and left was a cavalry association, and the other two divisions and the division that remained in Dengzhou had only four infantry associations, but there were only a small number of cavalry in the divisional troops. However, because of the lack of firecrackers before, the four firecrackers association that accompanied the south did not have enough firearms.

Now that the Zheng family has shipped thousands of Japanese bird guns, it is finally possible for each division to have a real fire gun association.

As for the rear divisions currently remaining in Dengzhou and Haisha Island, they are mainly composed of strong men recruited in Denglai, plus some backbone veterans, and there is no cavalry, they are all infantry. The four associations were stationed in Dengzhou City and Haisha Island, and each association had some turtledove's foot firearms, except for the one stationed on Haisha Island, which had more turtledove's foot firearms, and the other three associations did not have firearms.

Zhu Cihong then said: "Following the Zheng family's merchant ship, there are also thirty or forty Japanese old men who are good at using bird guns, all of whom have served in the Zheng family for many years and can speak Chinese, so they can temporarily fill the battalions as instructors and teach the Japanese bird guns how to reload and manipulate. ”

In the years after the end of Japan's Warring States Troubles, the Japanese ronins who had fought in the Warring States Troubles used to go to sea with Chinese and Dutch merchant ships and serve as mercenaries in many Eastern countries. In Zheng Zhilong's army, there were also many Japanese mercenaries, most of whom were good at using firearms and had the courage to fight hand-to-hand combat.

After Zheng Sen became Zhu Cihong's eldest brother, he wrote a letter to Zheng Zhilong, asking him to send dozens of Japanese mercenaries to teach the art of bird guns.

"Since the Japanese people helped our dynasty to resist the captives, they have obviously realized the mistake of invading Korea during the Wanli period, and Korea is no longer a vassal state of this dynasty."

Zhu Cihong paused, and then said: "Moreover, the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan has closed off the country, and now there are no Japanese ships sailing in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, and there is no longer the trouble of Japanese pirates.

Therefore, the Ming and the Japanese should live in harmony and should no longer be regarded as enemy countries. As for how to intersect, the opinion of Zheng Zhilong, the general soldier of Fujian, should be consulted first. An order can be issued to recruit Zheng Zhilong into the court to discuss exchanges with Japan. ”

This is another sensitive topic! Because when the Ming Dynasty was established, Japan happened to be a period of confrontation between the North and the South, and it was very chaotic, and there were always samurai who lost their lords and became pirates, harassing the coast of China. After that, the Ming Dynasty closed itself again, and Japan entered a more chaotic Warring States period. As a result, the Japanese ronin and the smugglers along the coast of China combined to form a rebellion. In the Wanli period, the Japanese invasion of Korea occurred again, triggering a long war between China and Japan. Therefore, the Ming court did not have a good impression of Japan, even if it was the more regular Tokugawa shogunate that ruled Japan now.

If the proposal of rapprochement with Japan had been put forward during the reign of Emperor Chongzhen, it would have aroused the criticism of the Manchu dynasty, and I don't know how noisy it would be.

But now, he only saw Wei Zaode stand up and said respectfully: "The order of the minister!" ”

Zhu Cihong nodded, and then said: "In the second year of Chongzhen, the imperial court once followed Xu Guangqi's suggestion and hired hundreds of Western generals and soldiers from Haoao, and purchased 16 Western cannons and 1,200 firearms. Unfortunately, when they arrived in Jiangxi, they were repatriated because of Lu Zhaolong's opposition to the incident, leaving only more than 20 officers to escort firearms into Beijing.

Later, these Westerner officers trained for Sun Yuanhua, and the soldiers they trained were actually very elite, but Yuanhua was not good at selecting generals and could not be under control. The generals used are the old department of Phi Dao, because of the death of Mao Wenlong to the imperial court resentment, so the army is in turmoil, and then take refuge in the east, for the captivity, it is a pity. However, the imperial court cannot deny the effect of Western law training on the basis of the passing of Yuanhua! ”

He raised his voice and said firmly: "Therefore, the palace decided to send John Tang to Hao Ao to recruit hundreds of Western generals and soldiers, so that he could supervise and train the soldiers of the new army to overcome difficulties, and open a hall for officers to teach Western military arts.

In addition, it is necessary to try to recruit Westerner craftsmen to set up factories in Nanjing, such as cannon factories, gun factories, iron factories, glass factories, etc., and tax exemptions can be granted as appropriate. Among them, if there are those who are skilled and can build reintroducer muskets and field artillery for the imperial court, they will be rewarded! ”

After Prince Zhu finished speaking, he glanced at Wei Zaode. The first assistant of the cabinet, Wei Zaode, stood up again and said respectfully: "Obey the order." ”

Zhu Cihong nodded with a smile: "Okay, this matter is decided." Intended, voted, approved red ......"