Since August, there has been a severe drought in Henan and Shaanxi. Then came the locust plague.

As soon as the locusts passed, the fields were gnawed clean, and the scene was a thousand miles of red land.

Officials in Shaanxi and Henan have petitioned for assistance from the imperial court, preferably exempting them from taxes next year. Because judging from the current situation, locust plagues and drought are enough to cause countless particles in both places next year.

It was sent to the Secretary of General Affairs, and after sorting, it was sent to the Cabinet for drafting.

Now Emperor Wanli is grounded by Empress Dowager Li, and he can't get out of the Qianqing Palace. In many cases, it was the master of ceremonies who picked up a few important books and sent them to the Qianqing Palace for approval by the Wanli Emperor, and the rest were directly approved.

But neither the cabinet nor the celebrant has the right to decide on this matter.

After all, it involves the taxation of Henan and Shaanxi provinces, and these two provinces are both large provinces, and if they are directly exempted from taxation with a wave of their hands, next year's treasury revenue will be a little tight.

After Zhang Juzheng took office, the implementation of the new policy was in full swing, and the annual treasury revenue was rising. Under such circumstances, Zhang Juzheng naturally did not want a downward trend in the Wanli decade. But the situation in Henan and Shaanxi is there, and it is the actual situation, and it is obviously too impersonal to turn a blind eye.

In the end, Emperor Wanli had to speak.

Zhang Juzheng thought about it, and took the note drawn up by the cabinet and went to the Qianqing Palace.

It was a long way from the cabinet to the Qianqing Palace, and Zhang Juzheng was given a shoulder and could ride in the palace.

But this time, Zhang Juzheng did not choose to take the shoulder, but chose to walk. Because he felt that the shoulder was too slow, and the matter was so urgent that he could not delay for a moment.

The weather in late August has cooled, but after all, it is still the tail of summer. Zhang Juzheng was walking in a hurry, and when he arrived outside the Qianqing Palace, he was already sweating profusely and his court clothes were soaked.

"Elder Ge, why are you here?"

Zhang Juzheng looked up and saw that it was Feng Bao's godson Feng Shan, so he nodded lightly and said, "There is something important to play Your Majesty, Your Majesty can be in the palace?" ”

"If you go back to the pavilion, long live the lord is now on the job, the slave and maid will go to the ceremony, you will wait."

Zhang Juzheng sighed in his heart, it is not a way to confine the emperor in the Qianqing Palace all the time, and the queen mother's move is really too much.

He closed his eyes, stood in His Majesty Dan to recuperate, and thought about how to tell the emperor about the disasters in Henan and Shaanxi for a while.

After a while, Feng Shirt went and returned, and said with a smiling face: "Pavilion Boss, Your Majesty has announced your visit." ”

Zhang Juzheng nodded, threw off his sleeves and entered the hall.

After this incident, Zhang Juzheng felt that there must be a gap between their monarchs and ministers, but after all, he was Wanli's teacher, and Wanli still had to respect him on the surface.

After entering the hall, Zhang Juzheng saw that Emperor Wanli was really sitting at the desk, so he arched his hand and saluted: "Minister Zhang Juzheng greets Your Majesty." ”

When Emperor Wanli saw Zhang Juzheng coming, he hurriedly got up and walked around the desk to greet him: "Mr. Yuanfu, please quickly intercede with the queen mother, and avoid my grounding order." I am trapped in this Qianqing Palace every day, I can't go anywhere, and I'm about to get sick. ”

Zhang Juzheng didn't expect Emperor Wanli to intercede as soon as they met, he was stunned for a moment, and then coughed: "Your Majesty, the old minister will go and talk to the Queen Mother about this matter." The old minister came this time to perform an important matter to His Majesty. ”

Emperor Wanli saw that Zhang Juzheng had teased his words, and he was extremely unhappy in his heart. But he still pretended to listen patiently and said, "Mr. Yuanfu, please speak." ”

Zhang Juzheng sighed and said: "There is a great drought in Shaanxi and Henan, followed by a locust plague, and at this moment the two places are already thousands of miles of red land, and I am afraid that the crops will not be harvested in the coming year." ”

Emperor Wanli nodded: "I have also heard about this. ”

Zhang Juzheng's expression changed: "Who did Your Majesty listen to?" ”

Only then did Emperor Wanli react, and hurriedly said: "It's just that a few palace people casually mentioned it, and I heard it." I think they should have relatives in Shaanxi and Henan. ”

He secretly said in his heart that it was so dangerous that he almost leaked his mouth. If Zhang Juzheng knew that he had placed eunuchs in the cabinet to monitor, he didn't know how much trouble he would cause.

"Oh."

Zhang Juzheng didn't seem to have any intention of delving, and continued: "The officials of Shaanxi and Henan have already submitted a request to exempt the two places from paying taxes next year, and the old minister has come to ask Your Majesty for this matter. ”

Emperor Wanli said in his heart that you old guy is so hypocritical, obviously he already has a plan in his heart, and he has to pretend to be sincere and afraid.

The ticket you have prepared, which one of them is not directly printed and approved red, so why bother to make more moves and act coyly?

But he couldn't say these words to Zhang Juzheng, so he had to sigh and said: "I think I will exempt the two places from paying taxes in the coming year." ”

Zhang Juzheng said: "It's just that if this happens, the imperial court will be tight on taxes next year, and I'm afraid that the annual revenue of the treasury will be lower than this year." ”

Emperor Wanli secretly said in his heart, you old guy is really hypocritical, the people in the two places are almost unable to eat, and you are still thinking about your political achievements and reputation.

As the taxes grow, you can save your reputation, but you have to bear this black cauldron. No, absolutely not!

"The people of Shaanxi and Henan are all my children, and I can't bear to see the people of the two places starving."

Zhang Juzheng thought that Emperor Wanli was really worried about the people, and if the court did not provide timely relief, I am afraid it would not only be a matter of starvation. After the drought and locust plague in all dynasties, there will be many tragedies of changing children and eating, and many people will starve to death, thus causing epidemics.

If this issue is not handled properly, I am afraid that many people will die in Shaanxi and Henan, and it is not impossible to pull the flag and rebel under the instigation of people with intentions.

"Your Majesty, without further ado, please ask Your Majesty to issue a decree to transfer grain from the lake to the two places."

After a pause, Zhang Juzheng continued in a deep tone: "As for the complete exemption of taxes for the coming year, the minister thinks that it is absolutely impossible. The minister and several colleagues have drawn up a statement, and asked His Majesty to read it. ”

Emperor Wanli sneered in his heart, okay, it's all already planned, and I'm the last one to know. What do you think of me?

"Feng Shan, read it to me."

Feng Shan hurriedly took the order and took the note from Zhang Juzheng's hand and read it aloud.

He came from the inner study hall in the palace, and there was no problem with reading and hyphenating, and it was even more Langlang when he read the article, but Emperor Wanli felt upset and didn't listen to a word.

"The minister thinks that the spring tax should be exempted, the summer tax should be exempted by 30%, and the exempted 3 should become the part left by the local government..."

It turned out that Zhang Juzheng planned to only exempt the spring tax in Shaanxi and Henan. As for the summer tax, you still have to pay, but it is discounted, according to seventy percent of previous years.

At first glance, it looks very sincere, but when you think about it, it's a play on words.

Because the local tax collection will generally be divided into two parts, one part of the local government will be kept for its own use, and the other part will be handed over to the national treasury.

Zhang Ju spread the exempted thirty percent into the local part, and seventy percent of the imperial court was a lot!

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