Chapter 41 Ambassador Chai Tan

"Hehe, it's really my virtuous helper, let's talk about this matter tomorrow, let me love it first!" Being so fooled by Li Guifei, Emperor Longqing's heart was extremely comfortable, and the anger left in his stomach in the early dynasty completely dissipated, and this excitement, a hungry tiger pounced on Li Guifei's delicate body.

After a night of pillow wind, Emperor Longqing's mind changed decisively, but there is still something to be done on the surface, after all, if such a big thing is not explained, it is impossible to explain it in all aspects.

But he was really embarrassed to say this matter to Gao Gong and Shen Chongming, and it was not good to announce this matter in a grand manner, otherwise the order would be changed overnight, and the ministers would not dare to say anything? There must be some ideas in my heart, but what do I want to do with Song Qingyang? It's sure to make them use their brains and guess.

Therefore, after the morning of the next day, Emperor Longqing sent a secret decree to Dali Temple: Zhao Zhenji, the head of the household department, falsely accused the main culprit in the case, immediately dismissed from office, and returned to his hometown to retire and never be used again; Song Qingyang, the inspector of the Imperial Procuratorate, was an accomplice, and he had remorse when he remembered it, and he degraded the ambassador of the Ministry of Officials and Industry to see the after-effects.

But there is no impermeable wall in the officialdom, and this matter spread all over the Yamen Street in less than the afternoon, but with the instructions of Emperor Longqing, Dali Temple only said that it was the result of the trial, and did not mention the secret decree at all, which was completely carried on the black pot.

Hearing the news, Shen Chongming, who was the party concerned, laughed at it, and did not have the kind of thunder that others imagined: "Hehe, I think that Song Qingyang is also a high-minded and arrogant person, and this charcoal ambassador of the Ministry of Industry is the eighth grade, which can be regarded as a loss of face for him!" ”

Xiao Ershao also rushed here after hearing the news, originally hearing that Song Qingyang was only demoted, he still felt extremely angry in his heart, but now when he heard Shen Chongming say this, not only was his anger disappear invisibly, but he also said with a full face: "Brother Shen, you are right, just let him stay in the capital, and walk on the street of Yamen wearing an official uniform of the eighth grade all day long, it is indeed embarrassing and conspicuous, I am afraid that this guy will be so ashamed that he will vomit blood!" ”

Shen Chongming laughed, and before he could speak, the guards outside the door hurriedly walked in: "Lord Qiqi, someone from the palace said that the emperor wants to summon you!" ”

Shen Chongming didn't dare to delay this matter, tidied up his official robe, left Xiao Ershao and went out, followed the inner guards from the palace and went straight to the palace.

Entering the hall of cultivation, the four ministers of the cabinet, Li Chunfang, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, and Chen Yiqin, were all present, looking at this situation, Shen Chongming knelt on the ground to salute while pondering what had happened in his heart.

Waving his hand to get him up, Emperor Longqing looked at the four cabinet ministers and said, "A few Aiqing, I guess you also know the current situation of the household department, yesterday I inquired about the accounts of the household department. Although the autumn taxes have been collected in various places, the household department is still not rich, and can only continue to owe the latest chapter of the red career of officials! ”

Speaking of this, Emperor Longqing's brows furrowed into a pimple, and he sighed: "In the past few years, the silver of the household department has become more and more insufficient, and I am worried that if it continues like this, something big will happen sooner or later!" ”

Everyone looked at each other, everyone knows about the financial tension of the imperial court, but it is not easy to increase the tax revenue of the imperial court, and you can't increase the taxes of the people at every turn! Moreover, when Emperor Taizu founded the country, he set an iron law that the people's taxes could not exceed the fifteenth tax at any time, and now it has reached the maximum limit and it is impossible to raise it again.

However, the main income of the imperial court depends on the land from all over the country, and if this method cannot be used, then there is really nothing to be done.

"I brought you together this time to discuss how to solve the current predicament, and I hope that all Aiqing will speak freely, if you come up with a good way, let's discuss this matter in the court!" Saying that, Emperor Longqing's gaze froze slightly on Shen Chongming's body, he was the protagonist of this matter.

"Your Majesty, Weichen thought that to solve the current dilemma, the only way to open up sources and reduce expenditure was to open up sources and reduce expenditure, but now that the people everywhere are living in difficulty, it is absolutely undesirable to increase taxes, so we can only find a way to reduce expenditure, or we can reduce the income of some officials!" As the first assistant of the cabinet, Li Chunfang was the first to express his position.

It's just that what he said is a cliché, and this is how the court has used it over the years. Although it can solve the urgent needs of the moment, it cannot solve the fundamental problem at all, and for this matter, there are already many complaints among the officials, and if they intensify it, they are afraid that more corrupt officials will be created.

Seeing that Emperor Longqing was noncommittal, Li Chunfang knew that he had said a word of nonsense, but he was not annoyed in his heart, and it was not his way to be an official.

"Your Majesty, Lord Li's method is a good way, but it will be okay in the short term, if it is a long time, Wechen is afraid of causing other changes, so Wechen thinks that he should still find a way to open source!" Gao Gong said and bowed slightly to Li Chunfang.

Emperor Longqing nodded, frowned and said: "It is precisely because of this that I have gathered you to conspire together, now the situation in the household department is already very serious, if you can't solve the current problem as soon as possible, sooner or later there will be a big mess!" ”

Everyone was silent, this method can be found if it is wanted, if it is so easy to come up with, how can the imperial court owe the officials for decades.

Shen Chongming stood there and lowered his head and pondered about this matter, to tell the truth, the matter he was discussing today was the opportunity he had been waiting for for the past few years, and he had a lot of good ideas in his heart about the matter of opening up the source of income for the imperial court.

It's a pity that now that the four cabinet ministers are present, Shen Chongming doesn't dare to take the initiative to take out a good idea in his heart, in case he meets the emperor's thoughts, in the eyes of others, he will steal the limelight.

And no matter which one of his ideas is to carry out major surgery on the entire Ming Dynasty, if any of these four people are resolutely opposed, it will be even more difficult to implement, and then it will make up for the footsteps of those reformers in history, and if the reform fails, it will put his life into it.

So it's better not to say anything for the time being, wait to find out what they really think, and strive for everyone to finally come up with a good story, which will be much easier to implement.

However, in addition to Gao Gong and Li Chunfang, who have already expressed their position, Chen Yiqin is an old pedant. Although he has a noble character, he can't give any practical opinions on this kind of open source and reduce expenditure, so from the very beginning, he stood there silently as an old monk.

And Zhang Juzheng has been in Taoguang since Xu Jie's resignation and return to the court, and he has been following the crowd in many things, and he easily does not express his opinions, and this time it is the same, I saw that he looked down at his feet motionless, and there was no movement to speak at all.

Emperor Longqing swept back and forth a few times, and finally his eyes stayed on Shen Chongming, who lowered his head and fiddled with his fingers, and this time he and the cabinet people passed him together, in order to let this kid come up with a good idea to read it all over the Three Kingdoms Reborn God of War Lu Bu.

"Shen Aiqing, what good can you do!" Emperor Longqing smiled, this time he had high hopes for this little god of wealth, if he didn't have a trick, Emperor Longqing could only continue to live a festive life.

Shen Chongming was stunned, he didn't expect Emperor Longqing to find his head so quickly, it was absolutely undesirable to be a turtle with a shrunken head to protect the face of several ministers, in that case, this good opportunity would be missed.

Shen Chongming quietly glanced at the four people in front of him, and said in a low voice: "If you go back to the emperor, Weichen has some small ideas, but I can't be sure if it can be done!" ”

What Emperor Longqing wanted was his words, and he smiled and said: "Aiqing, but it's okay to say it, let's just take a closer look!" ”

Emperor Longqing made a statement, and the other four people also nodded their heads, and unified their eyes on Shen Chongming, everyone is a human spirit, this time the emperor summoned the cabinet ministers to discuss major matters, but Shen Chongming was also present, it is enough to infer that he is the protagonist today.

"Your Majesty, at the end of last year, Weichen proposed to change the military system of the local guards, and Weichen felt that the imperial court could save a lot of money in this matter!"

As soon as Shen Chongming's words fell, he saw Gao Gong frowning and asked: "Lord Shen, most of the soldiers of the guard are obtained by cultivating the fields themselves, and the same is true for the grain and grass they need for daily life, so the imperial court has not invested a lot of silver in this matter, and if you want to save a lot of money by changing the military system of the guard, I am afraid that it will not be easy!" ”

"What Lord Gao said is very true!" Shen Chongming smiled slightly, this is his own teacher, and he will definitely not contain malicious intent when he picks fault with himself.

"However, the fields they cultivate are military fields that do not need to pay taxes to the imperial court, if the imperial court imitates the border army system to reform the guard post, and the soldiers' food and salary are uniformly distributed by the imperial court, then these fields will no longer belong to the military field, so that the imperial court will not be able to increase its income?"

Chen Yiqin smiled: "Lord Shen's words are wrong, the imperial court has increased taxes and taxes, and in the end, it has to be paid to the soldiers of the guard, this time it comes and goes, I am afraid that I will have to take more money to go in!" ”

"What Lord Chen said is right, but the restructuring that the lower officials said is not only like this, one of the most important is to reduce the number of soldiers, and after the soldiers who have been cut down have taken off their military uniforms, what they have to do is to concentrate on farming, and the fields stripped from the guard will be handed over to them, and these people will not only not have to receive salaries and consume military rations from now on, but also provide taxes for the imperial court, and a decrease and an increase is the part of the imperial court's tax increase!" Shen Chongming said his thoughts in one go. Although the words are not very detailed, others can understand it.

After a period of silence, Emperor Longqing was the first to nod and smile: "Shen Aiqing is reasonable, what do you Aiqing think?" ”

"Lord Shen's idea is a good way, but the combat power of the guards is not strong in the first place, once you really want to reduce the number of soldiers as Lord Shen said, I am afraid that it will make the combat power even lower and unbearable!" Chen Yiqin said with some concern, in his opinion, the combat strength of the imperial army is largely reflected by the small number of people.

Shen Chongming smiled and explained: "Although Lord Chen can rest assured at this point, the soldiers of the guard are now engaged in agricultural work and training, if after the restructuring, the remaining soldiers can train wholeheartedly, and then as long as the brave generals in the army are dispatched, they will be able to train them to be like a border army and be able to recruit elite divisions that are good at fighting, and their combat power will only be high, not low!" ”

"Well, what Shen Aiqing said is right, I think this is indeed a rare and good way, what do you think!" Emperor Longqing pondered in his heart for a while, and felt that this account was very cost-effective, so he immediately agreed with Shen Chongming's idea.