In the Hongwu Dynasty, the night fasting time was from 3 o'clock to 3 o'clock on the fifth watch, that is, from 8:12 to 4:12 the next morning. According to the provisions of the "Da Ming Law", if you go out during the first and fifth watches of the night ban, the butt will enjoy 30 boards, and if you travel on the second, third and fourth watches, the enjoyment of the butt will be upgraded, generally 40 times, of course, if you catch up with major events such as birth, old age, sickness and death, it is accommodating.

When Zhu Yunwen first ascended the throne, he thought about postponing this time, but after being persuaded by the minister, he gave up. The reason is very simple, there are no street lights on the side of the road, and most people can't afford to light oil lamps, and at night, the streets and alleys are pitch black, except for the gangsters who are traitors, no one will travel, so the night curfew time of the Jianwen Dynasty is the same as that of the Hongwu Dynasty.

Of course, no system is free from privileges, the former Jinyiwei, now the Investigation Department, the Intelligence Department, the Security Department and other departments can pass with a token, and officials who have reached a certain level can also have a "special pass" specially approved by the emperor and unimpeded, and low-level officials can also obtain this right of passage at special moments such as overtime.

Of course, Yu Xin, the head of the household department, and Guo Ren, the head of the household department, belong to the "certain grade" officials, and they have been very busy recently, and they will be busy until late every day, because the military reform has been launched, and the departments of the household department, the Governor's Office of the Five Armies, the Ministry of War, and the General Quartermaster Department need to carefully calculate the military expenditure of Jianwen for seven years, including road repair, armament replenishment, armament warehouse construction, guard salaries, etc., and also consider the expenditure of the imperial court, because after the reform, the grain of the guard station is obviously unable to meet the needs. It needs to be allocated by the imperial court, which will directly affect the expenditure in other aspects, so Yu Xin, Guo Ren and the newly appointed household servant Tan Bo are busy in the dark, and the officials of the household department are also transferred by the regiments they instructed......

"Da, da, da!"

The sound of horses' hooves came from far and near on West Chang'an Street, and when I got closer, it turned out to be two four-wheeled carriages, surrounded by more than a dozen guards, all riding horses, indicating that the owner of the carriage was either rich or noble.

When I encountered a checkpoint on the road, the master did not come forward, the guard directly handed over a token, and the soldiers who patrolled the night took a look, and quickly nodded: "It turned out to be the car of Lord Shangshu, and the small one did not dare to disturb, please!" ”

The guard on the horse took the token, snorted slightly in his nose, and did not answer, and the group walked away.

"Big brother, whose frame is this? The cows are coaxing! ”

"Shut up, that's the car of Lord Shangshuyu of the household, and in the future, I will remember the appearance of the whole car for Lao Tzu, give Lao Tzu some rules, don't make trouble for Lao Tzu!"

"How can you see clearly in this black light?"

"You kid still dare to talk back? It's a bad beating! ”

"Ahh Big brother spares his life! I was wrong! Stop it! Stop it! ”

......

After Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, although the courtiers' salaries did not change, but the benefits increased a lot, Zhu Yunwen allocated mansions for officials above the third rank, although it was not luxurious, but it also reduced part of the expenses of officials, and also equipped carriages for officials above the fourth rank to facilitate their travel. And Yu Xin's one is specially approved by the emperor, not only the appearance is more majestic and luxurious, but the inner space is also much larger than the ordinary carriage, in addition to the necessary sofas, tables and chairs, it is also equipped with a small room for sleeping and resting, you can take a nap on the way to and from work, this is also considering that Yu Xin is old, his health is not good, and he needs more maintenance.

After Yu Xin got off duty, he called Guo Ren to go home together, and both of them got into Yu Xin's carriage, so Guo Ren's carriage followed behind, but after Yu Xin got in the car, he didn't speak, and even took a nap for a while, until the checkpoint stopped just now, and Yu Xin woke up leisurely.

He looked at Guo Ren, who was sitting precariously, and suddenly smiled: "Lord Guo, what do you think of His Majesty's military restructuring?" ”

"Military restructuring?" Guo Ren thought for a moment and said: "Your Majesty's restructuring has changed the military position for thousands of years, inherited the military decentralization of the first emperor, restrained each other, avoided the idea of becoming bigger, and also avoided the disadvantages of using literature to control the military, which can be described as a saint of the ages!" ”

"Well," Yu Xin was silent for a while, and said: "That's true, Your Majesty's idea is wild, the old man has never thought of using this method to control the army, but if you think about it carefully, this method is indeed effective, but this is also a last resort." Now that the combat power of the Weisuo army has declined, coupled with the rebellion of King Yan and King Chu, it is understandable for His Majesty to concentrate military power, but the concentration of military power cannot be concentrated on the generals, and they must be allowed to contain each other, and His Majesty has grasped the three key points of command, supervision and armament and food salary, which is indeed eye-catching, but the specific effect needs to continue to be observed! ”

"So, are there any drawbacks to this approach?"

"This, if it is a disadvantage, that is, it costs too much money, the soldiers of the Guards are paid one or a half cents of silver per month, and the monthly salary is about one or two taels of meat, and now the Guards are about 150,000 people, and the fixed expenditure of these people for a year is 4.5 million taels, if you count the expenses of the officers, then it will be close to 5 million taels, plus the supplement of armor, swords, muskets, artillery, and gunpowder, and the annual support of the Guards, the imperial court needs to spend as much as seven or eight million taels of silver, and these silver taels must be from the imperial court. The guards can only produce a part of the food. ”

"And my income from last year is converted into silver, about 53 million taels, but eight of them become grain, cloth, salt, iron, and other things, and there is not much silver."

"Although since the beginning of the previous year, all localities are allowed to use silver and silver tickets instead of grain to pay taxes, but the effect is not good, so the cash silver gap of the imperial court is very large, in the past two years, Your Majesty Shengming, most of the officials' money is cash, and there are few Ming treasure banknotes, but now with the addition of the guards, the cash silver gap will be even greater, and it is easy to have problems."

"Hehe, what Master Guo said is very right, so at present, can the imperial court's finances support it?"

"It's okay for a year or two, but I'm afraid that in the future, the Daming treasure banknotes will be reissued!"

Yu Xin stroked his gray beard, pondered for a while, and said, "So, Lord Guo thinks that the Guards will expand again?" ”

"This," Guo Ren pondered for a while, his face began to turn pale, and his voice trembled a little: "According to Your Majesty's thoughts, Korea, the Japanese Kingdom, and Mongolia must be fought, then, the Guards will definitely expand, but where does the money come from?" ”

"Yes, Your Majesty is resolute and wants to learn from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to conquer Siyi, and those of us who are courtiers can only find a way to raise money!"

"My lord, do we want to follow Sang Hongyang's example of exploiting the people and Qu Meijun? I, Guo Ren, will never do such a thing! ”

"So what are you going to do? Do you want to resign? ”

"This?" Guo Ren opened his mouth, but he didn't say anything. How can it be so easy to resign? Ten years of hard study, ranking in the high office, how can you abandon it once?

......

Yu Xin noticed Guo Ren's hesitation, but did not continue to speak, but picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea gently.

"It's really not good, Guo has only one way to resign!" Guo Ren thought for a long time, the blue tendons on his forehead burst out, and he said word by word.

"Hehe," Yu Xin waved his hand: "Master Guo, it's good that you have this kind of mind, and the old man appreciates it very much." The old man is in charge of the household department, and he relieves the worries of the son of the society, but he must have the suffering of the people in his heart, and he must not be a person who harms the people! ”

"What do you mean?"

"No," Yu Xin shook his head and looked up at the roof of the car: "In the past two years, the old man has felt more and more lacking in energy, I'm afraid he won't be able to survive for a few years, once the old man begs for bones, he will recommend Lord Guo to take over as the head of the household department, so the old man wants you to promise, no matter what the circumstances, you can't give up easily, otherwise you will be the sinner of the people of the Ming Dynasty!" ”

"But," Hearing Yu Xin's words, Guo Ren's eyes showed a hint of joy, but it quickly disappeared, and he frowned and said, "However, Lord Tan's holy family is far above the lower officials, I'm afraid Your Majesty will choose Lord Tan." ”

"No, although Tan Bo is a scholar, his heart is too strong, and he lacks enough responsibility in his chest, so he is not suitable to be in charge of the household department, and the old man will make this clear to His Majesty! Your Majesty's holy candle shines, there will definitely be a trade-off. ”

"Oh, then thank you first, the lower officials must do their best and live up to the trust of the adults." While speaking, Guo Ren sat up straight and bowed his hand.

"Well, that's all the old man can do for you, you must do it yourself in the future, don't learn from Xia Yuanji!"

The carriage immediately fell silent, and Guo Ren didn't know how to answer.

After a long time, Guo Ren said in a trembling voice: "My lord, how could Wei Zhe do something rebellious? ”

"This may be a different way," Yu Xin sighed slightly, and turned his head out the window: "He is a talent, but it's a pity that he took the wrong path." ”

......

"Why the hell? Xiaguan has not been able to understand! ”

"Hehe, from this point of view, you are not as good as him."

“......”

Looking at Guo Ren's unconvinced appearance, Yu Xin smiled and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty has done several major things in the past few years, namely pacifying King Yan, opening up the Northeast and Korea, and forming the Guards and the Royal Navy. ”

"This subordinate knows, but what does this have to do with Wei Zhe's rebellion?"

"Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did several major things back then, fighting the Xiongnu, opening up the Western Regions, destroying Yelang for Guizhou, opening up Yunnan, plus conquering South Vietnam, crossing the Yalu River to establish Lelang Mansion, compared with the Han Dynasty, the gap between our dynasty is still very large, so Your Majesty will inevitably continue to raise troops, and it will cost money to raise troops, so Your Majesty will open the sea and levy business taxes, is this enough?"

"Not enough!"

"Then what do you think Your Majesty will do?"

"......" Guo Ren pondered for a while, and said with a hint of hesitation in his tone: "The lower officials think that Your Majesty is likely to re-measure the land, increase taxes, and increase the collection of commercial taxes and customs duties. ”

"Hehe, if you can think of this, it means that you will be a competent household secretary, but Your Majesty's thoughts are far more than that, and you may be dumbfounded at that time, but the old man hopes that you can always remember your words today, help Your Majesty check and fill in the gaps, and leave a glimmer of life for the common people in the world!"

Guo Ren was a little puzzled and wanted to ask a question, but found that Yu Xin closed his mouth and had no intention of continuing the topic, so he had to nod.

......

"My lord, two more streets, and we will arrive at Lord Hou's mansion!"

"Oh," Yu Xin opened his eyes and said, "Lord Guo, let's separate here, the old man is going to visit Lord Hou!" ”

"This," Guo Ren hesitated for a moment, and said: "Lord Hou has just been reprimanded by His Majesty and demoted to a squire, my lord goes to see him, I am afraid that His Majesty will misunderstand, once Your Majesty descends the wrath of thunder, what should I do?" ”

"Hehe, no, Your Majesty won't care about such a trivial matter!"

"That's ...... for me"

Seeing Guo Ren's embarrassed look, Yu Xin smiled and said, "Master Guo, you don't have to go, you have to be cautious in your words and deeds now!" ”

"Yes, thank you for your understanding!"

"It's okay, let's leave it at that!"

"My lord, farewell to the officials!"

When Guo Ren got up and got out of the car, Yu Xin suddenly remembered something and said in a low voice: "Wei Zhe has not been for a few days, you can send someone to see him in the past two days, if you have any unfulfilled wishes, help him do it!" ”

"Yes, okay! But how do adults know? ”

"The case of King Chu is about to be closed!"

“......”

Looking at Guo Ren's back, Yu Xin turned his head and looked in the direction of the imperial city, now the emperor's family banquet should have started a long time ago, how would those princes behave? And the King of Chu, what will His Majesty do with him?

......