After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, the secretary of the ministry, Ma Wensheng and the others did not speak again, and the Qianqing Palace seemed to be very quiet, only the wind was still blowing outside.

Seeing this, Zhu Houzhao also knew that although he had only increased the depth of reform a little, this had already shocked several senior civil officials present.

However, Zhu Houzhao has always believed that Ma Wensheng is not a selfish official who only knows how to protect the interests of his own class, so he feels that Ma Wensheng should not be too opposed, and if Ma Wensheng is against it, then he really needs to find an official who can support his reform.

"Your Majesty wants to increase the intensity of punishment, the minister thinks that it is okay, and the strict punishment and strict law can also deter officials who want to corrupt, but this is linked to the performance of officials, although it can indeed promote hundreds of officials to do more things that benefit the country and the people, but in this way, the burden on the court will also increase.

Ma Wensheng expressed his doubts, as Zhu Houzhao expected, he did not object to the idea proposed by Zhu Houzhao, but he did not completely care about just patting the ass and saying that there must be no problem with the emperor Zhu Houzhao's proposal.

"In this way, if you want to curb the corruption of officials, you must first increase the income of the imperial court.

Zhu Houzhao actually thought that increasing the income of officials would definitely increase the burden on the imperial court, but this also required an increase in the imperial court revenue, that is, the treasury revenue.

However, whether it was to increase the revenue of the state treasury or increase the income of one's own internal treasury, it would hurt the interests of the gentry and the common people, so it would be greatly opposed from below, so no one dared to propose reform measures to increase the income of the imperial court.

Because tonight he only talked about how to reform the rule of officials, Zhu Houzhao did not mention anything about increasing the income of the imperial court at the beginning.

Listening to Zhu Houzhao take the initiative to ask for advice, Ma Wensheng, the secretary of the ministry, snorted for a while, and finally resolutely decided to say his inner thoughts:

"Your Majesty, the minister has also mentioned to Emperor Xiaozong that the increase in the number of officials and the number of officials, the Ming officials are few and thin, relying on morality is not enough to make people's hearts right, in order to support them or can help to be honest, the minister even suggested that the business tax can also be increased to support the army and hundreds of officials with His Majesty's grace, so that it does not hurt the common people but only the merchants, but Rao is so also very resistant, so the minister only proposed to test the law."

Jiao Fang glanced at Ma Wensheng, the secretary of the ministry, meaningfully, he couldn't help but think to himself, you Ma Shangshu has to do military affairs and political affairs in his life, and business transactions naturally don't care about the amount of commercial taxes levied, and more commercial taxes to increase the number of officials are naturally good for you, but now there are not a few officials with the background of Jin merchants and Hui merchants in the DPRK and China, how can you allow Your Majesty to levy more business taxes.

Although Jiao Fang said that Ma Wensheng's desire to levy business taxes was whimsical, he did not think about how to increase income for the imperial court, and now after seeing Ma Wensheng say, he was also busy:

"Your Majesty, the minister has been a prefect, and knows some of the rules for the payment of court taxes, in the eyes of the ministers, if you want to increase the income of the court, if you want to increase the income of the court, the fire consumption will be collected exclusively by the court, and then distributed to the good performance of the Qing officials and honest officials, so that they can complement each other!"

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but smile slightly, he didn't expect Jiao Fang to put forward the idea of returning to the public after the fire, thinking that it was not unreasonable for the prime minister to start from the state department, and those who had been magistrates could really put forward some new measures that later generations of reformers did.

But at this time, Xu Jin, the secretary of the Ministry of War, couldn't sit still: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that what Jiao Shaozai said is inappropriate, the return of fire consumption to the public is the main income of the locality, and the local affairs depend on it for survival. ”

Zhu Houzhao also felt that Xu Jin was right, the return of fire consumption to the public is indeed the main financial revenue of the local government, although a large part of it goes into the personal pockets of officials, but it is undeniable that most of the local government affairs are maintained by fire consumption.

"Da Sima, the lower officials think that the imperial court can strictly prohibit the local government from apportioning more, and besides, not all the income from the fire consumption is used as a reward for officials, and a part of it can also be divided into local affairs", Jiao Fang has always been straightforward, and when he saw Xu Jin refute himself, he also went back directly.

And Xu Jin did not show weakness: "Does Jiao Shaozai think that this will curb the increase in local factions, if the local officials increase their factions privately and cause a civil uprising, it will be a crisis in the community!" ”

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the fire consumption is indeed very important, I am afraid that the local officials in the world are not angry, it is better to increase the commercial tax, the merchant does not work and takes huge profits, the farmer is busy all day and only has food and clothing, it can be seen that the merchant's profit is really unjust, if you take the merchant's wealth, and then add it with Your Majesty's grace, so that the monarch and the minister can be harmonious!"

Ma Wensheng also grabbed a sentence at this time, and Zhu Houzhao was moved when he heard it, thinking that it seemed to be the case, in this era, the power of businessmen is not large, and it is naturally safer to take the benefits of businessmen than to take the benefits of farmers, and he also uses this part of the benefits to increase the income of hundreds of officials, and hundreds of officials should not object.

But in fact, after Ma Wensheng finished speaking, Jiao Fang had already objected: "The minister does not agree with what Otsuka Zai said!" If Your Majesty takes the benefits of merchants, it is equivalent to taking the benefits of the gentry, but I am afraid that it is more difficult than the fire consumption to return to the public, and the fire consumption to the public only hurts the interests of the local officials, and the additional business tax is the enemy of the entire scholar! ”

"Jiao Shaozai can't help but exaggerate, what is the enemy of the entire scholar, the old man is also a scholar, the old man doesn't think that the increase in commercial taxes is the enemy of the old man", Ma Wensheng immediately responded.

"There are a few doctors in the world who can be like Otsuka Zai, although he is in a high position and powerful, but does not enrich himself with business", Jiao Fang replied directly.

Zhu Houzhao felt a little headache, not only a headache, but also a pain in his ears, he didn't expect that about reform, he didn't expect that just by discussing with the three officials in front of him who were interested in reform, there would be such a big controversy and even not reach a consensus.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but think to himself, if this was discussed by the hundreds of officials, wouldn't it be impossible to quarrel for three days and three nights without coming up with a final reform plan, and it was only a matter of reforming the rule of officials.

At the same time, Zhu Houzhao also realized more and more that it was really not an easy task to reform the government.

Zhu Houzhao saw that the three days of the struggle was blushing, his neck was thick, and the chatter seemed to be unstoppable, so he had to slap the table: "Enough!" ”

Seeing Zhu Houzhao's sudden roar, Ma Wensheng, Jiao Fang, and Xu Jin hurriedly kept quiet, and still restored the respectful and solemn style that the old minister should have.

"How to increase the income of the imperial court is put aside for the time being, this is a matter of household reform, and then I will find another time to convene relevant officials to discuss, and now I still only talk about the reform of official governance, implement a new examination law, link the hundred officials and military achievements with personal political achievements, and increase the punishment for corruption, do you have any objections?"

Zhu Houzhao asked.

"The minister has no objection, but in this way, the extra court expenditure due to the increase in the number of officials cannot be ignored," Ma Wensheng said.

"I'll find a way, but I can't do it, I'll make up for it with the inner money first, you don't have to worry!"

Zhu Houzhao waved his hand and said.

"In this case, the minister has no objection, Your Majesty is wise!"

Jiao Fang also replied.

"It's not okay to take the profits of businessmen, it's not okay to take the benefits of the people, but now it's wise to take my profits, so there is no objection, right", Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but glance at Jiao Fang.

"Your Majesty, if you don't want to do this, it's you who said it yourself, if Your Majesty doesn't want to, even if Your Majesty really wants to increase the commercial tax, the minister has no objection, but the minister asks Your Majesty to consider it, if you rashly increase the commercial tax, I'm afraid the society is really unstable!"

Jiao Fang couldn't help but say.

"Okay, I'm just joking," Zhu Houzhao said and looked at Xu Jin, the secretary of the military department.

Xu Jin hurriedly stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the minister has no objection, but the minister doesn't know that Your Majesty will neither increase the commercial tax nor return the fire to the public, how can the meager income from the internal money make up for the increase in the hundreds of officials in the imperial court?" ”

"I have my own way! You don't have to worry, for now we will only talk about the reform of the rule of officials, since you have no objection;

From tomorrow, the reform of the government will officially begin, and after the resignation of the three cabinet ministers, I will immediately let you into the cabinet, and you will still be in charge of the ministry, and at the same time, a special cabinet office will be set up to clarify the cabinet system;

When the time comes, the three of you new cabinet ministers will comprehensively promote the reform of the administration of officials, but the secretary of the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of War will have to choose someone else, can you choose someone to recommend? It is better to be someone who can carry out the reform of the rule of officials! ”

Zhu Houzhao asked.