Many people wondered how the emperor could be short of money. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info But in fact, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty were generally short of money, especially after the three major expeditions of Wanli, the wealth that Zhang Juzheng had accumulated during the Shoufu period was almost spent, so the financial crisis of the Ming Dynasty emperor began.

In the last years of the Apocalypse, the entire Ming Dynasty continued to suffer natural and man-made disasters, and this financial crisis became more and more intense.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, many ministers took it for granted that the emperor would not be without money, so whenever there was no money in the treasury under the control of the household department, the ministers would write a letter and ask for internal payment.

And the so-called internal money is the emperor's private money.

It's a pity that the emperor also has times when he really has no money.

Especially the historical Emperor Chongzhen, on the eve of the destruction of Beijing, he really had no money to reward the army defending the city, so he had to beg the noble ministers in Beijing to donate money to make up silver, reward the army, and boost morale.

If he still has money and silver, as an emperor, when the time comes to destroy the country, if he doesn't take it out for the last stand, will he still leave it to the enemy?

It can be said that a large part of the reason for the fall of the Ming Dynasty was its financial bankruptcy.

After Sun Chengzong finished saying his thoughts, he saw that the emperor was still silent, and fell into deep thought, a little apprehensive in his heart, thought about it and said: "Your Majesty, the six strategies of the ministers do not have to be implemented at the same time, and the one that is easy to do can be chosen first." ”

Sun Chengzong's words woke Zhu Daming up from his contemplation, Zhu Daming thought of the financial difficulties, and couldn't help but sigh, and said: "Sun Aiqing's six strategies, let me suddenly open up, worthy of the old Chengcheng's words to seek the country, if you can do it, thieves and prisoners are not enough to worry about."

"However, the biggest problem today is the lack of financial resources and the lack of national resources. Aiqing can know that in the forty-seventh year of Wanli, Xu Guangqi once wrote to the emperor's grandfather and asked for an order to go to Tongzhou to train the new army, but in the end it was not done, of course, there are many reasons, but the most important thing is that the military salary and equipment are not continued. Now Aiqing said six strategies, none of them don't need money and food! ”

Speaking of this, Zhu Daming couldn't help but think of what he learned when he was recuperating.

At that time, he took Wang Chengen and others to see the inner transport warehouse, that is, the place where the emperor's private money was stored, which was one of the core places in the palace.

Before he went, he thought that the emperor was rich all over the world and should be full of gold, silver and jewelry, but after he went, he found that he, the emperor, was not as rich as the rich landlords of the Ming Dynasty, and he might not even be as rich as some ministers in the court and the big eunuchs in the inner court.

The whole thing is full, and the inner carrier warehouse is only 226 taels of silver, and there are some gold ingots in the rest, and the rest are calligraphy and paintings, jade, bronze and other so-called treasures that can only be seen and cannot be used.

Knowing this, Zhu Daming was disappointed, more sympathetic to Chongzhen in history, and no longer so optimistic about what he wanted to do.

It was at that time that Zhu Daming secretly made up his mind to get the silver as soon as possible, enough silver, and only in this way could the tragic fate of Emperor Chongzhen in history be avoided.

Of course, he was very clear about what the emperor said about Xu Guangqi's military training in Tongzhou.

He had a relationship with Xu Guangqi, and Sun Yuanhua, a very important staff member under him, was Xu Guangqi's disciple and a talent recommended to him by Xu Guangqi.

In addition, he served as the secretary of the military department and supervised Ji Liao for many years, so he saw the financial difficulties of the imperial court more clearly than many people and thought far.

Therefore, taking over the emperor's words, Sun Chengzong said: "Your Majesty, the minister suggested that the court should first tuntian, that is, considering the financial difficulties of the imperial court, there is no extra money and grain to recruit troops and pay them. As long as His Majesty decrees that the ministers are given the right to recruit displaced people and reclaim barren mountains and wastelands, without too much money and food, the ministers will have a way to pull up a new army for His Majesty first. ”

Seeing that the emperor was a little moved, Sun Chengzong continued: "If you want to have enough for the country, it is nothing more than to open up sources and reduce expenditure. Since His Majesty ascended the throne, everything in the palace has been provincial, and all the court and the court have praised it. Now the minister has a strategy, although it is difficult, but if His Majesty does his best, he will be able to save a lot of money and food for the imperial court, and it is enough to recruit people to reclaim and train a new army. ”

Zhu Daming vaguely guessed Sun Chengzong's countermeasures, and now the biggest expenditure of the Ming Dynasty is military salaries, military salaries in Beijing, military salaries in Liaodong, and military salaries in the nine sides, which account for more than 60% of the Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue every year, and the rest is basically the officials' salaries and the clan's salaries.

Once there is a natural or man-made disaster and relief is needed, the imperial court will not be able to turn around.

If you want to throttle more expenses, you have to start with military salaries.

However, Ji Liao's military salary was not enough, and now it must be no less, and neither can the nine-sided ones.

In history, Emperor Chongzhen cut the military salary of the nine sides, and as a result, many soldiers in the border towns mutinied and fled, and finally joined the army of thieves, and became the backbone of the thieves.

What was originally a rabble peasant army with little combat effectiveness suddenly became strong and began to look like an army.

Therefore, the military salaries of the nine sides must not only not be reduced, but must be gradually increased.

The rest is the Beijing battalion, and the so-called Beijing battalion is the three major battalions of the Beijing Division, that is, the five military battalions, the three thousand battalions, and the Shenji battalion.

When the Beijing camp was first established, it was definitely the elite of the world's strongest army, but after repeated changes, by the time of the Chongzhen period, the so-called Beijing camp had been basically abandoned.

Of the more than 300,000 posts, there may be less than 100,000, some of them are in the Jingxun family, some are deserters, some are on empty salary, some are old, weak, sick and disabled, and in fact, there can be 100,000 people who can be pulled out into battle, all of which can be regarded as burning incense.

Zhu Daming motioned to Sun Chengzong and continued, and as a result, what Sun Chengzong said was basically the same as what he had guessed, that is, it was proposed to reduce the number of personnel in the Beijing battalion and cut off the part that did not exist in the first place, so that the number of personnel in the Beijing battalion would be less, and the military salary would be less, and the savings would be enough for Sun Chengzong to recruit troops and organize and train the new army.

However, the number of personnel of the three major battalions of the Beijing Division cannot be reduced, because too many noble interests are involved.

So Zhu Daming thought for a while and said: "The matter of rectifying the Beijing camp will be put aside for the time being." I agree with all the six strategies that Aiqing said, and Aiqing will consider it for a few more days to select the current ones who are easy to do. I will carry it out after I play it. As for the money and food needed to recruit troops and tuntian, I will have a way. ”

Hearing this, Sun Chengzong thought that this summons was about to end, and was about to get up and salute, but heard the emperor say again: "The six strategies that Aiqing said are the correct theory of a rich country and a strong army, but it is not an easy thing to enrich a country and strengthen the army, you need money and food, and you need talents. ”

In fact, even if the emperor doesn't ask, Sun Chengzong also wants to mention a little requirement for employing people, Lu Shanji, Wang Zegu, Sun Yuanhua, Mao Yuanyi, Yang Yingqian, etc., are all the team of his supervisor Ji Liao, and he was promoted to the rank of official, and he was unlucky.

Now, the new emperor wants to work hard and promote him to the high position of the secretary of the military department and the scholar of the Wuyingdian University, it is when he repays these talents of the time, and without their assistance, many of his ideas cannot find a suitable executor.

Therefore, Sun Chengzong said: "Thank you, Your Majesty, the minister has this intention. During the period of the minister's supervision of Ji Liao, there are a group of talents under the command of the minister, all of whom are heroes for a while, and the minister can make achievements in Ji Liao, and most of them depend on them. Then Zhu Daming was introduced to Lu Shanji and other candidates one by one.

Among these people, Lu Shanji was born as a jinshi, and he was already in the military department before he resigned.

Wang Zegu is also a jinshi, Sun Chengzong returned not long after, and resigned from the household department to return to his hometown.

Sun Yuanhua is a lifter, and is currently an officer in the Shenji Battalion, one of the three major battalions of the Beijing Division, responsible for supervising the manufacture of muskets and artillery.

Mao Yuanyi was a person, followed Sun Chengzong to fight in Jiliao, and was recommended to be the edict of the Hanlin Academy.

Yang Yingqian was a promoter, who recruited displaced people in Liaodong to help Sun Chengzong train his troops, and later resigned and returned to his hometown with Sun Chengzong.

Zhu Daming had heard of the names of these people in his later generations, and some had not heard of them, but since they were recommended by Sun Chengzong, it means that they are all available talents.

Zhu Daming now needs the most is a talent who can do things, and he is naturally very happy with Sun Chengzong's recommendation, and those who resign or are dismissed from office will all be reinstated, and without even asking Sun Chengzong's opinion, he directly gave Sun Yuanhua, Mao Yuanyi, and Yang Yingqian the three of them to be born as Jinshi, and immediately asked Wang Chengen to go to the cabinet to pass the decree, and the cabinet issued documents respectively, informing them of the various ministries and institutes where they had previously served, including the Jingying directly under the emperor, and these parties. After that, the two talked for another half an hour before it was over.