At the beginning of the meeting, according to the usual practice, some foreign envoys were asked about diplomatic demands, and the official who left Beijing thanked him for his majesty's resignation?6?? After that, we began the main content of the day: disaster relief and the suppression of the invaders. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

This is a matter within the responsibilities of the household department and the military department, and naturally the officials of the two ministries went out to state the situation and make suggestions to the emperor, and the officials of the household and military departments also expressed their opinions and views on this matter. Most of the officials in the DPRK and China agreed on the matter of disaster relief, saying that they would allocate rice and grain for disaster relief as soon as possible and resettle the victims of the disaster.

As for the occupation of Penghu by the Dutch, it was a bit troublesome, because the Imperial Wonder Temple impeached Cheng Zaiyi, the deputy envoy of Zhangnan Province, and allowed the deputy general Zhang Jiace to accept 30,000 taels of silver from the Dutch "Hongyi" and allow him to exchange money in Penghu. Since there is an impeachment of the imperial history, and the sea is serious,

The imperial court had to investigate, and after some discussion, Tianqi sent Zhu Shishou, the imperial historian of the Imperial Palace, to Fujian with the officials of the Ministry of War, and urged the governor of Fujian, Nan Juyi, to severely punish him.

A lot of time has passed since the two major matters were discussed, not to mention the Emperor of the Apocalypse, even Sun Yueling, who was standing in the back row, was a little tired. So, in the eunuch who ascended to the palace and sang loudly "Hundreds of officials have something to do, nothing to retreat from the court", Sun Yueling woke up suddenly, and wanted to rush out of the official class, and said loudly "The minister has a book" - this is what Ye Xianggao has already arranged, and he, a new official who swept down the Sichuan rebellion and made great contributions to Donglin, fired the first shot to rescue Wang Wenyan, how could he violate the intention of the first assistant at this time?

However, just before he could take action, an official suddenly rushed out of the official squad standing in front of him, bowed to the ground and said: "Your Majesty, Guo Yunhou has a good performance in the affairs of the Minister and Military Section." ”

Sun Yueling was shocked in his heart, Guo Yunhou was a member of the eunuch party, he was out of class at this time, could it really be as Ye Xianggao thought, they planned to impeach Luo Sigong, the commander of the Jinyi guard, in order to pry open Wang Wenyan's mouth?

He was a little annoyed in his heart, and he couldn't help but blame himself for being distracted just now, so that he let others take the lead, and he didn't know if Shoufu would blame him.

Although Apocalypse was a little impatient, it was not good not to let others speak at this time, so he had to say, "What do you have to do?" ”

Guo Yunhou raised his head and said loudly: "Your Majesty, today's Ming Dynasty has not only captured the chieftain and plundered the border, but also suffered from internal troubles such as earthquakes and embankment bursts, and the people of my Ming Dynasty are deeply endowed and difficult to maintain, resulting in an empty treasury. For the sake of the world, the minister asked the emperor to send salt supervisors to the rich lands of Lianghuai and Zhejiang, and edict to collect salt. ”

As soon as these words came out, the hall was in an uproar.

The land of the two Huai is the important place of salt production in the Ming Dynasty, the amount of production ranks first in all places, the salt tax silver collected by the Ming Dynasty, more than half of it comes from the two Huai, and the two Huai are more than salt merchants, the wealth is unspeakable, the Ming Dynasty collects taxes from these salt merchants every year is not a few. As for the land of Liangzhejiang, not to mention, it is even more rich in the world, and the tax and silver paid to the imperial court every year are beyond the reach of other provinces in the Ming Dynasty.

However, the land of Lianghuai and Liangzhejiang is the base camp of the Lindang people in the middle of the DPRK, and many people in the Donglin Party are from the Liangzhejiang River, and they have the support and support of the Liangzhejiang businessmen behind them.

Now Guo Yunhou proposed to send a salt supervisor to increase the salt tax in the two places, which stabbed the key point of the Donglin Party and made them angry.

In recent years, it is because of the mixing and distraction of the people in the three parties that the strategy of the Donglin Party has deviated, and the Emperor of the Apocalypse has adjusted the tax policy of the Ming Dynasty, not only releasing the mine supervisors and tea supervisors who have long been canceled to the south of the Yangtze River, but also increasing the taxes in the south of the Yangtze River. Because of this incident, they had fought with the Emperor of the Apocalypse earlier, and after some bargaining, the two sides finally reached a preliminary compromise.

But now, Guo Yunhou actually brought up this matter again, not only that, but he also asked for an additional salt tax on the two Huai and the two Zhejiang, isn't this to force the rich gentry in Jiangnan to spit out all the income in their pockets before they give up?

The Donglin Party couldn't bear it anymore, and Zhou Shunchang, a member of the ministry, was the first to jump out, pointed at Guo Yunhou with a halberd, and reprimanded: "Disturbing the holy hearing, a faction of nonsense, this heart can be punished!" ”

Guo Yunhou turned his face, looked at Zhou Shunchang who was full of anger, and said lightly: "Lord Zhou, this is a matter of benefiting the country and the people, where do you say this?" ”

Zhou Shunchang lifted his official robe, knelt down in front of the apocalypse, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, this matter of sending salt supervisors and increasing salt income must not be done, although the land of Lianghuai and Liangzhejiang is rich, but the taxes they bear are also the heaviest among my Ming provinces, and they have been tired of coping with it, and it is difficult to continue. I hope the emperor will see it! ”

Tianqi frowned slightly when he heard this, as Zhou Shunchang said, it is true that Lianghuai and Liangzhejiang have borne the heaviest taxes of the Ming Dynasty, but when it comes to them being tired and unsustainable, it is inevitably exaggerated, and said to Guo Yunhou: "Guo Zhishi, since you have taken the salt class, tell me your reasons?" ”

Guo Yunhou responded: "The minister obeys the order." After a pause, he continued, "Your Majesty, my Ming Dynasty has issued more than two million yuan of salt in a year, but the salt tax revenue is only one million taels of silver, and each tax is only three or four dollars of silver, and my Ming Dynasty does not collect more than two cents of salt from each catty of salt. Salt tax is the country's heavy weapon, the tax is so low, it can be described as unprecedented, the minister tastes the history book, in the Song Dynasty, each catty of salt tax 30 Wen, is 15 times more than this dynasty. ”

Speaking of this, he glanced around at the Donglin Party members who were glaring at him angrily, and continued: "But in the market and alleys, what is the price of salt per catty? In the Song Dynasty, the price per catty of salt was 50 wen; In this dynasty, the price per catty is 300 Wen. In my Ming Dynasty's salt industry, the imperial court tax is so low, according to common sense, the price of salt should be extremely low, but now, even if the tax is so low, the price per catty of salt is very high, more than six times the price of the Song Dynasty......"

When Guo Yunhou said that he was excited, he couldn't help but stand up, glanced around at the people in the court, and said in a loud voice: "Xiaguan, may I ask all the lords in the court, this tax is so low, the price is so high, how much money did the salt merchant giants of Lianghuai and Liangzhejiang earn from it?" How much money did I earn from it? My Ming court, should I send salt supervisors to Lianghuai and Liangzhejiang, and should I collect high taxes from these merchants? ”

His words are reasonable and well-founded, even Sun Yueling feels unable to refute it, and feels that it should be so, after all, under the legal policy of the imperial court, these traders can make a lot of money, and now the Ming Dynasty is full of disasters, and they have no reason not to feed the court and contribute to the country.

Emperor Tianqi nodded again and again when he heard this, obviously Guo Yunhou's words also deeply moved him, and when he was about to speak, he saw Zhou Shunchang's face flushed, and he argued with his own strength: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that this is very inappropriate, although the salt class in the Song Dynasty is higher than that of this dynasty, but there is a reason for it, how can it be generalized, and how can it be the government of the previous dynasty and the law of today?" Today, the country's household registration has greatly exceeded that of the Song Dynasty, and although the output of the salt industry has increased, it is not comparable to the expansion of the population after all. ”

Zhou Shunchang sorted out his thoughts, and then said, "As for the salt class being so low, it is also my Ming Dynasty's move to benefit the world and benefit the people. How can the treasury be depleted, and pass on what is given to the people, which should chill the hearts of the merchants and the common people all over the world! He bowed to the ground in front of the apocalypse and shouted, "I hope that my emperor will understand his righteousness, and don't do anything to hurt money and disturb the people!" ”

The last sentence is a bit radical, and Apocalypse's light eyebrows have been twisted into a knot, and his face is full of displeasure.

Seeing this, Guo Yunhou hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, this is a move for the benefit of the country and the people, if it is implemented, the treasury should be full, and the Ming Dynasty will be strong. ”

"The minister seconded the proposal!" Eunuch Huo Weihua stood out of the train and bowed his head to the apocalypse and said.

"Guo is full of nonsense, strong words, and the ministers oppose it, hoping that the emperor will make a clear decision!" Wei Dazhong, a member of the Donglin Party, stood up for the official class and was the first to support Zhou Shunchang.

"The minister seconded the proposal!"

"The minister is against!"

All of a sudden, the forces of both sides went out to support, and began to accuse and scold each other, the entire imperial palace was in chaos, and the court hall became a place for the Donglin party and the eunuch party to pinch each other, chaotic, coaxing, and noisy.

"Zhou Shunchang, this official sees that you are a moth in my Ming Dynasty, colluding with Huai and Zhejiang merchants to specialize in lawlessness, otherwise why would my Ming salt tax be lower than this?" Huo Weihua began to abuse and insult Zhou Shunchang, and his words were speechless.

"Piff, dare to do a beam jump?" Zhou Shunchang was not calm, and shot back, "A treacherous person like you dares to be presumptuous in the court, and the emperor will send you to the border sooner or later." For this villain who impeached Wang An and secretly used tricks, Donglin Junzi felt extremely indignant in his heart.

At this side, Guo Yunhou yelled at Wei Dazhong: "Old thief Kong Shi, why do you have to pretend, make a name for yourself, and flaunt your integrity, do you think I don't know the land and real estate you hold in Jiangnan?" I think you're a big hamster that eats people and doesn't spit out bones. Wei Dazhong was born poor, and after entering the office, he was also coarse and dirty, and he was known in the world for his incorruptibility, known as the bribery, and the giver did not dare to come to the door, which was a major benchmark in the Donglin Party.

Wei Dazhong was furious, blowing his beard and scolding Guo Yunhou: "You, a shameless villain, impeached Shoushan Academy and slandered the name of Qingliu, you have long been shameless by Shilin, and you still have the face to make a big statement here?" ”

"Shilin?" Guo Yunhou laughed, "Can your so-called academies and halls in the Donglin Party represent the scholars of the entire world?" Can it cover the voices of all the readers of the Ming Dynasty? It's really funny...... Haha......"

Above the court, the two parties quarreled endlessly, accused each other, and there was chaos. But the Donglin party above the court accounted for the majority at the moment, and gradually, Donglin's voice completely overwhelmed the voice of the eunuch party, and the entire court hall only heard the indignant and angry attack of the Donglin party, and the eunuch's voice was quieter, and finally became inaudible.

Sun Yueling raised his eyes to look at the Emperor of the Apocalypse sitting on the dragon chair, only to see that his face was blue, the green tendons on his forehead were bulging, and his cheeks were tense, obviously trying his best to restrain himself.

At this time, even if he wanted to play according to Ye Xianggao and Zhao Nanxing's intentions, he had no way to exert his strength, so he had to put his heart down and listen to the Donglin Party's vigorous criticism and angry words against the eunuch party.

glanced at Zhao Nanxing and Ye Xianggao, who were standing at the forefront of the official class, and saw that Zhao Nanxing's face was full of red light again, and he was talking to others endlessly; And Ye Xianggao is still the old monk, who seems to have heard and ignored everything that happened beside him.

It was originally a major court meeting to discuss the government of the Senate, but under the distortion of the participation of the Donglin Party and the Eunuch Party, it became a big farce in which the two sides bit and scolded each other.

"Party strife is misrepresenting the country!" Sun Yueling sighed, such a situation could really surprise him.

"Your Majesty, Weichen has something to say!" In the midst of the noise, an old and loud voice suddenly sounded loudly, masking the sound of the dispute.

Hearing this shout, everyone gradually quieted down, and for a while, the court was so quiet that it could be heard - those who are familiar with it know that this is the voice of Ye Xianggao, the head of the court, Ye Xianggao is an important minister above ten thousand people under one person in addition to today's saint, and his attitude cannot but attract the attention of all officials.

"Oh? What does Shousuke have to say? Seeing that it was Ye Xianggao, Tianqi also suppressed the unhappiness in his heart, and looked at him with peaceful and expectant eyes. All the officials in the Imperial Palace also looked at him to see what kind of attitude he had.

Ye Xianggao stood out of the train, leaned over slightly towards the apocalypse, and said: "Back to the emperor, the old minister thinks that sending salt supervisors and tax increases to the land of Lianghuai and Liangzhejiang will definitely fill the treasury of my Ming Dynasty, which is the best law and should be done!" ”

"Boom", as soon as these words fell, the entire court exploded again, and there were many discussions and noisy.

To the surprise of the members of the eunuch party, the first assistant of the cabinet and the old Ye Xianggao of Donglin Su actually agreed with their opinions and expressed his agreement to increase the salt tax in the two places; Most of the Donglin Party members were also surprised, and they never expected that Ye Xianggao would not stand on his side, but echo the members of the Eunuch Party.

Zhao Nanxing, who was standing not far behind Ye Xianggao, exploded his chest, and said to Ye Xianggao in a trembling voice: "Ye Fuqing, you ...... What are you talking about...... He really didn't expect Ye Xianggao to speak like this, completely ignoring his position, pointing at his hand trembling for a while, not knowing how to phrase it.

"Your Majesty!" Ye Xianggao ignored the discussion above the court, and continued to say to the apocalypse, "Since the old minister became the minister, there have been constant side affairs and internal strife, and I have been in trouble both internally and externally, and I can't make ends meet, and the treasury has long been empty. Now, if we can really send salt supervisors and increase salt taxes, we should be able to increase a lot of revenue for the treasury and internal funds, and we can even use this to overcome today's hardships. ”

As soon as the words fell, there were bursts of exhortation and discussion in the court. (To be continued.) )