No money. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

This is the unanimous voice of all officials in Beijing. In previous years, the money was ten or twenty taels of silver with a few big bucks, plus grain, rice and medicinal materials obtained from taxes.

Many officials may even be selling money in the morning and selling in the afternoon.

There is really a shortage of money in the treasury of the Ming Dynasty.

So much so that the household department is as excited as seeing the silver from the tax every year as it is when it sees its own father, and a surplus of more than 100,000 or 200,000 taels in the treasury is enough for them to have a carnival.

"No money?" Zhu Houzhao frowned.

The officials of the household department have been shouting that they have no money, and the other ministries have been reaching out for silver, there are really many places in the world that spend so much money, so the household department has no money, and Zhu Houzhao does not blame them.

But Zhu Houzhao did know that in the vast Jiangnan, the surplus wealth of a random rich man's family was enough for the officials of the household department to tighten their belts and accumulate for several years.

"I ask you, do you know how much silver you copied from the house of the richest man in Jiangsu and Zhejiang a few days ago?" Zhu Houzhao asked quietly.

The people in this piece of the Criminal Department were very clear that a waiter from the Criminal Department who was responsible for receiving and confiscating the family property stood up and said: "More than two hundred taels of gold, more than two thousand taels of silver, and the rest of the antique jade is equivalent to about ten thousand taels of silver, a total of 20,000 taels of silver!" ”

The ministers nodded slightly, this person is worthy of being the richest man in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and the money in his family is much more than that of their group of officials.

Zhu Houzhao sneered and told the truth: "As far as I know, there are 8 million taels of silver and 400,000 taels of gold confiscated from the home of the richest man in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which is equivalent to more than 10 million taels of silver!" ”

After throwing out the news that Zhu Houzhao had weakened by two percent, the hall immediately boiled, and all the officials, including Liu Jian and a few other pavilion elders behind him, also had red eyes in an instant.

More than 10,000,000 taels of silver! It's all white silver, not fixed assets, not even grain and grass utensils, 10 million taels are piled up there, and the taxes paid in the entire Ming Dynasty for a year are only converted into less than 20 million taels of silver.

Such a fortune is enough to make everyone's hearts move to the point of robbery.

But Zhu Houzhao was soon disappointed.

"Your Majesty, the ministers have a matter that is not clear, why only less than 20,000 taels of silver copied from the treasury have been put into the treasury, there must be a hidden secret, the ministers please investigate thoroughly, but those who swallow up the national wealth will be severely punished!"

None of the red-eyed officials asked where the tens of millions of taels of silver from the richest man in Jiangsu and Zhejiang came from, they were just eager to know where the confiscated silver went.

Zhu Houzhao sneered and said, "Don't think about that silver anymore, I will naturally use it if I take it." ”

Hearing what the emperor said, most of the ministers were just silent, and it was not the king's wealth in the whole world.

But there are still people who are not convinced. Liu Jian walked out: "Your Majesty, this is not in harmony with the ancestral system, Emperor Taizu explicitly ordered that everything that is confiscated will be put into the treasury." Now that the emperor is doing this, it is difficult for the old ministers to agree. ”

Zhu Houzhao was unhappy in his heart, and said coldly: "This money has not been put into my treasury, and the household department wants to get the money by himself, and if you don't take a penny from all the taxes in the world, isn't it enough?" ”

"The state has its own laws, and the family has its own rules, but for Your Majesty, the national law is the family rules!" Ten million taels of silver, no matter what, we have to fight to alleviate the fiscal deficit for many years.

"I said, don't think about that money!" Zhu Houzhao finally patiently explained: "You have also seen the firearms equipped by the 10,000 new troops in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and there is no need to say much about the power, these things are piled up with silver!" ”

After taking a breath, Zhu Houzhao continued: "The household is short of silver, I know, I am very sympathetic in my heart, but I can't do anything. I now show you the way, when I was the crown prince, I said that the only way to keep the treasury full is to work on taxes. ”

"Your Majesty, this is a big mistake, in recent years, the tax has been three times heavier than that of Taizu, and if you work hard, the people who farm will not be able to afford it!"

Zhu Houzhao glanced at them strangely, daring to love these officials and masters are really from the landlord class, and when it comes to taxes, they all think about the peasants, did the peasants steal your land or dig your ancestral grave?

Zhu Houzhao said: "I can't control this, I just remind you, if I need to worry about everything in the world, then what's the use of you?" ”

Then, he coughed and said: "The richest man in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is doing a good business, smuggling and exploiting both, so he has accumulated gold and silver." ”

Hearing the buzzing discussion in the hall, Zhu Houzhao knew that it would be too late if he didn't explain it again, the landlords of the Manchu Dynasty had already increased the land tax by seventy percent and planned to increase it!

Shinong businessmen, officials still look down on doing business after all, and they can't even think of being cheated and cheated.

has already said this, no matter how much Zhu Houzhao says, he will hate himself.

Although the Tatars were repulsed, the evil spirit in Zhu Houzhao's heart did not completely subside. Although he had hoped that the Tatar invasion would bring some alarm to his accustomed officials, he had no intention of allowing the barbarians to massacre his own people.

"Okay, as for the tax issue, you will discuss it later." Zhu Houzhao's face suddenly appeared with a murderous aura, and he said: "Now that the Tatars have been repelled by us, there are still tens of thousands of Tatar cavalry entrenched in our Datong, and even Juyong Pass is still in the hands of the Tatars, what should you do with Aiqing?" ”

The ministers were stunned for a moment, the defense of the capital had exceeded their expectations, did this young emperor still plan to kill them all?

Zhu Houzhao didn't care about their reactions, but continued: "Tatar barbarism, in my Zhili land to burn, kill, loot and do all kinds of evil, for the sake of the people of Zhili, at the end of the year, every family still has survivors, five buckets of grain, ten catties of meat, and the grain in the coming year will be undertaken by the state capitals!" ”

"Your Majesty, the provinces have also suffered heavy losses after this battle, and countless officials have been killed and fled, I am afraid it will be difficult to complete." Liu Jian, who has become a country, is worried: "Besides, we can't get so much meat at all." ”

"It is their responsibility to defend the land and the people, and those who flee should be killed!" Zhu Houzhao snorted coldly: "But my words must be done, how much meat is missing, let this group of officials make up for it, and if it is not enough, I will ask again, you must remember that I am your biggest backstage, but not gods and demons have to be handled by me personally!" ”

"I only do things that you can't see or understand."

When Zhu Houzhao said this, he looked directly at several old ministers, although he was not in the capital for half a year, but what he did was in the eyes of several smart old ministers.

If he Zhu Houzhao stays in Beijing, not to mention that the 10 million taels of silver will not be used properly, even if Juyongguan is raided and the capital is besieged, he can only sit in the city, where will there be 10,000 strong Jiangsu and Zhejiang new troops to defeat the Tatar army?

Therefore, several old ministers still understood Zhu Houzhao's meaning very well in their hearts: the Tatar was defeated, the life and death of the little prince were unknown, and the opportunity to beat the water dog must not be missed.

Besides, there were millions of pounds of meat to fall on the Tatars.

The rise and fall of the people are bitter, but as long as there is meat to eat, the foundation of the Ming Dynasty will not be shaken.