North Top Niangniang Temple.

Taking a breath, Wu Jie didn't talk nonsense, and asked directly: "Is Your Majesty worried that once the army has financial power, it will not be controlled by the central government and cause great trouble?" ”

He was still a little nervous about saying such direct words.

However, this hurdle must be passed anyway.

In the final analysis, Wu Jie still doesn't want to be a simple courtier and a favored minister.

First of all, his goal is to blend into the civil service and enter the ranks according to the imperial examination. The civil official clique of the Ming Dynasty was the biggest force in determining the direction of politics and public opinion, and even the imperial power was subject to it. If Wu Jie positioned himself as an Dongfang Shuo-style figure from the beginning, it would have a great impact on his future development.

The so-called once a son of heaven and a courtier, Emperor Jiajing did not have a few years to live. When the new monarch ascends the throne, there will be nothing to do with Wu Jie.

So, at the moment he has two things to do. One is the middle jinshi, who has obtained the qualification to enter the Hanlin Academy; The second is to make your voice heard in the political arena and have a certain impact.

As a modern man, he is not used to so many twists and turns. Rather than being clever, it's better to hide it and just say it bluntly.

Among the monarchs of the Ming Dynasty, Jiajing can at least rank in the top three in terms of its political ability and strategy, second only to Taizu and Chengzu. Although talking like this can cause him to be unhappy, he should be able to understand the truth.

Therefore, regardless of Jiajing's ugly face, Wu Jie said slowly: "Your Majesty does have a reason to think so, but in Yichen's opinion, this move is just an expedient measure. The system was only designed to solve the problem of suppressing the Japanese in the southeast, and it could be abolished once the rebellion was put down. Could it be that after the war is calmed down, will the imperial court keep hundreds of thousands of standing troops in Jiangnan? ”

Indeed, for example, Hu Zongxian's Zhezhi Governor's Yamen, which is now presiding over the war in the southeast, is not a permanent institution. He originally had the title of secretary of the military department, and for this battle, he was specially sent from the central government to the locality. As soon as the war ended, this governor's yamen would be abolished immediately.

Unlike the later Qing Dynasty, the system of supervision and appeasement was implemented. The governor and the governor are in charge of the overall situation, and the governor presides over local affairs.

"Expediency?" Jiajing's face softened a little, and when he thought about it, this was indeed the truth. The yamen of the governor of Zhejiang can be abolished at any time, and he is not afraid that after someone has economic power, he will support his army and carry out the matter of separation: "However, as soon as this example is opened, there will be war in the country in the future." In order to save money, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Households, and the Cabinet also do the same, and the world will be in chaos. Those people are fine! ”

The emperor sneered: "Once the country needs money, it will take out their pockets, and one by one they will be like mourning Kabby, shouting poverty when they see the sky." He even hit me with the idea. ”

Jiajing's indignation and Wu Jie can be understood, and this has a certain relationship with the financial system of the Ming Dynasty. On the first day of the lunar month of the Ming Dynasty, the cabinet, the celebrant and the emperor, together with the emperor, would sit together to make a budget for the year. There are regulations on how much money needs to be used in each department and in each locality. Of course, there is also some margin in case you need it.

The problem is that although there is a lot of reserve money, it can't stop the Quartet from reaching out. As a result, the reserve is usually emptied by June. Once there is an emergency in the second half of the year, everyone can only catch the blind.

By this time, the civil servants would have their eyes fixed on the emperor's body and silver. Anyway, you are the emperor, the world is yours, what do you want money for! If you are reluctant to bleed, you are a faint king, waiting to be scolded by the imperial envoys.

Therefore, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was forced into a wealth obsession by these civil officials, and he was really borrowed too much by them. If you borrow it and don't pay it back, you have a hard time!

Of course, there are also iron roosters who don't pull out a hair, such as Wanli. Not only did they not borrow, but they changed the law to open up their financial resources. The end of offending civil officials was very miserable, so Wanli's classmates combined the names of faint monarch, mediocre monarch, and tyrant, and became a reactionary model in the Ninety-Five Honor.

"It can't be messed up, it can't be messed up." Wu Jie suddenly smiled: "Your Majesty thinks about it." ”

Jiajing knew that Wu Jiezheng was talking about the most critical moment, and he was not angry. As a matter of fact, he is now also overwhelmed by the poor financial situation of the central government, but he will not let go of the slightest mistake. The centigold system is so tempting that for such a big battle, the annual military expenditure alone will be 8 million taels.

God is pitiful, and the annual financial income of the Ming Dynasty today is only 320,000.

When Wanli Zhang Juzheng reformed, the silver standard system was implemented, and after a whip law, Taicang's income rose to 400 to 5 million taels.

This southeast battle dragged on for a long time, and the imperial court demolished the east wall to make up the west wall, and the loopholes became bigger and bigger, and there were signs of complete collapse.

As far as Emperor Jiajing is concerned, even if it is a cup of poisonous wine, he has to drink it.

Jiajing: "Go on, tell me where I made a mistake, why can't I mess up." This year, the Mongolian answer hit me straight under my nose. The southeast is not quiet, and I think that this north will also have to use troops for a long time. As soon as your centijin system came out, the border troops of Xuanfu and Datong also handled it accordingly. By the way, there are Yan'an, Yulin, Shanhaiguan and Ningyuan in the northeast. The entire nine sides have set up their own cards to collect taxes, and I am afraid that I will not be able to control even a single soldier and a horse at that time. ”

Wu Jie: "The minister's system of centijin is only temporarily adopted by the army when it is fighting internally, but it is not used in foreign wars. For example, if the Nine Sides use troops against the north, even if they set up a gold bureau and set up checkpoints to collect money, there is nowhere to collect it. The north is all military towns, the place is withered, and the merchants are not good. Mules and horses are the exclusive camp of the imperial court, so it is impossible to let the army go to the grassland to set up cards. They really have the ability to kill on the grassland, and the country has no side trouble. ”

"As for the interior, there is a war in the interior, and the place has long been rotten, not to mention the commercial tax, even if it is a field tax, I am afraid that it will not be collected. Li Jin is just collecting the lost ministries of the imperial court, not only is there no loss for the country, but it is a good thing. Therefore, the centijin system was only designed to deal with rebellions and civil uprisings, and at that time, the country was in chaos, and there was still a fear of warlordism? Besides, an upright king has the ability to command the army, and the so-called generals will also be generals. If the king is unable to control even the commander of the army, even if there is no system of money, there will be warlords. ”

Wu Jie finally threw out a sugar-coated cannonball: "Besides, if you really want to implement the centigold system and set up a centigold bureau, it is impossible to let the army have the final say." They say you can take as much as you want, and you can use it however you want, but that's impossible. The imperial court will inevitably send officials to preside over and supervise the use of taxes. As soon as the war is over, the army is disbanded or reorganized, and it is impossible to divide the unused parts and return them to the state treasury. Take the five southern provinces in charge of Governor Hu as an example, they are all anointed lands, and it is possible to collect 10 million taels of silver in a year. If the gold is raised, 20 million taels is possible. How much is the military expenditure on the front line, ** million two top of the sky. Once the war ended, the state treasury increased by at least 10 million taels. ”

Before he finished speaking, Jiajing Huo Ran stood up: "Really! "A dead man's face has completely changed color.

Tens of millions of taels, this is three years of income from the imperial court!

Of course, there must be many variables in this matter, but it is still possible to get three or four hundred taels a year.

How can it not be tempting?

In just a moment, countless thoughts turned in Jiajing's heart, but all the thoughts were overshadowed by the light of the white flowers.

Poor, just too poor.

Jiajing Jiajing, every family is clean.

Emperor Jiajing is not deaf and blind, how can he not know how the outside is talking about him, and how he does not know what is going on with his family.

As Wu Jie just said, the centigold system was only a temporary measure in the event of a civil war. When it comes to civil strife, the country doesn't know what it has become, and as long as it can exterminate the thieves, it can't care about anything else. As for the emergence of warlords, it is not impossible to control. The Ming Dynasty has long accumulated a set of political experience in the civil and military system, and the large and small phases have long been in place, and Emperor Jiajing is still confident in this.

"Your Majesty, this article has been deliberated by the minister for a long time, and it has been brewed and matured." Wu Jie nodded affirmatively, seeing Jiajing's radiant expression, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that this level was over.

Perhaps, this is an opportunity for yourself. In the past, even if he made his voice heard in the political arena of the Ming Dynasty.

As soon as this centigold system comes out, whether it is for or against, there will certainly not be a minority.

With the surnames of the officials of the Ming Dynasty, Wu Jie will definitely have a large number of comrades anyway. This is the foundation of his future political foothold.

"Good, good." Emperor Jiajing finally showed a bright smile and sat down on the futon relaxedly. and pointed to his side: "Wu Qing sit down and tell me about you in detail." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wu Jie also sat down cross-legged like the emperor, and talked about the gold system from beginning to end.

Of course, this system Wu Jie completely copied the set of Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang back then, and the data was detailed, well-founded, and naturally very convincing.

Of course, he is not afraid to make mistakes. In fact, the data that was completely copied was moved to the Ming Dynasty to be considered conservative.

After all, more than half of the world's GDP comes mostly from agricultural taxes, based on high-yielding crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn. As for commerce, it is still not as good as the Ming Dynasty.

Today's Ming Dynasty is in the embryonic stage of capitalism, and the entire commercial society is in a period of vigorous rise. Lijin is only subject to commercial taxes, but in terms of quantity, it is much larger than in the Qing Dynasty.

Jiajing also saw this, interrupted Wu Jie's narration from time to time, corrected his data mistakes, and smiled: "Wu Aiqing is a steady person and refuses to talk full. However, it's better to tell the truth about numbers, and you don't need to deliberately keep them down. ”

Wu Jie was a little surprised, he didn't expect Jiajing to be so sensitive to numbers. This guy has the temperament of a technocrat in later generations!

Soon, Wu Jie and Jiajing discussed a practical solution. It is up to the governor of Zhejiang to send people to set up a bureau of money, but the imperial court must send an envoy to supervise the use of funds, and if necessary, the right of veto can be exercised.

Of course, the emperor also specially sent a eunuch to extract 10% of the collected gold to enrich the captives.

Emperor Jiajing still did not forget to obtain personal benefits from it, otherwise, once the war was over, the surplus was filled into the treasury, and it would be a little difficult to reach out again.

(To be continued)