After dinner, Hongji and Zhu Houzhao began to chat. Since Zhu Houzhao went to the court with Hongzhi as the crown prince, the after-dinner chatter often talked about state affairs. Hongji mainly asked Zhu Houzhao and then exercised his ability. Zhu Houwei also understood in his heart that he basically didn't express much opinion on state affairs.

But today is different, Hongzhi and Zhu Houzhao specially asked Zhu Houwei for a piece. Why? Because today's last dynasty, initiated by the imperial history, the civil officials responded, and the proposal that the cabinet elders also agreed to is closely related to Zhu Houwei, that is, the Huangzhuang issue.

Speaking of Huangzhuang, the influence of the past two years has been increasing, and it looks like the richest countryside in the Ming Dynasty. The tenants inside, and the current workers, are basically living happily ever after. There is money in the pocket, the family can be fed and clothed, and the children can read and write. Huangzhuang has become a holy place in the hearts of the poor people, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan and other places in the north of the Yangtze River almost all know Huangzhuang, even if it is far away in the south of the Yangtze River, there are many people who begin to know the reputation of Huangzhuang.

The most famous thing about Huangzhuang is that Huangzhuang sells grain. Due to the bumper grain harvest every year in these two years, plus the grain storage is also time-limited, basically 1 to 3 years. So Huangzhuang began to sell a large amount of grain two years ago. The people of Huangzhuang could buy a certain amount of low-cost grain with their household registration, but a lot of grain still began to flow into the capital. And the more it is sold, two years ago, throughout the year, Huangzhuang sold 400,000 stones of grain, a year ago sold 800,000 stones, and this year it sold 1.2 million stones. So much grain entered the capital, because of its good quality, no sand mixing, and low price, it quickly seized a large share of the grain market in the capital. The most direct result was that the amount of grain transported from the south of the Yangtze River was greatly reduced, and the number of boats in the canal dropped by half. Of course, the quality of life has also declined again because of the bitterness of eating in the canal, according to Jinyiwei's informant, the slender men, boatmen, and dock porters in many areas have shown signs of instability, and under the operation of some well-intentioned people, they have begun to form gangs and factions and be hostile to the imperial court. This is a bad influence of Huangzhuang, and it is also a very serious problem, because there are more than 100,000 people who rely on this canal for food, plus their families, at least 3.5 million people, and once there is a problem, the consequences are very serious. Moreover, the current Huangzhuang in the Gyeonggi area has 10,000 hectares of farmland, that is, 1 million mu, and this year some wasteland has been reclaimed, about 2,000 hectares, and it is foreseeable that there will be more grain next year, and the impact on the canal line will increase.

Due to the fame of Huangzhuang, many people come to visit Huangzhuang around the capital to learn from experience, thinking that they will also give their own fields after returning to this business model. The eunuchs in charge of the village are not forbidden, and let them inquire about the planting and production mode of the imperial village.

When they inquired, everyone was shocked. Because the upfront investment is too large, and there is a lot of water for agriculture, if you build a reservoir or drill a well, the expenditure of funds is prohibitive. Many people are lamenting His Majesty's generosity, while wondering whether they should do the same.

Everyone has calculated, and many people are shaking their heads, and they can only learn some of these experiences that benefit without cost. There are about 150,000 men and women in the Zhuangzi Village, and the minimum wage is 2 taels, 300,000 taels in a month, and 3.6 million taels in a year. It will take about 1 to 2 years to wait for the output of Zhuangzi, and if you want to return to the capital, you don't have to think about it for 10 years.

Today, the Minister of Civil and Military Affairs played because they saw that Huangzhuang alone sold more than 1 million taels of grain a year, and it was not the largest amount. In fact, they didn't know that this year, Huangzhuang alone produced 7 million stones of various grains, and if they sold them all, they would be able to get about 8 million taels of silver into their accounts.

Of course, the minister did not know how much grain was stored in the imperial village, but he could only be sure that there were not a few. But Huangzhuang's income is not only food. There are nearly 30 reservoirs in the Gyeonggi area alone, and this year there are 500,000 taels of fish sold alone, about 800,000 taels of chickens, ducks, cattle and sheep, and this year's various fruits, even if they are not made into high-priced canned fruits, they will be marketed on time according to this year's season, and the income will not be less than 300,000 taels. These by-incomes are far from being maximized and will continue to increase year by year.

Today, the minister is to play to reduce the Huangzhuang, a few days ago the minister has played a lot of twists and turns, were left in the Hongzhi not send, to this day, it seems to be discussed, by the cabinet old Liu Daxia in the court meeting, out of the line to play, request to cut the Huangzhuang, and then the civil and military officials of each official position seconded, almost three-quarters of the officials knelt down to second, so that Hongzhi is very faceless, Zhu Houzhao is also empathetic.

Hongzhi told Zhu Houwei about the general situation, and Zhu Houzhao said angrily: "These ministers, seeing that Huangzhuang has almost 3 million silver a year, they are red-eyed. We have spent a few years, invested a lot of these, and now that there is a big investment, they can't sit still, one by one shy and ask Daddy to abolish the Huangzhuang, saying that he will not compete with the people for profit, and that he will return the cultivated land to the people, this son said, that Meng Yun, the head of the talk is the Tao, the high-sounding sound, who is the name that can be returned to the people, and it is not the family of these ministers, it is really annoying and disgusting. ”

Zhu Houwei followed his words and said, "Outrageous." Zhu Houzhao was stunned for a while, looked at Zhu Houwei's playful smile, and said angrily, "You are not in a hurry, you have contributed the most to this Zhuangzi, if you are not in a hurry, then what am I anxious about." ”

Hongzhi also understands how much energy, manpower, and financial resources the two brothers have invested in this Huangzhuang, and Zhu Houwei is still the leader of this project, so it is reasonable to ask Zhu Houwei what he thinks. Regarding Zhu Houzhao's extreme evaluation of the minister just now, Hongzhi did not reprimand. He is very generous to the ministers, but he didn't expect that this time the ministers united and wanted to gain an inch, which also made Hongji very angry. Although there are also people who really think about the people, most of them are still matched with a piece of the pie. Otherwise, why did Liu Daxia also go on a show 5 years ago to cut the Huangzhuang, but only a few more than 10 people responded, but this time there are so many people, which can be seen.

Hongji asked, "Houwei, what do you think?" Zhu Houwei replied, "If you want to abolish the Huangzhuang, you can also do it, as long as the original investment is taken back to the inner treasury, and the annual treasury pays the inner treasury a silver tael." If the investment of the Huangzhuang into the treasury cannot be taken out at once, it can be recovered in installments every year. Hongzhi was silent when he heard this, and Zhu Houzhao said anxiously, "How can this work, it took so long to make a profit, why did you give it to them." ”

Hongzhi also stared at Zhu Houwei to see what he was talking about. I saw Zhu Houwei smile slightly, "This choice is not what I want, nor is it what they want." Huangzhuang produces a lot of grain in a year, once there is a large amount of grain whether it is a military operation, or disaster relief, or sale, the initiative is in our hands, the most important thing is that with these materials, we can stabilize the prices around the capital, and do not give others the opportunity to hoard Juqi. We can buy at a high price and sell at a low price, so that the prices in the capital remain stable. Of course, they can be given another choice, and it depends on whether Daddy can make such a big determination. Hongji listened, became interested, and asked with a smile, "You talk about it first." ”

Zhu Houwei organized the language, and this time he said: "My Ming Dynasty earns no more than 10 million taels a year, the officials earn 2 million taels, and the annual expenditure is 1 million taels to the inner treasury, and it is also 2 million taels a year to pay the vassal kings and royal families. Every year, the military expenses of the nine sides are paid, and the grain is about 1.5 million taels, and the rest is used to build bridges and pave roads for the benefit of the people. In total, the state treasury has to give a total of 3 million taels to the inner treasury and the descendants of the Zhu family every year, accounting for 30% of the annual income.

Nowadays, the child's idea is that from now on, the inner treasury and the national treasury will be separated, and the royal family's finances will be independent, that is to say, the 2 million taels of the feudal royal family will be allocated by the royal family, and the national treasury will no longer need to be allocated to the inner treasury. ”

As soon as the words fell, Zhu Houzhao looked at his younger brother with wide eyes, opened his mouth wide but didn't know what to say, which was simply appalling at first glance. The whole world is not the king's land, the shore of the land is not the king's ministers, the world is the emperor's, then the money in the treasury should also be the emperor's, and how the money is used must be approved by the emperor. However, if the imperial finances were independent, it meant that the emperor had changed from the owner of the treasury to the overseer, the manager, and the treasury was, in a way, shared by the civil and military officials and the emperor.

Hongji was taken aback at first, but immediately calmed down and considered the possibility. Zhu Houwei continued, "Comparing the two methods, one is just to increase private property, that is, the more these ministers share, the more profits, but it is difficult to unify everyone's appetite, there are always people who are dissatisfied with too little, and the other is different, although the Huangzhuang has not been abolished, but even if it is abolished, the annual income of the treasury will not increase, but the expenditure of the treasury has been reduced by 3 million taels for all to see, which is a large amount of expenditure. Which is better or worse, these ministers can naturally make a choice. ”

Hongzhi nodded lightly when he heard this, 3 million taels a year seems like a lot, but Hongzhi knows that with Zhu Houwei's ability, the profits of these industries alone are definitely more than that. Therefore, in terms of money, even if the treasury does not issue silver, there will be no problems with the inner treasury.

Hongzhi said slowly, "Hou Wei, even if it's this second plan, you can't be without conditions, right?" Zhu Houwei looked at his father with a smile, and Hongji also looked at his youngest son with a smile. The two knew that something big enough to shock the government and the opposition might happen after today.