Since the prime minister Wang entered the court, they have never seen the emperor again, and the deliberations of the court are also carried out in the prime minister's office, and every decree is issued from the prime minister's office.

On this day, the ministers of various ministries were once again ordered to gather at the Prime Minister's Office, and there were more than 30 people present, including officials from the Prime Minister's Yamen and officials from the imperial court at all levels.

Wang Lanping is dressed in a dark red robe embroidered with floating clouds and dragons, with a jade belt around his waist, a golden crown on his headband, and a shrewd and powerful aura all over his body, this dress is specially selected by the Ministry of Rites, the post of prime minister has been abolished for hundreds of years, and it is also thanks to these officials of the Ministry of Rites that they will do things, and they have found out the previous records from the mountains of classics, and the prime minister should be dressed like this, of course, in order to distinguish it from the emperor's dragon robe, the dragon on Wang Lanping's robe has one less claw (in fact, it is a python), but it is still majestic.

When the officials saw Wang Lanping coming, they all got up to greet them, lined up on both sides, and said in unison, "Prime Minister"

Wang Lanping walked straight to the innermost desk, "Adults, please take a seat."

But no one sat down, and when Prime Minister Wang Cheng sat down, everyone shook off their clothes and sat down.

Wang Lanping has never liked to beat around the bush, and immediately said, "Today's discussion and politics only talk about three things, first, this year's civil and military double examination is approaching, how are the relevant officials prepared; Second, according to the past practice, the imperial court should make a budget for this year's financial expenditure in the first month of each year, and I will be in charge this year. Three. At present, the imperial court is troubled and the state affairs are difficult. The people were also overwhelmed, and they were planning for the court. For the sake of the people, I plan to implement a new policy; These three things were agreed on the spot today, let's talk about the first thing first, are the officials of Enke, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of War here? ”

Sun Zhiren, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Huang Duanbo, the director of the Ministry of War, and Chen Yongji, the director of the Wuxuan Division, stood up and said, "The lower officials are here"

Wang Lan pressed his hand flatly, "En." Sit down, let's talk about the matter of Enke, Kong Shangshu, you talk about the liberal arts first"

Sun Zhiren said, "Prime Minister, all ready, although Enke is a temporary exam, it has a great impact. After the imperial court moved south, it was the first time to open a department to take scholars, and there was a sense of encouragement to make great efforts, and all of them came to take the exam with a heart to serve the court. At present, 1,100 people have gathered in Nanjing."

Wang Lanping nodded, "En." How is the preparation of the Guozijian side?"

The priest of the country got up and said, "Go back to the prime minister." Everything is in order, dare to ask the prime minister. How many talents should be taken in the liberal arts this time? ”

In addition to the examination in the capital, the township examination should also be held in the local area, of course, the township examination is not in Wang Lanping's attention, he only values the examination held in Guozijian a month later, and the successful candidates can be called Wen Jinshi.

The reason why Wang Lanping wants to vigorously promote Enke is mainly to re-elect officials, he wants to carry out a major change of officials throughout the country, reshuffle the cards, and secretly cultivate forces loyal to himself, which will require an astronomical shortage of officials, and it will not be completed within a year or two, but if it is only a major change of officials in the provinces around Nanjing, he can do it in a short period of time.

Now Wang Lanping can control the Nanzhili area of Yingtianfu, Guangdezhou (at the same prefecture level), Taiping Mansion, Zhenjiang Mansion, Changzhou Mansion, Songjiang Mansion, Suzhou Mansion, the officials of these prefectures are all directly responsible to the Prime Minister's Mansion bypassing the six ministries, according to the secret surveillance of Jinyiwei, although the officials in these places are forced to obey the prime minister on the surface, they are quite subtle in their own way, not to mention the political envoys of the Nanzhi, no one pays attention to Wang Lanping's arrogant and domineering behavior of the rebellious ministers, so, Wang Lanping must completely control these seven state capitals in the shortest possible time and become his rear base.

If you want to replace all the officials in these seven prefectures one by one, it will be at least more than 1,300 people, which is definitely not possible, and the total number of people who are referred to this time is only 1,100 people, so you can only replace the high-ranking officials at the prefecture level first, and it will probably be about 100 people.

Wang Lanping said, "According to the old practice, one out of ten is taken from the past, that is, one hundred and ten people"

Wang Zhiren arched his hand and said, "The lower officials obey the order, the prime minister, the lower officials still have something to show to the prime minister, after the announcement of Enke this time, the shock caused is not only the surge of the lifters, but more people are discussing"

Wang Lanping had expected such a thing, and said indifferently, "Are you talking about whether this scientific examination will not take the Four Books and Five Classics as the content of the scientific examination?" ”

Wang Zhiren said, "Prime Minister Ming Cha, exactly, the sons said that they had been studying the words of the sage since they were young for ten years, so that they could one day be named on the emperor's list and serve the imperial court, but now the imperial court does not take this as the content of the scientific examination, so what they have learned over the years is not in vain, and they also said, said"

Wang Zhiren wanted to speak and stopped.

"Say what?"

"Saying that the prime minister is not respecting the way of the saints, if the scholar deviates from these, is it still called a scholar? The scholars felt that the imperial court had turned its back on the Confucian classics."

Wang Lanping laughed, "They are right, but I am not disrespecting the book of the sage, the reader learns the text in order to sell it to the emperor's family, there is nothing wrong with this, reading the book of the Confucian sage can be reasonable, enlightened, Confucianism has a long history, it is the soul marrow of the Han family, it is the way of dealing with the world, Confucianism talks about benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom, faith, loyalty and filial piety, this is not the way to govern the country, but it is the foundation of life, Confucianism teaches people to know etiquette and righteousness, know honesty and shame, this is the four dimensions of people, how to know these without reading Confucianism, but a court official is not limited to this"

Wang Lanping walked out from behind the table, walked back and forth between the people, and continued, "There is a proverb among the people, three hundred and sixty lines, and the line is the champion, if you want me to say, this official is also a line, and there is a specialization in the arts, so that they can perform their duties, the members of the civil and military department should be more aware of the military situation, the officials of the household department should understand the finance, and the Ministry of Industry has a more detailed division of labor, and every official must understand the errands in his position, these are not taught by the saints, so the examination questions of this scientific examination are not uniform, and the officials of the six departments will make their own questions, so that the lifters can choose the subject they want to serveI take the household department as an example, then you can come up with taxes, finance, salt politics and other topics, you can choose to answer the questions, do not have to taboo style, I only pay attention to practical and practical officials, as for those who are good at chanting the wind and making the moon poems, don't write them on the volume. The purpose of writing is to disseminate knowledge, and it is not the preserve of a few readers. Let every person in the world be able to see and understand."

Everyone looked at each other when they heard this.

Wang Zhiren was surprised. "Vernacular answers?"

Wang Lanping nodded, "I don't make such a request, but it's not limited to this, the lifters can do whatever they want, I only look at the content of the answers, this time I will look at all the test papers of the lifters one by one, this is from the chief examiner, each of the six departments recommends one person as the deputy invigilator, and the exam questions are set as six questions." The duration of the exam is two days."

Everyone still thinks it's incredible, this change is too big, it's insulting.

Wang Lanping said, "Don't be too careful, this is the only time to elect officials, and in the future, it will be followed according to the old practice, of course, if possible, it can also be extended, this is a later story, and now the court urgently needs the corresponding talents." As a last resort, as I said earlier, after the end of this expedition. All the people who want to list the grades will be given the grades, and they will be sent to the ministries to observe the government for three months according to the topics they refer to, and three months later. I will confer official positions one by one, this one. Wang Shangshu can write in the proclamation "

Wang Zhiren felt a little relieved at this time, this method of selecting talents is too weird. You can't do that in the future, "Respect the Order"

Then Wang Lanping said, "The secretary of the military department went to the southern divisions to inspect the affairs of the martial arts, Lord Huang, Lord Chen, the affairs of the martial arts department are up to you to worry about, are there any problems?" ”

Huang Duanbo, director of the Ministry of War's Department (in charge of the appointment of military attachés), and Chen Yongji, director of the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War (in charge of verifying the appointment of military attachés), said, "The lower officials obey orders"

Wang Lanping said, "Wenchen does not love money, military generals do not hesitate to die, then the country is strong, now there is only half of the country left in our dynasty, we should work hard, enrich the country and strengthen the army, and dig out the world's good generals from the people, then they will show their talents, fight for merit on the battlefield, Lord Huang"

Huang Duanbo arched his hand and said, "The lower official is here"

Wang Lanping glanced at him, this person was nearly forty years old, tall and energetic, and he was a capable person.

"How many people should take the exam?"

Huang Duanbo said, "Back to Prime Minister, 248 Wuju people"

Wang Lan shook his head straightly, he couldn't imagine that the current situation of the civil and military department had come to this, the difference was too big, but the crux of the problem was not the national policy of the Ming Dynasty to light the military and heavy literature, but the road of one person practicing martial arts and then entering and exiting the land was too narrow, first of all, the Ming soldiers were hereditary, and the following officials were also hereditary under the command, which was equivalent to blocking more than half of the way for civilians to get ahead with military merits.

Wang Lanping said, "There are fewer people, but we should also pay attention to it, the martial arts department is selected according to the old system of Chongzhen, and similarly, the top of the list is awarded the title of five-grade military attaché and sent to the seven battalions of the Beijing Division for training."

"Yes"

The scientific expedition is relatively simple and clear, and the selection and use of talents is a matter of the future, and now it is just a matter of preparation, and there is no need to discuss more, everything is done step by step.

The next step is to discuss this year's fiscal spending.

Zhang Shenyan, the secretary of the household department, said first, "Prime Minister, the lower officials have checked with the ministries for last year's sales expenses, and the local officials have also escorted the tax and silver into Beijing at the end of the year, of which 980,000 taels are taxed on the salt administration, 800,000 taels are taxed on the iron administration, 1.6 million taels are taxed on the copper administration, 580,000 taels are taxed on the coal administration, 200,000 taels are taxed on the Caoyun, 300,000 taels are levied on the weaving profits of Hangzhou, and 80,000 ......taels of silver are taxed on the three cities of Fujian."

Wang Lanping suddenly interrupted, "Wait, as far as I know, the annual overseas commercial circulation of the Bosi in Quanzhou and Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province is about 80 million taels, and after the Longguan switch, it can also receive about 400,000 taels of tax silver every year, after so many years, how can it be only 80,000 taels, if I am not wrong, there are at least 120,000 taels, and your household department has also passed this kind of sales?" ”

Zhang Shenyan replied, "What the prime minister said is good, but Fujian is far away in the southeast, and the city is obviously important for the imperial court's taxes, but in fact, it is controlled by the Fujian political envoys, and the imperial court whip is beyond the reach of the imperial court, and besides, in the coastal areas of Fujian, the Zheng family ......."

Zhang Shenyan glanced at Zheng Sen who was sitting opposite when he spoke, and the meaning was obvious, the income of the city department was definitely more than one million taels a year, but the Zheng family took the lion's share, and only gave a fraction of the money to the court to pay errands, which is already commendable, even if the Zheng family doesn't give one or two pieces of silver, the court can't do anything about it.

Of course, this is not to say that Zheng Zhilong dares to rob the tax silver from the hands of Fujian officials, but the status of the city shipping department has long been replaced by the Zheng family's private wharf, blatantly smuggling in and out of the goods, and the merchant ships on the southeast coast to and from the Zheng family want to hang the Zheng family's flag, no one dares to stop them, and they can dock at the Zheng family's wharf at any time to load and unload the goods, and the tax silver will naturally fall into the Zheng family's pocket, and the government will not be able to take this master.

Wang Lanping understood, "Well, Zheng Zhilong, the chief soldier of Fujian, is also dedicated to state affairs, after all, the 200,000 land and water army of the imperial court depends on him to feed, it is not easy, you continue"

At this time, you can't offend the Zheng family, let alone accuse the Zheng family of illegal behavior in front of Zheng Sen.

Zhang Shenyan continued, "What the official said was reported by the tax departments and yamen last year, and after deducting the expenses of various places, the actual tax and silver escorted to the household department totaled 1.38 million taels, and all the checks have been completed."

The tax and silver are sold, one is the play and the other is the sale, and the two are offset to the state fiscal revenue that can really enter the household department.

Zhang Shenyan changed another account book and said, "The following is reported by the provinces, the provinces have collected a total of 1.2 million taels of tax and silver, in April last year, the four towns of Jiangbei were formed, and the governments temporarily transferred silver to Nanjing, and the two write-offs were made, and the south needed to pay a total of silver last year, well......"

Wang Lanping saw him flickering, so he said, "How much?" ”

Zhang Shenyan said, "The household department owes 180,000 taels to the seven prefectures of Nanzhi"

This is not a joke, last year Hongguang ascended the throne, overhauled the Forbidden City in Nanjing, and set up the four towns of Jianghe, and selected beautiful women to enter the palace.

Wang Lanping frowned, "Go on"

Zhang Shenyan continued, "Zhejiang reported 2.8 million taels of silver, and after the sale, the total amount of tax silver escorted into Beijing was 300,000 taels."

Wang Lanping's face hurt, "Why is it so bad, Zhejiang is a big tax province, is there any greed for ink in it?"

Zhang Shen said, "The lower officials are just selling according to the facts, Zhejiang reported that the flood was serious last year, and the silver for the imperial court disaster relief was paid in advance by the local yamen, and there are four towns in Jiangbei, and Zhejiang's tax silver is also ......."

"Enough is enough," Wang Lanping waved his hand with a sad face, "You can directly say the total number, how much of the total tax revenue in the country was actually in the household last year"

Zhang Shenyan turned directly to the last side, "A total of five million and seven hundred thousand taels"

Wang Lanping has the heart to kill, last year he copied nearly three million taels just by copying Ma Shiying's house, but he didn't expect that the annual income of the Ming Dynasty was only more than five million taels, what could he do with this money.

Zhang Shenyan changed the account again, "Prime Minister, I will talk about this year's budget, the Ministry of Industry has sent a message, the Forbidden City will be repaired again, and it is expected to cost 200,000 taels of silver, and the Yangtze River news period is approaching after the beginning of spring, and the governor of the river has sent a message, and the various rivers that urgently need to be repaired need about 1.2 million taels of silver, and the water conservancy and irrigation projects also need about 800,000 taels of silver, and in order to prepare for natural disasters, the household department has prepared 500,000 taels of silver......

Wang Lanping was upset when he heard this, "Okay, don't read it, just say it, what is the total financial expenditure this year?" ”

Zhang Shenyan turned to the last side again, "A total of 7.5 million taels of silver is needed"

Wang Lanping stood up and said, "So I just said that I, the prime minister, just took charge, and I owe more than one million taels of silver to the Yamen of the world, does that mean?" (To be continued.) )