The first year of Chongzhen.

April 26.

The long-awaited amnesty has finally arrived, this amnesty, unlike ordinary amnesty, is still a hammer for the Wei case. Above the court, below the court, hundreds of officials are "quietly" waiting for this amnesty. Once the amnesty is granted, this Wei case is just like what the emperor said when he collected the money, and it will be written off, not to mention the matter of the Wei case, it can be regarded as a typical spending money to eliminate the disaster, for this reason, these hundreds of bureaucrats spent five million taels of silver to eliminate the disaster, as for whether it is worth it or not, it depends on what is said in today's amnesty.

The ministers and bureaucrats all stretched their necks outside the Chengtianmen [the current [***]], and waited and saw what kind of law this amnesty would be.

In the Qianqing Palace, Yang Gengai sat on the throne, his expression was very calm, today is a "decisive battle", and today is related to the success or failure of his future layout, he can only succeed, not fail.

The first assistant of the cabinet led these cabinets to meet the emperor together.

After a salute, I started the highlight of the day, offering the edict of amnesty, waiting for the emperor to look at it, agree to use the seal, and then take it to the Chengtian Gate to read it, this amnesty, even if it is done.

"Your Majesty, the ministers have already prepared this edict of amnesty, and I would like to ask Your Majesty to take a look at it." Shousuke, the leader, said.

"Well, Mate, let's read it." Yang Reform is a novice in classical Chinese, and he has a headache when he reads classical Chinese, so he can only let people read it on his behalf.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wang Chengen agreed. Then a little eunuch who was in charge of reading the recital began to read the holy decree.

"Fengtian carrier, the emperor said: Inherit the gift of heaven, the blessing of the gods, is my Ming Dynasty eternal foundation. Wu Liezu and Zuozong worked hard to create a great cause, Taizu ......, "First of all, from the merits of Taizu, everything that can be said can be ...... [does not occupy space." 】

Next, there are a lot of big truths that I don't understand, and then I talk about the content of the real surname.

“…… The great evil Wei Zhongxian stole the favored spirit of the first emperor, was good at the prestige of the court, and gathered a group to annihilate the righteous and good; The slightest taboo, wanton killing, years of slander and slashing! The seclusion is hidden, and the sky is tired. The accumulation of injustices and injustices has led to the cracking of the stars and the earth, and the years of the soldiers. Now Wei Zhongxian and Cui Chengxiu have been punished, and the anger of the subjects is slightly relieved; And the soul of the edict is still depressed, and the reputation of the eunuch has not been extended, how can it be so Zhao Zhen Restoration! Now it should be praised, that is, with praise; should be 廕卹, that is, with 廕卹; should be reinstated, that is, with reinstatement; should be used, that is, with the use; It should be exonerated, that is, with the exculpation: do not drown for a long time, and hurt the meaning of life. [Hehe, this paragraph is copied from the book, let's take a look at it, and I will see it for a long time. 】

Hearing this paragraph, Yang Reform nodded, thinking that it was good, he could also understand a seven-seven-eighty-eight, this is the Dingwei case! With this hammer, five million were smashed, and this Wei Zhongxian was really valuable.

Going forward, the words of the little eunuch are "traditional" projects, such as the release of prisoners from all over the world.

Finally, there is the "...... Proclamation at home and abroad, the salty envoy knows about ......"

When Yang Gai heard it, this was a very "authentic" edict of amnesty. poked his ears and said, "Gone?" ”

The little eunuch was inexplicable, and he read "The proclamation is at home and abroad, and the Xian envoy knows about it", and? It must be gone, seeing the emperor asking, he replied: "Back to Your Majesty, there is no more." ”

"Gone? Well, I see. After Yang Gengai finished plucking his ears, he was thinking about his own affairs and how to insert them.

Seeing that the holy decree was finished, Shoufu said, "Your Majesty, I don't know if this edict is in line with Your Majesty's wishes?" ”

"This, it's really well written......" Yang Gengai admitted that this edict is really good, at least he can't write it, and he may have this level if he practices for a few more decades, of course, if he uses the methods of the 21st century to cheat, he searches for a change on the Internet, which is something that can be done in minutes.

"Well, I don't think I saw anything in this edict about a silver reward! I remember, this amnesty should be a reward, why didn't I hear it? Or not? "Yang Reform is grabbing braids, paving the way for his own affairs, what is going on with this amnesty, Yang Reform has asked a lot of people, Sun Chengzong has asked a few times, the content of the amnesty, and even in a dream.

When the first assistant of the cabinet heard the emperor's words, he lowered his head and said: "Back to Your Majesty, this amnesty in the world does not necessarily mean that there will be a reward, this amnesty is already a great gift, and it is okay not to reward money." "The first assistant of the cabinet avoided talking about the issue of rewarding money, and it was okay to talk about not rewarding money instead.

"No, others have bounties all over the world for amnesty, why did they come to me and not pull out a dime? Others will think that I am very picky, am I such a stingy person? "Yang reform is unrelenting.

The first assistant of the cabinet was squeezed by the emperor, and he blushed, and said: "Your Majesty, this amnesty requires a reward, and it is indeed possible, but this treasury is so much silver, how to reward it?" If it is not hundreds of thousands of taels according to the past, I am afraid it will not work. "The treasury can't even get the money it has been given, which is embarrassing to the cabinet.

"Uh...... This, no money? Also, I remembered, what can I do? You can't give nothing nothing, can you? Doesn't this seem like I'm very poor and too petty? How does this make the people of the world say about me? Yang Gengai only knew that the treasury only had a little silver, so he asked.

"Back to Your Majesty, if Your Majesty wants to reward, then you have to come out of the inner treasury, and the household department may be able to squeeze out a little......" The first assistant of the cabinet made this suggestion again, and let the emperor pay for it himself.

"This, let my inner money pay? I don't have any money for this! Difficult! It's hard! "Yang Reform looks like he doesn't pull out a dime. As the saying goes, clothes are people's hair, money is people's guts, and if they don't have money, they have no courage, and if they do things, they will be bullied.

The cabinet chief assistant was extremely embarrassed, blushed, and said, "The minister is stupid, please ask Your Majesty to show me." ”

“…… Here I have a few other things, which are written into the edict together, which can be regarded as a little reward for the people of the world, and it can be regarded as a joy and happiness with my people, so that my people will have a satisfactory amnesty without spending a penny. "Yang decided to take a ride and write the abolition of the salt policy and the patent law into the amnesty edict. Today's amnesty, how many bureaucrats are waiting for the emperor's amnesty, waiting for the final sound of the Wei case, if they don't take advantage of this time to hitchhike this "impossible thing" into the edict, they may have to wait a long time before they have a chance.

"Dare to ask Your Majesty, what are those things?" Shousuke took the lead and asked again.

"Ome, show this to the ministers." Yang Reform was also unwilling to bother with words, so he had already prepared to write down the content of the abolition of the salt administration and the content of the patent law in a notebook.

The first assistant of the cabinet took the notebook, looked at it, and when he saw it, his face turned green, and instantly became miserable again, and he was red again in an instant.

didn't wait for the book to be shown to the other cabinets, so he took the lead and said: "Your Majesty, the minister will never agree with His Majesty's abolition of the salt government, this is, this is the ......" The first assistant of the cabinet couldn't remember how to say that the emperor was "very naïve" for a while, and he was so angry that he was about to go crazy.

Yang Gengai sat on the throne and looked at the cabinet with a smile.

The first few cabinet ministers saw the face of this Fu Lord, as if he was singing, and it became extremely fast, from normal at the beginning, to miserable green, to miserable white, and then to red. They were all surprised, what made Shousuke-sama so disgraced. They all turned their heads over and looked at what was written in the notebook. I also heard Shoufu say that the abolition of the world's salt policy was a big bolt from the sky at that time. Boom overhead!

An auxiliary minister hurriedly glanced at the notebook and said: "Your Majesty, the salt policy must not be abolished, this salt policy is the pillar of the imperial court's income, how to get it?" Go, the pillar of the court will collapse! "This minister is even more anxious, abolishing the salt government in the world, this kind of thing, they have never thought of this kind of thing.

"Your Majesty, this salt tax, which has a tax income of more than one million taels of silver every year, if it is discarded, won't this household be even more unbearable? Isn't the annual deficit even worse? What will the imperial court use to make up for the deficit of more than one million taels! Never! Your Majesty ...... "This cabinet is even more anxious. The abolition of the salt policy, this matter, the emperor also dared to think about it, and dared to mention it.

The other cabinets did not dare to look at the emperor, and lowered their heads, thinking about the reason for this. are all imagining that once the salt policy is abolished, the officials who rely on this chain to make profits, I don't know how much, they will have to drink the northwest wind! The emperor didn't know how many people's jobs had been lost! I was intimidated by this bold way of doing things.

Yang Reform had long been prepared to be the "public enemy of the bureaucracy", and the abolition of the salt policy was only the beginning. If you cut it with this knife, you have to make an opening like cutting sugarcane, and then follow this opening, with skill, to peel the sugarcane to the end in one breath, so that you can eat sweet and delicious sugarcane.

"I know that there is no silver to reward in this household, so I specially prepared this gift as a gift for me to ascend the throne and amnesty the world, and give it to the people of the whole world, so that the people of the whole world can really bathe in my grace, how, can't it?" Yang Reform is pretending, pretending to be pure, pretending to be innocent, and pretending to be the people of the world in his heart.

Several cabinets, even more angry, almost crazy, don't know how to refute the emperor, you know, this salt class, everyone knows, but it must not be brought to the table to say, a word, it must be involved in the salt class in the shady, this is the "public enemy of the bureaucracy", the emperor dares to say and dare to do, that is because he is the emperor, ordinary bureaucrats, even if it is the first assistant, there is no courage, when the "public enemy of bureaucrats", Xu Guangqi said before, the result is to vomit blood.

"How many people don't speak? Then I should have no opinion, so write my meaning in the edict. Yang Gengai found that the combat effectiveness of these cabinets was quite weak, and they couldn't support it without saying a few words. Yang Gai knew that others were not speechless by him, but they were afraid of this huge bureaucratic interest and did not want to be entangled in this interest.

"Your Majesty, the minister will never approve of His Majesty's abolition of the salt policy, in this way, it will definitely cause the court to lose more than one million taels of silver every year, how to make up for this loophole? What's more, this salt class, in the past two years, has gradually improved, gradually growing, Your Majesty, you must not abolish the salt policy! "A cabinet is also responsible, guessing that the emperor may be dissatisfied with the annual salt tax of one million taels of silver, and he wants to raise the salt tax. So, he made a quick decision to speak on behalf of the salt merchants and bureaucrats who profited from the salt industry and give the emperor a salt lesson.

The other ministers also heard the subtlety. Immediately echo it.

"Your Majesty, I think that Pavilion Elder X is right, how to make up for this deficit of more than one million taels a year? This household already has a huge deficit every year, and then there is less than one million taels, and this household department has less than two million taels of silver every year, which is really a bit shabby, how can it afford this huge expense? What's more, this salt class is also growing every year, and I am afraid that I can receive 1.45 million taels of salt class this year! Your Majesty, you must not abolish the salt policy, in this way, the deficit of the household department is even worse, and it is even more unable to pay for the margin, disaster relief! The minister heard the "mystery" in it, and also decided to increase the salt class to the emperor, increasing it to 1.45 million taels of silver. This, according to the current statistics, can be said to be explosive growth, with a growth rate of up to 50%. However, there is no mention of the amount of salt tax that can be collected each year.

As soon as Yang Reform heard others talk about salt tax, he was angry in his heart, MD, with a population of more than 100 million, a person eats five catties of salt every year, and more than 20 copper plates are levied per catty of salt, how much does it take in a year? This salt class, which should have been more than 10 million taels a year, gives Lao Tzu less than a fraction of a year every year, and Lao Tzu wants to thank you, which is really annoying. Yang reformed and decided to give these bureaucrats a good look.

"This is simple, isn't it 1.5 million taels? I came out, out of the house, in order to give a gift to the people of the world, in order to let my people bathe in my heavenly grace, this time, I will be a big family. Well, that's no problem now. Yang reformed his own prevarication.

1.5 million taels were used to pay the treasury with internal funds, which was used to offset the salt tax. The emperor's words shocked these ministers! Silly! Crazy! Idle! Confused! Dizzy!

Strange things happen every year, this year is particularly strange, it has always been the emperor who pulls money from the inside, and now it's good, this lord, more than a million taels, will be thrown out without a sound. The cabinets were really confused, and they couldn't figure out what the emperor thought.

The cabinets' brain meridians have been short-circuited, and they don't know how to think about this problem, can't this child of the Zhu family be normal? This is the most unreliable, the most outrageous, and he dares to agree to this kind of thing, this ...... The figure of the emperor, in their minds, the impression, has become more and more blurred, and they can't see clearly...... Yang Gai looked at the group of idiots-like cabinets on the ground, and he was angry, MD, this matter was originally a matter of two benefits and two harms for separation, once the salt policy was abolished, in fact, he was not pleased, and he would lose more than one million taels of silver in vain every year, saving a little, enough to train 20,000 elites by himself. This is a war, and the certainty is much greater, but unfortunately, it is these bureaucrats who are said to be too greedy. The salt class should have been more than 10 million taels, but now, I have given myself more than 100,000 yuan, and I really eat the leftovers, others eat meat, and gnaw bones by myself.

Yang reform's eyes, inspecting the cabinets on the ground, the cabinets and the emperor looked at each other, and their eyes immediately retracted, this matter, the cabinets actually understood in their hearts, knew what was going on, and they didn't dare to look at the emperor with confidence, this matter, isn't it that everyone eats meat too much, when they get to the emperor, there are only bones left, the emperor is not happy, not happy, don't let the emperor eat a big head, the emperor will let everyone not eat, the cabinet has understood the emperor's mind. However, how can this matter be easily spoken? Someone had already mentioned the matter of raising salt for the emperor earlier, and it seemed that the emperor was not only not satisfied, but even angry.

The cabinet that first proposed the salt increase course just now thought for a long time, his face was full of anxiety, and he thought about it again and again, and finally said: "Your Majesty, the minister still resolutely disapproves of His Majesty's abolition of the salt policy, although His Majesty can use the internal funds to offset the salt class, but, Your Majesty, this salt class is recorded every year, is it possible that Your Majesty pays money to the household department every year?" In this way, how long can His Majesty's internal funds be supported? "This official is just about to have a showdown with the emperor.

This elite is very sophisticated, and they know that the emperor's income is only that amount of money every year, but it is only one hundred thousand taels, and sometimes it is even insufficient. This amount of money has to support the family, raise tens of thousands of eunuchs, palace maids, soldiers in the Beijing camp, hundreds of officials, and reward the border passes from time to time, disaster relief from time to time, and even have to prepare some money to fight, so it is impossible to have much money to fight in the war, so it is impossible to have much money left, so I have the courage to drop the salt class that should be paid again and again, that is, to bully the emperor and know that everyone has no way to be corrupt, and the emperor is also poor. is still the same sentence, clothes are people's hair, money is people's guts, and if you don't have money, you don't have the courage to use salt classes. This is the psychology of the salt merchants. It was calculated that the emperor had no money and no guts.

"It's okay, how much money I have in my internal money, I don't care about the Qing family, every year, I support the household department with 1.5 million taels of silver, it should be regarded as I make up for the gap in this salt class for the people of the world, so that my people can feel my favor." Yang Reform looked indifferent, and his heart was dripping blood, it was all white silver! One and a half million taels, just like that. These are the elites of this group of damn dogs, if they eat better and leave more meat for themselves, they will not use this method to fix this matter.

There are really not many words to say on the table, too many are unspoken rules, they are all said secretly, they are all said under the table, and now they are brought to the main hall of the Qianqing Palace, how can they say it.

The cabinet was also surprised by the emperor's determination, what happened to the emperor, and how much money was in this inner pocket? Dare to boast of such a Haikou? Every year, 1.5 million taels of silver are sent to the household department, and I am afraid that the amount of money that the household department gives to the internal treasury every year will not reach this amount. What kind of madness is this emperor? The ministers began to calculate how many years the emperor could hold out, how many years he would become poor, and how many years he would be able to restore the salt class.

Soon, the cabinet came to the conclusion that the emperor was a fool and that the emperor had gone mad.

(To be continued)