In the era of no sense of secrecy, the mouths of the ministers are often missing a door, although there is no telephone in this era, there is no Internet, but the speed of news transmission is no less than the Internet in later generations, less than half a day after the dispersal of the dynasty, Yueyang copied out 10 million taels of silver in Shandong The news immediately spread throughout the capital, and also radiated to the entire Ming Dynasty at a faster and faster speed.

For ordinary people, although 10 million taels of silver is an astronomical amount that they can't even think of, but because it is too far away from them, ordinary people just use this matter as a talking point to brag about with people on weekdays, but for the officials of the six departments of the imperial court, it is a big thing.

More than 10 million taels of silver, this is equivalent to two years of taxes in the imperial court today, which is too important than silver for the Ming Dynasty, which is almost exhausted financially.

"No, you have to bite a big piece of this big cake." This is the common sentiment of all of us.

The consequence of this incident was that Chongzhen, who had not been happy for two days, was shocked to find that the six scholars who had been chattering in the court began to fight for more shares of their yamen in the court. The six Shangshu were all pulling each other's skins, and these big men who were usually open-mouthed and moral-minded seemed to have changed as if they had changed their mouths, and began to snatch a share of the silver in front of Chongzhen.

Yang Sichang, the first assistant of the cabinet and the Ministry of War, said that the domestic bandits were strictly troubled, and the bandits were raging in Henan, Sichuan, and Hubei, and that the three-way army of Lu Xiangsheng, Hong Chengchou, and Sun Chuanting did not need a large amount of silver along the way, so the military department should take the lion's share. But the Ministry of Industry disagreed, and Liu Zunxian, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, didn't care about Yang Sichang or the first assistant of the cabinet, and he also shouted urgently: The imperial court has been urging the Ministry of Industry to imitate the firearms, weapons and armor of the Xuanda Army for the past two years, but you don't give me the silver to make what I can do. Could it be that I can conjure it out of thin air? Not only that, but even the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Punishment also got involved and wanted to participate, saying that the imperial court had been in arrears for N years of office funds, and now it was time to deliver them.

Seeing these people competing with each other, only Cheng Guoxiang, who is the head of the household, is firmly sitting in Diaoyutai. No matter how these people rob it, no matter how much money they rob, they have to go to the treasury of the household department before they fall into the hands of others, and this is an iron law that no one can violate.

Originally, these people quarreled and quarreled, and Emperor Chongzhen also took it too seriously. However, when the ministers were arguing with Comrade Xiao Zhu, the more they listened, the more wrong it became, because some ministers had already mentioned that since the three million taels of silver received by the household were not enough, they should simply transfer the remaining more than seven million taels of silver that should have been sent to the inner treasury to the state treasury for the needs of the imperial court.

Hearing this, Chongzhen's face quickly changed, and he made a furious attack on the main hall on the spot, in addition to being demoted three levels in a row, he also drove this person who dared to brush the tiger's whiskers out of the Taiji Palace. Since then, everyone has known that Emperor Laozi's silver cannot be touched casually.

The sensational effect caused by this 10 million taels of silver was still expanding, and soon Yueyang's mouthpiece, "Daming Times", quickly published an article written by Yue Yang himself. Yue Yang wrote in the article: When the people of the Ming Dynasty were still worried about how to eat enough, when the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was racking his brains about how to raise military salaries. However, there was a shocking tax resistance incident in Shandong. In order to see this violent atmosphere, Xuan's army had no choice but to decisively suppress it and confiscate some of the illegal gains of merchants.

Shandong is not a rich place, and the net worth of the businessmen and gentry who were raided this time can only be regarded as average in Shandong, and there are only more than 100 of them. But these people actually seized tens of millions of taels of silver. These are the people who ...... They spend a lot of money, they spend all their money, they are drunk with money, they are poor and extravagant, but these people are unwilling to pay even a penny of taxes to the court, and they are not willing to do even a penny for the Ming Dynasty. They who have thousands of family fortunes would rather use these silver to support their fathers and visit Qinglou than pay a penny to the imperial court, and they would rather risk rebellion against the imperial court to kill the tax collectors for the sake of a few hundred taels of silver in the commercial tax, which is the merchant of the Ming Dynasty. This is the businessman who threw his head and shed blood to protect the border soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, and I can't help but ask, what happened to these people? The ancients still knew that there were all eggs under the nest, if the Ming Dynasty was gone, what was the use of them guarding these thousands of family wealth?

This piece of Yue Yang's article is written in the vernacular, and the meaning is very straightforward. In the eyes of those who read, it is not an exaggeration to describe it as simple, but this article is like a sharp sword piercing the chest of all the businessmen and gentry, many gentry and businessmen are so angry that their lungs are about to explode after seeing this report, but they have nothing to do about Yueyang, the initiator. There is no way, the lethality of this fight is too amazing, there is money, food, and the army is still in front of high-ranking officials, and they are sad to find that such a person is no longer something they can deal with.

After Yueyang's article came out, "Jinling Times" also hurriedly asked literati to concoct some articles to refute Yueyang, but the radiation scope of "Jinling Times" is too weak compared to "Daming Times", and the most important thing is that this article is still very reasonable. When the common people heard this, they felt uncomfortable, why do you have a lot of money but don't have to pay a penny in taxes, but let us, the hard-working ordinary people, bear a heavy burden of servitude, why?

The role of the chess piece laid by Yue Yang in Jinling two years ago has slowly played a role, and the benefits of mastering the right to speak have gradually been revealed. In the past, the right to speak in the Ming Dynasty was in the hands of those scholars who read the Ming Dynasty, and whoever they said badly would be labeled as a bad person, and they said that what could not be done must be wrong, but now it is different, Yueyang's "Daming Times" has sprung up, and slowly sown a seed in the hearts of the people and people of all walks of life. I don't want them to support themselves immediately, I just want to sow a seed in their hearts, and when the right opportunity comes, there will be a harvest.

After Yueyang made such a fuss, most of the merchants and gentry were frightened by his thunderbolt methods. I'm not afraid, no, it's really too vicious, I robbed your house, robbed your property, confiscated your land, not to mention that your name was stinked in the newspapers and periodicals, and now the names of more than 100 businessmen and gentry who were speculated are still hanging in the "Daming Times", and the people all over the world know that it is this group of people who resist taxes and fight against the imperial court for a mere amount of silver of dozens or hundreds of taels. In the end, I played with myself. But despite this, there was also a voice in the court of the Ming Dynasty, they questioned that Yueyang's actual seizure in this speculation activity was not only 10 million taels, and asked the court to investigate this matter thoroughly, but such a voice quickly disappeared without a trace, and even the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the officials of the Six Departments who were specifically against Yue Yang did not make a fuss about this matter, as for the reason, everyone on the earth knows that people have sent so much silver to the imperial court, don't you allow people to make some benefits.

In fact, Yue Yang did reap a lot of benefits. And there are many benefits to this. In this speculation activity, which lasted for more than half a month, the total value of gold and silver confiscated by Xuan Dajun was 21.36 million taels, and Yue Yang discounted the silver in half before reporting it to the imperial court. It's not that Yue Yang is too greedy, but Yue Yang himself needs to spend a lot of money, and the more than 100,000 troops under his command and the tens of thousands of troops stationed in Liaodong need an astronomical amount of food and salary every month, plus the funds for the construction of Shandong, the silver needed is even more sea, and it is rare to encounter such an opportunity to fight local tyrants, if he doesn't make a profit, it will be too pure.

Today, it's the day of the meeting again. Ke Zhennan, the political envoy of Shandong, Ma Ke, the chief soldier, Liu Zeqing, and even Lu Zhili, the commander of the army who has not recovered from his injuries, are also here, because today is everyone sharing the spoils...... It should be a day to reward meritorious deeds.

Yue Yang looked at the crowded crowd and went straight to the point: "Ladies and gentlemen, today is the Marquis who summoned you here to fulfill what he said a few days ago. For most of the past half a month, you have worked hard to collect business taxes. In particular, more than a dozen tax collectors died in the tax collectors' department because of this, and the loss was not small, so Ben Hou thought that the remuneration that had been promised to be distributed to you could be paid in advance. ”

"Ahem, ahem, ahem......"

In view of the fact that our comrade Yue Yang spoke too bluntly, Ke Zhennan on the side had to cough vigorously twice to interrupt Yue Yang's words. With a slightly red old face, he said, "That...... This officer corrected it. Marquis Yue may have made a slip of the tongue just now, it should be the incorruptible silver distributed to me and other yamen, don't misunderstand. ”

"Exactly...... Master Ke is right. Naturally, we won't misunderstand Lord Yue! ”

Ke Zhennan rarely called Yue Yang as Hou Ye once, and the people in the lobby also had a tacit understanding not to mention the small mistake Yue Yang made just now, in their eyes, everything is empty now, only what is about to arrive is the most real.

Looking at those officials who were usually serious on the surface were looking at him with hot and eager eyes, Yue Yang did not despise these people, he grew up in modern society and thought that the pursuit of wealth was not wrong, as long as you did not earn wealth on the basis of violating the law and morality, you should not be blamed.

Slowly took out a note full of words from his pocket, Yue Yang read slowly: "This time, a total of 117 illegal merchants and gentry were raided, and a total of 21.36 million taels of illegal gains were seized, in addition to the 10.26 million taels handed over to the imperial court, there are 11.1 million taels left. But you must remember that although the silver is good, it cannot be annexed privately, after all, it is not a family or a person who can get such a rich return this time, but the result of the joint efforts of all the officials in Shandong, you must ensure that it is distributed to everyone below, if anyone is found to dare to deduct these silver taels and be reported, then Benhou will have to settle accounts after the autumn, have you heard clearly? ”

After Yue Yang's words were finished, everyone's hearts were all in shock, and they all agreed: "Don't dare to follow the teachings of the Hou Ye or forget!" ”

Seeing the solemn expressions of these people, Yue Yang couldn't help but smile slightly bitterly in his heart, it seemed that he had been in Shandong for so long, and it was the first time he had seen these people obey his orders so much for the first time.

After Yue Yang finished speaking, Ke Zhennan also added: "Everyone, have you all heard the words of Marquis Yue? This silver is different from the previous silver, if anyone dares to stretch out his hand without the help of Marquis Yue, the official will dispose of him first! ”

"Don't worry, my lord, I will never dare to go against the words of the Hou Ye and the lord."

Hearing that the two bigwigs said this, where did everyone still not understand their attitude towards this matter. Besides, they are not stupid, they have been officials for so long, and they are clear of what money they can and can't take. The silver belonged to all the officials in Shandong. As you can hear from the name, it is to raise incorruptible silver. If you deduct it, it will move everyone's cheese, and you will become the public enemy of all officials, and I am afraid that a large number of people will come and tear you to pieces without Yue Yang's action.

Some people may ask, so much silver has only been divided into 1.1 million taels, and the remaining 10 million taels of silver is not cheaper for Yueyang? He's got too much, right? In fact, the person who asked this question is a layman, and it is natural that Yue Yang, as the highest military and political governor in Shandong, has the largest share, and this time so many troops have been mobilized from Shanxi and even Liaodong, these are not transferred in vain. You must know that once the army is dispatched, the amount of silver that needs to be spent every day is astronomical. You can't let the army do it for nothing, can you? Afterwards, people will always give some benefits to others, otherwise who will work for you, and Yue Yang also said, he still has to use this silver for various constructions in Shandong, and he will inform everyone of the detailed use of silver at that time.

This spoils distribution meeting ended very successfully, and all the people who had received the silver were happy, and more than one million taels of silver were scattered, and all the people in the officialdom of Shandong were more or less interested. Bigwigs like Ke Zhennan and Ma Ke each received tens of thousands of taels, and the rest of the highlands according to their official positions were also divided into hundreds and thousands of taels, and even the lowest officials could be divided into more than ten or dozens of taels. As the saying goes, taking people's means to eat people's soft mouths, since they have taken the incorruptible silver sent by Comrade Yue Yang. Then there are naturally many fewer people who speak ill of him.

And the most direct consequence of the silver is that the inspection of taxes by the government in Shandong has become unprecedentedly strict, after all, no one has a grudge against the silver, and how much money they can get every month is directly related to the taxes collected, and the fact that the merchants bribed one or two tax officials to evade taxes in the past has also disappeared. Because now everyone is staring at this piece, you dare to bend the law for personal gain, there are so many eyes around, you receive less silver, and your colleagues will receive less money. The old saying goes. Cutting off people's wealth is like killing your parents, if you don't collect or undercharge taxes, people don't kill you, it's no wonder. With interests, there is naturally motivation, through the thunderbolt methods used by Yue Yang and the temptation of the silver distributed by Yue Yang. Shandong's tax collection system has also gradually entered the formalization, and the measurement of land and the apportionment of acres and the integration of officials and gentry to pay grain have to be done slowly, and all that remains to be done is to reopen the sea ban......

More than ten days later, Yue Yang took Wu Qing and Chen Dazhi, the captain of his own soldiers, and more than 500 personal soldiers to Liugong Island in Weihai Bend, which Dengzhou belonged.

After landing on Liugong Island, Yue Yang looked at the excellent ports here and made up his mind.

"This is it!"

Yue Yang pointed ahead and asked Wu Qingdao with a smile: "Sanshi, what do you say if the Sailor Base is established here?" ”

"Sailor?" Wu Qingleng paused for a moment and hurriedly asked, "Master Hou, do you plan to establish a sailor in Weihaiwei?" ”

"Exactly!" Yue Yang nodded slowly.

"Hiss......"

Wu Qing gasped, and hurriedly persuaded: "My lord, the establishment of a water division is not an overnight effort, and it costs a lot of money, in the past, when Cheng Zu was alive, he also spent the whole country to establish a huge water division, but since Cheng Zu died, my Ming water division has gradually declined, if you want to rely on your own strength, I am afraid it will be difficult to establish it." ”

Yue Yang turned his head and glanced at him with a smile and said, "You still need to say this, of course I understand." ”

Yue Yang naturally understands the difficulties of building a navy, but he understands even more that as a country with a long coastline, it is impossible to have a strong navy, and a country without a navy is like a giant without an arm, which is incomplete and deformed.

Yue Yang also had a plan in mind about the cost of building a navy, and he planned to build Dengzhou into a prosperous foreign port, sell things such as tea, silk and porcelain from the Ming Dynasty to Europe, and then get the gold and silver of Europe to the Ming Dynasty. In the end, let Da Ming have more contact with the outside world to save being out of touch with the world for too long, a country that has been out of touch with the world for a long time will only be self-contained, and finally make a joke that the enemy has approached the door with a battleship, but his own minister has ordered the sergeant to use black dog blood to break the opponent's demon law.

Seeing Yue Yang's determined expression, Wu Qing knew that his boss might not listen to persuasion, so he had to sigh lightly and stop talking.

Seeing that Wu Qing was silent, Yue Yang chuckled and said: "Sanshi, Ben Hou knows that you have good intentions, but after this water master is built, it will be of infinite benefit to my Daming, I know that you have been in this generation before, do you know who is familiar with water warfare in Shandong?" (To be continued......)