Although there were some differences between the civil service system and the crown prince on issues such as the restriction of officials' family property and the seizure of homes, they were relatively consistent on issues such as reassuring the people, spring ploughing, and collecting taxes to enrich the country.

Because this cabinet is full of pragmatists.

Li Yuzhi is the oldest, although he is nominally in charge of the ministry, in fact, he is already in charge of the overall situation by the second assistant Wu Fu. After Jiang Dejing came, Sun Chuanting gave him the Ministry of Works, so as not to make him a bare-bones pavilion elder.

In the past, the Ministry of Works was a drudgery that no one wanted, and the main task was to be responsible for the construction of palaces, royal gardens, and tombs of emperors and queens. Jiang Dejing also thought that this was a perfunctory move at first, but after going to the Ministry of Industry to inspect the matter, he learned that all the local projects had now been transferred from the Ministry of Household to the Ministry of Industry. From a deep well to the Huanghuai governance, all of them are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry.

In the small cabinet room, there is only a six-seat long table. Zhu Cihong sat in the north and faced south, Li Yuzhi and Wu Fu fought horizontally, and Sun Chuanting and Jiang Dejing sat opposite the crown prince. This was a very ordinary meeting, and it was also the first time that Jiang Dejing participated in such an impromptu meeting after coming to Jinan.

"Now the authority of the six departments in the matter has been greatly reduced." Zhu Cihong introduced Jiang Dejing: "Originally, the six science corridors could dictate all the government affairs of the six departments, but now they can only audit the financial cases in the six departments. Mr. Jiang should know. ”

When Jiang Dejing heard this, he couldn't help but smile. The six science corridors belong to the Yan officials in the Ming Dynasty, and they are in a humble and powerful position, and most of the directors of each department have to greet them first. Now, if you can only audit the money and money, it will greatly free the hands and feet of the ministry officials.

"I know that Mr. Jiang is good at managing money, and now the people who use the most money are the Ministry of War, the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion and the Ministry of Industry." Zhu Cihong said: "So I asked Mr. Jiang to take charge of the Ministry of Works, just to spend every tael of silver and every grain of millet on the blade." ”

"Your Highness, now that the Ministry of Industry has no input, all the money and grain consumed can only be withdrawn from the Ministry of Households?" Jiang Dejing found that the subordinate industries of the Ministry of Industry had been assigned to the Ministry of Households. He confirmed.

"Exactly," Zhu Cihong said with a smile, "In the future, the country's financial plan will only be the income and expenditure of the household department, and the so-called brothers will have to settle the accounts." In this way, the officials of the Ministry of Industry will not be constrained by money and food, and can concentrate all their energy on the project. After saying that, he paused. Said: "Today, there is another matter to be discussed by the three departments of households, soldiers, and workers, that is, the issue of the placement of soldiers. ”

With the expansion of the Liberation Zone, the number of bandits, rebels, and outcasts who surrendered has exceeded 250,000. Zhu Cihong set aside some of them to form an engineer battalion, and each division, battalion, and department also had its own directly subordinate engineer units, but the remaining labor battalions and hard labor battalions still numbered 200,000.

It is impossible for these people to rebel in a short period of time, but if they sit idly by and continue to add people to it, I am afraid that there will inevitably be troubles in the future.

"It's too complex." Zhu Cihong had a headache when he thought about it: "I hope to distinguish them one by one and divide them into three strands." All the craftsmen must be extracted first. Attributed to the Ministry of Industry. Mr. Jiang, you have to urge the Ministry of Industry to borrow these people to train more qualified craftsmen, not only to inherit the old skills, but also to teach them the "Complete Book of Mining and Metallurgy" and "Taixi Water Law". ”

Jiang Dejing nodded in response: "The minister understands." ”

"The rest of the hard labor, soldiers, and prisoners will be handed over to the military department." Zhu Cihong said: "Mr. Sun." The Ministry of War should separate the more performers among them, and then organize these hundreds of thousands of people into several teams. Undertake the main heavy physical labor in the Guangfu area. At the same time, it is necessary to prevent them from changing. ”

Sun Chuanting said: "Your Highness, some of these people have minor crimes, and some have serious crimes, can you pardon the lightest person as an overseer?" ”

"As long as they don't make trouble, it's up to you to watch it." Zhu Cihong said: "The mortality rate is also discussed by the ministry, and I will not care about it in the future." ”

Sun Chuanting nodded. I have already begun to calculate the appropriate degree of relaxation of the mortality rate.

"Among these people, I only need one Chen De, and it is up to you to decide which part the others belong to." Zhu Cihong said: "The problem of money and grain will be handed over to the household department. Mr. Wu, there is no Shangshu in the household department now. The ministry also needs you to take the helm. ”

"The waiter Yao Tao is quite talented, and it is not inappropriate to respond to the affairs of the ministry." Wu Fu smiled: "It's a pity that it's a woman." ”

Zhu Cihong also sighed: "Yes, I don't know where the world's practice of discriminating against women comes from, and it is not simple to change customs." ”

Jiang Dejing also said: "In the minister's hometown, women also go to the field to farm, not inferior to men. If it is the time to employ people today, if you can borrow the power of female officials, it is not impossible. ”

"Otherwise, Master Wu will be merciful, and the household department will pay for the people to watch more "Mulan", "Liang Hongyu", "Qin Liangyu" or something." Zhu Cihong smiled at Wu Fu.

Wu Fu didn't smile, and said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, it's okay." As early as when he was in Shanxi, he helped the crown prince compile some operas praising the soldiers in the army, and with the newspaper in front, it is not difficult to find the influence of drama on public opinion. Many people who don't know much about it basically take the stories in the drama as real things.

"If the government runs the pear orchard ......," Wu Fu said tentatively.

"That's too high," Zhu Cihong shook his head and said, "The labor cost is too high." We don't have so many people to invest in it, so we still take the road of private trading. Spend money to hire people to write books, and hire opera troupes from all over the country to perform in the countryside. The local government sends tickets according to the household registration, and these troupes collect tickets for performances, and the household department pays money according to the theater tickets they have recovered. How's that? ”

Wu Fu nodded and said, "Then we are just spending money, not troublesome." It also eliminates the problem of competing with the people for profit. ”

"Well, it can also encourage registration and increase taxes." Zhu Cihong said with a smile: "The money spent is actually going to be returned." ”

"Your Highness, now that the mapping of the various businesses in Shandong and Henan has been almost completed, when will they be registered?" Wu Fu asked again. He is now in charge of the household department, and he is particularly concerned about the matter of opening up sources and reducing expenditures, and now he has abolished the private customs of various checkpoints, just waiting for the collection of business taxes.

"There's not enough manpower." Zhu Cihong sighed: "Tax collection seems simple, but it is like pulling radishes with mud, which is related to a bigger matter. ”

"What?" Wu Fu was also strange. The vassal kings of various places can open the money customs and collect taxes by pulling two families at will, is the righteousness of the court not as good as those vassal kings?

"Tax law." Zhu Cihong sighed: "There are two kinds of money, one is to make people grit their teeth and pay money, and the other is to pay money willingly. Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong can not be scrupulous, but our Ming court can't be shameless and let the people spurn. ”

Everyone bowed their heads in agreement. In any case, people-oriented thought has always been the foundation of Confucianism, as the so-called benevolent people love others, if a gentleman does not love others, is not a hypocrite?

"So I want to write down all the taxes that should be collected, so that every merchant knows how much silver to pay. The tax stamps at the time of epidemic prevention in Beijing must also be implemented, so that they can be checked. If the tax collectors dare to abuse the merchants, the merchants must have the opportunity to sue them; If businessmen dare to evade taxes, the government must also have a basis to punish them, so this tax law may be indispensable.

"There is also how to collect this commercial tax in order to achieve the best of both worlds, the imperial court can get money to build roads, build bridges, train soldiers and protect the people, and merchants will not be unable to make a fortune because of excessive taxes and fees. With the current situation of our Ming Dynasty, how to formulate taxes and how to regulate and control tax rates all need to be brainstormed.

"The biggest headache is the resistance to taxes and food. Some people are so small-minded that they refuse to profit the country. It is said that the master of the temple is greedy for money, and he sends tax supervisors and mine supervisors to provoke the anger of the heavens and people. The emperor's father appointed a gentleman and abolished the dispatch of prisoners, but what was the result? In the tenth year of Chongzhen, the tea tax in Zhejiang Province was only twelve taels of silver, and the taxes collected in some places were not enough to support the tax collectors! There are people and jinshi who accompany the ship and the car, and all the commercial goods can be tax-free...... I don't even have the face to say anything like that. From the first emperor to the present, has there been any dynasty as sloppy as my dynasty?

"What kind of background you are, what kind of background are the officials, everyone knows very well. The fundamental principle is still fairness, if the Ming Dynasty falls, when the Liukou and Dongyu come, not to mention that the silver can't be saved, even the head may not be able to be kept. A few old gentlemen still discussed this matter carefully, and let's get a charter as soon as possible. When Zhu Cihong talked about the tax issue, he was also a little tricky, so he simply ended the meeting and let the cabinet discuss it. (To be continued......)

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