After Chen Shangshu left, King Fujun walked out of the side room, saw the two distinct salts on the table in front of Emperor Zhengxi, and couldn't help but taste them separately.

He first tasted private salt, and then the official salt, after the official salt entered his mouth, he made several "bah" sounds, and said: "This official salt is not only not as good as private salt, but also tastes astringent and bitter, and it is more expensive than private salt." Complaining about private salt is rampant, as long as you are not stupid, you know which one to choose. ”

Emperor Zhengxi, who lowered his head and pondered, raised his head when he heard this, looked at King Fujun, and asked very calmly: "Why, you already knew about the existence of this private salt?" ”

Although Emperor Zhengxi's tone was flat and the content of the question was very ordinary, King Fujun still felt a sense of danger, subconsciously shrunk his neck, and defended: "Sixth brother, what are you talking about, I haven't divided the mansion yet, I live in the palace, and all the food and clothing should be provided by the palace; Even if I go out of the palace and branch the mansion, whether the purchase in the palace comes from the official sale or the private sector, I have my own housekeeper to take care of it, and I can't personally ask about it. As long as the thing is bought and used, where can I know about this private salt? ”

Emperor Zhengxi, who was originally a little angry, heard his words, and his anger immediately dissipated, and he sighed and said: "It's me who thinks about left, since I sat in this position, I have found that the people below have fooled me as a blind and deaf person." I thought that after I ascended the throne, you, like everyone else, began to deceive me. ”

King Fujun shook his head, "I don't have the heart to do this, and I don't have the guts." I have been following you since I was a child, and I know that Sixth Brother is the master who does not rub sand in your eyes, and I dare not do this if I lend me one hundred and twenty guts. ”

With a sigh, Emperor Zhengxi turned the topic to business: "Okay, I'll get down to business, I plan to let you go to Jiangnan and help me check the situation of Jiangnan's taxes," pointing to the salt on the table, "Now that there is another matter, this salt tax will also be checked." ”

Hearing this, King Fujun jumped up as if he had been stung by a scorpion, his hands shook so much that he was about to ghost, and his head shook like a rattle, "Sixth brother, you are not so intriguing." Even if you want me to help you, you can give me some time and let my errand come little by little from easy to difficult.

I've never done an errand, and I can't do it if you give me such a heavy burden as soon as you come up. Although I didn't ask about political affairs before, I also knew that the taxes of the entire Jiangnan bear two-thirds of my expenses. If I mess up, I won't be able to give an account of even the title of the king of the county. ”

Emperor Zhengxi smiled disappreliantly: "Don't worry, didn't I say it, I will stand behind you, so if you do it with confidence, even if something goes wrong, I will help you carry it." ”

In the eyes of King Fujun, Emperor Zhengxi's words can only be heard, and something is really going wrong, but I am afraid that Emperor Zhengxi has a heart, and his situation in the court may not be able to protect him. "Your Majesty, it's really not that I don't want to contribute to you, but I know where I am.

If you ask me to go to the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Households, or the Ministry of Industry, to settle accounts, do some work on measurement, and give a head officer a hand, there will be no problem. But as soon as you came up, you asked me to investigate the tax payment in Jiangnan, which is equivalent to pressing the position of 'Ji Xiang' on my head, this is the second-in-command of the imperial court, I can't even be a chief official, you are too powerful to pull out the seedlings.

Yes, sixth brother, you told me not to be afraid of making mistakes, you will help me, but in this case, I am even more afraid, I am not afraid that I will not do a good job, but I am afraid of delaying your business. ”

Emperor Zhengxi saw that he was so anxious that he was white-eyed and red-eyed, and gave him the answer: "Don't worry, this time you go to Jiangnan, on the surface, you are the main one, but in fact, there is another person in charge of this matter, you just need to assist from the side." ”

When King Fujun heard this, he let out a long breath, and suddenly felt relieved, and asked with a smile: "Then Sixth Brother, can I ask who this person behind me is?" ”

"It's me."

"Oh, it turned out to be six," King Fukujun reacted, and wanted to speak, but suddenly choked on saliva, coughed for a long time, and coughed up tears.

The waiter who was waiting on the side hurriedly brought him tea, he didn't even bother to drink the tea, pushed the waiter's hand away, looked at Emperor Zhengxi, and asked hopefully: "Your Majesty, I heard it wrong just now, right?" ”

"You haven't heard of it, it's me."

"Sixth brother, if you want to go down to Jiangnan, why do you sneak with me, you can be like your father, ...... open-minded"

"I want to look at the actual situation in Jiangnan, not the prosperous atmosphere made up by those local officials."

"But sixth brother, you are the emperor, you left the Manchu Dynasty civil and military, and you just secretly went down to Jiangnan with me, what should I do here in the court? Isn't this so easy to hide? Also, you also said that the third brother and the fifth brother are restless, if they know that you are out of Beijing, they don't know what they will do? At that time, if you have a case, how will you let me explain to the emperor, Concubine Hui, the queen's sister-in-law, and the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty? King Fujun felt that if this was the case, it would be better for him to go to Jiangnan alone.

Emperor Zhengxi said with a solemn face: "I hope that the third brother and the fifth brother will do it, if they have been dormant and have only stumbled on me in the court, it will be difficult for me to deal with them because of my father." As for the affairs of the court, you don't need to worry about it, I will arrange it before I go to Jiangnan with you. As for whether you can hide it or not, that's my business, and you don't have to worry about it. ”

King Fujun sighed helplessly: "Sixth brother, you really don't have a backache when you say this, you don't have to worry about it, and I don't have to worry about it, but you are the emperor and the king of a country, if you follow me out, if there is a case, I will die without redemption." ”

"Alright, that's it. Although I said that I would go to Jiangnan, I haven't gone yet, and when I have arranged everything here, I will send someone to tell you the itinerary. Emperor Zhengxi didn't care about King Fujun's embarrassment, waved his hand, made a final decision, took out a fold from the table and handed it to him, "Before you go to Jiangnan, give me this fold first." ”

"What excerpt?" King Fujun took it, and when he saw that it was written on the proposal to abolish the "Guilty Silver", his face changed suddenly, and he only felt bitter in his mouth, looked up at Emperor Zhengxi, and complained: "Your Majesty, you are putting your younger brother on the fire to roast." ”

This discussion silver is a measure introduced by the emperor in his later years: if an official commits a crime, as long as he pays the full amount of the guilty silver, not only does he not have to worry about losing his black yarn hat, but he also does not have to worry about losing his head, and he can continue to be an official.

This measure is even more powerful than selling official beards, because the official titles and titles of the imperial court are numerous, therefore, most of the officials sold in the selling official beards are fictitious, there is no real shortage, no silver, just a good name; As for the title, it is impossible to sell the real high-level titles, so only the middle and low-level titles are sold. This thing is just a title, even if a businessman buys it, although he can enjoy the same treatment as a showman, and he does not kneel when he sees an official, a businessman who has the ability to spend money to buy such a title basically has the capital to be able to deal with officials, such as the Xue family. Therefore, it is not necessary for them to buy this title or not.

But the existence of the guilty silver is different, as long as it is a human being, there are times when it comes to making mistakes, not to mention, as an official, even if he is as honest as Shui and Hai Rui, he has not been demoted to an official, so with this guilty silver, it means that this official can always be at the moment.

Most of the officials who can use the money to redeem their crimes are officials who are corrupt and pervert the law, so it is conceivable that after the officials have handed over the money, they will definitely try their best to snatch it back from the people with profits.

The queen also realized this, so although he did not cancel the existence of the guilty silver, there were certain restrictions on the redemption of officials, such as Jia Yucun's dismissal, because he had no backers, no connections, and offended his colleagues and superiors, otherwise, as long as he made the guilty silver, he would not lose his official position.

Emperor Zhengxi said: "You also said just now, you haven't done any errands before, I suddenly gave you a high position, you are panicked, afraid that you will not be able to bear it, and others will not be convinced, so let you go to this excerpt to cancel the guilt of the silver is to give you credit." After all, the abolition of the guilty silver is a good thing for the benefit of the country and the people. ”

"Although it is for the benefit of the country and the people, it has almost offended the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, and I would rather not have this credit." King Fujun muttered to himself in his heart, still unwilling to die: "Your Majesty, what you said before that you would not change your father's way for three years, and now that your father is still here, you will abolish this guilty silver, I'm afraid my father will be unhappy, right?" ”

Zhengxi smiled: "Don't worry, I discussed this matter with my father before, and he didn't object."

In fact, the father and queen had already realized the disadvantages of the guilty silver, but at that time, it was difficult for him to ride a tiger. After all, not only did he reward the official who made this suggestion at the beginning, but he also talked so much that he couldn't beat himself up later, right? In addition, there is indeed a shortage of money in the court, and in any case, this discussion silver has indeed alleviated the problem of the household department having no money to a certain extent, so the father did not abolish this measure. ”

"That's what you say, as if the household department has money now?" King Fujun complained.

Thinking of the officials who could not be purged because of the existence of the guilty silver, Emperor Zhengxi sighed, "Even if the household department has no money, it can't let the guilty silver continue to exist." Its disadvantages are too great, and it has the disaster of shaking the foundation of the country's society, just as my father abdicated, I ascended the throne, and the new dynasty had a new atmosphere, so that the guilty silver was canceled, and the courtiers couldn't say anything. ”

Although King Fujun didn't ask about the affairs of the court before, it didn't mean that he didn't know the harm of the guilty silver, and when he saw that he couldn't push it out, he nodded and said: "Okay, I'll take the fold back and copy it again, and when the dynasty comes, I'll fold it." ”