The victory of the Pingliao slave extermination not only eliminated the great trouble of the henchmen, but also allowed the emperor to free his hands and feet and concentrate on the reform of internal affairs.

In the eyes of a traverser, the Ming Dynasty has accumulated many evils, and reforms must be carried out everywhere in order to regain the country's glory and stand proudly on top of the world.

Yes, don't look at the current internal affairs have improved a lot, which can support the cost of exterminating slaves in Liaodong and counterinsurgency in southwest. Moreover, instead of increasing the burden on the people, it is constantly being lightened.

But everyone, including the emperor, knows where most of the huge military spending comes from. To put it bluntly, the emperor is robbing the rich, although he tries to be famous, but such finances cannot be maintained for a long time.

In order for a large empire to function normally, it also has to compete for living space from the outside, and finance is the most important factor. Without money, nothing can be done.

Well, the construction of infrastructure requires money, which is the primary condition for the long-term development of the country and the people to live and work in peace and contentment;

The expansion of the naval division requires money, and the ship's artillery alone is a long-term and huge investment. It should be expanded and benefited at the same time, which is a virtuous circle;

After the Pingliao people, the resettlement of the Liao people and the reconstruction of their homes also required the investment of funds and materials. And it must be exempt from taxation for at least one year, so that the Liao people can achieve self-cultivation and self-consumption;

The pace of the catastrophe is approaching, and it will be passed relatively smoothly, and in a few years or even more than a decade, hundreds of thousands or even millions of victims will have to spend several times more money than Pingliao.

The emperor took out his own plan, and sorted it out one by one, distinguishing the order and size. Although some work could be postponed, it should be started and could not be postponed.

For example, Zuo Guangdou was transferred to the governor of the river, and he was inspecting Henan, and he submitted a note and talked about several important water conservancy facilities.

The emperor also knew that during the disaster, it was the most cost-effective way to save money through work, but since it was an urgent project, how could he wait until that time. Therefore, he still asked the household department to transfer the money.

"The Emperor." Wang Tiqian entered the hall with a handful of notebooks and reported: "Zheng Zhilong and Wu Zheng were summoned to meet and were waiting outside the hall. ”

The emperor nodded, put away the documents on the table, and said, "Xuan." ”

Zheng Zhilong and Wu Zheng served as supervisory officials in the General Chamber of Commerce and the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce respectively, and they have done a good job in the past few years, and there has been no corruption or bending the law.

Now that they have been summoned to Beijing, the two also know that the emperor has another appointment, and promotion is basically a certain thing.

When they entered the temple, they knelt down and kowtowed, and the mountain shouted long live.

"Excuse me, flat." The emperor's voice was soft, and his face was kind.

After thanking them, they stood up, bowed down, and waited for the emperor to give an explanation.

The emperor pondered for a moment, and said slowly: "You two supervise the Chamber of Commerce, and you can be diligent and conscientious, and I am very relieved. ”

"Although the work of the Municipal Department has improved, it is still very sloppy, and more detailed rules and regulations are needed, and diligent and dedicated officials like Erqing are needed to manage ......."

Although the emperor has been promoting the advantages and eliminating the disadvantages according to the plan for several years, and has also seen results, the time is still short and not perfect.

To put it simply, the emperor wanted to deepen reforms in some areas, and in some areas it was just beginning.

For example, there is still a big gap between the city and the real customs in the emperor's mind. Another example is the transfer of officials to officials, which also has more places to be improved than the civil service examinations and promotions in later generations.

The highest-paid city companies in Daming are now Shanghai and Guangzhou, and Zheng Zhilong and Wu Zheng are going to be sent to these two places.

In other places, the city department and the ministry also reported the list of appointments. Some were retained in their original positions, and some were newly inaugurated.

"Supervision, taxation, and investigation of smuggling are the three most important tasks. It is foreseeable that the prosperity of maritime trade will also become an important pillar of the national finance......"

The emperor did not expect the Ming Dynasty's market tax revenue to reach the staggering amount of the Song Dynasty, but the current income situation was obviously not satisfactory to him.

Refine the organization, refine the functions, the city department temporarily belongs to the household department, but sooner or later it will be divided separately.

The first department to be independent from the six ministries was the State Administration of Taxation, which was in charge of tax collection and had the same rank as the six ministries.

It can be seen that the emperor is most concerned about the economy, that is, the money bag of the Ming Dynasty. As long as you have money, you can do it freely, whether it is domestic construction, military expansion, or compassionate measures for the people.

Zheng Zhilong and Wu Zheng listened attentively, both knew that the emperor loved money, but they didn't understand the emperor's grand cause.

After talking for a while, the emperor ordered someone to move to the embroidery pier and gave the two of them great courtesy. According to the official positions of the two of them, how could they have thought that they could get a seat in front of the emperor?

"Long live the grace." After the two of them had given their salutes, they sat down respectfully and carefully.

The emperor ordered the palace people to hand the relevant documents to the two and said, "This is drafted by me, and it has been discussed by the ministers. You take it back, go to the General Administration of Customs and your colleagues to discuss and study it carefully, revise and improve it and submit it to me for seeing, and then it will be finalized. ”

In fact, such work does not require the emperor's ear to ask for orders. But the emperor already knew what it meant to be gracious, and personally summoning him would make his courtiers more loyal and repaying.

"Hooray." Zheng Zhilong arched his hand and said: "Wechen thinks that Dongfan and Mekong should also build a city, and from the perspective of geographical location, the development potential of the two places is very great. ”

The emperor smiled and bowed his head, expressed his appreciation, and said: "All in the documents, although they are isolated overseas, they are also the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and the imperial court will not be left behind." ”

Wu Zheng is a steady person, he didn't see the document, he didn't understand the details, so he didn't speak easily, and he insisted that "ten thousand words are better than one silence".

Zheng Zhilong still reads less, and he is also keen on fame, but he seems to be more eager.

However, the emperor didn't care, and was secretly proud of having subdued the sea giants in history.

After a few more casual words, the emperor ordered the palace people to read the holy decree and give the new official uniform on the spot. There should be a sense of ceremony, and the effect of face-to-face rewards is better, which is also the way that the emperor has learned.

Zheng Zhilong and Wu Zheng were grateful to retire with virtue, and their promotions in the past few years have made them realize a truth, loyal to the king, honest work, and law-abiding can be safe.

After this autumn, the heads of a group of corrupt officials were cut off. Although it is much less than last year and the year before that, the deterrent effect is still the same.

Why bother?! The greedy money, fields, and houses are all gone; His own head was not guaranteed, and his family and relatives were also exiled for thousands of miles.

Law-abiding officials can not only be promoted, but also receive increased salaries, enjoy subsidies such as driving, high temperature, and heating, and live a worry-free life.

But money moves people's hearts, and there will always be people who take advantage of their wisdom and do corrupt things with luck.

You are unkind, and I am unjust. The current emperor has no psychological burden at all for killing. Holding back his strength even more, he still doesn't believe that he can't cure corrupt officials and corrupt officials.

Zheng Zhilong and Wu Zheng left, the emperor stroked his forehead, and Fan Xiaohui immediately stepped forward and massaged the emperor with her slender jade hands.

The emperor closed his eyes and enjoyed it, remembered something, and then opened his mouth and ordered: "Wang Companion, the fresh vegetables sent from the royal greenhouse, send some to Master Sun and other important ministers." ”

"The slave obeys." Wang Tiqian bowed in response and turned away.

In fact, the cultivation of out-of-season vegetables in China can be traced back to the Qin Dynasty. After the Tang and Song dynasties, out-of-season vegetables have been generally accepted by people, and "non-seasonal things are precious", and out-of-season vegetables are regarded as mountain delicacies!

In ancient times, in the early days, more natural heat sources were used to produce off-season fruits and vegetables, and the Tang Dynasty planted out-of-season fruits and vegetables in the "inner garden" for the court, so it introduced hot spring hot water to create a temperature suitable for the growth of vegetables.

In the Ming Dynasty, fire chambers or fire kang were basically used to produce out-of-season vegetables.

The so-called "fire room" is what we call a greenhouse in modern times, where a kang is built to burn a fire in the room to increase the temperature of the vegetable shed.

Ming Xie Zhaoqian Five Miscellaneous Objects Department 3 recorded: "There are yellow sprouts and leeks in the middle of winter in Beijing, which are made in the fire kang in the cellar of the rich room."

At that time, the rich families in the capital would build cellars and fire kangs, and in the middle of winter, not only yellow sprouts and leeks were endless, "other flowers and fruits, all the time", as well as peony flowers, cucumbers, etc.

Out-of-season vegetables grown in this way can be imagined at a great cost, and only the rich and powerful can enjoy them.

The greenhouse, which was designed by the emperor himself and made of glass, has a large span and a heat storage wall, which can effectively use sunlight, which is very close to the solar greenhouse of later generations.

Although it is also necessary to heat up the fire when it is cold, the cost is much lower. Moreover, it is said to be royal, but it is also an experiment in agriculture.

The cost of building greenhouses was high, but the emperor still pulled money from the inner treasury and built a lot of greenhouses.

If it is planted well, he will also let the people of the capital try it when he is ready for the New Year. Is there more, each family has two handfuls of leek dumplings, which is also the emperor's grace.

The common people also have overwintering vegetables, one is pickled or dried vegetables, and the other is cellaring. Of course, pickles taste better than stale vegetables; Cellared, that is, Chinese cabbage and radish.

It would have been better if I had received the news of the great victory in Liaodong a year ago. The emperor closed his eyes slightly, expectant, but also a little worried.

Half of the little face poked into the door of the temple and quietly looked in.

Fan Xiaohui pursed her lips and smiled, leaned close to the emperor's ear, and whispered: "Emperor, peek outside the door in May!" ”

The emperor opened his eyes, saw the little face that was retracting, and couldn't help laughing: "May, come in!" ”

That's right, it's May. The little girl did well in the exam and went to junior high school, and the emperor also fulfilled her wish to be a little palace maid during the winter vacation. In other words, she was allowed to eat a winter vacation imperial meal in the Qianqing Palace.

Even the emperor didn't expect that the little girl was unusually smart, but she was a foodie. I used to ask what I was eating, and I kept thinking about it, but this time I can really know what the emperor eats.

May grinned, entered the hall with a few crisp laughs, knelt down and kowtowed in a regular manner, but was stopped by the emperor.

"Excuse me, flat." The emperor raised his head, he really liked this smart and clever little girl, and he hoped that his daughter would grow up like this.

May got up, stood at the bottom of the stairs and asked with a smile: "The slave maid reads a book, and there are a few things that I don't understand. Knowing that Banzai was knowledgeable and omniscient, he wanted to come and ask for advice. ”

I have known for 500 years, and I have known 500 years, and no one in the Ming Dynasty is stronger than me.

The Emperor smiled happily when he heard this compliment, and said, "Ask, it's really not a difficult question for me." ”

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