It's August.

In the morning and evening, the weather has turned cold, and the emperor takes Xu Guan to walk on the long corridor in the palace, and at the corner of the corridor, there will be some eunuchs standing with their heads bowed and silent.

"The salary of the Shenwu Guard is paid from the inside, which is three times that of the first-class guard. The name and place of origin of each soldier is kept by the attendant room, and does not go through the military department or the Five Cities Soldiers and Horses. is somewhat similar to the house slaves collected by the general surnames of the people, and you will be a member of my Zhu family in the future. ”

Zhu Houzhao's size is not too small, because he exercises regularly and eats more balanced, and the seven-foot man is counted. And the perennial life is good, it can be said that the skin is fine and tender, as if the white face is small.

Being in a high position and hiding majesty between his eyebrows, a jade belt around his waist, and a handsome appearance when he walks.

But standing next to a big man like Xu Guan, who has a big waist and a round waist, it seems that the whole is smaller.

"The last general understands what His Majesty means."

"Then do you understand, why did I set up the Divine Guard?"

"The last general is not puzzled, please make it clear to Your Majesty."

Zhu Houzhao hugged his chest with his hands, his waist was straight, his eyes were slightly off, but he didn't speak.

The wind blew up pieces of pink petals that fell to the ground and swept in front of their eyes.

“…… General Xu will understand in the future, for now, let's take the Shenwu Guard first. ”

No one reported to the emperor about civil affairs, but if he didn't get so much silver taels at once, it must have an impact. On this basis, some of Zhu Houzhao's reform actions as a latecomer still cannot be stopped.

And he remembered that there was a rebellion of the vassal king during the Zhengde period.

Moreover, Zhu Houzhao is a little yearning for the world outside the Forbidden City, the scenery of the northern part of the country, the grasslands of the desert, and the emperor of the Han people does not go there, how can he do martial arts?

Driving a personal expedition is what he has always wanted to do.

It takes an elite army to guard him.

The so-called reformers are those who touch the inherent interests, whether they are emperors or ministers, in fact, they are dangerous.

At the end of the corridor were his courtiers.

Zhu Houzhao glanced sideways at Xu Guan, he understood, bowed and clenched his fists, "Weichen retreated." ”

"Hmm."

Immediately afterwards, the emperor quickened his pace, quickly walked in front of the courtiers, and kept saying: "It's hot outside, go to the Qianqing Palace." ”

Under Zhu Houzhao's arbitrary decision, the officials of the two Huaiyun Divisions and the Yamen had no possibility of turning over.

And the dust has settled on this matter, and other matters must be gradually put on the agenda.

Today's convening of courtiers is mainly on four topics.

One of them is that the special matter issued by the emperor's decree has been brewing for so many days, and there is probably a conclusion.

Second, Zhu Houzhao killed some people, but the purpose of the imperial court was not to kill these people. What happens next is the big deal.

Third, the Shaofu is independent, and the matter set as the seventh department must also be officially clarified by holy decree.

Fourth, many officials of the Lianghuai Transportation Division were killed, as were merchants, and the imperial court had to sort out the accounts and plan to spend some silver.

At first glance it seems like a lot of things, but in reality it is not difficult.

Especially especially Yulu.

In particular, the source of the silver taels is the internal money, and its essence is that the emperor uses his own silver taels to support his trusted ministers.

Some people are willing to pay money, and they are still ministers, except for those who are granted special salaries, who have to be 'polite' themselves, and no one else will offend people in this kind of matter.

“…… According to the results of the deliberations between the cabinet and the six ministries, the special taels were set at six grades, which were 30,000 taels, 10,000 taels, 5,000 taels, 3,000 taels, 1,000 taels and 500 taels of silver per year. The ministers of the DPRK and China do not study martial arts, as long as they receive awards, they have special benefits every year. Of course, if they are pampered and arrogant, they don't know what to do. What should be taken back will also be taken back. ”

In his hand, Zhu Houzhao held in his hand the "Detailed Explanation of the Special Fortune" that had been prepared by the cabinet.

After today's discussion, the world will be surveyed and printed after the seal is used.

"The implementation of the special Yulu is not to protect all the courtiers of the Ming Dynasty, but only to protect those courtiers who are not willing to be corrupt. And the list ...... It has also been prepared. ”

"The so-called special is the key to the word special, only with special merit can get this honor, as for what is special...... For example, Li Ge Lao and Liu Ge Lao, loyal to the country, diligent and conscientious, when I was still the prince, I saw them sitting on the desk every day and dealing with government affairs. ”

Li Dongyang and Xie Qian are both out of the ranks, they are wearing big red robes, and their hair is a lot whiter than in previous years, especially Li Dongyang, with swollen bags and wrinkled skin, age spots are one on the nose and one on the cheeks, after all, he is over sixty.

It is not easy to serve him as an emperor who is both good and evil, shrewd and arbitrary.

"Wechen is ashamed."

"Huh." Zhu Houzhao walked down the steps and helped the two old ministers.

Anyway, he is a young man with white cheeks and red cheeks, and he is an old man who has been in the auxiliary country for decades. He is not a minister in power, let alone indiscriminately administered, and he is basically very decent.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao gave this support, and the support was called respecting the old and loving the young.

Even if he doesn't care about these, after all, he has just killed so many people, and the whole person looks mean and unkind, and giving a sweet date after the stick is also a basic kung fu.

"Elder Li Ge and Elder Xie Ge don't have to be modest. I am young, and if I don't have two elders in the heavy responsibility of governing the country, I'm afraid there will be more chaos. It's just that I'm sometimes a little stubborn, but that's right for things and not for people. And I also know that the cabinet is hard. ”

The emperor suddenly spoke softly, which made the hearts of the six departments and nine Qings of the Qianqing Palace flow through a warm current, for a period of time, the emperor was always frosty, and they were also a little scared. Finally ...... today Some nice words came out.

They all felt in their hearts that the emperor was a filial and loving character, and now it seems that the emperor is still there.

Li Dongyang and Xie Qian felt even more flattered.

"Your Majesty's words are serious, and the so-called hard work is also the duty of a minister. As for the special ...... Weichen has no children and no daughters, and all he needs is three meals a day and clothes for the four seasons. How can I use a special gift for a year? I beg your majesty to take back your order, and it is better to give these silver to the people who have no land. ”

Li Dongyang said,

Xie Qian had no choice but to follow.

However, Zhu Houzhao didn't let them say, "Two elders, don't shirk." If you don't accept this money, how dare others accept it? Besides, if the person who received my special money is found to be still accepting bribes, then the crime will be increased by one degree, and you want me to make this radical law? ”

said this, as if the old man was weak and didn't dare to take this trick.

So I didn't continue to excuse myself.

However, even though he was a cabinet elder, the special level announced by the emperor was only the second class, that is, 10,000 taels per year.

This makes the six Shangshu curious,

Even Li and Xie are only second-class, so is there anyone in the first-class?

Indeed, the first class of 30,000 taels was put there by Zhu Houzhao for people to see.

is like a first-class official in the Ming Dynasty, it is extremely difficult for people who are not surnamed Zhu to become adults.

In Zhu Houzhao's heart, this level is reserved for the kind of meritorious service who rescues from the dragon and expands the territory. In addition, he was still waiting for someone in the academy to make any technological breakthroughs, so that he could also be rewarded.

Spending a little silver to set an example is very profitable.

As for the ordinary things that ordinary people do, 10,000 taels is the top of the sky.

The emperor is a person with very mature political means, and it is impossible to appoint a person higher than the cabinet for no reason, so since the cabinet is the second class, the rest of the people have nothing to think about.

Next, Gu Zuo was second-class, because he was in charge of Shaofu and did too many things.

If it is normal, Han Wen and Min Jue are only the fourth class.

Subsequently, Liang Chu, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, Wang Bing, the secretary of the Ministry of War, the Reprocessing Department, and the Ministry of Rites did not receive special gifts. This is what Zhu Houzhao decided after pondering for a long time.

First of all, you can't keep only one of them, this is an insult, if you want to stay, you should keep more, and it is easy for the four of them to 'report to each other for warmth'.

Because the special Yulu is based on merit, not about intimacy, it is not easy to get it, it has nothing to do with the size of the official position, if you are an official, there is a special Yulu, then it is a little crooked from the beginning.

For example, if Yang Yiqing won the battle of Huamachi, he can be classified as the second class, Wang Wei can be listed as the second class if he has done a good job in opening the sea, and Wang Shouren can be listed as the third class for his meritorious service in suppressing bandits in Fujian.

In addition to these normal official names, there are also some strange ......

For example, the women's hospital talks about Yunxian saving the dead and helping the wounded, and the benevolence of the doctor can be listed as the fourth class, and the name of the left deputy capital Yu Shi Zhangmao is incorruptible, and it is listed as the fourth class, and he is specially given 3,000 taels of silver.

particularly

The key is in the special.

This list will continue to be extended in the future, but if you add them one by one in the future, if you have no military merits and special circumstances, I am afraid that you will not even be able to get 500 taels.

Despite this, the special payment will also cost the internal treasury nearly 100,000 taels of silver every year.

Fortunately, there are four Shangshu, as well as Dali Siqing, Tongzheng Envoy, and Zuodu Yushi are not stained with this name, so this arrangement does not seem particularly strange, and none of them will feel that the emperor is targeting them.

Don't talk about them,

Didn't Liu Jian have it?

Zhu Houzhao didn't want to waste too much time on this, anyway, the specific implementation path was very simple, because the number of people was small, and it could be given to them in person at the right time.

In addition to the intention of rewarding, this special reward is also to make people who are not corrupt have their pockets bulging and become more 'fearless', like Zhang Mao, if the court does not make him hungry, he can annoy those corrupt officials to death.

Liu Jin unfolded the holy purpose on the imperial case, and the emperor used the seal in the eyes of everyone.

With a bang, a small reform finally fell on paper.

After Zhu Houzhao handed over the holy decree to Liu Jin's hands again, he came out from behind the imperial case and walked slowly towards the gate of the Qianqing Palace, until he reached the threshold.

Turning his back to his ministers, he said:

"I still remember the seventeenth year of Hongzhi, when I investigated the Zhejiang nest case, someone mentioned that the imperial court must not compete with the people for profit. But I don't love money, so I give it up.

And the so-called imperial court is a few palaces and several yamen, and the rice still has to be eaten in separate pots. ”

The morning breeze outside the door blew Zhu Houzhao's hair fluttering wildly, and the emperor's words echoed in the palace, sounding over and over again.

"I am the emperor, you are all important ministers of the country, and in the eyes of generations of descendants, you can find out what we have done. I don't know what you think, whether you want to leave a name in history, or whether you think that I will not be affected by the flood after I die, but I am responsible for this dragon chair. ”

"There are too many regrets in history, Confucius was born at the wrong time, Huo Qubing died young, the Anshi Rebellion was wiped out overnight, and the turmoil Pavilion Yue Wumu was hated for eternity...... Ladies and gentlemen, I don't want these regrets to happen in the Zhengde Dynasty.

My father was in power for 18 years, and he worked hard to win people, all of whom were virtuous ministers, and I was only 16 years old, and I was in the prime of my youth. Outside the territory, Tatar was divided, and there was no smoke in the Central Plains. Such conditions, if I take care of ...... of them"

The emperor pointed to himself,

Then he changed direction and pointed to the minister who was standing, "You Li, Xie, Han, Min...... With so many people, we can't get a country and people's peace and security, and the Quartet can serve them, so let's not boast too highly, I'm afraid that after thousands of years, we will still become a joke for future generations. ”

This is a heartfelt statement, and as soon as it is spoken, there is an emperor's ambition to the sky.

"My Emperor Shengming!! My Emperor Shengming!! ”

Zhu Houzhao turned sideways and looked at the kneeling person with a calm expression.

"It's useless to shine brightly, and it still depends on you to strengthen the country. Jin Gui,"

"Wechen is here."

"Let's talk about the next thing."

"Yes."

According to the agenda, the next thing is salt.

The officials of the Yunsi and the merchants of Lianghuai were completely destroyed by the 'power' in a torn way, and now Yang Tinghe and Zhao Shen are still supporting in that place, but the official system has been destroyed and cannot be dragged on indefinitely.

What to do next, this question needs to be answered quickly, and it has to be answered well.

The purpose of the imperial court and the purpose of Zhu Houzhao were to hope that the Lianghuai salt works would operate normally and that the income of the imperial court's salt tax would increase. It's not like arresting those people and killing them.

As cool as it is, it's a disaster if you don't do the aftermath well.

One of the ways to deal with the aftermath is to try to implement the auction method, hand over the salt works to the salt merchants to operate, and return to normal as soon as possible.

In fact, the so-called two Huai salt farms actually refer to the Huaibei and Huainan salt fields, which are mainly distributed in the eastern coastal area, and have been important salt producing areas since the Han Dynasty.

In the twenty-sixth year of Zheng, Emperor Taizu set up a salt area here, with a total of 29 salt farms under his jurisdiction; In the seventh year of Chenghua, the remains of an ancient stove were found, because of its 'wide water and salty, it is advisable to set up fried salt', so the Chenghua Emperor ordered the establishment of a Tianci field, so that up to now, there are a total of 30 places in the two Huai salt fields, and there are more than 50,000 stove households in total.

By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the official output of the two Huai salt was about 140 million catties, and the salt introduction was changed to a small introduction during the Hongzhi period, and the salt introduction was about 200 catties (400 catties before the Hongzhi Dynasty), so it was converted into salt introduction, and the two Huai salt fields could produce 700,000 salt introductions a year, which was much higher than the 400,000 citations of the two Zhejiang salt farms and the 150,000 citations of the Shandong salt fields, accounting for nearly a quarter of the 3 million introductions of the Ming Dynasty a year.

And that's not even counting the amount of private salt that stove households make.

The price of each salt is about 0.7 taels, so that there are about 500,000 taels of salt alone, in addition, there are some 'handling fees', such as when supporting salt, each tael needs to be paid 0.05 taels, and these silver are 'kept in the treasury for relief', so it is called relief silver.

In addition, there are "fine silver", "cut silver" and so on.

It can be said that it is a harsh tax and miscellaneous tax, and there are many names.

In short, the mess adds up, and the Ming Dynasty Lianghuai salt class pays 600,000~700,000 taels of silver every year, accounting for about one-third of the national salt class income.

The proportion of annual income is higher than the proportion of production, because Lianghuai salt is the best and the price is the highest.

As above, the income from the salt tax is also not included in the smuggled salt.

In fact, according to the extent of the flood to the level of 'unofficial and selfish', the proportion of surplus salt other than the main salt will be quite high.

Perhaps, if the imperial court auctions off a salt farm, the salt output of a certain salt farm will be doubled.

And if the salt merchants still make money after paying 0.7 taels of silver per citation, plus paying various 'exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes', then it can be reasonably estimated that the unit price of salt quotations in the auction can be easily increased to one tael.

On average, the annual output of each salt farm is about 23,000 citations, and the surplus salt is calculated and reasonably estimated to be 30,000 citations. The auction is divided into five years, and six auctions can be made in a year, so the amount of auction proceeds can reach 180,000 taels.

This figure also needs to be multiplied by five, that is, a total of 900,000 taels, before the imperial court agrees to hand over the management rights of the six salt farms to the merchants.

Because the right to operate for five years at a time, of course, is to collect money for five years! In the end, how many bowls of noodles have been eaten, this account cannot be wrong.

For a merchant, if he wins a salt pan, it will cost about 180,000 taels of silver, plus some costs to calculate it to 200,000 taels. With this amount of money, 200,000 yuan and 40 million catties of salt for the next five years will belong to him.

In fact, the price of each tael may be low, after all, the 'excesses and miscellaneous taxes' are only 0.3 added on the basis of 0.7, the proportion is slightly lower, and there is a big question mark over whether the bureaucrats of the Ming Dynasty are performing so well.

But in the beginning, it's always about taking your time. A salt field is hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, and after the two Huai salt merchants were seriously injured, it is estimated that there are not many people who can get so much silver.

And the cost of salt merchants is not only in the auction fee, but also in the wages of the people who produce salt for them.

Therefore, the estimated unit price of 1 tael and the estimated output from 23,000 to 30,000 are not very large increases. In fact, I don't know how much it's boring.

But even so, Zhu Houzhao felt that it was enough.

Because in addition to the rising income of the salt tax, the imperial court can also remove the messy Yunsi Yamen and sweep all those 'insects' into the garbage heap, this time around, the difference is big.

So this deal gave Zhu Houzhao a lot of motivation to advance.

Of course, the Shofu and the Cabinet raised another question,

Li Dongyang said, "If the 6 places this year are successfully auctioned, how will the remaining 24 salt farms be disposed of?" ”

Zhu Houzhao nodded slightly,

The discussion between the emperor and the ministers should be aimed at solving problems, not who is a gentleman and who is a villain.

Later, Han Wen said: "First of all, it can't be shut down, and the amount of salt that enters the market every year is more than 700,000 yuan." After the closure of so many salt farms, the production of salt has dropped sharply, which must have made the price of salt high. ”

Zhu Houzhao clasped his hands on his chest, shaking while listening to the advice of his courtiers.

"Weichen thinks, do you choose a few places to list as a salt farm?"

Zhu Houzhao raised his head suddenly, "Who said this?" ”

A young blue-robed official was shocked by the monarch's majesty, and thought that he had said something wrong, so he hurriedly knelt down and said, "It's what Weichen said." ”

"What's your name? What is your position? ”

"Back to Your Majesty. Weichen Chen Jili is a young man in the house. ”

Gu Zuo added, "At the beginning of the year, His Majesty ordered the remaining workers in the capital to be trained as shipwrights, and Weichen chose this person to take charge of this matter. Today, His Majesty announced that he wanted to discuss the matter of spending money to build the road, and Chen Langzhong had a special performance, and the minister felt that it made some sense, so he brought it together. ”

Oh, but that's a topic for later.

Zhu Houzhao glanced at this young man named Chen Jili, he didn't even have a beard on his mouth, and his round face was actually a little immature.

"I know, I don't have to mention it yet. Chen Langzhong, what do you mean by Shouzhi Salt Farm, let's talk about it specifically. ”

Chen Jili's heart jumped suddenly, swallowed two mouthfuls of saliva and said: "In the case of the salt class, both inside and outside know the suffering of private salt merchants. The imperial court killed salt officials, punished salt merchants, and eliminated the harm of the powerful occupying and selling their nests, which was a move to remove meat and mend sores, and the common people all praised it. But this time the auction will be carried out, and the salt will be introduced, so how should the salt in the hands of the salt merchants in the past be disposed of? ”

"You mean, the court can't pay its bills."

Chen Jili was taken aback, "Weichen doesn't dare." ”

The Emperor was silent for a moment, then laughed.

"Get up." Zhu Houzhao felt a sense of relief, and finally someone said that the government could not repay its debts.

Many businessmen in the private sector have understood the importance of honesty in business, but unfortunately most of the people in the official position do not understand, because power can easily run over businessmen without making them feel that there are any consequences.

In fact, the indiscriminate distribution of salt is essentially the exploitation of merchants, which can be seen from the Daming treasure banknotes. Can't emperors like Yongle and Xuande understand?

No way.

Even if latecomers such as Hongji don't understand, the ministers of the court and the central government explain the truth over and over again.

But why is it still not good to cure the disease caused by excessive salt?

In the final analysis, four words, business is the end. You should contribute to the court.

Business activities have always suffered from various kinds of destruction, and they have not been able to grow and develop, and one of the reasons why the germination has been budding for a hundred years may also be the wanton destruction of the powerful.

"The court can't afford to pay its debts." Zhu Houzhao said again, "Your suggestion is good." However, how many salt farms should the imperial court choose as the salt farms? ”

If you continue to ask questions like this, it's actually going to work.

Emperor Zhengde paid attention to this, even more than the proposal itself.

Chen Jili continued: "If the auction goes well, the income of the two Huai salt taxes received by the imperial court this year has far exceeded that of previous years. Therefore, the number of salt farms may wish to be set more. ”

"Why?"

"Since it is to be accepted by the salt merchants, it is not possible to be petty, and the current problem of guarding the support is serious, and some salt merchants even have to guard for decades. It can be seen that one or two salt farms, as salt farms, cannot set off a little wave, and even cannot make the merchants feel the determination of the imperial court to abide by the contract. If such an effect is produced, it is better to rely on it. ”

If you really lose it, you will lose it, and it's not the first time anyway.

"It's tasteless to eat, and it's a pity to throw it away." Zhu Houzhao nodded, "One or two salt farms are indeed prone to backlash. Ladies and gentlemen, what do you think? ”