In the second year of Zhengde, on the fourth day of the first month of March.

The weather was fine.

The emperor summoned the ministers in the Fengtian Temple to hold a great court meeting!

There are hundreds of courtiers in the Fengtian Temple, standing in three columns.

On the far left are military attachés, headed by the Duke of England and the Duke of Chengguo. In the middle is the Beijing official, the six departments and nine kings are in the front, and the far right is dominated by the local governor.

There are three people in the first row in the middle, cabinet Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, and Yang Yiqing.

The second row is the chief officer of the six departments and nine secretaries, a total of nine people.

In the third row are the squires of each department, and they all stand behind their own books. Behind them are the outsiders, the langzhong, and the principals.

The local governors were headed by Wang Wei, followed by the four governors of the north and south of the country, and then the governors and political envoys of other provinces.

It can be said that the core group of rulers of the Ming Dynasty is here.

"In the first year of Zhengde, the imperial court set seven topics, most of which could not be completed in one year, such as repetition, river engineering, and military and political affairs, so I am not prepared to make too many changes in this year's topics. Its intention is that the imperial court should continue to do it for a long time, and some of the world's affairs are very urgent, and some are not in a hurry. As far as this year is concerned, the imperial court should make greater efforts in the field of re-establishment and river work to ensure the stability of summer and autumn taxes throughout the year.

The Ming Dynasty is so big, some places are good, and some places are not good. The bad things I have to solve with you Aiqing one by one, but the good places can't get worse. Shandong, Henan, Nanzhili, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shanxi, and Beizhili, the governors and political envoys of these provinces have also arrived today.

Remember my words, the Ming Dynasty's national peace and civil security is actually the national peace and security under your various autonomy, the imperial court did not increase taxes, nor did it make the people too much, and I have repeatedly instructed in your recitals, when you encounter those officials who do not treat the people well, you should kill them, and you don't have to be soft-hearted. If these places change from rule to chaos, and the common people find trouble with the Ming Dynasty, I will find trouble with you. ”

"Obey the Hadith!"

In some provinces, Zhu Houzhao did not mention it, like Huguang, at this time there is the problem of displaced people, Guangxi, there are occasional minority rebellions, Shaanxi is located in the frontier, facing the Tatars, which is also relatively special. So that's not too much to ask.

To put it bluntly, stable.

"When there is stability, there is room for manoeuvre. As for the rest, I won't say more, the Great Dynasty Meeting was originally for you, you guys. I'll listen. Elder Li Ge, "

"The minister is here."

"Look, what's better to discuss first?"

Li Dongyang shook his body and moved forward, "Back to Your Majesty, the minister thinks that governing the country also needs to be based on the four words of doing what he can, if he wants to talk about this year's big policy, he must calculate this year's account book, and then spread out the stall." At that time, as His Majesty said, there is no rush to do a few things, and if you can do a few things, you will do a few things. ”

"What do you think?"

"The minister seconded the proposal." Xie Qian followed first.

Then Yang Yiqing and Wang Wei also replied, "The minister seconded the proposal." ”

The four of them said this, Zhu Houzhao had no other opinions, he flicked his sleeves, "Okay, then it's decided, let's calculate the accounts first." Tobe Shangshu? ”

Han Wen persisted in coming out, "Your Majesty, this year's treasury has recorded a total of 4.82 million stones of summer tax millet wheat, 2.6 million stones of wheat wattle, 44,000 horses of silk cotton, 4,000 horses of linen, and more than 60,000 horses of tax silk, agricultural mulberry silk, and human silk silk. 24.08 million stone ...... of autumn grain was recorded"

At this time, there was no whip law, so many of the taxes collected were in kind. Listening to Han Shangshu say this, it was like reading a 10,000-word article, and there was a lot of uproar.

In general, the grain in the first year of Zhengde was about 28.9 million stones, an increase of 400,000 stones compared with last year, but it still failed to break through the 29 million mark.

The main reason is that Zhejiang increased by 300,000, Shandong increased by 80,000 stones, and Beizhili increased by 70,000 stones, and other regions were basically flat or slightly increased, and the reason why it was finally flattened to 400,000 was because some places were decreasing, such as Sichuan.

“…… In addition, this year's investigation of the case of the two Huai salt taxes, 8,623,400 taels of stolen silver, in accordance with His Majesty's principle of 'where to come from', the silver is currently placed in Shaofu, and it is planned to spend it on the people this year. In addition, the city has permission to deposit 1.18 million taels of silver, according to His Majesty's will, this silver tael is used for disaster relief, and it is currently being sealed. ”

This is what the emperor promised his courtiers to do in Fujian to carry out the city and ship access system, and the silver taels obtained were used for disaster relief, and it was said that disaster relief was disaster relief, Zhu Houzhao did not touch a cent, nor did he let others move.

After Han Shangshu's words were explained, many courtiers were happy on their faces.

The treasury of the Ming Dynasty also began to have 'surplus grain'!

However, there is nothing to do with the treasury, one-third of these taxes must be used for distribution, one-third must be given to the world's clans, and the rest will be allocated to the frontier because of the abolition of the opening of the Chinese law, and the merchants will no longer send grain to the frontier, so they have to allocate a part to the frontier for military salaries.

These expenses are fixed, and unless the tax suddenly goes from 28 million to 56 million, it is unlikely that there will be much surplus. But this is very difficult, no matter how powerful Zhu Houzhao is, he can't make such things as hybrid rice and chemical fertilizers, and the productivity is here.

But in addition to the treasury, there is another item.

It is also a concern for many people.

It's the palace.

The emperor still has more than 4 million taels of silver left, but the key is how much silver was sent to Beijing by the imperial merchants and the weaving bureaus in Hangzhou, Suzhou and other places.

Because it is a million taels of level, there are too many boxes, and they can't hide it, so all the ministers know that they have money, but they are not sure how much.

Generally speaking, the internal treasury means that the emperor wants to separate his money from the treasury.

But when he met Emperor Zhengde, he was upright and upright, even the money he had was not used for himself, so this account was not hidden.

It's just that the emperor must be allowed to spend money, and the reason must be sufficient, otherwise the emperor will be wronged.

But in any case, this money, like the national treasury, is still used for the national economy and people's livelihood.

"That's about the account of the treasury. However, you must also know that the first year of Zhengde was the first year of the opening of the sea, and the sea trade of the imperial merchants was very profitable, Liu Jin,"

"Yes." The great eunuch took a step forward and announced generously, "According to the imperial merchants and the weaving bureaus in various places, in the first year of Zhengde, because of His Majesty's policy of opening the sea, the three cities and cities all opened the sea trade, and a total of 5,025,800 taels of silver were handed over!" ”

As soon as the numbers came out, everyone was shocked.

Liu Jin rolled up directly, "Fortunately, His Majesty was able to resist public opinion, be arbitrary, and insist on opening the sea, so that I can roll in today's Ming financial resources!" Your Majesty is truly the Emperor of eternity! ”

He said it all, and the others didn't say it. In the Fengtian Temple, it was full of holy words for a while.

Zhu Hou looked at their surprised expressions one by one, and also felt that it was good that he didn't listen to your group.

As for that number, it is also quite tasteful, 500 nodded, this is what he thought about, he will never have a number like 498 to come up, it is really like this, and he has made up some silver by himself. Otherwise, one step is missing.

And in total, Zhu Houzhao can now use more than 17 million silver taels.

The number is huge, but only in the past two years, more than 7 million taels of silver have been harvested from overseas, plus in previous years, more than 10 million taels have basically flowed directly into Daming from overseas.

At this time, there was still a shortage of silver in the Ming Dynasty, although this was only counting the royal family, and the inflow of silver from the people was not counted, but there was no problem in the short term.

No matter how poor the Ming is, at least the scale is very large and can eat.

This account is basically clear,

Zhu Houzhao said: "Don't be too ruthless, leave a small treasury for me in case of emergency, even ordinary people's homes know how to prepare food in case of accidents." As for the rest, I am not stingy, but no amount of accumulated silver can be spent excessively, let alone extravagant. That's the first point. In addition, Daming is so big, if you really want to say silver, 10,000 taels is not enough. Therefore do not be resentful if any of you does not get any money. I also wish to have 10,000 taels, and when the time comes, each of your governors will receive 5,000,000 taels. ”

Some courtiers couldn't help laughing, and the emperor was actually a little playful.

"This last point, I took the silver of the court to spend, I will especially look at it, to check, the reason was also said before, the Ming Dynasty is not rich, and the silver squeezed out is for you to spend the effect. If I find out, who is greedy for all this money...... Today, the cabinet, the six ministries and nine secretaries, the court nobles, and local dignitaries are all here, and the ugly words are ahead.

When the day comes, when I want to cut off someone's head, no one is allowed to intercede. Even if you ask, I won't give you face. Therefore, if you really want to get this money, it is not certain whether you are happy or sad. ”

Many of the emperor's lines, like upright courtiers, made them have nothing to say, and some of their roles are confused...... In the end, who is persuading whom, it is generally not the courtiers who advise the emperor to be thrifty and love the people.

"Your Majesty." Li Dongyang came out to speak again, "Now that the accounts are clear, the minister thinks that we can discuss this year's affairs." The minister has already thought that among the many issues, only the repetition is called a national policy, and it is also a general strategy related to the lives of millions of people in the frontier, so it may be possible to discuss the repetition as soon as possible. At this time last year, the imperial court set a three-year strategy, that is, the first year of suppression, the two-year blockade, and the three-year reset. In this way, it should be a lockdown this year. ”

This is a very nice thing to say, but Wang Bing, the secretary of the Ministry of War, has already begun to mumble, and the idea of the elder is probably to allocate another one million taels for the reuse this year.

After all, last year's war was such a kind of silver, how much more can it be this year?

But what about the thousands of taels of silver left? How to do it?

And when he mentioned this Zhu Houzhao, he suddenly looked up and looked everywhere, and asked: "The people of the Yongxieb tribe are not there, are they there?" ”

Forehead......?

Suddenly, there was a commotion among the courtiers, and everyone was looking for this person among themselves.

Liu Jin above was also a little flustered, "Your Majesty, the court meeting did not ask for a different ......"

Zhu Houzhao stared at him.

Liu Jin sweated on his forehead, "...... The leader was not invited or invited. ”

"It's okay, if you don't invite it, ask someone to invite it. The Yongxieb tribe has already returned to the Ming Dynasty, how can its leader not participate in the discussion of the reset? ”

"Your Majesty." The British public Zhang Mao was a little concerned, "It's not a Tatar, and the court meeting involves all the vital politics of my Ming Dynasty, do you ask him to avoid it?" ”

Zhu Houzhao shook his head, in a strong era, there must be a tolerant mentality, and he said firmly: "Go and please." Now that you have met on the battlefield to advance and retreat together, what are you still guarding against? Speaking of repetition, there must also be Yong Xie Bu involved, why can't it be announced? ”

On the grassland, strength is respected. He just wants to let this Tatar leader see that the Ming is no longer the Ming of the past. Powerful is to control millions of strings, and it is also a gentleman and a virtuous man. Strength is the answer to everything.

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(End of chapter)