Because of the vast area and the long transportation distance, the summer and autumn tax grain will be finally put into storage at the beginning of the following year.

After the New Year, Zhu Houzhao frequently summoned cabinet and household officials to sort out and count Zhengde's 10-year annual income, as well as the treasury deposits at the present stage.

The numbers will tell people that the Ming Dynasty of the Zhengde Dynasty is ushering in its heyday.

“…… In the ten years of Zhengde, the two capitals and 13 provinces of the Ming Dynasty received a total of 34 million stones of tax grain in summer and autumn, 10.4 million stones of grain in the Tun army, and cloth and cotton were not counted, and the direct silver income was more than 1,800 taels, of which the salt tax was the highest, with a total of 10.12 million taels, followed by the trade surplus, with a total of 6.72 million taels, and the remainder was obtained by Shaofu and tea, horses, three city ships and the remaining banknotes. ”

Zhu Houzhao listened and knew in his heart that at the peak of the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the country's tax grain should have been about 29 million stones, and now it has only increased by 5 million stones.

Of course, there is an increase, but the growth is not much, because the agricultural tax is a matter of the field, and the field is not solved well, and it is unreasonable to forcibly levy more taxes, if it is not for the promotion of sweet potatoes, the extra 5 million stone is impossible.

In fact, he has sent Jin Yiwei and people from all walks of life to investigate in the people, although sweet potatoes have various shortcomings, but the extremely high yield per mu still solves the problem of many people being hungry.

Not having to eat is not the same thing as not eating well.

However, the contradiction between man and land has not been fundamentally resolved, and in fact the common people are not doing very well.

No matter how high the degree of economic activity of the society is, it has nothing to do with the most ordinary people, although they have some to eat, but the sweet potatoes cannot be sold at a price, so they can't exchange for money, if there is no money, it is more difficult to change the fate of studying, and they can't afford to pay it.

So no matter how much the civil officials fooled him, Zhu Houzhao would not change the Qingtian order.

Compared with the tax grain, the silver money obtained by the imperial court has increased significantly, and the salt tax and the silver inflow from overseas have become large-scale. At the same time, because Zhu Houzhao has let the world rest for five years, the treasury of the Ming Dynasty, whether it is silver or grain, has entered its peak.

Last year, there were two battles, and it was said that it cost more than 3 million taels, but there was no major social turmoil on the whole, and everything was relatively stable.

In addition to military spending, the most important treasury expenditure of the Ming Dynasty is two, one is the official salary, after the national situation is better, from the fifth year of Zhengde to the tenth year of Zhengde, Zhu Houzhao has increased the overall income of officials, after all, the official salary of the Ming Dynasty is indeed too low, in fact, people cannot avoid corruption.

After two consecutive increases, the official expenses of the imperial court doubled from about 2.5 million taels of silver per year to 5 million taels of silver.

The second big expense is the Zongfan Yulu, this part was compressed by Zhu Houzhao in various ways, originally the Ming Dynasty had the tradition of "Zongfan Yulu is insufficient", during the Hongzhi period, the annual consumption of Zongfanlu rice amounted to 3.5 million taels of silver.

In the tenth year of Zhengde, although the princes were still giving birth, the rice did not increase but decreased, and it was greatly reduced to more than 2 million taels.

In addition, although the grain of Tuntian has increased sharply, the military expenditure is not all food, but still has to pay some silver, especially Zhu Houzhao maintains a relatively strong elite army, and also builds a water division, so the military salary is still 3 million taels normally.

In this way, Zhengde's ten-year fixed expenses have reached 10 million taels.

In addition to this, there are some other expenses, such as disaster relief, the establishment of an academy of sciences, and so on.

However, the above-mentioned rough algorithm is all 'discounted silver' to calculate, in fact, it is not all silver, but a combination of true color and folded color, such as officials receiving Yulu, both Lu rice and silver taels.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao himself knew that when he ordered the attack on the Turpan Khanate, the treasury of silver exceeded 8 million taels, and even if he squandered some of it, by the end of the tenth year of Zhengde, there were still more than 5 million taels of silver in the treasury.

Needless to say, the Jingtong warehouse has long been overflowing with grain.

Speaking of which, it seems that there is no shortage of money, but that is because of Emperor Zhu Houzhao, millions of savings seem to be a lot, but if you meet a faint monarch, celebrate a birthday, build a palace or something, it will be easily tossed.

This kind of thing has been seen a lot in history.

So far, Zhu Houzhao is not very willing to spend money to repair any houses in the palace, almost nothing.

After the accounts were counted, it was rare for He Jian, the head of the household department, to show a smile, but this year, the emperor fought two battles, which still made him a little scared, so he couldn't help but remind, "Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty is not easy to come by today, although the country has surplus wealth, but if you are frugal and turn into luxury, it will be consumed quite quickly." ”

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but pout, "In addition to the fixed more than 10 million taels per year, this year's income allows you to spend it smoothly until the end of the year, and the treasury silver must exceed 10 million taels, what are you doing guarding this wealth?" ”

When He Jian heard this, it was not right, "The prosperous days have just passed, if they are all spent, the old minister will feel distressed!" ”

"You see he's more picky than me."

Wang Wei and Yang Tinghe both laughed.

Wang Wei said again: "What He Shangshu said is right, if you have a surplus of money, you can survive the bad year." ”

"I know that spending money must be done in moderation, but I have long said that the foundation of governing the country is to prosper and the people to be rich, and it is not of much significance for the court to keep too much silver in its hands, even if it is not good to prepare for a bad year."

They wanted to speak again.

Zhu Houzhao immediately said, "I know what the three Aiqing are worried about, I can make three chapters with the three of them here, first, we don't do anything about the construction of the country." I don't believe in Buddhism, nor do I believe in Taoism, even if my head is really dizzy, what kind of Taoist temple or Hongdae palace to build, you will try your best to stop me.

Second, ceremonial events that consume a lot of money will not be held, even if it is me, try to reduce it as much as possible. Third ......"

He Jianyan said: "Your Majesty, the imperial court has used soldiers twice in ten years in Zhengde. This third ......"

"No, Yaerqiang refused to surrender to the Ming Dynasty, and the government and the opposition knew about it, so should they let it go?" Zhu Houzhao waved his hand again and again, "This third point, I don't spend money to find rare treasures, immortals and elixirs. Immortality is not interesting, people live for a lifetime, not in length, but in thickness. ”

"My Emperor Shengming!"

"Since I am Shengming, then this matter is decided, the country's money, I will not waste it, what about you, don't feel distressed." Zhu Houzhao is now wide, "Zhou Shangwen has already returned to Beijing after listening to the order, and it is estimated that he will arrive in a month at most, and I think it is time for Daming to discuss the surrounding security situation." Zhengde ten years of events happened suddenly, these two battles are not what we want, but they are both fought, I believe that we can win, but in the long run, it is too passive. ”

The courtiers could understand the emperor's thoughts, and it was never his style to respond passively.

Zhu Houzhao raised his eyebrows, "At this age, I have to make some achievements in governing the country to such a national strength, no matter how much I use reckless military force as a taboo." Otherwise, there is only civil rule and no martial arts, and you ministers are mistaken. ”

The three of them were stupid to hear this, why did they still put their hats on their heads.

Fortunately, Zhu Houzhao is not serious, as if he was joking, he still said with pride: "I want to conquer the territory that surpassed the territory of Taizu Taizong, and the country will have no boundless trouble in a hundred years after fighting Zhengde." ”

(End of chapter)