"Then why is it a secret that only Cao Run knows about the criminal department?"

Jiang Xinghuo was still a little puzzled.

Zhu Gaosui explained again, and Jiang Xinghuo understood.

Because the imperial court purchased paper, it had an exclusive name in Daming, called "paper slash".

And the "paper slash", which is the procurement business of purchasing paper for the six temples, belongs to the criminal department.

When Lao Zhu divided the powers of various ministries, the powers stipulated to the criminal department at the beginning were "the criminal law of the world and the criminal subordination are overwritten, the government of imprisonment is more than the ministry is in charge of punishment, and anyone who violates the law of money and grain households, marriage, land, tea and salt."

However, with the passage of time, the power of the criminal department became more and more powerful, and it became "the genus of the traitors who were in charge of the ransom and the collection of money and grain, household service, marriage, land, tea and salt, paper slashes, stipulations, prison food, and prison rations".

Although it does sound like a very outrageous thing, the fact is that the yamen of the temples of the Ming Dynasty is very short of official paper!

Not only was there a shortage of paper in the temples and yamen, but there was also a shortage of Guozijian at the beginning, and even textbooks needed to be reused and printed on both sides.

In addition, the means of making extra money by the clerks of the express delivery shop is to secretly cut the official paper and sell it for money

This is because the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty seriously damaged the social productive forces, and compared with the Song and Yuan dynasties, the paper industry in the Ming Dynasty was seriously shrinking, especially on the official paper with relatively high quality requirements, and the output was even more urgent.

In addition, it is natural that no one is willing to supply paper to the government because of the procurement system.

"What is the current situation with the procurement of official paper?"

Zhu Gaosui explained: "Where the yamen uses the script, the case test, the transfer, the book, and the prisoner to write the confession, the paper should be slashed, and the western part of the mountain will be in charge. Each quarter, the accounting joint use of a number of papers, the estimated number of joint banknotes, the headquarters of the Ming Liwen to pay the Huguang Department, in the stolen money in the number of the off, the official to go to the market and the merchant to sell the place, according to the current price of the two flat buying, the number to the ministry, the official with the seal of the seal, the responsibility to pay the treasury to receive in the library, listen to the ministries will be the number of quarterly paper submitted to the court, judgment to the Huguang Department to file, according to the number of the off. Wait until the end of the season, the sales are exhausted, and each department opens a number of colored paper that has been used for something, and goes to the headquarters one by one, and Charlie understands the number of paper spent by each department, and will pay the attached volume in the future. The rest of the quarters will be implemented as before. ”

Jiang Xinghuo nodded after hearing this, to put it bluntly, the Shanxi part of the Criminal Department was responsible for docking with other ministries and temples, collecting the types and total amount of paper needed, and then registering them with the Huguang Department, and then spending money from the confiscated stolen money to buy them.

And Daming for the procurement management process of official paper, at the beginning of the quarter, each department reported its expected paper demand to the criminal department, and then the criminal department to unified procurement, belongs to the management method of living within the means of income, is deliberately controlling the use of official paper Of course, control is impossible to control, it is impossible to control in this life, there are many officials, kicking the ball back and forth, how to do if the paper is not enough?

So you can only buy and buy.

But the Criminal Department was not happy, because all the expenses of the "paper cuts" came from the stolen money of the Criminal Department, that is, the confiscated money, which belonged to the Criminal Department's own small treasury.

And the process of procurement, that is, "all the paper slashes, in the criminal department officials to collect stolen money and fine money, a member of the errand, according to the monthly valuation value, two flat buying", the so-called time valuation, that is, according to the price estimate at the time, is considered the procurement standard, this is from the center of the court to the locality, but when it comes to the procurement of goods, it must be done in this way.

According to Xie Jin's just recompiled "Ming Taizu Gao Emperor Record", it can be known that when the Ming Dynasty opened the country, the time estimate was more outrageous, it was once every three days, because the price was often just estimated, the price began to change again, easy to make mistakes, and it would lead to the relevant officials to be responsible, so under the strong request, considering that this system is really not very reasonable, from the fourth year of Hongwu, the price was assessed once a month.

But this time estimation system is a lot of cats in it.

In addition to Jiang Xinghuo's previous field investigation of the riverside town of transporting grain, the temples and yamen in Nanjing will use the right to purchase various materials in their hands to extort this kind of white prostitution of traders, even if it is an item that needs to be purchased for a long time, in terms of price, it is often lower than the normal market price, because the time valuation system stipulates that the price is provided by the businessman in the industry, and once it is determined, the purchase price will be locked within a month.

The Criminal Department will openly lower the purchase price, make the supplier of the official paper unprofitable, and even pay the Criminal Department money, and then transfer the money from the transportation, depreciation, actual purchase and book purchase of the paper, so as to save money and even make additional profits.

Jiang Xinghuo keenly noticed that this seemed to be an event that could be exploited and used as an introduction.

Just like the "Guo Huan case" in the four major cases of Hongwu, at the beginning, the cause of the case was very simple, it was Yushi Yu Min and Ding Tingju who accused Guo Huan of using his power to collude with Li Yu, Zhao Quande, Hu Yi, Wang Daoheng and other corruption, including embezzling taxes from Taiping Mansion, Zhenjiang Mansion and other prefectures, embezzling autumn grain from western Zhejiang, and collecting taxes on a variety of water foot money, food money, treasury money, and god and Buddha money under the name of skillfully setting up a name.

To be honest, this is just the basic operation of our Ming gentry and civil officials, so there is nothing surprising.

But bad luck is bad luck, Guo Huan became the person who hit Lao Zhu's muzzle, and became the trigger for this expansion of the situation.

Soon the "Guo Huan case" implicated the country's 12 political departments, involving Zhao Mao, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Wang Huidi, the secretary of the Criminal Department, Wang Zhi, the squire of the Ministry of War, and Mai Zhide, the squire of the Ministry of Works.

And now, whether Jiang Xinghuo is trying to recover the procurement rights of the central temples of the imperial court, or from the Sudi Jingcha, he needs to have an introduction to take the initiative to launch a new round of temple reshuffle.

"So, is this news useful to the national teacher?"

Zhu Gaosui stared at Jiang Xinghuo.

Of course, Jiang Xinghuo understood what Zhu Gaosui meant, this kind of help was not taken for nothing, but in disguised ways to urge himself to have more snacks in the matter of overseas feudal domains.

Although there is a saying called "bystander Qing", in fact, Zhu Gaosui, who is at the center of the huge whirlpool of power struggle in the Daming Temple, sometimes knows better than anyone that the battle for the prince is terrible.

In the past, he had no choice, but now that he has a path to leave the Ming Dynasty and become a free prince of his own independent kingdom, why not take it?

"It's useful, but the validity period is a bit short, I don't know if it's enough." Jiang Xinghuo replied with a smile.

This is a very intriguing answer, which seems to be an answer to Zhu Gaosui, but in fact it is a question.

That is, to ask, when will the strategic center of gravity of the Ming Dynasty shift to the north.

Yes, it's when to ask, not if.

Now that Annan is in trouble, there is not much time left for him to deal with a thousand things in the south.

Because in the next time, the strategic focus of the Ming Dynasty will inevitably turn back to the north.

The first reason, of course, is that the main force of the more than 200,000 Yan troops near Nanjing City has not returned home for more than two years, and the patience of the soldiers whose wives and children are in the north has reached the limit, not to mention moving their families over, if they really want to move over, then the entire Beizhili is afraid that it will be empty.

And there is another important factor is the climate, the northern army is not tolerant of the heat, after two years in the south, many people are already on the verge of collapse, if they are not allowed to go back after the winter, let them stay for another year, I am afraid that it is not uncommon to mutiny.

This reality that no one can change, why do the Jin people and Mongols in the north automatically withdraw their troops as soon as the summer arrives? Here's why.

The second reason, that is, as mentioned before, after the end of the war on the southern front to conquer Annam, the military center of the Ming Dynasty will be transferred to the north, one is to deal with the last two self-respecting and unruly Sai kings, that is, the second generation of Qin kings and the second generation of Jin kings; The second is to beat the Mongols hard and make them unable to go south in a short time.

In this way, he could concentrate on the threat of Timur's crusade, which could come around the third year of Yongle.

The other is to develop the nest in the north, which is also an important reason in the strategic planning.

In short, there are all kinds of factors, resulting in the second year of Yongle, it is likely that it will not stay in the summer, and when the winter is over, and when spring comes, the entire court team will be moved to the north by Zhu Di, leaving the eldest prince Zhu Gaochi to stay in the south as it happened in history.

This is the inevitable consequence of not being subject to anyone's will.

But when exactly this point in time, no one knows.

This is an absolute militaristic secret.

"It's a secret." Zhu Gaosui also smiled.

If you want to know this secret, you have to increase the price.

"Tell me the time, before this time, do your best to complete the matter of your overseas feudal domain, just in Luzon, let you get out of the game."

Zhu Gaosui was very satisfied with the result of this exchange, and he muttered slowly: "Luzon is in the southeast sea, a small country, producing gold, planting rice, more than a year of ripening, often with Zhang, Quanmin City, the flow of people in their land, as many as tens of thousands, Hongwu five years ago, two tribute to the Ming Dynasty is not far from the Ming Dynasty, a good place, really a good place." ”

The current state of Luzon, which is actually the main part of the northern half of the Philippines in later generations, is a group of islands of considerable scale, with mountains and plains, rivers and lakes, and is quite rich in products.

Zhu Gaosui didn't bother to go to Tianzhu to fight, he just felt that Luzon, which was close to the Ming Dynasty, was quite good, and he could take over after fighting, and the local area had contacts since the Song Dynasty, and the degree of sinicization was quite good, even a little stronger than the Zhancheng State, and there were many immigrants from the Ming Dynasty, so it was not difficult to rule.

In fact, Luzon is indeed a good place, even if the Ming Dynasty does not occupy it, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, it will be conquered by the Spanish in the Age of Discovery, and the Spaniards also took advantage of this forward base to begin to plot against the southeast coastal trade interests of the Ming Dynasty.

The so-called "Heaven and Buddha take it, but suffer from it; If you don't do it, you will suffer from it."

Since this world is the Age of Global Exploration opened by the Ming Dynasty, Luzon, which is close at hand, naturally has to be included in the bag.

Satisfied for a moment, Zhu Gaosui said: "Before April of the second year of Yongle. ”

"Before April?"

Jiang Xinghuo pondered for a moment, bowed slightly, and said, "That's enough." ”

In fact, it is indeed enough, and it basically coincides with another major event, that is, the time of 2.1 million taels of commercial tax, and the difference between before and after is only one or two months.

Then he asked, "Cao Run, this person?" ”

"You're in control." Zhu Gaosui said confidently.

This shows that even if he is asked to denounce his colleagues, he will not retract his confession, he should have a handle, plus the lives of the family and his own glory and wealth are all in Zhu Gaosui's hands.

"Okay, I'll think about how to use this again."

"The national teacher thinks about it slowly."

Zhu Gaosui said goodbye and left, and Jiang Xinghuo began to sort out the sudden news in his room.

There is no such thing as a good or bad message, it is only about how people use it.

"No, I have to discuss this matter with the old monk what to do."

After Zhuo Jing was promoted to the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, he is now the president of the Yamen of Law Change, with a total of two vice presidents, Yao Guangxiao and Xie Jin, the Duke of Rongguo, and Yao Guangxiao's office room is next to Jiang Xinghuo.

"It's a bit intriguing at this point in time, and it's this person."

Yao Guangxiao put down the pen in his hand and pondered for a moment, still a little uncertain.

"You have scruples, I understand."

Jiang Xinghuo tapped his fingers on the table and said, "But this matter is the best thing to do as an introduction to Jingcha, this is equivalent to a knife handed to your hand." ”

"Beware of being used as a swordman."

Jiang Xinghuo frowned slightly: "What do you mean?" ”

Yao Guangxiao nodded and didn't say anything more.

Speaking of this, Yao Guangxiao comforted: "Don't worry too much, this news should be accurate, after all, it is difficult to expose, but if you confirm it, there are many ways and the amount of money that has been problematic in the paper section of the Criminal Department over the years will never be low, as long as it is traced to the end, it is impossible to destroy the evidence to cover the cover, and strip the procurement rights of the various ministries and temples will also help strengthen the authority of the Ministry of Households, and also create a better business environment." ”

"So, did Cao Run say how much the amount is?"

"If it is converted into silver, it has accumulated at least 10,000 taels over the years."

Rao has done enough psychological construction, Yao Guangxiao couldn't help but sigh when he heard this.

"These people are too bold!"

Everyone has to sigh, after all, this is just ordinary official paper!

Although he had a premonition that this matter might not be simple, but now that Jiang Xinghuo said it so bluntly, Yao Guangxiao still had a feeling of disbelief.

The level of corruption is truly shocking.

"What I'm thinking about now is what if this matter is expanded and turned into a big case, so what should I do with things like official paper? After all, it is still necessary to solve the problem, and we can't leave a mess in the end that no one can clean up, and the procurement right has been recovered, and there must be a corresponding aftermath solution. ”

This is exactly the question that Jiang Xinghuo couldn't figure out.

"It's hard to say anything else, but if it's just paper, there is a way." Yao Guangxiao stroked his beard and smiled.

"Come on." Jiang Xinghuo's eyes lit up, and having someone who could help him share the pressure and think about countermeasures really made him feel a lot easier.

"Paper clips are purchased from the private sector, but in fact, they can be changed to prisoners and litigants to receive paper."

"Prisoners and litigants take paper?"

Yao Guangxiao bowed slightly: "That's right, instead of letting the ministries and temples entrust the criminal department to buy official paper, it is better to let the prisoners and the litigants directly pay in kind, but all prisoners, in addition to deserting the army, escaping prisoners, and escorting the whole family into exile, need to pay a certain amount of official paper in kind, and the litigants use the paper instead of litigation fees, so that the government does not directly handle and contact the prices on the market, and the standard is set, and the government cannot refuse to accept it on the grounds of disqualification." ”

Jiang Xinghuo was somewhat enlightened, so it was actually a kind of physical embodiment of the prisoner's litigation fees and fines.

The method of prisoners and litigants to pay paper, first of all, reduces the phenomenon of unnecessary prosecution, after all, there are litigation costs, if it is a trivial neighborhood dispute, then it is obviously not possible, and secondly, the object of payment is wide enough, as long as the government paper is not too excessive, then relying on this channel, even if there is no field research, it can be inferred through the data of the lawsuit and prisoners that it is probably enough, and there will even be surplus.

In fact, what Jiang Xinghuo didn't know was that in the Ming Dynasty, from the Yongle era to Xuande and Orthodoxy, this method was used, but this method has not yet appeared, and it has already been touched and planned in the hearts of the old monks.

Yao Guangxiao wrote on the paper: "Every year in the spring, summer, autumn and winter, this yamen has a document book, which is in charge in turn. The remaining number is submitted to the Ministry at the end of the quarter and submitted to the Ministry of Treasury, and the long bill is sent to the Inner Government, and the library is handed over to the long single attached volume. ”

"Just do it, how?"

"That's very good."

Jiang Xinghuo felt that Yao Guangxiao's method was really good, that is, the bulk of the office paper in each ministry and temple was paid by the prisoners and litigants, and if it was really insufficient, then the criminal department would pay for it, but the money was registered in the account of the household warehouse, and then went to buy, if there was a balance, it would be handed back and waited for the next distribution.

Jiang Xinghuo silently thought about it, there were many things at hand, but on the whole, it was still chaotic and orderly.

"I have already told Jin Youzi about the insurance law, and tomorrow in the name of Daming Bank, I will talk to the merchants of Qianzhuang about the commercial insurance of the people, especially the workers, and the insurance of foreign trade commodities. The affairs of the city division must also be hurried. ”

"Yes, hurry up, now in terms of overseas trade, Japan, Korea, Annam, and Champa have all signed trade contracts, and they must get insurance for takeaway goods, and when they are imported, they must also collect tariffs through the City Shipping Division." Yao Guangxiao agreed.

The lifting of the sea ban, the establishment of commodity insurance, and the reopening of the market are all things that have come down in one go.

"Let's take a look at the current lines."

Jiang Xinghuo directly took the paper just now and wrote.

Overseas Trade: Maritime Ban - Commodity Insurance - City Shipping Division

Ocean exploration: Luzon - Malacca - Tianzhu

Domestic industry: coal - new technology research and development - total industrial revolution

Social security: commercial insurance - collection of herbs - promotion of primary care

Reform of the rule of officials: the paper of the criminal department-Jingcha-Kaochengfa

Fiscal and monetary: salt law - tax scale - the establishment of local tax to relieve the central fiscal pressure

"Six-front battle."

Jiang Xinghuo let out a long sigh and rubbed his eyebrows.

With the deepening of the reform process, it is obviously different from the previous horizontal version of the boss mode, and the things faced can be described as inextricably linked, and different lines constitute a big net.

——————

When Jiang Xinghuo was worried, Yangzhou, thousands of miles away.

In the evening, the sky was overcast and the rain was falling.

Xie Jin stood in the middle of the courtyard, letting the fine rain blow by the oblique wind and pour it on his shoulders, drenching his blue official robe.

"It's really going to be down this day, and the sky that was clear just now is cloudy in a blink of an eye."

Beside him, Wang Shijie walked out of the house, held up an umbrella and stood beside Xie Jin, and said slowly.

"Hmm."

Xie Jin nodded lightly and did not speak, his eyebrows were depressed and incomprehensible, obviously in a bad mood.

It is normal for him to be in a bad mood, because on this business trip, not only did he face death threats, but several officials of the Huang Huaibu Political Envoy Department died inexplicably, and they all died "normal deaths", which made him hesitate a little, and he could only stay in the relatively safe Yangzhou Mansion, after all, this is the territory that Wang Shijie has just taken over.

In addition, the stove households of the Lianghuai salt factory began a full-scale strike, needless to say, it must have been instigated by the salt merchants.

There is no way to do this kind of thing, if the officials are arrested, then they don't say it, but the stove households are on strike, they really can't help it.

So Xie Jin is really worried.

What's the use of worrying? If he can't make a result, Jiang Xinghuo may not do anything to him, but his status in the new department is destined to plummet, and if he doesn't want to be transferred away in the future, he can only wield a pen and be the editor-in-chief of his "Ming Pao" for the rest of his life.

It's not bad, but the man's husband, who obviously has a better future in front of him, can live in front of the eight Xuanhe people, who wants to write in the house?

Maybe Xie Jin ten years ago was willing, but now Xie Jin is no longer the young man who became famous at that time, after ten years of officialdom beatings, he has become a middle-aged man who spares no effort to climb up, in his place, there is nothing more important than power, and power needs him to deal with the bad situation in front of him to obtain.

"My lord, there's a guest outside."

Just as Xie Jin was pondering, a petty official walked into the courtyard from outside, bowed and said.

"Who?"

Xie Jin asked casually.

"It is Wang Yuanshan, the left political envoy of Huang Huaibu, and Li Heng, the same governor of Huai'an Mansion, the two of them asked to see your lordship, saying that they have a problem about this salt affairs and want to discuss with you."

Zuo participated in politics and was the second-in-command of the political envoys, while the Tongzhi of Huai'an Mansion was also the second-in-command of Huai'an Mansion.

Before the administrative division reform in the first year of Yongle, that is, before Huai'an Mansion was taken away from Nanzhili, Huai'an Mansion was one of the only two prefectures in Nanzhili north of the Yangtze River, the other being this Yangzhou Prefecture.

Huai'an Prefecture has jurisdiction over six counties and two prefectures, and the scope of its jurisdiction is basically equivalent to the whole territory of the three cities of Huai'an, Suqian and Lianyungang in later generations, as well as the central and northern parts of Yancheng City and the eastern part of Xuzhou City.

Xuzhou place

In short, Huai'an Prefecture directly governs the Lianghuai Salt Farm area, and since the establishment of Lao Zhu, the economy has been extremely developed, and commerce and trade have also prospered, and it has always been in the leading position of Jiangbei Prefectures.

These two must have come on behalf of Huang Huaibu's political envoy and the chief official of Huai'an Mansion.

Xie Jin was slightly stunned, then nodded and said, "Let them in." ”

The petty officer who summoned the message retreated quickly, and two figures stepped into the courtyard from outside the door.

The person on the left is wearing a scarlet robe, about fifty years old, with a beard, thin cheeks, and the whole person looks quite elegant, especially when he is holding a feather fan in his hand, and his walking posture is also very elegant.

The person on the right is mediocre in appearance, although he is not supported by a scarlet robe, and is only wearing a blue robe, but he has a straight waist, full of spirit, and a very energetic appearance, which is Li Heng, the same acquaintance of Huai'an Mansion.

"Xie Qincha."

Wang Yuanshan smiled and bowed to Xie Jin, and said straight to the point: "I'm here to discuss this salt matter with you, I don't know if Qin Cha has time?" ”

"What happened in the Lianghuai Salt Farm, Ben Qincha already knew."

Xie Jin said lightly: "Ben Qincha has his own way...... Since you are here, let's wait in Yangzhou Mansion, and after the official deals with this matter, he will naturally convene everyone to discuss the aftermath plan. ”

"Ah......h

Hearing this, Wang Yuanshan was stunned.

That's not right!

He originally wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to win over Xie Jin, and by the way, let Xie Jin help them tie the bridge, invite the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and Jinyiwei to talk about it, and finally reached an alliance agreement.

Money, the salt merchants are not lacking, so they are not lacking either.

In the eyes of these corrupted people, money is the existence that can settle everything, and the same is true for Xie Jin.

deliberately snubbed him before, just planning to dry it for a while before opening the price, but unfortunately he didn't expect that as soon as he opened his mouth, he encountered such a tough attitude from Xie Jin, and directly suppressed this matter.

"Lord Chincha, aren't you kidding, are you just watching this stove strike make a big fuss, and then being punished by His Majesty?"

Wang Yuanshan frowned, trying to continue to persuade Xie Jin.

As long as Xie Jin is willing to cooperate, then everything is easy to say.

"Hehe, Wang Shenzheng is teaching me to do things?"

However, for his words, Xie Jin just sneered.

“……”

Wang Yuanshan's face froze, and he obviously felt the strong irony in Xie Jin's words, which made his face red and white.

"The king participated in politics, Ben Qin was ordered by the emperor to deal with the rectification of the two Huai salt affairs, here, Ben Qin is the answer."

As he spoke, Xie Jin glanced at him and sneered: "If there is nothing to do, then the official is going to rest." ”

And those eyes are terrifying, with a posture of wanting to smash a cup, and knives and axes are everywhere.

When Wang Yuanshan heard this, he secretly scolded a bastard in his heart, but on the surface, he said with a smile: "It's okay, it's okay, Lord Qincha take a slow rest." ”

Huai'an Mansion knew that Li Heng wanted to say something, but Wang Yuanshan pulled his sleeves and left the courtyard.

Li Heng followed him step by step, his face full of sorrow, and said, "My lord, what can I do about this situation now?" Xie Jin didn't play cards according to the routine at all, and rejected our conditions, should we continue to pour dirty water on him? ”

"Stupid!"

Wang Yuanshan glared at him angrily, and seeing that there was no one around, he shouted in a low voice: "Now we can only pray that Xie Jin will not find out anything, otherwise, there will only be two of us who are unlucky." ”

As he spoke, the look of today's Xie Jin appeared in his mind.

That kind of cold and bone-chilling killing intent, Wang Yuanshan has no doubt, if he dares to make another move, I am afraid that he will really not be able to get out of Yangzhou Mansion.

This Xie Jin is simply a madman sent by Jiang Xinghuo.

(End of chapter)