The words of Liu Jian, the first assistant of the cabinet, echoed in the Qianqing Palace, and many other ministers knelt on their knees, knowing that these words had been eliminated, and the behavior of forcing the palace had been eliminated.

We are loyal to the country, and we are anxious in our hearts, and we are only able to play, how can it be a forced palace?

At most, I just want to cross the line

Zhu Youzhu sat silently on the dragon chair, there was such a big deficit in the treasury, how could he, as an emperor and a son of heaven, turn a blind eye.

In the final analysis, this is his country, and this tomorrow belongs to his Zhu family.

He can give out the silver for this shortfall, but he can't produce the silver, it is up to him, the emperor, to decide.

And not forced out by these ministers.

This is the bottom line, if these courtiers are allowed to cross this line today, and there will be a deficit in the future, will it be forced to the head of his father!

Emperor Hongzhi was silent, and the courtiers below also knelt on the ground and were silent, and the atmosphere was so deadlocked.

After a long time, Wang Shucai, the heavenly official of the Ministry of Officials, broke the silence with his mouth, "Your Majesty, if more than 12 million stone of Lu rice is converted into silver taels, it will be about 4.5 million taels; Combined with the official arrears of the officials, 2.3 million taels, a total of nearly 7 million taels.

But now there are only more than 2 million taels left in the treasury, and there is not much grain left in the warehouse, and if it is used to distribute all this silver and rice, it is really a drop in the bucket, far from enough. ”

"But as Liu Gong said before, there is always a priority in everything."

Speaking of this, Wang Shu looked around at the ministers, "Ladies and gentlemen, the state affairs are difficult now, and Your Majesty is worried. The old man has this cheeky face, and begs you not to receive the arrears of the past few months for the time being, and share the worries of the court and His Majesty, is it okay? ”

After a few seconds of silence, Liu Jian spoke up, "All the colleagues present, including the old man, are able to occupy this high position today, all of which are the grace of Your Majesty. ”

The rest of the people also echoed, "For Your Majesty, when the court is in difficulty, we are just right." ”

"Okay." Wang Shu had a smile on his face, "Since all the ministers have this intention and have set an example, then the old man, the official secretary, has the courage to speak out."

The officials of the various ministries and ministers in Beijing, the envoys of the provinces, the political envoys, and the officials at the level of the procurators will not be issued with the salaries this time. ”

Speaking of this, Wang Shu turned in the direction of His Majesty and bowed respectfully, "Your Majesty, the important ministers of the court, and the officials of the feudal territory can not receive arrears, but the four products and the following magistrates must all make up for it, and they must be used for cash, without any discount, otherwise they will let go and exploit the people." ”

"And the officials below the fourth grade in Beijing have no choice but to be aggrieved and wronged, and use pepper, spices and other materials to be converted into arrears and distributed, so that all the money and grain left in the treasury should be barely enough."

Now that the state affairs are difficult, I have no choice but to grieve the Beijing officials.

And they can only grieve the Beijing officials, because they are in the capital, at the feet of the Son of Heaven, and under the emperor's nose.

A large number of officials below the fourth rank have empty official positions, but they have no authority.

If they don't give them money, they won't have the opportunity to exploit the people, but the magistrate, the emperor is far away, and he is the parent of the people, if he wants to exploit the people, he can do it by hooking his fingers.

Making such an arrangement, no one can find fault, and the heart of worrying about the country and the people is simply heaven and earth, and the sun and the moon can be expressed.

Now he is even more determined not to mention the matter of internal affairs, and no longer persecuts the emperor, it seems that he has compromised, but this is just a failure to cross the line, so he will dig a pit.

Tens of thousands of officials in the world have been solved, but the treasury has no money and grain, and the vassal king's clan, a cadre of lords' rice, then you can only watch the emperor.

To give or not to give, they don't care.

They are bureaucrats.

The clan of the vassal king, the martial arts of the country and them are not only not all the way, but even the object of their suppression.

If the emperor doesn't give it, those people will inevitably have resentment and have a gap with the emperor.

If you give it, then the emperor will dig it out of the inner pocket.

Even if you dig this time, there will definitely be a second and a third time

The so-called beauty does not have the beginning and the end, as long as everything is opened, then the car can no longer be stopped.

Grief, indignation, helplessness, sadness and all kinds of emotions pressed on Zhu Youzhang's heart, how could he not know that such an arrangement was the good intentions of these virtuous ministers.

But he couldn't be angry, and he couldn't even refute it, because such good intentions were crowned with such a high-sounding name as worrying for the country and worrying for the king.

Even no matter how you look at it, they are worrying about the country, and they have suffered great grievances.

Zhu Youzhang's hand in the cuff was clenched into a fist, clenched tightly, and after a while, it was weakly released.

He knew that if these people were asked to use the treasury silver to first solve the problems of the vassal royal clan and the royal family and the royal family, they would only say that the treasury was not enough, and the ministers and other ministers would not dare to wronged His Majesty's clan relatives, and the national dynasty was noble.

In short, what these people say makes sense.

Emperor Hongzhi's face was calm, but all kinds of emotions were intertwined in his heart, and finally turned into a long sigh, let's dig it.

The vassal royal clan, the royal family and the martial arts, these people's Lu rice is converted into silver taels at least 3.5 million taels.

And in his inner pocket, there are now nearly five million taels of silver.

Nearly half of them are the profits of white sugar in the past six months.

The rest is the income of the Imperial Village, and after the summer and autumn taxes are collected, a part of the mining tax, salt tax, and iron tax are shared.

It is almost a quota, 1.5 million when it is small, 1.8 million when it is more, and it is impossible to exceed 2 million in the end.

If it is not enough, it is absolutely impossible to ask the treasury for some, and these ministers will defend the treasury as well as their underpants.

But once there was a deficit in the treasury, he had to fill it up with him, the emperor.

But if you don't fill it, you can't do it.

After all, this is his country.

Emperor Hongzhi was very aggrieved in his heart, but he didn't say it.

The daughter's princess's mansion is still under construction, tens of thousands of mouths in the palace, as well as Jinyi Wei, Dongchang and these people rely on this silver to feed.

If you take out more than 3 million taels, there will only be more than 1 million taels left.

Now the income of white sugar has stabilized two months ago, and it can be divided into 100,000 taels per month, and it will take half a year to collect taxes and silver next summer.

Half

I heard that the emperor has a salary of 10,000 taels a month as the chief of affairs, so much silver must not be spent, and now he should have saved a lot.

Emperor Hongzhi uncontrollably thought of Zhu Houzhao again, and then pulled his thoughts back and said:

"In the 130 years since the founding of the country, there has never been such a terrible deficit. Since I ascended the throne, state affairs have never been so difficult, and I am deeply comforted to be relieved by all of you. ”

Pinching his nose and saying the last sentence, Zhu Youzhu continued: "Now all the ministers are setting an example, and the government and the opposition either do not receive salaries, or fold them with spices and other things.

And at this difficult time for the country, the vassal kings and clansmen, and the martial arts of the national dynasty should also follow this example.

The princes, county kings, and generals of the Zhenguo and other clans, together with the princes, will distribute half of the money in advance;

The auxiliary generals and lieutenants of Zhenguo, and even the marquis of the national dynasty, this time they will be issued seventy percent. The rest will be distributed in full. ”

After that, Emperor Hongzhi paused a few times, and then added secretly: "Spread the edict to all places: now that the state affairs are difficult, I and the internal money to support you, etc., don't complain." If it is Fengqing next year, the treasury will definitely release the full amount at the end of the year. ”

(End of chapter)