After Zhu Zaiyu presented the first and second pieces of auspiciousness, Zhu Yijun's eyes looked at the third piece of auspiciousness, Zhu Zaiyu opened the red silk and said, "Add and subtract the machine." ”

A wooden box appeared in front of Zhu Yijun, this wooden box, from left to right there are nine wheels, the wheels are engraved with 0-9 a total of ten numbers, Zhu Yijun in Zhu Zaiyu's explanation, understand the use of this addition and subtraction machine, only need to turn the wheel to achieve nine-digit addition and subtraction operations, if the increase is greater than ten, then automatic carrying, when no longer need to calculate, just press the button next to it, you can achieve reset.

Zhu Zaiyu opened the wooden box and showed the extremely complex internal structure of the gears, which were coated with a layer of fish oil, apparently to prevent rust and lubrication, and the gears were made with extreme precision.

Daming has an extremely strong demand for computing power, the Royal Gewu Institute to do a precision map, to calculate the data of the triangulation method for many times, the Ming household department, the eunuchs of the interior to carry out a two-month inventory every November, this kind of inventory is extremely cumbersome, the major cities to carry out extensive statistics on import and export trade, these strong demand for computing power, and finally gave birth to the calculation of Zhu Zaiyu's addition and subtraction machine.

"Compared with the abacus, the accounts that used to require eight people to calculate can be completed by only one person, and in the process of calculation, there is no need to think about it, and leave it to the machine to run." Zhu Zaiyu simply explained the origin of this thing.

The addition and subtraction machine can be regarded as a fully mechanized abacus, and the whole process does not require any thinking, only the number needs to be entered.

"It's a very good thing." Zhu Yijun carefully studied this addition and subtraction machine, closed the lid, and tried to use it a few times, this machine can reduce the probability of errors.

Zhu Yijun rewarded Zhu Zaiyu and the Royal Gewu Academy, especially the steam engine of the power of three horses, which was highly praised by the emperor, and Zhu Yijun let Zhu Zaiyu not have to worry about the rationing of the steam engine, and he studied it with peace of mind.

Zhu Zaiyu thanked him and left, and after Zhu Yiyi got two models and a plus or minus machine, he left happily.

In the early morning of October, the late autumn wind swept through the streets and alleys of the Ming Dynasty with a bone-chilling chill, and the courtiers began to enter the palace from Zuoshunmen.

The court of the Ming Dynasty is the joint discussion of the nine secretaries, which are the six Shangshu, the general constitution of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Dali Temple, and the secretary of the general administration, time flies, and the functions of the general administration department are gradually owned by the cabinet, and the general political envoy has become a cabinet assistant.

After Zhang Juzheng was in the country in the sixth year of Longqing, the content of the court discussion was mainly the appointment and dismissal of the six Shangshu, the left and right servants and the governor, and the matters that could not be decided by the ministries themselves were discussed in the Wenhua Palace, which was a court discussion.

After the first year of Wanli, the staff of the court council carried out an expansion, and added the governor of the five military governors, which was the ancestral law, in the Hongwu, Yongle, and Xuande years, the major governors of the five military governors were to deeply participate in politics, and the first generation of British public Zhang Fu, as a togu auxiliary minister, was deeply involved in state decision-making in the early years of orthodoxy.

However, with the general trend of Xingwen and Wuwu, Zhang Fu and Yang Shiqi gradually lost in the political struggle, and in the fifth year of orthodoxy, several martial artists represented by Zhang Fu no longer went to the court as a symbol, announcing that Wuxun would no longer participate in state affairs.

In the first year of Wanli, Zhenwu began, and the general above the Beijing camp and Wuxun began to enter the Wenhua Palace, and this ancestor came back.

If compared with the Tang Dynasty, the three provinces and six ministries are missing two provinces, Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province, that is to say, in the design of the top-level political system of the Ming Dynasty, there is a lack of a substantial prime minister of a hundred officials.

Above Jiuqing, there is no chief, which actually forms a multi-headed yamen of 'having a secretary but no justice', and the decision-making power is completely concentrated in the hands of the emperor.

Shoufu is not the head of the hundred officials, only Zhang Juzheng has transgressed or shared part of the imperial power through the power and responsibility of the Taifu, and has realized the actual head of the hundred officials.

Even with Zhang Juzheng's power, he is still not the prime minister, but the Yuanfu Taifu, because the prime minister can open the government and build teeth, that is, set up his own government office, set up his own tooth flag, recruit his own staff, freely appoint and dismiss subordinate officials, and even formulate some laws and policies.

Zhang Juzheng is not the prime minister, his Quanchu Guild Hall is not a government office, and his subordinates are not Zhang Juzheng who can arrange wherever he wants, and if he makes a mistake, he can't make self-determination in the Chuguild Hall.

At this time, in the side hall of the Wenhua Palace, a group of courtiers are waiting for the court, on weekdays, when waiting for the court, all the courtiers are silent, close their eyes and recuperate, but today is different from usual, the difference is different, the Ming Emperor is late.

Since the first year of Wanli, His Majesty has been late once, left early 0 times, and failed to attend court meetings 0 times.

"Motosuke, is this something wrong?" Wang Chonggu opened his eyes, and always felt that His Majesty had been too late for a long time today, and a quarter of an hour had passed, and His Majesty's honor guard had not yet arrived.

Wang Chonggu asked Zhang Juzheng by name, because only Zhang Juzheng was under the imperial concession, and he could go back and forth with the palace, and the courtiers were very clear about the dealings between Xu Jue and You Qi, and only Zhang Juzheng could know exactly the news in the palace.

"I don't know, it shouldn't be a big deal." Zhang Juzheng did not receive any news.

The courtiers faintly raised a wave of worry, the palace maid assassination, the assassination of the king, the fire of the palace and other words, echoed in the minds of the courtiers, this is what really happened in the Ming Dynasty, Your Majesty didn't even live in Xiyuan, moved to the martial arts hall and left the palace, what else is there to do?

Similarly, the courtiers are also vaguely worried, His Majesty is already very ruthless, and if something big happens, I am afraid that he will become a truly ruthless monster, whether this is a blessing or a curse for Da Ming, it is not yet known.

Just as the courtiers were speculating, Feng Bao walked in and said with a beaming face: "Congratulations to Daming, congratulations to Your Majesty, this morning, Concubine Zhou De gave birth to a princess, Your Majesty gave the name Zhu Xuanyuan, everyone, rejoice." ”

"Whew." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, not because something bad had happened, but because of the joy.

Zhang Juzheng took the ministers to leave the palace and said in unison: "The ministers congratulate Daming and congratulate Your Majesty!" ”

"Then is today's court meeting going to be waived?" Zhang Juzheng did not sit down and prepared to leave, there was a big happy event in the palace, the court meeting could be postponed a little bit, the Sichuan head case had just been completed, and even Wang Qian was still on the way back, and there was no major event that disturbed the saint.

"Your Majesty said to delay for an hour, and Your Majesty will come over in a while." Feng Bao shook his head and said.

The ministers were all stunned, and then they all looked at Zhang Juzheng, who said slightly stiffly: "It's hard to work hard, and the ministers obey the order." ”

There is an heir born in the palace, such a big event, the emperor still has to come to the court, is your Zhang Juzheng's education a little too violent?

Wan Shihe was originally looking at his nose and nose, but he was pretending to sleep, but suddenly opened his eyes and said: "Recently, this scholar and doctor have said that His Majesty is too ruthless. ”

Wan Shihe's meaning is very clear, combined with some of his own experience, His Majesty is indeed too ruthless.

Wan Shihe didn't even explain what His Majesty had approved, which made him so frightened.

"It's better to be ruthless than to be ignorant of the world." Tan Lun looked at Wan Shihe, he didn't think there was anything wrong with what His Majesty had done over the years.

Wang Guoguang looked at Tan Lun, sighed and said: "Since the tax audit of the tax institute, there are still arrears of money and grain taxes in Jiangnan, unlike in the past, this time it is not a trick, but a real thing instead of money, everyone knows that this kind of thing, there are many articles, the inferior gentry are co-opting corrupt officials, shoddy, it seems to be paid, in fact, there are still shortcomings, but there are many kinds of physical goods, it is difficult to count, and it is difficult to dispose of the tax inspection by the tax court." ”

"Yesterday, His Majesty's reply to the Ministry of Household Affairs said: All gentry who owe silver, no matter how much or less, will all be asked to revoke the fame of the revolution, and the three generations of the revolution will not be recorded."

In the face of the tax court's reminder, the luxury households came up with a way, and the inferior gentry and corrupt officials colluded together to use goods with lower value in Jiangnan, such as porcelain, cotton cloth and other things, that is, things that could not be sold to offset taxes.

The tax office is only responsible for tax audits, and on the books, it is indeed enough, but in fact, it has escaped another sum.

The household department told His Majesty about this, and His Majesty came up with a sales law, but all the gentry and officials participated in it, and they all made a register to reform the fame, and the three generations were not allowed to obtain the fame, which directly asked for the lives of these big families, and the three generations were not recorded, and the three generations had no fame, so how could there be a wang family?

"In the land of Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, and Yingtian, there are more than 13,000 people who have made meritorious contributions alone." The Ministry of Rites Shangshu Ma Ziqiang said.

Zhang Juzheng looked at Wan Shihe, Wang Guoguang and Ma Ziqiang, and said quite seriously: "I don't think there is anything wrong with it, according to the floating ticket I pasted, it is time to raid the house, Your Majesty is just getting rid of the fame, Jiangnan is not in arrears for one year or five years, not ten years and fifty years, but more than one hundred years." ”

"Your Majesty's tax room and then to the tax office, the tax office's reminder ticket, it will be issued three times before the arrears are collected, Your Majesty has given so many opportunities, they have to find ways to do it, they have lost their deference, they are not loyal to the king, they are not loyal to the country, and it is the right thing to copy the family, the country has been a little peaceful over the years, and Your Majesty is a little soft."

Xindu Yang and his lackeys and other criminals have not yet been beheaded to show the public, after this investigation, at least hundreds of heads have landed, you Zhang Juzheng actually said, Your Majesty has a soft heart?

"I know, our Jingtang courtiers, the six departments, the officials of the Kedao Yan, and even the local yamen, everyone has relatives and friends in the southern ya, but if this tax can't come up, the court is not the court, everything needs silver and food, why are you the Ming Gong and he is a foreign official? It's up to you to weigh the public and private trade-offs. Zhang Juzheng's tone was already a little stern, even with a bit of admonition.

Zhang Juzheng looked at Ma Ziqiang and said: "The thirteen,000 people in the four prefectures of Su, Song, Chang, and Ying, before the Chinese New Year this year, must be completed without delay, these inferior gentry are always like this, with the unreasonable to be soft, and the unreasonable to play tricks, the court does have to be reasonable, but when it should be unreasonable, it must also be unreasonable." ”

"Yes." Ma Ziqiang is helpless, he does have relatives and friends in Nanya, but he feels that it is a bit too much to rob the fame of more than 10,000 people at a time.

History, always a ruthless triumph over stupidity.

Tan Lun said quite approvingly: "The left and right are just a group of cheap Confucians who don't even want to see the contradiction and say three words, just reform, it's not a big deal, the three-legged toad of the Ming Dynasty is not easy to find, and the two-legged readers are all over the street, since you want to be an official, you will get sick when you see the contradiction and say these three words, keep them, it will be useless for the country, and then send them to Java to educate the natives." ”

"Reasonable." Wang Chonggu also opened his mouth to express his thoughts and approved Tan Lun's statement.

As an official, you can't even distinguish between contradictions, major contradictions, and secondary contradictions, what kind of official are you? Go home and plant sweet potatoes.

The discussion before this court meeting seems to be discussing His Majesty's method of selling the fame of reform and rebalancing to rectify taxes, but in fact, what is discussed is whether His Majesty is too ruthless, the leaders of the three parties are all old men in the previous dynasty, and the people who were in charge of the house in the last years of Jiajing and Longqing, who are in charge of the house, who knows that firewood, rice, oil and salt are expensive, and the poor are really poor, Your Majesty is not afraid of being scolded, and the people below are really good at doing things.

Under the feudal imperial system of monarchs and ministers and strict etiquette for thousands of years, the gentry who refused to pay even the imperial grain will really settle the land herdsmen and become a supplement to the weak ruling power of the Ming Dynasty? Obviously not.

Therefore, the result of this discussion before the court is that His Majesty is indeed ruthless, but ruthlessness is stronger than stupidity.

Zhu Yijun was an hour late, Concubine Zhou Defei was the eldest in the palace, gave birth at the age of twenty-six, and did not encounter the problem of dystocia, Zhu Yijun went over to take a look, six catties and three taels, the mother and daughter were safe, Zhu Yijun stayed in Concubine Zhou Defei's calyx building for more than half an hour before coming to the Wenhua Hall and starting the daily court meeting.

"This new capital Yang family, it's really damned, this Yang Youren hanged himself, it's cheap for him." Zhu Yijun looked at the file in his hand and spat out a turbid breath, he had already used the greatest malice to speculate on the evil of people, but he was still angry by Yang Youren and others.

These lowly and inferior gentlemen, aren't they afraid of losing themselves?

In the spring of the first year of Wanli, the harvest in Shuzhong was poor, and some displaced people flocked to Xindu to beg for food, this group of displaced people was only fifty or sixty people, this Yang Youren was only seventeen years old at the time, and let people throw a bag of grain into the middle of the lake, let these displaced people swim to the middle of the lake, and fish out the grain, and it will belong to them.

Yang Youren is just for fun, watching the excitement, and thinking it's fun.

The homeless people are already hungry and cold, how can they have the strength to swim in the lake? But if they didn't swim in the lake, they would starve to death, and after repeated choices, these homeless people had to jump into the lake, drowned seven people, and after going ashore, fourteen more died of illness, and the rest survived.

After hearing this, Yang Ningren, the head of the Yang family in the new capital, was furious, locked up Yang Youren to study, and then opened a porridge shed, so that there was no rebellion among the people, and if the porridge shed was not opened, there were no more homeless people who were famine, and there were two or three thousand people who could demolish their Yang family and eat their Yang family as meat.

This kind of thing happens from time to time, and it is common for the homeless to be hungry and desperate, and to attack the state and county.

is already stretching a string, Yang Youren plays like this, and that string will be completely broken.

"When will Wang Yushi return to Beijing?" Zhu Yijun asked about Wang Qian's itinerary, this Kuo Shao finished his errand outside, and didn't seem to plan to return to Beijing quickly.

Wang Chonggu bowed his head and said: "Back to Your Majesty, Wang Yushi will not return to Beijing until the construction of the Jimin Canal in Dujiangyan begins, and he will come back in April next spring." ”

"I see." Zhu Yijun nodded, it can be regarded as a favor, Wang Qian wants to wait until Dujiangyan Jimin Canal starts to come back, then the credit of Jimin Canal is his Wang Qian's, it is their Jin Party, not Zhang Party, the Jin Party can not intervene in Sichuan, but the silver is spent, and the credit has to be returned to the Jin Party.

The court discussion began, and the Ministry of Industry was very concerned about the matter of Dujiangyan Jimin Canal, and also sent the right attendant of the Ministry of Industry to take two Lang Zhong to go.

Under the leadership of Wang Chonggu, the main policy of the Jin Party was to settle hooligans with eight characters, to settle hooligans with work for relief.

These eight words have been resolutely implemented since Wang Chonggu entered the cabinet, not these eight words, the Jin Party still has ashes, and they are all Zhu Yijun Rouren.

October is already late autumn, the cold wind blows into the Beijing division from outside the Sai, and also blows to the Nanya, Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Yingtian four mansions, wailing all over the field, countless people run to tell each other, just because the Ming Emperor issued a holy decree, the four places of Xiucai raised people to make a name for themselves and dismissed more than 10,000 people, since then, they are just a Confucian in a robe, no longer see the official does not kneel, there is a meritorious scholar doctor.

The cold wind blew through the streets and alleys of Suzhou Mansion, making it even more lonely.

On the side of the Shishi Bridge, in Suzhou's Zhang's mansion, it is very lively today, because the method of using physical objects to avoid taxes is what Zhang's came up with and used, and in just one year, it has spread to the other three mansions.

Zhang's in the open sea tuyere, profit a lot, their family has three mast plywood ship 12, two mast to cover the foreign ship 124, from Ningbo City to the Ryukyu and then to the route of the Wa Kingdom, there are 17 iron workshops, 12 bookstores, seven garment workshops, six suede workshops, four suitcase workshops, two wood machine workshops, these years, the income can be described as a lot of money.

Tax deduction in kind, their family is iron to offset taxes, and the imperial court needs iron tools very much, which is not an inconvenient thing.

The six families who came to the Zhang family are all very similar, they are all in the tuyere of the open sea, and they have earned a lot of money, and they are still very dissatisfied with the Qingzhang of the imperial court, but they have opened the sea and made great profits, so they pinched their noses and recognized that the two mansions of Susong have become more and more prosperous over the years.

Zhang's family name is Zhang Gaorui, is the fourth year of Wanli, Wanli five years into Beijing to participate in the examination, failed the list, originally planned to study in the country, impact Wanli eight years of the examination, Bo a future, has not yet entered the country, the bad news of his father's death came, had to return to his hometown to inherit the family property, is considered to abandon Confucianism and business.

Zhang Gaorui was dismissed, and the emperor's treatment was so harsh, which caused widespread dissatisfaction among the Jiangnan scholars.

"The court is so harsh, we have already paid taxes in full, why are we so embarrassed, isn't it, isn't it offset in kind? If it is allowed, why such a coercion! It just doesn't make sense! Pan Jingwen of Dafu Pan slapped the table, his face turned red, and he said angrily.

Wu Zhongcheng, a merchant in Dongting, immediately echoed and said: "It's also said that the court wants to clear the zhang, we are from, the court wants to return the land, we cooperate, the court wants us to pay taxes, we accept, and now suddenly on the grounds of no deference, we will dismiss our reputation, what a reason, there must be an explanation!" ”

Dongting merchant gang is in Weng Lane, Dongshan Town, Wudong, which is the largest merchant gang in Suzhou, and its strength is extremely strong, this Wu Zhongcheng is the general merchant of the merchant gang, of course, he is the general merchant in terms of energy, and Sun Kehong can not be compared, Sun Kehong can mobilize the five-masted ship B-type merchant ship, Wu Zhongcheng only has a three-masted ship.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is always scolded, and there is also this reason, the five-masted ship was sold to the Mughul, sold to the Taixi Hongmaofan, and refused to sell to the merchants of the Ming Dynasty. The large families of the Ming Dynasty can only hold them indirectly by purchasing ship tickets.

"It's just too much of a deception! Do you really think that as long as there is a knife on it, you can't take it? None of the knives used to scrape bones are like this! ”

"We're all here today to find a way, we have to think of a way! If we continue to give in today, there will only be more bullying! ”

"Zhang Gong, you can say something!"

Everyone looked at Zhang Gaorui, Zhang Gaorui sat in the middle, holding a tea cup, thinking quite seriously, he thought for a while and said, "Why don't you forget it?" The imperial court only got rid of our fame, and did not continue to pursue, almost got it, and it was already a loss, and if it continued, wouldn't it be a reason for the court to be mad? ”

"That minion Luo Bingliang, holding back his anger, waiting for us to make a fuss, and then kick the door and raid the house."

Zhang Gaorui said the truth, he was a little scared, he made a fortune and paid taxes well, and he had nothing to do.

"Is that all there is to it?" Pan Jingwen said in disbelief.

"I received the news, the gentleman in the court, posted a floating ticket to ask His Majesty to copy the house, Your Majesty maybe, just play the revolution and dismiss the fame, and if you continue to make trouble, Your Majesty's soft and benevolent heart has also been consumed by us, our six families, you, me and him, all have to die, the men of our family are sent to Luzon and Java, and the women are sent to the teaching workshop, and they are bullied." Zhang Gaorui sighed and said helplessly: "The new capital Yang family, they have all become criminals and entered Beijing." ”

Zhang Gaorui did not choose to hide it, he did receive the news, this time it was His Majesty's thoughts, if he gave his face again, then he really followed Zhang Juzheng's method, and his life would be gone.

"Gangneung Gong, are you crazy?!" Wu Zhongcheng is stupid, he has no one in the court, and he doesn't know about such things, but Zhang Gaorui got in touch with Lu Guangzu, the secretary of Dali Temple, a few years ago, and came to Suzhou with the holy decree, and there was also the news of Lu Guangzu's warning.

Zhang Juzheng did not avoid people at all, and made it clear what he said, which was an extremely severe warning.

Zhang Gaorui sighed and said: "Gong Jiangling has not been crazy for a day or two, he has always been crazy. ”

Zhang Juzheng is not crazy, what kind of new deal is he doing? Da Ming is dead, what does it have to do with him Zhang Juzheng.

"This matter starts with Zhang Gong, Zhang Gong has to come up with an idea." Pan Jingwen was obviously unwilling to stop there, he directly forced Zhang Gaorui to continue to fight with everyone, and he couldn't let the imperial court take it away.

Zhang Gaorui looked at everyone, sighed heavily and said: "Everyone, in my heart, the imperial court treats us well, and it does take away our fields, but doesn't it also give the boat guide and let us go to sea?" Even if you don't want to go to sea to take risks, you can rent the boat to others, and the profit is not small. ”

"Suzhou Mansion in Longqing for five years, a total of 340,000, 1.23 million, last year 410,000, more than 1.7 million, bullet flowers, red copper, white copper, white iron, decorative brocade boxes, woodware, etc., merchants from 12,000, rose to 25,000 last year, everyone, let's be content."

"You can do whatever you want, I don't have that mind, do business in peace and stability, what do you have to do with the mold of the court?"

"Let's go!" When Pan Jingwen heard Zhang Gaorui say this, his face changed drastically and he left Zhang's mansion with people.

In just seven days, Zhang Gaorui's family's business immediately began to deteriorate, and the supply of coal, firewood, iron, paper and ink in the bookstore, fabrics in the garment workshop, leather in the leather box workshop, and wood for the wood machine were all cut off.

When Zhang Gaorui was anxious, Zhang Gaorui's son was having fun in the Taihu Lake painting boat, when the boat capsized and sank into the lake, and there were no bones left.

This is not the end, the things that Zhang's firm wants are either looted by the rogues, or the price is temporarily increased, and his workshop is stagnant, resulting in the inability to deliver on time, heavy losses, in just half a month, Zhang Gaorui is like a teenager old, seriously ill and bedridden.

Zhang Gaorui's illness is like a mountain, three or five days has reached the point of being terminally ill, he has two children in front of his bed, a twelve-year-old, an eight-year-old, and a beautiful woman, is his wife when he is proud of the spring breeze, married to the wife, from Suzhou Cheng, this catastrophe, even with Cheng also fell into bad luck.

"You took my letters, went to Songjiang Mansion overnight to join Sun Kehong, I have a bad relationship with Sun Shang, he was bullied by Xu Jie, I helped him, I hope he can protect the safety of the three of you, take the official road, they dare not do it on the official road."

"The boat deed is in this box, and it will be given to Sun Kehong when the time comes, which can be regarded as a bargaining chip for him to shelter."

"My son, tell your grandson, you must take the test to make a name for yourself and kill these fools! Kill them! Zhang Gaorui's face turned red as if he had returned to the light, and he roared hoarsely, and then his strength was exhausted, his eyes were glaring, and his breath was already cut off.

"Husband? Husband! Father! The woman and the two children wept loudly, and there was no time to grieve, so the three of them secretly left the house and went straight to the Songjiang Mansion overnight.

This time the Zhang family was unlucky, and there was also a reason for the inner ghost, Zhang Gaorui's younger brother Zhang Gaozhan was the inner ghost, so that the woman and the child didn't even dare to collect the bones, so they could only let Zhang Gaorui's bones lie on the bed, as long as it was dawn, the news of Zhang Gaorui's breath spread, and it was too late to leave.

The woman and the child sat in the carriage, galloping all the way from the official road post road to Songjiang Mansion, intending to go straight to Songjiang Ocean Commercial Bank, but they did not expect that as soon as they left Suzhou Mansion, they met Sun Kehong's car.

After Sun Kehong heard about the Zhang family, he immediately began to inquire, and when he heard the reason, he said that it was not good, and immediately made preparations, and he came directly, but the speed of the accident of the Zhang family in Suzhou was too fast, and he had not had time to help, Zhang Gaorui had already fallen ill, and when he arrived at the boundary of Suzhou, he saw the widow and the child.

"My brother and daughter-in-law don't have to be polite, follow me back to Zhang's house." Sun Kehong's legs and feet were inconvenient, so he didn't help the three people kneeling on the ground up, grabbed the armrests of the swivel chair, and was angry.

(End of chapter)