Within the Imperial Prison.

Ning Jue, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng were also changed into prison uniforms by Jinyiwei.

The Jinyi guard guarding the edict looked at Ning Jue with some confusion and asked, "Ning Bingxian?" No, it's called Youxian now. ”

"It's a good idea, and I'll move Ming'er's head."

The jailer looked at Ning Jue with a puzzled expression and asked, "What is the reason for this time?" Doesn't the prince value you very much? ”

"I kicked the Son of Heaven twice."

The jailer was silent, walked to the gate and sat down again.

Not long after, Lu Bing walked into the edict with great bitterness and hatred.

Gao Gong immediately got up and asked, "Lu Dudu, what is the earthquake all about?" Can the imperial court find out clearly? ”

The situation that night, Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong saw it clearly.

The southwest of Jingshi seems to be the sky falling.

This earthquake was anything but ordinary.

After hesitating for a long time, Lu Bing spoke: "The cabinet estimates that the casualties this time should be more than one million. ”

Rao is Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng were mentally prepared, and they couldn't help but be stunned.

"How is the imperial court prepared to respond?"

Lu Bing raised his head and looked at the two people in front of him and said with a wry smile: "Do you two think the imperial court has the spare strength to deal with it?" ”

"It's nothing more than exempting the money and food for a few years, worshipping the mountains, rivers and rivers, and then letting them fend for themselves."

"This is that the southeast is making too much trouble, and the court can't even close its eyes."

There was a dead silence in the prison.

Lu Bing sighed, sat down in the corner and ate stuffy wine.

"Millions of people, not only millions." Gao Gong sat on the ground, muttering incessantly.

"I'm afraid that the northwest will not even have the manpower to bury the corpses, and there will be a big epidemic in the spring of next year." Zhang Juzheng also frowned.

In this era, such an earthquake is basically equivalent to a shock back to the Stone Age, and there are no three generations, and the northwest will not be able to come back.

Rao is Ning Jue, and he hasn't come back to his senses for a long time.

Human life is always the biggest thing.

After all, it's a million lives.

After weighing it for a long time, Ning Jue looked at Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong and said, "I have a way." ”

Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong looked up at Ning Jue almost at the same time.

——

The hall was quiet.

The core contradiction is in front of us, the victims need food, and the court has no food.

Jiajing, who was sitting on the dragon chair, sighed.

"Is it feasible to requisition from provinces that have never been affected by disasters?"

Xu Jie bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, at present, there is still spare strength in the two provinces of Jiangbei Dujinggi and Shandong, and Jiangnan ...... This season, we should not be able to adjust grain, so we can only go further south to raise grain from Liangguang, Fujian, and Annam. ”

"Guangdong's is not counting the time to raise money, and it will take five months to walk just by sea, and the water will not quench the thirst of the near."

The book in Xu Jie's hand is calculated, and there is only one conclusion.

When the imperial court raises enough food, there will be no need for relief for this disaster.

"Then I will first issue this crime to myself, all parties are guilty, the crime is in my ears, Huang Jin first cleaned up the Huanqiu with the Divine Palace Supervisor, and selected another commissioner to prepare to go to the northwest to sacrifice mountains, rivers and rivers......"

Before Jiajing finished speaking, Yan Song and Xu Jie had already knelt down in front of Jiajing.

Jiajing, who had originally gotten up, was stunned in place.

Yan Song gritted his teeth and lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, this natural disaster is not the fault of the king. ”

"Your Majesty, the people are hanging upside down, the monarch's father has sinned against himself, and the people have no rations to survive this hurdle." Xu Jie also echoed the way.

Jiajing was stunned at first, and then couldn't help but feel a little angry in his heart.

"What the two elders saw, should I be like this? After demolishing this Jinluan Palace, will my people have rice and grain to eat? ”

"Wait for ten thousand deaths." Although Yan Song and Xu Jie had no countermeasures, they had already kowtowed to the ground.

The Son of Heaven wanted to sin himself, but the courtiers tried to dissuade him, and it seemed that the monarch and the ministers were in harmony.

In fact, the two cabinet members have already made up their minds to continue the new law.

It was only at this time that Jiajing's figure couldn't help but tremble slightly, although he had long expected that the foreign dynasty would take the opportunity to make waves, but Jiajing didn't expect Yan Song and Xu Jie to choose to force the palace so simply.

"There's no way, so what are you doing to stop me?!"

"Huang Jin, prepare Huanqiu to sin yourself! Go! ”

Huang Jin hurriedly sang.

Don't wait for Huang Jin to walk out of the Wuyi Palace.

Lu Bing walked quickly into the hall.

"Your Majesty, the minister Lu Bing has a performance."

Jiajing suppressed his anger slightly, and then asked, "What's the matter?" ”

Only then did Lu Bing raise his head and look at Jiajing and said, "Ning Jue, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng are in prison and have a way to help the victims in the northwest. ”

Everyone in the Wuyi Hall glanced at each other, and finally all eyes were refocused on Jiajing.

After hesitating for a moment, Jiajing spoke.

"Call three men into the temple."

"Whoa."

Not long after, the three people in prison uniforms were brought into the Wuyi Hall by Lu Bing.

As soon as he saw Ning Jue's face, Jiajing closed his eyes angrily.

"There's something to say, there's a fart."

"Three gentlemen, the victims can't wait, please tell the three gentlemen how to break the situation." Zhu Zaili played a round road.

"The sinner is commanded." Zhang Juzheng arched his hand, and then continued to introduce: "Your Highness, the imperial court is not without food, the imperial court has food, at least there is food to help the victims survive this hurdle." ”

"Let's talk about where the food comes from." Jiajing's tone was a little impatient.

"From the mouths of the people."

Xu Jie frowned and said: "Uncle, the grain of Jilu is not enough to lose, and the grain of Liangguang is too far, where do you get this grain from?" ”

"Old Xu Ge, Old Yan Ge, although the grain of Liangguang is far away, it is only more than ten days to transfer grain from Liangguang to Huguang South Road."

Everyone in the hall couldn't help but be stunned.

"Huang Gonggong will take the sub map." Zhu Zaili raised his head and ordered.

In a short time, everyone was gathered around a huge map.

Zhang Juzheng held a bamboo pole in his hand and pointed on the map: "If the south of Jin suffers a disaster, then the grain of northern Jin will go south, and if the north of Henan suffers a disaster, then all the grain of southern Henan will go north, and then the two provinces of Gyeonggi and Shandong will send grain to northern Jin and southern Henan." ”

"When the transportation is unimpeded, we will collect grain from the southeast and go north to fill the two provinces of Gyeonggi and Shandong."

"Then the grain of the Liangguang and Annan provinces will be levied to the north."

"In this way, the people in every county actually only lent their annual rations for more than ten days."

Jiajing frowned and said, "What do the people of Annan and Guangzhou eat?" ”

"Your Majesty, this policy is not to transfer grain, but to the sky, first north and then south, when the grain is levied to Liangguang, the affected provinces have recovered, and the northern provinces have already ripened grain, as long as there is time, move it down, the grain in Liangguang is not enough, and then move it from the north."

The key to this plan is not food, but time, and the disaster relief is completed at the same time as the food is mobilized.

By the time it was time to requisition the grain of the two Guangzhous, the famine in the northwest had already been relieved, and the disaster in the northwest had room to be digested slowly.

Yan Song frowned and said, "Is there enough grain in southern Henan and northern Shanxi?" ”

"Enough! As long as the grain stored by the people in southern Henan and northern Shanxi can be taken out for the next season, just for the disaster area for one or two months, it is absolutely enough, as long as there is time, the imperial court will have time to do things. ”

As soon as Gao Gong finished speaking, Jiajing and the others looked at Gao Gong as if they were mentally ill.

If there is borrowing and repaying, it is called borrowing.

If there is a loan but there is no return, it is called a donation.

Until the food is actually back in their hands, no one knows whether it will be borrowed or donated.

The people are not SB, the court can throw away their own rice bowls in the vernacular, and they want to borrow so much grain from the people and gentry, and they can borrow it without bringing hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses.

It was only at this time that Ning Jue said indifferently: "Just let the merchant borrow it." ”

"Jin merchants, Qi merchants, Hui merchants, small merchants to find the gentry, the people to collect grain, they are all local, as long as the interest and the time to repay the grain is negotiated, the rest of the things are easy to say, and finally the small merchants are integrated into the hands of the big businessmen, and they are transferred in turn."

"In the end, the imperial court only needs to pay for these big merchants."

If it is the king of heaven who owes you money, and you really don't pay it back, you can't do anything about it.

But if it's the owner of the tailor's shop downstairs who owes you money, at least you can risk your life to sue him.

There is an essential difference between the two in terms of credibility.

Layer by layer, in the end, those wealthy businessmen in the world asked the court for money to pay, and finally the court re-distributed this cost to everyone in the world in the form of taxes.

The last problem was solved, and finally everyone's eyes were focused on Jiajing again.

After a long time, Jiajing slowly spoke: "The imperial court, did you take out so much silver?" ”

"I can't pull it out." Yan Song and Xu Jie said in unison.

"Is that a drag?"

Yan Song and Xu Jie stopped talking.

The use of "drag" is too subtle, and it can be obtained directly with "lai".

If it was just Shen Wansan, who had a lot of money, he would have lost his home.

With so many accounts, if the imperial court relied on them all at once, these businessmen would not hesitate at all, and they would immediately rely on the accounts below.

The final result was that the people who were willing to help the court tide over the difficulties together, the gentry's family was ruined, and the two capitals and thirteen provinces were immediately in chaos.

This is destined to be a bad debt.

"What do the two elders mean, they owe it first?"

Yan Song pondered for a long time before he spoke.

"Your Majesty, human life is at stake."

"It's a matter of life." Jiajing took a few steps back, and then sat down on the dragon chair, pondering.

The silence in the Wuyi Hall is terrifying.

I don't know how long it took before Jiajing spoke.

"Divide it."

Yan Song and Xu Jie were stunned, and looked at Jiajing in disbelief.

"Your Majesty......?"

"The cabinet will first discuss a general account with the merchants, and then ask the merchants to go and pacify my people first, and the rest of the matters will be discussed by the cabinet."

"The law change will not stop, continue to change the law, the commercial tax will be transferred from the internal fund to the household department, the cabinet will draw up a charter, how to deal with the aftermath, submit it to the celebrant supervisor, and I will approve it personally."

"Beat the drum to buy candy, do your own business, and go on errands." Jiajing flicked his sleeves and walked straight in the direction of Xiyuan.

Jiajing's heart knows better than anyone else.

This money is owed by the imperial court.

Those businessmen and civil officials who were in power could no longer make it so easy for the court to pay off the accounts.

Outside the dynasty, for Jiajing, it is no longer the "family business" that can take care of its own profits and losses and make steady profits.

In any way, the time has come for the Ming to re-establish a new order.

The Ming Dynasty finally took the first and most crucial step towards the independence of the king's finances from the imperial court.

As long as you can talk, then the rest is easy to say.

(End of chapter)