Emperor Ming Dynasty

The city of Beijing ushered in a festive celebration, and the imperial court naturally had a three-day banquet, singing and dancing to promote peace, and the monarch and ministers celebrated together.

In the early dynasties, from civil servants and generals to officers and soldiers of various ministries, there were rewards, or increased officials or land rewards, and the gold, silver, copper coins and silk that were in the money flowed out in carts.

But Zhu Yixi was happy and didn't mind at all.

Gein, after 20 years of accumulation, the internal money has exceeded [-] million yuan. Money begets money, and continuous accumulation is just a drop in the bucket.

After the banquet, the emperor was so excited that he went to the empress and concubines one by one in the evening, and no one was left behind.

After having fun for several days, Zhu Yixi felt very tired, as if he was more tired than fighting on the front line.

It's like a Chinese New Year holiday, people are weak after the New Year.

The smell of the banquet hadn't dissipated, and Zhu Yixi didn't go to court, but returned to his usual stay at Qianqing Palace or Haizi fishing.

On the table, there are a pile of unprocessed important memorial archives, as well as files of various events.

Although the cabinet has solved a lot of things, it has a flaw, which just turns the application into a multiple-choice question.

This is much stronger than the emperor's arbitrariness.

After all, people are not born with knowledge, the emperor has been pampered and respected for many years, how can it be better than this group of people who studied hard from a small cold window?

It's better to listen to him than the emperor.

This is what scholars all over the world think.

The emperor only cared about sacrifices and seals, and left the rest to civil servants.

However, it is good to change the application questions into multiple-choice questions. The key is that there are only two choices for this multiple-choice question, follow or not follow.

In other words, the emperor can only accept or not adopt the opinions of the cabinet. If he is dissatisfied, he can only replace the cabinet boss.

Under normal circumstances, this group of civil servants is naturally afraid of losing their official positions, so they submit.

However, once there is a party, it is over.

Some people will give up their immediate interests in order to seek recovery.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhu Yixi was very dissatisfied with this. Following the example of the Qing Dynasty, he adopted the strategy of divisions, and the eight divisions were in charge of the elders respectively.

One elder is in charge of several departments.

However, although it is in charge, the chief assistant of the cabinet has always been fixed. He must be in charge of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Households, control the power of tax collection in the world, and hoard money and food.

The secondary assistant is directly in charge of the Ministry of Rites, imperial examinations, and military examinations.

The remaining group assistants are either the Ministry of Punishment, or the Ministry of Industry, or the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

If it is a strong chief assistant, it can compete for three or four.

In terms of the most critical personnel rights, the chief ministers of the cabinet all have the right to speak.

For example, when recommending a local governor or governor, the cabinet elders make suggestions respectively, thus turning the single choice into a multiple choice question.

Therefore, the imperial power can be calm.

This is also part of Shaowu's New Deal.

Thinking of this and these memorials, Zhu Yi narrowed his eyes and said, "Let Feng Xianzong come to see me."

Liu Afu hurriedly said: "The servant obeys the order."

So, Zhu Yixi sat on the couch behind a table and waited for the person to see.

He closed his eyes and meditated, his mind wandering.

There was no one on duty in this place, and even the palace servants stood far outside the door, quieting down all around, and the impetuous mood seemed to gradually settle down.

At this time, Man Qing was truly dead.

The long-cherished wish for many years is about to be fulfilled, which is so intoxicating.

This kid Shunzhi is really an unbeatable Xiaoqiang. He can take root in Lake Baikal and try to reproduce Genghis Khan's old way and unify the tribes of Mongolia. How can I let you succeed?
If you are defeated today, you can either go north or west, there is no two ways at all.

At that time, Russia will be their catastrophe, or they will be Russia's catastrophe.

Hard to say.

After all, the Qing Dynasty was a semi-feudal society, and its organizational strength and political level far surpassed that of Russia.

But only firearms and population are inferior.

It's like fierce tigers fighting each other, not knowing whether it's true or false.

But for me, Ming, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

As long as it takes root in Eastern Europe like an unbeatable Xiaoqiang, at least it will be difficult for Russia to compete with me for Siberia in the future.

Great!

Suddenly, Zhu Yixi frowned, he stood up, and came to the world map that he had filled in in various ways behind him.

Lake Baikal, the Volga River, the Black Sea, and even the Kazakh Khanate are all the former lands of the Golden Horde.

The Manchu Qing Dynasty was originally a mixture of Jurchen and Mongols. Both language and customs came to absorb Mongolia.

This is a lifeline.

"I hope so!"

Zhu Yixi chuckled and said, "If you compare the Manchus with Russia, I'd rather the Manchus win."

After smiling like this, Feng Xianzong came after a while.

As the second assistant, Feng Xianzong is relatively young, only 50 years old now, and once took refuge in the emperor in Luoyang.

After so many years of hard work, one step at a time, I finally reached the position of Jisuke.

You know, he is just a Juren, and only in troubled times can he soar!
"His Majesty--"

Feng Xianzong sat upright, with a thin face and full of Confucianism, he looked like a Confucian scholar who had read a lot of poetry and books.

"sit!"

Zhu Yixi said casually.

"What's going on in the imperial court now?"

Feng Xianzong looked at the mountain of memorials that had not been turned over, and suddenly realized.

"From what I see, the major event is that not long ago, Li Si, the lord of the Kang Kingdom, went to the court and wanted to come to Beijing to pay tribute in person."

"Based on my estimation, Li Si's intentions are quite profound."

"Oh?"

Zhu Yixi was slightly surprised, and he said calmly, "Where did you come from?"

"The old minister estimates that Kang Guo wants to surrender to Ming Dynasty."

Feng Xianzong's words really shocked Shi Potian.

Without waiting for the emperor to react, he continued: "The old minister has been in charge of the Ministry of War for the past few years, and Sichuan has continuously reported the news of Kang Guo."

"For so many years, the domestic festivals have become more and more unruly one by one. Father and son, brothers have passed on their own, and it is enough to report afterwards. It has gone through two generations."

"Although the capital of the country is thick, its soldiers and horses are not as good as those Jiedu envoys, not to mention there are foreign enemies defending Tibet."

"Oh?"

"The lord of Wei Zang died, and the new lord took the throne. He is already eyeing the lost old land. At this time, Kang Guo is already suffering from internal and external troubles."

Zhu Yi had an image of Kang Guo in his mind.

What impressed him the most was that Qin Fan's ancestral daughter got married and gave birth to a son.

Xikang area.

The land is poor and the people are few, and an ancient tea-horse road is its lifeline.

In fact, Daming has great control over Kang.

Those Jiedu envoys were all married to Sichuan, and coupled with the trade on the ancient tea-horse road, the entire Kang Kingdom was completely dependent on Daming.

Once the road is broken, Kang Guo will be at the end of his life immediately, and can only live in those impoverished plateaus.

"What does the cabinet think?"

Feng Xianzong said: "The chief assistant's words are feasible. After all, Kang Guo and its people are the children of my Ming Dynasty. Once they are attached, they can take advantage of the situation to recover Wei Zang Kingdom."

"Although U-Tsang is an inner vassal, it is actually an outer vassal. Although he is diligent in paying tribute, he is of Mongol origin. He is naturally dissatisfied with the imperial court and has been coveting Xining Mansion in Qinghai."

"only……"

"Just how?" Zhu Yixi said indifferently.

"It's just that I thought that just for the Battle of the North Sea, the expenditure of Chaotian was no less than 2000 million yuan, plus some loss of rewards, [-] million yuan is probably not bad."

"If you add the pacification of Beihai and Horqin and other places, 3000 million is certain, and the imperial court has no spare power to get the southwest."

Feng Xianzong looked cautious, but the words on his lips were extraordinarily bold: "From the point of view of the ministers and others, we only need to wait a year or two before the imperial court can sharpen the plateau elite soldiers suitable for the southwest, and there will be more surplus at that time, just in time for conscripting."

There is nothing wrong with these words, but when you think about it carefully, there is a lot to say.

In the front, the first assistant is brought out, and in the back, the minister and others are said.

It is not difficult to guess from the context. Others think that it should be postponed, but Zhu Mou wants to arrange it as soon as possible.

This is the conflict between cabinets.

On the surface, it seems that there is no conflict at all.

Speaking skills, spring and autumn brushwork.

Zhu Yixi has been emperor for many years, so he is naturally clear about this.

His expression remained unchanged, and he guessed a little bit about Zhu Mou's thoughts.

It's nothing more than eager for success.

On the surface, with the peace of the world and the growth of the population, a large amount of wealth began to circulate, and taxes naturally continued to increase.

The annual tax created by the 1 million people in Ming Dynasty has exceeded [-] million silver dollars.

Half a silver dollar per person.

Among them, land accounts for [-]%, commercial tax accounts for [-]%, and foreign trade accounts for [-]%.

The decisive role is also foreign trade.

China was short of precious metals, and its continuous exports of goods brought in a large amount of gold and silver, which made the silver standard more stable.

However, Zhu Yixi knew that the gold standard was the kingly way. Although the conditions were not mature, he still created a large number of gold coins and allowed them to circulate.

Daming is now implementing the gold and silver double standard.

It is precisely because of such superior conditions that there is still a surplus of 3000 to [-] million silver dollars after regular expenses every year.

But Daming is so big that disasters happen almost every day.

Tax relief, money and food support, and the growing army are all swallowing up money.

Excluding all expenses, the real surplus is less than ten million.

This battle wiped out nearly three years of surplus, leaving only 8000 million in the Ming treasury.

Considering the fragility of the agricultural society, once there is a catastrophe that spreads across several provinces, 8000 million people will be very dangerous.

The court reached a consensus that two years of surplus must be used in order to face all unknown disasters.

For example, at this time, Daming spends 7000 million silver dollars a year, so at least 4000 million yuan is needed to be stable.

8000 million is indeed dangerous.

"really."

Zhu Yixi sighed: "Whenever there is a natural or man-made disaster, the common people will suffer. It is better to have more surplus."

"Your Majesty sees it clearly." Feng Xianzong hurriedly echoed: "Now the Southwest has become a ripe fruit, and it is up to His Majesty to decide when to pick it."

"The imperial treasury has its own rules, and it is absolutely impossible to live without food, just like the previous Ming Dynasty."

Ming Dynasty?Didn't it just die for lack of money?
Zhu Mou seemed to think that the emperor was overjoyed to figure out his mind, and wanted to solve the Southwest problem in one go, so as to add more prestige to the emperor.

A little money consumption is nothing.

Besides, it's really dangerous in the end, isn't there still money inside?

This is something that is kept secret in the officialdom.

The canal bill customs collect nearly 3000 million a year, and the customs are all over the coast. The sea trade is so prosperous that at least [-] to [-] million can be collected.

Internal funds are abundant.

What are you afraid of borrowing one or two at that time?
After all, it was also for the sake of the Zhu family. No matter how stingy the emperor was, he could always squeeze out one or two.

Speaking of the previous dynasty, for some reason, Zhu Yixi suddenly thought of internal money.

"A group of corrupt officials want to worry about my private treasury."

"Zhu Mou has been in the officialdom for so many years, I'm afraid he has been contaminated with these vulgarities?"

The emperor's face remained unchanged, but it was inexplicably cloudy.

Seeing this, Feng Xianzong lowered his head even more, like a transparent person.

However, in private, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

The emperor is addicted to money and takes money as the foundation, which is not bad.

"I intend to set up Beihai Province, and set up a governor on duty to control the area and guard Beihai."

The emperor suddenly said: "Feng Qing's family, I wonder if you have any candidates?"

Feng Xianzong was overjoyed when he heard this.

Sure enough, the benefits came.

But soon, he calmed down and said sincerely: "I didn't find a good candidate for this matter for a while. The world's major events are all in your Majesty's heart. The sage is no more than your majesty. In the opinion of the veteran, it is best to judge the universe..."

"Hmm!" The emperor snorted softly, seemingly satisfied but also dissatisfied: "Go down!"

"My minister retire."

Feng Xianzong hurriedly got up and retreated leisurely.

Zhu Yixi looked at his back and murmured: "The cabinet has really changed, and Zhu Mou seems to be unable to control it!"

After leaving Qianqing Palace, Feng Xianzong broke out in a cold sweat.

"Your Majesty must have noticed."

He thought to himself: "But it's good, this can be regarded as a confession."

"Although Zhu Mou is not making a lot of trouble these days, it is also inappropriate. How long can the old kindness last?"

Thinking of this, Feng Xianzong waved his sleeves and said with a sneer, "It won't last a year!"

Wenyuan Pavilion, in the cabinet.

Zhu Mou was thinking about political affairs with his head down.

After becoming the chief assistant of the cabinet, he took charge of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Household Affairs, and also the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The second assistant Feng Xianzong only had the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Industry.

Du Yinxi was in charge of the Ministry of War.

Yan Yingyuan was in charge of the Ministry of Punishment.

On the surface, he seems to be in control.

But in fact, the third Ministry of Finance, Min and Households is basically in the hands of Yan Yingxin, who has a large number of contacts here. He just came to power, so it is not easy to clean up.

Otherwise, he will be laughed at by the officials, and his appearance will be too ugly.

In the past, he didn't care about three seven and twenty one, and just cleaned up everything, even if it was a joke.

Of course, the most important thing is that there will be a big war, and the three parts can't make trouble, otherwise it will be bad for the time being.

And now that the Beihai War is over, it can be reorganized.

"Master Aoi, Cisuke has gone to Qianqing Palace."

Yan Yingyuan came over and said softly when he saw no one around.

"Go and go."

Zhu Mou said indifferently: "Look, Liheng, the war in the Southwest is about to start, and these three ministries are overwhelmed, and they are still trying to evade the cabinet's major affairs, saying that Beihai is not over yet."

"The three ministries acted recklessly and simply ignored my cabinet."

Yan Yingyuan was taken aback by these words, knowing that he wanted to clean up the backbone of the three departments, so as to make room for his party members.

"That's the reason." Yan Yingyuan agreed with this matter.

In the officialdom, ups and downs are the norm, and it is normal for the emperor and the courtiers, let alone the chief assistant.

"It's just that, Prime Minister Kui, the North Sea hasn't stopped yet, so the war in the Southwest is too urgent right now?"

(End of this chapter)