Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 541 Shaowu's Budget for Three Years

"Your Majesty, although North Korea is barren, it has reached a point where it cannot give up."

Zhao Shu cupped his hands, his loose official robes were full of majesty, his eyes were bright, and his words were even louder.

"Why?" Lu Daqi asked with his chest straight, not afraid of the reputation of the first assistant.

"Losing a North Korea is not even as good as a local county. Why is it so hard to give up?"

Such words are no different from questioning, and everyone is taken aback.

It seemed that Lu Daqi was really angry.

I saw him spitting all over, and said aggressively: "In the northwest, Shanxi is eyeing Hetao. Liu Tingjie asked to send troops more than once; Gansu Province is also plagued by intruders, and Gao Yigong can only defend himself."

"Sun Kewang in Yunnan has been entrenched for several years. The people are wailing, and they haven't heard from Wang Shi for a long time. Hundreds of officials from Yunnan jointly signed a letter requesting Wang Shi to go west, but they were all blocked back."

"If they knew that the imperial court did not go to the northwest, Yunnan, but floated to North Korea, and the Beijing camp was still dispatched, wouldn't it be public opinion?"

These words are true, and it also reveals that the thinking of the middle and lower bureaucratic people is different from that of the upper class.

For example, the gentry and officials in Yunnan wanted to go home as soon as possible, but the imperial court wanted to weaken the strength of the Manchu Qing as much as possible, and the two naturally clashed.

"Yunnan and Gansu are not in a hurry."

At this time, the second assistant Zhang Shenyan suddenly stood up, faced Lu Daqi and other ministers, and said solemnly:

"Sun Kewang and the thief are just bees that bite people. They look ferocious, but they are actually vulnerable. Jiannu is not like that. They are poisonous snakes. If you don't kill a snake, you will suffer from it."

"The common people are ignorant, and the gentry are short-sighted. How can you be influenced by them when you sit in the center?"

Yan Chongxin also stood up at this time, and said sharply: "I don't distinguish between the serious and the serious, and I don't know the priority. In any case, North Korea must be rescued, and the Manchu Qing must also fight, no matter what the cost."

After repeated reprimands, the six ministers refused to accept it, but stopped verbally.

The winter sun shone through the window, dozens of bright candles made the hall extremely bright, and the atmosphere in Wenyuan Pavilion was particularly strange at this time.

The three members of the cabinet and the six ministers seem to be in opposition.

However, the emperor sat on the dragon chair, and he didn't care about the two parties who were at war.

With the stabilization of the national situation, the power of the three members of the cabinet is also divided. The power of the cabinet is growing day by day, and the pressure on the six ministries will naturally increase.

Therefore, using this excuse, the Six Parts started arguing, seemingly talking about the Qing Dynasty, but in fact they were really fighting for the right to speak.

But for the emperor, a court must have only one center, and the strength of the cabinet is inevitable.

There were many disputes over decision-making power. From the Shangshu Province in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, to the Zhongshu Province and Menxia Province in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the decision-making power has been circulating between Zhongshu and Menxia. Until the early Ming Dynasty, the six decision-making implementations were combined into one, and the power was unprecedented.

And so far, with the cabinet in charge of the six ministries, the greater the power of the cabinet elders, the more shrinking the power of the minister, and no one is reconciled.

However, the six ministers could only have a sense of existence in the Ming Dynasty, and they were completely reduced to tool people in the Qing Dynasty.

"Okay." Seeing that the quarrel was almost over, the emperor stopped:
"The North Korean affairs must continue. Since Pyongyang is defending, then use the tactic of fueling up and continuously increasing troops. After all, I am not afraid of money and food."

Although the northern provinces exempted money and grain, the transportation of grain from the south by sea really made Tianjin Port a lot busy.

The key is that Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and other places have also started to ship by sea, saving a lot of loss and bringing a lot of stored grain to Taicang.

Nearly 8 million stones of autumn grain have been put into the warehouse, and the business tax is about 6 million silver dollars. He can pat his chest and say that the treasury is full.

In addition, according to the words of the governor of Guangdong, after the opening of the Shibo Division, a large amount of food from Annan was also imported.

If you use Shibosi's silver deposits to buy grain, it would be a trivial matter to add hundreds of thousands of shi.

"The Great Ming Gazette also clearly stated that the hatred of the country and the family must not be forgotten, and the Manchus must be uprooted, so that the people in Yunnan will suffer for a while, and the bitterness will be rewarded!"

After all, the six parts will stop.

Then came Shaowu's three-year budget.

Due to the benevolent government of the North exempted from tax for one year and half taxed for three years, most of the money and grain of the imperial court still came from the South, and the contribution of the North was minimal.

According to the estimates of the Ministry of Households, summer grain, autumn grain, plus commercial tax, the local central government will get a total of about 20 million stones of grain, and 1 million silver dollars.

Attributable to the imperial court are 4 million stones for grain and 6 million pieces for silver.

"Among them, the salt industry occupies a large part. The ticket salt law has been popularized in the north and the south. It is estimated that next year, 6 million silver dollars will be obtained. Tea, iron, wine, etc. will be included in the commercial tax, which is not far from salt."

"Most of the rest are half-shared taxes and customs clearance with the local government."

Zhu Mouxi introduced with a smile.

"The northern provinces have been newly returned, Hunan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Gansu and other provinces have been newly divided, and a large number of officials have been added. In addition to the annual salary reform, the Ministry of Officials has to pay 6 million yuan."

Wang Yingxiong, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, opened his mouth and said, choking Zhu Mou so much that he couldn't speak: "You are really a lion with a big mouth."

Zhu Mou explained in detail: "Nowadays, officials such as the sixth office of the county government are paid by the local households. The official department only supports the officials who sit in the hall. There are only a few people in the county, such as judges, teachers, and patrols..."

"The official department only needs one million yuan."

"Nonsense—" Wang Yingxiong said angrily, "There are [-] counties in the world, and more than [-] prefectures. How can a million yuan be enough?"

"You really want too much." Lu Daqi at the side said frankly.

"Since Chongzhen, how much money the imperial court has owed to local officials, in order to show His Majesty's benevolence, must make up for it?"

"Let's make up for three years at once!"

Zhu Yixi thought about Ming Chaoyin's habit of eating a lot of food, so he could only wave his hands and say, "Make up for one year every year, and pay it off in three years."

"So, up to 2 million blocks."

"The Ministry of War is in charge of soldiers and horses from all over the world. There are 60,000 people in the Beijing camp. They need to pay 3 million yuan a year for salaries, firearms, gunpowder, clothing, etc., and 2 million yuan for local garrison troops. Ten thousand."

"A total of 6 million blocks."

Lu Daqi was honest and told everything in detail.

Zhu Mou responded.

"Today, repairing official roads, dredging canals, repairing border towns, and protecting the Yellow River requires 3 million pieces..."

"No, although the Yellow River is fine, but we must be cautious. You can allocate 500,000 yuan, the official road will be built in Beizhili first, 500,000 yuan, and 300,000 yuan for the canal..."

"Only 130 million."

Jiang Yueguang was so angry that he stomped his feet. Looking at the three members of the cabinet, seeing that they were calm, he had no choice but to give up.

It is rare for the Ministry of Rites to say: "The tribute institutes, prefectural schools, county schools, and Guozijian of all provinces must be rebuilt, the mausoleum of the first emperor must also be maintained, and Sizong (Chongzhen) and Daizong must be rebuilt..."

"At least 5 million pieces."

"No——" Zhu Mou directly refused: "The mausoleum of the first emperor must be repaired carefully and slowly. It can be divided into years, and this year can be 500,000 yuan each."

"As for the tribute institutes, county schools, etc., how can all the land be handed over to the imperial court? Let them solicit donations from the gentry, and the imperial court only pays half..."

(End of this chapter)