Prince of Chaos

Chapter 436 Pinru's Anxiety

"Master, Shen Li has arrived in Beijing."

Wei Zhongxian reported quietly beside Zhu Changluo.

Zhu Changluo groaned, and then did not speak. He continued to look at the memorial in his hand. This notebook was presented by Liu Pinru, the minister of the household department, and it was a memorial to explain the financial situation of the household department.

"After Shen Li arrived in Beijing, he went directly to Xishan Huangzhuang. He wanted to meet the emperor and thank him face to face."

Wei Zhongxian said something again.

This sentence directly made Zhu Changluo frowned, threw the memorial in his hand on the ground, and said angrily: "Go and call Liu Pinru here. Is this how the household affairs are done?"

Zhu Changluo's sudden outburst of temper made Wei Zhongxian's habitual neck shrink, and he immediately replied: "The slave will go announce him now."

Looking at the back of Wei Zhongxian leaving in a hurry, Zhu Changluo frowned again.

After Shen Li arrived in Beijing, his first stop turned out to be to Xishan Huangzhuang to meet Xie En.

Although this matter looks very common and simple, but it has a lot of meaning!

No one in the current capital knows that the person who supervises the country is his Highness the crown prince, and he decides all affairs of the court with a single word.

However, this Shen Li's behavior seemed to be unaware. When he arrived in the capital, he didn't listen to the announcement at the inn outside the city, but went directly to the Xishan Huangzhuang where Emperor Wanli was.

This signal, in Zhu Changluo's opinion, is definitely not a good signal.

To put it bluntly, Shen Li relied on the old to sell the old, and felt that his status and status were enough, so he bypassed him, the Crown Prince of the Supervisory Kingdom, and went directly to the Emperor Wanli for no purpose.

On a bigger scale, this is the Qingliu represented by Shen Li, who are no longer willing to be lonely. They want to directly get the support of Emperor Wanli and occupy a favorable position in the court.

Therefore, whether it is big or small, these are things that Zhu Changluo cannot tolerate.In Zhu Changluo's view, Shen Li's move was too presumptuous, and he was already despising him, the prince of the country.

"Your Majesty Liu Pinru sees Your Highness."

Just when Zhu Changluo was still thinking about Shen Li, Liu Pinru came.

Zhu Changluo looked at Liu Pinru who was kneeling on the ground, Zhu Changluo withdrew his thoughts, and said, "Get up."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

Liu Pinru got up after thanking her.

"Give a seat."

Zhu Changluo gave the seat as always, which made Liu Pinru flattered.

"I dare not."

Zhu Changluo said: "If I tell you to sit down, is it because I can't speak alone?"

Liu Pinru was secretly startled, he clearly sensed that the crown prince's mood was not very good after these words.

Therefore, Liu Pinru said yes, and then sat down on the brocade pier in fear and trepidation.

Zhu Changluo said: "Is this the situation of the Ministry of Household Affairs?"

Zhu Changluo held Liu Pinru's brochure in his hand, and he asked Liu Pinru in a slightly questioning tone.

After Liu Pinru heard Zhu Changluo's questioning, he replied: "Your Highness, the Household Department is really out of money. The imperial court's expenses are so high, and the Household Department only earns so little every year. Now that the court war is still going on, the Household Department has already It is difficult to move forward, and it is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice."

Zhu Changluo looked at Liu Pinru who was screaming, and said, "The military expenditure for the war against the court doesn't seem to spend much money from your household department, right? The lonely Xishan Huangzhuang is responsible for the military supply for the war against the court."

After Liu Pinru heard Zhu Changluo's words, he immediately replied: "Your Highness is very kind, the military rations for the court war are indeed supplied by His Highness's Huangzhuang. However, all the military equipment and winter cotton coats for the officers and soldiers of the court war are provided by the Ministry of War. and the Ministry of Industry. Because of these two expenditures, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Industry will ask the Ministry of Households an extra 200 million taels of silver a year."

"Moreover, as you know, Your Highness, the capital of the capital's household department mainly comes from the taxation of Huaiyan and the taxes of several northern provinces. However, the taxation of Huaiyan is decreasing every year, and the imperial court can't collect much money. Also The situation in the northern provinces is also sad. There have been many disasters in the north in recent years. Your Majesty and Your Highness have decreed several times to exempt some places from taxes. Therefore."

The more Liu Pinru said later, the more guilty he became. This capital household department is really not a place for people to stay. There are many things, little money, and great responsibilities. If you are not careful, you will be taken out by the court to top the vat. It is simply a high-risk Profession.

Zhu Changluo looked at Liu Pinru, and he asked, "So what?"

Liu Pinru gritted his teeth and said, "So, the household department has no money."

Zhu Changluo looked at Liu Pinru who was complaining, and Zhu Changluo knocked on the table and said, "The household department has no money, so it won't think of a way to increase income and reduce expenditure. Could it be that the hundreds of people supported by the household department are all wine bags and rice bags?"

Zhu Changluo's words were quite serious, which made Liu Pinru shrink back.

Seeing Liu Pinru's frightened look, Zhu Changluo also knew that his words were a little heavy, and it scared Liu Pinru.

However, the situation in the household department has deteriorated to this point, so it is right to scare him.

Zhu Changluo said: "If Huaiyan's taxes are not paid up, we will find a way to collect them. What's the use of being poor here? Does Gu have money?"

Liu Pinru glanced at Zhu Changluo resentfully, and said in his heart: "Your Highness, you really have money."

Liu Pinru's careful thinking, Zhu Changluo saw through it all at once, and these people were thinking about his money.However, the silver in Xishanhuangzhuang was not brought by the wind.

If the imperial court finds Xishan Huangzhuang every time they are short of money, if things go on like this, they will not have any enthusiasm for work. As long as they have no money, they will just ask him, the crown prince.

However, this method is mostly used as an emergency, once you get used to it, it is drinking poison to quench your thirst!At that time, the tax system of Ming Dynasty will be further collapsed, and it will be difficult to get into the sky if you want to collect taxes again.

Liu Pinru said: "Your Highness, although the Huaiyan tax is collected by the Ministry of Households, the person who is in charge of supervising the collection is the Yanyan Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. The Yanyan Yushi and the Household Department come and go again, so the taxation of this tax At that time, it was difficult for the household department to directly receive the salt merchants in Huaiyan."

Zhu Changluo listened to Liu Pinru's words, he knew that what Liu Pinru said was the truth.The Ministry of Households collects taxes, but it is the Metropolitan Procuratorate that monitors tax collection. It sounds like there is nothing wrong with it. After all, this is an exaggeration of departmental supervision, which can better prevent corruption that enriches private pockets.

However, there is still a fatal flaw in this system, that is, what if the patrol salt censor colludes with the salt merchants?
In the era of Zhu Yuanzhang, perhaps such a situation would not have happened, or even not many. After all, it was easier for Zhu Yuanzhang to kill officials than a chicken. In the four Hongwu cases in the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang killed 10,000+ people. The proportion of officials in this kind is also frighteningly high.

It can be said that there has never been such a strong anti-corruption monarch as Zhu Yuanzhang in all dynasties.

Although, some modern interpretations of the Hongwu Four Cases are that Zhu Yuanzhang raised the Four Cases in order to consolidate Zhu Ming's country.There is a little taste of avoiding the heavy and taking the light.

However, in Zhu Changluo's view, this is not the most important thing.The most critical point is that Zhu Yuanzhang really hated corrupt officials.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to kill so many officials with such a strong method. Doesn't he know that these officials are all scholars?Killing them will make the scholars feel sad and resentful. After a few years, will these scholars slander him as much as possible?
Obviously, Zhu Yuanzhang is not afraid of such posthumous reputation. As long as he is a corrupt official, he will not be soft. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang's childhood experience was not happy, and his family was forced to death by these corrupt officials.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang may not have thought that after him, there would be no Emperor Yongle who was equally cruel.The other emperors were all emperors who grew up under the influence of traditional scholar-bureaucrat thinking. Although, among them, there were also strange things like Emperor Zhengde, Emperor Jiajing, and Emperor Wanli of this dynasty.

However, no matter how much these three tossed about, they did not raise their butcher knives to the scholar-bureaucrats.They still cherish the little scholar's evaluation.

Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, the government was in dire straits, and it wasn't just the emperor who was messing around. These literati and bureaucrats also had to bear a considerable responsibility.

The topic is turning to the current issue. The taxation of Huaiyan is supervised by the inspector of the salt censor, but the person who actually collects the tax is the Ministry of Households.The Ministry of Accounting has lost the right to audit and review in this supervision system, and is simply responsible for cash registers.

A system like this is a typical wonderful financial system.

Such a system directly undermines the responsibility system of the Ministry of Accounting, and also leads to the fact that the Ministry of Accounting has no direct right to contact the salt merchants of Huaiyan, and the salt merchants of Huaiyan have to pay how much salt tax, but they are not responsible for patrolling. Yan Yushi has the final say.

If this implementation continues, without effective and strong supervision and enforcement, if the Ministry of Households can receive money from the salt merchants, it will be hell.

Zhu Changluo understood Liu Pinru's meaning, that is, their household department has no right to directly order the inspector of the salt censor, and the salt merchants are not wooing their household department, so the household department wants to collect taxes from salt merchants, it is simply a dream .

Zhu Changluo said: "I have written down your question alone. However, I still want to tell you that the Korean War is a major military event, and the Japanese pirates are a serious problem. If the Japanese pirates are not eliminated for a day, Ming Dynasty will not have peace. Therefore, the Ministry of Household Affairs No matter how difficult it is, you have to support this table. After all, the biggest end, Gu has already helped you bear it. If you can't even handle this, Gu may have to abolish your useless household department. , and re-established a household department."

Zhu Changluo's words carried a heavy warning meaning, which made Liu Pinru feel a great sense of crisis.In his mind, the Household Department will definitely not be abolished, but the officials of the Household Department are not necessarily.

Over the years, because of the lack of money in the household department, several household ministers have received severe reprimands from the Wanli emperor, and the officials of the household department who were arrested and exiled are also the most among all the yamen in Beijing.

In such a state, it is hard not to frighten Liu Pinru. The current Minister of the Ministry of Accounting, Yang Junmin, is on long-term sick leave. He is now the specific person in charge of the Ministry of Accounting. If something happens, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will definitely take him into action .

So, Liu Pinru really panicked, his daughter-in-law couldn't live without his father-in-law's care, without his shelter, how could his daughter-in-law be happy with his son?
After beating Liu Pinru, Zhu Changluo got news of Shen Li again.

Shen Li went to Xishan Huangzhuang with incomparable grace to meet Emperor Wanli, and thanked Emperor Wanli for his kindness in person.

It's a pity that Emperor Wanli didn't see him at all, so he sent Chen Ju out to give Shen Li a few words.

The general meaning is: I am very busy, and I know your thoughts.If you have nothing to do, go to Ciqing Palace to work.Now the prince is in charge of the country, he is still young, and needs the help of a mature and prudent minister like you to correct him.

After Shen Li received such a reply from Emperor Wanli, he was overwhelmed with gratitude. Wanli asked Emperor Wanli to take care of the dragon body, and he would do his best to help His Highness the Crown Prince.

In the end, he still wanted to catch up with Chen Ju, but Chen Ju had already made his position clear.

He didn't pay too much attention to Shen Li's greeting, he just said a few polite words, and left in a hurry on the grounds that Emperor Wanli needed to be served.

Shen Li was left alone to sigh outside the Xishan Huangzhuang for a while, and then he returned to the post house honestly and waited for the imperial court's will.

After Zhu Changluo heard the news, he was also surprised, but then Zhu Changluo recalled the attitude of Emperor Wanli, and he understood.

Emperor Wanli really didn't want to deal with foreign ministers anymore, and he was terrified of these foreign ministers' words of persuasion and greetings as soon as they met.

Now he is now quietly being a wealthy, infatuated, and beautiful man.

When I have nothing to do, I play mahjong with Queen Mother Li, and when I am free, I go shopping and count how much money I have saved.

At night, when there is a moon, look at the moon and think about the fairy Chang'e who he can't find in the moon palace.When there is no moon, find the queen or concubine Gong to live a married life.

Moreover, recently he also organized a group of painters to secretly paint the Twelve Gold Hairpins in Jinling according to what he thought in his heart.

This kind of thing must never be let the foreign ministers know, once they know, wouldn't there be a catastrophe?

Therefore, it was impossible for Emperor Wanli to meet Shen Li.

Moreover, such a small day is simply bubbling beautiful to him, why would he go to see the ministers to listen to those bad things?

Now that the prince has grown up, he can help him share the burden. For such a matter, he should go to the prince.

Shen Li returned to the post house resentfully, and sighed a long time.

In fact, he was also a little guilty.Although he thought he had contributed a lot to the establishment of the crown prince, but at the most critical time, he stayed in Nanjing.

Missed this prosperous age that is called "reviving the Ming Dynasty".

Now the crown prince is in charge of the country, but the people who assist the government have nothing to do with him. Instead, they have become Shen Shixing and others who are increasingly flattering and obstructing the hearing of the saints.

This made Shen Li extremely worried. Now that he is finally back, he is extremely excited.

He can finally correct the prince by his side.

Thinking of this, Shen Li suddenly felt that he had a heavy responsibility, as if he had assumed the future of Daming.

Zhu Changluo in the Ciqing Palace is in a very good mood at the moment.He told Wei Zhongxian: "Go and find Mr. Dong."

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