eldest son of Ming dynasty

Time came to August.

In the morning and evening, the weather had turned cold, and the emperor walked along the corridor in the palace with Xu Guan. At the corner of the corridor, some eunuchs would stand with their heads bowed, silent.

"Shenwuwei's salary comes from internal funds, which is three times that of a first-class guard. The name and place of origin of each soldier is kept in the attendant's room, and it does not go through the Ministry of War or the Five Cities Bingma Division. It is somewhat similar to the general surname of the people. The house slaves you have gathered, you, Xu Guan, will be members of my Zhu family from now on."

Zhu Houzhao's stature is not too small, because he exercises regularly and eats a relatively balanced diet. He can be counted as a seven-foot man.And life is good all the year round, it can be said that the skin is tender and tender, like a white-faced niche.

Being in a high position allowed him to hide majesty between his brows, and with a jade belt around his waist, he looked really handsome when he walked.

But standing next to a big man like Xu Guan, it seems that the whole body is a circle smaller.

"The general will understand what His Majesty means."

"Then do you understand, why did I set up Shenwuwei?"

"The general is puzzled, please make it clear, Your Majesty."

Zhu Houzhao folded his hands on his chest, straightened his waist, turned his eyes slightly, but did not speak.

The wind blew up the pink petals that fell on the ground one by one, passing by their eyes.

"...General Xu will understand in the future, for now, let's take the Shenwuwei first."

No one reported the folk affairs to the emperor, but if so many silver taels were copied all at once, it must have had an impact.On this basis, Zhu Houzhao, as a latecomer, still can't stop some reform actions.

And he remembered that during the Zhengde period, there were princes who rebelled.

Furthermore, Zhu Houzhao yearns for the world outside the Forbidden City, the scenery in the north of the Forbidden City, the grasslands of the desert, the emperor of the Han people does not go there, how can he excel in martial arts?

The royal conquest is something he has always wanted to do.

All this requires an elite soldier to guard him around.

The so-called reformer is someone who touches inherent interests. Whether it is the emperor or a minister, they are actually dangerous.

At the end of the corridor are his courtiers.

Zhu Houzhao glanced sideways at Xu Guan, he understood, bowed and clasped his fists, "I will take my leave."

"Ah."

Immediately afterwards, the emperor quickened his pace, and quickly walked in front of a group of courtiers, and kept saying, "It's hot outside, go to the Qing Palace."

Under Zhu Houzhao's arbitrariness, the officials of the Lianghuai Transportation Department have no possibility of turning over.
And when the dust has settled on this matter, other matters will gradually be put on the agenda.

Today's convening of courtiers is mainly about four topics.

First, the matter of the special salary issued by the emperor's decree, after so many days of brewing, probably has to come to a conclusion.

Second, Zhu Houzhao killed some people, but the court's purpose was not to kill these people.How to deal with the next matters is the highlight.

Third, the Shaofu is independent, and the establishment of the seventh department must be formally clarified by imperial decree.

Fourth, many officials of the Lianghuai Transportation Department were killed, as were businessmen. The court had to sort out accounts and plan to spend some money.

At first glance, there are many things to do, but in fact it is not difficult.

Especially the special salary.

The source of the silver taels of the special salary is internal money, and its essence is that the emperor uses his own silver taels to support his trusted ministers.

If someone is willing to pay money, it is still a minister who gives it. Except for those who have been awarded special salaries to "courteously" themselves, others will not offend others in such matters.

"...According to the results of discussions between the cabinet and the six ministries, the special salary is set to six grades, which are 3 taels, 1 taels, 5000 taels, 3000 taels, 1000 taels, and 500 taels of silver per year. If you receive an award, you will have a special salary every year. Of course, if the person is proud of being favored and does not know good or bad, what should be taken back will also be taken back."

What Zhu Houzhao held in his hand was the "Special Salary Details" that had been drawn up by the cabinet.

Today's discussion is completed, and the world will be surveyed after the seal is used.

"The implementation of the special salary is not to protect all the courtiers of the Ming Dynasty, but only to protect those courtiers who are unwilling to be corrupt. Back then, Zhang Zuo's deputy chief censor, Zhang Mao, entertained guests with festival tributes. Life was so difficult. This is because the court is forcing ministers to become corrupt officials. I couldn't bear it in my heart, so I had this thought. And the list... has already been drawn up."

"The so-called special salary, the key is the word special. Only those who have made special contributions can be awarded this honor. As for what is special... For example, Mr. Li and Mr. Liu, who were loyal to the country and worked diligently. When I was the prince , I saw with my own eyes that they were at their desks every day, dealing with government affairs, the so-called hard work of paperwork, decades like a day, this can be called special."

Both Li Dongyang and Xie Qian came out. They were wearing big red robes, and their hair was much whiter than in previous years. Li Dongyang, especially, had bags under his eyes and wrinkled skin. There were age spots on his nose and one on his cheeks. After all, he was over 60.

It is not easy to serve such an emperor who is both good and evil, shrewd and arbitrary.

"Wei Chen is ashamed."

"Hey." Zhu Houzhao went down the steps to help the two old ministers.

Anyway, he is a young man with rosy cheeks, and he is an old man who has been in Fuguo for decades.He is not a minister in power, let alone governing indiscriminately, and is basically very decent.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao's support is such that he respects the old and loves the young.

Even if these were ignored, after all, he had just killed so many people, and he looked mean and ungrateful, and giving a sweet date after the big stick was a basic skill.

"Elder Li Ge and Elder Xie Ge don't need to be modest. I'm young, and if I don't have two Ge elders for the important task of governing the country, I'm afraid there will be more troubles. It's just that I sometimes have a stubborn temper, but that's right and wrong. People. And I also know that the cabinet is hard work."

The emperor's warm words suddenly caused a warm current to flow through the hearts of the six officials and nine ministers of the Qianqing Palace. For a period of time, the emperor's face was always frosty, which made them a little scared.Today, finally... some good words came out.

They all felt that the emperor was filial and caring for the people, and now it seems that such an emperor still exists.

Li Dongyang and Xie Qian felt even more flattered.

"Your Majesty's words are serious. The so-called hard work is also the duty of a minister. As for the special salary... I have no children and no daughters. All I need are three meals a day and four seasons' clothes. How can I use the special salary in a year? I implore Your Majesty to take it back, it would be better if these silver coins were given to the landless people."

Li Dongyang said so,

Xie Qian had no choice but to keep up.

But Zhu Houzhao didn't let them say, "You two elders, don't refuse. If you don't accept this money, how can others dare to accept it? Besides, if the person who received my special salary is found out by me and still accepts bribes, then If you want to increase the crime, you want me to use this drastic method?"

What he said, it seemed that Ge Lao was guilty and did not dare to take this move.

So I didn't continue to decline.

However, even though he is an old man, the special salary level announced by the emperor is only the second class, that is, 1 taels per year.

This made the six ministers all curious,

Even Li and Xie are only second class, so is there anyone in the first class?
Indeed, the first class of 3 taels was put there by Zhu Houzhao for others to see.

Just like the first-rank officials in the Ming Dynasty, it was extremely difficult for people not surnamed Zhu to become one.

In Zhu Houzhao's heart, this level is reserved for the kind of meritorious persons who save people from dragons and open up territories.In addition, he is still waiting for someone in the academy to make some technological breakthroughs, so that he can also reward them.

It is very profitable to spend a little money to play a demonstration role.

As for ordinary things that ordinary people do, 1 taels is the best.

The emperor is a person with very mature political means, and it is impossible to appoint someone higher than the cabinet for no reason, so since the cabinet boss is second-class, the rest of the people have nothing to do.

Next, Gu Zuo is the second class, because he has done too many things in charge of the Shaofu.

If it is normal, Han Wen and Min Gui are only fourth.

Subsequently, Liang Chu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Wang Bing, Minister of the Ministry of War, and Ministers of the Reprocessing Department and the Ministry of Rites did not receive special salaries.This is Zhu Houzhao's decision after pondering for a long time.

First of all, you can't just keep one of them, it's insulting, if you want to keep more, it's easy for the four to 'report each other for warmth'.

Because the special salary is based on merit, not on closeness. It is not easy to get it. It has nothing to do with the size of the official position.

And like Yang Yiqing who won the battle of Huamachi, he can be ranked as the second class, Wang Jia can be ranked as the second class after he has opened the sea, and Wang Shouren can be ranked as the third class for his meritorious service in suppressing bandits in Fujian.

In addition to these normal official names, there are also some strange...

For example, Tan Yunxian of the Women's Medical Center for saving lives and healing the wounded, and the benevolence of the doctors can be ranked as the fourth class, and the Zuo Fudu Yu Shi Zhang Mao is the fourth class, except for the name of honesty and integrity, and a special gift of 3000 taels of silver.

special,

The key is to be special.

This list will continue to grow in the future, but if you add one by one in the future, those who have no military merits or special circumstances may not even be able to get 500 taels.

Nevertheless, the item of special salary will cost nearly 10 taels of silver every year.

Fortunately, there are four ministers, as well as Dali Temple Minister, Tongzheng Envoy, and Zuodu Yushi, who did not bear this title, so this arrangement is not particularly strange, and none of them will feel that the emperor is targeting them.

Stop talking about them,
Didn't Liu Jian also have one?

Zhu Houzhao didn't want to waste too much time on this. Anyway, the specific implementation path is also very simple, because the number of people is small, and it can be given to them in person at an appropriate time.

In addition to the purpose of rewarding this special salary, it is also to make people who are not corrupt, with bulging pockets, more "confident and fearless", just like Zhang Mao, if the court does not make him hungry, he can bore those corrupt officials to death.

Liu Jin unfolded the sacred decree on the imperial case, and the emperor used the seal in the eyes of everyone.

With a bang, a modest reform finally came to fruition.

After Zhu Houzhao handed over the imperial decree to Liu Jin, he came out from behind the case and walked slowly to the gate of Qianqing Palace until he reached the threshold.

With his back to the ministers, he said:
"I still remember that in the 17th year of Hongzhi, when I investigated the Zhejiang nest case, someone mentioned that the court should not compete with the people for profit. But I don't like money, so I am willing to give up the money.

The so-called imperial court is just a few palaces and a few yamen, and meals still have to be shared. "

The morning wind outside the door made Zhu Houzhao's hair flutter randomly, and the emperor's words echoed in the palace, resounding over and over again.

"I am the emperor, and you are all important ministers of the country. In the eyes of future generations, we can find out what we have done. I don't know what you think, whether you want to leave a name in history, or whether you want to leave the flood after I die. , but I am responsible for this dragon chair."

"There are too many regrets in history. Confucius was born at an untimely time, Huo Qubing died young, the Anshi Rebellion and the prosperous Tang Dynasty were wiped out overnight, and the turmoil Ting Yue Wumu left hatred through the ages... Dear dear friends, I don't want these regrets to happen in Zhengde towards.

For 18 years, my father, Huang Yuji, worked hard to govern, and the people used by the court, all of you are virtuous ministers, and I am only sixteen years old, which is the prime of youth.Outside the borders, the Tatars were torn apart, and there were no wars in the Central Plains.Under such conditions, if I, Zhu Houzhao..."

The emperor pointed to himself,
Then he changed direction and pointed to the standing minister, "You Li, Xie, Han, Min... with so many people, we can't come up with a Guotai Minan and Quartet to serve us, so don't boast too much about us. I'm afraid it will still be a joke for future generations."

This is a heartfelt statement, and once it is said, there is an emperor's soaring ambition.

"My emperor's sage!! My emperor's sage!!"

Zhu Houzhao turned sideways, looking at the kneeling man with a calm expression.

"It's useless to light up my sages, and the power of the country depends on you. Jin Gui,"

"Wei Chen is here."

"Let's talk about the next thing."

"Yes."

Next up on the agenda is salt.

The officials of Yunsi and the merchants of Lianghuai were completely destroyed by the "power" in a tearing way. Now Yang Tinghe and Zhao Shen are still there, but the official system is destroyed and cannot be dragged on indefinitely.

What to do next is a question that needs to be answered quickly and well.

The purpose of the court and Zhu Houzhao's purpose is to hope that the Lianghuai saltworks will operate normally and the income of the court's salt department will increase.It's not about arresting those people and killing them.

As cool as that is, failing to deal with the aftermath is disaster.

One of the ways to deal with the aftermath is to try to implement the auction method and hand over the saltworks to the salt merchants for operation, so as to return to normal as soon as possible.

In fact, the so-called Lianghuai Salt Fields actually refer to the Huaibei and Huainan Salt Fields, which are mainly located along the eastern seaboard and have been important salt producing areas since the Han Dynasty.

In the 26th year of Zhengzheng, Emperor Taizu set up a salt area here, with a total of 29 salt fields under his jurisdiction; in the seventh year of Chenghua, another ancient stove was found. The emperor ordered the establishment of Tianci farms, so that up to now, there are 30 Lianghuai salt farms, with a total of more than [-] kitchen households.

By the mid-Ming Dynasty, the official output of Lianghuai salt was about 4000 million catties. During Hongzhi, Yanyin was changed to Xiaoyin, and one salt was about 200 catties (400 catties before Hongzhi), so it was converted into Yanyin, Lianghuai The salt field can produce 70 yin of salt a year, which is much higher than the 40 yin of Liangzhe Salt Field and 15 yin of Shandong Salt Field, accounting for nearly a quarter of the annual output of 300 million yin of Daming.

This is not counting the amount of private salt produced by kitchen households.

And the price of each imported salt is about 0.7 taels, so the normal salt class alone is about 50 taels. In addition, there are some "handling fees". 'Keep the treasury for the relief stove', so it is called relief silver.

In addition, there are "finishing silver", "cutting and confiscating silver" and so on.

It can be said to be exorbitant and miscellaneous taxes, with many names.

All in all, adding up the chaos, the Lianghuai salt department in the Ming Dynasty paid 60 to 70 taels of silver every year, accounting for about one-third of the annual income of the national salt department.

The proportion of annual revenue is higher than the proportion of production, because Lianghuai salt is the best and the price is the highest.

Same as above, the income from the salt class cannot be included in the smuggled salt.

In fact, judging from the degree of "no official and no selfishness" that has been flooded, the proportion of residual salt other than regular salt will be quite high.

Maybe, if the imperial court auctions off a salt field, the salt output of a certain salt field will double.

And if the salt merchants bid 0.7 taels of silver for each quotation and still make a profit after paying various "exorbitant taxes", then it can be reasonably estimated that the unit price of salt quotations at the auction can be easily increased to one tael.

On average, each salt field produces about 2.3 yin of normal salt per year, and it is reasonably estimated to be 3 yin of excess salt.The auction is divided into five years and six places can be auctioned in one year, so the auction proceeds can reach 18 taels.

This number needs to be multiplied by five, which means a total of 90 taels before the imperial court agreed to hand over the management rights of the six saltworks to merchants.

Because the management right is five years at a time, of course it is five years of money!How many bowls of noodles have been eaten, this account can not be wrong.

For a businessman, if he buys a salt field, it will cost about 18 taels of silver, plus some costs, it will be 20 taels.After paying this sum of money, 20 yuan and 4000 million catties of salt in the next five years will belong to him.

In fact, the price of one tael per quotation may be low. After all, the "exorbitant miscellaneous taxes" only added 0.7 to 0.3, which is a slightly lower ratio. Whether the bureaucrats of Ming Dynasty performed so well is still a big question mark.

But at the beginning, always take it slowly.A salt field cost several 10 taels of silver. After the Lianghuai salt merchants suffered serious injuries, it is estimated that there are not many people who can get so much silver.

Moreover, the cost of salt merchants is not only the auction fee, but also the wages of the stove households who produce salt for them.

Therefore, the estimated unit price of 1 tael and the estimated output from 2.3 to 3 are not considered a significant increase.In fact, I don't know how much tricky it is.

But even so, Zhu Houzhao felt that it was enough.

Because in addition to the rising income of the salt class, the imperial court can also remove the messy Yunsi Yamen and sweep all those "insects" into the garbage dump.

So this deal gave Zhu Houzhao a lot of motivation to push forward.

Of course, the Shaofu and the cabinet raised another question,
Li Dongyang said, "If 6 sites are successfully photographed this year, what will happen to the remaining 24 sites?"

Zhu Houzhao nodded slightly,
Discussions between the emperor and ministers should be aimed at solving problems, not who is a gentleman and who is a villain.

Later, Han Wen said: "First of all, it cannot be shut down. The annual salt entering the market is more than 70 yuan? After so many salt farms are closed, the salt production will drop sharply, which will definitely make the price of salt higher."

Zhu Houzhao folded his hands on his chest, shaking while listening to the suggestions of his courtiers.

"Weichen thinks, should we choose a few places to list as Duizhi saltworks?"

Zhu Houzhao raised his head suddenly, "Who said that?"

A young blue-robed official was overwhelmed by the king's prestige, and thought he had said something wrong, so he knelt down hastily and said, "It's what I said."

"What's your name? What's your position?"

"Report to Your Majesty. The humble minister Chen Jili is a doctor in the Shaofu."

Gu Zuo added the report, "At the beginning of the year, His Majesty ordered the remaining workers in the capital to be trained as shipwrights, and I chose this person to take charge of the matter. Today, His Majesty called to discuss the matter of spending money to build roads. The minister felt that there was some truth in the memorial, so he brought it along with him."

Oh, but that's for a later topic.

Zhu Houzhao took a look at this young man named Chen Jili. He didn't even have a beard on his mouth, and his round face was actually a bit immature.

"Understood, let's not mention it first. Langzhong Chen, what do you mean by the Shouzhi Salt Farm? Please tell me more about it."

Chen Jili's heart skipped a beat, he swallowed two mouthfuls of saliva and said: "In the case of the salt class, both inside and outside know the sufferings of private salt merchants. The imperial court killed salt officials, punished salt merchants, and got rid of the harm of dignitaries occupying their nests and selling their nests. The act of gouging out flesh and mending sores is praised by the common people. But now that the auction is going on and the Yanyin is gone, what should we do with the Yanyin in the hands of the salt merchants in the past?"

"What you mean is that the court cannot renege on its debt."

Chen Jili was taken aback, "I don't dare."

The emperor was silent for a moment, then laughed.

"Get up." Zhu Houzhao felt a kind of relief. Finally, someone said the words that the government cannot default.

Many businessmen in the private sector have realized the importance of honesty as the foundation of business. Unfortunately, most people in the official position do not understand, because power can easily overwhelm businessmen without making them feel that there are any consequences.

In fact, the excessive distribution of Yanyin is essentially the exploitation of merchants, which can be seen from the Daming Banknotes.Can't emperors like Yongle and Xuande understand it?
impossible.

Even if latecomers such as Hongzhi did not understand it, the ministers in the court explained the principles over and over again in a very popular way.

But why still can't cure the disease caused by excessive salt?

After all, four words, with business as the end.You should contribute to the court.

Commercial activities are always subject to various kinds of damage, unable to develop and grow, and they are still sprouting after 100 years. One of the reasons may also be the wanton destruction of those in power.

"The imperial court cannot renege on its debt." Zhu Houzhao said again, "Your suggestion is good. But how many salt farms should the imperial court choose as Duizhi salt farms?"

Asking questions like this is the actual operation.

Emperor Zhengde paid attention to this point, even more than the proposal itself.

Chen Jili continued: "If the auction goes well, the revenue from the Lianghuai salt work for the imperial court this year will have far exceeded that of previous years. Therefore, it is better to set up more Duizhi saltworks."

"Why?"

"Since it is to be accepted by salt merchants, you can't be petty. At present, the problem of keeping payment is serious, and some salt merchants even have to keep it for decades. It can be seen that one or two salt farms are used as cashier salt farms. Let the merchants feel the determination of the court to keep the contract. If this effect is produced, it is better to let it go."

If you really let it go, you will let it go, anyway, it's not the first time.

"It's tasteless to eat, but it's a pity to throw it away." Zhu Houzhao nodded, "It's true that one or two saltworks are likely to have adverse effects. Dear dear friends, what do you think?"