Rule over Ming Dynasty

Chapter 19 Xiao Xiao Liu Jin, the Emperor's Test
Later in the day, an autumn rain came as expected, and the icy rain washed the palace under the cover of night.

The thick yellow glazed tiles and high walls keep the rainwater out, and only the rainwater falling on the roof gathers along the tiles, forming water lines and falling from the eaves.

In September, the icy rain brought a slight chill, causing the temperature in the room to drop several degrees suddenly. The eunuchs and maids standing in the palace corridor couldn't help curling up.

Qianqing Palace, the lights are bright at this time.

After Zhu Youtang returned from Qingning Palace, he returned to Dongnuan Pavilion to handle government affairs.

The joy of ascension to the throne has passed away, and now it is time to focus on revitalizing the Ming Dynasty and bring the Ming Dynasty to a height never seen in China.

In the "Edict of Enthronement", he focused on the problem of salt abuse, so solving the salt abuse will be the first shot of his ruling career.

Although I have seen the crux of the salt administration problem, and pointed out the stubborn problem of collusion between government and businessmen in the salt law, it is far from a real solution.

Many people have a misunderstanding: as long as the emperor is brave and brave, and promulgates an imperial decree that can hit the point, then all problems will be solved.

It's just that this kind of thinking is undoubtedly very naive!It is true that the emperor kept his promises, but to truly implement the decrees, he needed the civil servants to implement them.

Take the sea ban as an example, this is the sea ban clause promulgated during the Taizu period.It is said that no one dares to engage in maritime trade, but in fact it has already become an important source of income for the southeast officials and gentry.

No matter how far-sighted His Majesty's decree is, if the civil servants do not implement it, it will be nothing but a piece of paper.

It's just that "the prosperity of the world is for profit; the hustle and bustle of the world is for profit", and the civil official group is no exception. There is no such thing as loyalty without consideration of return in this world.

If the emperor ordered local officials to levy more taxes on the people, then these officials would be more loyal than anyone else.It's just that if they are asked to distribute money to the people, they will either become deaf, or take the opportunity to deduct money from it.

Although there is obviously a problem of collusion between officials and businessmen in the current salt law, local officials have long been colluding, and they have no reason to smash their jobs.

Just like this, Zhu Youtang knew that he couldn't rely on local officials to fight against government-business collusion for him, so he stared at the list of Beijing officials above the fourth rank and above that he had recently compiled, and couldn't help frowning.

If a person who is willing to do things can be found, those corrupt officials and profiteers who are colluding with government and businessmen will naturally be exposed, and then they will be hit hard.But if the appointment is improper, it will only provide the official with a chance to make money, or it will become a bargaining chip for their cronies.

Although the party struggles in the Ming Dynasty are very serious, they are fighting for power, but they rarely really fight to the death.Even though Wan An, the first assistant, and Liu Ji, the second assistant, belong to the two factions, they are actually friends of the same year.

Even if officials from hostile forces are elected to rectify the salt administration, this is likely to become a political bargaining chip on the other side, but it is unlikely to truly solve the chronic problem of government-business collusion for itself.

That's why he needs to find an official who is capable and does not collude with the civil society, but does this court really have such a person?
The lights were swaying and dancing by the wind that rushed in from outside, and the pale yellow warm pavilion was filled with a touch of melancholy.

Zhu Youtang doesn't trust the civil servants who always talk about the people of the Li people, but they have to reuse them for some things. This court game is far more complicated than imagined.

"Master, if you don't like the smell of this kind of sandalwood, I know that there is a kind of light sandalwood in the warehouse, and that kind of sandalwood might be more suitable for you!" Liu Jin offered hot tea to Zhu Youtang, and immediately suggested cautiously .

Only then did Zhu Youtang realize that the smell of sandalwood burning now was indeed too strong, so he looked at Liu Jin with a half-smile and said, "I didn't expect you to be very careful!"

"Master, you are the servant's god. Being able to serve the master is the blessing of the servant's eight lifetimes. Naturally, the servant should consider such small things carefully!" Liu Jin gently put down the teacup, expressing her attitude sincerely.

Zhu Youtang realized that Liu Jin's success is indeed superior, so he held up the teacup and sighed: "If all officials can think like you, then I won't have such a headache!"

"Master, although it is true that many officials in the court are chasing fame and fortune, the servant believes that there are still officials in the court who are as loyal as the servant, and Wang Zhongyi is a role model for the servant!" Liu Jin sincerely regards Zhu Youtang as the master. Seriously.

A bright light flashed in Zhu Youtang's mind immediately, and he realized that he had forgotten the person he mentioned some time ago, and the person who rectified the salt law was no other than this person.

Liu Jin withdrew, and hurriedly searched for another kind of light sandalwood.

In fact, this responsibility should be attributed to Liang Fang. As the saying goes, "One emperor, one courtier", Chenghua Emperor naturally smelled stronger sandalwood for a long time, but the new emperor will undoubtedly prefer lighter sandalwood.

Of course, such tiny details are easy to be overlooked. Only Liu Jin, who is good at drilling and has a sincere heart, can quickly find the flaw here.

"Master, it's getting cold tonight, do you want to warm your bed?" Liu Jin asked cautiously after changing to other lighter sandalwood.

Zhu Youtang glanced at Liu Jin with disgust, but he didn't know how this guy got the confidence to warm his bed, so he asked indifferently: "What do you think!"

When Liu Jin looked up at Zhu Youtang, Zhu Youtang was already concentrating on writing with a pen, and for a while, he didn't know whether Zhu Youtang meant to want it or not.

But when he walked out of the East Nuan Pavilion, he was blown violently by the head-on wind, and his body immediately shivered, knowing that he must warm his bed tonight.

Eunuch Feng, who was in charge, knew that Liu Jin had already been favored, so not only did he not dare to bully the little eunuch who dumped the urinal anymore, but he also had to show respect.

Knowing that His Majesty is going to warm the bed tonight, Dang even called two maids in charge of warming the bed.

Liu Jin looked at the two fat maids in front of him, immediately vetoed: "No!"

"Eunuch Liu, why not?" Eunuch Feng asked in confusion knowing that Liu Jin understood the holy meaning better.

Although Liu Jin no longer has that thing, she still has the normal aesthetic ability. She scanned the surroundings again and asked seriously: "It seems that there are no particularly beautiful maids in our Qianqing Palace. I don't know how to sleep. Is there any court lady who is both beautiful and innocent!"

"There is a pretty one, everyone says it's Sai Xishi, but she's a bit older!" Eunuch Feng thought seriously, and then said seriously.

Liu Jin immediately became interested and said, "How old is it?"

"27?" Eunuch Feng asked uncertainly.

Liu Jin was overjoyed secretly, and immediately said with a final word: "She's the one tonight, bring her here to warm the master's bed immediately!"

The night was getting deeper, the rain had stopped at some point, and the sky was already clearing the clouds and seeing the moon.

Zhu Youtang is a diligent and dedicated person, and he is making his next work plan.

After finding a suitable dragon-slaying sword, he began to recall the craftsmanship of sun-drying salt, striving to make the salt government burst out with greater economic value.

The rectification of the salt government this time is not only to combat the collusion of merchants and officials, but also to increase the tax revenue of the salt government, so as to improve the current financial situation of Ming Dynasty.

The rise and fall of a dynasty depends most importantly on finances.The decline of the Song Dynasty was precisely because Wang Anshi's "financial management" reform was counterproductive, and in the end it made finances worse.

"Your Majesty, it's time for you to go to bed!" Liang Fang came over, looking very concerned.

Perhaps it was because of being too "dedicated" to Zhu Jianshen, and now he can no longer be [-]% loyal to Zhu Youtang, but he still cares about Zhu Youtang very much, after all, he is the descendant of his master.

Zhu Youtang looked up and saw that it was getting late, but he just wanted to appoint someone to clean up the salt administration, so the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise slightly.

Liang Fang noticed Zhu Youtang's smile, and thinking of tonight's arrangement, she couldn't help but have a strange look in her eyes.

The front of Qianqing Palace is regarded as the working area. Except for the warm pavilions and the main hall on the east and west sides, the rear area is all the emperor's living room.

It's just that the area behind is really too big, and the roof of the palace is obviously too high, so the area inside has been built into two floors, of which four large bedrooms are on the upper floor and five large bedrooms are on the lower floor.

There is a saying in Zhou Li: "The emperor lives in six bedrooms."According to the difference of four seasons, the emperor lived in different dormitories, with spring in the northeast, summer in the southeast, autumn in the southwest, and winter in the northwest.

It's just that when Zhu Yuanzhang came here, the six bedrooms were combined into one palace, and the one palace was divided into nine rooms. On the contrary, there are more "three bedrooms" than "the emperor lives in six bedrooms".

Zhu Youtang slept in the uppermost room on the first night, but he didn't expect the sky to get cold so quickly, so he chose to live on the lower floor.

Zhu Youtang walked in the middle bedroom, facing the court lady who came forward to change her clothes, she opened her hands very cooperatively, while the parts on her body decreased little by little.

"Your Majesty, today is fourteen days before the death of the late Emperor!" Liang Fang hesitated for a moment, then seriously reminded.

Zhu Youtang nodded slightly, but said helplessly: "I know it's less than 27 days, so it's not suitable to deal with government affairs! It's just that the Ministry of Rites may go to the court tomorrow, and now the government has a heavy backlog, so I'm afraid we have to break this precept!"

"Your Majesty, apart from being inappropriate to handle government affairs, have you forgotten one more thing?" Liang Fang couldn't help reminding Zhu Youtang as he looked at Zhu Youtang pretending to be confused.

Zhu Youtang blinked his eyes, but he didn't know what Liang Fang said, but suddenly smelled a faint fragrance in the air, and turned his head curiously to look at his dragon bed.

But he saw that two court ladies had already stepped forward to roll up the mosquito net, a long white leg stretched out from the brocade quilt on the bed, and then a beauty appeared in front of him like a transformed person.

The court lady looked to be in her 20s, and she only wore a red apron, but her body looked very proud, especially the side of the apron, where the sheets were quickly relaid.

Her facial features are exquisite, her skin is better than snow, her black hair is messy and orderly, her eyes are charming and affectionate, and she has a cold temperament on her body.

Looking at the beauty in front of him with the light of the light, Zhu Youtang's eyeballs wouldn't even move since he was someone who has read countless films. This is undoubtedly the top beauty in ancient costumes in his mind.

Eunuch Feng saw Zhu Youtang's reaction from the side, and suddenly realized that he was old, and it took a shrewd young man like Liu Jin to guess and understand the new emperor's intentions.

Erya noticed that Zhu Youtang had been staring at her body. After making the bed, she stepped back on purpose and said, "Long Live Lord, the servant has warmed the bed, please go to bed!"

Zhu Youtang swallowed silently, finally rationality overcame desire, and he waved his hand lightly, obviously to force himself to make mistakes!
(End of this chapter)