Rule over Ming Dynasty

Chapter 334: Money is all that matters, the king and his ministers suffer from happiness

Winter is a snowy season, and the snow in Beijing is particularly heavy this year.

zizi...

At noon, a group of important ministers arrived in sedan chairs through the snow.Since there was no time to clear the snow on the ground, the boots squeezed out the air inside, making a rhythmic sound.

Chang Feng led the Jinwu Guards to guard the Xiyuan Gate in the wind and snow. When he saw these important ministers gathered one after another, he knew that a grand financial meeting would be held today.

"Auspicious snow heralds a good harvest, good snow!"

Li Si, the Minister of Household Affairs, looked a little older. He raised his head and ignored the snowflakes falling on his eyelashes. He looked at the heavy goose-feather snow falling from the sky and let out a sincere sigh.

Whether it is the empire's finances or the food and clothing of ordinary people, the Ming Dynasty needs a good year now.

Although more and more voices are now calling the emperor a tyrant, the targets of the empire's tyranny are always the wealthy gentry and powerful men who are unkind for their wealth. The empire implements benevolent policies towards ordinary people.

If a good year can come, the imperial court will not only have more fiscal revenue, but also get enough productivity to build water conservancy projects and develop states.

As long as it survives these early hard days, the Ming Dynasty will definitely become a truly powerful country, and it will be able to seize resources from its surroundings to develop itself.

"It's not allowed to snow like this again. Once the construction period at the shipyard is delayed, Your Majesty will blame the Ministry of Works and it won't be able to bear it!" Jia Jun, Minister of the Ministry of Works, also came wearing a thick fur coat, but said in a low voice protest.

Since the discovery of five gold mines in Luzon Island by the Ming Dynasty was confirmed, the emperor was even more convinced in Taizu Tuomeng that there must be high-yielding corn, sweet potatoes and potatoes on the other side of the ocean.

Now the Royal Shipyard has launched a plan to build a Zhiyuan treasure ship, which will sail across the East China Sea and send envoys to bring back high-yielding crop seeds growing on the other side of the ocean.

Although he is not the Minister of Household Affairs, he still understands the value of high-yielding seeds.Once high-yielding crops do exist, their value will be far greater than the Luzon gold mines, and the people of the Ming Dynasty will be able to live a truly prosperous life.

But if the snow continues to fall like this, it will not only affect the launch time of the Zhiyuan Treasure Ship, but also seriously affect the shipbuilding progress of the Zhiyuan Treasure Ship.

Li Si, the Minister of Household Affairs, knew that Jia Jun was in charge of the Ministry of Works, and that the weather would depend on the sky, so he only glanced at Jia Jun.

Because of their different identities, their positions are different, but after all, they hope that the empire will become more and more prosperous and powerful.

The sedans arrived one after another, but they all stopped more than ten meters away from Xiyuan Gate, and the officials who arrived behind them paid tribute one after another.

"Li Shangshu, please check the number of people!"

Liu Ji, the second assistant, was now playing the role of assistant to the government. Seeing that the important personnel of the Sixth Ministry had almost arrived, he lightly reminded Li Yu, the Minister of Civil Affairs.

Li Yu has been sitting in the position of Minister of Personnel for four years, and his position as Minister of Personnel has become more and more stable, and he has become more and more like a great leader.

There are a total of eighteen important ministers in the six ministries, and Wang Yue, the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, came to supervise. However, the two ministers of the Ministry of Works and the Zuo minister of the Ministry of Hubu were not in the capital, so the total number was 17.

After Li Yu finished checking the personnel, he reported to Liu Ji: "Master Cifu, except Master Yuanfu, all other personnel have arrived!"

After all, Wan'an is getting old, and he has constant problems, especially in winter.

Some time ago, he suddenly suffered from abdominal cramps and was unable to get out of bed. The emperor sent an imperial doctor to diagnose and treat Wan An. However, he was only well for two days, but he contracted wind and cold again and was bedridden for several days.

Emperor Hongzhi was very generous to Wan'an. He not only sent imperial doctors for diagnosis and treatment, but also granted Wan'an sick leave, and often sent people to care about his condition.

Now that Wan An has not arrived, it is likely that he cannot be there due to illness.

cough cough...

At this moment, a sedan came hurriedly from the south, and the person in the sedan let out a violent cough.

"I'm here to pay my respects to Lord Yuanfu!" Second Assistant Liu Ji and others faced the rickety old man who walked out of the sedan chair and immediately greeted him respectfully.

Although Wan'an always managed to survive a series of illnesses, he looked very old and very different from the figure who ran wildly in Fengtianmen Square that day.

cough cough...

Wan An's hands were as thin as wood. With the help of his son Wan Yi, he walked out of the sedan chair. He couldn't help coughing a few more times and waved his hands gently to the saluting ministers.

"Dad, why don't you take a leave of absence!" Wan Yi felt his father's body trembling slightly, and couldn't help but tried to dissuade him.

Although Wan An's expression was stiff, his eyes were still sharp, but he glared at his son fiercely, and then gave Liu Ji a look.

Liu Ji and Wan An have worked together for many years, so they naturally knew what Wan An meant, so he said to the important ministers present: "Let's go in with Mr. Yuan Fu!"

Li Yu, the Minister of Personnel, and Jia Jun, the Minister of Industry, exchanged silent glances. They did not expect that Wan An still insisted on coming despite being seriously ill. This action alone was worthy of their respect.

"Old Immortal, let's see how long you can last!" He Qiaoxin, the Minister of Punishment, looked at Wan An's staggering figure and said bitterly.

Although Wan'an was also a Ci minister, he was not a Qingliu official. He rose to power through flattery, so he was spurned by their upright officials.

Now after coming to the Hongzhi Dynasty, Wan'an, a courtier, tried his best to curry favor with the tyrant Hongzhi, and has become the biggest traitor since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

Because of this, they all hope that both Wan An and Liu Mian Mian will die, so that they can be replaced by real Qingliu officials to lead them to restore Zhou rites and create a prosperous age.

Huh?
Wang Yue was not a participant in the Supreme Meeting, but had been acting as a bystander. However, he noticed the vicious eyes of He Qiaoxin, the Minister of Punishment, and immediately stared at this person with vigilance.

The location of the Supreme Meeting is still arranged in the Imperial Study Room, and now the floor heating has started to operate.

After all the important ministers came here, they all took off their fur clothes because they were all covered in snow.

The fur coats they wore were a special reward given to them by Hongzhi when he was disposing of the spoils when the Ming Dynasty regained Jianzhou last year.

Although they have the financial resources to buy a fur coat, wearing the fur coat they purchased is too eye-catching, so it is a different matter if it is just a gift from the emperor.

Because of this, they paid special attention to their fur clothes. They first carefully hung the fur clothes outside, and then walked into the warm spring-like imperial study.

It can be said that they are regular visitors here, and now they are enjoying the floor heating, feeling an indescribable feeling of comfort all over their bodies.

Everyone has become accustomed to this discussion model. Compared with the previous model, the current decision-making is more efficient and faster, especially the cooperation between various departments appears to be close.

Twenty-one chairs have been prepared. After receiving the ceremony, the officials who came took their seats according to their yamen and official positions. "let's start!"

Zhu Youtang was quietly sipping the fragrant tea in the attic. After seeing the internal and six ministry officials gathered, he spoke calmly.

The most important thing in the financial meeting is money. Although the income of the Ming Dynasty has been greatly improved this year, the expenses are also huge.

It is different from what many people think. They think that as long as the feudal dynasty can achieve political clarity, it can create a prosperous Zhou Dynasty.

It’s just that the social productivity is here, and the social wealth cannot be exhausted.Not to mention that it is impossible to squeeze out all the rich gentry, even if all social wealth can be returned to the court for redistribution, it will only be able to live a good life for a few years.

That's it. Now that Ming Dynasty wants to be truly strong, it is not enough to just get some social wealth back from the official and gentry class. The most important thing is to improve social productivity.

The upper and lower attic are already two levels.

Guo Yong stood below with Buddha dust in his hand. When he got the signal, he said in a unique accent: "My lords, this is next year's financial meeting. After the Ministry of Household Affairs explains this year's financial details, everyone can speak freely!"

Although everyone already knew that the Ministry of Finance was stretched thin, they did not know the specific number, so they all turned to look at Li Si.

Li Si's buttocks did not move, but he coughed lightly.

Wu Yu, the right minister of the Ministry of Revenue, had already prepared for the announcement of various economic data of the country, but there was no hint of joy on his face.

"The luxury tax is only 250 million taels?"

"It's a little less, but it's still an important investment!"

"The biggest problem now is that our expenses are too large and we can't bear it at all!"

……

When Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, and other officials heard the details of the imperial court's financial expenditures, they were not happy at all, but looked worried.

Since Emperor Hongzhi came to the throne, he has rectified the salt administration, cleared out the land, cracked down on the most corrupt people in the Ming Dynasty, and introduced a luxury tax, all of which have increased fiscal revenue.

But as some people have lamented, the biggest problem now is that the court's spending is too large, causing it to fall into a fiscal deficit again.

Zhu Youtang, who was in the attic, took a sip of tea silently and sighed secretly. He also realized that the biggest financial problem was actually excessive spending.

However, the Ming Dynasty is now full of ills, and the people's quality of life is bound to continue to decline.If nothing is done, even if there is no Jurchen in Jianzhou, other forces will overthrow the decadent dynasty.

Because of this, although he had no intention of changing the political system, he wanted to create the most powerful dynasty and even become the only tyrant to unify the world.

"Although we have a lot of financial expenditures, which one is not a long-term success, and which one can be stopped?" Li Yu, the Minister of Household Affairs, heard these voices in his ears and immediately issued a soul torture.

Due to various factors, the current financial expenditure of the imperial court is indeed very high, but every expenditure is not the result of hot-headedness, but a carefully considered decision.

The management of the Yellow River is related to people's livelihood and water conservancy projects, and is the livelihood of people in Henan, Hebei and Shandong provinces, so it is impossible to stop it.

The development of the state is not only the hope for the survival of millions of disaster victims, but also the Northeast Granary Plan that is related to the food security of the Ming Dynasty. There is no reason to stop it.

The plan to strengthen the army was the cornerstone of the Ming Dynasty's prosperity. It not only ensured the safety of Ming's territory and border residents, but also escorted Ming's overseas expansion, so it could not be stopped.

The Zhiyuan Treasure Ship seems to be the least important project, but it is a strong guarantee for the Ming Dynasty to become truly prosperous. By promoting the cultivation of high-yielding crops, more people can free themselves from the constraints of the land.

The Ming Dynasty has been intensively cultivating for thousands of years, and many of their planting experience are already perfect. With their composting technology, the only way to increase production is to invent chemical fertilizers.

It’s just that scientific and technological progress is never achieved overnight, but requires accumulated scientific research over time.

Even now, the Ministry of Industry still cannot produce nylon rope, and it is not easy to obtain chemical fertilizers, so the best way is to introduce high-yielding crops.

If high-yield crops can be obtained, the productivity of the entire society can be improved, and food can also increase rapidly.

That's why, compared with the rapid growth of grain production, it will be a very cost-effective deal to squeeze out a financial expenditure to build a Zhiyuan treasure ship, so there is no reason to stop it.

"It is useless to fight too much. Empty talk will harm the country, but hard work will make the country prosperous! Now we have to focus on the current difficulties and solve the most urgent funding problem in the near future!" Li Yu, the Minister of Personnel, became more and more calm now, and immediately expressed his opinion.

Officials such as Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, knew that these expenditures could not be stopped, so they kept their mouths shut.

"The biggest problem at present is the initial funding gap for the development of the Luzon gold mine. After verification by the officials from the Ministry of Industry, it is estimated that 300 million taels will be invested!" Li Si, the Minister of Household Affairs, sighed lightly and revealed the biggest problem. road.

The development of the Luzon gold mine had been scheduled a few months ago, but after the emperor allocated all the money prepared by the Ministry of Revenue to the Royal Shipyard, he could no longer afford the upfront costs of mining.

Originally, the autumn harvest had filled some funding gaps, but civil and military officials, vassals, military officials, royal relatives and the army all needed to pay their salaries, which was a huge expense.

Although 300 million taels doesn't sound like a lot, after all, this was an era when there was no crazy influx of overseas silver. Today's 300 million taels is simply an astronomical amount.

Li Si lost handfuls of his hair during this period, but there was still no good solution. The gap of 300 million taels was like a big mountain weighing on his heart.

Faced with such a thorny problem, he also added: "There are not many transactions for luxury homes in Beijing this year, so the luxury tax may be reduced by more than half next year!"

Among the luxury tax, the largest proportion is actually luxury homes in Beijing. However, capital in Beijing is no longer keen on speculating on luxury homes, and the decline in transaction volume has also affected the revenue from luxury taxes.

When Jia Jun, the Minister of Industry and Industry, and other officials learned that the income had actually decreased, they secretly sighed in their hearts. Today's financial situation is really getting worse.

"Didn't we mention earlier that mining funds can be raised through the issuance of national bonds? How is the household survey on this matter? Is it possible to implement it on a trial basis?" Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, suddenly asked as if something had occurred to him.

Everyone also thought of this and couldn't help but turn their heads to look at Li Si.

Although eating small amounts of grain is regarded as drinking poison to quench thirst, now mining gold mines will have continuous output, but it is a win-win approach.

Li Si did not speak, but Wu Yu, the right minister of the Ministry of Revenue behind him, stood up and said: "Our Ministry of Revenue has done a questionnaire survey, but the results are not satisfactory. Everyone is still worried about the court's breach of contract!"

As soon as these words came out, the hearts of everyone present went cold again.

(End of this chapter)