General Constitution of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 229
Xiyuan.

Zhu Zaihen knelt in front of Jiajing dejectedly, but Jiajing, who no longer worried about gains and losses, became more relaxed.

"A total of 2000 million stones and 750 million taels of silver were used for disaster relief in the Northwest. The merchants paid in full, and the price was 50 million taels of silver."

"Father, these people go too far! Yan Song is holding the court's bowl and doing such a thing, it is really disgusting."

Jiajing sat on the dragon chair, leaning on the bronze mallet and clicking his tongue: "Tsk, tsk, I think it was you who gave the power to the outer court. In the Ming Dynasty, the people will be safe and the Haiyan River will be clear."

"But the imperial court is really powerless to help the disaster. They can only rely on the strength of merchants. The imperial court can't just sit back and watch the people in the northwest starve to death..." Zhu Zaiyu bowed his head and said.

Before Zhu Zaiyu could finish speaking, Huang Jin walked in holding a memorial book.

"Your Majesty, the memorial of Yan Ge's veteran generals has been drafted, and the business tax is assigned to the Ministry of Households. However, the Lumi of the nine generals will still be spent from internal funds, and the Lumi of the clan's prefectures will be allocated by the Ministry of Households, and the imperial weaving field will be designated separately. Six places and nine porcelain kilns are all placed under the jurisdiction of the Weaving Bureau. In addition, starting from this year, the Ministry of War will supply ten large ships with [-] raw materials, [-] sea-going ships with [-] raw materials, and tribute ships for ten years, with a total of [-] tribute ships. strip."

"Imperial property is subject to civil and commercial tax payment. After the cabinet department reconciles the commercial tax of the imperial property every year, it will be returned to the internal funds at the end of the year."

This incident seemed to take off their pants and fart, but in fact it cut off the way for the common people to devote themselves to the royal family.

If the imperial court confiscated land taxes from scholar-bureaucrats in this way, these people would directly rebel without even thinking about it.

Today, it was used backhandedly on the Emperor's head.

Hearing this, Jiajing couldn't help laughing angrily: "Listen, let them find a way to collect the gentry's land gifts on weekdays, all of them are like unenlightened animals."

"Today, this calculation has come to my head, but I won't leave any room for you."

As soon as Jiajing finished speaking, Huang Jin said, "Your Majesty, if you can't do it, I will call back this proposal first, and let Elder Yan Ge and Elder Xu Ge formulate countermeasures."

"No need." Jiajing lazily threw away the copper mallet in his hand: "Zhu Zaixun."

"My son is here."

"Do you know what to do when a king is at a disadvantage?" Jiajing looked at Zhu Zaiyu and asked.

"My son is stupid."

When Jiajing heard this, he spoke earnestly and earnestly: "You have to wait, rely on, hide your weapons in your body, let the world see your retreat, let the world see how those people do when they gain power. aggressive."

"When the sun falls at noon, things will turn upside down. Otherwise, it will be like this."

This is the truth that Jiajing realized during the ceremony, and now, Jiajing has taught Zhu Zaiyu these precepts and deeds.

"The Guozijian meeting, this scene seems familiar." Jiajing clicked his tongue and said, "The last time was more than 1000 years ago. Do you know what happened after the Taixue Qing Dynasty in the Later Han Dynasty?"

"Twice the scourge of the party's imprisonment, the chaos of the Yellow Turban, and the three kingdoms stand together." Zhu Zaiyu blurted out.

"It's good to know, just wait."

"Here."

It is said that although the imperial property is commercial property after all, it is no longer the tax that was collected in the drought and flood in the early years.

As long as it is buying and selling, there will be profits and losses.

Jiajing is so shrewd, this business will not lose money for a while, and even make money.

It is impossible for the emperors of the Zhu family to have the brains of Jiajing from generation to generation, and they can go out and collect money by picking up the abacus.

There are only two choices before the Zhu family.

Either the royal family should save more property, or regain power.

Looking at the back of Zhu Zaihen leaving the palace, Jiajing frowned and immediately said: "Huang Jin."

"The minister is here."

"Tell Yan Song to add another one."

"The crown prince is in the cabinet to listen to the government." Jiajing said casually.

Huang Jin said in astonishment: "Your Majesty, there is no precedent for this in our country."

"There is no precedent for the government to transfer commercial taxes to the Ministry of Household Affairs. Ask Yan Song to add this line, and he can approve the funds."

"Here."

Jiajing wanted to keep a hand in the outer court.
-
Business and tax ownership was clarified, and the haze that enveloped the cabinet dissipated almost overnight.

Then came Shanxi merchants, Huizhou merchants, Qi merchants and other provincial wealthy merchants to sign in the value house.

Yan Song and Xu Jie signed the first and last names on the IOU in turn, and then affixed their respective official seals, private seals, and the official seals of the two yamen of the cabinet and the Ministry of Household Affairs.

Zou Wang looked at the IOU in his hand, his eyes turned red, and tears fell down "patta" and "patta", and he hit the IOU.

"Father Jun and the two elders care so much about the common people, it is really a blessing for the common people!"

With Zou Wang taking the lead, all kinds of merchants gathered in the value hut also became "tears of gratitude".

Yan Song bowed his hands to the merchants in front of him with a solemn expression: "The disaster victims in the northwest depend on you."

Zou Wang cupped his hands and then bowed down.

"It is the duty of a minister to devote oneself to the king's affairs."

Xu Jie and Yan Song stepped forward to help these merchants one after another, Zou Wang stretched out his sleeves, wiped his face without hesitation, and said, "You two elders, I'll go to work for the disaster victims after this!"

"Okay, okay, Zisheng, let's give it away on behalf of the victims in the northwest?" Yan Song looked at Xu Jie who was beside him.

Xu Jie didn't say much and followed Yan Song.The two pavilion elders personally sent these merchants out of the palace.

After leaving the palace, it was as if the soles of their feet were blown by this group of people.

High-spirited merchants can be seen everywhere on Tianjie.

"Donghu, since ancient times, when did we businessmen have such a prosperous life? I thought that this would be the case for the rest of my life. I could only hope that my useless son would be promoted to an official position and honor our ancestors. If anyone succeeds, we will You can earn both fame and fortune by making money like this, hahaha." Hua Linxiang laughed.

"This statement is absurd! It is absurd! We are doing business for the emperor and fulfilling the responsibility of ministers!" Having said that, Zou Wang did not forget to bow his hands to Xiyuan from time to time: "The disaster victims in the northwest are waiting to be fed. You and I should hurry up and do the business. Can you live up to the great trust of your father and the people!"

After being reprimanded by Zou Wang, Hua Linxiang immediately put away his playful smile.

Although the cabinet signed it, the IOU was clearly written on the time and place, and where the grain and fodder would be delivered.

These businessmen didn't stay in Tianjie for too long, and Dang even went to various places and started to network.

On the far side of Tianjie, two slightly lonely figures were staring at the group of businessmen with some envy.

"Mr. Yan Ge, to be honest, I really envy these businessmen." Xu Jie sighed helplessly: "You don't have to show your face. In the end, even if a big mess happens, it will be you." I'm standing on the stage, and they can just make a lot of money, and then they can gain both fame and fortune."

"Zisheng finally understands that the chair in this pavilion is not so easy to sit on?" Yan Song sighed lightly, and continued: "Zisheng, don't look at Yan Shifan and Xu Fan getting close to them, but as long as you Once I am in this position, they will not regard the Xu family and the Yan family as their own."

"After receiving this money and power, Father Jun will no longer trust you and me like in the past. Now you and I are really being roasted on the fire."

After saying that, Yan Song put his hands behind his back and walked towards the direction of Zhilu.

All the IOUs were signed with the names of Yan Song and Xu Jie, and were stamped with either the official seal of the Ministry of Revenue or the seal of the cabinet.

From the beginning to the end of this matter, the inspector of ceremonies did not even move his ink brush.

It not only means that the power has been lost to the cabinet, but also means that if something goes wrong, it has nothing to do with Jiajing.

The power that was truly comparable to that of the prime minister was withdrawn from the outer court in disguise, which made Yan Song even more anxious.

Whether it is the Yan family or the Xu family, they are what they are today because they were lifted up by authority.

The height is not cold.
-
There are six power centers in the capital, and the singing newspaper office was born in the capital, and the capital has become the most densely populated place in the 13 provinces of the two capitals.

The Northwest earthquake, the new law, the large loan of the cabinet, and the Lingtai discussion, with so many major issues piled up together, the business of these newspapers will not succeed.

The people of the capital these days would gather at the nearby singing and newspaper office whenever they had a little free time these days, for fear of missing any important court event.

In particular, the matter of "Lingtai discussion" was talked about by these gentlemen who sang newspapers day and night.

"The public right and wrong is decided by the Lingtai, and the powerful people in the world discuss it together. There is no more virtuous government in ancient times than this. In the past, Duke Huan of Qi founded the Jixia Academy in Linzi, which led to the hegemony of the Western Qin and the Eastern Qi."

There was silence in the newspaper hall.

After a while, some people asked cautiously: "That gentleman, what are you doing?"

"Then...Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Wuhou, do you know?"

Everyone nodded immediately. The story of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" has obviously been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

Hearing the name of Marquis Wu of Zhuge, everyone immediately shook their heads.

"I know."

"Do you know why the world was in chaos during the Three Kingdoms period?"

"do not know."

"It's because the second Emperor Huanling, that stupid emperor, didn't listen to those gentlemen from the Taixue!"

"I know this, the Second Emperor Huan Ling is a faint king! So we are going to live a good life in Ming Dynasty?"

"Yes! The imperial court borrowed more than 1000 million taels of silver to relieve the disaster in the northwest! Even Zhuge Wuhou and Emperor Taizu Gao didn't spend so much money on the people back then! The old famous official of Yan Pavilion, Your Majesty is holy! !"

The singing hall was filled with cheers in an instant.

It's just that when everyone was applauding, Zhang Juzheng rushed into the newspaper hall one step at a time, and dragged Ning Jue, who was applauding, out of the newspaper hall.

"Brother Ning, what's the matter with you these days? Why did you sing along with Yan Song?"

"No, wait a minute, I haven't finished eating the fennel beans yet." Ning Jue picked up the plate casually, and shouted at the waiter, "I'll bring the plate back to you later."

It wasn't until he reached the street that Zhang Juzheng asked: "Brother Ning, those Yan Song and Xu Jie took advantage of the disaster to steal power. The people didn't understand the reason. How come you followed Yan Song and praised him?!"

"Because I wrote that manuscript! I have also written several articles here. Look at this, I will read it to you, Zou Donghu's charity relief for the victims, sheltering from the wind and rain, and being strict with Mr. Xu Ge, Mr. Xu Ge..."

Zhang Juzheng pushed away the manuscript in Ning Jue's hands, and asked in confusion, "Then why are you doing this?!"

"If you don't boast, you won't be able to boast."

"I can't praise you enough..." Zhang Juzheng was startled when he heard this: "Why can't I praise you?"

"The imperial court is about to impose a business tax. Do you think who will be taxed first, these small businessmen or the giant merchants in Zou Wang?"

Ning Jue chewed the fennel beans and looked at Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng frowned and murmured, "The cabinet borrowed the money, and the cabinet levied commercial taxes..."

"Brother Ning...are you trying to stuff firewood under the Yan family's butt?!"

(End of this chapter)