The days when I ransacked the house in Jinyiwei

Chapter 359 The Weird Ming Dynasty

Emperor Zhengde got a huge fortune from the eunuch party last year out of thin air, and his hands were much richer.

He was not a money-obsessed emperor like the later Emperor Wanli. He knew that if he ate meat, he should at least let the people drink the soup.

The more money you have in your waist, the stronger your waist will be.

March 26, the sixth year of Zhengde. Emperor Zhengde issued an edict: The ten provinces of Northern Zhili, Shandong, Henan, Sichuan, Jiangxi, Huguang, Shanxi, Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi are exempted from grain and grain for one year.

The original intention of this decree is to benefit the people. Two months after the promulgation, Emperor Zhengde felt despair.

The entire Ming Dynasty bureaucracy relied on taxes to make a living. The "rice" here does not refer to salary, but gray income.

Wang Shu, a famous minister of the Hongzhi Dynasty, once wrote a memorial before leaving office, bluntly stating a terrible fact. That is to impose taxes layer upon layer.

He made an estimate based on more than a hundred years of old accounts from the Ministry of Accounts. The rule of Renxuan can be called a prosperous period, and the administration of officials is relatively clear. However, for every one stone of grain tax collected by the Taicang treasury of the Ministry of Revenue, the people had to pay one and a half stone of grain.

The extra 50% of taxes and grains were naturally divided up by officials, officials and servants at all levels.

Towards the end of the Chenghua Dynasty, corruption in officialdom became common. The imperial court collected one stone of grain, but the people actually paid two or even three stone.

Beijing officials can make a lot of money by accepting bribes from local officials. Where does the money for local officials come from? It just comes from the common people.

You, the Great Emperor Zhengde, want to be a sage monarch who implements benevolent government. What else do we officials have to eat?

The imperial edict sounds nice. I sympathize with the hard work of the people. I am a dog-legged person! If you care about the people, how can we officials make a fortune?

As a result, officials from various provinces, prefectures, prefectures, and counties began to "flex" the imperial edict, both overtly and overtly. The imperial edict to give Emperor Zhengde free food became a piece of paper.

Leopard room.

Emperor Zhengde was listening to Chang Feng's report on the situation of free money and food in various places.

Chang Feng cupped his hands and said: "Jinyiwei's ears and eyes in various provinces have received news. Officials from various places are ganging up to deceive the emperor."

Emperor Zhengde frowned: "How do you say that?"

Chang Feng said: "For example, Fujian. Because there are Japanese invasions in Fujian from time to time. In the second year of Zhengde, the emperor issued an order allowing Fujian to collect Japanese donations on its own."

"The emperor has issued a decree to exempt all provinces of Fujian from this year's money and grain. However, officials from various places in Fujian claimed that the exemption was for the autumn tax and had nothing to do with the suppression of Japanese donations."

"The Fujian Dusi Yamen and Military Preparation Envoy's Yamen colluded with the lower counties, claiming that the Japanese invasion was rampant last year. The wages of the Japanese suppression troops were tight. The various prefectures and counties followed the trend and increased the donation for the Japanese suppression tenfold."

"In the tax system of the Ming Dynasty, taxes are taxes and donations are donations. Taxes are forced and donations are voluntary. However, local officials turned the suppression of Japanese donations into compulsory collection."

"Paoze, who is stationed at the Hundred Household Office of Jinyiwei in Fujian, made an estimate with a well-known local mathematician. The burden on the people of Fujian this year is even more than 50% higher than in the years before free food and money!"

"And because of the universal immunity decree, Fujian does not need to send even one tael of tax money to the court this year. This astronomical amount of money for the suppression of Japanese pirates will all fall into the pockets of Fujian officials."

After Chang Feng finished speaking, Emperor Zhengde couldn't bear it any longer, so he immediately smashed all the copper coins and roared like a dragon.

The angry voice of Emperor Zhengde echoed in the Leopard Room: "You are deceiving the sky!"

Chang Feng comforted Emperor Zhengde: "Your Majesty, please calm down."

Emperor Zhengde said: "Catch! Kill! Arrest all the officials involved in this matter in Fujian! Kill them to serve as a warning to others!"

Chang Feng looked troubled and said: "Your Majesty, if we arrest all the officials from one Fu, three divisions, nine prefectures, one prefecture and fifty-seven counties in Fujian."

Emperor Zhengde interrupted Chang Feng: "You want to say that all the officials in Fujian have been arrested and there is no one to manage Fujian for the imperial court? Can't I transfer local officials from elsewhere to Fujian?"

Chang Feng replied: "Your Majesty, the local officials in other places are the same as in Fujian. For example, in Henan, Henan's illegal method is to collect local disaster preparation donations in order to prevent floods and droughts next year."

"Another example is Shandong. Shandong spent a whole year's tax on salt tax. As a result, the price of salt tripled. If people want to eat salt, they have to pay three times more. The extra money is exactly the same as Shandong's The annual autumn tax is equal to the national tax."

"If the emperor wants to arrest him, he wants to kill him. The local officials will wipe out all the provinces in Beijing and Kowloon that provide free food and money!"

"Learn from history. The Taizu Xingkong Seal Case and the Guo Huan Case killed several officials in the world. But the officials who were replaced should still be corrupt and bribery."

Emperor Zhengde raised a question that can be called the world's unsolved mystery: "Then how can I solve the problem of bad governance?"

Chang Feng answered truthfully: "Your Majesty. I don't know. Let alone me, even famous officials like Wang Shu and Ma Wensheng don't know. Even the wise and powerful Taizu doesn't know."

Emperor Zhengde rubbed his head: "No wonder Mr. Li once told me that the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty did not extend to the county, and the imperial edict did not leave the capital."

Chang Feng said: "At the beginning of the Hongzhi period, Emperor Xiaozong once implemented the strategy of hoarding food in good years to prepare for shortages. This led to officials all over the world taking the opportunity to exploit the people for personal gain."

"At that time, Emperor Xiaozong came to the conclusion that 'the emperor who does not bother is a good emperor'."

"The emperor has the intention to distribute money and food freely, to reduce the burden on the people and to benefit the people. The original intention is good. However, the imperial edict is conveyed to the county level by the governor and the third department, and the imperial edict will be misinterpreted and tampered with by local officials."

"In the end, ordinary people will bear a heavier burden."

Emperor Zhengde sighed: "When it comes to treating civil servants, killing is useless. Grandfather Taizu has tried it. Treating them favorably is useless. The late emperor tried it."

"Then what should I do?"

Chang Feng said: "This is a difficult problem that emperors of all dynasties have been unable to solve. There is no solution."

Emperor Zhengde slapped the Long case: "Since it can't be solved, I won't bother thinking about it! I don't want to do this anymore!"

Emperor Zhengde had a great heart. Since you can't control it, just ignore it.

He looked at Zhang Yong, who was standing beside him: "How did you go about expanding the capital camp that I asked you to do?"

Zhang Yong replied: "Since last autumn, the old slave has been ordered to expand the twelve regiment camps. Each camp has been expanded by ten thousand people, and a total of more than 123,700 good men have been selected."

"We also selected 42,000 elite soldiers from each garrison and designated them as 'regimental troops'."

"Each battalion is now intensifying its troop training. The focus is on practicing coordinated combat between the cavalry and infantry, as well as cavalry and archery training."

Emperor Zhengde said: "Don't be stingy with money. If the military pay is insufficient, go to Wei Bin and pay it from the internal transportation treasury. I will give you four years, and you must train 200,000 elite soldiers for me!"

The expansion of the 12th Regiment Battalion was an important action taken by Emperor Zhengde to seize military power from civilian officials.

Zhang Yong handed over his hand: "Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. I will do my best."

Chang Feng suddenly remembered something: "Your Majesty, there is news from the General Banner of the Jinyi Guards in Guangzhou. He learned from the Nanyang people in Guangzhou that General Albuquerque of the Western Franchi Kingdom led a fleet of eighteen ships. Warships, a fleet of 1,400 soldiers, stormed Malacca (Malacca)."

"The Sultan of Manala led more than 30,000 people to fight with him. He was defeated and retreated in defeat."

Emperor Zhengde didn't care about this news: "Oh? Thirty thousand people can't defeat 1,400 people. How did Manlajia fight this battle?"

"But I don't care about Nanyang, which is thousands of miles away. The Ming Dynasty's most serious trouble is in the northern grasslands!" Chang Feng said: "Your Majesty, although Manlajia is small, it is a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. During the Yongle Dynasty, the Sanbao eunuchs also established Manlajia added a foreign government and set up a city to garrison troops in Manlajia. Now that Manlajia has subjugated its country, it seems that the Ming Dynasty should do so."

Emperor Zhengde waved his hand: "I said, I don't care about Nanyang, which is thousands of miles away. What I care about is the northern grassland!"

"The Manchu Empire hastened Tanruo to seek refuge in Beijing, and asked the Ministry of Rites to treat him favorably. But the Ming Dynasty will never send troops to help a small country far away from the ocean to recover."

"All the Ming army's energy should be focused on preparing for war against the Tatars."

Both Emperor Zhengde and Chang Feng had the historical limitations of the Ming Dynasty people.

Some scholars of later generations said that the occupation of Malacca by the Portuguese during the Zhengde Dynasty was a change that had not happened in China for thousands of years.

The Ming court's indifference led to the closure of the Ming ocean routes established by Zheng He. From then on, China was no longer able to prevent Westerners from coming to the East.

Of course, from the perspective of dialectical materialism, the occurrence of historical events has two sides.

The Manchurian Incident in the sixth year of Zhengde's reign caused a large amount of American silver to flow into the Ming Dynasty. It directly promoted the vigorous development of the Ming Dynasty's commodity economy, and the seeds of capitalism began to flourish in the Zhengde Dynasty.

Chang Feng left the Leopard Room and went to the cabinet to check in.

Li Dongyang is writing something at his desk.

Chang Feng said: "My dear brother, what are you busy with?"

Li Dongyang smiled bitterly: "I am busy writing private letters to the governors of various provinces. This letter is to the governor of Shandong, please read it."

Chang Feng picked up the letter and took a look, and was shocked by the content inside.

Li Dongyang almost used a pleading tone, begging the Shandong governor not to exploit the people with an unusually high salt tax.

He secretly told the Shandong governor that the court would not pursue the matter of increasing the salt tax. But please don't over-squeeze. It is enough to let the people of Shandong spend as much wealth as the national tax for a year's autumn tax.

Anyway, you don’t have to turn this huge fortune over to the national treasury. If the oppression is too heavy and civil unrest is provoked, everyone will look bad. Some people will lose their heads because of people's changes.

Chang Feng was stunned after reading the letter: "My dear brother, you, the chief minister of the cabinet, are actually begging the governor of Shandong to show mercy to the people?"

Li Dongyang smiled bitterly: "Wrong! I want more than just the governor of Shandong."

After speaking, Li Dongyang picked up a pile of letters: "These are what I wrote to the other nine local governors. I asked them all."

Chang Feng said nothing. This matter was beyond his knowledge. The Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty actually used a humble attitude to beg local officials to show mercy to the people? ! What's going on!

Li Dongyang had no choice. If he had a solution, it would be Zhang Juzheng instead of Li Dongyang.

Zhang Juzheng. That is a name that may not come out for hundreds of years. A man from heaven who can forcibly extend the life of a dynasty that is on the verge of collapse for seventy years.

Chang Feng sighed: "Well, everyone says that the official administration was corrupted during the Chenghua Dynasty. But when did the official administration get better?"

Li Dongyang said: "There is no way. The emperor's policy of freeing money and food has made the people's burden heavier. All I can do is to beg those people as much as possible to lighten the people's burden."

"When dealing with these people, you cannot catch or kill them. If you catch and kill a group of people who are full of food, and replace them with a group of people who are not full, the situation of the people who are not full will become worse. The burden on the people will be heavier."

Chang Feng said: "Perhaps the emperor saw this at the beginning, so he chose to support Liu Jin out of desperation and appoint eunuchs to replace civil servants at the local level. Unfortunately, eunuchs are even more greedy and sycophantic than civil servants."

Li Dongyang said: "That's right. People who have risen step by step in the civil service system of the Ming Dynasty, no matter how greedy and sycophantic they are, they still know the principle of eating the fish but not draining the lake."

"The eunuchs are different. They have always lived in the palace, and when they first came to the local area and gained real power, they naturally went to great lengths to make a profit."

Chang Feng has a big head. He said: "Forget it, let's not mention this matter. Oh, by the way, Manlajia has been occupied by the Western Francois. I just learned about this. The Ministry of Rites should not have received the request from Manlajia. Book."

Li Dongyang's attitude was the same as that of Emperor Zhengde: "I can only see what is happening in the two capitals and thirteen provinces in front of me. I am not interested in things thousands of miles away."

Chang Feng said: "That's what you said. The emperor also said so. But I always feel that Manlajia was occupied by the Francois, which made a very bad start."

Li Dongyang said: "After all, it is not the Yongle Dynasty where all the nations are coming to pay their respects. The navy is powerful. The imperial court's money is not enough to spend on comforting the people and preparing for the war against the Tatars."

"Can the Ming Dynasty still spend huge amounts of silver to build a fleet to help Manla speed up Tan's recovery of its homeland?"

"Even if the imperial court can get money, it will never find a naval commander like Zheng He."

"Anyway, the Franconian country is small and weak and will not invade our Ming Dynasty. If we let them occupy a Strait port, it will be theirs."

Chang Feng was speechless. He couldn't find any reason to refute Li Dongyang's point of view.

Li Dongyang stamped his personal seal on the last letter to the local governor: "That's it! The bad thing is done. I'm going to the main hall and teach my grandson a good lesson!"

Chang Qingyun entered the main hall to study, and his grandfather Li Dongyang, a bachelor of Dongge University, was also one of his teachers.

Cabinet affairs are complex. Going to Dabentang to teach his grandson is Li Dongyang’s biggest pastime now.

In the evening, Chang Feng returned home.

Liu Xiaoyan pulled Chang Feng to the bedroom.

Chang Feng thought Liu Xiaoyan was addicted. Just as he was about to take off her pants, Liu Xiaoyan stopped him: "What are you doing?"

Chang Feng said: "You pulled me into the bedroom before it got dark. I will do whatever you want me to do."

Liu Xiaoyan said: "You misunderstood. I have serious matters to discuss with you."

Chang Feng asked: "Oh? What's the matter?"

Liu Xiaoyan sighed: "I haven't been to the wedding for three months."

Chang Feng was stunned: "Pregnant? God has eyes, my Chang family is going to have another heir?"

Liu Xiaoyan didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "What good thing are you thinking about? Don't you think about how old I am? I am no longer popular!"

Chang Feng was stunned. The old lady from an official family who was charming, beautiful, and in her youth is now a forty-six-year-old woman. There are white hairs on the head. Now even the red is broken.

This is really a time of passing. People have become thinner and young girls have become old women.

Liu Xiaoyan added: "I have discussed it with Jiumei. I will give you a concubine. We are both chickens that can't lay eggs now. If you work on us, it will be a waste of money."

"If the sky has eyes, I will ask my concubine to give you another son. Our family will not be passed down to only three generations."

Chang Feng thought for a while: "I always feel that I'm sorry for you and Xiaojiu by taking concubines. But if you two insist on taking concubines for me, then I won't be polite! Haha!"

(End of this chapter)