The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Beijing, Forbidden City, Wenyuan Pavilion.

This has always been the place where the cabinet works, so there are many officials coming in and out on weekdays, including cabinet secretaries, passersby, etc., as well as officials sent by other yamen to handle matters.

Although people came and went, there was always a kind of silence in the yard, and everyone seemed cautious in speaking and doing things, for fear of affecting other people.

Because this is the place that scholars in the world most yearn for.

Of course, the people who can come and go here can also be regarded as the elites in the court. Even if they are not the top, they are still outstanding people.

Today, after receiving the order from Xiyuan, Xu Jie stayed in his duty room and never came out again.

The content of Xiyuan's decree naturally spread quickly in the pavilion.

Everyone is not a fool. Among the officials, there are those who lean towards Xu Jie, and of course there are also people from the Yan family, as well as the so-called neutral faction.

Since he can be assigned to work here, he is either extremely lucky or extremely smart, so he certainly has a keen eye.

Even though Xu Jie usually showed respect to Yan Song, they could not see how much he was sincere and how much was fake, but they could put themselves in his shoes.

At this time, Xu Jie sat quietly in his seat and did not do any work. Even though the desk was full of official documents sent from various places, he did not process any of them.

After maintaining this posture for some time, he seemed to have finally come to his senses. He looked down at the official documents on the table and thought of the order he had received before, a wry smile finally appeared on his face.

It's just that Emperor Jiajing wants Yan Shifan to stay. How big of a deal has it been? Hasn't it always been like this before? Why did he react so much?

Xu Jie just sat quietly for a while and realized that this was the emperor's wish, so he couldn't change it.

What is his goal? In fact, how much does it matter whether Yan Shifan is in the capital or not? If he dominates the situation, he will still be invincible after all.

Raising his head, Xu Jie looked at the roof, which was decorated with carved beams and painted beams.

Perhaps it was because he had been oppressed so hard by the Yan family in recent years that he felt a little afraid of Yan Song and Yan Shifan in his heart.

Yan Song was old, but his prestige was still there. Only Yan Shifan was called a "ghost genius" by Emperor Jiajing, so he felt a bit rude after knowing that Emperor Jiajing chose to seize his love and keep Yan Shifan in Beijing.

Thinking of the decree just now, Xu Jie let out a breath, and had to draft his own decree to seize love and keep Yan Shifan, which was a bit ironic.

After drafting the decree and sending someone to the palace, Xu Jie returned to his seat and smiled bitterly again as he looked at the pile of papers piled up on a hill.

Not long after, the people sent out came back, and the news they sent back made Xu Jie feel even more uncomfortable.

Not only did the palace send envoys to convey the order, Emperor Jiajing also sent people to give the Yan family many silver coins and treasures.

Bao banknotes are not worth much, and the Bao Banknote Bureau prints them all day long and distributes them as officials' salaries and rewards from the emperor. However, the silver coins minted by the Silver Bureau are still very good, with good quality and appearance.

Speaking of which, the Yamen in the inner court is also very interesting.

It is this word "Bao Chao" that is used in the official signatures of two yamen in the inner court. One of them is the Nei Bao Chao Bureau, which prints Bao Chao, and the other is Bao Chao Department.

If the Nei Bao Banknote Bureau prints treasure banknotes, what does the Bao Banknote Department print?

At first, Wei Guangde was still confused and couldn't tell the difference. Later he found out that the Baochao Department printed toilet paper.

Xu Jie did not ask anyone to pass the news to Prince Yu's Mansion, because he believed that Prince Yu's Mansion must have received the news by now. If he still sent someone to pass the news, it would only make him look scared in front of outsiders. Yan Shifan.

Moreover, even Prince Yu's Mansion can't help with this matter.

No one dares to object to what the emperor has decided.

Just as Xu Jie thought, the news reached Prince Yu's Mansion very early, and then everyone in Prince Yu's Mansion repeated Xu Jie's previous state.

But after all, they didn't have enough concentration, and it would only take them longer to react than Xu Jie, and Wei Guangde was the first to react.

Similar to Xu Jie's way of thinking, it was an emergency situation. It would be best if Yan Shifan could be sent away. It would be equivalent to breaking Yan Song's arm. If he could not be sent away, he would not lose anything.

However, Wei Guangde secretly thought that he had missed this opportunity.

Without Yan Shifan by his side, Yan Song's chances of making mistakes would definitely be greater.

Yan Song and Yan Shifan returned to the cabinet office on the second day after receiving the order. However, Yan Shifan had more things to do. During the day, he had to go to the cabinet with his father to handle official duties, and after leaving office, he had to go home to wear sackcloth and mourn. .

In addition to not being able to clearly see the current situation and the sycophants coming in and out of the Yan Mansion, now the officials in the capital, in addition to completing their own duties, are staring at the sky all day long.

In the 40th year of the Jiajing period, in the leap month of May, there was no rain in Beijing except for a light rain in February. The drought in the north was already showing signs.

In terms of fighting drought, apart from building water conservancy projects to store water, there is really not much that can be done, even in later generations.

However, this is not an era where everything is scientific in future generations. In this era, there is a way to deal with drought that will not appear in future generations.

Jiyou, Yuan Wei, the Minister of Rites, reported to the emperor:

"The emperor established the ceremony and prayed that the two spirits would come down and everyone at home and abroad would be delighted. However, the emperor did not touch the four fields during the Lian Dynasty, and now the drought has returned and the wind and haze are rising."

During the solar eclipse in February, Emperor Jiajing built a ceremony to thank God for his kindness. Strangely enough, there was a light rain in the capital afterwards, but that was all.

Under Wei Guangde's surprised eyes, Emperor Jiajing happily accepted Yuan Wei's memorial and once again held a grand fasting ceremony in Xiyuan to pray for rain.

Not only that, in accordance with Yuan Wei's request in the memorial, Emperor Jiajing ordered the British Duke Zhang Rong and others to go to various palaces and temples to pay homage, and all officials to stay and stay in Tsing Yi for a period of two days.

In this regard, the reason why Emperor Jiajing asked people to release him was that "the meaning of one body is what you said."

Emperor Jiajing is having a feast in the palace, and all the officials should not stay out of it, so they all go to various temples to participate in the rain praying ceremony.

For a time, hundreds of temples and temples inside and outside the capital became busy and began to arrange altars and organize rain praying ceremonies. Officials also came to the scene to participate, and many people were fooled for a while.

In this day and age, everyone from the princes and ministers to the common people are more or less in awe of these things involving gods and ghosts, not to mention that it was requested by the emperor, who also prayed for rain in the palace.

Praying for rain is not just for the sake of harvest, right?

For a time, Emperor Jiajing's reputation improved a lot. People said that when the emperor saw the drought, he was thinking about the livelihood of the people in the world.

Wei Guangde was dumbfounded when he heard about the public discussion from the housekeeper Zhang Ji. He learned a little bit from Yuan Wei, and it turns out that flattery can be so flattering.

When he first heard that Yuan Wei had submitted this memorial, he was really a little disdainful.

If the great God of Tiaotiao can make it rain, then what kind of science will future generations develop? They can just practice it.

However, this thing, which he considered to be feudal superstition, actually played such a big role in the Ming Dynasty. He couldn't help but think carefully about the reason.

This seemingly useless measure has alleviated the concerns of the people, and also gained a wave of public support. Do you think Yuan Wei's memorial is useful?

In addition to assigning officials to participate in the rain praying ceremony, for nine days of execution and slaughter, eunuchs were also dispatched to pass the order to the Ministry of Etiquette: "The officials we sent yesterday to pray for rain should be worshiped to the gods. Is there anything left behind?"

Emperor Jiajing asked the Ministry of Rites to check again, fearing that there would be omissions.

After that, the Ministry of Rites actually convened the subordinate yamen for discussion, and finally proposed that the capital of Hehai Yuze should be increased, and the water transportation was not heard, so there was no need to pray, because the ministers of the Ministry of Rites, Li Chunfang, Gao Gong and others were sent to worship the gods and other divine rivers. Censor Hu Zhi offered sacrifices to the God of the River.

Wei Guangde also wanted to go, so he naturally chose Lingji Palace, which was relatively close to home and more familiar.

It is necessary to participate in the rain praying ceremony. It is the emperor's order, but by the way, Xuan Jing, the host of Lingji Palace, finds a place to have a good rest.

During these few days, he could not go home and could only live in the temple.

The officials in the capital cooperated with Emperor Jiajing to pray for rain, but the Ming Dynasty was so large that various local reports were not sent down. They were still sent to the capital, sent to the General Affairs Department, and reported up level by level. .

Ganzhou Prefecture in Jiangxi Province is close to Jiangxi and Guangdong because of the territorial relationship. This is where the forces of the Fujian-Guangzhou thief Zhang Lian first came into contact. They constantly incited local people to cause trouble, and even sent troops to plunder, which temporarily made the entire Jiangxi Province unsafe. .

The Jiangxi capital commander mobilized troops from the Ganzhou Prefecture Guard Station to suppress the bandits, and at the same time mobilized troops from surrounding prefectures and counties to provide support. For a time, the military requirements borne by the Ganzhou Prefecture increased significantly.

Of course the chief envoy of Jiangxi knew that these expenses were necessary and could not be saved. However, the Ganzhou government had no money and had to go to Nanchang to ask for money and food from the chief envoy Si Yamen.

There is no other way. As a local official, it is your duty to protect the environment and the people. If you fail to do so, you will lose your official title.

The Jiangxi Chief Envoy Department gathered together and soon an official document was delivered to the capital.

"The salt tax of Ganzhou Prefecture in Jiangxi Province is about 20,000 yuan per year. In the original example, the rate is ten cents. Two cents are retained as military pay. Eight cents are divided into troops to help border areas. The ministers are in a hurry to increase troops and increase salaries. Please keep all of them."

It just wants money, and the money is the salt tax received by the local government. In the past, most of it had to be handed over to the Ministry of Household Affairs. Now that Ganzhou is in a war, it is natural to want to keep this money for local expenses.

The official document was sent to the Ministry of Household Affairs and was soon delivered to the desk of Gao Yao, the Minister of Household Affairs.

Before Jiangxi, similar official documents were sent from Fujian and Guangdong.

To be fair, their demands are not excessive.

The money transferred to the Ministry of Household Affairs is specially used for the military pay of Jiubian and the war.

There is also a war going on in the local area. Logically, this money should be kept in the local area to pay for the army to suppress thieves, but the Ministry of Revenue does not dare to fully agree. In fact, the Ministry of Revenue is also short of money now.

In fact, in many places, tax relief is mostly on paper. In the official documents, very little cash is turned over. Therefore, every time the court wants to spend a large amount of money, the Ministry of Revenue can only ask for the payment from below, and even use official positions to explain the payment. Threatening, intending to directly submit a note to the Ministry of Personnel for failing to do things well.

Only in this way can the place spit out more money.

After all, these officials are all floating officials, and the only thing they can control is their official position. As long as their background is not particularly big, the Ministry of Husbandry and the Ministry of Personnel cannot afford to offend them.

At this time, Gao Yao looked at the official document sent from Jiangxi and made a calculation in his mind. The official document stated that the salt tax from the Ministry of Finance would be deducted, but what it said was unclear. The co-author was treating the Ministry of Hubu as a fool. , I want to eat up the tax money that I haven’t paid back in previous years.

Gao Yao came up from the local area and was clear about these sects.

It makes sense, but if approval is required, it is not a matter of the salt tax of more than 10,000 taels a year, but Jiangxi's fault for squeezing the salt tax in the past few years. He will not bear the blame.

"Come here and check how the salt tax has been resolved in Jiangxi in recent years."

Gao Yao sent a scribe to the Jiangxi Qing Dynasty Officials Division to bring in the accounts for verification. Soon the Jiangxi Qing Officials Division doctor and Yuan Wailang came in.

They only knew that Lord Shangshu wanted to check the accounts, but they didn't know what the purpose was, so they followed him here with their account books.

Gao Yao didn't need to explain anything to them. He just wanted to know how much Jiangxi had paid in salt taxes in recent years and how much it still owed, so that he could give his reply with an idea. Then he could submit it to the cabinet together with other official documents and submit it to Xiyuan. .

This is equivalent to the Ministry of Household's work records for a period, and the superiors are notified.

"You haven't paid enough salt tax for thirty-six years?"

The officials of the Qing Dynasty and the foreign ministers of the Qing Dynasty knew what the Lord Shangshu wanted to investigate, so naturally they were familiar with the matter and found out the contents quickly.

At this moment, the people in the Qing Li Department still didn't know the purpose of this recruitment. They guessed that Jiangxi must be trying to withhold tax money because of the suppression of thieves. This kind of thing is not uncommon.

"Da Situ, I heard that two counties in Jiangxi were destroyed and the rebels withdrew from Jiangxi. They shouldn't need much military pay."

At this time, Jiangxi Qing Lisi Langzhong whispered a few words beside Gao Yao.

Ordinarily, it is enough for the Minister to make the decision on this kind of matter. He, a doctor from the Qing Dynasty Department, does not need to say anything, but it is only because people from Jiangxi have not sent many things recently, so they have to give them some eye drops.

Insects have their own insect ways, and rats have their rat ways.

The people in their official affairs department usually only do accounting and accounting, unlike those in the household department who manage the warehouse.

However, as the current manager, the Jiangxi Chief Envoy had to pay tribute, but in the end it was not spent as a reasonable expense.

But recently, there have been less gifts, which makes Mr. Lang very uncomfortable. It is not easy for him to live in the capital. It is not easy to live in the capital. The Jiangxi government does not know how to sympathize with him.

Gao Yao nodded slightly after listening to the doctor's words. He had also heard about this. Although Zhang Lian's thieves often caused harm to Fujian, Guangzhou and Jiangxi, they mainly focused on the mountains of Fujian. How many people could be mobilized to encircle and suppress them.

What's more, His Majesty has a decree for Hu Zongxian to suppress the bandits. Naturally, Hu Zongxian will pay for the army. Jiangxi only needs to defend the city and does not need to spend much military salary.

He had some calculations in his mind, and after the others left, Gao Yao wrote in an official document, "In reply, the government owes salt tax every year from the thirty-sixth year to the thirty-ninth year. It is allowed to keep three points and divide it into seven points." Ministry, we will continue to follow the same rules in the coming years."

Calculating, in four years, if you keep one more point, the total will be 8,000 taels of silver, which should be enough to support you.

Jiangxi's official documents were processed and put aside, while Gao Yao continued to process the following official documents.

However, when the official document was sent to the local government, Yao Yiyuan, the governor of Jiangxi, naturally frowned. The official document he had worked so hard on cost more than 8,000 taels of silver. How could this be enough?

"Don't worry, boss. Why don't you send a letter to the person from the military department who was the same year to talk about the situation in Jiangxi? Mr. Wang will always be in charge of you and will not deal with it. By the way, he will be impeached by the fact that Jiangxi is being disturbed."

The staff around him came up with ideas.

"reason?"

Yao Yiyuan asked.

"Deputy Wang's death."

The staff member replied softly.