prosperous age

During the reign of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, a number of reforms were implemented, among which two are well-known: "equalization of land tax and poll tax" and "equalization of the duties and taxes of gentry and officials." In addition, there was another project, namely "returning the fire tax to the public."

The reason why few people knew about the practice of returning fire losses to the public was because this matter mainly involved officials rather than ordinary people.

After the extra tax was collected, the common people still paid taxes according to the extra tax, and their tax burden was not reduced as a result.

The only difference was that the extra fire tax collected was transferred from the officials to the imperial court, increasing fiscal revenue.

Of course, Emperor Yongzheng introduced the "anti-corruption allowance" to address this issue, but it ultimately failed.

At that time, Wei Guangde solved the problem of fire loss at its root by promoting the minting of coins.

The issue of "fire loss" is essentially a derivative problem of tax system reform, stemming from the "Single Whip Law" implemented by Zhang Juzheng in the Ming Dynasty, which changed the collection of taxes from goods to currency.

Because the losses from melting and casting silver were difficult to calculate accurately, local officials used this as an excuse to impose high additional surcharges, resulting in losses for both the national treasury and the people.

Once the Ministry of Revenue began minting official silver and copper coins, the issue of silver smelting naturally disappeared, thus eliminating the possibility of the problem of smelting losses.

In addition, the imperial court used the silver from the Changying Treasury to mint large quantities of coins and set the exchange rate between copper coins and silver coins, which naturally solved some of the drawbacks of the "Single Whip Law" from the root.

To be honest, Wei Guangde often couldn't understand why, even though the Ming Dynasty had already incorporated silver into its de facto currency, it hadn't minted any silver coins until the mid-Qing Dynasty.

It's not that there weren't any; silver coins were also minted during the Ming and Qing dynasties, but those were all minted by the imperial court and used as rewards.

In other words, the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties knew that gold and silver could be used to mint coins, and they had even come into contact with Western silver coins, but they never minted them in the court.

It wasn't until Wei Guangde came into contact with the Ministry of Works and learned about the casting process that he found out.

If he hadn't pushed the artisans from the Ministry of Works to the Ministry of Revenue, the people in the Baoyuan Bureau alone would have had no problem minting copper coins, but minting gold and silver coins would still have been extremely difficult.

In fact, gold and silver processing technology was very advanced in that era, but the technology for mass-producing coins did have many problems.

Early Spanish peso coins, upon close inspection, are actually silver ingots rather than silver coins. Each peso was cast into a silver ingot, weighed by hand, and excess weight was trimmed or a piece was added to ensure that each coin weighed the same. Then, inscriptions were struck to indicate its identity.

Instead of being formed by casting, because the technology for controlling the purity of gold and silver was not advanced at that time, it could not be refined.

Simply put, European countries like Spain and Portugal lacked the advanced minting technology to produce them.

Even the Ministry of Revenue of the Ming Dynasty couldn't produce it; it was the Ministry of Works that sent craftsmen over and they finally completed the casting after many attempts.

Even so, nowadays, every batch of silver coins is inspected and samples are kept by a specialist before leaving the factory.

At the same time, the silver coins circulating in Japan were also made by smashing them into silver cakes or bars, with inscriptions directly on them to indicate their weight as a basis for circulation.

Therefore, although the silver Da Ming Tong Bao coins were slightly rougher compared to the later "Yuan Shikai silver dollars," they were actually top-notch products of their time, which also allowed Da Ming silver coins to spread overseas.

This was a situation that Wei Guangde was happy to see, so when officials from Tianjin and Songjiang Prefecture submitted memorials asking whether to prohibit the outflow of Ming Dynasty silver dollars, Wei Guangde rejected them.

For every silver coin minted, the Ministry of Revenue could make a profit of about seventy cash, which was the net profit after deducting all minting costs.

What does this number represent?
That's a tax of one-sixteenth of the total tax revenue.

The current monetary system of the Ming Dynasty has undergone some changes since silver became the currency.

One tael of silver was worth sixteen qian, and each qian of silver was worth seventy wen, so one tael of silver was equivalent to 1020 wen of copper coins.

The exchange rate for gold and silver was determined by market conditions, and the imperial court did not set a fixed exchange rate. This was to prevent the exchange rate from being manipulated by fluctuations in the gold and silver exchange rate.

Silver from Korea, Southeast Asia, and Japan was being transported into the Ming Dynasty by merchant ships, where it was minted into silver coins and then flowed into overseas markets, just as copper coins from the Tang and Song dynasties circulated overseas a century earlier.

As long as there is sufficient silver, the Ming Dynasty will continue to make money by minting coins. Preventing their circulation overseas will only hinder the Ministry of Revenue from earning more money to replenish the national treasury.

After entering the cabinet office, Wei Guangde opened Chen Ju's letter and immediately frowned deeply.

Wei Guangde couldn't understand what was going on here.

The reason Zhang Hong sought out Zhang Jing yesterday was because he knew Zhang Jing had gone to Zhang Siwei's residence.

"Could it be that Zhang Hong didn't know about what Zhang Jing did?"

A thought popped into Wei Guangde's mind. He couldn't figure out the specific reason, but when he put everything together, it seemed that this was the only explanation.

Zhang Jing was looking for Zhang Siwei, but Zhang Hong didn't know, which is why he was looking for someone in the palace.

"Hey, this guy's a double agent."

Wei Guangde immediately formed this impression of Zhang Jing. Before that, he thought that all of Zhang Jing's actions were secretly guided by Zhang Hong.

Because he was second only to Feng Bao in the inner court, he had this motive.

Regarding the memorial impeaching Wang Guoguang, it seems there was only that one, and Feng Bao didn't seem to have made any follow-up arrangements.

Perhaps he thought that as long as his people fired the first shot, many officials would follow suit and submit memorials to impeach Wang Guoguang.

However, he clearly miscalculated. Even though Zhang Juzheng seemed to have fallen out of favor, Wang Guoguang was still the Minister of Personnel, and not an ordinary official would dare to impeach him.

Throughout the entire day, no second memorial concerning Wang Guoguang was submitted to the cabinet.

Seeing this scene, Wei Guangde and Shen Shixing remained relatively calm, since it wouldn't affect them for the time being, but Feng Bao and Zhang Siwei were very upset.

Feng Bao was furious that none of the officials in Beijing had stepped in to help him suppress Wang Guoguang, and that he had to personally arrange and deploy people to continue the impeachment.

After all, the first shot has already been fired.

But they forgot that this situation seems somewhat different from the last impeachment of Pan Sheng.

Zhang Siwei's anger was not because the impeachment of Wang Guoguang had implicated him, but because of Feng Bao, that stupid pig, who didn't know to press his advantage and was still waiting.

Zhang Siwei also hoped that Wang Guoguang would fall from power, so that there would be more positions available in the court, giving them more bargaining chips when discussing candidates.

Ultimately, these official positions are all tradable.

He's one of the people at the table, so naturally he can participate in sharing the spoils of victory.

That afternoon, Feng Bao sent several eunuchs to contact his officials in the court, asking them to submit a memorial the next day to continue impeaching Wang Guoguang.

We can't let this go. Since we've already taken action, we must continue. After defeating Wang Guoguang, we should shift the blame to Zhang Siwei and take down the Second Assistant Minister as well.

Zhang Siwei was naturally aware of this, so the memorial to the throne the next day had to include a memorial impeaching Feng Bao.

The palace seems to be getting impatient.

Zhang Siwei merely sneered inwardly at Wei Guangde, who was watching the spectacle unfold.

If he goes along with the emperor's wishes this time, he might gain the emperor's trust, and then he would have the opportunity to challenge Wei Guangde's position in the emperor's heart.

The day passed quickly, and since there was nothing major to do, the cabinet dismissed its staff much earlier than usual in the afternoon.

The next day arrived quickly. Early in the morning, Wei Guangde entered the cabinet as usual. As soon as he reached the door of the duty room, Lu Bu, who had been waiting there, came up to him and whispered in his ear: "Master, there are many memorials today. Many are impeaching Minister Wang Guoguang, and there are also two impeaching Feng Bao."

"I've placed the memorial impeaching Eunuch Feng here."

Wei Guangde kept walking, and Lu Bu continued to explain the situation. "I understand, let me take a look."

Are all those impeachment memorials with me?

Wei Guangde suddenly asked.

"Yes, they say it's a matter of great importance and requires the Prime Minister's personal attention."

"I said in a low voice," Lu Bu said.

"Heh, just a clever trick."

Wei Guangde shook his head and chuckled, then sat down and picked up a memorial to read, while Ruble went out to make tea.

The memorial in Wei Guangde's hand was written by Jiang Dongzhi, an imperial censor of the Censorate. The target of the impeachment was not Feng Bao, but Xu Jue, a person close to him.

Wei Guangde certainly knew this person. Xu Jue still held the title of Jinyiwei, but in reality, he was doing the work of Feng Baoda's steward.

Xu Jue and You Qi were once the most renowned people in Beijing, and even many second- or third-rank officials treated them with respect.

In Jiang Dongzhi's memorial, he directly pointed out that Xu Jue was a fugitive who was protected by Feng Bao and even served as the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

The memorial appears to be an impeachment of Xu Jue, but it is actually aimed at Feng Bao.

Without Feng Bao's intervention, Xu Jue should have been imprisoned and investigated.

However, due to Feng Bao's intervention, Xu Jue was not only not imprisoned, but also became an official.

In fact, Xu Jue was originally just a servant recruited by Feng Bao from the streets; he was indeed a street hustler in his early days.

Perhaps it was because of this experience that he became quite knowledgeable and became one of Feng Bao's advisors, helping him handle many things that Feng Bao was reluctant to do himself.

As for the fugitive, it was just that Xu Jue had become a bully and tyrannical man after getting close to Feng Bao, so naturally someone went to the government office to file a complaint.

However, since the accusation was against Xu Jue, the Shuntian Prefecture naturally dared not actually arrest him. So, he was bound to be sentenced, but they dared not arrest him, which made him a fugitive.

Jiang Dongzhi's accusation was quite cunning; although it wasn't an impeachment of Feng Bao, it was a purge of those around Feng Bao.

Without a doubt, as long as the emperor orders an investigation, everyone around Feng Bao will be taken down.

These people knew many of Feng Bao's secrets, and what would happen next is self-evident.

"It's a bit awesome."

Wei Guangde muttered something to himself, then picked up the second memorial, which was submitted by Li Zhi, an imperial censor of the Censorate. This memorial directly accused Feng Bao, listing twelve major crimes. Wei Guangde frowned as he read it, because it actually involved the palace.

Well, although the news had been circulating in the court for a long time, it was all passed down by word of mouth and not written down.

In Wei Guangde's view, this might be the real impeachment that would kill Feng Baolao.

Li Zhi claimed that Feng Bao abused his power during his reign, even informing the Empress Dowager of the emperor's mistakes, which forced the emperor to write an "edict of self-reproach," seriously threatening imperial authority.

Look how brave it must be to write like this, almost portraying Feng Bao as a traitor who deceives the emperor.

As for other forms of corruption, such as selling official positions, those are child's play and not worth mentioning.

In response to the two memorials, Wei Guangde wrote two identical drafts in one go, stating, "Please review them, Your Majesty," and that was the end of his task.

This is not something he can decide.

According to tradition, handing the matter over to the relevant authorities for investigation would directly offend Feng Bao. Wei Guangde wouldn't be so foolish as to run into such a mess, even knowing that it might incur the wrath of Emperor Wanli, and even knowing that Feng Bao would definitely be in trouble.

But Wei Guangde would not be that kind of villain.

Even if the emperor asked, Wei Guangde would only use the excuse of favoring his old cronies to exonerate himself.

Since everyone was a veteran of the Prince Yu's Mansion, Wei Guangde's display of nostalgia would naturally remind Emperor Wanli of this.

Ultimately, although the imperial court has explicit laws, there are some things that are not actually done according to those requirements; there are still considerations of closeness and distance.

Of his group, only he and Feng Bao remain in the court.

Once the draft was completely dry, Wei Guangde clipped the slip of paper onto the memorial. The Secretariat would naturally use glue to stick it on, so Wei Guangde didn't need to do these trivial things.

As for the memorials that followed, Wei Guangde picked them up and glanced at them. They were memorials by Zhang Shize, a censor, impeaching Wang Guoguang for "selling official positions and enriching himself."

He only glanced through it briefly, then picked up the next book, which contained several charges against him by the censor Yang Yinqiu.

Let's move on to the next book.
Wei Guangde read through all six memorials; the first part consisted of memorials impeaching Wang Guoguang.

Finally, Feng Bao had exhausted all his methods.

Next came memorials submitted by officials from various regions.

The winds are just beginning to blow in the capital, and while they may have already spread to the surrounding areas, they haven't yet reached a wide reach.

Wei Guangde knew that if he waited a little longer, there would be more memorials submitted to discuss the matter.

Whether it's directed at Feng Bao, Wang Guoguang, or even Zhang Juzheng, it will appear.

Six books, six slips of paper. Wei Guangde wrote them down and waited for the ink to dry slightly before putting them into the memorial.

Not wanting to get involved in their conflict, Wei Guangde chose to remain aloof, not wanting to appear loyal and righteous.

This time, Wei Guangde did not follow Zhang Siwei's plan, such as summoning the two of them to the duty room to discuss it, but instead drafted a proposal and had Lu Bu personally deliver it to the Directorate of Ceremonial.

The matter should be resolved as soon as possible, with those who should leave leaving and those who should stay remaining, so that chaos can be avoided in the court.

This time, Wei Guangde chose to act swiftly and decisively.

Wei Guangde had already finished processing the memorials, while Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing, who were not far away, were still waiting.

They only reluctantly gave up their idea when someone brought them news that the Grand Secretary had already drafted the memorials and sent them to the Directorate of Ceremonial.

It was not surprising that Zhang Siwei knew these things, but Shen Shixing also learned from his subordinates what the memorials sent in today contained.

It can only be said that his relationship with Wei Guangde was not one of subordination from the beginning, but rather a cooperative one.

Wei Guangdiao was brought into the cabinet, but Zhang Juzheng had the same idea.

Just as Zhang Siwei never felt grateful to Zhang Juzheng for allowing him to enter the cabinet, if Zhang Juzheng hadn't defeated Gao Gong, Zhang Siwei would have been able to enter the cabinet as well, so he didn't owe Zhang Juzheng anything.

Think back to Yan Song's cabinet back then. Xu Jie actively cooperated with Yan Song and did not act as a subordinate.

As for Wei Guangde's mentor, Lü Ben, he chose to stay home due to illness and was unwilling to get involved in cabinet affairs. Can you say that he was Yan Song's subordinate?
Of course, when there's no way to avoid it, he still follows Yan Song's lead, just like Xu Jie.

This is the Grand Secretariat of the Ming Dynasty. (End of Chapter)