prosperous age

Zhang Jing's project this year is indeed large-scale. In the past, there were only about ten large lantern displays, followed by some medium and small-sized ones.

With such a huge expenditure this year, it's natural to expect results.

There are more than 20 large lantern displays alone, nearly double the usual number, lined up along Chang'an Avenue.

As you stroll along Chang'an Avenue, you'll see groups of small and medium-sized lanterns and huge lantern gates, especially the enormous arched lantern gates, which require a lot of bamboo weaving. Countless palace lanterns are then hung on top of them, all of which are incredibly expensive.

On the contrary, the expenses of musicians and palace maids did not increase much compared to previous years.

When Wei Guangde and his group arrived at Chengtian Gate, the emperor had already returned to the palace. There were simply too many people ahead of them, and they couldn't squeeze in; they were all kept outside.

"Ren Zhi, Jin Qing, you've come to enjoy the scenery too?"

Wei Guangde and his group went into a flower shed intending to rest for a while and have some tea, but they didn't expect to run into Lao Kan and Zhang Ke there. They had already occupied two tables and were resting there.

Since they had run into each other, Wei Guangde naturally went up to greet them.

"Shan Dai, come, come, sit down and have some tea."

Lao Kan laughed and pulled out a chair for Wei Guang, while Zhang Ke asked the shopkeeper to bring tea.

Wei Guangde sat at one table with Lao Kan and Zhang Ke, while Xu Jianglan sat at another table with their female relatives. They were all chatting and laughing.

In fact, Xu Jianglan was familiar with them and they often interacted.

After all, their master was on good terms with Wei Guangde, so their relationship in the inner quarters was naturally close.

Moreover, both Lao Kan and Zhang Ke's wives were titled noblewomen, and they had to enter the palace several times a year to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager and the Empress, so they had many opportunities to interact with them.

"I went to your residence before and found out you had gone to Tangshan, so I didn't call you. I didn't expect you to be in the capital. When did you come back?"

Zhang Ke asked.

"I just got back this afternoon. I heard the lantern festival is lively this year, so I came to take a look."

Wei Guangde laughed.

"This year's lights are the grandest I've ever seen in all my years."

Zhang Ke immediately said, "It is said that Zhang Jing was in charge of preparing it all by himself. Although he is not a very good person, he is still quite capable."

"Hey, what kind of ability is that?"

These lamps were all made by craftsmen in the palace; they simply did whatever amount of work the inner court paid them.

I imagine this year's lantern festival must have cost quite a bit.

Lao Kan shook his head and said, "But looking at the happy smiles on the faces of the people who are enjoying the lantern festival, I don't know whether this lantern festival is right or wrong."

"I heard that you and Zhang Jiangling had a dispute about this in your early years?"

Zhang Ke suddenly asked.

"That's true. He said the lantern festival is a waste of money and resources and should be canceled."

Wei Guangde nodded. When that incident happened, Lao Kan and Zhang Ke were not in the capital, so they could only hear about it from others.

Now that Wei Guangde was in person, they began to ask him the reason.

"What does Your Majesty mean?"

After listening to Wei Guangde recount what happened back then, Zhang Ke suddenly asked a question.

Wei Guangde thought for a moment before lowering his voice and saying, "His Majesty was young at the time and had little opinion. Zhang Jiangling mentioned that organizing the lantern festival would cost money, and the court's finances were indeed in dire straits at the time, so naturally he considered canceling it."

Wei Guangde didn't hide anything and directly told the story of what happened.

After all, it was only the second year of the Wanli Emperor's reign, and the young emperor was only ten years old. He could be considered a child, so naturally, whatever the adults said went.

"The imperial court's finances should have eased somewhat by then."

Lao Kan thought about the situation that year and hesitated before saying something.

"We can only say that we barely break even."

Wei Guangde smiled wryly.

In fact, the deficit of the Ming Dynasty was mainly concentrated in the period from the Hongzhi to the Jiajing reigns. The Longqing reign also had a deficit, but the annual figures were relatively small.

However, in the last two years of the Longqing reign, Gao Gong granted the Longqing Emperor's every request, sending tens of thousands of taels of silver to the palace every year, which caused the deficit of the previous dynasty to increase further.

In fact, when Zhang Juzheng was in power, he tried his best to meet the demands of the inner court, which was similar to the situation in the later period of the Longqing reign. He almost always granted requests.

It was precisely because the imperial court's funds were indeed insufficient that he had a reason to begin reforming the tax system.

In fact, Wei Guangde sometimes felt that Zhang Juzheng's actions in the palace were perhaps intended to gain the support of the Empress Dowager and the Emperor for his land survey and tax reforms.

If the imperial court cannot collect silver, the inner palace's supplies will be in trouble.

Even if it was just to get more money from the imperial court, they still had to support Zhang Juzheng's reforms; otherwise, if the Ministry of Revenue had no money, where would they get the funds?

Of course, this is just Wei Guangde's speculation.

No one knows what Zhang Juzheng was thinking at the time. Zhang Xueyan simply transferred money into the inner court based on notes from the palace and the Grand Secretary.

He dared not offend either of them, otherwise he would lose his official position.

"Actually, I think what they said is not wrong."

"A lantern festival can be held occasionally to celebrate important national events and showcase the prosperity of the era."

Lao Kan suddenly spoke at this moment.

This suggestion was put forward by Feng Bao. He disagreed with Zhang Juzheng's proposal to cancel the Aoshan Lantern Festival, but only offered a compromise.

"Besides lantern festivals and temple fairs, what other activities do people in Beijing participate in during the New Year?"

Wei Guangde glanced at Lao Kan and spoke.

“But spending hundreds of thousands of taels of silver every year to hold this lantern festival is really too wasteful.”

Lao Kan shook his head and said.

"Actually, there are ways to save money, but I hadn't thought of that before."

Wei Guangde chuckled softly.

"Saving money isn't such a grand idea. If it's too simple, it's better not to do it at all."

Zhang Ke thought Wei Guangde wanted to reduce the expenses of the lantern festival. If it was really going to be shabby, it would be better to just stop it altogether.

In fact, the Aoshan Lantern Festival was not held every year in history, but it was held in most years.

As for not doing it, that's when trouble naturally arises.

For example, there was no Aoshan Lantern Festival in the first year of the Longqing reign because the Jiajing Emperor died in December, and the festival was naturally suspended during the mourning period.

For example, in the 29th year of the Jiajing reign, Altan Khan's cavalry was still ravaging Miyun and Shunyi during the New Year, so the court naturally had no intention of holding a lantern festival.

It can be said that only a major upheaval in the central government would cause a halt.

The people understand this.

If what they say is true, and the event is cancelled, rumors will surely spread throughout Beijing and beyond.

Naturally, the people would speculate whether there was another war in the north, or whether the emperor was nearing his end.

At the time of the Gengxu Incident, Wei Guangde was not in the capital and naturally did not know about it.

However, he was present in the first year of the Longqing reign, so he naturally knew the situation.

In fact, Zhang Juzheng knew this, but perhaps he was truly heartbroken for the country's finances, which is why he thought of stopping the Aoshan Lantern Festival, saving the court more than 100,000 taels of silver every year.

As for whether the inner court should hold a separate event, that's the emperor's business. In any case, the majority of the money for the annual lantern festival actually comes from the emperor's private treasury.

Whether or not the event was suspended was largely a matter of mutual calculation between the inner and outer courts.

"Shan Dai, tell me about the method you just mentioned. What's your idea that allows the court to spend less money while still holding the Lantern Festival?"

Lao Kan suddenly looked at Wei Guangde and asked in a low voice.

"Yes, Shandai, you're quick-witted, tell me if you have any ideas."

Zhang Ke also realized that Wei Guangde had indeed said that earlier. "Hehe, see."

As he spoke, Wei Guangde pointed to the surrounding vendors.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Lao Kan asked, puzzled.

The vendors near the Aoshan Lantern Festival were actually merchants who rented shops on Chang'an Street. Taking advantage of the fact that the imperial court was no longer strictly supervising the streets during the Aoshan Lantern Festival, they set up stalls, spent some money to buy palace lanterns from palace servants, and hung them up, just like a lantern festival.

At this moment, the flower shed where they were located was surrounded by colorful palace lanterns.

Guests can sit under the canopy, drink tea, chat, and admire the palace lanterns.

"In fact, these lantern displays could be collected from wealthy families in the capital, who could fund the event, hang their business names in front of the lantern displays, and allow them to set up stalls next to them to sell their goods."

Wei Guangde spoke calmly.

This is actually the investment promotion that came about in later generations. The companies pay for it, and all you need to do is put the company's name on the signboard, which is like advertising.

Outside of major holidays, government departments would contact businesses within their jurisdiction to invite them to participate in activities.

These companies are often willing to spend money if they can improve their relationship with the government in the future.

However, there was no such precedent in the Ming Dynasty.

But what Wei Guangde knew was an activity that was frequently seen in later generations.

Besides, others wouldn't dare to even think about it because they're worried about not finding merchants to pay for it, but Grand Secretary Wei is different; he has quite a few businesses under his command.

If he just asked Zhang Ji to give the word, the number of participating merchants would be overwhelming, and the entire Chang'an Avenue probably couldn't accommodate so many lanterns.

But that's okay. If it doesn't work here, we can put it on important streets like Zhengyangmen.

This example can actually be extended to other places, not just the capital; other bustling commercial cities can also build their own Aoshan Lantern Festival.

The local government took the lead in organizing city merchants to participate.

After Wei Guangde finished speaking, Lao Kan and Zhang Ke were initially incredulous, then suspicious, and finally, seeing Wei Guangde's calm demeanor, they seemed to realize that the man in front of them was not only the powerful Grand Secretary, but also a shrewd and wealthy businessman.

Anything he proposes, those wealthy merchants should readily support.

Once you understand this, you'll feel relieved.

If someone else brings it up, they'll just be laughed at for overestimating their abilities.

But when he brought it up, everyone just cheered and happily gave him money to sponsor the event.

"That's no small amount."

Lao Kan reminded him.

"In previous Aoshan Lantern Festivals, officials outside the court only thought about how much money the imperial court spent, but in fact, the majority of the money came from the imperial treasury, which was spent by His Majesty to share the joy with the people."

The amount given by the Ministry of Revenue was actually not much.

However, in the past, the purpose of holding this lantern festival was more to promote the prosperity of the times, without considering any return on investment. This was a major flaw in the way the imperial court handled affairs.

After all, the money the imperial court spends is sometimes more focused on people's livelihood than on returns.

However, for non-essential activities like this, we should consider this point: sharing happiness is worse than enjoying it alone.

The event should be held, but the government shouldn't be the sole funder. It can take the lead, but businesses should be involved.

Merchants who actively support the government can be given special consideration in future government procurement. What do you think?

Wei Guangde's words somewhat challenged Lao Kan and his colleagues' worldview.

Lao Kan's family was originally in business, so they naturally knew the importance of securing government contracts and had to bribe officials.

According to Wei Guangde, it seems feasible.

After all, under the current performance evaluation system, if the imperial court really allows each prefecture to hold a lantern festival and it turns out too embarrassing, causing dissatisfaction among the people, it will definitely have an impact on the performance evaluation.

It's like in the past you directly gave money to buy business partnerships; now you're giving money to help people buy performance reviews and career advancement.

In the past, giving money was considered bribery if investigated, but supporting government-organized events was not considered bribery and could even help build relationships with officials.

"You've really come up with some amazing tricks."

Lao Kan concluded, "Although it seems feasible, I still need to think carefully about the pros and cons."

"Hehe, new things are bound to have their pros and cons, but we can't be rigid about them and give up just because we're worried about the pros and cons."

Wei Guangde laughed.

Chinese dynasties were often like this: clinging to the past and failing to take the initiative to create new things, the country may have enjoyed long periods of peace, but it lost the ambition and drive of its early days and eventually declined.

Just like the Ming Dynasty now, countless memorials are sent to the cabinet every day, but most of them are unoriginal and everything is done according to the rules set in the past.

If the rules remain unchanged, things will inevitably gradually go awry.

The current unspoken rules between the central and state governments arose under this background.

To eliminate unspoken rules, simply banning them will only offend people. The best way is to create new rules that directly challenge the old ones and replace the old environment of unspoken rules.

Wei Guangde's idea was actually related to his previous discussion with Zhang Xueyan about consolidating the financial power of various government departments.

In the past, the six ministries and five temples of the imperial court each had their own sources of revenue, levying various fees on local governments, such as the Ministry of Works' materials and labor costs, and the Ministry of War's firewood and fuel costs.

When these funds are collected and then disbursed, some of them may disappear.

Whether it's the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, or the Ministry of War, they all engage in extortion and bribery.

This applies to both the imperial court and local governments.

A complete cure is absolutely impossible.

So how do we solve this?

We can simply replace this outdated payment method.

In Wei Guangde's vision, the Ministry of Revenue would hold all the power over the court's finances and taxes, and all government offices would request funds from the Ministry of Revenue for their expenses.

By keeping a close eye on the Ministry of Revenue, the Censorate could control the first line of defense in the outflow of silver from the national treasury.

As for the subsequent process, Wei Guangde planned to establish the Daming Bank, a bank-like institution, to directly allocate funds to local areas.

The problem of funds being diverted from the imperial court was not resolved, and all the money was allocated to local areas.

If local officials are corrupt, then the only recourse is to take up the butcher's knife.

Since a large number of successful candidates enter officialdom every three years, there is no shortage of official positions.

Even if local officials have power, they are ultimately not as powerful or easy to deal with as those in the imperial court.

Ultimately, it boils down to some of the methods used by the central government to allocate funds. In the past, fiscal allocations were distributed layer by layer, from the province to the city and then to the local level, and there would be some "losses" in between.

Later, each county established an account with the Ministry of Finance, and funds were directly allocated to local accounts, thus eliminating the situation of deductions at each level.

As for the problems with the use of funds by local governments, anti-corruption has been a practice in every dynasty. Otherwise, Gao Gong would have raised the banner of rectifying officialdom and cleaning up the bureaucracy back then.

Taking this opportunity, Wei Guangde quietly mentioned his idea to Lao Kan and Zhang Ke.

There were many things that Zhang Xueyan didn't know, so it really startled the two of them.

"It's so powerful that I'm still considering how to improve it."

Finally, Wei Guangde spoke frankly.

Establishing a system requires careful consideration; blindly introducing it will only cause trouble, and he doesn't want such a problem to occur.

The bank you mentioned

Zhang Ke asked in a low voice, "What are the rules?"

"The imperial court had one share, the inner court had another, and it also absorbed powerful and influential people, mainly to collect the silver deposits in local treasuries."

Local government officials deposited the silver and taxes collected directly into the bank.

Wei Guangde said in a low voice that he hadn't yet decided whether the bank would participate in lending, but he was in high spirits at the moment, so he simply brought it up. (End of this chapter)