prosperous age

Strictly speaking, Wei Guangde's arrangement was definitely inappropriate.

If a battle report was published in the official gazette, it was naturally hoped that it would be widely publicized, and the newspapers simply copied it; there was nothing more to say about that.

However, Wei Guangde planned to pick and choose from the recent war reports from Japan and publish them all in the newspaper.

To put it bluntly, this constitutes a leak before the Ministry of Rites has finalized the official gazette.

However, the Ming Dynasty's secrecy was always just talk; it was never put into practice.

Moreover, the official documents published in the court gazette were not exactly unchanged.

Some documents contained sensitive content, and the Ministry of Rites would also make deletions and censorship, similar to the practices of later dynasties.

The ancients were actually even more adept at using the Spring and Autumn Annals style of writing.

Upon hearing Wei Guangde's instructions, Zhang Ji naturally dared not neglect them and hurriedly bowed, saying, "Yes, sir. I will arrange for the bookstore to start work first thing tomorrow morning. Should we publish all the Japanese war reports except for the serialized novels?"

Although Zhang Ji doesn't hold any official position, where exactly is he?
This is the residence of the current Grand Secretary, so official information here is extremely well-informed.

Zhang Ji had heard some of the news that Wei Guangde had mentioned at home, whether he had told them or not.

The Ming army achieved a great victory in its eastern expedition, and Japan has already submitted and begun to make contact and negotiate with the Ming army. The Ming Dynasty has already obtained information, including the legendary gold and silver mountains in Japan, which he knows all about.

Not to mention that the imperial court had previously received its first batch of spoils from Japan, gold and silver worth a million taels of silver.

Well, Zhang Ji did go and watch the convoy when it entered the city.

The convoy stretched as far as the eye could see, its tire tracks deep, indicating that the boxes on the trucks were loaded with heavy cargo.

That's why they say it's worth a million taels of silver.

The Wei family is not short of money, but their treasury usually holds only a few hundred thousand taels of silver, never exceeding one million taels.

Of course, it wasn't that the family didn't have enough money, but rather that the Wei family had three storerooms in the front and back courtyards.

There was one in the front yard and one in the back yard, which served as a common storehouse.

However, his wife, Xu Jianglan, also had a separate storeroom next to the storeroom in the backyard, where she kept all her things.

The dowry of women in the Ming Dynasty is difficult for later generations to understand, but in ancient times, it was protected by explicit provisions of the imperial law.

The dowry and the husband's family property should be kept separate.

In ancient times, there was no marriage registration, but the "Great Ming Code" clearly stipulated that "a marriage contract must be written and a betrothal ceremony must be held in accordance with etiquette."

When the government adjudicates family cases, it first takes the marriage certificate as the standard. The marriage certificate will record the dowry, and if there is a divorce, the woman can take the dowry with her.

In fact, there is only one situation in which a woman cannot take her dowry with her: "If a woman's husband dies and she has no children... and she remarries, the property of her former husband's family and her original dowry shall be managed by her former husband's family."

This regulation mainly reflects the influence of Song Dynasty Neo-Confucianism on the understanding of Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty's etiquette and law, which held that women should remain chaste and promoted "chaste and virtuous women". The court even built chastity arches to commend them.

Of course, such regulations were generally taken lightly in minority dynasties.

It seems that there were no similar restrictions during the Tang, Yuan, and Qing dynasties.

"Tell the publishing house that the newspaper has only one purpose: to praise the imperial court for its great victory and to wash away the humiliation caused by the Japanese pirates that began during the Hongwu era."

Wei Guangde began to set the tone and propaganda message for the newspaper, and this point could not be wrong.

They praised the emperor for his wisdom and martial prowess, and boasted about their own effective leadership and remarkable achievements.

As for the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, and figures like Wang Xijue and Qi Jiguang, they were not mentioned in this issue of the newspaper.

Since the newspaper has only published one issue, to be honest, it hasn't attracted official attention yet. The Ministry of Rites knows that the publishing house is owned by the Grand Secretary's family, so they haven't said anything.

However, Wei Guangde knew that once the newspaper gained more influence, the people from the Ministry of Rites would probably come looking for him.

Therefore, political correctness is never outdated.

This issue praises the emperor so much that when the palace finds out about this, Emperor Wanli will definitely have people look for the newspaper to read it.

You should be very happy to see this episode.

This newspaper business has survived.

"By the way, sir, several successful candidates from our hometown have sent visiting cards to your residence this year. Would you mind taking some time to meet them?"

After finishing his discussion about the newspaper, Zhang Ji thought about the invitations the government had received that day. The others were of course unimportant, but he had to specifically mention the invitations from several newly appointed scholars, otherwise he wouldn't know how to handle them.

"According to convention, no examinations should be scheduled before the palace examination."

Send someone to prepare some gifts for them tomorrow so they can focus on their exams.

Although passing the provincial examination would secure his official position, a poor essay in the palace examination could still cause his ranking to drop by several places.

Oh, wait a minute.

As Wei Guangde spoke, he seemed to remember something, so he got up, walked to the bookshelf and rummaged through it for a while. Soon, several documents appeared in his hands.

"Let them see this, but don't make a fuss. It's about some recent events in the imperial court."

In addition, before you go, send them a copy of the official gazette for the past six months so they can read it.

We don't know how His Majesty will set the questions, but reviewing the recent imperial edicts should be helpful for their participation in the palace examination.

Wei Guangde handed over what he was holding. Although he said that he had no idea what the emperor was going to test, given Wei Guangde's understanding of the Wanli Emperor, he could naturally guess a little.

The official gazette was just a cover; the documents he actually held in his hands were his real bet.

In terms of wording, be tactful, and everyone will understand without saying a word.

It is true that the provincial examination determines the ranking, but it is only a rough estimate. If one takes a shortcut in the palace examination, it is still possible to rise significantly in the ranking.

As for a significant leap forward, that's unlikely; they simply didn't meet the emperor's approval.

Wei Guangde had long known why he had risen from the bottom of the third class to become the top of the second class and obtain the title of Chuanlu.

That was because his writing was outstanding, and it was the Jiajing Emperor's reward for his meritorious service in killing Japanese pirates.

Even though he wasn't in the army and the credit for suppressing the Japanese pirates wouldn't go to him, there were plenty of ways to get extra rewards from the emperor.

As for my fellow villagers this year, none of them were favored by Emperor Wanli, so naturally they shouldn't even think about it.

However, the fellow villager's performance this time was quite good, and he has a chance to compete for the top spot.

It's difficult to be the top scholar, but there's still a chance to be the second or third.

All Wei Guangde could do was try his best to help them secure a position.

After making the arrangements, Wei Guangde returned to the backyard, took off his official robes and changed into civilian clothes.

To be honest, the official robes of the Ming Dynasty were indeed beautiful to wear, with their sleeves fluttering as one walked. However, the sleeves were so wide that it was quite inconvenient to write at a desk without rolling them up.

"By the way, prepare some snacks in the West Flower Hall tonight. I've invited a few officials to the mansion later."

Before leaving the study, Wei Guangde gave Zhang Ji a few instructions.

Things have suddenly piled up lately.

But there was nothing we could do; one thing after another just happened at once.

The Ming Dynasty Money Shop must act as soon as possible.

Zhang Ji has already taken care of the preparations on my own; now it's just a matter of official communication, with the Ministry of Revenue pressing for more information.

The regulations for the money shops also need to be revised and submitted by the Ministry of Revenue.

And regarding the rumors circulating outside today, everyone on our side should be aware of them and know what's going on.

There was also the matter of saltpeter, which concerned the vassal states of Southeast Asia, and involved three departments in the court, all of which needed to be communicated.

As dusk fell, outside the West Flower Hall of the Wei Mansion, Zhang Ji stood around the courtyard with several soldiers from Bengshan Fort.

In the flower hall, Wei Guangde and several friends whispered among themselves.

"Shandai, the saltpeter caves in the south, there are at least eight hundred or a thousand of them, it's very difficult for Du to completely eradicate them."

"The only way to intercept it is during the circulation process, which requires the efforts of local brokers." Jiang Zhi complained that the saltpeter caves in the south could only produce a few or a dozen stones of saltpeter each, which was too small for the government to mine.

In the past, if a cave was discovered, the government would simply seal it off.

However, it's possible that someone might secretly harvest them.

Of course, the local authorities were certainly aware of this, but they kept it to themselves.

After all, it's a win-win situation.

In fact, since the Ministry of Works is in charge of this matter, if something goes wrong, the Ministry of Works will definitely have to take the blame.

"You should have a record of this, right?"
After a recent cleanup, the government will not ban mines except for large mines, but they will be required to register and pay taxes.

My idea is to add 50% to the price of saltpeter and impose a tax.

The Ministry of Works takes 10%, the Ministry of Revenue takes 30%, and the Ministry of War takes 10%.

These three documents were the mining tax, the nitrate permit, and the customs clearance certificate. All three were indispensable for the nitrate that was subsequently circulated.

If any document is missing, the goods will be confiscated immediately.

Goods handed over to the Ministry of Works were sold at a 50% discount to the local authorities, which was deducted from the taxes paid, thus incentivizing the local authorities to investigate and confiscate illegal mining operations.

At this point, it would be best for the Ministry of Revenue to submit a memorial, as is customary.

This applies not only to saltpeter, but to other minerals as well.

The imperial court kept half, and the other half was left to the government officials who conducted the confiscation.

Wei Guangde understood that if such a policy were introduced, his subordinates might misbehave and frantically intercept and inspect goods in order to collect fines and confiscation revenue.

After all, it's all money.

But in times of chaos, harsh measures are necessary.

Don't assume that the Ming Dynasty was a peaceful and prosperous era, not a chaotic one.

In the business world, it's a chaotic era.

That's why it's said that most of the Ming Dynasty's tax revenue was lost, and commercial taxes simply couldn't be collected.

During the Tianqi era, tax inspectors sent by the imperial court could be beaten to death by "common people," so how could that not be considered chaotic?

To deal with such people, Wei Guangde could naturally rely on local government officials.

If they are not given enough motivation, they will only go through the motions without putting in any real effort.

Using money as an incentive, half of the confiscated contraband is directly given to the local government as a reward, which is quite generous.

Once the government has streamlined the local trade routes, this ratio will be gradually and slowly reduced.

To be honest, as long as the government takes it seriously, those wealthy merchants and tycoons are nothing.

In the past, those who engaged in smuggling, unless they still wanted to accumulate merits and climb the ranks, would be half defeated by the sugar-coated bullets of smugglers.

But now Wei Guangde is directly giving half of the reward to the local area, which means that as long as the goods are found and the local officials are not greedy and try to keep it all for themselves, he can get most of the reward.

Officials in the Ming Dynasty, or rather, officials in ancient times, basically practiced the "household responsibility system."

It truly means that all the power of a place has been handed over to the local government, from public security to finance.

Later generations say that people in ancient times were corrupt, but this era was not really corrupt.

The saying "A clean prefect for three years, 100,000 taels of silver" is often interpreted as referring to ancient officials embezzling public funds. However, this was actually their income, the amount of money they "frugal" with.

Unlike later dynasties where unused office funds were withdrawn, this system had a well-developed financial system and was supported by a banking network, making it convenient to settle local surplus funds.

In ancient times, communication was underdeveloped, and local government office expenses were fixed, which could be understood as being contracted out to local officials.

As long as no trouble is caused locally, officials are considered to be governing effectively, and higher-level governments will not inquire about how the money is spent.

This is one of the reasons why exorbitant taxes and levies have been repeatedly prohibited but not eradicated.

The document regarding the Huizhou Prefecture incident was just issued. It was actually reported from the Embroidered Uniform Guard that similar situations have occurred throughout the Ming Dynasty.

However, the reduction wasn't too severe, and the reasons given were still acceptable.

In these cases, Wei Guangde could not punish all of them; all he could do was deal with the most serious ones.

Another point is that it's supposed to be a punishment, but Wei Guangde doesn't see it as one at all; it's just a deduction of points during performance evaluations.

Superior evaluation becomes average, average becomes inferior, and inferior evaluation naturally becomes "optimization".

If officials like this don't get promoted, they'll just continue to harm the local people.

The common saying "officials protect each other" actually originates from this.

It's not that there were no punishments, but the effect of those punishments is hard to say whether they were aiding and abetting wrongdoing or something else.

That evening, after seeing the others off, Wei Guangde felt very tired.

He asked someone to prepare hot water, and went to the back to soak in the hot water for half an hour. Several soft hands gently rubbed his body, and he finally felt comfortable.

The next morning, as Wei Guangde's orders began to be carried out, all the government offices became bustling with activity.

First, the steward of the Wei family delivered newspapers to various government offices for free. After that, the clerks and officials of the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Revenue were assigned various tasks and became busy.

Meanwhile, Wei Guangde also began receiving news from the outside world in his duty room, including gossip about the common people.

After a night of fermentation, the rumors in the capital began to change.

What started as a defeat for the government troops in Japan has now escalated into a major rout, with the enemy on the verge of annihilation.

The rumors spread very quickly, and even the Embroidered Uniform Guard took notice.

At the hour of Si (9-11 AM), Liu Shouyou, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, hurriedly came to the cabinet to request an audience and reported the matter to Wei Guangde.

How are prices changing in the market?

Wei Guangde frowned. He had noticed last night that this rumor was not like a normal rumor, as it usually spreads very slowly at first.

This time, however, it was clear that someone deliberately spread the rumors, accelerating their spread.

After much thought, he realized that if it was a political enemy in the court trying to trip him up, the Ministry of War's battle report proved that it wouldn't harm him at all.

After much thought, Wei Guangde concluded that the only possible culprit was the merchants in the capital who wanted to profit from the rumors.

"Prices haven't changed much, after all, the rumors have only just started."

Liu Shouyou understood Wei Guangde's guess immediately.

"Have someone keep an eye on those merchants. If there are any fluctuations in the market, investigate them."

This matter seems more like a private affair, since we all know the situation in Japan very well, and others in the court are also fully aware of it.

Wei Guangde spoke up.

"Yes, Your Excellency."

Liu Shouyou hurriedly bowed and replied.

"Once it is confirmed that someone is deliberately spreading rumors to slander His Majesty, the court, and the government troops, gather witnesses and evidence, and arrest them immediately."

This is a time of renewal and fresh beginnings; who would want to be disgusted by spreading such rumors?

Your Majesty is wise, and the imperial troops have fought bravely, achieving a great victory for our dynasty in the campaign against the Japanese pirates.

They, however, smeared me behind my back, their intentions malicious.

Wei Guangde spoke up.

Using the Embroidered Uniform Guard to directly characterize profiteering as deceiving the emperor is a serious crime, and could easily result in a mountain of executions.

However, Wei Guangde finally began to understand why Zhang Juzheng had closed the academy. (End of Chapter)