prosperous age

Chapter 487 486 Raising Money
After Yang Zhao became the deputy general of Liaoyang, Zhang Juzheng's calculations naturally came to nothing.

However, this seems to be the first time that Zhang Juzheng had the idea of ​​supporting a group of cronies, at least Wei Guangde guessed so, because soon Zhang Juzheng returned to normal, with a smile on his face, Tang Ruji and Yin Shizhen were talking about the cabinet Things seemed to be the reason for his joy.

Tang Ruji is somewhat pedantic, this is Wei Guangde's evaluation of him.

The Emperor Jiajing had already made a final decision. He thought that the cabinet should continue to follow the usual practice. He did not consider that the emperor might be hated because of this, not to mention that the cabinet ministers were in power at this time. Who likes to add more constraints? .

But at this time, neither the cabinet nor Emperor Jiajing of Xiyuan turned a deaf ear to the discussion of the people below, because there was a more important thing to deal with before their eyes, that is where to get money.

The Ministry of Households of the Ming Dynasty actually had already calculated the annual revenue and expenditure at the beginning of the year, and there was a budget for those areas that should be used.

This year, East and West finally gave Kang Ping the expenditure for rebuilding Yongshou Palace, but because of the fire in the palace, Emperor Jiajing's determination to re-record "Yongle Dadian" became stronger.

Especially shortly after the Yongshou Palace caught fire, the Yumajian caught fire again, which made Emperor Jiajing very worried about the ability of the servants in the palace.

When Yan Song was in power, Emperor Jiajing had discussed the matter with his cabinet ministers many times, and at this time he called Xu Jie and Yuan Wei again in Xiyuan to discuss the matter.

"Your Majesty, most of the ambergris in the palace was burned due to flooding in the Yongshou Palace last year. Now Gao Shangshu of the household department is using the remaining money from the department to purchase ambergris everywhere. It seems that there is no spare money to prepare for this matter."

These people are of low rank, so naturally it is basically impossible to contact the emperor on weekdays.

Set up one patriarchal order, one person for the left and one for the right clan, one person for the left and one for the right clan, and one person to be in charge of the genus of the nine clans of the emperor. Birth and death, marriage, posthumous burial.

At least, the dozen or so people mentioned in front of Emperor Jiajing today will be transferred first.

Knowing that Emperor Jiajing wanted to re-record the grand ceremony, but his student Zhang Juzheng took over as Guozijian to sacrifice wine, but he didn't make good arrangements. There are too many things happening recently, especially Yan Song's sudden resignation, which disrupted many of his arrangements.

Since he ascended the throne, Emperor Jiajing has understood most deeply that he should not easily believe the nonsense of these ministers.

Some people can't figure it out, such as Lao Kan, Yan Song has already determined his whereabouts at that time, and the Beijing official will release the place, as long as he is willing, the court will not object.

After Xu Jie mentioned the names and arrangements of several people, he found that Emperor Jiajing seemed to be very interested, and he didn't intend to stop him at all, so he had to continue talking.

Emperor Jiajing interjected when Xu Jie paused in speaking.

Or who still has money?

When Emperor Jiajing asked about the transfer of officials, Xu Jie couldn't help but feel a little moved. Could it be that Emperor Jiajing also had someone in his pocket who wanted to arrange it?

At this time, Emperor Jiajing on the throne finally spoke, which also showed that he had agreed to Xu Jie's proposal, asking the princes' houses to contribute and the court to do their best to complete the matter.

"I called the two of you here today to ask what you can do?"

Most of the money in various places goes to the accounts of the household department, but there is only so much money in the household department, and there is nothing to spend.

The emperor is the head of the royal family, but he can't command those relatives at will, let alone ask for money, that is, when he inherits and entrusts, he will ask the capital to send a lot of good things to celebrate his birthday or What.

Even at the beginning of the year, Zhu Dianmao, the king of Yi who had done a lot of evil in Luoyang, was just sent to Fengyang to the high wall, and only Zhu Yingyao, the son of King Chu who killed his father, was actually executed. As for the suicide of King Hui, in fact, Emperor Jiajing himself just wanted to put him It was just sent to Fengyang, but I was afraid of committing suicide.

For those princes, when they did not make mistakes, Emperor Jiajing had no way to restrain them. Even if they made mistakes, most of them could only punish them with small punishments and show the care between the royal family and clan.

"My minister agrees."

However, it is not the right way to threaten with official positions. Cabinet ministers are not low-level officials and can be replaced at will. Therefore, most things can only be discussed and handled. Everyone takes a step back and finds a way to work together. .

Emperor Jiajing wanted to re-record the grand ceremony. The manpower was simple, but the cost of pen and ink was not small, so it would be a little bit less.

For them, titles are just like that, don't expect to get more officials and ranks by sending money to the emperor.

Today, if His Majesty wants to re-record this book, he should ask all the palaces to contribute their efforts, and imitate the style of the ancestors to participate in the grand event. "

Emperor Jiajing obviously did not object to this plan of official adjustment, and most of the officials involved were not of high rank, and he only had a little impression of many people.

Yuan Wei is really not good at raising money, such a difficult problem. At this time, he just lowered his head, watching his nose, nose and heart.

Thinking of this, Xu Jie looked up at Emperor Jiajing who was sitting on the throne and said: "Your Majesty, the re-recording of the Grand Ceremony is a grand event, and it should be announced to the clan and princes in various places through the clan's residence.

These, in fact, were already decided last year, or arrangements that neither Yan Song nor himself, nor Yuan Wei objected to.

I think that when the ancestor became the ancestor, he once said that all the books of classics and history since the book contract, as for astronomy, topography, yin and yang, medicine and divination, monk Taoism, and skills, they should be compiled into one book. "come out.

Another thing is to make a fuss about salt and tea taxes, but far away water can't quench your near thirst.

This is a good idea, let the clan pay for the money, and the court does not need to pay.

I often say in front of him that this is not allowed and that is not allowed, but if they are given a combination of grace and power, and some benefits are released, even if it is too much, they will hold their noses and admit it. For them, the official position is the most important.

Wei Guangde told Zhang Juzheng about this and asked him to entrust Xu Jie to handle it.

How to live without money, it is naturally throttling, open source is too troublesome.

Emperor Jiajing on the throne just said lightly, if he believed these ministers, then don't think about doing anything.

Xu Jie knew that Emperor Jiajing was now determined to re-record the grand ceremony, and this matter itself was of great benefit, but the household department had no money, so if the emperor wanted the money from the inner treasury, forget it, the inner treasury often had no money, They are all forcibly obtained from the household department.

"Your Majesty, transcribing the Grand Ceremony is a great merit, but it is a huge project and not a short-term merit. I ask Your Majesty to postpone it and allow enough time. During this period, the cabinet will cooperate with the Ministry of Accounts to raise the required money."

Emperor Jiajing said seemingly casually.

Although what Xu Jie said was to ask the princes to contribute, but there are so many people in the imperial court, they still need to send people there, only money is needed.

Yuan Wei is no longer a servant or a minister at this time, of course he knows how difficult it is to be the family of the Ming Dynasty.

As soon as Xu Jie finished speaking, Yuan Wei was impatient to express his attitude.

Seeing this, Xu Jie knew that it was almost done, as long as Emperor Jiajing didn't ask some people out, then nothing would happen today.

This was the first thing Emperor Jiajing had to do after Yan Song resigned. If he couldn't do it satisfactorily, he might not be able to hold his position securely.

"Are these officials confirmed to be transferred?"

The Ministry of Households, which has no money, can only ask the cabinet to borrow money from other ministries when it needs to make an emergency payment.

In fact, most local officials think about how to return to Beijing, and where they will take the initiative to run out, they only go for money.

There are many things to do today. Originally, they were only dealing with official documents sent from various places. Now they have to call people from the Ministry of Officials to discuss the appointment of those officials. Let them be mobilized first.

In order to avoid major consequences, the Ministry of Household Affairs must prepare some silver taels to meet the needs of the inner court.

But now it's only the middle of the year, if you want to repay the money, you will have to arrange it in the next year at the earliest, when the new plan of the household department comes out.

Both the emperor and the court are short of money, but those princes and county kings all have money. The older the family, the better off it is, but so what, the money belongs to others.

Huang Jin knew in his heart that he couldn't say too thoroughly about asking the princes to contribute money this time. His master was just looking at how many of the relatives below agreed with him.

Emperor Jiajing couldn't bear it any longer. Thinking that he would formally issue an edict to re-record the grand ceremony soon, Xu Jie sighed in his heart.

After they left, Emperor Jiajing sat quietly on the throne and thought for a while before saying to Huang Jin: "You have heard what I said before, arrange as soon as possible, and deliver the news to the palaces of various places to see their performance."

"Official transfers, those that have been confirmed can be released as soon as possible, and don't wait for the discussion to be unified before transferring to avoid turmoil in the officialdom."

When he was speaking, Huang Jin had already bowed to listen to the order, and agreed when Emperor Jiajing finished speaking.

At the beginning, many jobs were prepared for Yan Song, just hoping that he would not come forward to object.

"Tell me about the people who have already settled down. If you talk about it casually, I will listen to it casually."

When Xu Jie and Yuan Wei left Yuxi Palace and walked towards the gate of Xiyuan, Xu Jie was still thinking about whether there were details about the transfer of officials that he hadn't noticed, especially the names of the dozen or so officials he reported.

He didn't know if there were any of these people that Emperor Jiajing wanted to pay attention to, but after thinking about it carefully, he found that there seemed to be none.

"I know."

He couldn't help but be careful and said: "The promotion of officials this time is mainly based on the results of internal and external inspections. In fact, preparations have been made for this matter last year. Those with outstanding local political achievements may be promoted or transferred to Beijing, and those with outstanding Beijing officials will be transferred to other places. Increase your knowledge and familiarize yourself with local government procedures."

In any case, as long as you start re-recording, tens of thousands of taels of pen and ink every year are indispensable.

If these things are not properly arranged, how can they make money?
What are the other ways to get money?

The Zongren Mansion was originally established by Zhu Yuanzhang, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty. It was called the Dazong Zhengyuan in the third year of Hongwu, and was renamed the Zongren Mansion in the 22nd year of Hongwu. It is an institution that manages the affairs of the royal family.

As for the collection of money from various ministries and temples, I am afraid that the hype that I talked about first, will be full of complaints when it comes to apportionment, which is also annoying.

At the beginning, he planned to get Zhang Juzheng to participate in the Imperial Academy's Jijiu and Hanlin Academy's attendant to fight for the position of chief school officer, but now it is too late in terms of time.

At this time, Xu Jie's brain was telling him to think and find a way, recalling how Yan Song dealt with the similar situation back then.

"The current head of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs, Lao Kan, was relocated to Guangdong as the procuratorial envoy, the procuratorial envoy of Shaanxi Province, and Zhang Ke, the censor of Shaanxi Province, was changed to the patrol envoy of Zhejiang Zhili, and patrolled the two Zhejiang provinces."

Well now, those are useless efforts.

Even if the household department borrows money, it will be returned within two months at most.

Because of his own status, although he had secured his position, Emperor Jiajing was still wary of the vassal palaces in various places.

Fujian, that place is not a good place to go. Xu Jie carefully arranged for her to be the censor of the two Zhejiang provinces. At least now Zhejiang is better than Fujian. Apart from a small group of Japanese pirates harassing her, there is no major war.

However, when Xu Jie and Yuan Wei felt that Emperor Jiajing's goal had been achieved today and they were about to resign, Emperor Jiajing changed the subject and asked again: "I heard that the cabinet and the Ministry of Officials have been discussing the reform of officials for the sake of Beijing inspection. How is the relocation going now?"

Shaking his head, Xu Jie stopped thinking if he didn't understand, and left Xiyuan with Yuan Wei to return to the cabinet.

The first thing that came to mind was naturally to borrow money from Chang Ying Ku, and get things done first.

As for Zhang Ke, it was Wei Guangde who received his letter. Well, I have stayed in Shaanxi for a long time and wanted to change places. Knowing that Zhejiang, Fujian and other places lack officials and there are frequent wars, Zhang Ke also wants to go there to practice and take this opportunity to accumulate credit. .

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Xu Jie and Yuan Wei glanced at each other quietly, so they had to start with Xu Jie and talk about the people who had already been booked.

Another dozen or so names of officials with clear whereabouts were mentioned in one breath, and only then did Emperor Jiajing nod slightly.

When Xu Jie talked about the clan, Yuan Wei had already guessed Xu Jie's plan, and after he finished speaking, he really wanted the clan to pay.

Xu Jie hurriedly replied.

The rest is the family of the royal family, the noble family, how many generations they have been hereditary, the wealth accumulated in their hands should not be a small number, and it is enough for each family to share some.

The reason for questioning today is to make Xu Jie and Yuan Wei feel in awe. As an emperor, he doesn't know nothing.

In recent days, Xu Jie and Yuan Wei are still discussing with the Ministry of Officials how to adjust the positions originally occupied by Yan Maoqing and other prime ministers, who have to be replaced by their own people.

And Xu Jie also knew that in the memorial sent back today, it seemed that this trust was really difficult to accept.

When he wasn't in his position, he could still swear and make noises from below, but now that he was in the position, naturally he couldn't continue like this, so he had to find a way to solve it.

Officials and gentry have money, but this precedent cannot be set, and there is no proper reason.

From the crown prince Shaobao Yao Guangxiao, the university scholar Xie Jin, down to the Confucian scholar Chen Ji who has no official status and no rank, the concerted efforts took several years to complete.

Speaking of which, although he is an emperor, he is often a bit restrained towards the vassal princes of various places.

When Emperor Jiajing was thinking about Xu Jie's proposal, Xu Jie felt bitter.

Tribute, that is according to the routine, no one will give half a cent.

Can Changyingku's loan be delayed for half a year?
I'm afraid it will be difficult.

In the early Ming Dynasty, all the official positions in the clan mansion were held by princes. For example, the first clan order was Zhu Xi, king of Qin.

During the Yongle period, the clan's mansion was no longer managed by the prince, but was changed to the affairs of the meritorious relatives and ministers who also led the clan's mansion, and no special officials were set up.

The Clan Mansion is under the management of the Ministry of Rites, and all matters under its jurisdiction are handed over to the Ministry of Rites. There is one experienced person with the official position of Zhengwupin, who is responsible for the sending, receiving and management of documents and files.

This time, Emperor Jiajing wanted to send a message to the royal palaces through the clan mansion.

(End of this chapter)