Jingming

Chapter 179
Wu Tingju was brutally infused with a lot of advice, he thought he was the only one who was a novice.

His Majesty was late for the first national policy meeting.

Huang Jin told them: "Your Majesty is teaching you the ten ways to keep fit. Your Majesty will be here soon, my lords."

"...What are the ten methods of fitness?"

Huang Jin hesitated for a moment, and then demonstrated in front of Huagai Hall: "That's it... Jiazi Jue: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai; Yi Zi Jue, Zi , ugly, Yin..."

Seventeen counselors and two accompanying readers watched Huang Jin's demonstration of techniques, but they didn't understand it.

"May I ask Eunuch Huang, what is the effect of this method? Why did His Majesty teach you ladies..." Yang Tinghe asked.

Sun Jiao's face was serious: After my daughter came home the night before, she got up in the courtyard yesterday morning and did just that.

"Your Majesty said... I learned it from ancient books. Its effect is just like its name, it strengthens the body. His Majesty insisted on practicing it when he was in the palace. After the Empress Dowager entered the palace, he advised His Majesty to run less, so His Majesty changed the practice again. In this method, run once every three to five days."

The emperor hadn't come anyway, so Huang Jin was chatting with them here.

But the point remains: why teach concubines this?
In the imperial garden, only Wen Suyun and the other nine concubines are here.

When Zhu Houcong said no touch, he meant no bang bang bang, not no contact.

"You need to relax your arms a little bit." He corrected Zhang Qinghe's posture, "You need to take bigger steps..."

Zhang Qinghe flinched very much, now that the emperor touched her arm and waist, she only blushed with embarrassment.

The girls are dumbfounded.

Even Wen Suyun, who is the liveliest, did not expect the emperor to be like this.

She couldn't help but asked boldly: "Your Majesty, are you teaching your concubines these things to train them to become women's soldiers?"

Zhu Houcong was amused: "What nonsense are you talking about? If there is a war, how can I need my concubines to fight? You should practice these ten methods of fitness. Your body is too delicate. I am afraid that pregnancy will be dangerous in the future. Who didn't After training, I will not go to anyone's palace to have a look."

After all, he looked at them meaningfully: "Concubine Xian has also practiced before."

Although Lin Qingping didn't practice, I believe they can understand.

Now that he is in the harem, Zhu Houcong really doesn't want to hear about the concubine's death today and hear about the prince's and daughter's death tomorrow.

They are all younger, if it wasn't for the fact that it was really important for Sun Ming to give birth to a son-in-law, Zhu Houcong would have planned to try his best not to farm.

Hearing what the emperor said, except for a few three or four people who couldn't see their inner thoughts, the eyes of the rest of them obviously lit up.

"My country is busy with affairs, but since everyone has entered the palace and has a status, in the future, as long as it doesn't rain, I will come here at six o'clock. I will practice this method with you." Zhu Houcong said to Wen Suyun, "Su Yun, you are the fastest learner, and if you rehearse with them one or two times, you must at least master the four tactics of A, B, C, and D today. I'm going to the imperial study."

"The concubine obeys the order..."

The ten girls watched His Majesty stride towards the Qianqing Palace, and looked at each other in blank dismay.

The emperor is very different from what they thought before.

"... Sister Concubine Shu, you are the best learner, do you have any tricks?" A certain concubine said sweetly.

Wen Suyun now just thinks, was it because I thought it was too interesting before, so I was a little selfless?His Majesty gave her the title Shu, could it be to tease her?
"Qinghe, you are too restrained. Look how relaxed your Majesty is when doing it..." She opened her mouth but looked at Zhang Qinghe.

The palace maids and eunuchs waiting to serve not far away in the imperial garden just watched the ladies dancing and dancing together, and gradually became slapstick.

After a while, Zhu Houcong came to the imperial study after scrubbing and tidying up his clothes and face.

Seventeen counselors looked at him strangely.

It's another draft, another theory of the three principles, and what else is the ten methods of health.

Your Majesty, how did you learn such complicated knowledge, and it is amazing?

Huang Jin was just euphemistically pointing out that the concubine Xian was pregnant because of the secret method. Do you think the ten methods of fitness are part of the secret method?

They didn't ask any more questions, probably this was also part of the plan: maybe in the next year or two, there will be frequent news of good news in the palace.One queen, two concubines and nine concubines have all learned the secret technique, so how many of them are princes?
When the offspring prosper, there will be one less cause of chaos in the world.

But this kind of secret technique... Although most old men can't use it anymore, what should I do if I really want to learn it?The kids at home can use it.

"This is the first time for Xianchen to come to the imperial study, are you used to it?" Zhu Houcong asked directly.

When Wu Tingju heard the emperor's question, he stood up restrainedly and bowed: "I am still getting used to it. I have seen this national policy that will last forever, so I know that your majesty swallows the world..."

Compared with any new law, the magnificent prospect of the Great Wall on the South Seas makes people even more bald. It is really hard to imagine how this national policy was established before the drama of "partisan struggle".

The water in this royal study is very deep.

"Fei Qing has set off for Sichuan, and Jiang Qing is in Jiangnan. The counselors are complete. Let's discuss how to implement the new law in Guangdong." Zhu Houcong only smiled after hearing Wu Tingju's flattery, and started the formal topic, "This It will be fully implemented in the future, if there are any difficulties and how to solve them, we should make plans early, Zhang Fujing is still waiting for the imperial court's order."

The people from the internal file department are ready, and after the consultants get used to it, they will also come with blank books to record some key points.

When the emperor asked something, the others looked at Wu Tingju first, wanting him to speak first.

Wu Tingju scolded his mother in his heart: Yang Ting and the party leader still have a glimmer of hope, hoping that the emperor will slowly change.

Yesterday, the court held a meeting in the Wenlou after the push, and they actually asked themselves, a newcomer, to charge forward and tell the emperor their current difficulties.

He stood up and saluted solemnly again: "Although I am still studying the general outline of the new law and other new laws, I have served in Guangdong before, so please briefly explain your own opinions first, so as to inspire others."

Zhu Houcong nodded: "Speak directly when you have something to say. At the national policy meeting, there is no formality."

After Wu Tingju sat down, he thought for a while before saying: "The new law now has the potential to open up a new world. Compared with the current law, the laws in Xining period are only a corner. I think that if the new law in Guangdong will be effective in three to five years , there are five major difficulties."

Zhu Houcong signaled him to say.

This is not only to make Wu Tingju charge, but also to give him a chance.

How much he can digest the new law in a short period of time, and whether he can propose a practical action plan also determines whether he can gain points in the emperor's mind.

Yang Tinghe was happy to be charged, Wang Qiong and the others wanted to strengthen their own forces, and Wu Tingju also wanted to gain a firm foothold in the national policy meeting.

He said: "One of the difficulties lies in the expenditure. The imperial court needs to spend money to buy the year-end and seat-offices undertaken by Guangdong, and Guangdong also needs to spend money to buy the rest of the sit-off and miscellaneous things. This is a lot of money. Officials in Guangdong began to apply for tax and labor. In order to appease the situation, the treatment of officials was increased, which was another large amount of money. I roughly estimated that the amount of silver taels that the Ministry of Households had to pay to Guangdong was probably around 12 taels of silver every year. Guangdong needed The additional salaries paid to local officials and various public expenditures add up to an additional nearly 10 taels."

Zhu Houcong took notes a few times: "Continue."

"The second difficulty lies in the power and responsibility. If the government and gentry apply for the payment of land taxes, and the unified collection of silver by the department can be implemented, the land tax and the annual income of silver and money will increase a lot. However, it may be difficult to handle things such as purchases, storage and transfer, and business taxes. Additional yamen and officials are needed. The new law is easier and more effective, and they all complement each other. I am afraid that Guangdong needs to reconsider the functions of the provincial, prefecture, and county yamen, and what positions each official will take on."

"The third difficulty lies in the market transactions. If the government and gentry apply for the payment of land taxes, and the unified collection of silver by the department is carried out, the trend of common people's donations may fade away. In the past, many hidden households and people in Guangdong were collected by large households. , Now that if the department is unified and the money is levied, how will the people exchange grain and rice for money? If the local big households are allowed to exploit it, there may be chaos. Therefore, in this market transaction, the new law must not become a law that harms the people."

"The fourth difficulty lies in enlightenment. The big gentry have the intention of resisting, and the people are at a loss when they hear the new law and are easily incited. Even the officials in Guangdong need time to understand the gist of the new law. I think that if Guangdong can't educate the new law first It is easier to implement the old system so much, but it is extremely difficult to implement it.”

"The fifth difficulty lies in the officials. After all, it is up to the officials in Guangdong to try out the new law. Although there are laws on the treatment of officials to appease them, and there are laws to test them and the laws of the Ming Dynasty to encourage them, they still have to be guarded against. ...Since Your Majesty ordered the ministers to speak out, the ministers will not be restrained. Officials in the world are afraid of the danger of reform."

After Wu Tingju finished speaking, he could only look at the emperor anxiously.

In a short period of time, a lot of financial pressures have been added, pressures related to wide-ranging institutional reforms, the change of replacing food with silver related to all the people, the threshold of understanding caused by the new law being too "new", and the laziness and even resistance of officials when implementing the new law.

These are very real problems.

Even the important ministers at the national policy conference, didn't you become the new party because of your cowardice and reluctance after exerting your wrists?

"That's a good question." Zhu Houcong gave a slightly relieved answer to Wu Tingju, and then said, "Do you have anything to add, Qing?"

This time everyone looked at Yang Tinghe, so the leader of the party bite the bullet and said: "Besides, at present, only Guangdong is trying out the new law, and the rest of the provinces remain the same. Another difficulty is that the six ministries, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, etc. have official exchanges with Guangdong in the Beijing Yamen. The old and the new go hand in hand. , there can be no chaos in the Beijing Yamen."

"My minister is concerned about how to implement the test method in Guangdong." Wang Qiong added, "Guangdong officialdom has experienced two major turmoil. At this time, it must be panic and even resentment. If the restraint of the test method is not used properly It may be counterproductive. In addition, how to become a Guangdong official also needs to be determined after the implementation of the new Guangdong laws one by one."

After waiting for a while, Zhu Houcong asked: "There is nothing to add for the time being, so what is the solution? Guangdong does not need to start implementing it within this year, but Xianchen is right. The new law needs to be widely publicized in Guangdong to educate the officials and the people. The government still needs to come up with one, two, three, and four as soon as possible. Otherwise, there will be a lot of discussions between the government and the opposition, and the counselors have spent more than a year only to come up with some shocking new laws, and then they have not started to implement them for a long time. They are using the new law to fight for power."

Wu Tingju broke out in a cold sweat: Are you speaking so directly?
But the foundation of the new law was proposed by Your Majesty, are you just accusing the counselors of not sincerely wanting to reform?

Yang Tinghe replied: "In the past few days, I have called all my ministers to hold several meetings on the implementation of Guangdong's new law. Under the discussion, I think that there are many new laws, and it should be tried out step by step. Next year, Guangdong will first compile the review department, and only Order officials, squires, and wealthy households to apply for land taxes. By the end of next year, there will be a figure for how much land taxes can be collected in Guangdong. Invoke corvee and implement various purchasing methods. In this way, Guangdong has time to adapt, and the imperial court can also calmly adjust."

After he finished speaking, he also looked at the emperor with some apprehension: In fact, I have said it many times, corvee is the root.But the next step is to only move the land tax, and I don't know what the emperor thinks.

Zhu Houcong just asked lightly: "At the beginning of the country, more than 23 hectares were [-] million shi, and now more than [-] hectares are [-] million shi. Officials, gentry, and wealthy households have all applied for payment. Are the standards for expropriation of various fields based on the current standards? According to the compilation and review department, after the unified conversion of silver, should the burden be shared by the person or by the field? According to the land right?"

One sentence made the imperial study room depressed.

According to the current standard, Guangdong Tian Fu's energy has more than tripled.According to the standards of the early days of the country, even if all the land in Guangdong is clarified, it will not expand much.

In the end, the extra 50 million shi, should we put together a piece of paper?
And the corvee payment is the most important thing, by the person or by the field?

The reform is about to enter the substantive area, and Yang Tinghe can only say: "Your Majesty, all the laws are too involved, and you are so stupid..."

"Qing and others are all stupid, does Ming Dynasty still have intelligent officials?" Zhu Houcong looked at them, "I know that it is true that I have been involved too much. If the new law cannot be implemented, I may have to retreat to the next best thing, but Qing and others feel that they are gone. The way out. Things have come to this, if you don’t have the fortitude to do what the predecessors dared not do, it will naturally be difficult everywhere.”

Zhu Houcong doesn't blame them either. After all, he has never seriously thought about reforming the law. Even if he is forced to start thinking about it now, his whole life of thinking still imprisoned them in the old system.

The plan proposed by Zhu Houcong was a bit ahead of them.

They can all see that it will greatly damage the current interests of officials, gentry and rich households by evading taxes and duties.

They can also see the great financial pressure on the purchase of various offices and the improvement of the treatment of officials.

However, they have no idea how much the annual income can be increased by starting to increase the business tax, and whether business can make the officials, gentry and wealthy households who are willing to change more profitable so as not to contradict the new law.

"Then let me tell the story." Zhu Houcong smiled, "I just need to have room in the eyes of the world, and the consultants will make overall arrangements. The success depends on Qing and others, and I will enjoy it It's convenient."

The counselors who are familiar with the rhythm feel a little bitter: it is coming again, and it must be another class.

So Wu Tingju saw that they skillfully picked up the brushes and prepared to record the key points.

Zhu Houxuan said slowly: "The first is money. I can borrow from the internal funds to the Ministry of Households for the extra expenditure of the imperial court's annual office, as the cultivation cost of the trial phase of the new Guangdong law, so as not to cause additional pressure on the rest of the provinces and the Ministry of Households. Xianchen then I can make a memorial, I'm sure."

He has money for the time being, presumably Zhang Fujing will bring a lot of money after he kills again this time.

It is very reasonable to take it from Guangdong and use it in Guangdong. It is very reasonable to kill the rich and help the poor.

Wu Tingju: ...Is this how the consultants work?His Majesty told him that he could issue an IOU to the Neiku.

Everyone was refreshed: After many years, the emperor was finally willing to lend money to the Ministry of Household Affairs again.

Zhu Houcong continued: "As for the additional expenses brought about by local purchases and the treatment of officials, the powers of the three levels of Guangdong province, prefecture, and county, and the issue of officials' laziness and resistance, we might as well look at it in a different direction. Guangdong not only needs to spend more , and more expenditures. The ancestral system has fewer officials and more officials, and the subordinates have no hope of promotion, and their salaries are meager. How can they live a superior life without exploiting the village? Guangdong expansion! Huang Jin."

So everyone saw that the emperor was obviously ready again. Huang Jin asked someone to lift a shelf from behind the map of Daming, and placed it on the side.

Zhu Houcong pointed there and said: "Redundant officials are terrible, but they can't go to the other extreme. I have counted. Among the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty, there are a total of 850 officials in the two capitals. The remaining thirteen chief envoys plus Let’s get up, there are a total of 930 life officials, of which only 890 are above the seventh rank.”

The rest are now just looking at the chart above.

The Song Dynasty was redundant officials, and the Ming Dynasty went to another extreme.Officials who are paid by the government have a total of 780 establishments across the country.

The expenses of the remaining officials are all paid by officials or government offices. There are no such items in the fiscal expenditures, so they can only be counted as various corvees for apportionment.

Zhu Houcong found these problems from the statistics, so he felt incredible.

Even so, there are still people who point the finger at the phenomenon of sending salary among the military attache group, and criticize the serious redundancy of officials in Ming Dynasty.

In the future when technological conditions are already very advanced, although the population has increased several times, the overall size of civil servants will be in the millions.

In the current state where communication efficiency is so low, Daming relies on a total of less than [-] civil servants to maintain the daily government affairs.

Zhu Baba had such a miserable experience in his early years that he adopted such a management method with a very small staff.

However, it is conceivable to manage the human resources actually needed in various places. The expenditures required by the huge staff and aides are all flexibly controlled by the localities and finally apportioned to the common people.

So there is a vicious circle, the finances cannot support a more efficient state machine, and it eventually collapses.

So Zhu Houcong said decisively: "Starting from Guangdong, the number of officials will be expanded. Many necessary officials will also be incorporated into the ranks of officials. The increased annual income in Guangdong can be used to guarantee the treatment of their officials. This is what they are willing to implement. Motivation. From the ninth rank upwards, the opportunities for promotion will increase. There are about [-] Jinshi surviving, and there are only [-] people, and minus the old and sick, how can such a few people help me govern Daming well?"

The counselors stared dumbfounded at a tower-like diagram on the left above and a tree-like diagram on the right.

...Your Majesty is always playing something new.

Zhu Houcong looked at them and said: "To implement the new law, everything depends on the officials. I have seen the high-ranking officials in Guangdong. They know that as long as they do their jobs well, they will have a bright future. But what about the officials of the fifth, sixth and seventh ranks? What about low-level officials and officials? Let more talented officials in Guangdong be able to serve as officials, and let capable officials have dignity, security, dignity, and promotion. Then no matter what new law is, they will help the court Push it on!"

Don't people know that being an official can earn more money and have a higher status than escaping taxes?

But it is too difficult to be admitted to Jinshi, and the ceiling of Juren is there.

Doesn't a scholar want to be a high-ranking official?
I don't have the qualifications, but to be an official will completely limit my status, and I will be a servant who will be called around all my life.

Officials have no "official power". In the eyes of the common people, they are masters. In the eyes of officials, what are they?
Zhu Houcong stared at them: "Provincial, prefectural, and county levels are all assigned. Ordinary officials who have not entered the stream may also be promoted. The total number of officials below the fifth rank has expanded to nearly 120. Can you absorb the gentry in Guangdong who are willing to be loyal to the imperial court? Under the status of officials, the Law on Official Treatment, the Examination Law, and the Ming Dynasty’s regulations, can they be constrained and motivated to implement the new law in Guangdong? Nearly [-] nine-rank and non-influential officials have been added, and the average eight-rank new The annual salary is [-] shi, which is only a million shi!"

The counselors only felt that a naked picture of war was in front of them:
If this idea is completed, Guangdong Tian Fu can theoretically increase to more than 200 million shi.In addition to the 40 shi of the annual grain required by the imperial court, isn't the remaining tax and grain enough to support Guangdong's salary?
What's more, Guangdong will also have other income from commercial taxation.

What His Majesty didn't point out, naturally included what so many officials could earn by participating in the business in various ways.

In short...separate the gentry and the rich from the simple chain of farm interests.

Let not a small part of the gentry officially enter the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, and how strong is the other part who stubbornly resist the new law?
Those who adapt to the new rules will survive and grow.

Those who don't adapt are wiped out.

"Under the eighth rank, each prefecture can interpret and select by itself. Below the sixth rank, Guangdong Province will select by itself. If the fifth rank is above, the official department will select it. If it is below the seventh rank, it can work in the original place. Scholars, Juren, and Jinshi are not required. The threshold is to give scholars who have failed the test for a long time and the opportunity to raise people. Daxing Social Sciences must always allow all future officials to be educated, literate, and know etiquette. The examinations of each government and court are unified by each province to reduce the difficulty; Set up the chief and deputy candidates, the principal and deputy candidates can take the examination of the Ministry of Rites, and the deputy can be awarded officials." Zhu Houcong pointed to the right, "As for the local government office, I have also considered it. Can you see it clearly?"

Yang Ting and the others could see the tree-like picture clearly.

They saw that Guangdong Province has a governor, under which there are chief ministers, commanders, punishments, public security, taxation, and inspections.

Each prefecture has a government office, a punishment bureau, a public security bureau, a tax bureau, and a police bureau.

Each county is the county government, criminal punishment department, public security department, taxation department, and capital inspection department.

They saw the doorway: criminal laws, patrol inspections, taxation, and supervision were all thoroughly understood, and they were not controlled by the same level of yamen.Although in a place, I am afraid that it will lead to the court all the way.

The province is governed by the governor, so what about the prefectures and counties?

Yang Tinghe asked this question.

Zhu Houcong laughed and pointed at them: "Don't you think that this national policy meeting is quite effective?"

The seventeenth counselor was stunned. They were familiar with this, and it was really efficient to have a small meeting behind closed doors.

All of a sudden, I felt that the old system of the Ming Dynasty was going to be wiped out, and the spirit of the Taizu in the sky was probably very excited.

The coffin of his old man is not moving, is it?

(End of this chapter)