I, Jiajing, successfully cultivated immortality

Chapter 383
"Well, get up!"

Jiajing withdrew his gaze from Zhang Juzheng, and turned to give orders.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After Zhang Juzheng got up from the ground, he immediately took out the prepared memorial from his sleeve and reported it respectfully.

"Your Majesty, I have almost done what you ordered me to do earlier!"

When Zhang Juzheng said this, he paused for a moment, then continued.

"Currently, Wei Chen has selected [-] brave men from various guards across the country to form the Shenji Battalion."

"After a period of training, the combat effectiveness of the army has been initially formed. The Weapons Division, the newly developed firearms, cannons, grenades and other new weapons have been given priority to equip the Shenji Battalion!"

"Weichen estimates that within half a year at most, this newly formed Shenji Battalion will become another elite of our Ming Dynasty!"

After Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, he paused and bowed again.

Seeing this, Lu Fang on the side immediately stepped forward, took the memorial from Zhang Juzheng, and handed it to Jiajing.

Jiajing took the memorandum, browsed through the content carefully, put it aside, nodded slightly, and then gave orders.

"Well, you did a good job on this matter!"

Afterwards, Jiajing suddenly changed the subject and continued.

"However, if an army wants to truly become an elite, it must go through the baptism of battle. Only blood and fire can completely wash away their old spirit!"

Hearing this, Zhang Juzheng buried his head deeply on the ground, full of doubts in his heart.

"What do you mean by what His Majesty just said? Is it possible that His Majesty will go to war within half a year?"

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Juzheng seemed to have thought of something, and he seemed to have a clear understanding.

"Right now, the construction progress of the navy is less than half."

"Therefore, His Majesty must plan to start a war with the Tatars who have repeatedly invaded the borders of our Ming Dynasty within half a year!"

Just when Zhang Juzheng was in a daze, Jiajing's voice from the ancient well sounded from his ears again.

"Zhang Juzheng, what's the current progress of the Navy's construction?"

Zhang Juzheng had already prepared for this, so he quickly organized his language and reported to Jiajing.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, the current construction progress of the navy is less than half. In the past month, the shipyard has built a total of eleven warships!"

When Zhang Juzheng was talking about this, he was afraid that Jiajing would feel that the progress was too slow, so he quickly added.

"Your Majesty, the eleven warships newly launched refer to the structures used in the transformation of treasure ships. Therefore, the speed of the warships has been greatly improved. In addition, because they are equipped with the latest cannon researched by the Weapons Department , The range and power have also been significantly improved!"

After listening to Zhang Juzheng's report, Jiajing stroked the dragon head carved on the dragon chair with his hand, and commented with a smile on his face.

"Well, yes, it seems that I saw the right person!"

Seeing this, Zhang Juzheng quickly put on a look of sincerity and fear, and said in a deep voice.

"Being able to share your majesty's worries is the greatest blessing of being a subject!"

Jiajing was very satisfied with Zhang Juzheng's answer, nodded slightly, and then said with emotion.

"If only I were in the Ming Dynasty, I would have more officials like Zhang Aiqing!"

"In this way, my Ming Dynasty is not happy!"

Hearing this, Zhang Juzheng responded with a humble expression on his face.

"Your Majesty is absurd, and the humble minister is only doing what the humble minister is supposed to do."

Seeing that Jiajing had almost understood the matter, he immediately waved his hand and ordered.

"Okay, I still have things to deal with later, you go down first!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will take my leave!"

After Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, he turned and left the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

……

At this moment, in the cabinet, everyone is having difficulty in how to formulate specific rules for the integration of government and gentry.

Gao Gong stood up first, looked around, and gave his own suggestion: "If you want me to say, since it's been too long to decide, then let's just follow the tax collection method and set a specific amount!"

"It is acceptable to collect corresponding silver taels according to the official's income, even if it is only one-tenth or one-twentieth."

After Gao Gong finished speaking, he withdrew his gaze, and immediately added another sentence.

"The important thing is to satisfy His Majesty!"

Seeing this situation, Xu Jie on the side sighed helplessly, and immediately turned his gaze to Yan Song, as if he was asking for Yan Song's opinion.

"If the policy of integrating government and gentry to pay food cannot be formulated for a long time, His Majesty will be angered by then, and no one can bear the consequences!"

"Old Yan Ge, what do you think?"

Yan Song also agreed with Xu Jie's words, nodded slightly, and said firmly.

"Yeah, this matter can't be dragged on any longer, it must be settled as soon as possible, otherwise things will change!"

When Yan Song said this, he withdrew his gaze and immediately added.

"After the matter of the integration of management and gentry to pay food is settled, our cabinet has to take the lead to set an example for all officials!"

Hearing this, Xu Jie picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and said with emotion.

"Yes, this matter can only be handled by our cabinet."

"I don't know how Shilin will evaluate us then!"

When Yan Song heard this, he smiled and said, "How else can we evaluate, anyway, our reputation among scholars has already fallen to the bottom, so what is there to be afraid of?"

After listening to Yan Song's words, Xu Jie felt a lot better: "Yeah, it's already like this anyway, there's nothing to be afraid of!"

At this moment, Zhang Juzheng, who had previously gone to the Hall of Mental Cultivation to report the situation to Jiajing, stepped into the cabinet.

When everyone saw him coming back, they recounted the results discussed by everyone to Zhang Juzheng.

Unsurprisingly, Zhang Juzheng agreed with this result.

Soon, everyone began to formulate the specific rules for the integration of government and gentry to pay food. In the end, the results were as follows.

"Article [-], officials and landlords must pay taxes!"

"Article [-], anyone who pays less or even does not pay taxes without special circumstances shall be dealt with in accordance with the laws of Ming Dynasty!"

"Article [-], the taxes that officials and landlords need to pay are determined according to their income."

Note: If the annual income is more than 100 taels, the tax shall be paid according to one-fifteenth of the amount, and if the annual income is less than 100 taels, the tax shall be paid according to one-twentieth of the amount! "

Yan Song also breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the detailed rules for the integration of government and gentry to pay food that had been formulated.

After confirming that it was correct, Yan Song summoned the subordinate officials and gave orders in a deep voice.

"Send this to the Supervisor of Ceremonies immediately, and see what His Majesty has to say?"

"Yes, Mr. Yan Ge!"

Hearing this, the subordinate officials were about to record the memorial that recorded the detailed rules for the integration of officials and gentry, and took it quite solemnly, without stopping at all, and left the cabinet quickly.

……

Inside the Ritual Supervisor, Feng Bao was criticizing the submitted memorials.

Before this, Feng Bao had already been in contact with the work of the eunuch Bingbi in advance, and he was already familiar with the whole process, so there was nothing wrong with it.

Just as Feng Bao finished approving the memorial in his hand and put it aside, the former subordinate official entered the Supervisor of Rites.

"Eunuch Feng, here is the memorandum on the integration of government and gentry to pay food, which was just formulated by the cabinet!"

(End of this chapter)