I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 482 Internal Money Receipts and Expenditures

Outside the Wenhua Palace.

The court meeting was over, and the emperor also left on his way.

Liu Yishen and others left in twos and threes, discussing what had just been discussed at the court meeting.

They were generally very satisfied with the results of the court meeting. Not only did the Ministry of Household Affairs have a fiscal surplus this year, but also the emperor agreed to all the funding proposals of each ministry. It could be said that the host and guest got together in a rare harmony.

Liu Yishui, the chief assistant of the cabinet, also repeatedly told Zhao Nanxing, the Minister of Civil Affairs, that he was going to ask the Ministry of Civil Affairs to strictly implement the reserve warehouse system and that this matter must be implemented.

"Old Liu Ge!"

At this time, a voice suddenly sounded from behind Liu Yishen. Liu Yishen followed the sound and found that it was Sun Shenxing, the Minister of Rites.

Sun Shenxing walked directly in front of him, without waiting for his response, and asked with a somewhat excited expression:
"Your Majesty teaches Western learning in the Imperial College, and also allows Western monks to teach Western learning in the Imperial College. As the chief minister of the cabinet, why do you approve of such behavior? Why don't you advise His Majesty? Why do you allow the learning of saints to be juxtaposed with Western learning? This is to let the saints do this. Shame on you!"

Listening to Sun Shenxing's fierce accusations against Liu Yisui, everyone who had not left looked at each other and turned to look at the two of them. Some even looked at Xu Guangqi.

Xu Guangqi couldn't stand it anymore, and slowly walked over to persuade Sun Shenxing to help Liu Yishui.

But Liu Yishen waved his hand to tell him not to speak, and then said to Sun Shenxing solemnly:

"Sun Shangshu, your Majesty just said it very clearly that stones from other mountains can be used to attack jade. Everyone knows the excellence of Western learning, and you must also know it. When Matteo Ricci came to give lectures at Donglin College, I It’s all there for all to see.

Since His Majesty has made it clear that he will only study astronomy, mathematics and other subjects, he will temporarily let Tang Ruowang and others impart knowledge. After some scholars are proficient, Tang Ruowang and others will be replaced.I think this is quite reasonable. You cannot object to the suggestion blindly, otherwise His Majesty will definitely not like it. "

"How could Sir Shofu be so confused? Western learning does have its merits. But if you enter the Imperial College and let scholars study, you will definitely be criticized. Not only do I not understand, I am afraid that scholars all over the world will not be able to understand it. When the time comes, I will be afraid If there are nefarious people discussing this matter, it will not be good for the court, the cabinet, or your majesty."

Seeing that Liu Yishen was still insisting on his previous point of view, Sun Shenxing sighed slightly and made a secret decision in his heart, thinking that Liu Yishen was confused.

But even if Sun Shenxing said this, Liu Yishen was still indifferent.

One of the reasons is that he himself had a favorable impression of Western learning and felt that there was nothing wrong with setting up related subjects in the Imperial College.

Another more important reason is that he has followed the emperor for the longest time and knows the emperor's habits.

No matter who says what the emperor is determined to do, it is useless. The more the ministers below oppose it, the greater the emperor's determination to do it.

"Sun Shangshu, Your Majesty has already decided on this matter, and we are all aware of the usefulness of Western learning, whether it is firearms, astronomy, etc., the conclusion has long been made. How about we try to open a few schools first, and if they are opened, they will be criticized later. The criticism is really great, so please write a letter to make suggestions."

Zhao Nanxing, the official minister on the side, couldn't stand it anymore and stood up to advise Sun Shenxing not to act out of emotion.

Sun Shenxing looked around the crowd and found that no one spoke for him, and his face became more and more ugly, so he sighed and said:
"Oh, just keep making trouble like this. When Western learning becomes popular, sooner or later you will regret it."

After he said this, he left without looking back, leaving everyone looking at each other in shock.

Xu Guangqi looked at Sun Shenxing walking away thoughtfully. He vaguely felt that this matter was not over, but had just begun.
-
"Luo Chuyu!"

As Long Chu landed steadily at the gate of Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youxiao supported Wei Zhongxian's arm with his hand and slowly stood up and walked towards Qianqing Palace.

The biting cold winter made Zhu Youxiao really unbearable. Fortunately, under the influence of the earth dragon, he felt much warmer as soon as he entered Qianqing Palace.

As soon as he entered the inner hall, a palace maid came over to help Zhu Youxiao take off his tiring dragon robe and put on regular clothes.At this time, Zhu Youxiao was free and turned to look at Wei Zhongxian.

"The Chinese New Year is coming soon. Just now I told you to give rewards to all the officials, but I forgot to tell you, are you ready for the red envelopes from the inner court?"

"Your Majesty, don't worry. After you told the Supervisor of Ceremonies last time, the servants have been prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. None of the eunuchs, eunuchs, and maids in the palace are left behind, and they have all been distributed. Now everyone in the palace is talking about your majesty's grace."

Zhu Youxiao laughed after hearing Wei Zhongxian's words, ignored him, walked slowly to the couch, and sat down cross-legged.

Naturally, I don’t believe these lies about grace.But he could never save this kind of money. He didn't want to be grateful, he just wanted to remember that he was good to them.

"I remember that when the Wenhua Palace issued the edict in March this year, I promised to halve the expenses of the inner court. Therefore, the food and clothing expenses in the palace are much less than before. The people above are frugal, and the people below will probably have a hard time, so The New Year money must not be omitted and must be given to them."

"Your Majesty cares about the servants in the palace. This is their blessing. The servants are waiting here to thank Your Majesty for those servants." Upon seeing this, Wei Zhongxian, Wang Boyu and others hurriedly knelt down, feeling grateful for the cooperative game.

As Wei Zhongxian spoke, he glanced at Wang Boyu behind him, and then continued:

"Your Majesty, just now you were in the Wenhua Hall listening to the cabinet and others report on the financial revenue and expenditure. The slaves and maids were in charge of the inner court and the internal money warehouse, so they followed the same example and made an internal money account book like the outer court. Although it is very simple, but I also wanted to let you take a look."

When Zhu Youxiao heard this, he immediately became interested. He did not expect that Wei Zhongxian and others were so interested.

He had just finished understanding the income and expenditure of the imperial court, and as his own small treasury and private money, Zhu Youxiao also needed to control the income and expenditure of the internal funds, so he said with great interest:
"Okay, bring it to me for a look."

Upon seeing this, Wei Zhongxian turned around and looked at Wang Chengqian behind him. He saw Wang Chengqian quickly stood up, took out an account book from his body and raised it above his head, then slowly stepped forward and handed it to Zhu Youxiao.

This account book is very simple. What is recorded in it is only the expenditure of internal funds this year.

However, compared with the expenses of the household department, the expenses of internal funds are very simple.

When Colonel Zhu You first came to the throne, he and Wang An counted the amount of silver in each treasury. I remember that at that time, the total amount of internal treasury in each treasury was about 660 million taels.After the water was transported to Beijing this year, 240 million taels of tax silver and snowflake silver from Jiangnan were transferred into internal funds, so the normal deposit of internal funds was 900 million taels.

Of course, this year's income is more than that. In addition to normal income, there are also some confiscated gains.

For example, a thorough investigation of corruption in the three major palaces was conducted, and the homes of the corrupt eunuch Chen Bangyan and his brother were confiscated, and 200 million taels of silver were collected.Concubine Zheng's brother Zheng Guotai was also involved in the matter. Zhu Youxiao did not want to bear the infamy, so he forced him to hand over the dirty silver and got 90 taels of silver.

Subsequently, there was a turmoil in the capital, and the Duke's house was confiscated. The nobles who participated in the turmoil in the capital were asked to hand over corruption, and finally handed over 5301 million taels of silver.

To sum up, this year there are 7201 million taels of silver in various treasuries.

Of this amount of silver, 600 million taels were saved by Emperor Wanli, and more than 1000 million taels were obtained by ransacking his own homes.

Seeing this, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but sigh at the wealth that Wanli left for him. He was really scolded but he let himself spend the money. He was really a good grandfather.

At the same time, he also lamented that it was really profitable to raid homes. The money was so good that he even began to despise the normal annual income from internal funds. Why was it only a mere 200 million taels, so it was better to raid homes.

But Zhu Youxiao quickly shook his head and put this bad thought behind him.

To put it bluntly, this way of making money by ransacking homes is to plunder other people's wealth, and many people can't stand it.It’s better to do less of this kind of thing, and even if you do it, it must be reasonable. Otherwise, ransacking homes for money will definitely cause panic and public anger.

Zhu Youxiao made up his mind. After looking at his income, he next looked at his expenses.

Although his income was high, there were many things going on this year, and Zhu Youxiao allocated more money from internal funds.

Last year, Zhu Youxiao gave money to Liaoning and asked Xu Guangqi to buy cannons. Later, he gave Jinyi and the Ministry of Household Affairs, etc. a total of 350 million taels.

This year, Xu Guangqi was first allocated 30 taels to build Krupp artillery, 60 taels were allocated to Denglai and Tianjin to build naval forces, another 70 taels were allocated to Gyeonggi and Liaodong for farming, and a total of 150 million was allocated to Zhu Xieyuan. Used for counterinsurgency in the Southwest.

Later, there were the emperor's wedding, the new library and the Capital Tongwen Library, disaster relief funds for Shandong and Liaodong, funding for the Ming Dynasty trading company of Huang Dong and Zheng Zhilong, as well as various festivals, rewards for ministers' meritorious service, and various expenses for the inner court. A total of 6409 million taels were spent.

If we take into account the tax revenue of 240 million yuan from internal funds next year, as well as the total allocation of 55 yuan that he committed to the library, military preparation school, Imperial College, etc. in the Wenhua Palace just now.Next year, there will be a total of 550 million taels in internal funds.

There are still 550 million taels!
Looking at this number, even Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but feel numb. He lamented that it wasn't that he still had so much money, but that he was so good at spending money that he only had so much left.

From his accession to the present, he has allocated nearly 150 million taels from internal funds, which is more than Emperor Tianqi in history.

Fortunately, I had gained some income from ransacking houses before, otherwise just this year's expenses would have been enough to bottom out my internal money.

When Zhu Youxiao thought of this, he couldn't help but make calculations. He must further increase revenue and reduce expenditure in the future.

Just now in the Wenhua Hall, when the six cabinet departments were preparing the budget, I felt that some of the court's expenses were very unreasonable and needed to be changed.

For example, the clan spends 150 million taels and the eunuchs in the inner court spend 100 million taels. This adds up to 250 million taels. If this is all their expenses, then that’s it. However, the internal funds must also be used for the expenses of the clan and the eunuchs in the inner court, and the amount Not small either.

(End of this chapter)