Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 335 Waves surge

"My lord, Ji Gang, commander of the Jinyi Guards, is here to see His Highness. His Highness is a thousand years old..."

In the Chunhe Hall, when Ji Gang and Hu Lun bowed, Zhu Gaoxu had already asked Guo Yan to take Zhu Zhanhe to the side hall, while he stayed with Yishiha to wait for them to salute.

Looking at Ji Gang and Hu Lun who were standing and bowing, Zhu Gaoxu said directly: "I heard that there was a fire in Prince Ouning's palace?"

"I am about to report this matter."

"I have already reported to His Highness, but I didn't make it in time, so I can only report to His Highness the Crown Princess."

Ji Gang and Hu Lun spoke one after another, but Zhu Gaoxu asked Ji Gang first: "Tell me first, what did you find out?"

"This arson was started by a candle, but it was not an accident, but man-made." Ji Gang explained:

"The reason why I reported it too late is that I went to Prince Ou Ning's Mansion in person."

"I have personally seen that the kerosene of a candle alone is not enough to ignite the palace. Someone should have sprinkled too much kerosene in the palace."

Ji Gang reported the investigation clearly, but Zhu Gaoxu did not answer, just looked at him directly.

Faced with this pressure, Ji Gang continued: "I have sent people to interrogate the slaves in Prince Ou Ning's mansion, and at the same time arranged a group of new slaves."

"No need!" Upon hearing that Ji Gang was about to arrange for people to go in, Zhu Gaoxu said directly:

"From now on, the descendants of Prince Yiwen, including Wu common people, Heng common people, and Jian common people, will all move to Prince Ou Ning's Mansion. The guards of Prince Ou Ning's Mansion will be transferred from the cathedral, and the servants will be transferred from the East Palace."

"Yes..." Ji Gang paused for a moment, obviously not expecting that Zhu Gaoxu would actually protect Zhu Yunxi and others.

"Hu Lun, tell me."

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Hu Lun, and Hu Lun bowed without hesitation and said: "My investigation is the same as that of Commander Jidu, but Xichang does not have the power to interrogate people, so no specific direction has been found."

Hu Lun told the truth. After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu also looked at Ji Gang: "Commander Ji, I will leave this case to you. Let's investigate it carefully..."

Zhu Gaoxu's words seemed to have profound meaning. Hearing this, Ji Gang pretended to be calm and bowed: "I accept the teaching order."

"You should step back first, Hu Lun, you stay."

"The minister will leave..."

Ji Gang withdrew from Chunhe Hall, while Hu Lun was left behind and given a seat.

Seeing Ji Gang walking away, Hu Lun said: "Your Highness, this case is obviously related to Jinyi..."

"Leave it to them to do it themselves." Zhu Gaoxu interrupted him. Obviously he knew that Jin Yiwei was responsible for this matter.

Although the people in Bohai also hope that Zhu Biao's descendants will die, Zhu Gaoxu has already made repeated orders and explained to them the benefits to him of Zhu Biao's descendants being alive.

Zhu Gaoxu trusts the brothers in Bohai, and in Prince Ou Ning's palace, besides the people from Bohai, they are also from Jinyiwei, so they can only be from Jinyiwei.

"Does this matter have anything to do with Your Majesty..."

"Have you eaten yet?"

Hu Lun wanted to ask, but Zhu Gaoxu interrupted him.

Seeing this, Hu Lun closed his mouth and said, "I have eaten."

"Then you go back first and leave this matter to them to investigate. As long as you need to protect the common people of Jian, Wu and Heng, King Ou Ning will be enough."

Zhu Gaoxu served tea to see off the guests. After hearing this, Hu Lun stood up and returned the gift, and then left the Chunhe Hall.

After he left, Guo Yan from the side hall walked out with Zhu Zhanhe in his arms, and came to sit next to Zhu Gaoxu.

But she didn't say anything. She just waited for lunch to arrive before chatting with Zhu Gaoxu about home affairs.

"My sister-in-law came to see me yesterday and said that they were going to join the feudal clan after the Lantern Festival next year."

"Well, except for the too-young vassal king, all other vassal kings will become vassals."

The couple were chatting about the vassal king's decision to vassal the vassal, but before they could talk for a few words, the eunuch at the palace gate bowed again: "Your Highness, Yu Xin, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, would like to see you."

"Pass!" Zhu Gaoxu replied without raising his head. Not long after, he saw Yu Xin walking in.

"I, the Minister of Household Affairs, Yu Xin, see your two highnesses..."

Yu Xin didn't expect that he came at the wrong time, but Zhu Gaoxu was very cheerful: "Let's sit down and eat together. If you don't want to eat, you can drink tea and talk while eating."

"Yes..." Yu Xin agreed, but after he sat down, he began to look at the dining table on the table.

On the dining table in the East Palace, two meat dishes, three vegetarian dishes, and a soup dish were placed.

Yi Shiha brought some bowls and chopsticks for Yu Xin, but Yu Xin didn't dare to move them and just said, "Your Highness is so simple, which is really a blessing to the people."

"When did you say something like this again?" Zhu Gaoxu was enjoying his meal, but he felt a little embarrassed when Yu Xin said that.

He wiped his mouth, and then used serving chopsticks to pick up some meat and vegetables for Yu Xin: "Many kings have disguised themselves throughout the ages, but this kind of dietary disguise is the easiest."

"Although it is easy, it can also be easily exposed." Yu Xin shook his head, and Zhu Gaoxu quickly interrupted:

"It's not that I'm simple in my diet, it's that I can't eat that much no matter how much I eat."

"I ate all the delicacies in this palace in my early years when I accompanied my grandfather to govern in Wuying Hall."

"To be honest, here, there is no difference between a bear paw and a pound of tendon."

"Of course, I am not simple every day. Occasionally, if I suddenly want to eat something, I will have it made out."

"So..." Zhu Gaoxu picked up the chopsticks and handed them to Yu Xin, gesturing for him to eat while smiling: "Don't try to lift me up, otherwise I won't be able to move."

Zhu Gaoxu did not do such things as setting up characters. He rebelled just to be free from restraint and not to face everyone in a timid manner.

Now that he had finally succeeded, he just wanted to be himself and not set up any sage persona.

"His Highness said this, and that minister admired him even more."

Yu Xin looked at Zhu Gaoxu, who was much older than his actual age, and couldn't help but admire him: "People say hypocrites, but if a hypocrite can pretend to be a gentleman for a lifetime, he is a gentleman, but most people can only pretend for the first half of their lives, and then start to act recklessly in the second half of their lives."

"His Highness never pretends to be himself, and he always treats his ministers with sincerity. If these are not disguises, then I think that Your Highness is a true gentleman."

"I'm not a gentleman. A gentleman can't do the kind of thing Annan did." Zhu Gaoxu chuckled and mentioned his policy towards Annan. Even Yu Xin didn't expect him to say this.

"If I want to be a prince or a heir apparent, I have to be thoughtful and prepared."

"For me, since I have decided to sit in this position, I must put the country and the people first, personal matters second, and then who I am in historical records."

"I heard that there are a lot of rumors among the people recently that I am greedy for beauty and enjoy the music."

"I have done all these things, but I have never neglected national government affairs."

"I have always believed that kings are also human beings, and ministers should not hold the king to the standards of a sage, and a king should not hold his ministers to the standards of a sage."

Zhu Gaoxu talked about his views on the emperor and his ministers, which moved Yu Xin very much: "I have only known His Highness for four years, but I can see and feel His Highness's attitude towards the ministers clearly."

"Throughout the ages, few kings have cared about their ministers as much as Your Highness, and few kings have been as friendly to their ministers as Your Highness."

What Yu Xin said sounds exaggerated, but it is a recognized fact.

Even the Jiangnan officials who hated Zhu Gaoxu had to admit that Zhu Gaoxu should be more courteous to them.

Even though the Sixth Section gave advice to the officials in Shizhong and the Metropolitan Procuratorate every day, Zhu Gaoxu did not do anything to them. He just scolded them in the memorial and asked them to pay more attention to people's livelihood and not to focus on their own. On private matters.

"As long as the remonstrance ministers give appropriate advice, it will be a good thing for me and the world. As long as they don't always focus on my private affairs when admonishing me."

Zhu Gaoxu was speechless. The officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate often impeached him to listen to music and often stayed with his concubines.

In his opinion, these matters are his private affairs, as long as they do not affect the government affairs, but these guys always say "the Tian family has no private matters", which makes Zhu Gaoxu spend energy every day to argue with them.

"Even so, His Highness did not scold them with a stick. Instead, he dismissed them speechless."

Yu Xin smiled, but in his heart he admired Zhu Gaoxu's behavior of being able to listen to opinions.

You must know that the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate are not easy to deal with. Sometimes they go too far. Even people like Guo Yan who do not interfere in government affairs will advise Zhu Gaoxu to punish one or two people to scare the monkeys, but Zhu Gaoxu does not take it seriously.

Scolding this group of people will only make their reputation stronger, it is better to refute them and kill people.

For example, a few days ago, an official admonished the East Palace to listen to music every day. After Zhu Gaoxu read the memorial, he immediately asked Hu Lun to check that person, and then told in the memorial how many slaves the person had raised, how many maids Huo Huo had, and how many maids he had raised. How many dancers are there.

This series of information made the official speak with sweat dripping down his back. Finally, Zhu Gaoxu said, "I haven't asked you to be a sage, so why should you ask me to be a sage?"

I have to say that this method is very effective. At least in the past few days, no official will come to admonish Yan Yan and say that listening to music is a waste of state affairs.

When it comes to elegance, who can outplay this group of scholar-bureaucrats?

"Okay, first tell me why you came to me."

Zhu Gaoxu didn't want to talk about the way to be a king. After all, in his opinion, as long as he did things well, exempted taxes wherever he could, helped the people build bridges and pave roads, and let the people live a good life, that was the best answer.

"I came here this time to discuss with His Highness the reduction of officials' salaries."

Yu Xin's term will be after the autumn tax, and with the handover work and other things, he will probably have to wait until after the Lantern Festival next year before he can put everything down and leave Nanjing.

Because of this, in response to the current influx of money, he had already discussed with Zhu Gaoxu that officials' salaries would be halved according to rice money, that is, half of the rice and half of the money.

In this way, the loss of rice transportation can be reduced, and officials do not have to spend time converting lumi into money.

"This is a memorial written by me. Please read it..."

Yu Xin took out the memorial from his sleeve, and Zhu Gaoxu also took it and opened it.

[Hongwu's old system: the monthly salary of the first grade is eighty-seven stones, from the first grade to the third grade, it decreases by thirteen stones to thirty-five stones, from the third grade to twenty-six stones, from the fourth grade to twenty-four stones, from the fourth grade to twenty-one stones, From the fifth grade to sixteen stones, from the fifth grade to fourteen stones, from the sixth grade to ten stones, from the sixth grade to eight stones, from the seventh grade to the ninth grade, it decreases by five buckets until it reaches five stones. 】

[Yongle's new system: the first-grade monthly salary is forty shi, and the money is twenty-four guans. From the first grade...]

Zhu Gaoxu read the content, and found that the lowest grade nine was changed from the Hongwu old system of five dan per month to [three dan per month, the same amount of money].

"The price of rice is different all over the world. Which place do you choose to have the best rice price?" After Zhu Gaoxu asked, Yu Xin also replied: "The one I chose is Shaanxi. You can buy two stones of rice with the same money. If you think about it in the world, It’s relatively high. The current price of rice in Jiangnan is always three kilo per rice.”

"It's not good for northern officials to discount money like this." Zhu Gaoxu shook his head:

"With the same amount of money, officials in Jiangnan can buy three shi of rice, but Shaanxi can only buy two shi of rice. If things go on like this, Shaanxi officials will definitely want to flee Shaanxi."

"Let's do this, just discount the price of rice in the south of the Yangtze River, but then you set up a special salary to subsidize officials in remote and border areas such as Yunnan, Guangxi, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Liaodong, Sichuan, Daning, and Bohai."

"After subsidies, the salaries of these local officials must be higher than those in the mainland."

After Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, Yu Xin also asked: "How much higher should it be?"

"About 20% higher." Zhu Gaoxu said an amount. After hearing this, Yu Xin did some calculations and said:

"If this is the case, the salary of civil and military officials next year may be increased by three million dan."

"Money is not saved, so just do this." Zhu Gaoxu ordered, but Yu Xin said: "Such an official's salary is too high."

As one of the officials, Yu Xin actually said personally that official salaries were too high, which would be unbelievable to later generations. After all, officials in the Ming Dynasty were notoriously low in salary.

But now is the early Ming Dynasty, and the salaries of Ming Dynasty officials can be said not to be too high.

You must know that even for officials from the ninth rank, the monthly salary is only five shi of rice. Even if the rice price in Jiangnan is the main price, it will be at least more than 600 yuan.

In comparison, the salary of an ordinary laborer in Nanjing City is only 20 cash per day, and only 600 cash per month.

Lifu still has to take care of his own food, but officials can eat yamen meals, and there are some festivals every year where they can receive money, free coal, etc.

Taking all these into account, the monthly salary of a ninth-rank official is at least four times that of ordinary people. Yu Xin feels that it is not surprising that officials have high salaries.

"It's not too high even if it goes up once."

Zhu Gaoxu and Yu Xin explained, and Yu Xin understood what Zhu Gaoxu meant. This salary increase meant that there would be no more salary increases during the Yongle period.

"In that case, I have no objection."

Yu Xin took the memorial from Zhu Gaoxu, got up and went to the side hall to revise it.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu said: "Take the food in the bowl and eat it while you are doing it. I don't think you can eat it in front of my husband and I."

"Chen..." Yu Xin looked ashamed. He was about to say something, but he saw Zhu Gaoxu smiling and waving his hand, indicating that he should deal with it quickly.

Seeing this, Yu Xin took his bowl and chopsticks to the side hall of Chunhe Hall.

Not long after, the sound of abacus beating came from the side hall.

In the meantime, Zhu Gaoxu asked Yi Shiha to bring some food for Yu Xin, but after all, Yu Xin had spent too many years in the Ministry of Household Affairs and had damaged his roots, so he couldn't eat much food.

About a quarter of an hour later, as Zhu Gaoxu and his wife finished eating, Guo Yan also left Chunhe Hall with Zhu Zhanhe in his arms, and Yu Xin finally handled the matter and handed the new memorial to Zhu Gaoxu.

[Yongle's new system: the first-grade monthly salary is forty shi, and the money is sixteen guan, from the first-grade...]

[From the ninth grade, the monthly salary is rice, two stones, and one yuan of money (plus one yuan for remote provinces)]

[The total annual salary of civil and military officials in the country is 5,876,440 shi, and the money is 1,706,415 guan]

After simple changes, the salary table of the Yongle period seemed much more reasonable. At the end, Yu Xin also calculated the total salary of civil and military officials.

"If you include the salaries of subordinate officials and soldiers, how much is it approximately?"

Zhu Gaoxu is quite satisfied with the official salary. Now he only needs to know the salary of soldiers and subordinate officials to know the approximate salary expenditure during the Yongle period.

"If we break all the money, it would be about 27 million shi in annual salary and about 8 million guan in money."

"It's okay for Sui Lumi, but the court really can't provide the money."

Yu Xin told the general situation, and Zhu Gaoxu also nodded: "Don't worry, the time is not yet ripe. I will not let the subordinate officials and soldiers lose their salaries."

As he spoke, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly felt a little tired. He looked at Yu Xin, who was only fifty-eight years old but looked similar to a seventy-year-old man in later generations, and sighed:

"If you were ten years younger, the world would be clearer..."

Zhu Gaoxu's words were a bit exaggerated, but they also expressed his reluctance for Yu Xin.

Yu Xin hesitated to speak, but Zhu Gaoxu raised his hand and said: "I want you to spend your old age peacefully. It is also good for you to rest more at your age and spend time with your family."

Although Zhu Gaoxu didn't want Yu Xin to leave, he didn't want him to die from exhaustion in office.

Let him retire two years early, and maybe he can live another four or five years. This is the greatest grace for Yu Xin himself.

"Take good care of Guo Zi. I heard that he's doing pretty well. Although he's not as good as you, he's okay."

"The minister will leave..."

Seeing what Zhu Gaoxu said, Yu Xin suppressed his words, raised his hands and bowed, then turned and left Chunhe Hall.

Looking at his leaving figure, Zhu Gaoxu was filled with emotion. He felt that Yu Xin's exit was just like the successive exits of the leftover civil servants from the Hongwu period.

"I hope Xia Yuanji can live as long as in history."

Shaking his head, Zhu Gaoxu returned to the side hall to deal with the memorial. He had no intention of listening to the melodious music.

However, compared to the reluctance of his and Yu Xin's monarchs and ministers to leave, at this moment, the wailing could be heard in the Fusi Prison in Beizhen.

"I treat you as a brother, but you are stabbing me in private."

In the dark cell, Ji Gang took off his clothes and watched with a calm expression as several guards tied a man to a shelf.

"I say it again, tell me who asked you to do it."

Ji Gangjiang picked up a whip with fine barbs on it.

"I...I can't say..."

As a member of the Imperial Guard, the man naturally knew how painful the whip was, but he did not dare to tell who was behind it.

"Then don't blame me..."

"Eh!!!"

Ji Gang's face was gloomy, and he whipped the man without waiting for a reply.

The whipping was painful, but the barbs and salt water on the whip were the most painful.

After the whip, intense pain began to stimulate the man's wound.

What kind of pain was that? It was as if there was a ball of fire attached to the wound. The flames turned into countless jagged spikes, tearing open his skin. There were still threads of flesh hanging on the spikes, and they penetrated into him fiercely. body of.

The skin around the wound twitched like water waves, and the man wailed and lowered his head to check the wound.

Through the torn and tattered clothes, he saw his battered flesh twitching crazily.

The severe pain interfered with his nerves and he could not feel his muscles contracting.

It felt like a crazy parasite was crawling inside my skin.

"Li Zhen, Chief of the Ministry of War!"

It was just a whip, and he couldn't help but use it. When Ji Gang heard this, he showed contempt and spat: "I think you are a man."

"Besides him?"

Ji Gang was not satisfied. After all, it was impossible for a small head of the Ministry of War to plan such a thing.

"No more...no more..."

The man seemed to be in a trance, but Ji Gang's expression immediately changed when he heard it.

He took out a towel from the basin, soaked it, walked up to the man, kicked over the stool that restrained him, and covered his mouth and nose with the water-soaked towel.

He struggled to breathe, but at the same time his trachea was stimulated by stomach acid and forced him to cough.

His breath was held in his trachea and esophagus, mixed with stomach acid, like a ball of angry gunpowder that was about to explode through his body.

After a period of struggle, his consciousness began to fade and everything became quiet...

"It seems you only know one."

Seeing that he didn't name anyone else, Ji Gang opened the towel when he was about to die, giving him a chance to breathe.

"Give him a good time, and the others and I will catch him!"

Ji Gang walked out of the cell, and soon a shrill cry for mercy came from the cell.

Not long after, hundreds of Tiqi led by Ji Gang arrived at the residence of Li Zhen, the head of the Ministry of War.

With several bangs, the door of the mansion was knocked open, and Ji Gang led the Tiqi to file in.

"found it!"

Li Zhen seemed to have known that this day would come, so she had already dismissed the slaves in the mansion.

When Jin Yiwei found him, he had drowned in the well in the backyard.

"Straight bitch..."

Looking at Li Zhen's pale face, Ji Gang wanted to hang his body up and cut him into pieces.

"Look for me! I don't believe he can take everything away!"

Ji Gang fiercely ordered the Tiqi, and the Tiqi also acted quickly, leaving Li Zhen's small mansion in a mess.

However, until dusk, they could not find anything from it...

(End of this chapter)