Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Zhu Youjian certainly did not help Han Yu resolve the current crisis without a purpose.

The main reason why he appointed Han Yu as the Prime Minister was to help him raise money. This time he gave him a reminder:

"Sir, please pay more attention to the issuance of subsidiary currency notes."

"We must learn from the lessons of Baochao, strictly abide by the Currency Act, and ensure that subsidiary notes maintain their credibility."

Let Han Yu jointly issue a document in the name of the Finance and Economics Committee and the Ministry of Revenue, requiring government offices and officials at all levels in Shuntian Prefecture to abide by the "Currency Act" signed years ago.

Han Yu knew the emperor's importance of this matter and the significance of issuing subsidiary currency notes, so he nodded immediately and said:

"I will definitely ask all government offices to treat subsidiary currency notes as silver coins."

"As for the silver and money received by the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, the Imperial Household Department and other government offices, I think they should all be deposited in the Gold Reserve Association, minted into silver coins, and more subsidiary currency notes issued."

This is what Zhu Youjian wanted to do, but he was not in a position to bring it up. After all, one-third of the seats in the Gold Reserve belonged to the inner court, and the outer court also had only one-third of the seats. The officials of the Ministry of Revenue were not willing to hand over the gold and silver.

Now that Han Yu took the initiative to propose it, Zhu Youjian nodded with satisfaction:

"Gold and silver are valuable currencies. The court should reserve more of them."

"Of course, the amount of currency in circulation cannot be too small to avoid the difficulty of exchanging subsidiary currency notes for silver coins."

"In principle, half of the gold and silver received by the court will be issued in the future, and the other half will be deposited in the Gold Reserve to issue subsidiary currency notes."

"How much cash can the court receive in a year now?"

Han Yu quickly replied:

"Before, the court's annual revenue was less than 2 million taels. After the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Personnel strictly urged the payment of arrears, it reached more than 3 million taels last year, and more than 3 million silver coins were minted."

"This year, the tax-sharing system will be expanded from Shuntian Prefecture to Northern Zhili, and will be tried out in Suzhou Prefecture in Southern Zhili. The taxes collected by the court will be at least double what they were before."

"With the cash from the court, it could reach six million."

The implementation of the tax-sharing system, which allowed local taxes to be sent directly to the imperial court, was the biggest change Zhu Youjian made to the Ming Dynasty's finances after he ascended the throne. It could be said that he reorganized the financial system.

Because of this, he was always very cautious about this matter. He piloted it in Shuntian Prefecture for two years and only after summarizing various experiences and lessons did he plan to promote it to northern Zhili.

In Nanzhili, Cao Wenheng, the governor of Jiangnan, took the initiative to apply, and the court decided to try it out in Suzhou Prefecture.

The tax revenue of this place could reach one-tenth of that of the Ming Dynasty, and it can be said to be the economic center of the Ming Dynasty.

As long as it is implemented well in Suzhou Prefecture, there will be no problem in implementing the tax-sharing system in Jiangnan.

Han Yu also mentioned his own approach, reporting to the emperor on the progress of changing the provincial grain and registration offices into the household administration offices of the provincial governments, and mentioned building warehouses in various places to be responsible for storage and transportation.

All of this is in preparation for the implementation of the tax-sharing system. As long as it is successfully implemented in Northern Zhili, it will be extended to more provinces next year and the year after.

Zhu Youjian was quite satisfied with his actions and nodded in approval:
"The solution to the financial problem is already there, the most important thing is to implement it."

"Sir, as the Prime Minister and the Director of the Finance and Economics Committee, you must pay more attention to this matter."

“Also, we should communicate more with the National Assembly Organizing Office, so that the parliaments being organized in various parts of Northern Zhili can exercise their supervisory power over taxation.”

"The tax-sharing system is not the court's attempt to amass wealth, but rather a way to distribute tax revenue more reasonably."

Han Yu was not very willing to let the parliament supervise taxation. All officials instinctively wanted to maintain and expand their own power and did not want to be interfered with.

However, looking at the emperor's eyes, he knew he had to do this. Otherwise, why would the emperor take the trouble to help him give advice and maintain his authority as the prime minister?
After the emperor expressed his goodwill, he had to accept the challenge, otherwise if he encountered such a thing again next time, the emperor might not protect him.

This made him grit his teeth and say:

"I will discuss this with Mr. Liu and set the relevant rules."

“How members of parliament supervise must also be in accordance with the charter.”

Zhu Youjian nodded in agreement and asked him and Liu Zongzhou to discuss it.

Then he talked about the accounts and tax receipts, and asked the tax officials to use printed standard account books and tax receipts to facilitate the audits by parliamentarians and other supervisory personnel.

All public funds exceeding 100 taels must be deposited in the Ministry of Revenue Bank and circulated through the Ministry of Revenue Bank. The Ministry of Revenue Bank should establish branches in various places as soon as possible and strengthen its ability in fund allocation, settlement and fund transfer.

In Northern Zhili and Southern Zhili, Shuntian Bank and Yingtian Bank would also provide support to help the Ministry of Revenue Bank fulfill its responsibilities.

The entire Ming Dynasty's financial system must be sorted out and improved when the tax-sharing system is implemented.

"This is the most significant financial adjustment since the founding of the Ming Dynasty."

"Sir, if you can handle this matter well in the next few years, I will grant you the title of earl."

"As for the ups and downs of the outside world, sir, you don't need to pay attention to it."

"Although I don't have the authority of Taizu and Chengzu, I have no problem protecting you, sir."

Zhu Youjian gave Han Yu a heartfelt exhortation, knowing how difficult this matter was. Compared with the corrupt but still barely functioning Weisuo system and other systems, the financial system of the Ming Dynasty had long been in a state of needing to be changed because of Taizu's shortcomings in this regard.

As long as Han Yu could do this well, Zhu Youjian felt it would not be excessive to confer the title of earl on him.

This was the second time Han Yu heard these words after being appointed as prime minister. Before that, he was very excited because of the emperor's promise, and supported the emperor in expanding the number of candidates in the provincial examinations and abolishing preferential treatment and exemptions.

Hearing it again, he felt full of strength again. He felt that no matter what, he had to implement the tax-sharing system, leave his name in the financial affairs of the Ming Dynasty, and earn wealth for his family for generations.

Afterwards, Zhu Youjian gave some instructions about the salt administration and the exchange, and asked Han Yu to implement the salt administration reform and protect the exchange transactions in accordance with the formulated regulations.

It can be said that after fully understanding Han Yu's abilities, Zhu Youjian no longer expected him to come up with any good ideas, but simply handed over the policies he had previously proposed to Han Yu for implementation.

Even in this regard, he did not completely rely on Han Yu. The Minister of Revenue Bi Ziyan is now the deputy director of the Finance and Economics Committee.

If Han Yu did not do a good job, he would let Bi Ziyan take charge and replace him with a cabinet minister to join the Finance and Economics Committee.
-
Han Yu, who had no idea of ​​the emperor's thoughts, wrote down the contents of the conversation after returning home, using them as the key points of his policy for the next few years.

Then, regarding the issue of the prince's fief, he also followed the emperor's suggestion and wrote a memorial to the Ministry of Public Security.

Zhu Youjian looked at the memorial written by Han Yu completely according to his own ideas, and ordered the Ministry of Public Administration to print the full text and convey it to various government offices in the court.

Read more latest popular novels at 6.9*shuba!

Even newspapers were allowed to publish it and scholars and people were allowed to discuss it.

Most of the people in the capital welcomed the prince's fiefdom. They did not think as much as the court officials did, and just felt that the emperor cared about the prince.

The people in Zhuolu District are particularly supportive of this.

After they took the lead in establishing the parliament, they already felt that they were somewhat different from other places. Now that they were to be divided into the prince's fiefdom, their sense of pride was deepened.

The people and council members of Zhuolu District wrote petitions in support of making Zhuolu District the prince's fief.

In addition to them, there is another group that strongly supports the prince's fiefdom, and that is the maritime merchants who came to the capital because they bought shares of the Ming Shipping Group.

After seeing that Dongning Island was divided into the Prince's fief, they also expressed their enthusiastic support, and many even stated in the newspapers that they would go to Dongning to buy property:

"After Dongning Island was divided into the prince's fiefdom, will Zheng Zhilong's fleet still be able to collect signals there?"

"If there is any disturbance, the imperial court will issue a strict ban."

"Otherwise, if the news of extorting merchants spreads, what will happen to the prince's reputation?"

With this idea in mind, many maritime merchants supported the idea of ​​designating Dongning Island as the prince's fief.

Some people even suggested that Penghu should be assigned to Dongning, and that Dongning Xiwei should be established on Penghu Island, and that the prince should form a Dongning fleet.

This will be of great benefit to shipping along the southeast coast, and they can also establish good relations with the prince through Dongning.

Their power was so great that it even influenced the Navy Department, allowing the Navy Minister Yu Anxing to raise this point at the Privy Council:

"There are currently four guards on Dongning Island: North Guard, Central Guard, South Guard, and East Guard."

"If we add the West Guard, we will have five guards."

"With the addition of the Zhuolu Central Guard, the prince now has six guards."

"This is in line with the saying that the Prince's Eastern Palace has six guards, which is twice the number of the princes' three guards."

This statement was agreed by some people, who thought that it did sound better for the prince to have six guards.

Even Yuan Keli looked at the location of Dongning Island and nodded:

"Dongning Island is east of Fujian. As long as we control this place, we can control the southeast."

"If the prince owns this island, he won't have to worry about rebellion in the southeast, nor will he have to worry about the vassal states in Southeast Asia threatening the north."

This is the value of Dongning Island in his eyes, and it also makes him feel that there is a deep meaning behind the emperor's allotment of Dongning Island to the prince.

As long as the prince can firmly control this island, the vassal states in the South Seas will not pose any threat.

Just pay attention to the north and be careful of rebellion in the north.

Therefore, he agreed to assign Penghu to Dongning, establish Dongning Xiwei on the island, mainly composed of marines, and form a fleet.

This proposal was submitted to the emperor as the opinion of the Privy Council as a supplement to Han Yu's plan.

The fact that the crown prince owned Zhuolu District and Dongning Island as his fiefdoms, and that he owned Zhuolu Central Guard, Dongning Central Guard, Dongning North Guard, Dongning South Guard, Dongning East Guard, and Dongning West Guard as the six guards of the Eastern Palace, gradually became a matter of public opinion in the court.

Compared to fully owning the three guards of Zhuolu, the prince who added the five guards of Dongning seemed to have more troops at his disposal, but the threat to the emperor was smaller, which could reduce the possibility of future conflicts between father and son.

In fact, because of the importance of the Dongning Five Guards to the court's control over the southeast and Southeast Asia, the emperor would even strengthen their power and unite them with the prince.

After many days of debate, the issue of the prince's fiefdom gradually came to a conclusion. (End of this chapter)