Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

After some communication, Han Yu and Yuan Keli had a very pleasant conversation.

However, Huang Liji, who was discussing the matter together, was somewhat unhappy.

Because the two men were obviously closer, he, who was considered a remnant of the eunuch party, was excluded.

This made him very unhappy, and at the same time, like many people related to the Eunuch Party, he realized that the Donglin Party would never support him.

"No wonder Yang Jingchen and his people want to unite."

"If the Donglin Party continues to grow, there will be no place for us in the court."

"But Yang Jingchen is from Fujian after all, and we from Northern Zhili should also support one."

He had heard about the collusion between Yang Jingchen, Yu Huang, Guo Xingzhi and others.

However, because these people were not the core of the eunuch party before, he did not care much.

They also don't think that Yang Jingchen, who was born in Fujian, would agree with them.

But after seeing the attitudes of Han Yu and Yuan Keli today, he realized that the Donglin Party and those who leaned towards Donglin did not take him seriously at all.

If he does not support a few people in the court, he may be liquidated after he completely retires.

This gave him the idea of ​​supporting people from his hometown, and he planned to find a Hanlin from Northern Zhili and push him into the cabinet.

Therefore, he had to continue to be the head of the Lifanyuan, lest he be purged after stepping down and the emperor no longer protect him.

This made him more enthusiastic about the affairs of the Lifanyuan. He also became more concerned about the affairs of the court and started reading the newspaper.

What concerned him most in the newspaper was naturally the Five Levels of Needs Theory. After all, it was proposed by the emperor and all officials had to learn it.

Scholars also actively discussed this issue and put forward many new ideas.

He read some articles about respect needs in Ming Pao and Tatung Daily, and felt that they touched his heart.

It's because I'm not respected that I feel dissatisfied.

There is also the "Beijing News" sponsored by the inner court. On the grounds that everyone has security needs, it believes that the interpretation of etiquette and law should be clarified so that all kinds of punishments have laws to follow and the discretionary power of officials at all levels should be restrained.

This made Huang Liji frown, and he didn't agree in his heart, and shook his head:

"The punishment is unpredictable and the power is unpredictable, so the people are afraid of superiors."

"If everything is done according to etiquette, who will still respect officials?"

I do not quite agree with this and believe that there should be room for ambiguity in etiquette and law.

However, when he saw that the author of the article was a "special commentator", he frowned again and felt a little troubled.

Because he and many people knew that the Jing Bao was published by the emperor and to a certain extent represented the emperor's will.

It is said that the Emperor read every copy of the Jing Bao before it was published, and there was even a case where he was dissatisfied with an article and ordered it to be withdrawn.

The fact that this "special commentator" article could be published meant that the emperor had no objection to it.

This really made him wonder why the emperor did this to make the people less reverent of him?

"If we remake the rituals and music, do we have to control how the law is enforced?"

"It's getting harder and harder to be an official!"

Lamenting this incident, although Huang Liji did not agree with the clear interpretation of etiquette and law, he had no motivation to oppose it.

His status is no longer that of a minor official, so no matter how the law enforcement standards change, it will basically have no impact on him.

Especially now that he needs to please the emperor, he naturally needs to support the emperor more actively in remaking rituals and music.

Therefore, after reading the Jingbao, he read the Guardian, which was sponsored by the nobles of the Five Prefectures and the hereditary officials of the Guards. He found that the articles in the Guardian had an interesting explanation of security needs.

This article starts with the seven martial virtues in Zuo Zhuan and explores what martial virtues are.

Among the seven martial virtues of "banning violence, restraining soldiers, protecting the country, achieving merit, pacifying the people, uniting the people, and increasing wealth", "banning violence" is listed as the first because people have a need for security.

The reason why "holding up soldiers" is listed as the second is that in addition to one's own security needs, others also have security needs.

In order to ensure security needs, it is necessary to "protect the safety of the whole".

King Zhuang of Chu explained that the reason why Wu was used to stop fighting was also to meet the security needs of others while meeting his own security needs.

After all, judging from the shape of the character "武", its original meaning should be holding a spear.

The purpose of holding a weapon is to stop war. Meeting your own safety needs while also meeting the safety needs of others is the true meaning of martial arts.

This gave Huang Liji a refreshing feeling, so he picked up his pen and wrote the word "武". He found that judging from the shape of the word, the word "武" really looked more like holding a spear.

As for the so-called stopping the war, it was more like an extended meaning. This made him sigh:
“The Guardian has great talent!”

"It can actually reinterpret the word 'Wu'."

"From now on, people's understanding of martial arts will not only be to stop the war, but also to use the weapons as martial arts."

As the former Prime Minister and the nominal leader of the civil officials, Huang Liji knew that "wu" meant holding a spear or stopping a spear, which was related to the status of a warrior.

If it is just to stop the war, then when there is no war, the warriors will be useless and their status will be reduced. After all, the purpose of stopping the war has been achieved, so why keep the warriors?

However, if it is interpreted as holding weapons to stop war, it means that whether there is a war or not, the court must have warriors holding weapons and there cannot be the slightest slackness.

This will ensure the status of the warriors and prevent them from falling into the mud.

So Huang Liji lamented that there are talented people in The Guardian.

Looking at the author of this article, his brows furrowed again, because the writer was a so-called "special commentator".

This made him secretly wonder whether the emperor's opinion was involved.

After all, The Guardian was said to be supported by the emperor, and the imperial guards also held shares in the government.

Ask someone to cut out this article and the one in the Beijing News and put them in a booklet. Huang Liji continued reading the newspaper and found that there were many more articles in the Guardian that revolved around security needs.

One of the articles mentioned that not only individuals have security needs, but countries also have security needs.

Especially in border areas, it is necessary to guard against foreign invasions. Therefore, people in these areas have the obligation to serve in the military to protect their safety when the barbarians invade.

At the same time, because they were defending other parts of the Ming Dynasty while defending the border, these places needed to pay taxes and provide money and food, and even serve in times of crisis.

The Jinyiwei investigated and punished those who colluded with the enemy in order to protect the security of the Ming Dynasty. They were the guardians of the Ming Dynasty's national security.

Huang Liji thought that Han Yu was in danger of falling because of the collusion case, and he was very happy to see this and praised:
"Those who colluded with the enemy should be severely punished. Who allowed them to endanger the safety of the Ming Dynasty?"

“Those involved should also be forced to donate, or even charged more.”

I plan to suggest to the emperor that the donation conditions for Shanxi merchants should be stricter.

At the same time, he also pondered the article and realized that the article used the demand theory proposed by the emperor to explain the previous proposal that paying taxes and serving in the military were the basic obligations of Ming citizens.

At a time when the emperor is worried about taxes, the writer will definitely be appreciated by the emperor and even promoted.
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Huang Liji was right. Zhang Maozhong, who published the article, had been summoned by the emperor.

Zhu Youjian looked at his resume and said:
"You are the descendant of Zhang Xueyan, no wonder you have such a deep understanding of paying taxes and serving in the army."

“Any ideas that would help collect the full amount of taxes?”

Zhang Xueyan was the Minister of Revenue in the early Wanli period. He presided over the implementation of the Single Whip Law and land survey, and completed the compilation of the "Wanli Accounting Records".

Zhang Maozhong was his grandson, who served in the Jinyiwei and was a famous poet among the military commanders. He wrote that article not only to explain the taxation and military service, but more to defend the Jinyiwei and explain that he was working for national security.

Hearing that the emperor did not talk about those things and focused on taxation, he said:

“To collect enough taxes, you need enough tax collectors.”

"I think we can let the Jinyiwei from all regions participate and supervise taxpayers and tax collectors."

"The Jinyiwei's Economic and Intelligence Department can collect intelligence from various places and let the Statistics Department analyze it."

This understanding was exactly the purpose of Zhu Youjian's establishment of the ten intelligence departments of the Beisifang. The task of the Economic Intelligence Department was to collect economic and technical intelligence, while the Statistics Department discovered problems through data analysis.

Zhang Maozhong's statement showed that he already understood the operation of the Beisifang, which made Zhu Youjian nod with satisfaction and said:

"You have this understanding, and you already know the work of the Royal Guards."

"But this alone is not enough. In some places, taxation requires the use of force."

"Only by holding the sword can we stop the war and make those tyrants with evil intentions pay taxes to the court obediently."

"The Taxation Police Corps jointly run by the Taifu Temple Taxation Bureau and the Weiwei Temple needs a person in charge."

"Do you have the confidence to take on the responsibility of the Tax Police Corps and help the Taifu Temple collect the full amount of taxes?"

When Zhang Maozhong heard this, he was surprised and happy at the same time.

Although the Tax Police Corps is only a police organization and not a powerful field army, its importance is not low at all and it has a great influence on the local area.

So he bowed hastily and said:
"Your Majesty's order, I will not refuse even if I die."

"I only ask Your Majesty to send more people from the Yingyang Army to help me establish the Tax Police Corps."

He learned from his nephew Zhang Yongan how strong the newly trained Yingyang Army was. He also knew that Gu Yanwu led a squadron of Yingyang Army and shocked all the gentry in Suzhou.

So he requested to transfer personnel from the Yingyang Army to form a tax police corps.

Zhu Youjian of course agreed to this and gave him another task:
"In Shanxi, some merchants not only colluded with the invaders, but also evaded taxes."

"Go and investigate thoroughly, and deal with them together with those who are related to collusion with the enemy."

"Let them pay for next year's war, and you can let them report on each other."

"Bring a few more tax inspectors from the Taifu Temple. I will give you the power to investigate."

The duty of tax inspection is to inspect taxation. After the establishment of the inspection agency, Taifu Temple discovered a lot of tax evasion.

But unlike later times, collecting taxes now is not that simple. Some people even bring people with them to resist paying taxes by force.

Therefore, the Taifu Temple requested to send troops, and Zhu Youjian formed the Tax Police Corps.

The purpose of this army is to support Taifu Temple, and they must also obey the command of Taifu Temple.

Without the conclusion of a tax audit, taxes cannot be levied at will.

At the same time, after they go out, they will share part of the recovered taxes with the inspectors. This is a government office with very high salaries.

After Zhang Maozhong received the appointment and learned about these things carefully, he was immediately excited.

Because the Tax Police Corps can obviously make money. As long as they collect enough taxes, they can legally earn a lot of money.

All actions must be approved by the tax audit, which makes him unhappy:

"It would be great if there were no such people holding us back. Wouldn't it be possible to tax anyone we want?"

"What a pity! What a pity!"

Sighing about this incident, Zhang Maozhong thought about the Jinyiwei again.

Nowadays, the Jinyiwei needs to obtain approval no matter who they arrest.

The Tax Police Corps is probably the same, and is subject to the same restrictions as other Jinyiwei agencies.

This reminded him of the various methods used by the Jinyiwei to obtain approval:
"It's difficult to get a joint approval from the Criminal Department, but it's much easier to get a joint approval from the local criminal justice department. I heard that some people have even proposed to train their own people in the local area."

"It's difficult for them to control the local criminal department, but it's much easier for me to control the tax inspection department."

"There are so many tax audits at Taifu Temple, I think someone will cooperate."

This was inspired by the Jinyiwei's efforts to obtain the approval of the emperor, and he planned to train some of his own people in the tax inspection of the Taifu Temple.

Even after finding out that many of the inspectors were just clerks and low-level officials, he excitedly said to the sons of officials with whom he had inherited official rank:
"Everyone, I have good news for you. I have found the position that best suits us."

"Do you know the tax inspectors at Taifu Temple? They are the people in charge of tax inspections."

Not many people know this, because there are few tax audits at Taifu Temple now, and it rarely appears in front of outsiders.

A son of an official said:

“What are the tax audits for?”

“Is it from the Tax Administration?”

Zhang Maozhong said:

"Not only the General Administration of Taxation, but also every government office in the Taifu Temple, and even the Ministry of Revenue and the Sinong Temple have some."

“They can audit taxes based on reports, and they can also proactively launch investigations into people who pay unusual taxes.”

"My tax police corps was established to cooperate with them and is specifically designed to help these people collect taxes."

These people knew that Zhang Maozhong had been transferred to the Tax Police Corps, and they congratulated him upon hearing the news.

Then he asked carefully:

"What does this have to do with us?"

"Does Brother Zhang want us to go to the Tax Police Headquarters?"

As they spoke, they became somewhat reluctant and did not want to serve in the army.

Zhang Maozhong smiled and said:

"I'm not asking you to join the army. I'm asking you to serve as inspectors at the Taifu Temple."

"Let me tell you, Taifu Temple is always recruiting people. As long as you pass the assessment, you can enter."

"If we find out the tax evasion, we can get a share of the profits. We can make at least several hundred taels of silver every year."

"This could be called the censor in charge of taxation. He can check anyone who pays taxes!"

After hearing this, these children of Wen Yin were immediately excited.

Not only can he share the money, but he can also possess some of the power of the Censor.

This can be called a position of low status with great power, which is very suitable for those who have obtained official positions by relying on the merits of their ancestors.

After the current emperor demoted hereditary officials to the third rank, many of them were worried about not being able to find good jobs.

They are unwilling to be minor officials of the eighth or ninth rank, and they are unable to take higher-ranking official positions, and the civil servants who have passed the imperial examination will not give them any.

Tax audits are not high-ranking, but they have great power and can make money legally. This made them feel that this position is very suitable for them. (End of this chapter)