Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 100: Guo Huan, the Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue! (First update)
Early June.

The weather has become a little hot.

Guo Huan sat in the sedan chair and returned to his mansion.

As the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, a third-rank official in the court, he had been on a smooth career path since he was recommended by the court as a virtuous official in the fourth year of Hongwu. He was highly favored by the emperor, and last year he was "trialed" as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue by His Majesty. He can be said to be in high spirits.

But it also started last year.

He was not actually appointed as the Minister of Revenue, but was demoted to the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

From then on, Guo Huan felt that the wind direction was gradually changing.

Firstly, some censors in the court have begun to impeach me. Although I have evaded them with various excuses, His Majesty is no longer as close to me as before. Secondly, there has been a rumor in the court recently that His Majesty feels that someone in the court is deceiving him.

At last.

A few days ago, officials from the Hanlin Academy raided the Ministry of Revenue and took away many of its accounts, which have not been returned to date.

Judging from the various rumors and atmosphere, His Majesty clearly distrusts the Ministry of Revenue and wants to conduct a thorough investigation of it.

How could Guo Huan not be shocked by this?
He was well aware of the brutality of His Majesty's treatment of corrupt officials.

If Your Majesty really discovers that the Ministry of Revenue is corrupt and favoritism, I'm afraid that something big will happen to the Ministry of Revenue.

However, no matter how hard Guo Huan tried to inquire over the past few days, he still couldn't get any specific information, which made him even more nervous and anxious.

He knows how to get to the top.

The reason is that he is proficient in economics. Relying on his examination of account books, he was like a fish in water after entering the Ministry of Revenue. No matter how turbulent the court was, he remained unmoved and always prospered. After experiencing the "Hu Weiyong Case" and the "Empty Seal Case", he filled the vacancies in the court step by step and finally sat in his current position.

He has enough confidence in his talents.

even.
He has bigger ambitions.

Want to become the real Minister of Revenue of the Ming Dynasty.

Inside the sedan.

Guo Huan could never calm down.

The action of the Hanlin Academy this time has been a thorn in his throat.

He always felt that something was going to happen.

a long time.

Guo Huan's eyes darkened. He lifted the curtain of the sedan chair and looked at the official leading the way. He said, "Li Chang, go tell the Left Vice Minister Wang Daoheng and Vice Minister Hu Yi to ask them if they have any clues about the actions of the Imperial Academy. I am a little uneasy and I always feel that something bad is going to happen."

"besides."

Guo Huan hesitated for a moment, but still shook his head: "Forget it, let's go ask these two people first."

"I hope I'm just worrying about nothing."

Guo Huan lowered the curtain of the sedan chair and closed his eyes again, but he still felt uneasy.

He recalled the major and minor affairs of the court in recent years, wondering if he had any handle on him, and finally denied them one by one.

He worked in the Ministry of Revenue and always had clean hands.

But the direction of the wind this time is obviously not groundless. Your Majesty has wanted to investigate the Ministry of Revenue for a long time. In the final analysis, it is not that problems have been discovered in the Ministry of Revenue, but that Your Majesty is dissatisfied with the situation of the Ministry of Revenue.

As for why you are dissatisfied.

Guo Huan actually knew the reason a long time ago.

The reason is that Your Majesty has always been worried about the Northern Yuan Dynasty and wants to destroy it in one fell swoop. However, since the founding of the court, it has launched five northern expeditions, which consumed a lot of manpower and national strength. It is simply impossible to collect so much money and grain in a short period of time.

Because of this.

The Minister of Revenue was always replaced.

From Su Shu at the beginning, to his own "trial appointment" and now Xu Duo (duo), he has changed three times in two years, but it is difficult to achieve the goal. However, His Majesty has never given up and has been pressuring them again and again to raise food and grass for the Northern Expedition. Finally, the Ministry of Revenue did find a way.

It is pre-collection.

Taxes were paid in advance to local merchants and villagers for several years after the Long March.

However, these things cannot be put on the surface, which creates many opportunities for shady operations.

All of this was done secretly by the Ministry of Revenue without making it public.

But whether it was Guo Huan or Xu Duo, or the Left Vice Minister Wang Daoheng, or the Vice Minister Hu Yi, they all knew one thing very well: this was done in private and was not recognized by the "imperial court". Those higher apportionment targets would not be fulfilled in the end, and could not be fulfilled.

Therefore, someone will definitely take the blame in the end.

When he was demoted by His Majesty from the top leader of the Ministry of Revenue to the third in command, Guo Huan was secretly happy for a while, because he no longer had to bear the main responsibility. If there was really public resentment in the local area, Xu Duo would have to face it.

But he didn't expect that His Majesty didn't do as they expected.

Instead, he started checking the accounts directly.

Guo Huan was a little panicked.

The accounts of the Ministry of Revenue can withstand a rough inspection, but not a detailed examination.

Whoever is ultimately found guilty will bear the greatest "crime". Given the "cruelness" that Your Majesty has displayed to the outside world, even exterminating all nine generations of his family may not be enough. This is something Guo Huan cannot accept. He can bear some responsibility, but he cannot be the main culprit.

He doesn't want to die yet.

He must find out how His Majesty checks the accounts.

As an official with a background in economics, he was very confident that as long as he knew how His Majesty checked the accounts, he could roughly guess who would be blamed.

Only when he figured it out could he feel at ease.

Guo Huan opened his eyes, his eyes were full of annoyance, and he couldn't calm down.

He stretched out his hand and tried to open the curtain, but when he touched the curtain, he pulled his hand back.

at this time.

There was a loud noise outside.

This made Guo Huan, who was already in a state of anxiety, even more upset, and he finally got angry: "Someone, go check for me, who is making so much noise on the street? Tell them to shut up. It's disgraceful to make so much noise in public."

Guo Huan's personal butler Zheng Ao hurriedly said, "I will make them quiet down right away."

Guo Huan nodded.

Also let the sedan bearers walk faster. He really didn't like hearing these loud noises now.

Neighboring street.

Compared to other streets, it is very popular.

Today marks one month since Kyoto Salt Industry opened for business, and is also the day when the final data was recorded.

As a result, a lot of people gathered outside the salt shop early on.

Everyone wanted to see how much salt Kyoto Salt had sold after a month of sales, and whether the high target of 500,000 kilograms of salt could be reached. Now, there was less than a quarter of an hour left before the store closed, and every time someone continued to buy, there would be cheers from all around.

The atmosphere was lively.

Merchants such as Luo Gan looked livid.

They still sat in the teahouse across the street, no longer chatting and laughing as they used to.

His eyes were extremely serious.

In just one month, Kyoto Salt Shop sold nearly three months' worth of salt.

The entire Yingtian Prefecture now only knows about the Kyoto Salt Shop, but not their Luo's Salt Shop, Zhang's Salt Shop, etc. If the salt from the Kyoto Salt Shop was not only sold to the "county" level, they would probably have gained nothing in the past three months.

This was something they had never thought of before.

Moreover, the salt production speed of Kyoto Salt Shop was far beyond their imagination.

He actually managed to produce 500,000 kilograms.

This is 500,000 kilograms.

It only took three months.

In the past, they could not even imagine it.

Their original idea was to help Kyoto Salt Industry to "make up" the insufficient quantity, forcing the Kyoto Salt Shop to go bankrupt, but now, Yingtianfu has sold 300,000 kilograms.

If the sales in the other eight counties were added, the total would probably be close to 400,000.

They no longer dared to go there to provide padding.

It's not that they can't afford it, but after a secret investigation, they found that Kyoto Salt Industry was not losing money, but was making a profit, just not much. If they paid for it, Kyoto Salt Industry would make a lot of money.

They now have only one idea, which is that they do not want to reach 500,000 jin, and want the price of Kyoto Salt to return to 20 wen per jin, so that their salt shop can survive.

Otherwise they would really starve to death.

And they are now facing a huge survival problem.

I just can’t sell the salt.

Given the reputation of Kyoto Salt Industry in Yingtian Prefecture, even if someone really wanted to sell salt in the future, their first reaction would probably be to buy it from Kyoto Salt Industry. Even if the price was the same, their salt would not be sold at all, and the quality was indeed not as good.

During this period, they have done a lot of smear campaigns, but to no avail.

They are now completely helpless.

The key point is that Xia Zhibai is still an official, and they have no way to deal with Xia Zhibai.

Now that they see that Kyoto Salt Shop is so popular, they are gnashing their teeth in hatred and clenching their fists tightly.

at this time.

A figure squeezed in.

It was Zheng Ao, Guo Huan's housekeeper.

Zheng Ao's nose was turned upside down, his eyes were full of arrogance, he didn't take the people around him seriously at all. Indeed, there was no need to take them seriously. As the steward of a third-rank official, even the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture had to be friendly when meeting him, let alone a shop?
He looked around coldly and scolded: "Do you know where your feet are?"

"This is Yingtian Prefecture, the capital of the Ming Dynasty. Is this a place where you can make noise as you please?"

"What do so many people want to do?"

"Want to rebel?!"

"The farmers don't farm properly, the workers don't work properly, and you run to the city to gather together and disturb the ministers. I think you all want to die."

"What a bunch of unruly people!"

"."

Zheng Ao put his hands on his hips and started yelling and cursing at everyone around him. He seemed to be still unsatisfied and turned his gaze towards the Kyoto Salt Shop. When he saw it was the Kyoto Salt Shop, his pupils shrank slightly and then he showed disdain on his face.

If it were normal times, he would have let it go.

Now that his master has spoken, he naturally won't take it seriously.

Not to mention a top scholar, he would have scolded even the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture.

"Kyoto Salt Shop?"

Just when Zheng Ao was about to speak, a figure dressed in coarse linen appeared on the street.

Seeing this determined young man, Zheng Ao's eyelids twitched slightly. He had heard of Xia Zhibai's name, who was very arrogant and proud.

But so what?
The person standing behind him is the Minister of Revenue.

Zheng Ao looked at Xia Zhibai and sneered, "You must be the top scholar Xia, right? You are indeed worthy of your reputation. You have fallen into depravity and are willing to associate with merchants. But no one cares about your troubles. I came here just to tell you that this is Yingtian Prefecture."

“You can do business, but don’t make noise.”

"I'll also set a rule for you. You are not allowed to gather and make noise again."

"As the steward of the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, I should have the qualifications, right?!" Zheng Ao sneered, looked at Xia Zhibai with a playful expression, and took the initiative to reveal his identity.

He believed.

Xia Zhibai will know what's good for you.

In Yingtian Prefecture, an official with a higher rank could crush people to death.

What's more, he represented the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

Several levels bigger.

(End of this chapter)