Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 210 Increase local financial resources, investigate deficits, and discipline clerks!

After Zhu Houcong finished saying this, the cabinet ministers all understood that the emperor wanted to further centralize power. They understood that in addition to setting up inspection offices and patrol inspection offices to strengthen control over local order, the emperor also wanted to strengthen control over local public opinion and even the literary context of the literati.

Although it did not directly prohibit all speech in the world, it did imply that mainstream speech in the world should be subject to its command.

The cabinet ministers did not object to this because, as the ruling party, they were also the beneficiaries of centralization. They were also worried that local opinions would deviate too much from the court and cause greater chaos.

However, they had to admit that the emperor's doing so would increase expenses.

Fei Hong said, "Your Majesty, this will increase the court's expenses. The increase in expenses this year is already large enough, and the annual revenue has not increased significantly. The only increase was due to the rectification of the salt administration the year before last, and the increase in agricultural taxes due to the land reclamation."

“Especially the place!”

"Their retention and fire consumption silver is not much, and increasing the patrol inspection office and the salaries of officials will already use up a large part of it!"

"If we set up officials to monitor customs and rectify social practices, it may cause serious deficits in local areas or increase the fire consumption levy privately. Moreover, many places also bear the expenses of local royal families."

"How about this: in order to encourage local governments to strengthen their administration and investigate corruption, they should be allowed to keep the money confiscated from corrupt officials for local use."

"In other words, the three judicial departments were only responsible for sentencing the clerks who committed crimes, and the property seized from the clerks was used to make up for the local deficit and local financial needs."

"Of course, the governor can search and confiscate the homes of corrupt local officials and use the money to make up for the deficit and financial expenses of the provincial government."

Zhu Houcong's appointment as an envoy to observe customs and rectify social practices was a move he learned from Emperor Yongzheng.

Because Yongzheng was very resentful about the local opposition to his reforms, many literati posted denunciations and wrote articles to insult them, so he simply set up an envoy to observe customs and rectify social practices.

Now, he wants to encourage local governments to investigate deficits and crack down on powerful officials. He also learned from Emperor Yongzheng to crack down on corrupt local officials to make up for the deficits.

Because in history, it was Emperor Yongzheng who asked governors-general such as Tian Wenjing and Li Wei to actively investigate deficits at the local level.

Since the emperor was far away, the central court had no energy to send the Jinyiwei to search and confiscate the property of minor officials in the localities. So it would simply increase the enthusiasm of local officials to search and confiscate property, and allow them to make up for the deficit by confiscating property.

After all, sending a large number of Jinyiwei to arrest a clerk and getting several thousand or tens of thousands of taels of silver would not cover the cost of sending them and the cost of the subsequent rewards.

However, this money is a large amount of income for the local governments. Therefore, once the emperor allows the local governments to use the money confiscated from corrupt officials for local use, the local officials will naturally take the initiative to clean up the local administration.

"As for the envoys sent by the central government to observe customs and rectify social practices, I will directly use the treasury to provide 100,000 silver dollars per region each year for the envoys to guide discussions and subsidize local governments."

In Zhu Houcong's view, the propaganda outlet is a very important place.

It is equivalent to raising another army for him, an army that does not need to shed blood.

So, he knew that this money could not be saved.

Naturally, it is necessary to allocate special funds every year to strengthen control over this area.

Zhu Houcong also asked the Imperial Household Department to make a statistical analysis of the cultural and educational conditions in various places and estimated how many silver dollars would be needed to guide the discussion.

That's why he mentioned the amount of 100,000 silver dollars for each province.

of course.

Many areas with underdeveloped culture and education may not need so much money to guide public opinion, but these places often have a large number of ethnic minorities, so it is appropriate to use this money to strengthen local sinicization work, such as building academies and organizing literacy classes.

The two capitals and thirteen provinces had a total of just over two million silver dollars.

Although it is not a small amount of money, it is still much lower than spending millions or even tens of millions of silver dollars in military expenditures in each place and sending large armies to massacre the literati in these places, destroying Chinese culture and education in order to silence those who oppose the reform.

It is said that after Zhu Houcong said this, the cabinet ministers were shocked again.

They really didn't expect that the emperor would be so generous in controlling public opinion.

One hundred thousand dollars a year is saved. How many writers must be bribed to speak for them?
The cabinet ministers all came from Confucian students, and they were well aware of the resistance of those literati who were full of nonsense when faced with interests.

Although everyone claims to serve the country and the people, there are many people who forget the teachings of the sages when they see material things.

Notice.

In local areas, many scholars relied on their own fame and privilege to severely punish common people if they offended them. Sometimes they would even deliberately eat without paying, without caring about their reputation. There were also many scholars who forced common people to do things for them for free in order to save hiring costs.

Otherwise, Gu Yanwu would not have listed scholars as one of the three major evils that led to the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, the cabinet ministers are now very surprised by this, but at the same time they can't help but start thinking about how to let their own people serve as the envoys of observing customs and rectifying social practices, so that they can take the opportunity to use the money to publicize their own governing propositions and academic ideas.

……

……

Money makes the world go round; without money you can't move an inch.

In Huguang, Gui E was already worried about money and food.

Because when he was inspecting the financial and grain situation of the prefectures under his jurisdiction as the military governor, he found that the situation of the prefectures in arrears of rice salaries for the royal family and food stipends for the scholars was very serious.

If he had not participated in the reform in Huguang with Shu Sheng, these problems could naturally be turned a blind eye, allowing the royal family and scholars to make up for it by lending money and exploiting the people.

However, isn't he and Shu Sheng carrying out a severe crackdown in Huguang now? This means that if they do not make up for the rice salaries owed to the royal family and the food stipends to the scholars, the royal family and the scholars will be more motivated to oppose their severe crackdown.

Gui E had to start thinking about countermeasures, and went to the governor's office to discuss solutions with Shu Sheng.

When Gui E arrived at the governor's office in a sedan chair, he saw through the small gap in the curtain that a clerk in the governor's office spat at him lightly when he saw him coming, then knelt down and prepared to salute.

The clerk thought that Gui E was in the sedan chair and would not notice him because of the curtain and there were so many clerks around. So he boldly expressed his disgust for Gui E in this way.

But what he didn't expect was that after Gui E got off the sedan chair, she walked towards him and asked, "What's your name?"

"I am a villain, Yu Zhenxian!"

Yu Zhenxian, a clerk in the governor's office, replied, and soon beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Gui E didn't say anything else, but went straight into the governor's office, met Shu Sheng, and reported to Shu Sheng the financial deficit and the unpaid salary and food issues of the prefectures under his jurisdiction.

Because the silver Yuan Zonggao brought was limited, it was only enough to radiate the surrounding prefectures. And the area under the jurisdiction of Gui'e, the military governor, was exactly the area where the Yuan family could benefit the people.

Therefore, the prefecture areas that Gui'e, the military governor, could rectify were also the areas that the Yuan family could benefit the people. Naturally, they became the key areas for severe crackdowns in the Huguang region. The money and grain situation in the areas under his jurisdiction also became the key area for ensuring the smooth implementation of low-interest loans in the future.

After listening to Gui E's words, Shu Sheng naturally noticed what kind of hidden dangers would exist if the local finances in the area under Gui E's jurisdiction were in serious deficit and the salary and food shortages were serious.

"In order to prevent the royal family and scholars from rebellion when the Yuan family lends money at low interest rates, all the rice owed to the royal family and the food owed to the scholars should be repaid in full!"

Gui E then put forward his own views.

"no!"

For the first time, Shu Sheng raised his objection to Gui E and stated his reasons.

"If that happens, all the government offices in Huguang won't even be able to make ends meet!"

"The newly added inspection offices are still waiting for next month's pay!"

After Shu Sheng said this, Gui E couldn't help but clench his fists and lick his lips, thinking of the clerk who had just offended him, and then said:

"We should send them out first. At least we can't let the royal family members go against the government because of a lack of food! Also, those scholars from poor families all rely on the food in the government office to make a living. We can't not send them out."

"As for the expenses of the government, at most, we can borrow money from the rich to cover the expenses. Then we will continue to crack down on corruption internally, encourage the people to sue the government officials, and then confiscate the houses of the corrupt officials! And we ask for the emperor's order to keep all the money confiscated to repay the loans! If the higher-ups don't agree, then we can confiscate a few more corrupt officials!"

After Gui E said this, Shu Sheng was quite shocked. After thinking for a while, he said, "This is a bold idea! However, you and I have to be more careful!"

Gui E suddenly said, "Of course! I saw that clerk Yu Zhenxian in the Fuyuan Yamen had a treacherous look on his face, secretly harboring dissatisfaction!"

Shu Sheng was startled after hearing this and asked Gui E: "How did he offend you?"

"This person is dissatisfied with the new policy, so he is resentful of me!"

Gui E replied.

Shu Sheng nodded and said, "This man is a clerk I transferred from the Provincial Government. It is easy to investigate his corruption. Just let He Rui, the clerk who wants to take his place, expose him!"

Shu Sheng asked He Rui to come over and asked directly, "This court has heard that many of the clerks in the court have been corrupt. Is this true?"

He Rui's eyes spun around when he heard what Shu Sheng said. He immediately understood what was going on and said, "Yes! He sold out information about you, the governor, to the local wealthy families. For example, he leaked the information that the grain reserves in the vassal treasury were only 30,000 dan! He also stole the government silver and took it home to prepare for refining."

"As expected, the officials are corrupt by nature!"

After hearing this, Shu Sheng's face darkened and he ordered sternly, "Come here, take the soldiers to raid Yu Dianli's house immediately!"

When Yu Dianli heard that his house was going to be confiscated, he hurried over to Shu Sheng and knelt down, saying, "Please have mercy, Zhongcheng. I will never dare to do it again!"

Gui E smiled faintly at this, and then he left the Fuyuan Yamen.

When he was leaving the Fuyuan Yamen, he heard Chen Ru, a professor at Wuchang Prefecture School, disciplining a group of scholars who had gathered there.

Many scholars also brought their families and children with them.

"Who asked you to come? Don't you know who the Huguang Xinfuyuan is now?!"

"Do you still want fame?!"

Chen Ru admonished like this.

Chang Jujing, a student holding his son's hand, said, "We have to come. The prefectural school won't give us food, and the Grand Master has gone into hiding. We can barely make ends meet at home. We can only come to the Fuyuan to find the Zhongcheng and ask whether the food we owed last year will be paid."

"We, the sons of poor families, cannot compare to the sons of wealthy families. We have no food stipend and can only rely on our wives to farm and weave to take care of our parents and raise our children. However, many of our wives are already sick from overwork. If the court can no longer provide food stipends, we will have no choice but to drop out of school and find another profession!"

"that is!"

"Father, the cruel official has come out."

At this time.

The son of the student Chang Jujing suddenly pointed at Gui E who was just coming out and said something.

Chang Jujing looked in the direction of the sound and was shocked.

The other students also changed color.

Chen Ru and other school officials hurriedly knelt down and said, "Please calm down, Bingxian!"

Gui E picked up Chang Jujing's son, pinched his cheek, and said with a smile: "Little devil, why do you say I am a cruel official?"

"My dad said so!"

After hearing this, Gui E looked at Chang Jujing.

Chang Jujing also knelt down at this time and said, "I just heard that Bingxian helped Zhongcheng to execute officials and killed Mr. Qingzhai when he took office, so I think Bingxian's actions are cruel. Please show mercy to Bingxian and don't bother with students!"

"The food will be provided. I believe that the Minister of Justice will order all prefectures and counties to provide additional food in the near future. Go back and wait for news."

"Yes!"

After Gui E said this, he put Chang Jujing's son down and got into the sedan chair.

Chang Jujing hurriedly stood up and held his son in his arms, and then he saw soldiers from the governor's office coming out and posting a notice in the Shenming Pavilion.

"Dad, why are your hands so cold?"

Chang Jujing's son said this at this time.

Chang Jujing did not respond, but just smiled as he looked at the notice about the reissue of food stipends.

(End of this chapter)