Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 251: Fine of copper and dismissal of the Prime Minister!

"So much wood!"

"My God, are they really going to build a warship?"

"A great Eastern country is beginning to attach importance to its maritime borders. This is undoubtedly a terrifying thing for those of us who have come from afar!"

Under the instructions of Governor Godingho, Pires chose to go on a diplomatic mission to the Ming Dynasty again.

This time, Pires came with a letter of apology.

The Ming Emperor's tough stance forced them to compromise in order to gain the opportunity to be allowed to trade.

Because although Zhu Houcong expressed that he would regard the Portuguese as an important opponent, he still issued an edict allowing the Portuguese to send envoys to contact the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, the coastal officials did not stop Pires from entering.

But when he arrived outside Linqing City in the winter of the third year of Jiajing, he saw with his own eyes the large amount of bamboo and wood seized by Zhang Cong being transported northward.

Pires therefore sighed inwardly.

Fer, who came with him to Daming and was also fluent in Chinese, said: "According to their 'Di Bao', there should be a lot of smuggled wood seized here, and a lot of it should be sold to us."

After hearing this, Pires frowned and asked, "So, it will be difficult for us to buy enough bamboo and wood in a short period of time?"

"Yes!"

"The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty had a loyal minister who deserved praise. He confiscated the largest smuggler in Zhejiang Province! Even though the smuggler was a second-rank official, he still used the most brutal means and killed him in front of his brother, even though the smuggler's brother was once a university scholar!"

Ferlio replied.

"Who is this loyal minister?"

Pires's brows furrowed even more tightly.

"Zhang Fujing!"

Ferliou handed the Gazette to Pires and pointed to the name on it.

Pires took it and looked at it carefully for a while before saying, "This man is admirable, but it is not a good thing for us that the Emperor of Ming has such a loyal minister!"

……

……

"Zhang Fujing is a traitor!"

"He killed Gong Hecheng, the co-magistrate, and he did the same thing to Yan Weiqing, the censor! Even Xie Gong's brother."

"Now the imperial edict requires me to review the merits of this treacherous official."

Let’s talk.

In the capital, many civil officials regarded Zhang Cong as a treacherous minister and a snob.

Xue Hui, a Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel's Examination and Reward Department, vented his anger to his teacher Yang Tinghe because the court wanted the Ministry of Personnel's Examination and Reward Department to recommend Zhang Cong's merits.

Yang Tinghe said, "Let's discuss it! But you are right, what Zhang Fujing did was indeed too cruel. The bureaucrats and scholars can kill people at will. If this man is not brought down, the world will not be at peace!"

"Ensuke is right!"

"Now no one in the court is dissatisfied with Zhang Fujing. More importantly, he advocates reforming the tax policy and wants to exempt bamboo and wood from tax and add this part of the income to the banknote customs and commercial taxes."

Xue Huiyan said.

Because of the cold weather and his frustration, Yang Tinghe fell seriously ill during these days and had no time to pay attention to news from the outside world. He did not even know that Zhang Cong was going to reform the tax policy.

Now that Xue Hui came to visit him and told him about this, he finally knew about it and was greatly shocked: "Is this really true?"

"Bring me all the posters from the last three months!"

Yang Tinghe then gave instructions to his family.

"hurry up!"

Xue Hui also replied at this time: "It is true. Originally, Yang Ge Lao wanted to use the fact that Your Majesty was going to build a large number of warships to abolish the bamboo and wood tax. However, Zhang Fujing, in order to please Your Majesty and show that he cares more about the gains and losses of the court, said that it is not enough to just exempt the bamboo and wood taxes, and not care about the impact of the exemption of the bamboo and wood tax on the court's tax revenue. When the emperor asked him for advice, he suggested increasing the banknote customs tax to make up for these miscellaneous taxes."

“That’s absolutely not allowed!”

After Xue Hui said this, Yang Tinghe immediately expressed his opposition.

"Zhang Fujing is simply a traitor who has brought disaster to the country!"

then.

Yang Tinghe also characterized Zhang Fujing as a traitor, and instructed Xue Hui, "Tell the cabinet to stop Zhang Fujing's move. The commercial tax at the customs cannot be increased. In the reign of the Emperor, there should be no new tax increase. Zhang Cong must be expelled from the court! Otherwise, your majesty's virtue will be in jeopardy!"

Traditional scholar-officials like Yang Tinghe were very sensitive to the issue of increased taxes, so they did not want any tax increases to occur during the Jiajing reign.

But a major drawback of the Ming Dynasty's finances was that the tax rate on direct taxes was too low, especially commercial taxes.

However, this low direct tax rate is not a good thing for the country.

The low direct tax rates actually only benefit the powerful and wealthy.

After all, officials dare not blackmail them, so these powerful people can truly enjoy the benefits of low direct tax rates, while ordinary people, because they have no power, naturally cannot enjoy the benefits of low direct tax rates. After all, officials will use this to increase their exploitation in indirect taxes.

Therefore, it would be better to have higher direct taxes, so that the court’s income will increase, and it can also benefit the people and increase investment in public construction and basic welfare security.

Zhu Houcong naturally supported Zhang Cong's adjustment of direct taxes and increase in commercial tax rates. Therefore, after Fei Hong and Zhang Cong returned to Beijing, Zhu Houcong summoned the nine ministers of the cabinet and Zhang Cong to the warm pavilion of the Qianqing Palace and said:

"According to what Mr. Zhang said, since the Ministry of Industry's bamboo and wood tax revenue increased significantly last year, we will continue to implement the national policy proposed by Mr. Zhang. The bamboo and wood tax system will be abolished, and the commercial taxes of the banknotes and customs will be changed. The original bamboo and wood tax bureaus and tax factories will no longer be established, and the officials and servants under them will be transferred to the banknotes and customs by the Ministry of Personnel as appropriate."

Zhang Cong and Wang Yangming nodded in agreement.

Minister of Works Tong Rui stood up at this time and said: "The Ministry of Works mistakenly believed what the officials below reported, and reported that the annual income from bamboo and wood increased greatly last year. They also failed to detect the large-scale smuggling of bamboo and wood in time. They really failed the emperor's grace! As the Minister of Works, I cannot escape the responsibility, so I ask Your Majesty to dismiss me from my post and punish me!"

"As the Minister of Industry, I was not careful, but I cannot be said to have failed to supervise the large-scale smuggling of bamboo and wood."

"So, I will not dismiss you from your post, but will fine you one year's salary instead! And don't even think about receiving any bonuses or subsidies this year."

Zhu Houcong glanced at Tong Rui, then stood up and walked to the palace gate with his hands behind his back. Facing the breeze outside and looking at the bright moon outside, he said, "It is the Xie family that privately stores precious bamboos such as golden nanmu and is suspected of smuggling. What do you think should be done about it?"

Fei Hong stood up and said, "Your Majesty, Junior Tutor Xie Gong has submitted a petition for apology."

Zhu Houcong asked, "What did he say in his memorial?"

"He said that he and his brother Xie Di lived separately in accordance with the order of his ancestors, and he never asked about Xie Di's family affairs, so he neglected to persuade and teach them, which led to his brother committing such a serious crime. He is willing to accept the punishment!"

Fei Hong replied.

Zhu Houcong then asked Fei Hong: "So, what do you think?"

"I think that Lord Xie is, after all, a senior minister of high moral character and prestige. If he is implicated because of his brother, it would be detrimental to the court's benevolence. We should just confiscate Xie Di's property and seize his family members for punishment. As for Lord Xie's family, we should pardon them."

After hearing this, Zhu Houcong asked Mao Ji again: "What does Yuanfu think about this?"

“Rather than blaming Lord Xie, it’s better to blame me, the Prime Minister, for not doing my job well. This allowed the powerful and wealthy to disregard the law and engage in rampant smuggling, which in turn implicated the elders and put Your Majesty in a difficult position!”

"I have impeached myself and asked to leave. I humbly ask Your Majesty to grant my request."

Mao Ji then directly blamed himself for the crime.

Zhu Houcong thought for a moment and said, "Approved! The Prime Minister can draft an order to resign and let Fei Gelao take over the post of Prime Minister."

"I thank Your Majesty for your kindness, and I will not hesitate to do so without any hesitation!"

At this time, Fei Hong hurriedly prostrated himself on the ground and kowtowed in reply.

Mao Ji also kowtowed to express his gratitude.

"Although Lord Xie is a senior minister relied on by two previous emperors and has made contributions to the country, he should be forgiven, but his brother is involved in a major case of treason, and I cannot ignore his crime. If I punish him, it will not show my benevolence, so I will follow the ancient law and change the fine to one thousand coppers."

At this time, Zhu Houcong brought up the decision on how to deal with Xie Qian.

The "Book of Documents: Lv Xing" states that "there are pardons for the five punishments", which can all be converted into redemption. Thus, redemption began to be institutionalized.

According to the book, in any case where there is doubt about the application of the five punishments and that should be pardoned, one can pay 100, 200, 500, 600, or 1,000 copper coins respectively to redeem the corporal punishment or death penalty.

Since Xie Qian's brother was suspected of smuggling and hiding golden nanmu wood, he should be punished to the maximum extent possible, and a fine of one thousand yuan would be appropriate.

One liang is equivalent to six liang.

There is a shortage of copper in the world now, and good copper is mostly used to make sacrificial vessels or kept at home. Only inferior copper is used as currency in transactions.

Therefore, a fine of six thousand taels of copper was considered a relatively heavy economic penalty.

However, Zhu Houcong thought that if a large number of copper mines were really developed overseas in the future, it would be inappropriate to impose copper fines as redemption punishment.

Of course, this is in the future.

After Zhu Houcong said this, Fei Hong, Yang Yiqing and other civil officials naturally praised the emperor for his profound benevolence, wisdom and intelligence.

Zhu Houcong just smiled and asked Wang Shouren: "Has the Grand Secretary been introduced by the court?"

At this time, the Minister of Personnel Wang Shouren reported: "Your Majesty, the court nominations have been announced. Xie Qian is the main nominee, and Wang Ao, Lin Jun, Wang Qiong, Shi Yan, and Jia Yong are also nominated."

"Reinstate Wang Ao, Lin Jun, and Wang Qiong to the cabinet."

Zhu Houcong began to give orders.

Xie Qian was so uncooperative in the court's preparations to build a large number of warships that he was lucky not to be executed.

How could Zhu Houcong invite him back to the court to serve as a cabinet minister?

As for the fact that Wang Ao was able to come back, it was naturally because Nanzhi had indeed invested a huge amount of money this time.

In order to encourage this kind of behavior, Zhu Houcong naturally wanted to use this opportunity to extend his favor to Nanzhi.

As for Wang Qiong, Zhu Houcong had long planned to let him join the cabinet so that he could help him unify the political views of the officials.

Wang Shouren bowed and agreed.

Therefore, the cabinet then issued an edict to reinstate these three people as cabinet members.

Yang Tinghe soon learned about Wang Qiong's joining the cabinet, and he sat up in shock from his illness: "Why would the cabinet agree to this? Why would the six ministries and nine officials agree to this?!"

"no!"

"I have to go to the court to dissuade this matter!"

"Wang Qiong's admission into the cabinet is like killing me!"

(End of this chapter)