Good son-in-law of the Ming Dynasty

Su Mu had successfully persuaded Zhengde not to change the year name just now, so he was used to the name Zhengde.If he changed to another year name, he would be a bit uncomfortable, so let's respect history!

Furthermore, it was unnecessary for Zhu Houzhao to blush and thicken his neck because of the reign and civil servants right after he came to the throne.Offending the entire civil service group before being in power, it is inevitable to give careerists a chance.

King Huai is dead, and King Ning will be closely monitored by the court in the future, so there is nothing to fear.However, among the princes of the Ming Dynasty, there were many ambitious ones. Without Prince Ning and Prince Huai, who knows what kind of king will come out who wants to emulate his ancestors in Jingtian Fengnan.

Su Mu's personal fate has been firmly linked with Emperor Zhengde, if something happens to Zhengde, he, the old man of the East Palace, will also suffer bad luck.

His heart was immersed in the joy of persuading Emperor Zhengde, Su Mu didn't think about the emperor's words just now, he just said: "Chen Su Mu is walking in the East Palace, it's his job."

Emperor Zhengde changed the subject and said suddenly: "Su Aiqing, the tomb of Emperor Daxing collapsed suddenly. I also ascended the throne hastily, and the first major event in the court was naturally the funeral of Emperor Daxing. When I was in the East Palace, it was If you are not in charge of a family, you don’t know how expensive it is. Now that you are the emperor, you realize that being an emperor is really the most difficult thing in the world, and this family is really hard to be.”

He shook his head, and continued: "This time, the funeral of Emperor Daxing has been calculated by the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the total cost is 76 taels of silver."

Su Mu was taken aback: "So much?" As far as he knew, the annual fiscal revenue of the Ming Dynasty was only 200 million taels, and in disaster years, it was only over one million taels.

By the Wanli year, after Zhang Juzheng's Longwan reform, the imperial court's Taicang income finally exceeded 300 million taels.

Just one funeral costs half of the country's annual revenue, isn't that a bit too much?

Zhengde nodded: "There is a system for these things. When I was canonized as the crown prince, the jewelry I used cost more than [-] yuan. Besides, the first emperor spent his entire life in government affairs, so it can't be too shabby."

Su Mu nodded, "Yes, the late emperor's funeral has to be held."

Zhengde's expression became depressed: "However, the household department now only has [-] taels left, and there is no way to spend much money. There is no way, I can only take out all the personal money left by the late emperor, and then we will pay for it." This gap has been filled. Up to now, not only the household department, but even my internal treasury have been wiped out. Only when the summer grain arrives can we breathe a sigh of relief."

Emperor Zhengde said while shaking his head: "Back then, when the late emperor was around, he often lamented that it was difficult to be an emperor, and it was even more difficult to be a promising king. I still don't believe it. Now, I have tasted this kind of feeling. Even if you are in power, It’s not like you can do whatever you want? This emperor is like ordinary people, he can do whatever he wants if he has money, but he can’t move even if he doesn’t have money.”

Su Mu was also a person who had endured hardships and suffered from poverty before. Hearing what the emperor said, he felt something in his heart, and sighed, thinking: Nonsense, the emperor can't do anything without money.Think back to the year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng rebelled, and he was about to hit Beijing.Emperor Chongzhen sent envoys to ask for reinforcements, but the treasury of the Ministry of Household Affairs could not afford the travel expenses of two pennies. ,

Historian Huang Renyu also said: The death of the Ming Dynasty was due to financial collapse.

In a word, the Ming Dynasty was impoverished.

However, Su Mu is also strange, the emperor summoned him today, just because of the year name and calling him poor, there is no reason!

After Zhengde finished speaking, he looked at Su Mu with burning eyes: "In this Ming Dynasty, there is no way out if there is no reform, and there is no way out if there is no reform! Su Aiqing, do you still remember the whip method you mentioned when I was in the East Palace? ?”

"A whip, have you ever heard about it?" Su Mu was a little confused. He had talked a lot when fooling Zhu Houzhao, astronomy and geography, gossip in the market, eating, drinking and having fun. As for political topics, he seemed to have mentioned it too. Not impressed.

Zhengde rubbed his hands excitedly: "I've been really poor recently. Looking back, the method you mentioned, Su Aiqing, is really good. First combine taxes and services, and then combine one province with Dingyin and one province with corvee." How much silver is compiled for each grain and stone; how much silver is audited for each Ding; finally, the service silver and tax silver will be collected together. Anyway, in a word, I only want silver. As for how to arrange the money after I get it, it depends on my mood. Hongzhi It is useless to say that righteousness must come first, Hongzhi must first have money. After having money, I will naturally create another peaceful and prosperous world."

In fact, this one-whip method was an invention of Wanli Shoufu.In the past, the taxation system of the Ming Dynasty was relatively old-fashioned. Sometimes money was collected, and sometimes goods were collected.In other words, if you are a fisherman, you need to pay a certain amount of fish as tax.After Zhang Juzheng's reform, he stopped collecting fish and converted it directly into cash.The court wants to eat fish, so it spends its own money to buy it in the market.

Also, in previous river projects and national large-scale construction projects, civilian husbands were recruited to serve.Now there is no conscription, and the labor service is directly converted into cash, and you can be exempted from the service by paying the money.After the court got the money, it went to hire workers by itself.

This reform can be summed up in one word - monetization.

It was from that time that the Ming Dynasty really established the silver standard system until the late Qing Dynasty.

Zhengde may not have realized the significance of this major reform. As a child, the first thing he thought of was that this would increase the cash on hand and make him more affluent, so he naturally wanted to do a big job.

While Su Mu was surprised, he was also a little shocked: This Emperor Zhengde looks absurd on the surface, but he still has political ambitions in his heart!

Zhengde became more and more excited: "Su Mu, you go down and write a report. I will discuss it with the elders after finishing the funeral of Emperor Daxing. If it is feasible, I will implement it. Also, since this matter It was your idea, and since you have made great contributions to me, Aiqing, I will naturally use it. You see, Mou Bin, Liu Jin, Zhang Yong, and Wang Yue have all been rewarded now, how can they leave you behind?"

Su Mu thought happily; the emperor wants to confer an official title on me, that's great!However, I am not yet a Jinshi. Is it too urgent to enter the officialdom now? I have to advance to the Imperial Academy first, and I will go step by step before I can walk steadily.But... I may not be able to become a Jinshi next year!

Thinking of this, he was shocked: Yes, history has changed, and this exam has been postponed to next year.If I win, it's okay to say that the future is bright, but what if I don't win?To be on the safe side, it is also a good choice to enter the officialdom now.

While hesitating, Emperor Zhengde's words made Su Mu make up his mind: "Su Aiqing, I have issued a decree to let you go to the Ministry of Households to serve as the doctor of the Qing Dynasty officials in Zhejiang. Jiangsu and Zhejiang are the money bags of this dynasty. You One of the whipping methods can be practiced first in Zhejiang and Nanzhili."