The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 531: Neglect of precautions and inconsideration
The Ministry of Revenue did not check.

This has been the case in all dynasties.

The same was true of the Ming Dynasty.

As the old saying goes, people die for money and birds die for food.

Officials in the Ministry of Revenue are in charge of money and grain, and see money every day. It is unlikely that they are not greedy. The only difference is how much greed they have.

This seems unavoidable.

If the Ministry of Revenue investigates, there is a high probability that they will find a bunch of corrupt officials, which may turn out to be a shocking case.

During the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty, a case of empty seals was uncovered. More than a thousand officials were involved, and tens of thousands of related personnel were implicated.

This time, the case is probably even more serious than the empty seal case during the Hongwu Dynasty.

Because the Ming Dynasty was unprecedentedly prosperous at that time, the wealth of the entire Ming Dynasty was many times greater than that of the Hongwu Dynasty.

Not to mention anything else, just the real money and silver imported into the Ming Dynasty through overseas trade is 50 to 60 million taels every year!
Historically, after so much real money was poured into the Ming Dynasty, the Ming court did not seem to gain much benefit, or it could even be said that it gained no benefit at all.

The Ming Dynasty court was still poor, and the treasury had no surplus at all. It was so poor that it even had no money to provide disaster relief or to pay food and wages to the army.

The Ming Dynasty court seemed to have some money now, but the treasury only had a surplus of more than 7 million taels.

This is obviously problematic.

Because the food and wages of the Ming army soldiers are now borne by the inner treasury, the largest expenditure of the Ministry of Revenue is the salaries of officials.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty court's annual tax revenue was at least five or six million taels, and the officials' salaries were less than two million taels a year. It was impossible for the national treasury to have such a small surplus.

In other words, the problem of treasury deficit will be exposed sooner or later, and corrupt officials will most likely be caught.

Those corrupt officials must know it very well in their minds, but they still want to be corrupt!
People die for money and birds die for food. This is absolutely true.

It would be strange if the officials of the Ministry of Revenue were not corrupt!
To put it bluntly, even if the court was almost entirely made up of honest officials, there would definitely be people in the Ministry of Revenue who could not resist the temptation of money. What's more, the Ming Dynasty court was mostly composed of corrupt officials.

Wanli frowned and pondered for a while, then sighed and said, "Xun'er, this is a lesson, a real lesson.

My father knew very well that there were many corrupt officials in the court, but he failed to take precautions and did not care about the court's income and expenditure at all.

It is definitely not okay to govern the country in this way. You must pay attention to this in the future. The money in the national treasury and the internal treasury must be strictly controlled, and both income and expenditure must be checked at every level.

In recent years, my father has been working hard to make money, develop military forces, and expand territory. It can be said that he has not put any energy into controlling the court. This is wrong.

Originally, my father thought that it would not be a big problem to let the Qingliu and Zhejiang parties fight each other. Now it seems that the tactic of sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight is completely unsuitable for use in the court.

Internal strife is the source of instability. The more you fight, the more chaotic it will become. We should choose power.

You must remember that from now on, all major government offices must be controlled by trusted officials, and they must be supervised at all times. If problems are discovered, they must be severely punished. Only in this way can we control those corrupt officials."

These guys are really scary. They dare to embezzle any amount of money!
Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun slowly nodded and said, "I will remember this."

Wanli thought about it carefully again, and then couldn't help but say thankfully: "Fortunately, the money we need this time is not that much.

The silver and money in the inner treasury can last for about three months, and the gold mines in America can replenish the supply in four to five months at most.

"At least there are still over seven million taels in the treasury, which should be enough to last a month or two. But if the Nurgan Regional Administration urgently needs tens of millions, or even twenty or thirty million taels, then we'll be in big trouble."

Uh, why does this sound a bit problematic?
Zhu Changxun thought about it carefully, and then reminded him carefully: "Father, it was Chen Sheng who said that the national treasury had a surplus of more than 7 million taels. We didn't see it with our own eyes.

These corrupt officials dared to embezzle tens of millions of taels. Is there really still more than seven million taels in the national treasury? Can we believe what he said? "

Yup!

When Wanli heard this, he was stunned.

I was really too careless.

Can we trust the words of corrupt officials?
If the national treasury really has so much real money, can corrupt officials resist being greedy?
He was stunned for a long time before he slowly nodded and said, "Yes, you are right. It was Chen Sheng who said that there were more than 7 million taels in the national treasury. We didn't see it with our own eyes.

My father was indeed a bit inconsiderate. He actually believed what this guy said.

We really need to see the money in the treasury with our own eyes. These guys are really willing to take any money they can."

What's inside the treasury?

I haven't been there yet.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun couldn't help but ask excitedly, "Father, shall we go now?"

You kid, you still have a bit of a childish mentality.

The national treasury audit is no joke. Can you just do it?
Wanli shook his head slightly, thought about it carefully, and then said loudly: "Send the message to the Jinyiwei Commander-in-Chief, Lu Yi."

He hasn't seen Lu Yi for a long time.

It seems that he has been out of touch with the Ming Dynasty court for a long time. He seems to be obsessed with warmongering and rarely cares about matters that are not related to military force.

This definitely won't work.

If he doesn't care about the affairs of the court, those corrupt officials will definitely try their best to find loopholes.

The question is, how can he prevent corrupt officials from taking advantage of loopholes?

It seems that no dynasty has solved this problem.

While he was thinking about it, Lu Yi came quickly.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, he asked directly, "Do you know the locations of all the warehouses in the Ministry of Revenue?"

The Ministry of Revenue’s warehouse?
I know this naturally.

Lu Yi nodded repeatedly and said, "I know."

It's good that you know, I don't know much about it. I am the emperor.

Wanli thought for a moment and then simply asked, "Where is the money in the treasury stored?"

You don’t even know this?
Lu Yi explained in detail: "The silver and money of the national treasury are stored in the Ministry of Revenue warehouse. This Ministry of Revenue warehouse is the name of the warehouse, not all the warehouses of the Ministry of Revenue.

The Ministry of Revenue warehouse is also known as the rear warehouse or silver warehouse, and is located behind the Ministry of Revenue.

Very good, the distance is very close, and you will almost arrive after leaving the imperial city.

Wanli nodded slightly, then said decisively: "Immediately mobilize your troops and surround all the warehouses of the Ministry of Revenue. Keep everyone inside under guard and forbid them from moving."

what?
You want me to surround all the warehouses of the Ministry of Revenue!

Lu Yi was stunned for a moment, then said carefully: "Your Majesty, the other warehouses in the Ministry of Revenue are easy to deal with, but the problem is the granary.

There are a total of thirteen granaries in the Ministry of Revenue, only eleven of which are in the capital, and two are near the Tongzhou Canal Port.

Your Majesty, are we going to send people to surround the two granaries in Tongzhou as well?"

The granaries are not the focus, so it doesn’t matter if we check two less.

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "Forget about the two granaries in Tongzhou. Just surround all the warehouses of the Ministry of Revenue in the capital."

That’s a good thing, otherwise I might not have enough manpower under my command.

Lu Yi repeatedly bowed and said, "I understand."

Wanli nodded slightly, then waved his hand and said, "Go ahead. Send some people to surround them first, and I'll bring some people to investigate later."

Lu Yi quickly bowed and took his leave.

Wanli thought for a moment, then said aloud, "General Shan."

Shan Sinan came in and bowed, saying, "I am here."

Wanli gave detailed instructions, "I am going to check the Ministry of Revenue's warehouses. Gather ten thousand elite soldiers and have them go to the inner treasury to fetch a hundred scales. I will weigh all the gold, silver, and grain in the warehouses."

Shan Sinan quickly bowed and said, "I will obey your order."

After saying that, he quickly retreated.

Wanli thought for a moment, then said loudly, "Uncle, send someone to call the Imperial Noble Consort."

Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan was in the Kunning Palace nearby and arrived quickly.

When she saw the dense crowds of imperial guards outside the Qianqing Palace, she couldn't help but ask curiously, "Your Majesty, what's wrong? What happened?"

Little Zhu Changxun actually said excitedly: "Auntie Lan, we are going to check the Ministry of Revenue warehouse."

what?
Check the Ministry of Revenue warehouse!

Is it necessary for the emperor to go there in person for such a matter?

Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan couldn't understand why they suddenly wanted to check the Ministry of Revenue's warehouse.

Wanli directly shoved little Zhu Changxun into her arms and then warned her, "You come and protect Xun'er. It's not safe outside right now. I'm worried that they will do something desperate."

It is indeed extremely unsafe outside at this moment.

The situation between him, the Zhejiang Party and the three major families of Puzhou had already reached a life-and-death stage.

Now he has to check the Ministry of Revenue warehouse again.

No one knows how many corrupt officials are involved in this.

He was really worried that these guys would do something desperate.

Upon hearing this, Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan said nervously, "Your Majesty, how about I go get the sword?"

This is not necessary.

Wanli shook his head slightly and said, "No need. No matter how powerful the masters are, they can't break through the defense of tens of thousands of imperial guards and my uncle and General Shan. They can't get close to us.

I'm worried they might attack me from behind, so just be careful and protect Xun'er."

Why don't you wear armor if you are worried about being shot by someone?

Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan was still a little worried and said, "Your Majesty, why don't you and Xun'er both put on your armor?"

Why should I wear armor when I have brought three masters with me?
Wanli still shook his head slightly and said: "I will go wearing the dragon robe. I cannot be timid in front of corrupt officials.

Can I still be afraid of corrupt officials?
If I show that I am afraid of corrupt officials, those corrupt officials will surely become even more unscrupulous and corrupt.

Therefore, I cannot show any cowardice. If I go, I must go openly and without armor.

You just need to be careful. These corrupt officials may not dare to take action. Even if they do, they can only launch a sneak attack at best."

This one.

Ok.

In fact, ordinary arrows are nothing to her. She can catch them with just a raise of her hand. She can catch any arrow shot from a one-stone bow, unless the assassin uses a bow weighing more than two stones.

Although she could not catch the arrows shot from a strong bow weighing more than two stones, it was still easy for her to lead others to dodge them, because the arrows shot from a strong bow weighing more than two stones would make a whistling sound, which could be heard from a long distance.

As for musket bullets, they are actually not very powerful. Nowadays, the power of musket bullets is even less than that of a strong bow.

Upon hearing this, Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan thought about it carefully, then slowly nodded and said, "Okay, I will be careful and pay attention."

(End of this chapter)