The Red Mansion

Chapter 88: Prelude to the Battle of the Two Saints (Part 1)
Upon hearing this, Emperor Jingning's eyes showed an inquiring look. After a moment of thought, he raised his hand to dismiss the eunuchs in the room, leaving only him, Emperor Taishun, Prince Zhongyi, and Jiang Nian.

Emperor Jingning turned to Emperor Taishun, his tone full of meaning: "The Emperor's son was raised in humble circumstances. At only fifteen years old, he has already devised such a plan to investigate the financial deficit. Does the Emperor believe it?"

Emperor Taishun's face froze, slightly embarrassed. He glared at Jiang Nian and shouted in a deep voice, "Kneel down!"

Jiang Nian knelt down as he was told, but he was secretly happy. Through Emperor Jingning's words, he confirmed that Emperor Jingning already knew that he was Emperor Taishun's commoner son.

He lowered his head and looked respectful, waiting for the next step.

Emperor Jingning and Emperor Taishun both looked down at Jiang Nian with their eyes as sharp as torches, as if they wanted to see through Jiang Nian's thoughts.

Emperor Taishun shouted in a deep voice, "Stop lying in front of the Supreme Emperor! Tell the truth!"

Jiang Nian's expression was calm as he answered decisively, "How dare I deceive the Emperor and His Majesty? Although I am young, I have been blessed with the kindness of my parents and have a good memory. Since my mother passed away, I have been left alone and helpless. Since I know who my father is, I have diligently studied the classics and history books, and have paid close attention to current affairs, hoping to one day gain his attention. This proposal is a combination of my learning, thinking, and planning."

Without pausing, he continued, "I am submitting this memorial for two reasons. First, I have been blessed by Your Majesty and Prince Zhongyi's generosity. At the tender age of fifteen, I have been honored to serve as a guard. I wish to serve Your Majesty and repay Prince Zhongyi's kindness. I know Your Majesty and Prince Zhongyi are toiling away their days investigating the financial deficit, and I have a modest proposal. Even if it is inadequate, I ought to present it for Your Majesty's consideration. Second, I wish to further secure my father's attention. Only by doing so can I see him more often in the future."

He spoke sincerely, as if every word came from the bottom of his heart.

After his mother passed away, he hadn't seen his father for more than ten years and was left alone and helpless. In order to gain his father's attention one day, he studied the classics and history books hard and paid attention to current affairs.

This is playing the emotional card!
He had an excellent memory and ranked 33rd in the Shuntian Prefecture's provincial examination at the age of fifteen. He was also proficient in both civil and military affairs.

Proof of exceptional talent!
He was only fifteen years old, which made his words more credible and at the same time weakened his disrespectful behavior in front of the king.

Moreover, he is confident and has a plan in mind.

This proposal was indeed his own, and he did not falsely claim it as someone else's. He also anticipated the questioning and interrogation he would face from Emperor Taishun and made adequate preparations.

Emperor Jingning, Emperor Taishun and Prince Zhongyi were all shocked by Jiang Nian's words and were speechless for a moment.

The three people had different expressions, and the atmosphere was solemn and subtle.

Emperor Taishun was the first to react and shouted sternly, "How dare you!"

Although this was the case on the surface, he felt a little guilty and a little touched in his heart. At the same time, he also believed that what Jiang Nian said was true.

Emperor Jingning was more lenient than Emperor Taishun. Jiang Nian's words moved him more than Emperor Taishun, and he also believed that what Jiang Nian said was true.

But the two saints only had some belief, and their belief was not deep.

Emperor Jingning pondered for a moment, his eyes once again falling on Jiang Nian's "memorial". Suddenly, he raised his eyes, staring at Jiang Nian who was kneeling on the ground, and asked solemnly, "How did you come up with the strategy of 'strictly enforcing the four pillars and adding three more books'?"

really!

Jiang Nian's heart moved.

He was indeed well prepared to face doubts and cross-examinations.

However, he had expected the person questioning him to be Emperor Taishun, but now it was Emperor Jingning, the retired emperor. Naturally, he couldn't directly admit that he had formulated the Twelve Strategies by integrating Emperor Taishun's policy of investigating deficits with the economic management thinking he had mastered in his previous life.

For each of the twelve strategies he proposed this time, he had considered in advance the explanations that were in line with the logic of the times, based on historical allusions, Daqing's existing systems, and the emperor's ideas on governing the country.

Facing Emperor Jingning's interrogation, Jiang Nian barely hesitated, answering respectfully, "The 'Book of Han, Food and Goods Records' records that Sang Hongyang implemented the price stabilization system to equalize imports and prices, but measures to prevent corruption were lacking. Even in the Tang and Song dynasties, despite the establishment of the Four Pillars Settlement System, clerks were still able to tamper with old records and conceal new revenues. Therefore, we consulted the 'Mokan' method of the Three Departments and the Courts as described in the 'Song Hui Yao,' and imitated the Ming Dynasty's 'Yellow Book' and 'Fish Scale Book,' which separated and cross-checked registers. We ordered prefectures and counties to create the 'Granary Special Book' and the 'Labor Service Expenditure Book,' and to verify these three books, emulating the 'Three Verifications on Finance and Grain' rule in the 'Great Ming Code.'"

When these words were spoken, Emperor Jingning, Emperor Taishun and Prince Zhongyi all looked surprised.

Jiang Nian was able to give this explanation because he had studied this in his previous life. Moreover, his excellent memory also allowed him to remember many things from his previous life clearly.

Emperor Jingning was surprised, but he deliberately continued to stare at Jiang Nian, who was kneeling on the ground, and asked solemnly, "How did you come up with the strategy of 'setting a time limit, setting a deadline'?"

Jiang Nian remained unhesitating and respectfully replied, "The deficit in finances and grain has been strictly investigated since the first year of Taishun. This will not only maintain the reputation of the Supreme Emperor, but also reduce obstacles and meet the urgent need to clean up the bureaucracy. The major deficits before the first year of Taishun will be further investigated in specific areas such as river engineering, military supplies, and storage. They will be repaid under the name of 'specialized compensation' and a grace period will be set. In this way, 'leniency on the outside but strictness on the inside' can gradually eliminate the accumulated problems and rectify the bureaucracy."

Emperor Jingning continued to question Jiang Nian, "How did you come up with the idea of ​​'sealing and escorting in sections'?"

Jiang Niangong replied, "When the Emperor Retired conquered Galdan, the military pay was sealed in a fir wood box wrapped in yellow silk. Now it is even more 'sealed with lead and a chain knot,' which further demonstrates the Emperor Retired and His Majesty's concern for 'checking and controlling corruption.'"

He learned about this by asking He Yun.

After hearing this, Emperor Jingning nodded slightly, his eyes already flashing with approval. Then he asked solemnly, "How did you come up with the strategy of 'transferring southerners to check the northern accounts'?"

Jiang Nian remained calm and respectfully replied, "This is in accordance with the Emperor's instruction to 'investigate cases across provinces.'"

After hearing this, Emperor Jingning turned to look at Emperor Taishun and said calmly, "Does the Emperor have anything to ask him?"

Emperor Taishun nodded, his eyes fixed on Jiang Nian, and asked in a deep voice, "How did you come up with the strategy of 'fixing fire consumption and allocating resources'?"

Among the twelve strategies proposed by Jiang Nian, the one that Emperor Taishun cared about most was the strategy of "fixing fire consumption and making overall allocations".

Jiang Niangong responded: "When local officials collect taxes, they use the excuse of huo hao (loss of silver when melting and casting broken silver into official ingots) to levy additional taxes, leading to rampant corruption and increasing the burden on the people. If we 'establish a fixed rate for huo hao, and pay all the silver collected into the national treasury for centralized allocation to support local government expenditures,' this would both regulate national finances and strengthen fiscal supervision, and curb excessive local taxation. However, this policy also has its drawbacks."

He actually pointed out the drawbacks himself.

Emperor Taishun frowned slightly and asked anxiously, "What are the drawbacks?"

Jiang Nian replied, "Local officials' salaries are low, and the fire consumption is the root of their corruption. If I follow my plan, local officials will inevitably find excuses to increase taxes."

Emperor Taishun looked solemn, paused, and then asked, "Do you have any plan to prevent this?"

Emperor Jingning and Prince Zhongyi both felt a little dazed.

Emperor Taishun was actually questioning Jiang Nian, a fifteen-year-old commoner son, about politics!
The author is doing a thankless task. The last few chapters have been very time-consuming and laborious to write, and the twelve strategies and their responses have all been meticulously researched. However, some readers will skip them, or even criticize the author for being tedious.



(End of this chapter)