Reborn Ming Dynasty as Emperor

Chapter 308 The Financial Situation of Ming Dynasty in Eight Years of Apocalypse

Cui Chengxiu stood up and bowed to Zhu Youxiao, then turned half sideways, and took out the booklet he had prepared a long time ago to report.

According to Cui Chengxiu, compared with the seven years of Tianqi in the eight years of Tianqi, after the Donglin Party was completely eradicated and Dongchang’s supervision of civil officials became stricter again, the strife and struggle in the officialdom were relatively more relaxed. No major organizational changes.

On the contrary, at the local level, especially in Shandong, Fengyang and other places, a large number of local officials were dismissed or questioned because they opposed the New Deal openly and secretly. local administrative order.

Fortunately, His Majesty Zhu Youxiao, the wise and great emperor of the Ming Dynasty, took precautions. As early as the seventh year of the apocalypse, on the grounds of showing gratitude to the world, he greatly increased the number of admissions for the general examination and the rural examination.

As a result, there are several times more second- and third-class Jinshi and more candidates for officials than in previous years to quickly fill the local vacancies.

"Students who are good at learning are officials. Although there are those so-called children of scholarly families who are unwilling to join forces with those of us who fall into the eyes of money, scholars from ordinary families, especially scholars from the north, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Huguang, etc. There are still a large number of scholars who are willing to serve Daming.

For these scholars, we should encourage them to become officials, and even some students of Bagong can be vigorously recruited. Now that the country is in desperate need of talents, they should not be neglected because of their fame. The people in Dongchang should also treat these quasi-officials Conduct investigations and inform the Ministry of Officials at any time.

Those with flexible and open minds are often sent to Jiangnan, Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Liaodong and other places. In the future, many new policies will be implemented and they will be able to adapt to external forces; In other places, especially the places where Han and Yi live together, it will be easier to promote Sinicization and let Confucian education penetrate into the Miao and Zhuang areas in the future;
In addition, those who have passed the Jinshi examination and are unwilling to come out to be officials, I allow them to do business or write books or engage in other industries, but they are not allowed to stay in their hometowns, and must be assigned by the imperial court to teach in a remote village that is in urgent need of education Educate people or activate a local trade!Otherwise, why bother to participate in the imperial examinations, waste the country's financial resources instead of contributing to the country, and occupy the latrines without shitting, so that some scholars who are not educated but have the ambition to serve the country will lose their names, which has fulfilled his noble reputation! "

Cui Chengxiu took down Zhu Youxiao's instructions very seriously, including asking Dongchang to assist the official department and report the thoughts and ideas of scholars from all over the place to the official department at any time for his reference when he was selected. This made him secretly admire His Majesty Zhu Youxiao's flexibility also made him discover that in addition to collecting criminal evidence and arresting people, Dongchang also has the function of assisting the Sixth Ministry in carrying out government affairs.

After Cui Chengxiu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials reported, it was the situation of the ministers in charge of the affairs of the Ministry of Officials. Among them were the results of the Beijing inspection and the evaluation grades of officials at all levels, and how many people needed to be dismissed due to old age, illness, or incompetence.Zhu Youxiao didn't intervene anymore. As the emperor, it is impossible for him to intervene in every detail, but it is still necessary to listen. At least he can know whether these high-ranking officials have a vegetarian meal, and sometimes through their words. You can see one or two in the expression logic.

Although the Ministry of Officials is the most important department of the Six Departments, Zhu Youxiao paid more attention to the report of the Ministry of Households in this year's year-end court meeting. Since becoming the Emperor Tianqi of the Ming Dynasty, what he has been most concerned about is how much money he has made and how much money the treasury has.

For this reason, he would not rather bear the infamy of a ruthless emperor, cut off a large number of vassal kings who have lost their minions, and even change the law to deprive them of their privileges, not only the vassal kings of various places, but also the possession of privileged interests Zhu Youxiao would rather clean all the officials in the officialdom of Shandong than pull out the chicken feathers from the squires who are like iron roosters.

Seeing His Majesty staring at him, Guo Yunhou, Shangshu of the Household Department, couldn't help but wiped the sweat from his forehead, and couldn't help laughing and said: "The ground is too hot", and then he took out the prepared booklet to prepare a lengthy summary of the financial performance of the Ming Dynasty this year. Frankly speaking, this year's treasury income has been greatly improved, and even Guo Yunhou can show off a lot of achievements, and he might even get promoted because of it.

But Guo Yunhou felt a little scared. He was afraid that after reporting the results he had summarized, it would cause shock and disgust in the entire civil society group, because a series of data in it proved very well that after the collection of commercial taxes and the integration of officials and gentry, However, once this result is announced, it will completely negate the assertion that the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty still insist that the collection of commercial taxes is to compete with the people and harm the interests of the country, and even greatly support His Majesty's next promotion.

Although the current officials dare not challenge His Majesty any more, it is not known whether the stubborn old-fashioned factions who hold grudges will vent their anger on him, the Minister of the Household Department, and regard Guo Yunhou as Shang Yang.

However, in front of so many people, and seeing His Majesty's falcon-like gaze, Guo Yunhou finally gritted his teeth and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, in the eight years of the Apocalypse, the treasury has collected a total of 340 million tax revenues. Silver dollars, the total expenses and taxes are 850 million silver dollars, with a surplus of 480 million silver dollars.

Guo Yunhou just read a bunch of data, and the whole court went into a commotion on the spot, and they all looked at Guo Yunhou in unison. Although after the imperial court implemented the currency system reform, the silver dollar was relatively less equivalent than the silver dollar, but the difference It's not that big, and now suddenly the annual revenue of the national treasury has reached hundreds of millions of silver dollars, which is simply unbelievable!

"Guo Butang, you must have made a mistake. When did Ming Dynasty become so rich?" Li Mingrui didn't really believe it. Relying on the fact that he was the emperor's most trusted cabinet scholar, he expressed himself on behalf of other officials. doubts.

"Don't dare to lie to Your Majesty and everyone here. This figure is the conclusion reached by all the colleagues in the household department after no less than 1000 verifications. The twelfth lunar month has not been counted. There is still a sum of [-] to [-] million silver dollars in Fengyang. The tax money was not deported to Beijing." When Guo Yunhou said this, Li Mingrui suddenly realized that he couldn't interrupt anymore. No one was willing to mention the business tax, and he didn't dare to express his opinion at will.

Zhu Youxiao naturally saw the cunning of these officials, and he didn't expose it after a slight smile, just nodded and said: "Continue talking."

"Yes!" Guo Yunhou continued: "In terms of income, the summer and autumn taxes have increased by more than 3000 million silver dollars compared with last year. On the one hand, some hidden big households have been found out. In addition, after Shandong officials and gentry pay grains together, Shandong’s summer and autumn taxes have also doubled, but the main reason for the increase is the collection of Fengyang commercial tax;

Since Ma Shiying, governor of Fengyang, has encouraged business and increased the amount of business taxes, the entire Fengyang region has deported 1000 million to 4000 million in business taxes to the court every three months, especially in the second half of the year. Ma Shiying will report the details to His Majesty. What is explained is that Fengyang contributed nearly [-]% of the court's tax revenue, but last year, Fengyang's summer and autumn tax accounted for less than [-]% of the entire national treasury's tax revenue. "

After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but slapped the table: "Look, Fengyang, the central capital, can increase so much tax after collecting commercial tax. I want to see, whoever said that commercial tax cannot be collected? Without levying commercial tax, can he conjure up this hundreds of millions of treasury revenue for me?"

The officials had no choice but to agree that they were not fools. Naturally, they knew that once the commercial tax was levied, the treasury would be greatly enriched, but this also meant that private wealth, especially those of the gentry, would flow into the pockets of the imperial court in large quantities. , In this way, what do they use to buy more land, build gardens, and raise musical instruments.

"I know that you are not happy in your heart, and feel that I have taken away the money you have as lords, but think about it, are you so hungry that you can't afford to eat, or you don't even have money to buy clothes? , Zhang Junning, the left servant of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, you once lost 100 million silver dollars in a gamble in Suzhou when you returned to Beijing after you executed Fan Wencheng in prison.
There is also Zhengqing Zhou Changli of Taipu Temple, when you returned to your hometown, you auctioned a set of diamond-encrusted full-length mirrors from the Royal Industrial Company for 15 silver dollars in advance in the capital. With a flick of a pen, the migrant workers were exempted from compensation, is there such a thing? " Seeing that many officials here were not very moved, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but sneered, and told the trivial things about several officials he had learned from Dongchang.

Hearing what Zhu Youxiao said, Zhang Juanning, the left servant of the Ministry of Justice, and Zhou Changli, the secretary of the Taipusi, couldn't help but tremble, and they were also terrified in their hearts. They sighed secretly that these things about themselves had been known by His Majesty, and it was thanks to themselves that they were pretending to be smart. Some people think that His Majesty doesn't know the elegant things under them.

"Zhou Changli!"

Zhu Youxiao suddenly yelled, and Zhou Changli, the Minister of Taipusi, knelt down immediately in fright: "I am guilty of my crime, I am guilty of my crime, I should not."

"You shouldn't do anything, and I don't mean to blame you. Your ancestor, Zhou Changli, was a horse breeder. Later, he specialized in domestic and foreign business and became a local wealthy businessman. Now he is the richest household in Dingyuan, the central capital. If you spend 15 silver dollars on a mirror, I will not suspect that you are corrupt. Letting you be the minister of the imperial court is to see that your family is good at selling horses, and let you take good care of the livestock for the court, let alone you. He is a tolerant person, and I really appreciate that he does not seek compensation from migrant workers because of a mirror."

Zhu Youxiao said again: "I just want to ask you one thing. After Fengyang governor Ma Shiying reformed the business tax policy in Fengyang, whether your Zhou family is poor or rich, answer honestly, if you dare to lie to me Never forgive me!"

"Returning to Your Majesty, at the beginning it was a little less money, but I don't know why, after a few months, more people bought horses in Fengyang, and in the end they made a lot more money," Zhou Changli couldn't help answering truthfully.

After Zhu Youxiao nodded, he motioned for him to sit down, and said: "I told you that this business depends on the change of demand and supply. I call it the market. If you want to have a good market, you must The market means that more people can afford it, and only those who do business can sell more. The imperial court is the hands that control this market. After collecting commercial taxes, it can maintain this order and let more people Come to buy, it also makes it easier to do business and sell, and the people who do this business will have more benefits, and the court will also benefit, do you think this is the reason, did I take your wealth away?"

Zhu Youxiao's words made it difficult for these officials who mainly read the Four Books and Five Classics, but fortunately, these people have high IQs and can understand the general meaning, so they all nodded.

Seeing this, Zhu Youxiao didn’t say anything anymore. The officials who can stay here are all royalist officials or appeasers who can compromise for the interests of the country. Therefore, Zhu Youxiao is not worried that they will give up because they still have no way to give up the current situation. interests against oneself.

Next, Guo Yunhou continued to elaborate on the item of expenditure.

According to the data provided by Guo Yunhou, Daming’s military expenditures in the eight years of Tianqi have doubled several times. This is due to the substantial increase in military pay and equipment expenditures after the recovery of the Liaodong Peninsula. In addition, because Zhu Youxiao To avoid a mutiny, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Ministry of War were ordered to unite to rectify and reissue the military salary arrears in various border towns over the years, so the military salary payment has also increased significantly.

Not only military expenditures, but also funding for many large-scale projects such as the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Academy of Sciences, and the Ordnance Department. In addition, sending a large number of literati, criminal officials and their families to the countryside to reform in the west cannot really be ignored, at least some education funds and basic living allowances are still given.

Therefore, although Apocalypse saved a large amount of expenses for the vassal kings in various places in the eight years, coupled with the temporary reconciliation with the Manchu Qing and the war between the Manchu Qing and the Wuxiang Department, the Ming Dynasty’s war expenses were reduced and a lot of trade benefits were obtained. However, it did not reduce the total expenditure of Ming Dynasty. On the contrary, it increased a lot compared with last year. Fortunately, the increase in income was even greater, which actually made the national treasury surplus.

However, the remaining money is not much. If all sources of income are stopped now, it will not be able to cover even one year's expenses.Moreover, if Zhu Youxiao really agreed to give the emperor's eldest son Zhu Cijiong a fief and salary, I'm afraid that all the surplus money will be spent within a month.For this reason, the emperor Zhu Youxiao had to be Grandet again, and immediately reduced the scale of a series of celebrations such as the emperor's eldest son Zhu Cijiong's full moon.

However, this does not mean that Zhu Youxiao really has no money. The profits of the three royal capital giants, Royal Industries Corporation, Royal Bank, and Huangzhuang, are no less than the annual income of the treasury, but the funds are to be used in the royal embargo. In addition to this, there are temporary funds for various large-scale construction projects and emergency relief for sudden disasters.

Therefore, Zhu Youxiao will not just use it to imitate the future emperors of the Qing Dynasty to build royal gardens, and then wait until a hundred years later to be burned by Western powers.

(End of this chapter)