Ming Dynasty man

Chapter 302
Li Jing's side is making intensive arrangements, and Zhu Youjian's life in the capital is getting more and more difficult.

Zhang Xianzhong broke through Fengyang and dug his ancestral grave, Zhu Youjian was angry and turned to anger, what should be done is still to be done.

Zhu Youjian knew that it was not enough to mention the scapegoats of the soldiers, and material encouragement had to be given.Therefore, after Zhu Youjian issued the edict of guilt, he took out 20 taels from his own internal funds to pay for the salary.

Then transferred 10 taels of silver from Taipusi (Guan Mazheng) to Xi'an, and at the same time retained 10 taels of tax silver from Shaanxi Province as military pay.

In addition, 19 taels of payment were dispatched to Huguang, 4 taels were dispatched to Sichuan, and 20 taels of salt were retained in the Huaiyang area.

This time, Zhu Youjian dispatched a total of more than [-] taels of silver. For Zhu Youjian, it was basically a hemorrhage.

Zhu Youjian believed that if he took out so much money this time, the soldiers would definitely do their best to wipe out the bandits in one fell swoop.

It's a pity that things backfired. Except for Cao Wenzhao's valiant pursuit and Yu Anqing's complete annihilation of Zhang Xianzhong's corps, the actions of the rest of the soldiers and horses were not smooth.

It's not that the officers and soldiers didn't win battles. On the contrary, the officers and soldiers won many battles, but the rogues lost little troops in each battle. This can be seen from the figures reported by the officers and soldiers from all walks of life.

In each battle, the officers and soldiers beheaded no more than a thousand bandits at most, usually hundreds of them.

But once the rogues win, the loss of the officers and soldiers will be thousands of people.

And there is an essential difference here. Most of the losses of the rogue bandits are new recruits. To put it bluntly, they are farmers who have just put down their hoes, while the losses of the officers and soldiers are elite troops.

Therefore, it doesn't matter if the rogues lose some troops, but the officers and soldiers can't bear it.

It's fine if the war doesn't go well, after all, the bandits haven't been wiped out after fighting for so many years.

What troubled Zhu Youjian the most was that there was another drought in the northwest provinces this year, and the drought tended to spread to the south.

According to the report of the Ministry of Households, a total of 680 million shi was sent to the Ministry of Households for the eight years of Chongzhen, but 780 million shi was spent, which means that the shortfall this year is about 100 million shi.Even if the expenses of chieftains of various ethnic groups in the southwest are excluded, there is still a shortage of more than [-] shi of grain.

Hearing that there was a shortage of more than [-] shi of grain, Zhu Youjian couldn't help being confused for a while.

But Zhu Youjian quickly woke up, and then he thought about it silently. After thinking about it for a while, he finally realized that he couldn't make up such a big hole anyway.Even if he asked Li Jing for help, there was probably no other way.

Thinking of Li Jing, Zhu Youjian suddenly felt something was wrong.

Because the food and salaries collected by the household department are used to pay the salaries of officials in Beijing, and all the rest are used as military salaries.

All the armies of the Ming Dynasty were drawn together to a total of more than 100 million, but in fact only the frontier troops needed the payment of money and food from the household department, and the money and food of the local troops were all settled by the localities themselves.

The total number of frontier troops in the Ming Dynasty is only a little over 20, which means that 20 people will consume nearly 600 million shi of grain a year (Daming’s silver is not enough, and the military salary can only be paid partly with silver, except for food for soldiers , but also to pay insufficient military pay).

Based on this consumption, Li Jing's 120 troops would consume [-] million shi of grain a year.

Zhu Youjian is exhausted to feed 20 people with all the power of the whole country. How can Pingyang Prefecture feed 5 people?Where did Li Jing get his food?

Regarding Zhu Youjian's question, Hou Xun, the Minister of the Ministry of household affairs, hesitated for a while, but finally did not answer.

Hou Xun is a very powerful person, and he is very accurate in judging people. When Yuan Chonghuan and Zuo Liangyu were still unknown, he could see that these two people were not trivial, and vigorously promoted and recommended them.

And Yuan Chonghuan and Zuo Liangyu did not disappoint Hou Xun's value. Yuan Chonghuan has always been the governor of Jiliao, and defeated the Houjin army several times in Ningjin and other places, making Donglu dare not face up to the Guanning line of defense.

Zuo Liangyu was the commander-in-chief of Henan Province, who suppressed bandits in the Central Plains, making the bandits frightened.

Hou Xun has such a good eye for seeing people, so he naturally knows what kind of person Zhu Youjian is and what Zhu Youjian is thinking now.

Hou Xun knew a little about how Li Jing’s food was collected and what Li Jing did in Pingyang Mansion, but Li Jing’s actions harmed the interests of all the gentry. Once Zhu Youjian was tempted, he had to push his luggage If Jing's government decree is used, there will be an endless debate immediately above the court.

Hou Xun is the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. If Hou Xun doesn't say it, others will naturally not say it, including those members of the cabinet.

It is not that the ministers of the imperial court cannot see the benefits of Li Jing's decree, but they will never do it if they are to harm their own interests.

But Hou Xun and those ministers didn't say it, it doesn't mean others don't know.

In fact, it is not those ministers who know the government orders of Pingyang government best, but Wang Chengen,
In Daming, no one is as loyal to Zhu Youjian as Wang Chengen.

Wang Chengen watched Zhu Youjian grow up. More than anyone else, he hopes that Zhu Youjian can become a hero of the generation, and more than anyone else, he hopes that Zhu Youjian can rejuvenate the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, seeing the silence of the ministers, Wang Chengen stepped forward, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I know what Li Jing did in Pingyang Mansion."

Zhu Youjian looked at the ministers present, then at Wang Chengen, thought for a while and finally said, "Let's listen."

Wang Chengen hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, as far as I know, in order to prevent drought, Li Jing built a dam to store water in Pingyang Mansion to promote water conservancy. Therefore, even in a year of severe drought, Pingyang Mansion's grain production did not decrease much.

Moreover, Li Jingding's tax rate is extremely high, the lowest level is one tenth tax, and the highest is three tenth tax.Li Jing promoted drought-tolerant and high-yielding crops in Pingyang Prefecture. It would not be difficult to feed [-] troops by collecting grain at this tax rate.

In addition, and the most critical point, everyone in Pingyang Mansion must pay taxes, whether they are officials or gentry, all have to pay taxes. The more fields there are, the more taxes will be paid.Those who do not pay taxes will be severely punished.

Also, in Pingyang Mansion, if there is no government permission, it is not allowed to sell grain privately, and even if you get permission, you must pay taxes for selling grain, and only if you sell it to the government will you be exempt from tax.

As for the grain purchased by the government, it is mainly used for the following purposes: one is to support the army; price.

As far as I know, no matter how the price of food outside increases, the price of food in Pingyang Mansion has always remained at about one tael or two per stone of rice.

In addition, the old slave also heard that if most of the official warehouses in Pingyang Mansion are full, the old grain from the previous year will not be sold until the autumn harvest of the next year, and Li Jing strictly ordered that the money from selling grain must be used In the purchase of new grain. "

Zhu Youjian nodded silently upon hearing this.

Li Jing's practice in Pingyang Mansion, he had heard Wang Chengen talk about it before, but because Li Jing wanted him to change the practice of civilian leadership at the time, this happened to touch Zhu Youjian's bottom line. Ignore Li Jing's governance methods.

Hearing what Wang Chengen said in such detail at this time, Zhu Youjian understood Wang Chengen's intention after a little thought. In fact, Wang Chengen was not only talking to him, but more to these ministers.

There is only one purpose, to see the reactions of these ministers.

Zhu Youjian knew that Wang Chengen took a great risk in doing so.

Because it is the court meeting now, and Wang Chengen is an eunuch, no matter how close Wang Chengen is to him and how powerful he is, he cannot speak at the court meeting.

Since the Taizu in this dynasty, there are only three eunuchs who dare to speak in court, the first is Wang Zhen, the second is Liu Jin, and the third is Wei Zhongxian.

These three people have a unified name: power rape.

But even these three people did not dare to expound government orders in court, even if they were proposed by others.What these people do is to find a few spokespersons to speak for themselves.

Why are these eunuchs so arrogant and dare not talk nonsense in the court?This is because Zhu Yuanzhang once hung a sign on the gate of the palace, writing: ministers are not allowed to interfere in political affairs, and offenders will be executed.

After Zhu Yuanzhang, the successor emperor was not as capable as Zhu Yuanzhang, and the cabinet began to take power. In order to fight against the cabinet, the emperor began to empower the eunuchs, but they still had to put on a show, and the eunuchs still didn’t talk much in court.

But today Wang Chengen talked, and Wang Chengen said too much.

Sure enough, just after Wang Chengen finished speaking, the court was silent for a while, and then there was a big uproar.

Then the chief assistant of the cabinet, Wen Tiren, stepped forward, pointed at Wang Chengen and cursed: "Eunuch, what kind of person are you? How dare you speak loudly on the court?"

After scolding, Wen Tiren bowed to Zhu Youjian and said: "Your Majesty, Wang Chengen despises the ancestral precepts, even more than Wei Xie. I implore Your Majesty to kill this thief as an example to others."

Zhu Youjian thought that a minister would come out to accuse Wang Chengen, but he never thought that Wen Tiren would be the first to jump out, and Zhu Youjian couldn't help being a little dazed for a while.

But Zhu Youjian reacted quickly, and at the same time understood Wen Tiren's intention.

Wen Tiren's move was to establish prestige among courtiers.Although Wen Tiren is used to guessing what he wants, and basically will act according to Zhu Youjian's wishes, but when it comes to the power struggle between the cabinet and the ministers, Wen Tiren will never back down.

Moreover, Wen Tiren's words were very strong, and he was about to kill Wang Chengen directly, leaving no room for Zhu Youjian at all.

When Zhu Youjian was in a dilemma, Wang Chengen suddenly answered: "The emperor asked just now, and none of the ministers answered the emperor's doubts. Wang Chengen's move was just to answer the emperor's doubts, and the emperor has agreed to let me speak. What is the crime of Wang?" ? Master Wen compares Wang to Wei Zhongxian, Wang really dare not, but compared to Master Yang Lian, Master Wen is even worse than him."

The Yang Lian mentioned by Wang Chengen was the master who challenged Wei Zhongxian back then, but at this time Wang Chengen compared Wen Tiren to Yang Lian with a sarcasm on his face.

Because when Yang Lian impeached Wei Zhongxian back then, he had enumerated Wei Zhongxian's crimes before he dared to ask the then Emperor of Apocalypse Zhu Youxiao to kill Wei Zhongxian.

And now Wen Tiren asked Zhu Youjian to execute Wang Chengen based on what Wang Chengen said just now, which was much more straightforward than Yang Lian.

(End of this chapter)