Idle courtiers

Chapter 410 The people in the center are really amazing
When others saw him, they would be trembling and respectful, but this Zhou Nan looked at him boldly now.Gu Yan felt displeased, and asked coldly, "Zhou Nan, what kind of Guangdong business do you come to me for? This old man finds it strange. You are just the right officer of the Daolu Department. What does Guangdong have to do with you?"

Zhou Nan said: "The student served the king a while ago, and I know something about the things in Guangdong, as well as the matter of my mentor being the governor of Guangdong and Fujian and visiting Guangxi. Here, I would like to congratulate my mentor on every step of the way. The future is bright. Secondly, My mentor is going to Guangdong this time to take up the post, I'm afraid it won't be smooth sailing, and the students are willing to help the mentor." He knew that he didn't have much time, so he simply went straight to the topic, so as not to be wordy for a long time, and Gu Yan's impatience drove him away.

Hearing this, Gu Yan thought Zhou Nan was mocking him, and his face darkened.Yes, on the surface it seems that he was promoted from the position of household doctor to the governor of Guangdong and Fujian, and he also toured Guangxi, which is simply an exceptional promotion.What is a governor? He is a second-rank official in frontiers.For civil servants, it can be said that they have reached the peak of their careers, and the next step is to serve as six ministers or even cabinet ministers.

Of course, this requires great opportunities.In the entire Central Committee, there are only more than 20 ministers and cabinet ministers, and Gu Yan would not have such illusions.

When officials serve as governors or governors-general, they usually have the title of Shangshu or Du Yushi, and the rank is first taken up.But this time he was surprised that he didn't have any honorary titles.Moreover, the governor of Guangxi is only a concurrent generation, and the governor of Guangdong and Fujian will be abolished soon.

To put it bluntly, the imperial court sent him to the post to fight the fire, and what he saved was the fire that was short of military expenditure on the feudal front.

To put it simply, it is to ask him to make money by checking and urging Tuntian Bank.

The local clans in Guangdong are very powerful, and they have long resisted the central government. If they are not careful, they will stir up civil uprisings, which is the most difficult thing to deal with.If this errand is messed up, I'm afraid that my evening will be lost.

Zhou Nan is simply the one who does not open the pot and lifts the pot. Master Gu is a self-cultivated person, with a smile still on his face, and his words are sarcasm: "Master Zhou said that he will help me. I am going to Guangdong this time. There is a shortage of manpower, so you resigned from the official position to accompany me to the south?"

"If the country needs students, it doesn't matter whether I want this official position or not. After all, this matter is related to the feudal front line, and we naturally have a duty to do so. My teacher is going to Lingnan, the road is difficult and dangerous, and if one is careless, his wisdom will be ruined once, and the army will be delayed. Isn’t it embarrassing for such a big event?”

"What's the hard time ahead?" Gu Yan felt more and more uncomfortable, and snorted.

Zhou Nan: "The imperial court sent a benevolent teacher to Guangdong this time, in fact, to raise military pay for Tan Erhua. The people in Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian are fierce and violent, and they have not been very stable since ancient times. There is a saying that goes like this: Thunder in the sky, Lufeng in the earth."

"Emperor Taizu Gao used the farmland in various provinces for military use. It has been a hundred years and the military household system has been corrupted. As far as students know, most of the good land of military households in the past was embezzled by local wealthy families. It was a mess. This investigation It’s not easy to urge Tuntian Bank of Guangdong Province and release one-third to the Ministry of Households? Perhaps, the mentor can use thunderous means to forcefully implement it. But if a civil uprising is triggered, who will bear the responsibility?”

"Or maybe, sir, you don't care about personal success or failure for the sake of the country. But don't forget that the northeast of Guangdong is still occupied by Japanese pirates. If there is another civil uprising in Guangdong, or even join forces with the enemy, won't it make the Japanese slaves even stronger? So , Strong medicine cannot be given, but if slow medicine is given, it will be planned slowly. The military situation in Fujian is like a fire, and a hundred thousand troops are waiting for military pay, so how can we slowly plan it?"

This comes to the essence of the problem, and it is exactly what Gu Yan is worried about now, and he said slowly: "I hope to hear about it."

Zhou Nan: "To check and urge the Tuntian bank is to check first, and then to urge. The investigation is to find out how many military households and how many official lands there are in the Guangdong Guard. Only after verifying the number of acres can we talk about urging them to pay. Taxes in arrears. For a place as big as Guangdong, in terms of Weisuo, there are Pengzhou Qianhusuo, Haimen Qianhusuo, Jinghai Qianhusuo, Dachengsuo, Pinghaisuo, Jieshengsuo, Jieshiwei, Nanhaiweisuo ... There are so many guards, how can we find out about dozens of guards? As far as the students know, Tan Futai intends to use troops against the Japanese pirates this winter and next spring, and it can't be delayed until April of the next year at the latest. May I ask my teacher to prepare the military salary in time?"

Hearing Zhou Nan report so many guards in one breath, it is like a treasure, and Gu Yan also knew that what he said was reasonable, so he couldn't help asking: "How do you think this matter should be handled?"

This is asking Zhou Nan for a solution.

Zhou Nan naturally has this plan, otherwise it would be impossible to come here to make fun of it.

Zhou Nan: "This matter can't be done at all. Even if we try to do it reluctantly, the distant water can't save the nearby fire." Just kidding, measuring the acres of land does not know how many people's interests will be touched.In the past, when he was investigating the hidden imperial property in the capital, he caused a big disturbance, and finally the court simply came and let it go.

Guangdong is much bigger than the capital, and the local forces are even more tenacious. This is simply an impossible task.

This kind of thing can only be done by a powerful person like Zhang Juzheng later on. Is it possible for Gu Yan?
Zhou Nan continued: "Actually, the reason why the imperial court sent a mentor to Guangzhou this time was not because the Ministry of Households gathered border ministers to discuss the twelve matters of border payment, and sent you, mentor, to raise funds. As long as the military salary can be raised for Fujian, as for the money It doesn't matter where it comes from."

The so-called Twelve Matters of Frontier Military Salary is a resolution that the imperial court has just come up with to increase military expenditures: 10. Increase labor and food silver for militiamen in Henan and Shandong, with three liang of silver per person.5000. Restoring Guangdong and Guangxi Reserve Bank, with 1 Liangji each year.[-]. Hangzhou BNBM Customs and Tax Solution Department.[-]. Jianghuai and Jichuan Second Air Service Silver, [-] taels per year.Fifth, check and urge the provinces to garrison land silver, and release one-third of the Ministry.[-]. For Henan Duixiaotan caoyumi, [-] taels per year are used to solve the Ministry.[-]. Detaining [-] taels of silver from Jiangxi military industry and food industry.Eight, check the Yangtze River Luzhou tax.Nine, official inheritance class silver.[-]. Check the lack of official salary and food.[-]. Calling for deed tax, commercial tax, and tax introduction.[-]. Opening a case for tribute and aid.

At first glance, Jiajing got his idea from the local government, and without using the treasury, he readily approved the red flag.

It was under such a background that Gu Yan was sent to Guangdong to link up with Tan Lun in his anti-Japanese campaign.

"If you don't start the bank investigation, where should you start?" Gu Yan's heart was agitated.

Zhou Nan: "Open a silver mine."

Gu Yan: "How do you say that?"

Zhou Nan: "The Ministry of Household Affairs once asked to open mines and make coins in Yunnan, but ordered the governor to use 3 taels of salt and silver as the cost. A few years later, the governor of Yunnan, Wang Bing, and the inspector, Wang Zheng, both asked for more money and less money. The casting was stopped. Afterwards, private profiteers collected money to cast copper for profit. In view of this, the state minted new money. The ratio of copper, lead and copper to iron was mixed in and the proportion of copper and iron was further lowered. The imperial court now uses silver as a reserve for various expenditures. The price of silver is so high that the silver mines that used to be expensive due to high costs have been reopened one after another. My mentor is going to Guangdong, so he might as well get approval from the Ministry of Households to open a few mines, Fujian Isn't the military salary over there enough?"

After finishing speaking, he took out a note full of words from his sleeve and handed it over: "Master, this is the name and address of the silver mine in the mountainous area of ​​northeastern Guangdong. You may as well follow the map to find out."

That's right, he was inspired by Kong Ming's use of a magnet to catch copper coins in a merit box.

The quality of the newly produced Jiajing Tongbao is so poor that ordinary people don't want to use it.Now that the big transactions in the market are all in silver, what should I do if I encounter small payments?
Easy to handle, use broken silver!

Anyway, it’s all about weighing, and at worst, use silver scissors to cut it down until it’s the size of a grain of rice.

Gu Yan took it over and took a look. It was full of place names, such as Songxi, Fuwan, Phoenix Mountain... a dozen or so houses, big and small, even wrote clearly how many taels of silver they could produce every year. It was obviously checked. The old ones from the past.

After a rough calculation, if all the staff are recruited, the monthly silver can be 3 yuan. After deducting various expenses, [-] to [-] taels can still be seen.In this way, Fujian has a stable source of military salary.

Grandmaster Gu was delighted in his heart, but after careful consideration, he felt that something was wrong, and said: "Reopening the silver mine is beneficial to the country and the people. It was originally a good thing, and it was easy to discuss with the Ministry of Household Affairs. But this dynasty has its own system for opening mines. Rules and regulations must have a name, how can it be so easy?"

People all over the world know that once the mine is opened, they just sit at home and count the money. The local gentry have long wanted to do it themselves, and the central government can still take the turn?If this is to be done, it will take a lot of help.

If this matter is to be done, the central government can easily handle it. Anyway, there is no conflict of interest with the elders of the court, and everyone is happy to give favors. The key is the local officials.

"My teacher is right. The so-called name is not right and the words are not right. There must be a reason to appease the hearts of the people in Guangdong." Zhou Nan pulled out his fan and wanted to open it.After thinking about it, this move was very rude, so he put it away, and said: "Master, do you remember that the governor of Guangdong recruited Li Wenbiao, a citizen of Heping County in Guangdong, to make trouble."

"Open the mine in the name of resettling Li Wenbiao's department?" Gu Yan's eyes brightened, and he praised: "It's wonderful, it's wonderful!"

After more than 2000 years of development in the Guangdong area of ​​the Ming Dynasty, the Pearl River Delta is a land of plenty and rich in nature.But northern and northeastern Guangdong are extremely poor.Heping County is located in the northeast of Guangdong Province, on the upper reaches of the Dongjiang River, in the Jiulian Mountains on the border between Guangdong and Jiangxi, and it is even more poor.

Over the years, the Japanese pirates have repeatedly invaded, and peace is the front line. The people are burdened heavily, and finally they can't help but threaten the refugees and rise up.

Under the leadership of Li Wenbiao, a peaceful squire, they attacked the state and plundered the county with great momentum.

The guard system of the Ming Dynasty has been corrupted, and the Guangdong army will naturally be rubbed on the ground by these fierce peasant troops.

It is a capital offense for local officials to lose their cities and territories.Since there is no way to wipe out the bandits, the only option is to appease them.

Therefore, Zhang Nie proposed to appease Li Wenbiao, considering that the territory where Li's bandits were based was dangerous and it was difficult to use troops to suppress them.He also said that Li Wenbiao also intends to accept the recruitment and is willing to serve the country.

When the memorial was delivered to the capital, Jiajing wrote the word "ke" on the memorial and ordered the cabinet to make a resolution to order the local officials to properly resettle the refugees.

In history, apart from Taizu, Chengzu and Emperor Wuzong, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty hated fighting very much. The reason is very simple, it is too expensive.The cabinet also felt that the refugees would cause chaos every year, and it was enough to appease them. Now that Fujian is a pot of porridge, there is really no need to open another front.He drew up the ticket, conferred the official post of the leader of the peasant army, and registered the refugees in Guangdong.

This was a happy event for everyone, but something went wrong during the court discussion.

(End of this chapter)