Chapter 29 I have always been honest
Wang Yangming never thought that his father Wang Hua could take charge of the real power department of the imperial court. In his opinion, his father was a pedantic and dull person, not suitable for being an official but only suitable for learning. And even if he was learning, he could only do it step by step and could not become a university scholar. That kind of person.
But Wang Yangming did not expect that his father Wang Hua would be appointed as the Minister of Household Affairs by His Majesty. As far as he knew, his father could not even calculate how many acres of land and expenses the family had. Naturally, it would be difficult to manage the households of the Ming Dynasty. department.
Therefore, after Wang Yangming returned home, he sat in the Mingtang and waited for his father to return home so that he could give suggestions to his father and wrote "Nine Matters on Taxation, Money and Food from the Ministry of Household Affairs".
When Wang Hua returned to his house, Wang Yangming hurriedly came to see his father: "Sir, you are back. I learned that you have been moved to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, so I would like to congratulate you."
Wang Hua was in a good mood after being promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and he just smiled faintly: "If it weren't for the fact that you used to fool around and cause trouble for me at every turn, causing the government and the public to say that I, Wang Hua, am incompetent in educating my children, I wouldn't be promoted to the second rank now. ”
Wang Yangming could only sigh helplessly when he saw that his father had even been promoted to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and could write two sentences of his own, and then said: "The master will be appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue tomorrow. Not long ago, my son was in the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Industry. I have watched the government affairs in the Ministry of Household Affairs and have a little understanding of the affairs of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Now I have written "Nine Matters on Taxation, Money and Food in the Ministry of Household Affairs" for your reference."
Wang Hua was very depressed about this. The fifteen-year-old emperor Zhu Houzhao taught him how to manage the household department. As a minister, he had no way to refute and could only accept it. But now that he went home, he had to be taught how to manage the household department by his son. For a while, Wang Hua couldn't help but get very angry: "As a father, I'm not old enough to be useless enough to need you to teach me!"
"Master, there is no need to be angry. The child is just a suggestion. The Minister of the Ministry of Finance has a heavy burden, and the master has to take care of his health in the future. In addition, I wonder if the master has introduced the child to Your Majesty. The child currently has information about the border, the vassal, and rivers. I want to give advice to His Majesty!”
Although Wang Yangming is already over 20 years old, his official career is still going smoothly. He has never experienced setbacks, and his character has not gotten rid of the problems of his youth. He is still simple and a little eager to express his character.
When Wang Hua saw Wang Yangming like this, he thought of the Emperor Zhu Houzhao whom he had just met. Wang Hua couldn't help sighing and pointed at Wang Yangming: "I really don't know whether my Ming Dynasty will be a blessing or a curse in your hands in the future! ”
Wang Hua snorted and said nothing more. He picked up the "Outline of the Governance of the Country" given to him by Zhu Houzhao and was about to open it. After all, it was given by the emperor, but when he saw the first sentence in the opening chapter, "The people of Ming Dynasty have a growing material wealth." "The contradiction between cultural needs and backward productivity is the main problem of the Ming Dynasty", I thought about why the first sentence of the article was not about being lenient and supporting the people.
However, Wang Hua continued to read, and when he saw the words "Frugality will not lead to prosperity, but plundering from the outside can make the whole people rich", he almost became furious, but in the end he endured it:
"Who taught His Majesty these deviant words! The ministers of the Eastern Palace must be punished!"
"Sir, is this "Outline of the Governance of the Country" written by your Majesty? I didn't expect that your Majesty is so insightful and clear about the world. You see, the relationship between the historical cycle and land annexation is very insightful. Isn't it that the general trend of the world will be unified for a long time? It means that if things are separated for a long time, they will be reunited. It is rare that Your Majesty has analyzed the reason behind this."
Wang Yangming stood while Wang Hua looked at him seriously and talked with gusto, but he did not notice that his father was already staring at him like a ferocious wolf.
"There is no good thing in this. These are all dregs that deceive people's minds! I don't know who taught your Majesty these things. In any case, I have to burn it, otherwise if it spreads, it will cause chaos in the world!"
Wang Hua still did not beat up his married son, but yelled at Wang Yangming, and after he yelled, he would burn the book.
But Wang Yangming snatched the book away: "Master, this is a gift from the emperor. You must not burn it. Give it to the child, and the child will keep it properly."
After Wang Yangming finished speaking, he took the book and ran back to the room.
Wang Yangming's wife burst out laughing when she saw Wang Yangming coming back: "You're back. Did you make me angry again just now?" "No, you go to bed first. I have to stay up late tonight to finish reading this book, otherwise I'm afraid I won't be able to read it tomorrow. Here we are!" Wang Yangming said, placing the candle stand next to him and reading it carefully. Wang Yangming's wife let out a disappointed sigh.
……
Zhu Houzhao didn't know that his imperially-given "Outline of State Administration" had fallen into the hands of Wang Yangming. He initially took the time to write these contents about state governance just to give some help to the senior officials of the Ming Dynasty. After all, the civil servants of this era grew up in primary school. They all read the Four Books and Five Classics, and all they can do is use Confucian ethics to maintain a stable social order, and even rely on Confucian ethics to maintain social stability.
Otherwise, many times in ancient Chinese society, the imperial power did not extend to the counties. It was because the ancient Chinese government did not know how to manage the grassroots. They could only rely on the clans formed by the Confucian ethical order to manage the grassroots for themselves.
Zhu Houzhao did not want his Ming Dynasty officials to have to rely on the clan society formed by the gentry to manage the people. He needed to give these officials some basic common sense about government, at least let these officials know not to always think of saving the government. The cost can bring peace to the world, and people will still want to eat well after they are full. We must find ways to increase income for Ming Dynasty.
As for whether there would be chaos in the world, Zhu Houzhao also considered it, but he thought that since he was the emperor, no one would dare to do anything to him. At worst, he would be called a cynic and a rebel.
The chaos in the world is nothing more than the bankruptcy of a large number of homesteaders, which led to the destruction of the foundation of rule, or the chaotic reform of the system to allow the scholar-bureaucrats to support the new emperor. The liberalization of his thoughts and speeches did not affect the people's farming, nor did he change the system to deprive the scholar-bureaucrats of exploitation. With the power of the people, naturally there is no need to worry about chaos in the world.
While Zhu Houzhao was spreading the idea of governing the country, his attendant director Xu Jing had also begun to promote investment with the help of Liu Jin and Zhang Yong. The first person Xu Jing visited was Liu Jian, the chief assistant of the cabinet.
Liu Jian, the chief minister of the cabinet, is angry now because his wife actually spent 60,000 taels of silver to buy a crystal lotus-shaped Guanyin from Emperor Zhu Houzhao.
But Liu Jian did not directly scold his wife as a prodigal woman. He only said angrily: "My wife, why do you spend money to buy this thing? I am also the chief minister and a veteran of the four dynasties. What do you want?" It’s just a matter of asking for the royal treasure, I don’t believe that your Majesty dares not to give it to me!”
"Why are you talking about this? You didn't know that His Majesty had this treasure before, and we are not short of the 60,000 taels." Liu Jian's wife carefully worshiped the crystal lotus-seated Guanyin.
"There is no shortage of money, but by doing this, aren't you giving the Yushi Yanguan leverage to impeach me? Today, His Majesty is so poor that he sells royal treasures on the street, but my family, the first minister, can buy the royal treasures for a high price of 60,000 yuan." "What do you want others to think?" Liu Jian said speechlessly.
"What are you afraid of? It's not like you haven't been impeached by the censors. You are now the chief minister. Who can do anything to you? Even the newly enthroned His Majesty has to see how much respect you have." Liu Jian's wife said Then he said: "We don't have a grandson yet, so buying this thing will be useful."
Liu Jian was not talking, but at this time a servant came to report that Xu Jing, the director of the attendant's office, was visiting. Liu Jian naturally knew that Xu Jing was a scholar who had just been recruited by the emperor Zhu Houzhao, so he received Xu Jing, the director of the attendant's office.
Xu Jing also stated that he was here to raise shares and hoped that Liu Jian could contribute money to participate in the Royal Bank's investment activities. Liu Jian only thought that this was His Majesty the Emperor asking for money. He did not understand what investment was, and it was even the first time he heard of it. , and said directly:
"I have always been honest, and I really don't have enough money to participate in your majesty's investment activities. Even the sixty thousand taels of Zhuo Jinghua are just her dowry. I originally wanted to return it to your majesty, but I couldn't bear to take away your majesty's beloved things, but now that your majesty needs the money, That 60,000 The two rights should be donated by a humble minister, and the old minister thinks that the imperial store opened by your majesty is to gain profits from the people. Please tell your majesty that it is best not to open the imperial store without authorization. The world supports your majesty with all its people, so why should your majesty seize all the people? ”
(End of chapter)