Chapter 195 Civil officials must be stopped from playing tricks
"Your Majesty! Ma Wensheng once again petitioned the court to allow military garrison in the Hetao to reduce the increase in national consumption caused by the recovery of the Hetao!"
"Your Majesty! Xin De from the military department reported that the recapture of the Hetao is expected to require an additional supply of 30,000 shi of military rations per year. In addition to the supply of ordnance and horses, the annual supply of silver will be more than 400,000 taels! Therefore, it is recommended that the imperial court first implement military garrison and re-establish garrison in the Hetao. Therefore, in one or two years, the court will be able to save 200,000 taels of military expenses every year.”
"Your Majesty! Liu Ji, the left minister of the Ministry of Revenue, reported that the Ministry of Revenue has allocated 1.5 million taels of silver to supply the repair of the Hetao border wall, but there is still a shortage of more than 600,000 taels! Therefore, it is recommended that the imperial court cultivate the land and solidify the border to avoid depleting the national treasury. Too big.”
……
Recently, Zhu Houzhao has received memorials from some ministers advising on farming in Hetao.
Zhu Houzhao had to admit that in this era, these suggestions were reasonable, and could even be said to be wise. After all, the Hetao had just been recovered, and there was a large amount of unowned fertile land. These fertile lands had not yet been occupied by the powerful, so it was undoubtedly now It is the best time to realize the military garrison, and the revenue generated will undoubtedly greatly reduce the Ming Empire's increased military expenditure due to the defense of the Hetao.
Even the wealth of Hetao may be able to make up for the military needs of other border towns.
But Zhu Houzhao did not want the border troops who went to Hetao to change from elite soldiers with rich experience in fighting Tatars to farmers with rich farming experience. Although it would not matter in the short term, in a hundred years, if a powerful neighbor rises, there will be no strong power in the Hetao area. The army can be defended, and it will even evolve into an independent military landlord kingdom, such as Li Chengliang in the Wanli period and Wu Sangui in the Chongzhen period.
Zhu Houzhao found that people in this era still thought about turning fields into farmland after getting new land, but he did not blame these people. After all, there were limitations of the times, and even a small Yulin City could not make it in the short term. Most officials in the empire realized that the way to avoid the increased financial pressure caused by the expansion of frontier towns was to go beyond farming.
"It's not that I don't want to farm in Hetao, but that I don't want to implement military garrison. You all know that the guard system has been corrupted. The generals don't know how to command, they only know how to pay and serve the soldiers, and the soldiers don't know swords and guns, they only know how to farm. Now the Hetao new Restore the original health center When the system no longer exists, it is the best time to set up floating officials and divide the land among the people. Why send elite soldiers to plow the fields! If the empire wants to maintain an army strong enough to defend its territory, it must let this army only take the land. Fighting knife! ”
Zhu Houzhao had to express his true thoughts.
Jiao Fang, the chief minister of the cabinet, understood Zhu Houzhao's thoughts and knew that the emperor did not want the Ming Dynasty's military strength to weaken, so he stood up and said:
"Your Majesty, in my opinion, the ministers' proposal of military settlements is not just to reduce the burden on the court and increase the revenue of the treasury. It is not that they do not know that military settlements will weaken the combat effectiveness of the frontier army, causing the frontier army to only plow fields in the future. Fighting, but they actually want to use this to dissuade His Majesty or future generations from launching military campaigns. "
When Zhu Houzhao was reminded by Jiao Fang, he suddenly realized that the civil servants' vision was beyond his reach. Fortunately, he had always felt that these civil servants were just trying to reduce the burden on the people, so he quite understood them, but he didn't. Thinking that these civil servants still have this thought.
However, even after Jiao Fang reminded him, Zhu Houzhao would not do anything to these civil servants. After all, this was a conspiracy, not a conspiracy. They were really thinking about the people, and the reason why they wanted to prevent himself and the The kings of later generations went to war for the sake of the people.
This deep-rooted thought after Confucian Neo-Confucian education cannot be changed.
These scholar-bureaucrats in the empire no longer have the desire to open up new territories as they did in the Qin, Han and Tang Dynasties. They are only willing to accept the prosperous age when all nations come to dynasty.
But understanding is understanding, Zhu Houzhao still will not fulfill the wishes of these civil servants, and will not turn the frontier army of the empire that has not declined from professional soldiers into professional farmers, especially the frontier cavalry. You must know that it takes many years to train an excellent cavalry. , and it is easy to cultivate an excellent farmer.
"Military force cannot be abolished! I believe that the fertile land in the Hetao can only be used for people's settlements, and can even be directly distributed to people who are willing to go to the Hetao to reclaim wasteland. In order to encourage people to move to the Hetao, all the fields in the Hetao are levied as people's land, and in order to make up for it, Military supplies for the border troops in the Hetao area can be allowed to be retained in the Hetao area for three years for their own use, and there is no need to transport them to Taicang;
In addition, the reform of the salt policy must be carried out as soon as possible. The cost of transporting grain must still be transferred to merchants, both to facilitate immigration and to curb grain prices in border towns. At the same time, the Ming Dynasty has always taxed merchants lightly and taxed farmers heavily, so merchants should also bear the burden. Some! What's more, this is the system of the early days of the country! ”
After Zhu Houzhao said this, Jiao Fang, the chief minister of the cabinet, said:
"I have already drafted a proposal to change the salt system to Wang Hua, who is in charge of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Zhengde was able to implement the system of removing grain from grain payments and removing silver six years ago. Now we have to wait for Wang Qiong, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, to come back from Huaiyang to discuss the details of the salt system. How much to raise the price to avoid salt Households are unwilling to produce salt because the price of salt is too low. The number of salt quotas should be appropriate so as not to affect the people's consumption of salt. It is expected that Wang Qiong will return to Beijing within half a month, and then he can directly issue an edict to the world! "
Zhu Houzhao knew that Wang Qiong, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, was good at calculating and had studied at the Capital University for half a year. After so long preparations, he should have a clearer understanding of how to reform the salt policy.
"That's very good. When Ye Qi changed the salt policy, it was good for business and bad for the people. Now Wang Qiong's reform of the salt policy, although bad for business, is good for the country and the people. However, if the salt production can be increased, it will benefit both business and the people. , to benefit the country, he ordered the salt transport envoy to establish a salt industry research and development department, hire experienced salt farmers to develop high-yield salt production methods, grant them official status, and set up a reward for them. "
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After Zhu Houzhao said this, Jiao Fang, the chief minister of the cabinet, hurriedly said yes. At this time, Gu Dayong, the eunuch of the West Factory, hurriedly appeared outside the duty room. After Zhu Houzhao noticed it, he asked him to come closer and reply.
"Wang Qiong's father died fourteen days ago?!"
After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking in his ear, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help being surprised and said it directly.
When Jiao Fang heard this, she couldn't help but feel a little bit in her heart, and said hurriedly:
"Your Majesty! According to the system, when his parents died and he was dismissed from office, Ding You abides by the system! But now Wang Qiong has just returned to Beijing from inspecting the salt administration. He has just figured out the depth of the salt administration and is about to reform the salt administration. If Ding You is allowed to return to his hometown at this time, what will happen? We have to start over! Such salt reform will have to be delayed for a long time!”
"The father of Wang Qiong, the Minister of Household Affairs, left just in time! He left at this time," Zhu Houzhao said meaningfully. Zhu Houzhao also knew that this was a common phenomenon in the Ming Dynasty. In addition to the emperor falling into the water, the parents of important ministers died!
After all, according to the rules, if a parent dies for any reason, he must leave his job and return to his hometown to observe mourning. This is undoubtedly the most effective and best way to attack political opponents.
The cabinet ministers present all knew what Zhu Houzhao meant, but they didn't say anything, because they couldn't persuade the emperor to seize love, nor could they seize Wang Qiong's filial piety. Let alone them, even the emperor, according to Confucian etiquette, had to give way. The subjects are filial.
"Let's wait for Wang Qiong's memorial. In addition, find a few ministers to ask for Wang Qiong's love memorial! You can keep your filial piety at any time, but this salt reform cannot be delayed!"
As he spoke, Zhu Houzhao asked Gu Dayong, the admiral of the West Factory: "Why did Wang Qiong's father suddenly disappear? Do you, the West Factory, know the truth?"
"Back to the Emperor, according to reports from Taiyuan, Wang Qiong's father was quite healthy the day before he left. He could still lift a stone lock in the backyard, and his appetite for food had not diminished. However, he was discovered by the servants of the palace early the next morning. Out of breath, but with a peaceful expression, it seems that he has died!”
Gu Dayong replied.
"Check again," when Zhu Houzhao said, Wang Hua came over: "Your Majesty! The resignation of Wang Qiong, Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, has arrived!"
Zhu Houzhao hurriedly opened it and saw that it was indeed Ding You's request to resign and return to his hometown.
……
Wang Qiong, the Minister of Household Affairs, was very reluctant to return to his hometown just like that.
He could see that the current emperor was an eclectic emperor who wanted to do great things. Because he was proficient in arithmetic, he directly ordered the cabinet to recommend him as the Minister of Household Affairs. He also wanted to return the salt policy to a situation that was beneficial to the court. , do a career.
What's more, he himself had selfish motives. As a Shanxi native, he naturally wanted to change the salt policy back to the system of collecting grain and obtaining salt. This would not only benefit the court but also benefit the interests of merchants in the north, and would not allow Huizhou merchants to benefit exclusively.
But Wang Qiong didn't expect that his father would suddenly disappear at this time!
As an experienced official, Wang Qiong was also worried that his father would suddenly die, so he told his father countless times to take care of his health and even paid attention to his father's health almost all the time. In addition to the filial piety one should fulfill as a son of man, it was also to prevent his career from being delayed for a few years due to the death of his parents.
But Wang Qiong still didn't expect that his father would die at this time! Just when he was about to cooperate with the emperor and the cabinet to fight against Huizhou merchants with great fanfare.
Wang Qiong was very angry, but he couldn't do anything to the political opponents behind his back, because he didn't have any evidence to prove his conjecture, and he must immediately submit a memorial to Ding You to resign. As a civil servant trained in Confucianism, he knew Ding You's observance of filial piety is so important in etiquette and law.
Therefore, Wang Qiong accepted Ding You's resignation letter without hesitation and kicked the ball to Zhu Houzhao.
……
At this time, in a teahouse, two literati wearing ordinary Confucian robes were communicating with each other.
"Do you think Wang Qiong will return to his hometown Dingyou?" asked a scholar.
"Why not? If he doesn't return to his hometown Dingyou, then both His Majesty the Emperor and he will be infamy!" Another scholar replied with a sneer.
……
Turning back to the situation, Zhu Houzhao now received Wang Qiong's memorial asking Ding You to return to his hometown because of his father's death. He was not only angry but also felt helpless. He found that the officials of the empire were still keen on fighting among themselves, and their goals were still so unfair. While pure and impure, he also used very noble reasons to cover up his impure purposes.
"If things go on like this, the Ming Dynasty will eventually be worn down by their endless internal fighting! It must be stopped!"
Many thanks to book friend Joseph Brinovich Stalin for the reward of 100 starting coins
(End of chapter)