Chapter 214 Imperial Meeting
The first imperial meeting after the first month of the 30th year of Jiajing.
Emperor Jiajing wore a black uniform with dark patterns and black lining and sat on the throne in the main hall of Wanshou Palace.
Yan Song and Xu Jie, as well as Sun Yingkui, the Minister of Household Affairs, and Ouyang Bijin, the Minister of Industry, stood on the right side respectively.
Huang Jin, Feng Bao and other eunuchs and eunuchs stood on the left side.
People on both sides bowed their heads respectfully towards Emperor Jiajing.
Emperor Jiajing fiddled with the hem of his clothes casually, and said: "Let me summarize what happened last year, and the cabinet will talk first."
Emperor Jiajing directly gave the talk to Yan Song, and Yan Song heard After Emperor Jiajing's words, he bowed respectfully to Emperor Jiajing.
"Your Majesty is wise!"
Yan Song begins his first sentence by affirming the important role of Emperor Jiajing.
Then he began to preach: "In the past year, under His Majesty's wise leadership, our cabinet and all officials in the DPRK and China have been advancing various major events in the DPRK and China in an orderly manner."
"The first is last year's events. The Chunwei imperial examination went smoothly and selected many promising talents for the court. Xu Jie played a big role in this important matter."
Xu Jie, who was standing behind Yan Song, heard Yan Song tell Chunwei. The credit went to him, and he bowed slightly to Yan Song.
At the same time, Emperor Jiajing nodded without denying, expressing his agreement with Yan Song's words and the contribution of Xu Jie, the Minister of Rites, in presiding over Chunwei.
Then Yan Song began to talk about the affairs of the border town again, "Last year, the Tatars repeatedly attacked our country, causing Zhang Da, Lin Chun and other loyal generals to die for their country, causing our people to suffer. These are all ministers and others. His fault was that he failed to nip in the bud, and his ministers neglected to recommend him. He also allowed Qiu Luan and other corrupt and cowardly ministers to take on important responsibilities, which caused the capital several disasters. Please punish him. "
When Emperor Jiajing heard Yan Song talking about Xuanda and Qiu Luan, he didn't show any anger.
Emperor Jiajing said: "Tatar cunning is no longer a matter of a day or two. They have been so lawless since Xiaozong. Therefore, the matter of announcing the Great Disaster in May last year was not considered a problem for the cabinet. ”
“There is also the matter of Qiu Luan. Although the cabinet had some problems in recommending candidates to guard Datong, in the final analysis, it was because there were no generals available in the court at that time and Weng Wanda did not care about the Holy Heart. He failed to enter the capital to perform his duties. Therefore, you are not to blame for this matter."
"Moreover, in the subsequent changes in the war situation, although the Tatars wanted to do so with the cover and help of Qiu Luan and Duoyanbu. We want to raid the capital. But our Ming Dynasty is a kingdom with extraordinary luck, and a peerless general like the Champion has emerged to destroy the Tatars' arrogance."
"So, overall. Speaking of which, we made remarkable achievements in the defensive battle in the north last year.”
"Furthermore, I later issued an imperial edict to restore the worship of the ancestors of the Yuan Dynasty, and changed the mutual market to the 'Ming Dynasty Industrial Circulation Market'. Ananda also obeyed obediently. When the time comes, the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites will keep an eye on this matter, and no more mentions will be made. Any mistakes."
After Yan Song and Xu Jie heard what Emperor Jiajing said, they bowed and said, "I obey."
Then Emperor Jiajing began to say: "Continue. "
Yan Song bowed again, and then said: "It has been nearly two hundred years since the founding of the capital, Fengtian Jingnan, and the number of people in the city has increased. "< br>
“Nowadays, both inside and outside the capital, everyone is suffering from the fact that the capital is small and does not conform to the atmosphere of the Celestial Dynasty. Therefore, I and other ministers suggested that the outer city of the capital should be rebuilt to increase the prestige of the Celestial Dynasty.”
When he heard these words, Emperor Jiajing leaned forward slightly. He looked at Yan Song and continued to ask: "Although it is urgent to expand the outer city of the capital, you must all know the difficulties of the imperial court."
< br>"The Ministry of Household Affairs only has tax revenue of seven to eight million taels a year. This money is already stretched thin. If we build the outer walls of the capital, how much more silver will it cost?"
Yan Song's trembling answer : "Your Majesty is worried. But the capital is the foundation of the imperial court and the foundation of the world, and it must be important."
"So I have also calculated it for Your Majesty. According to the current price and materials Money, as well as the cost of transporting large wooden bricks and stones, can build the outer city of the capital with only about ten million taels." As soon as Yan Song finished speaking, Emperor Jiajing couldn't help but snorted, "Ten million taels said. Qingqing, where did this money come from? ”
Yan Song quickly replied: "Your Majesty, according to the Ministry of Industry, this money can come from the salt administration. Moreover, the Ministry of Household Affairs has also calculated the benefits of the salt administration, and it can receive about one million taels of silver in salt tax every year."
"Now this job has been handed over to Yan Maoqing. He has been in charge of salt administration for some time now. Recently, he reported back to the cabinet that he had received 200,000 taels of salt tax in advance."
"According to his current efficiency, this year's goal of one million taels of salt tax should be successfully achieved."
When Emperor Jiajing heard that Yan Maoqing was so capable, he couldn't help but laugh. Smiling, "Yan Shifan has great foresight and recommended Yan Maoqing very well. He collected 200,000 taels of silver just two months after taking office. This is much more capable than the previous salt administration officials."
Yan Song Listening to Emperor Jiajing's praise of Yan Shifan and Yan Maoqing, he also bowed down and said, "They are all sharing the worries of the Holy One. These are what they should do."
Emperor Jiajing shook his sleeves and changed into a comfortable sitting position, and then said: "Yes, if the officials of the Ming Dynasty can be as capable as Yan Shifan and Yan Maoqing, I will have nothing to worry about."
"But, After all, the capital is the capital of the emperor. It is easy to build an outer city, but it is not easy to build this outer city. I have already seen the plan presented by the Ministry of Industry, and to be honest, I am not satisfied. "
< br>"Are you helping me build the capital? If you hadn't written the memorial at the beginning about preparing to build the outer city of the capital, I would have thought you were going to build a straw shed?"
"This plan has Do you know anything about the Celestial Dynasty? I don’t know how your Ministry of Industry came up with the plan? Go back and redo it!”
When Emperor Jiajing said this, he remembered Zhu Zaijing’s suggestion.
So after comparing them two by one, Emperor Jiajing became very dissatisfied with the plan proposed by the Ministry of Industry.
I feel that the Ministry of Industry is just perfunctory with him and wants to ruin his great career.
Ouyang Bijin, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, was also startled when he heard what Emperor Jiajing said, and quickly accused him: "I am afraid."
Emperor Jiajing snorted, "I know that fear is That's a good thing, but I didn't promote you to be Minister of Works just to listen to your fearful words. When you have nothing to do, go out and see more, and learn how outsiders design new cities. Don't treat me with the same old tricks. Do you know?"
Ouyang Bijin bowed nervously again: "I understand."
Emperor Jiajing said again: "I think you still don't understand very well. Feng Bao!"
Feng Bao, who was standing aside, heard Emperor Jiajing's call and bowed quickly, "I'm here, my servant."
>Emperor Jiajing said: "If you have nothing to do, take my minister of the Ministry of Industry around for a walk and gain more experience so that he can really understand some of my thoughts."
Feng Bao replied: "Slave. Obey the decree."
When Feng Bao heard what Emperor Jiajing said, he immediately understood the meaning. Emperor Jiajing probably wanted him to take Ouyang Bi for a walk around Shunyi and let him see the design style of Shunyi Industrial Park.
Therefore, Feng Bao responded obediently.
Emperor Jiajing was also very satisfied with Feng Bao's smart reaction. It seemed that the beating was not bad and it also enlightened Feng Bao.
If there is a chance in the future, find another reason to leave him in Prince Yu's Mansion for training, and he may be of great use in the future.
(End of this chapter)