Chapter 440 439 Struggle Is Everywhere

Beijing, Forbidden City, Wenyuan Pavilion.

This has always been the office of the cabinet, so there are many officials coming in and out on weekdays, including cabinet secretaries, pedestrians, and officials sent by other government offices to do business.

Although people come and go, the courtyard always maintains a kind of silence. Everyone speaks and acts cautiously, for fear of affecting others.

Because this is the place that scholars in the world yearn for the most.

Of course, people who can come and go here can also be regarded as elites in the court. Even if they are not the top ones, they are outstanding people.

Today, after receiving the edict from Xiyuan, Xu Jie has been staying in his duty room and has never come out.

The content of Xiyuan's edict naturally spread in the pavilion very quickly.

Everyone is not a fool. Among the officials, there are people who lean towards Xu Jie, of course there are people from the Yan family, and there are so-called neutral factions.

Since you can be arranged to work here, either you are really lucky or you are extremely smart, and you will naturally have good eyesight.

Even though Xu Jie usually showed respect to Yan Song, they could not tell how sincere and how fake he was.

At this time, Xu Jie sat quietly in his seat, not working. Even though his desk was piled with documents sent from various places, he did not deal with any of them.

He kept this posture for some time, and seemed to finally come back to his senses. He lowered his head to look at the documents on the table. Thinking of the imperial edict he had received before, a bitter smile finally appeared on his face.

It was just that Emperor Jiajing wanted Yan Shifan to stay. It was not a big deal. It had always been like this before. Why did he react so strongly?

Xu Jie reacted after sitting quietly for a while. This was the emperor's intention, so he could not change it.

What was his goal? In fact, it didn't matter whether Yan Shifan was in the capital or not. He was invincible after occupying the majority.

Looking up, Xu Jie looked at the roof, carved beams and painted buildings.

Perhaps it was because he had been oppressed too much by the Yan family over the years, and he had a little fear of Yan Song and Yan Shifan in his heart.

Yan Song was old, but his prestige was still there. Only Yan Shifan was called a "genius" by Emperor Jiajing, so he lost his composure after knowing that Emperor Jiajing chose to take away the love and keep Yan Shifan in Beijing.

Thinking of the decree just now, Xu Jie let out a breath. It was a bit ironic that he had to draft the decree to take away the love and keep Yan Shifan.

After drafting the decree and sending someone to the palace, Xu Jie returned to his position and smiled bitterly at the pile of documents.

Not long after, the people who were sent out came back, and the news they brought back made Xu Jie feel even worse.

Not only did the palace send an envoy to convey the decree, but Emperor Jiajing also sent people to give the Yan family many silver coins and treasure notes.

Baochao is not worth much. The Neibaochao Bureau prints it all day long as official salaries and emperor rewards. However, the silver coins cast by the Yinzuo Bureau are still very good, with good quality and appearance.

Speaking of which, the government offices in the inner court are also very interesting.

The word "Baochao" is used in the names of two government offices in the inner court. One of them is the Neibaochao Bureau that prints Baochao, and the other is the Baochao Division.

The Neibaochao Bureau prints Baochao, so what does the Baochao Division print?

At first, Wei Guangde was still confused, but later he found out that the Baochao Division prints toilet paper.

Xu Jie did not let anyone pass the news to Prince Yu's Mansion, because he believed that Prince Yu's Mansion must have received the news at this time. If he sent someone to pass the news, it would only make him look afraid of Yan Shifan in front of outsiders.

Moreover, even Prince Yu's Mansion could not help in this matter.

Who dares to object to the emperor's decision?

Just as Xu Jie thought, the news reached Prince Yu's Mansion very early, and then the people in Prince Yu's Mansion repeated Xu Jie's previous state.

However, they were not calm enough after all, and it took them longer to react than Xu Jie, and Wei Guangde was the first one to react.

Similar to Xu Jie's way of thinking, it was originally an emergency, and it would be best to send Yan Shifan away, which was equivalent to cutting off Yan Song's arm. If he couldn't send him away, he would not lose anything.

However, Wei Guangde still secretly said in his heart that it was a pity for an opportunity.

Without Yan Shifan by his side, Yan Song would definitely be more likely to make mistakes.

Yan Song and Yan Shifan returned to the cabinet to work the next day after receiving the imperial edict, but Yan Shifan had more things to do. He had to go to the cabinet with his father to handle official business during the day, and he had to go home to mourn after the court was dismissed.

In addition to not being able to see the current situation clearly, and the flatterers coming in and out of Yan's Mansion, now the officials in Beijing, in addition to completing their own work, are staring at the sky all day long.

In the 40th year of Jiajing, in the leap month of May, Beijing had no more rain except for a light rain in February, and the drought in the north had already shown signs.

For drought resistance, there are not many ways except to build water conservancy projects to store water, even in later generations.

However, this is not the later generations, where everything is scientific. In this era, there is a way to deal with drought that will not appear in later generations.

In Jiyou, Yuan Wei, the Minister of Rites, reported to the emperor:

"Your Majesty established a ceremony to pray for the two spiritual graces to descend, and everyone in China and abroad is excited, but the haze has not reached the four fields for a long time, and then the drought has returned with haze all day long."

In February, there was a solar eclipse, and Emperor Jiajing established a ceremony to thank God for his grace. Strangely enough, it rained a little in Beijing afterwards, but that was all.

Under Wei Guangde's surprised eyes, Emperor Jiajing happily accepted Yuan Wei's memorial and once again held a grand fasting ceremony in Xiyuan to pray for rain.

Not only that, in accordance with Yuan Wei's request in the memorial, Emperor Jiajing ordered the British Duke Zhang Rong and others to go to various palaces and temples to pay homage, and all officials to stay and stay in Tsing Yi for a period of two days.

In this regard, the reason why Emperor Jiajing asked people to release him was that "the meaning of one body is what you said."

Emperor Jiajing is having a feast in the palace, and officials should not stay out of it, so they all go to various temples to participate in rain praying ceremonies.

For a time, hundreds of temples and temples inside and outside the capital became busy and began to arrange altars and organize rain praying ceremonies. Officials also came to the scene to participate, and many people were fooled for a while.

In this day and age, everyone from the princes and ministers to the common people are more or less in awe of these things involving gods and ghosts, not to mention that it was requested by the emperor, who also prayed for rain in the palace.

Praying for rain is not just for the sake of harvest, right?

For a time, Emperor Jiajing's reputation improved a lot. People said that when the emperor saw the drought, he was thinking about the livelihood of the people in the world.

Wei Guangde was dumbfounded when he heard about the public discussion from the housekeeper Zhang Ji. He learned a little bit from Yuan Wei, and it turns out that flattery can be so flattering.

When he first heard that Yuan Wei had submitted this memorial, he was really a little disdainful.

If the great God of Tiaotiao can make it rain, then what kind of science will future generations develop? They can just practice it.

However, this thing, which he considered to be feudal superstition, actually played such a big role in the Ming Dynasty. He couldn't help but think carefully about the reason.

This seemingly useless measure has alleviated the concerns of the people, and also gained a wave of public support. Do you think Yuan Wei's memorial is useful?

In addition to assigning officials to participate in the rain praying ceremony, for nine days of execution and slaughter, eunuchs were also sent to pass the order to the Ministry of Etiquette: "The officials we sent yesterday to pray for rain should be worshiped to the gods. Is there anything left behind?"

Emperor Jiajing asked the Ministry of Rites to check again, fearing that there would be omissions.

After that, the Ministry of Rites actually convened the subordinate yamen for discussion, and finally proposed that the capital of Hehai Yuze be added, and the water transportation was not heard, so why pray for it, because Li Chunfang, Gao Gong, the ministers of the Ministry of Rites, and others were sent to worship the gods and other divine rivers. Censor Hu Zhi offered sacrifices to the God of the River.

Wei Guangde also wanted to go, so he naturally chose Lingji Palace, which was relatively close to home and more familiar.

It is necessary to participate in the rain praying ceremony. It is the emperor's order, but by the way, Xuan Jing, the host of Lingji Palace, finds a place to have a good rest.

During these few days, he could not go home and could only live in the temple.

The officials in the capital cooperated with Emperor Jiajing to pray for rain, but the Ming Dynasty was so large that various local reports were not sent down. They were still sent to the capital and sent to the General Affairs Department, and they were reported to the top level by level. .

Ganzhou Prefecture in Jiangxi Province is close to Jiangxi and Guangdong because of the territorial relationship. This is where the forces of the Fujian-Guangzhou thief Zhang Lian first came into contact. They constantly incited local people to cause trouble and even sent troops to plunder, which temporarily made the entire Jiangxi Province unsafe. .

The Jiangxi capital commander mobilized troops from the Ganzhou Prefecture Guard Station to suppress the bandits, and at the same time mobilized troops from surrounding prefectures and counties to provide support. For a time, the military requirements borne by the Ganzhou Prefecture increased significantly.

Of course the chief envoy of Jiangxi knew that these expenses were necessary and could not be saved. However, the Ganzhou government had no money and had to go to Nanchang to ask for money and food from the chief envoy Si Yamen.

There is no other way. As a local official, it is your duty to protect the environment and the people. If you fail to do so, you will lose your official title.

The Jiangxi Chief Envoy Department gathered together and soon an official document was delivered to the capital.

"The salt tax of Ganzhou Prefecture in Jiangxi Province is about 20,000 yuan per year. In the original example, the rate is ten cents. Two cents are retained as military pay. Eight cents are divided into troops to help border areas. The ministers are in a hurry to increase troops and increase salaries. Please keep all of them."

It just wants money, and the money is the salt tax received by the local government. In the past, most of it had to be handed over to the Ministry of Household Affairs. Now that Ganzhou is in a war, it is natural to want to keep this money for local expenses.

The official document was sent to the Ministry of Household Affairs and was soon delivered to the desk of Gao Yao, the Minister of Household Affairs.

Before Jiangxi, similar official documents were sent from Fujian and Guangdong.

To be fair, their demands are not excessive.

The money transferred to the Ministry of Household Affairs is specially used for the military pay of Jiubian and the war.

There is also a war going on in the local area. Logically, this money should be kept in the local area to pay for the army to suppress thieves, but the Ministry of Revenue does not dare to fully agree. In fact, the Ministry of Revenue is also short of money now.

In fact, in many places, tax relief is mostly on paper. In the official documents, very little cash is paid. Therefore, every time the court wants to spend a large sum of money, the Ministry of Revenue can only urge the payment from below, and even use official positions to explain the payment. Threatening, intending to directly submit a note to the Ministry of Personnel for failing to do things well.

Only in this way can the place spit out more money.

After all, these officials are all floating officials, and the only thing they can control is their official position. As long as their background is not particularly big, the Ministry of Husbandry and the Ministry of Personnel cannot afford to offend them.

At this time, Gao Yao looked at the official document sent from Jiangxi and made a calculation in his mind. The official document stated that the salt tax from the Ministry of Finance would be deducted, but what it said was unclear. The co-author was treating the Ministry of Hubu as a fool. , I want to eat up the tax money that I haven’t paid back in previous years.

Gao Yao came up from the local area and was clear about these sects.

It makes sense, but if approval is required, it is not a matter of the salt tax of more than 10,000 taels a year, but Jiangxi's fault for squeezing the salt tax in the past few years. He will not bear the blame.

"Come here and check how the salt tax has been resolved in Jiangxi in recent years."

Gao Yao sent a scribe to the Jiangxi Qing Dynasty Officials Division to bring in the accounts for verification. Soon the Jiangxi Qing Officials Division doctor and Yuan Wailang came in.

They only knew that Lord Shangshu wanted to check the accounts, but they didn't know what the purpose was, so they followed him here with their account books.

Gao Yao didn't need to explain anything to them. He just wanted to know how much Jiangxi had paid in salt taxes in recent years and how much it still owed, so that he could give his reply. Then he could submit it to the cabinet together with other official documents and submit it to Xiyuan. .

This is equivalent to the Ministry of Household's work records for a period, and the superiors are notified.

"You haven't paid enough salt tax for thirty-six years?"

The officials of the Qing Dynasty and the foreign ministers of the Qing Dynasty knew what the Lord Shangshu wanted to investigate, so naturally they were familiar with the matter and found out the contents quickly.

At this moment, the people in the Qing Li Department still didn't know the purpose of this recruitment. They guessed that Jiangxi must be trying to withhold tax money because of the suppression of thieves. This kind of thing is not uncommon.

"Da Situ, I heard that two counties in Jiangxi were destroyed and the rebels withdrew from Jiangxi. They shouldn't need much military pay."

At this time, Jiangxi Qing Lisi Langzhong whispered a few words beside Gao Yao.

Ordinarily, it is enough for the Lord Shangshu to make the decision on this kind of matter. He, a doctor of the Qing Dynasty Department, does not need to say anything, but it is only because people from Jiangxi have not sent many things recently, so they have to give them some eye drops.

Insects have their own insect ways, and rats have their rat ways.

The people in their official affairs department usually only do accounting and accounting, unlike those in the household department who manage the warehouse.

However, as the current manager, the Jiangxi Chief Envoy's side had to pay tribute, but in the end it was not spent as a reasonable expense.

But recently, there have been less gifts, which makes Mr. Lang very uncomfortable. It is not easy for him to live in the capital. Living in the capital is not easy, and the Jiangxi government does not know how to sympathize with him.

Gao Yao nodded slightly after listening to the doctor's words. He had also heard about this matter. Although Zhang Lian's thieves often caused harm to Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi, they mainly focused on the mountains of Fujian. How many people could be mobilized to encircle and suppress them.

What's more, His Majesty has a decree for Hu Zongxian to suppress the bandits. Naturally, Hu Zongxian will pay for the army. Jiangxi only needs to defend the city and does not need to spend much military salary.

He had some calculations in his mind, and after the others left, Gao Yao wrote in an official document, "In reply, the government owes salt tax every year from the thirty-sixth year to the thirty-ninth year. It is allowed to keep three points and divide it into seven points." Ministry, we will continue to follow the same rules in the coming years.”

Calculating, in four years, if you keep one more point, the total will be eight thousand taels of silver, which should be enough to support you.

Jiangxi's official documents were processed and put aside, while Gao Yao continued to process the following official documents.

However, when the official document was sent to the local government, Jiangxi Governor Yao Yiyuan naturally frowned. The official document he had worked so hard on cost more than 8,000 taels of silver. How could this be enough?

"Don't worry, boss. Why don't you send a letter to the person from the Military Department who was the same year to talk about the situation in Jiangxi? Mr. Wang will always be in charge of you and will not deal with you. By the way, he will be impeached by the fact that Jiangxi is being disturbed."

The staff around him came up with ideas.

"reason?"

Yao Yiyuan asked.

"Deputy Wang's death."

The staff member replied softly.