Chapter 767 866 Cabinet Order

The Ministry of Works should have paid the bulk of the river repair work, and the Ministry of Revenue should have paid the shortfall, but Zhu Heng had his sights set on the grain transport.

The financial income of the Ministry of Works in the Ming Dynasty mainly came from the silver for the materials and materials sent from various places and the income from bamboo and wood, while the income of the Ministry of War mainly came from the firewood and silver for officials in Beijing, which were stored in the Military Arsenal and distributed to officials in Beijing by the Ministry of War. The income of the Imperial Household Department mainly came from the silver for the horses from various places.

The income of these three yamen actually reached hundreds of thousands of taels every year, but because they were not managed and interfered with by the Ministry of Revenue, they were never disclosed to the public.

That is, in the middle and late period of the Wanli period, Emperor Wanli tried his best to get silver from the Changying Treasury of the Imperial Household Department, and the total amount exceeded 20 million taels. From this, we can actually know that the so-called "poverty" of the Ming court was just that there was no silver on the account of the Ministry of Revenue, but it was not really impossible to take it out, but it was just that the "deposit" was improper.

Of course, although the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War had a lot of revenue, most of it had to be spent every year, leaving little surplus, and it was customary for the various government offices to cry poor to the court, so Chen Yiqin and Yin Shizhen did not take it seriously.

Since its establishment, the Ming Dynasty has had clear systems for the positions of various government offices, and in fact implemented small governmentism.

Small governmentism, sometimes also called minimum centralization or minimum government, is a doctrine that advocates that in a free society, the size and role of the government should be minimized - as long as it is able to protect everyone's freedom and prevent violations of freedom, so as to maximize everyone's freedom.

In fact, from the measures since ancient times such as "imperial power does not go to the countryside" and "officials do not investigate if the people do not report", we can see how the court maintained its rule.

Therefore, the central government of the Ming Dynasty pursued "living within its means", that is, to maintain the operation of the central government by collecting the least taxes.

Therefore, it is normal that the total amount of taxes in the Ming Dynasty has always hovered between 2,500 and 3,000 shi, that is, "original amountism".

There was no idea of ​​supporting economic development through fiscal expansion in this era. Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, set taxes in every county. So no matter how much land there was in each place, as long as the tax silver was paid to the ministry according to Zhu Yuanzhang's decision, their tax collection task would be completed.

The showdown of each ministry was also distributed according to the taxes in each place, so the income has always been very stable.

The income last year should be about the same this year.

In the long run, the court became lazy. When something big happened and a big project was needed, it could only ask the Ministry of Revenue and other government offices for money instead of considering how to increase revenue.

After all, there were clauses and regulations. If you want to increase the income of the government office, it means increasing taxes. This is "competing with the people for profit" and is a behavior despised by the scholar-official class.

"The Ministry of Works is short of money for river engineering. You can consider asking the Ministry of Revenue for transfer. Don't stretch your hands randomly, which is easy to cause trouble."

Chen Yiqin glanced at Wei Guangde and said in a low voice.

Wei Guangde certainly understood that it was better to have less trouble than more. The correct answer was to go to the Ministry of Revenue if there was no money. This was also what all government offices were doing, so he nodded in agreement.

In the back hall of the Yingtian Governor's Office in Suzhou, Hai Rui was sitting behind a desk with a gloomy face. On the desk in front of him was a document forwarded from the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel.

At this moment, he already knew that his appointment as Yingtian Governor had come to an end. The new Yingtian Governor Zhu Daqi appointed by the court had already set off and would arrive in Suzhou soon to complete the handover procedures with him.

Then, his new position was also decided, which was the Governor-General of Nanjing Grain Storage Censor. After the handover here, he would immediately rush to Nanjing to take over.

He was in a bad mood at the moment, of course, not because of the court's sudden change of his position, but because of his stronger dissatisfaction with Xu Jie.

The reason was simple. In the past half a month, Xu Jie's attitude in his letters to him had obviously softened.

Before, Hai Rui thought that Xu Jie could not bear the pressure and wanted to negotiate with him, so that they could discuss and resolve the matter.

But now it seems that he was fooled by Xu Jie, and this was simply a delaying tactic.

Using the original relationship in the court to transfer him away, the newcomer would not continue to pursue the matter.

"Alas"

At this time, Hai Rui could only sigh and could not do anything else to put pressure on Xu Jie, because the content of the official document had spread throughout the governor's office, and everyone knew that he was about to be transferred. At this time, even if he ordered the yamen runners to enter Zizhi Garden to arrest people, they would probably pretend to obey and deliberately let Xu Jiazi go.

"Master, the files have been sorted out."

At this time, the lawyer came in from outside, stood in front of the desk, bowed and said to him.

"Sort out the other documents in the yamen, register them, and facilitate the handover at that time."

Hai Rui ordered, "Count the treasury silver account books, and calculate your monthly wages, and pay them in the next two days."

Since he was leaving, Hai Rui didn't want to stay in Suzhou for a moment.

It is better to distribute the money before Zhu Daqi arrives.

Some people in the yamen do not receive salaries because their positions are not set up by the court. They are all paid by the governor's private account, and these silvers are all listed as expenses from the miscellaneous taxes withheld by the governor's yamen.

This is also the reason why the emperors of the Ming Dynasty often turned a blind eye even though they knew that local officials used heavy taxes to make money.

The salaries of officials cannot support such a large amount of expenses, and they are all taken from the people.

Now the news outside the governor's yamen has probably spread. Those people should be very happy that they were fooled by Xu Jie.

While Hai Rui was fretting in the governor's office, Xu's mansion in Huating was decorated with lights and colorful, and it was very lively.

Of course it's not that Mr. Xu Ge wants to take a concubine or some other big happy event, but that Mr. Xu Ge is hosting a banquet today for the heads of nearby gentry families.

Hai Rui's resignation was a foregone conclusion, so there was no need to keep it secret. When Zhu Daqi returned to Beijing with the order, the messengers from the capital had already rushed back to deliver the good news.

At the banquet, Xu Jie and the guests exchanged glasses and had a lively conversation.

"Hai Gangfeng is just pretentious and deliberately made things difficult for Mr. Xu. Now he must be stupid and go to Nanjing to manage grain reserves."

"Xu Gong is too kind. If it were me, I would simply dismiss him from office."

Some people praised Xu Jie during the banquet, and others applauded loudly.

"Those fields were all voluntarily donated by the people. Now that I know that the imperial tax law has changed, I want to take the land back. How can it be such a good thing?"

"That's right, Mr. Xu got angry because of me."

When Xu Jie heard this, his face did not show the smug smile that ordinary people would have. Instead, he said solemnly: "Fellow village elders, I invite you to the banquet this time because I have also heard that those ignorant people seem to have some problems." Steady signs.

As you may think, we accepted their contributions with good intentions and protected them, but now we want to regret it and let them take advantage of all the good things we have done together. ’

"That's right, that's right."

"It's exactly what Mr. Xu said. I can't swallow this breath either."

"If they hadn't known that they would be drafted for military service, they wouldn't have been so kind. We went to communicate with the county government and exempted them from the draft. This was for the sake of the fellow villagers, but no one ever forced them to donate their land. Just wait for me, and it would be bad luck if you get a pill now."

"So, fellow villagers, when you go back, you have to explain the truth clearly to these villagers. If anyone does nonsense again, we are not easy to mess with. We can return the land. Do you really think they can hide from the corvee?

Although the new law of the imperial court states that people can exchange silver to pay for military service, the government still has to accept their silver. Do you think that’s right? "

"What Mr. Xu said makes sense, it's the county government."

Someone heard Xu Jie's words and knew that they were invited to this banquet just to appease the people and stop causing trouble.

However, they actually understood the powerful relationship without Xu Jie's reminder.

However, it seems that the new law of the imperial court is not as promoted by the people in the yamen before. It seems that there is room for manipulation.

Xu Jie looked at everyone and smiled and said: "The court has never said that corvee service is exempted. The prerequisite for collecting cash is that there are hired workers who can be recruited to perform corvee service on their behalf.

But if the imperial court cannot recruit hired workers, then they will have to go. Who can hide, and who dares to object? "

Looking around at the thoughtful people, Xu Jie smiled again and said: "As for the taxes collected, the county government has to transport things to the government office, and the government office has to transport them to the province, so workers are not allowed to be recruited. I really thought that would be enough. There is no way to cure them."

After hearing Xu Jie's words, everyone nodded in unison.

As long as we get out, once we get outside, we can't help these slave laborers.

Even if they are killed, they can still be labeled as committing rebellion or evading taxes and duties, and they are not just allowed to do whatever the officials say.

"As for ordinary people, I have thought about it these days. If you want to restore your citizenship, we will not stop you. The contract you signed is still valid."

Xu Jie continued.

This is the carrot and the stick. No matter it was originally donated in the form of low-price land sales or mortgages, you will definitely not spit it out when you eat it.

The rest, it's easy to say, can be discussed.

Although he had the upper hand in this battle with Hai Rui, Hai Rui suffered from inexperience. After all, he was a county magistrate for two terms and had no official experience in the province or government. However, Xu Jie did not Just take it lightly.

After all, Gao Gong returned to the court and served as a cabinet minister.

The knot with the high-arched beams is a bit deep and difficult to resolve.

In fact, after Xu Jie returned to Huating, he wrote to Gao Gong, who was idle at home, hoping to resolve the conflict between the two parties, but the result was not optimistic.

It's impossible for Gao Gong in the capital to know that Hai Rui had made such a trick for himself, so he still had to keep a tightrope in his work. At least as long as the people didn't make trouble, he could rest in peace in his hometown.

Xu Jie is like this, pursuing perfection in everything he does, leaving no flaws.

Of course, for Gao Gong, although he can't do anything about factors beyond his control, he will find ways to mitigate them.

It's just a pity that when you encounter a stubborn donkey, you can't even try to repair the relationship.

Of course, there are not many officials like Gao Gong. What everyone values ​​​​is fighting in the court to the death. After becoming an official, they just smile and forget their grudges. There are no unsolvable knots in the world.

Yan Shifan had just caught up. If they hadn't sought a comeback and encouraged Hu Zongxian to compete for a cabinet position, the Yan family would still be a wealthy family in Jiangxi, and no one would bother them.

"The edict to change the commander-in-chief of the third battalion to admiral must be drafted as soon as possible. There is also the edict to summon Ge Shouli and Cao Bangfu to return to the capital. Uncle, you will be responsible for it personally and will be sent out today."

On the road back to the cabinet from the Qianqing Palace, the cabinet ministers were walking back. The high arches on the road began to make arrangements, without any concern for the face of the first assistant Li Chunfang and the second assistant Chen Yiqin.

"Okay, I will draft the decree immediately after returning to the cabinet, and then send it to the public officials for review."

Zhang Juzheng didn't know whether he didn't notice it or turned a blind eye on purpose. Anyway, he answered cheerfully at this moment.

Wei Guangde and Yin Shizhan, who were walking at the end, just looked at each other and said nothing.

In recent days, Gao Gong seemed to have reached the limit of his forbearance. In the cabinet meeting and even the imperial meeting, he often rushed to make decisions before Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin. If others had opinions, he would often criticize them as worthless.

Wei Guangde was also criticized by Gao Gong when he had the opportunity. The reason was that Wei Guangde wanted to help Jiangxi transfer a batch of flood control money and grain from the Ministry of Works to build the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake dams.

This year, the Ministry of Works’ labor and material silver is destined to be insufficient because of the construction of the Huanghuai Dam, and the Ministry of Revenue’s Taicang Warehouse needs to support it.

It’s not a big problem to have more or less silver, at least in Wei Guangde’s opinion, not to mention that the letters from Jiangxi Provincial Administration have been delivered to him.

The result was naturally unsuccessful. After the court officially issued an order to let Pan Jixun manage the river, Gao Gong strictly controlled the silver of the Ministry of Works, and cut all other major projects, so that it could only support the Huanghuai River project.

Wei Guangde certainly knew that he could not win the argument.

The court was short of silver, so the limited money and grain had to be used where it mattered the most, that is, to ensure the stability of the Huanghuai water system and the smooth transportation of grain transport, and let the local governments raise money and grain for other river works.

Chen Yiqin had also had a dispute with Gao Gong in the cabinet meeting before. The inner court wanted the Ministry of Revenue to allocate silver to buy jewelry and jade. Liu Tigan once again disobeyed the order, and Chen Yiqin seconded the proposal. However, Gao Gong's attitude this time was completely different from usual, and he chose to support the emperor's request.

Although it did not succeed in the end, the two also had their first falling out in the cabinet.

Of course, the most embarrassed person in the cabinet was actually the chief minister Li Chunfang, and Gao Gong did not give him any face at all.

According to rumors, Gao Gong once talked about the order of the cabinet when he was having a banquet with his students and old friends. He and Chen Yiqin were both Jinshi in the 20th year of Jiajing, while Li Chunfang, Zhang Juzheng and Yin Shizhan were only Jinshi in the 26th year of Jiajing. Wei Guangde was even worse, as he was a Jinshi in the 35th year. The order of the cabinet should also be based on the year of the imperial examination and seniority.

The imperial examination era emphasized the year of the imperial examination and seniority. If seniority is used, Gao Gong is undoubtedly the most senior and the most experienced, followed by Chen Yiqin, followed by Li Chunfang, Zhang Juzheng and Yin Shizhan, and Wei Guangde is the last.

And now?

It is reasonable for Chen Yiqin to be the second assistant, but he cannot be ranked ahead of him, Gao Gong, and Li Chunfang is even worse.

Not to mention, Gao Gong's statement is still popular. At least, there is a reason for Gao Gong to be ranked higher than Chen Yiqin, because even if it is calculated by the time of entering the cabinet, he, Gao Gong, entered the cabinet one step ahead of Chen Yiqin and one year later than Li Chunfang.

However, here, he ridiculed Li Chunfang as the "Qingci Prime Minister" who got into the cabinet by flattering the previous emperor, but had forgotten that he had actually written several famous Qingci for Emperor Jiajing.

Just as they were about to walk into the cabinet, a man ran in from the Huiji Gate. When he got closer and saw them clearly, he shouted: "Ladies and gentlemen, Datong is alert." (End of this chapter)