My life skills in Daming Liver

In the Supervisor of Ceremonies, Li Fang, the eunuch of Bingbi, was in a good mood.

Eunuch Tao did a good job in Fujian, and the new money was flowing smoothly in Fujian. Even the local officials in Fujian finally admitted that Eunuch Tao was doing things properly in Fujian, and the people praised him.

But this is not the reason for Li Fang's happiness. The eunuch's reputation is not good, and the eunuch's work in the palace is not for fame, the most important thing is to do things well.

It doesn't matter how good your reputation is if things go wrong.

If things are done well, it doesn't matter if your reputation is a little bit worse. Even if you are impeached by foreign ministers, as long as the emperor is satisfied, you will have a chance to make a fortune in the future.

What satisfied Li Fang was that Eunuch Tao's affairs were handled very well this time!

For the palace, the most important thing about going out to mint coins this time is to collect money for the emperor.

Eunuch Tao swept away the old money in Fujian, and the minting business was in full swing. This cleared up the money law, which naturally satisfied the emperor, but the most satisfying thing for the emperor was the reason that Eunuch Tao sent money back to the palace.

In the past, eunuchs were sent out of the palace, and the money they found had to be secretly transported back to the inner treasury, or they had to be "donated" under clever names, and the court ministers would stare at them if they did not do it properly.

Although the inner treasury is the emperor's private treasury, everything should be done with integrity. The father of the Ming people, the emperor of the Taoist emperor who descended from the gods, sent eunuchs to search for the people's fat and people's anointing, which is really ugly.

Eunuch Tao is anxious about his father's worries, and he puts his father first in everything.

Under Su Ze's suggestion, Eunuch Tao used the fire consumption of minting coins as an excuse to write down how much he minted, how much he cost, and how much fire consumption he had. If the "loss" was returned to the emperor, it would be difficult for the foreign ministers to say anything, right?

The ledger has been polished by Su Ze. Although it is a purely fake ledger, there are no loopholes in the whole ledger.

Eunuch Tao also "intimately" exchanged all the fire consumption for silver, and then transported it to the capital by water transport.

When Eunuch Cao's silver boat arrived in the capital, the whole capital was boiling.

Li Fang, who served the emperor closely, naturally knew how good the emperor Jiajing was in those few days.

The emperor also specially circulated Tao Gonggong's account book to the Ministry of Households and Kedao, the meaning of which is self-evident.

have a look! This is the ledger! These are my money! I deserve it!

All the courtiers were silent. Mr. Tao was minting coins and repairing water conservancy in Fujian. The people were about to build a shrine for him. Your attack on him is totally untenable.

The ledger was impeccable, the fire consumption of minting coins was calculated clearly, and then all the fire consumption was converted into silver and "returned" to the emperor. At this time, the ministers could only say "Your Majesty is virtuous".

Everyone knows that this money cannot appear out of thin air, and neither the emperor nor the people complained, so someone must have paid for the money.

Fujianese officials, or officials with good relations with Fujian officials, have all received letters from Fujian.

They were cheated by Mr. Tao!

But this time, even the most eloquent speaker was speechless.

How to say?

Many ministers who don't understand finances can't understand Eunuch Tao's method of defeating these big households!

How can I spray if I don't understand?

The law of the Ming Dynasty stipulates that private casting is illegal, and the collapse of old money is not imposed by Mr. Tao. Even Mr. Tao is not forced to buy old money. These old money are "hard" by the big hoarders in Fujian. Stuffed to him.

The most frightening thing among them was that the Minister of the Ministry of Hubu was blunt. This important minister who had been the Minister of the Ministry of Family Affairs since the 31st year of Jiajing felt a sense of crisis for the first time.

You are just a eunuch and you searched hard, and you still play financial tricks? And it's better than everyone in the household department, or else I, the secretary of the household department, will do it for you?

For the Ministry of Household Affairs, what they fear most is that the emperor understands finances.

Now the emperor already understood a little bit, so he tossed the Ministry of Households quite a lot.

But Eunuch Tao's move is already at the level of a famous financial minister in history.

no! Eunuch Tao must not be allowed to return to Beijing!

If Eunuch Tao enters the Supervisor of Rituals, then the Emperor will not be able to clearly see the activities of the Ministry of Household Affairs!

That is simply a disaster for the household department!

But this time Mr. Tao has made a great contribution, and he will definitely return to Beijing for a promotion after the minting is completed. What should we do!

Fang Shangshu was anxious like an ant on a hot pot. At this moment, he received a meeting post from the cabinet, summoning him to join the cabinet for discussion.

Discussion? Is the court going to spend money again?

These days there is only one subject of cabinet deliberations, money.

Anti-corruption in the southeast requires money, Anda in the north asks for money, Shengfan rebellion in Liaodong asks for money, and chieftains in the southwest ask for money for appeasement. In such a huge Ming Dynasty, the door is firewood, rice, oil and salt, and Fang Du, the Minister of the Ministry of Households, has to worry about everything.

Tobe is gone!

With this belief firmly established, Fang Dun dragged his heavy steps to the cabinet, but when he saw the note handed over by Mr. Yan Ge, Fang Dun rubbed his eyes.

"Your Majesty wants to reopen the Ryukyu Tribute?"

Fang Shangshu didn't expect that he hurriedly called him to the cabinet for this matter.

Elder Yan Ge lowered his head and said: "The news from the palace is that the governor of Fujian, Wang Daokun, has published a secret report. The Ryukyu envoys have ambergris in their hands. I request His Majesty to reopen the tribute and allow the Ryukyu envoys to pay tribute to Fuzhou."

Yan Song's ability to tell the news from the palace in the cabinet was naturally the news sent by the emperor's acquiescence. Fang Du's face was a little ugly, and the matter of paying tribute was the biggest headache for the Ministry of Household Affairs.

Every time these vassal states paid tribute, they took some rare treasures that the emperor liked, and then the Ministry of Households paid for the mission to return.

To put it bluntly, the matter of tribute is that the emperor takes the treasure, and the Ministry of Households pays for it. As for why the Ministry of Households pays for it, doesn’t your Ministry of Households pay for foreign affairs?

This is why the Ministry of Household Affairs insisted on refusing to rescue Manlajia when it was invaded by the Portuguese and the envoys of Manlajia asked for help.

Rescue troops need to pay, and tribute also needs to be paid. If you lose the Manchuka, the household department will lose a sum of expenses.

If Ryukyu wants to pay tribute again, the Ministry of Households will have to pay for it, and Ryukyu has brought ambergris this time, and if they get better things in the future, won’t the Ministry of Households have to pay more?

no! It must be stopped!

But Fang Shangshu suddenly froze for a moment.

"Ge Lao, Ryukyu paid tribute from Fuzhou, right?"

Yan Song nodded, he and Fang Dun were not part of the same party, this Fang Shangshu Yan Song didn't like it, it can be known that he was a capable minister of finance, that's why he was the Minister of the Household Department for so long.

Ryukyu paid tribute from Fuzhou. This is something that the household officials all know. Why did Fang Shangshu confirm it?

Fang Shangshu immediately said: "Restarting the Ryukyu Chao Gongzi is a big matter, and it needs competent personnel to handle it."

Yan Song nodded. Locally, it was the Shibo Department that controlled the tribute trade, but now that the Japanese pirates have rebelled, the Shibo Departments in various places have been abandoned.

In order to restart the Ryukyu tribute, it is necessary to pull up the team of the Shibo Division again.

Fang Shangshu immediately said: "The promotion of the Shibo Department has always been in the palace. The household department thought that Tao Dajian, who minted coins in Fujian, was proficient in finance and could preside over the affairs of the Fuzhou Ship Department and the reopening of the Ryukyu tribute."

Yan Song was stunned, and Xu Jie was also stunned.

This Fang Shangshu is actually not considered a Qingliu. He has become a school of his own in his position.

Fang Dun was from Yueyang, Hunan Province. After becoming an official, he has been supporting his fellow villagers. After becoming the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, he even donated money to build the Yueyang Guild Hall and arranged for officials from his hometown to live there.

They also organized fellow villagers to form a "township covenant", which is actually to form a political alliance of fellow villagers mainly in Hunan.

Neither Yan Song nor Qingliu like him very much, but he has controlled the household department for many years and has considerable weight in the court.

Yan Song was going to try his best to persuade Fang Dun to agree to reopen the tribute, but he didn't expect Fang Dun to agree directly before he could say what he persuaded.

The household department has always been tight-lipped, why is it so happy to agree today?

Yan Song is also a thousand-year-old fox, so he immediately understood the key.

Eunuch Tao!

Eunuch Tao did such a wonderful thing in Fujian that the Ministry of Household Affairs was too scared to let him go back to Beijing.

Presiding over the tribute trade is a lucrative job, Mr. Tao will not refuse, and the position of the Shipbuilding Department will definitely take a few years, and it will be a few years if it can be delayed for a few years.

Yan Song also didn't want Eunuch Tao to return to the capital, so he immediately understood Fang Shangshu's meaning.

The old and cunning chief minister of the cabinet quickly agreed with Wan Shangshu's opinion, signed and stamped the cabinet draft, and supported Fujian governor Wang Daokun's proposal to reopen the Ryukyu tribute in Fuzhou.

When Li Fang sent the cabinet bill to the imperial case, Emperor Jiajing raised the vermilion pen and personally approved the red on the bill, and approved Wang Daokun's proposal to reopen the Ryukyu tribute in Fuzhou, rebuild the Shibo Department, and let Fujian mint coins His father-in-law Tao also served as the promotion officer of the Shibo Department, and was fully responsible for matters related to the Ryukyu tribute.

Li Fang, who received the imperial decree, also had mixed feelings in her heart.

This time, Eunuch Tao immediately made a great contribution, and Li Fang, who was the recommender, naturally also benefited.

Not to mention the benefits of sharing profits in Fujian, as Li Fang's henchman, Eunuch Tao has strengthened his voice in the Supervisor of Ceremonies.

But Eunuch Tao's performance was so impressive that Li Fang hesitated a little. If he returned to the Forbidden City, wouldn't he also compete with him for favor?

Eunuch Tao's promotion to the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Department is considered a lucrative job, and it can also compensate Eunuch Tao for his contributions. At the same time, Eunuch Tao can continue to stay in Fuzhou to earn money without returning to the Forbidden City to threaten his status.

The best of both worlds!

The emperor, the cabinet, the inner court, and the household department all supported it, and this order was sent to Fujian with extremely high efficiency.

If Su Ze knew the decision-making process of this appointment, he would only feel that the Ming Dynasty would only win a small win, and he would always win a big win, anyway!

Su Ze, who returned to Nanping from Fuzhou, was invited to the county government by the new magistrate of Nanping before he could rest.

The new magistrate of Nanping, surnamed Sun, was far inferior to the previous magistrate of Bai County.

Sun Zhixian is over fifty years old, with a goatee, he looks more like a master than a magistrate.

Su Ze had met this county magistrate when he was handing over to Baizhi county, but Su Ze had been traveling around since that meeting. He really couldn't figure out why this county magistrate was so anxious to see him.

Sun Zhixian's attitude was very low, and he said almost flatteringly:

"Duke Xie Yuan is young and promising, and he will surely be able to get a high rank in the imperial examination in the future!"

Su Ze didn't know how to start a conversation with Sun Zhixian's support, so he exchanged a few words before being dragged to sit down by Sun Zhixian.

After sitting down, the magistrate Sun sighed, "Duke Xie Yuan, there is still a shortfall in autumn grain collection this year."

Su Ze knew that the main event was coming, could it be that the county magistrate came for alms?

Su Ze's expression was weird. He never thought that he would become Mr. Huang one day.

But looking at Nanping County, Changningwei is already the most affluent area in Nanping. Su Ze still has many industries in the city, and there is a large tea garden on the mountain.

In addition, the former magistrate was his future father-in-law, and his house teacher was the governor of Fujian, and he had an inseparable relationship with the eunuchs in the two palaces of Tao Gonggong and Hu Gonggong.

Well, I really am Master Huang.

It's no wonder that Sun Zhixian talked to himself in such a deliberative tone.

Mr. Huang is not being taken advantage of. The county's grain collection quota is not up to the requirement, so he can't fill this hole by himself. I, Su Ze, am a law-abiding and tax-paying squire!

Su Ze said: "My Changning Guard is a military guard, and I don't pay food. The tea garden in Wuyi Mountain also pays tea tribute."

Sun Zhixian said with a bitter face: "I know, I know, Changning Guard is a military guard and does not pay food. It's just that the difference in land tax this year is too much, so I want to ask the big households in the city to donate generously. Now the city is asking the big households to donate. , everyone is looking at Xie Yuangong!"

Su Ze didn't expect to encounter the legendary apportionment. He looked at Sun Zhixian and said:

"Although there was some rain in Fujian this year, there were no disasters in the end. Generally speaking, the weather is good. Why is there not enough autumn grain collection?"

Sun Zhixian said with a bitter face: "Hey, Xie Yuangong will definitely become an official in the future. When you reach my position, you will naturally understand my difficulties."

Sun Zhixian stroked his goatee and said, "Nowadays, my Ming Dynasty is such a strange thing. The more favorable the weather is, the less food can be harvested."

"Why?"

"Because you're cheap."

"Gujian?"

Sun Zhixian said: "If Eunuch Tao hadn't minted coins in Fujian this year, this phenomenon would have been even more serious. To put it bluntly, there is insufficient silver in the market. Although the harvest is good, the grain still cannot be sold at a price."

"This is already the case with summer grain. This year's summer grain harvest is bumper, but the price of grain is 10% lower than last year. Farming is a loss."

"Since farming does not make money and loses money, many large households simply abandon the land and do not grow food to nourish the land, or switch to cotton and mulberry and other cash crops."

"Eunuch Tao cleared up the money law, and the price of autumn grain went up a little bit. But at that time, there was no grain to grow, so there was no way to pay the grain. Now the whole of Fujian is very short of grain."

Sun Zhixian said with a bitter face: "The chief envoy has found a way for everyone to let the prefectures and counties pay taxes, but the county government has no money."

Sun Zhixian stretched out his hand and said to Su Ze: "Duke Xie Yuan, please donate one hundred taels of silver to lead the way! I will return 80% of it to you, how about it?"

Good guy, it's really a squire's 28 points, and he really can't deceive me.