Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

Although national debt is a novel term, it is actually not new at all.

From ancient times to the present, it is not uncommon for courts or emperors to "borrow", but the end result is almost always breach of trust and default, and even the largest default event of this century occurred in this dynasty.

When Zhu Di raised an army to seize the throne, because his own troops were too weak, he borrowed troops from Ning Wang Zhu Quan, who had a heavy army, and personally promised Ning Wang Zhu Quan to divide the world equally after the success.

Half the world, this was an immeasurable wealth, and it was no wonder that the then Ning King Zhu Quan would be tempted.

However, after Zhu Di captured the city of Nanjing, he no longer mentioned the issue of dividing the world equally. Even Ning Wang Zhu Quan did not dare to say a word and watched Zhu Di break the contract.

In the end, Zhu Quan was arranged to leave the fiefdom and change it to Nanchang.

It can be seen that even if the supreme imperial power breaks its promise and breaches the contract, even the prince will not dare to say anything. In this feudal dynasty, once the emperor breached the contract, who would dare to collect debts from the emperor?

There might be some hope for a weak emperor, but since Hongzhi ascended the throne, he has been worthy of the title of tyrant and has shown no mercy to even the emperor's relatives.

Once Emperor Hongzhi chooses to break his promise and breach of contract, all the wealthy households in the capital will have no choice but to admit that they are unlucky, and the three million taels they have worked so hard to save will be in vain.

"Your Majesty is a king who keeps his word, and our important ministers are not deceivers. One cent of interest a year is a blessing to the people! Ahem... If the Ministry of Revenue cannot fully complete the task of issuing national bonds, then it will be your household. All the officials of the ministry have failed in their duties!" Wan An sat here and listened with his old body, but he was trying to characterize the national debt.

The sound spread to the attic, where the aroma of tea rose.

Zhu Youtang reached out to pick up the teacup handed over by Han Youying and took a sip.

He knew that the results of the national debt investigation were people's doubts about his creditworthiness. Now that he saw Wan An protecting him like this, he felt a little relieved.

It's just a pity that Wan An is obviously suffering from physical problems now. Even if he wants to reuse this old chief assistant, he still has to get God's permission.

The current national debt questionnaire survey shows unsatisfactory feedback. Although he has no plans to default, he also understands the concerns of these subjects.

Compared with the temptation of the interest, the emperor and the court as the loan recipients were too powerful, and their risk factor of losing their principal was indeed not low.

If he really breaks his word and becomes the second Zhu Di, this group of people will have no choice but to be dumb and eat Coptis chinensis.

Clay figures all have three points of fire, not to mention that Hu Bu has always done his best.

Facing Wan An's accusation, Li Si's face suddenly darkened, but he hated this old chief assistant who could stand and talk without pain in his back.

Wu Yu, the right minister of the Ministry of Revenue, knew that Hongzhi was indeed a king who kept his word, and immediately expressed his position: "What Mr. Yuanfu said is absolutely true. The issuance of national bonds is indeed an act of kindness to the people, but now the people are really worried about the court's default." I am afraid that one yamen in the Ministry of Revenue cannot dispel the concerns of the people, so we need all yamen to work together to build momentum, and I would like to ask you all for your suggestions!"

When things have reached this point, there is no use in shirking responsibility. The current plan is to discuss a countermeasure and come up with an effective plan.

After so many top meetings, in fact, the solutions to many difficult problems were not necessarily proposed by officials of the department, but were instead the result of brainstorming.

That's why he chose to take on some responsibilities first and bring everyone in at the same time.

Huh?

Officials such as Jia Jun, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, were originally sitting high on the Diaoyutai, but they didn't want this little minister of household affairs to drag them into the water. Now the trouble is spread equally on all of them.

Wan An's expression softened a lot when he saw Wu Yu taking the initiative to take responsibility.

He Qiaoxin, the Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, hated Wu Yu's cleverness and said with a smile: "Cooperate? You might as well let us six officials subscribe together!"

The speaker was unintentional, the listener was intentional, and a flash of inspiration suddenly flashed in everyone's mind.

Li Yu, the Minister of Civil Affairs, reacted the fastest, and immediately expressed his stance: "Huh? This is a good method!"

"If we take the lead, it will really serve as a demonstration!"

"Yes, He Shangshu's method is indeed a good remedy!"

"If this is the case, I am willing to subscribe to the treasury bonds issued by the Ministry of Accounts!"

…

After thinking about "He Qiaoxin's proposal", officials such as Li Si, Minister of Industry and Industry, their eyes suddenly lit up, but they knew that it was indeed a good measure for important ministers like them to take the lead in purchasing national debt.

"This...that's not what I meant!"

He Qiaoxin, the Minister of Punishment, was completely dumbfounded when he saw the reactions of the people around him, and he shouted innocently in his heart.

He just wanted to ridicule the cleverness of Wu Yu, the right minister of the Ministry of Finance, but he also wanted to drag them into the water, but who knew that he would become the one who gave the advice.

Wang Yue sat quietly on one side, seemingly out of tune with these six ministry officials.

He has now fully integrated into the role of Zuo Du Yushi of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. He has a pair of extremely sharp eyes and is fully prepared to capture the changes in He Qiaoxin's expression.

Since returning to the capital, he has conscientiously performed his duties as the censor of Zuodu, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, so he can clearly see the current situation in the court.

Although the officials in the imperial court seemed to be in harmony now, he had a vague feeling that the twenty people here were not united. At least He Qiaoxin, the Minister of Punishment, was a hidden danger.

Based on his observation, the emperor must have seen that He Qiaoxin, the Minister of Punishment, was not a true loyal minister, and even wanted to hinder him, but for some reason the emperor still kept He Qiaoxin.

Of course, these matters are not under his control, but his main responsibility is to supervise the officials and submit the criminal evidence collected by the prosecutor's office to the emperor.

The wind and snow outside have subsided, and this financial meeting is coming to an end.

Although the theme of this meeting is to solve the three million gap, what is more important is the financial budget for next year, and strive to make every government spend money wisely.

The Ministry of Rites has reduced some expenditures on sacrifices.

The Ministry of War began to check the accounts of various guards.

The Ministry of Works stopped some unimportant sacrificial projects.

…

Officials from the six yamen came well prepared and conducted corresponding inspections of their yamen’s unreasonable expenditures, striving to plug some loopholes.

As for the main affairs of the court next year, they are to control the Yellow River, develop the state and set sail for Zhiyuan treasure ships, and of course, there is also the Luzon mining plan that only needs the east wind.

Although there are still many shortcomings in the Ming Dynasty, and the forces within the dynasty that are hostile to Emperor Hongzhi are now very strong, the entire dynasty is working hard to develop.

"Your Majesty, please retire, long live my emperor!" Li Yu, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and other officials saw that things were almost done, and immediately saluted respectfully.

Guo Yong, who was standing next to the dragon chair, waved the whisk in his hand and conveyed his message: "Old Wange, please stay, others can leave!"

Li Yu, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and other officials looked at the chief minister of the cabinet with envy, but they saw that this dedicated old chief minister was still working despite being sick, and they did not feel much hostility in their hearts.

Putting aside the inherent prejudices, Wan An is indeed a very competent first assistant.

When Zhu Youtang saw the courtiers below leaving one after another, he gently put down the teacup in his hand, then got up from the comfortable lounge chair and walked down the stairs.

"Ahem... I pay homage to Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live, long live!" Wan An had already arrived at the stairs and knelt down in excitement.

Zhu Youtang glanced at Liu Jin and asked with concern: "Mr. Wange, you haven't recovered from your illness yet, so you shouldn't come here today!"

Liu Jin had already stepped forward, trying to help Wan An up.

"My old minister has failed to live up to his expectations with his broken body. I am unworthy of your majesty's kindness. Please punish me!" Wan An was already in tears at this moment and looked up guiltily.

Zhu Youtang knew that Wan An was indeed a loyal minister and at least had a belief in the emperor. He sighed secretly in his heart: "You are not suffering from an incurable disease. You only need to cooperate with the imperial doctor's treatment and you will definitely be cured! You don't have to worry about you." The position of chief minister will always be reserved for you, but I will add a new member to the cabinet after the new year, and then let Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, join the cabinet to check and balance Liu Ji."

Although he had no intention of replacing Wan An, Liu Ji was now in charge of the entire cabinet, which was not in line with his own checks and balances, so adding new members was a wise move.

Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, has relatively mediocre talents, but he is still loyal to himself and is the most suitable third person in the cabinet.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid I can't stand it any longer, so I want to offer you this strategy for governing the country and controlling your ministers!" Wan An reached out and took out a notebook from his sleeve, looking very serious.

Guo Yong saw it very clearly just now, and Wan An was ready to leave with everyone just now.

If His Majesty had not told him to stay, this book might not have been submitted. Of course, this was his humble speculation. Now the emperor's retention has undoubtedly eliminated all extraneous matters.

Zhu Youtang was not overjoyed when he looked at the presented book. Instead, he looked at Wan An seriously: "Mr. Wange, you hope to know my wish. I need you to help me govern the country, so you have to continue living well instead of Thinking of leaving me!"

"Your Majesty, please leave this book with Your Majesty for now! If the old minister recovers, can your Majesty please return it to the old minister intact?" Wan An was very moved and immediately proposed a compromise plan.

Zhu Youtang was not a mother-in-law, so he immediately handed the notebook to Guo Yong: "Seal this notebook and return it to Mr. Wange in the spring of next year!"

"According to the decree!" Guo Yong knew that this was the agreement between the monarch and his ministers, and he said respectfully.

Zhu Youtang left Wan'an behind because he had important matters to discuss, and asked straight to the point: "Mr. Wange, what do you think of the method of officials from the six ministries taking the lead in subscribing to national debt?"

"This method seems to be very feasible, but the effect may be far worse than expected!" Wan An can be said to be the best candidate for the first assistant in this era, and it seems that he can see the essence at a glance.

Although it is a good method for important officials of the imperial court to take the lead in subscribing to national bonds, there is actually a big problem here, that is, what is the subscription amount of these important officials?

Just like the management of a listed company repurchasing shares, if the management spends hundreds of millions of funds to repurchase, this move will undoubtedly be very promising for the company's prospects and will naturally have a positive effect.

If the entire management only spends tens of thousands of yuan to make a move, it will be meaningless. Not only will it not be able to stimulate the emotions of investors, but it will also be regarded as a bearish signal by the market.

Considering the current actual situation, it is difficult for officials of the Six Ministries to make large subscriptions.

Whether it is for their own official reputation or to keep their wealth from being exposed, they do not dare to make the first move. The most likely thing is to make a small show.

After all, the salary of the imperial court is very low now. If thousands of taels are used to subscribe, then where does this large amount of silver come from? It is easy to be regarded as a corrupt official.

Incidentally, although the officials in the capital did not directly embezzle the court's public funds, Bing Jian, Tan Jian and Bie Jian were softened, but there were no truly clean officials.

It's just that the ministers of the Sixth Ministry only made a small gesture, so let alone motivating the people to subscribe enthusiastically, it is likely to discourage more people.

Zhu Youtang had just realized this problem, but he had already made up his mind and said: "Mr. Wange, I plan to ask a minister to subscribe for a large amount of money, but I don't know who is suitable?"

"If this is the case, the most suitable candidate is probably He Qiaoxin, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. He Qiaoxin comes from a well-known family, his father He Wenyuan was the former Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and He Qiaoxin has a good name in Shilin. If he comes forward, one of his properties will be Secondly, he can use his reputation to call on Shilin to subscribe, not to mention that this plan was proposed by him first!" Wan An thought briefly and gave a name.

Nowadays, most of the important officials in the imperial court come from ordinary families. Because they are too close to the emperor, their official reputation is not good, and they even have a bad reputation.

It's just that He Qiaoxin has a strong appeal in Shilin, both in terms of his origin and status, so he is the most suitable one among the six ministers.

Zhu Youtang realized that He Qiaoxin was indeed the best candidate, and nodded gently: "In that case, let him lobby for He Qiaoxin to come forward with a large amount of money to subscribe. Let's set a benchmark first, and then Then imagine selling three million of the bonds between the two countries!"

Although he doesn't like the rich and powerful, the wealth is now controlled by this group of people. Now if he wants to raise three million taels, he mainly has to rely on this group.

The reality is so helpless. Even the aloof emperor sometimes has to make some compromises with the groups that control the wealth of society.

I just hope that these people can give themselves a face and subscribe for the first batch of national bonds since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, thereby achieving a win-win situation.

Since the New Year is only a few days away, and it is urgent to raise funds to mine Luzon gold mines, the Ministry of Household Affairs also officially launched the Hongzhi National Bond.

The face value of each treasury bond is ten taels, and a total of 300,000 treasury bonds were issued. The coupon interest of each bond is 10%. If it expires next year, the court will need to pay a total of 3.3 million taels.

"The interest is quite high, but who dares to collect debt from the emperor?"

"Not to mention whether we can mine the gold mine, even if we have the money, we may not be able to pay it back!"

"Yes, how many people came to Yihong Tower and said they wanted to redeem themselves, but ended up getting into bed without even wanting to admit their debt!"

…

Faced with the sudden introduction of national debt by the imperial court, although the 10% interest rate offered was very tempting, the reaction of the people in the capital was as reported earlier by the Ministry of Household Affairs. They were still worried about their emperor's default.

In fact, this kind of worry is very normal. The emperor may be willing to fulfill the contract now, but when it expires next year, he may have a different attitude when he sees 3.3 million taels.

According to the original plan, important officials from the Sixth Ministry would spend real money to subscribe to dispel the public's doubts, but things suddenly changed.

He Qiaoxin, the Minister of Justice, who originally had high hopes, not only failed to take up the banner of subscribers, but only subscribed for one treasury bond, which immediately cast a shadow on the issuance of treasury bonds by the imperial court.