The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Wei Guangde came out of Zhang Juzheng's room and walked back to his duty room. On the way, he was still thinking about the pros and cons of this matter.

Datong developed from a tribute road to a horse market. Is this good or bad? Wei Guangde felt that he had to think about it carefully.

Datong's geographical location determined that once the Datong horse market was opened, Shanxi merchants would inevitably make huge profits with the convenience.

Wei Guangde was not a person with jealousy. It was more painful for others to make money than to kill him.

This was their own opportunity, fate, and could not be forced.

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But they were Shanxi merchants.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde suddenly realized that if Datong opened a horse market, Shanxi merchants might start from here and start trafficking their own contraband to the north on a large scale.

Of course, it does not mean that there would be no merchants smuggling without a horse market, but with the help of Datong horse market, Shanxi merchants could more easily transport goods to the border.

After all, under normal circumstances, no merchants would transport goods to the border, except for the tribute trade twice a year.

At other times, transporting goods to the north would inevitably be strictly checked by the Ming army garrisons along the way.

However, the Datong horse market is definitely beneficial to the development of the northern economy, and the Ministry of Revenue can also earn more income.

Didn't you see that Wang Guoguang intervened and successfully lobbied Zhang Juzheng with Zhang Siwei?

In fact, Wei Guangde guessed why Wang Guoguang was so anxious about the revenue of the Ministry of Revenue.

Before Zhang Juzheng implemented the Kaocheng Law, the Ming treasury had always been in deficit and in deficit.

Even in the last two years of Longqing, when Gao Gong took over the position of the Prime Minister, this situation did not change at all.

And one of the important reasons why Zhang Juzheng introduced the Kaocheng Law was to use this law to promote the timely collection of local taxes and reduce the deficit of the court.

It can be said that the financial summary at the end of the third year of Wanli was extremely important, and the deficit needed to be eliminated. Even if there was a surplus of one or two taels of silver, it was Zhang Juzheng's greatest contribution to his administration.

At least it proves that the new law can eliminate the deficit of the court and will not shake the foundation of the country.

Wei Guangde has returned to the duty room and sat in his seat. Looking at the two piles of memorials on the desk, he felt a headache.

He now needs to consider two points, one is the attitude of the Ministry of Revenue, and the other is what the opening of the horse market in Datong may eventually develop into.

It seems to be two points, but in fact it seems to be another point, that is, the Ministry of Revenue has clearly supported the opening of the market in Datong.

Thinking of those Shanxi merchants in the late Ming Dynasty, who were frantically selling grain and ironware to the Liaodong Jiannu in the case of a large-scale reduction in grain production in the north, earning gold and silver stained with the blood of the Han people, Wei Guangde did not want to agree to the opening of the Datong horse market from the bottom of his heart.

But the Ministry of Revenue has obviously gone crazy because of the problem of fiscal deficit, or Zhang Juzheng is very anxious to solve this problem.

Originally, the casting of the Ming Tongbao could earn a lot of money for the court, but Liaodong, the southeast, and the southwest went to war one after another, and the court spent a lot of money. It seems that the little money earned is definitely not enough to spend.

The income from Yuegang was not much, and the majority of it went to the palace.

"Palace?"

Wei Guangde suddenly realized that the palace was dissatisfied with the Ministry of Revenue, and Feng Bao's eyes looking at Wang Guoguang were not right.

As for the Datong horse market that he supported, he felt that as long as some time was dragged on, it might be resolved.

Yes, Wei Guangde wanted to oppose the opening of the horse market in Datong, but he was unwilling to speak directly.

As for how Feng Bao would move Wang Guoguang, he knew it in his heart.

In fact, the fundamental reason why the eunuchs and the Minister of Revenue of the Ming Dynasty often confronted each other was still the purchase of the inner court.

"All under heaven is the king's land. All the people are the king's subjects."

The land here does not only mean land. In ancient times, land was actually a symbol of wealth, and in fact it was the same in later generations.

The financial system of the Ming Dynasty did not clearly distinguish the relationship between the country's income and expenditure and the emperor's personal income and expenditure, so the monarch's personal expenses were closely related to public finance.

The court officials constantly made suggestions to the emperor, such as the extravagant palace expenses, the arbitrary collection of tribute, the eunuchs who took the opportunity to do whatever they wanted, and the large amount of land awarded to the emperor's relatives, nobles, and favorites.

However, because the emperor had the ultimate power, the officials could only protest, or threaten to resign, or impeach the court officials who carried out the emperor's orders, or exaggerate the signs of heaven to warn the willful emperor.

But when these methods failed, they were helpless, and they were often in danger of the monarch's revenge.

Except for the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang who was self-taught, the other Ming emperors received Confucian education. They were indoctrinated to abide by the ancestral teachings, respect the will of the people, and stay away from resentment and indulgence.

But even so, with the emperor as the center, the expenses of the palace were still huge, and the emperor lived the most luxurious life in the world.

The Ming Dynasty court expenses were extremely complicated. The entire palace was centered on the Forbidden City, surrounded by high walls and heavily guarded.

These magnificent buildings cover an area of ​​about a quarter of a square mile and include the emperor's residence, court, study, and the offices of the imperial historian and cabinet.

Surrounding the Forbidden City is the Imperial City, which is also heavily fortified.

Within the walls, the Imperial City has all kinds of facilities, including silver vaults, warehouses, and raw material processing and manufacturing workshops, such as workshops for producing cakes, candies, medicines, wine, and leather, as well as needlework bureaus, silverwork bureaus, warp factories, weaving and dyeing bureaus, and even factories for manufacturing guns.

Most of these departments are led by eunuchs, and only a few departments are managed in the name of civil officials.

Other eunuch offices received supplies from the above-mentioned warehouses and workshops to maintain the normal life of the Forbidden City.

The civil service departments in the imperial city include the Censorate, which is responsible for supervising the warehouses, and the Guanglu Temple, which nominally belongs to the Ministry of Rites. All these offices and life service facilities exceed 50.

These service agencies mainly serve the royal family, and their operations cannot be completely separated from the functions of the government.

A large amount of fine cotton, linen and silk fabrics are mainly supplied to concubines and palace maids, and are also awarded to foreign tribute missions and civil and military officials. The Emperor's Silver Bureau produces silverware for the Forbidden City and also engraves and plates for important documents.

One of the basic duties of the Ming emperor was to perform endless court ceremonies in a luxurious place, such as the opening of large palaces, various grand ceremonies inside and outside the palace, such as the emperor's enthronement, wedding and many similar activities.

These activities are very expensive, and it is difficult for us to know exactly which are the emperor's personal expenses and which are state expenditures.

The royal family did not have a special management department, so the so-called "internal treasury" was actually just the emperor's wallet in many cases, but it might not be used on the emperor.

Palace expenses generally include the purchase of cotton cloth, silk, tea, yellow wax, dyes, etc., all of which are in large quantities.

Undoubtedly, the confusion between palace expenses and public funds seriously damaged financial management.

In name, the palace warehouses were managed by the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of War. In fact, the ministers only ensured the supply. They did not have much control over the materials stored in the palace. This was the privilege of the monarch.

As far as the management of the warehouses was concerned, the civil officials only kept accounts, while the eunuchs held the keys.

In the Ming Dynasty, senior eunuchs were frequently sent to carry out procurement and supervision missions. Such as procurement and supervision of palace utensils, porcelain, satin, etc. Palace utensils were produced in Nanjing.

If it were not for the fact that the eunuchs often used the canal to smuggle private goods during the procurement process and required additional government transportation, these procurement activities would not have caused much controversy.

Such as vases, bowls with a diameter of more than 10 feet, chess pieces, porcelain screens, sacrificial utensils, and ceramic utensils used in the Guanglu Temple. Silk was produced in Zhejiang and Nanzhili, with various varieties, colors and patterns, and was exclusively for domestic demand.

Some of these products were sometimes ordered in hundreds of thousands at a time. The labor and raw materials required to produce these tributes had to be provided by the local government, including logistical support.

This issue has always been a source of tension between civil officials and eunuchs.

Because the demand for materials and labor would squeeze the income of the Ministry of Households and the Ministry of Works, it would also affect the management of local affairs by provincial officials.

One of the most controversial issues is the handling of tribute materials.

The supply of tribute materials to the inner treasury has a relative quota, either allocated according to local land grain or levied according to the lijia.

Even when the finances were tight, these additional taxes were still the responsibility of the government departments, and they could only divert money and grain from the departments to provide for the orders.

Some special supplies may be converted into silver and intercepted by the departments, but the departments are responsible for supplying the various supplies needed in the palace.

Therefore, although the court allocated a large amount of money to the inner court every year, in fact, more financial expenditures were hidden in the tributes from various places, which were difficult to divide.

The materials needed by the inner court were not purchased by the inner treasury.

Why could the eunuchs make the purchases in the palace sky-high?

Because most of the purchases did not require them to spend money, they had to use up the gold and silver in stock so that they could continue to ask the Ministry of Revenue for money next year, which could only increase the unit price of some things.

Otherwise, if the fiscal budget could not be spent, the court would have a reason to cut expenditures next year.

This struggle was mixed with the vested interests of the eunuchs in charge of the inner treasury, which became a reason why taxes could not be completely split into silver in the late Ming Dynasty.

Speaking of the inner court expenditures in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was actually because Wei Guangde probably knew Feng Bao's calculations.

After the autumn, the inner court would inevitably make a large-scale purchase to prepare materials for the harem for the New Year.

I believe that at that time, Feng Bao would attack Wang Guoguang and list a purchase list that the court could not accept.

At that time, as long as Wang Guoguang dared to refuse, Feng Bao would report the matter to Ciqing Palace.

Not to mention that the two Empress Dowagers would handle matters impartially, in fact, when facing official affairs concerning themselves, the two Empress Dowagers would never consider from the perspective of the outer court, but would only put pressure on the cabinet and the Ministry of Revenue.

At that time, as long as a few slanderous words were said about Wang Guoguang, the old guy would be kicked out directly.

And in this case, Zhang Juzheng could not speak for him.

At this time, Wei Guangde only needed to propose candidates to compete for the position of Minister of Revenue. In order to keep this office, Zhang Juzheng would naturally have to make concessions in some aspects.

It was only three months, Wei Guangde thought he could afford it.

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde stopped working and directly spread out paper to write a letter.

The letter was naturally to Ma Fang, the general of Datong, asking him to delay the time as much as possible when Huo Yi arranged the rules of the horse market.

For example, the location of the horse market, you have to consider safety, right? The military needs to provide reference opinions, which military forts are suitable for the opening of the market.

It must be convenient for transportation, and it must not affect the safety of the border wall. There must be a large army stationed around it. All aspects must be considered.

It is normal to take two months to choose a site.

Wei Guangde quickly wrote the letter and did not rush to send it out. He would ask Zhang Ji to arrange for the servants to send it to Datong after returning home in the evening.

Just when Wei Guangde was busy destroying the horse market in Datong in the capital, Li Chengliang in the southwest also encountered a huge crisis.

Hundreds of thousands of Burmese troops came in a fierce momentum, and they would naturally not return in defeat under the strong defense of the Ming Dynasty.

For several consecutive days, the Burmese army mobilized troops to attack Tengchong and Shidian fiercely.

Lujiang City was also attacked several times, but the geographical location of Lujiang City by the river made it impossible for the Burmese army to implement siege tactics, and the Ming army could continuously provide replenishment for the city through ships.

For this reason, Mang Yinglong did not choose this place as the main attack direction, but took Tengchong and Shidian as the main attack direction.

As long as any point is broken through, the Burmese army can continue to advance eastward, approach Chuxiong, and then threaten Kunming Prefecture.

At this time, the battle report received by Li Chengliang was the document sent by Mu Changzuo, in which Tengchong Wei requested a breakout.

Yes, Tengchong Guard is a local guard station, and it is also an army controlled by Mu Changzuo, the general of Yunnan. The corruption is relatively serious among the guard stations in Yunnan.

Tengchong is a key point in western Yunnan, so the court established a complete guard station here. The guard station, which should have more than 5,000 people, actually had only more than 2,000 people when the war started.

Even after emergency conscription, the number of troops was only over 4,000.

In addition to the young and strong spare from the military households, the defense force of the entire Tengchong was less than 10,000.

Faced with tens of thousands of Burmese troops attacking the city, all the city defense materials were exhausted in just over ten days, and they could only ask Baoshan to break out to the east and enter Baoshan City for defense.

Although the Burmese army has been fighting all the way, according to the intelligence that Li Chengliang sent people to investigate, the Burmese army seems to be getting bigger and bigger.

Yes, most of the chieftains along the way surrendered and joined the Burmese army.

"Rusong."

"Dad."

When Li Rusong heard his father calling him, he immediately stood up and waited.

"You take two battalions of soldiers and horses from Baoshan City and rush to Lujiang City as soon as possible to support the Tengchong soldiers and horses."

Although he was a little disgusted with these old soldiers in Yunnan, Mu Changzuo's face was here, and Li Chengliang really couldn't give a death order to let the Tengchong guards defend the city to the death.

If the Tengchong guards wanted to retreat eastward, the best route would naturally be to cross the river through Lujiang City.

"Lord Mu, you should also send troops to follow Rusong to support the Tengchong guards to retreat."

Of course, Li Chengliang would not just send troops by himself. Since Mu Changzuo came, it means that the situation in Tengchong is already very critical, and it is understandable to let them withdraw.

Li Chengliang is not used to letting soldiers fight to the death.

In fact, letting the Burmese army cross the Lujiang River was a set strategy. With the division of the Lujiang River, the Burmese army could be effectively divided into two parts, Jiangdong and Jiangxi. When the Ming army retreated, they would hide and damage all the ships on the Lujiang River, creating some trouble for the Burmese army.

"Yes, I will go down and arrange people to set off with Mr. Li."

Mu Changzuo hurriedly agreed. The commander of Tengchong Guard was his concubine's brother. Some aspects were just for show, and they would not really let people fight to the death.

Knowing that the chances of winning were slim.

In fact, it was Lujiang City that was suitable for defending. As long as Baoshan sent troops to protect the ferry, it could provide a steady stream of support for the city.

The most important thing is that Baoshan City has this force. (End of this chapter)