The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Back to my lord, Wang Shangshu of the Ministry of Finance has just arrived. I don't know if he has left yet."

Lu Bu immediately stood still and replied in a low voice.

"Oh, then you can go there later and wait until he leaves."

Wei Guangde rolled his eyes and immediately changed his path.

He didn't want to quarrel with Wang Guoguang. This old man was dissatisfied because the cabinet asked them to pay a large sum of money. This time he came to Zhang Juzheng, and he must have come to quarrel.

In fact, in the court, such actions are often just a gesture. After all, the cabinet requires the Ministry of Household Affairs to provide money to control the river.

If the Ministry of Revenue really delayed the important task of river control because of the money issue, the old boy would be discredited by the world's scholars.

But Wang Guoguang was in charge of the household department, so he had to express his opinions, otherwise any yamen might start some expensive projects and ask for money from the household department.

Wei Guangde wants to hide, but can he do so?

Of course, Zhang Juzheng would not just bear Wang Guoguang's anger at this moment. He sent for Wei Guangde and Zhang Siwei, and the three cabinet ministers accepted Wang Guoguang's roar.

In this way, he will feel better.

When the clerk sent by Zhang Juzheng left the room, Wei Guangde touched his forehead and complained to the cloth on one side: "Did Wang Guangguang's expression look bad when he came over?"

"It's very ugly."

Lu Bu answered honestly.

"Then you won't be smart enough to send me a message. I'll go out and hide first."

Wei Guangde said very dissatisfied.

"Sir, Mr. Wang went straight to the first assistant to check the room. How could I know that I would ask you to go there too."

Lu Bu felt a little aggrieved. If he saw an official with a bad look and entered the cabinet, he would tell Wei Guangde to hide out. Wouldn't it mean that he had to hide out every now and then?

Don't think that cabinet ministers are one level higher than officials from the six ministries. That doesn't exist.

There are quite a lot of trolls among Ming Dynasty officials.

As long as their interests are touched, there are plenty of reasons to stand up and complain.

Any policy has two sides. If one party benefits, the other party must suffer.

The cabinet actually chooses among them and comes up with the ideas that are most beneficial to the country.

It makes people suffer, but they are not allowed to vent their dissatisfaction.

Not to mention the six ministers, the ministers, and even the seventh-rank sesame officials of Ke Dao, all of them dared to contradict the cabinet ministers face to face.

To put it bluntly, everyone is a Jinshi, but their positions are different, which somewhat means that the revolutionary division of labor will be different in later generations.

Of course, if you contradict your superiors, which is also known as undermining your superiors, and if you make too much of a fuss, you should be careful of being judged.

This time it made you crazy, and you might end up in someone else's hands next time.

The officials of the Ming Dynasty were accustomed to flattering, and they knew how to master this attitude.

The purpose of trolling superior officials is to show their unyielding character and win a good reputation among the government and the opposition, but not to create a deadly feud with the leader.

If you master this degree well, you will be praised by both the government and the public for your integrity. If you don't master it well, you will be like Hai Rui and others, who will retain their reputation, but in the end they will sadly withdraw from politics.

"Go down, I have to go over and listen to what this bastard Wang has to say."

Wei Guangde stood up, walked out of the duty room, and quickly approached Zhang Juzheng's duty room.

While he was still outside the door, he heard Wang Guoguang's voice inside, and his footsteps could not help but slow down.

"Okay, please tell me something. If the Ministry of Revenue doesn't have the money to allocate it, why don't we just sell the yamen in the capital for money?"

Before, the Ministry of Household Affairs still had Lao Ku to support it, but now Lao Ku has been empty for a long time. Where do you want me to turn the money into money and pay it to the Ministry of Works to build river embankments?"

The Ministry of Accounts was out of money and the warehouse was empty. This was actually expected by the cabinet.

Every year in Taicang, that is, during the middle of the year, there will be a lot of tax money from the northern and southern provinces put into the treasury. However, when the accounts are cleared at the end of the year, most of them will be withdrawn, and there will be very few left.

But it is unrealistic to say that the court cannot get out any money.

In fact, Wei Guangde and Zhang Juzheng considered how to pass this level at the end of the year.

Naturally, it is to borrow money.

Aren’t there boxes of silver coins piled up in the Changying Treasury of the Taipu Temple of the Ministry of War?

It would be too ugly to leave it in the warehouse and eat dust. It would be better to let the court borrow some money to spend when it is in deficit, and then fill it back with the tax money later.

This is also the fundamental reason why the Ming Dynasty was still able to maintain stable operations before the middle of Wanli even though there was famine every year.

However, in the middle and late period of Wanli, Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun thought of ways to move the silver from the Changying Treasury of Taipu Temple into the inner court. The lack of court supervision directly led to the rapid loss of tens of millions of taels in the late Wanli period and the Taichang and Tianqi dynasties. Ming Dynasty's war preparations are in reserve.

Don't think that letting a bunch of corrupt officials guard Chang Ying's treasury will lead to self-stealing. In fact, the corrupt officials are looking at the piles of money there, but no one dares to reach out.

Because the money in the Changying Treasury of Taipu Temple had to be spent for a reason, that is, it was used for military purposes, this was actually very difficult.

After all, the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty was not monolithic. It was divided into several factions based on regions, and there were also a group of people headed by cabinet ministers.

Mutual supervision is the reason why Chang Yingku's money is there, but no one dares to touch it.

Even Yan Song and Yan Shifan, who had power over the government and the opposition, did not dare to take advantage of this money.

Wei Guangde finally walked into the chief assistant's check-in room, and he took the initiative to offer his hand to Wang Guangguang, but Wang Guangguang was so angry at the moment that he ignored him at all.

"It's only now that Taicang's silver deposits are running low. Everything has been settled. It's all established at the beginning of the year.

After the money from the Ministry of Industry is taken away, except for the Ministry of Rites, which can take away the money for the emperor's wedding, other yamen will have to wait until next year."

Wang Guoguang continued, revealing all the secrets of the current Ministry of Revenue of the Ming Dynasty.

"If there is no silver, then there is the military pay for the nine borders and the reward silver for the southwest."

Wei Guangde felt nervous when he heard Wang Guoguang's words.

He didn't care whether other government offices had silver, but he had to pay attention to the silver of the Ministry of War.

If the Ministry of War had no silver, the locals would make trouble, and maybe another mutiny would be inevitable.

Well, the court hasn't had a mutiny because of military pay for many years. If it really happened, he, the second assistant of the cabinet, would be to blame.

"Minister Wang, the Ministry of Revenue pays every year, and the money of the Ministry of War is settled. Let's not talk about other things first. The silver of the Ministry of War cannot be less at that time. The consequences of arrears are too great, and you and I can't afford it."

Wei Guangde immediately interrupted when it came to his own interests.

The mutiny of the Ming Dynasty army actually started mainly after the Tumubao Incident.

At first, the military system of the Ming Dynasty was designed by Zhu Yuanzhang. The "three major camps" of the Ming army guarding the capital were the most elite troops of the Ming Dynasty.

Other areas were based on the "military in agriculture" guard system, and officers were hereditary, which became a protection for their misdeeds.

The lower-level soldiers were either military households who had to serve in the army for generations, or were sent to the army. They were arbitrarily dispatched by officers all day long, and were even forced to help officers do business and farm, just like slaves of officers. The phenomenon of running away was very serious.

The phenomenon of reselling military rations and withholding military pay was very common in the army, and even weapons and equipment were counterfeited in large quantities. This situation was not only the border army, but also the three major camps of the Ming army in the capital.

The corruption of the army directly led to a rapid decline in the combat effectiveness of the army. After the Tumubao Incident, military honors gradually withdrew from the court, and civil officials controlled the power of the Ming Dynasty.

Then the military pay of the nine frontiers became the fat meat between the civil officials and the military merits. In the past, this piece of fat meat was exclusively for the military merits. Now a piece of it has to be given to the civil officials, which naturally makes the life of the lower-level soldiers more difficult.

In the southern guards, soldiers can choose to escape if they can't eat enough.

The farming system in the north collapsed early, and the soldiers had nowhere to escape. After all, they needed to defend against the Mongols from the south and were stationed in the camp for a long time.

In order to eat, the border troops finally couldn't stand it and started to make trouble for pay, and then mutiny, or mutiny.

Although according to the current system, this is a malicious wage-demanding behavior that needs to be severely cracked down, but the army is different after all. The organizational structure is too large, and one hair can move the whole body. Every time it makes trouble, it is a big deal.

Let's not talk about the distant past. The Jiajing Dynasty was the turning point in the Ming Dynasty. Before that, whether it was the Zhengde Dynasty or the Hongzhi Dynasty, there was always the legacy left by the ancestors and the silver from the old treasury of the Ministry of Households to support it. It was the ugly appearance of the people below that led to the mutiny.

But in the Jiajing Dynasty, after the old treasury had been squandered, there was really no money left.

So there were six major mutinies in the Jiajing Dynasty due to military pay, and other small-scale mutinies emerged one after another, at least 19 large-scale mutinies.

All refer to the Ganzhou mutiny in the late Zhengde period. In fact, it was led by middle and low-level generals in the army. The root cause was actually the struggle between civil and military officials at the grassroots level. The distribution of interests was uneven, and the military directly chose to overturn the table.

Let's talk about it. After the Longqing Dynasty, the cabinet paid more and more attention to military affairs. Whether it was Gao Gong or Zhang Juzheng, they took into account the situation of the bottom of the Ming army, so they gave priority to the needs of the Ministry of War in financial allocation.

The result is that in recent years, especially in the nearly ten years since the Wanli Dynasty, there has been no military mutiny in the local area.

Of course, Wei Guangde did not dare to pat his chest and say that there was no mutiny below. Maybe there was, but it was just a small-scale mutiny, which was quickly quelled by local officials and then covered up without reporting.

In fact, the governors and governors of the local areas of the Ming Dynasty had long been aware of concealing some situations.

Now the court needs to obtain a lot of local intelligence, either through the Jinyiwei report or through the local inspectors and censors.

The end of the year is the time to pay the military salaries to the nine frontiers. If the Ministry of Revenue does not give silver, it means that the soldiers will not get the silver for a year of hard work before the New Year.

The New Year is coming soon, and this is not forcing the soldiers to mutiny.

If the official salary of the Beijing officials is in arrears during the New Year, they will go to the Ministry of Revenue and the Cabinet to block the door, not to mention those soldiers who can only use swords and guns.

"There hasn't been any trouble over the salary issue for more than ten years. If we report it now, the Ministry of War won't be able to survive this year, and the Ministry of Revenue won't be able to survive either."

As soon as Wei Guangde finished speaking, Wang Guoguang immediately became angry and said to Wei Guangde: "Wei Ge Lao, you are threatening our Ministry of Revenue, right?

If you don't have money, then you can take the money from the Ministry of Rites for the wedding."

"I'm not threatening you, but you are threatening me with the lives of the Ming soldiers."

Wei Guangde immediately replied, "In the past, river works were not built without huge costs. The emperor would never ask the Ministry of Revenue for money.

This year is different. In order to ensure the livelihood of millions of people along the river, the court decided to start a major project to renovate the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River.

The river and the Ministry of Works can afford the money, so the Ministry of Revenue has to bear part of it.

And what about you?

As the Minister of Revenue, you are not considering where to get money, but threatening the cabinet with military pay. What are you going to do?

Do you want the local guards to rebel? "

Threatening the cabinet with military pay, this precedent must never be set.

Wei Guangde originally planned to come here and say a few angry words to Wang Guang, but if the Ministry of Household Affairs had nothing to do in the future, he would use the military salary from the Ministry of War to make trouble.

No matter how angry you are, you can't make fun of military affairs.

Therefore, directly lead Wang Guoguang's words to the rebellion.

Although there has been no military mutiny in the past ten years, the person here has never experienced such a thing.

Not to mention, Wei Guangde also encountered the Nanjing Mutiny. That was Nanjing City, and the rioters were from the Beijing camp. At that time, it shocked the entire Ming Dynasty.

Although that incident was not due to military pay, but to other incidents, the soldiers' troubles were somewhat related to the lack of military pay.

If the military pay is in place, it will be difficult for officials to lead their subordinates to cause trouble.

"Lending well, speaking carefully."

Zhang Juzheng shouted immediately when he saw this, and then he glared at Wang Guangguang fiercely, and said in a slightly slower tone: "Look, the Ministry of Household Affairs must guarantee the allocation of military pay, there is no need to discuss this.

If the Ministry of Revenue has difficulties, the Cabinet will naturally consider them.

In fact, the imperial government's financial deficit has been in deficit every year over the years, and it didn't just happen to you. The cabinet is already considering how to increase the imperial government's fiscal revenue.

But three feet of ice is not a day's cold, and we will have to suffer from the Ministry of Household Affairs for the past two years, waiting for the new government policy to come out. "

Everyone present knew Zhang Juzheng's plan.

In the past two years, due to the passing of the examination, the annual income of the Ministry of Household Affairs has actually increased.

In the past, arrears in various provinces were almost eliminated. No one would let the subordinates delay paying the national taxes and royal rations. That would be a loss of official status.

For this alone, the Ministry of Household Affairs can collect all taxes every year, which can be regarded as a considerable increase in revenue.

However, because of this, many local troubles have indeed occurred in order to recover taxes.

The purpose of clearing the land is to reduce taxes for households through tax sharing, and to gain more information about the land and use it to re-formulate the world's taxes.

According to the figure set by Zhu Yuanzhang, it cannot meet the requirements of increasing income at all. It can only be said to reduce the burden.

Over the past hundred years, the number of acres in the world has increased dramatically, but the court's income has not increased at all. Zhang Juzheng wanted the court to benefit from it this time.

Wang Guoguang also knew that his previous words were a bit too radical, so he remained silent now.

After a while, it was Zhang Siwei who broke the atmosphere in the room and said: "There are difficulties in the household department, but river work still needs to be done.

The household department will first tighten up and collect all the money. At the end of the year, each government office will ask for money. Then we will see how big the gap is. If we can, we will slow down. If not, we will borrow it from the Changying Treasury. "

Zhang Juzheng and Wei Guangde both nodded. Wei Guangde also took the opportunity to take out the memorial sent by the Ministry of War and said: "This is the detailed battle report sent by Li Chengliang in the southwest. I have something in mind. It is better to let the Ministry of War write it down and let Li Chengliang contact Yu Dayou as soon as possible. The treasures from Toungoo City in Myanmar were brought to the capital.

Those who live in the royal palace of Myanmar must enter the inner court, but the gold and silver can be transferred to the household department as rewards to support the court first.

As for the Ming army, let them continue to garrison in Myanmar first. They are not in a hurry to prepare silver rewards. They will deal with the matter first. "(End of chapter)