The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Xu Jie frowned slightly when he heard the butler mention the name "Hai Rui".

He actually didn't like Hai Rui and knew that this person was not easy to get along with.

The reason why I protected Hai Rui in the first place was not because of his reputation, but for myself.

Thinking about Hai Rui's reputation after he submitted the letter, it would be detrimental to his reputation if he didn't do anything to protect him. Moreover, Hai Rui was only a sixth-grade household head before, so he couldn't catch his eye at all.

Hai Rui was valued by Qingliu, and since he claimed to be a member of Qingliu, he naturally had to protect him.

Although, in Qingliu's eyes, Xu Jie was already a turbid Liu.

The fundamental reason why he got close to Qingliu in the first place was because they all had a common enemy - Yan Song.

"Sir, please see if you can send a letter to Governor Hai and ask him to suppress this matter."

The steward said tentatively.

"Do you think that's possible?"

It is not unreasonable for Hai Rui to have a prosperous official career after he was released from prison.

Originally it would be best for someone like Hai Rui to be reinstated, but he has been pushed up by Qingliu, and the previous vigorous praise of the gentry in Chun'an and Xingguo also played an immeasurable role in this process. effect.

The name "Qingtian" is not something that just casual officials can bear.

Xu Jie didn't know the fundamental reason why Hai Rui was sent to the governor's post. It was because he knew Hai Rui as a person and didn't like him that he got him into the General Affairs Department and let him stay in this yamen without real power. He moved every nine years, and by the time he was promoted to the rank of general envoy, it was almost time for him to be laid to rest.

Hai Rui is an anomaly in the officialdom. No one wants to work with him, and this is all because of his reputation.

Xu Jie didn't know why Hai Qingtian was so praised, but he just thought that this person might be upright, so he got the name Qingtian.

"Send someone to go to the governor's Yamen to inquire about the news and see what they plan to do before making a fuss."

Of course Xu Jie would not give back what he got, but he also knew that he needed to find out Hai Rui's plan before considering how to deal with it.

This year, Xu Jie felt a little unlucky, and it seemed like every big thing that happened was against him.

First, Gao Gong wanted to return to the court, which made him unable to think about food or food for a long time. At this juncture, something like this happened again.

I often worship Bodhisattva, but why does Bodhisattva not know how to protect me?

In later generations, many people thought that because of his impartiality in enforcing the law and his upright character, Hai Rui became a high official in the end. He was also valued by the chief assistant Xu Jie and was constantly promoted.

Therefore, I feel that Hai Rui is ignorant of worldly affairs and ungrateful for his trial of the Xu Jie case.

But in fact, Hai Rui's rank is indeed very high, but in terms of actual power, he does not have much power.

Hai Rui started as an edict and was later promoted to the county magistrate level. This was actually the limit that most people could reach.

Later, due to various reasons, Hai Rui was promoted again to the Ministry of Household Affairs as a director of the Yunnan Department, responsible for accounting for Yunnan's money and grain.

At this stage, although the rank is low, it is the real power, and it always has real power in its hands.

After he was released from prison, there was no vacancy in the Ministry of Household Affairs, so Hai Rui was assigned to the Ministry of War, where he would still be in charge. This was a "reinstatement of official duties."

In the first year of Longqing, after the funeral of Emperor Jiajing was completed, merit-based rewards led by Xu Jie began. Hai Rui did not receive any special treatment from Xu Jie.

Hai Rui was promoted because of his contribution to Shang Shu, and was transferred to Sicheng of the Shangbao Division, responsible for the safekeeping of the seals, talismans, and seals.

In other words, as a result of Hai Rui's appointment with Shu Hou to discuss merits and reward him, he changed from being the real power holder of the Ministry of Household Affairs to a treasury manager responsible for keeping the seals and seals.

The General Administration Department that was promoted later was actually a yamen for the elderly in the Ming Dynasty.

It can be seen that Xu Jie's promotion of Hai Rui is just wishful thinking of some people.

People within the system, as long as they make no mistakes in their work, should be promoted, so there is no such thing as Xu Jie promoting Hai Rui.

Of course, it was true that Xu Jie spoke out to protect Hai Rui when he was in jail, which was considered a kindness, but this was actually the responsibility of the chief assistant.

Not protecting Hai Rui would be the first assistant's dereliction of duty.

"I've met Eunuch Chen and Mr. Wei."

On the palace road, two figures walked forward one after another. The chamberlains they met on the road stepped aside and saluted.

After there was no one else on both sides of the road, Wei Guangde, who was behind him, took two steps to close the distance between him and Chen Ju, and asked in a low voice: "Is it because of the military pay that your Majesty summoned you today?"

Chen Ju, who was leading the way, slowed down and replied in a low voice: "It should be that His Majesty has seen the memorial from the Ministry of Revenue and is aware of the problem of insufficient fiscal expenditure of the imperial court, and may also ask about it today.

Brother Wei, do you know the situation of the Ministry of Household Affairs in recent years? "

"Know a thing or two."

Wei Guangde just frowned slightly and then relaxed. Although he was not the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, the expenses of the Ministry of Revenue over the years were roughly listed and handed over to the cabinet every year, and military pay was a large part of it, so he still roughly remembered it.

The most taboo thing for cabinet ministers is that when the emperor asks questions, you don't understand.

As mentioned before, most of the cabinet's handling of government affairs is based on old practices. Only when encountering something that does not have old practices, do you need to use your brain to think of ways and come up with a safe response strategy, but after all, there are not many such things.

But the essence of the cabinet is the emperor's secretariat, which provides consultation for the emperor's decision-making. Therefore, you may not know what the emperor knows, but you must be able to answer what the emperor wants to know, otherwise your existence will lose its meaning.

Wei Guangde has a good memory. In just a moment, the data reported by the Ministry of Revenue in the past has appeared in his mind.

As long as he didn't suddenly ask for something he hadn't prepared, and just asked the Ministry of Accounts for money, Wei Guangde was confident that he could still handle it.

As for why the Ministry of Household Affairs is involved, it has to start with the feasible portion of the cabinet vote, and the petition for the Beijing Camp Rongzheng to fill up the military quota.

The Beijing camp requested to replenish the number of troops. The Ministry of War thought there was nothing wrong with it, and the cabinet did not think there was anything wrong, so they both agreed.

When the memorial was in the hands of the emperor, his opinion was of course the same as everyone else's. He also felt that the Beijing camp should be fully staffed according to the system, so with a stroke of a pen, the matter was settled.

After the decree was issued, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs discussed the issue of increasing military pay, but the Ministry of Household Affairs immediately stopped working.

In fact, for a long time, most of the money allocated by the Ministry of Revenue went to the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of War had become an out-and-out gold-swallowing beast in the Ming Dynasty.

It is true that the capital camp is full, and the soldiers who are dissatisfied will naturally be paid. This is also true, but the mistake is that the Ministry of Household Affairs cannot come up with money, and the Ministry of Household Affairs Council also believes that it cannot just let it go.

If this is done, then most of the towns under the Ministry of War will have a shortage of soldiers. Inland provinces, especially those close to the north such as Shandong, will send guest soldiers to supplement the defense of border towns, and their deployment will make people who are already dissatisfied The editors also complained that they had a headache.

If the capital camp can be fully charged and the Ministry of Household Soldiers' salaries are increased, what should other towns do if they do the same?

So the Ministry of Revenue simply stopped talking to the Ministry of War, and instead handed the memorial directly to the emperor for him to make a decision.

"Your Majesty has been looking through the memorials submitted by the Ministry of Finance in the past two days. He is also very embarrassed."

Chen Ju whispered again about the situation in the past two days.

When the two of them arrived outside Qianqing Palace, Wei Guangde was quickly summoned into the palace after the notification.

"Shandai, get up. There are no outsiders here, and there is no need to behave like a king or minister."

When Emperor Longqing saw Wei Guangde entering the palace, he saluted and immediately spoke.

In the past, when he was in Yuzhuan, whether he summoned Gao Gong, Wei Guangde, or others, everyone just bowed their hands and saluted. Therefore, even though he had been emperor for several years, he was still not used to seeing these people in front of him. Kneel down and worship.

Is Wei Guangde willing to kneel?

Of course I don't want to, but that's how the times are, so I just admit it by pinching my nose.

When he first came here, Wei Guangde might still have the concept of equality in his heart, but now, his thoughts have changed subtly.

Even though he was kneeling to the emperor, there were a lot of people kneeling to him outside, and they all rushed to kneel in front of him.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Wei Guangde only stood up after completing the salute, and then stood solemnly below waiting for the emperor's inquiry.

"There is a quarrel between the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs regarding the Beijing Camp. You should know about it."

Emperor Longqing got straight to the point when he opened his mouth, and it turned out to be exactly what happened.

"When my father was in power, I had heard that the state was short of funds. I stopped asking questions before and just said that in the three years since I came to the throne, how much money has the Ministry of Household Revenue received and how much money has it spent? How come the national treasury is in such a bad state? ?”

As expected, Emperor Longqing came to him to ask for the data from the Ministry of Household Affairs. The emperor did not directly summon Liu Tigan to inquire about these figures, but asked the cabinet. Wei Guangde couldn't help but have doubts in his heart. Could it be that Liu Tigan had done something evil to the emperor?

Or, the emperor did not trust the Ministry of Household Affairs, so he approached the Cabinet. After all, although the Cabinet could not manage the affairs of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Household Affairs must report its work results to the Cabinet.

However, there was no time to think carefully about what happened between the emperor and Liu Tiqian. Wei Guangde just thought about it and said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, since the first year of the year, all kinds of silver taels have been taxed, levied, levied, and paid by households in the thirteen provinces. One hundred and ninety-nine thousand taels.

The funding has been 9.29 million yuan, and the remaining funds are 2.7 million yuan.

Today, more than 200,000 yuan of silver should be used to supply the border pay and the officers and soldiers' salary, cloth and flowers. Each border should use 2.8 million silver per year. What is taken in cannot be equal to what is taken out.

This was also the reason for the deficit reported to the Ministry of Household Affairs. Although Taicang still had treasury silver, the silver had to be shipped to border towns before the year, so there was a deficit of 300,000 taels of silver. "

Wei Guangde was still very familiar with addition and subtraction. After adding and subtracting the figures from the Ministry of Household Affairs in the past three years, he opened his mouth and reported the data requested by Emperor Longqing.

As for the border pay, official and military salary reductions, and annual regulations of each border mentioned later, this was written in the previous memorial submitted to the Ministry of Household Affairs, otherwise Wei Guangde would not be so clear about it.

The cabinet did not draft the memorandum. It was just to show the figures of the Ministry of Revenue to His Majesty. They did not need to give any opinions.

However, the contents of the memorial were read carefully by the cabinet ministers. After all, this is very important data for governing.

"I remember that Taizu established a garrison and military garrison. At that time, there was no need for the court to allocate military salaries. In my impression, the first time the court allocated military salaries was because of the establishment of Liaodong Town. Why is so much military salary needed now?"

In Emperor Longqing's education, in addition to the classics and history, the systems established by Zhu Yuanzhang were also part of the study.

However, if you follow what the book says and compare it with reality, there will definitely be a lot of confusion.

Wei Guangde thought for a while and then replied: "Your Majesty, during the ancestor dynasty, the country's border preparation system only had four towns in Yansui, Datong, Xuanfu, Liaodong, and later seven towns in Jizhou, Ningxia, Gansu, and then nine in Guyuan and Shanxi. This is a border town in Jule, Yongping, Yizhou, Miyunchang.

In addition to the main troops of each town, the defensive troops also added recruited troops and guest troops.

The soldiers of a town were enough to defend the territory of a town. Later, due to the plundering of the captives and cavalry until the soldiers could no longer defend, more soldiers were recruited. However, the recruitment of soldiers was insufficient, so more guest soldiers were added. There were more prisoners than in the past, and the number of people who sat down to eat became more numerous.

Each town originally had its own farmland, and the farmland for an army was enough to support an army. Later, when the farmland was insufficient, the people's food was used. When the people's food was insufficient, salt grain was used. When the salt grain was insufficient, the Beijing transportation was used to provide wages, which exceeded the regular quota. And those who waste money will be very happy.

The treasury is empty and the country's economy is declining day by day. The fields are depleted and the people's resources are exhausted. Because of today's shortage, the cost of supplying the border is as big as it can be. "

The Ming Dynasty implemented the military garrison system. A garrison town was enough to support a town of soldiers and horses. There was no need to use civilian food and court pay, but that was in the early Ming Dynasty.

After the "Tumubao Incident" occurred in the Zhengtong years, the pressure on the northern border of the Ming Dynasty increased sharply. The court began to add border towns to stabilize the border defense. Because the border towns had insufficient troops, they began to recruit troops. Later, due to insufficient recruitment, they began to recruit troops from inland guards. Deploy guest soldiers.

With the gathering of large armies, although the security of border towns has been stabilized, military expenditures have also increased, especially the mobilization of guest troops requires more silver and grain.

Of course, Wei Guangde did not mention the collapse of the military system. After all, if this matter was revealed, it would offend all the noble generals of the Ming Dynasty, and possibly lose his life.

But at the very least, by saying this, Emperor Longqing probably understood the reason why the money and grain from the imperial court were not spent in the early Ming Dynasty and now occupy most of the national funds.

"I have read the past reports from the Ministry of Revenue. From the previous dynasty, the old treasury was used, but today the old treasury has been exhausted. Is it all due to military pay?"

Emperor Longqing asked a question: Do soldiers actually need so much money?

You must know that from the establishment of the Ming Dynasty until the Zhengde Dynasty, the court's revenue and expenditure could at least be barely balanced. Even if there was a deficit, it could often be made up in the second or third year, and no money from the old treasury was used.

But in the Jiajing Dynasty, the state's use increased suddenly, to the point where Laoku had to be used.

And even in the Jiajing Dynasty, it was indeed very rare for several old treasury sealed by the previous dynasty to be exhausted in just over twenty years.

However, the Jiajing Dynasty's depletion of national power was not entirely due to military pay. Although military pay was indeed an important reason for the court's deficit, it was definitely not the fundamental reason.

"Your Majesty, have you ever remembered that in the 41st year of the Jiajing reign, Lin Runlin, the imperial censor, once said, 'The wealth of the world is 4 million shi for the capital every year, and 8.53 million shi for every place. It seems that the number of the defeated capital is almost doubled. Year after year, it becomes more and more prosperous, and the situation is extremely disadvantageous. How can we support it?'

The previous dynasty exhausted the old treasury, which was actually the reason why the vassals complained to the imperial court.

During the Taizu period, the system was established. The vassal vassal was not allowed to operate any of the four civilian industries. All members of the clan were entitled to a salary. The vassal government asked the late emperor for compensation, but the late emperor could only try his best to satisfy him. If the grain and rice were insufficient, he would pay off the silver. The longer the deficit, the bigger the deficit would be. . "

Wei Guangde replied.

Emperor Longqing immediately became silent when he heard that it was the clan and military salaries that were dragging down the Jiajing Dynasty's finances.

Because he had realized that the stubborn diseases of the Jiajing Dynasty seemed to still exist in the Longqing Dynasty.