The Red Mansions

Chapter 622 Emperor Chongping: Besides money, the Household Department still wants money!

Chapter 622 Emperor Chongping: Besides money, the Household Department still wants money!

Hanyuan Hall, front hall

It was in the afternoon when the three cabinet ministers gathered together and waited with their hands down. The hall was empty and cool, which gave off a feeling of coolness in this scorching summer day.

After a while, the sharp voice of the inner prison outside the hall sounded: "Your Majesty is here."

The three cabinet ministers Yang, Han, and Zhao were shocked, and saluted Emperor Chongping, who was surrounded by inner eunuchs and seated on the golden chair, but they were surprised to see Xu Lu, the censor of Zuodu who was following the emperor down.

Today is the matter of summer grain collection, what is the chief constitution of the Metropolitan Procuratorate here for?

"I have seen the Holy Majesty, long live, long live, long live." The three cabinet ministers said.

"Your Excellencies are exempt from courtesy."

Emperor Chongping's face was indifferent, his eyes wandered over the three cabinet ministers below and the censor of Zuodu, and he said straight to the point: "This year's summer grain collection is coming again, how is the situation in the provinces?"

As he spoke, he turned his gaze to Yang Guochang.

Yang Guochang said in a dark voice: "My lord, there was no snow in many places in Shandong, Hebei, Shanxi, and Guanzhong last winter. After the beginning of spring, there were only two intermittent light rains. All provinces reported that they were generally affected. Now the summer grain collection is approaching. Recently, disaster reports from all over the world have been sent up like a snowflake, most of which are asking for tax exemption. The counties of Yanzhou Prefecture and Dongchang Prefecture in Shandong Province are the most severely affected, and locusts are rampant. They request the imperial court to allocate rice and silver for relief."

Zhao Mo, Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice, had gloomy eyes, and his heart was cold, and the disaster in Shandong was serious. Mr. Yang Ge really took care of his hometown, not only exempted from taxes, but also allocated money from the imperial court. .

When Emperor Chongping heard the words, he frowned, glanced at Yang Guochang, and said, "It's really strange, we haven't seen such a drought in previous years, why is there one wave after another of disaster reports this year?"

I'm afraid they are pointing at Jia Ziyu again, several provinces are suffering from drought and no rain, but they still need to overhaul water conservancy.

Yang Guochang said without hesitation: "Returning to the Holy Lord, there has been a severe drought in the north in recent years, with thousands of miles of wilderness. Since the beginning of May, the heat has soared, and the drought has become more and more severe."

Since the drought is becoming more and more severe, the so-called beware of heavy rains and floods after summer has become nonsense!

Zhao Mo, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishments, turned his face completely, and said: "Your Majesty, the cabinet and the Military Aircraft Department issued an edict of accountability for the civil uprising caused by the local officials the day before yesterday. The law severely punished officials from all over the country, and officials from all over the world asked for exemption from the grain tax. Maybe it was because of choking that they gave up food, but I don’t know.”

Because of the civil uprising in Henan, the common people responded to the painful lesson, together with the civil and military officials including Emperor Chongping, they all adopted a lenient view on the northern provinces, that is, in any case, no further uprisings should be stirred up, otherwise the governors and officials will , all accountability varies.

After layers of compaction, some prefectures and counties began to report disasters and took the opportunity to exempt money and food. Of course, there are deeper reasons for this.

Han Huang frowned and sighed inwardly.

Because of choking, Zhao Bojian was clearly still admonishing the Holy Majesty, but the words were not euphemistic enough, and he was afraid that he would be displeased. Even if he wanted to curb Jia Ziyu's rising trend, he could not act too hastily and lose his track.

Without waiting for Emperor Chongping to appreciate Zhao Mozhi's words, Han Huang said: "Your Majesty, the provinces have indeed been severely affected by disasters this year, and many places have suffered poor harvests. I think the most urgent thing is to accumulate grain to prepare for famine and build rivers to fight drought. Those who should be exempted from taxes should be exempted from paying taxes, and those who should build water conservancy projects. Construct water conservancy."

Emperor Chongping saw that the three cabinet ministers below were vaguely in the same tone, and the clear eyes under the two slender brows flickered, but he couldn't help feeling suspicious in his heart.

In fact, Emperor Chongping's political sense was still keen.

The three civil servants in the court did reach a tacit understanding, or a consensus, on certain issues!

Yongningbo must be suppressed!

In short, with Jia Heng, governor of the Henan military administration, the civil service group felt a huge pressure, and gradually formed a general concern.

Not only did Yongningbo gain more power over military matters, but he also tended to meddle in local civil affairs, and he himself was the minister of military affairs. After returning to Beijing, he and the military affairs department behind him would wantonly encroach on the power of the cabinet in the future.

It must be pressed!

Even Han Huang, the second assistant to the cabinet, acquiesced to the matter, neither taking action nor standing by.

Because Jia Heng stretched his hand too far, all kinds of practices in Henan were revealed one by one through the correspondence between officials in Henan and officials from Qi and Zhejiang in the capital.

It is building river embankments, rectifying officials, and attacking gentry... In the eyes of Han Huang and other "savvy people", they all see four words, fierce and fierce.

Such a martial arts ruling center, not to mention the concentration of military and political power in one person, but such a rash administration, will cause chaos in the world that day.

If it was pure martial arts, then Han Huang and the Zhejiang Party could temporarily cooperate and tolerate it in order to expel the Qi Party, but now Jia Heng has a posture of infiltrating into the Minzheng, combined with Emperor Chongping's trust in Jia Heng .

In the future, will there be a trend that the cabinet will be emptied and the two parties of Qi and Zhejiang will bow their heads?

In any case, we must suppress it first, and after dampening its spirit, we will form an alliance with it with the Zhejiang Party, and use its bravery to conquer the eastern captives.

Because he can't directly conflict with Jia Heng, now it's just avoiding his edge and attacking in a roundabout way.

To put it bluntly, there is no direct conflict, because direct conflict is useless. The three cabinet ministers in the cabinet know that the emperor does not read Ke Dao's memorial to impeach Jia Ziyu at all.

Then there is only one option left.

Reverse acceleration, over-execution, magnifying the problem, and finally a big problem, let Jia Heng take the blame, which creates an impression in the world that "he is also a martial artist, young and incomprehensible in political affairs".

In this way, Jia Heng's political tentacles are completely limited to the role of the general who leads the army and fights. This can be tolerated for a maximum of ten years. Even if the East is pacified, Wu Xun will gradually retreat to the political center.

To put it bluntly, I admit that you have the right to speak in military matters, but in government affairs, you are an outsider guiding experts, and you act recklessly, causing chaos from top to bottom.

This kind of consensus is rarely discussed, but an amazing tacit understanding has been reached between the Qi and Zhejiang parties.

Press it, press it back to the capital, press it back to the military plane, and press it back to where Wu Xun should be!

Gao Zhongping, the governor of Sichuan under Emperor Chongping, was suppressed in this way. He was able to manage the army and dismount the herdsmen, and he was almost all-rounder.

Of course, there is also the reason why the rear of Guanzhong like Sichuan really needs a trusted and important minister of Emperor Chongping to guard it, and there is also a part of the reason why the civil servants rejected Gao Zhongping, who was only from Juren.

The strength of the civil bureaucracy group lies in the fact that if a tacit understanding of reverse acceleration is formed, even the emperor cannot fight the entire bureaucracy group alone.

Although there is no such trend in the current Great Han Dynasty, there are some signs, from the overhaul of water conservancy in various provinces, to the request for free money and food... It is a counterattack by the civil official group.

Emperor Chongping looked deeply, turned to look at the three cabinet ministers, and said silently, "Many prefectures and counties in various provinces have reported disasters. How much grain is expected to be lost this year?"

Yang Guochang's old face was expressionless, and he said: "All provinces in the north will reduce or exempt summer grain as appropriate this year. After calculations by the veterans and the Ministry of Households, the harvest is about 500% lower than last year. I am afraid that the treasury will not be able to continue. Please ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs to [-] million taels will be allocated, and the Ministry of Household Affairs will repay it to the Ministry of Internal Affairs after a good harvest.”

In short, the disasters in the north were severe, and most of the rice grain was exempted as appropriate, so what about the treasury expenditure?It can only be obtained from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

This is a natural logic.

Moreover, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been quite rich in financial resources in the past few years, because Jia Heng has copied and confiscated the wealth of many officials, King Zhongshun, the Sanhe Gang, etc., previously allocated 100 million taels of silver to Jia Heng to repair the embankment, this scene naturally fell on the courtiers. In the eyes, this is also one of the reasons that prompted the civil service group to reach a certain consensus.

Emperor Chongping's face was gloomy, and he said in a deep voice: "Since Uncle Yongning reorganized the army, half of the food and pay for the soldiers and horses of the Beijing camp has been coordinated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with priority allocated. The Ministry of Internal Affairs does not have much money now. Give priority to real soldiers and real pay."

At the beginning, Jia Heng directly approached Emperor Chongping, and Emperor Chongping arranged half of the arrangements from the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Beijing camp.

The results of the pacification of the Henan Rebellion also proved that the military training of the Beijing camp has achieved remarkable results and can be used to great effect.

As soon as these words came out, all the officials below, such as Zhao Mo, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, looked gloomy.

If the state allocates food and salaries to the soldiers of the Beijing camp, but does not go to the Ministry of Households to collect them from the Ministry of War, the economic system will be greatly damaged!

Han Huang cupped his hands and said: "I think what the Holy Majesty said is very true. The Beijing camp played a victory in Henan. With real soldiers and real wages, the strength of the Han can be restored."

Regarding the matter of the Beijing camp, both civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty recognized Jia Ziyu's general strategy, but since he was rewarded for his meritorious service, this matter will gradually fade over time.

No matter how much meritorious service has been made, military generals can only be military generals. How many idle Wu Xun, Yang Wuhou, Dingyuanhou and others are there?

In fact, if it wasn't for the fake military newspaper that made Emperor Chongping vomit blood and lose face, he wouldn't form a deep-rooted ideological stamp in a short period of time, and gradually weaken the importance of merit over time.

People do not have a hundred days of happiness, and flowers do not have a thousand days of redness.

Human nature is mostly forgetful and fickle. When Ming Taizu massacred the founding heroes, he also shed tears while killing.

Similarly, even if it saves the entire human race, human beings are not grateful to Luo Ji!

Yang Guochang had no expression on his face, neither joy nor sadness in his heart.

Emperor Chongping frowned and asked, "Can I withdraw money from the Jiangnan treasury? Is there any surplus from last year?"

Zhao Mo frowned, and wanted to increase taxes in Jiangnan. Isn't the emperor afraid that Jiangnan will stir up civil uprisings?

Yang Guochang said hesitantly: "Your Majesty, although there is no drought in the Jiangnan area, the Ministry of Finance in Nanjing has paid less this year, and the government and government in Nanjing have spent a lot of money. This year's grain may be reduced by 100 million shi."

Cao grain is transported to the north, and 450 million shi grains are transported to Chang'an and Beiping every year to supply the nine-border army and the nobles of Shenjing. Jiangnan has 50 shi more than the pre-Ming Dynasty. This matter has always been a matter for Jiangnan scholars Zhishi officials who settled in Nanjing criticized.

In fact, the Ministry of Internal Affairs spends money every year to buy grain from the south, transport it to the capital, and distribute Lumi to the officials in the middle of the capital and the army of the capital camp.

Emperor Chongping's face was cold and hard, and he said in a deep voice: "I saw the memorabilia of Pan Ruxi, Minister of the Nanjing Household Department the day before yesterday, saying that there must be no less grain and one stone, and let the Nanjing Household Department figure it out."

It has become a daily routine for a big man to complain about Jiangnan's complaints every year, and Yang Guochang reported it at this time because he was asking for money for convenience.

"The salt tax in the south of the Yangtze River has been delayed for a long time, and the rectification affairs have stagnated. Qi Kun has already gone south, why has there been no movement?" Before Yang Guochang could complain, Emperor Chongping said in a deep voice.

Yang Guochang's heart trembled, and he quickly said: "My lord, the salt affairs have accumulated more and more abuses, and it is not a short-term decision. These days, the Nanjing Ministry of Households has re-bid and auctioned Yanyin, but there is no result yet."

When Qi Kun went to Jiangnan to rectify the salt affairs, he suddenly fell into the complicated quagmire of Jiangnan officialdom, and he couldn't open the situation for a long time.

Emperor Chongping heard the bad news one after another, and his original good mood suddenly became extremely bad.

In addition to asking for money, the household department still wants money!

If it weren't for the discovery of a gold mine in Song County, Henan Province, the Ministry of Internal Affairs would be slowly emptied out like this. What should we do when the Ministry of Internal Affairs has no money?

If it hadn't been for the successive confiscations of floating wealth from last year to this year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has also been unable to make ends meet these years.

Emperor Chongping cast his stern eyes on Han Huang, the official minister not far away, and asked, "Mr. Han Ge, what do you think?"

Han Huang looked solemn, and cupped his hands and said: "My lord, the matter of money and food is planned by the household department. If you want to come and go, you can only increase the income and reduce expenditure. I don't know about the increase in income, but the reduction of expenditure can be mentioned one or two. Now The Beijing camp has finished weeding out the old and the weak, and the number of troops on the nine frontiers is huge, and it is common to eat vacancies. Now it is time to weed out the old and the weak, and check the vacancies. Now that two military planes have gone to the north to check the frontiers, it has been several months, and they should also be used for rectification. The regulations of the frontier army, in addition, is to clean up corruption, the Beijing inspection is in progress, and the local plan has also been delivered, and there is hope to refresh the bureaucracy."

Emperor Chongping looked calm, and said: "The king of Nan'an and Marquis Baoling have delivered them to Shangshu, Ningxia and Guyuan towns, and most of them have checked the vacancies."

As the daughter of the king of Nan'an married to the king of Wei, the king of Nan'an also became loyal to the king. With his prestige, he checked the actual number of soldiers in the two towns, recovered [-]% of the corrupt ink over the years, and dealt with several generals. Also made some achievements.

At the same time, the King of Beijing also began to check the vacancies in military towns such as Datong and Taiyuan, but it was not going well for the King of Beijing.

"For local officials who are greedy and cruel, I have asked the Metropolitan Procuratorate to send officials to inspect the localities to investigate illegal activities and rectify corruption. We will start with Shanxi. Anyone who is corrupt and perverts the law will first search their homes and question them all." Emperor Chongping continued. Xu said, then looked at Xu Lu and said, "Xu Qing, you have to pay attention to this matter."

As the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Treasury ransacked homes several times to replenish blood, ransacking homes has gradually become the first operation of the Chongping Dynasty.

Xu Lu looked solemn, cupped his hands and said, "My minister obeys the order."

The recent wind direction in the court is indeed quite strange, I'm afraid it has something to do with Jia Ziyu.

Emperor Chongping said coldly: "As for the grain tax of the household department, the summer tax shall be paid first, and if there is a shortage, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will allocate money to the household department to purchase grain. Jia Ziyu has just discovered a gold mine in Song County, Luoyang. A million taels of gold."

Han Huang and Zhao Mo: "..."

Yang Guochang: "???"

A million taels of gold?

Children found it in Henan?

A million taels of gold, according to the exchange ratio of one to ten, is worth tens of millions of taels of silver, even if the taxes of the northern provinces are reduced or exempted for a year, there is no problem.

Well, it can't be counted like this.

The mining of gold mines will definitely not be completed in one year, and it may continue to be excavated for more than ten years, but even if 8 taels are excavated in a year, it is nearly a million taels of silver.

It's a pity that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is in charge of mining, not the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household...

Naturally, civil servants have some complaints about the Ministry of Internal Affairs' competition with the "people" for profit, but this is the ancestral system of Taizu's dynasty. The former Ming Dynasty also used mine supervisors to collect money for the palace. ... After listening to Wenchen's flickering.

As a result, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has always existed in this way, and has continued to provide blood transfusions for the royal family.

It can be said that Chen Hanbi's ability to survive the end of the Ming Dynasty until now is due to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which can give blood transfusions from time to time. Although King Zhongshun is greedy, he also has merit in collecting money. Financial use.

Han Huang frowned, his face was solemn, and his heart was covered with a haze.

Could it be that Jia Ziyu has a kinsman who found a gold mine in less than two months as governor of Henan?

This... With this momentum, I'm afraid it's a bit overwhelming.

Zhao Mo was also shocked and inexplicably shocked, and had the same thoughts as Han Huang.

However, if you can't hold it down, you have to hold it down!

Mineral deposits and other things are indispensable. If you can find one, can you find a bunch of them?

Just as several cabinet ministers were frowning and thinking about it, Emperor Chongping said: "In addition, in Xin'an County and other places, we have found rich reserves of carboniferous mines. Mines were excavated for the daily heating and cooking needs of the people. In addition, Jia Ziyu mentioned in another memorial that Taicang and the Henan government treasury still had 240 million shi of grain and rice. At the same time, Henan can transfer 60 shi of this year's summer tax in advance to the Ministry of Households for emergency, and in order to pay off the summer tax, send another 40 shi to the Ministry of War to transport Lumi to the military towns of Shanxi and other places."

Jia Heng submitted a total of two memorials, one about mining and one about farming.

Zhao Mo frowned, his complexion changed, and his face was as dark as ice.

Carboniferous mines are just everywhere in Shanxi and other places.

Yang Guochang's mind was so shaken that he couldn't speak, and he swallowed the question "Whether the profit from the mine is from the Ministry of Household..." that came to his lips.

As for the grain and rice in Taicang in Luoyang, Henan Province, all the court officials knew about it.

At the beginning, Jia Heng confiscated 350 million shi and rice from the Wei and Zheng feudal clans, plus the original 45 shi and rice, almost 400 million shi.

Later, the army used Taicang grain when they went to Henan, and did not ask for a grain of rice from the court, and the subsequent appeasement and embankment repairs mostly used rice grain as labor relief.

According to a soldier with four buckets and five liters of grain per month, and a horse with three liters of concentrate and a bunch of hay per day, plus the transportation on the road, the nearly ten thousand troops consumed [-] shi of grain and grass every month.

The 24 army consumes 35 shi of rice and grain every month. Now it has been more than a month to suppress the rebellion, plus providing relief to the victims, it has roughly consumed nearly [-] shi.

After that, the people who participated in the corvee were given food on the river, and the families were hired with rice grains to make ends meet and survive the drought.

It is precisely because of the rice grain that Jia Heng can use the people's power in Henan without any worries. Even because of the rice grain relief, he has survived countless lives, and he has a great reputation among the people.

Emperor Chongping said: "Jia Ziyu's memorandum mentioned a crop called sweet potato, with an yield of tens of stones per mu, which should be promoted in Henan. At the same time, considering the severe drought in the north, I suggested that we promote the cultivation of sweet potato in the northern provinces. "

As soon as these words came out, the three cabinet ministers all looked at each other in blank dismay, shocked in their hearts.

All the people present had been parents and officials in the local area, and they knew very well about farming, and the yield of grain and wheat was only a few stones per mu.

Sweet potatoes can produce tens of stones per mu, how is this possible?

It's okay to say that Yongning Bo Xing built the river embankment, but now he even said that the yield of sweet potatoes can be harvested by tens of stones per mu. Could it be that he is flattering and talking nonsense?

But after thinking about it for a while, no one questioned it, because several people knew in their hearts that the emperor didn't like it, so the more Jia Heng said, the more mistakes he would make in the future.

Yang Guochang's complexion changed suddenly, and there was a look of surprise in his old eyes, he cupped his hands and said, "My lord, is this true?"

Emperor Chongping said: "It is said that it was transplanted from Fujian, but it has not been tried and harvested in Henan."

Yang Guochang's complexion changed, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He cupped his hands and said, "Oranges grown in Huainan are tangerines, and oranges grown in Huaibei are oranges. My lord, I think this matter needs to be considered. After the summer grain harvest in the northern provinces, they will be planted." For autumn grain, if sweet potatoes are planted and the soil and water are not acclimatized, then the harvest will fail, and the veteran may suffer disastrous consequences."

The autumn grain harvested every year is more than the summer grain, and the summer grain is only a quarter, and there are many drought-resistant crops in the summer grain. No matter how much it fights with Jia Heng's party, it cannot really be widely planted in various provinces, which affects the summer grain.

"My original intention was to try planting in Henan first. If the water and soil are really suitable, not to mention the yield of tens of stones per mu, even if the yield is more than ten stones per mu, it is a great blessing for me to not be afraid of drought locusts. " said Emperor Chongping.

Although he also had doubts in his heart, but as the queen said, such things are not easy to fake. If it is not possible, he personally opened up an acre of land in the palace, let the inner eunuch plant it, and checked the harvest. If the mu produces ten stones, this year The predictable famine in the North will be greatly relieved.

In fact, in ancient times, some emperors who valued farming would symbolically farm in the ground during the spring plowing season to show their emphasis on farming. Therefore, most of the history books in later generations rewarded farming and mulberry, advocating frugality and so on.

After discussing the summer tax, all the cabinet ministers and Xu Lu, the censor of the left capital, left each other with their own thoughts, and went to busy with their official duties.

Emperor Chongping, who was in the Hanyuan Hall, looked at the backs of all the cabinet ministers leaving, his face was silent, and his eyes were uncertain.

As he used Jia Ziyu so much, many officials in the court and Chinese were not happy to see him, and there was already a faint intention of joint checks and balances.

This matter... In short, there will be advantages and disadvantages in the future.

With the departure of several cabinet ministers, the news that Jia Heng discovered gold mines in Songxian County, Henan Province and carboniferous mines in Xin'an County also spread in Shenjing City, and the detectives of the inner guards also secretly advocated that it was God. Give the wealth of the emperor, God bless Chongping.

It is also a kind of response to the abnormal warnings of disasters such as the severe drought in the Northland in recent years.

The original strange atmosphere in Beijing, and the saying that "it is a waste of money to waste people's money, listen to the wind and it will rain, and toss around like crazy" have gradually dissipated.

Let Jia toss around in Henan, just looking for a gold mine, about a year's worth of production, at most it won't rain in the end, and then look at his "worried" joke.

(End of this chapter)