Emperor Ming Dynasty

The grassland forces rebelled, something Zhu Yixi had long expected.

Because no matter how gentle the policy is, it still cannot avoid the birth of careerists.

The change of power will naturally create a group of desolate people. No matter how good the money is, there are still people who are unwilling to take it and want to be kings and hegemons.

This is human nature.

In fact, Zhu Yixi never relaxed in the face of the grasslands that had been submissive for many years. After all, the Qing Dynasty, which claimed to be one with Manchuria and Mongolia, also rebelled constantly.

For example, during the San Francisco Rebellion, the grasslands became unstable, and the Chahar tribe almost invaded Beijing.

No matter how much Buddhist scriptures the lamas recite, won't it be Jebtsundampa who takes the lead in becoming independent and proclaiming emperor in later generations of Outer Mongolia?

Lama temples are just buildings that consume manpower and material resources, but they cannot consume people's ambitions.

Zhu Zhuyixi has always seen it very true: in the Kashag government during the plateau period, it was the great lama who took the lead in seizing power.

Therefore, the number of border troops has been expanding, reaching the current scale of 20.

In Suiyuan, Chahar and other places, the number has been maintained at [-] to [-].

Throughout the grasslands, Mobei, Beihai, Suiyuan, Chahar, and Horqin, hundreds of thousands of border troops suppressed the cities and did not dare to slack off at all.

"The Mongols want to show both kindness and power." Zhu Yixi felt a hint of warmth and took off her cloak: "It has been many years since I have been kind. A generation has passed, and it is time for them to understand the military might of the Ming Dynasty."

As he spoke, he chuckled: "Even those people really want military glory!"

Hearing this, Du Yinxi suddenly said: "Are you saying that you should respect yourself when raising bandits?"

"This possibility cannot be ruled out." Zhu Yixi said casually.

Du Yinxi said cautiously: "The old minister thought that most of these soldiers and horses came from the Zhasak Tuhan tribe. They were originally occupied by the Manchus and their cattle, sheep, food and grass were plundered. Now that they are in chaos, they will naturally go eastward. Food……"

"We have reported to Anxi that we have seen some evil herdsmen with white eyes..."

"Oh?" Zhu Yixi was slightly surprised: "That really comes from the Zasak Tuhan tribe. It seems to have originated from there."

"The birth of careerists must lead the party, and these noble nobles will definitely not be lonely."

"I speculate that this winter, this group of people will not be able to bear the loneliness and want to march and plunder the tribesmen." Yan Qiheng said in a deep voice:
"In winter, most of the border troops are in the city, and tribes large and small are like isolated islands, allowing them to be slaughtered."

"After gathering enough cattle and sheep and soldiers and horses, they will definitely attack the city."

Group Assistant Liu Xiangke frowned and said, "Where did they get so many weapons?"

"So we have to attack the city." Yan Qiheng said seriously: "The blacksmith and salt are both in the city."

"We can't let him plunder the tribesmen unscrupulously." Yan Yingyuan narrowed his eyes and said: "But we can't relax in the city. This is a dilemma."

"It depends on their wisdom."

Zhu Yixi said in a deep voice: "Let the governors and generals everywhere be prepared and act according to their capabilities. They must protect not only the city, but also the tribes."

"I'll give them an easy ride."

"In addition, the Beijing camp must also be prepared to support at any time and suppress the bandits."

"Yes!" The five pavilion elders nodded in agreement.

The atmosphere became more relaxed, and Zhu Yixi took out a memorial: "The minister stationed in Qin sent it, saying that Qin, Wei, and Qi are gathering together to prepare for an exchange of materials."

"What do you guys think?"

Several people glanced at each other, and finally the chief assistant Du Yinxi said: "Your Majesty, I believe that the advantages of this matter outweigh the disadvantages."

"In Nanyang, Qin's national power is stronger than other countries, and it is also the uncle of the vassal state. The imperial court will inevitably be overwhelmed here, so it is also beneficial to let Qin take care of it."

"Of course, the Qin State seems to be a bit presumptuous..."

"Qin!" Zhu Yixi squinted her eyes and thought carefully.

Whether it is the moral order of King Qin or his national power, he deserves the title of leader of the vassals, but he is afraid that future kings will not be able to take care of him, so Qin will take care of him and become a suzerain state.

This would harm the interests of the court.

Immediately, he laughed and shook his head, how could he think so far away?
Just let Qin Guo be the uncle, as long as they are all Han people.

After talking about these, the third topic is the flood in northern Jiangsu.

After years of sorting out the Yellow River, building ponds, and building a diversion river, the northern Jiangsu area gradually became prosperous. Although it was not as prosperous as southern Jiangsu, it was still richer than before.

In this way, after this once-in-a-century flood, the extent of the disaster was somewhat less severe than in history.

In addition, Yangzhou's disaster relief was timely, so apart from the initial flood deaths, very few people died of starvation later.

After several months of statistics, the disaster affected 23 counties in various prefectures in northern Jiangsu, leaving 18 people homeless. At the same time, only over [-] people were dead or missing.

After several months of disaster relief in Jiangsu, they immediately took out 200 million silver yuan and barely managed to survive.

After all, the governor has the title of relief, and if he can't even do this, he might as well go home and plant sweet potatoes.

"Jiangsu Province, if we want to revitalize northern Jiangsu, we still need the support of 200 million from the imperial court..."

"Two million!" Zhu Yixi tapped her fingers unconsciously. To put it simply, this is not too much.

By the end of this year, after the Ministry of Household Affairs has spent its budget, it can still increase to 3000 to 200 million yuan. Giving [-] million yuan is nothing.

But if it were another province, Zhu Yixi would not hesitate, but Jiangsu was also different:
"As far as I know, the commercial tax in Jiangsu Province is about 600 million, right? The reserve is 320%, which is [-] million."

"It's only 200 million, plus the retention over the years. Isn't this enough money?"

The so-called retention refers to the provincial government finance.

In the Ming Dynasty, the basic administrative unit was the county.

In theory, the government and province are only supervisory systems and do not directly manage the people. County taxes are directly connected to the Ministry of Household Affairs, so they do not have their own finances.

Therefore, once a major natural disaster occurs, there is nothing to do but to ask the court for money.

This is a centralization strategy and cannot leave too much money and food in the local area.

In the Shaowu Dynasty, the governors were given titles such as disaster relief and river patrol, which were relatively equivalent, and required money.

In this way, Liushu was born.

The imperial court took half of the commercial tax, that is, [-]%, and left [-]% to the county. The remaining [-]% ​​was managed by the chief envoy's Yamen and used by the governor.

For example, Jiangsu retains 400 million yuan a year, while in Guizhou and Yunnan, retaining 80 million yuan is a waste of money, and 50 million yuan is normal.

All the pavilion elders bowed their heads.

Of course, the officials did not dare to keep the local reserves openly, but they were willing to use public funds for food, drink, entertainment and reception. This has even become an unspoken rule.

The court is also relieved, this is better than using it for rebellion, right?

"The Ministry of Household Affairs proposed 100 million." Zhu Yixi said solemnly: "The other 100 million will be paid out equally by each county in southern Jiangsu. After all, we are from the same province, how can we ignore death?"

Among the five prefectures in southern Jiangsu, Suzhou ranks first in the world, Songjiang ranks second, Changzhou and Zhenjiang cannot be underestimated. Although Tongzhou Prefecture is a little weaker, it is still stronger than ordinary prefectures.

Over the years, the counties have kept a lot of money, and it is time to spend it.

After saying that, when Zhu Yixi saw that everyone was still silent, he thought about it and said with a smile: "I would like to take this opportunity to inspect the warehouses of each government."

"As long as the accounts are not correct, the cabinet will strictly investigate them and no one will be missed."

"I obey!" Several people bowed down one after another.

In the exchange of eyes, they all realized that the emperor was thinking of setting off a major case again.

You know, I just passed Jingcha last year!

After the ministers retreated, Zhu Yixi lay down on the couch. At this time, Duan Mengshu, the minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, asked to see him.During this year's southern tour, the Songjiang prefect was dismissed. Wang He, the Minister of Internal Affairs, was transferred from the inside to the outside and became the new Songjiang prefect.

This time, the entire court was immediately shocked.

You know, Wang He was not a Jinshi, but he directly became the prefect. It is too exaggerated.

Although the official ranks are the same, internal ministers and foreign ministers are ultimately different.

However, the emperor did not listen to everyone's objections and carried out the plan arbitrarily.

The cabinet did not dare to refute it and could only accept it.

Because of this, everyone coveted the position of Minister of Internal Affairs, but the emperor did not give them long time before letting Duan Mengshu, the co-organizing minister, take over.

After all, they are making money for the royal family, and maintaining stability is the most important thing.

The reason why Duan Mengshu came here was naturally to bring good news to the emperor:

"Your Majesty, although the new year has not yet passed, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has estimated this year's income."

"How many?"

"Customs remains the same, around 100 million, but this year, due to sugarcane wine and the development of gold mines in North America, the total revenue has reached around 300 million."

Duan Mengshu said with a smile, his face full of pride.

The income of 1000 and [-] million excluding customs is such a huge number.

"Oh? How much do the royal merchants pay?"

"About 500 million." Duan Mengshu said honestly:
"The number of imperial merchants has expanded to 320, eight companies, 24 companies with a net worth of one million, and ninety companies with a net worth of one hundred thousand."

"No one with more than 200 million?"

Zhu Yixi said thoughtfully.

The net worth is directly proportional to the offerings.

The net worth here does not mean that someone made millions in so many years, but rather the total profit in a year.

An ordinary imperial businessman with a net worth of one million would pay at least 50 million yuan a year, and if he could only have 20 million yuan left, it would be a good year.

That is [-]-[-]% of the net profit.

But there is no way. If the emperor has this skin, he must obey his obligations.

You must know that after wearing this skin, you can not only operate large trades such as wine, tea, mining, etc., but also avoid local bullying, and protect your personal safety.

Therefore, the imperial merchants had a wide network of contacts and a large business scope, and there were not a few who opened banks.

It is precisely because of this that Zhu Yixi feels that he should have a net worth of 200 million.

After all, it’s normal to conceal something, so who doesn’t want to make more money?Pay less.

For example, if you just mine a mine, you can make a profit of 10,000+ in at least a year, just by mining seven or eight mines.

Therefore, Zhu Yixi would not believe it if there were not 200 million people.

Of course, in the final analysis, Bian Yujing has the final say:
It earned 280 million this year.

The Ximenggou coal mine alone made a profit of 30. The caravans, tea, wine, vinegar, grain, sugar, etc. were all mixed together to achieve this figure.

However, when it was turned over to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it was based on 180 million, and a million was withheld.

And this number has lasted for two or three years and has not changed.

Duan Mengshu's heart trembled when he heard this, and he said hurriedly: "I estimate that there should be some."

"Then go check it out!" Zhu Yixi said seriously: "If it's his court's money, I might be willing to forgive him once because of my past kindness, but this is internal money, it's my money."

"I will never allow anyone to take my money."

As he spoke, the emperor glared angrily and said, "Anyone found to be corrupt will have their homes confiscated and exiled to Luzon."

"In addition, the Ministry of Internal Affairs must establish an audit system. I don't want something like this to happen next time."

"Yes!" Duan Mengshu immediately knelt down and responded in a low voice.

If it was a foreign minister, how could a fifth-rank official kneel down?But this is an internal dynasty.

Even if their homes were confiscated directly, the civil servants would not be able to control them.

This is especially true for the imperial merchants. They are just tools to make money. They ransacked their homes and asked the imperial guards to help, but no one said anything.

At this time, Zhu Yixi felt that the Ministry of Internal Affairs was really good and more obedient than the outer court. Only here could one truly experience the incomparable power of the imperial power.

The civil servants were too disobedient and troublesome.

As time goes by, the winter solstice is getting closer and closer, and the 21st year of Shaowu is about to pass.

For ordinary people, this time is just like any other time.

But for Juzi, the 22nd year of Shaowu is the year of the great competition, and the examination will be held in early April, which is extremely important.

As early as before the Chinese New Year, many people rushed to the capital to rent a house in advance and adapt to life in Beijing.

After all, being acclimatized is a fatal thing.

Guo Junyi sighed, lifted the quilt, looked at the snow falling outside the window, and couldn't help but shiver: "It's really cold in the north."

"Sir, would you like to add some charcoal?"

"No need." Guo Junyi shook his head and said: "Winter is still here, save some flowers, honeycomb briquettes are expensive!"

During the three to four months long winter, at least a thousand pieces of coal are needed, and the price of three cents for a piece of briquettes is really high.

At this time, a basin of hot water was brought over, and he washed himself under the service of the book boy. He put on a scarf and went to the yard.

"Brother Guo, this northern country is very different!" At this time, Ma Zhiyuan, who was in the same hospital, chuckled and walked out of the door with half of his face exposed.

The two were from the same hometown and good friends, so they went north side by side to participate in the examination.

"Come on, let's go visit Jijiu's house today."

"Okay!" Guo Junyi asked the book boy to prepare gifts, and then he ran into a carriage when he went out.

This is a rental.

"Why did you just prepare a knife of rice paper and a few boxes of pastries?"

Guo Junyi said curiously: "I am the examiner!"

"It's quite a lot. It's worth 20 yuan in silver coins!"

Ma Zhiyuan said casually: "I'm just an examiner, so I can't arrange official positions for us."

"What's wrong? You want to step into someone's door?"

Guo Junyi was speechless.

In order to avoid cliques and selfish interests, in accordance with the regulations of the imperial court, the chief examiners and co-examiners will basically be arranged to be held by the Imperial College's sacrificial wine ministers and doctors.

They are all high-ranking figures, with high status but low power. They can give you a good reputation, but they cannot help the advancement of the officialdom at all.

Literary people are very realistic. If you can't help me get promoted, why should I ask for a shitty teacher?

In this way, it is impossible to form a teacher system at all, which naturally makes the emperor's disciples more practical.

At the end of the month, ask for a monthly ticket