"Well, get up!"
Jiajing withdrew his gaze from Zhang Juzheng and turned to give instructions.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
After Zhang Juzheng stood up from the ground, he immediately took out the memorial he had prepared from his sleeve and reported it respectfully.
"Your Majesty, Wei Chen has almost done what you asked me to do before!"
When Zhang Juzheng said this, he paused for a moment and then continued.
"Currently, Wei Chen has selected 5,000 brave men from various military bases across the country to form the Shenji Battalion."
"After a period of training, the army's combat effectiveness has been initially formed. From the Weapons Department, the newly developed firearms, cannons, grenades and other new weapons have been prioritized and equipped to the Shenji Camp!"
"Weichen estimates that within half a year at most, this newly formed Shenji Battalion will become another elite force of our Ming Dynasty!"
After Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, he paused and bowed again.
Seeing this, Lu Fang on the side immediately stepped forward, took the memorial from Zhang Juzheng's hand, and handed it to Jiajing.
Jiajing took the memorial, read the contents carefully, put it aside, nodded slightly, and then gave instructions.
"Well, you did a good job on this!"
Then, Jiajing suddenly changed the subject and continued.
"But if an army wants to truly become an elite, it must go through the baptism of battle. Only blood and fire can completely wash away their staleness!"
After hearing this, Zhang Juzheng buried his head deeply on the ground, full of doubts in his heart.
"What do you mean by what your Majesty just said? Is it possible that within half a year, your Majesty will start a war?"
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Juzheng seemed to have thought of something, and he seemed to have a clear understanding.
"Right now, the Navy's construction progress is less than half."
"Therefore, Your Majesty must be planning to start a war with the Tatars who have repeatedly invaded our Ming border within half a year!"
Just as Zhang Juzheng was stunned, Jiajing's Gujing Wubo voice sounded from his ears again.
"Zhang Juzheng, how is the construction progress of the Navy now?"
Zhang Juzheng had been prepared for this, so he quickly organized his language and reported it to Jiajing.
"Your Majesty, the current construction progress of the navy is less than half. In the past month, the shipyard has built a total of eleven warships!"
When Zhang Juzheng said this, he was afraid that Jiajing would think the progress was too slow, so he quickly added.
"Your Majesty, these eleven newly launched warships refer to the structure used when renovating the treasure ship. Therefore, the sailing speed of the warships has been greatly improved. In addition, because they are equipped with the latest cannons researched by the Arms Department, , the range and power have also been significantly improved!"
After listening to Zhang Juzheng's report, Jiajing gently stroked the carved dragon head on the dragon chair with his hand, and commented with a smile on his face.
"Well, that's right. It seems I saw the right person!"
Upon seeing this, Zhang Juzheng quickly put on a frightened look and said in a deep voice.
"Being able to share your Majesty's worries is the greatest blessing as a minister!"
Jiajing was very satisfied with Zhang Juzheng's answer, nodded slightly, and then sighed.
"It would be great if our Ming Dynasty could have more officials like Zhang Aiqing!"
"In this way, my Ming Dynasty will be unhappy!"
When Zhang Juzheng heard this, his face was full of humility and he responded.
"Your Majesty is so complimentary. I am just doing my duty."
Seeing that he had almost understood the matter, Jiajing immediately waved his hand and gave instructions.
"Okay, I still have things to deal with later, so you can go down first!"
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will take my leave!"
After Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, he turned around and left the Yangxin Hall.
…
At this moment, everyone in the cabinet was having difficulty formulating specific rules for the integrated payment of grain by officials and gentry.
Gao Gong was the first to stand up. After looking around, he gave his own suggestion: "I would say, since we still can't decide, then let's just follow the tax collection method and set a specific amount!"
"According to the official's income, it is acceptable to charge a corresponding amount of silver, even if it is only one-tenth or one-twentieth."
After Gao Gong finished speaking, he looked back and added another sentence.
"The important thing is to satisfy His Majesty!"
Seeing this situation, Xu Jie on the side sighed helplessly, and immediately turned his eyes to Yan Song, as if he was asking for Yan Song's opinion.
"If the policy of integrating government and gentry payment of grain is not formulated for a long time, His Majesty will be angered by that time, and no one will be able to bear the consequences!"
"Mr. Yan Ge, what do you think?"
Yan Song also agreed with Xu Jie's words, nodded slightly and made a decisive decision.
"Yes, this matter cannot be delayed any longer. It must be settled as soon as possible, otherwise things will change if it is too late!"
When Yan Song said this, he looked back and quickly added.
"After the matter of integrating management, gentry and grain payment is settled, our cabinet must take the lead and set an example for all officials!"
When Xu Jie heard this, he picked up the tea cup on the table, took a sip, and then sighed.
"Yes, this matter can only be handled by our cabinet."
“I don’t know how Shilin will evaluate us when the time comes!”
Yan Song heard this, smiled, and then said: "How can we evaluate it? Anyway, our reputation among scholars has already hit the bottom. What else is there to be afraid of?"
After hearing what Yan Song said, Xu Jie felt much better: "Yes, it's already like this anyway, there's nothing to be afraid of anymore!"
At this moment, Zhang Juzheng, who had previously gone to Yangxin Hall to report the situation to Jiajing, entered the cabinet.
When everyone saw him coming back, they recounted the results they had discussed to Zhang Juzheng again.
Unsurprisingly, Zhang Juzheng agreed with this result.
Soon, everyone started to formulate detailed rules for the integrated payment of grain by officials and gentry again. In the end, the results were as follows.
"Article 1, officials and landowners must pay taxes!"
"Article 2: Anyone who pays less or even fails to pay taxes without special circumstances will be dealt with according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty!"
"Article 3: The taxes that officials and landowners need to pay are determined based on their income."
Note: Those with an annual income of more than 100 taels shall pay taxes according to one-fifteenth of the amount; those with annual income below 100 taels shall pay taxes according to one-twentieth of the amount! "
Yan Song looked at the detailed rules for the integrated payment of grain by officials and gentry that had been drawn up, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
After confirming that everything was correct, Yan Song summoned his subordinates and gave instructions in a deep voice.
"Send this to the Supervisor of Ceremonies immediately and see what His Majesty has to say?"
"Yes, Mr. Yan Ge!"
Upon hearing this, the subordinate officials were about to record the detailed rules of grain payment for the integration of officials and gentry. They took it seriously and left the cabinet quickly without stopping at all.
…
In the ceremonial prison, Feng Bao was reviewing the memorials submitted.
Since Feng Bao had already been exposed to the work of eunuch Bingbi before this, he was already familiar with the entire process, so there were no mistakes.
Just as Feng Bao finished approving the memorials in his hand and put them aside, the former subordinate official entered the ceremonial department.
"Eunuch Feng, here is the memorial that the cabinet has just formulated regarding the integrated payment of grain by officials and gentry!"
(End of chapter)
