Shortly after the subordinate official left, Lu Fang entered the cabinet with silent steps.
Seeing Lu Fang's arrival, everyone stood up from their seats and saluted him respectfully: "I've seen Eunuch Lu!"
Lu Fang heard the words and responded in a subtle way. After looking around, he said slowly: "You don't have to be so polite. Our family came here this time in compliance with His Majesty's order and asked you to do it." A trip to the Qing Palace!"
When everyone heard Yan Song's words, a look of surprise appeared on their faces.
Then, Yan Song stood up, looked in the direction of Lu Fang, and asked: "May I ask Eunuch Lu, is there anything your Majesty needs to ask me to do?"
Hearing this, Lu Fang shook her head, turned her eyes away from Yan Song, and said slowly: "Your Majesty didn't say it clearly, and our family doesn't know too well. In short, you will know after we get there!"
Upon hearing this, Yan Song leaned down tremblingly and expressed his gratitude to Lu Fang: "Thank you so much, Eunuch Lu!"
"Okay, without further ado, everyone can come with our family!"
After Lu Fang dropped these words, she turned and left without waiting for anyone to respond.
Seeing this, Yan Song and others quickly took three steps and then two steps to keep up with Lu Fang.
"Right now, the Imperial Concubine Shen has just given birth, and His Majesty summoned us to go to the Qing Palace to discuss matters. It must not be a big deal, right?"
Yan Song thought so and couldn't help but secretly speed up his pace.
…
Outside the Qianqing Palace, Lu Fang suddenly stopped, turned around and faced everyone, and said slowly: "Please wait a moment, let's go in first and inform His Majesty!"
Hearing this, Yan Song bowed his hands to Lu Fang, his face full of humility: "Thank you, Eunuch Lu!"
After hearing this, Lu Fang nodded slightly to Yan Song, and then stepped onto the stairs of Qianqing Palace.
After Lu Fang left, Gao Gong took the lead in provoking the topic: "What do you think is the reason why His Majesty came to discuss matters with us at this time?"
As soon as Gao Gong finished speaking, Hu Zongxian on the side gave his guess: "After some time, when the imperial concubine has recovered her health, your majesty will officially canonize her as queen. Maybe your majesty summoned us this time. For this!"
Zhang Juzheng on the side seemed to have a clear understanding after hearing Hu Zongxian's words. Immediately, he nodded and continued to add: "Well, what Mr. Hu Ge said makes sense. In short, His Majesty summoned us to Qianqing Palace to discuss the matter. I am sure. It has something to do with this!"
At this moment, Yan Shifan, who had been silent from the beginning, boldly raised a conjecture: "Could it be that His Majesty summoned us just to discuss tax reductions and exemptions?"
When Yan Shifan finished speaking, a look of sudden realization flashed across everyone's faces.
Generally speaking, when people encounter natural disasters such as drought, floods, locust plagues, etc., the imperial court will issue an edict to reduce the taxes of the people affected by the disaster.
In addition to relief from disasters, there are also special occasions such as the enthronement of the new emperor, the longevity of the queen mother, the longevity of the emperor, the canonization of the queen, the birth of a new prince, celebration of martial arts, etc. The court will also issue an edict to reduce or reduce taxes on the people as appropriate.
Now, Your Majesty is happy to have a prince, and soon, he will also ennoble the imperial concubine Shen as the queen. With double happiness, it is natural to reduce the taxes of the people.
Moreover, right now, the national treasury is extremely abundant. It is conservatively estimated that the money in the treasury is enough for the Ming Dynasty to squander it for more than ten years!
Not long ago, the imperial court sent 130,000 troops to uproot the Yang family, which had been operating in Bozhou for hundreds of years, and confiscated nearly 30 million taels of silver from the entire Yang family!
In comparison, this tax reduction is simply a drop in the bucket for the current Ming Dynasty.
After thinking about this, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and relax.
At this moment, Lu Fang's voice rang in everyone's ears: "Your Majesty is waiting for you inside, you can go in!"
"Excuse me, Eunuch Lu!"
After that, everyone, led by Lu Fang, stepped onto the stairs of Qianqing Palace.
…
"Your Majesty, Mr. Yan Ge and the others are here!"
"Um."
After Lu Fang finished reporting to Jiajing, she went straight to Jiajing's side and stood there, like a sculpture.
Afterwards, everyone in the cabinet, led by Yan Song, the chief minister of the cabinet, knelt on the ground and said in unison: "I bow to your majesty, long live my emperor!"
When Jiajing, who was sitting on the dragon chair, heard this, he glanced at Yan Song and others, nodded slightly, and then ordered: "Well, all of you, get up!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
After receiving Jiajing's permission, everyone slowly stood up from the ground.
Jiajing had no intention of going around in circles with Yan Song and the others, but chose to go straight to the point: "The reason why I called you all here is to discuss the issue of tax reduction and exemption for the people!"
"As expected, His Majesty summoned us to Qianqing Palace just to reduce taxes!"
As everyone thought this way, the hanging stone in their hearts finally fell to the ground.
After that, Jiajing turned his eyes to Yan Song, raised his eyebrows, and asked, "Yan Song, what do you think?"
As soon as Jiajing finished speaking, Yan Song responded without hesitation: "Your Majesty, I think this is a great strategy. Now that the national treasury is abundant, there is no harm in reducing some taxes!"
"Your Majesty, I think this strategy is very good. In this way, the people will be prosperous and the country will be prosperous, and the people will live and work in peace and contentment. Only when the people's lives are better, will they support your majesty more firmly!"
When Yan Song finished speaking, Xu Jie stood up and added: "Your Majesty, I also agree to reduce taxes. The money accumulated in the treasury is enough for Ming Dynasty to squander it for more than ten years!"
"In comparison, the tax reduction is just a drop in the bucket. More importantly, the people of the world will be grateful for your kindness all the time. In this way, we can greatly regain the hearts of the people!"
After that, Hu Zongxian, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, and Yan Shifan also expressed their opinions one after another.
Without exception, they all supported Jiajing's decision and agreed to reduce or reduce taxes on the people.
Jiajing obviously did not expect that things would go so smoothly. After being stunned for a moment, Jiajing came back to his senses and continued to ask: "In your opinion, how much tax reduction is appropriate?"
As soon as Jiajing finished speaking, Xu Jie stood up, looked in the direction of Jiajing, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I think we should reduce the tax by 30% on the basis of the existing situation!"
After Xu Jie, Zhang Juzheng also stood up and expressed his opinion: "Your Majesty, I think 30% is too little. How about reducing the tax by 50%?"
When Zhang Juzheng's words fell, Gao Gong stood up, leaned down, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, Mr. Xu Ge mentioned before that the money accumulated in the treasury is enough for the Ming Dynasty to squander it for more than ten years!"
"In that case, why do we still stick to the small amount of taxes paid by the people?"
"Therefore, Wei Chen suggested that it is better to be tax-free for one year. In this way, we can rest with the people, and the people will be grateful!"
Everyone obviously did not expect Gao Gong to be so bold and actually propose a one-year tax exemption, so they couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.
When Jiajing heard this, he did not immediately respond. Instead, he tapped the desk in front of him rhythmically with his index finger, as if he was weighing the pros and cons.
During this process, there was silence in Qianqing Palace, and even the sound of a needle dropping could be clearly heard.
After a long time, Jiajing came back to his senses, looked in the direction of Gao Gong, nodded, and said slowly: "Well, I think it is feasible, then according to Gao Aiqing's words, let's exempt him from taxes for one year!"
Seeing that Jiajing had made a decision, everyone lowered their heads and respectfully responded: "Your Majesty is wise!"
After that, Jiajing glanced at the faces of everyone present and added: "It is of course a good thing to exempt people from taxes for one year, but I don't want what happened last time to happen again. Do you understand everything?"
Of course, everyone knew what Jiajing was referring to. It was unknown who had previously revealed that the taxes reduced and reduced by the court to the people had not been implemented.
For this reason, Jiajing appointed Zhao Zhenji, who was still the censor of the Supervisory Council at the time, as the imperial envoy to go to Zhejiang to thoroughly investigate the case. He gave up after killing a large number of officials involved in the matter.
Now that Jiajing's old events are being brought up again, it is a clear warning to Yan Song and others that if something like this happens again, then you should be prepared to show up!
When Jiajing's words fell, everyone's faces couldn't help showing a look of fear and anxiety. They all knelt on the ground and said respectfully: "I obey, Your Majesty!"
After that, Jiajing turned his attention to Yan Song, and then ordered: "When we come down later, your cabinet will officially announce the news, and also make a detailed charter! "
When Yan Song heard this, he immediately looked stern and responded in a deep voice: "Yes, Your Majesty!"
Seeing that the matter had been settled, Jiajing looked away, waved his hand, and said: "Okay, since the matter has been settled, you go down and get busy!"
"As ordered, Your Majesty, I will retire now!"
After that, Yan Song and others were seen getting up from the ground one after another, bowing to Jiajing and saluting.
…
After the cabinet party left, Jiajing turned around, looked at Lu Fang and asked, "Lu Fang, let me ask you, what is the current situation of the Information Agency?"
When Lu Fang saw Jiajing asking her about the situation of the Information Agency, she did not dare to hide anything and immediately told everything she knew.
"Your Majesty, according to your previous instructions, there are now press agencies in the capitals of the two capitals and thirteen provinces of our Ming Dynasty!"
"The first two issues of the newspaper were widely welcomed as soon as they were released. After excluding the cost, the Information Agency even made an extra surplus of nearly one million taels of silver!"
"In addition, there are countless businessmen traveling thousands of miles from all over the country to the capital to sponsor the Daming Daily published by the imperial court, hoping to occupy a space in the newspaper to promote their products."
After Jiajing learned the news from Lu Fang, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and said with emotion: "These guys are really unprofitable!"
Having said that, Jiajing was still happy to see this situation happen. After all, his original intention of founding the newspaper was to regain the right to speak from those officials and gentry.
Only when newspapers became popular among the people of the Ming Dynasty could Jiajing's idea be realized step by step!
If the emperor wants to accomplish something, he naturally cannot do without the assistance of officials at all levels, and in the process of conveying orders, there will inevitably be information gaps.
Sometimes, when a policy is transferred from the central government to the local government, due to the cumbersome procedures and layers of redundancy, the policy has become unrecognizable after it reaches the local government.
This will lead to a policy that is originally beneficial to the country and the people, but in actual implementation, it will cause people to boil and complain.
Jiajing founded the newspaper, on the one hand, to regain the right to speak from the hands of officials and gentry, and on the other hand, to break this information gap!
Then, Jiajing looked away from Lu Fang. After pondering for a moment, he gave instructions: "Lu Fang, let's use today's events as the headline of this third issue of the newspaper!"
When Lu Fang heard Jiajing's words, she immediately understood. Then, she lowered her head and carefully confirmed to Jiajing: "Your Majesty, do you mean to announce the news of one-year tax exemption through the newspapers issued by the imperial court? "
Hearing this, Jiajing glanced at Lu Fang, nodded, and said slowly: "Well, exactly, in this way, we can avoid what happened last time as much as possible!"
"After all, the imperial court has announced the one-year tax exemption policy through newspapers. If anyone dares to tamper with this, check it out!"
Lu Fang, who was on the side, had a clear view of the expression on Jiajing's face. At this moment, he couldn't help but feel a sense of horror in his heart.
He originally thought that Jiajing decided to establish the Information Agency and publish Daming Daily just on a whim.
Unexpectedly, the Information Agency not only made a profit of nearly one million taels, but also gained popularity among the people.
Nowadays, it is even more possible to directly and accurately convey the policies to be implemented by the imperial court to the common people.
In this way, the deceptive behavior of officials at all levels can be reduced as much as possible, so that the court's one-year tax exemption policy can be implemented and truly benefit the people!
"Is it possible that His Majesty expected this to happen from the beginning?"
Seeing that Lu Fang had not responded for a long time, Jiajing couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and asked: "Lu Fang, did you hear what I just said?"
Hearing this, Lu Fang suddenly came back to her senses, quickly lowered her head, and responded respectfully: "Your Majesty, after I come down, I must ask the Information Office to speed up the printing of the third issue of Daming Daily!"
When Jiajing heard what Lu Fang said, he shook his head and immediately said, "Okay, come with me to the Manna Palace!"
As soon as Jiajing finished speaking, Lu Fang lowered her head and responded without thinking: "As you command, Your Majesty!"
After that, Lu Fang followed Jiajing step by step as usual, heading in the direction of Ganlu Palace.
…
On the other side, the Forbidden City, the Cabinet.
The efficiency of the cabinet was very fast, and the matter was implemented shortly after Yan Song and his party returned to the cabinet.
The news that the imperial court will be tax-free for one year was also announced by the cabinet.
As soon as this news came out, it quickly caused an uproar in the court. After all, the court directly reduced taxes for a year this time!
At this moment, on the bulletin board outside the cabinet, many officials who came after hearing the news had already gathered, and they began to discuss the matter one by one.
"Ah, what, the news is actually true. Your Majesty has really decided to be tax-free for one year. This will allow the people to recuperate and recuperate. Your Majesty is so wise!"
"I heard that Gao Gong Gao Ge proposed it to His Majesty. Will this matter affect our salary?"
"Huh, what a nonsense. I have a friend who works at the Ministry of Household Affairs. It is said that there is almost no money left in the treasury right now!"
"Oh, it's such a crime to just give away this free money to the people!"
With the push of caring people, the news that the imperial court was about to be tax-free for one year soon spread throughout the capital.
As soon as this news came out, the people all cheered and ran around telling each other. After all, this was a real benefit. Things like being tax-free for a year may not happen once in a lifetime!
For a time, there were endless voices singing praises, and many people even spontaneously went to temples and Taoist temples to pray for the emperor.
…
Zhejiang, Hangzhou, Weaving Bureau.
In the room, Yan Maoqing, Wang Ting, and Pang Qian, the eunuch in charge of the Weaving Bureau, were gathering together to discuss the next response.
I saw Yan Maoqing picking up the teacup on the table, taking a sip, and complained: "That Ma Ningyuan is really a tough guy. Even though he has exhausted the punishment, he is still unwilling to speak. He insists that he did the whole thing alone. !”
Pang Qian, the eunuch in charge of the Weaving Bureau on the side, heard Yan Maoqing's words, and a trace of worry flashed across his face: "Is it really okay to do this? You must know that Hu Zongxian is Ma Ningyuan's teacher. If the time comes..."
Before Pang Qian finished speaking, he was interrupted by Wang Ting on the side: "There is no way, Zhao Zhenji only gave us ten days to investigate the case, we must pry Ma Ningyuan's mouth open as soon as possible!"
When Wang Ting said this, he paused for a moment, with a look of helplessness on his face, and continued: "Otherwise, we won't be able to explain it to our superiors!"
After saying this, Wang Ting looked at Pang Qian with a stern face and urged: "Eunuch Pang, we can't delay it any longer. Look, in the past two days, the people we sent out have also... Nothing happened?"
Hearing Wang Ting's words, Pang Qian couldn't help but have a look of confusion on his face. After Zheng Michang and He Maocai were suspended one after another, the Weaving Bureau, together with those merchants, began to purchase raw silk from the people at low prices. .
Out of caution, Pang Qian only sent a small number of merchants to purchase raw silk from the people under the banner of the Weaving Bureau.
The small group of merchants he sent out to buy raw silk from the people were just used as bait to test Zhao Zhenji's attitude.
Once these merchants are attacked by the government, Pang Qian will act cautiously.
But in the blink of an eye, two days passed. The merchants responsible for purchasing raw silk from the people were doing well, and Zhao Zhenji did not make any move, as if he acquiesced.
Therefore, as the eunuch in charge of the Weaving Bureau, Pang Qian had most of his doubts dissipated. In addition, Wang Ting and Yan Maoqing were constantly urging him, which made him have the urge to take a gamble.
After all, after purchasing raw silk from the common people at a low price, you only need to resell it, and you can make dozens of times the profit from it, and this is enough to make anyone crazy!
"After this matter is over, relying on the profit share, I, Pang Qian, said that I may not be able to connect with Eunuch Lu. If I can become Eunuch Lu's godson..."
While Pang Qian was still daydreaming, he heard Yan Maoqing's somewhat urgent voice ringing in his ears: "Eunuch Pang, we can't delay any longer. Let the remaining merchants take action together!"
When Pang Qian heard Yan Maoqing's words, he suddenly came back to his senses.
Then, I saw him take a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind, and said in a deep voice: "Well, now that things have come to an end, our family is ready to go all out. Tomorrow, our family will let the remaining merchants start buying raw silk from the people. !”
Yan Maoqing and Wang Ting couldn't help but feel happy when they saw Pang Qian made up his mind.
Afterwards, Wang Ting patted his chest and assured Pang Qian: "Eunuch Pang, don't worry, your share will be indispensable after everything is done!"
When Pang Qian heard Yan Maoqing's words, a smile appeared on his face. He picked up the teacup on the table and said slowly: "Then there is Mr. King Lao!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Ting looked at Yan Maoqing, stroked his beard, and responded with a smile: "Easy to say, easy to say!"
…
On the other side, in the meeting hall of the Governor's Palace.
I saw an official from the Governor's Mansion, leaning down, looking at Zhao Zhenji who was sitting at the top, and reporting respectfully.
"Your Majesty the Governor, in the past two days, many merchants have used the banner of the Weaving Bureau to buy raw silk from the people at low prices!"
"According to the current price of raw silk on the market, a pound of raw silk sells for at least two taels of silver, but the merchants maliciously lowered the price to less than one tael!"
"With such a low price, the people are naturally unwilling to sell at a low price. Since those merchants are backed by the Weaving Bureau, they are very arrogant. They treat those people who are unwilling to sell the raw silk at a low price. Without saying a word, they send thugs to beat them!"
"During this process, countless people were injured, and five of them died from their injuries!"
"This matter has now reached the government, which is also quite a headache. After all, the Weaving Bureau is involved. Do you want to..."
After listening to the official's report, Zhao Zhenji's expression suddenly turned cold. He waved his hand and said: "Well, I know this. Tell the government and let them follow the Ming Dynasty Law." Come and do it, I will support them behind the scenes!"
"As you command, Governor!" (End of this chapter)
