In the Wenhua Hall, after the emperor finished speaking, Yu Qian was also a little silent.
He had known for a long time that the emperor had great ambitions, but he did not expect that the emperor would focus on the sea ban this time.
"Your Majesty, what do you want me to do?"
After pondering for a moment, Yu Qian finally spoke.
However, this sentence made Zhu Qiyu very surprised.
Is this... the Yu Qian he knew?
After a trip to Beijing, I really changed my temper...
It is true that when he mentioned this matter to Yu Qian, he just wanted to give Yu Qian an errand. However, if it were such a big matter as the establishment of a sea ban, Yu Qian would never give up unless he chased him to find out.
Now, he didn't even ask any questions, which was a bit beyond Zhu Qiyu's expectation.
However, although Yu Qian didn't ask, he still had something to say. After thinking about it for a while, Zhu Qiyu said.
"The Japanese pirates are causing chaos in Zhangzhou. I plan to send 30,000 troops to quell the rebellion. This campaign is different from the past. We need to work quickly. Moreover, we must completely eradicate the Japanese pirates in Zhangzhou. Therefore, I need a capable minister to supervise. Military affairs.”
Under the Ming Dynasty's army mobilization system, when large armies go out for battle, they are usually led by dukes, marquises, and uncles. In addition, they will also be equipped with civil servants of sufficient rank to supervise military affairs, and there will also be eunuchs to follow and supervise the army. Ensure the court's control over the army.
Yu Qian, as the former Minister of War, is naturally very clear about this. The job of admiral is not difficult to do. After all, there is a commander in front of him. In a real war, it is actually the commander and the commander. The admirals and ministers check each other, and whoever is more capable can substantially control the direction of the war.
but……
"Your Majesty, the Japanese pirates have been a problem for a long time. Now the drought in Jiangxi has just subsided. There is no snow in Gyeonggi and southern Zhili this winter. Next year may still be a bad harvest year. Why does Your Majesty want to mobilize troops on this matter?"
These words clearly contained opposition, but the way he spoke was undoubtedly very different from Yu Qian's before.
It makes Zhu Qiyu a little uncomfortable, but Yu Shaobao is still very popular because he can talk well.
After pondering for a moment, Zhu Qiyu spoke.
"It is precisely because next year's harvest may not be good, that's why I have to mobilize our troops at this time!"
Since he planned to leave this job to Yu Qian, he must explain clearly what should be explained.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have mentioned the sea ban when he came up.
Hearing this, Yu Qian frowned, but he did not speak in a hurry, but waited for Zhu Qiyu's next words.
So, Zhu Qiyu continued.
"The drought in Jiangxi has affected several states. The imperial government has allocated about 400,000 taels for disaster relief. As the gentleman said, there will be no snow this winter in Gyeonggi and South Zhili, and the harvest will probably be poor next year. According to estimates from the Ministry of Household Affairs , the state capitals affected this time are more extensive than the drought in Jiangxi, in addition to..."
Speaking of this, a trace of deep worry flashed between Zhu Qiyu's brows, but he did not continue.
Because I can’t say what comes next.
...In addition, he also knew that after the New Year, Fengyang and other places would not stop raining and snowing. It would rain and snow for several months, causing all the wheat seedlings to be frostbitten. Along with it, starting from March, it would spread to Henan. , droughts in Huguang and other places. After May, dozens of states such as Southern Zhili and Shandong will experience heavy rains for three consecutive months. In November, Henan, Shandong, Zhejiang, Southern Zhili and other places will experience heavy rains. It's severe cold and snowstorms that last for several months...
Compared with these, this year's drought is nothing more than a minor event.
What’s even more frightening is that this is not the year with the most frequent disasters. The real test is still to come...
Shaking his head, Zhu Qiyu took back the emotions in his heart and said.
"Logically speaking, at this time, we should reserve food to prepare for the lean years and tide over the difficulties together. However, sir, you should know that open source is the fundamental strategy."
"Previously, the imperial treasury was completely empty during the civil war. However, in just two years, although the national power has not returned to its peak, it can still support many major events. The root cause is not to cut back on expenditure, but to increase revenue through mutual trading. .”
As he spoke, Zhu Qiyu picked up an account book from his hand and said to Yu Qian.
"This is the account book of Huangdian until the civil war in the grassland. In the past six months or so, the profits of Huangdian, plus the taxes paid to the treasury, together can support the entire military expenditure on the border last year. "
"In addition, Mr. inspected the fertile farmland during the military camp's rectification, and during the process, he also confiscated the silver earned by the border generals and corrupt officials. In the past two years, all expenditures related to the border army, including repairing the border wall, have been , there is no need to withdraw it separately, and even part of it can be retained in the national treasury."
In fact, sometimes, governing a country is both difficult and easy.
At least for Zhu Qiyu, one of his major policies since he came to the throne for so long is to save the Ming Dynasty's gradually collapsing finances.
When it comes to specific methods, they include but are not limited to conducting mutual markets, reorganizing military camps, building water canals, and opening imperial villages...
Yes, Huangzhuang is also one of the means to save finances!
"I just read the memorial handed over by my husband. After these forty-two imperial mansions are built, a part of the lord's annual salary can be cut off. In this way, the government's expenditure will be reduced by a large amount. Money.”
Hearing the emperor's words, Yu Qian suddenly reacted.
Having been supervising the affairs of Huangzhuang in the local area for so long, he naturally studied the regulations of Huangzhuang that were originally promulgated thoroughly.
Among them, there is a very inconspicuous clause, that is, part of the imperial village's rent will be used as the lord's salary.
According to the regulations originally announced, the annual harvest of the Imperial Village will be roughly divided into three parts. The first part is pure rent, which is used to repay the cattle purchased by the feudal lord in the Imperial Estate, grow grain, and provide farm equipment and houses. , the second part is the taxes and grains to be paid to the government. The two together account for more than 70% of the field harvest, and the remaining small part is received by the tenants.
The problem lies in the second part. According to the articles of association, part of the second part of the tax is to be given to the vassal king to be used as the annual clan salary.
At first, Yu Qian only felt that the emperor's move was to reduce the pressure on the court, although he also realized that the system of Huangzhuang actually tied the tenants and the vassal together to jointly resist natural disasters.
However, listening to what the Emperor said at this moment, he found that it was very possible that it was not that simple. If nothing unexpected happened, the Emperor should... have been plotting against the kings for a long time.
So for many things, if you don't do them, even if you know the possible situations, you won't have deep feelings. This is the reason.
Yu Qian had long understood the role of Huangzhuang, but it was only now that he realized how useful it was.
If there is no imperial village, then the royalties of these vassal kings must be allocated by the court, even in disaster years.
However, now that there is Huangzhuang, the royalties of these vassals come from the land tax of Huangzhuang. If there is really a disaster next year, then the court's land tax will not be collected, so how can it be allocated from the land tax? Zong Lu?
The emperor's move was not only to save the court some money, but more importantly, to use the power of the vassal king.
If this method is not used, then forcibly cutting off the salaries of the kings will definitely cause a backlash.
However, Huangzhuang is different. From the perspective of profit and loss, under the Huangzhuang system, once the harvest fails, the amount of money that the kings can get will be greatly reduced.
But firstly, this is just a risk, there will never be a disaster every year (really?), secondly, even if there are natural disasters every year, as long as the kings are allowed to choose, Yu Qian believes that they will still choose Huangzhuang.
Not for anything else, because for the vassal kings, they are not short of money. The imperial court gives them annual salary, rewards during festivals, fixed land rents, plus tributes from local gentry, as well as the income from raids and plunder over the years. All other gray incomes are added up, and as long as they are not particularly extravagant and lustful vassal kings, they will be able to live in fine clothes and fine food, which is more than enough.
However, people's desires are always endless. A life of glory and wealth is innate to the vassals, but they do not find it precious.
What they really need is power. To put it bluntly, even a seventh-grade magistrate can do much more and have much more freedom than the vassal king.
If the imperial court is willing to open the channels for the vassal princes to participate in politics, let alone pay them annual salaries and let them pay themselves their own salaries, some vassal princes are willing.
For them, the Imperial Village is such an existence. Although the management of the Imperial Village is the responsibility of eunuchs, and it is the royal officials who participate on behalf of the vassal king, but after all, it involves all aspects, some kind of In a sense, the feudal king still gained a certain amount of power.
Apart from anything else, because Huangzhuang enclosed a large area of land, it could not be located within the city. It was basically located on the outskirts of the city. As a result, the feudal king used the excuse of inspecting Huangzhuang to visit Huangzhuang, which left most of the day. , whether it is a game outing in the city or an outing, there are many less cumbersome procedures, and it can be said that you can taste the long-lost freedom.
Yu Qian had a particularly profound feeling about this during the six months he left Beijing. In fact, in most cases, when he was on errands in the vassal territory and encountered any difficulties, the vassal kings treated him very much. Be friendly, as if the previous unpleasantness never happened.
The reason is that they don't want the Huangzhuang matter to go wrong and fail to protect everything. They also hope that with the precedent of Huangzhuang, the emperor can further relax the restrictions on the vassal kings in the future.
Therefore, even if they have to pay a little bit of their clan salary, these vassal kings will definitely not be willing to let go...
Although in Yu Qian's view, there are risks in relaxing restrictions on the vassal kings in this way, it is still a good way to allow the court to survive the disaster years safely.
However, what does this have to do with the suppression of Japanese pirates?
After pondering for a moment, Yu Qian spoke.
"I can understand what your Majesty said. However, the current situation in the grassland is chaotic and the mutual trade is intermittent. The annual income of the imperial court must have also dropped a lot. Could it be that the source of income that your Majesty just mentioned has something to do with the Japanese pirates in Zhangzhou?"
"good!"
Zhu Qiyu nodded and said.
"Sir, you just mentioned that the ships going out to sea carry a lot of silk, tea, porcelain and other items. This is indeed the case. This is because I asked Uncle Wang to win over many businessmen in the local area in the name of exploring the sea charts. Go overseas to do business!”
Although this matter had just been mentioned, Yu Qian's face still looked a little ugly when Zhu Qiyu actually said that he and King Dai were instigating this matter behind his back.
It can be seen that Shaobao is trying very hard to suppress his desire to speak out and remonstrate directly.
However, it is conceivable that if Zhu Qiyu does not have a reasonable explanation for this matter next, even if Yu Qian changes, I am afraid that he will return to the former Nanqiang Yu Shaobao.
Seeing this situation, Zhu Qiyu said.
"I know that this is against the ancestral system, but it is indeed a helpless move."
"Sir, do you know that at least half of these caravans are the Forbidden Army that have been broken into pieces, and all the supplies on their ships come from the Imperial Store!"
After hearing this, and remembering what the Emperor had just said about Kaiyuan, Yu Qian vaguely understood something and asked.
"Your Majesty, you mean that you plan to go to sea for trade?"
"But even if you want to go to sea, why would your Majesty allow private merchants to violate the sea ban?"
The Ming Dynasty's sea ban policy was actually quite special. To put it bluntly, private citizens were prohibited from going to sea, but official travel to sea was allowed.
The most typical example is Zheng He's voyages to the West. This eunuch of the Three Treasures made seven voyages to the West, but no one came forward to mention the maritime ban. This is the reason.
The reason why the sea ban policy is often interpreted as prohibiting sea trade is that the imperial court will not go to sea for trade. Only private merchants will go to sea for trade. Even Zheng He's voyages to the West were only to enhance the national prestige. , so gradually, the two became equated.
However, the emergence of the Huangdian organization broke this perception.
First of all, there is no doubt that the Huangdian is the private property of the emperor. Then, the next question is whether the emperor can represent the court. If not...well, no, if it can, then the Huangdian will go to sea for trade. It should be considered an official act of the imperial court.
Since it is an official act, it is naturally not restricted by the ban on people not going to the sea. At most, it is just an old tune competing for profits with the people.
Therefore, Yu Qian was a little confused as to why the emperor went to such great lengths to first bring the king to Zhangzhou Prefecture, and then in the name of verifying the nautical charts to allow private merchant ships to fish in troubled waters...
So, Zhu Qiyu sighed, took out another memorial, handed it over, and said.
"Sir, you might as well take a look at this first!"
Yu Qian frowned, took the memorial handed over by the chamberlain, opened it and took a look, and his brows immediately stood up.
The content of this memorial is actually very simple. It records the collusion between the wealthy gentry and wealthy merchants in several surrounding prefectures with Zhangzhou Prefecture as the center and the Japanese pirates along the coast...
