"Your Majesty, the chief minister of the cabinet and the two ministers of the Ministry of Public Affairs and the Ministry of Household Affairs jointly submitted a letter to the court, asking the court to quickly discuss the new money law and eliminate the Liao salary to relieve the people's poverty."
Eunuch Liu Ruoyu, the Superintendent of Ceremonies, Bingbi, reported to Zhu Youxiao the memorial to important ministers that was sent directly to the imperial court without cabinet vote, and then he read the contents of the joint memorial.
Zhu Youxiao laughed after hearing this: "This Fang Congzhe did not disappoint me, he knows what I am thinking! After all, he is a veteran of three dynasties!"
Zhu Youxiao said: "The decree was passed to set up a political affairs hall in the duty room next to the Longzong Gate in the Qianqing Gate. An auxiliary minister was appointed as the first grade. Fang Congzhe was promoted to the auxiliary minister and was given the title of "auxiliary minister" in the Forbidden City. He will be on duty in the political hall from now on, handling urgent matters of military and civil affairs, and making it convenient for me to inquire at any time."
"My slave obeys the order!"
Liu Ruoyu opened his mouth in surprise and then replied.
Next.
Liu Ruoyu personally came to the cabinet to convey the order.
At the beginning, Liu Ruoyu saw Han Xu first.
When Han Xu saw it was Liu Ruoyu, he smiled and asked, "Prime Minister Liu is here in person! But what is your Majesty's important order?"
The Ming Dynasty's ceremonial eunuchs Zhangyin and Bingbi eunuchs are usually honored as internal ministers, just as great scholars are honored as Ge Lao.
Therefore, Han Xu called Liu Ruoyu the internal minister.
Liu Ruoyu also smiled politely and did not say what the order was. He only asked: "Is Yuan Fu here?"
"My servant is here, may I ask what your Majesty's instructions are?"
At this time, Fang Congzhe walked out in person.
Liu Ruoyu hurriedly ran up, half-bent, held Fang Congzhe's arm, and said with an inferior smile: "How dare you, Yuanfu, come out in person? It's just a word of mouth. I'll go to your room in person." Just pass on the message."
"In other words, you are in front of His Majesty and you are here to convey the order. How dare you not come out to receive the order? Besides, this time you are here to convey the order in person. I wonder what His Majesty's order is?"
Fang Congzhe asked.
Liu Ruoyu hurriedly conveyed Zhu Youxiao's decree and said: "I would like to congratulate Yuan Fu first, and please Yuan Fu to prepare the decree quickly."
After hearing this, Fang Congzhe pursed his lips vigorously to hide the joy in his heart, and knelt down vigorously to thank the emperor for his kindness.
"Draw up the decree, Yuan Fu."
Liu Ruoyu continued to say with a smile.
"Okay, okay, draft the decree."
Fang Conzhe stood up in a hurry, and started to pick up the pen with his slightly trembling hands. When he saw Liu Ruoyu hand over the pen, he had to stand up and take the pen with both hands. But as soon as he stood up, he sat back again, and then took the pen from Liu Ruoyu with one hand. He took the pen in his hand and started drafting the edict.
The Secretary of the Cabinet on the side glanced at Liu Ruoyu and thought to himself: "My father-in-law, aren't you busy as the Supervisor of Ceremonies? Why are you taking my job?"
After drafting the edict, Liu Ruoyu left the cabinet with the imperial edict and went to the Supervisor of Ceremonies.
After waiting for the approval, Liu Ruoyu came back with the imperial edict in person and distributed it to the cabinet. He personally walked into Fang Congzhe's room and said, "Yuan Fu, please invite me. The carriages are all ready."
"Thank you, father-in-law."
Fang Congzhe walked out of the cabinet after saying this, entered the Jianyu, was carried by the eunuchs of the two palaces into the Zuoshun Gate, and went to the Qianqing Palace.
Han Xu read the contents of the imperial edict in the royal palace, and thus learned about the emperor's establishment of a political hall and the promotion of Fang Congzhe to the position of assistant minister to the Qianqing Palace.
But now Han Xu was very envious when he saw Fang Congzhe leaving in a chariot, and he couldn't help but said to himself: "After all, Fang Daxing is better than himself! He proposed that the officials and the two ministers of the household should work together to reform the money law. Because of this, I went to work closer to the emperor. Why didn't I realize before that the emperor would always say that if the world was in chaos, he would return to Fengyang to raise righteousness because he wanted to reform Zhongxing?"
"Yuanfu didn't come on duty today?"
Wang Xiangqian came to the cabinet at this time. Seeing that Fang Congzhe was not there, he asked about Han Xu.
Therefore, Han Xu said sourly: "We have entered the palace! And we went in a carriage! From now on, we will be the only ones in the cabinet."
Wang Xiangqian understood instantly after hearing this, and followed Han Xu's gaze in the direction of Qianqing Palace.
As a result, the two men have been standing outside the cabinet door.
From time to time, Han Xu asked Wang Xiangqian: "It should be very different when doing things closer to the emperor, right?"
…
Fang Congzhe had to admit that the duty room in the political hall was not as spacious as the cabinet duty room, but when he saw the emperor's palace outside the window, and he could know the emperor's whereabouts before any official at any time, he immediately felt that it was quite comfortable to work here, at least compared to the cabinet. Quiet.
"Your Majesty is here!"
At this time, the eunuch shouted.
Fang Congzhe hurriedly left the duty room in the political affairs hall and knelt under the jade steps.
Zhu Youxiao walked towards the Political Affairs Hall at this time.
The Qianqing Palace is indeed not far from the Zhengshi Hall, probably only a few dozen meters away.
Therefore, Fang Congzhe didn't kneel for long before Zhu Youxiao came to him and said: "Yuan Fu, please rise. From now on, you don't have to kneel except during grand ceremonies and when there are other foreign ministers."
Zhu Youxiao didn't know whether Fang Congzhe had high blood pressure or whether kneeling frequently would lead to sudden cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, so he gave Fang Congzhe the grace to avoid kneeling.
After entering the political affairs hall, Zhu Youxiao also pointed to the Taishi chair in front of the case and said: "This is the place where you sit. In the political affairs hall from now on, even if I come in person, you can sit there. This is my opinion of the auxiliary ministers." The grace is also to facilitate the handling of government affairs, otherwise, how can I review the question book while standing?"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
Fang Congzhe had to admit that although the emperor today was tough and ruthless, he also knew how to be considerate when it was time to show sympathy to his old ministers.
Fang Congzhe sat on the Taishi chair, like a clay Buddha statue.
Zhu Youxiao, who was already sitting opposite him, started to speak first: "I have read the memorial jointly signed by several of you veterans. It is true that Liao's salary has to be abolished. Even if the court is short of money, it cannot impose additional taxes on the people. How much food do the people have? Before the increase in wages, they had to go hungry in the famine years. Wouldn’t this increase in wages mean that they would also starve in the good years? If the people are really forced to rebel, the government’s finances will be even worse! But after the Donglu war, The rebellion has to be put down, and therefore the need for more money and grain will continue to increase, but the court's deficit is getting more and more serious, so the taxation and finance need to be reformed, but it cannot be reformed from the people."
"What your Majesty is saying is that in my opinion, if the imperial court catches up with Bufu, Liao's salary will be enough to meet the current expenses without levying it at all, let alone deal with the Donglu rebellion, even if there are a few more, it will be enough. Support, in recent years, the backlog of food and salary has become more and more serious. Not to mention anything else, Taicang's salt tax and silver alone cannot be collected! There is also a million taels of gold and silver that need to be given to His Majesty every year, and we can't collect it either. Done!"
Fang Congzhe said that he knew the emperor's intention was to become an official of the reform, so he actively expressed his opinions.
Zhu Youxiao therefore nodded and asked: "Based on Yuan Fu's opinion, how should we collect all the accumulated tax and grain arrears? Pay back the tax?"
Fang Congzhe said: "Your Majesty, those who owe taxes and grain are mainly wealthy families. As early as the Shimiao period, the court had limited the amount of exemptions and exemptions for the gentry, and there were regulations on exemptions and exemptions. However, most of the gentry now have far less tax and exemptions." Dozens or even hundreds of times outside the scope, and even colluded with subordinates to spread the land under their own names to other households or secretly transferred it to other households without paying a penny! Therefore, I believe that the first step is to reopen the clearing of land. , put an end to the gentry’s deceitful sending and scattering behavior! All except for exemptions will be recovered!”
