After hearing what Qi Jiguang said, Shen Yiguan and Yu Shenxing who followed him all looked at Li Chengliang and nodded.
Li Chengliang was stunned on the spot.
After a while.
Li Chengliang straightened his chest and said, "I have no regrets in giving up the benefits of trade for the country!"
"So, gentlemen, you don't have to look at me like this. Not to mention that our government is no longer engaged in business. Even if we are still dealing in ginseng and mink skins from Liaodong, we will still support the imposition of luxury tax!"
"Although a certain man is a martial artist, he also knows how to cultivate virtue through frugality and restrain luxury to enrich the country."
"The Prime Minister's high righteousness makes us admire him."
Shen Guanyi waited and then replied.
Qi Jiguang also smiled and said: "If everyone in the world is as uninterested as the public, why worry about the long-term peace and stability of the country."
"yes!"
All the ministers present sighed in this way.
The ministers at the center of the Ming Dynasty seemed to be very willing to see Li Chengliang value virtue over profit.
In fact, whether they are sincere or not, they cannot directly say that frugality is wrong, nor can they say that sacrificing their own interests is wrong.
After all, these ministers were educated to be frugal and to value profits over justice, and they often used this concept to admonish the emperor and others.
However, now that Li Chengliang is so praised by Qi Jiguang, and Li Chengliang also actively cooperates, the hypocritical person can no longer prevent the emergence of the luxury tax by instigating Li Chengliang, and must continue to praise Li Chengliang for this.
…
The official residence of the Privy Councilor.
"This old relative, he put a high hat on Zhang Taiyue back then, saying that he could restore the Ming Dynasty, and now he puts a high hat on me, saying that I can make the Ming Dynasty peaceful and stable."
"Although he is a military official, he is more cunning than a civil servant. Thinking about it makes people angry!"
"Now, the powerful people in the world can't stop scolding me, Li Chengliang? They will say that I, Li Chengliang, am shameless. For the sake of fame and wealth, I did not hesitate to flatter him, Qi Yuanjing, and became his lackey. I sold off all my family's property just to facilitate his luxury. Tax."
After Li Chengliang returned to the official residence, he finally couldn't help it and complained to his son Li Rubai and others.
Li Rubai said: "Then it's okay if father doesn't cooperate, or prove it to the world?"
"Prove shit!"
"The real master of the Ming Dynasty is Your Majesty, not the people of the world. He, Qi Yuanjing, is responsible to His Majesty, so I can only let him drive me, and I should only prove to him. How can I prove it to the people of the world?"
"If Your Majesty doesn't get rid of Qi Yuanjing, I will have to be his lackey for a day."
Li Chengliang cursed, then picked up the tea on the table beside him. As soon as he brought it to his mouth and took a sip, he smashed it on the ground and cursed: "You bastard, do you want to burn me to death?"
"Father, didn't you feel it was hot when you served it?"
Li Rubai asked at this time.
After hearing this, Li Chengliang looked at Li Rubai: "What do you mean?"
"No, it's not interesting."
Li Rubai hurriedly replied, then changed the subject and asked:
"Father, the military reform has really been decided. Will those military households really become more expensive?"
"Of course!"
"It's just good for you losers like you. In the future, my grandchildren won't be unable to study or even starve to death because of their lack of potential."
Li Chengliang replied angrily, and then said: "We, the children of military families, may not really have to show favor to the gentry in the future. Only by changing from a military family of generals to a Confucian family of gentry can we stay rich forever."
…
Two months later, Nanjing Xiaoling Guards.
Snapped!
Snapped!
"I'll give this shabby military household a hundred sticks first! How dare you prevent me from entering the Xiaoling Mausoleum and contradict me."
Gong Yunzhi, the censor of the patrol, was drunk with prostitutes and took advantage of his drunkenness to enter Xiaoling Guards and visit Xiaoling with prostitutes. However, he was stopped by Meihai, the military guard guarding Xiaoling.
Mei Hai said that he could not enter the Xiaoling Mausoleum smelling of alcohol and disheveled clothes.
Gong Yunzhi was furious because of this, and directly ordered his soldiers to punish Mei Hai with a stick on the grounds that Mei Hai prevented him from reviewing the affairs of the Xiaoling Guard camp.
Mei Hai was beaten to pieces, but he still endured the pain and did not beg for mercy. He only shouted: "It is unofficial for you to drink alcohol and bring a prostitute to the tomb! When we get the command, if he lets me in, you can come in." You just can’t get in until he comes!”
"You still dare to contradict this constitution?"
"Fight to death!"
Gong Yunzhi was still angry for a moment, so he said something again.
"stop!"
At this time, an official came over on horseback with several officers and soldiers and shouted.
Gong Yunzhi looked back and saw that it was Liu Fangyu, a Jinshi in the same department, and Mei Shi, the conductor, and others. He asked, "Brother Yaozhong, why are you stopping me?"
"Of course, because you have been transferred to the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate, the new inspector is now my Majesty. The existing imperial edict and the Metropolitan Procuratorate documents are here. If you don't believe me, you can check them."
Liu Fangyu replied.
Gong Yunzhi had no choice but to ask his soldiers to stop and asked, "Is this happening?"
"Absolutely true!"
Liu Fangyu replied and really asked Gong Yunzhi to show the imperial edict.
Gong Yunzhi asked: "Why did the court transfer me?"
"Yuanfu presided over the military reform, and all provinces transferred those who could be transferred to military status. No matter whether they were civil or military, I am a Jinshi from a military household, so naturally I was sent to replace the Duke."
Liu Fangyu replied.
"Military reform."
Gong Yunzhi was sober in an instant.
Liu Fangyu looked at Mei Hai at this time, frowned and said:
"The imperial court has just issued a new law. Unless it is a violation of military discipline, the superiors in the army can use the staff in addition to the military stick. Officers such as pacifiers and other officials are not allowed to flog them with the staff. Doing so openly is already violating the order."
"The urgent delivery hasn't arrived for a few days, so I didn't pay attention. Please forgive me, Brother Yaozhong."
Gong Yunzhi replied.
Liu Fangyu glanced at Gong Yunzhi and smiled: "You are just a Confucian Jinshi, so what qualifications do you have to be a brother to our military Jinshi? Don't you know that the imperial court now considers military status to be the most important thing?"
Gong Yunzhi was stunned on the spot.
Liu Fangyu here asked people to carry Mei Hai down for treatment, and said: "Don't worry, I will make the decision for you, and I will not let you suffer this grievance in vain, nor will the order of nobility and inferiority be trampled in vain!"
Mei Hai said her thanks somewhat vaguely.
Liu Fangyu here told Mei Shi, the commander of the Xiaoling Guard who came with him: "Commander Gao, call those who are over fifty years old in your guard. I will give them pension money and publicize the upcoming benefits." military policy.”
Meishi cupped his hands and said yes.
According to the original military household system of the Ming Dynasty, the military households of the guard station not only had to fight hard in the war, but also farmed. In addition, they had to prepare their own expenses such as clothing, food and so on.
Military households who did not participate in the conscription had to farm the land, and to farm the land, they had to pay farmland grains of silver, that is, pay taxes, and also have to bear the labor arranged by the guards officers.
Some guards officers even colluded with local officials to let military households in the guards assume local corvee duties.
It means that while the military households in the guardhouse support themselves, they also have to work hard for the court, pay taxes, and contribute.
In addition, according to the military household system in the early Ming Dynasty, those in the army who were over sixty years old, as well as those who were disabled or young, were required to farm and support themselves, and there was no so-called pension money.
Naturally, there will be no specialized medical institutions responsible for treating the injuries and illnesses of the military households in the guards.
In short, according to the original guard system, ordinary military households except officers had the worst life in the Ming Dynasty.
And because of this, the Wei institute system soon ceased to exist in name only.
In the Zhengtong three years of the Yingzong reign of the Ming Dynasty, 1.2 million military households in the world fled, accounting for half of the total number of military households in the country.
As of now, more than a hundred years later, during the Wanli period, there are even fewer.
The remaining military households are either the officer class and the noble class that have successfully transformed, or the middle and lower classes of the original officer class have fallen into ordinary military households and have not had time to escape.
Although the military household system in the guard station existed in name only, Zhu Yijun did not abolish it directly. Instead, he opened the ban and allowed ordinary military households to become citizens without having to flee and become refugees. Instead, they could directly become civilian households.
at the same time.
Zhu Yijun also relied on the original guard system to reform and cultivate a military aristocratic group step by step, that is, to use chickens to lay eggs, to improve the status of non-citizen military households, and to win over the power base to rule the Ming Dynasty.
As mentioned earlier, many of the existing military households are from the officer class of the original military households. They have either been converted into nobles, or they still have hereditary official positions and have become generals for generations.
If Zhu Yijun arbitrarily abolishes the guard system, it will undoubtedly affect the interests of the noble generals and military nobles with hereditary military positions in the world.
Because the direct abolition of the guard system means that the iron rice bowl of many noble generals and military nobles will be devalued. For example, the hereditary Dengzhou Guard command of Qi Jiguang's family will become an empty official position that can only receive a salary. If you can't be responsible for some government affairs of Dengzhou Guard, there will naturally be a lot less benefits.
You should know that although the Ming Dynasty now mainly adopts the camp system, that is, the recruiting system, the people who hold the main general positions in the camp are basically people with military background.
After all, these people are hereditary military officers from their ancestors, and if they have good family education, they will not fall behind in basic martial arts and military education. This makes most of the people who can pass the martial arts examinations.
Still taking Qi Jiguang as an example, before he took the martial arts examination and became a battalion general, he commanded the Dengzhou Guards.
Therefore, directly abolishing the guard system will also affect the emperor's control over the camp troops.
In summary, Zhu Yijun did not choose to directly abolish the guard system. Instead, he put new wine in old bottles and transformed the original guard system into a military aristocracy based on actual expansion needs.
That is to say, military households were no longer serfs whose personal relationships were severely restricted and their labor efforts were severely squeezed, but nobles with higher political and economic status.
Not to mention the previous exemption from corvee for military households and the strict prohibition on local enslavement of military households. Now Zhu Yijun has also issued a decree to permanently exempt military households from the grain of silver in their farm fields, and also gives preferential treatment and leniency to military households in terms of criminal law. It also stipulates the implementation of a gradient retirement system for military households, that is, military households at different levels can retire after reaching different ages. After retirement, they will be paid a pension, and those over the age of 50 will also receive an additional pension. The distribution is also gradient, which means more as you get older.
Now, after receiving the decree of military reform, Liu Fangyu, the imperial censor of Yingtianxun, decided to first distribute pension funds to the military households of Xiaoling Guard.
Xiaolingwei has a special status after all.
Liu Fangyu personally came to Xiaoling Guard to issue silver and convey the policy, instead of issuing constitutional votes and letting the officers of the local guard station implement them.
"My emperor shows mercy to all of you for your contribution to guarding the mausoleum, so I have specially ordered the Xiaoling Guards to receive double the pension for the first year in addition. Now, please queue up to receive the silver and sign it with your household registration card, and thank you in front of the imperial edict."
After the veterans of the Xiaoling Guard lined up in front of Liu Fangyu, Liu Fangyu gave the order loudly.
As a result, these veteran military households began to line up one after another to hold accounts and receive money.
Masuda Nagamori and others wanted to see the situation of the Nanjing guards up close, so they also came to the area and saw this scene from a distance on a mountain that was not designated as a restricted area for Xiaoling.
"These sergeants are obviously old Tang people with bright hair and silver beards, but this officer is still handing out silver coins to these old Tang people!"
Masuda Nagamori said in shock when he saw it.
(End of chapter)
