In early May of the first year of Hongzhi, Zhu Youtang suddenly ordered Xingsi to go to the palaces of various courtiers in the evening to inform them that a morning meeting would be held at Wuying Hall the next morning. Although the words were taken out, Zhu Youtang did not stay alone in Qianqing Palace at night, but continued to Kunning Palace. According to his words: "This is called striking while the iron is hot."
After a night of attacking and fighting, Zhu Youtang didn't know when he fell asleep until Queen Zhang pushed him and woke up leisurely.
"Your Majesty, it's time for court early."
Zhu Youtang didn't want to get up, so he turned over and went back to sleep. Unexpectedly, Huaien, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, had already shouted outside the house: "Your Majesty, it's time to get up. Your Majesty, it's time to go to court early."
"I know, please step back first!" Zhu Youtang sat up reluctantly, looked at Wynn who was kneeling outside the door to invite him to court, and said in a daze: "Yu'er, change my clothes. "
Empress Zhang saw that Zhu Youtang was still awake and said resentfully: "I said twice last night was enough, but Your Majesty didn't listen and didn't know how to exercise restraint. If it doesn't work, can we cancel this morning's court meeting?"
"No, it doesn't matter. I used to stay up all night at the Internet cafe and it was fine..."
"Internet cafe? LOL? Your Majesty, are you okay?"
"It's okay, this is a man's happiness. Even if I tell you, you won't understand..."
After not sleeping well all night, Zhu Youtang felt a little depressed. Before the minister came, Zhu Youtang played a few rounds of Tai Chi outside. He broke out in a hot sweat and his sleepiness had already disappeared. At this moment, he was sitting in the carriage, facing the cool morning breeze, and suddenly felt much better.
When they arrived at the Wuying Hall, they saw two rows of civil and military ministers kneeling under the heads of the cabinet, Liu Ji, the first assistant, and Xu Pu, the second assistant.
When the ministers saw that the emperor had arrived, they were led by the cabinet ministers and everyone walked up the mountain to salute.
"Long live my emperor! Long live!"
"No gift."
Zhu Youtang waved his hand, looked at the ministers below, and said: "I called you here today to discuss many important matters. Liu Ji, you are the chief assistant, you go ahead."
There are three matters in the memorial that have not yet been decided. As usual, Liu Ji, the chief minister of the cabinet, reported: "Back to Your Majesty, there are three matters that have not yet been decided. The first is to exempt the land tax that has not been paid for 23 years in Chenghua, Huguang. ; Then there are the envoys sent by the Li Dynasty to pay tribute this month, and the Tatars sent envoys to Beijing to apologize for the intrusion of our Lanzhou Guard. The last thing is reported from Zhejiang, Ningbo, Taizhou, Wenzhou, Jianning, and Yanping. There are pirates out and about, disturbing our land and killing our people. Kang Yuan, the governor of Zhejiang, has written a letter asking for help."
These two things, tax and tax, are often called together by others, but they are essentially different.
The taxes collected from local governments were transferred to the royal treasury, and then became the emperor's private money. Generally, rewards are given to ministers with meritorious services, while taxes go to each yamen and have a treasury, which is used for "official affairs."
The tax money used for "official business", the civil servants in the court who pride themselves on being clean will do everything they can to get it into their own pockets. This is why although the salaries of officials in the Ming Dynasty were low, in the end everyone had a house that was not inferior to the royal gardens. But after all, the money belongs to the emperor, and not many people dare to be careful about it. Therefore, you have to ask the emperor about this kind of unavoidable matter. After all, it is your royal money.
Zhu Youtang took a sip of warm tea and said, "Why didn't the land tax be paid in the 23rd year of Chenghua in Huguang?"
Yin Qian, the Minister of Household Affairs, came out and reported: "Returning to Your Majesty, there was a famine in Huguang in the 23rd year of Chenghua. The imperial court sent people to provide disaster relief. At that time, freight transportation from north to south and local prices were affected."
"I have approved the exemption from the land tax, and there is no need to pay it back. In addition, all ministers in the Daotai Yamen of Huguang Prefecture have ministers, and they will be exempted from the tax for another three years."
Upon hearing this, Liu Ji immediately took the lead and shouted: "Your Majesty, Ming Dynasty, may you be blessed!"
Although these young people can stand up and talk without pain, although being exempt from tax for three years is a good deed that everyone can praise, but when I ordered them to be tax-free for three years, these young people immediately stopped doing it. But I have to admit that this trick played by Emperor Kangxi in later generations was indeed a good way to win people's hearts.
Xu Pu came out and said: "Now that the first thing has been said, it is time to discuss the second thing. Li Chao paid tribute and the little Tatar prince sent envoys to pay tribute. According to the Shanxi capital commander Zheng Yu, the Tatar little prince came to report. The prince led his tribe to sneak into the vicinity of Datong and set up camp for more than thirty miles. He also requested that more than 1,500 envoys be sent to the capital to pay tribute. I believe that sending envoys to pay tribute is a lie, and that there is another conspiracy that is true."
As soon as Xu Pu finished speaking, Zhang Peng, Minister of the Ministry of War, immediately retorted: "Mr. Xu Ge's thinking is too complicated. The Tatars are just asking to come to Beijing to pay tribute. What kind of conspiracy can they have? According to Mr. Ge, all tributes are there." Conspiracy, then the Li Dynasty also sent more than 1,500 envoys this time, is there also a conspiracy?"
"You are confusing black and white. The Li Dynasty is the Li Dynasty, and the Tatars are the Tatars. How can they be discussed together? Then why did the Li Dynasty not invade our border? The Tatars often invaded? The Tatars have wolfish ambitions and must not relax alert."
Zhang Peng was about to argue. At this time, Liu Ji stood up and smoothed things over with a smile: "Don't argue. Since the Tatars say they want to come to Beijing to pay tribute, let them come. Otherwise, it will be obvious that I, the Ming Dynasty, are a bit stingy, but Xu Mr. Ge is also right, we must be on guard against the Tatars, and we should send a letter to all parts of Shanxi to instruct all commanders to cheer up, rectify their armaments, and guard against the Tatars."
It was strange for Xu Pu to see that Liu Ji, who usually opposed him everywhere, was neutral today, while Zhang Peng, the Minister of War, who was usually neutral, had been constantly opposing him these days.
The ministers below all opened and closed their eyes. But they all knew clearly in their hearts. Seeing this situation, Zhang Peng, the Minister of War, must have surrendered to Liu Ji, the chief minister of the cabinet.
Zhu Youtang glanced at the ministers, and when he saw the people behind him winking at each other, he knew there must be something fishy about it. said:
"Tribute is a big deal. Let the Ministry of Rites handle the matter of tribute from the Li Dynasty. The Ministry of Rites must come up with a charter to plan the tribute route of the Li Dynasty and the amount of silver it will cost. As for the tribute from the Tatars, let's Come on, they come. I want to ask them for an explanation regarding the invasion of our Lanzhou Guard and the killing of our people in the Ming Dynasty two months ago. However, sending more than 1,500 envoys is too much. If you reduce it by one, I will allow it. Five hundred people can enter Beijing."
Upon hearing that Li Chao's tribute was in charge of the Ministry of Rites, all the officials' eyes lit up. Liu Ji said: "Your Majesty, since the last time Zhou Hongmo, the Minister of Rites in the Qianqing Palace, was dismissed, the post of Minister has not been filled and is still vacant. Now he is in charge of paying tribute. For such a big thing, we have to find a new person to take charge of everything.
"Do you have anyone to choose?" Zhu Youtang asked.
"I recommend Li Guang, the minister of Dali Temple. Li Guang is well-equipped with both virtue and talent, and is knowledgeable. He is worthy of a great job."
Li Guang was immediately overjoyed when he heard that Liu Ji recommended him to serve as the Minister of Rites. Facts have proved that choosing to hang out with Liu Ji was the right decision. If he eats meat, he won't just give you soup, and he has been Liu Ji's lackey for so many years in vain. Li Guang raised his head and looked at Zhu Youtang, now waiting for the emperor to give his consent.
As soon as Liu Ji finished speaking, many people came out and said in unison: "I second my proposal."
Xiao Jiujiu, who was in Liu Ji's heart, Xu Pu naturally knew that the governor of the Ministry of Rites paid tribute and was a fat man. And Li Guang is Liu Dang. By pushing him to take office, he is obviously trying to make money for himself. Immediately, he stood up and objected: "I object."
When the ministers heard this, they thought, What? Xu Pu objected again. In the last court meeting, Xu Pu came out to impeach the former chief minister of the cabinet Wan An, and this time he came out to oppose the current chief minister Liu Ji. This old man is deliberately trying not to make things easier for us, right? However, the last time Xu Pu stood up, he was still the left minister of the Ministry of official affairs. Now he is the minister of the Ministry of official affairs and the second assistant of the cabinet. The weight of his voice is no longer the same.
Wang Shu was also indignant when he heard that Liu Ji recommended Li Guang to be the Minister of Rites, since Li Guang and Zhou Qing last went to the post house where he lived as lobbyists. For letting himself join Liu Ji to deal with Xu Pu, he was full of disgust towards Li Guang. Seeing that Xu Pu was carrying all the ministers alone, he decided to stand up and help Xu Pu.
"I object!"
After Wang Shu finished speaking, all the ministers looked back, but Xu Pu's eyes were grateful and appreciative, while Liu Ji, Li Guang and others had hateful and fierce eyes.
No matter how the officials below protest, the real decision-making power is still in the hands of Zhu Youtang. Zhu Youtang was wondering why Wang Shuye didn't stand up today and why he was diving silently. Seeing Wang Shu stand up and speak for Xu Pu, he thought to himself: "This is your Wang Zongguan style of not fearing power!"
But this time I may not follow the words of Xu Pu and Wang Shu. Letting Li Guang serve as the Minister of Rites is not all bad...
"Just follow Liu Qing and promote Li Guang to the position of Minister of Rites."
Upon hearing this, Li Guang hurriedly came out of the queue to kowtow: "I thank the Lord for your kindness!"
Xu Pu silently closed his eyes and stopped talking, but Wang Shu didn't understand. How could the wise emperor suddenly become confused?
When Liu Ji saw that his goal had been achieved, he smiled slightly and stood up and said: "Okay, we can get over the second thing. Next, let's discuss the third thing about pirates invading our country.
When the Minister of War saw Liu Ji winking at him, he immediately went out and said: "Your Majesty, Zhejiang is the gateway to the southeast of our Ming Dynasty and cannot be lost. I think it is necessary to go to Zhejiang to help, and the governor Kang Yuan's memorial and the payment of salary must be agreed to." .”
"Yes, there was an invasion by Tatars in the northwest, and one hundred thousand yuan was paid out afterwards. Now that there are pirates intruding along the coast of Zhejiang, it is necessary to pay out money to calm the morale of the army." said Wei Zhang, minister of Dali Temple.
When Xu Pu heard this, he immediately became angry and objected: "Can pirates compare with the Tatars? Even if pirates invade, they will only have a few hundred people at most, and it will not become a problem. For such a small local matter, Kang Yuan, the governor of Zhejiang, will write a letter Asking for help and salary. If he can’t even defeat pirates, then why does the Ming Dynasty still need him as a governor?”
Kang Yuan was Liu Ji's protégé. This time he wrote a letter asking for pay and reinforcements. It was obvious that he wanted to make money. Xu Pu couldn't stand Liu Dang's greedy behavior at all.
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