Governing a big country is like cooking small dishes. It is indeed taking food from the mouths of so many vested interests, so we should be cautious. After all, those clans and officials formed the core of this dynasty's rule. Once the core is shaken, turmoil in the world is inevitable. What's more, although those officials may not have murderous knives in their hands, the pens in their hands are often more powerful than murderous knives.
Huang Qiong, who originally picked up a pen to write a memorial to the emperor, thought about it for a long time and still didn't put the pen down. Because in his opinion, the solution to the court's insufficient annual revenue should never be based solely on overseas trade. What we should do more is walk on two legs. That is to say, we must regain the right to trade overseas, but we must also restrict land annexation.
Just thinking of this, Huang Qiong suddenly thought that the problem he could see, with his shrewdness as the emperor, could it really be that he couldn't see it at all? I'm afraid not necessarily. He first operated on the Guilin County Prince's Mansion, maybe he planned to pick a softer persimmon first. After all, no matter how rich the Guilin County Prince's Palace is, it is still a little weak compared to the officials in the world.
What's more, although the Guilin County Prince's Mansion holds a bag of money, it doesn't have a pen in its hand. Let's start with the Guilin County Prince's Mansion to stabilize the officials in the court, as well as the gentry and scholars all over the world, and of course the so-called clans with good moral integrity. As long as the rights to overseas trade are taken back and the imperial court has a surplus, the rest can be taken care of slowly.
Even if it comes to the worst outcome, the Guilin County Prince's Palace, unwilling to accept it, will rebel. But as long as the court officials are stable, he can deal with it calmly. Perhaps in the eyes of my own emperor, the private soldiers raised by the Guilin County Prince's Rebellion may not even have half the combat strength of the four major battalions. As long as there is no chaos within the imperial court, the Guilin County Prince's Palace will not be afraid of taking risks.
But will the development of things be as simple as the emperor expected? Compared with the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, as well as the clans, gentry, and even scholars all over the world, is the Guilin County Prince's Mansion really just that, a relatively soft persimmon? In Huang Qiong's view, this is really not necessarily the case. There is something called a chain of interests, which I, the emperor, may not be able to understand in my lifetime.
Does the emperor himself know that those civil and military officials in the court who are from merchant families or have properties in their names rely on the Guilin County Prince's Palace to sell the output to those merchants? Do you know how many officials in the court have been bribed by the Guilin County Prince's Mansion and have been exchanging information with them?
After hesitating for a long time, he finally put down the pen in his hand. Huang Qiong, who was a little irritable, walked to the window and pushed it open, letting the cold wind hit her face. It is not impossible to curb this kind of land annexation. Those clans or gentry families wantonly annexing land are actually just for profit.
No matter how much land you have, you don't have to pay money or grain. Unless there is a natural or man-made disaster, no matter how much you harvest, it will eventually be yours. Food in a good year may not be very valuable, but in a famine year, that food is worth a lot of money. There are profits and losses in doing business, but annexing land is almost a sure-fire business. That kind of famine that lasts for years only happens once every few years?
As long as it doesn't fall on their heads, it won't have any impact on them. What's more, the more severe the disaster, the more valuable the food they hoard is, right? Without this kind of profit motive, who would be able to hoard so much land when they are full. Food is the most important thing for the people, and food is always more valuable than money.
If you want to curb the momentum of land annexation, you only need to adopt two points. One is that the imperial court issued an imperial edict, and for the land under the names of officials and gentry families, money and grain were paid as usual. Second, if the land in your name exceeds a certain amount, some additional money and grain will be charged. If both the clan and the officials and gentry lose the idea of hoarding land, this momentum can be reversed.
It's just that, not only those officials who keep saying they don't compete with the people, but fundamentally don't compete with themselves, will firmly oppose it. My own emperor, who still cherishes his own feathers, would find it difficult to accept this concept. Think about it, the emperor who only implemented the first point hundreds of years later was scolded to death.
With the shrewdness of my emperor, how could I not understand the truth behind this? But if there is no fundamental change, no matter how smart and capable the emperor is, it will be useless without money. Even if the world is peaceful now, there are no rebellions or invasions by foreign enemies. But raising troops, providing disaster relief, river construction, repairing mausoleums and temples, and officials’ salaries are all free of charge?
After standing in front of the window for a long time, Huang Qiong rubbed his face, which was frozen by the cold wind. After closing the window again, he returned to his writing desk. However, he was originally going to write a memorial, but he still didn't write it in the end. He decided to first see how the emperor negotiated with the Guilin County Prince.
Although Huang Qiong finally chose to give up the petition, he was right about one thing. After learning that the British Royal Palace had provided a large amount of food and winter clothes to help the homeless people in the outer city who had no food or clothing. The various mansions in the inner city that were originally just showing off suddenly became more vigorous in giving porridge. The porridge that was originally so thin that a human figure could be seen suddenly became much thicker.
The number of donated winter clothes suddenly increased several times. Some dignitaries who are more sensitive to the situation between North Korea and China have sent people to recruit many workers from the refugee areas that they would not need at all. Originally, except for a small amount of porridge, Jingzhao Mansion was basically indifferent. They also acted quickly, adopting a work-for-relief approach and recruiting a large number of people from the refugee areas to clear the snow in the city.
Perhaps because he wanted to support Huang Qiong's attitude on the surface, King Yong was more generous this time. After hearing that Prince Yong's Mansion had provided four thousand guan of food and winter clothes, Prince Yong's Mansion started moving that day. Not only did they spend two thousand guan of food and winter clothes on top of the original 1,000 guan of food and winter clothes, but they also organized some skilled people among the refugees to repair the dilapidated houses in the outer city that had been crushed by snow.
Although it is impossible to repair it too well, at least the roofs of the houses whose roofs were crushed by the snow were repaired, so that the dilapidated houses can barely be inhabited. This actually surprised Huang Qiong. Something that I didn't even expect, King Yong was actually so careful. It was only later that Huang Qiong heard that this matter had nothing to do with King Yong and was all caused by his future seventh sister-in-law.
Originally, according to King Yong's idea of being too lazy to think about it, he just distributed the money to the refugees. But Huang Qiong's seventh sister-in-law firmly disagreed. Regardless of how Prince Yong spends his money elsewhere, the future Princess Yong's control is not that strict. But in this matter, Huang Qiong's seventh sister-in-law was very supportive.
Not only did he exchange all the money for food, but he also took out last year's winter clothes from the slaves of Prince Yong's Mansion. He even took out part of his dowry, organized some handkerchiefs, took out his own money, and added everything into it. The idea of repairing the house this time was also thought of by Huang Qiong, the seventh sister-in-law. This made Huang Qiong undoubtedly take a high look at his seventh sister-in-law.
Under the leadership of Huang Qiong and King Yong, all the princes' palaces in the city, except for the Song Dynasty palace, were still intact. For the rest, those with money contributed money and those with strength contributed. Even Prince Shen, who had never been able to get in or out and defrauded the emperor of rewards by giving birth to children, actually generously distributed a thousand gu of grain and winter clothes.
As for Huang Qiong's future father-in-law, after hearing that all the princes were moving, he didn't act too stingy. He also spent thousands of dollars to buy food and winter clothes and sent people to give charity. It's just that Huang Qiong's father-in-law was very smart on this point. The money and goods provided by the Guilin County Prince's Palace did not exceed the number of the princes, let alone the British Prince's Palace.
Of course, most of the reason why the princes and dignitaries in the city were so aggressive this time was because they were trying to flatter Huang Qiong. These people are not stupid, and they see the situation in the DPRK very clearly. Although the prince has not yet been deposed by the imperial edict, judging from the current situation, it will be a matter of time. The other three sons born to Queen Daxing were all dead, and even their titles were abolished.
It can be said that among the emperor's princes who are now qualified to aspire for the position of heir apparent, the only one remaining is the King of England, who has suddenly emerged as a rising star among the princes after leaving the palace for only one year. Of course, there is also the King of Song. But judging from the emperor's attitude towards the two kings after the rebellion in Zhengzhou and Ruzhou, the British king clearly had the upper hand.
Those powerful families, the heads of those families, haven't they boiled fried dough sticks in a frying pan many times? At this time, if you don’t flatter this new favorite who may be the new prince tomorrow, then when will you wait? Should we wait until someone succeeds to the throne and then rush to flatter others? But by that time, I'm afraid the day lilies will be completely cold.
In most of the palaces of powerful people in the entire capital, those who have money and strength contribute. Most of the refugees who poured into Jingzhao had winter clothes and could survive this cold winter. Many people even found jobs through this opportunity. Although he could barely make ends meet, he could at least ensure that his family would not have to suffer from cold or hunger.
Of course, because they spent a lot of money on things that they considered unnecessary. There are also many people secretly who dare not say anything in person, but in private they curse the British Palace and pretend to be big-tailed wolves. Even if he wanted to win over the people, he also blackmailed the princes and nobles in the city in disguise, and also used money to help the poor.
It makes others spend money, but if you don’t spend it, it’s as if something is wrong. If nothing is done, the emperor will not be able to justify it. In addition, everyone doesn't say anything on the surface, but there is still a sense of comparison. This time, some people paid a lot of money. Although it did not exceed the British Prince's Palace, some of them still felt uncomfortable and even a little bit achy in their hearts.
Of course, this large gathering of charity activities in Beijing initiated by Huang Qiong has made some people feel a little sad in private. But the thousands of dollars they took out were still a drop in the bucket to them. And none of those people who really feel bad are short of money. The reason why my body hurts is because I am naturally too stingy.
You know, even though their net worth is hundreds of thousands, there are still many people who are out there. For example, for a certain earl, his annual salary, plus the income from his village village and the income from his shop in the city, would amount to more than a hundred thousand guan that year? But no one has ever seen him. He has built any other courtyard or raised a theater troupe. Even this old man has always licked his face to eat others, and he refused to treat them to death.
None of the wives and servants in the family were under thirty years old, and there were no more than twelve people in total. According to some knowledgeable people, when cooking for this count's family, they always measure the rice before adding it to the pot, and no leftovers are allowed. If there are any leftovers, the cook's monthly quota will be deducted as punishment. Each person is only allowed to eat one bowl at each meal, and no one is allowed to add more, regardless of whether they are full or not.
No matter how many people are eating, each meal should not exceed four dishes and one soup, of which only one meat dish is allowed. Because mutton is more expensive, their family never eats mutton. They only eat pork, which was very cheap in this era. When the seasons change every year, you are only allowed to buy one more piece of clothing. The women in the family are only allowed to eat five eggs during confinement.
