Then he turned to Duke Bao and the other two and said: "You two are the same. What kind of business is not easy to do, but you do this kind of business? Where do you want Master Long live to put his face? Okay, stop kneeling, Get up and talk first."
But the two of them had just been reprimanded by Emperor Wanli. If they dared to stand up immediately, they could only get their heads slapped repeatedly! At this time, Emperor Wanli put down his teacup and said, "Okay, get up and talk."
After hearing these words, the two of them bowed their heads again and stood up, but they did not dare to sit down and just stood there with their heads bowed. Then Emperor Wanli expressed his bitterness and counted the days he had lived. The person he compared was naturally the life in the Duke's Mansion.
After some comparison, it really seems that Emperor Wanli lived a very bad life! And this is indeed the case. Because Emperor Wanli's expenses mainly came from the inner treasury, and the main source of inner treasury property was the proportional distribution of treasury revenue. Another part is the filial piety from everywhere and the income of the imperial village.
However, with the corruption of officialdom, the gentry in various places concealed the population, land, and taxes. Officials intervened in salt and iron, and intercepted taxes one after another. As a result, the Ming Dynasty's income was getting less and less day by day, so the national treasury could not make ends meet.
Now that the state treasury has become like this, the inner treasury has naturally begun to rest on its laurels! But at this time, Emperor Wanli happened to get involved with an imperial master like Zhang Juzheng. He resolutely followed the requirements in the book and wanted to turn Emperor Wanli into an eternal wise king. He was asked not to do this or that, and there was no enjoyment at all. room! So if we really talk about it, Emperor Wanli's life was really not as comfortable as the lives of several princes.
After talking about it, Emperor Wanli said: "Now the inner treasury has reached an unsustainable point. Even the rewards for this year's military festival and the festival gifts for each family have not been collected, so I acquiesce to the following. Someone collects this money!”
When Bao Guogong heard this, their eyes bulged out! They really didn't expect that the mastermind behind this incident was actually Emperor Wanli! Now they don't even know what they feel in their hearts!
Then Emperor Wanli continued: "What I do as emperor now has no taste at all. I can't get the rewards below. It's embarrassing to say it! So I can only think of other ways! Don't think that I am robbing you. money, think about it carefully, you have been doing business for so many years, have you ever paid a penny in taxes? Now it’s just the taxes you should pay! I haven’t investigated your tax evasion in the past. It’s already extraordinary. Sorry, why, aren’t you willing now?”
Duke Baoguo and the other two hurriedly bowed and said, "I am willing to go through fire and water for my sake!"
Emperor Wanli sighed after hearing this and said: "Okay, you two should stop standing and sit down!"
After the two of them apologized and sat down, he continued: "Someone has told me in recent years that the royal family has alienated the nobles over the years! In fact, this is not the case at all, but that most of the nobles have been lying in bed The ancestors were busy eating, drinking and having fun, and had no intention of making progress at all! Instead, the civil servants studied hard one by one in order to get ahead, so they became more and more powerful! Comparing the two, you say I can only Who do you rely on?"
Duke Liang squeezed out a few tears and said: "It turns out that His Majesty still cares about us nobles, but we did not do well and made His Majesty worried!"
Emperor Wanli nodded and said: "How can I not miss you? You nobles are all separated from the country. It can be said that you are one with the royal family! As long as the Ming Dynasty is there, your titles will be there! So you also I have to teach the younger generations to learn literature and practice martial arts, and help me manage this country well! If the court is good, the nobles will naturally be fine too! If the court collapses, which noble family will you be?"
Just now, Duke Liang had the upper hand. This time, Duke Bao took the lead and said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will definitely supervise the sons and daughters of the family to practice martial arts when they get back. If there are one or two who are promising, they will be sent to Your Majesty." Efficacy!”
Emperor Wanli said: "Yes, this is how the relationship between you and me, a monarch and my ministers, should be! Let's do this. After you go back, each of your two families will choose one person to come out and send him to the martial arts gym to practice martial arts with me. Where is the martial arts gym? You should know."
Duke Baoguo was really excited when he heard this! Everyone knew that their children and grandchildren would have great potential if they grew up beside Emperor Wanli, but they had not been able to get in before! Now that Long live the Lord has personally ordered them to send their children to martial arts schools, this is giving them a way to reach heaven! So the two people immediately knelt down and thanked him!
Emperor Wanli waved his hands and said: "Get up, don't kneel here and there, I look annoyed! Working seriously is better than anything else! From now on, you can do whatever business you have to do, but you have to pay the money you have to pay! In addition, after leaving the palace, You know what the door should say, right?"
The two of them nodded repeatedly and said, "I know, I know! Thank you so much, Your Majesty!"
Emperor Wanli nodded and said, "In that case, please step aside first! I still want to talk to my mother!"
Seeing that what they got today was far beyond their expectations, the two of them immediately stood up and left happily. To them, losing a little money is nothing. If a nephew can be sent to Emperor Wanli, that would be a big deal! If his nephew is really promising and becomes a popular person around Emperor Wanli, the family may be able to continue to be wealthy for several more generations!
After the two princes left, Empress Dowager Li said with a very satisfied smile: "Who did you learn to hit and pull from, Master Long Live? He is very skilled!"
Emperor Wanli said proudly: "This is me and Liu Haojia. Zhang Jia and the others discussed it for a long time before they came up with a solution! Honorable men like Duan also need to be stimulated to be motivated, otherwise they will only be able to eat, drink and have fun all day long!"
Queen Mother Li nodded and said: "This is a good idea! It seems that these two people have put their heart and soul into it!"
Emperor Wanli said: "It is true, and Liu Haojia also told me that the children who are training in the martial arts gym can now be sent back to their homes, which will just make it possible to recruit another group of people. I have agreed."
Queen Mother Li said: "These people have only been practicing in the martial arts hall for a few years. Will they be of any use if they are put back like this?"
Emperor Wanli said: "Liu Haojia said that these people have already taught everything they should teach, and the rest depends on their own efforts, so it will be of no use no matter how long they stay in the martial arts hall. And since these people have been in the martial arts hall , has already been branded by me, and it will be difficult to change the family in the future, so I will take advantage of the opportunity that I am still young and can still practice martial arts to train a few more groups of people and put as many people as possible in the Jinyi Guards and military camps. People, it will be convenient to grasp them in the future.”
