When the ministers heard this, they immediately went crazy: 20,000 sets of armor. Does the emperor really know how many taels of silver the 20,000 sets of armor are worth?
Faced with everyone's doubts, Jiang Yuan thoughtfully tried to make up for the new king: "Your Majesty means to transfer these 20,000 sets of armors to Alazhiyuan under a certain name, half as a gift and half as a gift, to strengthen Alazhiyuan." The military strength of Zhiyuan encouraged Ala and Ye Xian to fight.
If this could trigger internal strife in Wala, wouldn't it be much more cost-effective than having our Ming army go into battle and kill them in person? "
"Yes, yes, yes, Jiang Aiqing understands me, and that's what I mean. The only ones left in Wala are Yexian, Boyan Timur and Alazhiyuan, just let them kill each other.
Otherwise, we can only send a large army to conquer the grassland in person. The grassland is so big, and if we fight, we will follow the old path of Emperor Wu.
It is not what I want to waste people's money and waste national power. No matter how I take military action in the future, letting the people recuperate and recuperate must be the first priority. "
Zhu Qiyu paused and then added: "The cabinet will issue a decree now that in the first year of Jingtai, Beizhili, Shandong, Shanxi, and Shaanxi will be exempted from all taxes and corvee.
In the second year of Jingtai, Guangdong, Guangxi, Huguang, Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guizhou were exempted from taxation and corvee for the whole year.
In the third year of Jingtai's reign, southern Zhili, Zhejiang, Fujian, Henan, and Jiangxi were exempted from taxation and corvee for the whole year.
In short, the two capitals and thirteen provinces will be exempted from taxes and corvee for one year, which will be implemented in three years. "
When the ministers heard this, their attitudes immediately changed. Civil servants generally do not like fighting, but love peace and relaxation, and like to recuperate.
Ministers naturally welcomed such a huge reduction and exemption policy with both hands and feet. Even the nobles strongly agree with this policy. After all, the nobles have more fertile land than the civil servants. Who would object to the emperor's tax exemption.
Only Chen Xun, the Minister of Household Affairs, asked with some concern: "Your Majesty, you have reduced taxes and corvees, what about the court's expenses?"
Didn't you also say that in the five years before Jingtai, you would give the ministers a 20% salary increase every year, and abandon the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes, and all the salaries would be paid in silver meters? Where will this money come from?
After the war, where did the money come from to pay for the fallen soldiers and compensate the people affected by the disaster? "
Zhu Qiyu smiled and waved his hand: "Mr. Chen Ge, don't worry, our Ming Dynasty is rich, you didn't see that the Queen Mother collected 600,000 taels of cash from the harem in a few days.
In short, I will not make it difficult for you, the Minister of Revenue, to do your best. You just have to do your best to implement my policies. If there is not enough money, internal funds must be used.
Even if the internal funds are not enough, I will sell iron, sons and daughters, and I will still get the money for you. "
When Chen Xun and Wang Wen heard about selling sons and daughters, they couldn't help but smile knowingly, and the atmosphere in the hall became much more relaxed.
If you can get benefits from following the emperor, the ministers will have nothing to be dissatisfied with. As for the emperor's willingness to fight, then let's fight. After all, the Tumubao Incident is blocking the situation. If any minister dares to openly oppose the war, the emperor can easily send him home to raise his children.
Xu Jue, who opposed the resistance against Oara and advocated moving south, is an example. If the emperor had not shown mercy, this man's career would have ended completely.
Zhu Qiyu continued to give instructions: "I have already granted Princes to Boyan Timur and Alazhiyuan. Now that we are making peace with each other first, it is not good to favor one over the other. Let's do this. Let's also grant Princes to each other first.
King Hao, I have already thought about it, just 'respect the king'. Then I will give each of them two concubines as a token of God's grace. "
Chen Xun heard this and quickly dissuaded him: "Your Majesty, it is okay to be crowned a prince, but it is not good to be given a concubine. According to the ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty, marriage is not allowed.
This also involves the majesty of the emperor and the dignity of the court. Han women must not be given to foreigners to waste. "
When Zhu Qiyu heard this, he teased: "My chief assistant, you are a super talented man who has won three yuan in a row. Why can't you turn your head around?
Who told you that I was going to send Han girls to Wala? There were so many high-ranking officials and military officials from Mongolia who had surrendered to me, the Ming Dynasty, so you couldn’t find a few daughters from their families? "
When Chen Xun heard this, he suddenly realized that he was really concerned about the situation. The woman who submitted to the official family was not a Han woman, and she and the Wala dignitaries were both Mongolians. There was nothing to say about intermarriage between Mongolians.
After thinking about this, Chen Xun hurriedly led all the civil and military officials to call on the emperor to be wise.
Zhu Qiyu then ordered: "To redeem the money for the Supreme Emperor, the Queen Mother and I have collected a total of 700,000 taels. The remaining 300,000 taels will be collected for donations throughout the capital. If you have spare money at home, please donate some." It's okay to come out, if you don't have any spare money, forget it.
I know that you are all upright officials and don't have that much money, so I won't make it difficult for you.
The fighting may resume in the next few days, so don't slack off. Okay, let's all disperse. "
When the minister heard this, he bowed and left.
Zhu Qiyu suddenly spoke and stopped everyone: "I'm sorry everyone, I forgot to say something else. What I just said about redeeming people from Alazhiyuan was just to redeem ordinary soldiers of the Xuanfu's fleeing army.
Those generals who abandoned the city and fled, such as Yang Jun and others, let Alazhiyuan take them into custody for me first. The taxes collected by the imperial court are the people's hard-earned money. I cannot use this money to redeem a group of national thieves. That would be unacceptable to the people and the Ming soldiers who fought bloody battles under the city of Beijing. "
Chen Xun, Wang Wen and others quickly agreed. Everyone had long wanted to kill Yang Jun and his gang, but now that Yu Qian was away, no one was interested in interceding on their behalf.
After sending the ministers away, Zhu Qiyu returned to the backyard to sleep.
Zhu Qiyu was startled as soon as he entered the room. Seven or eight women, not even wearing any hair, only covering their faces with gauze scarves, all knelt on the carpet. As soon as they saw him coming in, they both smiled coquettishly and said, "Please husband, please choose a female attendant to sleep with."
Zhu Qiyu tried his best to calm down, and then asked: "Which one is the princess? You go and do some business for me first, and we will play again later."
Lin Xiangyu, who was kneeling on the far left, lifted her veil and asked with a smile: "Master, what do you want? Just tell me."
"In four or five days, we and Wala will start fighting again. Starting from tomorrow night, I will hold three consecutive night banquets at the palace to entertain nobles, military generals, and our family's trusted ministers and military generals, and prepare a good meal for them. A pre-war mobilization.
Now go and write the invitation and let the guards send it out. You tell them that if they have official duties or are unwell, they don’t have to come. It's just a family dinner, nothing forced or forced. "
Hearing this, Lin Xiangyu quickly agreed, stood up and said with a smile: "My husband, please choose three to stay with me, and the rest will go with the slave family to write invitations."
Zhu Qiyu smiled and lifted the veils of three women, namely Xian'er, Ningxiang and Mu Yu. Fortunately, they happened to be the ones he favored.
Lin Xiangyu asked again: "Shall I invite all my husbands or specify a rough range?"
"If you are honorable, I will send invitations to everyone in Beijing, including all my relatives. If you are willing to come, you can come, and if you are not willing to come, I will reject it.
As for generals, only those who are in the second rank or above in Beijing are invited. "
(End of chapter)
