Fortunately, Huang Pu was well prepared, and when he saw that the situation could not be avoided, he replied without hesitation: "Your Majesty, I thought that I could allow the people to use their treasure money to deduct their taxes.
For example, ordinary people can use treasure banknotes to deduct 20% of the land tax every year.
In this way, we don't have to take the genuine Jingtai Tongbao to exchange for the depreciated Ming Dynasty Bao banknotes. At the same time, it can also reduce taxes by 20% for the people in disguise.
Then we can set a time limit, for example, let this tax credit policy last for ten years. Ten years later, the banknotes will be officially declared invalid.
By then the treasure money in the hands of the people should have been exhausted.
In this way, the court and the people will each find their own place, and your majesty will also gain the reputation of being a virtuous person who takes corvee lightly and treats the people with pity. "
Zhu Qiyu nodded repeatedly when he heard this. In fact, I thought so too, but I didn't want to steal the limelight from the ministers.
Only by allowing ministers to propose and think about matters by themselves can we mobilize their enthusiasm. What he, the emperor, has to do is encourage and recognize these ministers.
The plan proposed by Huang Pu was good, but the financial pressure on the emperor was a bit high.
If you want to live a prosperous and stable life, you must increase revenue and reduce expenditure.
In terms of saving money, whatever Zhu Qiyu could save for the court was already frugal.
Next, we can only work hard on open source.
Knocking on the bones and sucking out the marrow, generally collecting land taxes on the south, is not what Zhu Qiyu wants.
First, if we really attack the landowners in the south, the backlash will be very strong.
Secondly, even if all the landowners in the south are offended, not much money can be squeezed out.
Third, the taxes collected on the southern fields are actually heavy enough. Especially in Nanzhili, the imperial government's oppression has been quite severe.
The north cannot even be self-sufficient in food, and has to transport food from the south to Beijing all day long.
Zhu Qiyu can understand the gentry in the south. To be honest, the butt determines the head. People look at the problem from the perspective of the emperor and the court, and feel that the gentry in the south deserve to die.
In fact, if you really put yourself in their shoes, if I were a big landowner in the South, I wouldn’t want to pay fucking taxes.
After hard work, some harvests from the fields were either squandered by the emperor and vassal kings, or the Ming army attacked them randomly, killing tens of thousands of them at every turn, and consuming a huge amount of food and grass supplies.
Just like the Tumu Fort last year, not only hundreds of thousands of soldiers were killed, so many supplies were destroyed.
The south has worked hard to cultivate the land for a long time, and then shipped it to Beijing for you, but in the end, all your crops are gone. It would be strange if they are happy.
Therefore, Zhu Qiyu was not interested in the southern landowners, but was more interested in collecting salt and mineral taxes.
There is also the trade of porcelain, tea and other goods with overseas countries, which is also an aspect of Zhu Qiyu's interest.
Especially for the salt tax, some people in later generations calculated the analogy based on the salt tax revenue of the Song Dynasty. The salt tax potential of the Ming Dynasty should be around 40 million taels per year.
As a result, the Ming court could actually collect three melons and two dates, which was unbearable to look at.
Thinking of this, Zhu Qiyu gritted his teeth and agreed to Huang Pu's plan.
Since all of his close relatives were present, Zhu Qiyu continued: "The Gongyuan may be on fire recently, so you don't need to worry about it, just do your own thing.
There is also the general examination in February next year. He Aiqing represents the Ministry of Personnel and Wang Aiqing represents the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Ministry of Punishment. They should be the examiners for this session.
As for the eighteen fellow examiners, Huang, He and Yue, three beloved ministers, accounted for two places, and Xu Youzhen, who was successful in river management, counted for one. The remaining fourteen are together with the examiners, and we will discuss the decision with the cabinet. "
Upon hearing this, everyone quickly expressed their obedience to the order. The emperor's arrangement was not bad. He decided on two examiners and four co-examiners. The appointment of the remaining fourteen fellow examiners was given to the cabinet.
As for why Chen Xun was not allowed to take the exam, it was also out of consideration for balancing the political situation and the replacement of the old with the new. Chen Xun was already the chief minister of the cabinet and the minister of household affairs, which could be said to have reached the pinnacle of civil servants. Once you reach this position, you should give more support to the younger generations.
Moreover, this arrangement made Wang Wen even more devoted to the emperor. As an examiner, how many students can you recruit?
If there are many talented people in this class, the benefits that Wang Wen will get as the tutor of this class of Jinshi are simply unimaginable.
Zhu Qiyu is also very kind to his close relatives and direct descendants. Three years ago, He Yi, Huang Pu and Yue Zheng themselves were still taking part in the examination. Now he has changed his identity and become a co-examiner in the joint examination.
In addition to the consideration of cultivating close confidants, Zhu Qiyu appointed He Yi, Huang Pu, and Yue Zheng as fellow examiners, also intending to set an example to those who participated in the examination.
Let people see that if you follow the emperor wholeheartedly, you can really take off from the same spot and rise to the top.
Especially Yue Zheng, as the first person to petition for the restoration of Queen Hu, was the model of loyalty that Zhu Qiyu wanted to set.
After the examiners for the general examination were assigned, the monarch and his ministers chatted about some trivial matters and then dispersed.
When Zhu Qiyu returned home and leaned on the soft couch, four or five beloved concubines came over to rub his shoulders and legs.
Zhu Qiyu sighed in his heart: The female philosophers of later generations were absolutely right. What is the shortest way to a woman's heart?
Well, since becoming one with each beloved concubine physically and mentally, the tenderness and sweetness of the beloved concubines has obviously reached a new level.
Zhu Qiyu felt that the eyes of the concubines looking at him were different from before. So while patting his shoulders and gesturing to his beloved concubines to squeeze hard, he sighed:
"Since our Ministers Hu and Yu went to Nanjing, and Wang Dashang returned to his hometown, I feel that the emperor is much more comfortable.
When this batch of Jinshi come out, I will rest for a few months, and then I will wait to welcome the Supreme Emperor.
One of you will send someone to notify me and ask Yang Jie to come see me tomorrow. "
Qianxue asked from the side: "Which Yang Jie? Is he the legitimate son of the original Xuanfu Jiedushi Yang Hong?"
"Yes, yes, that's him. I have important tasks assigned to him."
Qianxue asked curiously: "My husband has already sent his father and brother to Ling Chi. How dare you use him? Aren't you afraid that he will hold a grudge?"
Zhu Qiyu smiled and said: "We are enemies in the same industry. Yang Jie is the legitimate son, and Yang Jun is the concubine. Do they really have much affection? Just look at our family and you will know that one is me and the other is the emperor.
Everyone wants to be the legitimate son, everyone wants to be the 'legitimate emperor', but in the end you have to live and die.
The same goes for the Yang family.
And Yang Hong, who had really tricked the entire Yang family to death, so it was too late for Yang Jie to hate him. Could it be that he still wanted to avenge Yang Hong?
Besides, I just asked Yang Jie to go to Shanxi to make money for me, and I wouldn't really regard him as a confidant. "
Qianxue nodded when she heard this: "The slave family sent someone to notify him and asked him to come and wait early in the morning."
Ningxiang smiled and said: "No, it's getting cold now. My husband should sleep until the afternoon before getting up. What are you doing getting up so early?"
Zhu Qiyu shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Xue'er is right, I really have to get up early tomorrow. Because the Gongyuan will be on fire tonight, and if the wind is strong, most of the Gongyuan will be burned down."
(End of chapter)
