Many things happened during this period. After Li Xian resigned three times due to poor health, he retired and returned home.
Lian Zhong Sanyuan's Shang Lu was added, and Chen Wen was appointed as the top leader of the cabinet. However, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel was undecided. Without the blessing of the Tianguan of the Ministry of Personnel, the chief assistant of the cabinet became a name only.
The connection between the cabinet and the six ministries was once again cut off, and the lines were clearly drawn.
Xiao Hengzi left the palace, but Zhu Jianshen treated him favorably. He bought a piece of land for him in Zhongguan Village, built a house for him, and also rewarded him with a lot of money.
The new eunuch in charge of the ceremony was replaced by a man named Huai En.
At the same time, Wan Zhen'er also made her a noble concubine, but the officials were surprisingly quiet, and the court calmed down briefly, at least on the surface.
In early April, Zhu Jianshen issued the first formal edict since he ascended the throne to increase commercial taxes.
To be precise, this edict was not issued, because it got stuck when it reached the Ministry of Rites, and then all the officials started to make a fuss.
He scolded the emperor for not being considerate of the common people, saying that imposing additional business taxes would ultimately harm the interests of the people, not the merchants.
On this point, they are not talking nonsense. Raising business taxes will indeed harm the interests of the people to a certain extent, but... merchants will suffer even more.
But this is the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty. In temples, the people are the most important, but among the people... haha.
The common people are often just their bargaining chips, used to fight against the imperial power and seek personal gain for themselves.
Not only that, they are also good at creating public opinion among the people. The people are ignorant and often feel that the loyal ministers and emperors of the dynasty are stupid and cruel and do not care about their life and death.
In the end, the people only get a little benefit, or even no benefit at all, but they will all be grateful for the kindness of so and so.
But the emperor... is always the one who gets scolded.
In this era when imperial power does not go to the countryside, local officials are too maneuverable. In addition, they have close relations with officials in the DPRK and China. In the end, it is mostly the emperor who compromises.
Unless... like Zhu Yuanzhang, he doesn't force you at all and says there's no discussion about beheading you.
But Zhu Jianshen is not Zhu Yuanzhang. Even if he wanted to do that, he did not have the political soil. Today's Ming Dynasty is no longer the Ming Dynasty during the Hongwu period.
It is true that it has become better, stronger, and richer; however, it has also become worse, more corrupt, and darker; Ming Dynasty is still the same Ming Dynasty, but it has undergone tremendous changes.
Not bad, but not great either.
But even so, it can still be called a prosperous age. Because of the introduction of new crops, people no longer have to go hungry. Because of the opening of maritime trade, people also have a job.
In the feudal dynasty era, for the people living in this era, it was a prosperous era. Even though it had a lot of darkness, it was still a prosperous era.
There's no way, it's been like this in all dynasties... I'm used to it.
This is already excellent.
…
Zhu Jianshen compromised, and in the end only levied a symbolic increase of 10% of the commercial tax. The officials did not push themselves too far, and the edict was quickly promulgated and implemented.
In this way, Zhu Jianshen became a good emperor again, a good emperor who cared about the people of Li.
In fact, although the Ming Dynasty is now rich, the court is very poor, because as life improves, labor costs also increase.
The most intuitive manifestation is the army. In the past, if you had food to eat, you could give someone a small amount of money to make people sacrifice their lives, but now it doesn't work. With better choices, no one wants to live a life of hanging on to their belts.
They had no choice before, but now they want to live a comfortable life.
This is true, but the problem is that everyone wants to live a comfortable life, but in the end, no one will be able to live a comfortable life.
Li Qing was also thinking about countermeasures, but he had no clue. On the surface, the most ideal strategy was to abolish the military household system and replace it with a recruitment system.
However, the recruitment system also has a major flaw, that is, it is too expensive. If we really do it, the additional expenditure of silver will be as many as millions of taels every year.
People will die in fighting, and of course the cost is much higher than doing work. There is no way around it.
A few million dollars a year can be sustained in the short term, but if things go on like this, the fiscal deficit will be too big and it may collapse.
This is only an objective factor. What is even more frightening is that once the military household system is abolished, the Ming army will immediately fall apart!
Start locally?
Don't be kidding, the principle of not worrying about the imbalance of resources is applicable everywhere. Doing this in the army is really like lighting a lantern in a pit.
After thinking over and over again, there is only one way - engage in martial arts!
Open up the promotion path of military generals, improve the status of military generals in people's hearts, and increase people's enthusiasm for joining the army. Only in this way can the strength of the Ming Dynasty's army be guaranteed and can it compete with the growing civil service system.
There cannot be only one voice in this power field, but with the development of civil society and the reduction of war, the voice of civil servants has become stronger and stronger.
In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang started to carry out martial arts exercises since the Hongwu Dynasty, but it has never been successful. Without him, the Ming Dynasty had no shortage of generals and had a surplus.
The same was true in the Yongle Dynasty. Zhu Di's team was very strong, and martial arts also did not develop. The Renxuan period focused on civil administration, but in the Zhengtong period, the government was in danger, but they did not care about it. The Jingtai Dynasty focused on stability.
Therefore, the martial arts of Ming Dynasty never got the development it deserved.
But now, the need to reopen martial arts exercises is urgent.
…
Qianqing Palace.
Li Qing and Zhu Jianshen sat opposite each other, and the atmosphere was much more harmonious than before.
Zhu Jianshen was more pleased with Li Qing. As time went by, he increasingly felt that most civil servants were more annoying than Li Qing, not just one or two.
"Li Qing doesn't go to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing. Come today, do you have some advice?" Zhu Jianshen asked hopefully.
He is really tired of coping now and is not in a good mood. He only hopes that Li Qing can come up with a good plan to help him reduce the pressure.
Li Qing did not answer directly, but asked: "Your Majesty, how much power can you exercise now?"
"How can I have any power? I have only been on the throne for less than a year, and all the officials...you have seen it." Zhu Jianshen smiled bitterly, "I really want to say that the only ones who can make a move are the eunuchs."
"Are you sure you want to move?"
"Of course!" Zhu Jianshen was a little embarrassed and snorted: "I have always been kind to eunuchs. Before, Niu Yu was such a bastard, and I just sent him to South Zhili;
After Xiao Hengzi stepped down, I rewarded the house and the money, and the rewards were endless. The eunuchs in the palace will naturally be grateful for my kindness. "
Li Qing nodded slightly: "Except for the eunuchs?"
"...and you." Zhu Jianshen said passionately, "Li Qing is devoted to the country, and the world can learn from it..."
"Okay, okay." Li Qing interrupted quickly, with goosebumps all over his body, and said unceremoniously: "Your Majesty, you can't do this either."
Zhu Jianshen: "..."
You think I don’t want to, but it’s only been half a year, how can it be so easy to take charge... Zhu Jianshen snorted: "Marquis Yongqing is here to entertain me, right?"
"I'm not that boring." Li Qing shook his head amusedly, "This time, am I really here to give you advice?"
"Oh?" Zhu Jianshen perked up, "Do you have another plan?"
"Martial arts competition!"
"Okay!" Zhu Jianshen gave a high-five and laughed: "I also have this idea. Heroes really have the same vision. Li Aiqing is worthy of being a veteran of three dynasties, um... very good."
After a pause, he said: "But the strategy is good, but it must be implemented. Officials are not that easy to talk to..."
Then he smiled again: "But I have Li Aiqing, so even if I think about it, they wouldn't dare to go against you."
Li Qing rolled his eyes, "They all dare to fight you, why don't they dare to fight me?
Of course, if I use both soft and hard tactics, I can help the emperor to implement it to a certain extent, but the effect will definitely be greatly reduced!
Real big decisions still have to be made within the rules, and forcing them will not work. "
Zhu Jianshen nodded: "I am all ears."
"Eunuchs need to be used!" Li Qing said solemnly: "At least they are obedient and their hearts are with you. The power of the eunuch is not small, but it has not been developed. In fact, Xuanzong originally set up the internal study hall to prevent today's The court situation."
"You know all this?" Zhu Jian was deeply surprised.
"...This is not important." Li Qing changed the topic and continued: "Use the Chief of Ceremonies to involve the ministers, thereby forcing them to compromise to a certain extent;
Of course, this alone is not enough to make them bow their heads, so Your Majesty, you must also compromise appropriately. "
"for example……?"
"In order to stabilize the situation of the court, the late emperor promoted a very key person..."
"Li Xian?"
"Yes." Li Qing ignored his interruption and continued: "Now that Li Xian has left office, the chief minister of the cabinet will be in name only;
When Li Xian was in office, with the blessing of the Heavenly Official of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Bachelor of the Cabinet, he had the power to write. Now that there is no connection between the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Cabinet, the power of writing is gone. It might as well be delegated to Chen Wen , making him, the first assistant, worthy of his name. "
Li Qingdao: "This will not make the cabinet lose control. The final approval will still be made by the Chief of Ceremonies, and it will be decided by you, the emperor."
"Only for the first assistant...Is this bait too small?"
"It's not too young. This way, the chief minister will be very popular. Not only will the cabinet members be happy, but it will also mobilize their enthusiasm and even...internal strife." Li Qingyin said with a sympathetic smile:
"Don't forget, Chen Wen is not the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. It is not very difficult to pull him down. But if a cabinet member wants to sit in the position of chief minister, he must ultimately look to the emperor. What do you think... huh?"
Li Qing raised his eyebrows.
Zhu Jianshen laughed loudly: "Well, yes, it has to be you, so yin... Ahem, what else?"
"..."
"The Minister of the Ministry of Personnel is yet to be decided, but sooner or later the candidate will be decided, so we might as well pave the way for the military examination," Li Qing said thoughtfully, "That Yao Kui has many connections in the officialdom and is famous, so why not... take advantage of him."
Li Qing continued: "This is not safe enough and lacks heat, so..."
"But it doesn't matter." Zhu Jianshen was already excited. He felt that if he did this, he would probably be able to succeed in the martial arts competition. Thinking deeply, he had nothing to lose.
"Abolition of the army." Li Qing said, "Of course, this is not to please the civilian officials and thereby weaken the Ming's military; on the contrary, it is to refine the Ming's army, reduce certain financial expenditures, and pave the way for the infusion of fresh blood."
After thinking about it, Li Qing suggested: "Soldiers who are over forty-five years old can be allowed to return to the fields to retire, and certain rewards can be given. This will not only gain military morale, but also allow Ming soldiers to have a head start."
In fact, he wanted to put his age at forty, but he was afraid that too many people would leave at once, which would affect his military morale, so he added five years to his age.
Zhu Jianshen pondered for a moment, then nodded his head: "Sure, let's do it!"
He happily praised: "Sir, this plan is very clever and wonderful!"
Sir... Hearing the Ming Emperor call him this again, Li Qing felt complicated.
There are emotions and nostalgia...
