After the Lantern Festival, everything returned to normal, and life was finally not so boring.
The new national policy was implemented very well. After part of the commercial tax was reduced and quotas were relaxed, workshops began to increase in various places, especially in the Jiangnan area.
The "Labor Law" was bundled with the new national policy, so it has been implemented very well. It is not that the rich gentry are good at charity, but compared with the benefits gained, this loss is completely bearable...
The increase in workshops has increased employment, more people have joined this wave of maritime trade, and the cake is getting bigger and bigger...
Li Qing's workload has increased slightly, but he is very busy and happy, and his days are also much more fulfilling.
Zhu Jianshen was not idle here either, working hard to manage the relationship between emperor and ministers and preparing for the next sneak attack!
…
Early March.
Military reports came from Liaodong that there were many rebels among the Mongolian tribes who surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, and they started their old business of looting.
Li Qing was furious and went to court to lead the battle! Zhu Jianshen responded naturally. Seeing that the opposition was untenable, the cabinet half-heartedly agreed to suppress the rebellion. The six ministries remained silent, which was regarded as acquiescence.
The Liaodong counterinsurgency war started again.
The fighting lasted for a month, and nearly 10,000 people were beheaded.
This battle shocked the tribes!
In June, the grassland tribes invaded the Hetao. They came well prepared and carried out a sneak attack. In addition, the Hetao was a large area and the Ming army was relatively scattered...cattle, sheep and livestock suffered heavy losses!
Zhu Jianshen was furious and ordered the general officer guarding the Hetao, Funing Marquis Zhu Yong, to lead three battalions to carry out retaliatory attacks.
The imperial edict was rushed to Hetao for 800 miles. Zhu Yong received the edict in mid-June and sent out 10,000 elite troops to retaliate in early July.
The grasslands are not as good as those in the Central Plains. Most of the tribes live in no fixed settlements, so it is difficult to target the enemies who sneak up on them. Zhu Yong simply ignores them and beats them when he catches them. Any dog passing by will be slapped twice.
In short, if you prairie tribes rob us of things, we will take them back twice as much.
This battle did not end until the winter month of the fourth year of Chenghua. After the losses of cattle and sheep in Hetao were completely made up, the Ming army still had a huge surplus.
Zhu Jianshen read the memorial and reported that Long Yan was very happy. With a wave of his hand, he rewarded all the extra cattle and sheep to the soldiers.
This time, it’s amazing.
Seeing such a huge profit, all the officers and soldiers of the Ming Army were gleaming with gold in their eyes, and the tribes that had come to seek refuge were even more excited.
They are good at this!
The Tatars did not show off, and the Oara did not dare. Now, the elite Ming army in Hetao is invincible among the tribes in the grassland!
Doesn't that mean you can grab whatever you want?
The desire to fight was so strong that Zhu Yong could hardly suppress it, so he could only ask the guarding eunuch to report to the court.
When the report was sent to the capital, Zhu Jianshen was happy and quick, and immediately made a major change of defense, letting the soldiers with combat experience return to the capital to defend the capital, and replaced the soldiers from the capital camp to hone their skills in Hetao.
He had planned to do this, and he just took this opportunity to implement it.
Li Qing also agreed with this. It is better not to suppress the grassland too harshly, otherwise it will only have the opposite effect.
Wala has been in a state of instability since its split, and Li Qing was afraid of overstimulating it, which would make the already treacherous situation worse.
However, the stimulation has not disappeared, it has just shifted, from stimulating the grassland tribes to stimulating the civil servant group.
Even a fool could tell that Zhu Jianshen was vigorously rectifying his military equipment, so of course they felt uncomfortable.
But it’s hard to feel uncomfortable, and the public opposition is untenable. You can’t just say: “Reorganizing the military equipment will harm the country and the people, right?”
In the end, the defense switch went on as scheduled.
However, over the past year, Zhu Jianshen's painstakingly managed relationship between emperor and ministers also broke down again, and the court became restless.
Just like a woman with a strong desire for control, if she meets an unruly husband, she may not get divorced, but she still has to show off her temper to stop her husband from being so unscrupulous.
Zhu Jianshen's response to this is a classic - throw money in the face!
The red envelope received in Chenghua for five years is thicker than that for four years...
Of course, there is a reason why Zhu Jianshen, who has always been stingy, is suddenly so generous - he is rich!
Since the implementation of the new national policy, the increase in the share of overseas goods and the strict supervision of commercial tax have caused commercial tax revenue to rise sharply.
In the fourth year of Chenghua's reign, the business tax alone earned more than 5 million taels of silver.
In addition to grain taxes, silver taxes, maritime trade... In one year, the total tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty reached 14 million taels.
Zhu Jianshen even almost returned to his original swell: he couldn’t spend all the money, he couldn’t spend all the money at all!
We can't go on like this... The civil service group sensed something was wrong and began to fight back.
They have the same psychology as their younger wives. They think that men become bad when they are rich, but they should not let them get too rich.
As a result, the two sides started a fierce dispute over who would manage the money in this family.
The ministers advocated a three-to-seven split, but Zhu Jianshen said: "Okay, I'm seven."
Isn’t this just kneeling down to beg for food? How could the ministers be willing?
But the problem was that Zhu Jianshen didn't want to kneel down and beg for food, so the two sides fought and it became a big deal for a while.
The ministers knelt at the palace gate, Zhu Jianshen was scolded... the noise gave Li Qing a headache.
Seeing that government affairs were all affected, Li Qing had no choice but to mediate and suggested a 50-50 split!
Zhu Jianshen agreed, but the ministers disagreed. They insisted on a 30-70 split.
Seeing this situation, Zhu Jianshen was also annoyed: If you don't want to live a good life, then you can live with it.
Chenghua fifth year, May.
Peng Shi, who had just been promoted to the position of chief minister of the cabinet less than half a year ago, was dismissed, and the position of chief minister was once again vacant. gòйЪ.ōΓg
In the same month, Zhu Jianshen promoted Wan'an, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, to be the minister of the Ministry of Rites, and summoned him to the cabinet.
This was an out-and-out villain, at least in the eyes of the civil service group. As soon as he took office, he immediately drew a clear line with his colleagues, flirted with others, and followed the emperor wholeheartedly.
Of course, it was his personality that Zhu Jianshen was interested in.
After Wan An entered the cabinet, he controlled the public opinion of the Ministry of Rites, allowing Zhu Jianshen to reverse the decline and become tough again.
At the same time, the entry of the Minister of Rites into the cabinet also blurred the boundaries between the six ministries and the cabinet...
On this day, Qianqing Palace.
The monarch and his ministers sat opposite each other and drank tea.
Zhu Jianshen smiled and said: "Sir, I haven't been here for some days. Are you here today for court matters?"
Li Qing nodded: "We've been making trouble for several months, and it's almost time to stop."
"You mean...there are really only seven of them and I am the third?" Zhu Jianshen frowned: "With so many people in the palace, if only 30% of the money comes in, how much money do I have at my disposal after excluding expenses? I can do anything if I don't have money. No, do you know?"
Li Qing said with a smile: "Your Majesty, you have fallen into a misunderstanding. It is not that they are seven and you are three, but that the treasury is seven and internal money is three.
Is it possible that state tax revenue has become the private property of civil servants? "
Zhu Jianshen was stunned for a moment and said dullly: "Of course I understand this truth, but...it's not like you don't know it."
He smiled bitterly and said: "Once the money enters the treasury, I won't be able to spend it as I like. It depends on their faces..."
"No." Li Qing interrupted, "Your ability to control the treasury's money is directly proportional to your authority. The greater your authority, the more you can control it."
After a pause, "To put it bluntly, the internal funds and the treasury are just two hands, there is no essential difference. If you, the emperor, cannot control the inner court, then if the money goes into the internal funds, you cannot spend it as you like, right?"
Zhu Jianshen nodded slowly: "That's the truth, but... I haven't grasped the outer court yet."
Li Qing shook his head: "No, it just didn't meet your expectations. In fact, you can control them to a certain extent now."
"Have it?"
"The chief minister of the cabinet will be deposed as soon as he is told, and the minister of rites will be promoted as he is told... Can you do these things at the beginning of your succession?"
Zhu Jianshen scratched his head and said with a smile: "Uh...it seems so."
"That's right." Li Qing glanced at him sideways, "Let me ask you, are you in power for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, or just for the sake of power?"
"Of course it is for the sake of our ancestors, the country, and all the people in the world." Zhu Jianshen said.
Li Qingdao: "But now, the struggle between the monarch and his ministers seems to have affected the government, so what should we do?"
"...Okay." Zhu Jian was deeply annoyed: "Tell me, why can't they give in to me?"
Li Qing chuckled: "What a coincidence, they think so too."
"..."
Zhu Jianshen smiled bitterly, picked up the tea cup and brought it to his mouth, but he lost the interest in drinking tea and said unwillingly:
"Really 30-70?"
"Forty or six," Li Qing said. "They have been making trouble for so long, kneeling at the palace gate, and being fined with salary. They don't feel comfortable. If you give them a step, they will just get off the donkey."
Zhu Jianshen's expression softened slightly. In this case, it would not be so difficult to accept.
Li Qing took a sip of tea and said, "There is one more thing I want to remind you."
"...Who am I?" Zhu Jianshen asked in a muffled voice.
"...There is one more thing I want to remind the emperor." Li Qing was also convinced. He still had to be coaxed.
"You activated Wanan in order to control the government and gain further power. You cannot confuse this." Li Qing looked serious, "Of course the emperor can have favorites, which helps consolidate the imperial power, but favorites and A capable minister must distinguish between them.”
"Well... let me put it bluntly, a person like Wan An is not suitable and cannot be a chief assistant." Li Qing said lightly, "His current position is already the highest. In the future, he can only be demoted, not promoted!"
Are you teaching me how to do things? Zhu Jianshen was furious: "Ang, I know what I know, don't worry!"
Li Qing nodded: "There's nothing else. I... I will take my leave."
"Please excuse me soon."
"Is there something wrong, Your Majesty?"
"Yes." Zhu Jian took a deep breath and said, "Do you want to be the chief minister of the cabinet?"
Li Qing shook his head slightly: "It's better to forget it. It's better not to open this mouth and continue to develop according to the current trend...
In less than five years, you will become a powerful emperor, and there is no need for me to be the first assistant. "
After a pause, "Your Majesty, I would like to take a leave after this crisis has passed."
"Ask for leave?" Zhu Jianshen obviously didn't realize how long Li Qing asked for leave. "No problem. Take a rest when you are tired. I will grant you two extra days."
"Then I'll thank the Emperor in advance." Li Qing smiled and cupped his hands, saying, "I'm leaving."
Li Qing was rarely respectful, and Zhu Jianshen couldn't help but look happy:
"Well, go ahead, go ahead."
…
Li Qing walked on the way home and whispered to himself:
"I've been here for so many years. I'm not in a hurry right now. I'll step back for a while to see what's going on. I'll wait until there's really no problem before I go out..."
