Wu Tingju was rudely fed a lot of advice, and he thought he was the only one who was a novice.
When he attended the first national policy meeting, His Majesty was late.
Huang Jin told them: "Your Majesty is teaching you the ten methods of physical fitness. Sir, please wait a moment. Your Majesty will be here soon."
"...What are the ten ways to stay fit?"
Huang Jin hesitated for a moment, then demonstrated in front of the Huagai Hall: "That's it... Jiazi Jue: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai; Yi Zi Jue, Zi , Chou, Yin..."
The Seventeenth Counselor and the two accompanying readers looked at Huang Jin's demonstration of techniques and were not sure how powerful they were.
"May I ask Eunuch Huang, what is the effect of this method...? Why does Your Majesty teach you ladies..." Yang Tinghe asked.
Sun Jiao's face was solemn: After his daughter came home the night before, this was what she did when she got up in the courtyard yesterday morning.
"Your Majesty said... I learned it from ancient books. The effect is just as the name suggests, it strengthens the body. Your Majesty used to insist on practicing when he was in the palace. After the Queen Mother entered the palace, he advised your majesty to run less, so your majesty changed and started practicing again. For this method, run once every three to five days.”
The emperor hasn't come yet anyway, so Huang Jin is here to chat with them.
But the point remains: Why do we need to teach our concubines this?
In the imperial garden, only Wen Suyun and the other nine concubines were here.
When Zhu Houcong said no touching, he meant no bang bang bang, not no contact.
"The arms should be relaxed a bit." He corrected Zhang Qinghe's posture, "The steps should be wider..."
Zhang Qinghe flinched. Now that the emperor touched her arms and waist, she blushed with embarrassment.
The girls were confused.
Even the most lively Wen Suyun never expected that the emperor would be like this.
She couldn't help but boldly asked: "Your Majesty, are you teaching these concubines to train them into a women's army?"
Zhu Houcong was amused: "What nonsense are you talking about? If there is a war, will my concubines be needed to fight? You all practice these ten methods of fitness. Your body is too delicate. I am afraid that pregnancy and childbirth will be very dangerous in the future. Who doesn't? After practicing well, I won’t go to anyone’s palace to have a look.”
After saying that, he looked at them meaningfully: "Xian Fei has also practiced."
Although Lin Qingping has not practiced it, I believe they can understand it.
Now that he has entered the harem, Zhu Houcong really doesn't want to hear about the death of this concubine today or the death of a prince or daughter tomorrow.
He was a little younger, and if it weren't for the fact that it was important for Sun Ming to give birth to a legitimate son, Zhu Houcong would have been prepared to do his best to only farm.
After hearing what the emperor said, except for a few three or four people who couldn't see their inner thoughts, the eyes of the rest of them obviously lit up.
"I am busy with state affairs, but since you have entered the palace and have your status, as long as it doesn't rain, I will come here at six o'clock in the morning. I will practice this method with you." Zhu Houcong said to Wen Suyun, "Su Yun Yun, you are the fastest learner. If you practice one or two more with them, you will be able to master at least the four techniques of A, B, C and D today. I will go to the Imperial Study Room."
"I obey the decree..."
The ten girls looked at His Majesty striding toward the Qianqing Palace neatly, and looked at each other in disbelief.
The emperor was very different from what they had thought before.
"...Sister Concubine Shu, you are the best learner. Do you have any tips?" A certain concubine said sweetly.
Wen Suyun now only feels that she was a little selfless because she found it too interesting before? His Majesty gave her the title Shu. Could it be that he was just teasing her?
"Qinghe, you are too restrained. Look how relaxed your Majesty is when he does it..." She spoke but looked at Zhang Qinghe.
The maids and eunuchs who were waiting not far away in the imperial garden just watched the ladies dancing together and gradually getting into fights.
After a while, Zhu Houcong came to the imperial study room, having cleaned up his clothes and tidied up his appearance.
The seventeen counselors all looked at him strangely.
Another draft, another theory of the Three Principles, and what are the ten ways to keep fit.
Your Majesty, how did you learn so much knowledge that is so complex and amazing?
Huang Jin just said it euphemistically. The reason why Concubine Xian was pregnant was because of the secret method. Do you think these ten methods of keeping fit are part of the secret method?
They didn't ask any more questions. This was probably part of the plan: maybe in the next year or so, there would be good news in the palace. The first queen, the second concubine, and the nine concubines have all learned the secret method. There will always be some princes, right?
The descendants will be prosperous, and there will be one less cause of chaos in the world.
But this secret method... Although most old men can't use it, what should they do if they really want to learn it? The kids at home can use it.
"This is the first time for Xianchen to come to the imperial study. Are you used to it?" Zhu Houcong asked directly.
When Wu Tingju heard the emperor's question, he stood up and bowed solemnly: "I... am still getting used to it. When I see this national policy that will last forever, I know that your majesty is so angry..."
Compared with any new law, the spectacular view of the Great Wall on the South Sea makes people even more bald when thinking about it. It is really difficult to imagine how this national policy was established before the drama of "party struggle".
The water in the imperial study is very deep.
"Fei Qing has left for Sichuan, and Jiang Qing is in Jiangnan. We have repeated all the suggestions. Let's discuss the next step for the new law in Guangdong." After hearing Wu Tingju's flattery, Zhu Houcong just smiled and started the formal discussion, "This We will implement it all when we return. If there are any difficulties and how to solve them, make plans in advance. Zhang Fujing is still waiting for the imperial decree."
The people in the internal files department are ready, and after the counselors get used to it, they will also come with blank books to record some key points.
When the emperor asked something, the others looked at Wu Tingju first, asking him to speak first.
Wu Tingju cursed in his heart: Yang Ting and the party leader still had a glimmer of hope, hoping that the emperor would slowly change things.
Yesterday, the court held a meeting in Wenlou after the postponement. They actually asked themselves, a newcomer, to charge forward and tell the emperor about the current difficulties.
He stood up and saluted solemnly: "Although I am still studying the general outline of the new law and other new laws, I have served in Guangdong. Please briefly outline your opinions and provide some suggestions."
Zhu Houcong nodded: "Speak directly. At the national policy meeting, there is no formality."
After Wu Tingju sat down, he thought for a while and then said: "Now the new law has the potential to open up a new world. Compared with the current laws in Xining, the laws are only a small step. I think that if the new law in Guangdong is to be effective in three to five years , there are five major difficulties.”
Zhu Houcong signaled to him.
This not only allows Wu Tingju to charge, but also gives him a chance.
How much he can digest the new law in a short period of time and whether he can come up with practical action strategies also determine whether he can gain points in the emperor's mind.
Yang Tinghe was happy to have someone charge, Wang Qiong and the others wanted to strengthen their own strength, and Wu Tingju also wanted to gain a foothold in the national policy meeting.
He said: "One of the difficulties is spending money. The imperial court has to spend money to buy the annual offices and office offices that Guangdong will bear, and Guangdong also has to spend money to purchase the rest of the office offices and miscellaneous offices. This is a lot of money. Guangdong officials began to pay taxes and services. In order to appease the situation, the official salary was increased, which was another large sum of money. I made a rough estimate. I am afraid that the amount of silver the Ministry of Revenue has to pay to Guangdong is about 120,000 taels of silver per year. Guangdong The additional salaries and official expenses that need to be paid to local officials add up to an additional nearly one hundred thousand taels."
Zhu Houxun took notes a few times: "Continue."
"The second difficulty lies in powers and responsibilities. If the land taxes of officials and gentry are paid, and the unified tax collection of banknotes is implemented, the annual income of land taxes and silver money will naturally increase a lot. However, things such as purchasing, treasury transfers, and commercial taxes may be difficult to deal with. It is necessary to add more yamen and officials. The new laws are more practical and easier to implement, and they are all complementary to each other. I am afraid that Guangdong needs to reconsider the responsibilities of provincial, prefecture, and county yamen and the responsibilities of each official."
"The third difficulty lies in market changes. If the officials and gentry pay land tax and the unified collection of silver by the government is implemented, the trend of people's donation may subside. In the past, many hidden households and people in Guangdong received grain from large households. , Now if the government is to collect money after unification, how will the people exchange grain and rice for money? If local large households are allowed to exploit it, there may be chaos. Therefore, in terms of market transactions, the new law must not become a law that harms the people."
"The fourth difficulty lies in education. The wealthy gentry have the intention to resist, and the people suddenly hear the new law and are at a loss what to do and are easily incited. Even the officials in Guangdong need time to understand the gist of the new law. I think that if the people in Guangdong cannot educate and educate the new law first, The old system has so many advantages and is easier to achieve, but extremely difficult to implement."
"The fifth difficulty lies in the officials. After all, the new law must be tried out by the officials in Guangdong. Although there are officials to appease the law, there are test laws and Ming regulations to spur it, they still have to guard against overt and covert violations and use them to harm the people. Moreover, ... Since Your Majesty has ordered his ministers to speak out, they will no longer be restrained. There are many officials in the world who are afraid of the dangers of reform."
After Wu Tingju finished speaking, he could only look at the emperor anxiously.
In the short term, there has been a lot of financial pressure, wide-ranging institutional reform pressure, changes in the use of silver in lieu of food that are related to all people, the understanding threshold caused by the new law being too "new", and the laziness and even resistance of officials when implementing the new law.
These are very real issues.
Even the important ministers at the National Policy Council became the new party reluctantly after you exerted your influence?
"That's a good question." Zhu Houcong gave an answer that made Wu Tingju breathe a sigh of relief, and then said, "Do you have anything to add?"
This time everyone was looking at Yang Tinghe, so the party leader bit the bullet and said: "In addition, currently only Guangdong is trialling the new law, and the other provinces are still the same. There is another difficulty, which is the official exchanges between the six ministries, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, etc. in the Beijing Yamen and Guangdong. The new and the old go hand in hand. , there can be no chaos in the Beijing Yamen."
"On my side, I am worried about how the examination law will be implemented in Guangdong." Wang Qiong added, "Guangdong's officialdom has experienced two major turmoils. At this time, there must be fear and even resentment. The restrictions of the examination law will be used improperly. It may be counterproductive. In addition, how to become an official in Guangdong can only be determined after the new laws in Guangdong are implemented one by one."
Zhu Houcong waited for a while and then asked: "There is nothing to add for the time being. What about the solution? Guangdong does not need to start implementing it within this year, but Xianchen is right. The new law needs to be widely publicized in Guangdong to educate the officials and the people. Therefore, the National Policy Conference We still need to come up with one, two, three, four as soon as possible. Otherwise, the government and the opposition will discuss it again, and the counselors spent more than a year only coming up with some shocking new laws, and then they did not start to implement them for a long time. Then I'm afraid it's still They are using the new law to fight for power."
Wu Tingju broke into a cold sweat: Are you speaking so directly?
But the basis of the new law was proposed by Your Majesty. Are you now accusing the counselors of not sincerely wanting to change the law?
Yang Tinghe replied: "In the past few days, I have summoned all ministers to hold several meetings on the implementation of Guangdong's new law policy. After public discussion, I believe that there are many new laws and it is appropriate to trial them step by step. Next year, Guangdong will first compile and review the regulations, and only Order officials, squires, and wealthy households to apply for land tax. By the end of next year, there will be a figure for how much land tax Guangdong can actually collect, and all officials will have a clear idea. By the next year, the annual income will have increased, and expenses will be sufficient. Initiate corvee labor and carry out various procurement methods. In this way, Guangdong will have time to adapt, and the court can also make arrangements calmly."
After he finished speaking, he looked at the emperor with some anxiety: In fact, I have said it many times before, corvee is the foundation. But the next step is to only touch the land tax. I don’t know what the emperor thinks.
Zhu Houcong just asked lightly: "In the early days of the country, the more than 230,000 hectares were 1.05 million shi, and now the more than 70,000 hectares are 1.08 million shi. Officials, squires, and wealthy households have all paid. In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, were the standards for expropriating various fields the same as they are now, or should they be based on the current standards? After the compilation and review of the Code, after the unified conversion of silver, should it be shared based on people or acres? If the acres are allocated, it should be based on land rights. , or based on land rights?”
One sentence made the room in the imperial study become depressed.
If according to current standards, Guangdong Tianfu's power has more than tripled. According to the standards of the early days of the Republic of China, Guangdong's fields would not expand much even if they were all clarified.
In the end, with the extra three to five million stones, should we use them together to mount them?
The most important thing is to distribute money to corvees. Should it be based on people or acres?
The reform was about to enter the substantive area, and Yang Tinghe could only say: "Your Majesty, the laws are really too wide-reaching, and I am such a fool..."
"You and others are all fools. Does the Ming Dynasty still have smart ministers?" Zhu Houcong looked at them, "I know that it is true that it has been too widely implicated. If the new law cannot be achieved, I may retreat to the next best thing, but you and others feel that they are gone. The way out. Things have come to this. If we don’t have the courage to do what our predecessors didn’t dare to do, it will naturally be difficult everywhere.”
Zhu Houcong didn't blame them. After all, he had never seriously thought about reforming the law. Even if he was forced to start thinking about it now, his lifelong thinking would still imprison them in the old system.
The plan proposed by Zhu Houcong was a bit ahead of their time.
They can all see that the current benefits brought by the wealthy officials and gentry by evading taxes and servitude will be greatly damaged.
They can also see that the various departments are under great financial pressure to purchase and improve the salaries of officials.
But they have no idea how much the annual income can be increased by imposing business taxes, and whether doing business can make wealthy officials and gentry households who are willing to change more profitable so as not to violate the new law.
"Then let me say it." Zhu Houxuan smiled, "I just need to be able to make room for it in the eyes of the world, and all the counselors will make overall arrangements. If it succeeds, the credit will be yours, and I will enjoy it. It’s convenient.”
The counselors who were familiar with the rhythm felt a little bitter: It's coming again, it must be class again.
So Wu Tingju saw them skillfully picking up their brushes and preparing to record key points.
Zhu Houcong said slowly: "First of all, it's money. I can borrow the extra expenses of the imperial court's annual affairs from the internal funds to the Ministry of Household Affairs as the cultivation cost of the trial implementation phase of the new law in Guangdong, so as not to cause additional pressure on other provinces and the Ministry of Household Affairs. Xianchen then You can write a memorial, I will get it right."
He has money for the time being, and Zhang Fujing will surely give away a lot after he starts killing again this time.
Take it from Guangdong and use it in Guangdong. It is reasonable to kill the rich and help the poor.
Wu Tingju: ...Is this how counselors work? His Majesty told him that he could make an IOU to the inner treasury.
Everyone was refreshed: After many years, the emperor was finally willing to lend money to the Ministry of Household Affairs.
Zhu Houcong continued: "As for the additional expenditures caused by local procurement and official remuneration, as well as the issues of authority at the provincial, prefecture, and county levels in Guangdong, as well as the issue of officials' laziness and resistance, we might as well look at it in a different direction. Guangdong not only needs to spend more. , and more expenditures are required. There are too many officials in the ancestral system, and the subordinate staff have no hope of promotion. Their salaries are meager. How can we live a life of superiority without exploiting the countryside? Expansion of Guangdong! Huang Jin."
So everyone saw that the emperor was obviously ready again. Huang Jin had someone bring a shelf over from behind the Ming Map and place it on the side.
Zhu Houcong pointed there and said: "It is terrible to have redundant officials, but we cannot go to the other extreme. I have calculated that among the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty, there are a total of 1,852 officials in the two capitals. The remaining thirteen chiefs of government Adding up the envoys and ministers, there are a total of 6,930 magistrates, of which only 1,899 are seventh-rank or above."
The rest of the people are now only looking at the chart above.
The Song Dynasty had redundant officials, while the Ming Dynasty went to the other extreme. There are only 8,782 officials in the country who are paid by the government.
The remaining expenses of the officials are paid by officials or government agencies. There are no such items in the financial expenditures, so naturally they can only be counted as various corvee and apportioned.
Zhu Houcong discovered these problems from statistics and felt incredible.
Even so, some people pointed the finger at the phenomenon of salary stipend among the military attachés, criticizing the serious redundancy of officials in the Ming Dynasty.
In a future where technological conditions are already very advanced, although the population will increase several times, the overall size of civil servants will be in the millions.
In the current state where communication efficiency is so low, Ming Dynasty relies on a total of less than 9,000 civil servants to maintain the operation of daily government affairs.
Zhu Baba had such a miserable experience in his early years that he adopted such a management method with a very small establishment.
However, it is conceivable that the human resources required to manage the actual needs of various places are all spent on the huge staff and staff systems, which are all flexibly controlled by various places and eventually distributed to the people.
Thus, a vicious cycle began, with the finances unable to support a more efficient state machine and eventually collapsing.
So Zhu Houcong said categorically: "Starting from Guangdong, we will expand the number of officials. Many necessary officials will also be incorporated into Mingguan, and they will be appointed. The increased annual income in Guangdong can be used to protect their official treatment. This is what they are also willing to implement the new law. Motivation. From the ninth rank upwards, the opportunities for promotion will increase. There are about 3,000 Jinshi in the world, and only more than 13,000 people, minus the old and sick among them. How can such a small number of people help me manage the Ming Dynasty? "
The staff looked at the tower-shaped figure on the left and the tree-like figure on the right with their mouths open.
...Your Majesty always plays new things.
Zhu Houcong looked at them and said: "To implement the new law, all the footholds are officials. I see all the high-ranking officials in Guangdong. They know that as long as they complete their tasks, they will have a bright future. But what about the officials of the fifth, sixth and seventh grades? What about lower-level officials and clerks? Let more scholars and candidates in Guangdong be able to serve as officials, and let capable officials have dignity, security, dignity, and promotion. Then no matter what new laws are introduced, they will help the court. Push it forward!”
Don’t you know that you can earn more money and have a higher status by being an official than by avoiding some taxes and servitude?
But it’s too difficult to get admitted to the imperial examination, and the ceiling is right there.
Doesn’t the scholar want to be a high-ranking official?
He has no qualifications, but becoming an official will completely limit his identity. He will be a slave who is ordered around all his life.
Officials have no "official power". In the eyes of the people, they are masters, but in the eyes of officials, who do they count?
Zhu Houcong stared at them: "The provincial, prefectural and county levels have all been established. Ordinary officials who have not entered the mainstream can also be promoted. The total number of officials below the fifth rank has expanded to nearly 10,000. Can we absorb the gentry in Guangdong who are willing to be loyal to the imperial court? We have them all. Under the status of officials, the official treatment law, the examination law, and the Ming Dynasty regulations, can they be restrained and motivated to implement the new laws in Guangdong? There are nearly 180,000 new officials of the ninth grade and those who have not entered the ranks. According to the average of eight new grades Calculated as an annual salary of one hundred and twenty dan, it’s only a million dan!”
The counselors only felt that a naked picture of war was before them:
If this idea is realized, Guangdong's land tax can theoretically be increased to more than two million shi. In addition to the 400,000 dan of annual grain required by the imperial court, is the remaining tax grain not enough to support Guangdong's salary?
What's more, Guangdong will also have other income from the commercial tax level.
What Your Majesty did not elaborate on, naturally includes what so many officials can earn by participating in business in various ways.
In short...separate the gentry and wealthy households from the simple chain of land interests.
Let a large part of the gentry officially enter the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty. How strong can the other part of the gentry stubbornly resist the new law?
Those who adapt to new rules will survive and thrive.
Those who do not adapt will be reduced to ashes.
"Below the eighth rank, each government can make its own selections. Below the sixth rank, Guangdong Province can make its own selections. Above the fifth rank, people can be selected by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Below the seventh rank, people can serve in their place of origin. Scholars, Juren, and Jinshi are not required. The threshold is to give opportunities to talents and candidates who have failed in the examination for a long time. When social studies are launched in a big way, all officials in the future must be educated, literate, and know etiquette. The examinations of each government and academy are unified by all provinces to reduce the difficulty; the provincial examinations of each province are sent by the imperial court to take the exams. Set up the chief and deputy lists. The chief list can be used for the examination of the Ministry of Rites, and the deputy list can be awarded officials." Zhu Houcong pointed to the right, "As for the local government offices, I have also considered it. Can you see clearly?"
Yang Ting and the others could see the tree-like picture clearly.
They saw that Guangdong Province had a governor-general, and under him were the Chief Envoys Department, the Capital Command Envoys Department, the Punishment Department, the Public Security Department, the Taxation Department, and the Ducha Department.
Each prefecture has a government office, a punishment bureau, a public security bureau, a taxation bureau, and a metropolitan police bureau.
Each county has the county government office, the criminal department, the public security department, the taxation department, and the metropolitan police department.
They saw the secret: criminal law, inspections and anti-theft, taxation, and supervision were all dealt with, and they were not subject to the control of the same level of government offices. Although he is in a certain place, he is probably leading all the way to the imperial court.
In the province, the governor makes the final decision, but what about the prefectures and counties?
Yang Tinghe asked this question.
Zhu Houcong smiled and pointed at them: "Don't you think this national policy meeting is quite effective?"
The Seventeenth Counselor was stunned. They were familiar with this, and having a small meeting behind closed doors was indeed very efficient.
Suddenly, I felt that the old system of the Ming Dynasty was going to be wiped out, and the spirit of Taizu in heaven was probably very excited.
His old man's coffin isn't moving, right?
(End of chapter)
