The current right servant of the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs is a loser in the process of restructuring the government offices in Beijing.
He had also thought about being transferred to Beijing along with the previous "Ninjing Nine Ministers". Even if he was still just a right minister, he would be directly in charge of important tasks.
But he still stayed in Nanjing. At this moment, the six ministries in Nanjing, except Jia Yong and the Minister of War, were all people who had previously served as Zuobu envoys or governors in various provinces.
Each province had a governor-general, and they were transferred to Nanjing. The reason is self-evident: if they were to continue to work there, they might hinder the new law.
Yang Tinghe, Jia Yong, and Xia Yan all saw the glance that the right minister of Nanjing Hubu looked at the Minister of Hubu in Nanjing, and then heard him calmly say: "This year, after the provinces clear their land, they will rebuild the Yellow River." There are so many things in this book. I'm not sure, I'm afraid I'll miss something big. The young servant is impartial and straightforward, Xia Youdu, don't be angry."
Xia Yan narrowed his eyes slightly.
Am I angry?
At this moment, Yang Tinghe's eyes also focused.
Then, he picked up the tea cup, blew on the hot air, and said: "Re-creating the Yellow Book will be next year. Xia Shangshu, Tong Shilang is naturally public-minded, everyone is public-minded, and no one is angry."
After taking a sip of hot tea, he put down the tea cup, and his voice became colder: "Is it possible that the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs is already busy remaking the yellow books before the provincial books have arrived?"
The words that attracted Yang Tinghe and Xia Yan's attention were Qing Zhang Tian Tu and Huang Ce.
In Houhu, Nanjing, there is the Huangceku, which records the "family wealth" of the Ming Dynasty.
This yellow book storehouse contains the land and population information of the Ming Dynasty, as well as the transaction records of each piece of land.
The daily management of Huangceku mainly involves the four parties.
The person responsible for updating and consulting the Yellow Book is the Nanjing Household Department, with a senior official in charge of this matter.
The person responsible for supervising the daily affairs of Huangceku is Nanjing Huke Geishizhong, from the seventh rank.
The person responsible for guarding the keys and opening the door is the Nanjing garrison eunuch.
Those responsible for security, vigilance, and patrols were sent by the pro-military Three Guards stationed in Nanjing.
According to the rules, the petty officials and craftsmen who have been working in Huangceku on Houhu Island for a long time cannot leave even if they get sick. Doctors go to the island specifically for diagnosis and treatment.
Huangceku is so important. Why did Xia Congshou, the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing, point out this content?
What Yang Tinghe asked back was the system for updating the yellow records in the yellow records library.
Different from the previous dynasty, in the Ming Dynasty, the land, household registration, population and other information were "declared" from bottom to top. The household registration system in the past dynasties was "top-down", that is to say, statistics were carried out from top to bottom by the imperial household department, provinces, prefectures and counties.
In the Ming Dynasty's yellow book, the government first distributed "inventory statements" to each household. They were first filled out in Li Jia units and then handed over to the head of Jia. Each Lijia will then send the booklet to the county, and the county will make the county's yellow book based on the county's booklet and send it to the government office. The same applies to the prefecture and chief envoys, and finally to the Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing.
Each county has four yellow books in theory.
At present, all provinces are still at the stage of clearing the fields, and some places have not even started yet - the farming season cannot be missed.
Xia Congshou's intention of mentioning the Yellow Book is worth pondering.
"The Yellow Book has not been produced for a long time. New officials, clerks, and clerks under the Ministry of Household Affairs must practice their skills. What is written in the Yellow Book must be consistent. The lower officials have ordered people to check the Yellow Book stored in the warehouse to see if there are any insects. Those who have been damaged. After the statistics are compiled, each province must be compiled, and the corresponding contents in the base book must be copied and sent to Nanjing to complete the old book." Xia Congshou was very calm, looked at Yang Tinghe and said, "Whenever the yellow book is made, there is no need to advance it. Half a year or even a year to prepare?”
He is a dignified minister, a second-rank official, and is theoretically only responsible to the emperor. Now when Yang Tinghe calls himself a lower official, his tone is rhetorical.
Yang Tinghe asked calmly: "Is there any preliminary statistical result now?"
"The pavilion knows this. A census was done in the third year of Hongzhi's reign. There were more than 792,900 volumes in the library. The shells were missing, and 647,300 volumes were in varying degrees of moth-eaten or rotten. There are so many, less than two-tenths of them are intact. Preliminary statistics show that among the more than one million volumes, less than one-tenth are intact. Your Majesty has been informed by your Majesty that this time it is necessary to make up for the old volumes as well as copy them. For the new album, the previously budgeted money for paper and ink mounting and craftsmanship will only need 70% more."
"Seventy percent?" Yang Tinghe's tone was no longer good.
"At least 70%." Xia Congshou still looked very confident, "Each time the Yellow Book is remade, about 80,000 new copies will be made. Now that the new law is implemented, how many Yintian and Fugitives will be cleared this time has not yet been It can be seen that if the official land is sold, how much more will need to be recorded in the yellow book's change of hands? This new book will probably require at least 120,000 copies."
He looked at Xia Yan: "If we don't start preparing now, how will we prepare the new book as soon as possible? The Beijing Inspectorate should follow its routine, but this time the Nanjing Beijing Inspectorate, colleagues from the Department of Science and Technology made consultation visits complicated and intrusive. It’s not just the Hubu department that thinks it’s too heavy, it’s just that the Hubu department does have a heavy responsibility on its shoulders.”
After quarreling with Xia Yan, he bowed his hand to Yang Tinghe again: "Pavilion, according to the new regulations, the county will no longer allocate the silver for the remade yellow book. The official made a rough estimate. According to previous years, the silver needed to make one book Counting two taels, one volume has four copies, and a new volume may require one million taels of silver. To make up the old volume for inventory, another nearly five hundred thousand taels will be needed. At the national policy meeting and the state affairs meeting, the counselors and ministers of state, You are taking the pornographic book lightly!"
Huang Zuo had been a local official in Guangdong, and he knew that Xia Congshou's estimate of the cost of a book of twenty taels of silver was correct.
This is already a pretty cheap cost.
Recreating the Yellow Book is not just copying it. As one of the most important archives of the Ming Dynasty, there are requirements for the paper used, mounting and preservation. Although it is no longer possible to make "copper plates" as it was during the Taizu and Yongle years, the cost still cannot be underestimated.
Even if they don’t want to increase the burden on the people, officials in each county still need to devote time and energy. Can this be done without special funds?
But now Xia Congshou's last words shocked the Nanjing officials at the meeting.
There seems to be something in the words.
Given the power of the imperial court, the more expensive the yellow book is, the more expensive it is. Is there such a thing as "overthinking"?
The Yellow Book is not just a Yellow Book. The Yellow Book is the basis for taxes and servitude. The Yellow Book is also... the basis for a large number of local governments to adjudicate many land and land disputes.
Yang Tinghe nodded: "Since Xia Shangshu has written the memorial, the court will definitely discuss it again. According to what Xia Shangshu said, eight out of ten of the more than one million volumes in the library are damaged?"
"After Xiaguan was appointed as the Nanjing Household Department, the first thing he did was to inquire about Huang Ceku. The root cause is that in the first year of the year there was a severe wind disaster and there was a flood. Secondly, in the past ten years, Chen Hao was the first There was chaos, and then His Majesty moved to the extreme, people in Nanjing were unsettled, and the officials were quite slack."
The meaning of Xia Congshou's words: I have just arrived, so the maintenance issues of Huangceku have nothing to do with me.
But everyone only heard the words "people's hearts are uncertain" in his words.
After the coordination meeting, Xia Yan stayed. After being informed and entering the official hall where Yang Tinghe met his guests, he couldn't help but ask: "At the pavilion, how can Xia Shangshu be so bold in taking Huang Ceku's own weight?"
"You want to impeach him?"
Xia Yan controlled his emotions and looked at Yang Tinghe.
It seems that all he needs is a signal: if His Majesty and Yang Tinghe need it, he can impeach Xia Congshou immediately.
"Can Gongjin understand?"
Xia Yan actually understood that he was here to test his attitude.
Yang Tinghe smiled: "Since he has submitted the report according to the facts, let's wait for His Majesty's decree and the national policy meeting and Chief Fei to come up with the strategy."
Xia Yan couldn't detect any attitude, but Yang Tinghe's smile still conveyed the message.
After walking out of the gate of Governor Yingtian's courtyard, Xia Yan looked back, his eyes actually looking beyond the courtyard and faintly towards the north.
Obviously, the imperial court has a strategy in mind, right?
It’s just that I’m not qualified enough to know.
He turned around and walked towards his sedan chair.
But that doesn't mean he can't figure out the secrets!
…
Among the various bureaucracies in Nanjing, which one has the most power?
In the past, it was the Ministry of War. Because the de facto highest authority in Nanjing is the garrison meeting, and the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing can be the Counselor for Machinery Affairs.
But now it's subtle. The garrison hall meeting has not been abolished, but there is an additional governor in Nanjing, Ying Tianbu Yuan. The governor's name is Yang Tinghe.
The Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing was the former right minister of the Ministry of War in Beijing.
The former left minister of the Ministry of War, Yang Tingyi, was the governor-general of Jiangxi, and the right minister of the Ministry of War was appointed as the minister and counselor of the Nanjing Ministry of War. In fact, the Beijing Ministry of War was temporarily weak - they were all new officials. The purpose was naturally to make way for the Military Affairs Council and the Five Governments whose powers had been expanded a little, so that the emperor could better control the military power.
So now, the military power in Nanjing is also in the hands of the emperor - Guo Xun is practicing Zhenwu Camp, Xu Pengju is serving as the admiral of Caojiang, the Minister of the Ministry of War was directly promoted to Nanjing by the emperor over Zuo Shilang, and Yang Tinghe is the new law host.
In addition to the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Husbandry can fight.
Needless to say, the officials, Jia Yong, Huang Zuo, and Xu Jie were either old disciples of Yang Tinghe or new ministers of the emperor's new dynasty.
Under the current situation, the Ministry of Household Affairs is the hardest nut to crack in Nanjing.
In the Hubu Yamen, after Xia Congshou and Tong Rui came back, they took their seats in the official hall.
"Brother Shiqi is quite dissatisfied today?"
Tong Rui replied calmly: "I don't dare."
"What difference do we have between you and me? Although Brother Shiqi never served in the Ministry of Household Affairs in the past, his official career started from the Ministry of Household Affairs. In four years in the Ministry of Works, he supervised the construction of Kangling, Rijingmen, Yangxin Hall, Qingning Waiting in the palace, how hard it is? It’s just that I can’t take the position of participating in the policy. I am transferred to Nanjing, but I am still the minister of household affairs. I often complain about brother Shiqi.”
Tong Rui didn't give any reaction, just looked at Xia Congshou: "Nowadays, all the bureaucracies in Nanjing, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of War, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, all only want to be able to make meritorious services and be among the advisors. What Xia Sinong said before, Nanjing The Ministry of Etiquette, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Ministry of Work have their own behavior as well-behaved wives."
"Don't be in a hurry, it's just the beginning, haven't I been a senior official?" Xia Congshou smiled, then stopped smiling, "It's only twenty taels of silver for a book. Brother Shiqi must tell those businessmen who want to continue to be Nanjing's household department. We must give up our profits this time! We must never do things like mixing paper with honey again! During the Jiajing Dynasty, this dirty book will have to be checked from time to time, and you and I must not leave anything to say!"
Not only are the quality requirements for yellow book paper not as strict as in the early days of the People's Republic of China, but new ways of doing things have emerged.
Since the yellow book is filled out with declarations from bottom to top, and then checked and summarized, this naturally makes it easier for a large number of local people to manipulate the yellow book.
Since the four yellow volumes in one volume can corroborate each other, and the Ming Dynasty has been cultivating fertile land, then how come the total number of fields is always declining in a reasonable and legal manner?
Not easy to check. The more than one million volumes in the Yellow Book Library are like a vast ocean, and the statistical work is all done by officials. Isn’t the number in the emperor’s hands reported by the people below?
No one in the Ming Dynasty could truly and accurately grasp the data on these land natives, not even Xia Congshou.
Because too many old yellow albums have been damaged. In order to make it easier to do some things, over the past hundred years, there have even begun to be artificially mixed with honey paper. After being stored on the shelf for a long time, this paper mixed with honey is particularly attractive to insects and ants - unknowingly, many old accounts have been "formatted".
Many things will be easier to handle if there is no supporting evidence.
Xia Congshou obviously had the attitude of "loyalty to the emperor and use things", and made it clear that this kind of paper should never be used, in case Zhu Houcong could check it as needed.
But was he really thinking about Zhu Houcong?
Tong Rui nodded: "I have successively served as the Left Councilor of Zhejiang, the Left Councilor of Shaanxi, the Political Councilor of Guangxi, the Right Chief Envoy of Huguang, the Governor of Shuntian, and the Right Minister of the Ministry of Industry. Xia Sinong can rest assured about this small matter. But this time I am the only one in Nanjing. The Ministry of Household Affairs stated that Nanjing was a serious matter, but the Ministry of Rites did not mention it. The Ministry of Industry had one of the two important responsibilities of coining money and making salt to introduce and match the templates. I am afraid that the salt law will be changed sooner or later, aren't they in a hurry?"
In the Nanjing Ministry of Industry, it turned out that only the Baoyuan Bureau, which minted money, and the Nanjing Ministry of Household Yanyin, which was involved in printing, were compatible. Now that Baoyuan Bureau has become an enterprise, and Nanjing Ministry of Industry, apart from some other small projects in Nanjing, only Yanyin is worthy of wearing this half pair of shorts.
Tong Rui, who had worked at the Ministry of Industry in Beijing, knew this very well: Could it be that the Ministry of Industry in Nanjing was still prepared, and was only prepared to repair the old forbidden palace hall, imperial mausoleums, and city walls that accidentally suffered disasters in Nanjing?
"They all don't show up before the wind blows. Our household department is the most important in Nanjing now. Let's see what the court wants." Xia Congshou comforted him, "Don't worry, the Nanjing household department is not slacking off and is really doing its best. This Your Majesty must know something."
In the end, I just drank tea leisurely: "My memorial will be submitted, and the news will naturally spread. Under the Qingzhang Tiantu national policy, just look at it, Brother Shiqi. Naturally, there are many people in the government and the public who want to secretly help me. Nanjing is the capital of the country. , now we have just identified a major national issue that must be handled in Nanjing. Even if there is only one thing left to manage Huang Ceku, the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs cannot afford to lose anything!"
Just like Xia Congshou said, after his memorial arrived in the capital, because it was purely government affairs, it naturally had to go through many offices such as the General Affairs Department, the Beijing Household Department, the State Palace, and the Beijing Household Affairs Office.
Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated that the Yellow Book should be produced every ten years. The total number of fields in the Ming Dynasty on the Yellow Book is getting smaller and smaller, and the population is also getting smaller and smaller. Xia Congshou said that more fields and people will be cleared this time. The old records of the past must also be cleaned up and revised to facilitate the clearing of land ownership and the verification of many land dispute cases during the implementation of the new law. This is a pragmatic proposal.
But it costs 1.5 million taels of silver, which is 70% more than the previous price of nearly 900,000 taels for a set of 80,000 volumes, a total of four sets, and a volume of 2 taels and 50 silver, plus some other expenses.
Should this money be spent?
"No one has agreed yet?" Zhu Houcong asked curiously.
"Your Majesty, no."
The person who answered him was Wang Shenzhong, the newly appointed bachelor's student in the imperial study room.
Today is not what it used to be. The "influence" of the accompanying bachelor in the royal study has been greatly reduced. He is really just a secretary.
Here, Wang Shenzhong helped Zhu Houcong sort out the memorials sent to the imperial study by the general affairs envoy. At the same time, he also had another job - to communicate with his fellow villager Lin Xiyuan about many contents in the Ming Pao.
After hearing this, Zhu Houcong sighed: "It is clear that the frequency of communication has greatly increased in the past few days. Everyone is concerned, but they are still watching the wind."
"...I'm ashamed, I don't understand."
Zhu Houcong looked at him with a smile: "Then think about it slowly, or ask Maozhen for advice."
At the national policy meeting, Yan Song's "switch" proposal was still being discussed.
But Yang Tinghe went to take charge of Nanjing. This year, when the imperial court and local governments began to reorganize government offices, the only remaining government offices in Nanjing could no longer sit still.
The one who took the lead was indeed the Nanjing Household Department.
As expected, the person who came up to talk about the matter was not the collection and transfer of grain taxes from the four provinces of Jiangnan, but Huang Ceku.
There are countless dirty records of resigned and serving officials hidden in a yellow bookstore.
Will those obliterated, altered, and disappeared pages and data be uncovered during the Ming Dynasty’s Qing Dynasty? Can the countless land disputes among the people be decided directly and abruptly without any evidence?
The land owned by officials and gentry cannot be evaded or evaded taxes. However, the land that has been transferred to them through various methods over the years should naturally still belong to them - if there is more land, they can always receive three or five more. Stone grain.
Don't because of the flaws in the yellow records library, you must first find evidence and take it as official land, and then sell it to ordinary people.
The Nanjing Household Department must exist, it must be "easy to communicate", and it must be supported!
After the news spread, the eyes of countless officials and gentry in the world were focused on Nanjing's Houhu.
On the island in the middle of the lake, nearly a thousand warehouses stand quietly. In the warehouse, the yellow books stacked on the three-story shelf remained silent.
After nightfall, insects, ants and mice still live in "richness" here just like their ancestors have done for hundreds of years.
The lake water around the island does not shake due to the footsteps of the patrolling guards, but only rises due to the wind.
The weather in summer is changeable. There will be thunderstorms and strong winds tonight, and the water surface will be high.
"Everyone, be alert and take precautions against heavy rain, lightning, fire, and water leakage!"
The head of the Nanjing Household Department works very seriously.
No one has the guts to burn this place down. We will definitely protect it, although in fact it may not be a big deal if this place is burned down. After all, there are four copies of the yellow book, and there is also a white book that is frequently updated locally.
But you have to know, in the past few years since the new law was implemented on a trial basis in Guangdong and Shandong, how many versions of the yellow and white books in other local prefectures and counties have been updated? If there is a real dispute and the lawsuit continues, the yellow records in the yellow records library will still have to be checked for verification.
If Huangceku was burned at this time, this would be the second most troublesome thing. The key question is why it happened to catch fire at this time?
Can't burn, definitely can't catch fire!
The people in Nanjing's household department just want to keep their leisurely and powerful days, and don't want to enjoy the entertainment of the nine tribes.
In Beijing's household department, Yang Shen, the right minister, finally completed his second mission after the joint examination.
In front of him were eighteen tables in the Hubu Yamen.
There were ten people sitting at each table.
Most of these people are young. The oldest one looks like he is only thirty or forty years old.
Now, Yang Shen stood up and held the wine glass: "I have been with you day and night. You are all from Jinke's first and deputy positions. I am the chief examiner of Jinke's general examination. But after these three months, you and I can really be regarded as teachers." But above me, there is Your Majesty. This training course and these graduation examination papers are all from Your Majesty. I will not avoid suspicion. One person is the first and second-ranking scholar of the Ministry of Household Affairs. You must know that His Majesty has high expectations!"
"...I'll keep this in mind!"
Yang Shen nodded: "Very good. Now that you have completed your studies, you will be called an official, and there will be no friendship between teachers and students. I will practice it for you today. After you leave, you will have to work hard in the past three years."
"I will live up to your majesty's expectations, and to live up to the expectations of the chief minister, the chief minister, and the young chief minister!"
The current Minister of Household Affairs is Zhang En, the former Guangdong Zuobu Envoy who was promoted by Xu Gong.
He and Yang Shen are old partners.
Now, he gave Yang Shen the initiative on this occasion. After all, he also knew how much the emperor valued Yang Shen.
The prince's guest, Yang Shen, now has three hundred real students, the younger generation.
The Ministry of Household Affairs has taken 300 new subjects this year, and all of them have been "taught" by Yang Shen for three months. The genius Yang Shen was taught accounting, arithmetic, many official document standards, and simplified Chinese characters that he learned in Guangdong, as well as some things that the emperor frequently summoned him to teach.
Of these 300 people, less than half stayed in the Household Department in Beijing and joined the General Department of Taxation and other departments.
The remaining 160 or so people will have a new identity starting from tomorrow: special inspectors of the Department of Land and Cleansing of the Ministry of Household Affairs.
They will be assigned to nearly two hundred prefectures outside Guangdong and Shandong in the Ming Dynasty. With identities ranging from seventh grade to sixth grade, they will be responsible for only one thing: the creation of new yellow books for each county and state under the jurisdiction of each prefecture.
However, they will go to Nanjing first.
After all, the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs has always been responsible for the yellow registration office.
Did the Beijing police delay the Nanjing household department?
It doesn't matter, new officials who have never been an official before are not included in the capital inspection, their hearts are set.
"Renfu, you are in charge of the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs. You are in the important position of Huang Ceku, the Department of Land and Cleansing and Officials of the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs. If anything happens, just report it according to the facts!"
Zhan Rong, a first-class scholar in the new department, responded sternly: "I understand!"
The starting point is that he is the chief officer of the sixth grade. As a new scholar, he is the leader among the new officials in the Ministry of Household Affairs. He is also very practical and has not bothered about what to take the system exam next year.
Zhang En also stood up with the wine: "Drink! I wish you a bright future!"
When the sun rises, it will be the day-watching meeting on July 15th.
Among the court officials, many people indeed prepared memorials today, intending to discuss the matter of Huang Ceku's money at the court meeting.
Damingtian’s tax base is where it belongs, so we need to support it!
Then Fei Hong stood up and said: "I heard that the Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing reported that the repair and new construction of the Huangce Library has been approved by the State Council. I think this money should be spent! The Ministry of Household Land and Land Clearance Department has been established. After that, I request the Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing to establish a new Land Cleaning and Cleaning Department, and set up the Huangce Treasury Director, Treasury Manager and other personnel, and each prefecture and prefecture will send inspectors..."
The court officials were stunned.
Discussed so quickly?
Have you already prepared it?
What pit did Nanjing Hubu fall into?
Zhu Houcong just said solemnly from the throne: "This matter has been decided by the State Council, and the Chief Assistant can implement it on his own."
It sounds like there is no need for Zhu Houcong to be involved at all, but after all, it involves the establishment of a new department in the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs.
Many people in the National Assembly Hall lowered their heads.
Beijing attaches great importance to and supports the work of the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs.
The Nanjing Household Department will get a lot of money and a lot of new subordinate officials.
Still not grateful?
(End of chapter)
