The palace examination is related to the selection of talents for the imperial court and has an important impact on the future direction of government affairs. In Zhu Yunwen's view, it is necessary to make every effort to control the palace examination at this time.
The Ministry of Rites or the examiner was mostly responsible for the examinations of the rural examination and the general examination. Zhu Yunwen did not interfere with the questions.
But as the first imperial examination after the education reform, Zhu Yunwen had to pass the imperial examination questions to tell the world that the imperial court valued "miscellaneous studies"!
It is precisely for this reason that Zhu Yunwen needs to think carefully about the palace examination questions.
Xie Jin is the number one minister in the cabinet, and Xu Huizu is also the number one figure in the military. This kind of pomp is enough for the Second Artillery Bureau to see the court's attitude towards artillery improvements.
"Shuangxi, what do you think the imperial examination should be like?"
Zhu Yunwen pondered for a long time, but he couldn't help but ask.
Shuangxi was frightened and said quickly: "Your Majesty, this is a great cause of the imperial court, and we don't dare to talk nonsense. Taizu has rules, and internal supervisors cannot interfere in politics..."
Zhu Yunwen sighed.
Yes, internal supervisors are not allowed to interfere in politics, but for the Ming Dynasty in history, internal supervisors' interference in political affairs was the pinnacle.
This can't be blamed on the eunuch. After being stabbed, he was missing something, and he didn't have any suitable book. He couldn't become a peerless master. After finally getting into a position close to power, he naturally needed to pick up the seal or pen of power.
Bidige
The difference is nothing more than whether you die after getting addicted once, or die after getting addicted a few times.
Whether the internal eunuchs interfered with politics, the harem interfered with politics, or the relatives interfered with politics, they were all opportunities "provided" by the emperor, and Zhu Yunwen was another "faint emperor" who was good at "providing" opportunities.
Although the harem cannot be said to be involved in politics, there are still many times when it is discussed. The internal prison officer can't be on the stage, but Zheng He, as the deputy commander-in-chief, is leading the troops to fight outside...
In the final analysis, it can only be explained in one word:
A loner.
Although being an emperor is not lonely, it can be said that it is lonely. The ministers seem to be passionate all day long, serving the country and the people, but many of them are on the opposite side of the emperor in order to gain profits and reputation.
Zhu Yunwen only has one mouth, how can he possibly speak louder than these ministers? He can't win them out in a tug of war. Besides calling his wife, servants, and relatives to come and help him, who else can help him?
Supreme, who stands in the way of the imperial power and who dies?
Don't be ridiculous, it's okay to use this thing once in a while for important events. If you use it every day, either the imperial power will be weakened or the ministers will be immune. No matter what the outcome is, it will not end well.
There is no dynasty in history that was supported by the emperor alone.
Zhu Yunwen knew the consequences of internal eunuchs and political interference in the harem, but now was not the time to deal with these. He was still young. As long as he was not insane, there would be no "Queen Lu" or "Nine Thousand Years Old" level existence.
The double happiness did not come back, and Zhu Yunwen did not force it anymore.
Suddenly, Zhu Yunwen seemed to remember something, picked up Yang Shiqi's memorial not long ago, and read it carefully.
Last winter, Luo Guanying's view of "paying equal attention to agriculture and business" triggered an ideological trend in the Imperial College. The entire Imperial College became the center of the trend, and even triggered "confrontation" within the college.
Most of the supervisors held a firm stance, emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business. Only a minority believed that it was feasible to pay equal attention to agriculture and business.
Yang Shiqi allowed this "fad" to be postponed again and again, and the consideration behind it was to see the impact and spread of the "doctrine".
Maybe the Imperial College can put it to use if there is no final conclusion.
Zhu Yunwen thought for a long time, dipped his pen in ink, and began to move:
The policy says:
It is said in ancient times that the mulberry trees in farmhouses flocked to merchants, so that one man could cultivate the food for hundreds of people, and one woman could weave hundreds of people's clothing. Therefore, the people abandoned the original and chased the poor, and the farmers could not do half of it. Although the poor were given land, they still sold it at a low price...
Therefore, the imperial court should put agriculture first and business last, attach great importance to agriculture and abundant warehouses, and suppress the enthusiasm of young businessmen...
However, following the business policies of the former Song Dynasty, the merchants were all over the world, and the imperial court was extremely wealthy. The treatment of a city gate guard was comparable to that of a minister with a jade belt in our dynasty. But where does his wealth come from? To exploit the people and use their agricultural products for money?
No, the business tax is huge, and the profit of 20 million yuan is enough to support redundant officials and soldiers.
If I streamline my officials and train my troops without redundancy, can I use commercial taxes to reduce taxes on the people? Can I collect commercial taxes to support hundreds of officials, thousands of armies, and thousands of people?
Ce asked:
Farming is what I want; business is what I want. I want to have both, so where is Kangzhuang?
After finishing writing, Zhu Yunwen ordered: "Call the cabinet Huang Zicheng, Yu Xin, and Ru Jin to discuss it."
Yu Xin and others entered the palace to salute. After reading the examination questions, he broke into a cold sweat. Huang Zicheng firmly objected: "Your Majesty, there are big problems with this strategy..."
Yu Xin and Ru Ru also unanimously opposed it.
Zhu Yunwen just looked at the three of them calmly and said, "It's just one question, so you shouldn't be so panicked, right? It's also a good thing to ask the new Jinshi to see if they have a solution, right?"
"Huang Qing, you once headed the Ministry of Household Affairs. You should know how much business tax has been brought by business in the past year. Ru Qing, you once held the Ministry of War. Your only thought was to implement the new army strategy, and this requires money and food. , you don’t want me to increase taxes on the people, right?”
Huang Zicheng knew how much tax revenue merchants brought, but the emperor's proposition of "paying equal attention to agriculture and business" was too shocking.
Once this policy is spread, it will surely stir up the world, and business will surely usher in prosperity. But once this happens, countless people will pursue profits, the fields will be barren, and emigration will become common. How to solve this?
The harm will be great!
Zhu Yunwen also knew that the basis for the ancient emphasis on agriculture and suppression of commerce was a "closed" small-scale peasant economy. Once commerce was emphasized, it was inevitable that the small-scale peasant economy would bear a certain impact.
But the problem is, this price must be paid.
At present, many new industries have emerged around the capital, such as wool textile industry, paper industry, coal industry, brewing industry, transportation industry (concrete construction), and these industries require a lot of manpower, but there are not so many people in the capital.
If there were too many people, Zhu Yunwen would not personally persuade the victims to stay.
The transfer of rural population is an indispensable force for urbanization and the development of light industry. If it affects a small part of agriculture, it may not cause damage to the overall agriculture.
To say that commercial development has caused migration to become a common phenomenon is completely arbitrary.
From the perspective of historical development, commercial development will not cause large-scale displacement. The real cause of displacement is land annexation, because farmers have lost the land they depend on for survival!
As long as farmers are not allowed to lose their land and large-scale fields are deserted, large-scale displacement will not occur and population movement will appear orderly.
However, with the whip law and the national policy of curbing land annexation, the conditions for a large number of farmers to lose their land no longer exist. At this time, promoting commerce and absorbing idle people into the capital is not a bad thing for the local area.
This era is not like later generations. Only children are
Honey, in the Ming Dynasty, an only child could only say that his father was not able to support him. Two or three boys were scarce, and some families had to give birth to more than a dozen children.
Even if there is no food to eat, the baby will still be born.
For example, the poor farmer Zhu Wusi had four boys and two girls, the fourth of whom specialized in herding cattle...
If there was a big business at that time, Zhu Wusi would work for the landlord at home, and let the eldest and second eldest son work as part-time or long-term workers, how could they starve to death?
Business is not necessarily sinful.
Yu Xin, Huang Zicheng, and Ru Jin looked at each other in confusion. The three of them took turns speaking out, using all kinds of scaremongering to persuade Zhu Yunwen to change the palace examination policy, but Zhu Yunwen refuted them one by one.
At the end, Zhu Yunwen was a little impatient and said: "Don't civil servants yearn for a prosperous age? What is a prosperous age? A prosperous age is when the people are not hungry and cold, the products are rich, the commerce is prosperous, the country is peaceful and the people are peaceful, everyone has his own property, and everyone has something to do! Don't you want to see it? In ten or twenty years, the imperial court will be able to collect 80% of the tax from merchants, but only 10% to 20% from the common people?"
"Promote commerce and expand the proportion of commercial taxes in taxes. Only then can the imperial court adjust the agricultural tax of 1/15 to 1/20, and return it to 1/30 in the future, or even lower! By then, With abundant products, if there are no merchants to transfer grain and no merchants to trade, the price of grain will plummet, and the low price of grain will hurt farmers. This is not the result you want to see, right?"
"Besides, I still need to discuss this matter with you about how to develop business. At the moment, it's just the talents of those who want to be admitted to the school. If there is no feasible strategy, there will be no loss. If there is a feasible method, wouldn't it be a great gain?"
Faced with Zhu Yunwen's explanation, Yu Xin, Huang Zicheng and others finally agreed. The issue of imperial examination policy was sent to the Bureau of Ceremony and Supervision for formalization, and the cabinet ministers were also "locked up" to keep it secret...
Xie Jin and Xu Huizu stayed at the Second Artillery Bureau for more than three hours before returning to Wuying Hall to report.
With a smile on his face, Xie Jin was full of praise and said: "Your Majesty, thanks to the improvement of gunpowder, the new artillery made by the Second Artillery Bureau is extremely powerful. Its range has exceeded one thousand and fifteen steps, but judging from the damage, it is three hundred and fifty The best distance is within one step. However, the maximum damage range of an ordinary general's artillery is only 250 steps. Comparing the two, the new artillery is a complete victory."
Zhu Yunwen did not laugh when he heard this, but frowned and asked: "Three hundred and fifty steps? I remember Zhang Fujun's report that the Annan divine machine gun can damage the city gates from 350 steps away, or even 400 steps away. So, two Is the artillery bureau’s new artillery still inferior to the Annan Shen cannon?”
The smiles on Xie Jin and Xu Huizu's faces immediately disappeared.
Xu Huizu said: "Your Majesty, the Second Artillery Bureau is still improving the new artillery. In addition, Guangxi will transport the Annan divine machine cannon to the capital. I believe that in a few months, the Second Artillery Bureau's artillery will surpass Annan!"
Jie Jin also spoke for the Second Artillery Bureau: "At the moment, the craftsmen of the Second Artillery Bureau are extremely dedicated, and they forget to eat and sleep. They have many ideas. In time, if some ideas are tested, there may be great achievements."
Zhu Yunwen knew that haste makes waste, so he calmed down and said, "Give me a list of craftsmen who have made outstanding contributions. After the imperial examination, I will go to the Second Artillery Bureau in person to give them awards!"
The palace examination came as scheduled, and Zeng Ji, Zhou Shu, and Zhou Mengjian took their seats one after another.
Zhu Yunwen was sitting in the hall, his eyes swept across all the Jinshi, and finally stopped at Luo Guanying. After entering the Imperial Academy, he did not concentrate on learning, but received some kind of "instruction" and began to move towards "business".
It goes without saying that the person who gave the instructions was the one in the harem...
