Yu Qian, Li Xian and Xu Youzhen entered the Qianqing Palace and then kowtowed.
"Sit down and give me a seat." Zhu Jianshen said slowly.
The little eunuchs had been ready for a long time. After listening to Zhu Jianshen's words, they immediately moved the chairs over.
After the three of them sat down.
Zhu Jianshen went straight to the topic and said: "Qinyang Mansion's disaster relief work is in good order. I am very pleased. But above this official document, there is a problem. The price of food has soared. Although the government has allocated food, the people still have it. There is an endless stream of people going to buy food. How should we solve this problem?"
"Your Majesty, the government's increase in food distribution should be able to suppress food prices." Yu Qian said first.
"But if the government warehouses increase their distribution efforts, the people will panic even more. They will only think that the government is no longer able to provide disaster relief, and the food delivered will be the last batch. By then, food prices will still remain high." Li Xian said.
Xu Youzhen said: "Your Majesty, I think the rise in food prices is because the people have little confidence in the next year. Most of the old people have experienced three years of drought from the twelfth year of Zhengtong to the first year of Chenghua, and The disaster relief during the Zhengtong years also disappointed the people. If we want to suppress food prices and restore them to normal prices, we should transport food from various state capitals to Qinyang Prefecture, so that the people can see a steady stream of food transportation teams. In this way, It can reduce people's panic, and only by reducing panic can food prices be suppressed."
To put it bluntly, panic and distrust of the government are the cause of all this.
Xu Youzhen's method requires long-term operation. By the time the people believe it, their savings will be almost gone.
After listening to Xu Youzhen's words, Li Xian suddenly glanced at Yu Qian.
Then he said: "In the ninth year of Xuande, when Yu Taibao was patrolling Shaanxi, there was a severe drought in Shaanxi for two years. At that time, the official document of disaster relief from the court did not arrive. Yu Taibao opened an official warehouse at the risk of being held guilty. , but they sell these grains at a price that is 30% lower than the market price. In Weichen's opinion, this method is better than Taibao's method."
"The government's monthly distribution of grain is still being distributed, and the government also has to sell the mountains of grain in the official warehouse to the people. The price is about 50% lower than the market price. Now that the price of grain in Qinyang Prefecture has increased, a bucket of rice can be One tael of silver per dou of wheat, one tael of silver per dou of wheat, two taels of silver per dou of bran, one tael of silver per catty of pork. The imperial court should fully intervene in these items, and Qinyang Prefecture should communicate with other prefectures to mobilize them. Food supplies are sold directly, so that their prices can be suppressed more quickly. Only when the government opens warehouses for long-term and stable sales and provides constant rationing will the people feel at ease and food prices will naturally come down. However, this method still requires the Ministry of Household Affairs Additional disaster relief money."
After Xu Youzhen listened, she thought in her mind: "Why didn't I remember it?"ŴŴŴ.BiQuGe.Biz
Zhu Jianshen nodded with satisfaction.
This move requires the court to have the courage to do it.
It may be seen often in later generations, but this was the first time in the Ming Dynasty. Li Xian's reputation is indeed not worthy of recognition.
The use of this strategy also helps a large number of people at the expense of a small number of people.
The group of people who died were the grain hoarders. They shipped the grain at a high price. Because of the intervention of the imperial court, the price was suppressed. If these grain merchants did not have special channels to know the imperial court's strategy in advance and sell at low prices in advance, they would almost lose their money. No return.
But for a normal court, it is always about sacrificing the small to protect the big...
"Li Fuchen, what should we do?" What Zhu Jianshen was thinking was similar to what Yu Qian was thinking, which was to ask the local government to increase disaster relief efforts and speed up the distribution of relief grains. It was not that he had not thought about letting the grains in the official warehouses flow into the market, but But he was a little worried, because he didn't know if Ming Dynasty had the soil and whether he could do it.
But Li Xian said that he knew more about the execution strength of the imperial court and the operation of local government and state machinery than he did.
Moreover, Li Xian was very cautious. When he said it, it almost meant that the matter was feasible.
Li Xian spoke eloquently: "Tomorrow I will take out the detailed regulations and present them to His Majesty."
Zhu Jianshen nodded: "We should pay more attention to the important matters of people's livelihood and dare not relax at all... According to what Zhang Daban said, I can save 80,000 taels of silver in the palace this year. I want to take this The money saved can be used to do something for the people.
Yu Qian raised his eyebrows and asked, "I wonder what your Majesty wants to do?"
"My original intention was to use it on the people across the country, but now there is less money, so I cannot cover everything. This year, Qinyang Prefecture was hit by the disaster, so I will start from Qinyang Prefecture first. For those who are over sixty years old, one tael of silver, five pounds of wine, and meat Five kilograms, a piece of cloth, for children under ten years old, five coins of silver, five kilograms of meat, a piece of cloth. It can be regarded as some trivial things I have done for the people affected by the disaster."
"Your Majesty is merciful." The three stood up and bowed.
As soon as Xu Youzhen came back, she heard that His Majesty had stopped purchasing in the palace, and asked Zhang Bao why he stopped. Zhang Bao didn't tell her, but Xu Youzhen knew clearly that His Majesty had stopped purchasing for some reason.
Xu Youzhen said: "Your Majesty's benevolent heart moved heaven and earth. He cut down the expenses in the palace to calm the victims. In the opinion of the humble minister, it is better to provide money from the Ministry of Household Affairs and expand it to the northern provinces, and even implement the two capitals and thirteen provinces. Let the common people feel the majesty of God’s grace.”
The household department has been experiencing a period of prosperity in the past two years, but Xu Youzhen knew that.
Yu Qian and Li Xian listened to Xu Youzhen's words but did not answer. Your Majesty saved money to give to the victims, which is reasonable. However, if the imperial court opens its treasury and implements it on a large scale in the two capitals and thirteen provinces, the cost may reach Five hundred thousand taels of silver.
The household department had worked hard to save a year's balance, and most of it was gone in the blink of an eye. The officials in the department would definitely not agree, but this was a good thing. If they didn't agree, they would be scolded with their spines pointed at them. This is somewhat unfair to them.
The most important thing is that there is no reason for this year. His Majesty has no wedding and no prince is born.
If the Ministry of Revenue does this this year, should Chenghua do it at the end of the seventh year?
The Ming Dynasty cannot afford to spend another four to five million taels of silver every year in addition to all the necessary expenditures.
This Xu Youzhen is a bit too much...
Of course, Zhu Jianshen also knows that he is still unable to give feedback to the people. The banknotes printed by his old Zhu family are now devalued and turned into waste paper. The main currency in circulation is silver and copper coins, and the balance in the surplus year is only More than three hundred thousand taels of silver.
In the third year of Chenghua, the Ming Dynasty began to live a prosperous year, but the silver sealed in the treasury was only more than 800,000 taels. This was saved by the people of the Ministry of Revenue with great effort. If I agreed with Xu Youzhen, It will only make things difficult for them.
"This is my idea and should not be imposed on the court."
"Your Majesty, but..."
Zhu Jianshen waved his hand and rejected what Xu Youzhen wanted to say.
"The gold and silver treasures brought back by Xudu Yushi from North Korea were worth seventy thousand taels of silver. At first, I just thought that I would only buy food for the elderly in their sixties, and did not include children. Moreover, the standard was one silver coin, cloth One horse, three pounds of meat. In this case, it costs 150,000 taels of silver. The household department can only add 100,000 taels of silver to complete the task. But the standard set now is a bit high, so forget it." After Zhu Jianshen finished speaking, he sighed. .
When Xu Youzhen saw what Zhu Jianshen said, she immediately stopped playing.
Seeing the hint of sadness hidden on Zhu Jianshen's face, Yu Qian couldn't bear it in the end. He stood up and said: "Your Majesty, I think what Xu Du Yushi said is reasonable. You only need to make some adjustments to save money." With pen and silver, the court can give you favors every year."
Li Xian glanced at Yu Qian in surprise.
And Xu Youzhen's eyes widened. Oh, Yu Qian has really changed his gender. Will he continue what he said now?
Zhu Jianshen looked at Yu Qian and said, "What do you think Taibao Yu should do about this matter?"
"In matters concerning the disaster area in Qinyang Prefecture, according to His Majesty's decision, the inner palace will issue funds to supplement the local government's expenses. However, in the two capitals and thirteen provinces, new methods will be applied, and the elderly in their sixties are not included. From the seventy-year-old to the seventy-year-old Extrapolate upward.”
"The old man in ancient times can get five coins of silver, two pounds of meat, and a piece of cloth. The money will be paid by the Ministry of Household Affairs of the imperial court."
"An old man aged eighty to ninety years old can get one tael of silver, five pounds of meat, one dou of rice, and one piece of cloth. The local government will provide the silver."
"When a centenarian lives in the old man's home, his family will be exempted from taxes. He will receive two taels of silver, five kilograms of meat, two buckets of rice, and one piece of cloth every year. It will be borne by the Ministry of Household Affairs and the local government. Weichen speculates that the silver taels used only cost only More than 200,000 is enough.”
The so-called narcissism of period Yi means that the life span lasts for hundreds of years, so it is called period. Food, daily life, and moving people all need to be maintained, so it is called period. In fact, in this era, there are very few people who live to this age, but there are, but they The result was unsatisfactory......
Traveling upwards since ancient times, almost everyone has lost their labor force.
If it is a wealthy family, there must be support, but if it is a poor family, life will become difficult. Some old people do not want to involve their filial descendants, and they will commit suicide. Some unfilial descendants will be abandoned...
But no matter what, life should not end like this.
The silver coins and meat provided by the court are for the old man, but rather for the old man's descendants, so that filial piety is no longer an empty statement like a saint's words. The descendants can benefit, and the old man will be treated well. Likewise, the old man will be treated well. It is also possible to have the courage to survive...
Zhu Jianshen stood up, with tears in his eyes...
This time he was not pretending, but really showed his affection, and being able to take care of himself when he was old should be the ultimate goal of every country. This was even more touching to him than the expansion of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Jian rubbed his eyes deeply, and then smiled at the three people.
The three important ministers below felt uncomfortable looking at him. They couldn't help but lower their heads, and the oath was made in their hearts.
The emperor is like this, and no official is willing to work hard to help.
"He is a great benefactor to Taibao. If he can facilitate this matter, he will surely become a sage of our Han family and will live forever in history..."
Biquge
