After returning from Jia Mansion, Feng Yibo and Li Shouzhong had a long secret talk in the study.
In the end, the master and apprentice reached an agreement.
The conclusions drawn all pointed to Emperor Jingshun's preparation to suppress the founding lineage.
I don’t know if it’s relief or emotion.
After the two talked about the business, they only chatted for a few words.
Li Shouzhong suddenly sighed and said:
"It's like a dream, the Holy One is really going to attack the founding lineage."
He has an enterprising spirit in his heart, and has always felt that honor is also one of the bad policies.
But the Li family is also a wealthy family in the south of the Yangtze River, and is deeply involved in the founding of the country.
Therefore, at this time, he was both pleased that the court had taken action, and also lamented that his relatives were about to decline.
Feng Yibo thought he was more pleased, so he said:
"The founding lineage has been passed down for several generations, but now it is getting worse and worse. Without the person who can carry the throne, the court's rice grain will be wasted."
He knew that Li Shouzhong had a desire to reform, but he was always limited by the situation in the court and could not realize it.
Now that Emperor Jingshun has taken action against the founding lineage, he can be considered as clearing out some of the beetles.
There is some intention of reform.
Thinking about it, my mentor should be more pleased than emotional.
"You can't say that."
Unexpectedly, Li Shouzhong shook his head when he heard this and said:
"The four princes and eight princes and other old ministers followed Taizu to conquer the world. There is nothing wrong with the wealth of the descendants. However, the court is now in trouble, and they have become a patronage, creating redundant officials and redundant personnel for no reason."
The contributions of the four princes and eight princes are unparalleled, and it is natural for future generations to enjoy happiness.
But everything must be done in moderation.
What's more, there are more than twelve Laoxun families.
It sounds like the founding lineage all participated in the founding of the country.
In fact, it refers to the collective name of the vassal forces around the founders of the country.
Not only Lao Xun, but also people who became his disciples one after another.
Disciples from all walks of life, old officials, as well as relatives and in-laws.
Strictly speaking, Lin Ruhai, Li Shouzhong, Jia Yucun and others.
They can all be considered as the founder of the country.
Their influence spreads all over the country, and they are good at building relationships and staying together to stay warm.
No qualified emperor would allow this kind of power to continue to grow.
It is only a matter of time and degree to take action against them.
Feng Yibo heard the emotion in Li Shouzhong's words, smiled and comforted:
"Fortunately, Rong Ning's Second Mansion should not be involved."
Li Shouzhong's only daughter, Li Wan, now lives in Shuang Rong Mansion.
The person most closely involved with him is naturally the Jia family.
"Your Majesty only has one heir, so naturally he has to leave some room for the Jia family."
Li Shouzhong was not worried about Rong Mansion. He nodded and sighed:
"It's just hard to say for other families."
The situation between North Korea and China has changed recently, and several distinguished officials have been impeached.
The reasons are all bizarre and even impossible to refute.
Obviously, this is the result of Emperor Jingshun's indulgence.
Just like Wang Ziteng before.
Feng Yibo nodded and agreed:
"That's right! The Duke of Jiu's Mansion has been having a hard time recently. I heard that since the official order of Duke Jiu disappeared, the descendants of the Shi family have been doing random things all day long."
】
The Shi family of the Duke of Jiu is the weakest family among the four princes and eight princes.
Not only did Duke Jiu pass away long ago, Xijue's son died not long after.
Two years ago, Duke Jiu Ming also passed away.
Nowadays, only one direct grandson of the Shi family, Shi Guangzhu, makes the decision, and he is no less generous than Jia Zhen.
His dandy attitude is even worse.
Among the crimes being impeached today are such crimes as taking advantage of power, acting unscrupulously, and even exceeding the rules.
To name a few.
It won't be long before one of the four bastard trees falls down first.
"It's not just his family, I heard that every family is having a hard time recently."
The two of them sighed again before ending the secret conversation.
In the following days, Prince Zhongshun, who had always been low-key, became active again.
After coming to slap Rongfu in the face, the Dragon Scale Guards began to dispatch frequently.
Except that the Jia family had been beaten, it was still peaceful.
The other veterans of the family are all struggling.
It can even be said that it is difficult to deal with.
In the court, he even competed with the new rich.
These further confirmed Feng Yibo's thoughts.
In the following days, the threshold of Rong Mansion will be trampled to pieces by these old relatives.
Unfortunately, Jia Zheng was disheartened after learning the truth.
The door has long been closed to thank guests.
He lives in seclusion every day and only indulges in chatting with the pilgrims.
Although Jia She is a playboy, he also knows the importance.
Judging from the fact that he never interfered in the affairs of the court, he was better than Jia Zheng.
At least there is some self-awareness.
On the other hand, Jia Zhen, Jia Lian, Jia Rong and other juniors were treated as honored guests by various families.
From time to time, we have to have a drink.
But without the approval of their elders, they can't help much.
I was just intoxicated with the feeling of being supported and having some drinking games.
Seeing this, the old relatives in the family thought of taking the back-house route again.
Soon Jia Mu was not tired of it, and she directly claimed that she was sick.
Mrs. Wang and Mrs. Xing bring smiles to their relatives every day.
He just refuses to speak no matter what.
Feng Yibo learned this from Baochai and thought he understood the emperor's meaning.
He felt that this was not using Prince Zhongshun as a sword.
Instead, Prince Zhongshun was used as a network to restrict the founding lineage.
Then use the soft knife of the banknote to harvest slowly.
Now it just depends on how long Emperor Jingshun will reach and how he will close the net.
But things always develop in unexpected directions.
Not long after, things changed again.
At first, the imperial court only targeted veterans from the founding lineage.
Salaries and rewards are all distributed in the form of banknotes.
There is an endorsement from the Ministry of Accounts and there is a precedent for a bill of exchange.
This kind of banknote was quickly accepted and circulated in a small area.
Of course, the main reason.
This kind of banknote can be exchanged for cash from the bank under the Acceptance Department of the Ministry of Accounts.
But what Feng Yibo didn't expect was that the court made new moves right after.
"What? We also want to fold banknotes?"
Lumi will be distributed today, and Feng Yibo has arranged for carriages and horses to arrive early.
But as soon as he arrived at the household warehouse, he heard someone questioning it.
When I arrived, I heard the ambassador from the Ministry of Household Treasury and the man explain:
"This matter was decided by the Holy Emperor and the elders. Starting from this month, all the money will be changed to banknotes."
The salaries of officials in the Wei Dynasty had two parallel situations.
Among them, real objects such as grain, cloth, and even pepper were distributed.
Called true color.
The other part of the salary is converted into silver and copper coins and distributed directly.
It's called fold color.
In other words, there is more than just the founding of the country.
The salaries of civil and military officials throughout the dynasty began to be redeemed with this new banknote?
When things developed to this point, Feng Yibo began to doubt his previous assumptions again.
I had to re-examine this matter.
Could it be said that only the founding lineage was harvested?
Still can’t satisfy Emperor Jingshun’s appetite?
Do you want to catch all the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty together?
This is a big game of chess to play!
The man was obviously just surprised and said nothing more after hearing the explanation given by the ambassador.
When he saw Feng Yibo coming to line up, he quickly saluted.
Then he quickly collected the banknotes and took people to the other side to collect the true colors.
Although the Treasury Secretary of the Household Department is only a member of the ninth rank, he is still a member of the sixth rank.
When he saw Feng Yibo coming, he quickly saluted and said with a smile:
"I have met Captain Feng!"
Feng Yibo nodded and asked:
"I just heard that the folding color has been changed to banknotes? But is it the same as the veterans?"
The ambassador heard the question and quickly and respectfully replied:
"Sir, it's not the same. We civil servants and the honors we earn have only changed from silver to banknotes."
"And the nobles who ascend the throne, regardless of their original appearance or appearance, will all be compensated with banknotes."
In other words, the nobles of the founding lineage remain unchanged.
There was no rice, grain or money, so all the money was broken.
As for other civil and military officials, food, cloth and other physical goods were still distributed normally.
Just change the money to banknotes.
Speaking of which, Emperor Jingshun was still showing mercy?
Or maybe, I had thought too much before?
Emperor Jingshun just wanted to promote paper currency and had no strategy to harvest the founding heroes?
Feng Yibo suppressed his thoughts and said with a smile:
"In that case, could you please help me collect mine and my teacher's salary?"
"Please wait a moment."
After receiving the folded color here, I went to receive the true color Lumi.
After people loaded up their things and went home, Feng Yibo returned to the ministry and continued working.
Not long after, he heard people discussing this matter one after another.
Although some people call this folding banknotes, according to the court, there is no folding of banknotes.
This is the fold color.
Feng Yibo began to think while listening to the discussion.
He now doubted that Emperor Jingshun and the cabinet did not want to let go of all civil and military officials.
It's just that the real objects have different prices at different times and places.
In terms of rice price.
In normal years, the price of one stone of rice in Jiangnan is around 800 Wenqian.
In areas such as Huguang where rice is plentiful, the cost per stone is about 600 Wenqian.
In the capital, one stone of rice costs one tael of silver.
If all were converted into banknotes, the workload of the Ministry of Accounts would be too great.
Salaries in various places can easily become a mess.
Moreover, if rice grains are not distributed, it will easily arouse doubts among officials.
After all, only the founders of the country are safe from having no rice to eat.
Because in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, they set up a large number of farms in the south of the Yangtze River.
They are usually two to three hundred households of tenant farmers.
Zhuangzi has a land size of two to three thousand acres.
According to this era, with two crops a year, the yield per mu would be about 500 catties.
The annual harvest of that Zhuangzi was more than 10,000 shi of grain.
Those who are kinder will leave half of their income to the tenant farmers.
In the end, there were about six or seven thousand shi left, which was equivalent to about five or six thousand taels in silver.
If it is a good year, or someone is more ruthless.
There are also eight thousand taels.
Just like the Jia family, there were dozens of such Zhuangzi in Jiangnan.
It’s just that generations of people keep branching off into different branches.
As the main house, Ning Mansion only has eight or nine Zhuangzi left.
Rongfu is better, with less than twenty.
Fengjiazhuang is actually a Zhuangzi of this scale.
It’s just that after Feng Yibo took over, he led everyone to produce off-season flowers, fruits and vegetables.
There are so many noble people in Jinling, so naturally the supply exceeds the demand.
At the end of the year, there are actually seven or eight thousand taels.
On the contrary, you can earn more than growing food.
Adding the two together, Fengjiazhuang has an income of nearly 15,000 taels a year.
It is equivalent to two or three Zhuangzi.
Bankers also receive at least forty or fifty taels every year.
Compared with ordinary people, it is almost twice as big as theirs.
This is also the reason why the people in Fengjiazhuang were willing to obey Feng Yibo's orders.
If the imperial court wanted to calculate the true qualities of civil and military officials from various places, it would also have to consider the prices of rice, silk, etc. in each place.
That would be too much work.
However, nobles in the capital have the habit of retaining people to be rewarded and obey orders.
If you just convert it according to the price in the capital, no one will refuse.
Now that the court is handling it this way, the salaries of civil and military officials are equivalent to no change.
The true colors are issued as usual, and the banknotes can be exchanged for cash at any time.
Naturally, they were happy to save trouble.
But Manchao Civil and Military felt it was new and had no special reaction.
But Feng Yibo saw the shadow of Bao Chao again!
He has been pessimistic about this, predicting that banknotes will soon lose value.
Even Emperor Jingshun and his cabinet are old foxes who have been in power for many years.
But in the unfamiliar financial field, they are still novices.
He didn't care about the salary.
Liuqiu didn't even recognize money orders, let alone such banknotes.
What he was worried about was what if Wei really started issuing money indiscriminately.
It will inevitably cause a series of adverse consequences that will affect the national economy and people's livelihood.
Although he said that he "does not care for his country and his people when he is not in his position," he was not someone who cared about the country and the people.
But Feng Yibo couldn't do it when a disaster he could foresee struck.
You can also stand by and watch the fire from the other side.
Soon, he told Li Shouzhong about this concern.
"Actually, I wanted to ask last time, but I didn't bother to say it."
After listening to Feng Yibo's analysis, Li Shouzhong looked a little strange and asked:
“What exactly is finance and what do reserves mean?”
Last time, Feng Yibo not only told about Emperor Jingshun's attack on Rong Mansion, but also about the banknotes.
and concerns that the court might issue banknotes indiscriminately.
But Li Shouzhong only cared about the founding of the country and did not ask about the banknotes in detail.
Now that Feng Yibo mentioned it alone, he remembered not to be ashamed to ask.
After hearing Li Shouzhong's question, Feng Yibo explained:
"Finance refers to the issuance and circulation of national currency, as well as the general term for recycling and exchange. As for reserves, it is cash that can be used in emergency situations to prevent runs."
In fact, it's not Li Shouzhong's fault. He didn't make it too specific last time.
Because what he knew about these things was very superficial.
It can be said that it is better than those who have never heard of it.
But it’s just hearsay, and my knowledge is limited.
After hearing his explanation, Li Shouzhong could only nod his head vaguely understanding.
He has been working on matters related to the Ministry of Culture, Education and Etiquette, and he really doesn't understand these.
In fact, he was not the only one. How many civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty were proficient in economics?
In Feng Yibo's view, Fei Hong may be the only one who has retired.
The rest of the people, even those in the household department, are just good at settling accounts.
"If it is true as I guess, one day the banknotes cannot be exchanged for silver, then the court will lose credibility and it will be difficult for the Wei Dynasty to issue banknotes again."
Feng Yibo explained his worries in detail and said:
"And when the money in your hands turns into waste paper, I'm afraid it will be the common people who end up footing the bill."
This time Li Shouzhong barely understood something, and frowned:
"You are worried that the excessive issuance of banknotes by the imperial court will have an impact on the national economy and people's livelihood."
He heard Feng Yibo's concerns, but did not understand the impact of finance on the national economy and people's livelihood.
In his opinion, even banknotes become waste paper.
It's just that Xungui suffered a small loss.
He even agreed with Feng Yibo that Emperor Jingshun wanted to attack the founding family.
But as for Feng Yibo's idea of harvesting with banknotes, he didn't even see the possibility.
Feng Yibo naturally didn't know what Li Shouzhong was thinking, so he said seriously:
"Yes, I really can't sit back and ignore this matter, so I came to the teacher to discuss it."
He said this naturally because he wanted to gain Li Shouzhong's support.
But Li Shouzhong felt that his words were a bit alarmist.
After all, there are money bills in front of him, so Li Shouzhong is inevitably optimistic about banknotes.
Therefore, when he heard what Feng Yibo said, he did not rush to respond.
Instead, he pondered for a moment and then said doubtfully:
"Since you have an idea, why don't you tell the Holy One and let him and the cabinet make a decision?"
He obviously didn't want to get involved before he was sure.
Feng Yibo sighed and said directly without covering up:
"I'm afraid I'm a man of few words and it won't be of any use if I say it."
He talked to Li Shouzhong because he wanted his mentor to go to school together.
Although Feng Yibo is also a third-rank official, he belongs to the Ministry of Rites.
The matter of banknotes belongs to the Ministry of Accounts.
If he cooperates across departments, he will still have some face.
If you can point fingers across departments, you will most likely be counterattacked.
Say it again! The household department is all about money and food, but not everyone can understand it.
Even if Emperor Jingshun is cautious, he still has to discuss it with the Ministry of Household Affairs when encountering such problems.
It would be good if the Ministry of Finance did not regard him as an arrogant person who was nosy and pointing fingers and desperately impeached him.
What's more, the most likely possibility is that Jingshun Emperor will ignore it.
Just think that he is unfounded, young and ignorant.
But it would be different if Li Shouzhong was involved.
All six ministers can participate in formulating national policies.
Even the cabinet must pay attention to the opinions of the six ministers.
"You are still young, how can you accomplish anything if you are so hesitant?"
It is a pity that Li Shouzhong still insists on his attitude.
How could a person in his position easily express an opinion on something he didn't understand?
Even if Feng Yibo is regarded as his successor, it is impossible for him to listen to Feng Yibo in everything.
After all, he is the teacher.
Speaking of this, Li Shouzhong smiled and pointed:
"You need to remember the saying 'You can't do everything you want, but you must be honest in your heart'."
Feng Yibo was stunned for a moment, and then he could only sigh:
"Students understand."
