Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 120: The New Look of the Capital, Wang Yangming and Zhang Cong Meet
Zhu Houcong nodded: "That's good!"

"In this way, the New Life Movement will not be launched nationwide, and next year we will only restructure the currency system."

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

All the ministers immediately bowed and praised him.

As stated before.

The financial power of the Ming Dynasty was not unified.

Each government office has its own independent financial power.

The Ministry of Personnel had a tax-paying system for income, which was a precedent set during the Jingtai period. Merchants could become officials by paying taxes and grain.

The Ministry of Rites was in charge of the monks’ certificates of ordination and the income of official temples.

The Ministry of Revenue had income from land tax and salt tax converted into silver.

The Ministry of War has income from grain from military farms.

The Ministry of Justice has income from stolen goods and fines.

The Ministry of Industry has income from bamboo and wood taxes and fishery taxes.

The Taipu Temple had income from horse and silver oxen.

The Guanglu Temple also received income in the form of silver from tribute food from various places.

In short.

Each government office has its own legal source of income, and therefore its own small treasury.

In addition, there is no uniform standard for fire consumption.

Because the funds were not collected in a unified and actual financial department, no one knew how much money was stored in all the government offices of the Ming Dynasty, nor did anyone know how much money was actually collected.

The emperor himself was not clear.

Not to mention the Prime Minister of the Cabinet and the Minister of Revenue.

even.

Many times, if the officials in one's own government office are lazy or not interested in financial management, they don't know how much money their department has.

In this era, many civil servants really had this problem, because they were much more interested in etiquette and educating the emperor than in practical government affairs such as financial management.

If the performance evaluation system had not been implemented now, and if Zhu Houcong had not urged them to do so, these officials in the court would probably not even be able to tell how much money their departments had, and would have to go back and ask the clerks in their departments.

In fact.

even so.

These officials did not really understand how much money was in their own offices.

because.

The clerks who are specifically responsible for accounting and bookkeeping will make two copies of the account books.

A ledger is used to divide the money among these people privately.

A set of account books was used to be submitted to the ministers and secretaries so that they could report to the court.

This is just like the clerks in local government offices who would make a white list of taxes and labor services in addition to the yellow list of taxes and labor services.

When collecting taxes and labor service, it appears to be based on the Yellow Book, but in fact it is based on the White Book.

Furthermore, the clerks had the final say on who should be taxed and subject to corvee labor.

Many times, the prefects and county magistrates and other high-ranking officials are not clear about the details.

The same was true in the central court. How much money each government office had on the surface and how much money it collected were actually decided by the clerks.

The clerks were all people sent by wealthy families through connections, bribes, or legal payments.

Therefore, it can be said that the finances of the Ming Dynasty were controlled by the powerful families in the world.

If Zhu Houcong wants to completely control the Ming Dynasty's purse, he still has a lot to do in the future.

but now.

The first thing Zhu Houcong had to do was to reshape the monetary system and define what was the legal tender that represented the value of goods.

"In this way, the silver money we earn this year, in addition to repaying the silver loan from Xingming Bank in advance, will not need to be allocated to the expenses of various government offices, and can be used to mint coins."

Liang Chu therefore said this when he was discussing matters alone with Zhu Houcong in the Imperial Study.

"Borrow some money from Xingming Bank and mint more coins to prevent them from being maliciously stored by big investors."

"The specific amount to be borrowed will be determined after the cabinet meeting next year."

"In addition, it is strictly forbidden to set up private money houses in the capital."

Zhu Houcong said.

Liang Chu couldn't help but be excited, and then immediately agreed.

Zhu Houcong then pondered again and said, "Think about it again, will there be anything missing?"

"As you said, once the new money is released through the construction of the outer city and circulated in Shuntian Prefecture, prices will likely soar."

When Zhu Houcong said this, Liang Chu said: "Your Majesty is right. The most important thing is that the price of grain, rice and cotton cloth cannot be raised too much. After all, it is related to the food and clothing of the military and civilians!"

"In theory, the grain and cotton cloth stored in the warehouses of the capital are sufficient to meet the needs of the military and civilians. In addition, the grain obtained by Shu Sheng and Cai Tianyou from the Kong family can also cope with possible price increases."

"But it's better to be safe than sorry."

"I'm thinking, why not let the court take the initiative to spend money to buy grain and cotton cloth from the people again, instead of using the traditional method of collecting grain. If the grain and cotton cloth are not needed next year, they can be kept for local use and converted into silver for transportation to Beijing."

Zhu Houcong suddenly proposed a solution he had thought of.

Liang Chu nodded after hearing this and said:

"Your Majesty is right. We can buy grain directly from Huguang. Nanzhi doesn't produce much grain on its own anymore, and almost all the grain it pays for tribute is purchased from Huguang. "

"Of course, cotton cloth should be purchased in Susong, Nanzhi. There is enough cotton cloth there to supply the needs of the whole world."

"only."

Liang Chu added one more sentence at this time.

Zhu Houcong asked: "Just what?"

Liang Chu said: "If the wealthy families in the world really want to prevent the court from reforming the system, they will certainly not be willing to sell grain and cotton cloth to the court easily."

"It depends on whether they are so united."

"If they are really so united and can insist on not selling in the face of the court's large-scale purchases instead of the huge profits from expropriation, I would be very pleased."

Zhu Houcong said with a smile.

Liang Chu nodded and said, "Your Majesty is right. This matter is worth a try no matter what."

"The imperial envoy in charge of this matter has been selected by the Prime Minister. We will tell the public that this is a reserve measure to deal with major crises. It is a major strategy for the country to prepare for a rainy day. Therefore, a grain storage bureau is set up under the Ministry of Finance. The bureau will purchase materials mainly grain from all over the country according to the situation for storage."

"After you finish this, go home and have a good New Year."

Zhu Houcong looked at Liang Chu and said, Liang Chu bowed and said yes.

After Liang Chu left the inner court, he returned home in a sedan chair.

along the way.

He began to think about everything that happened today.

He could feel the emperor's maturity and meticulousness in governing the country.

Simultaneously.

Liang Chu also became more and more convinced that the emperor really wanted to bring peace to the country and make the people well-fed and well-clothed, so he worked hard to do what a sage king of a prosperous country should do, instead of just putting on a show.

Otherwise, they would not be willing to spend money to buy food and cotton cloth from all over the world.

This made him even more fortunate that he did not do the same as Yang Tinghe and others, who would rather let the emperor down than change the system.

In his opinion, the fact that the emperor is so determined to govern must be related to his insistence on not deceiving the emperor, which makes the emperor still willing to work hard for the people of the world.

This made him more determined to conscientiously complete the tasks assigned by the emperor.

After Liang Chu returned home, he immediately asked someone to invite Xi Shu, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and Jia Yong, the Cabinet Scholar, to his home and told them the matter in secret.

……

The 29th day of the twelfth lunar month is approaching.

The newly appointed Minister of War Wang Yangming and the Right Vice Minister of Revenue Zhang Fujing (Zhang Cong) both entered the capital on this day and happened to meet each other outside Chaoyang Gate.

Both of them are very high-spirited now.

So, even though the capital city was covered with dark clouds and the wind was as cold as a knife that day, no one wanted to hide in the car or the house.

But after meeting, the two got off the car and greeted each other with a smile.

According to records, Wang Yangming was quite resentful because he was obstructed by powerful people and could not go to Beijing to participate in state affairs, and he died with regret a few years later.

Now, Wang Yangming no longer needs to feel resentful.

In this life, Zhu Houcong was willing to use his sharp sword to reform and eliminate corruption.

What he didn't expect was that he would get to know a fellow townsman like Zhang Fujing.

After the two had been together in Lianghuai for some time, Wang Yangming also learned from Zhang Fujing that there were many things about him that he shared the same interests with Zhang Fujing, such as the same views on grand ceremonies, both advocating reforms on major policies, and even advocating changes in academic studies.

This was naturally a pleasant surprise for Wang Yangming.

Zhang Fujing himself was also very happy to meet a fellow townsman like Wang Yangming.

Although he had heard of Wang Yangming a long time ago, after meeting him in person, he had to admit that Wang Yangming had his own merits that he also had to admire.

After the greeting, both of them were attracted by the large number of shacks on the outskirts of the capital.

because.

They found that there were many more shacks than when they left Beijing.

But it is still very neat and orderly.

Moreover, outside many shacks, there were red charcoal fires, which were very eye-catching against the backdrop of the broken jades all over the ground, and also added a touch of vitality to the simple shacks.

What made the two of them laugh even more was that the children in the shacks were all playing happily near the shacks.

There is no hunger, and no nakedness.

The little hands wrapped in the new cotton-padded jacket were frozen black, but the face was full of smiles.

The adults living near the shacks also had smiles on their faces. Even when they were scolding their naughty children, they would quickly smile at their neighbors after frowning.

Zhang Fujing couldn't help but look back at the disaster victims from Lianghuai whom he had brought to Beijing this time.

These people are disaster victims from Lianghuai.

His main task now after the disaster relief is to organize official ships to transport the homeless and landless victims from Lianghuai to the capital in large numbers to serve as the labor force for the subsequent construction of the outer city.

Although these disaster victims had been receiving relief in Lianghuai for two months, they were obviously not as lively as the people who had already arrived in the capital.

The people were all huddled in piles of dry grass. Because they had no cotton clothes, the children also hid obediently behind the adults and were very well behaved.

"Your Majesty is virtuous!"

Wang Yangming knew that this must be related to the emperor's recent decree ordering the censor Gui E to use these disaster victims who came to Beijing to clean up the capital and provide them with financial subsidies.

So Wang Yangming sighed like this.

Zhang Fujing followed up and said, "You are right! However, this Imperial Censor Gui has obviously lived up to the emperor's wishes and has really shown the emperor's grace to these disaster victims. I would like to get to know him."

"Then why not go into the city together? Maybe we can really meet this person."

Wang Yangming suggested with a smile.

"Right on my mind!"

Zhang Fujing also replied with a smile.

The two of them went into the city together.

Wang Yangming also shook his cloak and glanced in the direction of the Forbidden City.

As soon as the two entered the city, they were delighted to see that the streets were clear of snow and clean. They could not help but stop and look up when they saw red lanterns all over the city, which illuminated not the dark and smelly ditches but the blue brick walls sprinkled with white lime and the rows of shops.

But not for long.

The two saw that these shops suddenly began to frantically move the shelves that were outside the stores into the houses.

The hawkers immediately picked up their loads of goods and ran to the designated place.

The quiet street suddenly became noisy.

"Quick! The people from the City Supervision Bureau are here!"

Someone kindly reminded me loudly.

Boom!
There was even a monk who came out of a prostitute's house without even having time to put on his clothes, swinging bird eggs and running wildly in the snow with gritted teeth.

The people coming and going burst into laughter, and even some shop owners were no longer so nervous and started laughing.

Wang Yangming and Zhang Fujing couldn't help laughing again.

The streets became quiet again only after a team of militiamen under the banner of "City Supervision Office" appeared.

Wang Yangming and Zhang Fujing also saw that among this group of militiamen, there was an imperial censor on horseback.

then.

Zhang Fujing came over first, bowed and asked, "Are you Imperial Censor Gui?"

Gui E immediately dismounted and returned the greeting: "May I know who you are, sir?"

"My humble name is Zhang Fujing."

"This gentleman is Mr. Yangming!"

(End of this chapter)