First Minister of Ming Dynasty

Li Shanchang thought about it for a while, and he turned his back on the ground. He couldn't be more impressed.

The prime minister invaded the emperor Weifu, and he knew this truth clearly when he was in the Yamen of Chuzhou.But he couldn't say it out, and if he opened his mouth, he would offend the next, and something would happen.

However, Zhang Ximeng has the ability to explain this private rule clearly, and it won't cause too much resentment.

Perhaps this is Master Zhang's skill, and I will not be able to catch up in a few lifetimes.

Li Shanchang became more and more obedient, and even leaned his upper body slightly, looking like a student listening to the hadith.

"Zhang Xiangmingjian, I, I absolutely don't mean to pretend to be superior, even if I have the courage to do so, I wouldn't dare!"

Zhang Ximeng smiled and said: "Brother Li, I naturally believe you, but there is also such a saying that people can't help themselves in officialdom! There are too many things that we can't control."

Li Shanchang nodded quickly, "Damn, just, for example, this house deed, the previous case of Han Xiuniang, and many other things... I was tricked by them all! I was really wronged!"

Li Shanchang kept pouring bitter water, his nose burst into tears, and those who didn't know thought he changed his name to Li Xianglin...

Zhang Ximeng waited patiently for him to finish complaining, and then slowly said: "Brother Li, you must know who our lord is. With his energy and temper, how could he allow the people below to coerce the prime minister and usurp the king's power? It is a big taboo to be caught in the middle, and sooner or later you will put yourself in it, don't you think?"

Li Shanchang cried, Zhang Xiang, you are too tall!

The old man finally understands today, no wonder you don't want to take the left side, you insist on pushing me to the front, enjoying the wind, fire, thunder and lightning, you are too bad!

Now that things have happened, what else can Lao Li say, "Master Zhang, find a way to save me! Otherwise, I, I'll leave my old age and return home."

Zhang Ximeng quickly waved his hand, "Brother Li, there's no need to do this. What do you mean by my lord asking you to dispose of the Wang family as soon as possible? Doesn't it mean that my lord knows that he can't do without you! He can't rest assured that he doesn't have a confidant who takes care of all kinds of government affairs for him." .In fact, the lord is also clear now that no matter how capable he is, he can't live without people like you and me helping him by his side."

"So what we have to discuss is not just the issue of finance and taxation, but the issue of how to design the future authority and how to operate the country... We only have to stand tall, see far, and make proper arrangements so that everyone can be convinced. Only then can you really sit back and relax, don’t you think?”

Li Shanchang grinned wryly. Of course he knew the reason. The issue of officials' salaries, financial and tax loopholes, and the situation where some tyrants bribed officials... After all, it was all about the distribution of power and the exercise of power.

As long as he can figure this out, his burden will be much lighter. It's just that he, Lao Li, doesn't have the ability!

"Zhang Xiang, tell me what to do, I will obey!"

Zhang Ximeng smiled, "Brother Li is too modest, we are discussing together... My idea is that we must first draw up the urgent business affairs of the moment, which can be summarized into ten or twenty items. Submit it to the lord, and at the same time announce it to the public. The official understands the situation. For example, the issue of salary, how much is appropriate, how should it be drafted? The Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Households, these three ministers, follow Brother Li to meet the lord, and you discuss together. On the other hand, you can also let Taisheng students, Imperial Academy, Metropolitan Procuratorate, these places also worked out a set of plans, the two sides communicated constantly, and finally went to the imperial court to explain their respective considerations clearly, and also explained their differences clearly. "

"As for Brother Li, you are here, just thread the needle and set the agenda." Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "Whether it's a salary issue, or a financial and taxation issue... all ministries are collecting, it doesn't seem to be a big problem, and local retention is not a problem. No. But the key to everything is to let the lord know the truth, so that the lord can grasp the overall situation and mobilize all powers. In a word, Zhongshu Sheng only assists the lord to use power better, rather than dividing power with the lord. How much to give to the lord. Brother Li, what do you think?"

Li Shanchang took a deep breath, and after thinking about it again and again, he was left with only admiration.Zhang Ximeng is much younger than him, but his vision is really good.

Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude is undoubtedly that of a sage and hero. It is no wonder that he is not unlucky to fight for power with such a person!

On the contrary, put the power in the hands of Zhu Yuanzhang, so that he can do whatever he wants... In the end, he is only one person and cannot cover up the sky. What Lao Zhu is willing to take out is naturally the power of the prime minister, and in this In the middle, running and coordinating, coordinating the overall situation, and grasping the rhythm of execution... Among these things, there is a huge room for the prime minister to play.

Zhu Yuanzhang was satisfied, and he was also satisfied.As for the officials below, they may not be satisfied, but as long as the people are satisfied, they can do things better and win the support of most people in the world, and it becomes an irreversible custom.

Anyway, our old Li has been stabbed in the back too much by the people below, and I feel chilled and cold-hearted, and I don't want to shelter you from the wind and rain.

Then let the storm come more violently!

Li Shanchang quickly grasped the essence of what Zhang Ximeng said... In fact, to put it bluntly, it is to let the Ministry of Education be responsible for straightening out various government affairs, and then send all the ministries to Zhu Yuanzhang, so that Lao Zhu can directly communicate with them.

From beginning to end, Lao Zhu was deeply involved.

Always remember, don't steal from the master Weifu, don't regard yourself as a prime minister.

By the way, what did Zhang Ximeng say?

Humble social tool!

That's it, our mission is just to crawl at the feet of King Wu, always to make King Wu greater!

Li Shanchang's eyes flickered and his emotions were aroused, as if he had found his purpose in life.

Zhang Ximeng didn't know what he was thinking, anyway, he just felt that this old guy was a little abnormal, could he realize that he was wrong?Crazy?

Zhang Ximeng couldn't say more, anyway, you, Li Shanchang, didn't give me a gift, so you've already done your best, if you still want to hear it, you'll have to pay more!

Zhang Ximeng and Li Shanchang were chatting here... On the other side, Zhu Yuanzhang also went to Mrs. Ma's room. Seeing that his wife was not there, there was a stack of account books beside the table. Old Zhu became interested and looked through it dully.

While watching, suddenly a hand grabbed his ear!

"What are you doing?"

Old Zhu was taken aback, the one who dared to be so presumptuous must be Madam!

"We, let's just take a look, there is no other meaning... Sister, you, you have a lot of private money!"

Mashi let go of his hand and snorted, "It's quite a lot! Does the prince like it?"

Zhu Yuanzhang chuckled, "That's not true...we're just curious, doesn't my sister have a lot of property now? There are textiles, military uniforms, shoes and hats...how do you manage so much money?"

Mrs. Ma smiled, "It's not easy, let's settle the score!"

"Calculate?"

"That's right! Don't forget that Jiang Nan's talented woman is under my command. Their family is a merchant's family. She has studied so many books. She has become very proficient after only a few years of work. What's next? You can't hide anything from her that's not clean. Chongba, don't think you have Mr. Zhang as your assistant, Miss Jiang from my side is no worse than him!"

"Oh!"

Lao Zhu suddenly realized, yes!How could I forget this person.

"Jiang Nan is a girl..."

"Isn't this nonsense!" Mrs. Ma frowned suddenly, staring at Lao Zhu, and said vigilantly, "You, what are you going to do?"

Old Zhu was stunned, and then laughed loudly, "Misunderstanding, misunderstanding! We really have no other ideas, we just saw that she was not dealing with the officials. When she was appointed, she was met with so much criticism. We think Give her a chance for revenge!"

Ma Shi still frowned, "What do you mean?"

"It is to let her help to be responsible for all the financial and tax calculations. From top to bottom, all the yamen, regardless of literary or military, will investigate to the end if there is a mistake! We urgently need some heads now, and we will kill chickens and scare monkeys!"

Ma frowned slightly, pondered for a while, and suddenly said: "Chongba, your idea is good, but I don't agree!"

"Why?" Zhu Yuanzhang was puzzled.

"It's not obvious. Jiang Nan is just a weak woman. Although she holds an official position, she only does things for me. I must take good care of her. Now let her do such a dangerous thing, which will annoy all the officials and make her lose her head. She is a girl, can she have a good end? Not to mention anything else, she is not married yet! You can't use everyone as a tool!" Ma Shi sternly reprimanded Lao Zhu.

Zhu Yuanzhang was not angry at all, instead he said with a smile: "Madam is very wise, we have all the respect. But if we say that we only know how to use her, it would be unfair to us... We plan to put her under Mr. Zhang, and Mr. Zhang will protect her. Ma'am is safe here!"

Chapter 318 Zhu Yuanzhang is not afraid of being tired

"Brother, brother...how about doing me a favor?" Zhu Ying begged Zhang Ximeng eagerly.

Without raising his head, Zhang Ximeng said lazily, "You promised to pass the exam. If you can't pass now, it's useless to beg me...how about you do it again?"

Zhu Ying was in a hurry, slapped the table, jumped on the buttocks, and sat on the table, angrily said: "Brother, you can't look down on people, I passed the exam!"

"pass?"

This surprised Zhang Ximeng. He quickly put down the pen in his hand, took the test paper from Zhu Ying, and read it carefully... Indeed, this kid has improved a lot compared to before. People are gratified.

"It's not a rotten piece of wood after all, but isn't your ranking seventh? What about the number one you promised? Do you think I'm a fool?"

Zhu Ying quickly apologized, "Brother, this is just the written test result, we are Wu, and there is another assessment."

Zhang Ximeng frowned slightly, he finally remembered that earlier, Zhu Ying went to the ordinary hall, and later promoted to Wu, and it was Lao Zhu who handed over the note, otherwise it would be a bit troublesome for this kid.

"It's not bad for you to be able to change from a negative number to a positive number. But with this little ability, if you want to pass the assessment and get No.1, I'm afraid it won't be easy, right?"

Zhu Ying lowered her head, paused, and then said: "Brother, more than half of our martial arts graduation assessments are battlefield events, including bow horse riding and shooting, commanding soldiers and horses, and practicing mutual attack. These events, I You have a huge advantage, and you are guaranteed to win the first place. I originally wanted to invite my godfather, but he is so busy now, not only him, but also the godmother... In the whole country of Wu, it seems that you are the only one who has nothing to do... By the way , Brother, you are so idle, are you worthy of my godfather’s salary? Your annual salary now has two hundred stones, and you also have five hundred coins, as well as accompanying carriages, coachmen, cooks, and guards...Brother, what are you doing now? It’s even more comfortable than the old days!”

Zhang Ximeng frowned, and the more he listened, the more he felt something was wrong, "You bastard, I don't even know my salary, how do you know it so well?"

In a word, Zhu Ying was dumbfounded by the question, "That big brother, my godmother asked me to play with Zhu Biao, excuse me..."

You stop for me, Zhang Ximeng grabbed Zhu Ying by the collar.

"Little brat, I have to settle the score with you today. No one can save you, mine!"

Zhang Ximeng pressed Zhu Ying on the table like a prisoner. He even picked up a wooden ruler and prepared to give this boy a good home law... I have worked so hard for so many years, it must not be in vain!

……

From Zhu Ying's mouth, Zhang Ximeng figured out roughly how the latest salary was paid.

Zhang Ximeng's position is very interesting. When others are busy, he is very leisurely. For example, he had a good talk with Li Shanchang, the whole strategy was finalized, Li Shanchang drew up the details, and then reported it to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhang Ximeng only needs to have a general understanding of the whole process. Whether it can meet expectations depends on the feedback after the actual implementation.

So in the last two months of the 17th year of Zhizheng, the whole country of Wu was busy... Li Shanchang sorted out all kinds of urgent government affairs there, one by one, written on the bamboo plaque, and hung in the Ministry of Education.

Afterwards, Li Shanchang contacted various ministries and introduced the situation to Zhu Yuanzhang.

For example, the river workers need to repair dams... First, the Metropolitan Procuratorate will send people to investigate the situation, and when they come back, they will hand it over to the Ministry of Education.

Next, Li Shanchang called all the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household Affairs, and then went to meet Lao Zhu. They gathered together, discussed repeatedly, and finally determined the plan, and then issued it in the form of a decree, asking the local government to fully cooperate. If it is not enough, you have to mobilize soldiers and soldiers, and if the budget is not enough, you have to add more. All these must be reported to Zhu Yuanzhang, and Lao Zhu will decide.

The situation is obvious, Zhu Yuanzhang has become the busiest one in the entire Wu Kingdom... In front of Lao Zhu, there are at least a dozen urgent government affairs.

The issue of land equalization for the newly occupied land, the liquidation of tyrants, the issue of government officials, the issue of imperial examinations, the issue of education, the arrangement of official positions, the treasury of money and food, and the relief of victims... In addition, there are military affairs, supervision, foreign affairs, etc... ...Every old Zhu has to do it himself.

Usually, he takes Li Shanchang, several ministers or generals to deal with it together.

Including Zhu Sheng and Jia Lu, they were all called over.

These two are not young, and Jia Lu is still sick from time to time, but even so, he is not immune, so he can only grit his teeth and hold on.

What's more terrible is that Zhu Yuanzhang really knows how to curse.

Once a government affairs cannot be pushed forward, Lao Zhu will call all relevant personnel over, even if he has a beard, he will not show mercy.Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang has a terrifying learning ability. No matter what it is, he can grasp the general idea after listening to it a few times.

Don't talk to us about politeness and decency, you dare to be disobedient, right now we're just scolding, we won't bother scolding later, when your heads fall to the ground.

Lao Zhu enjoys the current state very much, practical and fulfilling... He stares at various government affairs every day, and because of his participation in the whole process, Lao Zhu knows what he knows at a glance.

The reprimand to the officials was also loud and sound, and it was emotional and reasonable.

From time to time, he can still spare some time to go to the army to check the situation, ride horses with Xu Da and the others, shoot archery... In the evening, he still has time to study, or to accompany his wife.

There is even time to practice calligraphy, copy inscriptions on inscriptions, and occasionally compose a poem... As far as this time management ability is concerned, Zhang Ximeng is willing to bow down and surrender.

Seeing the big guys busy, Zhang Ximeng also wanted to join in and help them share a little.

But every time Zhang Ximeng Xing went there in a hurry, everyone was just superficially polite, and immediately threw him aside, busy with their own affairs.

Don't look at them being so busy that they were scolded bloody by Lao Zhu, but when someone really wants to help them share the burden, these guys are unwilling.

Without him, these are real powers, and no one is willing to give up any of them!

Especially Zhang Ximeng can't be allowed to get involved, otherwise we'll all be left as decorations if he intervenes.

Zhang Ximeng watched it a few times, and he also understood that although these people complained on the surface, they were all happy in their hearts.

Zhu Yuanzhang is deeply involved in government affairs and controls the implementation of every major policy... This minimizes the resistance to everything.

Once the opinions of the king of Wu and the important ministers are unified, it is useless for the people below to object.

Moreover, Lao Zhu still has a trump card in his hand, that is, the people at the bottom. With the deepening of land sharing, Zhu Yuanzhang's prestige among the people is increasing day by day.

In fact, because the seal of the King of Wu was printed on the land deed, the people at the bottom only recognized the King of Wu.Including Zhang Ximeng, his fame is limited to scholars.

Ordinary people's perception of Zhang Ximeng was that he was a very capable minister under King Wu, that's all.

Zhang Ximeng himself is quite satisfied with this position, and it is not a good thing to be a high-skilled master.

For the current situation, he also has a good idea... May I ask, to become a prime minister, a minister of the first rank, and at this time, who would not want to be famous in history and shine in the annals of history?

In the past, the big guys didn't think so, because it was too difficult to do things, and they couldn't carry it out in the face of layers of resistance.Instead of offending everyone and being decapitated, it is better to honestly enjoy money, beauty, and live a happy life.

But with the connection from top to bottom, it becomes easier to do things, and naturally, there is a higher pursuit.

Take the salary, after some discussion, finally came up with a definite plan.

First of all, the salary is still divided into two types, one is food and the other is treasure money.

However, the annual salary of a thousand stones for a first-rank official has changed to three hundred stones, and then decreased successively. When you reach a ninth-rank official, you can get an annual salary of seventy stones, which is basically the same. The official scribes and servants of the Yamen have a minimum annual salary of [-] shi, and they can get [-] shi after staying for more than five years.

In addition to Lumi, there is Baochao, which is also divided into two parts. The first part is the subsidy issued according to the price situation in various places.

Among them, in the capital city, if you are above the third rank, you can get [-] guan.If it is a county town, ordinary petty officials can get twenty guans a year.The other part is calendar bonus.

Still take Zhang Ximeng as an example. He is now the right minister of the king of Wu, and he can get a salary of 260 shi, but he needs to pay an income tax... This income tax can be deducted in Lumi, or paid in banknotes.Since there are not many people in Zhang Ximeng's house, and there is no need to store so much food, the food is used to offset the deduction.

So he got two hundred shilumi, and since he was in Yingtian and was above the third grade, he got enough two hundred guan banknotes to subsidize him. Besides, although he hadn't passed the imperial examination, who would dare to deny Zhang Ximeng's question right now? ?

He is the master of the world, a man who reinterprets the rules and dissects history... The natural calendar bonus is full, and it is another hundred.

This is the composition of Zhang Ximeng's salary, in addition to housing, clothing, guards... In addition, if he gets married and has children, there will be proper arrangements for income, anyway, he doesn't have to worry about life.

After this set was settled and made public, no one among the officials dared to make trouble anymore... Like Zhang Ximeng, who is almost at the top of the civil service, what he gets is about ten families of three, one year income.

It still looks like a lot, but this level, don't compare it with the Song Dynasty, even if it is compared with any dynasty, it is not very high.

But in comparison, the lowest yamen servants also receive forty shilumi a year and twenty subsidies, which is almost equivalent to the income of two farmers, which is also acceptable.