First Minister of Ming Dynasty

Moreover, not only officials, but also more literati were arrested, and while punishing them severely, while promoting enlightenment, the entire government and the public were busy.

On this day, Prince Zhu Biao came to Zhang Ximeng's mansion again with something.

As soon as he arrived, he found that the Grand Master's Mansion was full of joy, and there were lanterns hanging out, and there were a few more big red flowers on the tree.

Zhang Ximeng was not in the study either, but went to the kitchen and cooked the dishes himself.

"What kind of festival is this?" Zhu Biao was puzzled.

Zhang Chengtian greeted him with a smile, "Welcome, to be honest, I have just passed the Jiangxi Provincial Examination, and I am going to Xingzi County to serve as a court clerk. Your Highness, I am afraid that we will meet again in a few years."

Zhu Biao was taken aback!

He was really surprised at this moment. According to Ming’s design, the Jinshi Department existed, and the Ministry of Rites was in charge. After passing the Jinshi Department examination, he was directly promoted to the various departments of Zhongshu, Yushitai, the Five Army Dudufu, or the Shibosi Waiting for the court to be directly under the Yamen.

To take the Jinshi examination, one must have a sufficient diploma. Generally, they are those top schools, plus the remaining few normal schools. It is difficult for ordinary people to squeeze in, and they will get food when they go.

In addition, the provincial examinations in various provinces will also admit a large number of officials. The starting point of these officials is much lower. They have to start from the county, and some even have to be in charge of townships.

Fortunately, in Daming right now, education discrimination is not serious.If you get admitted, become an official, and have achieved political achievements, you should be promoted. If you don’t say middle school, you will definitely not be able to do it in Jimin Academy.

But under normal circumstances, those who can be admitted to Jimin Academy are all top-notch people, and they have a high starting point and can be promoted faster. This is also impossible.

But there are exceptions to everything, that is, the provincial examinations in some places are more terrifying than the general examinations of the Ministry of Rites.

Among them, the exam in Jiangxi Province is the most difficult, none of them!

And Xingzi County, where Jimin Academy is located, is even more difficult, rare and boundless!

The reason is very simple. It is very difficult for ordinary people to get a house around Jimin School and set up a family. But once they are admitted to Xingzi County officials, they can move their household registration there smoothly, so as to find a good place for the next generation.

In other words, if you are admitted as an official in Xingzi County, no matter whether you benefit yourself, the whole family will benefit!

Therefore, the competition for those places was several times harder than the competition!

Although Zhang Chengtian didn't study at Jimin Academy, nor did he take part in the Ministry of Rites Examination, but the little fat man passed the more difficult Jiangxi Provincial Examination ahead of schedule, and was admitted to the Xingzi County Yamen smoothly.

No wonder the Taishi Mansion is decorated with lanterns and festoons, and even the teacher cooks himself.

Zhang Chengtian, this little fat man, has two tricks!

"Junior Brother Zhang, that... I want to congratulate you. Secondly, I, I feel ashamed to cause you to lose the position of commander..."

Zhang Chengtian waved his hand generously, "It's okay, if I still have a commander, I won't be able to take the exam. After all, I also want to thank Your Highness, you have made me a success!"

Zhu Biao's face was a little embarrassed, and it was true to say so.

But at this moment, someone was furious and came to Zhang's mansion!

"It's Your Majesty!"

"Zhang Chengtian! You bastard!" Zhu Yuanzhang was furious, "You're so fucking smart! You deliberately offended us, let us get rid of your commander, and then went to the exam. You're thinking hard! What, why? Is it so embarrassing for us to be an official? You have been wronged? Right? You kid wants to piss us off!"

Sure enough, Zhu Yuanzhang understood and settled the score with Zhang Chengtian.

The little fat man won't accept anyone, but his father!

Zhang Ximeng had figured out Zhu Yuanzhang thoroughly, and this was also the most important lesson that Zhang Ximeng wanted to teach Zhang Chengtian.If you are not sure enough, don't challenge this difficult gameplay, you little guy, you need to practice more.

"Your Majesty, minister, I also lost my official position, so I just wanted to find something to do. I just took the exam casually and passed it by luck... If your majesty thinks it is inappropriate, you can take me down and I will return it to your majesty as a pawn." Commander, do you think it will work?"

"Okay, you big-headed ghost!" Zhu Yuanzhang cursed angrily. The whole world was watching the locations in Xingzi County. Zhang Chengtian had passed the exam and announced it.

At this time, Zhang Chengtian was suddenly exempted from the qualification, what should I say?

Is Zhang Taishi's son cheating in the examination room?

Or is His Majesty destroying the national code?

Either way, Lao Zhu couldn't accept it.

"Brat, you are amazing! But we can tell you that we will definitely watch you when you take office. If you don't work hard and fail to make achievements, let's settle the score slowly!"

Zhu Yuanzhang gritted his teeth, Zhang Chengtian didn't care, anyway, he had achieved his goal, so let old Zhu think whatever he likes!

At this moment, Zhang Ximeng's side had already prepared the dishes, and the dinner was ready.

Zhu Yuanzhang came here full of resentment. He had no choice but to turn his anger into appetite. He picked up a big elbow first and took a big bite. It was plump and juicy. If Zhang Ximeng didn't write books, he would be a good cook.

Old Zhu devoted himself to cooking, but he was not on guard. Zhu Biao chatted with Zhang Ximeng, "Sir, I asked them to draw up a plan, which is to divide the royal property. I would like to ask you for advice."

Zhang Ximeng knew that Zhu Biao had this idea, but he didn't expect it to be so fast.

"Your Highness, what are you going to do?"

"Sir, I think so. The royal property should be divided into two pieces. Some palaces and gardens cannot be simply regarded as royal property."

Zhang Ximeng nodded, "Your Highness's words are reasonable, so what are your Highness's plans?"

"This part is listed as the property of the imperial court, and it is only used for ceremonial purposes. The maintenance requires the imperial court to pay for it."

Zhang Ximeng smiled and said: "This arrangement is also appropriate, what about the rest?"

"The rest must be strictly regulated. Only the expenses of the palace personnel are allowed, and nothing else is allowed!"

Zhu Yuanzhang, who was eating his elbow, felt something was wrong when he heard them chatting.

"What do you mean? The palace we live in doesn't belong to us anymore?" Lao Zhu was anxious, "Zhu Biao, you want to drive us to Huangjue Temple?"

Zhu Biao said helplessly: "Father, that's not what I meant, but if the imperial palace can be passed on smoothly, what should we do if there are many properties in the family? We can't have two sets of standards."

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care about this, and said angrily: "You mean that we have tossed and fought all our lives, fought the world to the death, and finally lost our place to live, right?"

"No!" Zhu Biao could only explain patiently, "The imperial palace belongs to the imperial court and is state property, but the imperial family can live there for free. It's not to drive you out of the imperial palace, and no one dares to do that! Moreover, the imperial palace is well maintained. The imperial court is still responsible for the expenses, but we actually earn the money."

Lao Zhu rolled his eyes, "That's right...but what about the palace's annual expenditure? Is it still the original amount?"

Zhu Biao said helplessly: "Of course not. My boy plans to hand over the maintenance of the palace and the expenses of the main ceremonies to the imperial court. We don't have to deal with it, and we can save money."

Zhu Yuanzhang is not a fool, how can such words deceive him!

"Don't worry? But there is not much money left! Do you think we don't know anything?"

Zhu Biao refused to give in, "Father, if you are like this, my son will not be able to promote reform!"

Zhang Ximeng rolled his eyelids and started arguing...you guys go on!

Chapter 888 What Old Zhu Can Get

In line with the principle of seeing that the funeral is not too big, Zhang Ximeng remained silent, while Zhang Chengtian curled himself up on the chair, hugged into a ball, and just listened with his ears up.

It's a rare opportunity to experience the show for yourself, don't miss it.

Old Zhu was furious, so he asked Zhu Biao, did he not feel bad about selling his father's land?Are you going to sell your home?

Zhu Biao also does not include the lake, you said that the imperial palace is your home, but the problem is that this home is not only lived by the Zhu family, Fengtian Palace is the place where all the important ceremonies of the Ming Dynasty are held, no matter what, it is not considered as the imperial palace, if so , Otherwise, the account will be settled, and the trouble of taxation will be avoided.

Zhu Yuanzhang is in a hurry, what trouble can there be?Taxes are taxed, and royal exceptions are not enough?

Zhu Biao also asked back, the royal family is always an exception, what can we do in the future?Are you not afraid that future generations will mess around and cause the society to collapse?

Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he couldn't help it. He turned around and saw Zhang Ximeng. Old Zhu couldn't see him being idle, so he couldn't help but angrily said, "Sir, tell me!"

Zhang Ximeng was stunned, "My lord, please take your time arguing first, I'll just listen!"

"no!"

Lao Zhu was in a hurry, "We want you to tell me now, what are we going to do about this matter?"

Zhang Ximeng was so confused that he could only say: "My lord, in fact, let's do some calculations, how much money can be allocated to the palace every year, and how the money is used. Let's explain this clearly. The minister is thinking about it. You father and son can figure it out."

Zhang Ximeng had a nice smile, he really wanted to watch the fun, because this matter was not complicated... Speaking of the imperial palace, many people thought it was full of rich clothes and fine food, full of food and clothing, and extremely magnificent.The concubines in the palace are always in the palace... In fact, this is a completely wrong impression.

Take the huge imperial palace as an example, the three main halls in front were deducted, and then the emperor’s bedroom was deducted, and the place where the queen mother, empress, young prince, princess and others lived was removed.

The remaining houses, compared with the huge number of palace people, seem tense.

For those so-called three thousand beauties, at least two thousand and ninety-nine must live in Datongpu, which is not next to the resplendent imperial palace.

Living like this, eating is not much better. Starvation is not necessarily a possibility, but it is absolutely impossible to have meat every meal.

So after entering the palace, try your best to climb up and improve your status... In addition to the illusory emperor's favor, there are also realistic basic necessities of life.

To be able to have a separate palace, to eat well, to dress well, to have a big bed all to myself, and to have several court ladies serving him... These are very realistic things.

Perhaps those who still have longings for the imperial palace do not believe this, and think that the imperial palace, which enjoys the support of the world and gathers the wealth of the world, will definitely not be so poor, it must be nonsense.

But for Zhang Ximeng, he is in charge of revising the history of the Song Dynasty and the History of the Yuan Dynasty. He knows too much about the news in the palace, and he can easily calculate how much the palace can spend... Let's take the Great Song Dynasty, which is recognized as the most financially rich, as an example. .

About [-]% of the Song Dynasty’s finances were used to raise soldiers, and about [-]% of the remaining [-]% was used to pay officials’ salaries, and less than [-]% was used to pay for the palace.

As for the rest of the water transport, river work, and disaster relief, as long as something goes wrong, the finances for that year are guaranteed to fall into a deficit, so there is no doubt about it.

If [-]% reaches the palace, then this [-]% is millions, or even tens of millions, isn't it enough for the people in the palace to eat and drink and enjoy themselves?

Not enough.

Because this money is needed first to hold various major ceremonies, such as Chinese New Year, Lantern Festival, Tomb-sweeping Day, Winter Solstice... Important festivals cost a lot of money.

Furthermore, the emperor's birthday, the empress dowager's birthday, and the queen's birthday all need to be arranged. The prince gets married, the princess gets married...it also costs money.

Also, offering sacrifices to heaven, earth, and ancestors is also costly.

Finally, since the palaces are all made of wood, in case of fire, wind disaster, heavy rain, and damage to the palace, it also needs to be paid for.

So after calculation, [-]% to [-]% of the expenditure in the palace was spent on these things.

The remaining points, which can be used for daily expenses, should be given priority to the emperor, empress, queen mother, main nobles, princes and princesses... Just imagine, how many can fall on the heads of ordinary concubines and palace people?

When Cao Cao was dying, he asked his wives and concubines to be female celebrities, self-sufficient, and support themselves... From this point of view, life in the court is definitely not as easy as having no worries about food and clothing, and leisurely fighting in the palace.On the contrary, it is a large group of beauties, fighting for a bite of meat and a beautiful dress, that is the normal ecology.So those who dream of becoming Zhen Huan can wake up.

When the matter fell to Daming's palace, the situation might be better. After all, Lao Zhu's concubine is not that exaggerated, and there are not many people in the palace... But because there are too many young princesses and princes, the expenses are also staggering, and there is no money left.

In the front, Empress Ma tried to support her. Later, Empress Ma handed over the property to Zongzheng Temple. Over the years, she has been able to earn a steady income of one million yuan in dividends, which can make Lao Zhu less worried, but that's all.

Zhang Ximeng calmly helped Lao Zhu settle the account, Zhu Yuanzhang's face was very dark.

"Sir, what exactly are you trying to say?"

Zhang Ximeng smiled and said, "My lord, it's the Tian family who lives in the palace, but it's the imperial court who builds the palace. My lord, you only need to count the palace, or just the three front halls, as the property of Ming Dynasty. If it is sold, it can be recorded on the head of the court, and there is no need for the palace to spend."

Zhu Yuanzhang glared at Zhang Ximeng, "That sounds nice, according to what you're saying, is this palace still ours?"

"My lord, don't tell me, no one will drive His Majesty out anyway. And if the palace is not well maintained, His Majesty can take the opportunity to question the officials and punish the officials. Think about it, is this the truth?"

Zhu Biao immediately said: "Father, sir, you can make it clear that we have assigned the palace to the imperial court, and we didn't just let it out... The palace is not properly maintained, and they are not responsible for keeping it. Isn't this a good thing?"

Lao Zhu rolled his eyes, "Good thing? You hand over the palace, and they promise to arrange someone to take care of it. If it goes as expected, they will definitely reduce the palace staff, especially the eunuchs... Yes! They probably want to abolish the eunuchs!"

Zhu Yuanzhang hit the key point now.

With the transfer of ownership of the imperial palace, the 24 yamen, which were originally in charge of the inner court, will definitely face adjustments.

Those who should be abolished will be abolished, and there will be at most a hundred eunuchs who serve the emperor personally, and there is no need to say more about the rest.

Zhu Biao pondered for a long time, and suddenly said: "Father, you must let the child say, I think this is very good! We can't force others to suffer that knife for the convenience of our own family! Also, burial is a bad habit of the Yuan court. My son checked the court's laws and regulations, and the folks have clearly abolished them, but the royal family has not yet made a final conclusion. I think it's better to abolish and change them together.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Biao fiercely, gritted his teeth, Zhu Biao felt that he had a clear conscience, and also straightened his chest, confronting Zhu Yuanzhang tit for tat.

At this time, Zhang Chengtian, who was still in a group, suddenly felt a gaze. He subconsciously raised his eyelids, and found that Zhang Ximeng had quietly got up and backed out.

Zhang Chengtian's heart skipped a beat, Dad is really slippery!

He also slipped away quietly, the father and father came out of the study almost at the same time, and when they reached the flower hall in the backyard, Zhang Chengtian let out a long sigh, and hurried to his father's side.

"Father, I think His Highness is quite right. He is arguing with His Majesty again. Why don't you help?"

Zhang Ximeng chuckled, "Why should I help? I've said everything that needs to be said, and the rest is up to His Majesty to decide for himself. It doesn't matter to me that they beat their father and son to death. They still stay there, waiting to be scolded!"

Zhang Chengtian was stunned, and then asked: "Father, this matter is not difficult to balance. It is good for the common people and good for the royal reputation. By the way, I can get more money from the court, and it is convenient to collect taxes... I don't see anything wrong. Question, why can't someone as smart as His Majesty figure it out?"

Zhang Chengtian leaned closer to his father, "Could you give me some pointers on what this is all about!"

Zhang Ximeng looked up at him, "When are you going to Xingzi County?"

"Ah! Let's go soon, these two days!"

"Then you've gone, are you still going to study?" Zhang Ximeng asked.

"Read! I also plan to get a diploma from Jimin Academy! After all, the school's contacts are very important, and I'm no older than you, so I can only accumulate carefully."

Zhang Ximeng nodded, he pondered for a moment, and said in a low voice: "You ask His Majesty what is the trade-off, and what His Majesty thinks is most likely what is the Son of Heaven?"

Zhang Chengtian was startled, he seemed to understand half understood, and wanted to continue to ask, suddenly, there was the sound of hurried footsteps, Zhu Yuanzhang strode over, and Zhu Biao followed suit.

When Lao Zhu arrived in front of Zhang Ximeng, he suddenly turned his head, "What are you still doing? There are so many government affairs, go busy with you!"