【Historical Live Broadcast】Watching videos and being seen by our ancestors

[This Ming Dynasty minister is a bit weird]

[Others are working in the court or at home]

[And he actually worked in prison for three years]

In the 1420th year of Yongle (), Zhu Di officially moved the capital to Beijing and held a massive military exercise.

[Unexpectedly, just as Zhu Di arrived in the capital to review the army, the Yuan army came to harass the border]

[Zhu Di was furious. How could this be considered a border violation? This is clearly a slap in the face of me as the emperor.]

[Decided to personally march to Mobei again next spring]

[As the Minister of Revenue, Xia Yuanji was well aware of the huge cost of the Northern Expedition]

[Decided to go to the palace to persuade Zhu Di, but was stopped by Yang Rong on the way]

[Yang Rong: Your Majesty is getting older and older, and your desire for governance is getting stronger and stronger. Besides, Zhu Di and Zhu Yuanzhang have the same temper, and if they have made up their minds, no one can persuade them.]

[Xia Yuanji listened to Yang Rong's words, but said that he had to go]

[Xia Yuanji said that the country was in trouble due to frequent disasters, and both the internal and external aspects were in tatters. Moreover, the emperor was not in good health, so it was not suitable for the Northern Expedition now.]

[Zhu Di looked at the memorial in front of him and felt that the cabinet and Xia Yuanji said exactly the same thing. He didn't want to listen to any obstruction and thought about how to get things done.]

[Xia Yuanji said that if something is wrong, it should be said that if every minister listens to your Majesty, they are flatterers]

Zhu Di angrily asked back: "If all the ministers listen to me, then they are flatterers; if I don't listen to you, then I am a tyrant!"

【Xia Yuanji saw that he could not dissuade Zhu Di, so he quoted Zhu Yuanzhang's ancestral teachings and explained why the Northern Expedition should not be launched: Now the treasury is empty and the people are exhausted, Your Majesty should let the people rest.】

[Zhu Di was furious after hearing this, thinking that Xia Yuanji was accusing him of making the people live in unrest]

[So he ordered the Royal Guards to arrest Xia Yuanji and confiscate his property]

[Xia Yuanji walked out of the court with pride and refused to plead guilty]

[I didn’t expect that the wise minister Xia Yuanji would be confiscated and imprisoned by Zhu Di]

[After searching the house, Jinyiwei discovered that all the belongings in Xia Yuanji's home were worth less than 100 taels]

[And the whole family can only eat meat once every ten days]

[The Minister of Revenue, who was in charge of the entire Ming Dynasty’s finances, was so poor]

[Zhu Di listened to the report from the Royal Guards and stopped using his chopsticks to pick up the meat that was about to reach his mouth.]

[So he ordered that Xia Yuanji's cell must be exposed to sunlight every day]

[There must be glutinous rice balls and dumplings to eat during festivals, meat to eat every day, and the prison cell must be spacious and comfortable]

[Xia Yuanji finally met Zhu Di three years later and wanted to ask him for his wages]

[He said that he was a second-rank minister of the Ministry of Revenue, with an annual salary of 732 shi. His monthly expenses in prison were only 15 shi, and His Majesty still owed him 1,656 shi in salary for three years.]

[I didn’t expect Zhu Di to default on his debt online]

[Xia Yuanji said that His Majesty was preparing for the fifth Northern Expedition, how could he not even be able to pay his wages?]

[Xia Yuanji first praised Zhu Di for his great achievements since he ascended the throne, including the expedition to the northern desert, six voyages to the West, the compilation of the Yongle Encyclopedia, the dredging of the canal and the relocation of the capital to Beijing, which is a model of a wise ruler throughout the ages]

[Zhu Di couldn't help showing joy when he heard Xia Yuanji's approval]

[Who would have thought that Xia Yuanji would change his tone - he thought that Zhu Di should not have sent new troops to the north every year, nor should he have made six voyages to the West in more than ten years. Even if he had a rich family background, he could not afford such a toss.]

[Zhu Di was enraged again, thinking that Xia Yuanji criticized him for being ambitious and wasting money and harming the people. Zhu Di turned around and left in anger]

[Xia Yuanji could only helplessly wish: "It is bitterly cold in Mobei, please take care of yourself, Your Majesty!"]

[No one knew that this was their last farewell.]

In the 1422th year of Yongle (), Chengzu once again went north to fight, but returned due to lack of food. After that, he went out of the border for many years, but never saw the enemy.

[In the 1424nd year of Yongle (), when the army arrived at Yumuchuan, Chengzu was critically ill and on the way to the Northern Expedition. He finally understood Xia Yuanji's good intentions. He said to the people around him: "Xia Yuanji loves me." After saying this, he died. ]

[Three days after the news of Chengzu's death reached him, the crown prince ran to the place where Xia Yuanji was imprisoned, called out to him, and told him while crying. Xia Yuanji fell to the ground crying and could not get up for a long time.]

“This story tells us that bosses can reduce salaries, but they must not lay off employees.

Xia Yuanji was demoted, but he still thought of his boss. But more than a hundred years later, a postman in Shaanxi was laid off. So he laid off the Ming Dynasty.

Reply: "Li Zicheng: If you don't want to live, then don't live. [Smile]"

"Xia Yuanji and Yu Qian are people with strong personalities who speak to the emperor on the opposite side of the platform and are bold and outspoken."

"Zhu Di's throne was not a natural succession, so he was easily criticized. If he didn't want to be criticized, he had to establish merits, achieve great things, and clear his name. So Zhu Di didn't care how much money he spent. As long as the world knew that he was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty who was destined by heaven, had great talent and strategy, and was the most powerful in the world, then it was worth it."

“Zhu Di: “Xia Yuanji loves me!” [Funny]”

After reading it, Liu Bei sighed: This is truly an enviable relationship between a ruler and his subjects, just like the one between me and Kong Ming!

Zhu Di looked at the sky, then looked at Xia Yuanji below.

He is a second-rank minister of the Ministry of Revenue in the Ming Dynasty and doesn’t even have a hundred taels of silver at home? He can’t even eat meat!

No, that would be wrong. How would other dynasties view the Ming Dynasty? They had money to fight the Northern Expedition, sail to the West, and compile the Yongle Canon, but they had no money to raise the salaries of their officials?

It must be increased! Xia Yuanji's salary and benefits must be increased to make his position as the Minister of Finance of the Ming Dynasty plump and white.