Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Chapter 385: Ming Dynasty Imperial Manufacturing Bureau “There is one thing I forgot to mention regarding the salary increase for officials.

Since the land reform, based on the new register compiled by the Ministry of Households, no matter whether the land was allocated to officials or members of the royal family, oh, even the one and a third acre of land allocated to Your Majesty, land tax had to be paid.

The same is true for commercial taxes. Even if Your Majesty is engaged in business personally, all commercial taxes must be paid to the national treasury." Zhang Shikang emphasized, slapping his forehead.

After going through so much effort to allow the people of the world to regain their land, Zhang Shikang naturally wanted to put an end to any possibility of land annexation.

In the past, land annexation was due to the privileges of people with achievements, officials, royal families, and nobles. In order to be exempted from land taxes, others registered their land to these people.

But this land reform is aimed at abolishing this privilege.

In short, as long as it is related to taxation, whether it is agricultural tax or industrial and commercial tax, everyone has to pay it. Whoever dares to evade taxes will be notified nationwide by the East Factory's Daming Monthly News and be wanted nationwide by the Jinyiwei's Tiqi.

Emperor Chongzhen frowned again.

"Even I have to pay taxes?"

"Your Majesty, why don't you hand it over?"

"I am the Son of Heaven!"

"Even the emperor has to pay taxes!"

"If you take the lead in not handing it over, will the royal family hand it over? Will the nobles hand it over? Will Lord Li and Lord Hai hand it over?

You are the emperor, so you must set an example and take the lead!"

So Emperor Chongzhen was so depressed that he remained silent.

"Your Majesty, why are you so bothered by this? There are only a dozen people in your family, and the land you were allocated is only about a hundred acres. You don't rely on this to make a living, right?"

Zhang Shikang smiled and comforted.

Since the land was to be divided equally, naturally everyone got it, including the emperor and his nine wives and seven or eight children.

Shuntian Prefecture has a large population, and five hundred hectares, or five thousand acres, of land were specially allocated to Song Yingxing as an experimental base for crop improvement. The land allocated to each person is not as much as that in places with fewer people.

This is the reality, and it is also true in later generations.

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen frowned even more fiercely, and he lowered his voice and said:

"Does it mean that all the expenses of the palace will have to be paid from the Ministry of Revenue in the future?"

Emperor Chongzhen actually had this doubt a long time ago. After his imperial farm was taken away by Zhang Shikang in the name of land reform, he had always felt empty inside.

It is true that the palace repairs and daily expenses are all paid by the Ministry of Revenue from the national treasury, but this part of the money is customized and the amount is what it should be.

If Emperor Chongzhen wanted to reward people in the palace privately, or wanted to purchase something extra, he had to pay for it out of his own pocket.

The Imperial Treasury was the emperor’s secret treasury, and the imperial farm was the main source of income for the Imperial Treasury.

In the past, the emperor could still collect mining taxes, but not long after he ascended the throne, under the advice of court officials, he transferred the mining taxes to the Ministry of Revenue for collection.

In other words, without the imperial farm, Emperor Chongzhen lost even his private money.

This year was not so bad. Zhang Shikang killed almost all the court officials and seized countless silver from their property. Since there were only a few court officials at that time, he could withdraw some from the Ministry of Revenue if he needed anything.

But ever since he became the Minister of Revenue in the middle period of the Hai Dynasty, this stingy guy has been completely ruthless.

All the expenses he mentioned naturally included rewards. There was no need to even think about asking the Ministry of Revenue for this part of the money. It would most likely be difficult to ask for it.

But it was necessary for the emperor to reward court officials in order to win them over. Emperor Chongzhen was of course very depressed, and he couldn't help but speak it out in front of his cabinet ministers.

"Your Majesty, frowning all the time is not good. You are not even thirty years old, but you have wrinkles on your forehead."

Listening to what Brother Chongzhen said, Zhang Shikang wanted to laugh a little, but he was trained and held it back.

He leaned close to Chongzhen's ear and whispered:

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will help you make money in the future. Together, we can make a lot of money!"

Emperor Chongzhen's eyes widened and he asked in a low voice:

"Where do you earn it from?"

"I'll keep you in suspense. Anyway, I won't make the people suffer. Just trust me." Zhang Shikang replied in a low voice.

"Oh." Emperor Chongzhen said softly, and his heart suddenly felt a lot more at ease.

Zhang Shikang always keeps his word and never lies to him. This has been proven countless times in the past two years, and he believes it.

Hai Zhongqi and Li Banghua, who were standing by, pricked up their ears but didn't hear what the two were whispering about.

But the latter still frowned, thinking that the emperor's behavior was all due to the influence of the dandy Zhang Shikang, and was not decent at all.

"Ahem, ahem - let's continue the meeting." Zhang Shikang straightened himself and continued flipping through the little notebook.

“What I am going to say next has little to do with the restructuring, but it does have a little to do with the Ministry of Industry.

Your Majesty, after the New Year, I plan to build a large-scale construction project along the coast of Tianjin, including a military port, a civilian port and a large shipyard.

In addition, a large cannon casting workshop will be built next to the West Mountain Camp."

The military port was naturally built for the Ming Navy, and the civilian port was of course built to prepare for future maritime trade, while the shipyard provided ships and repair services for both parties.

Zhang Shikang said this and turned to the next page.

“I think you all know that I spent a large sum of money to buy a fleet from the Zheng family and ordered a batch of warships.

This is the team of the Ming Dynasty Navy.

The workshop being built on the right side of the Xishan Camp will be the base for scientific research of the Ming Dynasty in the future.

Your Majesty, I wish to separate the weapons and firearms business from the Ministry of Works, including the firearms craftsmen and armorers under it, and place them under the new government office that is currently under construction on the right side of the Xishan Camp.

I intend to name this government office the Ming Imperial Manufacturing Bureau, which will consist of four divisions: the Weapons Bureau, the Firearms Bureau, the Shipbuilding Bureau, and the Industry and Agriculture Bureau.

These four bureaus are responsible for scientific research in their respective fields. The Weapons Bureau is responsible for the development and improvement of armor, weapons, etc., and has a weapons workshop specifically responsible for production.

The Firearms Bureau is responsible for the research and improvement of muskets, cannons and gunpowder. It has musket workshops and cannon workshops, including the cannon workshop that I just mentioned to be built and the Guangzhou Cannon Workshop, all of which are under the management of the Firearms Bureau.

The Ship Bureau is responsible for the research, development, and improvement of various types of ships, including warships and merchant ships, and is in charge of the Tianjin Shipyard and the Guangzhou Shipyard, which are about to be built.

The Bureau of Industry and Agriculture is responsible for the research and development and improvement of industries such as textiles and smelting, increasing crop yields, cultivating new crops, etc.

The General Manufacturing Bureau has a chief engineer, a second-rank official, who is responsible for the overall control of the four bureaus. Each bureau has a third-rank manager, but the above-mentioned official positions are all honorary titles and the employees only enjoy the treatment corresponding to their ranks.

What do you think? "

After Zhang Shikang finished speaking, he looked at Brother Chongzhen and others with great enthusiasm.

This is the one he is most interested in among his reform plans, so he has spent more energy on it.

It had been his plan for a long time to set up a special scientific research base in the Ming Dynasty, and now he could finally put it into practice.

The main reason for separating scientific research from the Ministry of Industry was that the Ministry of Industry had a serious bureaucratic style, its senior officials did not understand technology, and the direction of Ming Dynasty's firearms research was also wrong.

It would be better to directly set up a new government office composed entirely of technical talents. It may not be appropriate to call it a government office, it would be more appropriate to call it a research institute.

Emperor Chongzhen was quite interested, but the Minister of Revenue Hai Zhongqi could no longer sit still.

"My Lord, this is a major construction project. Do you know how much money it will cost?"

……

PS: These past two days I have been thinking about the reforms that need to be done after all the work has been done. This is the inevitable result after removing so many obstacles. Please be patient, the boring meeting will soon be over.