Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 007 It's Hard to Be an Emperor
"Well... I understand your intention, father. However, mine supervisors are mixed. Some of them really make a mess when they go out to do things. Father, should you replace them with people with better moral integrity to handle this matter?"
"Humph!" Emperor Wanli was in a surprisingly good mood today, so he shook his sleeves and said, "Zhu Youdong!"
Why me again?
Alas, there is no other way. I cannot expose myself, and I need the full support of this emperor. Therefore, I have to try my best to meet his request.
After bowing respectfully to Zhu Changluo helplessly, Zhu Youdong said only one sentence: "Father, why not cry together instead of crying together?"
Who did the mine supervisor harm? They were all rich people! Just talking about the mineral veins, these guys were blackmailed for no reason because their ancestral home had mineral veins. But the reason why you guys are so rich, isn't it because of tax evasion? Is your family property just this little? Let you lose some money, and then the country will have money to pay soldiers to resist foreign enemies. It can also provide relief . Well, needless to say, your sacrifice is valuable.
"Dong'er, where did you hear these absurd words at such a young age?" Zhu Changluo was really angry now: "Our family is the royal family, we must care for the people of the entire Ming Dynasty. What do you mean if one family cries, everyone will cry? Our goal is to make everyone stop crying."
"Uh..." He couldn't talk back, but this didn't stop Zhu Youdong from complaining in his heart: Father, you should read more books when you have time, instead of buzzing around like a hardworking little bee all day long. What kind of absurd words are these? This is a famous saying of Fan Zhongyan, okay? And you are really a good person! Unfortunately, good people can't be emperors.
"Humph!" Zhu Youdong couldn't say much about Zhu Changluo's idiotic remarks due to his status. But it doesn't matter, there is still a grandfather above him.
"Prince, it seems you didn't listen to what Dong'er said just now. If you compare the tea lessons of the first year of Wanli and the thirty-first year of Wanli, you will understand everything."
Tea tax is the tax on tea. As a hobby, tea production and sales in the Ming Dynasty were extremely high. Therefore, the state also imposed special taxes on tea. The civil officials were responsible for managing this tax.
The tea tax in the first year of Wanli was 230,000 taels, and the tea tax in the 31st year was, haha, 26,000 taels.
Looking at the dumbfounded Zhu Changluo, Zhu Youdong couldn't help but feel sad: Well, this is not bad. If you knew that during the Chongzhen period, the national tea tax was less than 100 taels, you would be terrified, right?
These are the civil servants of our Ming Dynasty! These are the moral role models and gentlemen that our Ming Dynasty has cultivated over two hundred years by advocating moral governance.
When eunuchs are sent out to collect taxes, they will certainly be greedy. However, since all their power comes from the emperor, they still have a bottom line. At least, just for the mining tax, the eunuchs from all over the country can guarantee at least 500,000 taels of silver . Sometimes even millions of taels!
Since the middle of Wanli's reign, the emperor has been using the treasury to subsidize the state finances. When Wanli died, there were still 8 million taels of silver in the treasury. It was this money that allowed the Ming Dynasty in the historical plane to survive for more than 20 years after Emperor Wanli.
The emperor, who ruled the world alone, was inevitably fighting against the world alone. How could one man fight against ten thousand people? In short, the key was to control personnel, military and financial power.
However, the power over personnel is gradually moving away from the emperor.
On the civil officials side, the most powerful Grand Secretary was recommended by the court. Although the emperor could directly appoint someone, under the shackles of moral governance, no minister dared to enter the cabinet directly through the emperor's appointment without accepting the recommendation of the court.
What's even more ridiculous is that the imperial edict issued directly by the emperor is useless. It has to be co-signed by the chief minister or the deputy chief minister of the cabinet, and it can only be recognized by everyone without being rejected by the imperial censor. The imperial edict from the emperor is called the Zhongzhi. If a minister refuses the Zhongzhi, the world will only praise him and no one will say that he has no respect for the emperor.
What about the military commanders? Alas, the guard system is completely rotten. The military commanders trembled under the tyranny of the civil officials. In the early years, Emperor Wanli wrote letters to some military commanders, saying that he wanted to learn military tactics, but in fact he was trying to win them over. When the civil officials knew , they threatened the military commanders, saying that they should not forget what happened to Jiang Bin during the reign of Emperor Wuzong. Then, these military commanders wrote letters to Emperor Wanli, asking His Majesty to spare their lives...
The power over personnel is not complete and has even gradually disappeared, and there is also a barrier to military power. What about financial power?
Now the Ming Dynasty is in the process of governing the country with morality. If the taxes are not collected in full in a year, it is not because the local officials are incompetent. It is because the officials love the people like their own children and are moral role models. If any local official collects taxes in full every year, he is a lucky villain who wants to pave his own career with the bones of ordinary people!
Therefore, the only ones the emperor could effectively control were the eunuchs and the Imperial Guards. Moreover, it was only effective control, not complete control, because the eunuchs and the Imperial Guards were also subject to the influence and infiltration of the civil officials.
Besides, the cultural level was too low, and the eunuchs and the Imperial Guards were often fooled by the civil officials.
The most typical example is: Zhang Hong, the former eunuch who held the seal of the Imperial Household Department, died of hunger strike after opposing Emperor Wanli's collection of mining taxes and his admonitions were in vain!
Zhang Hong was a famous eunuch who quickly defeated Feng Bao and helped Wanli stabilize the government after Zhang Juzheng's death. He was very loyal to Wanli. Moreover, if a person dies to show his loyalty, it is impossible to say that he has ulterior motives. This can only mean that Zhang Hong was really fooled by the civil officials and sincerely believed that collecting mining taxes was harming the world!
Even the eunuchs he grew up with didn't understand him, so it's easy to imagine how sad and lonely Emperor Wanli felt. It's also understandable why he doted on Concubine Zheng all his life.
"Let's stop here today, Prince, go back and have a rest. Think carefully about what Dong'er and I said today. And!" Wanli stood up: "Prince, and you old guys, don't spread !"
"As you wish."
"Well, Zhu Youdong, come with grandpa."
"yes."
After the grandfather and grandson came to a side hall, Wanli sighed and said, "I have often heard that there are people who are born with knowledge. I never believed it before, but today I am enlightened. Dong'er, who are you?"
"Grandpa Emperor, what are you talking about? I don't understand." The newbie's big eyes were smacking around in confusion.
"Well, grandpa also started to learn when he was about four years old. At that time, the late emperor was still Prince Yu. Grandpa remembers that it was Mr. Chen Yiqin who taught him to recite the Three Character Classic... But it was not until he was six that he memorized the three hundred thousand. Moreover, at that time, grandpa had no idea about the various political affairs of Emperor Shizong (Jiajing)'s reign."
What can I say? What else can I do except keep silent?
"Ah, Grandpa was too impatient today and pushed you to the forefront all of a sudden. If something happens today, the news will definitely leak out, and then the group of mad dogs outside will bark again."
"Haha, Grandpa Huang, we are human beings, why should we pay attention to the barking of dogs?"
"Hmm...hahahahaha~~Well said, well said! But Dong'er, you have to be careful in the future. You must never say this to anyone except grandpa."
"Yes, grandson has made note of it."
"Well, now you have reached the age to formally start learning. Grandpa will ask Chen Ju to arrange a companion, a tutor, and a teacher for you. If you have any other requests, you can directly tell Grandpa."
"Uh...Grandpa Emperor, speaking of requests, I do have one."
