Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 040: A Slap on the Face Must Hurt (I)
"I know~ I know~"
It was already the end of August, and the autumn cicadas were weakly chirping for the last time. However, the weather in Beijing did not cool down significantly, but became even more dull.
"Swish, swish, swish." Shen Yikuan, the 74-year-old Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty, skillfully washed his hands, applied soap, and rinsed them. He raised his hands and took a deep breath, "Wow~ This mint-flavored soap from Honghe Village is really good. It's refreshing."
"Haha, of course it's refreshing. The market price outside is eight cents of silver per piece."
"Well, my annual salary is only over 500 taels of silver, which is really unaffordable."
In the past few months, the soap produced in Honghe Village has been selling better and better. As the workers' skills have become more sophisticated and the output has increased, the cost has gradually decreased. The time travelers began to play with the single product of soap in various ways: exquisite gift boxes, ordinary wooden boxes, paper boxes. Made from animal fats, made from vegetable oils, and with various floral scents. Large pieces of laundry soap, medium-sized bath soap, very small hand soap, etc. ... The prices have also become differentiated. From the highest two taels of silver per piece to the lowest one penny of silver per small piece. In short, according to the words of the time travelers: Our products must allow the vast majority of people in the Ming Dynasty to find a price that suits them.
As a prime minister who likes to unite with his party and attack those who are different from him, is narrow-minded, and loves shiny things very much, it is impossible for Shen Yiguan not to drool over this soap business. However, Shen Ge Lao is the prime minister and has his own information channels. He quickly figured out how deep the background behind this small piece of soap was.
So Lord Shen quickly gave up the idea of taking action against the soap, and quietly passed on a message to the Zhejiang Party he led: The censors who follow me are not allowed to make trouble about the soap issue!
After stabilizing the internal situation, Lord Shen was looking forward to the censors from other factions jumping out to cause trouble: the shareholders behind this small soap include the royal family, nobles, and the military, and if any blind guy dared to jump out, he would be killed to pieces.
However, like Zhu Youdong, for several months, no censors have come out to make a fuss. This is really different from the previous style of censors who believed everything they heard and acted without restraint.
"Haha, Elder Shen, what are the matters concerning the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Works that you are in charge of?"
"There are many minor matters, and a few major ones as well. I will pick out the most important ones. The Minister Cao of the Ministry of Works (the famous water conservancy expert Cao Shipin) has submitted another report, saying that the Yellow River breaches in Fengxian and Shanxian are far beyond imagination, and that simple management cannot guarantee whether they will breach again next year or the year after. If a major repair is required, the Ministry of Works' treasury does not have enough money, and a subsidy from the Ministry of Revenue is needed."
"Humph, you're asking the Ministry of Revenue for money again. Where does the Ministry of Revenue have any money? Last winter, the officials in Beijing didn't even get paid for charcoal."
"Prime Minister, I know Minister Cao well. He is not the kind of person who seeks to show off. He said that if the additional funds are allocated today, the court will not have to spend money on this section of the Yellow River embankment for the next 30 years. It is worth it."
"I understand the reason, but the Ministry of Revenue has no money. Well, let's write a bill and ask the inner treasury for subsidies. Let's see if the emperor approves it."
"Hey, are you looking for subsidies from the inner treasury again? If so, when can we ask the emperor to waive the mining tax?"
At this time, there were three ministers in the Ming cabinet, each in charge of two ministries. The first assistant was in charge of personnel and finance - the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue. The second assistant Zhu Geng was in charge of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War. The Ministry of Criminal Justice and the Ministry of Works, which had the most and most complicated affairs, were naturally in charge of Shen Li: Who made you rank last in the cabinet?
In this cabinet, although the two Shens disliked each other, they still had some things in common. For example, in the early years of the dispute over the national foundation, the three cabinet elders all had clear and firm positions. For example, the current mining tax, everyone also advocated the abolition of it.
However, the Ministry of Revenue, which was not doing its job well, had always had an unbalanced income and expenditure. It often needed money from the emperor's inner treasury to subsidize it. So the young censors below could shout and yell that the mining tax must be abolished regardless of everything. But for the three cabinet ministers standing at the top of the country, how could they abolish the mining tax without hesitation before the Ministry of Revenue had a clear surplus? Well, Fan Zhongyan said it well: It is better to cry together than to cry alone.
The cabinet ministers are of course the top of the Ming bureaucracy, but they also need a large number of subordinates to support them. So although the cabinet ministers know that the mining tax cannot be easily stopped, the subordinates below keep calling for it, so the cabinet ministers have to pretend to do it. However, if you repeatedly ask the emperor for money, and then say that the emperor cannot make money by himself - if you do this too much, the emperor will just think you are mentally retarded.
For a moment, the atmosphere became a little dull. Deputy Minister Zhu Geng laughed dryly: "Haha, I think that if the soap business does better, the emperor can also stop the mining tax."
"Haha, I didn't expect that such a small piece of soap could earn so much money. Elder Shen, you have picked up a good student."
"Humph, His Royal Highness is a man of great talent and intelligence. Unfortunately, he is too eager to pursue wealth, which is really against the way of a saint. I dare not regard myself as His Royal Highness's teacher."
"Eh? What does Lord Shen mean by that? But, how come I haven't seen the impeachment letter for selling the soap too expensively and harming the people?"
"This is the year of the imperial inspection. Which of the officials in the capital dares to offend the emperor over this matter? Humph! They usually regard themselves as disciples of the saints and role models of morality. But in the end, they all backed down when it came to themselves!"
Throughout the dynasties of the Chinese Empire, unless it was the end of a dynasty or a chaotic era of warlords, officials in the capital were very powerful. It was not uncommon for small officials in the capital to treat local officials like their grandsons.
However, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, although the officials in Beijing were very powerful, they also had something they collectively feared, that is, the Beijing inspection - an assessment and inspection specifically for the officials in Beijing.
Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial examination was held every six years. This was a hurdle for officials in the capital: if you passed it, you would generally be in a stable situation for the next six years as long as you did nothing wrong. If you failed to pass it, hey, there were only a few officials among the thousands who were demoted, and you were one of them? Then your life would be over.
Therefore, Zhu Youdong chose a good year : at least in this year, the censors and imperial officials did not want to talk much.
"Haha, yes, this year is the year of the imperial examination. However, this year's imperial examination is hosted by me and the Ministry of Personnel. I will definitely make the assessment impartially. What do you have to be afraid of?"
"Humph, that's right. The Prime Minister is the most strict person. According to what I have learned, the censors below have been trembling in fear for the past few months."
"Hahaha, why is it so? Why is it so? But speaking of which, didn't the Shuangji Department Store hold an auction for provincial agency rights a few days ago? It is said that the silver was no less than hundreds of thousands of taels? In this case, all kinds of impeachments should come, right?"
