Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 87: Ming Dynasty Directly Governs Mubang (Part 2)
Although there was a lot of controversy in the court, Emperor Wanli, after receiving repeated assurances from Zhu Youdong, issued an edict: In view of the extinction of the Mubang Tusi family, the Mubang Prefecture of the Yunnan Provincial Administration of the Ming Dynasty was established, with three counties under its jurisdiction. At the same time, the Mubang Office was added. Sun Chengzong was appointed as the first prefect of Mubang, and Cheng Caiyong was appointed as the captain of the Mubang Office.
At this time, Shen Yikuan and Shen Li had both resigned from the cabinet, and Zhu Geng became the sole prime minister. The old man was old, how could he handle such a large empire and such complicated affairs alone? So at this moment, Zhu Ge Lao was busy suing Wanli: Your Majesty, I am 72 years old, how can I do it alone? Please add some people to the cabinet.
Wanli had not intended to tire this peacemaker to death. He asked the ministers to recommend Yu Shenxing and Li Tingji to join the cabinet. As a result, the former was in poor health and could not go to work. The latter was not liked by the Donglin Party (they wanted Li Sancai to join the cabinet), and various impeachments did not stop as soon as the appointment was issued, so he had to stay at home and not deal with the matter... In short, the elderly and lonely Zhu Ge Lao had no intention of arguing with the emperor over such a small matter. After the emperor sent eunuchs to hint, Zhu Ge Lao quickly prepared the bill and approved it smoothly. At this point, it was decided that Mubang would be changed from Xuanweisi to Yunnan Direct Administration.
The person who was most unhappy during this process was the Yunnan Provincial Government.
There is nothing strange about it. Mubang is closer to Myanmar than Kunming. It used to be a Xuanweisi, and local officials in Yunnan were not responsible for any problems. Now it has become a direct-controlled prefecture, and all the problems in Mubang are related to the Yunnan Provincial Administration. It would be strange if officials in Yunnan were happy!
As an official, except for a few fools who are sick in the head and want to make achievements all day long, who doesn't want to be an official in peace? If Mubang is taken in and directly governed, what if Myanmar attacks again? If the country loses its directly governed territory, the head of a governor is probably not enough!
Therefore, facing the unanimous opinion of the emperor and the cabinet, the officials of Yunnan could not resist. However, soft confrontation was inevitable: That, Lord Sun, our Yunnan finances have never been sufficient, and we have been relying on Sichuan for assistance for many years. Therefore, you have to figure out the office expenses, official salaries, garrison expenses, etc. of the newly added Mubang Prefecture. In addition, our Yunnan is originally a remote place, and many county magistrates are appointed by Juren. The proportion of Jinshi serving as county officials is extremely low in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty... In short, we can't send such officials.
Anyway, the court said that Mubang is newly entered and will be exempt from tax for three years. We in Yunnan Province absolutely support this. But for the rest, sorry, sorry, no more.
Sun Chengzong was not angry at all after being ridiculed in Kunming. On the contrary, he happily signed a provincial government agreement with the Yunnan Provincial Government. The general meaning was that the Yunnan Provincial Government would not send officials to Mubang Mansion, nor would it bear all the expenses of Mubang Mansion. However, the output of Mubang Mansion in the future would be directly paid to the Neichengyunku in Beijing, and had nothing to do with the Yunnan Provincial Government!
In early November, Zhu Youdong, who received this ridiculous agreement in Beijing, couldn't help but laugh. Then he quickly ran into the palace and asked Wanli to stamp the agreement... After that, Wanli issued another imperial decree based on this agreement: Since your Yunnan Provincial Administration Department does not want to accept Mubang. Well, Mubang will no longer be an ordinary prefecture, but a military and civilian prefecture!
In places like Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, below the provincial governor, the prefecture and the military and civil prefecture are administrative units of the same level. The difference is that the officials of the prefecture are temporary officials appointed by the court. The prefect of the military and civil prefecture is the local chieftain, not only for life, but also combines civil, financial and military power in one person!
The difference between the Military and Civilian Office and the Xuanwei Office is that the former had to pay taxes to the court on schedule like ordinary offices, while the Xuanwei Office only had to pay tribute.
In short, the establishment of the Military and Civilian Office is suitable for ethnic minority settlements close to Han settlements, where the living habits are somewhat Hanized, but there are still some differences from ordinary Han people. If there are any problems within the Military and Civilian Office, the Military and Civilian Office will be responsible for solving them. As long as the chaos within the Military and Civilian Office does not spread to other places, the superior governor will not be held responsible even if things go wrong.
Therefore, the Yunnan Provincial Government was overjoyed when it received this imperial edict. The entire government, even the Duke of Qian's Mansion, which governed Yunnan for generations, all praised the emperor for his wisdom.
After these two rounds of operations, the time was delayed until the end of November. Then, starting in December, the Mubang Military and Civilian Government, which had just been listed for less than ten days, publicly announced that it had found a large jade mine and had a stable jade output...
"Hahaha~~ Your Highness, if you say so, are those stupid officials in Yunnan regretting their actions now?"
"Hehe, I'm in the capital, how can I see the expressions of those guys in Yunnan Provincial Government? But after all, Yunnan is the rear base of Mubang. After General Liu and Ma Xuanfu returned to Sichuan, they only left 2,000 troops in Mubang. So I have already written to Mr. Sun, and I still have to give some shares of the Yunnan jade mine to the Yunnan Provincial Government and the Duke of Qian."
"Your Highness, how exactly was this done?"
"Zhang Shize, don't worry about your family. This matter is too far away from your family, so it's better not to get involved."
"Your Highness. I won't let my imagination run wild. Neither will my father. After all, the Duke of Qian is in Yunnan. He was one of the founding dukes. He has a longer history than our Duke of Jingnan."
"Jingnan may not be much easier than founding a country." After saying a few polite words, Zhu Youdong said seriously: "My suggestion to Mr. Sun is that the entire Mubang and the Mengyang Jade Mine behind it, its mining, sales and even direct transportation of raw jade to the mainland for gambling in the future, should be fully operated by one company. I have thought of the name of the company, Ming Nanzhong Jade Co., Ltd. In it, the palace holds 30%, Xinghua Palace 20%, Qianguogong Mansion 10%, Yunnan Provincial Administration 10%, Mubang Military and Civil Affairs Mansion 20%, Mengyang Xuanwei Office 10%."
"That's good. In this way, there will be no obstacles in transporting the jade from Mubang and Mengyang. Moreover, local governments will naturally take good care to crack down on the illegal digging and selling of jade by the people. After all, smuggling jade is stealing people's money."
"Yes, Shize, you are becoming more and more mercenary."
"Hahaha, isn't it because he has been following His Highness for so long that he has become blackened? Your Highness, if this is the case, how much silver can our Xinghua Palace get from Nanzhong every year?"
"I have already told Mr. Sun that within ten years, Mubang and Mubang Mengyang in the future can only sell a maximum of two tons of Nanzhong jade to the mainland each year, and gambling on stones is another matter. Of course, Shize, you are from a noble family, you should understand that Hetian jade and Duyu are also divided into grades. I asked Mr. Sun to find those jade experts to classify Nanzhong jade into four grades: A, B, C, and D... Jade is not a daily consumable, so there is no fixed price. Those who like it can spend all their money on it, and those who don't like it will ignore the best jade... In short, if two tons of jade are handled well, the profit will be no less than three million taels. In this way, Xinghua Palace will have an annual income of about 600,000 taels."
"I, your Highness, would like to congratulate you. With this, Northeast Kuandian will be more secure. When we go to Nanjing, it will be more convenient for us to display our talents."
…
It was late at night and everyone went to sleep. Zhu Youdong stood alone at the bow, watching the slowly flowing water of the Grand Canal in silence.
He habitually put his index and middle fingers in front of his mouth: it had been more than six years since he came here, and of course he no longer had the addiction to smoking in this life. However, when he needed to think deeply, he still habitually made the action of smoking.
In the two years since he was enlightened, he has done a lot and brought some changes to the Ming Dynasty. However, due to his age, status, his own strength and time, what he has done is still far from his goal.
The empire was short of money! It was short of money to the extreme! How could this emperor grandfather in this life not know that sending eunuchs to collect mining taxes would intensify social conflicts? But he was really forced into no choice!
Now, the civil officials are collectively opposed, and the local gentry are instigating ordinary people to use various means to resist. As a result, the source of mining tax is getting smaller and smaller, and the cost and price to be paid are getting higher and higher. So much so that his own grandfather can no longer hold on.
In the 33rd year of Wanli, the imperial court was forced to issue an order to stop collecting mining taxes. However, the emperor, who was hoping for luck, did not recall the local tax supervisors. As a result, the soldiers and civilians in Yunnan killed the local tax supervisor Yang Rong. If Zhu Youdong had not intervened in Shaanxi, it would not have been a matter of Chen Shiji being dismissed.
Therefore , last year, in the 34th year of the Wanli reign, the emperor had no choice but to issue a clear order that all tax inspectors dispatched from abroad return to the palace, stop collecting mining taxes, and transfer local market taxes and commercial taxes to local civil servants.
Ha! Zhu Youdong and Zhu Yijun could foresee that this tax, which still brought in 300,000 or 400,000 taels of income from eunuchs every year, would become almost zero in a few years.
So Wanli sent him out. Before he left, Wanli told him earnestly: Eunuchs have inherent deficiencies in collecting taxes, and it will be much easier for the grandson to make money in Nanjing. Zhu Youdong still remembers what Wanli said to him before sending him on board.
"Dong'er, grandpa is old. Even if I do nothing now, I can live comfortably until I see Taizu and Chengzu. But what about the descendants of my Zhu family? What about the fate of my Ming Dynasty? All these depend on you! Do your best and don't worry about the saying that a person's words can melt gold. You are the crown prince, and this country will be yours sooner or later. Do you think that grandpa will still suspect that you are rebelling against yourself?"
Of course, the mercenary old man finally revealed his true nature: "Dong'er, Honghe Manor gives me 600,000 taels every year, and the jade mine will give me about 900,000 taels every year. When you go to the south, find a way to earn another 500,000 taels for me every year. In this way, I can rest assured."
Five hundred thousand taels? My grandpa, you underestimate me!
