The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"At that time, Taizu was wise and powerful, but he did not expect that the imperial government's finances would be unable to make ends meet due to the sudden increase in Lumi.

Chen Qingchen of the Ministry of Finance has carefully read the copy, and if the Lumi method of the Hongwu period is maintained, the Ministry of household affairs will not be short of money for His Majesty to purchase gems and pearls, but..."

When Wei Guangde said this, his words suddenly stopped.

"but what?"

Emperor Longqing asked.

"Your Majesty, I have seen the allocation of Lumi in various places this year. The amount is staggering. If there were no such expenditures, the Ministry of Revenue would not be out of money."

Wei Guangde just reminded.

"But there is no way to do this. These are the rules left by our ancestors. The children of the clan will naturally be supported by the imperial court."

Emperor Longqing just said.

"Yes, Taizu has set the rules, and naturally they cannot be changed without authorization. However, Your Majesty can also punish the offending feudal king according to the ancestors' instructions."

"How to punish?"

Wei Guangde said the punishment, and Emperor Longqing immediately asked.

"Except the country."

Wei Guangde raised his head and looked directly at Emperor Longqing, and then said: "The imperial court is short of a prince. Although it is only a loss of 10,000 stone and rice a year, the prince's son is a county prince. Over time, this expense will not be small."

"I remember that I asked you for a plan to reform the clan. Have you already thought of it?"

As they talked, Emperor Longqing vaguely remembered that when he was still in the palace, he felt the harm of the clan system when chatting with Wei Guangde, so he asked Wei Guangde to make suggestions.

"I am stupid and haven't thought of a way to get the best of both worlds yet."

Wei Guangde lowered his head and said.

"Oh, this matter is not that easy to say. If it were simple, it would have been solved long ago."

Emperor Longqing sighed.

“Your Majesty, although this matter is difficult to handle, it does not mean that we will do nothing.

Take this case of the King of Liao, for example. Since he committed a heinous crime, the court should deal with him decisively and banish him from the country. This way Huguang will save a lot of money in the future. "

Wei Guangde circled back and said.

"I know what you mean."

Emperor Longqing understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's words. The main reason why the imperial court could not make ends meet was that the clan's Lumi expenditure continued to increase, which led to a decrease in materials and money for the relief of the capital in various places. The decrease in household income naturally made it difficult to make ends meet.

Wei Guangde thought that by reducing the titles of the offending clans, he could somewhat alleviate some of Lumi's expenses. Although it was not much, according to what he meant, it was still a large number in the long run.

"Do you think I should cut down the Liao vassal?"

Emperor Longqing seemed to be asking, but actually he already had the answer in his heart.

If the clan has no faults, it cannot be moved, but if it makes mistakes, it will be punished by thunder and rain.

"The vassalage should be reduced."

Wei Guangde's answer this time was also very direct, telling the answer that Emperor Longqing wanted to say but had never said.

After being distracted by Wei Guangde, Emperor Longqing was not only determined to get rid of the Liao vassal, but his dissatisfaction with Ma Sen was somewhat relieved.

However, when Wei Guangde resigned, Emperor Longqing suddenly stopped him again.

"You should pay more attention to the affairs of the clan. If you think of a way, just write a statement and give it to me directly. There is no need to pretend to be the ceremonial supervisor."

"I obey the order."

Wei Guangde hurriedly bowed.

"I know that you are also very busy in the cabinet, but this matter is important. I remember that we also discussed this matter when we were in Yuzhuan.

Although we can still put it off now, we have to find a way in the end.

It is said that various places cannot afford the supply of Lumi due to too much, and they often default on Lumi to those estranged clan members, making the livelihood of the clan members unguaranteed.

The local government is in arrears with Lumi, so it naturally no longer cares about the weddings and funerals of these people. What's worse, there are many people who are over thirty years old and have not been buried for ten years.

may have? "

Wei Guangde blinked. These things were mentioned in the court documents, but the civil servants would not report these things to the emperor. How did he know?

But soon, Wei Guangde thought of Jin Yiwei.

Only they would report such a thing. Emperor Longqing was also calm, or he probably didn't care about these poor relatives at all.

In the current Ming Dynasty, only the nearby vassal kings and their descendants can still guarantee the supply of Lumi on time, but more members of the clan are living in dire straits. It can be said that the division between the rich and the poor in the clan has become serious.

Due to their status, these people were trapped by the ancestral precepts set by Zhu Yuanzhang and could not engage in the work of the four people, nor could they participate in the imperial examination and embark on an official career to make a living.

"No need to guess. I made my own guess after reading the documents sent by the princes from various places in the past ten years, as well as the punishments imposed by my father on some lawless members of the clan."

"Um?"

Hearing what Emperor Longqing said, Wei Guangde became even more suspicious. He didn't know what the emperor saw or what he thought.

“Some of them actually came up with the idea of ​​entering the high wall in order to eat.

Zhu Qintie, the lieutenant of the royal family of the Zhou Dynasty, was deprived of his title by his father and sent to Fengyang because of his comments on current affairs. In order to survive, his son actually imitated the same and wrote the "Four Strategies of ZTE" just to follow his father. Enter the high wall. "

Emperor Longqing said in a depressed mood, "You are the only person around me who has the most solutions, so I will leave this matter to you and come up with a way for me to solve this matter.

As long as it's not troublesome, I'll do it. Even if it's inappropriate, I won't blame you. "

When Wei Guangde heard this, he felt relieved. It turned out that the news was sent to the capital by the feudal prince's palace. No wonder the emperor knew this.

He nodded, bowed and replied: "I understand, I will try my best to find a way to solve this matter."

After Wei Guangde withdrew from the palace, he was still thinking about the clan on his way back to the cabinet.

This matter is neither big nor small. The main reason is that the "Emperor Ming Ancestor Instructions" set by Zhu Yuanzhang is in the way. Otherwise, there are many solutions and they would have been dealt with long ago.

If you can really solve this problem if you think of your own way, it will definitely conflict with the "Huang Ming Ancestor Instructions", which will also be very troublesome.

In the Qianqing Palace, after Wei Guangde said goodbye, Emperor Longqing called the little chamberlain sent to summon people and asked in detail about the whole process of meeting Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin after he and Wei Guangde left the cabinet. He found out that no one was there during the period. When talking about today's meeting, we just exchanged a few words.

After calling the young chamberlain out, Emperor Longqing continued to sit on the throne, lost in thought. Even though Meng Chong said he was going to have fun in the back, he did not let the emperor leave the palace.

There is no doubt that with the support of Li Chunfang, Chen Yiqin and Wei Guangde, Emperor Longqing was determined to eliminate the vassal.

It is not possible to eliminate the vassalage without reason, but of course it is OK if there is a crime.

"Meng Chong sent an order to the cabinet. King Xianzhi of the Liao Dynasty was guilty. He was demoted to a commoner, imprisoned by a high wall, and the country was destroyed."

In the quiet palace, Emperor Longqing's oral instructions came out. Meng Chong hurriedly walked a few steps and knelt down to receive the instructions.

"The constitution of the royal family is fornication and cruelty. It has many crimes and violates the ancestral precepts. Since there are many crimes, the officials have verified and participated in the performance. They should have done everything according to the law. I removed the nobles and imprisoned them, cut off the world titles, sent the consort Wu Jinghe to sue the Imperial Ancestral Temple, and the clan office wrote a letter Tell all the princes to know about it, and arrange for all parties to go to the censor to ask questions."

"According to the order."

After Meng Chong listened to Emperor Longqing's oral decree, he hurriedly fell to the ground and shouted loudly.

"Go to the cabinet and convey my wishes."

After giving the decree, Meng Chong stood up and left the palace, trotting towards the cabinet.

Emperor Longqing leaned softly on the throne. Except for one country, there will no longer be a Liao king in the Ming Dynasty, and there will be no more Liao kings.

Emperor Longqing didn't know what kind of discussion this decree would have if it reached other clan mansions, but he couldn't care less.

He was well aware of the financial difficulties of the Ming Dynasty when he was in hiding.

Although the elimination of vassals will not do much to improve finances, it will still be beneficial in the long run.

In fact, although the princes of the Ming Dynasty were nominally paid 10,000 shi, most of them actually took the initiative to ask for a reduction. Many of them only received half of their stipend, that is, 5,000 shi, and some received even less. However, this was usually because they were punished after making mistakes. salary.

It's just that the clan received too much Lumi, and even after the discount, it was still a huge expense.

Meng Chong quickly arrived at the cabinet with the emperor's decree and went straight to Li Chunfang to check in.

When he arrived at the door, he walked straight into the chief assistant's duty room without waiting for Zhongshu's announcement. Although this place seemed sacred to civil servants, he, Meng Chong, was not an ordinary person. He was a close official of the emperor.

Even these cabinet ministers would respectfully shout "Eunuch Meng" when they saw him outside, so in his heart, he did not take Li Chunfang seriously at all.

However, I was stunned when I entered the room. I couldn't help but see Li Chunfang, Chen Yiqin and Wei Guangde in the room.

The three of them were also surprised that someone entered the room without any notification, and they all looked over at this time.

While several people were in a daze, Wei Guangde reacted quickly, stood up immediately and said with a smile: "Oh, this is not Eunuch Meng, I don't know what kind of wind brought you here."

"Mr. Li Ge, Mr. Chen Ge, and Mr. Wei Ge, all three of you are here. Haha, the Za family are here to deliver the message."

After Wei Guangde spoke up, Meng Chong came back to his senses and said to himself that he was afraid of what they would do, so he also put on a smile and answered.

When they heard that Meng Chong came to deliver the order, the three of them looked at each other and understood.

Sure enough, as Meng Chong read out the emperor's will, the three of them became convinced.

"Yifu, it's up to you to draft the decree."

After Meng Chong expressed his intention, Li Chunfang immediately gave instructions.

"good."

Chen Yiqin promised that apart from the fact that the imperial edict must be treated with caution, even if he drafted it, it would be handed over to the Supervisor of Ceremonies after being read by several members of the cabinet.

After conveying the decree, Meng Chong only exchanged a few pleasantries before saying goodbye and going back to the palace.

After he left, Chen Yiqin smiled and said: "As expected, His Majesty issued the order so quickly."

"Haha, Your Majesty should also have this idea, but he is a little hesitant, so he needs me to make up his mind."

Li Chunfang smiled, and then said sternly: "It seems that your Majesty may not have taken this matter to heart, otherwise, according to Shandai's previous answer, your Majesty should still be angry with the Ministry of Accounts. It’s not so quick to issue an order.”

"However, the imperial court's finances are still a big problem."

Chen Yiqin answered: "Today I received a memorial from Prime Minister Pang Shangpeng, the censor of Jiangbei Yantundu, and wanted to package the remaining salt for disposal. My vote was rejected because I wanted to use this batch of remaining salt to subsidize the Ministry of Household Affairs, which will be sent by the Ministry of Household Affairs. The cashier will hand out salt when needed. If you go through the Yanzheng Yamen, you don't know how many people will be detained.

I originally said that I would tell the Chief Assistant later, but by chance, I did so at the same time. "

"There are not many inputs from the salt tax, banknote customs, and the Ministry of Revenue that can directly collect money."

Li Chunfang nodded and said.

"The money from Chaoguan is currently used by the Ministry of Revenue to distribute salaries to officials in the capital, and is generally not used for other purposes."

Chen Yiqin said, "Seeing that the end of the year is approaching, I don't dare to make any moves."

As the decree came out that King Zhu Xian of Liao was deposed and imprisoned under a high wall, the courtiers who were originally crowded in the General Administration Department suddenly dispersed.

There was no need to hand over the memorials in hand. Even the half-copied memorials by the scribes in the Department of General Affairs were asked back, and the officials in the capital left directly.

In the next few days, the imperial court returned to its normal state, with each government office reporting the matter step by step and handling the matter on its own when necessary. The situation in the imperial court was calm for a while.

It's just that Ma Sen may have felt that he had repeatedly refuted the emperor's face, and was afraid of future troubles. He claimed that his mother was sick and begged to return home. However, this memorial was sent to the palace and was regarded by Emperor Longqing as a minister. The prime minister and the country's national economy were at stake. How could he read it? My mother's love affairs have been withdrawn many times, so I should serve as a servant as soon as she recovers, and I am not allowed to resign.

For the current Emperor Longqing, even if he has some objections to Ma Sen, he is determined not to let Ma Sen leave until he finds an official who is better at managing money.

However, Chen Yiqin, Yin Shizhen and Wei Guangde were all summoned by Emperor Longqing at different times and asked if there were any people who managed money well.

Wei Guangde naturally did not know whether Li Chunfang and Zhang Juzheng had been asked this question, which meant that the three of them sometimes communicated with each other and maintained information sharing.

As the decree to punish the King of Liao was issued, King Lu, who was close to the capital, was the first to receive the documents from the Zongren Mansion, and their reaction was somewhat beyond the expectations of Wei Guangde and others.

In the view of Li Chunfang and other cabinet ministers, the emperor punished the King of Liao illegally and the news spread to the princes in various places. The princes should beat the members of the clan, at least to avoid the limelight and stop committing crimes again for the time being.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Yiyuan, King of Lu, and Zhu Zaicheng, King of De, each wrote a memorial to Lumi, requesting that the original five thousand shi of Lumi be changed to King Lu's two thousand shi and King De's 1,000 shi.

Because of Wei Guangde's words, the worried Emperor Longqing was overjoyed to see the memorial, so he immediately approved their request and sent someone to award him with an edict.

As King Lu and King De took the lead, other princes followed suit and resigned from some Lumi.

In fact, a few thousand dan more and a few thousand dan less food every year is really nothing to these princes. The main income of those princes' palaces is actually the village land and local commercial taxes.

Many clans used the Taxation Department and Hebao Office given by the emperor to collect local commercial taxes. Of course, they would not be able to collect much according to the court regulations, but now that it is given to them, they will naturally not let the money slip away in vain. .

But at this time, Wei Guangde was also meeting Qi Jiguang, who had just returned to Beijing, in his mansion.

After Qi Jiguang received the right to train troops in Jizhou, Changping and Baoding from the Prime Minister, he hurriedly traveled to various places. It was called to supervise the training of troops. In fact, he was selecting the best, forming separate armies, and then arranging routes and ordering them to go to the capital camp immediately.

With this short glance, Qi Jiguang, after returning to the capital, knew that Tan Lun had gone out to patrol the border, so he had to find Wei Guangde directly.

After meeting and saluting, Qi Jiguang was flattered a lot, and then he handed Wei Guangde a first draft of his memorial and asked him to help with corrections.

"Report to Chen Bianwu?"

Hearing Qi Jiguang's words, Wei Guangde just frowned and then opened it and started reading.

"You just rushed through one line and discovered so many problems?"

After quickly reading the first draft of the document, Wei Guangde frowned even deeper. (End of chapter)