Daming: I became Zhu Yuanzhang's eldest son

So, he immediately looked at Queen Ma and asked his doubts.

"Last time I asked Old Tang to go to the Yamen of the Ministry of War. I wanted to use the [-] miles of their station to expedite it, but the officers of the Ministry of War refused to use it, so I asked Old Tang to take out the jade pendant you gave. Provided help, and directly knelt down to pay respects, mother, what is your origin? You can make them respect you so much."

Empress Ma thought for a while and answered Zhu Tao.

"Tao'er, don't worry too much. Mother is just from a middle-class family. As for the reason why this jade pendant is so useful, it is because it came from the empress of the dynasty, Madam Ma."

Zhu Tao was stunned for a moment, it was fine for his father to be able to get involved with the imperial court as the Duke of Fu, but for his mother to be able to get involved with Empress Ma, could it be that his family must be relatives of the emperor?

Immediately, he felt that the popcorn in his mouth was tasteless, so he asked.

"Mother, how did you get to know Madam Ma? It has been 14 years since the founding of the country, but the mother of the country will not come out easily."

Empress Ma smiled and answered Zhu Tao and said: "That happened more than ten years ago. At that time, the emperor was only the king of Wu. My family has a small family. Wangfei, the later Empress Ma gave me this jade pendant as a souvenir, but I didn't expect it to become such a precious thing now."

Having said that, Zhu Tao's doubts were completely resolved, but he felt that this jade pendant was so precious that he couldn't keep it for himself.

"Since mother is like this, then the jade pendant can't be kept on her body. Since this thing is so precious, it's better for mother to keep it herself."

Empress Ma waved her hands and said to Zhu Tao with a smile.

"Tao'er, now your father is the Duke of Fuguo in the imperial court, and no one can bully me anymore, but you are still just a small villa owner. This jade pendant is naturally useful to you, and you can do things well." convenient."

Zhu Tao was moved, and his throat was a little choked, so he stopped trying to evade, and changed the subject.

"Then sit here for a while, and my boy will cook for you. You haven't been here for a long time. This time, I'll let you have a good taste of my boy's cooking."

Two days later, Liang Qingbiao, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, came to the cabinet to check on the house again, and began to complain with the three cabinet ministers.

"Let me tell you, the three elders, you have to persuade the emperor well. My household department now only has 100 million silver in the treasury. The emperor will continue to build a fleet, send troops to attack and defend, and set up a shipping department. All of this will cost money. , I made a rough estimate, and it is estimated that 300 million taels will not be enough, so what if I can’t pay for it!”

But Liu Bowen persuaded: "Master Liang, since you took over as Minister of the Household Department, you have basically done nothing else. You have been complaining and crying about your poverty. Is it true that my Daming Household Department is really in trouble like this?"

Liang Qingbiao's heart was almost about to scold the street, Mr. Liu really didn't feel pain in his back when he stood up and talked, you said that the Ministry of Households was crying for poverty, so try to use this 100 million taels to do 300 million taels!

But quarreling can't solve the problem, Song Lian stood up and said.

"Liang Shangshu, the emperor is planning to take Dongying as a colony because the Ministry of Finance has no money. At that time, all the rare earths, minerals and aquatic products there will be used by me. After the Japanese pirates there can become our country's labor force, wouldn't it be beautiful? Why are you blocking this?"

Liang Qingbiao disagreed with Song Lian's words, he said.

"Lord Song, that's not how the account is calculated. If the emperor can conquer Dongpu, it will be a development process. We have to invest a lot before we can make money. What should we do if we don't have money to invest now?"

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang came in suddenly, seeing these people arguing here, he laughed and said.

"What Liang Shangshu said is indeed reasonable, but the three cabinet ministers are also experienced in seeking the country, and they are considering the problem from the perspective of the overall situation. You are not wrong."

Whether it was the three cabinet ministers or Liang Qingbiao, Shangshu of the Ministry of Household Affairs, they all felt that Zhu Yuanzhang's muddy harmony was really not very good.

After all, you said that everyone is right, but the problem is not resolved, so what should we do?You, the emperor, should have something to say.

Zhu Yuanzhang came this time to bring them a solution. He looked at several ministers and said with a smile.

"Don't argue any more. What we heard outside just now is very clear, isn't it just that there is no money? Now we have an idea that money is not a problem. I will soon fill up the treasury with Liang Shangshu. You Believe it or not?"

If the emperor asks such a question, even if you have no brains, you may not dare to say that you don't believe it. Liang Qingbiao naturally knows how to answer this question.

"Your Majesty is brilliant, if you have a solution to the problem, I will naturally believe it, but I am the Secretary of the Household Department, and I am asking for punishment for making Your Majesty so troublesome."

Zhu Yuanzhang was in a very good mood at this time, so of course he would not really punish Liang Shangshu for his crimes, he said with a smile.

"I said before that if you have corrupted 8000 yuan, you will have to peel and eat grass. This has never changed, but good words can't persuade the damn ghost. I'm afraid there are still many corrupt officials in the government and the opposition."

Several ministers were taken aback for a moment, they didn't know what to do. Could it be that the emperor wanted to increase the punishment for corrupt officials again.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at them in a daze, and knew that it was time to make this method public.

"We are going to spread rumors across the country, so that everyone has the opportunity to impeach and report these corrupt officials. As long as someone reports a corrupt official, once it is verified, the court will get half of the corrupt official's family property, and the reporter will also get half. Everyone gets what they want , what do you Yi Aiqing think?"

The so-called rumors mean that no matter who they are, they have the right to report to the emperor to impeach others.

But there is a problem here, that is, even if the content of the impeachment is untrue, it is not a false accusation, and there is no need to bear any responsibility.

Therefore, all the emperors in the past dynasties will control the rumors and rumors very strictly, and basically will not open them easily.

So as soon as Zhu Yuanzhang said it today, the people below were very restless.

This is not because they think there is any suspicion of false accusation, but a very important other reason.

Whether it is the three cabinet ministers, the Minister of the Household Department, or even the six ministers and nine ministers, or even middle and low-level officials, none of them just rely on their salary to eat.

Since Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, everyone's salary has been very low, and the annual salary of first-rank officials is only a few dozen taels of silver. This money can basically only eat enough, and it is difficult to eat well.

Later, the Department of State and Commercial Affairs also issued some subsidies according to the rank of everyone's official rank, but most officials were still lavish and not enough to spend.

Therefore, it is inevitable that they will use the power in their hands to receive some benefits overtly and secretly. All ministers are unavoidable about this.