my brother-in-law is the prince

Chapter 244 Please enter the urn
Yang Rong was curious about why Zhang Anshi suddenly presented this memorial, and he also hoped that the court would discuss it.

According to his understanding of Zhang Anshi, this is definitely not Zhang Anshi's whim.

This guy is brilliant.

Just when he was still about to ask, the eunuch said, "Your Majesty announces the audience."

So everyone filed in.

Arrived at Chongwen Hall.

Zhu Di had already ascended to his seat, and he looked around at this moment without saying a word.

After everyone stood still, Xie Jin went out of the class first and said: "Your Majesty, what is discussed in today's court meeting is Zhang Anshi's abolishment of banknotes and coinage."

Demonetization is an extremely sensitive topic.

Zhu Di was a little speechless, this was against his ancestor's decision, and Zhang Anshi didn't discuss it with him in advance.

As for Zhang Anshi's memorandum, he was immediately asked by Wenyuan Pavilion for a court discussion.

In this way, it appears to be passive.

The more important the matter, the less extensive discussions should be held. Zhu Di suspected that this was what someone in Wenyuan Pavilion wanted.

So Zhu Di took a deep look at Xie Jin.

Xie Jin, on the other hand, looked harmless to humans and animals, waiting for Zhu Di to deal with him.

Zhu Di had no choice but to say: "Yes."

As soon as this remark came out, Xie Jin looked at Zhang Anshi and said, "Marquis Annan has always known the way of economy, but why did he abolish the ancestral system this time?"

He seemed to be presiding over the court discussion and behaved fairly, but he first identified a big hat for abolishing the ancestral system.

All of a sudden, all officials understood that Xie Gong was very disgusted with the abolition of banknotes.

Zhang Anshi smiled, and said, "The precious banknotes of the Ming Dynasty are depreciating day by day, and the people are no longer willing to accept them. Your Majesty, in the eyes of my ministers, the precious banknotes are useless."

Zhu Di pondered, but did not speak.

Xie Jin smiled and said, "What's your opinion, gentlemen?"

Then someone stood up and said: "Your Majesty, Xie Gong, Ming Baochao, in the eighth year of Hongwu, Emperor Gao of the Taizu set up the Baochao Lifting Department, established the Banknote Law, and printed Baochao. How can this ancestor's law be easily abolished? It is true that treasure banknotes are suffering from serious problems nowadays, but it is not the fault of Emperor Taizu Gao. It is actually the result of excessive printing in recent years. I think that instead of abolishing precious banknotes, it is better to reduce excessive printing... This is the right way.”

Zhu Di remained silent. The emperor usually would not make any suggestions at this time. Even if he had his own ideas, he would let the ministers argue first.

Xie Jin still looked at Zhang Anshi with a smile on his face: "What does Marquis Annan think?"

Zhang Anshidao: "Break it and then build it. The problem with treasure banknotes now is not how many banknotes have been issued, and whether they will be made indiscriminately in the future, but the loss of credibility."

As soon as this remark came out, the previous man suddenly changed his face, and said sharply: "Marquis Annan, how can you say such a thing! Break it and then establish it, are you trying to break the law of the ancestors? What will this do to my Great Ming Taizu, Emperor Gao? Land? Could it be that you still want to say, Emperor Gao, the great ancestor, has broken his trust in the world?"

Confucian officials are always like this.

If there is a disagreement, he will label you.

Most of the time, court discussions are clearly discussing specific affairs, but at the end of the discussion, it becomes a so-called issue of right and wrong.

Zhang Anshi was speechless for a moment, he just wanted to be his mother.

The crowd began to whisper.

Xie Jin looked at Zhang Anshi with piercing eyes, as if he felt a little sorry for Zhang Anshi's eloquence.

"You might as well invite Marquis An Nan to finish the conversation." At this time, someone came out of the shift and said calmly.

It was Yang Rong who spoke.

Seeing that it was Yang Gong who spoke, everyone fell silent.

Yang Rongdao: "What we are discussing today is the national economy and the people's livelihood. During the Hongwu period, the system was also abolished. Could it be that Emperor Gao of the Taizu denied himself? , for the common people.”

"Having this purpose is the original intention of Emperor Taizu Gao. Respecting his original intention is to abide by the laws of the ancestors. If you stick to the details, but ignore the original intention of Taizu Gao, it will be the opposite."

Everyone couldn't help looking at Xie Jin and then at Yang Rong.

Xie Jin's face changed slightly, and the corner of his mouth was still smiling, but he said: "What Yang Gong said is quite reasonable. Marquis Annan, please explain in detail."

Zhang Anshidao: "In today's market, the imperial court's treasure banknotes, soldiers and civilians are unwilling to accept them, so most of the copper coins and silver circulating in the market are of different quality. Even according to my observation, the copper coins in the Yuan Dynasty are still in use today. The silver transaction is even more cumbersome. Some people trade silver, but they have to carry scissors at all times to cut the corresponding silver from the silver cake and put it on the scale to complete the transaction. Not only does it take a lot of time, but it is also very cumbersome."

"Furthermore, the fineness of this silver is different, some contain a lot of impurities, and some are pure silver. This has brought huge troubles to the transaction. In the past, most of the gold and silver transactions in Ming Dynasty were limited to land. Buying and selling. Today, there are more and more commodities. Such transactions are bound to be detrimental to the development of industry and commerce. Because of this, changes must be made to address the current disordered currency value. Currency is the basis of everything. If even the currency cannot be unified , it is not good for the court or the common people."

After Zhang Anshi said, most of the officials were still unmoved.

To be honest, they feel that there is nothing wrong with the current situation, and everyone is used to it.

Now it is abolishing banknotes and minting coins, which is really troublesome.

Zhu Di was a little moved when he heard the word "business", and then he said slowly: "How to mint coins?"

Apparently, Zhang Anshi had already made comprehensive preparations for today's court meeting, so he said: "I have asked someone to cast some samples, please have a look at your Majesty."

Zhang Anshi took more than a dozen samples and sent them to the eunuch, who then forwarded them to Zhu Di before the case.

So on Zhu Di's imperial case, there are more than a dozen kinds of currency.

The standard is uniform, there is a gold coin engraved with one tael, with the words printed by the Ministry of Households on the top, and a line of small characters below it, which is made by the United Bank. a golden dragon.

At the same time, there are almost the same styles of silver coins one or two, as well as five coins, two coins, one coin, and copper coins one coin and so on.

All currencies have the same format, the same size, and even silver coins of different values ​​have the same weight. The only difference may be the difference in silver content.

The most important thing is that the carving is very exquisite, but the patterns carved on it are different. For example, this gold coin is a golden dragon, but when it comes to silver coins, it becomes a unicorn, and after that, it is a bullfight, tiger and leopard, etc.

Zhu Di picked up this thing, played with it in his hand, and said with some interest: "The round coins made by this Qixia craftsman are quite interesting."

Zhang Anshidao: "I think that using this kind of currency to go around the world smoothly will greatly reduce the loss for the court and provide great convenience for the common people."

The word loss immediately made Zhu Di understand something.

Taxes are wasteful.

What does loss mean?In addition to the loss of food, the loss of gold and silver is also very serious.

Because the taxes paid by the common people often have different currencies and different fineness, in order to ensure that they can receive a full amount of tax, the government often counts the silver and copper coins paid by the common people into multiples.

You said yours is five taels of silver, but my scale...is clearly four taels and eight taels of silver. You said that the amount you weighed at home is indeed correct. Could it be that the government scale is not as good as your home scale?
What's more, the quality of your silver is not right, and there are so many impurities in it. When the government smelts it into ingots and escorts them to the capital, I'm afraid that your five taels of silver will only be left with four or five taels of silver. Court confession?
This is just an extra levy for the common people.

In addition, there are local prefectures and counties, as well as various yamen, which store gold and silver in the treasury. In fact, it is the same. They will never tell the court that I have collected more from the people, but say that they follow the court's regulations. How much was collected.

However, I smelted the collected gold and silver, and as a result... I found that the conscience of the common people was very bad. It became 1000 taels.

Of course, 800 taels is considered conscientious, because according to some local chronicles, the fire consumption of smelting gold and silver, the fire consumption of general prefectures and counties, is as high as two or three dollars per tael, or even four or five dollars.Remote states and counties have less taxes, and the fire consumption is several times that of regular taxes.

Now of course Daming is mainly taxed on grain, but there are also a lot of taxes on gold and silver.

Moreover, Zhang Anshi believes that in the future, commercial taxes will inevitably be collected uniformly. If these people play like this, on the surface, when Emperor Taizu Gao was here, the taxes were set extremely low, but in fact, the taxes of the soldiers and civilians all over the world Fu is very heavy.

With the inconsistency of this currency, it directly led to the original collection of ten taels of silver, but the people had to bear the tax of fifteen to twenty taels of silver, and the court should have received ten taels of silver, right? , There may be only six or seven taels left, or even three or four taels.

If you ask him, he will say that he loves the people and cannot bear to criticize the people because their gold and silver are impure.

This is equivalent to eating both ends. It makes sense to eat the first one and then the second one.

Zhu Di narrowed his eyes, and now he understood clearly.

If the currency is unified, and all currencies adopt this system, then it will be as much as it should be.

Obviously, this alone is enough for Zhu Di to move his heart, and he said: "Well... this strategy, I think it's very good, you can try it out."

But when Baiguan heard the word loss, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

At the beginning, many people did not react.

But now, it's come to an aftertaste.

Fire consumption.

This fire consumption, as well as the loss of food and taxes, are almost the biggest source of income for local officials, and they are reasonable and legal.

There is a saying in later generations, it is called three years of Qing Zhifu, one hundred thousand snowflake silver, which is definitely not an exaggeration.

Because if you are really an upright official, relying on this alone, it is really possible to get 10 taels of silver in a relatively affluent county.

And this is considered to be very clean and honest, and he can even be a role model.

If not, relying on the salaries of the prefectures and counties in various places, where do the mansions in the capital send ice and charcoal tributes from all states and counties in a steady stream when it comes to festivals?
This is to curry favor with the Beijing officials. If you take a few taels or tens of taels, you will definitely not be able to give them away, and what you want to give away is not just one or two.

Such situations have been established since the Yuan Dynasty.

It belongs to the kind, if you give it away, people will not look at you highly, but if you don't give it away, everyone will inevitably mutter, this person is so strange, why is he so rude?

Even during the time of Emperor Taizu Gao, such reasonable losses, as well as Bing Jing and Tan Jing, were still in an endless stream, because this was beyond the scope of corruption, and it was reasonable and legal.

Just like the empty seal case, everyone does this, everyone thinks it makes sense, you can't find any faults against him, and everyone has difficulties, but your Taizu Emperor Gao suddenly flipped the table, You say you Zhu Yuanzhang is bad or not.

Xie Jin couldn't help but looked at Zhang Anshi in surprise. He had a strange expression on his face, and he even wondered if Zhang Anshi was crazy.

Is he looking for death?
Yang Rong's eyes were calm, observing everyone's reaction.

Many people have shown anger.

After all... state and county magistrates eat at both ends of the court and the common people, but what they eat are state and county magistrates, but now, you, Zhang Anshi, are smashing our pot?

Everyone remained silent for a while, but the atmosphere in the hall suddenly cooled down.

Xie Jin had a smile in his eyes, he couldn't wish for it!
This piece of Anshi has swelled to this point, do you really think that it can fight against the whole world?

Wouldn't this be the second Dong Zhuo, who insisted on hunting down the eighteen princes, right?

Emperor Taizu Gao, I am afraid that he is only so courageous.

Zhu Di glanced over the faces of everyone, and seemed to realize something, he stroked the copybook, and said: "Today's discussion, let's put it aside for now, the ministers of Wenyuan Pavilion will stay, the ministers will stay, and Zhang Anshi will stay. "

Zhu Di stepped on the brakes decisively for such a court discussion.

The faces of all the officials were extremely ugly.

The income is fixed, and how much Bingjing and Tanjing can be included in the account every year can be roughly calculated according to a person's official position.

But the problem is that once the pot is smashed, my mansion is bought, the concubines of each house have been taken in, and so many slaves have been bought, the carriages, horses and various expenses of the clan are all according to my own income to match.

If this financial source is cut off, it will really eat dirt.

This is really more ruthless than empty printing, it is a problem of teaching people to go hungry.

All the ministers were speechless, just silent with dark clouds on their faces, then saluted, and left.

Those who stayed were nothing more than Zhu Di's most trusted ministers.

Zhu Di stood up, with his hands behind his back, pacing back and forth, then he looked up at Xia Yuanji, and said: "Xia Qing's family is the Secretary of the Household Department, please tell me something."

Xia Yuanji said with a wry smile: "Your Majesty, this cannot be done."

He is concise and powerful.

Zhu Di's face was cold: "Xia Qing thinks... this strategy doesn't work?"

Xia Yuanji said: "If any national policy is to be implemented, all officials in the world must be able to agree. According to the law that Marquis Annan said, it will indeed have great benefits for the country and the people. Kechen believes that if it is to be implemented , must be struggling.”

Xia Yuanji paused for a moment, and then said: "What I said is from the bottom of my heart, without any selfishness. In fact, it is not that no one in the Household Department has thought about the method that Marquis Annan said, but in fact... it is basically practical. No way."

None of his words were perfunctory, they were all truthful.

Zhu Di said with a sullen face: "As long as it is beneficial to you, it can be implemented, right? But if it is not beneficial, then it will be difficult to move forward. If things go on like this, the court's taxes will become less and less, and the taxes paid by the people will also be reduced." It is getting heavier and heavier. After ten or a hundred years... no matter how big the camel is, it will be crushed."

The so-called moral decline is actually a kind of decline in the rise and fall of dynasties, because those who have mastered the state equipment will consciously safeguard their own interests.

As Zhu Di said, time and time again, he refuses to implement national policies that are unfavorable to them, but every time, the will that is beneficial to them can be fully implemented. In this way, the situation becomes more and more favorable to them, until their Wealth and status are inflated.But at the same time, the imperial court's finances will inevitably suffer a huge deficit, and it will become increasingly difficult for the common people to survive because of this reasonable and legal encroachment.

The final result is to enter the next cycle.

Xia Yuanji is not a corrupt official, even he is not bad, and he is already loyal.

At the same time, he also remained sober. The reason why he refused to let go was because he believed that if it was implemented in this way, it would only cause people's hearts to fluctuate, and it would definitely not be carried out.

Instead of tossing like Wang Anshi and finally returning to the old way, it is better not to toss, can you continue to sing and dance?Anyway, there are still at least 100 years of peace!

Xie Jin said from the side: "Your Majesty, this is the people's hearts. If the people's hearts are against each other, how can the country be safe?"

Zhu Di's face became darker immediately, and he said sharply, "Whose heart?"

Xie Jin said nothing.

Zhu Di said: "Such a major event should not have been discussed in the court first. Didn't Wenyuan Pavilion realize the hidden dangers? Why is there a public discussion in the court?"

At this time, Xie Jin didn't hesitate, bowed down quickly, kowtowed and said: "It's the minister who was negligent for a while."

Zhu Di snorted coldly and said, "Don't you have any other opinions?"

After finishing speaking, he turned his gaze and landed on a person: "Jin Zhong, tell me about it."

Jin Zhong, who wanted to remain silent until he resigned, stood up reluctantly and said, "I only know soldiers."

Zhu Di glared at him and said, "Don't you still know how to look at physiognomy? Come on, take a look at your own. How many years can you live?"

Jin Zhong: "..."

At this point, Jin Zhong felt that he couldn't escape, so he said: "Since it is good for the national economy and the people's livelihood, as long as your Majesty follows the example of Emperor Taizu Gao, then he will do it. There are definitely many obstacles, but because of the obstacles, I want to How can it be easy to do a big business and make meritorious deeds?"

Zhu Di raised his eyes slightly and said, "It means that Jin Qing's family seconded Zhang Qing's suggestion?"

Jin Zhongdao: "I didn't say anything."

"But that's not what you said last time."

Jin Zhongdao: "What I'm talking about is the principle of overcoming difficulties and making meritorious deeds. It's not about a certain thing."

Zhu Di snorted coldly and said, "I never thought, even you retreated."

Jin Zhong smiled wryly and said: "I must keep my useful body and plan military affairs for Your Majesty."

Zhu Di: "..."

Jin Zhong was considered an honest man, at least he didn't lie.

Zhu Di was thoughtful.

Immediately, his gaze fell on Jian Yi, Minister of the Ministry of Officials.

His tone was gentle, and he still expressed a certain respect for this old minister: "What do Jian Qing's family think?"

Jian Yi thought it over and said: "The root of the problem is whether things can be completed. If they are carried out with great fanfare, they will not be implemented in the end. What will hurt is the prestige of your majesty and the prestige of the court. So I ask your majesty to think again."

After hearing this, Zhu Di sighed, and quietly said: "Does Jian Qing's family really think it can't be done?"

"I have experienced the Taizu Dynasty, and I have been loved by Emperor Gao, and I have also participated in many military affairs. Taizu's martial arts, even many things, are still incompetent. Although he has worked hard and has a clear understanding of the details, it may be done for the world. How about the matter? Hey..."

What he meant was that Emperor Taizu Gao couldn't do it. Does Your Majesty think he is better than Emperor Taizu Gao?

Zhu Di was silent at this moment.

He sat down, squinted his eyes, and said nothing.

All along, Zhu Di did not ask Zhang Anshi for his opinion.

Because Zhang Anshi has a very clear attitude.

Zhu Di began to play with the few coins presented by Zhang Anshi, rubbed his hands on the fine silver coins, and said in a deep thought: "After all, I still don't want to, Zhang Anshi doesn't mention it. It's really hard to get over it. Fuck it!"

"His Majesty."

At this moment, Xie Jin glanced at Zhu Di, and suddenly said, "Zhang Anshi... missed Daming."

As soon as this remark came out, everyone looked sideways.

Zhu Di gave Xie Jin a cold look.

Xie Jin smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty... It's okay for others to mention such a memorial, but Marquis Annan can't mention it. Marquis Annan is the wife and brother of His Highness the Crown Prince, and the Crown Prince is the Crown Prince. It's okay if he doesn't mention it. , What will the soldiers and civilians of the world think?"

"Your Majesty appointed the crown prince as the heir, not only because of the close relationship between father and son, but also for the consideration of our country and society. If His Royal Highness is at odds with the army and people of the world at this time, I am only afraid that in the future, Jianwen will suffer again."

He said it with sincerity, after all, it was a small meeting behind closed doors, and he could speak freely.

This time, he directly pointed the finger at Zhang Anshi.

Every time the emperor dies, the dynasty will face a crisis, that is, the prince's prestige is not enough to control the situation, and this is what any normal emperor needs to consider.

What Xie Jin said was that Zhang Anshi had directly cheated the prince. If something happened to His Majesty in the future, what should the prince do?
Now the position of the prince is very stable, Xie Jin said these words, but it hit Zhu Di's mind all at once.

Of course, Xie Jin was worried about the prince on the surface, but in fact he said that if the prince could not control the situation in the future, he might as well consider other people...for example...

Zhu Di stared and understood Jin.

It has to be said that Xie Jin is talented. He can draw inferences from one instance and directly explain the essence of the problem.

But the expressions of other ministers in the palace are different.

Some people think that Xie Jin is right. In this palace, Jian Yi, Jin Zhong, Yang Rong and others are almost all people who firmly support the prince.

What Xie Jin said made them aggravate their worries.

As for Zhu Di, what he may have to consider is that he cannot let his son produce a Jianwen, which may create hidden dangers for the country.

Zhu Di looked at the crowd with a gloomy gaze, and said in a deep thought: "Should such consideration be given to policies that benefit the country and the people?"

Xie Jin immediately said: "In all dynasties and dynasties, there have been many suggestions, many of them, and what they advocated was not for the benefit of the country and the people. But in the end, they all failed, and even endangered the country. So I think... Annanhou lived If you are in a high position, you should not act on your will, and think twice before acting in everything."

Zhu Di pursed his lips, turning the silver dollar in his hand, a layer of sweat from Zhu Di's hands had already appeared on the silver dollar.

He closed his eyes slowly, then opened them suddenly.

At this time, Zhang Anshi said: "What Xie Gong said makes sense, I have been taught."

Xie Jin smiled slightly and said, "I'm speaking more bluntly, please don't blame Marquis Annan."

"Don't dare, dare not." Zhang Anshi wanted to chop Xie Jin into pieces, but he said unhurriedly: "I heard... a few days ago, Xie Gong returned some books to His Royal Highness Zhao Wang .”

There was no change on Xie Jin's face, but he said: "His Royal Highness Zhao is thirsty for knowledge, and he is just recovering from a serious illness. I will send him some books and ask His Royal Highness Zhao to cultivate himself. Why not?"

"It's nothing wrong." Zhang Anshi looked at him with a half-smile and said, "I just heard that Xie Gong and Zhao Wang walked around a lot."

Xie Jin knew these things a long time ago, and he couldn't hide them from others, especially Jin Yiwei. He looked calm and even frank: "Wang Zhao Congmin is eager to learn, and he hopes to ask me for many things. Wang Zhao is His Majesty's." As a direct bloodline, I appreciate his studious heart, and he has indeed moved around a bit. But I don’t know, what does An Nanhou’s words mean? Could it be... I feel sorry for His Highness King Zhao, but I’m also wrong? "

It's clear, aren't you checking me?Then check it out.

Zhang Anshi looked at him steadily and said, "Do you care about each other?"

Xie Jin said calmly: "People have likes and dislikes. The king of Zhao is a man of heaven and earth. I am a minister. We have some intersections with each other. Shouldn't we violate the laws of Gangji and the country?"

Xie Jin was not worried at all, because he knew very well that King Zhao was also His Majesty's direct son, and he would never be angry with him because of this.

So he continued: "What's more, I and Zhao Wang are friends of gentlemen. Marquis Annan's entanglement with these things made me a little confused."

What this means is that you, Zhang Anshi, are too messy.

However, Zhang Anshi showed a smile, with a different meaning in his eyes, and said with a smile: "It's nothing, it's nothing, but I didn't expect that Xie Gong and His Royal Highness Zhao Wang have such a close relationship. I also have many friends. They're like brothers, and that's okay."

Xie Jin thought that Zhang Anshi couldn't find his mistake, so he admitted it at this time, and smiled at him, quite complacent.

Arguing with me, you Zhang Anshi is still too immature, learn another 100 years.

At this time, an eunuch came in to report: "Your Majesty, His Royal Highness King Zhao is asking to see you."

As soon as these words came out, Zhu Di let out a long breath, and said lightly: "Call me."

This King Zhao...has been recuperating for nearly a month. Xie Jin is very concerned about him, but it is not easy to visit him at the mansion in person. He is looking forward to meeting here today.If there is an opportunity, it is best to have a deep talk with each other.

After all, now because of Zhang Anshi, he has completely broken his face with Donggong.

After a while, Zhao Wang Zhu Gaosui, supported by the eunuch, entered the palace slowly, just about to salute.

Zhu Di said: "There is no need to salute, and I will give you a seat."

…………

Chapter 2 will be delivered as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)