eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 620 Government is the bottom line

"Your Majesty, Mr. Yang Ge and Mr. Wang Ge would like to see you."

The emperor was originally sitting cross-legged on a kang-like bed, but moved to the low table on the bed to read some memorials. When he heard You Zhi coming in to report, he bent down to put on his shoes.

You Zhi, with quick eyes and quick hands, ran over to serve you, "Your Majesty, I'd better let your servant come."

"It's okay, just let them in."

These two were important ministers. It was not etiquette for Zhu Houzhao to take off his shoes and seemed disrespectful. Not only that, he would not cross his legs casually and sit down in a serious manner.

These things are very important to Confucian scholars and very simple to Zhu Houzhao, so he usually pays attention to them.

Not long after, the two of them came hand in hand, "Your Majesty Yang Yiqing (Wang Hao) respectfully greets you."

"I'm safe."

As soon as the emperor stretched out his hand, the eunuch next to him had already brought two stools.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"I am reading the memorial of Shuntian Governor Wang Jing," Zhu Houzhao took it from the low table. "After the land distribution in Beizhili in the second year of Zhengde, the people finally had a peaceful life. I remember that before the land distribution, the grain tax was taxed every year. There are only more than [-] shi, but since the fourth year of Zhengde, it has more than tripled. But he said that after the times got better, it would be detrimental to the promotion of sweet potatoes. This is really... In the end, it is the fault of our monarchs and ministers who are too diligent in governing. no?"

There was a smile in the emperor's tone, obviously he was teasing.

Yang Yiqing and Wang Hao were both relatively relaxed.

Wang Hao then said: "If you are poor, you will change; if you are not poor, you will not change. Wang Tingcai's words are not unreasonable, but this cannot be regarded as your Majesty's fault, but rather his contribution. As for sweet potatoes, they have high yield and are drought-resistant. , many common people still don’t know its characteristics, but when they fully understand it in two or three years, it won’t be difficult.”

"Shuntian Mansion will plant [-] acres of sweet potatoes this year." Yang Yiqing raised his hand, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will keep an eye on him."

"Well, what about his request to thin out the seeds? To encourage people to plant more by exempting some taxes."

Wang Hao said: "I thought we could give it a try. After the military settlement was cleared, membership in the association increased significantly in the next year, and we have financial support. Such rewards can not only hide wealth among the people, but also promote the popularization of sweet potatoes, killing two birds with one stone."

Zhu Houzhao originally thought it was good, but he thought of what Liu Jian of Shandong was doing.

"...In principle, I still agree with what you said. What our monarchs and ministers want is to make the people's lives better. But is it too complicated to reduce or reduce money and food? How much is the reduction? Is it a partial reduction or a complete reduction? ? In my opinion, it is better to do this. If each family is willing to try to plant two acres, one person in the family will be exempted from the corvee. If they are willing to try to plant five acres, two people in the family will be exempted from the corvee.

The advantage of this is that it is easy to implement, and the county magistrate will cross out the name of whoever is trying to plant the seeds this year, and it is also easy for the people to understand, and they will understand it as soon as they hear it. "

Yang Yiqing and Wang Hao thought for a while and both nodded. In this case, it is another good governance.

One by one, slowly, we can manage the country well.

Zhu Hou looked after them and had no objections, so he started writing.

Since he ascended the throne, Zhu Pi's power has not been ceded to anyone.

After he finished writing, he blew it and handed it to Yang Yiqing. "This opening has been opened to him, and there must be no other excuses. This sentence was given to me in private, and I will not write it in the memorial."

"Yes, Your Majesty is holy."

"If there is a shortage of corvee labor, the cabinet will discuss a solution with the Ministry of Household Affairs after returning, allocate a sum of money, and convert the requisition into employment. Liu Xixian has done a good job in Shandong, and the people have responded well."

These are all memorials that he saw.

As for telling the truth, Zhu Houzhao didn't think Liu Jian had any reason to lie to him.

Wang Hao felt relieved, "Actually, Wei Chen feels that these... let's call them 'losses', which will be made up from the taxes collected by the court after the sweet potatoes are promoted."

It is indeed possible that with the rapid promotion of sweet potatoes and high yields, the taxes and grain received by the court will naturally be higher.

"When it comes to this, you two should keep something in mind." Zhu Houzhao slowly frowned, "In the past, the taxes collected by the imperial court were all the same, rice, wheat, cloth, and now sweet potatoes are added, but sweet potatoes are actually not very good. It's easy to store, but that's not the main reason. In fact, I have long been considering whether the tax law can be slightly changed, and it would be best to charge discounts uniformly.

Think about transportation again, transporting 50 taels of silver or transporting 500 million shi of grain, which one is more convenient and which one is more economical?These are all areas that can be improved in the government, but it is not appropriate to change the law at the moment. We need to wait for the amount of silver imported from sea trade to accumulate more every year.I will mention it today so that you can consider it during this time. "

Yang Yiqing and Wang Hao were slightly surprised after hearing this.

"Your Majesty, please follow His Majesty's will."

"Well." Zhu Houzhao slapped his forehead, "Look at me, it's obviously you who came to see me. Let's talk, what's the matter?" "Let Mr. Yang Ge do the talking."

Yang Yiqing took something out of his sleeve and said, "It's a matter of Baoding Prefecture. His Majesty just said that the taxes and grains of Shuntian Prefecture have more than tripled since the fourth year of Zhengde. However, Baoding Prefecture increased significantly the year before last, but it fell slightly last year. "

"I, remember this. Wasn't it because of the Salt River flood that I exempted two counties from taxes?"

"It's just two counties. If you add them together, there won't be much more last year. But it stands to reason that Baoding Prefecture also divided the fields. Last year, there were still two complete spring and autumn seasons. There should be more growth. Originally, it was just the veteran's doubts, but Chen Tai's incident reminded the old minister. So the old minister sent people to carefully check the figures reported by Baoding, Zhending, Hejian, Shunde, Daming, and Guangping with previous years, and also sent people to make secret visits."

Zhu Houzhao had a bad premonition, "Is there something wrong? Is it a false report?"

"Whether it is a false report or not, I am not sure yet. However, officials in Shunde and Baoding prefectures colluded with local wealthy families and began to occupy land again."

The emperor's tone immediately changed, "Is there any conclusive evidence?"

"Two of them are the most typical, and I have written them down truthfully. However, to obtain the specific evidence, Your Majesty still needs to instruct the Jin Yiwei."

"Remember to eat and not to fight!" Zhu Houzhao slammed the things on the table, "You Zhi, go and call someone."

"Yes!"

Then, when he really started to look through the things Yang Yiqing gave him, he felt something was wrong.Lu Shiyu and Xu Zili of Baoding Prefecture, and Mu Fuyang of Shunde Prefecture...

These names look like...

Zhu Houzhao had doubts in his heart, so he raised his eyes and looked at Yang Yiqing, but the old guy had no expression at all.

As for Wang Hao, his head was also lowered.

No one spoke, but the atmosphere was obviously different.

There was one person missing today, but all three people in the room thought of that person.

"His Majesty."

When Zhu Houzhao heard Wang Hao suddenly speak, he asked inadvertently: "Sir, do you have something to say?"

"Yes, I am wondering whether the cabinet will issue another edict in the voice of His Majesty to all provinces, prefectures and counties across the country, using the Chen Tai case as a lesson, ordering none of them to falsely report figures, and at the same time, the court will not regard the amount of taxes and grain as the only performance evaluation standards.”

"Oh, that's no problem. Sir, if you two see that there's nothing wrong with it, I agree to send it. But I'm afraid it will have little effect. For this purpose, I killed so many people, but look at Mr. Yang Ge's memorial , there are still people who are daring."

"Then what your Majesty means, these people are..."

Zhu Houzhao nodded, "I don't care what their reasons are. If it involves national affairs and people's livelihood, if you can't do it, you can't do it."

Yang Yiqing cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, you are wise!"

"Okay, let's leave Yang Ge's things behind. You can go back first. I will explain the rest to Jin Yiwei."

……

……

Dry outside the palace,

Wang Hao caught up with Yang Yiqing, who was walking a little faster, and said, "Mr. Ge, do you think your majesty can see it?"

"Probably, I can still see it."

"But His Majesty said nothing."

Yang Yiqing said meaningfully: "Didn't you say it? Think about it again."

"Mr. Ge, let's stop showing off."

"Okay. I actually heard His Majesty say, who cares how you fight?"

(End of this chapter)