eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 727 Accounting
Because of the vast territory and long transportation distances, the summer and autumn tax grains are not finally put into storage until the beginning of the next year.

After the New Year, Zhu Houzhao frequently summoned cabinet and household officials to compile statistics on the annual income of the Zhengde decade and the current state treasury deposits.

Numbers will tell people that the Ming Dynasty of the Zhengde Dynasty is ushering in its heyday.

"... In the tenth year of Zhengde, the 13 provinces of the two capitals in the Ming Dynasty received a total of 3400 million taels of tax and grain in summer and autumn, 1040 million taels of grain for the army, and cloth and cotton. The direct money income was more than 1800 million taels, including salt tax. was the highest, with a total of 1012 million taels, followed by the trade surplus, with a total of 672 million taels, and the remainder was obtained by the Shaofu, the tea, horse, and shipping departments of the three cities and the remaining banknotes."

Zhu Houzhao knew well as he listened that at the peak of the mid-Ming Dynasty, the national tax and grain should have been around 2900 million shi, but now it has only increased by 500 million shi.

Of course it is good to have growth, but not much because the agricultural tax is a matter of the fields. If the fields are not settled well, it is unreasonable to impose more taxes. If it were not for the promotion of sweet potatoes, the extra 500 million shi would not be possible.

In fact, he has sent Jin Yiwei and various people to investigate among the people. Although sweet potatoes have various shortcomings, the extremely high yield per mu has solved the problem of starvation for many people.

Not eating well is not the same thing as not eating well.

However, the contradiction between man and land has not been fundamentally resolved, and in fact the people are not living very well.

No matter how high the level of economic activity in a society is, it has nothing to do with the most ordinary people. Although they have something to eat, sweet potatoes cannot be sold for a price, so they cannot exchange for money. If there is no money, it will be more difficult to study and change their destiny. I can't even pay Shu Xiu.

Therefore, no matter how much the civil officials deceived him, Zhu Houzhao would not change the Qingtian Order.

Compared with taxes and grain, the money received by the court has increased significantly, and the salt tax and silver inflow from overseas have reached a large scale.At the same time, because Zhu Houzhao gave the world a good rest for five years, the Ming Dynasty's treasury has reached its peak, both in terms of silver and grain.

Two battles were fought last year, and it was said that more than 300 million taels were spent, but overall there was no major social unrest and everything was relatively stable.

Excluding military expenditures, the Ming Dynasty's treasury expenditures only had two main items. One was officials' salaries. After the country's situation improved, from the fifth year of Zhengde to the tenth year of Zhengde, Zhu Houzhao overall raised the salaries of officials. After all, the official salary of the Ming Dynasty was It is indeed too low and actually forces people to become corrupt.

After two consecutive increases, the imperial government's official salary expenditure doubled from the initial approximately 250 million taels of silver per year to 500 million taels of silver.

The second major expense was the vassal salary. Zhu Houzhao tried every means to reduce this part. Originally, there was a tradition in the Ming Dynasty that "the vassal salary was insufficient". During the Hongzhi period, the ancestral lord consumed about 350% of the silver every year. Amounting to [-] million taels.

In the tenth year of Zhengde, although the princes were still having children, the amount of money was decreasing instead of increasing, and was greatly reduced to just over 200 million taels.

In addition, although the number of grains in the field increased sharply, military expenditures were not all about food, but some salary. Especially Zhu Houzhao maintained a relatively strong elite army and built a navy, so the normal military salary was still 300 million taels.

With this rough calculation, Zhengde's fixed expenses for ten years amounted to 1000 million taels.

In addition, there are other expenses, such as disaster relief, establishing a science academy, etc.

However, the above-mentioned rough calculations are all based on "discounting silver". In fact, it is not all about silver, but a combination of original color and discounted color. For example, when officials receive their salary, they are given both rice and silver.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao himself knew that when he ordered the attack on the Turpan Khanate, the national treasury had more than 800 million taels of silver. Even if he squandered some, by the end of the 500th year of Zhengde, the treasury still had more than [-] million taels of silver.

There is no need to talk about food. Jingtongcang has already been flooded with food.

Speaking of which, it seems that there is no shortage of money, but that is because of Emperor Zhu Houzhao. A few million may seem like a lot, but if you encounter a foolish emperor, celebrating a birthday, building a palace, etc., it will be all easily done.There have been many such things in history.

So far, Zhu Houzhao is not very willing to spend money to repair any house in the palace, as long as it can't collapse.

After counting the accounts, He Jian, the Minister of Revenue, rarely smiled. However, the emperor fought two wars this year, which still frightened him, so he couldn't help but remind him, "Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty was hard-won today. Although the country has surplus wealth, If you turn from frugality to luxury, it will be consumed quite quickly."

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but clicked his tongue, "Except for the fixed annual income of more than 1000 million taels, this year's income will allow you to spend it steadily until the end of the year. The national bank balance must exceed [-] million taels. What are you doing with this wealth?"

When He Jian heard that this was wrong, he said, "We have just lived a prosperous life. If we spend all of it, I will be heartbroken!"

"You see, he is stingier than me."

Wang Hao and Yang Tinghe both laughed.

Wang Hao said again: "What Shangshu said is right. Leaving enough money can survive the bad times."

"I know that you have to spend money in moderation, but I have long said that the fundamentals of governing a country are to prosper all industries and make the people rich. It does not make much sense to have too much money in the hands of the court, even if it is to prevent the new year. Even if the scenery is not good, you don’t need so many.”

They wanted to speak again.

Zhu Houzhao immediately said, "I know what the three beloved ministers are worried about. I can make a three-point agreement with the three of you here. First, we, the monarchs and ministers, will not do any large-scale construction projects. I neither believe in Buddhism nor Taoism, even if I really don't believe in Buddhism." I'm so confused. If I want to build any Taoist temple or grand palace, you are trying your best to stop me.

Second, we will never hold ceremonial events that consume a lot of money. Even I will try to save as much as possible.third……"

He Jianyan said: "Your Majesty, the imperial court has used troops twice in a row in the tenth year of Zhengde. This third time..."

"No, Yerqiang refused to be surrendered by the Ming Dynasty. Both the government and the public know this, so are they allowed to do whatever they want?" Zhu Houzhao waved his hands repeatedly, "This third point, I will not spend money to find rare treasures, immortality and elixirs. Immortality. It’s not interesting, life is not about length, but thickness.”

"My Emperor Shengming!"

"Since I am a sage, this matter is settled. I will not waste the country's money. You don't have to feel bad." Zhu Houzhao is rich now, "Zhou Shangwen has already returned to Beijing after hearing the order. I estimate that there will be at most one We will arrive in the next month. I think it is time for Ming Dynasty to discuss the surrounding security situation. Things happened suddenly in the tenth year of Zhengde. These two battles were not what we wanted, but they were fought. I believe we can win. But it will be too passive in the long run.”

The ministers can understand the emperor's thoughts, and passive response has never been his style.

Zhu Houzhao raised his eyebrows and said, "At my age, when I have managed the country to such a great level, no matter how tabooed it is to be militaristic, I still have to make some achievements. Otherwise, there is only civilized governance and no martial arts. You ministers are the ones who have misunderstood me." .”

The three of them were dumbfounded by these words, so why did they put the hat on their heads?

Fortunately, Zhu Houzhao was not serious, as if he was joking. He still said with great pride: "I want to conquer a territory that exceeds that of Taizu Taizong. After I conquer Zhengde, the country will have no more border troubles in 100 years."

(End of this chapter)