Domineering Daming

Bi Ziyan knew all these things in his heart, and he kept frowning when he heard what Fu Changzong said.

During the reign of Emperor Tianqi, the tax and silver of the imperial court was about 200 million taels, and the grain was about 300 million.Since the emperor handed over Huitong Commercial Bank and others to the cabinet, the imperial tax bank increased to about 3000 million, and the tax and grain also reached 800 million. It seems that the increase has been a lot, but the expenditure is even larger, and it will not be possible to cut expenditure immediately. The shortfall in the next two years is even more than Tianqi's tax in one year!

Taxes will decrease in the future, but the deficit may not be filled. That is to say, unless the top ten granaries are used, this loophole will not be filled at all, and it will only grow bigger every year. If something unexpected happens, even There is no extra ability to resist!

Throttling is imminent!

The cabinet resumption of power is imminent!

The promotion of the "New Deal" is imminent!

Bi Ziyan thought about it, and looked at Fu Changzong and said in a firm tone: "The most critical part of the 'New Deal' is the 'Field Mu Policy'. This official intends to separate the Tianmu, Hu Ding and other departments managed by the Ministry of Households. What do you think of the establishment of a Yamen?"

This item is the most important responsibility of the household department. Once it is taken away, the household department will be half empty, leaving only the management of money and food, and this management is in documents, and the actual storage is not in the household department.

Fu Changzong looked at Bi Ziyan with a calm expression and a slight twinkle in his eyes.

Chapter 837 It's time for strong medicine

The Household Department is not an ordinary yamen, and any rash action may cause huge waves. After all, Fu Changzong is the emperor's uncle. He has been in the Household Department for many years. The sudden seizure of power by the ministry may cause a huge shock in the ruling and opposition parties and a series of unnecessary speculations.

Zhou Yingqiu has been "repurposed for other purposes" now, because of deliberate suppression, there is not much fluctuation. If Fu Changzong falls again, it may cause monstrous officialdom shocks, and even damage the imperial prestige, and affect the "New Deal"!

Zhou Yingqiu and Fu Changzong are the two ministers of the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of Households, and they are the two most critical pillars for Zhu Xu to control the political situation.

Zhou Yingqiu is now at home, if something happened to Fu Changzong, it would be easy for the government and the public to speculate that the emperor Zhu Xu might "fall from power", causing an unpredictable political crisis, which would affect the entire Ming Dynasty, affecting all aspects, and the consequences were unpredictable!

Fu Changzong pondered for a while, looked up at Bi Ziyan and said, "Old Bi Ge, don't act too hastily."

Bi Ziyan looked at Fu Changzong and said knowingly: "If Fu Shangshu cooperates, I can minimize the impact and strive to complete the reform of the Ministry of Households before the year."

As soon as this sentence came out, Fu Changzong frowned, and he needed cooperation in stealing people's things, and he said "innovation". He, the old minister of the household department for many years, felt harsh no matter how he heard it.

But he also knew that it was Zhu Xu's established plan to take over the power cabinet, so he suppressed his anger and said, "Just do what the elder wants to do."

Bi Ziyan could feel that Fu Changzong's tone was wrong, so he still said: "I plan to split up some of the powers of the household department, some of which are directly under the direct jurisdiction of the cabinet, and strictly control the government affairs of the household department, especially the entry and exit of money and food. The officials of the Ministry are redeployed..."

Fu Changzong's eyelids twitched, this Bi Ge boss has such a big appetite, and he actually wants to swallow the household department in one go, he simply treats him like nothing!

Normally, he would never be polite with Bi Ziyan, but firstly, this is Zhu Xu's state affairs, and secondly, he is about to leave, and he needs to have a harmonious relationship with the cabinet, otherwise all his relationships will be in jeopardy when he leaves. In a dangerous situation, you need to be patient.

However, Fu Changzong was deeply disgusted by Bi Ziyan's aggressiveness, and said with a calm face: "The weather has been cold recently, and the lower officials have not been feeling well. Today, I also came to ask the cabinet for leave, and please allow the elder Bi Ge."

Bi Ziyan saw that Fu Changzong was putting on a challenge in front of him, and he was also angry in his heart, and said directly: "Okay, I will inform the Ministry of Households of the specific reform measures, and I will discuss it with the emperor. Fu Shangshu can rest assured."

Seeing that Bi Ziyan insisted on this, Fu Changzong couldn't get out of his anger, he stood up and said, "I will take my leave."

Bi Ziyan didn't speak any more, watching Fu Changzong leave, he let out a long breath and his face was calm.Although offending Fu Changzong may have many consequences, compared to his plan, he can bear all these!

After Fu Changzong left the cabinet, he looked in the direction of Jingyang Palace again, hesitating in his heart whether he should go there or not.

Bi Ziyan's impatience to act so impatiently may disrupt all six departments. In addition, he and Zhou Yingqiu "resigned" one after another, which may cause huge shocks in the government and the public.Now it's the end of the year again, and next year's big meeting is not far away, so we can't make any big troubles.

Fu Changzong stood where he was, turned around and left after thinking for a long time.

The root of this matter was the emperor's established plan, and Bi Ziyan was following the plan. Although he was in a hurry, the emperor would not do anything because of it.

When Fu Changzong walked out of the palace, a piece of news exploded over the capital.

"Demotion"!

One of the most widely rumored versions is that the king of Lu Shangzuo, the clan has too many people, and the yearly salary is not enough. The British Duke Zhang Weixian suggested "relegating to the nobility".

In the imperial clan in the capital, there are hundreds of thousands of nobles, and they all rely on the imperial salary to live. "Demotion" not only means that after three generations, they will be ordinary people with nothing, but also means that their annual salary will be greatly reduced. Good life not there!

This is tantamount to killing them!

A group of clansmen, nobles and officials who were drunk in the wind, flowers, snow, moon and wealth, suddenly woke up, inquiring about the news all over the capital, spreading these true and false news beyond recognition, turning them into rumors.

After about an hour, a group of people showed their abilities and used various connections to inquire about the news in the palace. Then a group of people, men, women and children crowded at the gate of the palace, asking to see the emperor, the queen mother, the concubine, and even Li Jieyu, Hai Lanzhu did not escape.

King Lu, King Jin and others also summoned a group of princes from the clan, including Prince Jing, more than a dozen individual princes, gathered in the clan mansion.

What they discussed most was about the "decrease of noble rank". They all sincerely discussed the clan's population, annual salary, and the difficulties faced by the court, and finally discussed the matter of "decrease of noble rank".

As soon as the prince was involved in this matter, even Prince Jing would not dare to accept it, and kept silent.

A group of princes discussed for a long time and couldn't come to a conclusion. King Lu and others had already expected that it was nothing more than a formal notice, and it still depends on whether the situation changes in the future.

The treacherous and cunning Zhang Weixian has now been pushed to the cusp of the storm, and the rumors outside are all his ideas, which made him unable to argue, hiding in the mansion and not daring to go out.

In the imperial study room, Zhu Xu had already ordered people to pass the word "I will not see you all", but the Empress Dowager Zhang from the Palace of Compassion, the old concubine from the Palace of Renshou, even Li Jieyu from the Palace of Yuzao, and Hai Lanzhu from the Palace of Zhilan did not dare to trust her. , Some people they have to be careful entertaining, can not be neglected.

That night, the old concubine who was coughing all the time called Zhu Xu, Queen Mother Zhang and others over, took Zhu Xu's hand, and said a lot of words earnestly. Outside the words are all the land of the Ming Dynasty, the ancestors of the country, and the words are sincere.

After leaving Renshou Hall, Empress Dowager Zhang also talked to him a lot on the way, and seriously "advised" him on the "nobility" he wanted. Her tone was cold and alienated. This attitude was unprecedented.

Even Li Jieyu, who has always been obedient to him and never asked about political affairs, said in a tactful way "a single tree cannot support it", which has a profound meaning.

Back in the imperial study, Zhu Xu let out a long breath, looked at Cao Huachun and sighed: "This matter is more stressful than I expected..."

Cao Huachun bowed his head and did not speak. He was present the whole time in the harem and knew what Zhu Xu was facing.The old concubine and Queen Mother Zhang clearly opposed it. This is not an ordinary pressure.

Zhu Xu sat on the chair, tapped his fingers on the table slowly, and kept thinking about it.

He didn't talk too much with the old concubine, Queen Mother Zhang, because it was unnecessary and meaningless.

The current imperial family of Ming Dynasty has hundreds of thousands of nobles, and the annual salary is nearly 600 million shi. This population and annual salary are still expanding. Not to mention the most intense period of the Little Ice River is coming, just say that this number will expand without limit Going down, that is also an extremely terrifying thing!

Zhu Xu shuddered when he thought about it, not to mention that the Ming Dynasty was dragged down in history, and the clan was one of the original sins!

He must change and act, and the sooner the better!

Before, they just confiscated their fields and various properties. What Zhu Xu has to do now is to strictly limit the expenditure of the clan and nobles within a certain range, so as not to drag down the country and become a huge burden on the court's expenditure!

Just as he was thinking about it, an inner eunuch rushed in and said, "Your Majesty, Song Yingxing from the Royal Political Council is seeking an audience outside the palace."

"Song Yingxing?" Zhu Xu was startled, and then said, "Biography."

Song Yingxing came soon, he was in a hurry, he saluted and said: "I have seen the emperor, I have something urgent to see, please don't blame the emperor."

Zhu Xu also guessed, and said, "What's the hurry?"

Song Yingxing looked anxious, and said: "Returning to the emperor, the budget of the Royal Political Council next year was originally 270 million taels, and the cabinet just notified that it plans to cut half of it. If this is the case, the impact will be too great, and many plans in the Political Council will be forced to stop. , and even the subsidy for students cannot be paid..."

Zhu Xu frowned, looked at Cao Huachun and said, "Why didn't I know about this?" He always took care of the Royal Political Council closely, so he didn't know about such a big matter.

Cao Huachun glanced at Song Yingxing, and said, "Bi Ge is always the president of the Royal Political Council. If the budget is cut in his hands, he should go through the cabinet process again."