Rebirth of the Ming Dynasty: Sixth Generation of Glory, I don't want it

"Please explain it in more detail. Going to sea is profitable, but it also costs money to organize a trip to sea."

A son should not speak of his father's faults. Zhu Di did not deny Xia Yuanji's statement, but only discussed how to solve it.

The news of his ascension to the throne was announced overseas last year.

At present, the country is still closed to sea because the details of lifting the ban have not yet been drafted.

This trip is actually similar to a royal private caravan going out to sea, led by Zheng He, and the scale of the trip can be anything.

Once Prince Ning, the younger brother of the current emperor, came to power, the specifications and scale changed.

The larger the scale, the greater the investment. If something goes wrong, the whole army will be wiped out.

He was also afraid that someone would use Prince Ning to threaten the Ming Dynasty.

At that time, you decide whether he will save her or not.

I would feel bad if I didn't save him, but if I did, I don't know if he would ask for too much.

According to what Prince Ning has generally expressed in the past few days, he wants to delve deeper into maritime trade.

He wants to go further and further, and maybe stay there for several years.

Spending a lot of money and taking years to get it back doesn't seem to make sense financially.

"Then I will venture to explain it in detail."

Xia Yuanji bowed.

"Wait a minute, just tell him the main thing. It'll be fine as long as he understands."

Before Xia Yuanji spoke, Zhu Di pointed at Zhu Gaochi.

It's really none of his business when it comes to playing with money; all he wants is to have money to spend.

If he is really poor, he can go to war and rob people and money.

Just don't discuss with him how to make money and how to keep the money.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Xia Yuanji had no objection.

Some things will be understood immediately if you talk to someone who knows the subject.

If you don't understand, you will just be willful no matter what you say.

He was very willing to give the eldest prince a lesson in court economics.

The word "finance" has always been the top priority for survival and development in every dynasty.

But no matter which dynasty or era, it was built only when someone took the lead.

In addition to the country, there is also the royal family.

The royal family's spending and the country's spending are not contradictory when they are wealthy.

But when something happens, these two things will conflict.

Countless dynasties before the Ming Dynasty divided the national treasury into two parts: internal and external.

simply put.

The Neiku was the royal warehouse, managed by the royal family themselves.

The Waiku was the country’s warehouse, which was mainly managed by the Ministry of Revenue.

The two warehouses that were originally clearly separated could easily become two entangled messy debts in the actual use process.

The population of the royal family increased, or the emperor was extravagant and the inner treasury was unable to make ends meet, so he had to use the outer treasury.

Or the emperor used public resources for personal gain and arbitrarily transferred things from the outer treasury into the inner treasury, causing the country's financial difficulties.

The fall of countless dynasties was almost always due to financial problems, and the root cause was the imbalance between internal and external factors.

During the Song Dynasty, the establishment of the Neiku even became a typical example of royal incompetence and accelerated the demise of the Song Dynasty.

At the beginning of the founding of the dynasty, the previous emperor did not divide the national treasury into the inner treasury and the outer treasury, for fear of repeating the same mistake.

But when it comes to actual implementation, not making any distinction has its own drawbacks, as it is too difficult to distinguish.

Finally, the late emperor made some distinctions in the national treasury.

There are a total of twelve warehouses inside the imperial city, collectively known as the inner warehouses.

They are Neichengyun Warehouse, Guangji Warehouse, Jia Warehouse, Yi Warehouse, Bing Warehouse, Ding Warehouse, Wu Warehouse, Smoke and Penalty Warehouse, Guangying Warehouse, Guanghui Warehouse, Tiancai Warehouse (Siyao Warehouse) and Gongyong Warehouse, which are used to store various physical incomes such as gold, silver, treasure banknotes, silk, cloth, etc.

Outside the imperial city, there was the national treasury, mainly composed of the Taicang Warehouse, also known as the outer treasury.

In the early years of the Hongwu reign, although there were twelve warehouses in the inner treasury, they were only divided into relatively detailed categories based on storage types and their actual scale was very small.

The late emperor used these twelve inner treasuries as his own private money.

Temporary rewards for court officials and extra subsidies for children all came from the inner treasury.

The previous emperor also regarded the inner treasury as a supplement to the outer treasury.

If the external treasury's revenue and expenditure are unbalanced, such as taxes are not paid on time, the official's salary will be borrowed from the internal treasury and paid out in a timely manner.

This is a very flexible approach from an economic perspective.

Systems and exceptions, everyone lives in harmony.

It is also much easier for the Ministry of Revenue to make the annual financial budget.

This system worked well before the middle of the Hongwu period.

The problem occurred in the later stage, in the income and expenditure of these two libraries.

The income of these two libraries has several categories:

Income in kind - that is, grain and cloth. But in kind, it can also be converted into gold and silver. In September of the 30th year of Hongwu, an imperial decree was issued to collect the arrears of rent in the country. The standard of conversion was: one stone of rice was converted into 2.5 cents of silver, and 2.500 strings of cash.

The revenue from minting coins was from printing banknotes by the Baochao Tizhusi. This part went directly into the inner treasury for exclusive use by the royal family.

Curriculum income is mainly taxes, that is, commercial taxes collected. Tea tax, salt tax, wine tax, maritime tax, regular tax, contract book, cave smelting, bamboo tax, river tax and miscellaneous tax are all curricula.

Other income - stolen money from corrupt officials and income from wars.

As for expenditures, the major items include royal expenses, official salaries, monthly rations, disaster relief, temporary military expenses, rewards for meritorious officials, and public construction. Small expenditures are innumerable and difficult to prevent.

For example, this impromptu trip to sea.

"No distinction between public and private?"

Hearing this, I can understand the elegant meaning from the sound of the strings.

Xia Yuanji said it so clearly that Zhu Di understood it immediately.

Civil officials are superior.

He did not say a word about the late emperor's faults and even praised his wisdom.

But every sentence is saying that this is not okay, it is absolutely not okay.

"He just can't distinguish between public and private. Our father is just a local rich man who thinks that money can be used as money just by printing it!"

When Prince Ning saw that Xia Yuanji did not answer Zhu Di's question, he added a knife. He thought that Zhang Xin and Zhu Gaochi had been tossing around the auspicious cloud treasure notes for a long time. The fact that they were valuable after adding the reward seal was because they really had that much money in their warehouse!

There were only a few coins in the Ming Dynasty's treasury, but his father dared to print millions or tens of millions more every year.

"The money and grain stored in the inner court are not touched by the eunuchs or servants. Even the Crown Prince and the prince are not allowed to use them. Anyone who wants to use them must make a request. Is this not true?"

Zhu Gaochi touched his nose and asked another question.

"Yes, yes. If you ask for something, eight out of ten times it will be granted. The banknotes are also printed over and over again."

Xia Yuanji has been really worried over the years.

The late emperor was a person who would not listen to advice and always acted on his own.

The person in front listened not to his advice, but to the advice of those who had the support of the big landlords in the south of the Yangtze River, and actually cut most of the taxation department of the only one in the Ming Dynasty that actually had income.

He actually wanted to leave at that time.

In other words, a new emperor had been appointed, and for the sake of the people, he thought about it and waited.

He has watched the new emperor and his family for more than half a year, and he wants to give them some advice from the bottom of his heart and talk about the problems that have not yet erupted.

This rumor had been circulating in the court and among the people before the late emperor passed away.

The new emperor was hot-tempered, stubborn, and domineering. Although he had made great achievements, he was arrogant and unfriendly to his younger brothers, and he coveted the supreme position.