Cannon Fodder is King [Quick Transmigration]

Meng Zezhi got a lot of outside news from Lu Li.

For example, what happened in Song Guogong's mansion that day.

For example, the current layout of the court.

……

Another example is that the great eunuch Tao An is his uncle.

Thanks to the news, Meng Ze knew that the number of times he ate meat in the past month was almost equal to the sum of the whole year of last year.

In the blink of an eye, it was early August.

In the afternoon of this day, Meng Zezhi went to Qianqing Palace to pay his respects to Emperor Guangde as usual.

As soon as I arrived at the gate of the palace, I heard the ministers shouting, "The ministers are guilty".

"His Royal Highness."

Seeing Meng Zezhi coming over, the servants waiting outside the hall immediately bowed to salute.

"No." Meng Zezhi asked: "Why, father is still receiving ministers at this time?"

Seeing that there was no one around, the servant moved forward and said in a low voice, "Returning to Your Highness, the news just arrived is urgent at eight hundred miles from Henan, the Yellow River has burst its embankment, and the treasury can't provide money to relieve the disaster."

Meng Zezhi's expression became solemn. The Yellow River's dike bursts have always caused countless casualties.

"Forget it, disaster relief is the most important thing. Since the treasury has no money, we will allocate [-] taels of silver from internal funds to resettle the refugees and repair the embankment."

"Long live my emperor Xie, long live, long live!"

"But my ugly words are up front. If there is another mistake in this disaster relief, I will never forgive you lightly." Emperor Guangde slapped the table with a murderous look.

"I dare not wait." All the officials shouted in unison again.

Emperor Guangde took a rough breath and said, "Since this is the case, I don't know which love minister is willing to go to Henan to preside over the disaster relief."

"Long live the report, my minister is willing to go." It was Lou Shuxun, the second prince's right-hand man who left the class, who was currently the left servant of the household department.

The Eighth Prince (originally the Seventh Prince) frowned slightly.

Ever since Meng Zezhi was born, the attitudes of the officials who originally stood on the side of the Second Prince who supported Li Di began to waver. It can be said that this is the time when the Second Prince's party is in turmoil.Just at this juncture, the second prince wants to send Lou Shuxun to rescue the disaster. Doesn't this mean that things in the capital are not chaotic enough?

Either the second prince wanted to rebel, so he sent Lou Shuxun to contact the officials in the dark; or, there was something else wrong with the Yellow River bursting embankment.

The Eighth Prince had a calculation in his heart.

Seeing that no one else stood up in the court hall, Emperor Guangde nodded: "Very well, then Lou Aiqing will take the trouble."

"The minister leads the order."

When all the ministers dispersed, Meng Zezhi entered the Qianqing Palace under the guidance of his servants.

"My son, pay respects to the emperor." Meng Zezhi knelt down and saluted.

"Yunzhong is here." Emperor Guangde put down his hand rubbing his temples, and forced a smile: "Father is busy with government affairs today, so I won't let you eat."

After finishing speaking, he ordered: "Tao An, instruct the imperial dining room to make an extra dish of roasted venison for the fifth prince, and it will come from my order."

"Thank you, Father."

Meng Zezhi lifted his robe, stood up, he paused, and said: "I wonder if my son can help my father solve his problems?"

Tao An's heart tightened, he knew Emperor Guangde's thoughts best.

He didn't want Meng Zezhi to be involved in the battle for the heir apparent, otherwise he wouldn't have kept Meng Zezhi living in Duanben Palace for two months.

Under such circumstances, Meng Zezhi suddenly said such words, which fell into the ears of Emperor Guangde, probably no different from reaching out to ask for power.

Even if Emperor Guangde didn't pursue the matter, his affection for Meng Zezhi would probably drop by two points.

Sure enough, Emperor Guangde frowned inadvertently, but he still said in a good voice: "It's not a big deal, but the treasury is empty and there is no money to come out."

He originally wanted to use these words to prevaricate Meng Zezhi. After all, the treasury has no money, and Meng Zezhi can't make it out.

But Meng Zezhi said solemnly: "The treasury has no money, nothing more than the collection of taxes is too little, not enough for the daily expenses of a big country."

Emperor Guangde frowned, and could not help but follow Meng Zezhi's words: "You mean to increase taxes?"

"Yes and no. The bad government of the former government, which harmed the people the most, is to increase the military salary to suppress our Han people's uprising army, so that the people are poor and robbed, and then increase the salary, and then train for all sides, and then increase the salary. .These three salaries are several times higher than the official tax, and the common people are exhausted, and the fat and marrow are scraped, causing the people to resent everywhere."

"Since the father came to the throne, he has been benevolent in governing and caring for the people. First of all, he has eliminated the three salaries, rested with the people, and lightened the levies and taxes. Only then can there be peace in the world today."

Hearing this, Emperor Guangde's complexion improved a lot.

After complimenting Emperor Guangde, Meng Zezhi's eyes were burning: "But father, is the amount of money and food collected by the court really the amount paid by the people?"

Emperor Guangde's expression darkened.

Meng Zezhi has no scruples: "Taking Caoliang in Zhejiang as an example, the imperial court annually produces 400 million shi in Zhejiang, while Zhejiang produces 1000 million shi. The 400 million shi does not necessarily go to the imperial court, but the 600 million shi often goes to officials, merchants and others. The evil appetite of the sex beetle."

Dayang Dynasty implemented the "one whip method", and all taxes were collected and turned over to the treasury.However, when the government collects grain, it is inevitable that there will be losses due to drying, winnowing and transportation of the grain. The government is unwilling to bear these additional losses, so it is transferred to the people, which is the so-called consumption envy.

In this way, with extra-legal taxes and no supervision, officials naturally resorted to their hands, and corruption abounded.

"Father, do you know how much money my son has received in total when he served as the official secretary of Jiangsu and Zhejiang for half a year in the household department?"

Meng Zezhi asked himself and answered: "4000 taels."

A small official from the fourth rank, with an annual salary of only 8000 taels, can receive [-] taels of consumption per year.

Emperor Guangde didn't speak.

Did Emperor Guangde really not know about these things?he knows.

Why can he tolerate the collection of consumption by local officials?

One is that the salaries of officials are low. In addition to supporting their families, they have to hire friends and servants. Otherwise, no one will take care of office and miscellaneous affairs. The court does not care about these extra expenses. During the holidays, one has to do something to honor the superiors at all levels, and often the salary of officials for one year is not enough for them to spend for one month.

On the other hand, Emperor Guangde has been fighting the Tatars all his life.

——In Meng Zezhi's view, Emperor Guangde was a diligent emperor, but not a good emperor.

His throne came lightly.

Among the eight sons of Emperor Taizu, Emperor Guangde was the youngest and the most mediocre in aptitude, but he couldn't stand his luck.

Before the world was settled, half of his seven brothers died in battle.When the Dayang dynasty was established, his fifth and seventh brothers wanted to follow the example of Xuanwumen's change in order to fight for the throne, and got rid of his second brother, but they were killed in the end.

His victorious second brother was halfway through laughing, when a stray arrow flew out from nowhere and killed him, taking away the distraught Emperor Taizu along the way.

In this way, Emperor Guangde, who dreamed of being an idle king and had never received a day of orthodox imperial education, was pushed onto the dragon chair by all civil and military officials in a hurry.

As a result, in the three years of Guangde, the Tatars violated the border.

The majestic king of a country was forced by Hulu to abandon the capital, fled from the north to the south, and from the south back to the north. Although he saved his life, he ended up with the death of his wife and son. It is a shame and a shame!

For this reason, Emperor Guangde endured the humiliation and finally completely defeated the Tatars in 20 years.

——This is also the only achievement of Emperor Guangde's 20 years in power.

After the three-year incident in Guangde, the royal family of Yanggu was disgraced in the hearts of the people.

Under such circumstances, Emperor Guangde officially began to govern the government.

In order to increase the people's confidence in the new dynasty and build a reputation of benevolence and love for the people, Emperor Guangde had to cut taxes again and again. The effect was indeed good at first, but the money moved people's hearts. Even the prince got involved.

In the 18th year of Guangde, in order to deal with the eldest prince, the second prince tried his best to come up with an imperial examination fraud case.After the incident, the eldest prince was imprisoned, and more than a dozen officials involved in the case were pushed out of the Meridian Gate and beheaded. As many as 300 of their family members were exiled or served as prostitutes.

Afterwards, the unwilling eldest prince colluded with the remaining Tatar forces and assassinated Zhao Yijing who was about to return to Beijing.

After the eldest prince was abolished, in order to prevent the second prince's family from dominating the court, Emperor Guangde had to support the seventh prince to fight against him.

Then in the 22nd year of Guangde, there was a severe drought in Qingzhou. In order to pull the second prince off the horse, the seventh prince did not hesitate to rob the relief money, which caused the refugees in Qingzhou to riot and starve to death.

But even if Emperor Guangde knew about it, so what?

For the sake of the hearts of the people and the majesty of the royal family, he not only wanted to suppress these things, but also ordered someone to help them clean up the little tails.

It is enough to fail as an emperor for this sake.

Did Emperor Guangde never think about changing the status quo?

How could he not have thought about it.

It's just that freezing three feet is not a one-day cold, and the consumption of envy is related to the interests of the officials of the Manchu Dynasty, and it can be said that it affects the whole body.

In the past ten years or so, he was busy dealing with the Tatars, always thinking that the inside must be settled before the outside, and one thing more is worse than one thing less, so he mostly turned a blind eye to official corruption.

When he finally finished fighting Tatar, his body was not as good as before, and because of lack of energy, he really couldn't toss up.

Hearing Meng Zezhi talk about this matter now, he couldn't help asking: "What do you think of this matter?"

"First, specify the amount of consumption and entitlement, and the consumption and entitlement will be returned to the public, and the imperial court will distribute it to all prefectures and counties for dispatch and use. Second, high salaries will foster integrity. Third, clarify the penalty law." Meng Zezhi's words were sonorous and powerful.

"Giving consumption and envy to the public, high salary to support honesty..."

It is equivalent to slapping and giving a sweet date, Emperor Guangde muttered to himself, this is indeed a good way.

The more he thought about it, the brighter his eyes became, and then as if he thought of something, the light in his eyes gradually dimmed.

Still the same sentence, his body can no longer stand the toss.

If Meng Zezhi could do this——

Thinking of this, he raised his head abruptly, and then his expression froze.

Just as Tao An thought, he really didn't want Meng Zezhi to get involved in the battle for the heir apparent.

Others may not know his physical condition, but he himself knows it all too well.The court was already dominated by the second prince and the eighth prince, even if he had this idea, he couldn't pave a way for Meng Zezhi in a short time.

That being the case, it is better to let Meng Zezhi be an idle king who does not fight or grab from the very beginning. With his status as the sixth yuan and the first, I believe his successor will be very willing to raise Meng Zezhi as a mascot.

But at this moment, Meng Zezhi's performance was too dazzling, and he couldn't help but think of the north-south list proposal proposed by Meng Zezhi during the palace examination in 21 years...

At this moment, he was shaken.

With a complex expression on his face, he sighed and said, "You go down first, let me think about it."

"Yes, Erchen retire."

After Meng Zezhi left, Tao An also withdrew. He recruited his confidants and said, "Go, tell Mr. Liu and the others that the matter of jointly inviting His Highness the Fifth Highness to come to the court to observe politics will be put aside for now."

"Yes."

After speaking, Tao An opened his eyes.

His nephew is much better than he imagined.

The author has something to say:

Returning consumption to the public and high salaries to support honesty were important measures to increase the salaries of local officials at all levels by setting fire consumption during the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty.

Pertinent comments on the previous chapter

Unable to repair: It feels like the two of them will beep when they meet——

#No, no, don't talk nonsense, they didn't go to bed at all. #