Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 1062 Three Strategies (Part [-])
The most urgent issue for Zhu Yijun is money.

After he became the emperor, he discovered that the reason why his father often asked the Ministry of Households to allocate funds for this and that was not because of greed, but because the relationship between the emperor and the Ministry of Households was so magical.

The Ministry of Household wished that all the expenses of the court would come from internal funds, while the emperor wished that even the money for buying rouge and gouache for the empress and concubine would be paid by the Ministry of Household.

The reason seems to be that both parties feel that they are poor while the other party is rich.

However, both parties are relatively clear about the amount of money in the treasury of the household department, but only the emperor knows how much money is in the internal funds, not the household department.

This created a paradoxical situation. As long as the emperor called the poor, the Ministry of Households would not believe it;

It stands to reason that this problem can be solved as long as the internal funds and finances are made public, but in fact, at least as far as the current situation is concerned, this is not feasible.

Because the emperor must maintain a certain sense of mystery, an emperor without any sense of mystery often cannot control the scene—for example, in the last years of Chongzhen in history, the whole court knew that the money was empty, and few court ministers put the emperor in the palace. It's in my eyes, because everyone knows that the emperor who has no money can't speak well, and no one can adjust it, and everyone will obey his will.

However, in the Wanli Dynasty in the original history, such a situation never occurred. Even if Zhu Yijun did not go to court for decades, none of the officials dared to resist the order.One of the very important reasons is that everyone feels that domestic funds are abundant, even extremely abundant-there is a mining tax.

So, why is the emperor so rich in money?To put it bluntly, the truth is actually very simple, because once the emperor has any ideas, even if your cabinet disagrees and the Ministry of Households does not allocate funds, I can directly use the money from the internal funds to do things, in fact, even deploying troops to fight wars.

Such a situation is equivalent to the fact that the civil official group may be able to restrict the emperor a little bit on the moral level, but it cannot control the emperor at all on the most critical economic level.

This is the real core of power operation.

The emperors of the Ming Dynasty, perhaps their political level was not high enough to theorize these issues, but it does not mean that they did not understand the main points, so how much money the emperor had in his pocket was never known to the outer court. of.

However, different emperors have different styles. For example, the style of Emperor Chengzu Yongle always makes the outer court feel that the inner money is extremely abundant, so he can disregard the opposition of the outer court. , Another seven voyages to the West... It was a joy.

Since the outer court didn't know how rich the internal funds were, they naturally couldn't afford to be tough, let alone have the dangerous idea of ​​"restricting imperial power".

But Emperor Longqing's personality is soft, so he will not imitate Cheng Zu, but only cries for poverty, saying that I am poor now, buying a mere 2 taels of silver jewelry, making a batch of erotic porcelain, etc. They have to ask the Ministry of Households to pay.

But the Ministry of Household Affairs is not stupid. They know that the internal funds cannot be really that poor, because Longqing can't use up the emperor's gold, flower and silver tax discounts alone, not to mention the large area of ​​Huangzhuang, a large number of imperial stores, etc. income.

In this way, the internal money is still abundant in the eyes of the outer court, so although Emperor Longqing's personality is soft, as long as Gao Gong is used as the chief assistant with a strong personality who stands in the trenches with him, the government will still be stable.

This situation began to change a little in the 11th year of Wanli. Zhu Yijun was very sensitive to this, because the signs of the household department were not right-the household department minister started to threaten the emperor with resignation at every turn.

Although it was indeed difficult for the household department this year, they threatened to resign at every turn, but this was the first time since Jiajing, and this situation had never occurred in the Longqing Dynasty.

The main source of the change was that the outer court began to doubt how much money was left inside.

There are several factors that caused this skeptical mentality, but in the final analysis, there are two people who are most responsible: one is Zhu Yijun himself, and the other is Gao Pragmatism.

In order to establish a glorious image of the new emperor as benevolent and wise, Zhu Yijun has been carrying out various tax exemptions and reductions in the past two or three years.

In areas with barren land, tax reductions and exemptions; in disaster-stricken areas, tax reductions and exemptions; in areas with "abnormal signs", tax reductions and exemptions; in areas with heavy taxes before, tax reductions and exemptions...

Most of Zhu Yijun’s administrative methods can’t get rid of the high-level pragmatic relationship, and he did play some role in promoting it here, but his starting point is to “reduce the agricultural tax in risky areas”, and instead collect commercial taxes and tariffs from other business-heavy areas.

It's just that anyway, the reduction in agricultural taxes has reduced the emperor's gold flowers and silver.What's even more "death" is that Gao Yushi also persuaded Zhu Yijun to abolish Huangzhuang.

Abolishing Huangzhuang and replacing it with civilian land is equivalent to increasing the income of the household department and reducing the income of the emperor's internal funds.Although the original intention of abolishing Huangzhuang at that time was mainly to force the nobles to quit their fields, the nobles of the capital quickly boarded the big ship of the high-practical Beiyang Maritime Trade Alliance and found a new way to replenish blood, even earning a little more than before , but the loss of the emperor's internal funds is real.

The household department made a profit, but Xungui did not lose money, and the only one who suffered was the emperor.

Then there was the impact of the Monan War. At that time, the Ministry of Household Affairs was unable to give out such a large sum of rewards suddenly. As a result, Zhu Yijun took in a large sum of money.

Adding up and down like this, with all kinds of ebb and flow, the outer court naturally doubts how much money is left in the inner money.

The reason why Zhu Yijun was very dissatisfied with Myanmar's provocation this time, and directly expressed to Gao Wushi that he wanted to teach Myanmar a hard lesson was also for this reason—he hoped to use this battle to prove that domestic funds were still abundant, and that the imperial court Some people should not misjudge the situation.

Right now, Zhu Yijun can only think of the "new income" that Gao Yushi took over and rebuilt and expanded the Yingkou Salt Farm. Don't want money?
So now the situation Zhu Yijun is facing is that there is a shortage of money everywhere, and the internal funds are showing signs of sitting on nothing. Who can be in a hurry?
Emperor Longqing asked Gao Suqing for undecided matters, and Zhu Yijun asked Gao Qiuzhen for undecided matters, so Gao Wushi was ordered to return to Beijing.

Of course, it would be embarrassing to call him back to Beijing directly with such a reason, so the matter of "Chun Wei and the examiner" must be mentioned first.But now, Gao Wushi is finally going to offer advice on "making money", how can Zhu Yijun hold his breath?
Gao Yushi's expression was as usual, and he said: "My minister's plan may be called borrowing chickens to lay eggs."

"Borrowing chickens to lay eggs?" Zhu Yijun was a little puzzled, and asked back, "What's the answer?"

But Gao Wushi did not explain directly, but asked: "I wonder what the emperor thinks, if I, Ming, win this battle, what benefits can we gain?"

"Benefits?" Zhu Yijun was slightly taken aback, and subconsciously said: "What's the benefit of fighting Burma? I don't intend to own the plagued land of Burma. If I have to talk about benefits, I think it can make the border of Yunnan peaceful for ten years. .”

Gao Wushi shook his head, and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, forgive me, if I only think about the problem in this way when I go to war in Ming Dynasty, I am afraid that no matter how abundant the treasury is, it will be impoverished sooner or later."

Zhu Yijun was not angry, but frowned and said, "Then what do you mean?"

Gao Wushi slightly raised his eyebrows and said: "In short, try not to fight battles that are not beneficial. If you really have to fight, you must carefully examine the possible benefits that may be hidden in it, and then dig out and use it."

Zhu Yijun didn't quite understand what he heard, but he didn't ask right away. Instead, he thought for a while before asking tentatively: "Just like Li Chengliang beat the Mongolian Tartars, do you want to grab one after the fight?"

Gao Yushi almost couldn't help but roll his eyes when he heard this - is this low-level method like my style?

"Your Majesty, I don't mean that... Besides, even if we really want to support wars like this, we can't openly rob them from Ming Dynasty soldiers. The impact will be too bad. The reason why we can do this to Tumen is because Mongolia is our Ming Dynasty. It has been an enemy for 200 years, but the situation in Myanmar is different. Once the army loots, it is easy to let go and difficult to stop. At that time, whether to rob Myanmar or other propaganda and comfort departments, I am afraid that Liu Ting and Deng Zilong will not be able to control it. When the time comes All propaganda and comfort divisions are separated from each other, and Yunnan will be in chaos in the future."

In fact, what Gao Yushi said was already "speaking of proportion". In fact, he wanted to say that Liu Zhen and Deng Zilong's troops were "looted by order", so how much of the looted property can really be handed over to your emperor?After thinking too much, it's hard to say how much the two of them can get by themselves. After all, although these two dare to fight and can fight, their style of leading troops is not like that of Qi Jiguang, and Yuxia is not so strict.

This point, Liu Ting explained to Gao Yushi more than ten years ago: These generals are no better than Qi Jiguang, who always have a backer at the top of the court. Under such circumstances, it is impossible to be strict in governing the army. Otherwise, the subordinates would be troubled by wages and mutiny. That is not just a joke.

Zhu Yijun didn't think too much about it. Seeing Gao Wushi's denial, he asked, "Then how do we borrow chickens to lay eggs?"

Gao Wushi smiled and said: "The key here is that we first need to make the court absolutely sure of one thing: In this battle in Yunnan, my Ming Dynasty will not only win, but also win a big victory, and it won't even take too long .”

Zhu Yijun asked suspiciously, "Is there anything special about this?"

In fact, he really never thought that Daming would be defeated. Even though the treasury is in a hurry now, even though Myanmar is "far away", in the eyes of the Ming court, Myanmar itself is just a big chieftain, and Zhu Yijun did not regard Mang Yingli as a level at all. opponent.

However, Gao Yushi knew that in the original history, Ming had suffered a great loss in the Ming-Myanmar War, which had been fought for decades. The Department of Xuanwei has basically lost everything, and the reason for this is worth pondering.

In the final analysis, on the one hand, Daming was delayed by the three major conquests, and he was still unable to deal with Burma. On the other hand, there was also a problem with Ming's national defense thinking.

Gao Wuzhen is now planning to start to solve this problem of national defense thinking.

Gao Wushi said: "I think the way to use troops is to be most afraid of getting into a stalemate. Once in a stalemate, no matter whether you can still win in the end, it is a way of killing three thousand enemies and self-defeating eight hundred. Unless it is absolutely necessary, otherwise Try not to create a stalemate, it is best to concentrate your strength and win in one battle."

Zhu Yijun nodded and said: "I know this too, just like the battle in Monan. The reason why you are going to Liaodong now is to accumulate strength, and then quickly defeat Tumen, so as not to have long nights and dreams - but what does this have to do with raising money now relation?"

Gao Wushi said with a smile: "If the whole court thinks that we can defeat Burma in a single battle, then we have the capital to 'borrow chickens'."

Zhu Yijun still didn't understand, and frowned, "How do you say?"

"Make a wish in advance." Gao Wushi said: "Let the wind spread in the court first. After defeating Burma this time, we will propose an alliance under the city to Burma—well, it's not an alliance or not, just to ask for compensation, a large sum of compensation to come." As punishment for Myanmar."

Claiming war reparations is very common in the West, but not so common in the East. The Eastern habit is to fight until one side falls completely.

So Zhu Yijun heard something strange, and suddenly asked a question: "Let them pay the New Year's coins?"

Uh... Your statement seems to be similar. The term "year-old coins" is very Chinese, the difference is that we collect year-old coins this time.

Gao Wushi coughed dryly and said, "Somewhat similar."

Who knows that Zhu Yijun shook his head and said: "That's not very good, it's obviously our business, once you ask for money, it will appear...appear..."

Gao Wushi understands, this damn heavenly thinking is really terrible, this is the situation, you have no shame and no money?No, you Zhu Yijun should be shameless in the original history, why can't you see it now?
Zhu Yijun in the original history, someone reported that some wealthy businessmen did not follow the court's clothing color system, and even wore bright red and other colors, hoping that the emperor would be strict with the court's laws.

In the end, Zhu Yijun replied with a sentence that almost pissed off the officials, to the effect: If these people are willing to pay, let alone red, even if it is bright yellow, I can allow them to wear it—but it will cost more.

Such an emperor still has the attitude that his face is more important than his money?It seems that I am indeed guilty. The crime is that Daming's finances are much richer than in history. You have not experienced the embarrassment of a penny suffocating a good man.

But Gao Wushi is not afraid that Zhu Yijun will not take the bait. He said: "What if Myanmar is allowed to issue 20 two-year-old coins or equivalent materials every year for ten consecutive years, or even 20 years?"

Zhu Yijun sat up straight all of a sudden, his eyes widened: "Practical, are you joking? Can Myanmar afford so much money?"

Gao Wushi said: "Myanmar has ruled the roost in Tiannan for many years. They should have some wealth. Even if they don't have so much silver, they can get other things to pay for it. I heard that Myanmar produces beautiful jade, precious stones, and gold mines. , As for precious woods such as teak, black wood, rosewood, pineapple wood, etc., there are more... It's all silver."

When Zhu Yijun heard this, he immediately forgot about the face of the Celestial Dynasty, and said with piercing eyes: "In this way, Myanmar is not useless... However, this time is not right. Yes, but right now our trouble is that the army will have difficulty in mobilizing money."

Gao Wushi chuckled: "That's why I said just now that the whole court must be fully convinced that this battle will be won."

"What's the relationship between the two?" Zhu Yijun still didn't want to understand the reason.

Gao Wushi said: "Since everyone thinks they can win, with the kindness of the emperor, we might as well let everyone make a small fortune...We can issue some special 'treasure banknotes', for example, it is called 'Dian Zhanbao' Banknotes', each denomination is one tael of silver, and the first batch of 20 taels was issued in a fixed amount. After the end of the Yunnan War, the imperial court obtained the Burmese old coins, and they used one tael or even one tael to recycle these treasured banknotes... "

"This, this... This is really a trick to lay eggs." Zhu Yijun was stunned for a long time, then put his hand on his forehead and said: "I have to think about it, I have to think about it..."

But he didn't think about it carefully, and suddenly asked nervously: "Practically, do you think this treasure banknote will be exchanged? The treasure banknote has already become almost like waste paper, and I worry that no one will want it by then." , then I..."

Well, do you mean to say that if you can’t sell these bonds in the name of precious money, your face will be almost the same as that of waste paper?

Gao Wushi smiled and said: "The emperor can rest assured that the prosperity of the world is for profit, and the hustle and bustle of the world is for profit. In the situation of a battle that must be won, it is impossible to sit at home and earn 20 to [-]% for nothing. No one wants it. Take ten thousand steps back and say, if no one really wants it, I will take care of it—the [-] taels, my Jinghua family will pay for it.”
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Thanks to book friends "Dou'er 852", "1 Optimistic and Good Youth 1", "Sitting at the door of the tavern", "Xuan Youming", "Worry-free K Book" for their monthly support, thank you!
PS: Gao Yushi wants to engage in the matter of war bonds. He has leaked some signs before, and finally found the opportunity this time, hehe~
(End of this chapter)