Chongzhen: I am the king of prosperous times

"What do you think about the disaster relief?"

Emperor Chongzhen, who sat firmly on the dragon chair, looked calmly, looked at Han Yu and the others, and said, "The severe drought in Zhili and the flood in Shandong, these two disasters came at an inopportune time.

Shanxi suppressed rebellious bandits, Shanxi suppressed civil unrest, and Liaodong even had Jianlu stalking them. In addition, it was difficult for the court to resettle the victims who fled from Shanxi and Shanxi. "

Emperor Chongzhen said that the cabinet ministers like Han Yu and Wen Tiren, and the household ministers like Bi Ziyan all showed worry.

Yes.

Internal and external troubles.

It's spring plowing season right now, so there's no need to mention the situation in Shanxi and Shaanxi. It's hard to say how much food can be planted and how much can be harvested.

After all, the snowstorms, droughts, and earth dragons turned over in Shanxi and Shaanxi before, as if they had been discussed, one after another.

Liaodong, let alone growing food, is a bottomless pit.

Although at the current stage of Liaoqian, after Sun Chengzong became the governor of Liaodong, he stopped building strong cities and fortresses, but the hundreds of thousands of troops guarding Liaoqian are also a lot of expenses.

"Your Majesty, the current state treasury may not be able to provide food and salaries for disaster relief in the two places." Bi Ziyan stepped forward, bowed and saluted with a worried expression and tired heart.

"In the second year of Chongzhen's reign, the war against the barbarians invaded our Daming Pass, causing a lot of losses, including various expenses, even to..."

The words Bi Ziyan said, Emperor Chongzhen knew in his heart, this was not because he deliberately shirked something, and did not want to share too much worry for the community.

As the Minister of Finance of the Ming Dynasty, the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty were not as difficult as Bi Ziyan.

An almost unbalanced and collapsing financial system, with a wide variety of expenditures.

Faced with this situation, the fault was not the rectification of the Chongwenmen tax customs, the opening of the Zhangjiakou customs clearance, and the Ming treasury.

'In the face of such a chaotic situation under the Ming Dynasty, the situation has improved a little, and then there is a big disaster. Even the Minister of Finance of the Ming Dynasty, it is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice. '

Looking at Bi Ziyan with a sad face and Emperor Chongzhen who was full of thoughts, he secretly said in his heart: "But the difficulty is clear, and the difficulty is clear.

This is the best way to ask the cabinet to support their own planning and deployment.

Otherwise, the disaster situation is so serious, and the officialdom is so corrupt, it is undoubtedly an idiot's behavior to continue to passively provide disaster relief according to the original method. '

At that time, the Wenhua Palace fell into silence.

For ministers like Han Yu and Wen Tiren, they were all waiting for the emperor to speak.

Don't look at the fact that the current treasury can't afford money, but the emperor has plenty of money.

From the purge of the inner court, to the rectification of the Chongwenmen tax customs, to the eradication of the eight thieves, the loss of warehouses, etc., during this period, how many people were killed, how many houses were stolen, and all the stolen money was filled into internal funds. what.

Even if the Son of Heaven took out part of it earlier to solve part of the military payment, the internal money is still abundant.

At present, there is a severe drought in Zhili and a flood in Shandong. These are major issues related to the national economy and people's livelihood.

As the emperor of Ming Dynasty, if he watched the disaster rot, who would worry about the dynasty?

"Since Zhen Yuji, Daming has suffered disasters every year, and the imperial court has provided disaster relief every year."

Looking at the silent crowd, Emperor Chongzhen lifted the sleeves of his robe and said: "Including the emperor's brother Yuji's ascension to the throne, it was almost like this during the seven years, I have been thinking about it for a while.

Except for the snowstorm and the turning of the earth dragon, it cannot be controlled by manpower.

But for things like floods, droughts, and locust plagues, if localities build water conservancy facilities, widen rivers, and build water storage reservoirs, will that slow down the losses caused by some disasters?
But in fact this is not the case.

As far as I know, most of the food and salaries allocated by the imperial court are spent on disaster relief, but no one sees what I think.

This is not good.

very bad.

If in the future, there are still disasters every year, every year like this, then I would like to ask Zhu Qing's family, if the treasury is out of money, and the internal money is out of money, what will the court do? "

The Wenhua Hall was very quiet, and the cabinet ministers Han Yu, Wen Tiren, and Xu Guangqi, including the household ministers Bi Ziyan, all showed different expressions.

Through what the emperor said, they were keenly aware that the emperor seemed to have some new ideas about the severe drought in Zhili and the flood in Shandong.

Perhaps these ideas are contrary to the unspoken rules of the current Ming Dynasty officialdom, so once they are put forward, they may cause heated discussions among the government and the opposition.

"The severe drought in Zhili and the flood in Shandong, as well as the food and salaries needed for disaster relief, were all allocated from internal funds."

Emperor Chongzhen's deep eyes sparkled with brilliance, and he said calmly: "But... I am determined to the country, and set up a special disaster relief office to specialize in disaster relief for the Ming Dynasty.

As far as the things I just mentioned are under the jurisdiction of the Disaster Relief Office, there should be separate administrative offices at the local level, which can be tried out in Zhili and Shandong.

This Disaster Relief Office is directly under my jurisdiction. If there are any matters involved in the future, I need to negotiate with the Secretary, and the Secretary must cooperate.

With regard to the disaster relief in Zhili and Shandong, I am thinking of doing work instead of relief, asking the local government, under the full responsibility of the Disaster Relief Office, to organize local victims, dig water conservancy facilities in various places, widen rivers, etc.

In the future, under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, if a disaster occurs in any place and the government needs to allocate food and salaries for disaster relief, six will be allocated from the national treasury, and four will be allocated to the disaster relief office. thing.

In view of the sudden occurrence of the disaster, the Disaster Relief Office set up by Yu Guochao temporarily appointed Wen Qing to transfer officials from the Si Ya Office, and recruit students from the local area to serve as officials in the Office.

Those who perform outstandingly in disaster relief can be promoted to official positions. "

As soon as Emperor Chongzhen said this, all the officials in the Wenhua Palace showed different expressions on their faces. Compared with Xu Guangqi and Bi Ziyan's astonishment, the other cabinet ministers and courtiers were more shocked .

The Son of Heaven is directly collecting the disaster relief power of the imperial court into the so-called disaster relief office. In the future, the cabinet, the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Industry and other administrative offices cannot be involved.

How can this work.

The previous unspoken rules, especially those related to disaster relief, were not all abolished. This would have a great impact on the Beijing officials involved, and even the local officials.

"Han Qing, in the name of the cabinet, please issue an order."

Emperor Chongzhen didn't care about this, he stood up, looked at Han Yu and said: "If there is a minister in the court who objects to this matter, it's okay, then ask him to pay for the disaster relief, and we will abolish the establishment of the disaster relief office.

If you can't provide food and salaries for disaster relief, follow my will and the support of the cabinet.

Wen Qing, you will go back to Qianqing Palace with me, and I will explain the specific matters to you in detail. If this matter is done well, you will be meritorious, and if it is not done well, you will be reprimanded and severely punished! "