Chongzhen: I am the king of prosperous times

The Ming Dynasty was a unified dynasty with centralized power. No matter what period it was in, it had this characteristic. Even if it experienced many rebellions during the period, it did not affect this characteristic.

This is the root of Daming's aspirations to the Divine State.

It's just that compared with the early Ming Dynasty, in the period of Emperor Chongzhen, many beams and pillars supporting the dynasty's rule were devoured and crooked.

For example, the tax system.

Such as the military system.

The emperor wants to centralize power, build a centralized rule without noble privileges, and clarify the power bearers at all levels to ensure that the imperial power is the greatest.

Civil officials want to decentralize power, build a centralized rule that limits the disorder of imperial power, and clarify the power bearers at all levels to ensure that imperial power can be restrained.

The emperor did make mistakes, after all, the emperor is also a human being, but if he made a mistake, it would cause irreparable damage to Daming. The most typical example is the Civil Fortress Change.

The strategic error of this campaign caused Daming to lose countless elite men, and a large number of civil and military personnel, especially a group of able-bodied generals and ministers. Even though it did not overthrow the Ming society in the end, it also caused the power structure of Daming to tilt.

The emperor can make mistakes, can civil servants not?
The civil servants of Ming Dynasty have never been a single individual. They represent groups of people behind them. After passing on from generation to generation, many good decisions and policies in the past have turned into self-interested things in the end, harming the rule of Ming Dynasty. foundation.

Especially the sentence that the ancestral system cannot be violated, every time the Emperor Chongzhen heard it, he was disgusted in his heart. This was supposed to be a remonstrance to the emperor, but gradually changed its taste.

What ancestral system cannot be violated, it is clearly that interests cannot be violated.

Emperor Chongzhen just wanted to break this pattern, he didn't want Daming to follow the rules, he just wanted Daming to constantly adjust the national policy.

Without an unchanging national policy, no matter how powerful or far-sighted a person is, it is impossible to predict the development of future generations from the perspective of the predecessors.

Thoughts are what matter.

"This Bi Ziyan, he always chooses to do what he thinks is right in a relatively special period." Emperor Chongzhen leaned on the dragon chair, read the memorials, smiled and shook his head.

"According to Bi Qing's memorandum, to crack down on salt smuggling, to investigate salt farms and kitchen households, etc., what is the reaction from the cabinet? I am afraid that the reaction will be very strong?"

"Your Majesty is wise."

Qian Sule, the minister in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, saluted solemnly and said: "At present, Shandong and Jiangnan provinces are definitely not stable due to the influence of those two important cases.

Not to mention the nascent Ningxia rebellion. Letting the imperial court dispatch the Beijing camp to suppress the rebellion and seek stability is what the imperial court needs to focus on at this stage.

But at this time, Mr. Bi Ge submitted such memorials, wanting to crack down on salt smuggling, check salt farms and kitchen households, etc., which caused great controversy and disagreement in the cabinet.

Even according to what I know, Han Yuanfu and Mr. Wen Ge have put forward different opinions, but Mr. Wen Ge is more moderate. "

"What are your thoughts?"

Emperor Chongzhen put down the memorandum in his hand, looked at Qian Sule and said, "Do you think Bi Qing's proposal to rectify the salt tax will do more good than harm to the country? Or will the harm outweigh the benefits?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages."

Qian Sule bowed again and said: "Although the memorial presented by Elder Bi Ge is a relatively special morale, no matter whether it is the case of Yanshenggong Mansion or the Jiangnan assassination case, none of them have been clarified yet.

The emergence of these two important cases has caused great repercussions between the government and the opposition.

Moreover, the salt tax rectification proposed by Mr. Bi Ge involves Shandong and Jiangnan provinces the most. If the imperial court really wants to do this well, it will inevitably cause some disturbances in the local area.

But even if this is the case, according to the humble opinion of the minister, some things will not be broken or established after all, and the bad governance related to the salt government is formed after a long period of accumulation.

If it is not carried out in this way, the problems will only pile up more and more. The direct impact of this is that the salt tax collected by the imperial court will decrease year after year. "

"I'm very pleased that you can think so."

Emperor Chongzhen nodded approvingly and said: "It is indeed not easy to implement this matter, but no matter how difficult it is, it must be implemented gradually.

The cabinet wants to argue about it, so let them argue.

I believe in Bi Qing's ability, I also believe in Bi Qing's means, and I believe that there are many great Ming pillars like Bi Qing in the whole country. "

The Ministry of Internal Affairs planned by Emperor Chongzhen has a foundation that no one knows about, that is, the officials gathered in the Ministry of Internal Affairs are mostly anti-Qing heroes on the original timeline.

Qian Sule is.

Li Changxiang is.

Zhang Kentang is.

The week of the zodiac is...

Too many such talents, through the will of Emperor Chongzhen, gathered under the power structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which made them work in the capital, in various parts of Ming Dynasty, and in the Disaster Relief Administration.

Anti-Qing in the past.

Protest now!

What right?

All unlawful privileges!

If power loses its constraints, it cannot be called power, but a tool for doing evil. Emperor Chongzhen wanted to use his method to gradually put a bridle on power.

"Your Majesty, I feel that this matter should not only be disputed in court."

Qian Sule thought for a while, and bowed to Emperor Chongzhen: "Controversy should also form among the people. As His Majesty said at the beginning, without investigation, there is no right to speak. Let more groups participate in the debate, and the court has control over the matter." more initiative.

Is there any problem with salt administration?

Whether there is maladministration in salt administration.

Some suggestions from the people can actually be listened to, if this matter can be done well, maybe it can help Elder Bi Ge..."

"You have a good idea, and I will leave this matter to you."

Emperor Chongzhen smiled and said: "Regularly submit memorials to the imperial court, I will continue to pay attention to this matter, and the new salt plant planned by the Ministry of Internal Affairs should also play their role.

Convey my verbal orders, and first set down the price of salt in Zhili Prefecture, Tianjin. I want salt to be the salt that benefits the people, not the salt that plunders the people.

In the Ming Dynasty's salt administration in the future, the imperial court will gradually restore its autocratic leadership. Some salt merchants want to use bribery and collusion to influence the trend of salt prices. I will definitely make them pay a terrible price. "

"The minister obeys the order."

Qian Sule bowed immediately.

The monopoly of salt and iron was an important source of income in the hands of the centralized and unified dynasty, but as time went by, it gradually changed its taste in Ming Dynasty.

Emperor Chongzhen knew clearly that with the steady advancement of the original industrialization in Daming, the old salt and iron monopoly model was no longer appropriate. He wanted to explore a new way for Daming to ensure the stability of fiscal revenue through his own means. .