Daming: I, the emperor who trains the carpenter

Chapter 706 The opening of the railway, the beginning of large-scale financing!
No matter how good the banquet is, it's over.
With the end of the alliance, all the ministries of the grassland surrendered to Daming, Zhu Youxiao promised that Ming would allow the ministries of the grassland to come to Daming to do business, would provide help when the ministries encountered natural disasters, and provide some convenience for mutual trade, etc. Yan sincerely praised.

The Ming Emperor's affairs were cumbersome, and it was enough to stay on the grassland for more than ten days.

After finalizing a series of contract plans, Zhu Youxiao will go back even if he doesn't want to return to the capital anymore. The emperor cannot leave the capital for a long time.

After returning to the capital, the time has come to the winter solstice, and in less than 30 days, it is time for the annual leave.

Since Emperor Taizu established the rules, official salaries in Ming Dynasty were not high, and vacation time was also short.

Fortunately, in today's Tianqi Dynasty, the salaries of officials in the Ming Dynasty are higher, the treatment is better, and the vacation time is more standard.

Officials can take five days off every month, that is, five days off and two days off; Winter Solstice can be off for three days from the same day, New Year's Day can be off for three days from the same day, and then one day off in Xiaonian, and then New Year's Eve from New Year's Eve until The Lantern Festival is a holiday stipulated by the court, and even the emperor's birthday and the queen's birthday will also have a day off. Of course, apart from these, there are not many holidays, nothing more than Chongyang, Zhongqiu, etc.

And it can also be seen that the holidays of Ming Dynasty are concentrated in winter, and winter is the time when the imperial court takes stock of its income and expenditure every year, so there are never fewer things in winter.

The imperial court has a perfect system of rest and bathing. Some people will stay behind when they are on vacation. Therefore, when the emperor returns to Beijing, there are still officials who stay behind to pick him up.

Seeing Zhang Haogu get off the carriage, Lu Xiangsheng, a member of the cabinet, Minister of the Household Department, smiled happily: "Yuanfu is back, I will relax after waiting."

That's right, during these years when Zhang Haogu served as the chief assistant, Xiu Mu rarely had anything to do with him, and he spent New Year's Eve in the palace, anyway, it was just him, Zhu Qiqi and Zhang An in his family, it didn't matter where he lived .

Therefore, Zhang Haogu sits in the cabinet, and the rest of the cabinet ministers and ministers should take a break and take a break.

And Zhang Haogu didn't find it hard, what position he was doing, he was the prime minister, and what he did was to give an overview of the government affairs.

Following Zhang Haogu, a workaholic, the new party has developed rapidly in recent years, but the new party is also much busier than the old party.

The old party of Donglin traveled to the mountains and rivers, cultivated their sentiments, drank and had fun, betrothed prostitutes and threw pots, or went to the mountains to visit temples, or went fishing in the water.

But don't even think about it, the court officials are always thinking about reciting poems and doing right, traveling in mountains and rivers, what kind of celebrity demeanor, great Confucian style, etc., are they really capable of handling the government affairs?

The role of the new party that can quickly replace the old party is that the new party is really focused on work, commonly known as: open the book!
Zhang Haogu is the chancellor of the court, and the No. [-] head of the New Party takes the lead in the roll, followed by a group of young men from the New Party. They are all young people, and their enthusiasm is to reimburse the imperial court and become famous all over the world, so some energy is devoted to work superior.

Seeing the New Party diligently busy with government affairs, Zhang Haogu was satisfied, and Zhu Youxiao was even more satisfied.

The reason why he, the emperor, seems to be ignorant of government affairs, and he still has the title of a holy king without doing business all day long, and even the entire Ming Dynasty has no troubles, is extremely smooth from top to bottom, and both internal affairs and external wars are handled extremely beautifully , It’s not that the New Party is shining here.

"Everyone has worked hard these days, those who should rest should go to rest, don't be tired."

While Zhang Haogu was talking to the princes around him, he stepped on the thin layer of snow on the ground and entered the palace.

During the winter solstice, all the princes rested. Except for those left behind, everyone rested. Zhang Haogu was also given a two-day vacation. These days, Qiao Yun, Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice, was on duty. Zhang Haogu had a rare two-day rest. He was at home with Zhu Qi. Qi warmed up a bit, and teased his son, the white and tender big fat boy was ignorant, staring at him with big eyes, and after a while, he grinned, which made Zhang Haogu also smile , This is my son, that's great.

After resting for two days, Zhang Haogu went to the cabinet again and got off the carriage at the Meridian Gate. Zhang Haogu saw familiar carriages. Huang Liji, Wei Guangwei, Lu Xiangsheng, Zhang Ruitu and others happened to arrive at the same time. Also normal.

After all, the residences of the cabinet ministers are all together, and it only takes such a period of time from the cabinet to the Meridian Gate, so it is normal to meet each other.

"Yuansuke."

"Yuanfu came early."

"How is Yuanfu resting these two days?"

Listening to the question marks from the princes, Zhang Haogu responded one by one with a smile: "Hello, Prime Minister Huang."

"Isn't Wei Xiang here too early?"

"Qiao Xiang is here too. That's just right. We're all here, so let's go in together?"

The crowd responded with a smile, and the most powerful people in the Ming Dynasty walked side by side between the red walls.

Wearing thick winter official robes and a red cloak over their shoulders, several people chatted and laughed as they entered Wenyuan Pavilion.

There is no need for Zhu Youxiao to invite early. There are not so many rules in Tianqi Dynasty. If you have this time, you might as well do more other things. Zhu Youxiao himself is also very busy, and there are so many things waiting for him every day.

Brushing off the snow from his body, Zhang Haogu walked to the charcoal basin and roasted the charcoal fire: "Everyone, the imperial court signed a series of trade contracts with the 72 grassland alliances on the grassland this time. It's fine for merchants to go to the grasslands to do business, but the trade between the court and the grasslands has completely started."

"Every autumn and winter, the imperial court needs a large number of cotton-padded clothes. Sweaters, cotton, and wool are all urgently needed by the imperial court. With the supply from the grassland ministries and alliances, the imperial court has no shortage of cotton and wool, but the grassland ministries need food for the winter. After that, the imperial court will have several million more mouths every winter."

Lu Xiangsheng, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, said: "If it was several million mouths before, I can't guarantee it, but now the imperial court's warehouse can supply several million mouths. It's still no problem."

Huang Liji was a little surprised when he heard this: "Is there so much storage in the imperial court now?"

Lu Xiangsheng explained: "President Huang, it's like this. At present, the imperial court already has a lot of warehouses in various places. Don't look at allocating grain to various places year after year, but there is always a lot of income every year. Nowadays, people all over the world use fertilizers. , the increase in yield per mu is extremely high, the households of the common people have a lot of surplus grain, and the imperial court buys a lot from the common people. Now after the warehouses have been liquidated and counted, they are guarded by special personnel from the household department. In addition to the bumper harvest of sweet potatoes and potatoes, the imperial court Let’s not talk too much about our grain reserves, it’s not a problem to supply the world for a few years.”

Hearing what Lu Xiangsheng said, Huang Liji and Wei Guangwei clicked their tongues secretly. They were not in the Ministry of Household Affairs, and no one knew how much the imperial court had in store.

Now that the New Party has taken over the household department and is in charge of warehouses everywhere, the Granary Donglin Party has no choice but to intervene. It is trying to steal some grain and sell it to the Liaodong Grassland. It is impossible to play fire dragons and burn warehouses.

The new party is in charge, and the new army guards, and you will not be given a chance to get close to the granary.

Zhang Haogu added: "It's not all about relying on the imperial court. They also have their own storage. At most, they can dispose of some old grain. The imperial court adds tens of thousands of new grain to the warehouse every year. It is not always a solution to keep old grain in store." In the future, the old grain, sweet potatoes and potatoes will be sold to the grassland and Liaodong according to the rules, so as to earn more income for the court. But this must be taken precautions. Whether the grain is sold to the grassland or Liaodong, there is one rule that cannot be allowed Liaodong gets its grain from the grasslands."

As he said that, Zhang Haogu said with a smile: "In the future, the imperial court will be able to obtain a large number of cattle and sheep from the grassland every year. Not to mention the sheep, but with a large number of cattle, the imperial court will have a large amount of animal power for farming. Set it up."

Although cattle herding on the grasslands are not traditional farming cattle, having them is better than not having them. How many cattle are there in the villages of Daming today? This extra batch of cattle can save a lot of manpower and liberate a lot of labor. There are more cattle. It is a good thing for Daming.

After talking about the prairie, and talking about this year's tax reserves and salaries, the topic shifted to the issue of straight roads and straight roads.

After returning from the grassland, Zhu Youxue decided to add a few more roads, and decided to build a road between Gyeonggi and Tianjin in addition to the four roads connecting Gyeonggi to Shandong, Henan, Shanxi and the border. After all, Tianjin can connect to southern Liaoning and also Exports are an important part of the Gyeonggi region. The road between the capital and Tianjin has been repaired, and the material resources continue to arrive in Tianjin, which is to revitalize the economy of the region and increase the income of the court.

Zhang Haogu also brought it up at this cabinet meeting: "Didn't the imperial court decide to lay four lanes before? Your Majesty means to add one more lane and change the existing four lanes to five. What's your opinion?"

Change four to five?

Then the expenditure will change from 400 billion to 500 billion?

Don't look at it, it's 100 billion more, but how much money does the court have in balance every year?

100 billion is a few tenths of the annual income of the imperial court. If this money is spent, the imperial court will have even less money left.

Originally, the Donglin Party found it unacceptable to open four Chi Roads at once. Although they are not in charge of the household department and do not need them to pay, they just find it unacceptable. If you have money, you can’t spend it indiscriminately. It's people's fat and people's ointment, it's so good to save it, why spend it indiscriminately?
Huang Liji and Wei Guangwei looked at each other, and Huang Liji nodded.

Wei Guangwei then asked: "Yuanfu, I heard that Chidao is not very mature right now?"

Zhang Haogu nodded slightly: "There are indeed some problems with the car right now, but this has nothing to do with the car itself. First fix the car, and the car's problems can always be solved."

Huang Liji said: "Isn't it a big problem to spend tens of billions to lay the road this year, but is it too much pressure on the court to spend so much every year?"

Zhang Haogu looked at Huang Liji: "Then what does Huang Xiang mean?"

Huang Liji said: "Yuanfu, it's not that I don't support Chidao, after all, His Majesty has already approved the Chidao plan, but the imperial court has indeed spent a lot of money recently, and the imperial court always has a few remaining funds Bar?"

Zhang Haogu nodded. The Ming court was not rich in the past, and I don’t know why. From the initial tax of 4000 to 400 million taels a year, the court only had [-] million taels left in the end.

Three or four million taels of silver at one year old, officials all over the world need salaries, frontier soldiers need food and pay, and there are so many expenditures every year. Not only does the court have no money left, but it has no money every year, and even owes it. The salaries of hundreds of officials and the food and salaries of frontier troops.

This is also the reason why the frontier army is getting weaker and weaker, and all the officials of the court are corrupt.

With Zhang Haogu presiding over the New Deal and taking charge of the government, from the beginning of the reform of the household department to the present, the court has more and more money in its hands, and the salaries of hundreds of officials have increased. Charcoal payment, in short, the imperial court arranges everything.

If you don't have money in hand, can you do this?
All the officials in the world are paid at full rate regardless of their rank, and the money is paid more and more. When you get old, you will be given pension money. Why is the court so proud?
I have money!
Tens of millions of taels of tax per year, except for various hard expenses, the imperial court has a large balance every year, but the balance is large, and there are many new projects, plus various additional expenditures such as wars, disaster relief, etc., the imperial court actually There is not much money left in my hand.

But the court really has no money?
Are you kidding me, how much gold and silver is in the vault of Daming Bank?

The gold and silver collected from various places over the years, together with the gold, silver and jewelry obtained from the raids on corrupt officials, as well as the various mines controlled by the imperial court, have filled the treasury with gold and silver. It is really a mountain of gold and silver. Mountain.

For this reason, the imperial court specially stationed a battalion of new troops at the headquarters of Daming Bank for protection, just to prevent people from taking risks.

After all, the head office has to send treasure notes to the branches in various provinces every year, and the branches have to send them to the sub-branches in various prefectures and counties, and the gold and silver reserves of each bank have to be sent to the head office every year. In recent years, many people have paid attention to the money transport. In the car, if the imperial court had not arranged for new troops to escort them, it is estimated that there would be endless bank robberies and gold robberies in the Ming Dynasty.

With so much gold and silver in hand, the imperial court is naturally very confident in speaking, but the gold and silver should not be moved lightly. The imperial court has now formed a virtuous circle, and it is impossible for the Ming Dynasty to issue infinitely more banknotes. This is based on market conditions. If there are additional issuances, additional issuances will be issued, so as not to damage the economic situation that the imperial court has managed to operate.

Therefore, it has become a consensus among all the princes in the court to balance the tax and expenditure of the court every year, so that the court will not be burdened with foreign debts.

But Zhang Haogu didn’t think so. It’s useless for the court to save so much money. As long as the gold and silver are still there, the court’s treasured banknotes are reputable, and the treasured banknotes will be spent as soon as they are spent. Only when the money is spent and the economy starts to operate can Daming have a benign operation.

However, what Huang Liji said was justified. The imperial court always had a few funds in reserve, and they could not ask Daming Bank for money as soon as something happened.

Now what Huang Liji and others are asking for is nothing more than to ensure that the court has enough money and try not to take up extra money.

"Yuanfu, 400 billion yuan was just approved for laying the road, and now it is 100 billion yuan, and 500 billion yuan will be used all at once. In addition to the imperial court's straight road plan, [-]% of the imperial court's annual income will be spent on In terms of cultivation, is this, is this too much?" Huang Liji asked very sincerely, which is also the current fact.

Talking to people like Huang Liji and Wei Guangwei about the importance of building roads for the rich first, or the importance of straight and straight roads to the Ming Dynasty is meaningless, and Zhang Haogu does not intend to talk to them about this.

However, what Huang Liji was worried about was also the fact that the imperial court only had so much money every year, and after all kinds of expenses, that was all that was left. If there was more money in hand, there would be more preparations for next year.

Thinking of this, Zhang Haogu said: "What Huang Xiang said is not without reason."

"But the first batch of Chidao's funds have already been allocated by the Ministry of Accounts."

Huang Liji said: "Then, should the Chidao of Jingshi Unicom Tianjin be slowed down? Or slow down the Chidao in other places?"

Lu Xiangsheng took a sip of tea and put down the cup, "President Huang, can the imperial court slow down the road connecting Shandong and Henan, or the road connecting Taiyuan and Datong?"

"Shandong and Henan are important food and tax areas for the imperial court. These two roads are related to the imperial court's control over Shandong and Henan. Shanxi is a large province of coal and iron for the imperial court, and Datong is an important border area. Now the laying of these roads has begun. Money The funds have been allotted, all provinces have organized manpower and material resources to level the area, and the transfer of household registration has begun to prepare for Chidao, and if we say stop now, people will be cursed everywhere."

Wei Guangwei stroked his beard and said, "Then the road in Tianjin can always be slowed down."

Zhang Ruitu said with a smile: "Then Mr. Wei, why don't you go and talk to His Majesty?"

Wei Guangwei stopped talking, what a joke, if he dared to speak in front of Zhu Youxiao, would he be here to persuade him?

Looking at these people arguing, Zhang Haogu smiled and took a sip of his tea: "Your Majesty wants to build a good way. The province will save these expenses; but His Majesty is building this road for the sake of the people's livelihood and the world, and the imperial court does not have money in hand, so we, the courtiers, can we stop it if we don't support it?"

Wei Guangwei and Huang Liji couldn't help sighing when they heard this. It seems that this course is compulsory. The imperial court will spend 500 billion at one time. Isn't the pressure on the Ministry of Households not too great?
Zhang Haogu turned his head around: "However, this pavilion also understands Huang Xiangwei's worries. As for the next payment, this pavilion also has a plan."

"It doesn't have to be all the money from the court. Private money is also available."

"Earlier, when this cabinet was discussing with His Majesty about the Chi Dao, I also said that after the Chi Dao was completed, it would be of great importance to the connection between various places and business trade. This Chi Dao is not a secret, it is something closely related to people's livelihood. It only works for the imperial court, and it also has a huge economic promotion effect for the people."

"What I mean by this pavilion is that Chidao can also issue shares. It's better to be happy alone than to be happy together."

That's right, Zhang Haogu's idea is the stock market.

In fact, Zhang Haogu has long had the idea of ​​using private capital to develop the economy. He lacked some important things before, but now that he has Chidao, the railway stock market can be opened.

In terms of making money, what can cut leeks better than the stock market?
How much money do people have in their hands today?
Whether it is working or farming throughout the year, more than half of it is spent on food and clothing. Whether it is a few new clothes during the holidays or buying some candy for the children, there is not much money left.

The wealth of the people is still in the hands of the gentry and merchants. The gentry who sell their land in exchange for a large amount of money, as well as the money in the hands of those merchants, are hot money. Take these money out of the hands of these gentry and merchants. Isn't it a win-win thing to develop the local economy?

(End of this chapter)