I, Jiajing, successfully cultivated immortality

Chapter 546 How to spend this money

There is no impenetrable wall in the world. After a night of fermenting, Hai Rui personally dispatched troops to confiscate all the families of the "Four Sages and Three Sages". There was an uproar.

What shocked the courtiers even more was that Hai Rui actually confiscated 8000 million taels of silver from those families, which was equivalent to more than two years of taxes from the Ming Dynasty, not to mention 36 acres of land. , and countless antique treasures!
Anyone with a discerning eye in the court could see that the emperor stood behind Hai Rui.

In the eyes of these people, without the emperor's permission behind the whole incident, even if Hai Rui had a hundred courages, he would never have dared to do it!

With the downfall of these families, the courtiers became even more panic-stricken, especially the ministers who had been related to those families or had received favors from them, and they were busy looking for connections and destroying evidence of crimes.

The current situation is that no one wants to have anything to do with those families. If they are not careful, they will ruin their bright future!
While being shocked, some of the courtiers were secretly speculating about how His Majesty would reward Hai Rui for his great contribution. After all, Hai Rui had brought a total of 8000 million taels of income to the court. !

Among the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty, the one who pleased Hai Rui the most was none other than Zhao Zhenji.

Apart from anything else, the achievement of destroying the White Lotus Sect alone was enough to get Hai Rui promoted. And now, while destroying the White Lotus Sect, Hai Rui also brought 8000 million taels of silver to the national treasury!

The sum of these two achievements is not simply one plus one equals two, but one plus one is much greater than two!

Zhao Zhenji felt that with the achievements Hai Rui had made so far, and if he continued his qualifications, it would be easy to serve as the censor of Zuodu in the future.

At this moment, Zhao Zhenji felt even more fortunate that he had recommended Hai Rui to the court in the first place. Because in the civil and military affairs of the court, no one knew that it was Zhao Zhenji who single-handedly promoted Hai Rui.

Based on this relationship alone, in the future, if someone wants to trouble Zhao Zhenji in the officialdom, he has to weigh himself carefully to see if he is qualified enough!
……

On the other side, early morning, cabinet.

When Xu Jie got off the sedan, he bumped into the sedan Yan Song was riding.

Seeing this, Xu Jie immediately stopped and stood aside respectfully. After Yan Song tremblingly got down from the sedan with the support of his servants, he took three steps at a time to greet him and said respectfully.

"I've seen Mr. Yan Ge!"

Hearing this, Yan Song looked Xu Jie up and down with cloudy eyes before nodding in response.

"Mr. Xu Ge, is it so early?"

When Xu Jie heard this, he smiled and immediately responded.

"Mr. Yan Ge, to be honest, I still have some unfinished business, so I thought I'd come over early today!"

After hearing what Xu Jie said, Yan Song did not make any comment, but nodded and walked with Xu Jie.

After the two walked a certain distance, they only heard Yan Song's slightly curious voice.

"Speaking of Mr. Xu Ge, have you heard that Hai Rui, who was previously sent by His Majesty to Shandong to investigate the White Lotus Sect, mobilized soldiers to kill the "Four Saints and Three Sages" on the grounds that he had colluded with the White Lotus Sect? All the houses of this family were confiscated!"

Hearing this, Xu Jie didn't show any surprise on his face. He glanced at Yan Song and then spoke unhurriedly.

"That's natural. Now the news is spreading in the court. Let me tell you, this Hai Rui is really bold!"

"Yes, the future is really formidable. It seems that it's time for me, an old man, to make room for these young people!"

When Xu Jie's words fell, Yan Song who was on the side followed closely and said with emotion, his tone was full of exhaustion, and he looked old-fashioned.

When Xu Jie on the side heard this, he couldn't help but glance at Yan Song and complained secretly in his heart.

"Bah, Yan Song, you old guy, I think you really want to sit in the position of chief minister of the cabinet until you die!"

Although Xu Jie's malice toward Yan Song was so strong that it was about to overflow, on the surface, he still showed a rather respectful look and spoke immediately.

"Where is that, Yan Ge is always joking, your body is still strong, in my opinion, you have to work for at least 20 years!"

"Hahaha, sometimes you have to retreat. It is best to leave the stage to these young people!"

After that, the two chatted some more, then stepped onto the stairs and entered the cabinet.

After entering the cabinet, Yan Song and Xu Jie sat in their respective seats and began to deal with the unfinished memorials.

Soon after, Zhang Juzheng, Gao Gong, and Yan Shifan also came to the cabinet one after another.

After all five members of the cabinet had arrived, a subordinate soon came in carrying a memorandum as tall as a person.

Just as everyone was concentrating on processing the memorials in hand, there was a rush of footsteps from outside the door, and after a while, a subordinate official came in, turned his eyes to the direction where Yan Song and Xu Jie were, and reported respectfully.

"Mr. Yan Ge, Eunuch Lu is outside asking for an audience!"

"Oh, Eunuch Lu is here, please invite him in quickly!"

After listening to the subordinate's report, Yan Song immediately put down the half-finished memorial in his hand and gave instructions to the subordinate.

"Obey, Mr. Yan Ge!"

After receiving Yan Song's specific instructions, the subordinate official quickly left without stopping at all.

No one in the cabinet was surprised at all by Lu Fang's sudden arrival. After all, the court had gained a new income of 8000 million taels of silver. It was time to discuss how to spend this money!

On the other hand, Xu Jie looked distressed. He propped his chin up with one hand, and began to think about the household department. How long will it take this time to get the 8000 million taels The silver count is complete.

After all, it took them ten days to fully count the 3000 million taels of silver sent to the national treasury last time!

"Oh, I really didn't expect that one day I, Xu Jie, would actually worry about the imperial court having too much money!"

At this moment, under the guidance of the former subordinate, Lu Fang entered the cabinet with silent steps.

Immediately, under the leadership of Yan Song, the chief minister of the cabinet, everyone stood up from their seats and saluted him respectfully.

"Meet Eunuch Lu!"

Today, Lu Fang was in a particularly good mood, with an unconcealable smile on his face. After looking around, he turned his eyes to Yan Song and Xu Jie who were beside him, and said unhurriedly.

"Where is it? Mr. Yan Ge, Mr. Xu Ge, Your Majesty asked you two to go over there immediately, saying that we have important matters to discuss!"

When Yan Song and Xu Jie heard this, there was no surprise on their faces. Immediately, after looking at each other, they turned to look at Lu Fang, leaned down, and responded respectfully.

"Yes, Eunuch Lu!"

Seeing this situation, Lu Fang nodded, immediately looked away from the two of them, and then spoke.

"Without further ado, let's set off now, don't keep His Majesty waiting in a hurry!"

"Ah."

After a subtle response, the two of them no longer hesitated and immediately followed Lu Fang's footsteps and embarked on the road to Qianqing Palace.On the way to Qianqing Palace, Yan Song could not suppress his curiosity. After carefully considering his tone, he spoke to Lu Fang to find out.

"Eunuch Lu, may I ask His Majesty why he came to us this time? Could it be..."

Lu Fang, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped when he heard this, turned around, glanced at Yan Song, and responded with a smile.

"Mr. Yan Ge, you are right. His Majesty came to you this time just to discuss how to spend this money."

When Lu Fang finished speaking, not only Yan Song, but also Xu Jie beside him breathed a sigh of relief.

After that, everyone didn't intend to speak any more, but followed Lu Fang's pace and walked slowly towards Qianqing Palace.

……

Outside Qianqing Palace, Lu Fang paused, turned around, glanced at Yan Song and Xu Jie, and immediately gave instructions.

"Mr. Yan Ge, Mr. Xu Ge, please wait here for a moment. We will go in and inform His Majesty!"

"Eunuch Lau Lu is here!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Song and Xu Jie leaned down and bowed their hands to Lu Fang.

Seeing this situation, Lu Fang nodded slightly, without any hesitation, and immediately stepped onto the stairs of Qianqing Palace.

Looking at Lu Fang's leaving figure, Yan Song looked away and took the lead in provoking the topic.

"Mr. Xu Ge, in your opinion, what should the 8000 million taels of silver newly entered by the imperial court be used for?"

When Xu Jie heard Yan Song's words, he was stunned for a moment, and then responded with a smile.

"Mr. Yan Ge, it's almost summer now, when the precipitation will increase, those old dams built in the past, under the heavy rain for days, there is a risk of breaking the embankment if you are not careful."

"Mr. Yan Ge, you probably don't want to see what happened in Zhejiang where the dams were damaged due to continuous heavy rains happening again, right?"

"In addition, it's time to strengthen the dams on the banks of the Yellow River!"

When Yan Song heard this, after a moment of silence, he immediately responded.

"Well, what Mr. Xu Ge said makes sense. I will work with you to raise this matter to His Majesty in person later!"

"Ah."

Seeing that Yan Song agreed to his proposal, Xu Jie was in a good mood. Just when he was about to speak, he heard a high-pitched voice: "Xuan, Yan Song and Xu Jie are here to see you!"

After hearing this, the two looked at each other and immediately stepped onto the stairs of Qianqing Palace.

As soon as Yan Song and Xu Jie entered the Qianqing Palace, they knelt on the ground respectfully, looked at the figure on the dragon chair, and said in unison.

"My minister bows to His Majesty, long live my emperor, long live long live!"

"Well, you two, get up!"

Jiajing, who was sitting on the dragon chair, glanced at Yan Song and Xu Jie respectively, waved his hand quite casually, and gave instructions.

After hearing Jiajing's voice, Yan Song and Xu Jie couldn't help but feel happy, because they could tell that the emperor was in a good mood today, but after thinking about it, they felt it was very reasonable.

After all, right now, the imperial court suddenly has an extra 8000 million taels of silver income!
With an extremely anxious mood, Yan Song and Xu Jie just slowly stood up from the ground.

After that, Jiajing had no intention of going around in circles with Yan Song and Xu Jie, but chose to go straight to the point.

"Yan Song, Xu Jie, I came to you two today to discuss how the newly acquired 8000 million taels of silver should be distributed!"

After Jiajing finished speaking, without waiting for the two to respond, he turned his gaze to Xu Jie and asked.

"By the way, Xu Jie, how much silver is currently in the treasury?"

Xu Jie heard the words, and after recalling for a moment, he gave the answer without thinking.

"Report to Your Majesty, the current treasury has a total of 520 taels of silver!"

After Xu Jie finished answering Jiajing's question, Yan Song couldn't help but gasped, his face was full of disbelief, and he lost his voice: "Hiss, there are so many!"

Although Xu Jie had disclosed to him earlier when he presided over the expansion of the national treasury, the current silver in the national treasury may be counted in the hundreds of millions.

But what Yan Song didn't expect was that the amount of silver in the treasury was actually so much, reaching an astonishing 6000 million taels. You know, before this, the taxes collected by the Ming Dynasty in a year were only 3000, 80. Wan Liang!
This much money was enough for the Ming Dynasty to last for five years without collecting any taxes!
Thinking of this, Yan Song's breathing became rapid, even though he knew very well that most of the money was obtained through ransacking homes.

Part of it comes from the clans and nobles whose homes were confiscated, such as King Hui, King Zhao, King Gui, etc., and most of them come from the smuggling families in the southeastern coastal area and the big salt merchants.

These people have made extremely outstanding contributions to the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty's treasury. It can be said that without them, there would be no surplus in the treasury today!
Just as Yan Song's thoughts were racing, Jiajing's voice sounded again, bringing him back to reality.

"Lu Fang, show them the brochure!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After Lu Fang responded, he immediately took the book with detailed property records from the desk beside him and brought it to Yan Song and Xu Jie.

Yan Song did not refuse, and immediately took the booklet from Lu Fang's hand and began to read it carefully.

The further he looked down, the more gloomy Yan Song's face became, because the property records of those families in the manual were really too astonishing.

"These damn guys have such a big appetite!"

After Yan Song finished speaking, he immediately handed the booklet in his hand to Xu Jie who was beside him.

When Xu Jie took the book from Yan Song's hand, after flipping through it for a moment, his face couldn't help but show the same expression as Yan Song's before. Immediately, he came back to his senses and cursed secretly.

"These damn guys really deserve to die!"

The reason why Yan Song and Xu Jie were so angry was because these families had taken the share that should have belonged to them.

Jiajing saw General Xu Jie reading the book in his hand, nodded, and said slowly: "As you can see, not long ago, Hai Rui personally mobilized his troops to steal silver from those families, a total of eight One thousand three hundred and twenty sixty-five thousand two hundred and ninety taels!”

"Besides, the land deeds and land deeds were also found from the homes of those families, totaling a total of 36 mu of land!"

"It is precisely because of this that I came to you two today. In addition to discussing how to spend this money, I also want to ask you, how should these 36 acres of land be disposed of?"

(End of this chapter)