Daming: The most ruthless tyrant in history

Chapter 894 Joint Court Meeting
There is nothing in this world that is inseparable from money. Whenever problems, conflicts, and disputes arise, they are inevitably closely related to interests.

From the country to the individual, once you choose to follow certain rules, you must play within the rules. If anyone dares to continue to cross the bottom line, it will cause serious consequences.

The trial implementation of military expenditure in the Liaodong region, especially the inclusion of the three major fleets, means that the military expenditure will be considerable in the next few years, or even longer.

How to properly solve this expenditure so that the reform of the Liao army can be deepened and advanced, sort out and refine various military-related fields from the source, and strengthen the central government's control over the army, is what Zhu Youxiao needs to consider.

The next day.

Qianqing Palace.

"I summoned you all here today. What I want to discuss is very simple."

Zhu Youxiao looked serious, and he glanced at the ministers in front of him and said solemnly, "The tax law of our country must be comprehensively adjusted and improved. I did not summon the Ministry of Revenue today, let alone the Minister of Finance. You should know what I mean, right?"

Shi Bangyao, Dong Yingju and other ministers looked at each other with different expressions on their faces. They had more or less guessed the emperor's intention.

Following the General Administration of Customs, the General Administration of Customs, and the General Administration of Grain Transport, in view of the volatile situation in the southeastern provinces, Zhu Youxiao issued a series of imperial decrees over a period of more than a month before New Year's Day, ordering the national taxation, waterways, warehouses, currency law, salt law, and tax police to be restructured into general administrations in order to govern all matters related to their respective powers.

These six newly established general offices are not under the jurisdiction of the six ministries, but are directly under the jurisdiction of the cabinet. This is to ensure that corresponding matters can be passed on from the central government to the local levels and to prevent officials from shirking their responsibilities.

When this matter spread in the court, it caused an uproar.

The most controversial issue is that the chief official of the above-mentioned general office was directly appointed by the emperor without being recommended by the Ministry of Personnel or recommended by court officials!

For Zhu Youxiao, a major sign that he had achieved phased results in his reforms in the Ming Dynasty was that he had completed the refinement of the central and local official systems of the Ming Dynasty and promoted the establishment of a new system suitable for the Ming Dynasty, a new national system!

"It looks like the situation in the southeastern provinces will continue for some time."

Looking at the different expressions of the ministers, Zhu Youxiao leaned forward and said, "No matter how chaotic the southeast is, the central government still has to go on."

"Except for the chiefs of the Salt Law General Administration and the Taxation and Police General Administration, all others have arrived. Excluding the warehouses and rivers, what the other general administrations need to do in the new year is to standardize taxation, clarify tax items, and severely punish those who evade and evade taxes. This is my attitude!!"

In order to strengthen the authority of the above-mentioned general offices, Zhu Youzheng allowed each general office to set up a general warehouse, and the various taxes collected could be directly transferred to the corresponding general warehouse after being delivered to Beijing.

In a sense, this was a split of the Ministry of Revenue's powers, but Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Revenue, had no objection to this.

The tax reform promoted by Bi Ziyan is still ongoing. During this period, many long-standing problems have indeed been solved. In particular, the inventory of temple properties has achieved remarkable results in northern Zhili. Not only has a group of monks who committed crimes been arrested, but a part of the group has also been transferred to temple properties, thereby achieving the purpose of tax evasion and tax avoidance, and they have been severely punished!

It was precisely because of this experience that Bi Ziyan knew better than anyone that if he wanted to implement tax reforms across the Ming Dynasty, it would definitely not work if he relied solely on the Ministry of Revenue to monitor every aspect.

The emperor established a number of general offices one after another, which seemed to divide the power of the Ministry of Revenue, but in fact it strengthened the central authority. Although Bi Ziyan would bear a lot of infamy if he did not oppose this, Bi Ziyan no longer cared about it because his reputation was already bad.

Among the people, Bi Ziyan was infamous for confiscating property.

This is the most difficult part of reform. If we don’t reform, the rule of the country will be ruined.

If we change it, it will affect many interests.

This will test the determination and will of the superiors. If the superiors cannot bear it all and choose to retreat at the critical moment, what should the people below do?
"I have a request to make to you now."

Zhu Youxiao held out his hand and said, "By the end of this year, all of you general offices, including the Customs, the Customs Administration, and the Grain Transport Administration, must be able to allocate at least 500 million taels of tax silver to me. This is a prerequisite. Whatever is to be done this year, including what is to be done next year, must be covered for me."

Shi Bangyao and Dong Yingju's faces changed drastically.

"Your Majesty, what do you want to do with this tax money?"

Shi Bangyao pondered for a moment, then stepped forward and bowed to Zhu Youxiao, saying, "To meet this requirement, it will affect the deployment of all major agencies this year. After all..."

"I want to use it to repay a bond."

Zhu Youxiao interrupted Shi Bangyao and said calmly: "You don't need to know what this bond is for now, but it is not a difficult task for the various general offices. The court has lost too much on these tax items in the past. I want you to take them all back!"

Zhu Youxiao had already wanted to find a way to raise funds for the military expenditures to be implemented in Liao, so he sold a batch of bonds in the name of the Shaofu. Because the Shaofu had always paid the principal and interest in full on all the bonds sold, the Shaofu's credibility among the people was extremely strong.

At present, most of the gold and silver reserves in the national treasury and the internal treasury have already been clearly used, so Zhu Youxiao will not embezzle these reserves unless it is absolutely necessary.

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For this reason, Zhu Youxiao turned his attention to the people.

Especially in the northern Zhili area, due to the development of intensive handicraft manufacturing, the opening of Tianjin to the sea, the increase in maritime trade in the Ming Dynasty, and the growth of maritime trade in Liaodong, there was a large amount of gold and silver circulating among the people. How to mobilize this large amount of gold and silver and make it flow to the areas needed by the Ming Dynasty was what Zhu Youxiao had to do.

"Your Majesty~"

"Your Majesty~"

Voices were heard in the East Warm Pavilion, but before they could finish their words, they were interrupted by Zhu Youxiao.

"You don't need to tell me what impact it will cause, what ripples it will create, and what harm it will cause." Zhu Youxiao said with a sharp look.

"I know all about the salt tax collected in Shandong and Lianghuai during the salt law reform. Otherwise, I would not have asked you to lead the various general offices. Since I asked you to sit in this position, it is to ask you to solve the accumulated problems for me and the court. If there is a problem, I will take care of it. What are you worried about? What are you concerned about?"

Not to mention such special areas as customs, rivers, warehouses, and currency laws, Zhu Youxiao knew how much tax could be collected in the areas of national taxes, customs duties, grain transport, and salt laws. If it had not been collected in the past, it was because people from all walks of life had manipulated it. What Zhu Youxiao had to do now was to collect it all!

Whether conflicts arise or clashes break out during this period, even if it leads to rebellion, Zhu Youxiao will never retreat a single step. The officials in the southeastern provinces are only trying to intimidate the scoundrels. If anyone is still stubborn, Zhu Youxiao doesn't mind killing more people!

As long as the northern provinces are not in chaos, especially the Liaodong region, Zhu Youxiao is confident. At most, the Ming Dynasty will be in chaos for a few years. As long as everything develops in a good direction, Zhu Youxiao is willing to bear this price! !

Zhu Youxiao wanted to see which stubborn people dared to fight with him. After all, he held the military power in his hands. With this, Zhu Youxiao really didn't know what to be afraid of!
(End of this chapter)