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Chapter 143: Settlement of Accounts (Silver Leader 4)

It has been three years since he took office. The governor has only returned to Beijing once to participate in the inspection. On weekdays, he is all at the Haihe Shipyard and never shows up. He has never given any souvenirs to the emperor to show his loyalty. In the eyes of the outside world, he does not look like a royalist at all. Attributes.

But they didn't know something. Every month, a thick letter was secretly exchanged between the capital and the Haihe Shipyard through the channel of the Royal Horse Tax Supervisor. Yuan Keli would report on the difficulties he encountered at work one by one. The emperor answered all questions and gave most perfect solutions.

Today was the first time that Yuan Keli used a special waist card to request an audience with the emperor. Chen Ju, who was stationed at the palace, did not dare to neglect at all and immediately asked Zhang Ran to take Yuan Keli out of the city to the north to meet the emperor.

"... I went to the Haihe Machinery Factory yesterday in accordance with His Majesty's instructions. There I met Xu Guangqi and Wang Zheng, the chiefs of the Ministry of Industry's Yu Heng Cleaning Department. My horizons were opened and at the same time I had some doubts. No one else could explain them."

Yuan Keli was not wearing official uniform, and his cyan Taoist robe was wrinkled. If he had not been washed briefly, he would probably still have dirt on his head and face.Zhang Ran is also stubborn. There are two enclosed four-wheel carriages in the palace. Why have to travel on horseback? Riding in a car is so comfortable.

"Sit down and eat and talk. The food rules in the palace are very strict. I can't keep you. I can only eat with the officials. Eat more cakes to avoid being hungry at night."

Hearing that Yuan Keli had doubts after visiting the machinery factory, Hong Tao roughly guessed what the problem was.It doesn't matter, this is a normal reaction. If you don't have any ideas after reading it, you are not worthy of being a qualified governor.

"I asked Xu Guangqi. You can easily bend fine steel bars with a thousand-pound press. If you can produce gun tubes instead, you can get twice the result with half the effort. Coupled with pure steel armor, it will definitely make the Liaodong frontier army even more powerful."

Yuan Keli was not only hungry but also tired. He stayed awake for most of last night, and the scene in the machinery factory always appeared in his mind.The reason why I agreed to become an official was not because I wanted to prosper and prosper my descendants, but because the new emperor was determined to eliminate the shortcomings and revitalize the imperial court, so I wanted to do my best as a minister.

Cultivating oneself, managing one's family, governing the country and bringing peace to the world is the highest ideal of every scholar. As long as there is a glimmer of hope, who wouldn't want to give it a try?If, like Emperor Wanli, this governor was willing to become an accomplice regardless of his passion for power and profit, then it would be better for the governor not to do so and continue to go home to study poetry and books.

"Does the border army have poor weapons and weak armor? Compared with the Northern Barbarians and Jurchen tribes, the equipment of my frontier army is already very sharp. In addition to firecrackers, there are also large and small artillery to help, but they still fail repeatedly. Mr. Li Why do you think?"

Sure enough, Yuan Keli and Zhao Shizhen had similar ideas, but their questions were more specific and direct.No choice, I have to tell the reason again, hoping that this famous handsome man in history can understand it.

"...In the court...whatever, what is your Majesty's explanation?" Yuan Keli originally wanted to say that there was indeed a factional struggle in the court, and the bottom line was getting lower and lower. They often hindered each other regardless of justice, causing the frontline soldiers to be distracted and give inconsistent orders. .

But as soon as he started, he stopped suddenly, followed by a long sigh, as if he had vomited out all the resentment in his chest and abdomen, and his body slumped down.

Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you. At that time, he just felt powerless and decided not to serve as an official. Now he is using the same problem to trouble the young emperor who has only been on the throne for a few years. It seems that his character is somewhat inferior.

"The building is about to collapse. Just repairing it will not work. There is only one way to keep it sheltered from wind and rain... tear it down and rebuild!"

After three years of testing, Hong Tao felt that Yuan Keli was a capable minister with means and a straightforward minister with perseverance. As long as the survival of the country was at stake, he would most likely choose to face difficulties.Even if you object, you should point it out to your face and don't bother to make small moves behind your back.If you want this kind of people to take advantage of you, you can't just fool them with illusory pie, you must have some real hard goods, even if it is a bit sensational, don't be afraid. The greater the pressure, the better the effect may be.

"...Why is this so?" Yuan Keli felt that he had already understood what it meant to start over and there was no need to explain it in detail.In addition to the great shock, there was also a lot of confusion.

In so many dynasties in history, emperors and ministers who wanted to reform came and went.Some are for temporary remedies, some are to enhance control, some are to eliminate dissidents, and some may be to enrich the country and strengthen its troops.Anyway, no matter what the reason is, no one wants to change themselves.

The true meaning of reform is to change others and get rid of others. It is not called reform to attack oneself, but to be called rebellion. To rebel against the entire family, as well as to rebel against the civil and military forces of the dynasty, is treason!

Even if this can really save the situation and create greater glory, is the Ming Empire really in a state of dilapidation and the building is about to collapse?If you think about it carefully, there seems to be a trend, but it doesn't seem that bad.

"Why is this so? Mr. Li, these words come from your mouth, which really disappoints me. Last year, Taicang was unable to provide sufficient rice and food for disaster relief, and could only make up for it with internal funds. I want to equip the frontier army with expensive new weapons. Fire blunderbuss and steel armor, where does the money come from?”

If Yuan Keli had asked this question three years ago, Hong Tao really wouldn't have been able to answer.Youdao is that you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are when you become a rich man. After he ascended the throne, he gradually figured out why Emperor Wanli went to great lengths to make money by any means. He was either pretending to be poor or really poor.

The financial system of the Ming Dynasty had a very distinctive feature. In one word, it was chaotic!It may be a matter of birth, and he possesses the talents of Chinese people in some aspects, such as his skill in political struggle and his decisiveness in killing.But it is particularly weak in some aspects, such as the economy.

The fiscal system he designed was both unreasonable and difficult to implement. There were big holes everywhere. After more than 200 years of patching and patching, he could no longer withstand the big storms and fell apart immediately.

Let’s talk about the treasury system first. This is the court’s money bag. Whether it is full or not is basically equivalent to the survival of the country.

In the early Ming Dynasty, there was only one treasury, called the inner treasury.Including the internal transportation warehouse, the internal supply warehouse, the Tiancai warehouse, the punishment warehouse, the Guanghui warehouse, the Guangji warehouse, the Guangying warehouse, the A-zi library, the B-zi library, the C-zi library, the T-zi library, and the Xu-zi library, there are twelve large-scale buildings. storehouse.

Some of these warehouses store gold and silver treasures, and some store armor and sharp weapons. From small to large, from high to low, there is a dazzling array of everything.Together with Nanjing's inner treasury, it was responsible for most of the income and expenditures of the court and the royal family.

Here comes the keyword, court and royal family!According to the comprehensive reasoning of logic and human nature, no matter how tacit understanding the two parties have, one party must actually control the management rights of the internal treasury, and thus conflicts arise.

When the emperor is relatively strong, he will inevitably dominate the internal treasury management. To put it bluntly, he can spend whatever he wants, and no one can control it.And when the ministers are relatively powerful, such as Zhang Juzheng, the emperor becomes a doormat. If he wants to buy a big ice cream, he has to report it in advance, otherwise he won't get a penny.

(End of this chapter)