unclear

74 Chapter 2 Talking against Confucians [-]
"Your Majesty, your Majesty, these three points are indeed inappropriate and are of no use to our great enlightenment!"

Even though Li Kezhuo is the shortest and his appearance is not that of a gentleman at all, he is really capable of acting and he really dares to act.He showed no fear at all in the face of the emperor who held the power of life and death, and vividly displayed the image of a direct minister who argued for reason and put state affairs first.

"Ancestral system...Tian Yi, tell Li Aiqing how many members of the clan there were when Emperor Taizu formulated this law!" When it comes to being a good actor, Hong Tao thinks he should be on the front line. The role of the cowardly prince was good, but now that he is the emperor, he has to change his role and continue to act, which is quite difficult.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, there are 58 people registered in the Golden Register!" Tian Yi looked at the three people sitting under His Majesty Dan, and then at the courtiers on both sides, his eyes full of despair.But it only took a flash, without any hesitation, and he immediately gave the correct answer.

He knew very well what was going on in today's court meeting, and he was full of awe of the young emperor on the throne.Despite his young age, he is very sophisticated in his methods, has a very good mind and is very organized.It only took one day to clearly arrange the countermeasures and prepare at least two sets of plans.

Even if he suddenly switched sides and sided with the courtiers, it would be meaningless. In addition to himself, the eunuch, the emperor was also surrounded by the eunuchs Chen Ju and Wang An, and the eunuch Zhang Ran.As long as there is only one left, he can cooperate with the emperor to complete this matter.

"Oh...58 people...Tian Yi, please tell Zhang Aiqing how many people there are in the clan now!" Hong Tao did not look back at the expressions of the officials. He sat upright with his back on his knees, his hands on his knees, and his body slightly forward. Qing, like a leopard charging up strength.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, as of the year before last year, there were 150786 people registered in the Golden Register, and there are 128813 people now..."

Tian Yi's answer was still so quick, there was no need to look through the information in the box.That's right, those boxes contained relevant archives obtained from the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Industry, and the Zongren Mansion, covering almost 200 years of Ming Dynasty data.

No emperor has done this before. If you don't understand something, just ask the courtiers directly. It's enough to get a rough idea. There is no need to be so precise.But as soon as these numbers are exported, you will know what they are used for. Speaking in general terms and speaking in specific single digits, the impact is really different.

"Where is Qin Tian Jian?" Before the people below could react, Hong Tao called the name himself.

"I'm here!" Upon hearing this, an old man in his 60s or [-]s immediately stood up and walked quickly to Lord Dan to bow and bow.

"Please help me do the math. In the first year of Longqing, there were 44901 people in the clan, and there were 27880 people in the clan. In the first year of Wanli, there were 10311 people in the clan, and there were 67301 people in the clan. Now there are more than 15 in the clan, and more than 12 in the clan. 30 How many people will the clan have in the next year or so? Wang An, please give me your pen and ink calculations!"

Hong Tao didn't hear clearly what Qin Tianjian was calling, and he didn't bother to ask, but there was one thing they must be able to do, and that was mathematical calculations.Don’t listen to anyone’s evaluation of whether this supervisor is qualified or not, just verify it on the spot!

"Reporting to your Majesty, I feel a little dizzy today. I can't tell..."

The next scene is a bit intriguing. The old prisoner with gray hair and beard is kneeling on the ground, facing the white paper laid out with a pen in his hand, tremblingly sketching a lot, secretly looking left and right, a head Knocked to the ground, he kept saying that he was dizzy and couldn't figure it out.

Couldn't the Qin Tian Jian Zheng Hui figure out this not too difficult question?Hong Tao firmly didn't believe it, so why didn't he want to calculate it? Hong Tao definitely knew.If you offend the emperor, you can at most be dismissed from office. Even if you are exiled, you will still have courtiers to help you. Even if you cannot be reinstated in the future, you can go home and retire in peace.

If some court officials are offended, even if they don't immediately lose their official positions and get out, sooner or later they will be impeached endlessly, and someone may be blamed for it, and the outcome will be extremely close to tragic.

"Wang An, show him my manuscript paper!" Unfortunately, the eunuch made a mistake. The emperor did not take the usual path and actually asked Wang An to show him a piece of manuscript paper filled with calculation processes and results. "I...I am stupid, but what your Majesty has learned is correct..."

Now we can't tell lies with our eyes open. Failure to calculate is completely different from denying the emperor's calculation results.The former is at best considered to have poor working ability, while the latter is a definite bully.It's not like Qin Tianjian is the only one in the imperial court who can do the calculations. Any official from the Ministry of Revenue can solve the problem within a quarter of an hour.

"So in another 30 years, the population of the clan will double!" Hong Tao ignored Qin Tianjianzheng, who was still kneeling. Old man, if you want to be a wallflower, then just kneel a little longer. That's not the case. The price of principles.

"I would like to ask all my ministers, if I can live for another 30 years, what should I do to feed such a large clan population?" With the specific data, it is Hong Tao's turn to attack. The question is very simple.

"..." But His Majesty Dan was completely silent, not even whispering to each other. The officials all lowered their heads, looking at their noses and mouths, not breathing.

This question is simple, and anyone can pick it up and say it, but in front of the emperor, who is still an emperor who can do arithmetic, he really can't talk nonsense.If there was a solution, there would be no need to wait for such a big move today, it would have been solved long ago.

"How about raising taxes?" Hong Tao did not let the ministers suffer too much, and broke the silence with another suggestion.

"You must not do it, Your Majesty, you must not do it..." These words were like thunder in the sky, shaking hundreds of officials awake. Some people immediately left their stools and knelt down on the spot, kowtowing and shouting.

"... Since I can't raise taxes and I can't generate money, how will I support the imperial court? How will we train soldiers? How will we build water conservancy projects? Once there is a border trouble in the north, should I and all my beloved ministers sit back and wait for death?

Otherwise, it will work like this. I will take out silver from the internal funds to replenish the national treasury. However, as much as I take, officials of the second rank and above will have to follow the same amount. Officials of the fifth rank and above will receive half the amount, and so on. "

When the clamor subsided, Hong Tao raised another question. Not only was there a problem, but there were also solutions and accompanying implementation standards.After finishing speaking, he simply stood up, walked to the top step of Danbi with his hands behind his back, and looked down at the facial expressions of every official with his eyes.

"..." As soon as these words came out, the civil and military officials fell into silence again.

"It seems that all the people who love me for being honest and self-restrained can't come up with this money... Anyway, I won't use money to pressure others. But changing the laws of our ancestors will not work, nor will we increase taxes on the people. We will take money from the pockets of officials. It still doesn’t work. Who can explain to me what should I do to solve this urgent need?”

Hong Tao had no intention of asking civil and military officials to support the country with their own money. He smiled contemptuously and brought the topic back to continue discussing the reduction of clan benefits.

As the saying goes, blocking someone's way of making money is like killing your parents; the ancients also said that being an official for thousands of miles is just for money.If you kill someone else's parents and destroy someone else's ideals, even if you are as noble as an emperor, you still won't live long.

In addition, using donations to replenish the treasury should not become the norm for the government. This is just to disgust people, and it is also a subtle reminder to officials, don't think that the emperor doesn't know anything, let alone stand and talk without pain in the back.

(End of this chapter)