Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 520: Advancing with the Times
"Your Majesty, Cui Jun, is here to see you. Long live your Majesty..."

"flat body"

In early April, Cui Jun, who had arrived in Beijing for more than a month, finally met His Majesty.

He knelt in the Wuying side hall and held out the memorial with both hands: "Your Majesty, this is the memorial of Cui Jun, the commander of Nanyang Dusi, please read it."

As Cui Jun said, Yishiha stepped forward to take it and handed it to Zhu Gaoxu. Zhu Gaoxu took the memorial but was not in a hurry to open it. Instead, he looked at Cui Jun and said:
"Well, you are very handsome, much more handsome than your father."

"I am scared..." Cui Jun responded humbly, and Zhu Gaoxu nodded with satisfaction before opening the memorial.

This memorial is nothing more than the affairs of the Southeast Asian countries that Cui Jun talked about. Among them, the fact that countries in the Malay Peninsula, such as Managa, Dashani, and Dingalu, changed their status to Buddhism and introduced Confucianism made Zhu Gaoxu look askance.

In addition to these countries, Sumatra, Bo Ni, Sulu and other countries in Southeast Asia have basically converted to Buddhism and introduced Confucianism.

"It seems that they didn't just talk about last year's military parade, but that's fine. Although there is no distinction between religion and religion, the Han people who want to get close to us naturally have to focus on Sinology."

"If the countries in Southeast Asia are close to my Sinology, then the countries in India will naturally begin to accept Sinology. This will require more efforts from your father."

Zhu Gaoxu's slightly majestic voice came from the hall. Xu Shuo immediately walked into the hall, bowed to Zhu Gaoxu five times and kowtowed three times before bowing:

"Your Majesty, Donghaihou Cuijun has been guarding Nanyang for more than ten years, but there has been no rising star in Nanyang for more than ten years. I wonder if it is because Donghaihou is too dedicated to his duties, which makes it difficult for young generals to stand out."

"That's a bit polite." Zhu Gaoxu chuckled and said, "Your father and I have known each other for more than thirty years. He was just a pawn under me back then. Now it's all up to him to grow up."

Overseas is not as good as the mainland. Putting aside other things, overseas Xuanweisi and Dusi positions are usually only for three years, and they need to be rotated after three years. However, Nanyang has been dominated by Cui Jun for more than ten years.

Xu Shuo's words were very cryptic, but Zhu Gaoxu knew what he wanted to say.

Zhu Gaoxu asked Cui Jun, which made Cui Jun feel nervous, worried that the emperor wanted to deal with the Cui family.

"You're not married yet..." Zhu Gaoxu looked at Cui Jun. He had to say that this guy had sharp eyebrows and starry eyes, and he was also a little tall.

Not long after, the confused Cui Jun was taken to the East Palace by Zhu Zhanhe to draw a portrait.

Cui Jun was stunned by Zhu Gaoxu's words. He didn't expect that the emperor would really feel free to marry the princess to him instead of the princess to his consort.

"Despite this, Nanyang still needs to pay a little more attention to the aspect of official management."

Zhu Gaoxu asked Cui Jun. Cui Jun was stunned when he heard this, and then he bowed and said, "I am indeed not married yet."

It is true that the people of the Ming Dynasty are indeed better than other countries in the world in terms of height and material, but it is not a "country of giants" as various countries boast.

The Chinese background of this era is much better than that of later generations. After all, later generations have experienced hundreds of years of strong behavior by European colonists, so they still have some fear and admiration in their hearts.

But in today's era, despite different religions, all countries on the Eurasian continent basically know that there is a China in the east, where the people are tall and the country is full of gold...

If turmoil breaks out in Old Port, the losses to the Ming Dynasty will be proportional to the current income.

After touching his short beard, Zhu Gaoxu took the memorial and commented:
"The imperial court has been based in Nanyang for many years. Nanyang now pays more than two million guan in taxes to the imperial court every year. In terms of taxation, it is even better than some places with three divisions."

Speaking of which, according to Xichang's overseas surveys, the "China bragging" of this era is much more powerful than that of later generations.

"I accept my order..." Zhu Zhanhe was also very helpless, but he still bowed and agreed.

In Zhu Gaoxu's impression, a few years before he traveled through time, this trend slowly began to change, but it would take dozens or hundreds of years for it to end.

"Yes..." Although the emperor said so, Cui Jun did not dare to really relax. After all, the emperor's reputation today was not good.

Cui Jun was helpless and felt that his official career was over. He did not think that the emperor would really let the princess go to Nanyang with him.

"Xuan!"

Zhu Gaoxu still cares about the promotion of Sinology. His big fist is only temporary, but his cultural roots are permanent.

"In addition, 30,000 guan will be allocated from internal funds to Palembang to build the Qinghe Princess Palace. It must be completed before the princess and the others move in."

"Okay, since that's the case, it's settled. The Ministry of Rites will choose a good day to confer Yueying the title of Princess Qinghe and hold a wedding for the two of them."

However, this kind of mentality is good, at least it will be very convenient in spreading Chinese culture.

Once culture takes root, it is not easy to remove it.

"I am willing to accept the arrangement..."

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu also said: "I still have a twenty-three-year-old princess in the inner court. Now I want to marry her to you and follow you to the old port. What do you think?"

"I obey the decree..." Cui Jun was still confused. When Zhu Gaoxu saw this, he said to Zhu Zhanhe beside him:
"Take your soon-to-be brother-in-law around the outer court and have his portrait painted, so that Yueying can be prepared."

"That's right!" Zhu Gaoxu looked at Cui Jun and said seriously:

After they left, Xu Shuo, who was in charge of politics outside the side hall, also walked to the front of the hall and bowed. The eunuch on duty sang inside and said, "Your Majesty, I would like to see you, the great scholar Xu Shuo."

From Nanyang to India, to Central Asia, West Asia, Europe...

"I heard that you are not married yet?"

Although he is not as good as himself, he is still a talented person, and based on the information he obtained from Jin Yiwei, this person does not have many bad habits in life. Except for making money in Old Port, which is worthy of criticism, everything else is fine.

"Uh... this..." Cui Jun was overwhelmed by his sudden arranged marriage. Zhu Zhanhe wanted to speak, but after thinking about it, he kept his mouth shut.

"It's not strange for this man to have three wives and four concubines, but before you and the princess have children, it's best not to take concubines. The marriage lasts for five years. If there are no children after five years, then I won't say anything about you taking concubines. What."

"I'm going to send a few officials to Nanyang to inspect the administration. What do you think?"

"You don't need to be so restrained here, relax, just like at home."

Even if Cui Jun did not rebel, considering that both of his sons served as prefects of Jiugang, and most of Jiugang were his old subordinates, once the Cui family rebelled, it would undoubtedly plunge Ming Dynasty's rule in Nanyang into civil strife.

"The whole world is the king's land, and the shores of the land are the king's ministers. This world is your majesty's territory. As long as your majesty thinks about it, the ministers will definitely look forward to it and wait for the angel to come."

"I'm sure about this. Do you have anything else to do?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked, but Xu Shuo bowed and said: "Although the salt and tea wine administration in Jiangnan has made progress, it is still not as good as the expectations of the palace and the six ministries. Many officials below asked to replace Zhang Mengcun and reinstate Wang Hui."

As Xu Shuo said this, Zhu Gaoxu frowned slightly. Although he knew that Ji Shu and Zhang Mengcun were not Sanyang's opponents, he did not expect that these people would be so restless. It is no wonder that they would be suppressed by people of Yan and Li's level. So many years.

"Wang Hui has only been deprived of his position for more than three months, and now he has to be reinstated as an official. Doesn't this make the other officials in the court incompetent?"

Zhu Gaoxu's tone was slightly angry, and then he suddenly thought of someone and waved his hand: "That's it, recall Zhang Mengcun, transfer Yunnan Chief Secretary Zuo Councilor and Supervisor of Grain Road Jiang Huai to Zhejiang Chief Secretary Zuo Councilor and Supervisor of Grain Road, and Henan as Inspector Qian Shi Lu Yu served as the right counselor of the Chief Secretary of Jiangxi and also supervised the grain road."

"In addition, Wang Ji was ordered to postpone his entry to Beijing, and was appointed as the governor of Jiangnan, Huguang, Fujian and other places. He was responsible for the remnants of Yan Li's case and implemented the salt, tea and wine policy."

Zhu Gaoxu transferred Wang Ji to the south of the Yangtze River as a capital inspector. Historically, he was defeated by San Yang because the emperor was too young and lacked support. It was not until the Baozong grew up that he was supported by the Baozong because of his military exploits. Now Zhu Gaoxu wants to put this scene into perspective. in advance.

As for Jiang Huai and Lu Yu, their participation in this struggle was completely due to Zhu Gaoxu's arrangement to further enhance the status of Donggong in the temple.

Although the second child was ruthless enough, he was excluded by Zhu Gaoxu precisely because he was ruthless and ambitious and wanted to prove himself all the time.

What he wants is not an heir who wants to prove himself, but an heir who follows Xiao Gui and Cao Sui.

For now, the changed Zhu Zhanhe is quite suitable, and his thoughts have gradually deepened in these days of governance. If Jiang Huai and Lu Yu do a good job and train a group of young people to hand over to him, then Zhu Zhanhe will There is no problem for Zhanhe to be a conservative king.

If he continues step by step, his inheritance will be enough for him to live on for more than ten years.

With this in mind, Zhu Gaoxu also waved his hand to signal Xu Shuo to retreat.

Seeing this, Xu Shuo could only withdraw from the side hall, and three decrees were sent out of the palace shortly after he left.

After Yang Rong and Yang Pu learned the content of the decree, they came to Yang Shiqi's house to discuss the matter before the dusk drum.

"I know Wang Ji. When he was patrolling Shanxi in his early years, he did whatever His Majesty asked him to do. After he went to Jiaozhi, he acted vigorously and killed many rebels who tried to surrender. Only the rebels died in his hands. It’s no less than 100,000, it’s a tough guy.”

"As for Jiang Huai and Lu Yu, although these two have some abilities, I think it is just an arrangement made by His Majesty to enhance the power of the East Palace in the temple, so don't take it seriously."

"As long as Wang Ji can be dealt with, these two people will not have any trouble."

Yang Rong analyzed the three decrees, and Yang Pu also said:
"The salt, wine and tea policy is indeed very important to the imperial court. If it is implemented well, it may be able to add another three million yuan to the annual income."

"But in this case, the salt bait that the group of people below obtained through their previous connections will be invalidated. They don't want their years of hard work to be wasted."

"Mr. Dongli, in your opinion, what should we do?"

Although Yang Shiqi was threatened by the emperor, Yang Rong and Yang Pu did not think that Yang Shiqi would completely stand on the emperor's side. After all, Yang Shiqi had more than one son, and not every son was as troublesome as Yang Ji.

Facing the two inquiries, Yang Shiqi took a sip of tea in silence, and then said:

"Your Majesty is determined to implement the New Deal, and at the same time, he also wants to clean up the officialdom in Jiangnan, Huguang, and Fujian to fill the national treasury. This cannot be stopped."

"Even if we stop Wang Ji, His Majesty still has Wang Hui who can come back at any time. Also, don't forget one thing. Ji Gang and Chen Ying are still alive..." Yang Shiqi suddenly mentioned Ji Gang and Chen Ying. , which made Yang Pu and Yang Rong instantly think of the two people who were exiled to Changchun Mansion in Bohai Sea.

Although they were exiled, there was a railway passing through Changchun Prefecture, and it had been developed for more than thirty years. In addition, the emperor usually turned a blind eye to the rewards given to these two people by the emperor, so these two people and their accomplices were in trouble. Life in Changchun Mansion is relatively comfortable.

If the emperor really plans to revive these guys, the situation they will face will be difficult, not to mention Wang Hui, who they are most afraid of.

To be honest, they still doubt the authenticity of Wang Hui's integrity.

After serving as officials for so many years, they have never seen any officials. Even those incorruptible officials who are flattered by the people as Lord Qingtian often have shit on their butts.

Only people like Wang Hui, who couldn't find any evidence of his corruption even after searching the ground, still feel numb when they think about it now.

Wang Hui's reputation for integrity made even the emperor think twice about killing him, let alone them.

Even though they didn't want to kill Wang Hui, they always felt like there was a lump in their throats and their hearts tightened uncomfortably if Wang Hui didn't die.

"According to this, we can only watch Wang Ji deal with our people in Jiangnan?"

Yang Rong couldn't sit still, but Yang Shiqi said: "It's good to clean up. After the promotion of official education, we have also attracted many officials who graduated from middle schools."

"These officials may not be as good as their predecessors when it comes to classics and history, but when it comes to doing things, they know a lot more than their predecessors."

"If he wants to check, he will check. Xia Yuanji, the official department, is a meritocracy. However, the New Deal has been hit by this, and he cannot recommend many talents at the same time."

"Even if Jiangnan is hit, we can quickly recruit and push a group of people forward."

"It is also a good choice to take this opportunity to solve internal problems."

What Yang Shiqi said about internal troubles is nothing more than the fact that Jiangnan is not monolithic.

It's normal if you think about it carefully. Jiangdong, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang factions have been fighting for so many years after the end of Huaixi. They can't be intimate with each other even in a few words.

Taking this opportunity to sweep them out of the officialdom and recruit a group of people who are easier to control and can do things is undoubtedly a plan to kill two birds with one stone.

It can not only satisfy the emperor, but also solve internal problems, and the national treasury will be filled.

No matter how they thought about it, they had no reason to refuse.

Of course, the prerequisite for this is that they can steadily suppress Ji Shu, Zhang Mengcun and others, and this requires Xu Shuo not to end.

Although Xu Shuo is not as good as Wang Hui, he is not that easy to deal with.

Previously, when the New Deal was strong, he was neutral. If the New Deal showed weakness and he stood up to take charge, their plan would go bankrupt.

"I'm going to test Xu Shuo's side. If the treasury can be filled this time, the Jiangnan Railway can be built accordingly."

Yang Rong is thinking about the Jiangnan Railway. The reason is that once the Jiangnan Railway is completed, the wealth of the entire southeast will be more concentrated, and the people under them are basically located in the six prefectures of Jiangdong, Shaoxing, Hangzhou, and Ningbo.

If the wealth in the southeast is gathered, it will also be gathered in this area.

The people below benefit, and as the people in charge, they will naturally benefit a lot.

"In that case, you two should go down and rest first."

Yang Shiqi signaled the chief to lead the way, and the chief immediately began to lead the way for Yang Rong and Yang Pu.

After it was confirmed that Yang Ji had committed a crime, Yang Shiqi knew what the emperor wanted to do, so he sold his farm and house in his hometown and bought a two-acre courtyard on the four sides of the capital.

Although it is not as good as the houses of Yang Rong and Yang Pu, his yard is big enough to entertain guests.

After taking a sip of tea, Yang Shiqi only felt slightly tired. If he hadn't been concerned about Yang Ji's life, he would have really wanted to resign and go home to live in retirement...

"It seems they can't fight this time."

It took only two hours for Sanyang's conspiracy to reach the ears of Zhu Gaoxu in the inner court.

Faced with San Yang's "advancing with the times", Zhu Gaoxu was not too vigilant. If the conservatives were all people like San Yang who kept pace with the times, the efficiency of officials in the Ming Dynasty would actually be improved.

"Once the layout of the salt, wine and tea policy is completed, the tax revenue of the national treasury will also increase. I congratulate your majesty."

Sitting next to Zhu Gaoxu, Guo Yan rubbed his sore shoulders and congratulated him at the same time.

Zhu Gaoxu nodded after hearing this: "After the layout is successful, as long as smuggling is prohibited, the price of salt tea and wine does not need to increase too much. It only needs to increase slightly, and the imperial court can increase its revenue by millions."

"With this annual income, the imperial court will no longer have financial problems. As long as it manages the administration of officials regularly, it can increase its revenue by millions of dollars every year."

"In more than ten years, it will probably be normal to earn 70 million yuan a year."

Zhu Gaoxu breathed a sigh of relief and had an annual income of 70 million yuan. This was the annual income that could only be achieved by adding together the Ming Dynasty, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the Holy Roman Empire during the Chongzhen period.

Even at the peak of the Song Dynasty, it could not reach the annual income of 7,000 guan at the peak of the Ming Dynasty. If the currency system of the Song Dynasty is sorted out clearly, its annual income is not even as good as that of Hong Xi under Zhu Gaoxu.

In the Song Dynasty, two currency systems, "Zumo" and "Shengmo", existed in parallel. "Zumo" meant 100 Wen equaled one mo, while "Shengmo" meant 1 Wen equaled one mo.

The short-move system originated in the Southern Dynasties and became popular in the Five Dynasties. Its root was the currency depreciation caused by the excessive issuance of currency by the separatist regime, which could not be reversed even after the founding of the Song Dynasty.

Not to mention that the Song Dynasty's Guan Guan was not a Thousand Wen. A Guan Guan of more than 700 Wen was already a sufficient Guan, and there was also a Guan Guan of 450 Wen.

In the Song Dynasty, even the exchange ratios in various places could not be unified. Each locality went its own way, and the emperor's edicts did not work.

The so-called annual income of the Song Dynasty was 160 million yuan, which actually meant that the annual income of the Song Dynasty was 160 million yuan. According to the standards of the Ming Dynasty, it would be good to have 50 million yuan at the peak.

As for the commercial taxes advocated by later generations, they actually only accounted for less than 20% of the annual income of the Song Dynasty. What really occupied the bulk were the two taxes and various miscellaneous items in the Song Dynasty.

When Zhu Gaoxu read the historical materials of the Song Dynasty in his previous life, he was thinking about how the Song Dynasty had so many exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, and how to manage them well after the Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties took over the world.

As a result, when I turned to the back, I discovered that Kublai Khan simply abolished all of them, leaving only a few items.

In this way, wouldn't it be much easier to manage...

If Zhu Gaoxu collected taxes according to the tax rate of the Song Dynasty, the fiscal revenue of the Ming Dynasty might really exceed 100 million in an instant, and it would be over 100 million without any water content.

After all, silver from America and Japan has been pouring into the Ming Dynasty for so many years. If you really want to collect taxes, you can still receive enough copper coins and silver.

But if he really does this, everyone from the scholar-bureaucrats to the common people will poke his spine and scold him.

After all, the Song Dynasty was probably the only one who forced the people to drown their children in order to avoid money. Even the God of War on the Donkey Cart lamented: "If the cost is like this, how long will the people be able to afford it?"

Zhu Gaoxu was short of money, so he could also collect heavy taxes from the people and use it for the people. But now the Ming Dynasty is still on the rise. Only when the people have more money will they have time to cultivate fields.

In this era where land finance is the main focus, the land cultivated now will become new fiscal revenue in a few years.

He did not impose heavy taxes in order to avoid the old way of squeezing workers and farmers in the early stages of industrialization.

He still has enough time to accumulate wealth for the Ming Dynasty, so there is no need to rush.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu withdrew his thoughts from finance and couldn't help but ask about the situation in the inner court.

"The Ministry of Household Affairs allocates two million to the inner court every year, and the inner court has newspapers and periodicals to make money. How much is your annual income now?"

"Including the tributes from envoys from various countries, it's about 2.4 million yuan." Guo Yan rubbed his shoulders and replied with a smile:
"The one million guan from my father cannot be reduced. The expenses for the maids and eunuchs of the inner and outer courts are about 200,000 guan. Including food, food, clothing, housing and transportation, the annual expenditure of the inner court is 600,000 guan. Among the internal funds Seven million coins have been accumulated."

Internal funds are the private money of the royal family. After Zhu Gaoxu's restructuring, in addition to the cost of building mausoleums and various ceremonies that were borne by the state treasury, the entire Forbidden City and all royal gardens and palaces were paid for by internal funds.

However, after Zhu Gaoxu came to the throne, in addition to retaining the palace land of Xiyuan and Daming Palace, the rest of the land and hunting grounds were equally distributed to the people to resume production, and the expenses were naturally much smaller.

Nowadays, the main ones run by the royal family are the Beijing Zoo and newspapers and periodicals from all over the world.

The former makes basically no money, while the latter can maintain an annual income of 400,000 yuan.

Counting the two million guan allocated by the Ministry of Household Affairs each year, the family is considered to be well off, having accumulated as much as 7 million guan in nine years.

"Following me all these years has been hard on you. In fact, you can spend more. After all, you are the queen."

Zhu Gaoxu held Guo Yan's hand and spoke his thoughts sincerely.

Guo Yan shook his head when he heard this: "Kunning Palace allocates 30,000 yuan every year. This is enough money. Why don't you enjoy it?"

"On the contrary, His Majesty has lived a little more simply in recent years. He should increase his expenses. Even if he is a reward minister, he can gain a reputation for generosity."

"Haha, they are richer than me..." Zhu Gaoxu smiled bitterly and shook his head. It is true that the group of people below him are much richer than him.

Because of past friendship, he would not attack this group of people, but when the new king comes to the throne, he will not be able to protect this group of people.

Zhu Gaoxu thought of Zhu Zhanhe, so he sighed:
"The Eastern Palace has a fixed quota of 200,000 yuan per year. He also needs to reward the officials below. He needs more than me..."

(End of this chapter)