Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 193 The official

There are more than 3,000 craftsmen and officials in Wensi Academy, and they can also be converted from miscellaneous jobs to civilian jobs.

This was something Zhu Youjian did not expect, and he understood why civil servants were so hostile to the Academy of Wensi and ranked it alongside the Jinyiwei——

How could He De, a mere Wensi academy, be as hated as Jin Yiwei?

It is because it has three thousand craftsmen and officials and has the ability to compete with civilian officials for official positions.

Don't say that the craftsmen in Wensi Academy can only be low-level officials and are not capable of serving as high-ranking officials. Not to mention the officials with different backgrounds in the early days of the Ming Dynasty, during the Chenghua period, there were also carpenters Kuai Xiang and stonemason Lu Xiang who were ministers of the Ministry of Industry, and they were highly regarded. It fully shows that craftsmen can be officials and can do it well.

There are so many officials with science and engineering backgrounds in later generations, which also shows that craftsmen have great potential as officials and can replace civil servants in many aspects.

Therefore, the institution of Wensi Yuan is deeply hated by civil servants. Whenever they find an opportunity, they will abolish the Wensi Yuan craftsmen.

After understanding this, Zhu Youjian would not abolish the craftsman officer of Wensi Academy. It only costs more than 30,000 dan per year, and it is a very cost-effective thing for Zhu Youjian to maintain more than 3,000 craftsmen and officials to threaten the civil officials.

What's more, many of the imperial utensils need to be manufactured by the Wensi Academy. Those skilled craftsmen were his help in promoting industrialization.

Therefore, in Zhu Youjian's heart, it was a pity that the Wensi Academy was not high enough to become the yamen leading the industrialization of the Ming Dynasty.

Leaving Su Maoxiang's memorandum silently, Zhu Youjian gave this man a big cross in his heart——

Instead of thinking of ways to increase fiscal revenue, we worry about the expenses of more than 30,000 shi. They even requested that the money collected from grain be kept in the capital for more money and not be used as side payments.

In Zhu Youjian's view, this was completely ignorant of the importance. The most important thing for the Ming Dynasty now is to repay the arrears, otherwise the border troops may flee, mix with the refugees, and rebel, overthrowing the entire Ming Dynasty.

In comparison, it doesn't matter if officials are given cash at all levels of salary. They won't rebel, and they won't starve to death.

So Zhu Youjian directly shelved the proposal and pretended that it didn't happen.

However, Su Maoxiang did not give up. On the 29th day of the dynasty, he went to Shu to request to be exempted from the duties of Caobai Erliang, Chehu Shuijiao and so on.

Zhu Youjian only thinks that the fiscal revenue is not enough, how can he exempt money and food at will?

Shaanxi has suffered from disasters for many years, and Jiangnan is relatively wealthy, so of course it cannot be avoided lightly.

So he responded:
"We will discuss this later!"

"Today, the imperial court recommended the governor of Shanxi and the officials of Nanjing."

Su Maoxiang did not give up and continued:
"Your Majesty, please take the people of the world as your top priority and exempt Caobai Erliang, Chehu, Shuijiao, etc. from the service."

"Why does Your Majesty only value Shaanxi and not Jiangnan?"

Zhu Youjian's importance to Shaanxi is well known to both the DPRK and the Central Government. Not only did he order to exempt Shaanxi from money and food a few days ago, his first instruction after he ascended to the throne was about Shaanxi.

Now that he has vetoed the exemption of some money and food for Jiangnan, Prime Minister Su Mao said that he only valued Shaanxi and not the land of Jiangnan, which was suspected of provoking conflicts between the north and the south.

This made Zhu Youjian furious, and he held back his anger and said:

"If you are dissatisfied, you can go to Shaanxi and have a look yourself."

"Look at the lives of the victims in Shaanxi and count how many refugees there are?"

"Also, you are now the Minister of Cangchang, and you are no longer the Governor of Water Transport."

"For matters related to water transportation, let the governor of water transportation make his own request."

"Your task is to check the reserves in the warehouse. Don't tell me that you don't have it when I need it."

With that said, Zhu Youjian shouted and asked Su Maoxiang:

"How much money does Taicang still have in reserve? Sir Su will tell you the truth!"

Su Maoxiang was surprised. He didn't know why his proposal made the emperor angry, but he had to respond:
"Last year, the Taicang Bank collected a total of 3.98 million yuan in tax silver, horse grass, silk cloth, money banknotes, grains, Liao pay, and tax discounts, and 6,955 copper coins. Everything is strange. It is strange to let go of 4,270,000 Liao silver coins from the capital, and it is strange to let go of 7,300,000 copper coins."

"The Taicang Bank has been unable to make ends meet for a long time. Since His Majesty came to power, he first repaid the arrears and exempted Shaanxi's money and grain." "Today, the Taicang Bank is completely empty."

He had long known that Taicang had no money, so Zhu Youjian was not surprised by this and continued to ask him:
"Then why do you say you want to be exempted from the Caobai Erliang and Chehu Shuijiao services?"

"As the minister of Cangchang, I don't think of ways to increase Taicang's income, so why do I think about water transportation?"

"Do you still think that you are working as the governor of water transportation and your mind is not in Cangchang?"

Su Maoxiang was very helpless and didn't know what bad luck he had got into. He originally thought that the emperor's exemption of Shaanxi's money and grain was a benevolent policy, and Caobai's grain and grain were well-known to be a serious harm. As long as he asked the emperor, he would be exempted and show his benevolence.

Unexpectedly, the emperor not only refused to excuse him, but instead asked himself, blaming himself as the Cangchang Minister for overstepping his authority.

This forced him to argue:
"Although Taicang is empty, it cannot compete with the people for profit."

"I think we should get rid of the excesses and save the court expenses."

"Since the rebellion of Wei Dynasty, the number of Jinyiwei has increased by more than 18,600 compared to before, and it is surprising that they have more than 220,000 yuan in income."

"There are only 752 craftsmen in the Wensi Academy, but now the number has increased to 3,288, with an annual income of more than 30,000 stone."

"There is also the salary order class of Honglu Temple. From December of the fourth year of Tianqi, there were 173 members. When Wei Zhongxian resigned, the number increased to 527. Each year, there are 4,000 fermi. , there are many people with the surnames Wei, Tian, ​​Ke, Cui, and Li in the register. There is no doubt that they are traitors and are causing trouble. Please investigate and eliminate them."

This is a new situation discovered by Su Maoxiang. Zhu Youjian heard that they were relatives of Wei Zhongxian, Tian Ji, Hakka, Cui Chengxiu, Li Yongzhen and others, and knew that these people should be dismissed.

Although this suggestion can only save more than 4,000 dan, in Zhu Youjian's view, it is completely a drop in the bucket. But this means that Su Maoxiang is not completely useless and has put forward a feasible suggestion.

This made Zhu Youjian's attitude a little better. He looked at this veteran who took the initiative and said:
"Relatives who rebel against the party will be abolished if they should be abolished."

"Jinyiwei has been assigned to the inner court, and the expenses are borne by the inner court. I have my own ideas and do not need the Ministry of Revenue to take care of it."

"If the Household Department cannot afford the craftsmanship of the Wensi Academy, then it will be assigned to the inner court."

"Their expenses from now on will be entirely borne by the inner court."

This is a good thing for saving Taicang's expenses. Su Maoxiang didn't think much and was about to agree. But I heard Yuan Keli suddenly say:
"No!"

"His Majesty has said before that the institutions of the outer court will no longer be transferred to the inner court."

"Wensi Yuan is the yamen of the Ministry of Industry and cannot be separated by the inner court."

He spoke to stop this matter and did not let Zhu Youjian succeed.

When the ministers heard Yuan Keli's objection, they were startled and broke out in a cold sweat when they thought that there was a precedent for the craftsman officer of Wensi Academy to be transferred to a civilian position. They all gave advice one after another to prevent Zhu Youjian from crossing the Wensi Courtyard.

The addition of a royal guard to the inner court made many civil servants fearful. The precedent of Qin Tian Supervising the March System was also played out by the emperor.

Wensiyuan, the yamen where ministers gathered, crossed over, how could it be possible?

The emperor cannot be allowed to control the Wensi Academy and appoint officials on a large scale.

　"History of Ming Dynasty":
　　In the early days of Chenghua (Chenghua), when the emperor had only been in power for more than a month, he ordered officials to pass on the decree and appointed workers as deputy envoys of Wensi Academy. From then on, one after another, the names of the people were passed down to a hundred or ten people, and they were called officials at that time.

　　(Xu Ke) Ke Shangshu said: "When a minister comes to use, he should be recommended by the court. I have never heard of anyone who has been promoted to the emperor. I dare not enter through other ways in my life. Please give me permission to remove him."

　　Li Xuezeng, Ji Tang and others, the imperial censors, said: "(Zhang Cong) Cong and (Gui Cai) Calyx have learned a lot from Ashi, and they will be punished by the saints. To teach them to be scholars has accumulated a lot of saintly virtues."

　　Yang Lian participated in Wei Zhongxian's Twenty-Four Deadly Sins:
　　The ancestral system is used to prepare edicts and take charge of cabinet ministers. Since one is loyal to the virtuous and monopolizes power, he often spreads his teachings to others, or criticizes from within, thus destroying the political system of his ancestors for more than 200 years, which is a major crime.

　　"Records of Ming Xi Zong" in December of the first year of Taichang:

　　Jia Jichun, the censor of Huguang Province, An Shen, the censor of Henan Province, and Tian Zhenyan, the censor of Shandong Province:

　　Sun Ruyou suddenly reported from inside, which was shocking. Fubi was not an official who was entrusted with the mission, and Tai Ding was not a place of great destiny. He begged to take back his orders to block the lucky gate...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)