Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 65: Stop building temples and donate money to officials

September 23, Chang Chao.

After Zhu Youjian sent the signal to Chang Chaoshang last time, after several days of planning, he finally got what he expected.

Zhu Zhijun, the director of the Imperial College, wrote a letter to impeach Lu Wanling and others for defrauding wealthy supervisors on the pretext of donating money to build a temple, and requested to be arrested and interrogated.

This matter was handled very well. Zhu Youjian thought about it for a moment and was greatly praised.

Lu Wanling was just a prisoner, and logically speaking, his arrest should not be brought to court. But this matter was brought up to the court because Lu Wanling's identity was somewhat related to Wei Zhongxian.

The most well-known thing about this person is that in May of the seventh year of the Apocalypse, Wei Zhongxian was punished in Donglin, which was called "The Factory Minister's Punishment of Shaozhengmao"; Wei Zhongxian compiled the "Three Dynasties Essential Code" and was called "The Factory Minister" The pen sharpens the Spring and Autumn Period." He requested that Wei Zhongxian's shrine be built in the west of the Imperial Academy, and that Confucius be worshiped together.

This act of tarnishing the saint was firmly resisted by Ye Linwei, the former Secretary of the Imperial Academy. However, Lu Wanling and his group directly collected funds and presented them to Lin Weld to force him to initiate a donation. Lin Wen was so angry that he took a pen to smear it on the spot, hung his black gauze hat on the Lingxing Gate that night, packed his bags and fled the capital.

Because of this, Lin Weng was removed from his official position by Wei Zhongxian. Five Hanlin Academy poets, Jiang Yueguang, Zhuang Jichang, Hu Shangying, Zhu Jizuo, and Ding Jin, were punished on the same day.

This matter was quite a big deal, and Zhu Youjian heard about it. Therefore, he felt that Zhu Zhijun's impeachment of Lu Wanling was just right.

Some people seemed to want to use this incident to test their attitude towards Wei Zhongxian. It would be interesting if raising funds to build a shrine was classified as a crime.

"I don't want to show my face. I want to use this little thing to get me to charge into the battle." 』

"You guys have a pretty good idea. If you want to seize power, go into battle yourself!" 』

Who is Zhu Youjian? How could he take the bait just because they put out a little bait? He handed the memorial directly to the Sanfa Department and let the Ministry of Punishment, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and Dali Temple watch and handle it. No matter how the Three Justices tried, he had no intention of interfering. Let's see which side is more powerful, the Eunuch Party and the Eunuch Party's enemies.

Even though he had decided to deal with the Eunuch Party, Zhu Youjian still did not express his position clearly, intending to let the enemies of the Eunuch Party attack more fiercely. In this process, I try my best to take back my power——

Only when eunuchs and enemies fight against each other do they need their own support. In this process, I can also try my best to take back the power transferred to civilian officials.

Then, Zhu Youjian saw Li Yangde begging to return to his hometown to guard the system. Because he had already gone to school three times, Zhu Youjian felt that he was filial and approved him to return to his hometown to observe the system as usual. A senior member of the eunuch party left the court just like this.

This incident seemed normal, but combined with Chen Yin's return to his hometown to observe the rules a few days ago, the people in the court clearly noticed that the trend began to change.

Yang Suoxiu was even more encouraged and felt that Cui Chengxiu's return to his hometown to guard the system was not far away. As long as he works harder, he can defeat Cui Chengxiu.

The chaos within the eunuch party has intensified.

Wei Zhongxian also noticed that the wind was going in the wrong direction and made the same arrangement. He had no intention of quarreling with those who participated in the impeachment of Lu Wanling, and directly asked Xue Zhen, the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment, to accuse Lu Wanling of blackmailing wealthy people and use it to test the emperor.

After seeing the emperor, Wei Zhongxian immediately knelt down to plead guilty and begged to stop building the temple.

Seeing this scene, Zhu Youjian hurriedly helped Wei Zhongxian up with his own hands. Asking him why he made such a request, he learned that it was because of Lu Wanling's incident. Looking at the case files of him blackmailing others, he sighed:

"It's just blackmail by a supervisor. What does this matter have to do with the factory officials?"

"Lu Wanling acted recklessly in the name of a factory minister and was ruining the reputation of the factory minister."

"The factory minister is a victim and there is no need to apologize to me."

Wei Zhongxian trembled and begged the emperor again:

"When something like this happened, I cannot absolve myself from the blame."

"I beg your Majesty to order an order to stop the construction of the living temple."

Zhu Youjian frowned when he heard this. He seemed to be extremely angry about Lu Wanling's matter, and said to Wei Zhongxian:

"The affairs of the country are corrupted by those ministers!"

"They are just like Lu Wanling, doing whatever they want in the name of the court. The court doesn't even know that such a thing exists."

"I agreed to the factory minister's request and stopped building the shrine."

Wei Zhongxian's heart trembled when he heard this. He didn't expect that the emperor actually ordered to stop the construction of the Sheng Temple. Just as he began to ponder the emperor's attitude, he heard the emperor say:

"All ancestral halls built for living people will be stopped from now on."

"No one is allowed to build a living temple in the future without an edict from the imperial court."

"The completed shrines will remain as they are, while the unbuilt shrines will be discontinued from now on."

"Let them transport the money and grain they collected to the capital. The late emperor will build the mausoleum, and he still needs donations!"

With that said, Zhu Youjian asked someone to find a memorial and let Wei Zhongxian read it carefully.

Although Wei Zhongxian is not well versed in arts and sciences, he has learned a few words every time he reads posts and accounts over the years. Recognizing that this was a memorial requesting donations from the Ministry of Works, I immediately listed twenty-six items.

After seeing this, Wei Zhongxian could not wonder that the emperor stopped building the living shrine and collected money and food to build a mausoleum for the late emperor.

This made him feel a little relieved, feeling that the emperor was not targeting him specifically. But the finances of the imperial court were indeed tight, and the emperor wanted to plunder money and food. I don’t know who mentioned the money and food for building the living temple, which made the emperor focus on this money.

Thinking that the mausoleum construction would cost about two million, and the tribute paid by Lin Danhan would cost hundreds of thousands more. No wonder the emperor was so anxious that he searched everywhere for money and food.

Sure enough, Zhu Youjian took out a bunch of disaster reporting memorials and said to Wei Zhongxian:

"The imperial court is short of money and food, and its finances cannot make ends meet. There are natural disasters in the area, and the imperial court needs relief."

"Now I can only find some and settle the matter. I hope there will be less donations and fewer people plundering the people."

Zhu Youjian was extremely disgusted with things like donating officials. Because those who donate officials want to recoup their costs, they must be corrupt and accept bribes. For the imperial court, this was nothing more than drinking poison to quench thirst.

So after he heard Xu Yingyuan and Wang Yongzuo mention the money and food for building the Sheng Temple, he decided to stop building the Sheng Temple in the name of collecting money.

When Wei Zhongxian heard this, he further confirmed the emperor's idea, and immediately smiled and said:
"If Your Majesty is unwilling to make donations, it is better to ask the courtiers to donate to the mausoleum."

"Everyone donates two hundred taels, which can solve the urgent need."

Zhu Youjian laughed when he heard this and was unwilling to force people to donate:

"Two hundred taels is not worth mentioning to some ministers, but to others, it just forces them to take bribes."

"Even if the imperial court is short of money, it cannot do such a thing."

"For an upright official like Hai Rui, this is forcing a good girl into prostitution."

With that said, Zhu Youjian said to Wei Zhongxian:
"The factory ministers assisted the late emperor and made countless contributions." "I have something here that I would like to ask the factory ministers for details."

Wei Zhongxian listened attentively and only heard Zhu Youjian say:
"After I conferred the title of Shuntian on the leader on the grassland, I was thinking about whether I could set up a title with corresponding benefits but without granting a title."

"And this title can only be held for life and cannot be inherited from generation to generation."

"The factory minister said that for such a civilian, would anyone want to donate?"

Wei Zhongxian said immediately:
"Your Majesty has a very good idea. If there is such a civilian, I will be the first to donate."

Zhu Youjian laughed and said:

"There are already three people in the factory minister's family who have titles. Logically speaking, there is no need for such civil titles."

"But it's also great if the factory ministers can take the lead. We can let the wealthy ministers and ministers donate money to the children at home."

Wei Zhongxian smiled sarcastically, knowing that his family's title was not honorable, but since the emperor had given him the iron certificate and now specifically said it to extort money from him, it meant that he had recognized these three titles.

For Wei Zhongxian now, nothing worries him more than this. The emperor now asked him to provide some money and food, and Wei Zhongxian agreed.

At this time Zhu Youjian said:
"In Qin and Han Dynasties, there were twenty levels of nobility, and the first level was Gongshi."

"I have decided to call this civilian knight who can donate money a duke. Except that he has no title and cannot be hereditary, he will enjoy other benefits of a hereditary knight."

"The factory minister said, what is the appropriate price for this title?"

Wei Zhongxian did not speak immediately, but asked:
"Please elaborate, Your Majesty, what is the treatment of a hereditary knight?"

"How many grades of officials are you equivalent to?"

Zhu Youjian frowned, and then he remembered that he had not decided on the new treatment of viscount, baron, or knight. This matter was a bit troublesome and he couldn't decide it easily, so he turned to:

"For the time being, it will be treated as the seventh grade. It will allow them to have the treatment of scholars, which is similar to the previous donation-based supervising students."

"The main thing is to be exempted from corvee service, not to kneel before officials, and to be punished for making mistakes, you need to be deprived of your title first."

"No matter what the original household registration is, you can apply for citizenship in a place outside the North and South Zhili and where you have lived for more than ten years."

"You can also travel with a sword. You only need to hold a bus ticket and don't need to carry a guide, and you can spend money to use the inn."

“When something happens, you can also submit a letter to the local government and the General Affairs Department of the two capitals, and the department must reply.”

With so much power, Zhu Youjian felt that someone should donate. Especially those military households, craftsmen households, and civilian households that have moved to other places. If someone gets rich, they will probably spend money to donate to a civil servant to facilitate their registration in the local area.

There are also privileges such as being allowed to travel with a sword, exempt from corvee service, not kneeling before officials, and exempted from punishment, which should also be attractive to wealthy people. Zhu Youjian planned to create a class of civil servants among the wealthy class of Ming Dynasty.

So he added:

"The civil titles such as public servants are palace titles, which are awarded directly by the inner court, and the money and grain received are put into the inner treasury."

"The official certificate is also issued by the palace and sent to various places with special seals and paper. The guarding eunuchs in various places receive the money and grain and transport them to the capital for use in the late emperor's mausoleum. No one can deprive the official status without the approval of the guarding eunuch."

"Leave this matter to the Supervisor of Ceremonies. The factory ministers and Wang Zhangyin will take care of it. It must be done well!"

"The vouchers issued by the Supervisor of Ceremonies and the money and grain received from the internal treasury must be reconciled and cannot be missing a penny."

After hearing that the emperor had entrusted this matter to himself, Wang Tiqian, and Tu Wenfu, he also placed additional burdens on the eunuchs guarding the area. Wei Zhongxian felt that this matter must be done well, and the amount of donation should not be set low. After careful consideration, he said:
"With so many preferential treatment, I thought it should be set at one thousand taels."

"I am willing to donate the title of Duke for everyone in my family."

As he spoke, he counted the family members and immediately expressed his intention to donate fifty-three thousand taels.

Zhu Youjian laughed loudly, patted Wei Zhongxian on the shoulder with great satisfaction, and immediately praised him, saying that the factory ministers were loyal to the country and worthy of being the loyal ministers who entrusted important matters to the late emperor before his death. In a few days, I will have a big task for him to handle, and if he does it well, he will be rewarded.

Wei Zhongxian felt itchy in his heart, wondering what the big deal the emperor was talking about was. I decided to go to Xu Yingyuan later and ask him if he knew.

Thinking of Xu Yingyuan, Wei Zhongxian suddenly realized that he seemed to have not seen his former friend for some time. This made him feel a little uneasy.

Besides, Zhu Youjian successfully settled with Wei Zhongxian on the amount needed to donate to the official. It was immediately decided that the money and food collected for the temple should be calculated as donations to public servants. Whether it is a thousand taels of silver or a thousand dan of grain, those people will be awarded the title of Duke. There are many shrines built in various places, and there should be many donors.

Wei Zhongxian smiled on his face, but his heart was actually bleeding. The emperor said almost openly that everyone who donated to build the shrine must collect one thousand taels or one thousand dan, otherwise their donation would not count. But the number of donors cannot be small, otherwise the emperor will definitely be dissatisfied with himself who is in charge of this matter.

It can be said that after Wei Zhongxian returns, he will force the people below to donate, and try to make everyone who has donated a thousand taels or a thousand stones to be awarded the title of Duke.

Doing this will definitely damage his reputation, and those eunuch adherents who come for fame and fortune may even turn against him. After all, most of them are famous, and they have already received the treatment of these civil servants, so they do not need to spend money to donate.

Even if you donate, you can get a prison student with a hundred shi of food, which is much more cost-effective than this, and you can still become an official.

Therefore, after Wei Zhongxian made some calculations, he decided to let Huang Liji, a bachelor, take the lead in donating, and let officials contribute part of the money.

Anyway, the cost of building the mausoleum for Emperor Tianqi is only two million. You only need to gather 2,000 people to receive this amount. Other expenses of the imperial court should be taken care of by the Ministry of Household Affairs.

But at this moment, he suddenly realized what the important matter the emperor was talking about was:

"It must be a tribute!" 』

This was the first thing the emperor pushed for after he ascended to power. In the emperor's opinion, nothing was bigger than this.

Moreover, he also heard that the emperor planned to use the money from the inner treasury to issue titles and salaries to those Shuntian nobles when the court did not recognize the Shuntian title.

Therefore, the amount of food he wants to collect cannot stop at two million, and may have to be increased.

Wei Zhongxian felt a little unhappy when he thought about how he had to find ways to make money for those people on the grassland. It was decided to ask the eunuch ministers to come forward and let the court recognize the tribute.

In this way, the Juelu will be distributed by the Ministry of Household Affairs, and he does not need to worry about it.

　"History of Ming Dynasty":
　　Examples of donations can be traced back to Xianzong. If a student has a salary of more than 100 shi, he will be admitted to the Imperial Academy; if a soldier or civilian pays 250 shi, he will be a regular official of the ninth rank, and an additional fifty shi will be added to the second rank, up to the seventh rank.

　　During the reign of Emperor Wuzong, the rich people received millets to support the government, and those with more than a thousand stones were appointed to the sect, and those with nine hundred to two to three hundred stones were awarded casual officials, and they were awarded the sixth rank.

　　Emperor Shizong ordered the righteous people who came out of the valley with twenty stones to be given crowns and belts; those with more than twenty stones were awarded official posts of the seventh rank; those who came to five hundred stones from the valley were given official posts.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)