Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

Wu Shigong held his chin, thought for a while, and then said to Ye Zhong: "Issuing an announcement first, if the father-in-law and court ladies scattered among the people are willing to return to the palace, let them come back. If there are people who have made offerings among the people, then let him go." .Remember! If the eunuchs in the palace and mansion of the former Daming imperial family still love the old master, they will be given a severance pay. But they must not keep any more eunuchs in the mansion, and those who violate it will be beheaded!"

"Yes! Your Majesty!" Ye Zhong nodded immediately.

In this era, the use of eunuchs in the government also depends on their status. People who are not from the royal family must not use eunuchs, otherwise they are challenging the imperial power.Although Wu Shigong would not kill the original Daming royal family, he would not give them a wrong illusion and make them have evil intentions, so he will never be lenient on this point.

"If the father-in-law over the age of 50 in the palace does not want to serve in the palace, he can provide for it collectively, or he can go home and be supported by his family. As for the severance payment or the monthly maintenance fee, you can take out a charter and submit it to me for review. Palace Palace ladies who are over 25 years old can go out of the palace to be betrothed to others. But you must pay attention: never force them, let them make their own choices. Also, if the father-in-law left in the palace is over fifty in the future, this rule will also be followed."

"Thank you, Your Majesty! Your Majesty is so kind!" Ye Zhong immediately said happily.

In fact, most of the eunuchs in the palace are unable to get ahead. When they are old, they will be kicked out of the palace.And they have no ability to live among the people, and many people end up miserable.

In the past, these people could only rely on their past savings and the relief of the eunuch who did good deeds in the palace to make ends meet.And Wu Shigong's approach has actually purchased "endowment insurance" for them.Although Ye Zhong these rich eunuchs.Their pension is not a problem, but this practice has benefited the entire eunuch group after all, so Ye Zhong's gratitude to Wu Shigong is indeed from the bottom of his heart.

"You go to count again. All the father-in-laws in the palace, those who have entered the inner study, the father-in-laws who are mine supervisors, tax supervisors, and Huangzhuang outside, let them gather together. I will arrange free time , ask them one by one in person. They can work in the Royal Affairs Department, and they can work as treasurers and accountants in my property. Of course, if they want to, they can also stay in the palace. The rest of the father-in-law. Even if I don’t If they stay, we will arrange for them properly."

"Yes! Your Majesty!" Ye Zhong became even more beaming.

After hearing Wu Shigong's words, Ye Zhong found that Wu Shigong still gave eunuchs like them a way to make money.As long as there is something to do.Then the royal family will rely more or less on these eunuchs.There will also be opportunities for greater rights in the future.As long as the opening is opened, things can take their time in the future.

In fact, Ye Zhong didn't know that this was just Wu Shigong's diversion method.Wu Shigong definitely couldn't bear to support such a large number of eunuchs and court ladies.So he will definitely greatly reduce the number of eunuchs and maids in the palace.

therefore.For former eunuchs like Liu Yuanbin and Xiao Yuegui, Wu Shigong will reward them with a large sum of money and send them back to the people.As for the other great eunuchs, they already had a lot of wealth, without Wu Shigong's reward, they could survive among the people.Because these people were all reused by the royal family in the original Ming Dynasty, Wu Shigong planned to focus on dismissal.

Of course, in case these eunuchs are unwilling to be dismissed.Wu Shigong planned to combine them with those educated and professional eunuchs and become an official in the Royal Affairs Department.Or work as a manager in the workshops, commercial firms and Huangzhuang owned by Wu Shigong.Let them make the best use of their talents, and don't waste the talents of these people.

As for the remaining redundant eunuchs and court ladies, Wu Shigong planned to let them work as craftsmen, men and farmers in the workshops, commercial firms and Huangzhuang he owned, so that they could support themselves and reduce Wu Shigong's burden.

Because the Royal Affairs Department is owned by the emperor himself, the officials in it can be determined by Wu Shigong personally, so in the final analysis, those eunuchs who serve as officials will not conflict with the rights of civil officials, and they can also trap eunuchs in this space. middle.

Moreover, Wu Shigong also decided: this approach is also an expedient measure.When these eunuchs working in the Royal Affairs Department gradually get old, they will also be gradually eliminated.And the number of eunuchs entering the palace every year will also be fixed, and the number is very small.In the end, the Royal Affairs Department will also be staffed by normal people, and the eunuchs will definitely be controlled, and they will never be allowed to interfere in politics.

The royal "inheritance" Wu Shigong obtained this time is not a lot.There was some floating money left in the palace, but after being raided twice by the Dashun army and the Qing army, it had become empty.And what Wu Shigong got was only one Forbidden City, several royal gardens, dozens of imperial villas, forest farms, pastures and hunting grounds. More than 200 million acres of imperial land, and theoretically, all mines owned by the royal family.

In addition, Wu Shigong also personally owns 10,000% of the shares in the salt industry business, the shares of a large number of workshops, commercial banks and banks in Runing, the fleet of eight seagoing ships, the wharf in Songjiang Prefecture, and the Legacy three [-]+ acres of land.

Of course, private money such as workshops and stocks owned by Zhao Ruya, Li Yuenu and others are not included in Wu Shigong's personal wealth.All of their property will belong to their children, and Wu Shigong will not count their private money as royal property.

And some of these royal properties will also be dealt with.

For example, the salt industry: All future salt industries will be nationalized.The income from the salt industry in the Great Ping Dynasty will also cancel the loophole-filled salt tax and the China-opening law, and will conduct bidding for regional monopoly rights in the three links of salt production, transportation, and sales, and use the annual bidding revenue as the basis for the salt tax. substitute.

And [-]% of Wu Shigong's private shares in the salt industry will also be redeemed by the imperial court in installments.At present, the salt industry shares held by Yangzhou salt merchants will also be given a certain period of monopoly rights to compensate them. It is necessary to thoroughly straighten out the chaotic situation in the salt industry and greatly increase the income of the imperial salt industry.

And a large part of the imperial land owned by Wu Shigong will be allocated to those serfs who will be converted into free people.As for the rest, some will be distributed to their own children, and some will be cultivated by the eunuchs who are diverted, so that these eunuchs can support themselves.Because in the "Kaifeng Land Policy" of the Daping Dynasty, even the royal family had to collect land and other differential taxes, so it was not cost-effective for Wu Shigong to keep too much imperial land. It is better to distribute all these lands to buy people's hearts. Woolen cloth.

Of course, in future wars, the land owned by vassals like Emperor Hongguang who rose up to resist will also be taken over by Wu Shigong (the original Ming Dynasty vassals who surrendered, the Daping Dynasty will have other policies).Wu Shigong will redeem these lands to the imperial court in exchange for shares in the reclamation firm (the detailed process of this policy will be described in detail later).The Daping court will allocate these lands to retired soldiers of the Daping army and serfs who have served their full-service period, or return them to officials and gentry who borrowed money to pay off debts, so as to allow the land and financial policies of the Daping dynasty to be implemented smoothly.

As for those mines, Wu Shigong will also prepare to go public gradually, leaving only the controlling stake to ensure the operation.The new mineral deposits discovered in the future will bring exploration rights and mining rights, which will belong to the Daping Dynasty.

In the future, the Daping Dynasty will also cancel the monopoly of copper and iron, and only collect resource tax and commercial tax.In this way, although the monopoly tax of copper and iron will be much less (it cannot be collected much because of the greed of officials and mine supervisors), the price of copper and iron will also drop sharply.Wu Shigong knew before that in the fertile Central Plains of Henan Province, many farmers could not afford iron tools because the price of iron tools was too high due to monopoly.Therefore, losing some tax revenue and increasing the output per mu will not only benefit the people, but the tax revenue per mu will be much higher than the income from the copper and iron monopoly.It's really a win-win situation.

As for the Four Seas Commercial Bank and the Four Seas Bank, some of these industries (such as the issuance of banknotes) will be separated and handed over to the household department of the Daping Dynasty to take care of them, while the rest of the business will form new commercial firms and banks. .And Wu Shigong's shares will also become the shares of these commercial firms and banks.

Of course, Wu Shigong still has two big chunks of income.A big chunk is the royal naming rights.I won't say much about this one.Anyway, when Wu Shigong became the emperor and the area he occupied gradually expanded, the types and costs of the royal naming rights would also be greatly increased. Moreover, this income was protected from drought and flood, and the total income he could get was quite a lot.

Another big piece is the patented production and sales of new products.Relying on the memory of his previous life, Wu Shigong has displayed more than 200 new products and offered rewards for inventions.If someone invents it, they will jointly establish a workshop and produce and sell it.So far, nearly ten kinds of commodities have been invented and produced, and dozens more have taken shape.

Because it is not difficult to invent products such as toilet paper, soap, toothbrush, razor, etc., it is also an idea.Wu Shigong himself doesn't understand these inventions, and he doesn't know how to climb any technology trees, but it is not difficult to invent these things by letting the skilled craftsmen of the whole world brainstorm.

Of course, in today's society, after such an idea is put forward, it is very likely that others will take the lead, but this situation was impossible in the Daping Dynasty, because no one thought that the majesty of the royal family was vegetarian.And these new industries are like hens that can lay golden eggs, and they will also bring huge income to Wu Shigong himself in the future.

So it can be said that the future Royal Affairs Bureau will not only be the "big steward" of the royal family, but also the manager of the royal property.The required talents and industrial scale are also extremely large.And Wu Shigong also knew the peeing nature of those former Ming eunuchs, and they would not let go of the opportunity to search for the royal family.Therefore, although Wu Shigong uses his talents, he must also prevent his greed.What Wu Shigong will introduce in the future is the system. (To be continued..)