Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 265 The Discussion Between the Monarch and His Ministers in the School of Administration
As soon as Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian appeared, all the important officials in various departments of the military and government affairs of the inner court and the outer court hurriedly shut up and bowed to Zhu Youjian neatly: "I have seen Your Majesty!"

"My dear friends, there is no need to stick to etiquette. This is not a place for the court to discuss government affairs, nor is it a time for sacrificial ceremonies. There is no need to be too demanding on etiquette. The reason why I called you to gather here at the Daming School of Administration today is not for other reasons. It is an extremely important matter related to the long-term stability of Ming Dynasty.

I believe that you have almost guessed it. This matter has been settled years ago, but now that it is going to be put into practice, I would like to hear the opinions of all the officials. There is no censor here, and everyone is a seasoned planner. People in the country can speak freely without fear. "

After Zhu Youjian said this, he asked Wang Chengen to declare his death.

Only then did the officials get up and followed Zhu Youjian into the main hall of the Daming School of Administration—Rongyang Hall. Zhu Youjian interjected inappropriately:

"This used to be the residence of Zhang Shenyan, the Minister of Rites of Dongge University. This was the main hall where his family worshiped their ancestors. But it's a pity that this person committed a serious crime of treason and became a treacherous minister. I have to raid his house!"

The officials silently didn't know how to answer, but they also knew that His Majesty was using Zhang Shenyan's words to warn them.

To be honest, Zhu Youjian is the emperor, but many officials are still unfamiliar faces to him at the moment, but fortunately, he doesn't have to say hello one by one.

Zhu Youjian stepped into the main hall and sat in the first place, and then let the chief assistant of the cabinet Fan Jingwen and Yasukuni Gong Huang Degong sit on the left and right of him, and the rest of the officials also had seats.

Since it is at the Daming School of Administration, naturally there is no need to be too demanding on the distinction between monarch and minister, and Zhu Youjian has no intention of reflecting the distinction between monarch and minister by kneeling or standing.

It was also the first time for many officials to meet Emperor Zhu Youjian of the Ming Dynasty. When they sat down now, they didn't know where to put their hands, so they could only imitate the people around them.

Li Yan was also one of them, and he didn't expect that one day he would be able to witness the face of the Emperor Ming with his own eyes, even if it was Zhu Youjian's inexperienced movement, he could capture it.

Zhu Youjian is already used to the feeling of being stared at by a group of men, without any sense of restraint, he calmly picked up a tea of ​​Yuqian Longjing, took half a sip, and only put the teacup after the tea had sunk to the bottom When I opened my mouth:

"The two battles a while ago were fierce and well fought, defeating Jiannu's plan to go south to destroy the Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop. My Ming Dynasty has not become a dynasty of exile, I have not become a king of a subjugated country, and you have not become ministers of a subjugated country. Among you, the lovers who participated in these two battles have made great contributions, not only on the battlefield but also on the court, everyone has worked very hard these days."

When Zhu Youjian said this, the officials of the Guards Army system smiled slightly, with a sense of pride and honor spontaneously, but other officials also nodded in agreement. It is also a joy for them to be able to keep half of the south. thing.

"Of course I will not hesitate to reward, but what I want to talk about now is not the issue of rewards, but the issue of the court's collection of commercial taxes, customs duties and personal income taxes. As for what these taxes are and how to collect them, the Ministry of Household Affairs and Guangming Daily have already explained , I don’t need to say much here.”

Zhu Youjian directly mentioned the new tax collection issue straight to the point. The officials present did not smile again this time, and they all became serious; especially some officials whose family backgrounds were wealthy businessmen's families looked at him even more at this moment. Zhu Youjian.

All the ministers knew that this matter would come sooner or later, and no one dared to object at this time, but there were indeed many people who were against it in their hearts.

According to the tax collection data set by the imperial court, many official and business families will have to pay taxes ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands or even millions of silver dollars a year, which is several times heavier than the previous [-] taxes. And the crux of the problem is that this breaks the tax-free privilege of the scholar-bureaucrats, so that ordinary merchants will no longer invest in the scholar-officials, which is indeed a great loss to many official families.

In addition, once the tariff was levied, many wealthy businessmen in the south of the Yangtze River and the southeast coast lost the manulife of making huge profits through maritime trade without paying taxes.A large amount of wealth will flow into the imperial treasury.

Zhu Youjian looked at all of these in silence, and knew that they were unwilling but did not dare to refute.

He could not help but smile slightly: "I know that many of you are reluctant, but I can tell you why I did this, and why the guards of the Ming Dynasty were able to defeat the Manchu iron cavalry, all of which were paid for by money. A soldier spends 300 to 200 silver dollars a year, and officers naturally need more. The total annual military salary is more than 500 million silver dollars, which is equivalent to more than [-] million taels of silver in the past, plus ordnance manufacturing, Adding up logistics supplies, casualty pensions, etc., the military expenditure is more than [-] million silver dollars a year. Where does this money come from?

Is it possible that I need to learn from the common people? Many of you present have served as governors or have seen the miserable conditions of the common people on the way to the south with me. Even the officials in Nanjing should have seen the refugees outside the city. We all know what the people of Ming Dynasty are like. If I ask them for it, I'm afraid there will be another Li Zicheng, Zhang Zicheng, and Wang Zicheng! "

"So, I can only ask for it from you, rich businessmen, maybe some of you will ask, are these rich businessmen, officials and gentry not common people? I admit that you are too.

But I want to ask, when the Qing army went south, if Daming really disappeared, would it be true that only the common people suffered, and you and others would not suffer?
You must have known the living conditions of the Han Chinese under the rule of the Qing court in the north through various channels. If you don’t know, you can go to the report of Guanghua Daily some time ago.

In the Qing court, no matter whether you were an official, a gentry, a giant businessman or a commoner, good land and fertile land were all encircled, your property was confiscated by banner people, you shaved your hair and changed clothes, and moved out of the capital. If you were good enough, you could be a coated slave of the Manchus, but if you were not good Others migrated to remote places to open up wasteland. Of course, you said that you can surrender to the Qing Dynasty and become obedient ministers of the Qing Dynasty.

But you thought that after surrendering to the Qing Dynasty, you would be able to hold power in the temple like you are now, and you would not be admired by thousands of people. In the case of a lot of barbarian princes and beiles, you, Huang Degong, have to call others Master. "

As Zhu Youjian spoke, he asked Huang Degong a question, and Huang Degong couldn't help arguing: "Return to Your Majesty, I would rather die than recognize Manchurian Jiannu as my master!"

"I know your loyalty, and I also know that since you are still standing in the court, you must still be my ministers of Ming Dynasty.

However, no matter whether it is a merchant, a merchant, or a peasant who is ruled, they are all an indispensable part of my Ming Dynasty, and they all have the obligation to do their part for Da Ming, and they also have the right to enjoy Da Ming's protection and my grace, but We should not only allow farmers to bear the taxes of the court, but only allow officials and wealthy businessmen to enjoy the favor of the court. Such a court will only have more people rise up.

I believe that many of you understand this truth, and even you will say that merchants are also paying taxes, but you should know how much tax merchants pay. Last year, Dongchang confiscated a Shanxi merchant Fan’s property in Nanjing, and there were more than 300 yuan. Ten thousand taels of silver is huge, but what he handed over to the inner court before was only ten thousand. According to the previous rules, he didn't pay enough!The ratio is less than three hundred to one! "

Zhu Youjian said word by word, and the officials below listened word by word. Officials from different backgrounds had different opinions, and officials with different consciousness also had different opinions, but whether it was said by Zhu Youjian They still haven't been moved by Zhu Youjian's words. At this moment, they can't refute the facts Zhu Youjian said.

Zhu Youjian is just asking them to express their willingness to implement the court's tax reform policy. If not, Zhu Youjian can change people.

(End of this chapter)