Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 266

Zhu Youjian first took a look at Fan Jingwen, the chief assistant of the cabinet.

Naturally, Zhu Youjian asked Fan Jingwen to express his position first, and the cabinet must still be in charge of taxation. Naturally, the army cannot participate, and at most it can help prevent chaos from happening.

That is to say, if the new tax policy is really levied, if the gentry with grass-roots leadership is charged with causing trouble, and the situation is out of control, Fan Jingwen will bear the consequences.

For example, Shang Yang.

Of course, if there were no disturbances, or if he could be suppressed, Fan Jingwen, as the chief assistant of the cabinet and the secretary of the household department, would definitely be rewarded heavily by Zhu Youjian.

Sometimes this is the case. Since you want to be the head of the hundred officials, you must have the awareness of taking the greatest risk.

Fan Jingwen is a native of Hejian Prefecture, a representative of the officials from the north, the highest among the officials who followed him to the south. He has always been honest and caring for the people. He has no property in the south. Naturally, he has no objection to the new tax policy. The only thing he worries about now is his own words. Will he really become someone hated by the scholar-bureaucrats, and even said in his personal notes that he is a sycophant who only obeys the emperor's order.

As a civil servant, Fan Jingwen naturally knows how venomous the civil servant's pen is, but Fan Jingwen also knows how ruthless His Majesty is. Wei Zaode ended up tragically because he refused to take responsibility and sought personal gain. Naturally, he didn't want to end up being ransacked .

Fan Jingwen raised his heels awkwardly, and suddenly felt a little hot, Wang Chengen thoughtfully put a basin of ice on the twig beside him: "Master Ge, Your Majesty is waiting."

Fan Jingwen smiled awkwardly, beads of sweat dripped from his forehead to the ground, he noticed that not only the eyes of the emperor were staring at him, but all the civil and military dignitaries present were staring at him.

He, Fan Jingwen, is the chief assistant of the cabinet. If Fan Jingwen wants to express his support for His Majesty's imperial opinion, they will naturally not refute, and if they offend someone, they will be able to take the blame.

creak.

The official hat chair made of huanghuali made a sound, and Fan Jingwen stood up suddenly, swallowed, and arched his hands: "Your Majesty, my humble minister, my humble minister."

Although Fan Jingwen has been serving as chief assistant for almost a year, all important government affairs in the past were military affairs, and everything was issued by the Grand Marshal's Office. The cabinet seems to be dispensable. Apart from drafting daily government affairs, it seems that there is no decision-making policy for the empire. In terms of power, he, the chief assistant, has nothing to do. Even the currency reform is only led by the Supervisor of Rites and Dongchang, and his household department is only responsible for making money and auditing.

Moreover, the taxation policy is different from the currency and money law. Today's subjects of the Ming Dynasty do not have a strong concept of money and have no financial awareness. They don't care much whether the imperial court uses copper coins or silver coins as currency, but taxes are different. , This is almost related to the interests of every class of people in Daming, and this is the first major event that Fan Jingwen has undertaken since he became the chief assistant.

If it is really successful and beneficial to the country and the people, it will naturally shine through the ages and become a famous minister; if it fails, it may become a treacherous minister who is reviled by thousands of people.

Therefore, Fan Jingwen was a little nervous, but he knew that His Majesty didn't like ministers of the mean. Ma Shiying, Li Banghua, and Lu Zhenfei who are currently in the cabinet are not sharp-edged people. Fan Jingwen can only grit his teeth and do something brave Shoufu!

Zhu Youjian smiled gratifiedly when he saw him standing up: "Master Ge, don't worry, just speak slowly, Wang Chengen, send an eunuch to come over and fan Mr. Ge!"

Zhu Youjian was expressing his affirmation of Fan Jingwen, and Wang Chengen also knew the emperor's intentions, so he personally took a cattail leaf fan and fanned Fan Jingwen: "It's better for the subordinates to hand over the old man personally, the people under him are not important. "

The eunuch Bingbi, the supervisor of ceremonies, and the admiral of the East Factory personally fanned Fan Jingwen, the chief assistant of the cabinet, and he was in front of the imperial court. Naturally, he deliberately wanted to praise Fan Jingwen in Zhu Youjian, to give Fan Jingwen enough face, and let him know that he is now alone. More than [-] people must preside over the matter of tax collection.

"Old Jian is cold in spring and hot in autumn, and Ge Lao is already old. Although he is worried about state affairs, he has to take care of his health, so that he can share his worries for His Majesty for a few more years, or I can wait for a few more years to be taught."

As soon as Fan Jingwen stood up, all the bureaucrats present breathed a sigh of relief, especially the northern officials who were willing to support His Majesty Zhu Youjian's reform or cater to the holy will, the governor generals of the guard system, and the local governors. Many of them have no commercial property, and as local officials, they also know that once taxes are levied, the local wealth will increase a lot.

But they also know that the difficulty of this kind of thing is not that everyone doesn't understand the truth, but that they want to offend people, people of a class, or even their own clansmen. They need a blame, and they need to transfer the complaints of these people To one person, so that they can safely and boldly implement the government's government orders, so as soon as Fan Jingwen stood up, he won the respect of many officials.

In the past, the Minister of Rituals personally fanned the wind, and now there is Li Banghua from Jiangxi who is personally concerned about Fan Jingwen's body in front of His Majesty, and his words reveal a feeling of admiration.

Of course, some officials who were still quite dissatisfied with the collection of taxes on officials, gentry and wealthy businessmen also looked at Fan Jingwen and smiled at Fan Jingwen.

Although because of the Qian Qianyi case and the Zhang Shenyan case, the gentry and bureaucrats in Jiangnan realized that His Majesty still has monarchy even when he is in Jiangnan. It's okay to transfer the resentment to Fan Jingwen.

Fan Jingwen can naturally guess how many pairs of eyes that are not so kind are looking at him now, but he can only stand up now, at least letting the internal minister fan the wind can be regarded as a good story for a while: "Thank you for your kindness, please rest assured, and smile As the chief assistant of the cabinet, I will definitely lead the officials to complete the tax collection work after the new tax reform!"

"I'm very pleased with Mr. Fan Ge's determination. All my lovers must cooperate with the cabinet!"

As soon as Zhu Youjian said that, he looked at Qu Shixu, Chen Zizhuang and other governors. Both Qu Shixu and Chen Zizhuang hurriedly stated that they would obey the cabinet order and complete the major tax collection.

Then, Zhu Youjian looked at He Xin, the Second Army of the Guards, and He Xin understood what Zhu Youjian meant, and got up immediately: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, the chief assistant and the cabinet can handle affairs at ease, although my Second Army of the Guards Don't meddle in political affairs, but as long as someone makes trouble because of it, why don't I bother!"

Other officials also began to actively express their views one after another, promising to cooperate with Fan Jingwen's work, and changed their rhetoric for a while, as if Fan Jingwen was leading the collection of commercial taxes and other taxes.

"Since all your loved ones have no objection, and Mr. Fan Ge is quite determined, I will not say more. Wang Chengen will lead them back to rest first. Mr. Fan Ge and Governor Li Yan of Huguang will stay!" Zhu Youjian said. Said, the officials took the order to resign, Fan Jingwen guessed that His Majesty would definitely give it to him in private, but Li Yan was a little at a loss.

(End of this chapter)