Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 64
After Zhu Youjian finished speaking, he looked at the seven cabinet ministers sitting in front of him.

At this time, the senior officials on both sides also looked at the seven cabinet ministers.

As a cabinet scholar, he is in charge of the center of the empire, and he can even sit in front of His Majesty, so he naturally has to take responsibility.

What's more, Zhu Youjian has already decreed that the cabinet members can discuss the government today, and the rest of the ministers are only qualified to listen to the government.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian's so-called pleading just now was actually only said to these seven cabinet members.

Fan Jingwen and the other seven cabinet members also knew in their hearts that although they had the power to discuss politics, they did not have the power to make decisions.

In the end, Gan Gang is arbitrary, and it is His Majesty who makes the final decision.

Therefore, since Zhu Youjian said that they are allowed to speak freely, they are not worried about bearing the consequences of chaos.

According to the previous system, it was generally the Ke Dao Yan Guan who gave advice and advice.

But now Zhu Youjian has specially changed the rule that small officials should be replaced by high-ranking officials, in order to ask experienced people to discuss countermeasures with him.

Because before he read it, most of the remonstrances posted by Ke Dao officials were the same, such as pro-virtuous ministers far away from villains, Confucian theories such as following the ancestral system and promoting filial piety, have no practical value.

Fan Jingwen, a scholar of the Jianji Temple and the chief assistant of the cabinet, stood up first.

The chief minister of the cabinet was temporarily promoted by Zhu Youjian. Naturally, his ability is not as good as that of Yang Sichang and others, but the value lies in his selflessness.

Zhu Youjian smiled slightly. As the chief assistant of the cabinet, Zhu Youjian was very satisfied. At least it showed that Fan Jingwen dared to take on the responsibility.

Back on the throne, Zhu Youjian raised his hand slightly: "Fan Aiqing, but please be frank."

"My minister obeys the decree, and I report to His Majesty. As far as I know, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and other Shaanxi thieves have been corrupting since the second year of Chongzhen. In the 13th year of Chongzhen, Zhang Xianzhong was once recruited and Li Zicheng was defeated. The troubles of the rogues in the Ming Dynasty have eased. ;
But Chongzhen began to corrupt again in the 15th year. Li Zicheng made a comeback and attacked Kaifeng three times. My Ming Dynasty elite lost countless, Zhang Xianzhong also surrendered and rebelled, and finally the thief is trapped in the capital. "

"After thinking about it carefully, I found that the two groups of rogues who disturbed our Ming Dynasty were refugees from Shaanxi, and Shaanxi is a dry land in the north. Long;
Since the beginning of Wanli, the state government has levied three additional taxes on the basis of acres of land. Shaanxi and other northern regions have more acres of land but less output, resulting in more taxes and less income for the people. "

"Compared to this, the south has never had any major turmoil, because all the princes in the dynasty are from the south. The south has few acres but high output, so it pays less taxes but has more income. Moreover, the water conservancy is well developed, and there are no droughts. Natural and man-made disasters caused by bandits, so there was no chaos in the south, but the chaos in the north has even led to the current ending, the Shaanxi bandit Li Zicheng fell into the capital, and Zhang Xianzhong occupied Bashu."

"I went all the way to the south, and in the north, I saw thousands of villages withered and people displaced. What's more, some sold their sons and daughters, and exchanged their sons for food! Bandits and bandits are rampant! There are villages that are barely intact, but they are continued to be exploited by the government. .And the thief said that the King Chuang did not pay the food, which naturally made the people follow."

"Thus, from my point of view, now Da Ming is taking the lead in winning the hearts of the people and appeasing Li Shu!
In the past, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty said that the king is a boat, the people are water, and water can carry a boat or overturn it; now the Ming Dynasty should exempt the north from taxes for three or four years, and the south will not increase taxes, so as not to lose the hearts of the people in the north and south.

At the same time, recruit refugees, encourage them to open up wasteland and reclaim the wilderness, and prevent them from becoming or following thieves, and the chaos in the world will be resolved by itself. "

Zhu Youjian could understand that Fan Jingwen paid more attention to people's livelihood.

At this time, Gao Hongtu, the second assistant of the cabinet, the scholar of Wenhuadian University, also stood up:
"The country is impoverished and the people are exhausted, and the world urgently needs to rest and recuperate, just as Shou Kui said, but I believe that your majesty should not only comfort the hearts of the common people, but also the hearts of officials and scholars."

"In the 13th year of Chongzhen, if His Majesty did not believe Gao Hongtu and Yang Sichang's slander, so that Lu Xiangsheng was buried in the hands of Jiannu, the rebellion of bandits may not recur again. Naturally, if Your Majesty is not eager to pacify the captives and let Yuan Chonghuan kill the governor of Mao, perhaps Jiannu will also It will not be easy to enter the customs and plunder, and the world may still be able to rule;
It's a pity that your majesty employs inhuman beings, and is eager to seek success. His kindness and power are unpredictable, so that the people of the world don't know how to repay your majesty, and your majesty doesn't know how to trust the world's scholars. "

"Thus, in my view, since your majesty is temporarily patrolling Nanjing today, you should refrain from being anxious, don't kill ministers because of personal anger, don't listen to partial beliefs, and should reward and punish clearly. You should not only hope for hundreds of officials, nor should you Only seek credit for oneself, when the monarch and ministers are in harmony, work together, and tide over difficulties together, Qian Qianyi's conspiracy case must not be dismissed, and it must not be arbitrarily expanded, so that all officials are terrified and have no intention of doing politics."

"Your Majesty is the wise king of the world. If you work hard to govern, the emperor will not let you down. As long as you don't stick to one pattern and trust your ministers, why worry about my father-in-law Han Shizhong!"

Although Gao Hongtu's remarks made Zhu Youjian feel that he was talking about himself.

However, Zhu Youjian had to admit that he did have these problems before, and Gao Hongtu meant to appease the hearts of bureaucrats and gentry, which he naturally understood.

At this time, Li Banghua, a scholar of the Hall of Martial Arts, also stood up:
"The general meaning of what the two old elders said earlier is that one is to appease the hearts of the people, and the other is to appease the hearts of officials, both of which are the most important tasks at the moment;
But my minister wants to ask the two elders, since the common people's taxes need to be reduced and the privileges of the hundred officials must be maintained, then who should support the millions of elite soldiers of my Ming Dynasty? "

"Although Wu Sangui, Liu Zeqing, Liu Liangzuo, etc. are all treacherous ministers and thieves who have no king and no country, the officers and soldiers under their command have poisoned the people even more than the thieves. Why did this result? In my opinion, it has something to do with the lack of military pay in the Ming Dynasty. The officers and soldiers are not paid. You can only collect food, and the court has no salary to allocate, so it is impossible to control the officers and soldiers with military discipline, so that the soldiers mutiny at every turn, and the officers and soldiers are bandits."

"Therefore, I believe that the most urgent task is to understand how to use the wealth of the world to support the soldiers of the country, so that the officers and soldiers will not have the heart to fight to the death, and the people will not have love for the army;
Nowadays, most of the world's wealth is concentrated in the hands of officials, gentry, wealthy businessmen, and wealthy businessmen. Your Majesty may be able to appease them as Gao Ge said, but these officials, gentry, wealthy businessmen, and wealthy businessmen who occupy the world's interests should also pay taxes to support the imperial court. The Duty of the Elite Soldiers! "

Li Banghua's question made the officials present not know how to answer. Although they all knew this truth, they were unwilling to face this question.

"At the beginning of the Kingdom, the world was based on agriculture, so the agricultural tax was used to benefit the world. But now, the government and business are integrated, and the land has been all in the hands of the officials and gentry, and the officials and gentry do not pay taxes and taxes. The poorer and weaker Li Shu supported the richer and richer officials and gentry.

The wealth of the Ming Dynasty is so uneven, how can it prevent the people from rebelling against the officials and degrading the officials? Although I am also a member of the people who eat the interests of the people, which is harmful to the court, but in order to make the country rich, there are millions of elite soldiers to support. I would like to implore Your Majesty Ban the malpractice that officials and gentry have not paid for food over the years!In order to carry out the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, heavy taxes should be imposed on commerce and trade, so that people's livelihood can be recuperated. "

Ma Shiying, a scholar of Dongge University, stood up first. As a member of the Eunuch Party, what he dislikes the most is that the Donglin Party and businessmen have a nest of snakes and rats, making the people of the world miserable, so taking advantage of His Majesty letting them speak freely, and seeing His Majesty's trust The famous Li Banghua spoke first, and he also stated that he wanted to redefine the interests between the officials and the common people.

　Thank you for the reward of 100 book coins from the book friend Six Misfortunes Canglong.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)