Ming Dynasty 1566

Chapter 150

Li Qi: "The auspiciousness that descended from heaven doesn't come out sooner or later. Ten days before we left, someone got it from the Internet in Taihu Lake. They didn't dare to keep it privately, so they sent it to the governor's office. Master Tan Luntan told us that we were going to Beijing." Alright, dedicate it to the son of the world, and let the son of the world present it to the emperor again."

How to make Grandpa Huang happy is a lesson that has been instilled every day since he was a child. The son immediately shouted: "I will send it to Grandpa Huang immediately!"

Zhang Juzheng: "I still have to show the prince and the empress." Speaking of which, he turned to Li Qi, Gao Hanwen, and Yunniang and his wife and said, "I have been waiting inside for a long time. Mo Qing will follow me to see the prince, and Eunuch Feng will accompany Uncle Guo." Let's go see the empress with Mrs. Gao."

Zhang Juzheng was in front, Feng Bao leaned sideways to lead, Li Qi still hugged his son and Gao Hanwen followed and walked towards the inner courtyard.

The four laborers immediately lifted the copper vat and sent it to the backyard. Many eunuchs and palace maids flocked to the copper vat to see the golden tortoise.

Then, many people outside the gate of the mansion brought in many small cages and large boxes.

"Thanks to you." King Yu made no secret of his appreciation and gratitude, looking at Gao Hanwen who was about to stand up just after sitting down, "Sit down and drink tea first."

Gao Hanwen just got up and sat down again, picked up the tea bowl, but didn't drink, and looked at King Yu.

King Yu said with emotion: "In such a short period of time, the court has brought [-] pieces of cotton cloth to the court. The peace talks in Liaodong have been negotiated this time, and how many lives can be spared by turning hostility into treasure."

King Yu's big reward did not excite Gao Hanwen, but instead looked at Zhang Juzheng melancholy.

Zhang Juzheng: "Things in the world are always in a dilemma. Once the fight is over, the people in the north will naturally be saved from suffering, but the jade and silk are bought by the wealth of the people in the south of the Yangtze River."

King Yu was startled: "How do you say that?"

Zhang Juzheng sighed: "'Pull out the flesh and blood, and heal the sores in the eyes!' Mo Qing, please report the matter over there to the prince in detail."

Gao Hanwen gave King Yu a general account of the output of cotton cloth.When King Yu learned that [-]% of the income from cotton cloth would go to landlords and cotton merchants, [-]% to the court, and [-]% to the common people, he stood up.

Both Zhang Juzheng and Gao Hanwen looked at King Yu.

"What six, three, one!" Yu Wang suddenly became angry, "This is no different from Yan Song and Yan Shifan who changed rice into mulberry in Zhejiang! Master Zhang, just call Mr. Xu Ge here."

"My lord!" Gao Hanwen immediately became anxious, "This matter has nothing to do with Mr. Xu Ge. Even if the lord called Mr. Xu Ge, he just went to write a letter to reprimand his family members. The Xu family gave up their picks and quit. No one would dare to engage in the cotton spinning industry in the Songjiang area, and the imperial government’s plan to enrich the national treasury by expanding cotton fields would immediately go to waste.”

King Yu: "To annex the small people's land, the landlord should not pay taxes to the court. No matter how much cotton cloth is produced, it will not be returned to the national treasury. Instead, it will suffer for the people. It is worth not to do such a big plan! Gao Hanwen, you are from a high school background, don't learn from it. Shen Yishi!"

King Yu hated the tyrannical mergers and amassing wealth, and opposed the "six, three, and one" wealth distribution plan proposed by the gentry in the Songjiang area, mainly the Xu family. This was originally expected by Zhang Juzheng and Gao Hanwen, but his last sentence Gao Hanwen was both moved and wronged by the words.Thinking of the country and caring about those who work for the country, this is the biggest difference between King Yu and the current emperor.But King Yu compared himself to Shen Yishi, and it was clear that he was suspected of evil, which Gao Hanwen had to defend.

Gao Hanwen: "Your Majesty is wise. When the imperial court changed rice into mulberry in Zhejiang Province, I proposed the strategy of 'using reform and providing relief at the same time to solve the dilemma'. The original intention was to take care of both the imperial court and the common people. Shen Yishi was half thinking about the palace, half thinking about himself, he didn't think about the court at all, and he didn't think about the people at all, which made the strategy at that time fail. The fire burned me to death. This is all I have seen with my own eyes. I am now a common man, and I can live on a glass of wine, a book, and a piano. I went out to do business just to try it myself. Is the strategy of taking care of both the court and the common people feasible? Your lord is right to accuse me, Gao Hanwen, I am learning from Shen Yishi, and what I learned is a lesson from the past."

Gao Hanwen was suddenly so impassioned, and he uttered such shocking words, which King Yu did not expect, and he was stunned for a moment.

Zhang Juzheng immediately answered: "There is one thing I didn't want to tell the lord. The [-] pieces of cotton cloth that I negotiated with Mongolia can be collected so quickly, and half of them were brought out by Mo Qing and his wife from their own home. The matter of Lu Zhongjun. Mo Qing has already been dismissed from his post, as a commoner, there is no need to do this for the court."

Only then did King Yu understand, and slowly turned to Gao Hanwen, eyes full of guilt: "I blamed you. But you really don't have to do this. With a million mu of cotton fields, return the principal and pay interest, and the net profit will be 20 horses Why are the Xu family and those officials and gentry only willing to pay [-] horses? How did Tan Lun, the governor of Yingtian, become the governor of Yingtian, so there is no way to control them?"

"This is the difficulty." Zhang Juzheng continued, "It is an ancestral system for officials and gentry to exempt their fields from taxation. Whether they grow rice, wheat or cotton in their fields, there is no tax to collect at this stage. If they make cotton cloth, they don’t sell it themselves, and wait for the cotton merchants to buy it at home. The government can only receive the commercial tax of the cotton merchants in Lika, and the 20% draws [-]%. The imperial court can only receive [-] pieces of cotton cloth. A tax of [-] horses. If it wasn’t for Yingtian’s governor’s yamen, and Li Niangniang’s younger brother as a tax collector, buying and collecting taxes on the spot in the cotton producing area of ​​Songjiang, this time even [-] horses would be collected. No. The prince is dissatisfied with the "six, three, and one" split, but he doesn't know that he can get [-]% for the court, involving Xu Ge's old family, and there are so many officials and gentry, Tan Lun is already doing it. .”

When it comes to the ancestral system and Xu Jie, King Yu's eyes immediately lost focus: "Then there is nothing we can do about them?"

Zhang Juzheng: "There is a way, but it can't be done right now."

King Yu: "What way?"

"Restructuring!" Although the word Zhang Juzheng lowered his voice, it still sounded like a muffled thunder.

King Yu was startled, and immediately looked outside the door: "Speak carefully."

Zhang Juzheng: "I know. My lord, there are some things that should not be said right now, but the vassal kings don't pay taxes, and the officials and gentry don't pay taxes. If the king or the officials and gentry continue to merge like this, one day the treasury will be empty and the people will be impoverished! If we don’t change the system, we will have to change the dynasty!”

King Yu: "Speak carefully! Speak carefully! Zhang Juzheng, now is not the time to say these things."

Zhang Juzheng lowered his voice, but still insisted: "There are some things that must be said now. My lord, those who can't seek forever can't seek for a while, and sometimes they want to seek forever. According to Li Taiyi, the emperor's illness has become serious , it will only take a few months for the world to fall apart. Your lord, you must make a plan now."

King Yu's expression immediately became solemn: "What we should do now is to ask Li Shizhen and the others to try their best to cure the emperor's illness! As a son-in-law, I can't plan any coveted succession. Master Zhang, you can't have such a thing." idea."

Zhang Juzheng's expression also became solemn, more solemn than that of King Yu: "My lord, compared with the country and land of the ancestors and the people of the Ming Dynasty, which one is more important!"

King Yu looked at him slowly: "What exactly are you going to say?"

Zhang Juzheng: "For example, the peace agreement with Mongolia. What they want in the desert is my cotton cloth. This year's peace agreement was finally concluded thanks to the [-] cotton cloths sent by Gao Hanwen and the others. But next year's [-] cotton cloths Where? Where is the next year, and where is the next year? If there is no next year, the war will start again; , can this not be planned?"

King Yu listened to it, but he was even more dejected: "But I can't tell the emperor now, and I can't expect to take over as soon as possible to implement these strategies."

Zhang Juzheng: "I didn't ask the prince to have these ideas, I only reminded the prince to be prepared to implement these strategies."

King Yu: "Preparation for what? How?"

Zhang Juzheng: "I only want to say one thing. What the lord can do right now is to urge the emperor to save one person's life. In the future, he will come to the south of the Yangtze River to change the system. It must be this person."

King Yu was also a person who understood in his heart, and immediately thought of it: "You mean Hai Rui?"

Zhang Juzheng: "My lord is holy. In the future, we will continue to expand the cotton fields in the Songjiang area, and let those officials and gentry pay taxes together. The most important thing is to ask the officials and gentry to return the annexed land to the people. With one man against ten thousand, the Ming Dynasty has only A Hai Rui!"

With such a deep plan for the country, King Yu finally realized Zhang Juzheng's painstaking efforts, but he immediately became suspicious: "Hasn't Emperor Qiujue pardoned Hai Rui?"

"My lord." Zhang Juzheng must let him understand, "The emperor is now a patient, and his illnesses are often caused by pills. He is moody, rain, dew, and thunder are often in a flash. Today the emperor may not kill Hai Rui, but tomorrow the emperor may kill Hai Rui suddenly." Hai Rui. The prince must let the emperor understand that keeping Hai Rui is to leave a powerful weapon for the country and society of our ancestors."

King Yu thought about it even more, and looked at Zhang Juzheng: "You just said that Hai Rui is the only way to go to the south of the Yangtze River to restructure, but the first person to be restructured is Xu Ge's old family. Xu Ge also paid a lot of money to save Hai Rui. After all my painstaking efforts, I really let Hai Rui go, how can I face Elder Ge?"

Zhang Juzheng: "My lord thinks deeply. Since the reform of Jiangnan is imperative, it is inevitable to hurt the Xu family. Mr. Xu Ge has made great contributions to the community, and has great virtues in the government and the public. Anyone who goes there will either be unable to implement the New Deal. Either put the old man in a desperate situation. Only when Hai Rui goes, can we implement the new policy and take good care of the old man. My lord, for the sake of old man Xu, we must also keep Hai Rui!"

King Yu finally had a whim: "Draft a memorandum for me, and I will go to see my father tomorrow. I have been reprimanded and deposed, and I will admit it."

Zhang Juzheng and Gao Hanwen exchanged glances, then turned to King Yu and said, "The ministers have already made preparations for the lord, and the lord's departure will definitely not cause the emperor's displeasure. Mo Qing, tell the lord what you brought. "

King Yu looked at Gao Hanwen.

Gao Hanwen: "It's also God's will. Just before we left for the capital, someone fished up a tortoise released from Taihu Lake during Emperor Wenwen's time. The year name of Emperor Wenwen was engraved on its back. We brought it to the prince this time. As long as the prince takes his son to see the emperor tomorrow in the name of presenting auspiciousness, everything will be fine."

"There really is such a thing?" King Yu was very surprised when he heard this, "How many years has it been? I will never present anything that is fake or pretending to be a ghost."

Gao Hanwen replied: "It is absolutely true! This tortoise was released in the first year of the Yuan Dynasty after Emperor Wen of Han. It has been 730 years ago. Now it is offered in the backyard of the prince's residence. The prince can go and inspect it in person."

"Take me to see!"

King Yu immediately walked towards the door of the study, with a half-believing look in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)