The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 702
Zhu Linmi glanced at the long list, and said to Yang Tinglin: "Mr. Yang Ge, there are people who voluntarily pay taxes on the list...ah, no, just tell me how many people didn't show up on the list."

Yang Tinglin hurriedly said: "Back to the emperor, [-]% of the officials in the court are on this list. Only less than [-]% of the officials are not on the list."

After all, there are still some "ideal and aspiring" courtiers like Huang Jingfang who are fighting against taxes, and there are still many people who have not turned their heads or are slow to move.

Zhu Linming is not surprised by this, after all, [-]% is enough.

He handed a list to Yang Tinglin, "This is the member of the Ministry of Commerce I proposed. See if any of the above people have asked for food."

Yang Tinglin took it over respectfully and glanced at it, only to see that it read: Minister Zuo of the Ministry of Commerce, Chen Que.The right servant of the Ministry of Commerce, Zhu Zhiyu.Doctor of the Ministry of Commerce...

From the third-rank minister to the ninth-rank inspector ambassador, all candidates are listed, a total of 89 candidates.

He didn't remember the hundreds of courtiers who asked for food, but had no choice but to retrieve the roster of officials on the list and compared them one by one, and finally found that only two members of the Shang Department selected by the emperor were not among them.

Zhu Linmi then ticked off the names of the two men, and told Yang Tinglin, "Tomorrow, we will post a list outside the Meridian Gate to announce the list of business subordinates. Ah, only 25 people will be announced a day. By the way, remember to post another list to praise them for taking the initiative to pay for food. .”

Although Yang Tinglin didn't know why he didn't publish all of them, but the emperor did what he told him to do, and immediately bowed and said: "My minister, obey the order."

"Also, this Huang Jingfang has been jumping up and down recently, let's transfer him to be the Minister of Taichang Temple. The right servant of the Ministry of Officials will be temporarily appointed by Zeng Jian."

Yang Tinglin responded first, "The minister obeys the order." Then he hesitated, "Your Majesty, if there is no reason to suddenly relegate an important minister, I'm afraid..."

Although the minister of Taichang Temple is also a third rank, he is just a cold yamen in charge of sacrifices and so on. He has been demoted by more than one level from the official department with great power.

Zhu Linmei said coldly: "Recently, the affairs of the Ministry of Officials are extremely busy. Mr. Huang is old and can't bear to work hard."

A majestic son of heaven, even if you demote one or two courtiers, you still have to talk about it here!

Yang Tinglin shrank his neck and said hurriedly: "I understand."

Although there was no court meeting the next day, it was extremely lively outside the Meridian Gate.

A total of 25 people, either promoted or filled in vacancies, suddenly became the top members of the newly established business department.And ten steps away is the post from the cabinet praising them for asking for food.

At this time, even a pig should understand the relationship.

Except for a few tax-resistant die-hards, the officials who hadn't made their declarations yesterday hurried home to write their memorials.

In the afternoon, as the news that Mr. Huang Jingfang Huang was transferred to Taichang Temple due to physical discomfort spread in Nanjing official circles, the die-hards immediately began to panic.

Previously, they dared to "confront" the emperor relying on the momentum that the vast majority of people were unwilling to pay taxes.At this moment, it seems that the general situation is over in just a few days, and even the important ministers such as the right minister of the Ministry of officials have been demoted, and there is no one to express their support. How dare they continue?

Isn't it just a few hundred taels of silver a year?It's not like I can't afford it!

At present, those people who had secretly discussed tax protests with Huang Jingfang a few days ago also wrote a letter, saying that paying taxes in accordance with the law will benefit the country and the people, and they firmly support the imperial court's decision.

Another day later, outside the Meridian Gate, another list of 25 new officials from the Ministry of Commerce was announced.

On the third day, another 25...

The courtiers saw that the real shortage was decreasing day by day, and they were all anxious.

"Master Li, why do you think these people were promoted?"

"The officials don't know, or are they more sincere in asking for money?"

"Then shall we go to the table again?"

"Only try..."

At this time, most of the courtiers were focused on paying the food and fell into a fixed mindset, but they did not expect that these positions in the Ministry of Commerce were allocated by Zhu Linming according to the official's ability.Of course, if you continue to resist taxes, you will have to trade this great future to someone else.

This trend of voluntary taxation soon spread to areas other than Southern Zhili.Officials from Zhejiang, Guangxi, Fujing and other places also began to join in the action of "grabbing Hunan's real shortage", and some local officials were promoted to Hunan.

As time went by, the "competition" became fierce, and people with flexible minds began to ask themselves to cancel the tax exemption quota, willing to pay taxes for all properties under their names in accordance with the law.

These people were quickly on the "recognition list", and some of them were promoted or filled up as they wished.

The others immediately imitated the example. Every day, the memorials from all over the country were so crowded that Wenyuan Pavilion was very difficult to even turn around. Some cabinet members had to move to the corridor to work...

Soon, more than [-] real shortages in Hunan had been dispatched. According to Zhu Linming's order, the Ministry of Officials began to announce ten places every day.

At the same time, the cabinet temporarily added a national official assessment, which was fully in charge of the newly promoted Right Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Zeng Jian.

As soon as the examiner of the Ministry of Officials passed through a few state capitals, someone spread the news that those who did not submit a form to ask for their own rations did not receive very good evaluations.

Although no one has stated that there is a connection between the two, who wants to take the risk?It doesn't take much effort to write the memorial.

By the eve of the Northern Expedition, the vast majority of officials had expressed their willingness to pay taxes, and at least half of them did not even want the tax-free quota of hundreds or thousands of acres.

After listening to Yang Tinglin's report on the situation of asking for food from various places, Zhu Linmei couldn't help nodding with satisfaction. In just twenty days, the tax resistance of "united will" turned into scrambling to pay taxes.

He handed another list to Yang Tinglin, "These are the people who took the lead in resisting the tax this time. As long as the Northern Expedition is completed, they will be demoted one by one and wait for participation."

Yang Tinglin glanced at the list, and was immediately shocked, there were more than 140 people!
He seemed to have seen the bloody storm in the court hall soon, and hurriedly responded respectfully: "Minister, take the decree." But he secretly rejoiced in his heart that he finally chose to side with the emperor this time, otherwise he might have appeared on the paper. own name.

While there was a lot of noise about paying taxes for the gentry in Nanjing, various preparations for the Northern Expedition were being carried out intensely.

On the river north of Dantu, a pontoon bridge spans the two banks, and its width and stability are far inferior to the one built by Jianlu before.

The Ming Army Engineer Battalion has undergone long-term professional training.If the Yangtze River has been in the current dry state, this pontoon bridge can even be used for a year or two.

The dense crowd on the pontoon bridge was like ants, carrying or carrying bags and boxes of grain, grass and luggage to the vicinity of Jiujiangkou on the north bank.

Thanks to the excellent work of the Propaganda Department, the task of enlisting 25 civilian husbands has already been completed.

In fact, when the people of Southern Zhili heard that the imperial court was going to recruit people to carry food and grass for the Dragon Guards and Polu Camp, there was no need for official organization at all. Even if a large number of young and middle-aged people gathered towards Zhenjiang with dry food.

You must know that the Dragon Guards and Poluying have already become great heroes in the hearts of the people. Even if they can't join them and kill the Tartars, it is a great honor to be able to help them fight the captives.

(End of this chapter)