Go back to the Ming Dynasty to be a thousand households

Chapter 100 Becoming famous in one fell swoop ([-])

What Yang Dawei said just now, Shi Xing, Minister of the Ministry of War, has been listening carefully. Since he learned about the Wuzhai Fort incident a while ago, he has been paying close attention to this incident. If the incident about Huang Laifu is true, then as a leader, he Minister of the Ministry of War, of course, also has credit.

Shi Xing, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, is 56 years old this year. His name is Gongchen and his name is Dongquan. Jiajing in Ming Dynasty has not been a Jinshi. Minister of the Ministry plus Prince Shaobao, Minister of the Ministry of Households, Minister of the Ministry of War plus Prince Taibao, etc.

In the cabinet, Shi Xing has always had conflicts with Wang Lin, the Minister of the Household Department. The main reason is that after Wang Lin became the Minister of the Household Department, he greatly reduced the military expenditure on the grounds that the state expenditure was large and the treasury was empty. The money and food were in the hands of Wang Lin, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and he had no choice.

At this time, after listening to the words of Wang Lin, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, he said: "My lord, Wuzhaibao has been able to farm the fields this time. During the disaster year, it has achieved a bumper harvest that the inland counties did not have. Not only can it be self-sufficient, If the Ministry of Households needs to pull out food, and there is still room to supply food outside, the court should have given great recognition and rewards to motivate the state and county guards all over the world. Why did they ask for food from this place instead? Doesn’t this make the soldiers feel cold? If things go on like this, who would want to farm again? Besides, didn’t Emperor Sejongsu exempt the grain from the town guards on all sides and return it to the warehouse? How could he go back on his promise?”

When Shi Xing, Minister of the Ministry of War said this, he naturally had his own plans. According to the Ming system, the guard farms were under the management of the Ministry of War, and part of the harvested grain was handed over to the Ministry of Households, but this was all in the past.For him, if the military towns and guards in various places can be like Wuzhai Fort, even if the court does not collect food from the guards and towns, because all regions can be self-sufficient, then the country's largest food burden will disappear or Greatly relieved.

In this way, if it can be realized, not only can I not look at Wang Lin's face again because of the annual military expenditure problem, but also he has solved the biggest financial problem after the middle of Ming Dynasty. excited.He is worried that if the Ministry of Households continues to collect grain from Wuzhai Fort, will it seriously hit the enthusiasm of Wuzhai Fort and the town guards of the various armies, which is what Master Shi Xing, Minister of the Ministry of War, does not want to see.

Wang Lin, Minister of the Household Department, frowned, and said loudly, "Lord Shi, Wuzhai Fort's contribution is not bad. I also think that Huang Qianhu's contribution to Wuzhai Fort should be commended vigorously. We can follow the example of Taizu Gao when Emperor Gaozu rewarded Kang Maocai's subordinates." Same, take Wuzhai Fort as an example for the world.”

"But you also know that the household department is currently in financial difficulties, and the guards and military towns in various places are short of harvest, but the household department has no food to allocate. Now Wuzhaibao has a bumper harvest, and there are 40 shi of grain in the store. I don't want the Wuzhai Thousands of households in the fort handed over hundreds of thousands of stones and grains, so what's wrong with allocating tens of thousands of stones to help the surrounding military forts? As for Emperor Su, the court exempted the grain from the guards of the border towns from returning to the warehouse. At that time, the military towns of the guards had no food to collect, and the court was sympathetic to the soldiers, so they exempted the grain from the guards of the towns and returned it to the warehouse. Is it because of this that the guards stopped paying grain even though they had a bumper harvest? "

Shi Xing, Minister of the Ministry of War, said: "My lord Wang's words are wrong. Everyone knows that the household department is in trouble. But the crux of the problem is not to expropriate the grain at Wuzhai Fort, but to think about how to make the farmland of each guard station self-sufficient. Self-sufficiency, as long as all regions can be self-sufficient and the soldiers and food are sufficient, then the country’s largest money and food expenditure will not exist. If the country’s largest money and food expenditure is cancelled, the pressure on the court will be reduced. That is the real solution to the difficulties of the household department. According to Lord Wang's current practice, those who are able to do things will have to pay for money and food, while those who are lazy will be at ease. Doesn't this make meritorious soldiers feel bad?"

Wang Lin said: "Master Shi, the thousand households in Wuzhai Fort are doing well, and the old man also proposed to commend them. But not everywhere can get a bumper harvest in a disaster year like Wuzhai Fort. Master Shi must also know that this year Harvests are lacking everywhere, even Huguang, the granary of Guochao, is not easy to talk about self-sufficiency? But the Ministry of Households has money and food difficulties, but it is right in front of us.”

Shi Xing still wanted to speak, and the chief assistant of the cabinet, Shen Shixing, smiled and said, "You two don't need to argue. According to the old man, the thousands of households in Wuzhaibao are able to do things well, and they can be commended for storing food for the country. As for the food, Just pay some, after all, the difficulty of the court lies here, and the guards and military towns all over the country are watching, counting on the Ministry of Households to distribute food, Master Wang is also difficult to do."

Shi Xing, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, was speechless for a moment. Now that the capital and assistant had spoken, he stopped talking. After a while, he said: "Then according to what Lord Wang said, how much food does Wuzhai Fort need to pay?"

Wang Lin, Shangshu of the Ministry of Household Affairs, said in a deep voice: "Then Wuzhaibao has 43 shi of grain this year. There is only a thousand households and more than 20 soldiers in other districts. What do you do with so much food? Keep 23 shi for self-sufficiency, so let's go. Pay [-] stone grain to the account department."

"what?"

Shi Xing, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, almost jumped up. Wang Lin wanted Wuzhaibao to pay food like a high-ranking mansion in the interior. How could this not shock him?

He excitedly said: "Lord Wang, you are killing chickens to get eggs! Even at the beginning of the Kingdom, the guards didn't have such a grain payment method, let alone the current guards in the interior, they only pay one bucket of grain per mu of military land. According to the old man As the saying goes, twenty thousand shi is enough for Wuzhai Fort!"

How could Wang Lin agree, and the two quarreled again.

Emperor Wanli said: "Okay, the matter of Wuzhaibao's payment of grain will be discussed after the local household department's memorial. You all step back."

The chief assistant of the cabinet, Shen Shixing, and Wang Lin, the Minister of the Ministry of household affairs, had no choice but to step down.Before leaving, they heard Emperor Wanli say: "Yang Dawei, stay here and tell me about the Wuzhai Fort."

※※※

After several cabinet ministers came out of Dongnuan Pavilion, the incident about Wuzhai Fort became even more sensational. The officials in the capital were all talking about it, and everyone was asking who this Huang Laifu was.This kind of discussion also quickly spread to various states and counties through the well-developed residence newspaper system in Ming Dynasty. For a while, the county magistrates, prefectures, prefects, chief envoys, and border towns all paid attention to this Wuzhai Fort. Huang Laifu, a thousand households in Zhaibao, has also become the center of everyone's topic.

No matter where the news spread, everyone's first reaction was unbelievable. Through their own connections, they either inquired in the direction of Wuzhai Fort, or sent people to Wuzhai Fort to check. A new wave of investigations came, this time it was not the Minbao near Wuzhaibao, or the nearby guards, but as the news spread, it spread all over the Ming Dynasty.

But in the face of the example of Wuzhaibao, the remarks that natural disasters mean production reduction and the emperor's immorality disappeared without a trace. In front of the role models, all their words were untenable, which suddenly made Emperor Wanli a lot easier, and also made Emperor Wanli pay more attention to Huang Laifu, a thousand households in Wuzhaibao.

As for the amount of food that Wuzhaibao should pay, it also caused controversy. The two sides of the debate were divided into two factions, one was around Wang Lin, Minister of the Ministry of Households, and the other was around Shi Xing, Minister of War.Most of the officials in the capital supported Wang Lin, Shangshu of the Ministry of Households, while some military officers in the border towns of the Weisuo supported Shi Xing, Shangshu of the Ministry of War.The two factions have their own reasons, and neither can convince the other.The Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun's attitude was ambiguous, neither of the two factions expressed support.

On September [-], another major event happened in the capital, which attracted some people's attention. Shenzong sent his ministers to question the cabinet: "Some people have repeatedly neglected to ask for mining, why is there no response from the Ministry of Household Affairs?"

The cabinet minister Shen Shixing replied: "The wealth generated by the heaven and the earth is originally used for the use of the country. Besides, there is no surplus wealth in the treasury and no profit left by the mountains and rivers. It is an expedient measure. Mining is also a financial management strategy. It should be used to prevent chaos. Nowadays, between Shanxi and Henan, miners are roaring and threatening. They want to make trouble, and the courtiers are discussing how to calm it down. If the government opens mines, the fear of treacherous people will take advantage of the opportunity to compete for profits, and the hidden dangers will become more unpredictable. And all the affairs of the court have a general relationship , How can we do it at all costs. If the mine is only for profit, the cost of labor must be calculated in advance, the cost of recruiting workers, the cost of defense troops, and the profit from mining. Mining can only be considered after that. The imperial court should not discuss it just because of a temporary private request from the people. The reason why the Ministry of Accounting has not responded to His Majesty for a long time is because of precautions, because of cherishing money, and because of fear of officials. Harassing the local military and civilians, and the fourth is unwillingness to reveal the current state of the country's embarrassment, making foreigners even more despise China."

Hearing what Shen Shixing said, Emperor Wanli had no choice but to give up.But in fact, from the middle of the Ming Dynasty to the Wanli period, without official consent, there were countless private businessmen and officials who opened mines privately, such as iron ore in various places. The increasing demand for ironware has stimulated many people to go to the mountains to mine. Every autumn harvest, various merchants, wealthy families, or officials’ children gather murderers, hundreds of thousands of them, and fire furnaces on each mountain, at least five or six. There are as many as ten or twenty seats, and each furnace gathers two to 300 people.
There are also gold and silver mines, copper mines, and lead mines in various places. They are also colluded with powerful families from all over the country, and there are countless thieves. All because the price of copper is too high, the gain outweighs the cost.By the time of Wanli, it was even more common that the world's copper was used as offerings and utensils among the people. I don't know how many billions it was produced in various famous mountains.Mining income from all over the world is exclusively for profiteers.

In fact, by this time, officials from all over the country had colluded with businessmen in the matter of minerals, forming a huge interest group.Even for minerals that have been approved by the government, tax evasion and tax evasion are blatant and rampant. However, the central government can obtain very little benefit from mining, and a large amount of money flows into the pockets of those private mine owners. go.

Even Song Jiu, the domestic slave of Shen Shihang, the chief assistant of the cabinet, had many unclear relationships with private mine owners in various places. Later, Shen Shihang's downfall also had some relationship with Song Jiu, the domestic slave.

Throughout mid-September, officials in the capital were arguing about the Wuzhai Fort and the mining.On September 9, when the urgent memorial of Zhang Wenbao, the grain manager of Shanxi Township, arrived in the capital, the discussion about Wuzhai Fort became even more heated.

At this time, the cabinet had nothing to say about the matter of Wuzhai Fort, and the commendation and commendation of Huang Laifu was a firm matter.Regarding the issue of how much grain to pay for Wuzhaibao, Shi Xing, Minister of the Ministry of War, and Wang Lin, Minister of the Ministry of Households, have not yet come to a conclusion.

On September 9, led by Liu Fuyu, the capital of Shanxi, Liu Jingchun, the commander of Zhenxiwei, and Yang Defu, the magistrate of Kelanzhou, signed a memorial to the capital, asking for the commendation of Huang Laifu, a thousand households of Shanxi Zhenxiwei.

The performance was led by Shanxi Dusi Liu Fuyu. This was the result of lobbying by Huang Laifu's godfather, Liu Jingchun, the commander of Zhenxiwei, and it was also something Liu Fuyu was happy to do. He was raised by his second mother because of the failure of farming and military households fled. Now that Huang Laifu has finally come out of the guard system, why don't you brag about it?
On September 9th, Emperor Wanli finally made a statement that he wanted Wuzhaibao to pay 20 shi for grain this year, or 7000 taels of silver, and issued a letter to Shangyu, saying: "Since I am here, I have been cautious at night and have no time to eat. If the husband wants the surname of Di Kangzhao, he must first employ talents. Today there are thousands of households in Wuzhai Fort, Huang Laifu, who store food for the country and make the soldiers self-sufficient in food, so they are worthy of great use. Specially promote the thousand households of Wuzhai Fort to be the guardian of Wuzhai Fort Huang Laifu, the former thousand household of Wuzhai Fort, was given the title of guard, and his wife, Huang Gu, was granted a royal order, a hundred taels of silver, and twenty pieces of silk each. Here it is!"

This Shangyu was sent out through Di Baoming, and the world was shocked for a while!
At the same time, an eunuch, accompanied by several Jin Yiwei, left Beijing for Wuzhai Fort.

(End of this chapter)