Go back to the Ming Dynasty to be a thousand households

Chapter 82 The Shock of Emperor Wanli
September 1590, 9, Beijing.

In the early morning, after the sound of the five watch drums from various towers, the quiet city of Beijing suddenly became lively, and the whole city seemed to come alive. The citizens in the city took to the streets one after another, and started their leisurely day. People of all sizes The teahouse was once again full of people.Although these years are not good and there are many refugees outside the city of Beijing, it does not affect the leisurely rhythm of the people in the imperial city that has not changed for a hundred years.

But at this time in the Wenyuan Pavilion in the imperial city, there is no such a leisurely atmosphere.Several cabinet ministers sat in the hall, looking at the memorials from various places, but they were relatively silent.This Wenyuan Pavilion is located inside the Meridian Gate. The main hall enshrines the statue of Confucius, and there are official attics on both sides. After Emperor Yingzong, Wenyuan Pavilion became the de facto political center of Ming Dynasty as a special office for cabinet officials such as university scholars. .
"Disaster relief, disaster relief, asking for disaster relief again!"

Shen Shixing, the chief assistant of Wenyuan Pavilion, pushed the mountain-like memorials from various places on the case, and stood up in agitation.Shen Shixing is 55 years old this year, and looks like he is getting old before he gets old. As of this year, he has served as the chief assistant for seven years. Compared with the strong character of his former chief assistant Zhang Juzhengxuan, Shen Shixing has a more leisurely temperament and treats others with gentleness and humility. , not close to the cliff, not different, in front of civil servants and emperors, both courtiers and Emperor Wanli regard him as "one of our own".

But even if Shen Shixing wandered around, seeing bad news all over the place, memorials asking for money and food, he couldn't relax, he walked back and forth in the hall, just sighed.

It's no wonder that Shen Shixing was troubled. Since he joined the cabinet, there has been no good news in various places in Ming Dynasty. It was either drought or flood. The disasters in various places seemed to be unbroken.Taking this year as an example, the entire north was hit by a large-scale drought. After autumn, there was generally a lack of harvest, causing countless refugees.

What is particularly frightening is that in April this year, even Huguang, which is regarded as the country's granary, suffered a famine, and people died of starvation everywhere. This is a very bad omen.In June, another disaster occurred in the capital area.After that, the Mongolian Huoluochi tribe in Qinghai invaded Lintao again, and Li Lianfang, the deputy commander in chief of Taozhou, was wiped out. Then, Liu Chengsi, the commander in chief, was defeated again.

Zhu Yijun, Emperor Wanli, was very annoyed by all these natural and man-made disasters. He blamed all these on the admonition officials, saying that they did not predict the disasters from the successive solar eclipses and stars, and gave them a punishment of suspending their salaries for one year.Officials from all over the country were unconvinced and wrote letters one after another. Among them was Tang Xianzu. He wrote to the emperor, arguing that the responsibility lies with the auxiliary ministers Shen Shixing and Xu Guo.

The words in his memorial were fierce, and Emperor Wanli was furious when he saw it, and demoted him to the classic history of Xuwen County, Hainan, and he has not been used since then.However, it also caused Tang Xianzu's later "The Peony Pavilion" to be born, which established Tang Xianzu's milestone status in drama, and it can be regarded as a misfortune and a blessing, and a blessing and a misfortune.

Seeing Shen Shixing's desperation, the second assistant Xu Guofu said slowly: "Why do you need to worry about elder Ge, if you want money and food, just give them."

This Xu Guo is over sixty years old and has a gray beard, but he is in good spirits.He is a native of Shexian County, Anhui Province. His full official title is Shaobao and Prince Taibao.In the 12th year of Wanli, he made great contributions to the flattening of Yunnan, was promoted to Shaobao, was granted the title of Bachelor of Wuyingdian, and built the only eight-legged archway in Chinese history in his hometown.

Shen Shixing sighed: "Weizhen, how can the household department have money and food relief? If there is, this old man won't be so devastated."

Wang Lin, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, said: "What the old man said is true. The country's extravagance is increasing day by day, and the fees and charges are so high that it is already beyond the means. This year, Taicang's savings, except for the old treasury, are only more than three million yuan. Two, it’s not enough to make up for two years.” As he said, he kept shaking his head and sighing, it’s hard for him to be the Minister of Finance.

Xu Guo was startled and said: "Master Wang, has the household department's money and food been exhausted to such an extent?"
Wang Lin pointed his fingers and said, "Last year, the Taicang bank received only 370 yuan in silver, and the annual output of silver was 430 yuan. And the silver needs to be offset by Taicang, with a deficit of more than one million taels. Last year, the Ministry of Household Affairs checked the warehouses and found that there were only 700 million shi of grain in the Beijing warehouse, while the monthly grain for the officers and soldiers of the year was more than 300 million shi. Adding more than 30 stones is less than two years."

His expression looked worried: "This year, the lake is vast and hungry, and the grain transported to the capital will be reduced. The grain reserves are insufficient. If we don't deal with it early, once the grain is exhausted, how can the capital get it?"

Shen Shixing sighed: "The national strength is difficult, and there is no income. However, my generation reads the books of sages and sages, which is the time to share your worries. Relief from various places can only make local officials think of ways, but the refugees in the capital can't do it." Let me take it easy, I will ask the Holy One to release the second storehouse in Jingtong to help the refugees in the capital."

He turned around and said, "I'll wait for the draft."

※※※

"Hmph, it's not money, it's food, there is no moment for me to worry."

Inside the Dongnuan Pavilion, there was a "bang", the young emperor Zhu Yijun slapped the imperial case, and stood up angrily, so frightened that the eunuchs on duty did not dare to vent their anger.

Walking to the door of the pavilion, Emperor Wanli breathed out, his prematurely decrepit face was full of tiredness.

It's an eventful autumn. Droughts continue in the north. There are no crops in many places. Before the Jin Dynasty, the Lintao war broke out again.After all the war, the refugees gathered again.Emperor Wanli was overwhelmed and overwhelmed.What frightened Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun even more was that there was a famine even in Huguang, the granary of Daming.

Whenever there is a famine, officials from all over the country will only ask for money, or they will swear.Want money, want food, hmph, will this money and food fall from the world?After being on the throne for more than ten years, Emperor Wanli found that he has nothing to worry about every year. This emperor is tired of doing so.

Also, the matter of relief is easy to say, there is finally some food in the Jingtong No. [-] warehouse, and the cabinet asked him to open a warehouse to release grain to help the refugees in the capital, so he will release the grain himself. As for the grain in the Jingtong No. [-] warehouse , eat less than two years, that also can not be taken care of.

What made Emperor Wanli a headache was that the speech officials and civil servants from all over the world would start to make a fuss about it again.According to the Chinese tradition, if there are disasters such as floods and droughts in the world, it means that there are treacherous officials in the court, or the emperor is at fault, so the emperor must change into plain clothes, do not eat meat, do not approach women, and quietly Seriously reflect on one's own mistakes, and in serious cases, one must issue some edicts of guilt and the like.

Of course, when disasters occur in various places, officials everywhere think that there is nothing wrong with them, and they are all loyal ministers. If there is a problem, it must be the ministers in the court, or the current emperor is at fault.No, a new wave of letters has started again, attacking you, attacking him, some guys actually attack his little wife Zheng Guifei, this is something Emperor Wanli can't stand.

Of course Emperor Wanli Zhu Yijun would not take the blame for this. He also thought that he was absolutely right. The problematic ones were those counselors who were incapable of predicting disasters based on changes in eclipses and stars, so they suspended their salaries for one year. punishment.This time, it was like stabbing a hornet's nest. Officials from all over the country wrote letters bluntly speaking about the right and wrong of the emperor. Among them was Tang Xianzu, whose words were even more excessive. Emperor Wanli demoted him to the history of Xuwen County, Hainan up.

However, the people who wrote the letter still rushed forward, leaving Emperor Wanli helpless. Over the years, the civil servants of Ming Dynasty had formed a powerful force, so that Emperor Wanli could not have a personal will.Over the years, Emperor Wanli has become a little discouraged, and has become increasingly alienated from the civil society, and even the cabinet ministers have received fewer and fewer visits.

Emperor Wanli sighed for a while, and returned to the front of the case. At this time, an eunuch came in carefully with a stack of memorials, some of which were secret reports from Jinyiwei from various places, and Emperor Wanli would be more interested.

Compared with civil servants who only complain about money, or sell straight memorials, these secret reports of Jinyiwei will be more interesting. While monitoring various places, there will also be some descriptions of local customs, so that you can control the world without leaving the deep palace. thing.Especially that Wuzhai Fort, that little thousand householder Huang Laifu's actions made Emperor Wanli smile knowingly every time he read it.

Some time ago, it was reported in a secret report that Huang Laifu's several hundred thousand mu of land in Wuzhaibao was growing well, which was beyond the expectations of Emperor Wanli. In the current age of Ming Dynasty, the current situation is considered unusual.

At this time, among the stack of Jinyiwei's secret reports, there was a secret report about Wuzhai Fort. When Emperor Wanli picked it up, he didn't know why, but he had some expectations in his heart.

Opening the secret report, Emperor Wanli read it again. He couldn't believe his eyes, rubbed his eyes, and read it again carefully. Finally, he laughed out loud and stood up abruptly: "Okay, okay, What a Huang Laifu, a small Qianhu, has such ability."

Hearing what Emperor Wanli said, immediately, the ears of several eunuchs on duty pricked up.

Emperor Wanli walked back and forth in the pavilion, his previous depression was swept away, and he just said excitedly: "Okay, what a Huang Laifu."

This secret report about Huang Laifu, a thousand households in Wuzhai Fort, gave Emperor Wanli great confidence. It really wasn't that he was immoral, but that the officials from all over the place were too incompetent.Under the same natural disaster situation, the thousand households of Wuzhai Fort can harvest hundreds of thousands of grains in a bitterly cold place, which can not only meet the needs of the soldiers in the whole castle, but also have the ability to send hundreds of thousands of grains out. But there is no harvest in the land, what does this indicate?Those officials are incompetent and dereliction of duty.

Like a shot in the arm, the tiredness on Emperor Wanli's face was swept away, and he became radiant. He talked to himself for a while, then stopped abruptly, and said: "Summon, the governor of Jinyiwei Liu Shouyou See you."

He paused, then sneered again: "Also, call Shen Shixing and the others!"

(End of this chapter)