Dashun Yongchang

At the same time, in the Mingzhen Temple in the north of Yangzhou City, Huang Jiarui, Zheng Yuanxun, Governor of Lianghuai Salt Industry, and other representatives of Yangzhou officials and gentry were also visiting Prince Zhu Cihong.The purpose of their coming to see the prince is also to hope that the prince can intercede with Li Zicheng and appease the riots of the citizens of Yangzhou.

It's just that they had just clarified their reason for coming, and Zhu Cihong didn't make a sound. Some of the officials of the Wenhua Palace who accompanied him here to meet the representatives of Yangzhou sniffed and said, "You guys want to put His Highness on the stove. I heard that when Fu Fan went south, Yangzhou sent representatives to present beauties and property to congratulate Fu Fan on his upcoming enthronement as emperor. At that time, Nanjing officials seemed to have not agreed to Fu Fan crossing the river.

Moreover, the life and death of Emperor Lie and His Royal Highness were uncertain at that time, do you think you are worthy of Emperor Lie and His Highness?Now that there is a problem, you want His Highness to stand out for you, and you don't understand His Highness's difficulties at all. You are too big for your face, right? "

Everyone looked intently and realized that it was Chen Bingyi who was speaking. Huang Jiarui withdrew his gaze and remained silent. As the highest-ranking official in Yangzhou City, he had to come this trip, but he really didn't want to get involved too deeply, because he was in charge of Lianghuai Salt. Not long after becoming a superintendent, his ties with the local gentry and rich merchants were not deep at all, and his current position is quite embarrassing. He still holds the post of Lianghuai Salt Superintendent in name, but the power in his hand was almost taken away by the Marshal's Mansion. Jumping too high is obviously not a good thing.

Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't come, if you don't even have the ability to appease the gentry, the Marshal's Mansion might completely dismiss him as the Lianghuai Salt Supervisor of the Ming Dynasty.So he chose to meet the prince, which can be regarded as fulfilling the requirements of Yangzhou gentry.But in the face of Chen Bingyi's doubts, Huang Jiarui chose to remain silent, because the decision of the gentry in the city to give gifts to Fu Fan had nothing to do with him, and he naturally did not take the blame for it.

After watching Huang Jiarui for several times, Zheng Yuanxun had no choice but to stand up and salute the prince, and then explained: "On that day, Ma Shiying and the four towns went west to Nanjing via Yangzhou. Fufan's bribery, not wanting to disturb the people in the four towns, is not meant to congratulate Fufan. The people of Yangzhou really can't bear Chen Shi's words."

After hearing Zheng Yuanxun's words, Liu Yumo, who was sitting next to Chen Bingyi, couldn't help but sneered: "Since the people of Yangzhou are one, why should you come here and ask your Highness to persuade His Majesty? Can't you come forward to persuade the people to disperse? Your Majesty must come forward to do it." A villain?"

A representative of the gentry here couldn't help but argue: "It's not that I don't want to persuade those people, it's just that some villains who are dissatisfied with the gentry and wealthy businessmen have mixed into the people and incited the people to target their hatred. Let me wait, they don't want to ask for some justice, but they want to rob the rich and help the poor in the name of asking for justice, which has created the chaos in Yangzhou today.

We came to His Highness to come forward, hoping that His Highness can persuade His Majesty to give up his support for those mobs. As long as those mobs can be arrested, the rest of the people will regain their senses, and Yangzhou will restore peace.Isn't that a good thing? "

Chen Bingyi and Liu Yumo secretly replied: This is of course not a good thing.You people enjoy yourself in Yangzhou, and you didn’t show much filial piety when you saw the prince going south, but you think about letting the prince do things for you all day long. Are you treating us like beggars?To deal with you people, it is time for those citizens to rectify them.

When the two sides insisted on their opinions, although Zhu Cihong didn't say a word, he carefully observed everyone's expressions. Naturally, he was most concerned about Chen Mingxia who was sitting not far from him.

The actual person in charge of the Wenhua Palace, at this moment, was completely absent-minded about the requests of the representatives of Yangzhou officials and gentry. This reminded Zhu Cihong of Li Zicheng's promise to the officials of the Wenhua Palace, and the Yangzhou government that he had presided over. New town construction plan.

He vaguely realized that the officials of the Wenhua Palace headed by Chen Mingxia would probably not provide any help to these Yangzhou officials and gentry, because they had gained a lot of benefits in the construction of the new city, and the construction of the new city would inevitably take these Yangzhou officials and gentry. The power of Yangzhou officials and gentry should be suppressed, otherwise how could these officials who have left their hometowns fight against the local snakes in Yangzhou?

When Chen Mingxia was arguing with representatives of Yangzhou officials and gentry, the representatives of Yangzhou officials and gentry at Daming Temple finally succumbed to Li Zicheng. Several representatives including Ma Mingyu expressed to Li Zicheng that Yangzhou City was willing to take over this project. However, they also proposed to Li Zicheng again: "...Reform is certainly a good thing, but if the order in the city is unstable, I am afraid that His Majesty's reform plan will be difficult to carry out."

Only then did Li Zicheng lazily hold the teacup and said: "If you say so, then I would like to come forward to persuade the people of Yangzhou and direct their energy to reform and construction.

Didn't you say that too many people were arrested before interrogation, and that there were problems with the interrogation of citizens?Then I would like to make a suggestion, use the people's court as the primary court, and then separate the judicial responsibilities of the county magistrate, prefect, and governor, and set up a separate procuratorate and intermediate court to review the cases heard by the primary court, or to investigate those cases. important criminal cases.Dali Temple is a high court, which has the power to review cases tried by any court and correct wrong cases.

Then the currently arrested persons are divided into three classes according to the severity of the cases. The most serious cases are jointly tried by the Marshal's Mansion, Yangzhou Mansion and Yangzhou citizen representatives. In lesser cases, as long as the criminal pleads guilty, he can be directly punished with a fine or hard labor.

The rubbish on the rivers and streets in Yangzhou City was just cleaned up by these hard laborers. If these tasks were not enough for them, the cleaning of the canals and the repair of roads outside the city required a lot of labor, and it happened to be done at one time.In my opinion, there will be no need for corporal punishment in the yamen in the future, and let those petty criminals go to reform through labor..."

Hearing that Li Zicheng was willing to come forward to stop the violence of the citizens of Yangzhou, the officials and gentry representatives were relieved. If Li Zicheng continued to condone these citizens' riots, it would be hard to say that the fight against evil would not hit them.It's not that they scare themselves, but that there are already a large number of marriages between gentry. If the citizens hold a gentry and then implicate them, they can completely wipe out all ten gentry in Yangzhou, and these gentry are almost supported by every family. With a few shady thugs, they do things that are not convenient for them to do.

What makes these gentlemen even more worried is that if the violence of the citizens continues to develop, it may also lead to riots by the servants at home. In the past few years, the slavery in the south has not stopped, and the most troublesome place is naturally the Huguang area. Large-scale slave uprisings broke out in Macheng and Macheng, and the master's family was almost slaughtered.

And Jiangnan is not a paradise. At the beginning of the year, with the news of Li Zicheng's enthronement and founding of the country in Xi'an, the servants in some places in the south of the Yangtze River thought that the sky was about to change, and their chance to stand up came. Some servants tried to force the master's family to hand over the bond. , and even armed conflict broke out.

For example, at the beginning of the year, the domestic slaves in the coastal area of ​​Jiading rebelled, and the main town hall, Chuantang, and three halls of the Wusong Thousand Households were all burned down. In the end, this slave rebellion was suppressed by Su Song's military army Cheng Xun.

Compared with the peasant army, these gentry in the south of the Yangtze River were actually more afraid of their own slaves launching riots.Because the peasant army is a foreigner after all, they don’t know the real situation of their own family at all, while the domestic slaves know the reality of their own family, so it is very difficult for them to escape, unless they leave their hometown and go to other places, but the gentry who left their hometown can still be called a gentry ?

As for the peasant army's views on the riots against domestic slaves, it is actually quite confusing.Some peasant armies regard domestic slaves as allies against the imperial court, and will take the initiative to support these domestic slaves and encourage them to rebel against the master.However, many generals of the peasant army regarded loyalty as the primary character of their servants, and believed that a servant who betrayed his master was an unrighteous person.

It is precisely because of the chaotic values ​​of the peasant army that the gentry would rather choose to surrender to Dashun than suppress the rebellion of the domestic slaves first.The reform of the subordinate staff system and the reform of the taxation system only hurt their future interests, but if the violence of the citizens triggers the slave change, it will kill them now.

But soon Ma Mingpao came to his senses, and he couldn't help asking Li Zicheng: "Then when can the search in the city be stopped?"

Li Zicheng looked at him and said calmly: "Of course, this kind of matter should be left to the people to decide. In the morning of the day after tomorrow, I will meet with the people of Yangzhou at Qionghua Temple to discuss these matters..."

Chapter 241 New Deal 56

When the representatives of the Yangzhou officials and gentry withdrew from the Pingshan Hall dejectedly, Gu Jiang couldn't help but said to Li Zicheng: "Your Majesty, although the reform of the subordinate staff system and the reform of the taxation system are important matters, we are just a few After only half a month of research and discussion, the framework of the civil service system has just been worked out, and the detailed rules have not yet been worked out. Would it be too hasty to force reform now?"

He Duiji, who was standing on the sidelines, also set his sights on Li Zicheng. After presiding over the social investigation of Yangzhou City, he was also quite disappointed with the old Ming system, because under this system, the common people hardly protected themselves. Officially, the officials and gentry have the final say, but secretly, the rich and the street gangsters have the final say.

In the north, there are few scholars who still have a certain right to speak, but in the south, scholars are not considered scholars if they do not pass the exam. Not much respect.Such a society is of course unacceptable to He Duiji, because such a society only operates around power and money, and it is really difficult to integrate with the education he received since childhood.

Therefore, he is also a supporter in promoting reform.Of course, what Gu Jiang said is not unreasonable. It is still too early to promote the reform of the Marshal's Mansion. After all, the Marshal's Mansion has only been established recently, and it does not have much reputation in the south, and the preparations for this reform will not exceed at most One and a half months, of which one month is for the organization and selection of personnel, and the time for actually doing things is only half a month.

Thinking of this, He Duiji couldn't help being a little distracted. Whenever the monarchs of the past dynasties wanted to carry out reforms, most of them would choose famous ministers to take charge of the reforms, so as to reduce the resistance to reforms. It's a grassroots team, Gu Jiang is a student of the Imperial College, and he and others are just students. Can this reform really be implemented?

When He Duiji had self-doubt, Li Zicheng had already said to Gu Jiang: "As far as the current stage is concerned, no matter how you discuss the civil service system, it is impossible to succeed, because your thoughts and values ​​​​are not unified, so you can build a It’s enough to come out with the framework, and the next step is to improve it in practice, so that it can continue to operate and it will be successful.”

It is obviously difficult for Gu Jiang to accept Li Zicheng's belittlement. Although he is only a student of the Imperial College, it does not mean that he is not talented enough to be successful, but that he is too distracted by miscellaneous studies.

The Gu family in Kunshan was a powerful family in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. It rose again in the Ming Dynasty. Since the Hongzhi Dynasty Gu Dingchen was the number one scholar, he has become a big family in Kunshan with continuous imperial examinations.Therefore, in Gu Jiang's generation, this family is no longer proud of being a Jinshi in the examination, but ashamed of not knowing it.This is also the reason why Gu Jiang was able to specialize in knowledge that had nothing to do with the imperial examination, but did not suffer too much pressure from the family.

Of course, most of the miscellaneous studies studied by others in the Gu family are mainly Tang and Song literature or epigraphy. Gu Jiang, who reads everything about astronomy and geography, is also a minority who tries to verify the records on the spot, so he is also regarded as a member of the family. strange.

On this trip to the north, Gu Jiang was impressed by Li Zicheng's speech at the Huai'an Council, so she entered the Marshal's Mansion to work, and was found by Li Zicheng to be the head of the System Research Office for the study of reform. Although Gu Jiang didn't say anything What, but I also feel that it is the first joy in my life, because it is the first time for him to take on such a big responsibility.

Nanjing gave him an official position because of his letter, but they didn't really want to listen to his advice, but just gave him a background for the sake of the Gu family behind him.This is also the reason why Gu Jiang volunteered to go across the river to investigate Li Zicheng's movements, because he didn't want to be said to have gained fame from a famous family, and he still wanted to prove his talent.

It's just that he didn't expect that he would be overwhelmed by Li Zicheng's speech, and what was even more unexpected was that Li Zicheng actually used his energy and didn't trace his background, just talked a few times and let him take the position. Big task.This kind of affirmation of her ability made Gu Jiang naturally want to make a career.

Because of this, he can't accept Li Zicheng's criticism. Although he also feels that the current reform plan has many flaws, he has worked hard to discuss it with those colleagues. It can be said that he is his own child, and he can talk about the shortcomings. But he couldn't bear to listen to the belittling of outsiders.

Besides, does Li Zicheng read as many books as they do?Gu Jiang admits that Li Zicheng still has a good eye, and those who are selected into his department are all people who quote from others, and there is not a single person who is a scholar of imperial examinations.Everyone is quite familiar with the origins of the official system in the past dynasties, but Li Zicheng may not know this knowledge, although Li Zicheng gave the concept of system.

Therefore, Gu Jiang subconsciously raised her head and asked back: "What are thoughts and values? Isn't it enough to formulate the reform of the subordinate staff system from the standpoint of serving the country and the people? When we discuss this issue, there is not a single word that is not from the public heart I dare say that even if the ministers in the DPRK are allowed to discuss this reform plan, it is impossible to be more perfect than what we discussed.”

For Gu Jiang's remarks, Li Zicheng didn't think it was offensive, and he didn't quarrel seven or eight times that day when he went online in another world.Gu Jiang was not convinced by his own words, he thought it was normal, because they were ancient people, so naturally they could not see the development of political ideas hundreds of years later.

So Li Zicheng said unhurriedly: "I think that the design of the political system needs to be compatible with the political concept. Simply put, we formulate the system for the political concept, not for the country and the people. Because the country It is not a unity of interests with the people, so it is impossible for us to formulate any system from the standpoint of the country and the people.

At best, we can only make them accept the system we have formulated. Why the country and the people can accept the system we have formulated is because they have recognized our political ideas.If they deny our political ideas, no matter how perfect a system we have formulated, it will be boycotted by the people of this country.

So turning back, what is your political philosophy in formulating this reform plan?If you only formulated a reform plan, but did not achieve a political idea that needs to be defended by the system, how would the people know what the system you formulated is used for?If it were you, would you support a decree that fell from the sky? "

Gu Jiang really wanted to reply, why didn't the decree issued by the imperial court support it?But this is not reasoning but exaggeration, which is obviously not in line with his character.While he was thinking about Li Zicheng's statement, He Duiji next to him asked with great interest: "Then what kind of political philosophy does Your Majesty think we should set up a new system on?"

After thinking for a while, Li Zicheng said: "I think, at least we should explain clearly how wealth is made."

It's not that Gu Jiang can't accept Li Zicheng's style of talking about profits all the time. He himself likes to engage in some business operations, because he advocates that scholars should also support themselves, which is also the education of his adoptive mother.However, he still can't connect wealth with politics, but thinks that wealth is the cornerstone of cultivating morality and pursuing faith, and after having this cornerstone, he can pursue higher pursuits.

Therefore, he expressed his opposition: "It is clarified how wealth is produced, and what is the relationship with political ideas? The Master said: Don't worry about poverty but worry about inequality, don't worry about poverty but worry about anxiety. Politics should be self-cultivation, family governance Peace of the world, rather than the pursuit of interests. To formulate a system based on the concept of pursuing interests will eventually destroy people's hearts. It is beneficial to the world."

Regarding Gu Jiang's objection, Li Zicheng just waved his hand and said: "Morality cannot make people starve to death at home and not go out to rob. In the end, no one will implement the system established on morality, because if it can't be done, it can't be done." To. The blood of Confucius would have given Kublai Khan the title of Confucian master, let alone others."

Gu Jiang wanted to continue arguing on this issue, but He Duiji stopped him and asked Li Zicheng: "Your Majesty often says that only labor can create wealth, so is there anything else to explain? Isn't this Have you made it very clear?"

Li Zicheng shook his head and said: "No, I just came to a conclusion. To demonstrate that labor creates wealth, a demonstration process is needed. This requires a large amount of data from all walks of life to be gathered together, and then use mathematics to prove it. And also The process of proof must be written as a theory and made public, so that the people will agree with it. Now you are just accepting my statement because of my power, and you don’t think it is the truth.”

Gu Jiang pulled her mind back a little unwillingly, and after thinking along Li Zicheng's train of thought, she said: "Your Majesty may be right, but the truth does not need the approval of the people. As long as it exists, the people will accept it." It will be affected by it, so whether it is known to the people does not change the essence of truth. Then why do the people have to know the existence of the truth? The establishment of a system has nothing to do with the people, right? "

Li Zicheng nodded, then shook his head and said: "Yes, as long as we grasp the truth when formulating the system, we can complete it. But who will maintain the operation of the system? Is it me or you? Or those officials and gentry?"

When Gu Jiang was about to say that it was Li Zicheng, he suddenly realized that Li Zicheng could not live forever, and then he remembered what happened in Yangzhou City, and he couldn't continue talking.He Duiji came to his senses at this time. He nodded slightly and said, "Your Majesty means that if the people know that the system is formulated based on the truth, then when those officials and gentry change the system, it is tantamount to Violating the truth and the political ideas you advocate? Can they use this to supervise officials and defend the system we have established?"

Gu Jiang finally nodded in agreement this time, if it is from this perspective, then he can accept it.After all, he also hopes that his system can be recognized by the public and not changed beyond recognition by others, which is contrary to his original intention of participating in this matter.

But Li Zicheng hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said: "Actually, the public is unlikely to prevent officials from changing the system. What I mean is that the public should at least understand who the officials are modifying the system for. If their interests If it is occupied by bureaucrats, it should at least stand up and fight instead of watching indifferently."

Chapter 242 New Deal 57

Both Gu Jiang and He Duiji remained silent. They vaguely understood Li Zicheng's meaning, that is, the people are powerless to restrain the bureaucrats unless they resort to force.

At this time, Jiang Chen and Qiu Junsun came to see Li Zicheng, so Gu Jiang and He Duiji resigned and left Pingshan Hall.When they walked down the Pingshan Hall, they happened to meet Jiang Chen and Qiu Junsun in the courtyard who were coming with a plate of things, so they stood aside and let Jiang Chen and Qiu Junsun pass first.

When Qiu Junsun passed by the two of them, he gave Gu Jiang a slight nod in greeting. He still had a good impression of this member of the Gu clan in Kunshan.Watching the two walk up the steps of Pingshan Hall, Gu Jiang finally couldn't help but sighed and said to herself: "I thought that my knowledge could be regarded as a small achievement, and self-cultivation and governing the country are nothing but trivial matters, but today It's just now that I know what it means to learn endlessly. I don't know how His Majesty's knowledge is acquired, even I, Mrs. Gu, can't teach such knowledge."

Although there is always a feeling of dissatisfaction with the aristocratic family now, He Duiji has no objection to Gu Jiang, because the other party is not the kind of aristocratic son.After hearing Gu Jiang's emotion, he also said in passing: "It was said in the past that there are people who are born with knowledge. I didn't believe it at first, but after getting along with His Majesty for a long time, I think such people do exist. ah…"

Gu Jiang didn't answer any more. He was also reflecting on Li Zicheng's words today. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that what he had learned in the past seemed to be just excerpts from chapters, not real knowledge.Even his insistence on the way of the master has been shaken.

He has always believed that the Tao of the Master is correct, and the reason why the morals of the world have become so bad is because Confucian scholars are too empty-handed and do not advocate practice. This is also the reason why he does not want to close himself in the study of imperial examinations.He used to think that it would be difficult for Confucian scholars who sat in the study and only read the books of sages to realize the ideal of the Master, but now he feels that there seems to be a problem with the way of the Master, which is why the Confucian scholars are talking about righteousness, because the Master There is no way to practice the way.

Thinking about him made him feel tired. He originally thought that crossing the river would prove his ability, but now he realized that he has become a new student. There are too many new knowledge in the Marshal's Mansion that are worth learning.Even these new knowledges are still in an incomplete state, and people still need to study and develop them. This is more attractive to young people like them who are full of desire for knowledge than the sage's theory that has been completely solidified and cannot be changed.

In the past in Kunshan, the key to discussing learning was whether you could find any new records from the pile of old papers, and then prove the origin of the historical events recorded in the books.But in the Marshal's Mansion, the key to discussing learning lies in your new ideas, that is, how to prove a brand new theory in the world established by axioms.

No matter how perfect the past events are proved, it is the thought of the ancients and not yours, but to expound a brand-new thesis in the world of axioms, it is indeed your thought, not the thought of others, even the ancients. Ideas, too, are but milestones in this world, and do not stand in the way of the greatness of new ideas.

A ray of light suddenly flashed in Gu Jiang's mind, and he couldn't help saying: "Is this to cast a new saint?"

He Duiji on the side asked in surprise, "What did Brother Gu say?"

Gu Jiang had already recovered, and said with a calm face: "Oh, I mean, I'm going to get busy again. Let's go, I have to go back and talk to them. There are a few places in this plan. It needs to be revised…”

Walking out of the courtyard of Pingshan Hall with Gu Jiang, He Duiji suddenly remembered something, said goodbye to Gu Jiang, and said that he still needed to go to the Statistics Department, and the two broke up outside the courtyard, each heading in the same direction. .

After passing through several courtyards, He Duiji came to a courtyard in the northeast corner of Daming Temple. This place is quite far from the Daxiong Hall. It used to be a place for pilgrims to stay, so the environment is quite quiet.There is a creeper lying on the wall outside the courtyard, but it is no longer a spring and summer green scene, and the withered and yellow leaves hanging on the vines are rather lifeless.

Just listening to the woman's reprimand from the yard completely disrupted the atmosphere here, as if returning to the world of mortals from outside the world.He Duiji listened with his ears sideways. The angry woman was obviously scolding the two maids, so he could only shake his head and walked into the yard.

Seeing He Duiji enter the door, someone came up to greet him and sent someone inside to inform him, and then a maid came out to take him into the inner courtyard.The inner courtyard is a small courtyard. In addition to the three main rooms, there are three wing rooms on the left and right, and a small atrium in the middle. He Duiji walked to the steps of the main room and stood still. After a while, he saw a A delicate woman in light yellow gown came to the corridor accompanied by two maids.

Chen Yuanyuan sat down on a grand teacher's chair under the corridor, and said to He Duiji, "Officer He, please sit down and talk."

A female envoy, He Duiji, had already brought a chair, but He Duiji did not sit down after thanking him, but said to Chen Yuanyuan, "Should I report to the chief about the women and children who have been rescued in the past few days? "

Chen Yuanyuan nodded to indicate that He Duiji could report, but she was a little distracted by the sound of the other party's report.Although she supported Li Zicheng's practice of liberating the abducted girls, she was actually a little afraid as this matter gradually expanded to a thorough investigation of Yangzhou City.

What is she afraid of?What I am afraid of is that people outside will link Yangzhou with her origin. Who made her famous in Suzhou, active in Nanjing, and famous in Jiangnan in the past?If she was just a concubine, at most she would be faced with gossip in the back house, but now she is gradually exposed to the eyes of outsiders because of the Statistics Department.

As Li Zicheng had said to her before, as the power of the Statistics Department continued to emerge, she would naturally be attacked by those honest men.Chen Yuanyuan has been in contact with those famous scholars in the south of the Yangtze River for so long, so she naturally knows that Li Zicheng's words are not dangerous. Those scholars have worked hard to study for more than ten years in order to be named on the gold list, but they may not be able to pass the Jinshi exam, and she slept with Li Zicheng a few times Is there any reason for having such a great power?

Chen Yuanyuan rested her chin on one hand, and when she had nothing to think about, "Director, Director..." A soft call finally awakened Chen Yuanyuan, and she quickly sat up straight and faced He Duiji who was down the steps with a serious expression. Said: "Why don't you talk about it?"

He Duiji was also speechless for a while, but now he can only hug the director's thigh tightly, because only the director can determine the future of the Statistics Department, so he had to repeat to Chen Yuanyuan who had just been distracted: "The rank is the same. Although hundreds of girls, one or two hundred boys, and nearly a thousand women were rescued in Yangzhou in a few days, it was found that only two or three out of ten of these women and children were able to return home, and most of them were already homeless. , I just can’t remember where my hometown is.

I think it is inappropriate to hand over these women and children to local officials, because after those local officials leave at the end of their term, the follow-up officials may not be able to take care of them for a long time.Therefore, I thought it would be better to let the statistics department take them all in. "

Chen Yuanyuan naturally sympathized with these abducted women and children. She nodded and said, "The Statistics Department can take them in, but they must be given a way to make a living. Go and count what those women will do. What to do, I will talk about it after I have seen it. As for those girls and boys, I heard His Majesty means to build an orphanage to raise them all, and I don’t think the problem will be too big..."

Although Chen Yuanyuan's answer solved the way out for these rescued women and children, it was not the answer He Duiji wanted. He immediately said: "I think that your Majesty's benevolence is there, but this is not in the interests of the director. .”

Chen Yuanyuan was silent for a few seconds, looked at He Duiji with a cold gaze and said, "Your Majesty's interests are mine. What do you want to say, Secretary He?"

He Duiji lowered his head to show respect, but said without flinching: "The director is right, so protecting the interests of the director is tantamount to protecting the interests of His Majesty.

Although the Statistics Department was established less than a year ago, under the leadership of the Director, the Department has become an indispensable assistant to His Majesty.However, with the expansion of the Statistics Department, the descendants of those aristocratic families began to occupy a lot of weight in the Statistics Department.Right now, children from aristocratic families accounted for more than half of the foreign office, and among the branches established in various places, children from wealthy families also accounted for three to four out of ten.These people already have quite a lot of influence in Shilin and the local area..."

Chen Yuanyuan interrupted him and said, "I know that the Statistics Department recruited them precisely because of their identities, right? I know you are dissatisfied with the big family, but now is not the time for infighting."

Regarding Chen Yuanyuan's warning, He Duiji didn't take it seriously, but continued to argue: "The job is not to fight internally, but to prevent problems before they happen. The director needs to know that these people keep their own doors, and they will not take the director's attention. The boss puts it in the eyes, let them form a party to develop, and I worry that sooner or later they will propose a separation of internal and external offices."

Chen Yuanyuan said disapprovingly: "The style of these famous children has always been like this. They look down on not only me, but even His Majesty..."

Chen Yuanyuan stopped suddenly, and He Duiji answered immediately: "This is exactly what I am worried about. Their disrespect to the chief will eventually develop into disrespect to His Majesty."

After a long silence, Chen Yuanyuan asked, "Then what do you want to do?"

He Duiji said: "These rescued girls and boys can be used as the new blood of our statistics department, educate them with your majesty's learning, and the director will nurture them. You are loyal. With them as checks, it may be possible to prevent the power of the Statistics Department from being controlled by the big family."

Chen Yuanyuan looked up at the sky outside the eaves, thought for a long time in silence, and then got up and said: "Just do it according to your idea. I will discuss this matter with His Majesty..."

Chapter 243 New Deal 58

In Pingshan Hall, on the table in front of Li Zicheng, there are more than ten kinds of silver coins in the red lacquered wooden tray, the materials range from gold, silver to brass, and there are a few yellowish banknotes.

Li Zicheng picked up the coins and looked at them carefully. The patterns on them were quite clear. Jiang Chen stood aside and introduced to him: "...This Yongchang gold coin contains one-tenth of pure gold. According to the gold-silver ratio of 1 :15 price comparison, the price is 1.5 taels, converted into silver dollars is 2.25 yuan, plus other materials and casting costs, the price of each gold coin is 2.305 yuan...

There are three denominations of silver coins: 1 yuan, 5 cents, and 2 cents. Each kupingliang can cast about 1.45 silver dollars, and the casting fee is 0.05 cents.According to His Majesty's opinion, the mint can reach an agreement with the bank to exchange silver dollars for silver taels. If the bank's income is not worth enough silver, after converting it into Kuping silver, every tael can be exchanged for 1.40 silver dollars from the mint...

至于铜元分为四种：10分、5分、2分和1分。按照目前扬州的铜钱和银两比价，大约1分可换得十余铜钱，不过1分铜元所需铜料不会超过3钱…细算一下，把铜钱改铸成铜元，约可获钱息40%左右…”

Li Zicheng nodded slightly, but quickly said: "When one tael of silver is exchanged for more than 1000 Wen copper coins, we can continue to purchase, but when one tael of silver is exchanged for less than 1 Wen copper coins, we can slow down the purchase of copper coins on the market.

After all, copper coins are the daily necessities of the common people. If the copper coins are too cheap, the lives of the common people will be miserable, and if the copper coins are too expensive, the market circulation will be hindered.Therefore, our goal is to stabilize the exchange value of silver taels and copper coins at a price of 1:1000.

In addition, when destroying copper coins, bad coins under one penny and old copper coins before Jiajing should be destroyed, and the concept of standard text should be promoted as soon as possible.In the future, factory labor, commercial trade, and government tax collection should all be settled in units of standard currency, and then copper dollars, silver dollars, gold coins, and banknotes should be linked to standard currency, so that silver coins on the market will gradually withdraw from transactions. "

Jiang Chen was very supportive of Li Zicheng's opinion and said: "That's right, the fineness of silver coins on the market is different, and the exchange rate between silver coins and copper coins is often changed, which makes the lives of ordinary people quite inconvenient.

Their nominal work and food silver is silver, but in fact more than half of the work and food silver is paid in copper coins. Although the remaining work and food silver is given in silver, it is also low-quality broken silver with a low composition. The actual work and food bank that Xiaomin received was [-] to [-]% less than agreed.

In addition, the quality of copper coins is uneven, and some privately minted coins are so light that they can float on the water. Naturally, these copper coins cannot be calculated at their full value.The merchants use silver to calculate the price, and these copper coins have to be converted back to silver taels, which is equivalent to a sheep being skinned twice, once by the owner and once by the merchant.

Allowing the market to use these fiat currencies as a means of payment can at least let the ordinary people breathe a sigh of relief.At least the money they received was the same as the money they spent..."

However, Qiu Junsun was not as optimistic as Jiang Chen. He said to Li Zicheng worriedly: "If the people can accept the legal currency, it will be a good thing for the merchants and ordinary people. However, the Marshal's Mansion fixes the value of the currency by decree." , will inevitably offend those who benefit from the chaotic currency, and I am very worried that they will become an obstacle for the Marshal's Office to promote legal currency.

Moreover, forget about gold and silver, the profit value of copper coins is so great, wouldn't someone privately mint them?If private minted copper coins appear, not only will banks lose a lot of gold and silver, but people will not dare to use copper coins, right? "

Li Zicheng played with a copper coin in his hand, and responded in his mouth: "What Yu Zhi said is reasonable, so we have to prepare two ways, one is to severely crack down on private casting, and the other is to improve the technology of casting coins.

Cracking down on smuggling is a matter of public security, so let's talk about how to improve the existing currency casting technology here.This time, the Jesuit missionaries cooperated with the Academy of Sciences to manufacture the spiral coin press machine popular in Europe, so the patterns on these coins are so clear.So what is the output of this machine? "

Jiang Chen replied: "A machine mints about 10 coins in seven days, using 4 people and [-] cows. However, there are still many things that can be improved in the entire coinage process. The bachelors of the Academy of Sciences and the priests of the Jesuits are working on Design a larger flattening machine to roll out larger plates, thereby increasing efficiency..."

After listening, Li Zicheng said: "Indeed, we need more advanced machines. If we want to change the current currency in the market into these coins, at least more than 1 million yuan of coins will be needed. Even if 1 yuan of coins are minted a day, It will take 27 days, which is more than [-] years, which is obviously impossible. How many coins and banknotes have you shipped from Huai'an this time, can you replace most of the silver transactions in Yangzhou first?"