Reborn as a tyrant in the Ming Dynasty

"The recent situation in the DPRK, well, it cannot be said to be recent. A more appropriate term would be the past few months."

As the first cabinet meeting officially begins, as the emperor of tomorrow, Zhu Youxiao has to set the tone. Zhu Youxiao doesn't want to talk too much about the past cabinet, but after the new cabinet is established, some atmosphere must be changed. change!

Be efficient and honest, do not shirk when things happen, dare to take responsibility, dare to take responsibility... These are Zhu Youxiao's expectations and requirements for the new cabinet!

"I have always been affected."

Under the different expressions of the cabinet ministers, Zhu Youxiao said calmly: "As a result, my emperor's heir was born, but there was no action. I thought about it afterwards, this is not good. After all, he is my emperor's heir, so I still want to Just for fun.”

Zhu Yanxi, Huang Liji, and Yuan Keli looked at each other, and they had different thoughts in their hearts regarding the emperor's words.

What has happened in recent months seems to many to be far too much than what happened in the past year, or even longer.

The emperor specially emphasized time to remind them all of one thing.

The emperor was lucky that Xiyuan fell into the water and was assassinated.

The matter has not yet been decided.

However, everything announced by Jin Yiwei all pointed to Prince Fu, who ruled Luoyang. The arrest of Zheng Yangxing and his party, coupled with some rumors in the market, made this matter attract more attention.

But it is precisely this matter that is too important.

So much so that no one dares to touch it easily now.

"I think a grand ceremony should be held."

As the chief minister of the cabinet, Zhu Yanxi, after pondering for a moment, stepped forward and bowed: "The birth of the emperor's heir is a major event for the country. If your majesty allows it, the cabinet will convene the Ministry of Rites and other officials to make preparations and let everyone in the world know about it. Our dynasty already has an heir!"

"I second the proposal!"

"I second the proposal!"

Huang Liji, Yuan Keli and other cabinet ministers all seconded the proposal.

Although for the current treasury, holding a ceremony of this scale is actually a very stressful thing, but the emperor gave birth to an emperor, which is different for the country.

It has been more than five years since Zhu Youxiao Yuji ascended the throne. Although heirs and daughters were born before, all of them died young without exception. This was actually a big blow to the emperor's majesty.

Even before and after this, there were many people spreading rumors and saying whatever they wanted.

The more uncertain the situation is, the more necessary it is to take some actions to appease people's hearts.

Just like this, Li Qiyuan, who also served as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and Bi Ziyan, who also served as the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Revenue, did not hesitate at all and followed their colleagues to express their attitude.

“It’s better to have fun alone than to have fun together.”

Seeing the ministers in the cabinet acting like this, Zhu Youxiao smiled slightly and said: "In this current situation, there is no need to hold a grand ceremony in Beijing. It is too extravagant and wasteful. With such money in the national treasury, it is better to do more practical things."

"I thought about it, and the cabinet issued an edict to the world. In order to increase the number of people, no more taxes will be added. The specific year of the yellow roll will be used as the criterion. The cabinet will discuss this in detail. From now on, the imperial court will collect taxes based on this. As a permanent rule, no additional levies are allowed, what do you think?"

A word stirred up a thousand waves.

Zhu Yanxi and Huang Liji never expected that the emperor would say such words.

When it was originally said that having fun alone is not as good as having fun together, the cabinet ministers were still nervous. They were really afraid that the emperor would be happy and ask all parts of the country to hold celebrations, which would increase the burden on the people.

But the issue of "nurturing people and never increasing their wealth" is far more exciting than they thought. There has never been any precedent for this in the Ming Dynasty!

"Your Majesty, would you like to discuss this matter further?"

Li Qiyuan, who was in charge of the Ministry of Household Affairs, hesitated for a moment, but still stepped forward and said: "This matter is of great concern. Previously, His Majesty issued a special edict to abolish the apportionment of Liao pay. This is indeed a relief for the people, but for the national treasury, The pressure is really too much.”

"In addition to the counter-insurgency in Liaodong, there is also the counter-insurgency in the southwest. This consumes a lot of money and food every year. In addition, in recent years, disasters have occurred frequently in various parts of the world. The imperial court must set aside part of the bank for emergencies, and there are ministers, The various expenditures of local government departments are indeed huge."

"I second the proposal!"

Bi Ziyan, the cabinet group assistant and the left minister of the household department, followed closely and said: "I can understand your majesty's mood and want to use this favor to celebrate the birth of the emperor's heir. However, it is a fact that the treasury is empty now. I am looking at the autumn grain." Expropriation has already begun, and promulgating such preferential policies at this time may have a great impact on the local area."

As the first and second-in-command of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Li Qiyuan and Bi Ziyan may not know much about the details of how to increase the number of people and never increase their taxes, but they can understand that if this policy is really to be promulgated, it will indeed be possible. Reduce the pressure on those at the bottom.

However, major issues involving the national economy and people's livelihood cannot be decided on a whim. They have more issues and levels to consider.

To be honest, Li Qiyuan and Bi Ziyan were more anxious than anyone else about the empty treasury, especially when it involved the imbalance of central fiscal revenue and expenditure.

Tax reform has been on their minds more than once.

However, tax reform is not just a matter of change. There must be clear guidelines for this. Otherwise, it will be a mess, which will not only damage the majesty of the court, but also cause chaos to the local area!

Tax reform will inevitably affect interests, and those vested interest groups that will harm their interests will definitely not sit still and wait for death!

"I have already decided on this matter, so I will not change it."

After Li Qiyuan and Bi Ziyan finished their speeches, Zhu Youxiao said: "The people of our Ming Dynasty have lived a hard life for too long. The abolition of the assessment of Liao pay has indeed lightened their burden for now, but Can the court just sit back and ignore the hardships they have suffered before?"

"People's hearts are more important than ever."

"With the door behind closed doors, I would like to tell you a few words of personal concern. I will never give any more gifts to the nobles. I say it was announced to celebrate the birth of the emperor's heir, but in fact I have been thinking about it for a long time."

"I am just afraid that some people will object and hinder me, so I chose to promulgate it in this name. I don't want the people of the world to poke my back again!!"

The atmosphere in Dongnuan Pavilion became subtle.

Zhu Yanxi, Huang Liji and other cabinet ministers all had extremely complicated expressions. They all knew what the emperor meant by these words.

They also know that it is a favorable policy to breed more people and never add more taxes.

But there are some things that you can't just look at in front of you. There are too many difficulties hidden in invisible places.

It was also at this moment that everyone present knew what the emperor's original words meant. The new cabinet is destined to be a controversial existence!

Because the emperor wants to reduce the burden on all people in the world, but in this case, he will inevitably stand on the opposite side of a large number of vested interest groups.

And between the emperor and them, the cabinet happened to be caught in the middle!

It is to choose to follow the Emperor unswervingly and do things according to the Emperor's will.

He chose to stand on the opposite side of the emperor and compromise with those people.

For a long time to come, they will have to make choices when faced with specific things, but it is so difficult to make these choices.

"Your Majesty, I have something to ask your Majesty."

Under such circumstances, Xiong Tingbi stood up and bowed to the emperor. This move attracted the attention of other ministers. What was Xiong Manzi asking?

"explain."

Zhu You's speech is concise and concise.

"Never increase taxes to breed people. Can I understand that it mainly involves taxation?"

Xiong Tingbi said with a serious expression: "Your Majesty's original intention is to set a fixed tax rate to reduce the burden of all people in the world?"

"It can be understood this way."

Zhu Youxiao nodded.

"Then your Majesty should also know."

Xiong Tingbi continued: "Among the taxes levied by the court, land tax is the first class, followed by Ding tax. Once this matter is promulgated, the court will inevitably reduce part of the Ding tax every year. The specific amount will be It still needs to be approved afterwards.”

"However, I have a rough estimate. Once a quota is established in this area, the court will collect one million taels less every year. I am afraid it will become the norm, and the tax amount will even be larger."

Zhu Youxiao said nothing.

He doesn't know exactly how much this amount is. This requires specific approval. The key is to see which year the yellow registration population is used as the benchmark.

"Previously, His Majesty issued a special edict to abolish the apportionment of Liao pay, and now he has issued a decree to increase the number of people and never increase the pay." Xiong Tingbi said with clear logic.

"If these two policies can be fully implemented, let's just say they are fully implemented, then the national treasury will not say that it will give millions of taels of benefits to all the people in the world."

"I dare to ask Your Majesty, faced with such a gap and an empty national treasury, how to deal with the counter-insurgency in Liaodong, the counter-insurgency in the southwest, and even the rectification of the Beijing camp and other places. These are only what I can think of, and I There are many more that I can’t imagine.”

Xiong Manzi, you really dare to speak out! !

Zhu Yanxi, Huang Liji and other cabinet ministers looked at Xiong Tingbi with completely different eyes. In such a special situation, they said such words. Isn't this a clear intention to embarrass the emperor?

If the emperor had not thought of this, how should he answer this question? Although these are all realities, speaking these words must be done according to the occasion! ! !