Rebirth of the Ming Dynasty: Sixth Generation of Glory, I don't want it

"During the Hongwu reign, the late emperor was in office for only 31 years, and there were more than 100 rebellions in various places with more than 1,000 people, and 33 of them with more than 10,000 people..."

Xia Yuanji was not exaggerating.

During the Hongwu reign, rebellions occurred one after another, every year and every month.

A lot of money was wasted just on quelling the riots.

If it were any other emperor and his son, he really wouldn't dare to say it, but the eldest prince could at least advise his father a few words.

"Xia Yuanji, how dare you!!! How could my father rebel so much!!!"

Sure enough, Zhu Di was furious again.

"Dad! Grandfather is naive and set the tax too low. To put it bluntly, in a good year, the tax may only be enough for the officials of the court and the royal family. In a bad year, it is not enough for either. In addition, there are wars and disasters, which are also a big expense. How can our capital city have so many people for no reason? It's all because of the disaster in Shandong!"

Zhu Gaochi gave Zhu Di some practical examples to think about.

"The tax is set low because your grandfather loves the people! Is this a crime?"

Zhu Di could not accept this logic.

"The emperor's grandfather had good intentions, but he couldn't stop the people below from robbing Peter to pay Paul."

Zhu Gaochi held his forehead with his hand.

Since ancient times, when the emperor was short of money, he would either increase taxes or kill corrupt officials.

Here with my great grandfather.

Agricultural taxes were not increased but reduced. How could the officials who collected taxes live? They could only be greedy. If one was greedy, everyone was greedy. How could the people live well?

Corrupt officials like Huang Xufu have also been killed, and after killing one batch, a more corrupt batch will come up.

"If we increase taxes, no one will be greedy?"

Zhu Di asked again.

He deeply felt that his eldest son, who was full of tricks, wanted him to take all the blame so that he could smoothly inherit a prosperous Ming Dynasty in the future.

"Your Majesty, the increase in taxes is not without its greed. If the water is too clear, there will be no fish. The tax revenue has too many uses. We need to repair roads, bridges, and rivers. We also need to repair government offices that have fallen into disrepair. We can also use it to support industries that are developing well in various places and to boost the economies of various states and counties. We also need to use it to support colleges and medical clinics. In the past ten years, none of these have been taken care of. The people are complaining. As long as there is a leader, they can die in any way they want. It's easier to die if you are caught in rebellion."

Xia Yuanji has been in charge of the money for so many years, and it hurts to talk about it.

For the people of a country to live a happy life, it is not only about having enough food and warm clothing, let alone not having enough food and warm clothing.

The two words Zhu Gaochi used to describe the late emperor were very apt.

Naive.

He personally feels that the word "too" can be added.

Another concrete representation of why not eat meat.

I have reduced your taxes, why are you still not living a good life? Are you too lazy?

I was a monk with nothing back then, with no house or land, but I still earned this huge fortune.

You always say that you can't make ends meet. Isn't it time to reflect on your own problems?

I have killed all the corrupt officials for you, what else are you not satisfied with?

Rebellion every day! Kill!

Xia Yuanji could imagine the late emperor's series of psychological activities.

But, this matter cannot be explained in this way.

"Dad, look for yourself. This year's summer taxes were just deposited into the treasury, and now they're all gone out again."

Zhu Gaochi handed an account book from the Ministry of Revenue to Zhu Di.

Summer tax and autumn tax are the two major taxes every year. The former is paid by the people in full by the end of August, and the latter is paid in February of the following year.

At this moment, it is September, and there is not a drop left of the summer taxes in the national treasury.

Zhu Di took a look and his face turned as dark as a pot.

Not only was there nothing left, but there were also a lot of expenses that had not been paid off.

The money in the treasury did not come from the wind, but it was blown away by the wind.

"Alright, alright, you guys just discuss it and it'll be fine. Anyway, I'll take the blame. If I only have one blame, no one will scratch me. But if I have two blames, I'll have to bear the brunt of it every day!"

Zhu Di gave up on continuing to listen to Xia Yuanji and Zhu Gaochi's political discussions and wanted to leave.

Now they have to explain everything to him again, which is so ineffective.

After all, he is just a tool for stamping, and he just needs to stamp when the time comes.

"No, there's one more thing Daddy hasn't told you that you like!"

Zhu Gaochi quickly signaled Zheng He to stop Zhu Di.

"What's the matter?"

Zhu Di turned around and asked without much interest.

"The Imperial College in the capital is opening a martial arts exam class."

Zhu Gaochi replied.

"Didn't I say this last time?"

Zhu Di remembered this incident clearly. He held military examinations and taught students how to fight naval battles.

"Dad, I thought about it later and felt that this matter should be dealt with on a larger scale. Come on, Dad, let me talk to you in detail!"

Speaking of this, Zhu Gaochi had a sly smile on his face.

The issue of increasing taxes cannot be negotiated in a day or two. He can wait until he has discussed it with Xia Yuanji. It doesn't matter whether Zhu Di listens or not.

But the matter of the Imperial College in the capital would drive his father crazy.

This crazy idea was inspired by Zhang Xin.

The last time this group of people finished talking about this, Zhu Di went to the court and proposed adding a new military examination class.

The court officials did not protest openly.

Just say that the poor are literary and the rich are martial. It is more expensive to support a martial student than a literary student.

When recruiting military students, let them prepare their own soldiers and horses.

In addition, military students must be literate to be admitted, otherwise they will not be able to keep up with the progress of others if they take classes with civil students.

All in all, numerous admission restrictions were put forward.

Zhu Di counted with his fingers.

Even if he, a victorious king who had fought countless battles, applied to be a military student, he might not be accepted.

Zhu Di was furious.

The court officials refused to give in.

The two sides have been in a stalemate for some time.

Zhu Gaochi complained to Zhang Xin a few times.

Zhang Xin only said that the Imperial College in Beijing was newly established and everything was new, so why should we still use the old rules.

Once used, they would be trapped in the old rules and struggle again. The military and civil examinations would be trapped in the Imperial College in the capital, where two factions were fighting each other, and then there would be another court dispute.

Zhu Gaochi suddenly had an epiphany.

Yup!

The court officials insisted on building an Imperial College in the capital, for they were afraid that the Imperial College in the capital would be forgotten and decline after the emperor moved the capital.

Zhu Di had no choice but to obey.

Can--

The Imperial College in the capital can just teach martial arts examinations!

There were two Imperial Colleges, one in the south and one in the north, one teaching literature and the other teaching martial arts.

No one should look down on anyone.

The Imperial College in the capital city admitted adults, known as Juren.

Then the Imperial College in the capital city only has children.

Children between the ages of five and eight are trained from an early age, primarily learning martial arts and secondarily learning literature.

In the future, these military generals who are both civil and military will definitely be the direct descendants of the royal family.

Whether occupying a position in the court or being sent to garrison the border, it is a powerful tool to restrict the literati from dominating the court.

The question of how to do this still depends on Zhu Di.

So, while Zhu Gaochi and Xia Yuanji were working out the specific rules for increasing taxes, Zhu Di cursed the previous dynasty for several days.