Prodigal Son of the Ming Dynasty

  Chapter 1036 Concerned about the world

   As long as the superiors reached a tacit agreement on this matter, even if the censors below shouted, it would be harmless.

  Liu Jian is the final word.

  He has enough reputation among the officials, so that everyone has reached a tacit agreement.

   But at this time, Li Dongyang, who was sitting beside him, still frowned, pursed his lips, showing a bit of worry.

  Liu Jian looked around, his eyes fell on him, and he couldn't help saying: "Binzhi, do you have a different opinion?"

  Li Dongyang shook his head and said: "No, Mr. Liu, what I am worried about is not these things...but..."

   he said, sighing.

  He also served as the Minister of the Household Department.

  This responsibility is really important. The whole court is asking him for money, and everyone is like a ghost.

  He paused, and then said: "The amount of money and food in Jiangsu and Zhejiang has been roughly reported."

   "..."

   All of a sudden, everyone fell silent and raised their ears.

   Money and food are related to the national economy and people's livelihood, and it is a matter of the world.

  The income of this year is related to the expenditure of next year. Ma Wensheng, Minister of the Ministry of War, is waiting for the Ministry of Households to allocate money and food, and repay the arrears of Liaodong. Several projects of the Ministry of Industry are also owed wages, especially now that Xincheng is recruiting workers everywhere, and the craftsmen who are recruited have no intention of completing the projects of the Ministry of Industry, because the income of the two is too disparate.

  It's a pity that this is a requisition, so they can't help but not go.

  But the Ministry of Industry can only barely give them two meals, and even if it is two meals, they are often owed.

   There are also Zaozao Bureaus in various places, which is even more bleak.

  The annual sacrifices and various sacrificial ceremonies required by the Ministry of Rites cost a lot of money.

  The Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of Punishments are not much better.

  Even the Hanlin Academy has to revise books recently, which actually costs a lot of money.

  When the Yongle Encyclopedia was compiled, it was the cabinet scholar who served as the chief editor, regardless of the cost. In the end, the book was completed and became a grand event in the literary world of the country, but the cost was actually no less than a conquest.

  The books being edited now are certainly not as good as the Yongle Dadian, but they are still pointing to the money and food of the Ministry of Households.

  As for the river embankments everywhere, the disasters that may occur next year, and there are too many things to do, all of which are inseparable from money and food.

  Liu Jian became more cautious about this.

  A few days ago, he said he was sick and took leave for many days, but it was not that he was unaware of what happened in the court.

  He knew that Li Dongyang did not withdraw money from the internal funds, and the treasury had to bear all the expenses, so he couldn't help but worry about it.

  He asked Li Dongyang: "Where in the south of the Yangtze River, how much money and grain?"

Li Dongyang paused, and under the attention of everyone, he said slowly: "Hangzhou Prefecture, although not affected by the disaster, can only pay 43,000 taels of silver tax, which is 20% less than last year. 130,000 dan, and cloth... raw silk..."

  Hangzhou is a big mansion, why is the money and food not increasing but decreasing?

"I heard that it's because of the increase in refugees." Li Dongyang said: "There is also Jiangxi Chief Envoy, because of King Ning's rebellion, the court sympathized with them being exploited by King Ning, and exempted them from some taxes a few years ago, but now... "

  He shook his head and sighed: "This year's money...I'm afraid it's not optimistic, plus the deficit in the past two years..."

"What should we do about this?" Ma Wensheng couldn't help complaining, "I have owed Liaodong's military salary for two months, so why should I continue to owe it next year? If this continues, the towns in Liaodong will definitely mutiny. Since the Chenghua year, the imperial court has swept away the Jurchen tribes and made them obediently attached to them, but these years, the Jurchen tribes have shown a tendency to recover and grow... What should we do if this continues?"

The Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry said with an aggrieved look on his face: "Now the artisans are perfunctory. In the final analysis, it is because in the Zaoza Bureau, a craftsman's money and food are already a drop in the bucket, and it is difficult to support his family. But in other places Craftsmen, however, have no worries about food and clothing. Compared with the two, who is willing to put their lives at ease? Even if they are whipped, it will not help. Now they still owe them money and food. They have no rice to cook, and they will starve to death, Li Gong... this is not a joke."

   Li Dongyang felt his head grow big, and couldn't help but stroke his forehead.

   Seeing that the crowd was still making noise, he said dumbfoundedly: "Is there anything I don't know about your difficulties...it's just..."

   "How about..." Wang Ao's eyes sank, and he said: "I still have to ask His Majesty to make the decision, and take some money from the inner money no matter what..."

  Many people were in a hurry, and a bold idea seemed to flash in their eyes.

  So everyone looked at Liu Jian.

  Liu Jian felt that his heart was in a panic. It was really a wave of ups and downs, and there was no way to live through this day.

  Liu Jian gritted his teeth and said, "What can we do now?"

  Seeing Liu Jian agreeing, Li Dongyang also had hope in his heart: "It's all up to Mr. Liu to decide."

  ...

  Dingxing County.

  After the calculations over and over again, plus the remaining tax and silver, all are put into the treasury.

  The tax collection in Dingxing County this year has come to an end.

  Ouyang Zhi breathed a sigh of relief. Next, he will stamp his seal on the financial revenue and expenditure, and then send someone to the Ministry of Accounts to report.

  Actually... Dingxing County’s revenue and expenditure report is quite easy, because it is all tax money, there are no other physical objects, the loss is minimal, and the report and accounting with the household department are also simple, and the accounts are clear at a glance.

  If other counties, it is complicated.

  In the early Ming Dynasty, the famous empty printing case, the problem lies here. At that time, the local government had to send people to the Ministry of Accounts to report the financial revenue and expenditure accounts. All accounts must be completely consistent with the Ministry of Accounts before they can be settled. If there is any discrepancy among them, it must be rejected and re-booked, and the seal of the original local official must be stamped again to complete. Because the traffic was not developed at that time, and the distance between travels was long, it would take a lot of time to send it back for reconstruction. Therefore, officials who went to the Ministry of Households for audit had blank booklets stamped in advance for use. This was originally a customary practice since the Yuan Dynasty, and it has never been explicitly prohibited.

It’s just that the money and food will be lost during the transportation process, so the figures from the time of delivery to the receipt by the Ministry of Households will definitely not match. The officials can’t predict how much is lost on the road. Only when the Ministry of Households is about to declare Therefore, officials sent to Beijing are accustomed to filling in the actual amount in the capital with blank printed documents.

In the end, they were so desperate that they bumped into Emperor Taizu Gao. This uncle thinks that you guys have the guts to cheat under my nose after eating my food. The purpose is to "kill the empty sealer", tens of thousands of officials, so the heads fell to the ground, which is spectacular.

   So far, no chief official dares to take a blank piece of paper and stamp it with a big seal before running to the household department, and wait for the real money and food to be escorted to the treasury before filling in the specific amount. It's a real report. It's just that...the amount of money and food that goes out and goes into the warehouse often doesn't match up with the reported amount.

  Ouyang Zhi is much less troublesome, he can report as much as he has, and the above amount can be checked, and the silver that will be escorted into the warehouse will never be less.

At this time, Ouyang Zhi lowered his head and looked at the numbers on the top carefully. He was very relieved. After he stamped the seal, he sent the money and food book to the secretary of the household department, saying: "Hurry up and go to Beijing." .”

"yes."

  The official took the money and food book excitedly, and also seemed very excited.

   This was almost the pinnacle moment of his life, so exciting. Thinking about it, this report was enough for him to stand straighter than a bamboo pole in front of the officials of the household department after he arrived in the capital.

  ...

   At this time, the capital is full of gossip.

  I heard that the Academy of Sciences was really established, but some said that it was a non-existent thing, and there was no purpose in the palace.

  Therefore, people talked a lot, but Fang Jifan took this matter as the top priority.

   Not only the yamen of the Academy of Sciences recruited a large number of craftsmen to start construction, but also all official positions have drawn up a list of academic positions for selection.

   Now, more people became excited.

  The number of papers submitted has obviously begun to increase dramatically.

   Only when you have a school position can you be eligible to be selected.

  Fang Jifan looked at the nearly doubled number of paper submissions, and was a little dazed.

   These guys, how much do you want to be an official?

  Although most of the papers in it are superficial, there are quite a few essences.

  The servants and lecturers selected from various subjects will be eligible to be enlisted as retinues in the future, and may even go to the edict hall to wait for the edict.

   Not only that, many people are eyeing the Science Museum, because Fang Jifan has revealed that once the Science Museum is completed, he will edit the encyclopedia.

   This also made a lot of beginners play a leading role.

Nowadays, most of the students are studying the Four Books and Five Classics, but not many people start to accept new knowledge when they are young. This is because more people hope to gain fame through their studies. Only when the imperial examination was hopeless did everyone start to try to develop new subjects.

  Now, the new elementary school has also begun to build. In the future, it will continuously deliver the talents needed by Xishan.

Reading, you need to make the best use of the situation. Among these four words, the word Li occupies a huge part. If there is no benefit, there is not enough benefit, but you insist on making people stay poor and keep their inner feelings, except Fang Jifan I really care about my family and the country, and have the world in mind. Even if I have a brain disease, I will unremittingly sell the house to save the country, ten years as a day, rain or shine. There are few such people in the world.

  So Fang Jifan never forced his disciples and grandchildren to have feelings and be human beings. They should have high standards for themselves and low standards for understanding others.

  This is the quality that a gentleman must abide by.

   Yes, Fang Jifan is such a person.

  …

third chapter.

  (end of this chapter)