The Ming Dynasty started with caution

Gu Dayong sent the list to Fengtian Hall.

The retired emperor Hongzhi glanced at it and found that almost all of them were officials who passed the imperial examination after the first year of Zhengde.

Han Wen frowned slightly, with a hint of meaning: "These officials are special, such as Shuji Shi Sun Xu and Chen Ji, who are engineers from Liangxiang."

When the Ministry of Personnel appoints officials, it will investigate their origins and record them in the family files.

The new emperor dismissed 19 people in order to place engineers from Liangxiang.

He didn't know whether to hire them or not.

The eyes of the officials tightened slightly. Most of these Hanlin scholars had heard of Xinxue. If they messed around with the new emperor, it would be fun.

The retired emperor Hongzhi hesitated for a moment, "Allowed, the secretariat will draft an edict to go to Hanyuan to convey the edict."

The officials were speechless for a moment.

Li Dongyang pondered the retired emperor's intention. If the new emperor wanted to control the court, he needed to cultivate his own staff.

...

Nanzhili, Fengyang Prefecture.

Someone spread the news that the business had no silver, and the people held the banknotes to run for money. Several Huizhou merchants were unable to pay.

The shopkeepers of restaurants and inns closed their doors and brought their waiters to the business to ask for silver.

The fields were empty, and the farmers entered the city with banknotes, as if all the people in the city were crowded in the business.

Fengyang Prefecture, government office.

Early in the morning, Zhang Jin sent the yamen runners to arrest the person who spread the rumor, but after nearly two hours, he still hadn't come back to report.

"Why haven't you come back yet? Why haven't you come back yet?!"

The prefectural chancellor strode in: "Sir, the yamen runners also took the stubs to the business to withdraw money..."

Your uncle...

Zhang Jin stood up with a sullen face, "Call them back. How can we get the silver if we don't catch the thief who spread the rumor?"

"But...but sir, this is true. The business really has no silver." The prefectural chancellor held a few stubs in his arms, and was extremely anxious.

Fengyang Prefecture was in chaos. There were only stalls on the street, but no stall owners. Today's official newspapers were scattered on the ground. It was rumored that the business had run out of money.

Soon, several gentry who were pretentious were brought to the yamen, and their trembling bodies knelt on the ground.

Zhang Jin's face was solemn, and he walked straight to them: "Does the business really have no silver?"

Several people were frightened and a little confused. They all looked pale, their lips twitched up and down, and they dared not say a word.

Seeing that these gentry dared not breathe, Zhang Jin guessed in his heart, and all his anger was aroused.

"Where did the silver go?"

He deposited thirty taels of silver into the business every month and could receive five cents of interest.

There was no land to buy in Nanzhili, so it was inconvenient for officials to invest money in business. Many officials were like him and deposited money into the business.

The prefectural chancellor kicked a gentry down and said murderously: "My lord, I'm asking you a question!"

"I went to do... business. It will take half a year to get my money back. I can't take out the silver."

Zhang Jin's body trembled slightly and he almost fell to the ground.

The prefectural chancellor was very scared. How much of the people's silver was in it? He would have to spend his life in prison, right?

One of the slightly bolder gentry looked up and said with courage: "All the businesses in Nanzhili are like this. There was a run on the bank in Songjiang Prefecture, and the court allocated more than two million taels of silver.

Mr. Zhang can also beg the court..."

Zhang Jin took a deep breath. He heard that the court allocated a sum of silver to Songjiang Prefecture, but he didn't know what it was used for.

Now, he is eager to recruit people to resume business and production.

…

The Forbidden City, the Imperial Palace.

Ten days passed in a flash, and the ministers stood in the hall as if doing their routine work, without any fighting spirit, and the court discussion was quite honest.

The new emperor dismissed 19 officials in one breath, which was very shocking.

The ministers had not yet recovered from the grief of losing their colleagues.

Yan Chengjin stood in the team of cabinet ministers. With such a shocking decree, the palace should be quiet for a while.

Li Dongyang bowed: "The salt bureaus in the inner government of Tianjin are short of staff. Please ask the court to send more internal officials to relieve the people's hardship."

The refined salt traded in Tianjin Port is huge.

But the court adopted the old system, that is, the labor service and supervisory eunuchs of the salt bureau are fixed, and the refined salt produced is limited.

Today, the memorial was submitted to Wenhua Hall, and the retired emperor Hongzhi took a rough look.

"The amount of salt tax in the inner government has increased, and internal officials will be transferred from the palace. I don't need so many eunuchs to serve." The retired emperor Hongzhi said.

Xiao Jing's mouth trembled, and he knew that the retired emperor was stingy.

He would rather transfer the eunuchs in the palace than recruit people. The ministers cast approving eyes one after another. The emperor is wiser than the new emperor!

Suddenly, a figure rushed in from outside the palace. Hanlin bowed and said, "Emperor, urgent report!"

Yan Chengjin turned his head, and many ministers also turned their heads.

"I don't know who spread the news to Nanzhili. The merchants have no money. The people of Fengyang Prefecture, Yingtian Prefecture, Yangzhou Prefecture and other prefectures are all running on the merchants..."

The emperor was startled, and a chill spread from his vest to his limbs.

The ministers widened their eyes and showed horror. The plaque almost fell to the ground.

Yan Chengjin turned his head and looked deeply at the memorial in Hanlin's hand. The memorial from the censor had not arrived, so it must have been rushed from 800 miles away.

For a while, the ministers became energetic.

Wang Qiong was so scared that he broke out in cold sweat and kept wiping his forehead. The treasury did not have money to fill such a big hole.

"Bring it up for me to see."

Xiao Jing was shocked, and could hear that the emperor was not confident.

"Who spread this to Nanzhili!"

The officials looked at each other, they would never tell anyone, so their eyes were all on Zhu Houzhao.

Although Zhu Houzhao was standing, his eyes were not open, and he was obviously asleep.

"New, new emperor?"

Liu Jian coughed dryly, and Zhu Houzhao opened his eyes. His expression remained unchanged, and his voice was calm, "Who called me?"

The retired emperor Hongzhi cast a murderous look.

After all, his son dared to sell even the imperial examination questions.

Yan Chengjin also suspected that it was Zhu Houzhao. He was not allowed to reveal the things, but he insisted on saying it. He didn't know what fear was.

"The Nanzhili business has no silver. Did you leak it?"

"Although my son is outspoken, he never leaks important matters of the court. If I did, wouldn't I be cursed?" Zhu Houzhao said in a few words and cleared it off.

The officials were shocked that the Nanzhili business had no silver.

Li Dongyang said: "At the moment of important matters, we should first stabilize the situation in Nanzhili, and then thoroughly investigate and punish the crime."

Liu Jian and the others looked at each other, and the whole Nanzhili was spread.

Nanzhili is the most densely populated place in Jiangnan. There are not only tens of millions of people, but also countless gentry.

Once the people's grievances are accumulated, the hatred that erupts may be enough to rise up.

"The Ministry of Revenue, calculate how much silver it will cost."

Wang Qiong's legs went weak when he heard this, and he almost fell to the ground. He looked at the emperor in panic,

"Songjiang Prefecture alone will cost more than 2 million taels. There are 14 prefectures and counties in the entire Nanzhili. It's useless to calculate it..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the plaque slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

The officials did not find it strange to see his reaction. The Ministry of Revenue needed at least 25 million taels of silver.

In the hall, the ministers looked twisted, and they also had silver in the merchants in Jiangnan.

It has been a long time since the court had such a big event, more than 25 million taels of silver, which is more than the tax silver for two years.