Chapter 81: Dividing the Silver on the Ground, Winning by the Times

The cash Hai Rui collected during his trip south was not as much as Zhu Yijun had imagined - it was somewhat a pipe dream for a salt merchant to collect hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

The main thing is that these salt merchants are just a pair of gloves. The bulk of the money has been handed over, and it is hard to say how much can be left.

In comparison, the salt merchants did not sell as much as the judges of the Transportation Bureau, the ambassadors of salt tax, and the deputy envoys.

The total amount of silver, jewelry, calligraphy and paintings made by the salt merchants, big and small, amounted to more than 600,000 taels.

A total of 100 officials were killed, and 1.3 million taels were seized!
Sensational!

As expected, no matter how wealthy a businessman is, he cannot compare to a magistrate who has been in office for three years.

This was just the number before I met Li Chunfang.

If we add the big salt merchants promised by Li Chunfang, part of the grain tax from the Ministry of Revenue, and the assets of more than ten high-ranking officials such as Chief Censor Xu Shi, Prefect of Yingtian Prefecture Zhu Gang, Vice Minister of War Ji Lian, and Prefect of Taizhou, we might be able to collect nearly three million taels.

The total amount is five million taels!
In the fifth year of Longqing's reign, the national treasury's annual revenue was only three million, and this trip was equivalent to nearly two years' work.

Not only that, there are also hundreds of thousands of additional salt imports, 30% of tea taxes, and grain taxes that will be given up every year.

At least several million taels more would be required every year.

The harvest was so rich that Zhu Yijun couldn't help but want to do it again every year.

In addition to the salt administration, there are also the horse market, the Maritime Customs, border defense, the empty salaries, the grain tax, the tea tax... you can't even clean them up even if you count them for ten years.

Anyway, with this much money, I can finally do something big!
In the past, a good cook could not cook without rice and could only maneuver around in political affairs. But things will be different in the future.

As long as he has this silver, he can imitate Emperor Wuzong and get his hands on military power!
The weapon of criticism cannot replace the criticism of weapons.

If you want to clear the sky of dust, you must use a powerful stick.

Gu Huan had been stationed in Beijing for a long time, without moving his troops, just waiting for money and food.

Only by uniting the Beijing camp together, will he be qualified to touch the Jin Party and shake the southeast!
……

The Minister of Revenue Wang Guoguang arrived at Chengguang Hall breathlessly, with sweat on his forehead which was somewhat inappropriate, which showed that he was in a real hurry.

There’s no other way, this is five million taels of silver!
The actual amount of silver in the national treasury, when converted, is only this much.

As the Minister of Revenue, if he is not in a hurry about this, he should basically leave this position.

Wang Guoguang took the towel handed to him by the eunuch outside Chengguang Hall, wiped the sweat off his face, straightened his clothes, and then stepped into the hall.

As soon as he entered the hall, he saw the emperor, the prime minister, and the seal-holder of the Imperial Household Department, each holding a pen and paper, writing and drawing.

Wang Guoguang looked at it for a few more times before he collected his thoughts and stepped forward to greet him: "Your Majesty."

Zhu Yijun raised his head slightly and nodded, indicating that he should sit down.

Then he did not have time to pay attention to Wang Guoguang for the time being, and only argued with Zhang Juzheng: "Prime Minister, last time in order to appease the troops, the treasury borrowed a full one million taels!"

"For this, my mother scolded me several times, saying that it was the background of my marriage with Prince Lu, and it almost caused a mother-son feud!"

"Prince, this money should be used to pay back the treasury first, right?"

Prior to this, upon learning that the new emperor had ascended the throne, the officers and soldiers became agitated and demanded the court for the food and wages that were owed to them.

In order to quell the incident, the Taicang Warehouse contributed 300,000 taels, the Taipu Temple Treasury contributed 300,000 taels, the Jieshen Treasury contributed 200,000 taels, and the Imperial Treasury contributed one million taels.

This matter is naturally the bargaining chip for dividing the money now.

Zhang Juzheng said respectfully, "Your Majesty, the inner court paid one million yuan for this matter, and the outer court paid eight hundred thousand yuan, so the inner court should pay back two hundred thousand yuan."

Zhu Yijun said earnestly: "Prince, it is not calculated that way. The officers and soldiers are making a fuss because they are owed wages. These are all old debts from previous years. This has nothing to do with the treasury."

Zhang Juzheng suddenly realized and agreed, "Yes, the old accounts should not be counted in the treasury, but..."

He looked at Wang Guoguang and said, "Minister Wang, I remember that Mu Miao had borrowed money from the Ministry of Revenue several times before. Does the Ministry of Revenue still have old debts?"

Zhu Yijun choked.

Seeing that Wang Guoguang was about to answer, he interrupted him.

He waved his hand and said, "Alright, the palace and the government are one, it's too formal to say these things."

"Then let's divide it according to the rules. The ones copied by the Imperial Guards belong to the inner treasury, and the ones copied by the government offices belong to the outer court. As for the extra grain tax, everyone should share it equally."

This is strange. During this house search, no one other than the Jinyiwei has intervened in the search.

Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, although these may be family wealth, they are actually the salt tax that was embezzled."

"I think it would be better to pay the salt tax to the capital, with 70% going to the Ministry of Revenue, and the rest being divided equally between the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Treasury."

The two of them pulled each other repeatedly and reached a stalemate.

Wang Guoguang looked at it for a long while and couldn't help but interrupt, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister, state affairs are more important. Why don't you first settle the areas that need money and then discuss other things?"

If you keep wrangling like this, there's no hope of getting a result.

Wang Guoguang immediately came up with a reliable explanation.

After hearing what Wang Guoguang said, the two stopped arguing.

Then they hesitated for a moment and nodded reluctantly.

Zhu Yijun was the first to speak: "Based on the assessment, we should first pay back part of the salaries owed to officials at all levels."

"Now the debts owed by the two capitals and one province have been paid out first, and the debts owed by other provinces must also be reserved first."

"The performance bonus that should be paid this year must be kept for the internal treasury."

"All told, it's about nine hundred thousand taels in total."

To clarify the administration of officials, one must spend money, because having no money can drive people crazy.

Only after the money is paid can we cooperate with the thundering measures.

Zhang Juzheng agreed directly: "Your Majesty is the wisest one."

It's not that the two of them divided the loot unequally, but they had different opinions on how the money should be used. However, when it came to using it for the examination and approval method, there was no disagreement.

Just by opening his mouth, nine hundred thousand taels were thrown out.

Zhang Hong picked up a pen and wrote the word "salary" and wrote five million next to it. After deducting nine hundred thousand, there was a remaining four million.

Zhang Juzheng continued, "Your Majesty, let's try it out for two more seasons. By August, it will be a full year."

"I request that the performance evaluation system be tried out in the provinces of Huguang, Shandong, Henan, and Shaanxi."

Zhu Yijun took a look at Zhang Juzheng and knew that he wanted to start measuring the land as soon as possible.

He thought for a moment and nodded slowly: "I am not familiar with government affairs, you can discuss it with the cabinet and court officials."

"However... by then we still need to sort out all the shortcomings and defects and come up with a more complete charter."

When it comes to such specific matters, he will not interfere.

Just grasp the general direction.

Zhang Juzheng bowed and responded.

After the two of them finished speaking, Wang Guoguang spoke impatiently, "Your Majesty, the grain transport office has delivered grain to the capital, totaling 2,710,1501 dan and 1 dou."

"It is 400,000 dan less than in previous years, and 290,000 dan less than the amount required to enter the warehouse."

"Could you please show some mercy and buy some of it from the people around the capital?"

This part of the loss was caused by the sinking of canal ships and the fact that Wang Zongmu took a part of it for sea transportation.

These are all the food and wages for the border towns, and this part has to be made up anyway.

The people in the surrounding areas are actually the wealthy people in the surrounding areas. After all, there are too many people who are exempt from tax in the capital.

Zhu Yijun and Zhang Juzheng looked at each other.

Naturally, you have to acknowledge this account. You cannot take the benefits and deny the losses.

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said to Wang Guoguang, "Let's take 80% of the market price. The account still needs to go through the Ministry of Revenue."

What the Ministry of Revenue wants to store are all miscellaneous grains, including rice in shells mixed with wheat.

There is no fixed price for a stone of miscellaneous grains. Sometimes it's two cents, and sometimes it's one ounce and two cents.

But now there are only minor disasters and it is not too expensive. The price in Beijing is seven coins per stone.

If you buy it at 80% of the price, it would be 160,000 taels.

Zhang Hong picked up a pen and wrote down the words "grain and silver". He estimated again and used another 4.1 million yuan. After deducting 160,000 yuan, there would be 3.94 million yuan left.

Wang Guoguang naturally didn't say anything and quickly expressed his gratitude.

But he did not retreat immediately. Instead, he continued, "Your Majesty, this year's salary and grain for the royal family has increased significantly, and the treasury requires more than 100,000 silver taels..."

There are so many places to spend money, I can only list the items and spend as much as I want.

But Zhu Yijun couldn't let him do that.

He refused outright, saying, "Minister Wang himself said before that we should settle accounts in places where money is urgently needed. There are precedents for the salaries and grains of the royal family and vassal states. Why should we talk about this now?"

Although Zhu Yijun knew that what Wang Guoguang said made sense, the amount of silver and money taken from the treasury increased year by year, all in the name of increasing the salaries and grain for the royal family and vassal states.

The royal family spent millions, but the amount actually spent on the inner court was only 30% of the salary and grain for the royal family and vassal states.

Money-eating beast!
But even though he knew it, there was nothing he could do about it now. He had just ascended the throne, and it was not the right time to touch the royal family.

His tone was firm, leaving no room for Wang Guoguang to negotiate.

Seeing this, Wang Guoguang could only shut his mouth.

Then, Zhang Juzheng took over the conversation: "Your Majesty, the military expenditures of Guangdong, Guangxi, Ningxia, and Xuanda are still short of 700,000 taels. We have already reported to the Ministry of War several times."

The needs of the border towns are naturally the most urgent items now. Zhu Yijun shook his head: "I know about Guangdong, Guangxi and Ningxia, but Xuanda..."

He really didn't want Xuan Da to suck his blood anymore.

The words stopped at his lips.

After all, he really didn't know whether these people were making up excuses or were really short of money.

What if it's the latter?

Zhu Yijun thought about it, and waved his hand to compromise: "Then let's do it this way, a total of 700,000 for the three places."

Zhang Hong wrote the word "Border Town" on the paper. 3.94 million, after deducting 700,000, there were only 3.24 million left.

Zhu Yijun was not in the mood to calculate these things.

His immediate feeling now is that Xuan Da is really asking for too much money!

Yesterday was the "horse fodder, in addition to the regular allowance, one month's allowance will be added for each year of horse feed and maintenance."

Today I want "Silver for the guest soldiers in Xuanfu Town."

Tomorrow is the day when "construction of the border fort and city walls will be completed."

Thirty or eighty thousand each time is not a lot, but it happens too frequently.

In the fifth year of Longqing's reign, the border towns spent 4,291,922 taels, 6 qian and 2 fen of silver, of which Xuanda accounted for 30%!

On the contrary, the grain surplus was 946,986 shi 5 dou 7 liters, accounting for only 15%.

If you don’t know, you might think that they only eat silver and not grain.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yijun asked, "Why hasn't Wang Chonggu come to Beijing yet?"

Last year he was promoted to Minister of War. He requested to postpone his entry into the capital on the grounds that the Tatars were invading the border.

The central government naturally advised him kindly and asked him to go to Beijing to take up his post after the new year.

It's already February 17th, and you haven't recovered yet?

It feels like walking four hundred miles but ending up walking three thousand miles.

Zhang Juzheng saw that the emperor was a little angry, so he could not help but persuade him, "It should be soon. The other day, Yang Ge Lao had already requested to retire."

Yang Bo's current cabinet position is occupied by Zhang Siwei.

The emperor and the prime minister made it clear that they did not want to see the Jin Party occupy the three seats in the cabinet, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Rites.

If Wang Chonggu wanted to go to Beijing, Yang Bo would have to retire.

On the other hand, since Yang Bo has been invited, Wang Chonggu should also go to Beijing.

Zhu Yijun said sullenly, "He has been preparing for the backup plan for half a year, and now he looks like I am going to trick him into coming to the capital and kill him."

Zhang Juzheng looked at the emperor strangely and was too embarrassed to refute.

Instead, he mentioned another matter: "Your Majesty, it's time for someone to take over as the Governor of Xuanda."

Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng and asked, "Does the Prime Minister have any recommendations?"

When it comes to matters that are in line with his interests, he will respect those nominated by the cabinet.

Naturally, Zhang Juzheng could be trusted with matters concerning Xuan Da.

Zhang Juzheng pondered for a moment and said, "How about Tan Lun, the former Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and the Assistant Director of the Military Affairs of the Capital Camp?"

Zhu Yijun pondered in silence.

This person was within his expectations.

Although he was a Jinshi, he was a general with much experience in actual combat.

When it comes to the ability of civil officials to command, Qi Jiguang, Liu Xian and Yu Dayou all served under him and were recommended and promoted by him to varying degrees.

When it comes to the actual combat achievements of the military generals, there was the great victory at Pinghaiwei when he was the governor of Fujian, in which he killed more than 10,000 enemies and quelled the Japanese invasion in Fujian.

As for his resume as a minister, he had served in almost all the posts, including Governor-General of Sichuan, Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, and Governor-General of Ji and Liao.

It is said that "he had served in the army for thirty years and had made more than 21,500 first meritorious services, making him a strong defender of the time." With solid combat achievements in front of him, he was one of the most capable generals and ministers of the time.

However, he is a capable person, but his health is not very good.

Zhu Yijun asked with concern: "I heard that Tan Erhua has a chronic illness?"

I don’t know why, but lung diseases are particularly common in this era.

The same was true for Zhang Juzheng's father, Zhu Xizhong, and Tan Lun.

At that time, Tan Lun suffered from lung disease and often coughed and had phlegm when attending court. He was impeached by the censors for being disrespectful, so he retired and returned home.

Now we still have people going to Xuan Da, for fear that he will die of illness.

Zhang Juzheng considered, "We will just use their reputation to intimidate Xuanda and Tatar, and they won't engage in direct combat."

Zhu Yijun thought about it and agreed to it.

At the end, he said, "Ask first. If your body really can't handle it, don't force it. We are all state men, and there should be a good result."

Zhang Juzheng remained silent and nodded in agreement.

Zhu Yijun sat up slightly and looked at Zhang Juzheng: "Prime Minister, Guangdong, Guangxi, Ningxia, and Xuanda have received an additional 700,000 soldiers. I have nothing to say, but..."

"The salaries of the Beijing troops must also be paid!"

Zhang Juzheng paused and explained, "I'm afraid I have to consult the Ministry of War on this matter."

Some camps and guards did not pay their salaries because they had no money, but some camps and guards did not pay their salaries on purpose.

Not all officials want the emperor to have a strong army directly under his command.

Zhu Yijun naturally understood this matter.

It was because he understood this that he did not take any action after calling Gu Huan back.

Now that we can pay the salary, we dare to put this matter on the agenda.

He said sincerely: "We can talk about the Ministry of War after Wang Chonggu arrives in Beijing. Now, I want 1.5 million taels of silver!"

Zhang Juzheng didn't react much, but Wang Guoguang and Zhang Hong on the side couldn't help but feel their hearts skip a beat.

The three places of Guangdong, Guangxi, Ningxia, and Xuanda only asked for 700,000 taels, but the Beijing camp alone asked for 1.5 million taels.

Don't you want to expand your army?!

Zhu Yijun naturally knew what they were thinking.

Without waiting for Zhang Juzheng to speak, he explained: "In addition to military pay, there are also silver for craftsmen, firearms, and rewards. I am not making this up."

Zhang Juzheng was expressionless. He thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, the total is five million. One and a half million is a bit too much."

"The other treasuries, such as the Guanglu Temple Treasury, the Taipu Temple Treasury, and the Jieshen Treasury, are still in arrears."

"Especially the Ministry of Works' Jieshen Treasury, which has been used for the mausoleum and the Yellow River in the past six months. His Majesty also asked Minister Zhu to build a ship before."

"Your Majesty...please understand."

He knew that the emperor wanted to prepare the Beijing camp, including craftsmen and firearms, so he didn't care about the details.

But there is only so much silver and money, so we should still be considerate of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Revenue who are not at the table.

Wang Guoguang also said, "Your Majesty, last year Ningxia and Shaanxi turned the tables, and the relief money was transferred from the local treasury, but it is still short."

Zhu Yijun was helpless. Why were there so many places short of money?

The shipbuilding matter really should not be saved. He also knew that the Imperial Household Department was short of silver for the price of horses and guest soldiers.

There is even less to say about disaster relief.

Zhu Yijun sighed and said, "One million and two hundred thousand. It really can't be any less, Yuan Fu."

Seeing that the emperor had given in, Zhang Juzheng knelt down and pleaded guilty.

Zhu Yijun waved his hand casually to indicate that it was okay.

Zhang Hongze silently wrote down the words "Beijing Camp". 3.24 million, after deducting 1.2 million, there were still 2.04 million left.

Finally, seeing that the emperor and the Ministry of Revenue did not mention any other items, he wrote down the remaining 2.04 million, which are used for the imperial treasury, the Taicang warehouse, the Guanglu Temple treasury, the Taipu Temple treasury, the Jieshen Treasury, etc., to be distributed after the court decides how to do so.

Zhang Juzheng looked at the aggrieved emperor and could not help but advise him: "Your Majesty, we have just changed the reign title and have already settled the salt administration. If we have an extra million taels of silver every year, we won't be in such a predicament."

"Your Majesty, may you live forever. There is no need to rush."

This means that you are still young and good days are yet to come.

Zhu Yijun nodded, indicating that he had listened.

But he thought about it and emphasized: "But this silver cannot be distributed without the governor's permission."

Before this, the Earl of Zhangwu was a useless person. Sometimes he would have to wait for his subordinates to tell him when the Beijing camp had received its pay.

Now that he has replaced Gu Huan in the position, this loophole can no longer be opened.

For soldiers, whoever pays their salary has the final say.

Paying salaries without going through the governor of the Beijing camp is really too much.

Zhang Juzheng nodded and agreed to the matter.

Seeing that the emperor was still somewhat worried, he could not help but look at the emperor and said seriously: "Your Majesty, if you have any doubts, you might as well... review the troops in person!"

(End of this chapter)