Chapter 279 This is my kingdom

Author: Potato Sweet Potato Pie

Chapter 279 This is my kingdom

Military salaries from the Ministry of War, money from the Ministry of Industry for repairing water transport, and disaster relief grain requested by the Ministry of Household Affairs

These three transactions alone have emptied most of the money and food from the Ming Dynasty's treasury. Emperor Hongzhi's face showed neither sadness nor joy, and he scanned the ministers with his eyes, "The soldiers were given military pay, and those who built the river were allocated work funds. My people have also been allocated food, so the next step is to give salaries to the officials, right?"

"Your Majesty said so."

Wang Shu, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, responded, and then said: "Since the autumn harvest tax collection, many state affairs have been complicated, and the salaries of officials from various places in the two capitals and thirteen provinces have been suppressed and have not been paid.

For example, the salaries of officials in Beijing have been in arrears for more than three months, and the salary arrears in many provinces have been in arrears for more than half a year.

There are also various vassal princes and clans, as well as a number of Lumi who should be honored this year. According to the calculation of the Ministry of Personnel, the salary required is two million three hundred thousand taels of silver and Lumi is about 12,584,000 shi."

After saying this, Han Wen, the Minister of Household Affairs, did not stand up to speak again, nor did he say anything about the fact that the treasury was not enough and could not be used.

Because it goes without saying.

There are only more than two million taels of silver left in the national treasury, and there are only tens of thousands of grains left in the major warehouses.

Even if we dismantle the treasury and sell the Nanxincang, Xingpingcang, Beixincang, and shipping warehouses that store grain into pieces, we still can't get so much silver and grain.

Everyone was silent, everyone knew that this year was not a problem of an empty treasury, but a deficit of the treasury, and the deficit was still such a large amount.

Even everyone knows where the big head is, the vassals from all over the Ming Dynasty, and the royal family members of the Ming Dynasty.

This year, various provinces in the north were hit by disasters. The taxes collected by the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty were more than 5.8 million shi, not counting the amount of money and grain.

This is all the taxes and grain collected in summer and autumn, and the annual distribution of rice to the clan and vassal kings requires 7 million shi.

In terms of taxes and grain, they could not make ends meet every year. Many times, they would break rice into silver and give it away to support the Ming Dynasty vassal family.

Seven million stone and rice were converted into silver taels, which was about two million taels. The silver in the treasury was enough, but if it continued like this, what would happen to the officials' salaries?

Emperor Hongzhi was also silent, gripping the thick yellow tablecloth tighter and tighter. After a long time, he asked aloud: "I remember that two months ago, a large and small official in Guangdi got two hundred and eighty taels of silver from his house. One hundred thousand taels, where did the nearly three million taels of dirty silver go?"

"Your Majesty, please forgive me."

Liu Jian, the chief assistant of the cabinet, stood up unhurriedly,

"It took more than half a year for Wang Hao, the governor's imperial envoy, to be sent to Guangdi. Guangdi officials submitted their charges through Jin Yiwei, and the three divisions jointly tried them: Thirty-two criminals were executed, and seven of them had their homes confiscated. More than twenty people were exiled.

There were also ninety-seven prisoners who were dismissed from their posts, had their status reduced to civilian status, and their homes were confiscated, resulting in a total of 2.83 million taels of dirty silver.

During the autumn floods this year, the Li River and Xijiang River in Guangxi and the Yingjiang and Jinsha River in Yunnan were flooded. A total of nine state capitals in the two provinces were hit by floods and people were displaced.

Two million of them were used to deal with the disasters in these two places, 800,000 taels were used to purchase grain for disaster relief in Jiangnan and other places, and the remaining more than one million were used to build river embankments and weirs.

In the end, the remaining 830,000 taels were escorted to the capital. Later, part of it was used to supply the Ministry of War to purchase military supplies, and part of it was used to reward the soldiers who had made meritorious service in appraising Miru.

All these have accounts that can be checked, and the funds were all reported to His Majesty when the appropriation was made. The money was only allocated with His Majesty's consent."

After hearing these words, Emperor Hongzhi didn't say much. It was not that he didn't remember these things, he just used them to make things right.

Finally, he looked at the Minister of Household Affairs and inquired: "Han Qing's family has such a big deficit in the treasury now. What do you think should be done?"

"Although I am the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the deficit of millions of taels is beyond my ability to resolve."

As he said that, Han Wen directly lifted up the hem of his robe and knelt on the ground, and then said: "Every stroke of this line is of great importance. Han Wen Fuwei, the Minister of Household Affairs, boldly asked Your Majesty to appropriate some silver from his own funds for the purpose."

Disburse arrears of salary rice."

"Oh," Zhu Youtang said in a long voice, and then asked: "You mean, do you want me to make up for the shortfall of millions of taels?"

"I don't dare, but now I have no other choice but to boldly appeal to Your Majesty for your kindness."

The other ministers also lifted their robes and knelt down one after another, "I am waiting for you to pray to Your Majesty for your mercy."

Seeing this scene, Zhu Youtang tightened his grip on the tablecloth and asked in a deep voice: "What do you mean, your Majesty, it is benevolent for me to give out this silver? If I don't give it out, wouldn't it be unkind?"

"I don't dare, and I have absolutely no intention of doing so!"

All the ministers kowtowed one after another and praised him: "Your Majesty is as benevolent as heaven, which can be seen by hundreds of millions of people in the world."

"I have always known that you are all virtuous ministers. Since all virtuous ministers have said so, I must be a virtuous king as benevolent as heaven."

Zhu Youtang smiled, a very soft smile, and said respectfully to the flute: "Xiao Banban, go and ask someone to open my internal funds, open the barn door wide, and let these wise ministers in."

Move the money, see how much is needed, and let them move it."

Hearing this, Xiao Jing quickly knelt down and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, please forgive me for being brave and unable to obey the imperial edict. There are tens of thousands of people in the palace who all rely on the Emperor's internal funds to support themselves. And"

"It doesn't matter."

In the middle of his words, Emperor Hongzhi interrupted him with a wave of his hand, and smiled more kindly, "All the wise ministers take state affairs as their own responsibilities, how can I, the emperor, be content with others? After all, this is my kingdom, and I, Zhu,

The world of family.

Move it, move it all, it doesn't matter if you empty out the money. It's just that I have a meal with the wind and dew, the queen and the prince have a meal with the dew, and then give a bowl to each of the tens of thousands of eunuchs and maids in the palace, so that

They just go out of the palace to beg for food."

"Also, in the Forbidden City, I have never accepted a concubine. Many palaces are empty and no one lives in them. If they are empty, they will be empty.

Xiao Banban went out of the palace to look for it. I heard that there were many dignitaries in the capital. I wanted to find a buyer to sell these idle palaces. This, coupled with the internal funds, should be enough to make up for the millions of taels.

deficit."

At this time, Liu Jian had no choice but to answer the call and quickly kowtowed: "I will be punished by death. I beg your majesty to calm down."

"Calm down your anger? I have never been angry, so how can I say that I should calm down my anger?"

With a gentle smile on his face, Zhu Youtang continued: "You and your family are worried about state affairs and my country. If I get angry, wouldn't I become a foolish king who doesn't know right from wrong?"

"I don't dare to do it, I will die anyway."

"You don't have to die ten thousand times, as people often say, waste money and eliminate disasters."

Emperor Hongzhi's tone was still kind, "I have emptied the internal funds and sold the palaces in the Forbidden City to fill the treasury deficit of millions of taels. Maybe I won't have to bear the reputation of being unkind."

Bar?"

"I don't dare. Your Majesty is the king and father of me and all the people in the world. How can a son do such a treasonous act as scolding his father for being unkind?"

Liu Jian first set the tone, then raised his head, his eyes were already moist, "I have experienced three dynasties, and I have never seen a saintly king like your Majesty. But now the national treasury is in such a huge deficit, I have no other choice.

, just then I prayed to your father to make the decision.

But I have no intention of persecuting your father, and we, the ministers, will never dare to persecute your father."

As he spoke, he wiped his tears with his sleeves and continued: "What your father just said, every word he said was so heartbreaking, like a knife cutting out flesh, it really made the ministers want to die from shame. Now the country is so difficult.

, I am also extremely worried, and I hope your Majesty will learn from it!"
Chapter completed!