Chapter 239 Data Governance
In Su Ze’s view, there has never been a so-called civil servant group or a distinguished group.
Maybe all classes have their own interests, but every specific person has his own personal interests.
For example, these nobles of the Ming Dynasty, such as Linhuai Marquis Li Tingzhu, can only be regarded as stupid. As a descendant of the Ming Dynasty God of War Li Jinglong, the nominal highest military officer in Southern Zhili, it cannot be said that he has no achievements in military command. , I can only say that it would be good not to cause any trouble to Yang Bo, the Minister of War in Nanjing.
The Marquis of Linhuai can only be regarded as stupid, then the current Wei Guogong is bad.
The current Duke of Wei, Xu Pengju, went to the Nanjing Ministry of War and asked for fifty thousand taels of silver, saying that he wanted to recruit troops to fight against the Japanese.
Of course the Nanjing Ministry of War knew the virtues of this man. Xu Pengju was known as Xu Peipei. If he was given fifty thousand taels of silver, he would not even pay a penny to the soldiers.
After this man was rejected, he went to the Nanjing Ministry of War and asked Yang Bo to immediately send troops to protect the Xu family's ancestral property on Shadao.
Naturally, Yang Bo sternly rejected this man again. He did not look at the current situation of the war in Zhenjiang. His Xu family had fled back to Nanjing without a fight. How could he have the nerve to ask the imperial court to send troops to regain his ancestral property now? .
These two are stupid and bad, but they can't urinate in the same pot on weekdays. During these days, they are attacking each other and fighting for power.
The nobles of the Ming Dynasty have fallen into such depravity, and the fighting ability of the civil servants is actually not very good.
If the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty could really unite to fight against the emperor, then the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty would have been restricted to death.
Although the current Taojun emperor is slacking in government affairs, he has controlled the situation of the court by confusing the interests of ministers and taking advantage of the mutual distrust between ministers.
But even with the so-called Strict Party and Qingliu Party, everyone within the two parties also has their own interests and demands.
The Yan Party that now occupies the court has various small factions within it, and the demands of these factions may be completely opposite.
There is no party within the party, there are imperial ideas, there are no factions within the party, and there are all kinds of strange things.
As Yan Song grew older, more members of the Yan Party surrounded Yan Shifan, and a small old faction was formed within the Yan Party.
Yan Shifan is now the Minister of the Ministry of Industry. He was only a supervisor of Menyin of the Imperial College. He was able to become the head of the six ministries without taking the imperial examination. This was a miracle that broke the career ceiling in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, when academic qualifications were valued.
Yan Shifan was not able to enter the cabinet because he did not have the status of a Hanlin official, but his minister of the Ministry of Industry also had a high position of power.
The Ministry of Industry is the one with the broadest responsibilities among the six ministries. In addition to helping the emperor build palaces and temples, Yan Shifan also manages the construction of warships, the deployment of water transport vessels, the management of national river water conservancy projects, and government-run iron mines and industries in various places. Square.
In addition to these management functions, the Ministry of Industry also has the right to collect taxes. This is the Ministry of Industry's "Jie Shen Treasury".
The main reason why the Yan family and his son were able to rule the court for a long time was not because Yan Song and Yan Shifan were good at writing Qingci, but because both father and son were good at managing the emperor's finances.
Yan Shifan was able to take charge of the Ministry of Industry not because he was good at civil engineering, but because he was good at collecting money.
In the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing's reign, the emperor ordered that four parts of the "silver fines for guilty officials" and the "salt revenue from Kai Zhongfa" should be given to the Ministry of Industry. Under Yan Shifan's flattery, Jie Shenku almost became another inner treasury of the emperor. , the emperor's large expenditures came from Jieshen's treasury, and Yan Shifan did not have all kinds of complaints like the Ministry of Revenue, but actively helped the emperor make money.
Yan Shifan suggested to the emperor that he distribute more salt in the south of the Yangtze River and raise money and grain to fight against the Japanese in the southeast.
The emperor ordered the salt farms in Zhili in the north and south to sell salt. The money was raised by Nanjing itself to make up for the shortage of silver in the anti-Japanese border.
To put it bluntly, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs in the capital could no longer afford the money, so they asked Nanjing to sell the salt guide and raise some funds for the anti-Japanese war.
In current terms, superiors are responsible for providing policy support, and lower-level units are responsible for solving funding problems themselves.
Yan Shifan immediately asked his cronies to go to South Zhili with policies and large amounts of salt.
In June, Zhang Juzheng returned to the capital after two years of sick leave and returned to serve in the Hanlin Academy.
On the day Zhang Juzheng returned to the capital, there was almost no good news for the court in June.
The soldiers and horses of the Nanjing Camp defended Zhenjiang, but because the ships of the Yangtze River Navy were almost burned, the soldiers and horses of Zhenjiang could only look at Yangzhou on the opposite side and sigh, unable to cross the river to fight in the north of the Yangtze River.
The soldiers and horses in Yangzhou could only defend Yangzhou. After Xu Hai failed to attack Yangzhou for a long time, he began to disperse his troops and invade other areas in northern Jiangsu. Taizhou was in distress, Huai'an was in distress, Yancheng was in distress, and even some Japanese pirates had arrived. to Xuzhou.
Hu Zongxian also had a hard time in Zhejiang. The Japanese pirates in Pinghu and Cixi were repelled, but the Japanese pirates began to land from the east coast of Zhejiang again, and Ningbo and Hangzhou were also attacked.
Hu Zongxian accepted Xu Wei's suggestion and began to build ships along the coast. He changed from passively welcoming the Japanese pirates who landed to actively attacking the Japanese pirates at sea.
However, too much of the technology of the coastal shipyards of the Ming Dynasty was lost, and the construction capacity of large ships has not yet been restored. Hu Zongxian could only requisition merchant ships and fishing boats for war.
In addition to Zhejiang, Shandong is also the area hardest hit by Japanese rebellion.
Wang Shizhen, the leader of the literary circles of the Ming Dynasty, served as the deputy envoy of Shandong Province and was responsible for military preparations to fight against the Japanese in Qingzhou.
Wang Shizhen's father, Wang Yan, became the right deputy censor of the capital, governor of Datong, and the right minister of the Ministry of War, acting as governor of Su Liao. Soon, he became the censor of the right capital and was responsible for the fight against the Tatars in the north.
There were wars everywhere throughout the Ming Dynasty, and disaster relief in Guanzhong continued, but bad luck often happened together.
In June of the thirty-sixth year of the Jiajing reign, a fire suddenly broke out in the Three Palaces. The left and right corridors outside Fengtian Gate (today's Taihe Gate), Zuoshun Gate (today's Left Wing Gate), Youshun Gate (today's Right Wing Gate), and Meridian Gate were all burned down.
In other words, the fire burned along the east and west corridors of the three main halls to the outside of the Meridian Gate. Almost the entire three main halls were burned down.
Fires in the Forbidden City are actually not a rare thing. During the reign of Yongle Emperor Zhu Di, the three main halls were burned down once. It was not until the Yingzong period that the three main halls were rebuilt.
After the palace disaster occurred, the superstitious Emperor Jiajing thought it was a warning from God. He ordered the Ministry of Household Affairs to step up the collection of ambergris, and he would continue to pray to God in Yuxi Palace.
However, under such a tight financial situation, the emperor still ignored the dissuasion of his ministers and demanded that the construction of the three main halls be started immediately.
In order to raise funds to rebuild the ruined palace, Emperor Jiajing ordered the three ministries of household affairs, military affairs, and industry to raise funds of 300,000 taels of silver.
Yan Shifan reported to the emperor that all provinces had been in arrears with the Ministry of Works for years, and asked the emperor to send a censor to collect the money owed over the years.
The emperor immediately agreed to Yan Shifan's suggestion and ordered the use of illegal fines and vacant salaries stored in various places. In the end, feeling that it was still insufficient, he ordered officials from the Ministry of Industry in the North and South Zhili to search in various treasuries and take any good ones.
Just when the national finances were in such a tight situation, bad news came from Nanzhili. Twenty thousand dan of grain to be transported to the capital was stored in Changping warehouse, but was burned by Japanese pirates.
In addition to the 20,000 dan of grain, the Japanese pirates harassed canal water transportation along the way, and nearly 10,000 dan of grain were robbed or lost. After receiving the news, the price of food in the capital rose rapidly, rising by 50% in three days.
Just when the court was enveloped in bad news, the good news in the two memorials was very eye-catching.
The first one was Fang Wanghai, who had only been appointed as the envoy of Chaoguan last year. He wrote to the court that this year a banknote customs duty of 30,000 taels of silver had been levied. This money had been piled in Huguan, Suzhou, and would be sent to Beijing as soon as water transportation became smooth.
Another piece of good news is that Eunuch Tao of Fujian Minting has approved the total fire consumption of 50,000 taels of silver earned from Fujian Minting last year, and this money is also ready to be sent to the capital at any time.
These two pieces of good news finally put Emperor Jiajing in a good mood, and the sound of copper coins in Yuxi Palace kept ringing. The two sums of money were not much, but they added up to a lot, especially the customs duties on banknotes were a sum of money. Stable tax revenue.
In June, the emperor issued an order to upgrade Fang Wanghai's original position as the right censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate to another level, appointing him as the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing, with full responsibility for the bank affairs of Zhejiang and Nanzhili.
Tao Gonggong joined the Bureau of Ceremonies and gave him the position of eunuch Bingbi in advance. He could only return to the Bureau of Ceremonies as an errand after Tao Gonggong's term in the Shipping Department was over.
In addition, Fang Wanghai's wife, Li, also received imperial orders, and even Fang Wanghai's son received a Yin officer.
In the camp next to Gushan Village in Jingjiang, the appearance of the camp of the Anti-Japanese Anti-Smuggling Corps has changed.
The original simple house has been turned into a wooden house. Su Ze set up a beacon tower and watchtower on the lonely mountain, and also built a small lighthouse on the seaside.
Su Ze's command post also changed from a simple tent to a wooden house, and wooden stakes were erected around the camp.
Su Ze is playing chess with Xu Shixing.
Over the past few days, it can be said that Xu Shixing's chess skills have greatly declined.
Su Ze's chess game was weird. He never played cards according to common sense or ancient chess records, which made Xu Shixing's chess game become more and more crooked.
It’s okay if the chess game is crooked. The most unfortunate thing is that he can’t play Su Ze!
Su Ze can always come up with some amazing tricks, and behind the unconventional tricks, there is a magic trick to win without any tricks.
"Brother Rulin, let Mr. Zhuo Wu play chess with you next time."
Xu Shixing was so tortured that he grabbed the chess pieces and was about to admit defeat.
Su Ze was thinking about the Yangtze River War. How could he admit defeat? He quickly said: "The game is not over yet! How can we give up so easily!"
Xu Shixing looked at the big dragon that was being hunted. Is this called chess? over?
Xu Shixing had given up completely and just ended up following his instinct. He said while making his move:
"Brother Rulin, are you not worried about the bank account at all?"
Su Ze said with a smile: "As long as a person does the accounting, there will always be traces. , It is not that the gantry account cannot be reconciled, but if you make too many false accounts, you will always be exposed. Mr. Zhuo Wu and Brother Xu do not want to dig out all the silverfish, as long as they find the most greedy and stupid ones. Just come out."
Xu Shixing thought for a while, and it seemed that this was indeed the case. His father, the prefect, also managed subordinate officials in this way on weekdays. Beating a few subordinate officials who went too far could make the management of officials clearer.
Su Ze asked again: "How is the price of food in Suzhou now?"
Xu Shixing sighed and said: "It has increased by 60%. I heard that the Japanese pirates are making trouble in Jiangbei. There must be no grain harvest this year. Suzhou will be short of food in half a year."
"Report!"
"Come in!"
A messenger sent a letter to Su Ze. Su Ze opened it and said with a smile:
"Talk about Cao Cao, Cao Cao is here, Zhuo Wu There is a letter from Mr. Su Ze."
Su Ze opened the letter. The first half was filled with Li Zhi's complaints. As soon as he and Xu Guo arrived at Huguan, they checked the accounts day and night. Finally, they found more than a dozen places where the account books could not be reconciled and found out Got several big rats.
Fang Wanghai also made a prompt decision, cut through the mess quickly, and used the military law of the anti-Japanese period to deal with these rats, which greatly shocked the subordinate officials in the entire bank office.
Su Ze handed the letter to Xu Shixing and said, "As expected, Helongmen caught these stinky fish and rotten shrimps, and the Chaoguan Hall can be considered calm for a while." Xu Shixing also often wondered how Su Ze's brain grew
. He was more experienced than his father, the prefect, and even found out the corrupt officials hidden in three banknotes through the account books. If all the officials in the Ming Dynasty were as powerful as him, I am afraid that the officialdom would have been clear by now.
After reading the letter, Xu Shixing looked up and saw Su Ze making an abacus.
Su Ze had a complicated report in his hand. The report was densely packed with numbers in small regular script. This was the report sent with Li Zhi's letter.
Although Su Ze's accounting skills were only Level 4, with the blessing of intelligence and the assistance of mathematical skills, he quickly saw some abnormalities in the reports.
"Rulin, what is this?"
Su Ze said: "This is a record of the customs duties paid by past ships, including the items and quantities of goods paid." "Is this a
problem? Are there still subordinate officials who are corrupt?"
Su Ze Ze shook his head and said: "If the report can be closed, Mr. Zhuo Wu and Brother Xu have already seen the problems. I just think this report is a bit strange." "Weird?" "Yes, Brother Rumo, look at
it
. , starting from this month, twenty merchant ships have passed through Huguan and headed south, transporting grain."
Customs duties are to estimate the type and quantity of goods, and then levy them in proportion after converting the amount, so each collection record contains Naturally, there are names for the goods.
"Nowadays, the price of rice in the south of the Yangtze River is high. Isn't it normal to transport grain from the north to sell it?" "
No, this is not normal. It would be normal if it cost several hundred and several thousand dan, but these days, 10,000 dan of grain have been transported to Jiangnan and Zhejiang, this is not a small amount of money."
"Ten thousand dan?" Xu Shixing was also frightened by this number. Xu Shixing worked as an aide for his father. He knew that the annual grain tax of a Jiangnan government was only 200,000 dan. What? Can a merchant sell ten thousand dan of grain at once?
Su Ze said again: "It's all new food."
At this time, Xu Shixing's expression changed.
(End of chapter)