MTL - My Brother-in-law is the Prince-Chapter 340 Unpredictable

  Chapter 340 Emperor's heart is unpredictable

  More than two million taels...Commercial tax...

  This number is beyond Zhu Di's imagination.

  In the eyes of the world, Zhu Di is a "great success" emperor.

  Because of his 'great success', he naturally wasted countless money.

  He went to the north again and again, sailed to the west again and again, and launched a war against Annan.

Therefore, he was persuaded by countless ministers, except Xia Yuanji who was grey-haired every day in the household department, and naturally there were ministers like Li Shimian who almost didn't **** Zhu Di off at the beginning, thinking that these things Zhu Di did were empty. The national treasury was exhausted, and the people's power was wasted.

   I don’t know if Zhang Anshi was wasted on the power of the people, but it emptied the national treasury... This really wronged Zhu Di.

  Based on the taxation capacity of the Ming Dynasty, the actual situation is that although Zhu Di has done a lot of things, in fact...even if he doesn't do these things, his annual income can be said to be poor.

  One of the most important reasons is that commercial tax is almost difficult to collect, or...not collected at all.

This is also a miraculous thing. The two wealthiest groups in the world, one is the gentry and the other is the merchants, and they don’t need to pay taxes. They, in fact, were definitely not insignificantly exploited, but these exploits had nothing to do with the imperial treasury.

Looking at this amount, Zhu Di said: "They all say they want to recuperate and live, and join his mother's house. Why... they are all so rich, more than two million taels. In previous years, the whole world would only get so much in silver taxes in a year. It also includes official salt and iron silver, and now a single government can do it."

Zhang Anshi said with a smile: "In order to encourage business, in fact, I have set the business tax very low, and it is not good to have too much. The merchants all praised the kindness of the minister, saying that a kind person like the minister would find a man with a lantern." no."

   "Nonsense." Zhu Di smiled: "You took away more than two million taels from others, and you still point to others to praise you?"

   "Your Majesty, if merchants make a profit, they don't really care about paying a little tax. What they fear is uncertainty..."

"Um?"

  Zhang Anshi certainly knows that no one likes to pay taxes. The reason why he said this is that merchants in this era have more terrible things that make them prefer to pay taxes honestly.

Zhang Anshidao: "I asked someone to investigate, and they said that in Qixia, there was a merchant who was originally a peddler. Later, he gradually gained some capital, so he sold silk. He said that he used to do this silk business. Buying goods is inherently risky. One is afraid of bandits, and the other is fear of officials. If the bandits see you have money, they may kill people and steal the goods. However, if you go through various ports and passes with silk, if you are targeted by officials, or Some local local snakes will inevitably frame you for crimes. For safety, you have to try your best to squeeze money, and you are panicked every day, so... On the surface, the government did not collect taxes from him, but in fact , In order to deal with officials and thieves, his expenses are at least three to five times what they are now, not to mention, I don’t know when he will get involved in a lawsuit, or... be killed by bandits."

Zhang Anshi continued: "But the Taiping Mansion has established a rule. As long as the tax is paid, the government will try its best to fight against bandits. Besides, it will try its best to provide convenience. I dare not say that there is no possibility of collusion between the government and businessmen, but among them However, the exploitation has been reduced by 70% to 80%, and this merchant feels that buying a gun is ten times better than before. Now in Taiping Mansion... all kinds of workshops and many shops are born in this way."

Zhu Di seems to have grasped the core of it: "You mean...the merchants...in fact, all the money that should have been paid out, and a lot of it, but...the money...falls into other people's pockets. "

  Zhang Anshi smiled awkwardly: "I didn't say anything, I just made an analogy."

  Zhu Di snorted coldly through his nose: "No wonder everyone here is obstructing the New Deal, one by one, like a mourning concubine, and they all have plausible arguments, huh..."

  Zhang Anshi said: "Your Majesty, forget it, don't worry about it, can you still kill them?"

  It’s okay if Zhang Anshi didn’t say anything, but Zhu Di was furious when he said that, “What if I kill them?”

  Zhang Anshi laughed dryly: "Hey... Forget it, forget it, kill one, the new one is still the same... If you don't shovel the soil, it will be futile. I think... this matter... let's forget it."

Zhu Di gritted his teeth, and the back molars were about to be crushed: "Then we will eradicate them together. The merchants and the common people complained incessantly, and all the money was squeezed out, and no penny came to me. Whose world is this?" "

  Zhang Anshi was silent.

   "Huh?" Zhu Di originally thought that Zhang Anshi would follow Zhang Anshi's words and say that it is naturally His Majesty's world.

  But Zhang Anshi's face showed embarrassment, which made Zhu Di's heart... suddenly sink.

   I have to say that silence can sometimes cause great harm to people.

  Zhu Di said: "Could it be that you mean... this is not my Ming Dynasty?"

   "I didn't say that."

  Zhu Di said: "If you have something to say, it doesn't matter."

  Zhang Anshi said awkwardly: "Your Majesty, it's almost over, this matter can't be delved into."

  Zhu Di was furious: "I see there is something in your words."

  Zhang Anshi coughed: "The crime of death."

  Zhu Di was angry for a while, but after all, he had no way to vent his anger on Zhang Anshi, so he had to lower his head, continue to read the memorial, and said, "Your grid looks interesting."

Zhang Anshidao: "That's right, I'm the governor of the right now, and manages many prefectures and counties. In order to select talents, and also for the governance of each prefecture, I plan to use this form as a means of performance. Your Majesty, look, this form will be used in the future. There will be a comparison of taxes in various prefectures and counties. In addition...there is also annual growth. The output of pig iron, silk, and cloth above the designated scale. In the future, I plan to further refine the statistics, and count the number of medical clinics and doctors, the number of workshops above the designated scale, and even the annual construction of water conservancy, bridges, roads, etc. .Your Majesty, in the eyes of the minister, it is meaningless to measure the quality of an official by the so-called gentleman. We often say that all the people are upright, but in fact this is just a joke. Who is right and who is evil? Can you tell the difference? Doing so will only make ministers blindly pay attention to the so-called "official voice", and the "official voice" just makes officials timid in governing."

   "Scared?"

Zhang Anshidao: "In the actual process of governing the prefectures and counties, I discovered a very serious problem, that is, no matter what is promoted, there will always be a lot of opposition, and those who gain benefits... generally You can't make a sound, but if you lose out because of this, you will inevitably yell and scold everywhere. Think about it, Your Majesty, if you pay too much attention to the official voice, what will be the final result? It is an official, not Dare to do things, so it becomes a daily chat, just like this voyage to the Western Ocean. His Majesty wants to voyage to the Western Ocean, which will inevitably attract controversy, but what are the benefits of voyages to the Western Ocean? It will attract criticism from countless people.”

"And it's precisely those... people like Li Shimian in the court, who, as court officials, hardly take charge of actual affairs, only talk about it every day, or they will impeach this one today, and impeach that one tomorrow with heartache. It seems that everything he does is pleading for the people, but in fact, what good is he in this world if he sits on the people's fat and the people's anointing? However, such a pragmatic person is often praised as a gentleman and regarded as a minister. Praise, everyone applauds, dare to ask Your Majesty... Is the purpose of the imperial court to support scholars to let them govern the world, or to let them receive salaries and build up fame? Isn't this the same as offering a clay bodhisattva?"

"So I think... this is the biggest harm of this dynasty. If the whole dynasty is full of people who talk like this, sooner or later there will be big problems. I think it's better to formulate a performance and use data to speak. Other things in this world It can be deceiving, of course, data can also be deceiving, but at least... it is much more accurate than most things. The quality of a place's governance is nothing more than looking at its money and food, its school children, and whether the people are sick In order to seek medical advice, and whether the transportation is convenient, all these factors are tabulated, and everything is clear."

  After hearing this, Zhu Di was quite moved: "You can try it, so let's start with you."

  Zhang Anshi said: "Yes."

  Zhu Di sighed immediately: "The matter of my brother... that is, the king of Shu... still worries me. He is an honest man. I didn't expect that he would be dragged into such right and wrong."

   Zhu Di was depressed when he said this.

  Many of Zhu Di's brothers may be very ambitious because their fathers are all Zhu Yuanzhang.

  But this King of Shu, to be honest, is a rare honest person, but he was suddenly coaxed up by such a person with a good reputation, but Zhu Di had to be vigilant.

   After all, the brothers Zhu Di and the king of Shu are still harmonious in nature. Now everyone praises the king of Shu as a wise man, but to some extent, it is actually a yin and yang quirk that Zhu Di is not wise. In this way, Zhu Di must be wary of the king of Shu.

  Many times, the so-called kinship in the family is under such circumstances, and it is inevitable to move towards confrontation step by step, not to mention brothers, even father and son.

  Zhang Anshidao: "Your Majesty... I have two preparations, please rest assured, Your Majesty."

  Zhu Di was inconvenient to say anything to Zhang Anshi, so he just nodded and said, "Go."

  Zhang Anshi left.

  The study class on the form went very smoothly, and the counties have allocated manpower to study, and then... Zhang Anshi ordered the printing workshop to print a large number of special forms and distribute them to the counties.

  As for the matter of money and food, in fact, everyone is also very handy.

The new officials in various prefectures and counties immediately copy the experience of the Taiping Mansion, and quickly investigate Yintian. Since it is Yintian, then... it is a crime. All the hidden fields were confiscated.

  Suddenly, there was a lot of complaints, half of Zhili seemed to be in the crater of a volcano, and there were even many incidents of attacking and killing civil servants.

  Therefore, the Model Battalion went out to suppress the bandits, and Jin Yiwei Ti rode out everywhere.

  Finally, the situation just calmed down in early winter.

   Taking advantage of the slack in farming, they began to measure the land and distribute the land. Because the experience was ready-made, there was no trouble. Of course, this was the result of Jin Yiwei's probing around.

However, bad things happen occasionally. For example, in Suzhou County, someone set fire to the county government office. Because the fire was burning oil, the fire was not extinguished, and the local county magistrate was directly burned to death. Seven or eight were burned to death.

  Zhang Anshi led his troops to Suzhou overnight, searched and searched the damage all night, and ordered compensation.

  After the matter was settled and returned to Qixia, Zhang Anshi summoned Chen Lilai. Chen Li was already panicked, and when he saw Zhang Anshi, he bowed down and said, "Humble and incompetent."

  Zhang Anshidao: "There is no reason to guard against thieves for a thousand days, but in the future, we should be more careful in doing things. We must strictly guard against death and prevent these things from happening."

   "I also heard that... many subordinate officials of our Left Governor's Mansion...their...their family members..."

"you say…"

   "Humblely found out that many of these people's family members are in their hometowns, and some people threatened...to harm them, not only that...The ancestral grave of Wei's family in Shouzhou County...was also dug up, opened the coffin and killed the corpse..."

  Zhang Anshi stood up and paced back and forth. He took a deep breath, and he knew in his heart that such conflicts could no longer be resolved.

  Back when they were confined to the Taiping Mansion, they hadn't reached the point where swords were at war, but now...they have reached the point where they are on fire.

"Through the investigation, we must find out who did it. After the investigation, all the people involved, as well as their family members, will be sentenced to prison. They dare to play such horrible tricks in front of me, Zhang Anshi. , It’s really tricky.”

"Yes."

"and also…"

   "What is the command of the governor?"

   "Send more people to protect me."

   "Ah... yes, yes... I am humble and careless, and I neglected this matter. I am humble and die."

  Zhang Anshi waved his hand: "Go."

   After several months, letters of decree were sent to Chengdu.

  Shu King Zhu Chun hurried to Beijing.

  Zhu Di ordered all post stations to let them have a good life and entertain them along the way.

  At the beginning of November, finally...Zhu Chun went west and finally arrived in the capital.

   This journey is bound to be tiring, and Zhu Chun has always been frugal, not luxurious, and the retinues he brought are only a few people.

  He arrived in Guangdezhou first.

  This Guangde Prefecture is the border of Zhili in the south, and the people who passed along the way...Zhu Chun was in a bad mood.

Ting pushed him, the king of Shu, to be the governor of the left, which made Zhu Chun very vigilant about it. He is not ignorant of the situation in the capital. Some staff members of the palace of the king of Shu are also worried that this time...may arouse doubts in the palace about him, the king of Shu. .

   It’s just that... at this time, he had to come, because if he refused to enter Beijing, it might arouse everyone’s suspicion.

Zhu Chun got his name from advocating enlightenment. In the palace, a large number of sages gathered. The most famous of them was Fang Xiaoru at the beginning. However, Fang Xiaoru entered the court as an official. Who would have thought that he would be killed by Zhu Di in the end? It made Zhu Chun very regretful.

  Among the few people accompanying him this time, there were two great Confucian scholars accompanying him.

One is Liu Guangjin, who is a famous Confucian in Shu, and the other is Liu Desheng. This Liu Desheng once passed the imperial examinations, but he is not keen on the imperial examinations. Instead, he is obsessed with painting and poetry, and is used to idleness. However, Zhu Chun treats him with courtesy. .

  The three of them plus a few guards were worried along the way.

  Zhu Chun was in a very bad mood, and when he arrived in Guangdezhou, he was even more depressed.

   There was still some distance from the inn in front, and Zhu Chun was already exhausted, so he let people live at will. The three of them were all dressed as Confucian scholars, so they didn't attract too many people's attention.

  After moving in, Liu Guangjin and Liu Desheng came to see Zhu Chun in his bedroom, and they bowed to Zhu Chun: "Your Highness, I'm going to Beijing soon, do you want to send a horse to let me know first?"

  Zhu Chun put down the "Xianyuan Ruizhi Collection" he compiled, and looked up at the two: "No need, keep everything simple, don't make a big show, otherwise it will inevitably attract attention, which is not a good thing."

  Liu Guangjin nodded: "Is Your Highness still worried about the things His Majesty doubts?"

  Zhu Chun pondered for a moment: "Sometimes, people will be burdened by fame. This king naturally knows what the princes in the court are thinking. They want to use this king to question His Majesty's national policy..."

  Liu Guangjin sighed: "Your Highness, the imperial court has indeed gone too far in the past two years. If this continues, sooner or later, big things will happen. What is the difference between your majesty's move and burning books and burying scholars?"

  Zhu Chun said seriously, "Speak carefully."

   "Yes." Liu Guangjin quickly fell silent.

   But Liu Desheng smiled: "Your Highness... If His Highness meets His Majesty, will His Majesty really let His Highness be the Governor of the Left?"

  Zhu Chun pondered: "What I have seen and heard along the way, most of what I have seen is the poor livelihood of the people, hey..."

  Liu Desheng said: "Then His Highness means..."

  Zhu Chun said: "Hey, let's not talk about this..."

  He shook his head, but he didn't express his feelings.

  Liu Desheng and Liu Guangjin obviously knew that His Highness the King of Shu was a cautious person, not that he didn't trust them.

   But even he himself still can't make up his mind.

  If he stays in the capital, he will be feared by his elder brother. In addition, his reputation is too great, and the more officials praise him, the more he will seek disaster.

   But looking at the world... in such a state, that even hundreds of officials would deliberately embarrass His Majesty at the risk of beheading. It can be seen that the situation in the court has reached the point of no control. If you don't do something, you will be sorry for your ancestors.

"During this journey, the officials along the way heard that His Royal Highness the King of Shu had entered Beijing, and they were all elated. There were also many local officials who were moved to tears..." Liu Desheng said with emotion: "Everyone said... If His Royal Highness the King of Shu can take the burden Da Ren, maybe the world will turn around, but Daming can no longer stand the toss."

  Liu Guangjin sighed: "But this undoubtedly puts His Royal Highness Shu in a dilemma. The clan's governance of the capital, at least in my Ming Dynasty, is unprecedented. His Royal Highness Shu is expected by everyone. This is not a good thing."

  What both of them said made sense, so Zhu Chun pondered and said, "Go to bed early, we have to hurry tomorrow."

Early the next morning, Zhu Chun set off. He usually reads for a while when he wakes up. He just had some refreshments, and then continued to set off. I'm too lazy to learn that I will meet my parents here.

  A moment later, the guards brought Zhu Chun's donkey, and Zhu Chun got on the donkey, and rode away with the other two.

  Out of the city, they came to a place. Before they had gone far, they were suddenly stopped by a group of farmers. Someone led dozens of people to rush forward, and one of them shouted: "Bold, you have trampled our crops."

  Seeing this, Zhu Chun was calm and relaxed, and he had a kind of nobility that was not angry but prestige.

  Liu Desheng was furious, and shouted: "Don't cause trouble."

  The first few guards also became nervous.

  The man stepped forward: "I see that they are not good people. I am the chief of the local village. Come...see what they have loaded."

  He yelled loudly, and a group of farmers wanted to swarm up behind him.

  Liu Desheng said: "Do you know who we are?"

"I only know that you are not scholars." The manager crossed his hands and said triumphantly: "Although you are wearing Confucian shirts and scarves, you are carrying so much goods, but the Confucian shirt and scarves are made of Shu embroidery. , but it is spoken in Fengyang official dialect, nine out of ten, you are merchants from Qixia, right now, there are many merchants, in order to avoid trouble, they deliberately use the clothes of scholars to deceive us, and you Riding a donkey is neither fish nor fowl, if you are a scholar, you will definitely not be like this, there is a rule in this state, all merchants crossing the border, the goods need to be drawn for ten, and let people see what kind of goods you are betting on here."

  Here grows menacing, with a smug look.

  Zhu Chun smiled: "What's the difference between you and a strong man?"

   "Stop rambling, this is the rule here."

  The guards have begun to touch the swords on their bodies.

   It's a pity that the chief here was quite annoyed. He stepped forward and kicked Zhu Chun's donkey severely. The donkey let out a startled cry and started running around.

  Zhu Chun was so startled that he fell off the donkey.

  In an instant, the guards drew their swords one after another. After a long look here, they were also shocked: "This is the official army."

  He shouted loudly, turned and fled.

  The farmers were overwhelmed and dispersed.

  Liu Desheng and the two quickly helped Zhu Chun up and helped him dust off his body.

  Zhu Chun was in extreme embarrassment, and said: "The world has become like this, hey..."

   "Your Highness, I will write a letter to the county government in this county, calling them Sona thief."

  Zhu Chun shook his head and sighed: "There are so many people like this in the world, what's the use of taking one?"

  At that moment, he comforted the donkey, turned over again and said, "Let's go, let's go, we'll talk about it when we get to the capital, don't make any troubles."

  Zhu Chun looked up, and there was a ferry in front of him, but he found that it was crowded with people.

  Zhu Chun didn't ride a donkey at all, and walked for nearly a mile before barely getting close.

   But I saw that this place was already overcrowded, many people brought their families with them, and some even brought their luggage.

  At the ferry, there were quite a few officers and soldiers, shouting something.

  Zhu Chun pulled one person, said: "What is this for? Are you going to the market?"

  The man turned his head back, with a resentful look, he only vaguely said: "You also go to the Taiping Mansion to ask for a living? Be careful, now the road guide is strictly checked..."

  ...

   It will be adjusted in these two days. This is the second update yesterday. The update will be moved back in these two days. There are two more updates today.

  (end of this chapter)