.Chapter 783: Court Promotion (Part 2)
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As soon as the silent debate was released, the article was transferred to the Censorate, which was considered to have entered the review stage. In the afternoon of that day, the cabinet sent a letter to various departments and government offices, which was scheduled to postpone the court's next day, and the specific time will be notified separately. Zhang Juzheng had already learned the news in advance, but he didn't care about the joints in it, and was worried about the moment in front of him...
Since the military supplies case was released, Gao Yao, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was waiting for punishment at home. Zhang Juzheng was temporarily in charge of the ministry as the Minister of the Ministry. At this time, he, a rude official, should be focused on the direction of the wind and running for his personal destiny. The ministry official should be paralyzed. But he was not the case. This was the first time he was able to display his talents as a minister in the past twenty years. Zhang Juzheng has been waiting for this opportunity for a long time and must not miss it.
So he began to rectify the department affairs, and first introduced the 'Examination Method' to register the things that each department needs to do in the account book and conduct regular inspections. For each task undertaken by the officials, one must be recorded for each completion. Otherwise, it must be declared truthfully, otherwise it will be punished for violations. Mr. Zhang was a serious and profound person, and everyone in the Ministry of Revenue was very afraid of him. In addition, it was said that he was about to enter the cabinet, so he endured it and went there anyway, so no one stood up and sang the opposite.
As a result, the clearance of the accounting of the departments of the Ministry of Revenue, the accounting of the accounting and the charging of the collection were several times busier than in the past. Not only did it not become paralyzed, it shone brightly and made people look at it with admiration. But this cannot change the fact that Taicang is empty, has high debts, and has not settled for all expenses.
Now, Xu Yangzheng, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, complained in Zhang Juzheng's room: "All accounts have been verified and verified. The last money in the treasury has been forcibly taken away by the Ministry of War. Now he is poor and has a lot of debts. The project funds of the Ministry of Works, and the salary and salary of the next month are all burning. Taiyue, you can think of it." He was a Jinshi in the 20th year of Jiajing and a Shuji scholar. He is much older than Zhang Juzheng. However, his official career was bumpy. In the 27th year of Jiajing, he wrote a memorial to impeach Yan Shifan for stealing his father's power and accepting bribes. As a result, Yan Song was beaten to court and demoted to the Dianshi of Tonghai County, Yunnan. Although the Yan father and son hated him very much, Xu Yangzheng was already famous all over the world and could not be harmed. In the next twenty years, he served as the chief official of Zhaoqing Prefecture, Guangdong and the assistant minister of Guizhou. He was always suppressed in a remote and wilderness.
It was not until Yan Shifan fell that he became the Minister of Guanglu Temple in Nanjing, and then transferred to the left of the Ministry of Revenue. As a result, he was implicated by the Zhenwu Camp mutiny and almost fell into trouble again. Fortunately, his master Xu Jie was in power at this time and moved him to the right of the Ministry of Revenue... Although it seemed that he had been reduced by half a level, from Nanjing to Beijing, he entered the temple and entered the temple. Anyone with a discerning eye knew that this was an open decline and secret promotion.
After coming to Beijing, Xu Jie talked to him, earnestly hoping for "suffering the country and benefiting the people" and hoped that he could provide good guidance and support Zhang Juzheng, so he was not polite to Lord Xiao Zhang.
"Didn't you say that you would suppress the amount of the Ministry of War?" Zhang Juzheng frowned.
"Can I hold back?" Xu Yangzheng said with anger on his wrinkled face: "Who knows what Yang Bo's bull's nose is crazy? He said it well, pay half of it first and the next half of the two million taels of payment, but he actually brought his troops to Taicang to grab the money. I went to question him why he had agreed to change his mind, but he turned his back and refused to admit it and asked me to show evidence." As he said that, he looked at Zhang Juzheng with some resentment and said, "You should have made a document with him at the beginning, and what's wrong with saying it's nothing?"
Zhang Juzheng could only smile bitterly when he said that Yang Bo's status and his own status, and he could still dislike the verbal promises that he had no idea and asked for a document. That would be too ungrateful, right? Of course, Xu Yangzheng could not have known this. To put it this way, he was just venting his anger.
"There are complete procedures and I asked to withdraw money now. I said that I would threaten me when you come back. If he didn't give the money, he would beat the drum and let the Ministry of Revenue go away. I had to give him the last copper plate in the warehouse. I was not satisfied with it. I said that I had to pay off the 500,000 taels I owe before the New Year." He sighed and said, "Although the Ministry of Revenue has always been in high debt, it is not enough to pay off one tael of silver in Taicang. This is the first time in two hundred years in the dynasty of China."
After hearing this, Zhang Juzheng felt sad and could only persuade: "I will be reluctant to do it. If you can survive this winter, spring will be better."
"I'm afraid the winter is too long... The death of the late emperor and the new emperor ascended the end. These are all unexpected large expenses. I don't know when it will be digested." Xu Yangzheng shook his head and looked at Zhang Juzheng and said, "I won't talk about those disappointing things. What will you gain when you go down to inspect this time?" Zhang Juzheng just returned from the inside and outside of the capital. After returning from the inspection in the warehouse, he came to the yamen directly without returning home. However, he saw that he was snow-white, his robes were neat, and his clothes were as clear as new clusters of cranes, and his scent of incense was emitting a faint smell of incense. He looked like a miserable official who had just run for more than a hundred miles, but instead looked like a literati sitting in a quiet place.
Whenever he saw him like this, Xu Yangzheng, who was unkempt, would sigh secretly that Zhang Taiyue lived too particular. It turned out that every time Zhang Juzheng went out, he would have to take a wardrobe behind the sedan chair. Every time he went to the place, he would have to take a bath and change clothes before he could meet people. After shaking hands with others, he would have to wash his hands, paying attention to appearance so that people suspected of having a cleanliness.
However, it is understandable that a gentleman likes to be clean.
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Hearing Xu Yangzheng's question, Zhang Juzheng subconsciously flattened his sleeves and said slowly: "There are some, and there are more than 20 national treasuries inside and outside the capital. In addition to the empty banknotes, there are still some things in each treasury, but they are all items such as cloth, quilts, mattresses, bamboo, wood, rattan paint, etc., and they can be said to have everything. After counting them all, there are about 500 varieties, and the number is amazing, but there is no silver."
Xu Yangzheng nodded, which is normal. The expenses this year are too high, so he has long dimmed the silver from more than a dozen warehouses in Tongzhou and various prisons. As for why there are so many items, it is because although the "One Whip Method" has been clamoring for decades, it has been unfavorable to implement it. Most provinces still pay taxes in kind. These various items are for daily use by the imperial government, but the amount of money is too large and it cannot be used. They can only be consumed there. The losses reported by each treasury every year are reduced to cash in silver, which costs more than 2 million taels... Of course, it is not only moldy, rotten, and unbearable; most of them are transferred out and sold, and they are so full of their personal pockets.
The tax system of the Ming Dynasty really reached the point where it was not corrected. The two of them sighed for a while, and Zhang Juzheng said again: "I went down this time and found many problems. The management of various warehouses and customs was very chaotic. The loss of materials was severely damaged. In these seemingly inconspicuous places, although it was inconspicuous to take it out, it would be a waste of life if I gathered it. On the way back, I was thinking about how to reform the old and the innovation and how to reverse the situation. Because the idea had not been straightened out, I was afraid that you would listen to chaos..."
"This is a big deal," Xu Yangzheng said in a lack of interest: "But let it go today... In two days, the Beijing officials will pay their salaries, the Beijing camp will pay their salaries, and the Beijing princes will pay their salaries, and the reserved silver will be emptied. What will we send to them?"
"How much does it cost in total?" Although Zhang Juzheng knew it, he still asked, so he could use this to sort out his ideas.
"Just talking about the silver liang, there are more than 20,000 officials in the capital to receive the salary, and the salary that should be paid this month is 200,000 taels. The number of soldiers who received the salary in the Beijing camp is 100,000, and the number of soldiers who should be paid this month is 200,000 taels. The royal family and nobles in the capital are old, and the royal family and nobles are registered, and they should be paid a 600,000 taels... The total is one million taels. This is not counting as a discount on money and grain." Xu Yangzheng said bitterly when he mentioned this number, and felt upset, and said, "You can't make up this money even if you sell the pot and sell it..."
"No way?" Zhang Juzheng asked unwillingly.
"..." Xu Yangzheng spread his hands and looked bitter.
Zhang Juzheng had actually been thinking about this money for a long time, so he went to inspect the Quoguan and warehouses under the Ministry of Revenue to see if there was any solution. He just went for a hard trip, but he was disappointed and couldn't help but feel stuffy in his heart. He sighed that everything was not going well recently... The military supplies case just happened before, and now Yang Bo cut off the firewood from the bottom of the pot and could not pay the salary. This was really a broken boat and the wind was in the forefront, and the house was leaking and raining.
He exhaled a breath of turbid air and asked, "Can you call some emergency first from the nearest state capital?"
"Don't think about this." Xu Yang has been in the local area for many years, and has much more experience than Zhang Juzheng. When he asked to borrow it from the local area, he vetoed it: "In recent years, the north has been severely drought and frequent military disasters, and most of them are not enough to make ends meet. They send people to us cry and have a poor heart. What else can they expect?"
"No one can do this." Zhang Juzheng frowned and said, "Where is life in the world, there is still a difference between rich and poor. There is always a little more abundant."
"Hey, Taiyue, you have been in the capital and you don't understand the following situation..." Xu Yangzheng shook his head and said, "Our Ming Dynasty ancestral system is very fucked. The salary of local provincial governments is all paid from their respective banknotes. If you transfer his money, it is equivalent to taking away the salary of his officials. Even if the governor agrees, the officials below will not agree. People don't have to resist. They just shirk responsibility and tug at all, and they will not have any temper."
"Oh, I have to change this set of rules sooner or later," Zhang Juzheng said angrily, but he also knew that it would be useless to say this now, and that would not work. He was so anxious that he felt his throat start to smoke, and then he remembered that he had returned from Tongzhou and had not dripped water for most of the day. So he picked up the teacup, sipped the tea gently, and began to think carefully in his heart.
Xu Yangzheng was also thinking about it. He took off the cloisonné enamel puddle pot from his purse around his waist and said to Zhang Juzheng: "Take two mouthfuls to refresh yourself?"
Zhang Juzheng hated the smell of tobacco, but the other party was a senior, so he couldn't say anything, so he smiled and said, "I don't know, you can do whatever you want."
Xu Yangzheng skillfully put on tobacco and lit it, and sucked it. Not long after the tobacco was introduced to the capital, only a high-ranking official like him could get some tobacco that was more expensive than gold... It was not in front of others, and there was no important occasion, so he would not take it out tobacco.
Smelling the smoky smell, Zhang Juzheng frowned slightly. Fortunately, he was well-educated and soon his expression was as normal as he did, and he continued to think about his questions.
As the smoke scattered, Xu Yangzheng said, "Why... let's send the real thing. Didn't you say that there are quite a lot of things? Just choose a few valuables and pay them at a discount."
"This idea is good. It not only reduces inventory and solves the salary, but also solves the best of both worlds." Zhang Juzheng didn't feel the smoke choking and smiled, "Brother Mengquan had an idea, and was just keeping him in hiding."
"Just be careful..." Xu Yangzheng shook his head and said, "If you can't use this hand, you will be scolded to death unless you have to."
Zhang Juzheng calmly thought, right, there will definitely be resistance to the execution of this matter. How many officials should be dissatisfied with turning money into a pile of uneasy and unsuitable things for others? Besides, if the valuable things are issued on a large scale, they will become worthless. It is certain that they are unsalable. If they cannot be cashed out, the Ministry of Revenue will definitely be scolded to death.
The more I learned, the more I felt that it was a cotton wool and dry sesame seeds, and I was causing trouble. Zhang Juzheng couldn't help but have other ideas and said softly: "Why are you looking for a ticket number to temporarily move it?"
"I will never be able to use it." Xu Yangzheng shook his head and said, "Don't look at the shamelessness of those officials who usually ask for money, but if they are told that the salary this month was borrowed from merchants, public opinion will immediately boil. Boyi Shuqi, who has become shameless in eating Zhou's grain, feels that he has suffered some shame and humiliation, and scolds us even more unpleasantly."
"Isn't it enough to not let them know?" Zhang Juzheng said disapprovingly.
"Where is an airtight wall in the world?" Xu Yangzheng shook his head and said, "If you are not afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of something."
"Then let's owe it first." This is not the case, nor is it, Zhang Juzheng was a little annoyed.
"You just took charge of the Ministry of Revenue and owed officials the salary. What do you think of you?" Xu Yangzheng shook his head and said.
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After all, he went there, but he didn't come up with a good idea. After smoking the last bag of cigarettes, Xu Yangzheng cleaned the cigarette pot, took back his purse, and stood up and said, "Think about it, I'll prepare first. If it really doesn't work, I'll use physical savings to discount all." He paused and said, "Give the officials a little more profit, and the scolding will be less." He was ready to be scolded.
Zhang Juzheng nodded, got up and sent him out. When he walked away, You Qi came over and said, "Master, the bath water has been boiled." He knew that his master's obsession with cleanliness, so how could he tolerate the smell of smoke on his body?
"Open the window of the duty room and replace the carpet," Zhang Juzheng nodded and ordered: "I won't go in today. Open the window and breathe all night, and burn incense tomorrow morning." He is a person who pays attention to details, especially in this regard, and is very detailed.
"Yes..." You Qiying said, and ordered someone to do as soon as possible.
After bathing, changing clothes and incense, Zhang Juzheng felt much more comfortable. Seeing that the sedan chair was ready, he ordered You Qi to say, "Go and tell Boss Wang to tell me that I would treat him to dinner in Houhai." The so-called Boss Wang is Wang Chongyi in Risheng. Before the run-off in the capital has passed, he has been in charge of the capital.
When he was taking a shower, Zhang Juzheng thought about it and felt that it was the easiest to go to the bank to borrow money. As long as he did a good job of confidentiality, there were no sequelae. Why did he have to go through all the troubles and implement the "real salary" that was destined to be scolded?
Besides, Rishenglong is a long-standing deal with him, so he feels at ease in his work. Last time, he worked hard, because he was considering that Rishenglong was in a debt crisis, so he was in charge of the money borrowed by Huilian. However, Huilian's rules were too rigid. Not only did he have to review the problem, but he also had to use money to detain money. Even if he was silent, he had to pay for the tariffs next year. If it weren't for the silence, he would have wanted to turn around and look for Rishenglong.
In the evening, Zhang Juzheng waited for Wang Chongyi in the private club in Houhai. Wang Chongyi had heard that he was in charge of borrowing money from Huilianhao. He looked unhappy and patted his chest and said, "No matter how poor we are, we can still take out one or two million taels of silver. If we don't take care of our business next time, we will not recognize you as a friend."
This is a bit unhappy. With Zhang Juzheng's temper, he would definitely be unhappy at ordinary times, but now he feels so comfortable, so he said the purpose of this trip and said: "It's not a loss to you. The same two-part profit will be used to mortgage the tariffs of the Maritime Bureau next year." This is the safest loan. Wang Chongyi is naturally happy and agreed quickly.
"However, this account must be kept confidential." Zhang Juzheng whispered: "You can't leak the news."
"Zhong." Wang Chongyi nodded without asking about the purpose, and said, "If you don't leave the account, no one can find out."
"It's so good." Zhang Juzheng picked up the wine glass and smiled and said, "To you." Boss Wang was still very relieved to do things.
After Zhang Juzheng finished talking about the serious matter, Wang Chongyi actually wanted to talk to him about the issue of money on behalf of the court. But he was a worldly person. He knew that it was inevitable that there would be a threat to mention this matter, so he simply didn't mention anything and invited the singers in the museum to sing songs and accompany them to drink. The two of them exchanged cups and drank and listened to music. It was very late, and they each took the woman who accompanied them to the room to rest.
Zhang Juzheng was incompetent, and his children followed his parents in their hometown. Therefore, there were only a few concubines in the mansion, so they didn’t have to go home. They didn’t go back for eight days... Of course, most of the time, they slept in the room, and relaxing like this was not too frequent.
He felt that a real man should work hard and enjoy himself. He was as clear-hearted as a young man and looked like a Taoist, which was useless to waste his time.
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Chapter completed!