The Prosperous Era of Longwan

In the first year of Jingtai in the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court used the border fence to serve the Yin Dynasty, and ordered all the people in the world to collect millet and mount their horses, and they were allowed to go to prison.

The selected examples are the same as Sui Gong.

This was the first time that the Ming Dynasty allowed people to enter prison in the form of paying tribute, and the purpose of entering prison was naturally to enter the official career in the name of Guozijiansheng. Although the rank was not high, he had an official status after all.

This routine was suspended after four years. However, in the second year of Chenghua, a great famine occurred in Nanjing. The guardian suggested that the descendants of officials, soldiers and civilians be imprisoned.

As a result, paying tribute became a routine practice, and it was implemented when the court was short of food, horses, or even fodder.

Although orthodox scholars have criticized this a lot, Yao Kui, the Minister of Rites, even wrote: "It is true that the Imperial College is a place for nurturing talents, and the imperial court is well-equipped to govern it. For this reason, the forty-year-olds are sent to various places, and grass and horses are recruited, and tens of thousands of people are mobilized. The plan has become too much, and if we continue to do it now, the world will be dominated by goods, and the morals of scholars will become increasingly bad."

Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty took this into consideration and once again stopped accepting cases in the official registration code. However, in the subsequent Hongzhi, Zhengde and even Jiajing dynasties, this method was used to solve the problem of material shortages whenever the court needed it.

Now, Ge Jin once again applied to the Ministry of War to report the matter on the grounds that the Beijing camp was short of horses and Taipus Temple was difficult to raise funds.

Yang Bo knew that Emperor Jiajing would definitely agree to this memorial. As for the criticism from others, it was up to them.

As the Ministry of War, solving military problems is the main business. As for criticism, when these people rise to high positions and face this problem, paying tribute is still the last and only solution.

After carefully reading Zhang Shouzhi's statement, as usual, those who are martial arts students from the Jingwei School are willing to pay silver to be imprisoned, and those who are martial arts teachers and students and have been guaranteed by the guardhouse and have applied for the election are required to pay two hundred and forty taels of silver. Those who are eligible will be given three hundred and twenty taels of silver. Civilians and military remnants can also handle this and come to Beijing to pay tribute.

Incumbent generals can also pay tribute to get promotions. One hundred taels of silver are required for governors, one hundred and forty taels for command, and two hundred taels for all commanders and above. If they have served for one to four years, each will be based on their age and rank. Decreasing

There are those who are willing to serve as messengers, seal officials, and servants in the outer guard station. The Chief Secretary knows that the seals will receive one hundred taels of silver, four horses, and eight taels of silver. Twelve taels, three horses, with ten taels of silver on the outside; the Dusi accepts seventy taels of silver, and three horses; cloth presses two officials with sixty silver, two horses, and ten taels of silver on the outside; the Dusi The officials of the Salt Transport Department of Xingtaipu Temple in various prefectures, including the Death Horse Temple, collected forty taels of silver, one horse, and fourteen taels of silver on the outside.

The heads of each department and the officials of the prefectures and counties collected 20 taels of silver, and the officials of the guards collected 15 taels of silver, which were provided to the provincial government to make up for the shortage of candidates who were exempted from the examination.

It can be said that as long as you are willing to pay tribute, you can buy almost all middle and low-level official positions. Even ordinary people can be awarded crowns and belts if they pay twenty taels of silver as tribute.

In fact, although the tribute paid for conferring crowns and belts is small, it is a large amount of income.

Local merchants and even small landowners will choose this option as long as they have the financial resources, because giving this money means that they can wear clothes made of materials that could not be used before, just like scholars.

In the feudal society period, people's clothing was not only a reflection of their beauty, but also a symbol of their status and status.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang established a very strict clothing hierarchy, and the clothing characteristics of different groups of people were obviously different.

For example, among the merchants, Zhu Yuanzhang was born in poverty. He was used to seeing profit-seeking merchants since he was a child, so he despised them. After he ascended the throne, he also tried every means to combat the development of merchants, such as implementing a policy of focusing on agriculture and suppressing business, and failing to establish a complete business tax system. wait.

But the most important thing is that Zhu Yuanzhang distinguished merchants from other common people in terms of clothing and did not allow good people to wear silk fabrics, in order to suppress the status of merchants.

To break this shackles, either there must be a scholar in a merchant family who has a good background, or this restriction must be lifted by paying tribute.

In fact, according to Zhu Yuanzhang's original intention, the tribute system should not be allowed, but future generations can't seem to find a better way when facing difficulties that are really difficult to solve.

"As per old practice, I have nothing to say."

Yang Bo had already read the article and knew that this idea should be the result of discussions between Zhang Shouzhi and Ge Jin. Naturally, he could not reject it easily, even if he did not want to use this method in his heart.

Looking at Ge Jin, Yang Bo said: "Shilang Ge, you drafted this memorial. I will submit it when the time comes."

"Yes, sir."

Ge Jin, like Yang Bo, was a second-ranked Jinshi. It was impossible to say that he had no idea about paying tribute, but sitting in this position, all he could think about was how to solve the problem.

He already knew the reason for the lack of horses in the Beijing camp through investigation, but what could he do?

We can't just try our best to get another group of horses from Taipus Temple. Even if these horses are gone in a few years, the successor at that time will just continue to find ways to get them.

A dilapidated small temple outside Nanjing was deserted as usual. Several strong warriors stood around outside the temple, monitoring every move around them. The reins of a dozen horses were tied to trees, and horses neighed from time to time. came.

"I just said that old guy Yan Song has bad intentions. We have worked so hard in the past few years to open up the trade routes along the Yangtze River. They are just like strangulating Jiujiang and robbing us of our business."

A burly man cursed in a low voice.

"Okay, what's the use of talking about this now? Let's think about how we will react after the capital writes."

Another fat man with a good figure spoke to persuade.

"Sir, sir, this is trying to steal the territory of your former military governor's mansion. Why don't you just say a few words?"

The man smiled and said to a middle-aged man with a Chinese character. Looking at his extraordinary popularity, he must be a person of high status.

"Yes, your son-in-law sent the news. Don't you have any ideas in your mind? Why did you call us here to discuss it? What to discuss? Just reject it. Don't give face to Yan. Just step on that kid Hu Zongxian and let the provinces below All the money for the escort will be sent to Nanjing first, and we will help him manage it."

The fat man didn't seem to mind the big deal and started making crooked ideas.

"They thought that if they choked Jiujiang, our financial resources would be cut off. How could this be such a good thing?"

The middle-aged man was naturally Wei Guogong Xu Pengju. This time he sneered with some disdain.

"What if His Majesty really agrees to them? I can only guarantee that the ship will be safe and sound when it reaches Anqing, but there is nothing I can do when it reaches the waters of Jiangxi and Huguang."

The speaker was the fat man Li Tingzhu. After Li Wenzhong, the founding hero of the early Ming Dynasty, he was granted the title of Marquis of Linhuai. He is currently the governor of the Nanjing Zuo Army and the admiral of Cao Jiang.

Admiral Caojiang was an official position established by the Ming Dynasty. Admiral Caojiang was in Nanjing and led the defense of the upper and lower rivers. All the Yangtze River waterways east of Anqing Prefecture were under his jurisdiction.

The title of Marquis of Linhuai is a descendant of Cao Guogong Li Wenzhong. After Li Wenzhong's title of Duke of Guoguo was passed to his son Li Jinglong's generation, it was abolished by Zhu Di. Later in the Jiajing Dynasty, Emperor Jiajing found out the descendants of Li Wenzhong and gave them to a Marquis of Linhuai of title.

Because of this, the Li family's strength and influence in the military suffered a great loss. It was not comparable to a family like Wei Guogong, which had been active in the Ming Dynasty officialdom. Even the sincere uncle Liu Shiyan was far inferior. In any case, the Liu family had already sunk to the south of the Yangtze River. In the guard house, many of the real powers of the guard house are controlled.

"Actually, when I first contacted Yan Maoqing, I was still wondering why they were so kind to give us so much sea salt. I guess they wanted to use our relationship to traffic private salt to Jiangxi, Huguang and other places. With the help of the Yangtze River waterway, it would take a lot of money. They earn much more than those private salt dealers who carry it on their shoulders and across the mountains.”

Liu Shiyan spoke at this time.

"Don't go too far. I came to you to discuss this matter."

Xu Pengju spoke.

"You haven't told the people in the city about this yet?"

Liu Shiyan asked.

"I didn't say anything. I will inform you to come out when I receive the letter today. Those people are serving as officials in Nanjing today, and they may not be able to do so tomorrow. They are no better than you and I holding hereditary golden rice bowls."

Xu Pengju explained.

"It's true that those people are more greedy than us, but who told them that they don't have that fate, hehe?"

Liu Shiyan smiled.

"Master, what method do you have to deal with the Yan family?"

At this time, Li Tingzhu suddenly asked.

"I have some ideas, but they're not mature yet."

Xu Pengju said, "Whether it is the Poyang garrison or the Jiujiang guard, they are all under the rule of my former military governor's office, even the entire Jiangxi governor's office. This is the matter of our former army. When will it be his turn to point the finger at Hu Zongxian.

Since he wants to interfere with my former army's affairs, I can't agree. They want to integrate the entire Poyang Lake and Jiujiang water surface, which is just right. Anyway, Jiangxi Dusi is actually under the control of the Ministry of War. Sometimes our group of people There are still many constraints in getting things done, so it is better to take this opportunity to remove the Poyang garrison and merge the Nanhu Water Camp into the Jiujiang Guards' Qianhu Station. "

"Isn't that your in-laws' territory anymore?"

Liu Shiyan frowned slightly and said.

"Will the Ministry of War agree?"

Li Tingzhu also said, "In fact, merging with Jiujiang Wei is not as good as merging with my Anqing Shuiying. As long as I am still in the position of Admiral Caojiang, our ships can enter and exit Jiangxi at will."

"Admiral Cao Jiang was originally responsible for the river surface in southern Zhili. It is difficult to expand the management of waterways to Jiangxi."

Xu Pengju shook his head and said, "My proposal is more likely to be agreed to by His Majesty. By then, the Nanhu Water Camp can be almost abolished, and only the strong ones will be retained to supplement the Qianhu Station of the rear army, and the military pay in Jiangxi can also be reduced."

"The Ministry of War may not object to a Nanhu water camp."

Liu Shiyan said after a moment of silence.

"With Jiujiang Guards swallowing the Nanhu Water Camp, our boats can move sideways in Poyang Lake. Before, we had to help from various defense offices to cover it up. Now we can directly transport illegal salt to various prefectures in Jiangxi through waterways.

Let your son-in-law move around the capital more with the adults in the Ministry of War, and also have activities with Mr. Xu Ge and Mr. Yuan Ge. In this way, he should be able to fight with Mr. Yan Ge in the cabinet. "

Li Tingzhu rolled his eyes at this time and said.

In fact, there are not many yamen in the capital that can speak out on this issue, namely the Ministry of War and the Cabinet.

Jiangxi Dusi is nominally under the jurisdiction of the former military governor's office, but in fact the power has been taken away by the Ministry of War. The abolition of a Nanhu Water Camp actually has little impact on the Ministry of War. The biggest impact is on Jiangxi Dusi, which has lost a thousand guns. The income of two silver coins.

As long as the Ministry of War can support their opinions, only the cabinet will be left.

Originally, the person with the most say in the cabinet should be Yan Song, but this matter was caused by the Yan family. They knew that they would not be able to go to the Yan family. They might as well persuade Xu Jie and Yuan Wei to take care of Mr. Yan Ge.

Who among those who have entered the cabinet is not ambitious yet. In any case, Yan Song is already over 80 years old. How long can he stay in the position of chief minister?

Don't talk about the past, even now, if the three people present see Yan Song, they must bow their eyebrows and respond with respect, but this does not mean that the three people respect Yan Song from the bottom of their hearts.

Unlike those of them who have hereditary titles, Yan Song can still sit on the throne of chief minister by relying on the favor of Emperor Jiajing. But when he is too old to serve, he still has to step down from all official positions. What will he have to do with ordinary people by then? the difference.

But they are different. Even if they don't have actual positions, they still have titles and grades. This is incomparable.

"That's what I mean. The money earned in these two months will be divided into 100,000 taels for people to send to the capital, so that Guangde can go to activities."

Xu Pengju spoke.

"One hundred thousand taels, isn't it too much?"

Liu Shiyan immediately said with some dissatisfaction, "Two or thirty thousand taels should be enough."

"If I want to persuade Xu Jie and Yuan Wei to speak out, I'm afraid they won't come forward if they don't get more benefits."

Xu Pengju said, "Send the money over there first, and then just give it to the other side."

"If you take out half of the profits at once, the people in the city and the boys below will be dissatisfied."

Li Tingzhu felt a little bleeding. He couldn't get back the one hundred thousand taels of silver he gave away. At least ten thousand taels of silver belonged to him. This was blatantly using the public money to subsidize his son-in-law.

"Will the money from members of the Huaihe, Liangzhejiang and Changlu Saltworks also be temporarily withheld?"

Of course, Liu Shiyan also understood that Xu Pengju's move was not clean and was too cruel, but similar to Li Tingzhu, he and Li Tingzhubian could not stand up to Xu Pengju's family in the Jiangnan area, so naturally it was not easy to openly quarrel with each other.

However, since there was a loss here, I had to find a place to make up for it, so I immediately took the idea to Yan Maoqing.

"It will definitely be taken away. I won't give it to you for the time being. I'm afraid they won't dare to quarrel with you, otherwise they won't be able to escape."

Xu Pengju said.

"But what if they withhold salt? This way of making money will be cut off."

Li Tingzhu rolled his eyes and said.

"At the salt field, the salt field ambassador and deputy envoys, we will not deduct the silver as long as they give salt. As for Yan Maoqing's Salt Administration Yamen and the transportation department, it depends on the situation. As long as the salt is not deducted, we will continue to distribute the money, but Just press it first.

It's not that we won't give it away, it's just that it takes a while. Since the Yan family is jealous of this profit, we have to give them some color to see, lest they think that we are soft persimmons who can be manipulated at will.

I don’t even think about how many years old Yan can live, so he is so eager to steal our money. "

Xu Pengju said.

"Now that I have been dismissed from my official position, I have nothing to do, so I will go over and see who dares to turn around and deal with them without giving salt to labor and management."

Liu Shiyan also spoke.

Even though people like Yan Song and Yan Maoqing seemed to be powerful, down below, their power was often not as powerful as the handle of a knife in Liu Shiyan's hand.

"Okay, I'll talk to those people in the city tomorrow."

Xu Pengju nodded and said.