Zhao Ming and the others walked into Wenyuan Pavilion and went to the council hall on the second floor.In recent days, Zhao Ming and many ministers have been discussing here almost every day.When the crowd entered, it had been cleaned by the servants, refreshed, and led everyone to sit down in their seats.There were more than 20 people in the hall, in addition to Zhao Ming, seven cabinet ministers, as well as six ministers of Nanjing, and senior officials of the Han State attended.At this time, Zhao Ming sat down, changed into a serious and majestic expression, and the officials in the hall were immediately quiet.Du Yinxi looked at the opposite side, and the afterglow scanned both sides, and couldn't help frowning slightly, feeling that the atmosphere in the hall seemed to be a little wrong, some people had a solemn face, and some seemed to have sparks in their eyes, as if they were ready to do a big job.This made Du Yinxi feel puzzled, and at the same time a little happy, originally thought that Nanjing was already a monolith, but now it seems that this is not the case.Thinking of this, Du Yinxi couldn't help but be more interested, and picked up the teacup and drank it.Zhao Ming saw that everyone was seated, so he waved his hand, and the officials in the hall put down the refreshments and exited the hall, and the guards outside the door closed the door of the hall.Zhao Ming smiled and said, "The three gentlemen have just arrived, and they don't understand the situation yet.Mr.
Gu, let me give you a brief introduction!
”Gu Yanwu nodded, glanced at Du Yinxi and the others, with a hint of hostility in his eyes, and said in a deep voice: "The operation of the imperial court is inseparable from money and officials.The government treasury has enough money to maintain armaments, defend the territory, provide relief to the victims, pacify the displaced people, maintain local stability, and distribute money to the officials, so that the officials can govern the local areas and collect taxes, so as to enrich the treasury with money.This is a cycle, and money is the most critical part of it, it can be said that everything is easy to do with money, and it is difficult to move an inch without money.But now, the court has no money. ”Zhao Ming took over and said: "Since the beginning of the Apocalypse Dynasty, the imperial court has been trapped by money, and Chongzhen has collapsed because of this.Since then, the Hongguang and Longwu dynasties have not been rich, and their annual income is only five or six million taels.Not to mention the Jianwu Dynasty, it was simply miserable, not a single copper was left in the treasury, not to mention, and it was in arrears for half a year's military salary, and it was a few months of money.Now that Nanjing has established the dynasty, there is no money in the account of the household department, and without money, the imperial court will not be able to do anything.Therefore, I have summoned you today to discuss the resolution of this matter. ”Du Yinxi, Jiang Yueguang, and Yang Weizhi nodded to indicate that they knew.Du Yinxi put down the teacup, and couldn't help but glance at Zhao Ming, the heart of taxation has always troubled the Ming Dynasty, although Zhao Ming's Han country has money, but the money is not Nanjing's, it depends on how Zhao Ming solves it.Zhao Ming immediately smiled and said to the three of them: "Although it is the first time for the three gentlemen to participate in the discussion, if there are any opinions in the discussion, they can still put forward." ”After speaking, Zhao Ming raised his hand and said, "Let's start!"
”Gu Yanwu stood up and walked to the middle, "Then it's up to me to state the cabinet's opinion."
Now that Nanjing has been established for three months, the imperial court cannot operate normally, the officials cannot be issued, and the rewards for soldiers are difficult to implement, and the key to all this is that the imperial court has no money~""The feudal treasury is willing to release the taxes of this year and next year to Nanjing in advance, how about it?"
”Han Guohu Cao sentenced Wang Jiaqin without waiting for Gu Yanwu to make a request, so he spoke first.The Nanjing court was so poor that the officials of the Han State knew in their hearts that this sure blood transfusion, instead of making the cabinet lion open his mouth, it was better to take the initiative to offer what he could, block the mouth of the cabinet, and make them not make excessive demands.After Zhao Ming served as the regent of the Nanjing court, in order to control the Nanjing court, he transferred a large number of Han henchmen and officials, including the original Liucao judgment, to Nanjing as officials, and after serving as a high-ranking official in Nanjing, the original position of the Han State was naturally given to others.Gu Yanwu's words were interrupted, which made him a little unhappy, but he still frowned and asked, "How much is the escort?"
”Wang Jiaqin stretched out three fingers, "Thirty percent of the taxes paid by the feudal government!"
”The four former Han State judges and politicians present all showed unhappiness on their faces, and all the Shangshu were also calm.To tell the truth, thirty percent of the taxes paid by the Han State are already a lot, and the taxes paid for two years at a time are at least seven or eight million taels, but the cabinet obviously cannot accept such conditions.Chen Mingyu patted the seat, stood up, and said sharply: "It's only three percent, don't even think about it!"
”In the face of the anger of the old Shangguan, many Han officials had a somewhat ugly face.At this time, Wang Jiaqin exchanged a few words with several Han officials, and then calmly looked at the old Shangguan and said: "Every year, the towns in the southwest only pay 30%, and the Han State will pay 40% at most, and there can be no more!"
”Listening to the conversation, Du Yinxi was a little shocked in his heart, and couldn't help but look at Zhao Ming who was sitting upright.It seems that Zhao Ming did not regard the Nanjing Imperial Court as an archway, but wanted to run the Nanjing Imperial Court well.At this time, Chen Mingyu roared: "No!
In addition to forty percent of the taxes, the imperial court also needs to recover the lands of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Taiwan and Liaodong!
In addition, the Huaxing silver number will also be returned to the imperial court. ”"It's impossible!"
Wang Jiaqin took the case."
This is to abolish the Han Kingdom!"
Dong Zhining also stood up violently, his face full of anger.The Han officials present were in an uproar and filled with righteous indignation.According to the meaning of the cabinet, the Han State will lose the territory of the mainland, leaving only overseas colonies, and it will also need to pay 40% of the annual taxes to the imperial court, and the Han State will basically be abolished.Such conditions are even more miserable than the defeated Longwu towns."
King Han, the Han Kingdom is your inheritance!"
A group of Han officials bowed to the ground and wept bitterly.Zhao Ming sat on the throne and said busily: "Everyone, Aiqing, hurry up."
It is not that the conditions proposed by the Cabinet are non-negotiable.I have summoned you today to negotiate a satisfactory condition. ”Du Yinxi and Jiang Yueguang glanced at each other, but they didn't expect to encounter such an exciting thing as soon as they came.The matter in front of him is obvious, that is, the dispute between the local government and the central government, and the cabinet dares to mention it, it must have been instructed by Zhao Ming.Plug Yinxi didn't expect that Zhao Ming had been fighting against the imperial court and opposing the cutting of the feudal domain, and he thought he was a feudal faction, but he didn't think that he was actually a hidden centralizer.saw that Zhao Ming was ruthless to himself in order to strengthen the central government.Plug Yinxi couldn't help but look at Zhao Ming with admiration.King Han's words still worked, but Wang Jiaqin and others heard the words, so they could only take a new seat.Zhao Ming then said: "The intention of the cabinet has been expressed.Now tell us what you think!
”Many customs officials of the Han State knew in their hearts that after the King of Han served as the regent of the Nanjing Imperial Court, he would definitely want to strengthen the Nanjing Imperial Court, so they knew that the Han Kingdom would definitely need to give up its interests.However, according to the will of the cabinet, ninety percent of the strength of the Han State has been deprived.Wang Jiaqin discussed a few words with everyone before he stood up and said: "King, the minister knows that Nanjing needs to operate, but the minister thinks that it is inappropriate to weaken the Han State in this way.The Han State could give the Nanjing court some silver money every year to maintain the basic operation of Nanjing.Such as the Northern Expedition, disaster relief, and local maintenance, can all be handed over to the Han State.After all, the Han Dynasty was already quite mature and had the ability to do these things well, while the Nanjing Imperial Court was newly established and nothing was perfect.The minister thought that it was completely unnecessary to abandon the already perfect Han feudal mansion and spend energy and money to rebuild a Nanjing court that still didn't know how!
”Dong Zhining said: "The king, the Han Kingdom is the foundation of the king, and it must not be abolished.The minister thought that Nanjing only had a cabinet, and that raising soldiers, governing the people, and collecting taxes could all be handed over to the feudal government. ”Now Zhao Ming's group is divided into two factions, one of which believes that power should be centralized, and the other supports feudalism.The Han Kingdom can have today, which embodies the efforts of many people, and it is also related to the interests of many people.After listening to this, Zhao Ming knew that if he did not show his attitude, it would be impossible for the cabinet to convince many officials of the Han State.Yes, Zhao Ming admitted that he did fight against the imperial court before, but he was indeed a hidden authoritarian.The lessons of history have taught him that the most suitable for China's politics is centralization, and excessive decentralization of power will definitely lead to chaos.()