“… At present, the way of managing money and grain in border towns is too complicated and confusing. The mode of transportation of the Democratic Movement and the People's Liberation is too much wear and tear on the road, and the burden on the people is too heavy.

Moreover, before the money and grain were delivered to the warehouses in the border towns, neither the imperial court nor the officials in charge of the money and grain in the border towns knew whether there was any food and salary that could be distributed to the border soldiers. Moreover, because the taxes paid by the counties are different, it is bound to lead to the problem that some armies have more than enough to pay their salaries, while some armies do not receive their salaries.

Therefore, I believe that whether it is the collection of land taxes or the distribution of military salaries, it must be reformed. ”

Zhu Youzhen's voice was not loud, but the ministers of the cabinet and the six ministries suddenly became entangled in their hearts.

The Ming Dynasty's fiscal taxation system was like a myriad of rivers that flowed into the swamp, and then flowed out of the swamp in the form of countless branches.

Even the most astute officials of the Ming household department could not figure out how the Ming taxes were collected and flowed.

For more than 100 years, the addition, subtraction and subtraction of generations of household officials have long turned the tax system of the Ming Dynasty into a huge and complicated labyrinth.

For the officials of the household department, being able to maintain this system is already the greatest achievement.

Changing this complex tax system may make people's scalps tingle just thinking about it.

Guo Yunhou opened his mouth, not knowing how to persuade Chongzhen not to act rashly, Zhu Youzhen had already opened his mouth to continue.

"I thought that each province should establish a warehouse for the collection of taxes, and that the taxes of each province would henceforth be transported to their own warehouses. The Ministry of Household conducts unified management and dispatch of the tax collection warehouses in various provinces, so as to reduce the burden on the people and prevent the situation of unbalanced transportation of materials in various localities. ”

Guo Yunhou suddenly realized that Chongzhen wanted to set up a grain bureau through this, or a household warehouse system with richer content than the grain bureau.

Guo Yunhou, who is the secretary of the household department, did not speak, and other officials in the DPRK and China naturally existed in a wait-and-see state.

Huang Liji said with some concern: "Your Majesty, if this Tianfu is changed to understand that it is transported to the provincial treasury of this province, then the freight from the provincial treasury to the border town, or to the capital, will not be borne by the imperial court itself?" I'm afraid that the materials that can be transported to the border towns or the capital will become even less when the time comes. ”

Huang Daozhou suddenly said dissatisfiedly: "Huang Shoufu's words are inappropriate, originally the state levied taxes, and there was no provision for small people to bear the cost of transportation. All along, this democracy movement and democracy settlement has been just a convention.

What's more, the end point of the democracy movement and the people's liberation in the Taizu era was Nanjing, and the burden on the people in the Jiangnan area was naturally not heavy. But now the end point is Beijing, after the people have traveled thousands of miles to pay their taxes to the warehouses in the capital, and when they return home, the task of liberation in the second year has arrived. The minister thinks that His Majesty's reform of this law is really good. ”

The officials of the DPRK and China were immediately divided into two factions, one group supported Huang Liji, believing that after the reform, it might lead to a greater shortage of state use, so they hoped that the people would be able to afford this transportation task.

The other faction is dominated by people from Jiangnan, who believe that restructuring can reduce the burden on the people in Jiangnan. The imperial court cannot let the small people go bankrupt because of the lack of state use. Because the more people who go bankrupt, the less taxes they pay, and it's a vicious circle.

Being able to see the officials of the two sides discussing issues on a case-by-case basis, instead of using the ancestral system to suppress each other, made Zhu Youzhen's mood much better.

In the end, Guo Yunhou put forward a suggestion that the people should be exempted from the task of liberation and other provinces by adding 8% to the regular endowment.

After some discussion, Zhu Youzhen decided: "In addition to the positive endowment, 7 percent, in addition, the fire consumption is fixed at three points." The smallest unit of land levy is milli, and the number after milli is erased.

Seventy percent of the taxes collected by the provinces went to the imperial court, and thirty percent were retained for the salaries of local officials and officials and local construction funds. The household department should supervise the taxes retained by the local government, and should not enrich their own pockets without authorization.

In addition, projects that need to be separately levied in individual localities must be approved by the Ministry of Households, such as local water conservancy construction, roads and other projects. ”

The power of the household department has increased a lot, and Guo Yunhou also took the opportunity to propose that Ji Jiliang be in charge of the newly added department of the household department.

Zhu Youzhen agreed without objection, and added the title of Jiliang Hubu Shilang to facilitate his dealings with the local governor.

After sorting out the tax system of the household department and the establishment of sub-treasury in each province. Only then did Zhu Youzhen turn the topic to the original issue of rations and salaries for the border army.

"Now it seems that it is really inconvenient to manage the army's food and salary by governors, Taoists, and general judges. Although they managed the distribution of salaries, they did not have to bear the responsibility for the lack of salaries for the border army.

and the governor takes into account the local civil affairs; The military department should supervise the military and be in charge of the military documents; Although the general judgment is full-time, its status is obviously too low to recover the grain and salary into the warehouse.

I thought that the money and grain warehouses in the border towns should be separated and directly controlled by the Governor's Office of the Five Armies, and if the sergeants were short of pay for two consecutive months, the responsible persons should be traced down and dealt with by military law. ”

Several officials of the Ministry of Household and the Ministry of War originally wanted to object, after all, the warehouses in the border towns were also one of the financial resources of the Ministry of Household and the Ministry of War, but Chongzhen's officials who managed food and salaries were dealt with by military law and immediately made them hold back their words.

In the present era when the treasury is empty, it is simply an impossible task to ensure that the border army cannot be paid for more than two months in a row. Moreover, the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies is also under the management of the Ministry of War, which is nothing more than going around in circles, so several officials of the Ministry of War acquiesced to Chongzhen's proposal.

"80,000 people in Xuanfu Town, 76,500 people in Datong Town, 53,500 people in Shanxi Town, 50,000 people in Yansui Town, 31,600 people in Ningxia Town, 52,000 people in Gansu Town, 45,000 people in Guyuan Town, 128,000 people in Jizhou Town, and 81,000 people in Liaodong Town. The number of people in the town of Liaodong does not include guest soldiers. Guo Yunhou reported to Chongzhen the number of sergeants on the nine sides.

Although he felt a little distressed in his heart, Chongzhen still gritted his teeth and said: "The reward for the pacification of the Jinggi people in Jizhou Town, as well as the arrears, will be dealt with by the household department." In addition to the two towns of Jizhou and Liaodong, the other towns will be repaid for 2 months, and Guyuan Town will be repaid for 3 months. ”

Guo Yunhou just lowered his head and counted with his fingers for a moment before saying, "Your Majesty, it's about 600,000 taels." ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded, and said with some pain: "I will give you 650,000 taels, and the excess will be distributed as a pension to the military dependents of the deceased sergeant or disabled veterans." ”

It's really pitiful, the inner library left by the Apocalypse, plus the basement of the Heart Cultivation Palace, is only about 7 million taels in total, and he has spent nearly 1.5 million taels these days. At this rate of spending, soon he will go bankrupt.

When Chongzhen was distressed that the money was being spent too quickly, Huang Daozhou, Ni Yuanlu and others admired this young genius a little.

They heard that this emperor had opened the sea ban, and they also tried to reopen the mine prison, thinking that this was a wealth-loving emperor who resembled Emperor Shenzong.

Looking at it today, it is very different from the character of Emperor Shenzong. It seems that the so-called rumors of halving the use of white grain in the palace are indeed true.

While the officials were still speculating about what Chongzhen's behavior represented, Zhu Youzhen continued: "Except for the three towns of Datong, Xuanfu, and Shanxi, half of the military salaries in the other towns must be paid. The border town itself is in a sparsely populated area, and the distribution of folded colors does not benefit the sergeants themselves, except for driving up the local prices. ”

Guo Yunhou immediately agreed, and Zhu Youzhen immediately said: "The military department, the Metropolitan Inspection Yuan, and the Jinyi Guard must send people to go down with the household department, on the one hand, to check whether the money and food have been distributed to every sergeant. On the other hand, by the way, check the actual situation of the border army, and those sergeants who are already old and weak should be arranged for retirement. Also, it is ready to eliminate a part of the soldiers from the border army and organize the transportation of military supplies. ”

Wu Chunfu, the secretary of the Ministry of Works, covered his mouth and couldn't help yawning. He didn't know why, the issue of selling the Changlu Salt Farm would deviate from the issue of the distribution of military salaries on the nine sides, which was really a bit off topic.

Zhu Youzhen looked at Wu Chunfu and suddenly asked, "Wu Shangshu, how many rivers are there near this Gyeonggi?" ”

Wu Chunfu hurriedly put down his hand and said: "Back to Your Majesty, there are more than 500 rivers, and there are 5 larger rivers: the South and North Canals, the Yongding River, the Qing River, and the Ziya River. ”

"I checked the information of Shuncheonfu and found that in the past 10 years, only two years have not been affected by disasters, and the rest of the years have been drought, especially last year, which was flooded and drought. Isn't there any initiative on the part of the Ministry of Industry? ”

Wu Chunfu was speechless for a while, and he had no choice but to say: "The topography of this Gyeonggi region, high in the northwest and depression in the southeast, is dry if there is no water, and waterlogged if there is water.

In Yichen's view, the North Canal, Yongding River, Daecheong River, Ziya River, and South Canal all eventually merged into the Haihe River, and if we want to solve the flood and drought in the Gyeonggi area, we must cure the Hai River at all. ”

"How does Wu Shangshu plan to cure the Haihe River, why don't you come and hear it?" Zhu Youzhen showed great interest.

Speaking of specific affairs, Wu Chunfu was a little blind again, and he couldn't help but glance at Guo Yunhou a few times.

"Wu Shangshu, what are you looking at Guo Shangshu for? Tell me about your plan? Zhu Youzhen was a little curious.

"This, the minister's plan was also heard from Guo Shangshu's mouth, and the minister felt that it was more complete for Guo Shangshu to say." Wu Chunfu said hesitantly.

Guo Yunhou had to stand up and say: "The minister has always been interested in water control, and the minister has also visited the Gyeonggi Haihe River Basin, so he has a little idea.

The minister believed that in order to cure the drought or control the flood, it was necessary to store water first. The Haihe River comes out of the mountainous area in the northwest, and when it encounters heavy rain, it is prone to flash floods, and the mountain floods will be converted into large waters, and the mouth of the Haihe River is small, so it becomes a flood because of poor discharge.

The minister believes that the principle of managing the Haihe River is to store at the top, sparse in the middle, drain at the bottom, and properly stagnate. And every tributary that flows into the Haihe River must be regulated. The minister estimated that without 200,000 people, it would not be possible to succeed in 20 years. ”