"The people of the Ming Dynasty are human beings, and I am also human beings, since it is food that people can eat, there is nothing I can't eat. If your body is not right, how can you be right? Zi Shuai is upright, who dares to be upright? If I can't even do it myself, how can I ask others to do it. Zhu Youzhen said to Wang Chengen with some pleasure.

Wang Chengen seemed to be a little unwilling and wanted to persuade again. Guo Yunhou seemed to understand Chongzhen's intentions, he got up and left his seat, and saluted Chongzhen's solemn chief.

"Your Majesty has this benevolence, then the people of the world can live, and the people of the Ming Dynasty thank Your Majesty." The solemnity of Guo Yunhou, the head of the household department, made Wang Chengen have to swallow back the words of persuasion.

Zhu Youzhen hurriedly got up and helped Guo Yunhou up, "Why should Guo Shangshu be like this, I just did some small things within my ability." ”

Guo Yunhou replied solemnly: "For Your Majesty, this may be a trivial matter, but for the people of the six counties of Su, Song, Chang, Hangzhou, Jia, and Hu, this is the hope of survival. ”

"Guo Shangshu, let's continue to discuss, even if these measures can be implemented, it will be next year. For this year's battle of white grain, it is no longer in time, calculating the time, it is almost time for the grain ship to transport white grain to arrive in the capital this year. Zhu Youzhen asked.

"It should be that grain ships have arrived one after another, but the White Grain Liberation Household Department has no authority to manage the matters that are accepted, and they are all sent directly to the corresponding parts of the inner government in accordance with the requirements of the dispatch." Guo Yunhou replied thoughtfully.

"If there are many places to receive this, there will inevitably be many disadvantages. Moreover, the loss of grain is smaller when stored separately or centrally. I thought it would be better to build a unified granary for receiving and managing.

Moreover, not only white grain, but also 4 million stone of grain and 300,000 stone of liao salary every year, now lack an overall management. Therefore, some departments have moldy food accumulations there, while others are suffering from lack of food and are unable to raise salaries.

I have already received several copies of the impeachment of Huang Yuntai, the governor of Tianjin, for the impeachment of grain for the purpose of serving as a salary, resulting in a shortage of grain in Gyeonggi. I thought it was because the central government lacked a unified department to manage grain, which led to the inability to regulate the transportation of grain reserves. Zhu Youzhen threw out an idea that made Guo Yunhou's heart beat a little.

Guo Yunhou suppressed his excitement and calmly confirmed to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty means that you want the household department to manage all the granaries near Gyeonggi?" ”

"For the time being, this is the case, but military rations and civilian rations must be managed separately, and military rations should be given priority under the same circumstances. In my opinion, not only the granary near Gyeonggi, but also the entire Ming Dynasty's grain collection, storage, transportation, and sales in the future must be under the supervision of the Ministry of Households.

I have heard that there is a saying among the people, which says, 'When you have food in your hands, you don't panic in your heart'. If the imperial court does not have food in its hands, first, it will not be able to stabilize the price of grain, and second, it will not be able to provide relief to the victims.

Food is a special commodity, and if the people do not have food to eat, they will rise up and rebel. If the imperial court loses control over the grain, then the world is the imperial court? Or are they the grain merchants'? ”

Although the household department is known as the housekeeper of the Ming Dynasty, the money and food in the household department are actually not much, which is determined by the special tax system of the Ming Dynasty.

From the establishment of the state system by Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, to the improvement of the state system by Zhu Di, the Ming Dynasty, there has been no major change in the state system since then.

The tax system, which has been established since the time of Chengzu, is that the taxes collected by the local government do not first go to the central treasury and then distribute them by the central government. Instead, they are delivered directly to the departments that are supposed to receive them.

For example, in this battle of white grain, after the mission was dispatched from the six counties of Su, Song, Chang, Hangzhou, Jia, and Hu, it did not mean that it was completed when it was sent to the capital. Instead, according to the assigned tasks, they should be sent to the Shangshan Supervisor, the Wine and Vinegar Noodle Bureau, the Internal Officials and Supervisors and other departments.

In this way, after the household department has completed the task of setting the quota of white grain, it will lose any power over the management of white grain, and the rest will be the internal affairs of the Shangshan Supervisor, the Wine and Vinegar Noodle Bureau, the Internal Official Supervisor and other departments.

Therefore, as the household department in charge of the Ming treasury, in fact, the money and grain that can be called in the hands is only 4 million Shicao grain, as well as the annual Taicang incorporate, salt tax, industrial and commercial tax, a small part of the field to be converted into silver, and mining tax of nearly 3 million taels of silver.

And these money and grain also have to deduct the expenses of the palace, Beijing officials, and Beijing camps, that is to say, there are actually very few money and food that can be used as mobile money and food to deal with emergencies every year. And this situation has become completely empty after Liaodong Houjin raised troops, and just subsidizing Liaodong's military salaries has already made the treasury empty.

The reason why Guo Yunhou was excited about Chongzhen's suggestion was because he had the power to directly manage the Gyeonggi granary, which could make his life a little better for the anxious Hubu Shangshu.

However, Chongzhen's idea of letting the household department supervise the grain trade of the entire Ming Dynasty made Guo Yunhou hesitate.

"Your Majesty, it is of course very good to establish a unified grain management department, but to supervise the grain trade of the entire Ming Dynasty, I am afraid that the household department does not have so many people, and the resources to be used will probably be an astronomical amount."

"If we allow food to be traded freely, we will naturally spend too many resources and manpower. However, I intend to set up wholesale grain markets in the provinces, and for transactions of more than 100 koku, they must be traded in the market, and a part of the fee will be charged to subsidize the market managers.

In addition, grain merchants who engage in inter-provincial trade must be licensed by the household department, pay a certain amount of deposit, and make a guarantee that they will not hoard and sell grain at a price that does not exceed the limit price. Zhu Youzhen slowly said his idea.

Guo Yunhou was really shocked at this time, and he hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, whether this matter needs to be discussed again." Today, the Northwest, Liaodong, and Gyeonggi regions all depend on the Southeast for their food. If the grain merchants of the world know about this policy of the imperial court and refuse to sell grain from the southeast to the north, I am afraid that the northwest and other places will be in turmoil because of the lack of grain. ”

"Are the merchants going on strike?" Zhu Youzhen knocked on the table and thought for a while, then he looked up at Guo Yunhou and said.

"What if the Ministry of Household takes the lead and sets up a grain purchasing, transportation, and sales company?"

"Your Majesty, this grain merchant is divided into sitting merchants and merchants. And grain merchants everywhere have their own meetings, and it has always been difficult for outsiders to get involved. The household department can take the lead in setting up a grain company, but people who are not familiar with local farmers in this place are not familiar with the matter of local farmers, and even if they break their legs, they will not be able to collect much grain. In Yichen's view, the establishment of a grain company costs a lot, but it may not be fruitful. ”

Guo Yunhou's bitter words did not change Zhu Youzhen's thoughts, and he actually heard the meaning that Guo Yunhou did not say.

The bulk grain in the south of the Yangtze River is basically in the hands of the gentry, and these gentry are the largest merchants in the south of the Yangtze River.

For these gentry, not allowing them to hoard and limit the price of grain is undoubtedly harming their interests.

If the central government is strong, these local gentry can only suffer in silence, even if their interests are damaged.

However, today, the central government's financial expenditure is completely dependent on the southeast, and the officials from the southeast gentry occupy sixty or seventy percent of the Ming officials, and after years of suppression of the martial arts, the force of the central court is completely insufficient to deter the southeast.

In this situation, the imperial court, which is in a weak position, must take into account that no matter what decisions are made, the southeast cannot be chaotic.

With these in mind, Zhu Youzhen also had to slow down his plan. "In that case, today we will first talk about the issue of forming this unified management of the grain sector. Other affairs will be put aside for the time being, I don't know if Guo Shangshu has any good candidates to recommend to manage this food department. ”

Guo Yunhou breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly opened the topic according to Chongzhen's meaning, he arched his hand and said: "The minister wants to recommend Ji Jiliang, who is an honest official and sympathetic. When he served as the commander of Leadshan County, Jiangxi, he once set up a stele to engrave a Chinese cabbage, and inscribed the inscription himself: For the people, parents must not know this taste, and I can't make this color for my child. The local people deeply felt his virtue, and when he was promoted, he set up a shrine to commemorate him in the local area. The minister thought that if he was in charge of this grain department, there would be no fraud. ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded and agreed: "Since Guo Shangshu has such an evaluation of Ji Jiliang, I am right." In addition, I also want to make adjustments to the levy of Liaoyu. ”

Guo Yunhou raised his head with some vigilance, looked at Zhu Youzhen and said, "How does Your Majesty want to adjust?" ”

"Although, the war in Liaodong is related to the safety of the northern Ming Dynasty. However, except for Guizhou, Yunnan, and Liaodong, the practice of adding nine cents of silver to all fields is obviously inappropriate. The output of the fields in the south is different from that of the fields in the north, the output of paddy fields and drylands is different, and the output of plains and mountains is different. Even the fields in the south of the Yangtze River are divided into upper, middle and lower fields, so how can the Liao salary be levied equally? ”

"The minister is afraid, although His Majesty's words are very reasonable, but today's Liao salary has been levied for nine years, and now if it is adjusted, I am afraid that the people will have grievances." Guo Yunhou feels that now that Chongzhen has just succeeded to the throne, it is better to make more changes in finance.

"I'm afraid it's the Jiangnan gentry who is uneven, this is the world of the Ming Dynasty, not the world of the Jiangnan gentry."

Zhu Youzhen's meaningful words immediately made Guo Yunhou shut up, and he also didn't have a good impression of those Jiangnan scholars. The reason why he admonished Chongzhen was just to give the Donglin Party some eye medicine.

Now that Chongzhen has a suspicion of Dr. Jiangnan, he will no longer add fuel to the fire, so as not to be seen through by Chongzhen.

"Liaoyu is used for border affairs in eastern Liao, but the land of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia is also a border land. And except for Shanxi, the other three places are barren land. In my opinion, these areas should be exempted from salaries. Seeing that Guo Yunhou was silent, Zhu Youzhu said by the prosecutor.