"The second thing is that now that the northern captives and the southern Japanese are fighting frequently and military supplies are scarce, I intend to open up silver mines. What do you think?" Emperor Jiajing looked at Yan Song, Xu Jie and Li Ben and asked slowly.
"The Holy One is wise and seeks silver in the mines without raising taxes on the people. This is a benevolent policy, and I absolutely agree with it."
Yan Song spoke first.
"I second the proposal." Li Ben then seconded the proposal.
"I also agree." Xu Jie naturally had no objections. After agreeing with his hand, he further suggested, "Today's financial resources are insufficient. In addition to mining silver, I suggest that you mint money to help the national economy. Copper can be produced in Yunnan.
Guangdong, Guangxi, Shandong, Fujian and other provinces minted copper coins."
"Good, let the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry study and implement it." Emperor Jiajing listened to Xu Jie's suggestion and nodded appreciatively.
"The three provinces of Yunnan, Zhejiang, and Fujian are rich in silver mines, especially in Yunnan. The output of silver mines accounts for nearly half of our country. When it comes to mining silver mines, we can take the lead in mining in these three provinces." Not to be outdone, Yan Song suggested.
"Very good, let's start from the three provinces first." Emperor Jiajing nodded and accepted Yan Song's suggestion.
"Your Majesty, who will manage this silver mine? Is it managed by the Ministry of Household Affairs, or is it managed by a local government?" Yan Song asked.
This silver mine is a real bargain. It's extremely rich. You know in advance which department will manage it, so you can arrange for manpower.
If the Ministry of Household Affairs is in charge, then inform the Ministry of Household Affairs in advance and send strict party officials to work in advance.
If local officials are responsible for management, then strict party officials should be mobilized to Yunnan, Zhejiang, and Fujian provinces in advance, especially those local officials with silver mines in their territory. They must be placed in large numbers and firmly controlled.
If these silver mines are firmly in the hands of our own people, we will not have to worry about running out of silver in the future.
"We don't need to send officials to the Ministry of Finance, nor do we need local officials to manage them. I'm not going to increase their burden. I'm going to send chamberlains to various silver mines and let them manage them. With so many chamberlains in the palace, it's okay to be idle.
Help me, help share the worries of the Ministry of Household Affairs and local officials." Emperor Jiajing said calmly.
In Emperor Jiajing's heart, the loyalty of eunuchs was still higher than that of foreign ministers, because their honor and disgrace depended on him.
Well
Emperor Jiajing wants to send eunuchs to manage the silver mines, and their names are probably "eunuchs to supervise a certain mine in a certain place." This is the rhythm of bringing the silver mines into the inner treasury.
Yan Song, Xu Jie and Li Ben were all talented people. From Emperor Jiajing's personnel arrangements, we understood Emperor Jiajing's thoughts.
The three of them looked at each other, as usual, and Li Ben was forced to leave after being signaled by Yan Song's eyes.
"Your Majesty, if you send a servant to manage the silver mine, I'm afraid it won't be consistent with the rules, right?" Li Ben said bravely.
"Systems are also determined by people. During the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period, how could there be so many systems that were not added to from one dynasty to another?"
Emperor Jiajing said displeasedly.
Li Benonuo, I dare not say anything anymore.
"Your Majesty, sending chamberlains to manage the silver mines can indeed reduce the burden on the Ministry of Revenue and local officials, but unlike the Ministry of Revenue and local officials, chamberlains lack supervision. Once the chamberlains go out, I am afraid that they will use the reputation of the Lord to harm the place."
But Xu Jie couldn't hold it back and tried to dissuade him.
Throughout the dynasties, eunuchs' prerogative of power is the source of the failure of government administration, and delegating power to eunuchs has always been the source of disaster.
The scholar-bureaucrats in the court have always opposed delegating power to eunuchs.
First, when the eunuchs were delegated power, where did the delegated power come from? It came from the scholar-officials. In essence, the eunuchs usurped the power of the scholar-officials.
For example, the establishment of the ceremonial eunuchs, especially the Bingbi eunuchs and the Zhangyin eunuchs, took away a lot of power from the cabinet.
The eunuch Bingbi was responsible for reviewing the memorials for the emperor and giving instructions such as "agree" or "disagree" on various documents and memorials; the eunuch holding the seal was responsible for stamping the emperor's seal on the approved memorials and sending them to the cabinet.
Follow the instructions.
One represents the mouthpiece of the Holy Emperor, and the other acts as the Holy Immortal in charge of the seal. Can you tell me how much power they have.
If the eunuch holding the pen adds some personal items based on the emperor's opinions, it is entirely possible, which is often the case in the cabinet; if the eunuch holding the seal intentionally or unintentionally fails to seal some documents of the cabinet, it would be even more terrible.
Not only are these two eunuchs awesome, but the eunuch Si Li, an ordinary little eunuch, goes out on business and enjoys the treatment of a third-rank official in the imperial court.
And this can entirely be the power of the cabinet.
At present, Emperor Jiajing is still wise, and eunuchs such as Lu Fang and Huang Jin are relatively restrained. If there were a more mediocre emperor and ambitious eunuchs, the battle between the cabinet and the eunuchs would probably heat up in minutes.
In addition to the Si Li Jian, there are also Dongchang, Xichang and Jinyiwei. They also have the power of execution and prison, and the power of inspection and arrest. How much power is divided between them.
Secondly, the eunuchs were directly responsible to the emperor, lacked supervision, lived in deep palaces and courtyards for a long time, and were missing a part. Their physiology was not sound, which led to their psychological abnormality. They were too obsessed with power and gold and silver, were greedy and had no regard for normal things.
People have an instinctive hatred towards ordinary people and even officials.
Once these people have power, they will be unscrupulous and unscrupulous, harming the people and persecuting officials
After the establishment of Jinyiwei and Dongxi Factory, there were countless such typical examples.
Eunuchs are like wild beasts. When kept in the palace, they are just pets for viewing. Once released from the palace, they become ferocious beasts that can eat people without blinking an eye.
"Once a servant goes out, he is regarded as a foreign official. Censors and officials can be impeached, and local officials also have the power to impeach. In addition, Jin Yiwei, as well as the East Factory and the West Factory can supervise them and prevent them from causing trouble."
Emperor Jiajing said displeased.
"Your Majesty, why don't we pilot a few silver mines and have them managed by chamberlains? The rest will still be dispatched by the Ministry of Household Affairs or managed by local governments according to the old system. After a few years of piloting, we will see the situation and decide whether to let the chamberlains manage."
Seeing Emperor Jiajing's insistence, Yan Song retreated to the next best thing and proposed a compromise plan to pilot several silver mines.
Emperor Jiajing was silent after hearing this.
Yan Song lowered his head, feeling a little uneasy.
"Then let's pilot the management of silver mines by servants in one place in Yunnan, and let the silver mines in other places be managed by personnel from the Ministry of Household Affairs."
Emperor Jiajing adopted Yan Song's opinion.
But instead of piloting several silver mines, it was piloting one place in Yunnan. But the silver mines in one place in Yunnan accounted for half of the silver mines in the Ming Dynasty. This was a pilot project in name, but in reality it was a half-and-half split.
This means that Emperor Jiajing wants to incorporate half of the silver mines into his inner treasury.
"The Holy One is wise."
Yan Song flattered him immediately. Emperor Jiajing owned half of the silver mines, so there was still half of the silver mines for him to deploy manpower.
"The Holy One is wise."
Li Ben also agreed.
Xu Jie pursed his lips and wanted to say something, but he held it back and agreed, "The Holy One is wise."
"Okay, you go back and push forward the matter of the silver mine as soon as possible. As for the matter of establishing a reserve, don't have any scruples, but if you have any thoughts, you can submit them to me in secret." Emperor Jiajing finally gave them instructions.