Don't look at the big fish and meat every day, these are the standard fare of an emperor.
Every year, the royal palace's expenses are all financed from internal funds, including those of the feudal lord.
From the first year of Hongwu to the present, for twenty-five years, the Ming Dynasty has never had sufficient financial resources.
The reason why the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes were issued was because it was difficult for the national treasury to even provide military pay. In the first few years when the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes were first issued, life was affluent.
Later, all kinds of wars, rewards, military pay, and salaries were almost all made up of treasure money.
This is also the reason why tens of millions of coins are issued every year.
Then there was the substantial depreciation of the treasure banknotes, which made Zhu Yuanzhang realize that he needed to control the issuance of the treasure banknotes.
Even in recent years, officials' salaries have often been in arrears and delayed.
In this regard, Zhu Yuanzhang also had to take money from the Ministry of Household Affairs to fill the vacancies in the palace.
On Empress Ma's birthday, the four dishes and one soup served at the banquet were not provided because of lack of money.
If you really want to be rich, who would be so timid?
There is nothing we can do about the officials' salaries being severely restricted.
If you don't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are, it is already the limit of the Ming Dynasty's treasury. Zhu Yuanzhang wished that officials would bring their own salaries to work.
It would be best to earn some more money for the treasury.
In other words, in the past two months, the palace's various expenses have become slightly more relaxed.
This is of course the credit of Da Sun.
Now, according to what Dasun said, those who commit crimes can create income for internal funds. The situation is still similar to what Dasun is doing now when he runs a factory.
Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang's face really glowed.
"Dasun, if you do this, how much money can you make every year?" After Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it, he asked his eldest son with a smile.
He is very eager to know how much income can be increased by internal funds in the future.
People, the last thing they like to live is a poor life, let alone a founding emperor like Zhu Yuanzhang.
Every time in the morning meeting, what bothered him the most was the Ministry of Accounts, which always pointed out that there was a shortage of money here and there, and used various reasons to reduce the expenditure of internal funds.
Zhu Yuanzhang also knew that there was really nothing he could do about it, but Ming Dynasty only had so much annual income, so what could be done.
First of all, we must stabilize military pay. This is the guard system that Zhu Yuanzhang thought hard about. Otherwise, military pay will be tight. Now at least military households can be self-sufficient every year.
When the Ming Dynasty was first established, there were 491 guards and 311 posts.
A guard has about 5,600 people. Based on this calculation, the Ming army has about 2.7 million.
If such a large army were entirely supported by the court, it would directly bring down the entire Ming Dynasty's finances.
The army is really a worry if it is too much, but it is still a worry if it is too little. When it is used, the more the better, and when it is not used, the simpler it is, the better. In peacetime, your huge army is a burden.
Zhu Yuanzhang then said: Today the sea is peaceful and the borders are safe. If the soldiers only sit and eat on the farm, the farmers will suffer. This is not a way to achieve long-term peace and stability. He will order the world to guard the country, supervise the soldiers and cultivate the crops, and the common people, soldiers and farmers will be integrated into one, and the state will use it.
With comfort.
In this regard, Zhu Yuanzhang once said excitedly: Raising a million soldiers does not cost the common people a drop.
In order to maintain the guard system for a longer period of time, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict: the status of the guards' sergeants remained hereditary, and their children were not allowed to participate in the imperial examinations or seek another career.
This has even been directly written into the Ming Law.
In Zhu Yuanzhang's design, soldiers on the third floor of the guard system were trained, and soldiers on the seventh floor were responsible for farming. This ratio would also be adjusted to a certain extent according to the barrenness of the land.
The design of this system already indicates that the decline of soldiers' combat effectiveness is inevitable.
But the Ming Dynasty’s finances are like this, what can be done?
There is simply no extra financial resources to reform the health center system, so this is the best way to do it under the current circumstances.
Whether it is the field system or the garrison system, the disadvantages are very clear, that is, the connection between generals and soldiers is too close.
In the history of the Tang Dynasty, the vassal towns and the feudal lords were separated and each was their own king. This was brought about by the farming system.
Reflected in the war, there will also be strong hidden dangers.
When the imperial court needed to mobilize troops for war, the military commander designated by the Dudu Palace would lead the army. These soldiers were separated from the original guard officers, and the military commander would be responsible to the commander-in-chief appointed by the imperial court.
Moreover, general war recruitment is almost always done because of problems, which results in no time for training and running-in.
This will cause the general to be unfamiliar with the soldiers, the soldiers will not obey the general's command, and they will not obey anyone, and their combat effectiveness will be greatly weakened.
In the thirty-fourth year of Jiajing, a band of fifty-three Japanese pirates rampaged across the three provinces of Zhejiang, Anhui, and Jiangsu. As if they were in an uninhabited land, they even brazenly attacked Nanjing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty at that time, and killed three or four thousand Ming troops.
people.
The guardsmen were like paper, which could be broken by a poke. You used a crowd to eliminate this small army of dozens of people, but the result was shocking. This was simply unimaginable in the early Ming Dynasty.
If someone told Zhu Yuanzhang that this situation occurred in the Ming Dynasty because of the guard system, would he believe it?
Even the common people and officials would never believe that such a thing happened.
However, it just happened in history. It is like a fantasy, but it is extremely real.
In fact, throughout history, Zhu Yuanzhang also understood the shortcomings of the farming system, and he also thought about the hidden dangers of the guard system.
But today's Ming Dynasty cannot do without the guard system.
There is not much pressure on military pay, and life is so tight. It would be unthinkable to abolish the guard system.
But in Dasun, Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to see hope.
Listening to the old man asking how much money he could earn, Zhu Ying made an estimate in his mind and said, "It depends on where you are and what you are doing."
"If it's a relatively profitable business with a few thousand people, you should still be able to earn hundreds of thousands a year."
"For example, in the Jiangnan area, the trade volume there is large, and it should be even higher."
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard the number of hundreds of thousands, his breathing became a little rapid.
Is it so easy to make money here in Dasun? If you throw a group of labor prisoners into the entire prison, you can earn hundreds of thousands every year?
Even if one of the thirteen chief secretaries of the Ming Dynasty was assigned to a province, millions of dollars would be recorded every year.
At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have thought about the days when the national treasury would be full every year. After thinking about it, Zhu Yuanzhang asked again: "Does the grandson of these hundreds of thousands refer to treasure notes or silver?"
Zhu Ying replied: "What my grandson is talking about is silver. At present, the price of treasure banknotes in the country fluctuates greatly. For the time being, we can only use silver taels as a reference. After the national treasury is filled, we can slowly recycle the treasure banknotes and control the issuance."
number."
"In this way, with sufficient reserves, treasure banknotes can completely replace silver."
Millions of silver, equivalent to nearly ten million coins.
In this way, the treasure banknote collection department no longer needs to issue a large amount of treasure banknotes. The treasury will not only be in debt every year, but also have a large surplus.
"good!"
Zhu Yuanzhang thought of this, slammed the table, and shouted: "This should have been done a long time ago, Dasun, we feel that this matter is very urgent and must start immediately."
"Let's do this. It's getting late today, so there's no need to go to the morning court tomorrow. Let's issue an edict and ask the Third Division to listen to Da Sun's instructions and immediately arrange the new Ming Code."
"The code may be a little slow. Let's not worry about the specific laws and regulations. Let's outline the general framework of the labor service. Tomorrow morning, we will make an announcement to the world that those who have committed crimes should be given a chance to reform.
"
"At the same time, there is a general amnesty for the whole country. Anyone who is sentenced to death or exiled will be imprisoned first, and will not approach until the laws and regulations of Dasun come out. As for other criminals, they will also be temporarily imprisoned."
At this point, Zhu Yuanzhang paused for a moment before continuing: "When Grand Sun is formulating the law, he must pay attention to it. It is best to start with three years of labor service. If the time is too short, I am afraid that they are not even apprentices.
He’s already gone out.”
Good guy, this old man is really cruel.
No matter what crime you commit, you will always start in three years.
This requires hard work.
This means that even if you are a petty thief, it will take you three years to enter the Yamen.
But maybe from a certain perspective, at least the prison can take care of food, which may also be a way out. Thinking of this, Zhu Ying could only smile bitterly and said: "My grandson understands."
After eating and walking, Zhu Ying was about to return to Kunning Palace to continue reviewing the memorials.
Liu He came over to report: "Your Majesty, His Highness Yuwen asked to see you."
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he exclaimed: "Why did Yunwen come to see us? Dasun, your brother is here. Don't leave in a hurry. Let's see what's going on first."
Now in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind, if something happened to Zhu Yunwen, he shouldn't go to his eldest brother and our eldest grandson to solve it.
Why did you come directly to us?
There are many things we do every day. The so-called eldest brother is like father, such as the emperor and grandson. Of course, the eldest grandson is fully responsible for it.
But even though everyone is here, it’s hard not to see them.
In the main hall of Qianqing Palace, Zhu Ying could only sit down and drink tea, just like accompanying the old man.
Soon, Zhu Yunwen came over.
"Yunwen pays homage to Grandpa Huang, eldest brother."
Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang asked with some embarrassment: "What happened to Yun Wen? How did he find us here?"
Hearing this, Zhu Yunwen quickly explained: "Reporting to Grandpa Huang, my grandson went to the eldest brother's place earlier. He heard from the eunuch that the eldest brother was at Grandpa Huang's place, so he came here specially."
Zhu Yuanzhang was not satisfied with this explanation and said: "Your eldest brother is just having a meal here, and it won't waste much time. What makes you so impatient?"
The implication of this is obvious, just wait while your eldest brother is away. You already know he is here, so why can't you wait.
When Zhu Yunwen heard this, his mouth felt slightly bitter.
Grandpa Huang, you have changed, you were not like this before.
Now even if I come to ask for help, I have to be reprimanded.
Although he was very depressed, he still managed to pull himself together and replied: "My grandson made a major discovery in Pilma Hema, Samarkand, so I became a little impatient."
Zhu Yuanzhang was a little curious when he heard this. He still attached great importance to Samarkand, so he asked: "Tell me and listen."
In fact, he is not saying that he has no love for Zhu Yunwen at all.
But in a big family like the palace, rules are very important, especially to maintain the status of the eldest grandson.
Otherwise, it will only be the princes and grandsons who will suffer in the future.