Emperor Hongzhi was speechless for a while, even though he already knew that Zhou Jing came for his own money.
Since Xishan Coal Industry started to make money last year, Zhou Jing is no longer the Minister of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty. He has become a rat of Emperor Hongzhi's internal money, using various reasons to dig into Emperor Hongzhi's money every day.
Xishan Coal is indeed making money. Emperor Hongzhi knew this very well, and so did everyone. However, making money is making money, and Zhou Jing stared at his own money every day, which made Emperor Hongzhi very unhappy.
Of course, the more unpleasant thing is that in addition to keeping an eye on their own internal funds, the ministers also write to Emperor Hongzhi every day, asking him to be diligent and thrifty, abstain from extravagance and be frugal. They constantly ask Emperor Hongzhi to reduce his own expenses and use the money saved.
Used to support the treasury.
Emperors are human beings too. Emperor Hongzhi was already very frugal and had only one wife. The expenses of the harem were reduced to the extreme. Many of the clothes of this queen were still patched and mended.
Emperor Hongzhi neither cultivated gardens nor liked extravagance and waste. He had always been very frugal, but he was told to be frugal every day, and then the money he saved was taken away by them for various reasons.
This Zhou Jing is the number one money-grabbing rat, and nothing else. His ability to cry out in front of Emperor Hongzhi every two days has been particularly strong, so much so that Emperor Hongzhi even wanted to give Zhou Jing a nickname, Zhou Papi.
It is the emperor himself who is peeling off the skin.
"Master Zhou, you can't say that. This clairvoyance can see very far away. It is perfect for military reconnaissance. There is no news now. It just means that the country is peaceful and the people are safe, and the sea, rivers and rivers are clear. It also shows that I, the Ming Dynasty, are powerful.
All over the world."
Xie Qian also stood up and said that he had formulated the regulations for the use of clairvoyance. Now Zhou Jing actually described this clairvoyance as a children's toy. Isn't this a slap in the face? Naturally, he couldn't bear it.
"Master Xie said it well. Since the Ming Dynasty is peaceful and the people are safe, and the seas and rivers are clear, there is no need to spend a lot of money on military affairs."
"Using these 20,000 taels of silver to buy 2,000 clairvoyants is unjustifiable in any case. If it can make a great contribution, there is nothing to say. Now that I have not made any achievements, my Ming Dynasty has conquered the world, and there is no need to spend more silver.
Invest it in the military."
Liu Jian and Xie Qian spoke for Emperor Hongzhi one after another, but Zhou Jing was still unyielding, with an attitude that if you don't give me these 20,000 taels of silver today, I won't give up.
Of course, we can also know from his words that in the Ming Dynasty, the literati controlled everything, but in the military affairs that were related to the national security, they were constantly thinking of ways to cut expenses and suppress the generals and nobles. He, the Minister of Household Affairs, would find a way when he got the opportunity.
Reduce military spending.
This is also an important reason why the combat effectiveness of the Ming Dynasty's army plummeted. After the Tumubao Incident, civilian officials completely took control of the court's voice and military power.
In order to further suppress the forces of military generals and nobles, these civilian officials are trying every possible means to reduce military expenditures, which is nothing more than the most conventional method.
In the past, the military power of the Ming Dynasty's army belonged to the emperor, and the emperor had the final say on military expenditures, so all aspects were guaranteed, from weapons manufacturing to all aspects of the army. Before the Tumubao Incident, the Ming Dynasty's army
Very powerful in combat.
From time to time, you can still go for a walk on the grassland, kill the Tatars and Oaras, flee thousands of miles north, and surrender. However, after the Tumubao Incident, the situation immediately reversed.
Although Yu Jin defended the capital and protected the Ming Dynasty during the Tumubao Incident, the military power was completely controlled by the literati, and subsequent emperors did not take all military power into their own hands.
The civil servants came to power, suppressed the generals and nobles, cut military expenditures, and did not have enough funds. The weapons they produced became worse and worse. The artillery of Shenjiying, which was once popular in the world, exploded so powerfully that the soldiers
I would rather fight the enemy with a knife than use artillery and blunderbuss.
In addition, the treatment of soldiers is getting worse and worse, especially when the Hongzhi Dynasty changed the "Kailiang Nazhong" to "Kaiyin Nazhong", salt merchants only need to pay silver to the court to obtain salt, and no longer need to transport grain to
Only after the salt is introduced can the border town be obtained.
The entire border town system of the Ming Dynasty began to completely collapse. The troops in the border towns often did not even have enough to eat, the merchant villages were abandoned, and the military supplies in the border towns were tight and could not be guaranteed. In the late Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty directly fell into
an even more dire financial crisis.
Of course, this crisis has not yet fully manifested itself. Civil servants such as Zhou Jing are still trying to find ways to reduce military expenditures and construct their dream Confucian concepts of governing the country with virtue and filial piety.
"The 20,000 taels of silver came from inside..."
Emperor Hongzhi looked at Zhou Jing, then looked at several other ministers, and sighed helplessly in his heart. As an emperor, he didn't know whether it was a success or a failure.
But before he finished speaking, a little Huangmen hurriedly came over with a memorial and said: "Your Majesty, a great victory in Bianzhen, a great victory in Bianzhen~"
When everyone heard this, they all immediately became energetic. Emperor Hongzhi also quickly changed his words and said: "Nian~"
"Your Majesty, Li Jie, has recently gathered 200,000 cavalry to march south to the border. The troops were divided into two groups and pretended to attack Datong all the way. They camped for 20 miles and the sky was filled with beacon fire. However, it was all false. Fortunately, we have the magic weapon of clairvoyance.
After seeing through the little prince’s plan, I sent out numerous scouts who stayed awake all night to conduct a large-scale investigation. Using the artifact clairvoyance, I finally discovered that the little prince’s main attack direction was Taiyuan.”
"He followed the general's plan, lured the enemy deep, set up an ambush, seriously injured the little prince, and killed tens of thousands of enemies..."
This was a good news memorial from the border town. As Xiaohuang Gatekeeper Li Jie read out the memorial, everyone present couldn't help but smile, and at the same time, everyone was in false alarm.
The little prince is the overlord on the grassland. He has always been resourceful and skillful in using troops. Last year, in May of the 10th year of Hongzhi, he also withdrew from Datong and even camped for dozens of miles. The capital was shocked.
Unexpectedly, this time he not only returned without success, but also lost his troops and returned defeated. An invisible crisis was also resolved.
Otherwise, once the little prince opens the gap and enters the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, we don't know how many people will die and how much property will be lost. You must know that it is the most difficult winter, and the little prince must have gone south to plunder supplies for the winter.
"Great~"
Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help but clapped his hands happily. Throughout the winter, Emperor Hongzhi had been worried about this matter and was always worried about things in Bian Town. Now he finally heard some good news.
"The little prince was severely injured. He can finally sleep peacefully this winter."
Emperor Hongzhi breathed a sigh of relief. The colder the weather, the more worried he was about the northern nomads going south. In the past, he heard a lot of bad news every year.
Such and such a place was conquered, how many people were plundered by the bandits, how many, how many people were massacred, etc. This year, I heard the good news first, which really made Emperor Hongzhi extremely happy.
"This Li Jie is very good. He stabilized the Xuanfu last year, and now he has made great achievements. He must be rewarded~"
"Your Majesty, this Li Jie really deserves a reward. However, Li Jie's memorial mentioned clairvoyance many times. He said that it was precisely because of his clairvoyance that he was able to see through the little prince's plan and find the real main force of the little prince. In the end, he devised the plan.
Only by laying an ambush can we seriously injure the little prince."
"It can be seen that clairvoyance is also indispensable and plays a huge role in the military."
Xie Qian looked at Zhou Jing and said very loudly.
The meaning behind his words was very clear. At the same time, he kept looking at Zhou Jing when he said this, as if he was asking Zhou Jing, is the money worth it?
Is this clairvoyance a children's toy?
As for Zhou Jing, at this time, he had completely lost the arrogance he had just now. He lowered his head and remained silent. His face was red, as if he had been slapped several times, and his whole mind was still buzzing.