After hearing Liu Jin's words, all the ministers present also nodded.
"Your Majesty, I also believe that a targeted anti-gang operation should be carried out. Currently, the public security in Beijing and Tianjin is extremely poor and gangs are rampant. At the same time, roadblocks and robberies often occur on the cement highways built across the country.
"
Li Dongyang also stood up and said.
"Your Majesty, there are many extremely vicious people not only in the Ming Dynasty, but also in the overseas areas of the Ming Dynasty. In the Golden Continent, there are even horse bandits who specialize in robbing gold mines. In Nanyang, there are also new types of pirates. These pirates
They are not people from various countries in Southeast Asia, but people from the Ming Dynasty. Their methods are often extremely cruel, and every time they take action, they will kill everyone on board, seek wealth and murder, and commit all kinds of evil."
Zhang Mao also stood up and said.
He is in charge of the Fifth Army Governor's Office and is in charge of the garrison in various parts of the Ming Dynasty. In addition to protecting the country, the garrison is also responsible for local security.
Judging from the reports from the garrisons in various places, the public security in various places in the Ming Dynasty is not very good. Interests are very popular. There are many evil forces arising from interests, and they have a tendency to develop rapidly.
"Hmm~"
When Emperor Hongzhi heard this, he frowned and began to ponder.
After thinking for a while, he said: "The Governor's Office of the Fifth Army will take the lead, and local government offices will cooperate to carry out an operation to burn out gangsters and eliminate evil in the entire Ming Dynasty. No matter who is investigated or who is encountered, as long as they are involved in gangs or evil,
All will be swept clean."
"We must deal a heavy blow to the gangs in the city and completely eliminate these gangs that oppress the people. We must also severely punish the bandits who block and rob on rivers, seaways, and highways, occupy mountains as kings, collect protection fees, etc.
Punishment, all bandits will be killed without mercy!"
"Your Majesty, Holy Ming!"
When the ministers heard this, they immediately shouted in unison.
Some frowned deeply. Emperor Hongzhi directly asked the Fifth Army Commander's Office to take charge, and the local government offices cooperated. This meant that many officials had no right to interfere with many things, and the Ming army directly went to clear them up.
Many people have already seen the scenes that are about to appear in various parts of the Ming Dynasty. Many ruthless and domineering people will definitely die under bullets.
"Well, go ahead!"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly to indicate that the debriefing should continue.
Liu Jin thought for a while and asked Zhang Mingzheng: "What do you think of the future of Beizhili, and what are your plans?"
When Zhang Mingzheng heard this, he immediately began to ponder.
"Ma Dan, is this Liu Jin still allowed to live?"
"We are just local officials, not the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. If we have any views on the future and what plans we have, this is not killing people."
Many of the officials sitting below could not help but scold Liu Jin in their hearts. It was so comfortable to be an official in the past, drinking tea, reading newspapers, and trying cases all the time.
It's better now. Taxation needs to be taken care of, population needs to be taken care of, bridges and roads need to be built, and even public security and future issues have to be taken care of. Is this still a way for people to live?
"Beizhili is the center of the Ming Dynasty, with important areas such as Beijing and Tianjin, and a large population. The future of Beizhili is bright, with huge potential and development prospects."
"As for the future planning of Beizhili, I think we should continue to focus on the development of factories, workshops and businesses, while promoting port construction and road construction, and building developed maritime transportation and convenient land transportation."
Zhang Mingzheng thought about it for a while but then he replied bravely. The question Liu Jin asked was really difficult to answer. After exhausting his brain, he could only reply like this.
"Um!"
Emperor Hongzhi, Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and others nodded after hearing this.
There are many factories, workshops, and commercial houses in Beizhili, which has huge advantages. It is obviously very suitable to continue to develop capitalist industries. At the same time, he also sees the importance of transportation.
As for Liu Jin, he nodded slightly. Compared with the officials of later generations, this Zhang Mingzheng was obviously unqualified, but for officials of this era, he was still quite good.
"Your Majesty, I have finished asking. From all aspects, although the Chief Envoy of Northern Zhili has not done enough in terms of public security, overall he is still very good."
Liu Jin stood up and said to Emperor Hongzhi on the dragon steps.
"Well, it's indeed pretty good. Please give it a good rating!"
Emperor Hongzhi also nodded and said.
"yes!"
Liu Jin quickly replied.
In the official examination system, Liu Jin set a total of six levels of ratings for the officials being assessed: upper, upper, middle, lower middle, lower, and lower.
A mid-level rating is considered to be qualified, a mid-to-low rating requires criticism, and a low-level rating requires demotion and punishment. Those with a lower-level rating will directly go home to plant sweet potatoes.
If you are evaluated at a higher level, you will receive bonus points for your political performance. If you receive two or three evaluations from a higher level, you can be promoted. As for those who are evaluated at a higher level, you can be directly promoted to one level.
Therefore, the evaluation given by Emperor Hongzhi to Zhang Mingzheng's superiors can be considered a very good rating.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!"
When Zhang Mingzheng heard this, he was overjoyed and thanked him.
"Ye Xian, the chief envoy of Southern Zhili, reported on his duties!"
Zhang Mingzheng walked down with a face full of joy, and Xiao Jing shouted again at the top of his lungs.
Soon an official came under the dragon steps. After saluting, he slowly began to report on his duties.
"Thanks to His Majesty's grace and trust, I have the honor to be in charge..."
"In the fifteenth year of Hongzhi, Nanzhili achieved tax revenue of 15 million taels of silver, an increase of one million taels of silver compared with the fourteenth year of Hongzhi..."
Ye Xian was obviously unprepared. He imitated Zhang Mingzheng in talking about it, but just when he talked about taxation, Ye Xian couldn't help but started to stutter, because the taxation in the fifteen years of Hongzhi in South Zhili was only 10% less than that in the fourteenth year.
It only increased by one million taels of silver. The amount and growth rate of this increase are frighteningly low.
If it were other provinces, such as Yunnan and Guizhou, it would be more or less justified, but South Zhili has always been an important province of the Ming Dynasty and the core of the Ming Dynasty. It is located in the south of the Yangtze River and has always been the economic and tax center of the Ming Dynasty.
However, the North Zhili area has an increase of 10 million taels of tax silver per year, while the southern Zhili area has only increased by less than 1 million taels of silver. This is obviously unjustifiable, and there must be something wrong with it.
"Why did the tax revenue of Nanzhili only increase by one million taels this year?"
Before he finished speaking, Emperor Hongzhi couldn't help but ask.
"I don't know that in terms of taxation, land tax is collected by local governments, while commercial tax is collected by the tax yamen directly under the Ministry of Household Affairs. The data also comes from the tax yamen in Nanzhili."
Ye Xian thought for a while and said.
"Zhong Zhong, what's going on?"
Emperor Hongzhi looked at Ji Zhong, the Minister of Household Affairs. The importance of taxation is self-evident. In the past, Emperor Hongzhi would be deceived by civil servants, but it is different now. Liu Jin has emphasized the importance of taxation many times.
I also realized the feeling of having money and getting things done easily. Emperor Hongzhi attached great importance to taxation.
"Your Majesty, I also know something about the taxation situation in Nanzhili. The taxation in Nanzhili is the most difficult place to collect taxes in all parts of the Ming Dynasty. The tax yamen encountered many difficulties in collecting taxes. Not only the local gentry, but also businessmen hindered tax collection.
, even the local government offices are unwilling to cooperate with the imperial court in collecting taxes."
Ji Zhong stood up and said very seriously, Ji Zhong had communicated with Ye Xian before about this matter, but Ye Xian didn't bother Ji Zhong at all, he just dealt with it very casually.
After all, Nanzhili is a special place. It is located in the south of the Yangtze River, and the influence of Jiangnan people in the officialdom is very large and intricate. Officials from Jiangnan account for half of the Ming Dynasty.
The Jiangnan region has always had a tradition of resisting paying taxes.
In the past, when the imperial court wanted to levy commercial taxes, officials in the Jiangnan region were almost unanimously opposed to it. Anyone who proposed levying a tax would be killed. Even the emperor did not even think of levying commercial taxes.
Later, although Liu Jin led the tax reform, with the strong support of Emperor Hongzhi, and the Jiangnan officials suffered heavy losses, the tax reform was successful and commercial taxes were levied.
But in Jiangnan, the collection of commercial taxes is still a very difficult matter. Although the tax agents of the tax yamen are not vegetarians, the tax collection work in Jiangnan is still very difficult. There is a big problem
The reason is that there is no cooperation and support from the local government.
"Ye Xian, is this happening?"
Emperor Hongzhi's face darkened, he looked at Ye Xian coldly and asked.
"My lord, I have issued an order requiring local yamen to cooperate with the tax yamen in collecting taxes."
Ye Xian replied submissively.
"Humph, you have already given the order?"
"Would you like me to take out the correspondence between you and me and show it to Your Majesty?"
"The imperial court has made repeated orders, and His Majesty has repeatedly emphasized that local government offices must actively cooperate with taxation offices to collect taxes, but what about your Nanzhili government?"
"Not only did you fail to cooperate with the tax yamen in collecting taxes, but you even aided the tyranny in hindering the Southern Zhili tax yamen from collecting taxes. Now you are saying that you require the yamen from all regions to cooperate with the tax yamen in collecting taxes?"
Zhong Zhong couldn't help but snorted coldly and said, as the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the tax collection work is also the focus of his assessment. The tax revenue growth in all parts of the Ming Dynasty is very good, but the tax growth in the Jiangnan region is extremely slow, making it difficult to collect taxes.
is the main issue.
"Your Majesty, I, I will cooperate with the tax yamen to collect taxes after I return home~"
As soon as Ye Xian heard this, he immediately knelt down on the ground. He was panic-stricken. He was considered a traditional official and opposed to taxation. He believed that taxation was too heavy to the disadvantage of the people and would make the people miserable, so he was unwilling to cooperate with the tax yamen to collect taxes.
, who believe in governing by doing nothing, have done nothing in Southern Zhili.
"go back?"
"You don't have to go back."
Emperor Hongzhi knew what the situation was like at the first sight, and immediately said coldly: "Immediately remove Ye Xiannan from the post of Zhili Chief Envoy, demote him three levels in a row, and send him to Huanghuangzhou as an official."