Since the third brother began to enjoy life, King Chu moved here.
The plaque of this museum was inscribed by Han Shizhong at that time. The name of the museum comes from Li Shangyin's poem "Diligentness does not allow the fragrance to penetrate, and the golden fish locks the osmanthus bush tightly".
In front of the museum, there is a leaky window and a whitewashed wall, forming a courtyard of its own. There are several osmanthus branches planted in the courtyard, making it a good place for quiet meditation.
However, at this time, the mood of the three Suzhou parent officials in the museum - Suzhou Magistrate Li Heng, Wu County Magistrate Xue Ding'e, and Changzhou County Magistrate Fei Mi had nothing to do with purity, and they were almost in a state of irritation.
Although the civil uprising in Suzhou has subsided, the unemployment and hunger problems that led to the civil uprising have not been solved at all. If this continues, people will starve to death.
If something goes wrong again then, it won't be as painless or itchy as before.
"Your Highness, has the Emperor replied to your letter?" Li Heng and the two county magistrates could only place their hopes on His Highness, who was not yet fourteen years old.
"Yes." Zhu Zhen nodded and said with a wry smile: "Father said that we have no money, so we should find a way to solve it ourselves."
"It's over now..." When the three officials heard this, they wanted to die.
"Don't panic." His Royal Highness the King of Chu still said with a smile: "There is a saying that 'as long as the mind does not slip, there are always more solutions than difficulties.' How can a living person be choked to death?"
"Yes, yes..." The three officials smiled apologetically, thinking in their hearts. What's the use of talking nonsense? They should think of a way.
"Your Highness, if it doesn't work out, let's raid the Lu family first to deal with the emergency." Li Heng couldn't help but make some suggestions.
"Good idea." Xue Zhixian hurriedly responded: "Anyway, the uncle and nephew have already confessed. The Lu family is the instigator of this civil uprising. It is natural for them to use their property to relieve the people."
"Your Highness is urging the court to convict you as soon as possible." Fei Zhixian also advised. Obviously the three of them came after consultation, and this was the only way they could think of.
"..." Zhu Zhen's expression was calm, but he was smiling bitterly in his heart. Do you think I, the king, don't want to ransack the house quickly? I wish I could have all the wealthy families ransacked in an emergency.
But the Ministry of Punishment has been unwilling to speed up the process of convicting the people, so I can only stare.
He knew that Hu Weiyong was probably digging a hole for him to jump into. He was afraid that if he lost his composure and ordered his house to be raided, the censor over there would get wind of it and impeach him.
Moreover, the two brothers have agreed that this time the third brother will sing the white face, and he will sing the red face. The white face will sing in the same way as the white face, and the red face will sing in the red face. The behavior must be in line with the character.
So he said seriously: "If we rely on ransacking homes to help the citizens, doesn't it mean that the government is too incompetent?"
"Your Highness, the most important thing now is not face..." Li Heng said with a bitter smile.
"No, the government only relies on face. Who would believe him without face?" His Royal Highness the King of Chu gave Li Heng a lesson, and then changed the topic: "Besides, I have a better way."
The three officials were busy listening.
"Isn't it because we don't have money? Why don't we print some ourselves?" His Highness said loudly.
‘Pfft…’ The three officials almost vomited blood.
"Your Highness, counterfeiting treasure banknotes is a capital crime!" Li Heng said helplessly.
The two county magistrates also firmly expressed their refusal.
According to Boss Zhu's regulations, anyone who forges treasure banknotes, regardless of whether he is the principal or an accomplice, as well as those who hide the information and fail to report it, will be punished by beheading, and all their property will be confiscated.
Although Boss Zhu won't chop off his son's head, he will definitely chop off their heads. Everyone wants to be an official, just to make a living, not to risk their lives.
"Who said we need to print treasure banknotes?" King Chu gasped and said, "If we don't print treasure banknotes, wouldn't it be illegal?"
"But if we print anything else, we can't use it as money." Li Heng said calmly, as long as it doesn't kill him, he can do whatever he wants.
"Why can't it be spent as money..." Zhu Zhen said lightly: "As long as we give it value, it can be spent as money."
"..." The three officials looked confused. They had never heard him talk about numismatics, so naturally they didn't understand.
"Let's put it bluntly, what we print is food stamps, you can also call them food stamps." Zhu Zhen said, picked up a hand-painted food stamp from the table, handed it to the three of them to look at and said:
"Common people can exchange this coupon for the face amount of grain... Well, it says five dou of japonica rice, so you can exchange it for five dou of japonica rice. What do you think is the difference between this and money?"
In this era, at least half of officials' salaries and soldiers' military pay were paid in the form of grain. People who lacked money could use grain to directly buy all the goods on the market.
There are always only sellers who don't accept treasure money, and there are no sellers who don't accept food.
"There is no difference..." So the three officials understood what King Chu said instantly, and they all felt that the food stamps were much more reliable than the treasure notes.
"Just, where can I exchange for food?" At this time, Magistrate Xue asked a very important question.
"Of course we are going to the Yamen." His Royal Highness the King of Chu said slowly: "Let the common people go to grain merchants to exchange money? They don't have the credibility."
"Ah?" The three officials suddenly lost their expressions. "Your Highness, how can we give food to the citizens?"
"Nonsense, there are reserve warehouses in all the prefectures and counties, why would there be no food?" King Chu said with a smile.
"Not Your Highness, the food prepared in the warehouse can only be loaned to the people, and cannot be given to the people for free." The three people said hurriedly: "When the time comes, if the accounts of the household department are not balanced, we will lose our heads!"
The reserve warehouse of the Ming Dynasty is similar to the Changping warehouse of the previous dynasty, but there are also differences. Its general operation model is that local governments at all levels will issue official cash to purchase grain during good harvests to prepare for relief, and then lend it to the people in famine years.
Let him pay it back after the autumn harvest.
Boss Zhu enforces the law strictly, and no official dares to be careless with him. Li Heng and the other three would rather not be this official than let people use paper to exchange the grain from the storage warehouse.
"Then you guys just lend food to the citizens!" His Highness the King of Chu said with a downcast face.
"Your Highness, please calm down. According to the regulations of the imperial court, borrowing grain from the reserve warehouse requires land under your name as collateral," Li Heng hurriedly explained: "Most of the weavers and boatmen do not have land, so they are not qualified to borrow grain.
"
"What kind of bullshit rule is this?" King Chu said angrily: "There is obviously food in the warehouse, but the citizens are not allowed to borrow it. How can we just watch them starve to death? Can't we make some changes?!"
"Oh, Your Highness, even the lower-ranking officials don't want this." The three people frowned and said, "But after the empty seal case, who in the imperial court dares to change?"
"That's true..." Zhu Zhen was at a loss for words. Those officials who knew how to adapt and had brains had all lost their minds. How could the rest of them dare to go even half a step further?
"Well, how about I borrow grain from you in the name of Suzhou Dyeing and Weaving Bureau?" He then changed his mind and said.
