"As for the imperial court, please leave it to Chang Shi."
Zhu Yixi said softly that Zhang Shenyan, who had been the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, was the most suitable for this job, and he could use all his connections.
"Yes!" Zhang Shenyan nodded in agreement.
The next thing to discuss is the repair of official roads and inns, which is not only good for politics and people's livelihood, but also excellent for the military.
Since the Chinese Dynasty, post stations have been divided into three types, namely water horse post, express delivery shop, and delivery post. Shui horse post is further divided into horse post and water post.
Of course, this is the abbreviation of Emperor Taizu. In fact, there were many types of post stations in the Yuan Dynasty. In addition, there were sedan stations, railway stations, donkey stations, dog stations, etc.
Shuima Post is a regular post station that receives civil and military officials.
One principle to follow is that the journey between two places is exactly one day, usually sixty to eighty miles for a horse station and a hundred miles for a water station.
Express shops are what we are most familiar with, and they are the post stations where official documents are urgent. They are rare in the mainland and are mostly found in important border areas.
"Every ten, fifteen, or twenty miles, a shop will be set up."
For example, Shibalipu, often mentioned in Wulin Gaiden, got its name from the inn.
The delivery station received cattle, sheep, horses and other livestock. It was a collection of cattle stations, donkey stations and dog stations in the Yuan Dynasty.
Therefore, the three major customers of the inn are people, official documents, and animals, which are related to the fundamentals of the operation of the court and are equivalent to the veins of the human body.
In the later period, Kanhe, which was used to receive officials, was also sold, and the silver taels allocated by the court were pocketed. In order to save hundreds of thousands of taels, the post station was abolished in the second year of Chongzhen.
It doesn't matter if the Shui Ma Post was abolished, as it was used to receive officials after all, but the abolition of the express delivery post and delivery station brought the entire Ming Dynasty to a near standstill, and it was all supported by the Grand Canal.
"The express station needs to be repaired first, and it will be the Shuima station in the future."
After listening to a lot of explanations, His Royal Highness Prince Yu said: "Military information and official documents cannot tolerate any delay."
"There must be unimpeded traffic between every government."
"Each post station will be repaired for about a hundred taels, and we only need to allocate 10,000 taels per month."
Zhao Shu said skillfully that all this had been planned in his mind for a long time.
Yan Chongxin frowned. Hearing what this meant, he wanted to use business tax!
But he glanced at Zhao Shu. The Military and Government Department controlled the treasury and should be fully aware of the allocation.
"Your Highness, the Transportation Department really has no spare capacity."
Sensing King Yu's gaze, Yan Chongxin said hurriedly.
The imperial court's blockade and the Anqing Prefecture's tax card made it really difficult for him to expand his income. Moreover, the Lingnan method had not yet worked, and there was really no way to do it in a short time.
"Your Highness, the Sichuan summer tax is approaching and can be spent."
Yan Chongxin suddenly realized that this was a drunkard who did not care about drinking.
"After all, the shogunate cannot really control the land of Sichuan, and it is difficult to know the exact amount of taxes."
Zhu Yixi nodded, with a look of embarrassment on his face: "In this way, the transshipment department can go to Sichuan, and the tax office will pay a lot of taxes on commercial taxes, which can increase the income a lot."
"This -" Yan Chongxin hesitated. Did he know how much he was hated? Without the support of King Yu, if he went to Sichuan to collect taxes, he would not be eaten by others?
"Sun Changzhou!"
"The humble job is here."
"Choose a few people carefully to protect Commander Yan when he goes to Sichuan. In addition, I will select a thousand people from the personal barracks for you to act as bodyguards."
King Yu looked at Yan Chongxin's panicked face with a smile and couldn't help but said: "Now, that's enough!"
"You not only have to abide by commercial taxes, but you also have to supervise the collection of spring and autumn taxes. It is related to the shogunate's fiscal revenue. You must not be careless."
"Your Majesty, I obey!" Yan Chongxin reluctantly agreed.
Zhang Shenyan remained silent and did not say a word.
Last year, the king of Yu drove out the bandits from the west. Obviously, he did not just suppress the bandits. Even though Wang Yingxiong, a member of the Donglin Party, was the governor of Sichuan, he had very deep ambitions for Sichuan.
Therefore, this time, they started to interfere in Sichuan affairs with the view that due to insufficient taxation due to the repair of the post station, they could only levy commercial tax.
After all, Sichuan is so rich, how could His Highness Prince Yu allow him to stay outside the rule of the shogunate?
He learned that Zhao Guangyuan and Qin Yiming were guarding Chengdu in the military, but now they began to infiltrate and interfere in taxation, and gradually engulfed Sichuan.
If it were before, he would definitely denounce it, but now that he is in the shogunate, he can only pretend to be deaf and dumb, and even feel quite happy in his heart.
The stronger the shogunate, his power will naturally increase.
After a superficial meeting, only Yan Chongxin felt unhappy, while the others were still unfinished.
Zhang Shenyan watched others leave, and he calmly took the carriage back to his new house.
"Master!" Zhang Wencheng carefully served the tea and asked expectantly:
"Are you feeling quite comfortable now?"
"The shogunate is pretty good."
Zhang Shenyan drank tea and sighed: "It is much more comfortable to discuss things in an orderly manner than the endless quarrels in Nanjing."
Seeing this, Zhang Wencheng was very determined.
The master has a bright future, how can his own future be obscure?
"Work seriously!"
Zhang Shenyan didn't know what he was thinking, so he couldn't help but smile and said: "The Military and Political Department has a bright future, and you will benefit from it when the time comes."
With a smile, Zhang Wencheng left the study room knowingly.
Zhang Shenyan gathered up his sleeves, began to sharpen his ink, and began to write.
He thought over and over again and decided that the first letter had to be written to the leader Qian Qianyi. The Minister of Rites was too important to avoid.
There is another imperial meeting in Nanjing.
The content revolves around a letter from the King of Yu, requesting that the imperial court's idea of "borrowing captives to suppress thieves" be abandoned and that peace negotiations with the Manchus be terminated.
This time, he immediately stepped on the heels of the Nanjing court, and the whole cabinet was furious.
Ma Shiying even rarely criticized the King of Yu, saying that he was trying to collude with thieves and occupy a big place.
Ruan Dacheng, who was a counselor, was silent and looked ugly.
The Donglin Party members were also aggressive in their criticism. Under the moral obligation to avenge the late emperor, no one dared to back down.
Emperor Hongguang expressed silence, he still wanted to enjoy more blessings.
It ended in an anticlimax, and Qian Qianyi returned home exhausted.
At this time, the letter from Xiangyang was placed on the desk.
"Zhang Shenyan?"
Qian Qianyi was stunned, and after taking it apart, he became furious: "You actually submitted to King Yu, you have no shame, no shame!"
It is really shocking that the dignified former Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs was appointed as the fifth-rank chief historian.
Liu Rushi twisted her slender waist and was slightly startled. After reading the letter, she said: "Zhang Butang's words are to educate the King of Yu. He has no choice but to do so."
"Forced? He is greedy for power."
Qian Qianyi cursed, then recovered and confided: "However, with the support of King Yu, we can speak louder in the court."
Thinking about it, he thought about it carefully, and his eyes became brighter and brighter: "The reason why Ma Shiying controls the cabinet is because of the support of the four towns in Jiangbei?"
"Bringing King Yu in will be enough to maintain balance."
"Sir, King Yu has great power and reputation, why do you want to get involved in this matter?"
Liu Rushi's beautiful eyes flashed slightly, and she said in a deep voice: "Sitting in Huguang, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, and millions of people, it can be said to be the best vassal town in the world."
"I really can't think of anything. Apart from that position, there is really no need for Prince Yu to participate."
"That position?"
Qian Qianyi was stunned and quickly shook his head and said: "The throne belongs to King Lu and must not be transferred to King Yu. Even King Gui is stronger than King Yu."
The reason why the Donglin Party supports King Lu is not because he is unfamiliar with the place and has no civil or military officials under his command who can operate easily.
King Gui, King Rui, etc., who had been vassal for many years, were the first to be eliminated.
As for King Yu, who has a complete shogunate, it is even more impossible, absolutely impossible.
"Only use it, don't go deep into it."
Qian Qianyi pulled himself out of his joy and sighed: "He keeps saying he is loyal to the Ming Dynasty, but his ambition is clearly revealed."