As we all know, since the Song Dynasty, civil service has been emphasized over martial arts, and martial arts examinations have been extremely despised. By the Ming Dynasty, the army was mainly hereditary, and military examinations were only supplementary.
The period when it really began to flourish was the Qing Dynasty.
There are also practical reasons for this. One is that the poor are poor in literature and rich in martial arts. If martial arts is emphasized, the only ones who are cheap will be those from rich families, which will not play a regulating role.
Secondly, it was the feudal era. After the first years of the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was inevitable to practice martial arts and cultivate literature. It was also difficult to arrange for a group of military attachés to be recruited.
However, the military household system will definitely be abolished in the future, so the training of military officers will be a top priority.
Therefore, after the emperor mentioned it casually, he did not elaborate further.
The time is not ripe right now.
Two more boring days passed.
Until it started to snow lightly in Nanjing, this huge city seemed to be wearing a layer of white gauze, and also seemed to be coated with a layer of white greasy, making it look enchanting but not impolite.
At this time, grain and grass from various southern provinces were also gradually delivered to Nanjing.
It’s funny to say that when the Ming Dynasty was established, Zhu Yuanzhang believed that the emperor’s home was all over the world and the world was public. He also summarized the lessons of the Song Dynasty’s inner treasury for private use, so he only set up an inner treasury.
Therefore, when the prince of the Ming Dynasty got married, the vassal king would pay the vassal's money to the vassal.
The inner treasury is divided into ten treasury, which are managed by the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of War. These three departments are also big spenders of money.
The more famous Taicang warehouse was built in Beijing and Tongzhou after Yongle moved the capital to Beijing in the early Ming Dynasty. It is collectively known as "Taicang".
Taicang's main function was to store money and grain for the Beijing camp and for the border troops to spend money and grain. Because of this, the Ming Dynasty often used Taicang to eat grain, so that next year there would be insufficient military grain.
It's funny to say, but due to the orderly management of Taicang, the inner treasury was gradually deposed, and almost all the money and grain were kept in Taicang, so Taicang became synonymous with the national treasury.
As for the emperor's internal funds, they were composed of gold and silver (i.e., silver discounted from grain in areas with inconvenient transportation) and banknotes. One or two million taels of silver were received every year, so this is why people who evaded taxes on the canal were repeatedly banned.
The money actually went into the emperor's hands.
Although the emperor spared the shipping department, the banknotes in various places were not left behind. This was the rule.
In order to expand internal funds, all the vassal lands of the former kings of Shu and Chu were confiscated and turned into imperial villages.
It's not that he didn't want to include the Shibo Division in the internal funds, but the eunuchs were actually greedy. There were some literati who were not greedy, but all the eunuchs were greedy.
He was good at wielding power, and he did everything he could to make money. He was greedy for the emperor's money with confidence. Later, the reason why Emperor Wanli issued an edict to abolish the mining tax supervisor was because he was too greedy.
That is, mine supervisors and tax supervisors (that is, there are many road cards and tax cards), and the number of people who depend on their groups for survival has reached one hundred thousand.
Excessive taxation and extortion are considered as compliments. They also engage in tax, mining, extortion, and even tomb robbing, which has completely evolved into an extortionate group.
Of course, the more important thing is that it made the emperor bear the infamy, and the money he turned over became less and less. From the 20th to the 33rd year of Wanli, he only received three million taels of silver. At that time, only one local tax superintendent, and his family property was over.
A million.
Zhu Yixi was particularly shameless with this low-level means of amassing money.
This year's summer and autumn taxes have brought Taicang a lot of revenue, and the emperor's internal funds have also gained a lot.
"Huangzhuang of Sichuan Province has 800,000 shi of grain and 350,000 taels of silver..."
"Huguang has 300,000 shi of grain and 450,000 taels of silver..."
Thanks to the blessings of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, almost all the property of the vassal kings in various places was collected by the emperor, and those extensive private lands became imperial estates, with a steady stream of gold and silver contributions.
"Eight big banknotes are worth about 570,000 taels..."
"Too little."
The emperor sighed and shook his head.
After a year of internal funds, the most money can be made is three to four million silver dollars, which seems to be a lot, but compared with the expenditure, it is really insufficient.
The New Year is approaching, and rewards to officials and the harem are all in vain.
"Your Majesty, Uzang came to court a while ago, why not set up a tax inspector?"
Seeing the emperor's frown, Tian Ren couldn't help but come up with an idea.
"Tax inspector?"
Zhu Yixi narrowed her eyes and said: "That's what I said, but the mine supervisor in the Wanli period made people angry, so I'm afraid it's not good."
As he said that, he looked at Tian Ren.
The decentralization of tax supervision is an expansion of benefits for the eunuch group. No wonder they flock to it.
Just like Tian Ren, although he is not here, the disciples and grandsons under him are gone. Are you afraid that his filial piety will be missing?
"That's true..."
Tian Ren sighed.
The emperor seemed to have remembered something, and suddenly said: "The Transportation Department of the Ministry of Revenue is responsible for collecting taxes. You can let them do it."
As the saying goes, if two people use a system, no one will be delayed. This is better than the eunuch's ethics.
Tian Ren was shocked and wanted to say something tremblingly, but he couldn't.
For a long time, I only heard the emperor muttering: Should there be a salt tax or a tea tax?
It was so simple. How could he not understand? He could only lower his eyebrows and said: "Your Majesty, compared to those literati, our servant is the most trustworthy and absolutely obedient."
"Obey?" Zhu Yixi smiled: "I understand your virtues. You will do anything to make money. Is it enough to covet the royal family's money?"
"I dare not—" Tian Ren hurriedly knelt down and couldn't get up.
After glancing at him, the emperor didn't shout, instead sneered and muttered to himself.
Although eunuchs are just domestic slaves who can be killed by him, this is not the case with great eunuchs. Once they are used to serving the emperor, they will manipulate the emperor and win his favor.
When the emperor's thoughts become a sieve, it can be easily manipulated by the eunuchs.
It's like calling him the Son of Heaven, having hundreds of thousands of troops killed by Wang Zhen, and when he comes back, he still says that Wang Zhen will truly love him.
Wait, why don't I want to make money from Taicang?
Are you afraid of delaying the country, or are you afraid of the huge group of civil servants?
Or maybe both!
Zhu Yixi suddenly began to reflect.
He seems to like to make this cage for himself and then imprison himself, as if the imperial power is like a devil.
And what about Europe at this time? Whether it is Spain, France, Germany, or Russia, they are all centralizing power, and even the United Kingdom is no exception.
Because this kind of overseas colonial activities require strong support from the country, a strong central government is indispensable.
And will the conservative personality of civil servants allow overseas development to proceed?
The answer is probably not.
Therefore, this time is not to limit the imperial power, but to expand it.
"Vote for approval, approval for red——"
Holding the ink pen in his hand, the emperor fell into deep thought.
Without the help of another link, it seems that he has lost a part of the help. Facing the huge bureaucracy alone, he feels powerless.
"Perhaps this is the loneliness of monarchy, and it is necessary to find a kind of support."