After the Gengyin Science Examination in the fourth year of Shaowu's reign, the emperor completely moved to Yuquan Villa and had no nostalgia for the Forbidden City.
In fact, Jiang Yueguang went through a year of renovations in the first year of Shaowu, and the appearance of the Huangji Palace was only repaired.
In this regard, Zhu Yixi felt that now that we have money, there are so many logs in Taiwan and Fujian, and there is also Nanyang, where there is no shortage of wood and shipping is convenient, so we should work hard to build it!
He has paid so much for Ming Dynasty, why can't he enjoy it?
In this way, the Forbidden City fell into reconstruction again and was extremely busy.
"Your Majesty, the sugar cane plantation in Taiwan has been harvested this year. The new sugar production method has brought in 30,000 dan, and the internal funds are no less than 1 million dan."
Tian Ren, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, did not blink as he read the news sent from Taiwan from the Domestic Supplies Department, even though he was amazed in his heart.
The Internal Commerce Department is under the banner of Jinyiwei and is controlled by Zhang Qi, the abbot of the state. He is responsible for the emperor's business layout, and it can be said that it is making rapid progress.
Since last year, Taiwan's sugar mills have been engaged in large-scale production, with sugarcane fields rapidly expanding to 100,000 acres, and sugar is continuously sold domestically and overseas.
In particular, the white sugar made by the new method is very popular. In the capital, the price reaches 300 yuan per catty, and it is not available to anyone but a wealthy family.
And you have to know that the monthly customs duties sent by the General Administration of Customs are worth two million yuan a year, and selling some candy is more than half of it. This is really scary.
"In addition, Taiwan has made snow sugar this autumn and has also sent 500 shi of internal funds to supply the inner court."
"I will give one stone to each empress of the palace, two stones to the empress, and fifty catties to the twelve eunuchs, eunuchs, and young eunuchs of the inner court. Others of high rank will also be given a few catties as appropriate. You should have this sense of propriety."
Zhu Yixi glanced at Tian Ren, who was bowing, and chuckled.
"I'll take care of myself, this slave." Tian Ren agreed with a smile.
"By the way, the pavilion elders will give a hundred catties to the eight ministers, ministers, and... that's all. Let's distribute them according to their grades. Everyone above the fourth grade will have a share."
The emperor smiled. Five hundred stones of candy seemed like a lot, so he gave it to the civil and military officials and nobles, and it was almost gone.
The emperor's gift lies in his heart, etiquette is less important than affection.
Compared with many previous emperors, Zhu Yixi treated all the officials more favorably.
For example, in terms of salary, some used pepper instead, some folded banknotes, and some directly misappropriated it for military pay. All officials are suffering!
Now not only are their salaries complete, but the officials in the capital can also receive rewards from time to time. With the reputation of a benevolent king, he will definitely not be able to escape in the future.
Zhu Yixi thought leisurely, feeling happy.
Tian Ren also smiled and reported the autumn harvest situation of the internal funds.
Huangzhuang in Sichuan and Huguang has an income of millions of dan in autumn; coal, cloth and other fields have also received hundreds of thousands of silver yuan in the past six months; customs and banknotes are not included in the monthly payment.
Others, such as maritime merchants, etc., have accumulated enough gold and silver in the past six months to build a Forbidden City without having to ask the Ministry of Revenue for money.
The emperor would rather spend his own money. The Ministry of Household Affairs has a budget for the money. If it is misappropriated blindly, wouldn't it be a waste of money?
"A rough calculation shows that the total is four million yuan a year, which is about the two taxes of a province."
Supporting one person with one province's income, Zhu Yixi can rest peacefully.
After a while, Wang Yingxiong, the new Minister of Household Affairs, appeared, his burly body making it impossible to ignore him.
"Your Majesty, the two taxes this autumn have been collected by all provinces and are about to be escorted to the capital. The corresponding account books have arrived."
Autumn tax collection begins in early September, so each prefecture and county will estimate the approximate tax based on weather disasters. Since the tax is limited to one dou per mu (based on previous years, adding new fields and subtracting disaster fields), the tax can then be registered.
Province, and then submit it to the Ministry of Household Affairs.
By the end of February of the next year, after the autumn tax is put into the warehouse, it will be registered and recorded. If you pay more, you will not be refunded, but if you pay less, you will be paid.
The commercial tax is simpler and is entered into the treasury on a quarterly basis, but the commercial tax for the two quarters is merged into the autumn tax.
"Jiangnan (including Jiangxi), Sichuan and Guizhou, Fujian and Zhejiang, Jinghu, Guangdong and Guangxi, Yunnan, twelve provinces, this autumn will receive 1,200 shi of rice and 8 million pieces of silver."
Wang Yingxiong said helplessly: "Because of your majesty's benevolent government, you are exempted from tax for one year and half tax for three years. Guizhou has a lot of money and food to support the army, but very little, only more than 100,000 shi..."
"Tea, iron, and wine merchant taxes have increased rapidly due to the recovery of Yunnan, especially in Sichuan. The tea and horse market is extremely popular, with approximately four million yuan in two seasons, one million yuan more than last year's estimate."
"The Salt Tax Law has been implemented nationwide. Sichuan Well Salt, Xining Green Salt, and Shanxi Xie Salt have all been changed. Therefore, the salt tax has increased to 5 million yuan in two quarters and can increase to 10 million yuan for the whole year."
When Wang Yingxiong said this, he couldn't help but be amazed.
This salt tax is actually more than three times that of the previous dynasty, supporting half of the Ministry of Household Affairs. Who can believe this?
"What about difficulties?"
Hearing this, the emperor's eyelids twitched and he said lazily: "It's not okay to report good news but not bad news."
Wang Yingxiong was startled, and then he said: "It's just that after the salary reform and the influx of subordinate officials, many places are a little tight, so I want to restore it to the previous half-and-half split."
As early as the Huguang period, Zhu Yixi, who was still the king of Yu at that time, made changes to the official salaries. Later, he made many corrections, and now, the salary list of the Shaowu Dynasty has finally been formed.
Unsurprisingly, it was also the basis for the salaries of officials for hundreds of years to come.
In accordance with the practice of the feudal era, the initial monthly salary was changed to an annual salary, and a money + grain model was implemented.
For assistant officers below the seventh rank, the annual salary of the seventh rank is one hundred silver yuan plus one hundred stones of grain, and then it is reduced by ten yuan according to the official rank.
At the ninth level, it will be ten silver coins and ten stones of grain.
From the seventh rank to the fourth rank, they are the chief officials of counties and prefectures. The highest annual salary is one thousand silver yuan and one thousand stone grain, and the annual salary decreases by one hundred yuan.
Even if he is a county magistrate, he can still have four hundred silver coins, and he is worthy of being an official.
From the fourth level to the second level, the highest level is the governor, so the top allocation is two thousand yuan, and the order decreases by one hundred yuan.
From the second to the first rank, they are the central officials of the six cabinet departments, with a top allocation of 3,000 yuan and a decrease of 100 yuan in descending order.
This amount of money has increased by more than ten times compared with the previous annual salary, which is enough for the officials to live a life of three wives and four concubines.
Of course, compared with the Yanglian Silver of the Qing Dynasty in history, this seems particularly shabby.
For example, during the Qing Dynasty, the annual salary of Liu Mingchuan, the governor of Taiwan, was 155 taels, while the annual salary for raising integrity was as much as 10,000 taels. This was originally a good policy, but it ended up feeding the appetite of the officials.
High salary to maintain integrity, no modern technical supervision, plus China's huge territory and population, implementing this policy is like beating a dog with a meat bun, because people think you have too little meat.
However, the salary reform of the Shaowu Dynasty greatly increased local burdens.
Whether they are the third elder or the second official, they all have official status and eat county government meals. They used to have dozens of mouths, but now they have more than two hundred. The pressure is too great.
Moreover, the imperial court changed the handover ratio from 46 to 37. The local surplus was quite small and the deficit was increasing day by day.
Therefore, if the split is restored to half and half, local finances will definitely become more abundant, but the central government will shrink.