Since this year, officials in the outer court have been discussing how to solve the financial deficit of the imperial court and the lack of money and taxes in the treasury.
In May, after Li Dongyang, the cabinet scholar, went to Shandong to worship Confucius and returned to Beijing, he wrote a report about what he had seen and learned along the way. The contents of the report made Zhu Youtang extremely angry.
What is written in Li Dongyang's excerpt: There is a severe drought in Tianjin, and summer wheat has withered. The autumn fields have not been planted, there are few passenger ships, and the trackers have no clothes. The people are disheveled, and it is chilling to look around. In Linqing and Anping, thieves are everywhere.
There are people who rob people and property everywhere.
What else can I say? I heard rumors that bandits in Qingzhou are plundering more and more. There are hundreds of thieves and thieves traveling in groups during the day. They are running rampant and the officials are arresting them all.
The excerpt also said that people from the south of the Yangtze River had heard that the Huaiyang prefectures in the south either exhumed and ate the dead, sold their relatives at low prices, and moved around to plunder and escape.
What do you mean? The southeast is where the country's wealth comes from. One year of famine has reached this level. The north is poor and has no savings. If the harvest fails again this year, there may be no way to save it. The country has been peaceful and prosperous for more than 100 years.
Years and a temporary famine are already unbearable. If something unexpected happens, how will we deal with it? Speaking of this, I can't help but burst into tears.'
Zhu Youtang was very angry when he saw these words on the book. As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he had been conscientious and diligent in his administration for the seventeen years since he took the throne. Although the world of the Ming Dynasty dare not say Hai Qing He Yan, at least it was ZTE.
As a result, in Li Dongyang's description, this is not the era of ZTE. It is simply a chaotic world where thieves are everywhere and the people are in dire straits.
Li Dongyang relied on what he heard and believed it to be true. He said so many sensational things, which was really difficult for Zhu Youtang to accept.
However, this is not what makes Zhu Youtang the most annoyed. The most annoying thing is what Li Dongyang said behind the fold.
"The tax on grain and grass has a fixed amount every year, but there is too much food, the state has no money, there are many errands, there are overlaps in science and sects, and there are no empty months. The money and food in the inner government are excessive, and the construction of the capital is endless.
Work sergeant, tired of losing money
, every time I meet the class leader, I would rather die than go. The powerful family, Tianlianzhou County, excessively recruits subjects, and begs endlessly. In the country of princes, the fee of 100 million, up to 200,000 to 300,000 yuan every time, is to build a house, hang a robe, and open a mountain.
Extracting minerals is a waste of time and money. Corrupt officials are cruel.
The officials were ruthless and committed crimes, and the Republic of China was impoverished and resentful. There were also idlers, claiming to be relatives of the emperor, who attached themselves to salt boats and built shops everywhere to collect business taxes.
Torture Zhahe officials and arrest traders and merchants
The people, and so on, are too numerous to mention. Today, the poverty of the people is deep, and the national supply is extremely scarce. The only way is to save money and save widely. Every point saved will be of benefit, and every point saved will be benefited.
Look forward to it and take action to solve the shortcomings."
The above are Li Dongyang's original words in the book. Although they seem to point out the shortcomings and want to solve the problem, in Zhu Youtang's view, they are all blaming himself and talking about his shortcomings.
good.
"The money and food in the inner government are spent excessively. The construction of the capital is endless, and the sergeants work hard to lose money. Whenever there is a class drill, they would rather die than go." These few sentences are insinuating that he is carrying out large-scale construction projects and mobilizing the capital camp.
Soldiers and horses do hard work as labor.
Indeed, I did this. In the sixth year of Hongzhi, the Jinshui River, Huanyi Bureau, and Xuanwu Gate were repaired. In the tenth year of Hongzhi, the Wanchun Palace and the Internal Affairs Storehouse were repaired. Tens of thousands of people were mobilized for the Divine Optimism and several towers. In the fourteenth year of Hongzhi, they were repaired.
Inner and outer city, inner gates, Sheji Altar
, the Meridian Gate and the Jiumen City Gate. In addition, temples and Taoist temples were built for Queen Zhang’s natal family one after another, and houses and temples were built for the family members of the clan. Many troops were mobilized. However, as the emperor, he
Can't we mobilize the soldiers and horses in the capital to do something?
Some people have been using this incident to criticize themselves, saying that the army has become an engineering and construction team, that it has delayed the training of the Beijing camp, made the soldiers in the Beijing camp untrained in training, and is unbearable to work. Now, Li Dongyang has also made insinuations.
The book also mentioned something about wasting money on Zhaijiao, which was an obvious accusation that he had spent money on this matter. This matter was also something that the officials in the outer court often complained about. He said that he was addicted to Zhaijiao,
Too many Taoist temples were built, too many fasting ceremonies were held, and too much money was spent.
As the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, I should seek protection for the country and the country of the Ming Dynasty. What is the purpose of my fasting? Isn’t it just to pray for blessings from heaven and earth, and the blessings of the gods? Isn’t building Taoist temples for the sake of world peace and encouraging people to be self-disciplined and good? It is indeed the case.
Some money was spent, but shouldn’t this money be spent?
The booklet also made insinuations about the royal relatives and nobles, which was also mentioned in the court. They said that they rewarded the royal relatives and nobles with too many acres, treated them too well, and indulged them. They said that they were too kind to them.
Shouldn't it be right? The emperor's relatives, relatives and meritorious officials have contributed to the Ming Dynasty and made meritorious service, but they can't reward themselves? What if they are given some land and houses? Is it worth making such a fuss?
In short, this memorial exaggerated the rumors in the first part, and then extended a series of accusations against himself at the end, which made Zhu Youtang very unhappy.
But after all, Zhu Youtang still respected the officials in the outer court and was broad-minded. After reading the excerpt, he didn't make too many remarks. He only treated him coldly, didn't reply, and ignored him.
But then, in June, Liu Jian, the chief minister of the cabinet, took the lead in the memorial and put forward several suggestions to eliminate the shortcomings of the government. The memorial clearly stated that the court should save money and stop unnecessary repair and construction activities.
Taoist temples, fasting rituals
There should not be too many formalities, and local governments are prohibited from imitating the practice of fasting and building Taoist temples. He also said that the practice of awarding land to the royal family and nobles should be stopped, and an operation to clear the land should be carried out to take back some of the land from the royal family and nobles.
acres of land occupied.
Zhu Youtang could see that this trick was to further force himself to agree to their suggestions under the guise of improving the court's finances. They wanted to control him to do things according to their wishes.
Zhu Youtang has always respected the courtiers. In fact, he respects and trusts the cabinet scholars and ministers from the bottom of his heart. Over the years, as long as their suggestions are reasonable, he will basically approve their memorials.
Please, act according to their wishes. In fact, I have already been very accommodating to them. But they don't seem to know how to restrain themselves. They have to constantly give suggestions, make mistakes, grind themselves every day, and even want to control things that they are unwilling to agree to.
Myself, this is absolutely not allowed.
Zhu Youtang's response to this memorial was: further discussion.
Then starting from Liu Jian, the cabinet academicians, ministers of various ministries, and censors all also took part in the excerpts.
Zhu Youtang always replied: Let’s discuss again!
There was a secret rivalry between the emperor and the ministers in the outer court. One side refused to give up and would raise the issue whenever he found an opportunity. The other side pretended to be deaf and dumb and ignored it at all. This was how the disputes in the past few months in the second half of the year began.
A portrait of this incident.
Zhu Youtang sat on the edge of Longtan's bed, looking at the group of courtiers in front of him, feeling angry but helpless.