In the spring of the 25th year of Zhengde's reign, Yang Yiqing, the second assistant to the cabinet, took office.
Peng Ze, the Minister of Household Affairs, was awarded the bachelor's degree of Dongge University, and Yang Dang was admitted to the cabinet.
Wang Zan, minister of the Ministry of Industry, was awarded the bachelor's degree of Dongge University, and Wang Dang entered the cabinet.
Wang Hong, the left minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Hubu, and the imperial party controlled the Ministry of Hubu.
Zhao Huang, the Minister of Cangchang of the Ministry of Household Affairs, was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and the royal party controlled the Ministry of Industry.
Li Chengxun, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, was promoted to Minister of Cangchang, and the royal party controlled Taicang.
This series of official transfers did not cause any disturbance and was arranged smoothly.
The current cabinet ministers, ranked in order: Yang Tinghe, Jiang Mian, Mao Ji, Wang Qiong, Peng Ze, and Wang Zan.
On New Year's Day, the imperial court issued a decree——
All taxes (national taxes) imposed by the Ministry of Education are no longer paid in kind and must be converted into new money, that is, silver coins and copper coins minted in the Zhengde Dynasty. Old money cannot be used for taxes.
There is no need to dissolve the tax (local tax), which will still be levied according to the old system.
Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes can no longer be used for tax payment. If any place forcibly collects treasure banknotes, the local officials and adjutants will be exiled overseas without interrogation!
The third decree is specifically used to deal with corrupt officials and profiteers. Some people specialize in hoarding Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes and colluding with officials to exploit the people. Officials specify a certain tax and must pay the treasure banknotes. If the people don't have the treasure banknotes, they can only ask the hoarders to pay high prices.
The exchange caused huge losses to both the court and the people.
The news of tax reform caused old money to depreciate instantly, and all kinds of money were rejected and continued to flow to rural areas.
Due to lack of information, many farmers do not know that old money cannot pay taxes. As a result, when it comes time to pay taxes, they cannot get new money at all and can only use old money to exchange it at a high price. They need to pay two or three times more taxes for nothing. I don’t know how many farmers have this reason.
Life without attachment.
In this regard, Wang Yuan could only express his helplessness. The quality of old money was uneven, and it was mixed with many private counterfeit coins. Even when Zhang Juzheng was reforming, he only dared to collect silver coins and did not dare to collect copper coins. Otherwise, the entire country would lose money.
Taxation will be messed up.
Fortunately, you can only cheat the farmers for one year, and everyone will learn to be better in the second year.
At that time, the old money will still be circulating in the market, but it will definitely depreciate crazily again, and farmers will also deliberately collect new money for tax purposes.
In the spring and summer of the twenty-fifth year of Zhengde's reign, the country had good weather and officials at all levels were happy.
It's the flood season, and there are floods in some parts of the Yangtze River, Yellow River, and Huaihe River. Moreover, these floods are not serious. Only a few states and counties are affected, and relief can be easily provided.
This is the year with the best climate since Zhu Houzhao succeeded to the throne, and it seems that things have suddenly turned around.
Zhu Houzhao made a rare trip back to the city, and went to Wenyuan Pavilion to convene a meeting with cabinet ministers. He opened his mouth in a very scary way: "This autumn, I will personally conquer Mongolia!"
"Your Majesty, think twice!"
The six cabinet ministers all knelt on the ground.
Zhu Houzhao smiled and said: "Don't think twice, I have been thinking about it for three years. I was supposed to go on the expedition myself last year, but unexpectedly there was a severe drought in eight provinces. This year the weather is good, and we don't have to worry about running out of food. It is a great time to attack Mongolia!"
Yang Tinghe advised: "Your Majesty, the war is dangerous and the outcome is unpredictable. What's more, if the Mongols take the initiative to attack the grassland, if the Mongols avoid the battle and run away, will your Majesty pursue them or not? If your Majesty pursues them, it will be a waste of food and grass if they cannot find the enemy.
It would be even more difficult if we were ambushed."
Zhu Houzhao had already prepared his words: "You don't understand. I have rifled flintlock muskets with a range of sixty feet (nearly 200 meters). The paper shell ammunition can fire at least two rounds per minute. A few elite Leopard Rooms can fire three rounds per minute."
"Furthermore, my fire gun is equipped with a bayonet, and the bayonet is made of fine steel. The fire gun soldier can also fight at close range."
Except for Wang Qiong and Peng Ze, the other four cabinet ministers were all confused and could not understand what the emperor was saying.
Wang Qiong was stunned and said: "Your Majesty, this kind of fire gun can really fire two or three rounds per minute, and can it hit a distance of sixty feet?"
"You are not joking, how can it be false?" Zhu Houzhao was full of confidence.
Wang Qiong asked again: "How many such muskets have been made?"
Zhu Houzhao smiled and said: "There were 10,000 guns last year, and 5,000 new guns were added this year. Fifteen thousand new guns with bayonets cost me more than 500,000 taels of silver. If the money is scattered, there is no reason not to fight.
!”
What a prodigal!
The ministers were heartbroken, and they spent more than half a million taels on the gun. If it had been before, it would have been worth half the national salt tax. It would be great to use it to build more dams on the Yellow River.
Struggle with military means, militate with force!
This word came to mind among the cabinet ministers, and they could not let the emperor continue to mess around, otherwise the Ming Dynasty's treasury would not be able to withstand the abuse no matter how rich it was.
Zhu Houzhao added: "I also spent 600,000 taels to build cannons. On the battlefield, the cannons and cannons fired together will definitely make the Tatar thieves run like wolves and rats!"
That means more than one million taels of silver are gone?
Yang Tinghe almost fainted after hearing this. He only knew that Zhu Houzhao had been tinkering with weapons in the northwest suburbs in the past few years. He was secretly happy before. There were no eunuchs or military generals messing around, and the cabinet was very comfortable. Unexpectedly, the emperor was secretly holding back his anger.
trick.
Peng Ze looked at the emperor stupidly, how many cannons would he need to build for six hundred thousand taels? When he was quelling the rebellion, if he had so many cannons, he would have sent the rebels everywhere looking for their mothers.
More than one million taels were used to make guns and cannons, which shows the emperor's determination to fight the war. No matter how hard he tried to persuade him, it would be impossible to have any effect.
Yang Tinghe could only retreat and do the next best thing: "Your Majesty, you can attack Mongolia, but you can't conquer it yourself. The dragon's body should be the most important thing in everything."
This sentence touched Zhu Houzhao's heart, and he said with an unhappy expression: "Why is the body of a dragon so important? I am very good. I can eat two kilograms of rice and half a kilogram of meat a day, and I can control ten women in one night!"
Just brag about it, and you have ten maids at night, there are not even a few maids in Haoshan Garden, they are all a bunch of rough guys toiling around there.
Wang Qiong suddenly knelt down and said: "I would like to go on an expedition on behalf of your majesty. Please stay in Beijing to plan for thousands of miles!"
Peng Ze also knelt down: "I am willing to go to war on behalf of your majesty!"
Zhu Houzhao smiled and said: "Although you two know how to fight, you don't know how to use the new guns and artillery. If you are asked to lead the troops in the Northern Expedition, it is better to let Wang Erlang go."
Yang Tinghe took the opportunity to kneel down and said: "Your Majesty, please let Wang Shangshu command the troops. Your Majesty can coordinate in Beijing."
Zhu Houzhao said angrily: "Anyway, you won't let me fight in person?"
"Your Majesty, please think twice!"
The six cabinet ministers kowtowed again.
Zhu Houzhao suddenly clutched his chest and felt a little difficult to breathe. His head was dizzy and he couldn't think. He couldn't seem to draw a breath.
There was a moment of dead silence, no one spoke.
A little sweat broke out on Zhu Houzhao's forehead. After sitting there and suffering for a long time, he finally recovered.
"call!"
With a breath of turbid breath, most of Zhu Houzhao's passion and fighting spirit seemed to have been spit out. He didn't want to quarrel with the cabinet ministers anymore, and said in an almost pleading tone: "My dear friends, I am afraid that I don't have much time left. I will die before I die."
Let my wish come true."
The six cabinet ministers didn't know how to answer, and they didn't dare to contradict him face to face. What if the emperor was angry to death?
Finally, Yang Tinghe said with tears in his voice: "Your Majesty, I have asked the imperial doctor that for your Majesty's condition, it is best to rest in the south of the Yangtze River. The next best thing is that the Leopard Room and Haoshan Garden have beautiful mountains and clear waters, which are suitable for your Majesty's Jiangyang disease."
.But the wind and sand in the north of Saibai are extremely strong. Can your Majesty really be able to withstand it? If the old disease relapses before the battle, where will the Northern Expedition army be placed?"
Zhu Houzhao was silent.
Yes, what would happen if the emperor personally led an army of 100,000 to the Northern Expedition and suddenly fell ill during the battle?
Zhu Houzhao clenched his fists and unclenched them. After all, he was still not as willful as when he was young. He sighed: "I asked Wang Erlang to go out on my behalf. Take my royal chariot to Datong and my dragon flag to Hetao.
The internal and external ministers and imperial guards should follow you all the way. This battle will be as if I were here in person!"
"Your Majesty, Holy Ming!"
The six cabinet ministers finally breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the emperor did not personally conquer the war, the imperial chariot, dragon flags and internal and external ministers could do whatever they wanted.
Wang Qiong asked: "Which wing of Mongolia does your Majesty want to attack?"