Chapter 155: Civil servants are needed to govern the world

Yang Shiqi said: "The issue of heavy taxation in the south of the Yangtze River has been debated for a long time. Kuang Zhong and Zhou Chen were arguing endlessly, and the veteran was unable to make a decision for a while."

"However, most of the court's food and salary come from Jiangnan. If Jiangnan is in chaos, the world will be shaken. The integrity of Kuang Zhong and Zhou Chen can be trusted by the veteran. It's just that local affairs are extremely complicated and the veteran is old. This time

This matter can only be decided by His Majesty."

"If Kuang Zhong and Zhou Chen really don't get along, one of them will naturally be transferred away from Jiangnan. Both of them are talented people, and I hope that your majesty will protect them."

Zhu Qizhen said: "I have heard of these two people."

Kuang Zhong and Zhou Chen were both top-notch officials in the Ming Dynasty. Their reputations were well known, and among the local officials outside, their conduct was no less than Yu Qian's.

Zhu Qizhen was naturally attentive.

It's just that he has never heard of a conflict between the two of them, and countless doubts arise in his heart.

As Yang Shiqi said, the conduct of the two people in Zhu Qizhen was also new. Kuang Zhong, as the governor of Hangzhou, had resigned several times, but the people came to Beijing to jointly retain him.

His official reputation is very good. Zhou Chen is also good. He has a good reputation wherever he goes.

Both of them are good officials in the hearts of the people.

However, there will also be conflicts between good officials and good officials. Their main conflict lies in the way they handle the heavy taxation in Jiangnan.

The imperial court and local governments all had almost unanimous opinions on how to deal with the heavy taxes in the south of the Yangtze River, which was to reduce or reduce some of them.

But how to reduce or reduce it, who should be exempted from it, and who should not be exempted from it?

This will cause problems.

When it comes to other people's money, you can naturally do good to me and everyone, but when it comes to your own money, you have to be clear about every penny.

Zhu Qizhen was suspicious that the conflict between the two of them was because of this.

"Your Majesty, you ordered a few years ago to move the Yellow Book to the capital. Find an island among Sanhaizi and store it in Houhu. I have already ordered and arranged it." Yang Shiqi said: "There are just some things that I don't want to do.

Dare to hide it from Your Majesty, the number of yellow books, except for the early period of Hongwu and Yongle, the rest are not counted. Most of them are based on last year's deletions and deletions."

"What?" Zhu Qizhen was shocked.

Zhu Qizhen was not unaware of this situation.

After all, it was almost an open secret, and Jin Yiwei didn't dare not tell Zhu Qizhen.

But Zhu Qizhen didn't know why Yang Shiqi said this.

Yang Shiqi said: "I am seventy-five years old. Even if I die immediately now, it is enough. In such a big matter, I dare not hide your Majesty's secrets."

Zhu Qizhen said: "Why is this so?"

Yang Shiqi said: "Without him, there are not enough manpower."

"The imperial court compiles a yellow book every ten years, but how much work does it take to compile a yellow book? Almost all the people in the world have to be visited and questioned one by one. But how many people are there in the county governments in various places?"

"For tax collection and the appointment of grain chiefs, three hundred people in a county government office are considered too many, but some large counties have as many as hundreds of thousands."

"It's simply impossible for these people to get this thing done."

"During the reign of Taizu, during the compilation of the Yellow Register, more students were sent to the Imperial College, but now the Imperial College is not as big as before."

Zhu Qizhen thought to himself: "That may not be the reason."

Zhu Qizhen had seen too many things that could be done when the country was founded but could not be done later, so he naturally understood that not everything Yang Shiqi said was correct.

However, Zhu Qizhen did not issue strict orders and sent more manpower. The compilation of the yellow book was a matter of course. It was like a flower in the water or the moon in the well, but it was inevitable.

The Yellow Book is so important.

It can be said that the basis of national taxation is based on this yellow book.

The source of all fiscal revenue.

There is an error in the yellow book. I don’t know how much money should be given to the state, but it has been pocketed by private individuals.

Zhu Qizhen's heart moved and he said secretly: "That's right, a quota."

He forgot about this thing again.

In order to prevent future generations from imposing excessive taxes, Emperor Taizu had already fixed the amount of taxes in various places. In the best years of the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, the revenue from food exceeded 30 million shi.

However, Emperor Taizu was worried that such good times would not come every year, so he stipulated an annual tax of 24 million dan. In fact, the number of household registrations in various places has been decoupled from the tax.

This may also be one of the reasons for the insufficient number of Ming Dynasty yellow books.

But even so, the Yellow Book is still very important. At least the corvee must be done according to the Yellow Book.

Emperor Taizu established the Yellow Book in order to equalize the corvées, and the common people were required to do corvées once every ten years.

But the yellow book is wrong.

Isn't it true that some people don't have to do corvee, and some people have to do corvee multiple times?

Zhu Qizhen had not yet accepted this question, and Yang Shiqi said again: "Your Majesty wants to change the hereditary system of Shuntian government officials. I think it is a good thing. However, Yu Qian is collecting housing in Beijing. Many officials in the capital are complaining. The imperial salary is not high in the first place."

If there are too many, I will replace them with precious banknotes."

"Living in the capital is not easy, and Yu Qian imposed housing taxes, making the situation of officials in the capital even more difficult."

Zhu Qizhen now understood something.

Yang Shiqi did not want to overwhelm Zhu Qizhen with problems, but pointed out a problem to Zhu Qizhen, that is, civil servants are needed to govern the world.

Zhu Qizhen had been struggling with these questions raised by Yang Shiqi before. He did not grasp the implication of Yang Shiqi's words, so Yang Shiqi had to keep talking.

Anyway, there is nothing wrong with the government of that country.

Yang Shiqi has been in charge of the country for so many years, so he naturally knows where the faults of the Ming Dynasty are. It really makes Yang Shiqi say that Yang Shiqi can say that he does not repeat the same thing day and night.

Of course, the fact that Ming Dynasty had so many problems does not mean that Yang Shiqi is incompetent.

If you listen carefully, you will know that most of what Yang Shiqi said is that three feet of ice are not frozen in a day. Many problems are not unique to Yang Shiqi's hands, but have been accumulated.

Moreover, most of these problems are systemic problems that involve many aspects and cannot be solved by just killing a few officials and selecting a few officials.

As long as things can be done well if done in this way, Yang Shiqi has done it.

Zhu Qizhen said: "What do you mean, sir?"

Yang Shiqi said: "Your Majesty, you want to use your strength in Wa Ci and re-employ military officials. I have no complaints, but the Ming Dynasty cannot always fight. Even if there is a war, what your Majesty cares about is the aftermath. The situation like Annan cannot happen again."

"If your Majesty wants to be Emperor Wu, please cultivate the crown prince as Zhaoxuan as early as possible. If your Majesty wants to be Taizong, then the crown prince should be Renzong. Then the world will be stable and the court will have no trouble."

"If your Majesty sends troops to the north, and the crown prince sends troops to the south someday, and the world continues to be at war, the world will be in danger."

"Your Majesty established the main hall to take care of the foundation of the country. I know that your Majesty attaches great importance to the foundation of the country. However, you only use military ministers. I am worried that there will be unbearable things in the future."

"The old minister is getting old. I don't know when I will go to see Taizong, Renzong, and Xuanzong underground."

"Therefore, if you dare not risk your life to hear this, please be careful, Your Majesty. If you want to use force externally, you must first make it internal. If you want to achieve great things, you must plan for the long term."

After hearing this, Zhu Qizhen felt that Yang Shiqi had no complaints, but that he was full of complaints. It was just that Yang Shiqi had turned around in such a big circle that Zhu Qizhen had to admit one thing.

Politics is higher than military affairs.

Even if he wants to win over nobles, his inclination cannot be so obvious. Otherwise, who will handle this bunch of things for him?

Even if Zhu Qizhen has three heads and six arms, he still can't finish it.

Zhu Qizhen said: "I understand. From now on, sir, speak directly if you have anything to say. Let's do this. Sir, select Hanlin bachelors as the lecturers of the main hall. However, most of the main halls are descendants of nobles. They only need to explain the history books and inspire loyalty. I

There is no prince yet, but if there is a prince in the future, it will be up to you to choose the lecturer."

Zhu Qizhen's mind changed and he said: "If there are any children in your family who are incompetent and unable to study well, you can still serve as a student of Dabentang. It will be considered as my reward for you."

After Yang Shiqi heard this, his heart couldn't help but move.

Yang Shiqi can shadow many officials, but most of them are idle, such as the Jinyiwei commander and Shang Baojian. Naturally, the real Jinyiwei commander cannot be handed over to them.

It's just a salary.

However, this student from the main hall is different. Not to mention other things, just this connection is good. Yang Shiqi was worried about having no one behind him, so this reward letter hit Yang Shiqi's heart.

Yang Shiqi said: "I thank your Majesty."
Chapter completed!