The amount of taxes in Jiangnan depended on Zhejiang. Zhejiang's tax revenue was from the three states-Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Yangzhou.
What was the reason for taking so little money now?
During the Chongzhen period, the north was indeed plagued by natural disasters and military disasters.
There were only a few years where the harvest was poor, and other times, the weather was good. Why did the tax revenue drop so much?
Shi Kefa remembered the Emperor's reminder. The officials in Jiangnan all had salt taxes, so naturally, these people also had tea taxes, cloth taxes, and wine taxes.
In short, as long as it was a tax, these officials would not let it go.
"Yes, Lord Zhao's suggestion of increasing taxes is also a solution.
In the past few years, all of you have been loyal and have done many things for the court and the people.
It's close to noon now, so I'll pay out of my own pocket and treat everyone to a meal.”
"Thank you, my lord!"
On the surface, the officials still respected this Minister of Military Affairs and the Governor of Zhejiang.
Even if the governor only treated them to tofu and rice, the officials still greeted them with smiles.
Including the governor who was only half a rank lower than the governor.
When Guan Shou led the army, Zhu Youjian did not care.
Zhu Youjian treated Shi Kefa differently. He asked Shi Kefa to report everything that happened in Zhejiang to him every three days.
That night, Shi Kefa wrote the meeting into a secret document.
In the secret letter, Shi Kefa said that the officials in Zhejiang were also very corrupt, even worse than the capital.
Now, everyone was wary of him.
Although the Brocade Guard helped him spy on these ministers, these ministers were also experienced in political struggles. Their actions and words were flawless.
Zhu Youjian was not surprised after reading the secret letter.
This was because these were basically the same as the historical materials he had seen in his previous life.
Although the Brocade Guard was a very powerful secret agency, due to the suppression of the East Hall and the "progress" of the officials, the Brocade Guard's control over the officials was getting worse and worse.
However, there was another matter that made Zhu Youjian a little tricky.
He knew everything about the history, military, and politics of the Ming Dynasty. However, the financial aspect was really vague.
He couldn't be blamed for this. There wasn't much historical data on economics and finance, so how could this help Shi Kefa?
Why don't we wait until we go to Yingtian? Even so, he had to plant a nail first.
At this point, Zhu Youjian issued another order to the system.
"System, I want to summon it."
Host, please confirm the summoning item.
"This time, I will summon two people. One is Xu Wei and the other is Shen Wansan.”
Xu Wei and Shen Wansan are both commoners. The amount of silver offered is 1 million taels and 6 million taels respectively. Do you want to offer them?
Hearing the price difference between the two, Zhu Youjian quickly asked,""No!
System, didn't you say that people without official positions should be worshiped as third-class civil officials and generals? Who was the one million taels for?
Who was this 6 million taels? Why would someone offer 6 million taels?”
The one million taels were offered to Shen Wansan, and the six million taels were offered to Xu Wei.
Xu Wei, because he was once an aide to the Minister of War and had contributed directly to the court, and because he was good at painting, he was offered six million taels of silver.
Because Xu Wei was loyal to the Ming Dynasty, the silver offered was halved.
After hearing this amount, Zhu Youjian did not feel that Xu Weigui was expensive.
This Xu Wei was Xu Wenchang. During the Wanli years, he was Hu Zongxian's advisor. Without sending out a single soldier, he used a scheme to kill the pirate king Zhi and Xu Hai. It could be said that he was very resourceful.
Zhu Youjian also knew in his previous life that Xu Wenzhang's paintings were priceless treasures. Even a master like Qi Baishi had to be his lackey.
Spending three million taels would not only summon a scheming expert, but also a master of art. This money was not wasted.
Looking at Shen Wansan again, Zhu Youjian understood in his heart that this guy was actually not loyal to Ming.
Bai Juyi was right. Merchants valued profits over separation. They would not be loyal to the country or the imperial court. They would only be loyal to money.
"Alright, System, summon these two people. I hope to meet these two before I head south.”
The location of the summoned character is random. I wish the host good luck.
"Alright, then let's see how my luck is. I'm still confident in my luck.”
Zhu Youjian closed his eyes and silently recited their names in his heart. He hoped that both of them were in Beijing now and that he could see them that day.
Zhu Youjian even wanted to keep Xu Wei by his side. On one hand, he could give him advice. On the other hand, he could also draw a few paintings for him.
Xu Wei, now known as Xu Jing, was a native of Shaoxing Prefecture. Due to his ancestors being actors, he was not allowed to participate in the imperial examinations. Therefore, he had always been a private teacher in Shaoxing and was now the secretary of Shaoxing Prefecture.
Shen Wansan, now Shen Yishuang, was from Huzhou and was now a runner at Hangzhou Grain Store. A month ago, he escorted fifteen grain ships to Tongzhou via the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. At this moment, they were in Tongzhou's middle warehouse.
"Haha, there's a 50/50 chance that two capable people from the south can meet one of them right away.”
After logging out of the system, Zhu Youjian shouted,"Where is Lu Xuan?"
"Xuan Zai, what orders does Your Majesty have?" Lu Xuan was waiting at the door for Zhu Youjian to summon him.
"Make arrangements. Go to Tong State's Zhongcang and find a person called Shen Yishuang. Zhen wants to see him immediately.”
"Yes, sir!" Lu Xuan agreed and turned to leave.
Previously, when Zhu Youjian asked Lu Xuan to find some people, Lu Xuan would take the opportunity to ask Zhu Youjian how he knew about those unknown people.
But now, he no longer asked. Perhaps this emperor had the ability to deceive the world and reverse the situation.
Seeing Lu Xuan leave, Zhu Youjian picked up his pen and began to write a reply to Shi Kefa.
In the letter, Zhu Youjian showed great care and concern for Shi Kefa. He told Shi Kefa that he had to slowly figure out the Jiangnan tax.
Without a year and a half, it was absolutely impossible to figure out the door inside.
Don't anger the Jiangnan officialdom because of your impatience. If there's really something urgent, put it aside for now.
He would wait until Zhu Youjian went to Yingtian Prefecture, which was Nanjing.
The letter also said that the advisor of Shaoxing Prefecture, Xu Jing, was quite resourceful and wanted Shi Kefa to be recruited.
If there was such a person, dealing with these officials would be twice the result with half the effort. At the same time, he also mentioned Shen Yishuang.
However, Zhu Youjian didn't say too much about Shen Yishuang. He only told Shi Kefa that Shen Yishuang would give him huge support in terms of money and goods.
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