If you want to wear his crown, you must bear his weight.
"System, is this the Tyrant System you gave me?”
As the emperor, all emotions should be hidden. It was the same for strangers and Empress Dowager Zhou who protected her growth.
Zhu Youtang rubbed his eyebrows.
It wasn't that he didn't know what Empress Dowager Zhou meant.
But if I don't use heavy punishment, where will I have money? Without money, how could they reorganize their armaments? Who knows my ambition?
Perhaps you can live in this seemingly peaceful world.
But what about after a few years?
The Qing army knocked on the pass, Yangzhou for ten days, Jiading for three massacres…
Scenes of history kept appearing in Zhu Youtang's mind.
Forget about the past, what about now? The remnants of Northern Yuan were causing trouble in the northern border every day, and the people were in dire straits.
The Da Ming Firearms were supposed to be used to kill the Outsiders, but because they didn't have the money to fire ammunition, they were useless.
Dozens of cannons were set up on the Great Wall, and the officers and soldiers of Jiubian were reluctant to use them.
He clearly had such powerful combat strength, but it was all for show.
In the end, the imperial court had no money!
The Hami City was originally under the Ming Dynasty, but now it was independent and needed to be recovered.
Nurgan Dusi after the previous dynasty tired of politics, has been trying to learn from Hami Wei in vain to stand on his own.
These debts, if the previous emperor did not settle them, how could I not settle them properly?
"Emperor, Governor Cao is waiting for an audience.”
Zhu Youtang's thoughts returned and he nodded."Let him in."
After a while.
Huai 'en walked into Yangxin Palace Hall with a stack of memorials in one hand.
"This servant greets the Emperor."
Zhu Youtang waved his hand.”
Huai En stood up and carefully walked to Zhu Youtang. He respectfully handed the booklet to Zhu Youtang."Emperor, as of the first year of Hongzhi, this servant has sorted out the members of the Ming Imperial Clan, their salaries, land deeds, and taxes.”
He had no right to ask about the matters of the outer court.
The East Chamber was only assisting the Cabinet in investigating corrupt officials. Ultimately, the Cabinet should report this matter to the Emperor, and he could not ask.
However, he had to be responsible for the task given to him by the Emperor.
Zhu Youtang stood up, holding a memorial in his hand, and walked around Yangxin Hall.
He read the memorials very quickly. After he finished reading each one, he threw it on the hall.
Wynne handed over the next memorial.
After repeating this process for a while, the hall was filled with yellow books.
"Huai En, how many vassal kings does the Great Ming Imperial Family have?”Zhu Youtang walked to the entrance of Yangxin Hall with his hands behind his back.
It was chilly in spring. The wind outside blew into the main hall, blowing Zhu Youtang's robe.
Wynne quickly closed the door.
"Don't close the door."
Zhu Youtang's words were very calm, but Huai 'en seemed to feel a nameless anger.
"Replying to the Emperor, from the Hongwu Dynasty to the first year of Hongzhi, there were only 26 vassal kings in the Ming Dynasty.”
"How much is the salary of each vassal king?" Zhu Youtang asked expressionlessly.”
"Replying to the Emperor, every vassal king has an annual salary of 10,000 stones of rice, which is a total of 70,000 taels of silver.”
"26 vassal kings, each with 70,000 taels of silver a year, a total of only 1.8 million taels of silver.”
"In the early years of Hongwu, there were a total of 58 vassal kings and imperial clan members. How many are there now?”
"There are now 147,000 people, including the vassal kings and the imperial clan.”
From the 25 vassal kings in the first year of Hongwu to now, only one had been added.
However, the imperial clan had grown from 33 people to more than 100,000 people!!!
Zhu Youtang suppressed his anger and continued to ask calmly,""In the last years of Chenghua, how much salary did the royal family spend?”
"Your Majesty, this, this…" Huai 'en said anxiously.
"Speak!"
"Replying to the Emperor, 5.5 million taels of silver.”Wynne hurriedly replied.
"In the last years of Chenghua, the court's financial expenditure was 13 million taels, and the salary expenditure of the single imperial clan was as high as 40%!”
"Your Majesty, you're very meticulous." Wynn hurriedly flattered.”
Zhu Youtang looked at him and said,"Ming is my home. If I want to be a good parent of this family, I have to be meticulous."”
Not only did these imperial clansmen enjoy the state's salary, but they also enjoyed economic privileges.
They didn't have to pay taxes, so they wantonly annexed fertile land.
For example, the fertile land in Shanxi was basically annexed by the imperial clan.
Half of the land in Henan had entered the Fan Fu, and the land of each Fan Wang had reached tens of thousands of mu.
Looking at the data, Zhu Youtang's calm face revealed a rare trace of anger.
Big Ming's finances were crushed like this.
The real expenditure that should be invested in military expenses went into the pockets of the royal family.
They took the land given by the country and did not think of giving it back to Ming. Instead, they wantonly annexed the land and avoided taxes.
Just the Henan region alone was half a vassal prefecture!
But now, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang had set the tone that merchants did not need to pay taxes.
Most of the taxes were collected from agriculture.
But where would the agricultural tax be collected from?
The land had already entered the hands of the vassal king. Who would pay taxes?
It was difficult to have enough revenue to balance such a huge expenditure. As time passed, how could the Imperial Court not be in debt?
The military expenses of the nine borders had been in arrears for several years. The imperial court did not allocate funds, and the soldiers were bitterly guarding the borders with hope.
The guns, cannons, and warships that the Ming Dynasty relied on to be invincible had all become a pile of scrap metal due to years of disrepair.
What will my soldiers use to fight?
One day, when the country falls, you can still continue to lick your faces and enjoy peace.
But what about me?
Zhu Youtang looked at the gloomy sky of the Forbidden City and asked Huai En,""How many people have Grand Secretary Liu arrested?”
"Reporting to the Emperor, more than 20 high-ranking officials above the fifth rank have been arrested." More than 40 officials below the fifth rank were on the way to arrest them.”
Zhu Youtang nodded.”
"Alright, you can leave now. Help Grand Secretary Liu with his work and call Mou Bin.”
……
Huai 'en panted heavily as he left Yangxin Palace Hall.
More than 90 officials, big and small, had been arrested!
Not enough!
Just how big was the Emperor's appetite!
If they continued to catch him like this, wouldn't the big Ming Dynasty be in chaos!
However, Huai 'en did not dare to disobey Zhu Youtang.
He hurried to the inner palace.
……
"This humble servant Mou Bin greets the Emperor."
"Get up," Zhu Youtang waved his hand.
"The cabinet and the East Chamber are investigating corruption. Have you checked the Jinyiwei?”
Mou Bin panicked.
He really couldn't understand what the Emperor meant.
"Reporting to the Emperor…I'll go back and investigate immediately…" He braced himself and said.
Zhu Youtang said in a deep voice,"There's no need to investigate. I've found it for you."”
"South Town Governor Zhang Cai.”
"Let your second master, Azure Dragon, take the lead.”
F * ck!
Mou Bin trembled!
The South Town Administrative Office might not be as famous as the North Town Administrative Office in history.
This was because the North Town Department was responsible for arresting people and handling cases, while the South Town Department was responsible for supervising the North Town Department.
In the end, the North Town Department was under the South Town Department.
Now, the Emperor wanted to capture the commander of Nanzhen Prefecture and let the Green Dragon take over.
This was undoubtedly the greatest reward for the four guardians in this beheading operation.
Most importantly, the Brocade Guard was now truly a family of the North and the South.
How could Mou Bin not be excited?
Before Mou Bin could kneel down and thank him, Zhu Youtang said,""They're all investigating corruption. You should also investigate the royal family of the vassal king.”
If you want a dog to be obedient, you have to give it a bone.
Nanzhen Fu Si was the bone that Zhu Youtang threw out.
What he wanted was to clean up the royal family!
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。