Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 29 Cost
After the second persuasion, Zhu Lang did not cause any more trouble, so the court was quite peaceful. The court was peaceful, and the palace was also peaceful.
Zhu Lang had nothing to do these days, and every day he either exercised or was busy trying to win over Li Chengzhi and Deng Mingwu, the new guards of the palace.

These people are the ones who can save his life in the future crisis. Zhu Lang will not joke with his own life. With Zhu Lang's efforts, he soon became friends with the former guards who entered the mansion.

Zhu Lang could not only call out the names of these twenty people at any time, but also had a good idea of ​​their family situations.
The guards who entered the palace quickly accepted Zhu Lang as a good prince with a generous and loyal character.
Zhu Lang finished his daily exercise as usual and was about to return to the study with Li Chengzhi and others. However, when he passed by a side door in the backyard, he suddenly heard a quarrel.

Zhu Lang listened attentively for a few words, frowned, and Li Chengzhi was about to go and chase them away, but Zhu Lang waved his hand to stop him, and signaled to Li Chengzhi and Deng Mingwu with his eyes, and the three of them quietly walked to the wall not far from the courtyard gate.
As the three approached, the quarrel at the side door became clearer.

"The expenses of the palace have been reduced by more than half in the past few months. Why is it reduced again this month? There are dozens of people in my Guiwang Palace, but this month we only get 300 taels of silver. How can this amount of money and food be enough? What exactly does your governor's office mean?"

Ma Mingtu, the chief steward of the palace's backyard, questioned a green-robed official with an angry look on his face.

"Last month, all the officials from Fujian Province arrived in Guangxi Province. Suddenly, there were hundreds of more officials in the city. The salaries of these officials all came from the governor's treasury, and the expenses in the treasury increased greatly. Now the expenses of various government offices are being cut. What can I do?" said the green-robed official with an unhappy look on his face.

"I don't care about these. I don't understand or care about the affairs of the previous emperors, but the expenses of the palace must not be cut."

Ma Mingtu grabbed the sleeve of the green-robed official and prevented him from leaving.
"How can you not make sense? This is the decision of the court. What's the point of holding me back?" the green-robed official said impatiently.

The Guiwangfu was granted a fief in Gui Province, but the Guiwangfu was originally in Hunan Province. It had only been in Gui Province for two or three years. Before the royal land in Gui Province was settled, the Jingjiang Prince Rebellion occurred and they fled all the way to Guangdong Province.
The Guiwang Mansion fled to Guangdong Province, where they had neither royal land nor commercial properties, so all their expenses now depended on grants from the court.

It was the beginning of the month, the day when the governor's office distributed salaries to various places. Listening to the argument between the two men, it turned out that the previous dynasty had reduced the expenses of the Guiwang Mansion to three hundred taels.
Three hundred taels a month, that's three thousand six hundred taels a year, it seems like a lot, but this is the Guiwang Mansion, even if Zhu Lang doesn't usually take care of the affairs of the backyard, he knows that three hundred taels of silver is not enough for the mansion.

There were fifty or sixty servants in the palace alone. Together with Zhu Lang, the two concubines, and the families of Zhu Lang's brothers, there were seventy or eighty people in the palace.
This is also the result of the chaos in the palace, and the scattered population of each branch of the palace. Otherwise, the number of people in the entire Gui Palace would probably have to be doubled or tripled.

There are about fifty servants in the palace, including eunuchs. Although their indentures are in the palace and they are considered slaves, they still have to pay.
Most of the servants who were still able to stay in the backyard were old people in the Guiwang Mansion. Some of them were even old people who had served in the palace since Xiang Province.
The palace fled from Hunan Province, and the people in the palace were scattered by the rebel army, but some people went through hardships and finally found the Gui Palace.
How could the palace really only provide these loyal servants with one meal? Therefore, these people were given a monthly allowance of silver.
The status of these fifty people varied. The lowest one received one tael of silver per month. The monthly allowance for the servants in the palace alone was more than one hundred taels.

Add to that the monthly food and clothing expenses for these people, and it would cost nearly one hundred taels of silver.
In other words, the palace would have to spend two hundred taels of silver per month just on the servants, not counting the expenses of the masters of the palace like Zhu Lang.

As the residence of a prince, the two concubines are of noble status, so their food, clothing and expenses are naturally not the same as those of servants. One hundred taels of silver per month is not too much, right?
Zhu Lang is a prince of the state, and he is ranked as a super-class. One hundred taels of silver per month is not too much, right?
This adds up to 400 taels of silver, not counting the female relatives of the other branches of the palace. The entire palace needs at least 500 taels of silver to be barely enough. This is the result of the palace's efforts to cut expenses.
When the palace first arrived in Guangdong, the court was quite generous. At first, the monthly expenses were as high as 1,000 taels. However, after the rebellion of Prince Jingjiang was quelled, the attitude of the court began to change. The monthly expenses were reduced from 800 taels to 600 taels and finally to 500 taels. This was considered to be the end of the rule.
After the Jingjiang Prince Rebellion was quelled, why did the Gui Prince's family not return to their fiefdom in Guangxi Province, but were instead left in Zhaoqing, where the Guangdong-Guangxi Governor's Office was located? Was it really because the concentration of troops here could better protect the Gui Prince's family?

How is it possible? The reason why the Prince of Gui's Mansion was left in Zhaoqing was because Emperor Longwu had become wary of the princes of the Zhu family after the Jingjiang Prince Rebellion.

Among them, the one that Longwu Emperor feared the most was the line of Prince Gui, because even though Longwu Emperor was a well-known emperor, his legal lineage was not as good as that of Prince Gui.

A Jingjiang prince of remote descent could cause a disturbance in an entire province. If the Guiwangfu also imitated the Jingjiang prince and established his own system, the impact would be incomparable to that of a Jingjiang prince.

Therefore, after the Jingjiang Prince's rebellion, Ding Kuichu had received the secret instructions of Emperor Longwu to keep the Gui Prince's family in Zhaoqing, nominally for protection, but in fact under house arrest and surveillance.

Under such circumstances, the situation of the palace was naturally not going to be any better, and the expenses in the palace were getting less and less. If Emperor Longwu had not died in Tingzhou, the Gui Palace would have lost the 500 taels of money.
When the news of Emperor Longwu's death came, the situation of the Guiwang Mansion gradually improved, and the monthly expenses were maintained at around 500 taels, and there was no further reduction.
But now, according to what the green-robed official said, the governor's office was not going to give even 500 taels of silver, and was going to cut the expenses of the palace in half again, only giving the palace 300 taels of silver per month.

Zhu Lang's face was gloomy. Li Chengzhi looked at the young prince with an ugly expression on his face, and he couldn't help but feel a little sad.

When he saw Li Mingzhong taking the three hundred taels of silver back, he thought that the King of Gui was putting on a show to win people's hearts, but when he saw this scene, he felt that the situation of the palace was really difficult.
The huge palace only has 300 taels of silver per month, and the prince can still save 300 taels of silver under such circumstances. I don't know how the prince saved the 300 taels of silver.
During the past few days since Li Chengzhi entered the palace, he has gained some understanding of the situation in the palace. Not counting the new guards, there are about 70 to 80 people in the backyard of the palace.

To put it bluntly, if we strictly follow the rules of the Ming army to distribute money and food, it would cost two or three hundred taels of silver to support seventy or eighty soldiers every month.

When Li Chengzhi thought of this, he felt even more sympathy for Prince Zhu Lang. It was really hard to be a prince in the Ming Dynasty.

At the side door of the palace, Ma Mingtu and the green-robed official were arguing. The green-robed official wanted to leave, but Ma Mingtu grabbed the green-robed official's sleeve and refused to let him leave.
"My Lord, please don't bother me anymore. What's the point of you telling me these things? These are orders from the elders of the previous dynasty. I am just following the rules."

"Father-in-law, please don't embarrass me anymore. Once you sign the bill, I will give you the money sooner rather than later. If you have any objections, you can go and argue with the adults. They are the ones who make the decisions."

The green-robed official took out a list, looked impatient, and said
"No, three hundred taels a month. You black-hearted people dare to bully my Guiwang Mansion. I will never sign this order," Ma Mingtu said with an excited look on his face.

Seeing this, Zhu Lang saw that the quarrel was getting louder and louder, so he put away his expression and walked over slowly.
"What are you arguing about?" Zhu Lang said calmly.

"Your Highness, this Governor's Office is really too much. The expenses of the palace are already unbearable, but this Governor's Office wants to cut it in half again, and only give the palace 300 taels of silver per month. How can this amount of silver be enough?" Ma Mingtu saw Zhu Lang asking questions and immediately answered, "Eunuch, you can't say that. Cutting the expenses of various government offices was the idea of ​​the previous dynasty. What does it have to do with my Governor's Office? It's just that I have always been in contact with the Prince's Palace, so the court sent me to deliver the silver. You can't say that nonsense."

When the green-robed official saw Ma Mingtu complaining, he hurriedly explained before Zhu Lang could speak.
"Sir, is this true?" Zhu Lang frowned and asked.

"Your Highness, it's not that we don't want to send money, but since last month, the leaders of Fujian Province have arrived in Zhaoqing one after another, and various government offices are also being built in Zhaoqing, and the number of officials in the city has increased sharply."

"The food, clothing and daily expenses of the officials in various government offices are now all supported by the money and grain from the governor's office. Some officials have come here in a hurry with their families. They have no place to stay in the city and can hardly keep warm. They are almost starving and freezing on the streets. We really have no way to help them."

"It was the previous dynasty that decided to cut spending everywhere, but this is only a temporary measure. The lords said that once the autumn grain tax silver from all places is delivered to the court and the city's treasury is full, everything will return to the old rules."

The green-robed official looked at the expressionless prince with a worried look on his face and spoke cautiously
He dared to argue loudly with Ma Mingtu, the eunuch in the palace, but he dared not offend the King of Gui. Everyone knew that the King of Gui would soon become the regent. What is the regent? That is the emperor.

If you offend the future emperor, will he still be able to help you in the future?
Zhu Lang looked at the green-robed official in front of him, his face was calm, but his eyes were cold.

The fact that there were too many officials in Fujian Province and that the city's expenses had increased greatly were just excuses. Even if the city was short of silver, how could it still be short of the two hundred taels of silver from the Guiwang Mansion? This was Ding Kuichu's way of demonstrating to him!
Zhu Lang's previous actions made Ding Kuichu extremely dissatisfied. Now all the money and grain of Zhaoqing are in the treasury of the Governor-General's Office of Guangdong and Guangxi, so Ding Kuichu directly cut the expenses of the Prince of Gui's Palace this time.
This is a warning to Zhu Lang that without Ding Kuichu's money and food, you, the King of Gui, won't even have food to eat.

Zhu Lang glanced at the green-robed official in front of him who looked nervous, but he did not get angry at him. This man was obviously just a soldier sent by Ding Kuichu to cross the river.
Of course he could get angry and punish the official who deliberately made things difficult for the palace, but what would be the use?
In the Ming Dynasty, officials below the seventh rank wore green, officials above the seventh rank wore blue, and officials above the fourth rank wore red
This man was wearing a green robe. It was obvious that he was just a low-ranking official below the seventh rank. He was really a small official.

Zhu Lang took down this man, and Ding Kuichu could turn around and bring out a hundred similar people. This would be no difficulty at all for Ding Kuichu.

Zhu Lang's eyes were cold, and he suddenly said
"So that's how it is. I never thought the city would be in such a state." The young prince sighed softly, with a worried look on his face.

"Eunuch Ma, please sign this order," Zhu Lang said, looking at Ma Mingtu.

"Your Majesty, how can this be possible? This is just three hundred taels..." Ma Mingtu looked anxious and immediately said
"After you take the silver, leave thirty taels of silver for me, and send the rest to the backyard. Don't let the two ladies suffer any shortfall."

"If that's not enough, there are some calligraphy and paintings collected by the previous king in the royal treasury. Pick out some that can be sold at a high price and find someone to sell them."

"How can I do this? This is the old prince's favorite thing. It is to be passed down to the prince. How can I sell it?" Ma Mingtu said immediately with a sad face.
"Shut up, isn't that embarrassing enough? What did I tell you normally?"

"My Guiwang Mansion has been favored by the imperial court for generations. If there were no Ming Dynasty, there would be no Guiwang Mansion. The state is in trouble, and my Guiwang Mansion should be more sympathetic to the state. Now, just for a few hundred taels of silver, you are still making trouble here. How can you be so disrespectful?"

Seeing the stern look on the face of the Gui King, who was scolding Ma Mingtu, the green-robed official was sweating profusely and wanted to flee.
How could a lowly official like him listen to what the King of Gui said? If he had a choice, he would just cover his ears and flee from here.
Even if he was asked to pay two hundred taels, he would be willing to do so.

But the order in his hand had not been signed, and the work of the governor's office had not been completed. If he went back at this point, he would still be in trouble.

The green-robed official kept wiping the sweat from his forehead, standing there with a look of panic on his face, not knowing whether to leave or not, with an extremely tormented expression on his face.
"Don't say anything more, just sign the order."

Zhu Lang's face turned serious. Seeing the prince's expression change, Ma Mingtu did not dare to object. He could only take out a small seal from his bosom with an angry look and stamped it.
After Ma Mingtu changed the seal of the government, he took three silver notes from the green-robed official, his face still full of indignation.
"It doesn't matter if the expenses in the palace are more or less. The ministers who can come to Guangdong from Fujian Province must be loyal to our Ming Dynasty and the backbone of the country. When you go back, you must tell the others to take good care of the ministers in the court."

"The country is in a difficult situation, and it needs wise ministers like you to help it recover. Don't let this discourage the loyal people in the world."

The young prince had a compassionate look on his face and said solemnly

"Your humble servant, I will definitely convey the prince's words to all the lords in the court."

The green-robed official smiled a smile uglier than crying and replied:

He is just a small official of the eighth rank, yet he keeps talking about being a loyal and good man who will revitalize the country. Can he really spread such words? He really cannot bear it.
Zhu Lang's face was solemn, but his eyes were cold. Are you going to cut my palace's expenses?

That's just right. Zhu Lang can use these two hundred taels of silver to buy a reputation of being a man who cares about the country and the people and has the world in his heart.

Four thousand words chapter
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(End of this chapter)