Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 689 Finance
"I remember that the taxes from all over the country should be paid next month, right?" Zhu Shenzhui asked.

Wen Tiren replied, "Your Highness, it should be, but now there is no guarantee that local taxes can reach the capital on time. Moreover, Chen Qiyu, Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting and others have not yet suppressed the local rebellion. The northwestern provinces have been in a state of decay in recent years. I am afraid..."

Having said that, Wen Tiren glanced at Zhu Shenzhui carefully, and seeing that Zhu Shenzhui's expression had not changed, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhu Shenzhu was of course aware of what Wen Tiren said. According to the time, the local taxes would arrive in Beijing in the next one or two months, and the Ming court was also waiting for the money. But the actual situation was not like that. Except for Beizhili, Shanxi, Shandong, and Henan, which were actually controlled by Zhu Shenzhu, the rest of the Ming provinces, especially the Jiangnan region including Nanjing, nominally respected Zhu Shenzhu as the regent and obeyed the central government's orders, but everyone knew what the actual situation was.

The court has undergone a great change. Emperor Chongzhen is still the emperor of the Ming Dynasty in name, but he has lost his power in reality. Zhu Shenzhu, the regent, is now the one who calls the shots in the Ming Dynasty. However, Zhu Shenzhu has been the regent for too short a time, and his deterrent effect on the local areas is not enough. Moreover, he has not had time to rectify the local areas and adjust the personnel. The provinces of the Ming Dynasty are still governed by the same team as before.

Under such circumstances, no one can guarantee what these local officials are thinking or planning, so it is difficult to determine whether the annual tax payment can be delivered to the capital normally. Even if the local government does not blatantly withhold the tax payment, it is very likely that they secretly swallow up part of it or find other reasons to delay.

Cheating superiors and concealing the truth from subordinates is an old problem in the Ming Dynasty officialdom. Local officials are smarter than monkeys. It is normal for them to take this opportunity to test the attitude of the capital. This is also what Wen Tiren is worried about.

If the taxes cannot arrive on time, the already shaky finances of the Ming Dynasty will be even worse. It is not easy for Wen Tihen to be the Prime Minister. The key is that he has no money. Without money, he can't do anything. The reason why he came to Zhu Shenzhui today, in addition to the reward for the victory in the north, the second important issue is the issue of money and food.

The Ming Dynasty's finances were relatively good during the Tianqi period. Because of Wei Zhongxian, the Ming Dynasty's financial revenue was maintained at nearly 20 million taels per year, and commercial taxes, salt taxes, tea taxes, including foreign tariffs, all remained at a high level.

Among them, the salt tax alone was the result of Cui Chengxiu's reform of the salt administration and implementation of the Salt Gang Law when he served as the governor of Huaiyang, which led to a sharp increase in salt tax revenue. The highest salt tax revenue in the founding of the Ming Dynasty was 2.55 million taels.

Cui Chengxiu was the leader of Wei Zhongxian's Five Tigers. In the eyes of the Qingliu, he was an undoubted eunuch and a traitor. However, it must be admitted that Cui Chengxiu was very capable and made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty's finances.

After Wei Zhongxian's downfall, Emperor Chongzhen appointed a member of the Donglin Party to replace him as the governor of Huaiyang. In his first year in office, salt tax revenue plummeted by nearly 60%. In the following years, it dropped every year, from the initial 2.55 million taels of salt tax to the current level of less than 450,000 taels.

It's not just the salt tax, the same goes for the tea tax. The tea tax in the Chongzhen period was less than 20% of that in the Tianqi period. In addition, the tariffs were even more appalling. From the time Chongzhen ascended the throne to the present, the country's fiscal revenue has fallen sharply, and now it has fallen to only 4 million taels.

Four million taels, this is the annual fiscal revenue of the Ming Dynasty. If it is for an individual, it is certainly a huge sum of money, but for an empire like the Ming Dynasty with a vast territory and hundreds of millions of people, a mere four million taels of fiscal revenue is simply unimaginable.

Moreover, a large part of the total amount of 4 million taels was extorted from the common people, including the "Liaoxing" tax levied by Emperor Chongzhen many times. This money was like a mountain for the common people, which made them feel suffocated. Moreover, the 4 million taels that were handed over to the central government on the surface, how much was actually collected by the local governments, and how much silver was embezzled by the people below, I am afraid this figure is even more shocking.

In addition, the 4 million taels of tax revenue was far from enough to support the operation of the court. The fiscal deficit alone was at least 1.3 million taels per year. Over the years, Emperor Chongzhen had tried his best to fill the deficit, but he could not do anything but use the silver from the inner treasury to fill it. As a result, most of the silver accumulated from the reigns of Emperor Wanli to Emperor Tianqi (excluding Emperor Taichang) was used to fill it, but it was still like a bottomless pit.

"No rush, wait until the taxes are paid to Beijing." Zhu Shenzhui said calmly, as if he didn't care about these taxes at all.

Does Zhu Shenzhu really not care about these taxes? Even 4 million taels of tax is a lot of money! The court is waiting for the rice to be cooked. But the problem is that Zhu Shenzhu knew this situation, but he still sat back and watched the clouds rise. It's not that he doesn't care at all, but that he can't solve this problem for the time being. It is true that the Ming Dynasty has no silver, but does the Ming Dynasty really have no silver? This is not true either.

The Ming Dynasty actually had no shortage of silver, but all the silver was in the hands of civil officials, gentry and merchants. These people colluded with each other and had long formed a huge interest group. Not to mention others, just the officials and nobles in the capital had no shortage of silver.

You should know that in history, when Li Zicheng entered the capital, he sent people to "examine the salary", and directly squeezed out 80 million taels of wealth from the capital. This was just the capital! What is the concept of 80 million taels? In terms of the annual fiscal revenue of 4 million in the Chongzhen Dynasty, it was the total fiscal revenue for 20 years. Even if it was the highest fiscal revenue period of the Tianqi Dynasty, it was the total revenue of four or five years.

This is just the capital city. If it was Jiangnan, it would be even more serious. This shows that the Ming Dynasty was not without money, but the court could not collect money. The key problem that caused this situation lies in Emperor Chongzhen. If he had not claimed to be a wise monarch, overturned a series of tax policies of the Tianqi Dynasty, believed in the Donglin Party's sweet talk, and transferred all the financial pressure from civil servants, gentry and merchants to the common people, how could there be such a result?
Zhu Shenzui is not Li Zicheng, so it is impossible for him to do such a thing as killing the chicken to get the eggs. Even if he knew that these people had a lot of silver, he could not use Li Zicheng's method to get the silver.

Once he did this, Zhu Shenzhui stood against everyone, becoming the enemy of civil officials, gentry, merchants, and nobles. Although the emperors all said that the people were the foundation of the country, in fact, it was not only the emperor who truly ruled the world, but the combination of imperial power and these class groups. As for the people, they were just the foundation of the lower class. As long as these people could survive and did not rebel and eventually overthrow the regime, who would care about them?
Even if dynasties change, it is only one family and one surname that lose the world. For these class groups, it is nothing more than a new emperor. They will continue to live their lives as before. Officials will continue to be officials, and businessmen will continue to do business. Hasn't it been like this for thousands of years?
This is the main reason why Zhu Shenzhui did not implement drastic reforms after taking office as regent, or did not take targeted measures despite knowing the drawbacks. Now is not the time to turn against these class groups. On the contrary, it is necessary to win over these people. Only with their support can he sit firmly in the position of regent and gradually take control of the entire Ming Dynasty.

Although using tough measures may produce quick results in the short term, boiling a frog in warm water is the real way to solve the problem.

Wen Tiren just raised the issue of finance. Zhu Shenzhu knew that Wen Tiren was planning to attack certain people, but he just wanted to gain support from Zhu Shenzhu through the issue of finance. Zhu Shenzhu saw through Wen Tiren's little thoughts at a glance, but blocked his mouth before he could say anything.

"But, Your Highness, what if the tax revenue fails to reach the capital in time, or is far from enough?"

"I don't think such a thing should happen. If it does happen, it's the fault of you and the cabinet. In addition, the Ministry of Revenue and the Metropolitan Censorate are also to blame. There is also the Ministry of Personnel. I remember that the candidates for local official promotion were reported to the court by the Ministry of Personnel, and then appointed after the cabinet's approval? The assessment of officials is the joint responsibility of the Ministry of Personnel and the Metropolitan Censorate? The merits and demerits of political performance are all recorded in the books, so it is natural for the cabinet to hold them accountable."

Wen Tiren's eyes suddenly lit up, and he immediately understood what Zhu Shenzui meant. He quickly agreed, and a smile appeared on his face.

Wen Tiren discussed finance and taxation with the purpose of taking action against certain people and further establishing his power as the Prime Minister. But now Zhu Shenzhu gave him a better way, how could a smart man like Wen Tiren not understand it?

Taking advantage of this tax payment, Wen Tiren was secretly preparing to show some people how powerful he was. This was exactly what Zhu Shenzhu wanted. For Zhu Shenzhu, Wen Tiren was a very useful tool, and using the court rules to do this was much better than other methods. The impact was not large and would not arouse group opposition. At the same time, he could also use this to gradually control the local areas and adjust the official structure of various places.

You can't eat hot tofu in a hurry. Zhu Shenzhui is now cautious and must not act hastily. As for the financial problem, it is already like this. The financial collapse of the Ming Dynasty has not reached this level in a short time. Moreover, after Zhu Shenzhui took control of the capital, he also took over the inner treasury. The remaining silver in the inner treasury fell into his hands.

At present, Zhu Shencui has nearly 10 million taels of silver available, not including the financial resources of his Hengtong Commercial Bank. If Hengtong is included, the number will be much higher, especially the latter. As Zhu Shencui has basically controlled the four provinces of Shanxi, Northern Zhili, Shandong and Henan, Hengtong Commercial Bank has expanded rapidly in these four provinces under Zhu Shencui's instructions. It is expected that by next year, Hengtong will be able to cover the four provinces, and with this as the foundation, continue to extend its tentacles outward.

(End of this chapter)