Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 58 Granted suicide!
Jiang Mian naturally knew.

The person the emperor wanted to lose his head was the Left Censor-in-Chief Chen Jin.

His father-in-law.

Because once the emperor is willing to use the treasury to send supplies to the various borders to satisfy their gluttonous desires, the officials in the nine borders will naturally not cause trouble again, nor will they dare to do anything disloyal or unjust just for the execution of a senior official in the court.

After all, the civil and military officials of the Nine Frontiers are not so united, and they are even happy to add insult to injury. The governors and governors-general of the border towns are also happy to do so, so that they can fill the vacant position of the Nine Ministers.

Therefore, as long as the emperor really feeds the nine borders of the world, it will be easy for him to deal with Chen Jin.

Officials like Chen Jin have plenty of evidence of crimes that bring harm to the country and the people.

But Chen Jin naturally didn't know that the current emperor was not really that kind, and would not be so kind as to not care about him using the Nine Frontiers to threaten the emperor to pay money to satisfy his greed.

Jiang Mian did not directly tell Chen Jin that the emperor should not be underestimated.

Because Jiang Mian also had to consider his own future, he did not dare to reveal the emperor's true character to anyone directly.

What's more, Jiang Mian actually didn't expect that the emperor would really want to kill his father-in-law because of this.

This forced Jiang Mian to admit that the current emperor was not really that tolerant when it came to bullying him. In fact, once there was an opportunity for revenge, he would never wait until the next day, and he clearly had a cruel side.

It's undoubtedly terrifying!
Jiang Mian couldn't help but feel fortunate that he was cautious enough and did not rashly reveal the emperor's habits to others. Otherwise, he felt that he might be severely retaliated by the emperor in the future.

Jiang Mian kowtowed humbly and said, "Your Majesty, I know that my father-in-law's actions are indeed suspected of contempt for the majesty of heaven, and he deserves the death penalty. However, I beg Your Majesty to consider that my father-in-law has made great contributions to suppressing the bandits and is among the 'Eight Discussions', and show mercy to him."

"His Majesty!"

"Chen Jin certainly had the merit of suppressing the bandits, but he also committed the crime of massacring the people. The two have long since been offset. Otherwise, he would not have been appointed as the governor."

"But this time he used his power to bully the emperor, so he must be punished and must be executed!"

Liang Chu, who was from Guangdong, naturally hated Chen Jin very much and had long wished that the court would kill Chen Jin, so he never had any contact with Chen Jin.

Otherwise, he would not be able to face his hometown.

In this era, there is no scholar who does not care about hypocrisy.

Therefore, even though Chen Jin was Jiang Mian's father-in-law, and even though he had never liked killing, he still insisted on killing Chen Jin at this time.

"I deeply agree with what Yuanfu said."

"But I am not someone who does not remember his achievements."

"However, Chen Jin knew that his crime was serious, but after being pardoned by the court, he not only did not repent, restrain himself, or stop, but also intensified his extortion against me."

"I can tolerate such a huge pest, but how can Heaven tolerate it?"

"Therefore, although Chen Jin can be pardoned, he cannot escape the death penalty. He should be executed, his body should be preserved intact, and his descendants should not be punished. However, his property should be confiscated and his stolen money should be seized to supplement state expenditures."

After Zhu Houcong responded, Jiang Mian had to close his eyes, sigh, and kowtow to express his gratitude.

"Secondly, the treasury is also taken from the people, so it cannot be squandered at will. The late emperor, the empress dowager, the queen, and the concubines are all watching."

"Therefore, the inner treasury can only be borrowed from the Ministry of Revenue, and cannot be directly transferred to the Ministry of Revenue, and interest must be charged. Collecting interest is not greedy for profit, but to let the outer court also learn to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, and not just rely on the inner treasury, but ignore the rectification of fiscal and taxation malpractices."

When Zhu Houcong said this, Liang Chu, Jiang Mian and Mao Ji all looked horrified.

"I know you will say that the whole world belongs to me, so why should I distinguish between public and private matters so clearly?"

"But in my opinion, the biggest drawback of this world is the lack of clarity between public and private!"

"If the whole world belongs to me, can I follow the words of the saints that the people are the most important and the emperor is the least important, and completely seize the benefits of the rich and help the poor?"

"Why was the Nei Cheng Yun Ku established at the beginning of the country? It was because under the imperial power, the public and private sectors were clearly separated."

"I must now emphasize the distinction between public and private affairs!"

"You can borrow money from the Internal Transport Bank, but you can't just use it to make up for the deficit of other banks, so you have to charge interest. But the interest can't be too high, so as not to put too much pressure on the Ministry of Revenue, forcing it to cut back on the people."

"Just earn 3% profit a year."

"The interest collected, plus the rent from the emperor's six guards, will be used to support my personal army."

After Zhu Houcong said this, he looked at the three ministers and asked, "What do you think?"

"I dare not hide the truth from Your Majesty. Most people in the world only want Your Majesty to spend money from the treasury, not to borrow money from the treasury."

"So if I do this, people will say that I am a flatterer. I am old and weak, and I am afraid that I alone cannot withstand the overwhelming criticism."

Liang Chu replied.

"You can handle it."

Zhu Houcong replied with a smile.

"I really can't handle it."

Liang Chu replied.

Zhu Houcong raised his voice and said, "You are also a loyal veteran, you can handle it!"

"Of course, I will help you."

"I can withdraw the eunuchs who guard the garrisons and the customs and procurement offices from all over the country, and let the Ministry of Revenue of the outer court manage these official properties themselves!"

Zhu Houcong spoke in a deep voice.

After saying this, Zhu Houcong glanced at Liang Chu.

Liang Chu and others were shocked and excited at the same time when they heard that the emperor was going to withdraw the eunuchs from all places.

What civil officials and scholars could never tolerate the most was eunuchs being sent abroad to exploit the local people.

Now the emperor said that he would withdraw the eunuchs as long as they were willing to borrow money from the treasury.

They were eager to agree immediately.

Because withdrawing the eunuchs who were guarding various places would be a great merit that would make them famous throughout the world.

Compared with this merit, borrowing from the treasury is not a big deal.

After all, borrowing from the imperial treasury instead of taking it directly is explainable.

That is, if everyone in the world is a loyal minister and a filial son, how can one take the wealth of the king and father for free?

Historically, except for a few external court agencies such as the Weaving Bureau, which still had eunuchs, Jiajing withdrew the eunuchs who were stationed in various places.

But this did not affect Jiajing's control over the world, because in the Ming Dynasty where the commodity economy was becoming more and more prosperous, the civil servants would fight for profits more fiercely than the eunuchs and civil servants.

For example, Hai Rui fought against Xu Jie. Although the direct reason was that Hai Rui himself was upright and fearless of power, behind it was also a struggle for interests among the literati, otherwise Hai Rui would not have been appointed Governor of Southern Zhili.

Because at that time, there were many people who coveted the benefits of the Xu family.

Zhu Houcong now also plans to learn from Jiajing in history. He will openly show that he trusts the civil servants from now on, and withdraw a large number of eunuchs back to the court, allowing the literati and officials in the world to compete with each other and submit to each other.

He would give greater power to whoever was willing to share the most profit with him and whoever cared most about the court and the people.

However, if this were the case, Zhu Houcong would have to encourage commerce and allow scholars and common people to pursue fame and fortune, instead of requiring them to follow etiquette norms everywhere as in the early days of the country. For example, civilians were not allowed to wear gold and silver, merchants were not allowed to wear silk, and ordinary scholars were not allowed to ride in sedan chairs.

Of course, it is impossible for Zhu Houcong to restore the social customs to the early days of the country.

On the one hand, there are more and more non-agricultural population engaged in industry, commerce and various service industries.

Secondly, the private wealth generated in this area is increasing.

He can only go with the flow and cannot go against it.

Moreover, he also needed to adjust national policies, increase revenue and resolve various imperial crises by expanding commercial and consumer markets.

Liang Chu and other cabinet ministers also knew these principles, and acknowledged that the emperor's approach was to nominally give benefits to officials and gentry throughout the world, but in fact it forced officials and gentry throughout the world to fight for power and profit more fiercely, instead of uniting together to fight against the emperor, which would in turn allow the emperor to reap the benefits.

But they couldn't refuse.

After all, the overall interests of officials and gentry in the world are nothing compared to the fact that they can take advantage of their power in the cabinet, have the trust of the emperor, gain great merits, make their families more prosperous and their country stronger.

Therefore, Liang Chu and others remained silent, only thinking in their hearts how to keep the position of Prime Minister and how to become the Prime Minister as soon as possible.

"Didn't you all say that the eunuchs in charge of the various garrisons and the Maritime Customs Offices, other than causing harm to the people, were of no benefit in expanding official interests or increasing the revenue of the court?"

"Then I will leave it to you in the outer court."

"If you, the outer court, can't also raise funds and repay the capital I have contributed to the inner treasury, I will have to rely on my inner court officials to raise funds."

Zhu Houcong continued to give an obvious reason.

Subsequently.

He then asked Liang Chu and the others, "You don't really want me to rely on eunuchs to increase revenue, do you?"

After Zhu Houcong said this, Liang Chu was the first to reply: "Your Majesty, I dare not fail the emperor's grace and am willing to follow the emperor's instructions. No matter how the world laughs and scolds, I must bear it for your majesty!"

"I second the motion! Your Majesty has such trust in us. If we still put the court in a difficult position and fail to repay the emperor's grace, we would be truly ungrateful."

Jiang Mian replied.

Mao Ji also followed suit and said, "I also agree. As a minister, we cannot receive the kindness of our sovereign and father for nothing. If we cannot repay the kindness of our sovereign and father, we are incompetent! We are unworthy of being a disciple of the emperor!"

"Very good, let's do it then."

"I will first lend 5 million taels of treasury to the Ministry of Revenue, which can be repaid in three years."

"Don't tell me there is no way to increase income. Even I know that silk and cotton cloth can double the profit if sold to Japan. Although we cannot take the internal profits from the people, we can still obtain external profits through business. It is also a way to promote the prosperity of Chinese culture. Luo Qinshun also mentioned a way in his congratulatory letter to me, which is to survey the land in the world. Moreover, all the ministers are capable and will have more ways to make money."

After Zhu Houcong said this, he got up and left.

"Congratulations to Your Majesty!"

Liang Chu and others also left Qingning Palace next.

The three of them continued to walk slowly without saying a word, their brows furrowed in thought.

It was not until he returned to the cabinet that Liang Chu suddenly said to Jiang Mian: "I strongly advocated not to spare your father-in-law in front of the emperor, but it is hard to go against the hometown feelings. I hope you will understand."

"How dare I blame you? My father-in-law did some wrong things in Guangdong and Jiangxi, but I dare not speak of it for the sake of your majesty. Fortunately, your majesty has shown great grace and has not blamed his family. He has only allowed him to commit suicide, thus preserving his dignity and allowing me to support his family."

"For now, let's think about how to repay the five million taels of the imperial treasury loan. Although it is worth it in exchange for the withdrawal of all the eunuchs guarding the country, how to repay it still needs to be considered."

Jiang Mian said after his return: "You and I know the benefits of maritime trade. If we really manage it seriously, it will not be difficult to repay the principal and interest in three years. As for the land survey, if we really survey the hidden land in the world and allow the people to pay taxes at a discount, the income can be used to repay the loan from the treasury."

"But this will hurt the interests of the wealthy businessmen!"

Jiang Mian then added another sentence.

(End of this chapter)