The heavy snow that had lasted for three days finally stopped. This made the officials of the capital sigh in relief. If it had continued, the capital would have suffered a disaster.
Now that it had stopped, other than the Shun Tian Office being a bit busier, the other yamens were not affected.
Forbidden City, Palace of Heavenly Purity.
There were many officials gathered here today, including a few scholars from the cabinet, the Ministers of the Six Ministries, and a few important assistant ministers. This should be the last court hearing in the fifteenth year of Wanli.
Because it wasn't something to discuss and was just a year-end summary, everyone's expressions were still very relaxed.
Zhu Yijun also walked in with a smile. After everyone bowed, he said with a smile, "No need for formalities, please rise!"
The court hearing officially began. Shen Shixing was the first to speak. He stood up and gave a simple summary, which was basically similar to the year-end summary in later generations.
What work had been done, what difficulties had been encountered, and what achievements had been made.
Of course, one could not forget to praise the wise leader, Zhu Yijun.
The last court hearing in the fifteenth year of Wanli began in such a friendly atmosphere.
The summary of the Six Ministries began from the Ministry of Appointments, but it was more or less the same as every year, so no one paid much attention.
This year, the only thing that everyone was concerned about was the Ministry of Revenue, the money and grain.
When Zhang Xueyan began to speak, everyone turned to look at him.
After saying a lot of nonsense, Zhang Xueyan began to talk about this year's grain collection. In reality, ever since the implementation of the One Whip Law, the revenue of the court had been increasing every year, but that was within everyone's expectations. This time, it was a sharp increase.
"This year's revenue is 24.67 million taels of silver and 34.23 million dans of grain."
When Zhang Xueyan reported this number, everyone was shocked. More than 20 million taels of silver and 30 million dans of grain.
No one spoke for a long time in the hall. In reality, they did not know what to say.
They were all scholars, and it was very embarrassing for a scholar to produce so much money and grain!
Seeing that no one spoke, Zhu Yijun did not speak either. In reality, this result was within Zhu Yijun's expectations.
Zhu Yijun was very clear about the shortcomings of the One Whip Law. At the beginning of the collection, Zhu Yijun had given an order to the Bureau of Taxation.
That was to tax them separately!
One had to know that in this era, silver was expensive and grain was cheap. A whip law used silver to collect taxes.
When paying taxes, the people would convert grain and other outputs into silver, so they had to gather and exchange it with the merchants when paying the two taxes.
The merchants took advantage of this to raise the price of silver. This was a major malpractice that continued during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It was also known as a whip that oppressed the people.
In order to prevent this type of thing from happening, Zhu Yijun set down a rule for the Tax Division. All those with land over a hundred mu had to pay silver, those with less than a hundred mu could pay grain.
There were loopholes that could be exploited, such as putting the land under someone else's name and not paying for it.
Zhu Yijun did not care much about this. Although the imperial court would collect less money this way, it could protect the interests of the poor people to the greatest extent.
Furthermore, food was the foundation of a country. It was very important for a country to have enough food reserves. Most of the time, you couldn't buy food even if you had money.
If there was so much food that they couldn't finish, then Zhu Yijun felt that he should go to war.
Another drawback of the whip law was the addition of taxes. In history, during the last years of Wanli, the addition of taxes had already forced the Daming dynasty to a dead end.
Before the implementation of the whip law, taxes and labor were separated. Taxes were paid according to land, and labor was collected according to the number of households. In addition to taxes and labor, there were also a variety of items and tributes.
After the implementation of the whip law, everything was simplified into one.
Taxes were collected according to the land, and labor was changed to labor, with the government hiring people to do the labor.
Because of the unification of taxes and labor, it was difficult for officials at different levels to use names.
Thus, all the abuses were eliminated, and taxes were stabilized, giving the peasants some peace.
To put it bluntly, this meant that the people no longer had to do labor, and only needed to pay taxes on the land.
If labor was required, then the local government would pay for it. From the perspective of the idea, this was good, and Zhu Yijun also wanted to do this.
But in reality, after the death of Zhang Juzheng, the local officials began to destroy this system.
Including the Daming, it was three to four million taels of silver every year. Where would they find the money to hire people?
The local officials kept all the money in their own pockets, and the people they squeezed were still the people.
This was equivalent to the people paying for labor, and still having to do labor.
The most serious was the increase of the "Three Salaries" in the last years of the Ming Dynasty.
Following the example set by their superiors, in addition to the 'Three Rations', there was also the 'Three Rations' for ducks, cows, and grain insects.
Layer by layer, the people had no way to survive. After the natural disaster, a large-scale peasant uprising broke out.
In reality, even if there were no natural disasters, it was hard to say how long the Daming would last. The contradictions had accumulated to the most acute point.
If this matter was to be completely resolved, a new set of rules would be needed.
In reality, Zhu Yijun always felt that the local officials in this era had too much power. Of course, this was directly related to the lack of money in the imperial court, and they couldn't afford to pay people.
Not to mention increasing the number of officials, these current officials sometimes couldn't even pay salaries.
Zhu Yijun wandered around and found that there was still some silence. He couldn't help but say, "The Ministry of Revenue has done a good job!"
"Let the local authorities report the amount of money they keep, and transfer it to them every quarter."
Zhu Yijun looked at Shen Shixing and said, "The cabinet should make a list of what the local authorities should spend, and how they should be divided. There should be clear rules."
"If there is a need for big expenses like water conservancy, let the local authorities report it."
Shen Shixing quickly said, "Yes, Your Majesty, I will do it when I go back."
Zhu Yijun nodded. "Now that we have money, we have to spend it. The cabinet should check if there is any urgent need for money, such as repairing dams and embankments, and report it to me."
In reality, over the years, the Daming had been repaired in many places. Zhu Yijun didn't want to wait for disaster relief in the future.
While the natural disaster hadn't arrived, they should spend some money to repair it. If there was a real disaster, then there would be big trouble. The money for disaster relief was definitely not something that could be solved with a little money.
However, this matter had to be handed over to a suitable person. Zhu Yijun already had a candidate in mind.
After talking about a few more things, the court meeting was dismissed. Zhu Yijun got up and returned to the warm room.
Zhang Jing followed behind. He wanted to say something a few times but stopped himself. Zhu Yijun couldn't help but laugh and scold him. "If you have something to say, just say it. Why do you have to be so hesitant?"
"Your Majesty, life is better now. Shouldn't it be time to repair the palace?" Zhang Jing said with some hesitation.
In reality, ever since Wanli ascended to the throne, the expenses in the palace had been cut again and again. The money used to light the lamps at night had been cut by more than half.
Now, there were people living in the palace. At night, there was a little light, but the other places were completely dark.
Many of the palaces had not been repaired for many years and were beyond recognition. Many eunuchs felt that the places were haunted and hid at night.
A few years ago, when the palace was being purged, half of the serving girls and eunuchs were released. The Imperial Majesty also didn't choose any concubines. There was almost no one available in the palace.
In addition, the Imperial Majesty didn't have many concubines, so the palace was even more empty.
Hearing Zhang Jing say this, Zhu Yijun also felt a bit awkward. It was time to repair it.
In the past, he didn't have any money. No matter if it was Zhang Juzheng or Zhang Xueyan, they treated the little bit of silver in the national treasury like it was their own child. They were afraid that Zhu Yijun would reach out.
The silver in the palace treasury came from the ironworks and the inner factories. The silver that Zhu Yijun had earned had all been thrown there.
"Then repair it!" Zhu Yijun sighed and said, "Have the Ministry of Revenue pay half of the silver."
Although Zhu Yijun didn't lack this bit of silver, the rules had to be set. He couldn't let the officials get used to the Emperor's business being all his money. That couldn't be done.
Not to mention this era, when the future monarchs established the constitution, the government still had to give the royal family a large sum of money every year.
"Yes, Old Slave will do it now!" Zhang Jing hurriedly agreed.
Zhang Jing knew the personality of his Imperial Majesty. He always felt that it was a waste to spend money on himself. He was really different from the previous Imperial Majesty.
In Zhang Jing's view, the palace was the face of the Empire. How run-down could it be?
Zhu Yijun didn't care much about this. He wanted more grandeur.
"How about this: buy more silver from the Bureau of Rites. Buy more for the concubines in the harem. They didn't buy much after entering the palace.
Buy some for the two empresses as well. Ask them what they like. "
"That's right, the money will be paid for by the palace treasury," Zhu Yijun added. "Give more of the concubines' gifts to the paternal family this year."
Zhang Jing hurriedly agreed. "Yes, Imperial Majesty, I will do it immediately!"
Seeing Zhang Jing rush out, Zhu Yijun could only sigh helplessly. The money came quickly and went quickly.
He didn't even need to think to know that it would be the expenses reported by the cabinet in a few days. Otherwise, he would be shocked.
The six ministries would probably all run to the cabinet to ask for money. These years, everyone had been stifled.
However, Zhu Yijun couldn't be bothered to care. This was a matter of the cabinet. He could let Shen Shixing and the others worry about it.
In the following days, everything in the court was very stable. However, countless people had their eyes on the Ministry of Revenue's silver. This money made many people envious.
The Ministry of War wanted to buy warhorses and forge new armor and weapons. The Department of Armaments wanted more investment in research.
The Ministry of Appointments wanted to increase the salaries of officials, especially for those who were not doing well. When this request came out, many people supported it.
Everyone was collecting grain. The hidden land was gone, and they couldn't afford to eat anymore. The Emperor couldn't not raise their salaries. No one knew who was fighting for everyone's welfare. After the first shot, things got out of hand. The calls for a salary increase grew louder and louder.
The Ministry of Works also wanted money to clear the river channels. The Ministry of Justice wanted money to rebuild the prison. Even the Ministry of Rites wanted to join in the fun. They wanted to repair and replace the ceremonial utensils. For a moment, it was a lively scene.
However, Zhu Yijun didn't really care about these things.
Compared to these things, Zhu Yijun enjoyed the New Year break more. After a year of work, he was very tired.