Chapter 646 645 Missed Opportunities
After confirming that Wei Guangde still recommended Qi Jiguang to go north to train, Chen Yiqin said nothing more, but put the box away and planned to send it to the palace tomorrow.
He took out a memorial from the desk and handed it to Wei Guangde, "You should read this first."
Regarding the matter of Wei Guangde, Emperor Longqing had discussed with Chen Yiqin before and planned to transfer him to the cabinet after the year so that he could be summoned frequently.
The biggest difference between cabinet ministers and ministers is here.
Ministers generally will not enter the palace to see the emperor unless summoned by the emperor or if there are important matters that need to be reported.
If the daily court meetings are still carried out in accordance with the "Ming Huidian", it is a different matter.
The current Emperor Longqing has started to become lazy after working diligently for half a year. He attends the New Year's Eve Meeting on the first and fifteenth day of every month, as well as the three major court meetings. It can be said that he is much more diligent than his father. .
Emperor Jiajing was the master who did not even ascend to the palace for three major court meetings, which shows how unfriendly he was to court meetings and officials.
The emperor wanted to bring Wei Guang into the cabinet, and Chen Yiqin also hoped to get more helpers, so he naturally had no objection.
As preparation, Chen Yiqin also began to hand over the affairs handled by the cabinet to Wei Guangde, so that he could get familiar with it early so that he would not be in a hurry when he joins the cabinet after the year.
"What's this?"
As Wei Guangde spoke, he reached out to take it and opened it to read.
"Mason?"
Immediately, Wei Guangde whispered and then looked down.
It turned out that this was a memorial written by Ma Sen, who had just taken over the position of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, after cleaning up the warehouse of the Ministry of Revenue. Wei Guangde was quite excited at first, because the memorial mentioned money and grain.
many.
Really a lot.
Who said Ming Dynasty was poor, with so much money and grain.
But when he saw the back, Wei Guangde was slightly surprised. According to the memorial, it seemed that it was not enough.
"Ma Sen, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, reported: The annual income of Taicang Bank is only 2,142,000 yuan, the annual salary in Beijing is 1,350,000 yuan, and the marginal salary is 2,360,000 yuan. Each province often entrusts the border people and military forces with half of this year's edicts, and the number of incoming and outgoing is 3,961,400 less than the total. It is strange that the country does not have three years' savings, and the country is not its own country.
Today, we have found that there are more than 7 million shi of grain in the two warehouses of Jingtong. Calculated by the monthly rations of the various guards and troops, it can only be used for two years. The annual canal of 4 million shi, except for the grain transportation of Ji Zhen and the army's march , and exempted the two guards of Huguang and Xianling from cashing in, more than 3,492,600 stones were actually put into the two warehouses, and no less than 20 million was lost and drifted at the age of 20. It was not necessary to make up for it by making up for it. , If you want to save for three years, you can't get it, let alone six or nine years!
Nowadays, there is a war in all directions, the people are in poverty, and the border salaries have increased, so there was no quota for the sect.
It's like the fate is blocked, and I'm afraid that my worries are not just limited to all sides. Because of the article, it is urgent to deal with the aftermath. It is appropriate for all provinces to send Nanjing granaries to change the color of 60,000 shi to collect eight qian of silver per stone."
Wei Guangde was still reading the memorial when he heard Chen Yiqin's words.
"After Ma Shangshu cleaned up Taicang, he found that there were 1,354,562 taels of silver in deposits, but the annual income was only 2 million taels. The annual expenditure of officer and army silver, border pay, and annual reissues were all calculated. I have spent more than 5,520,000 taels of silver, and I have used this year to pay for it, but I found that I only have enough silver for three months."
Wei Guangde nodded slightly. Indeed, there was a gap of 3.5 million taels of silver. The silver deposit seemed to be a lot, but if calculated carefully, it was not enough for three months. The fourth month would not be enough.
"There are 6,783,151 shi of grain in the capital's warehouse, and more than 2,621,500 shi of monthly rations for the army every year, plus an additional 220,000 shi in case of a runny month. , the grain arriving in Beijing this year will only be enough for more than two years."
Chen Yiqin continued, obviously, the two-year grain storage is at a very low level in the Beijing warehouse, and has reached a level that makes both the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Cabinet nervous.
The main reason, Wei Guangde also knew, was that the Yellow River floods in the previous two years caused poor water transportation. This was also mentioned in the memorial to Shuli Masen.
The reason why there is so little grain in Beijing's warehouse is mainly because water transportation cannot bring grain from the south to the north.
"Zhu Shangshu will leave the capital in a few days."
Wei Guangde said suddenly.
"The dredging of the new river channel has been completed, and we hope that smooth water transportation can be restored as soon as possible."
Chen Yiqin thought he understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's words. Last year, when the government and the opposition debated the dispute between opening a new river and diverting an old river, Zhu Heng received more support.
Originally, this matter had little to do with him, but who asked Zhu Heng to win over his fellow countryman Wei Guangde, and Chen Yiqin also supported Zhu Heng in the cabinet, so he overcame Pan Jixun's suggestion of dredging the old river.
However, in order to be on the safe side, the imperial court did not give up dredging the old river. However, the focus was still on Zhu Heng's method of opening a new river channel, which can be said to be a two-pronged insurance approach.
Thinking about the Yangtze River floods in later generations, the national power at that time could only barely maintain the safety of the river. One can imagine the current technological strength.
This is not to say that official corruption has led to the construction of flood control rivers and is the root cause of flooding. In fact, it is difficult to solve the problem with the help of God and cannot be solved by manpower.
In order to preserve the dams in later generations, flood discharge areas were specially designated in many dangerous areas. That is to say, the dams were blown up when nothing could be done and the water was diverted to the designed flood discharge areas to solve the problem of insufficient flood discharge.
But that requires very sophisticated monitoring methods that can measure floods in real time and make correct decisions through precise calculations.
In the Ming Dynasty, these conditions were not met.
In the final analysis, floods caused by official corruption are actually small floods. If there is a big flood, it is destiny, and the court has no other solution except rescue.
Because he knew this, Wei Guangde would not bet his money on water transportation.
After being baptized by later generations, he clearly understood that sea transport was more economical than river transport. The Ming Dynasty's current financial dilemma. If water transport was changed to sea transport, although it could not be said to fundamentally solve the deficit, it could still alleviate some pressure.
Yes, just when he was reading Mason's Memorial, the idea from a few years ago came back to him.
Shaking his head, under Chen Yiqin's surprised eyes, Wei Guangde said, "Have any of the past dynasties managed floods truly solved this problem?"
Chen Yiqin thought about it after hearing this. Indeed, no matter how good the management is, it will only delay for some time. The river will eventually silt up and it will just burst out in a big flood.
"You mean, treating floods is useless?"
Chen Yiqin naturally couldn't think of Wei Guangde's thoughts at this moment, so he just asked hesitantly.
"Flood control is useful, but it cannot fundamentally solve the flood problem. Therefore, even if the new river is opened, it will only allow water transportation to recover for a period of time, maybe a few years, maybe a decade, but in the end it will still be faced again."
Wei Guangde whispered.
"Shandai, from what you say, do you have any way to solve the flood problem once and for all?"
Chen Yiqin perked up and asked.
Wei Guangde shook his head, "The flood is insurmountable, but its management is effective. It can ensure that the people on both sides of the river live and work in peace and contentment for several years. I just don't think we should bet the grain on it."
Chen Yiqin frowned, lowered his head and thought for a moment, and suddenly understood what Wei Guangde meant.
"Changing water transportation to sea?"
Prince Yu's Mansion had promoted this policy at the beginning. Although the final result was not satisfactory, the attempt was done after all.
When the grain arrived at the Huai River, the route was changed and shipped from Huai'an to Shandong. Later, a policy of shipping to Liao was launched and implemented for several years.
"Snapped."
Chen Yiqin smashed his right hand into a fist on his left palm and said harshly: "Forget this, when the Yellow River floods, grain can be transported by sea."
"Changing grain transportation from water to sea can once and for all solve the problem of the Yellow River flooding blocking water transportation. At the same time, it can save 70% of the transportation capacity of the imperial court. Although it cannot solve the financial difficulties of the imperial court, it can make it more or less relaxed."
Wei Guangde said.
"Huh? It's difficult to change everything to the sea."
Only then did Chen Yiqin understand what Wei Guangde meant. This matter was initially passed because of a drought and a lack of water in the canals, which blocked water transportation. The proposal was reluctantly passed, but it was quickly terminated after the water shortage problem was solved the following year.
In Chen Yiqin's view, the matter of converting water transportation to sea is not a big problem for temporary use, but it is difficult to make it a national policy.
The power of Canyun is too strong. They have money and can smoothen the relationship between North Korea and China, so that many officials choose to side with them.
"It's really not appropriate to talk about this right after the completion of the new river."
Wei Guangde nodded, "Well, I was busy copying books before, so I forgot about this."
Wei Guangde couldn't help but secretly feel annoyed. He said it last year and implemented it. This year Emperor Longqing ascended the throne. When everything is renewed, he will talk about this policy. If not, it can be made into a national policy and implemented for a long time.
If you miss the opportunity, you have to wait until next time.
"Although I can't mention it now, I can talk to my uncle if I have the opportunity in the future."
Chen Yiqin nodded. He actually supported Cao's reform, but he didn't want to cause turmoil in the court.
But looking at the current cabinet ministers, Xu Jie, Li Chunfang, Guo Pu, as well as him and Zhang Juzheng, according to their age, Xu Jie is about to retire, so they can almost be ignored.
Li Chunfang understands the truth. As long as it is reasonable, he will remain neutral even if he does not support it.
This is already very rare for people in the court.
As for Guo Pu, Chen Yiqin does not think that he will continue to stand in the cabinet next year.
Because of the war, Yan Guan suspended his impeachment. Although Wei Guangde transferred some people, Chen Yiqin believed that a new impeachment storm would soon arise again.
Now in the cabinet, the relationship between Xu Jie and Guo Pu is not good at all.
This would be good, as it would expose more of Xu Jie's trump cards.
So after all calculations, as long as they can persuade Zhang Juzheng to support him, and they join forces to convince Li Chunfang when the water transport is interrupted again due to flooding in the Yellow River, great things may be accomplished.
Chen Yiqin doesn't think there will be such an opportunity in the past two years, nor does he think Xu Jie will continue to serve as the first assistant in three years.
Based on Emperor Longqing's attitude, Xu Jie may take the initiative to become an official next year.
"Are the other strategies proposed by Master Ma feasible?"
After talking about water transportation, Chen Yiqin brought the topic back to his original purpose, which was to let Wei Guangde understand what the cabinet was in contact with, and on the other hand, he also wanted to see Wei Guangde's opinion on Ma Sen's suggestions.
"There is nothing new. I will continue to add more colors, and I am not afraid that the honest officials below will not be able to survive and will be forced to become turbid."
At this point, Wei Guangde pointed to the back of the memorial and said: "We also ask the imperial supervisor and the supply warehouse to suspend the purchase of all kinds of jewelry and jade. It's strange that your majesty would be happy to see it."
"But Your Majesty should agree."
"Of course you have to agree, otherwise there will be censors who will boldly say something about extravagance and lust, haha."
Wei Guangde smiled and chatted casually with Chen Yiqin.
"Increase the number of sitting factions. The military pay of the squadron should also be increased."
Wei Guangde frowned more and more as he read the following comments. Finally, he handed the Massen memorial back to Chen Yiqin and said, "What is said in this memorial is flashy and unrealistic. Many of the suggestions may seem reasonable but are actually unfeasible and will easily lead to chaos."
There was one thing Wei Guangde didn't dare to say, and that was that in his limited historical knowledge, Li Zicheng, the rebel leader who overthrew the rule of the Ming Dynasty, was not forced to rebel by the imperial court's reform and cost-saving.
If Emperor Chongzhen had not decided to reduce or cancel post offices, perhaps in the 17th year of Chongzhen's reign, Li Hongji might still be delivering newspapers and documents to the Ming Dynasty.
It's just that Ma Sen's memorial seems to harm the interests of officials, but many officials in the Ming Dynasty relied on court salaries to make a living.
There won't be many objections from officials, maybe it's just the grassroots Beijing officials who will make a fuss.
However, what Wei Guangde is most worried about is the soldiers and horses of the Ban Army who were transferred to Jizhen from other places to assist in the defense. If their military pay is reduced, it is hard to say whether they will cause trouble.
As the war in Shanxi ended, as Chen Yiqin said, memorials to impeach Guo Pu began to appear again.
The war was tense before, and the censors knew not to cause chaos at that time, so they rested for a while. Now that the war is over, Shanxi's Anda Khan has withdrawn from the Great Wall, and the Tuman tribe in Jizhen also retreated after the troops reached Luanhe River. Stopped, looted and retreated.
I don't know if Xu Jie was behind it, but more and more Kedao officials seemed to be remembering what happened before, and began to impeach Guo Pu.
Some censors even brought up the matter of Guo Pu's observance of filial piety due to his father's death in the 42nd year of Jiajing. The censor Ling Ru said: "Guo Pu previously took advantage of his father's death and took advantage of his love to serve as an official. His lack of filial piety has long been criticized by public opinion." It's disgraceful." He also said: "Guo Pu's mother is old and sick, but he doesn't want to beg and go to support his mother until she dies. It's really disrespectful and disgusting."
He immediately cited the reasons why Ge Shouli and others became officials, saying that Guo Pu's old mother was old, but he was greedy for power and position and was unwilling to return to his hometown to support his biological mother. This was a great act of unfilial piety.
Wei Guangde was stunned when he saw Ling Ru's memorial, and sent someone to check his files to see if his parents were okay.
Yes, this mad dog cannot be kept. Wei Guangde made up his mind to wait a month and use this reason to let him retire and go home to support his elderly parents.
Finally, after facing these vicious slanders and shameless impeachment, Guo Pu could not bear the verbal insults from the officials, let alone the intrigues in the cabinet, and decided to leave.
After making up his mind, he went to three petitions to beg for leave. Emperor Longqing also knew his difficulties. Naturally, as usual, after rejecting the two petitions for leave, he approved the third memorial and agreed to his request to become an official.
However, after Guo Pu left Beijing, Xu Jie quickly discovered something was wrong.
There are two faces facing each other on the high arch, but Guo Pu is not. Perhaps because he started his career by submitting Qing Ci to Emperor Jiajing, Guo Pu has always been low-key and kind to others in the court.
No one spoke highly of him when he was in office, but after Ke Ren left, everyone spoke highly of him, saying, "Guo Pu is upright and generous, fair in dealing with things, and has the demeanor of an elder."
He was very popular, so after he was forced to serve, many officials in the capital privately complained about him.
This is the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty.