My God, I am the emperor, the lord of mankind.

Chapter 248 Where did the Ming Dynasty’s finances come from?

But Li Wenzhong was obviously determined today to correct the current malpractice of the court regardless of the safety of his official career and even his own life.

Convey your sincerity to your father and pierce the lies of these traitors in the court.

When today's emperor has the qualifications of a holy king, as a disciple of the emperor, how can he sit back and watch these corrupt officials deceive the superiors and subordinates for their own selfish interests and bring discredit to the king and father?
"The elders are far away in the capital, so how can they know the viciousness of the local powerful and cruel officials."

Li Wenzhong retorted mercilessly.

He did not hide his resentment towards these Ming officials who came from wealthy families.

After saying this, Wang Yan, the Minister of Household Affairs who was re-activated by the imperial court this year and was also responsible for supervising Jinling's inspection of materials shipped to the front line this year, frowned.

"Most of the subordinate officials in the government are untouchables. It is normal for them to have low morals. As long as officials from various places strictly control them, all the officials registered in the Ming Dynasty are disciples of the emperor. How can they be confused with them."

Wang Yan said.

But Li Wenzhong just sneered.

If this was said in the early Ming Dynasty, it would certainly be feasible, but what era is it now? The powerful clans that were crushed in the melee at the end of the Yuan Dynasty are now re-emerging through the imperial examination of health.

The relationship between officials has long been no longer a simple game like that in the early Ming Dynasty. They are intertwined with each other.

How could this person not know the true situation of Ming Dynasty? He just touched their pain points and subconsciously covered each other up.

"Stay back! Just pretend that nothing happened today! Otherwise, don't blame me for punishing you for disrupting military affairs!"

Wang Yan stared at Li Wenzhong, who was obviously unconvinced, and threatened in a deep voice.

He stared closely into the eyes of the unusually young and humble scholar in front of him, but found with fear in his heart that after the man in front of him heard his threat, he did not see even a little fear in his eyes.

Wang Yan's heart couldn't help but sink.

Doesn't he know what will happen if he offends these important northern ministers?

Or does he not care at all about his career or the fate of his family.

He secretly thought something was wrong.

"Your Excellency just mentioned that if there is a food shortage in Zhejiang, we will borrow grain from other places to make up for it. Then if there is a food shortage in Zhejiang this year, where can we borrow the food? When the emperor hears the news in the future, I can tell you what you said truthfully. Play to Your Majesty."

"..."

Looking at the two silent people in front of him.

Li Wenzhong became increasingly angry.

"How can we know what will happen in the future now, but our Ming Dynasty is rich in nine states and thousands of square meters of land and hundreds of millions of people. How come there are no rich provinces to lend grain to Zhejiang?"

Xie Zan's voice was faint. He looked around, and the non-stop sound of abacus in the tent had stopped at some point.

The Jinling officials present stared at the fierce conflict that suddenly broke out here because of the imperial court's ruthless search for money from the south in the past two years.

I'm afraid this is just the beginning——

After all, Li Wenzhong was just a small censor of Nanjing, but as long as the problem continued, it was only a matter of time before the elders in the court would take sides.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the north has always maintained a high degree of war readiness.

It was extremely difficult for the north to supply money and grain for its own use. Even the grain for the capital had to be supplied by water from Jinling.

Not to mention other places.

In order to maintain this country and protect their own interests, the southern gentry were not unwilling to pay this money.

It's just that he doesn't want to be taken advantage of like he is now.

Why should the wealth accumulated by our hard work in the south be unconditionally enjoyed by the dignitaries in the north?

And the solution is simple.

Move the capital——

Return the position of the capital that you in the north took from us with your strong troops and horses during the turmoil.

The old Hongwu system was restored and the capital was moved back to Jinling.

Since we have undertaken so many obligations, we naturally have to enjoy the rights of being the center of the empire.When Taizu made Jinling the capital, as a dual center of politics and economy, we helped our poor brothers in the north. No matter how hard or tired we were, as long as we thought of the same culture and race, we would grit our teeth and get through it.

But after the Jingnan incident, it was the northerners who put knives on the necks of the southern nobles, as if they would kill your whole family if they didn't pay you, which made these southern nobles reluctant.

Although most of the people who have controlled the court in the past hundred years have been southern scholars, in the end no one can really change the current situation.

Feeling the turbulent undercurrent under the calm surface here, the two courtiers Xie Zan and Wang Yan glanced at each other. They both felt that the situation had changed too quickly, and they both saw the heavy expression on the other's face.

The storm is coming!
But Li Wenzhong felt the scorching gazes behind him and knew that he had entered the eyes of some forces. He wanted to use his actions today to express their views and use various methods to convey this conflict between Jinling and Beijing officials to His Majesty. in the ears.

But Li Wenzhong didn't care, compared to what kind of human tragedy the war-torn southeastern provinces would face this winter if the court didn't deal with it in time.

Li Wenzhong was now determined to abandon the worldly reputation.

He also has three or five close friends who can trust his parents, wife and children with peace of mind.

At this moment, he felt calm.

He turned around, looked at the officials in Jinling City behind him who were either excited or worried before the battle, and said loudly.

"The north has been in deficit for a long time, and it has become a wasteland after the Great War in the Southwest. The imperial court relies on the southeast for taxes and revenue. If these traitorous officials in the court continue to harm the country and the people, and disrupt the southeast, the day when the Ming Dynasty will fall is not far away. When the time comes, you and I will be exhausted. They are all sinners of history!”

Li Wenzhong said angrily to the Duke of Jinling in front of him.

He glanced at some of the capital officials whose expressions became unnatural after hearing the hint in Li Wenzhong's words, and his eyes became fierce.

You guys who are deceiving your Majesty, don't think that others can't see what you are planning.

You are doing random things everywhere and smearing the emperor. You will be punished one day!
He continued.

“The north has been fighting for years, and the treasury has long been empty.

In the fifth year of Zhengde's reign, King Anhua rebelled.

During the Liuliuqi uprising in Hebei in the sixth year of Zhengde, Gu Dayong led the troops of Xuanfu in Liaodong to fight in Henan, causing widespread involvement and unnecessary deaths of tens of thousands.

In the seventh year of Zhengde, Zhao Sui and Liu Hui raised troops in Henan. The imperial court ordered Peng Ze, the censor of Youdu, to lead an army to suppress it.

In the eighth year, Liao Mazi Yu Sifeng of Sichuan revolted and sent troops to suppress it.

In the ninth year, Mansuer invaded Hami, and the imperial court once again sent troops to the northwest.In the same year, the young Mongolian prince led his troops south to invade Datong, Xuanfu. The former emperor ordered eunuch Zhang Yong to lead the capital's troops to fight.

In the tenth year, Oara invaded, and the imperial court ordered the Zijingguan Shanhaiguan pass to be on guard, and continued to increase troops to the north. The two sides faced off for a year before giving up.

In 11 years, the little prince invaded again. Zhang Yong was ordered to lead the Beijing army north to attack, and the two armies met at Laoyingpo.

In the 12th year, the imperial court ordered Peng Zexi to conquer Suzhou. In the same year, the young prince once again led the Tatar troops southward. The former emperor personally led the army to fight with them at the gate of Yingzhou City.

In the 14th year, King Ning rebelled and swept across the south. The imperial court once again gathered elite troops from the north to go south——"

The following year, Wu Zong unfortunately fell into the water during his southern tour and died less than a year later.

"In the 16th year, the chieftain of Luchuan rebelled, and hundreds of thousands of troops from the imperial court went south. They fought for a year before they were pacified."

Speaking of Zhengde, the imperial court has been engaged in almost endless wars of all sizes over the past few years.

Thinking of the suffering of the common people in these years, the military vehicles were sent out for battles year after year, and the people barely had a good day. Li Wenzhong burst into tears when he mentioned the emotional part.

"The imperial court has been fighting for years, and its treasury has been empty. It still needs to transport food from the south to the north to survive.

The southwest is a fertile land, the land of Bashu. However, last year's Luchuan rebellion, although the imperial army was victorious in countering the rebellion, it still raised hundreds of thousands of troops and confiscated millions of farmers, horses, cattle and sheep, and the accumulation of the southern provinces was completely wiped out. "

"Furthermore, because Luchuan was unruly and massacred in the southwest, a large number of refugees fled eastward into the southeastern provinces. After the imperial court pacified the southwest, in order to prevent the local natives from continuing to cause chaos, they forcibly moved millions of Luchuan tribesmen to the four borders of the empire... …Although Han military dependents are constantly filling in, it will still take several years to recuperate and recuperate before production can be resumed and we can provide money, food, and blood transfusions for the imperial court.”

"In this way, the majority of the imperial court's revenue and expenditure once again fell on the southeastern provinces. However, first the people from the north and then the refugees from the southwest flowed into the southeastern provinces. The gold and silver mountains in the southeast have long been exhausted, not to mention that there are still The sharks raided the coast, leaving the land barren, production stagnant, and trade stagnant—"

"You often say that there are mountains of money in the Southeast, but so what? The military has been fighting for years, the corvee is excessive, and the land is barren... You can spend money to buy food, but what if there is no food to buy? Looking at the history books, the nobles of the two Jin Dynasties have money. Are there still a few people in the family who have starved to death in Baoyu? You are all from the imperial examination and are great scholars in the court. Don’t you even understand such a simple truth? "

"Or are you harboring evil intentions! You know the truth but turn a blind eye to it, and are prepared to use the wronged souls of the people and the wisdom of your father as a stepping stone for your advancement!"

　Seven thousand, keep fighting

　　
　
(End of this chapter)