Chapter 510: The more you are scolded, the greater the merit

"How is the construction of the post road going?" Zhu Yijun asked Wang Chonggu about several issues regarding the Suiyuan post road and mining.

Wang Chonggu answered fluently. He was the Minister of Justice, but he was also the Vice-Grand Secretary, and he had the power to inquire about these things. Wang Chonggu reported on the construction of the post road. Pan Jixun, the Viceroy of Suiyuan, was very suitable, because when he governed the Yellow River, he was the coordinator of large-scale projects. Anyone who could do this kind of project coordination was at least a capable official, otherwise, he could not govern the Yellow River.

Hu Yuan directly caused the whole world to rebel because of governing the Yellow River.

Wang Chonggu was actually very good at handling these things. For example, the construction of the Great Wall in Xuan-Da and the construction of the Imperial Palace were both fast and good. Wang Chonggu guaranteed that the Ten-King City could be delivered by the end of the year.

"The Ten-King City matter can be taken slowly. It doesn't matter if it's not finished. If it snows a few times in a row, the construction period can be a little late. The Vice-Grand Secretary doesn't need to be overly anxious." Zhu Yijun's expectation for the Order of Relocating the Princes was that it would be sorted out by the end of the eleventh year of Wanli, which would be a good dish.

Wang Chonggu said very solemnly, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your great grace."

This was a verbal promise. It didn't matter if the construction period was late. Even if it was a verbal promise, it was His Majesty's promise. The "ten-year extermination of the barbarians" was also a verbal promise.

Being able to obtain His Majesty's holy favor, Wang Chonggu could brag to his ancestors underground for a lifetime.

Zhu Yijun shook his sleeves, took out the last memorial, and said, "Isn't it the end of the year? The Ministry of Revenue is auditing the accounts of the world. The Minister and Vice-Minister sent a memorial about the money law and the paper money law. The Ministry of Revenue still wants to promote the paper money law."

Wang Chonggu frowned. After reading the memorial, he was a bit dumbfounded. He said blankly, "What do the Minister and Vice-Minister mean? Promoting the paper money law is their Ministry of Revenue's business. Why push it to me? What virtue and ability do I have!"

The memorial from the Ministry of Revenue only said one thing from beginning to end: the anchoring of the paper money law promoted by Great Ming.

The Great Ming must eventually use a paper currency system. Ten years after opening the seas, a massive amount of silver has flowed in, and the Great Ming has even exhausted its efforts to strip the Japanese nation bare, yet there is still not enough silver. With silver flowing in massively, prices are basically stable, yet there is still a currency famine.

"Those who are capable should work more. The Minister and Vice-Minister are also for the sake of Great Ming, not for themselves." Zhu Yijun comforted Wang Chonggu. This matter really had to rely on the engineering corps and official factory group construction presided over by Wang Chonggu to be realized.

It required the abundance of materials.

Wang Chonggu only read the memorial roughly. He did not sit in the Wenyuange. He shook his head and said, "Isn't it enough to anchor it directly to silver? Whoever makes trouble will die. Those who print privately will be beheaded, and those who disrupt the law will be killed!"

Is it not simple to issue paper money? Prepare enough silver, let the Paper Money Bureau start the printing press, and start printing money. Whoever doesn't use it or makes trouble will be hit by the Emperor's "Imperial Grace Earth-Shattering Fist."

"Am I that powerful in Vice-Grand Secretary Wang's heart?" Zhu Yijun asked with a smile.

Wang Chonggu was always like this, thinking that authority was omnipotent. Imperial power was never omnipotent, and most of the time, it was good if imperial power performed normally and did not make trouble.

The "Imperial Grace Earth-Shattering Fist" was indeed powerful. The founding Emperor was very good at this kind of fist, but after this punch, the paper money law could not be played. No matter how exquisite the production was and how advanced the anti-counterfeiting was, the common people would no longer recognize it.

"Your subject will look at the Ministry of Revenue's memorial again." Wang Chonggu felt that he had taken it for granted. Imperial power was naturally powerful, but it was limited to the capital. Outside the capital, His Majesty also had to discuss with the local area. It was not that everything could be solved by an imperial decree. If the imperial decree was so magical, the Shanxi Party's usurpation could be solved by an imperial decree.

Wang Chonggu seriously studied the Ministry of Revenue's "Memorial on Anchoring the Paper Money Law" and found that the Ministry of Revenue made sense, and it made a lot of sense. This matter really had something to do with him, Wang Chonggu.

"Your subject is ashamed. Your subject is afraid that even if I die, I won't be able to do what the Ministry of Revenue entrusted." Wang Chonggu was certain that he had not misunderstood the Ministry of Revenue's meaning. It was finally a measure of Great Ming's greatness, or a sign of Great Ming's Wanli Reform. Only by reaching this step could it be considered a partial success.

From the Northern Song Dynasty, this land of the Central Plains had changed its name countless times, wanting to solve one problem, which was the shortage of money. But history always repeated itself. The Central Plains needed more currency. This point was beyond doubt, otherwise, there would not be a shortage of money.

Since the Northern Song Dynasty, this land of the Central Plains has changed under countless names, all wanting to solve one problem: the currency famine. But history is always repeating itself, with the paper currency system collapsing time and again in a recurring cycle. The Central Plains need more currency; this is beyond doubt, otherwise there would not be a currency famine.

Paper money meant debt, meant that the anchor of paper money was debt, and the essence of debt was the credit of the country. Using credit to issue debt, using debt to issue paper money, more currency meant prosperous trade, a scene of flowers and brocade, confidence both inside and outside, continuing to issue debt, such a vicious cycle, such stepping on the right foot with the left foot, until it shattered with a bang.

Was there anyone who was self-disciplined, diligent, and persistent in their heart who could withstand the temptation of printing money themselves to harvest others? Absolutely not.

Fan Yingqi was a good example. He was a dragon and phoenix among men, a top scholar, world-famous. When he had a toothache, he tried to find a way to relieve the pain. As time went on, the poison became deeper and deeper. The original Fan Yingqi had already died, and the current Fan Yingqi was just a poisonous insect wearing a human skin.

The failure of the paper money law throughout history was because of the lack of an anchor. This anchor could be grain, or gold, silver, copper, productivity, or credit, but it could not be just credit alone. If Great Ming paper money could buy rice, flour, grain, and meat, it would not collapse.

Great Ming's 120 million people consumed 150 million *jin* of grain, 7.54 million *jin* of oil, 130 million *jin* of vegetables, and 16 million *jin* of meat every day. The Great Ming court had to mediate contradictions in all aspects and produce these daily necessities. Not only did they need to produce them, but they also needed to circulate these goods through currency, rather than letting them rot in the warehouse, and send them to the shelves. Only by doing these could the paper money be currency, not toilet paper.

Northern Song, Southern Song, Yuan, and Great Ming could not do it, so the collapse of the paper money law became a matter of course.

The Minister and Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Revenue had actually read the "Paper Money Memorial" and had their own ideas about the anchoring of paper money. The anchoring objects of Great Ming paper money mainly included: military strength, land, grain, silver, copper, coal, cotton cloth, post roads, and maritime rights. Only by anchoring in this way would Great Ming's currency maintain basic health and stability.

Great Ming's salt permits could be used as money, because salt permits anchored salt. In Songjiang Prefecture and Suzhou Prefecture, salt permits could also be exchanged for cotton cloth.

Salt permits were only used by a small number of people, while the issuance of Great Ming paper money was bound to be huge, and it was used by everyone in the world, so more things needed to be anchored to be firm. Only by involving more aspects could they supervise each other and not become a tool for exploiting the world because of one person's greed.

"So according to the Ministry of Revenue, the engineering corps and official factory group construction can really continue to exert force." Zhu Yijun said solemnly to Wang Chonggu, "It is not an urgent matter. If it is not achieved in ten years, then thirty years, fifty years. We must walk to that day."

This matter was not something Wang Chonggu had to complete before he died, but something Zhu Yijun, the Emperor, had to do before he died. This was difficult, but it was necessary and had to be done.

Zhu Yijun chatted with Wang Chonggu about the details, and Wang Chonggu stood up to take his leave. He actually wanted to achieve the Ministry of Revenue's standard before he died. Great Ming could promote the paper money law. In the future, when judging the Spring and Autumn period, how could he, Wang Chonggu, be rated as the third hero of the Wanli Reform!

The first two were Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang, one was the law itself, and the other was the protector of the law.

Truly valuable currency is physical, never gold, silver, copper, iron, or waste paper that is too hard to use as toilet paper.

This was also the confidence and fundamental reason why Wang Qian could carry out targeted demolition of the bookmakers in the trading house.

The bookmakers needed silver to manipulate the price of tickets, so low-interest, high-discount silver would come to their door; Wang Qian borrowed from the Inner Treasury and State Treasury, taking out goods or tickets that the speculators could never afford; Wang Qian deliberately drove up the price with the bookmakers, paralyzing the opponents while letting the currency (silver) return, stimulating the bookmakers to borrow more money; when the total circulation of the trading house was equal to the ammunition reserves in his hands, he sold them all together;

The bookmakers found that the funds in their hands could not eat these goods or tickets at all. Under the pressure of not wanting to be stuck in their hands and having to repay the debt on time or else they could not redeem their ancestral properties, one of the bookmakers could not hold on and began to sell, triggering a stampede. The bookmakers who borrowed a lot of money were targeted and demolished; then Wang Qian released good news to complete the closing and maintain the stability of the tickets.

Similar operations were not only for the tickets of the trading house, but also for rice, flour, grain, oil, coal, and cotton. These were necessities of life. Only when the imperial court mastered sufficient materials could they limit the bookmakers who hoarded goods and raised prices, and could they maintain the basic stability of the common people's lives.

Wang Guoguang and Zhang Xueyan summarized the laws after the trading house chaos and finally summarized them in the "Memorial on Anchoring the Paper Money Law."

Zhu Yijun put this "Memorial on Anchoring the Paper Money Law" into the cabinet of the side hall of the Zhao Wenhua Hall, and copied the full text to the *Di Bao* newspaper, publishing it to the yamen of the world. The copying clerks of the official yamen at all levels would copy this memorial, and everyone in Great Ming who could read and write would have the opportunity and channel to see this memorial.

"Perhaps this will become the source of the paper money law in the future." Zhu Yijun put the memorial away carefully. This was something that would be buried with him after his death.

If someone opened his coffin in the future, they could find something useful. If there was archaeological-style scientific research in the world in the future, who could say clearly about these things?

The audit in November of the tenth year of Wanli was thrilling. Because after the Fan Yingqi case, it immediately attracted the attention of the Ministry of Revenue. The Ministry of Revenue equated this behavior with concealing fields. Although these fields were in the accounts, they were always exempted under various excuses of natural disasters. In the end, the imperial court still lost tax revenue.

If the imperial court lost tax revenue, it would be fine if these fields were in the hands of the poor, but these fields were subleased by large households, realizing the circulation of land and further annexation. The imperial court absolutely could not tolerate this.

The audit of the Ministry of Revenue had never been so bloody. This comprehensive census of official fields across the country made countless people tremble with fear.

For tax protection, for the people as the foundation of the country, and for the stability of the country, the Great Ming imperial court was extremely serious.

The six books and one account could objectively reflect the problems, because all income and expenditure were linked to the fields. The completion of the land survey made the audit very meaningful. As long as there was a discrepancy in the six books and one account, it would cause the Ministry of Revenue to check the detailed accounts.

The results were shocking.

In the two capitals and sixteen provinces of Great Ming, official fields in almost all places had been occupied to varying degrees, that is, the substantial concealment of fields, where official fields were in the accounts, but the income was not in the accounts.

The most serious was Henan, followed by Shandong, and then Sichuan.

This was also the three major difficulties of the land survey, and even the Southern Yamen gentry that the Great Ming imperial court had always been vigilant about focused their attention on maritime trade, fighting to the death around maritime trade. The fourteen prefectures of the Southern Yamen, including Songjiang Prefecture, had the least occupation of official fields, which was within the tolerable range. Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, and even Jiangxi were not particularly serious.

This time, the scholar-officials from the south mocked the lingering evils and corruption of the northern bureaucracy, while the scholar-officials from the north quickly found reasons to counterattack. There were still official fields in the prefectures and counties of the northern provinces, but what about the south? They had all been annexed and were controlled by aristocratic families! How dare they mock the lingering evils and corruption of the northern region? There were not many official fields in the south, so naturally, there was no such problem!

Both sides had friendly exchanges in the miscellaneous newspapers. When the northern scholar-officials brought out Xu Jie as a big killer, the southern scholar-officials could only be silent and could no longer talk nonsense.

Who let Xu Jie's "Kuailin Corruption Monument" be the only one at the top?

Forty thousand *mu* of fields for one family was still too much. That was the land of Songjiang Prefecture, and one *mu* was worth nearly five taels of silver.

Although the southern scholar-officials wanted to cite Wang Chonggu as no exception, they found that after Wang Chonggu filled the hole of the Great Wall construction and spat out all the silver, all the income of the old Wang family could withstand the audit, and the corruption figures were very small. Most of the silver was silver that he had made together with the Emperor.

No matter what, the Shanxi Party represented by Wang Chonggu also ended the war between Great Ming and Anda Khan, giving Great Ming a breathing space.

The atmosphere in the Zhao Wenhua Hall was quite heavy. Lin Fucheng's *Xiaoyao Yiwen* exploded in the capital, and also gave the Great Ming imperial court a problem. Great Ming had carried out the New Policies for so many years, but it seemed to have returned to the past after going around in circles.

"This is essentially a problem of officialdom." Zhang Juzheng frowned, his face as heavy as water, and said, "The promotion of Great Ming still has problems. The top scholar and the second-tier scholars who passed the Hanlin Academy start as capital officials, leading to a lack of grassroots experience. Even if there is an official examination selection and supervisory officials, capital officials do not know much about local problems, which is still the key to the problem."

"Therefore, in terms of officialdom, we must break the monopoly of the top and second-tier scholars on capital officials. This is the way to cure the problem, rather than waiting for local problems to be poked to the imperial court when they are unbearable."

Zhang Juzheng believed that the core problem of this matter was officialdom, which was also the core of his New Policies, using the performance evaluation law as a yardstick to whip the officials of the world.

"It's not just officialdom. The Censorate supervises the officials of the world, but the Censorate has become the mouthpiece of party strife for some trivial matters all day long. Anti-corruption itself is the duty of the Censorate. The failure of the Censorate's supervision has finally led to such a situation." Hence Hai Rui's face was a bit painful. As the divine sword that the common people of Great Ming had high hopes for, he had been cutting corrupt officials for these years, performing his duties, and even colluding with Wang Qian to use the clues provided by Wang Qian to fight corruption.

But after fighting corruption for so many years and catching corrupt officials for so many years, this corruption was as strong as wild grass, growing again with the spring breeze.

The Censorate impeaching Tan Lun because of a cough back then was a typical example of the failure of the Censorate's supervision.

Hence Hai Rui sighed and said, "There is a popular rhyme in the capital that says: 'The prescriptions of the Imperial Hospital, the articles of the Hanlin Academy, the memorials of the Censorate, the tea soup of the Guanglu Temple, the swords and guns of the Imperial Guard, the women of the Goldfish Pond—all mock the mismatch between name and reality.'"

The memorials of the Censorate were all nonsense. The censors who did not do their proper work were no longer enough to carry water and coal. They had to go to the border to experience and accumulate practical experience, otherwise, the failure of this supervision would be a disaster for the country.

"Is it possible that these things wouldn't be a problem at all if they were placed ten years ago?" Wang Chonggu looked around and tentatively said, "Don't be so like facing a great enemy, or even dejected. Ten years ago, if someone said that there were such cases in the Great Ming officialdom, everyone would think it was normal, and they couldn't be dealt with at all. In the end, they could only use the 'drag' tactic, dragging on and on, and finally leaving it unsettled."

Wang Chonggu said with great emotion, "Being troubled by the corruption of officials is a kind of happiness."

The Longqing reign was better than the end of the Jiajing reign, but it was only a little better. Being able to be troubled by the corruption of officials was a kind of happiness. This proved that the Great Ming imperial court had finally returned to normal. Those bigger crises had been solved. These detailed problems, although trivial, could indeed be considered for resolution.

"Why worry? Now the secret memorials are mainly to solve the problem of redundant personnel. After a while, when they are cleared out, we can go deeper." Wang Chonggu had great confidence in the future of Great Ming!

From the Baoding Prefecture case, it could be seen that the local area was actually helpless about this kind of nest case. The Wang family in Yaoshan held the contract signed at the beginning. If the imperial court went back on its word, the country would lose its great trust. But now that this problem was put on the table for discussion, the non-compliant contracts signed in the past could be abolished, and the parties involved could be held accountable.

Under the multi-level responsibility system and accountability system of the performance evaluation law, let alone promotion, even if a person died, they would be held accountable to the grave. This was the severity of the performance evaluation law.

"Yes." Wang Chonggu had no opinion. This was a further reform of officialdom by the performance evaluation law. Anyway, Zhang Juzheng did not care about offending people.

Zhang Juzheng's performance evaluation was completely different from others. Zhang Juzheng's performance evaluation was being scolded. The more he was scolded and the more outrageous the jokes compiled about him, the greater his merit and the thicker his merit book. This was completely different from others.

Zhang Juzheng wrote the floating note, and Zhu Yijun stamped the Ministry of Revenue's memorial.

"Vice-Grand Secretary Wang makes sense. This is indeed a detailed task, a problem that can only be dealt with after Great Ming reforms and renews itself. But it is not a reason for slackness. If a problem arises, it must be dealt with, rather than turning a blind eye. The methods given by the Ministry of Revenue, the Censorate, and the Ministry of Personnel are effective. If there is still no improvement, the Tax Audit Institute will audit the taxes." Zhu Yijun concluded.

If the Tax Audit Institute audits the taxes, it will not be as gentle as a government decree. That will be a small-scale, low-intensity tax protection war. The Tax Audit Institute's methods are extremely violent, because three percent is left in the local area, so the wanderers raised by the Tax Audit Institute and the Tax Audit Room will have a place to use their skills.

The Tax Audit Institute is the confidence of imperial power to overturn the table in terms of taxes. Of course, under normal circumstances, Zhu Yijun will not overturn the table. This world is the world of the world, and it is also the world of the Zhu family. Overturning the table is not conducive to the stability of the country.

"The six shipyards for fast sailing ships have been built. Great Ming can build at least twelve fast sailing ships every year." The Minister of Works, Wang Daokun, reported a piece of good news with great excitement. The atmosphere was too dull and needed some good news to stimulate the Great Ming court officials. Great Ming did not only have rotten things.

These fast sailing ships helped the transformation of Great Ming's small-scale peasant economy, which was definitely good news.

Wan Shihe said with a smile, "Speaking of these fast sailing ships, I have to mention Shah Buyamaiti. He really wants them. He has inquired through the Court of Ceremonial three or four times. Price is not a problem, and adding money is not a problem. Before production, the orders for the new shipyards of the Songjiang Shipyard were already in short supply."

"Don't sell them. Don't even think about it." Zhu Yijun answered immediately, "I do want to earn silver, but some things must be controlled in the hands of Great Ming. Even if they sink, I won't give them to them."

All models of fast sailing ships, even the monkey version, would not be sold to the outside world. At this Tianjin fleet review, the Ministry of Rites originally arranged for foreign envoys to board the ship, which was considered a display of might, but after Zhu Yijun finished watching, he decided not to let them see it.

Don't even think about seeing them!

Fast sailing ships in the hands of Great Ming will only earn more.

"Minister, I remember that the opening of the sea investment did not continue to invest in the Songjiang Shipyard." Zhu Yijun calculated slightly and asked.

Wang Guoguang communicated with Zhang Xueyan and said with certainty, "The opening of the sea investment at the beginning of the tenth year of Wanli did not invest more in the five major shipyards, because 20% of the shipbuilding profits themselves were left for the shipyards to use, which was completely sufficient for the expansion of production."

"Your Majesty, shipbuilding is very profitable..."

The industry with the highest technical content and the most labor-intensive in the current world, its profit is thicker than maritime trade, and it is more stable and has lower risk.

The new round of opening the sea investment was a large-scale investment in the industrial chain of the shipbuilding industry, not the shipyard itself.

Zhu Yijun frowned and asked, "So, Minister of Works, were these six shipyards self-funded by the Songjiang Shipyard? Will it affect the operation of Songjiang Prefecture?"

"Your Majesty, at the beginning, Your Majesty gave two million silver for the *Youlong*. In addition to the launching of the *Youlong*, there was also a *Feiyun*. These six shipyards were from the two million special silver. The launching naturally included mass production." Wang Daokun said with a guilty conscience, "Just for the launching of the *Youlong*, there was a nest case of corruption, and seventy thousand taels of silver were embezzled, but it has been recovered."

Not every corruption case will go through court discussion. Seventy thousand taels of silver is not on the table. In a two-million-silver project, a "loss" of seventy thousand taels is actually within the acceptable range of the imperial court. It is just the self-metabolism and anti-corruption of the shipyard.

It was mainly because they were afraid. The shipyard was afraid that the civil officials would make an issue of corruption and then expand it to the sea ban, so the requirements were extremely strict, and internal clearing and anti-corruption were grasped very strictly. The redundant personnel of the shipyard last time was the embodiment of self-correction.

"Your Majesty gave too much." Wang Daokun originally wanted one million silver, which was aimed at bargaining. The goal was not one million silver, but he exploded two million silver coins from His Majesty, making the shipyard feel a bit guilty.

"In that case, reward the seventy thousand taels of silver to the craftsmen." Zhu Yijun gave a reward in Tianjin Guard, and the seventy thousand taels of silver did not need to return to the Inner Treasury account, just distribute it on the spot.

Wang Daokun said in a low voice, "Your subject wants to use these seventy thousand taels of silver to set up a specialized ship design institute to specifically research new types of ships."

"Is seventy thousand taels enough?" Zhu Yijun immediately felt that Wang Daokun was very good at spending money and asked if more financial support was needed.

"Enough! Completely enough! Design is not production!" Wang Daokun waved his hands repeatedly.

"Is that so? Is it really enough?" Zhu Yijun said with great regret.

Wang Daokun was a bit unclear. Just as he was about to continue to refuse, Wang Chonggu immediately said loudly, "Your Majesty, it is not enough. Your Majesty's golden words are that seventy thousand taels should be rewarded to the craftsmen, so they must be rewarded to the craftsmen! The matter of the design institute still needs to rely on holy favor!"

"Hmm." Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "The Inner Treasury will give ten thousand silver to set up the Royal Ship Design Institute. This matter is settled."

Spending some money to name it "Royal" was simply a business that could not be more profitable! This was the Emperor's reputation!

Wang Chonggu knew what His Majesty wanted as soon as he heard it, but Wang Daokun did not react.

"His Majesty is wise!" Wang Chonggu took the lead in singing praises!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 511 =====

Wang Daokun said in a low voice, "This official wants to use these seventy thousand taels of silver to establish a specialized naval architecture institute to specifically research new types of ships."

"Is seventy thousand taels enough?" Zhu Yijun immediately felt that Wang Daokun was very good at spending money and asked if he needed more financial support.

"Enough! It is completely enough! Designing is not the same as production!" Wang Daokun waved his hands repeatedly.

"Is that so? Is it really enough?" Zhu Yijun said, appearing very regretful.

Wang Daokun was slightly confused. Just as he was about to refuse again, Wang Chonggu immediately said in a loud voice, "Your Majesty, it is not enough! Your Majesty's golden words are law; if seventy thousand taels are to reward the craftsmen, then they must reward the craftsmen! The matter of the design institute must still rely on imperial favor!"

"Hmm," Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "The inner treasury will provide one hundred thousand silver to establish the Imperial Naval Architecture Institute. Let this matter be settled as such."

Spending a little money to bestow an imperial name—this is simply a business that could not be more profitable! This is the prestige of the Emperor!

As soon as Wang Chonggu heard this, he knew what His Majesty wanted, but Wang Daokun had not yet reacted.

"Your Majesty is sagacious!" Wang Chonggu took the lead in singing praises!

(End of chapter)