Chapter 1248 Father-in-Law Takes Action

"For example, the Ministry of Revenue only manages accounts, but is not responsible for the general collection and distribution of money and grain across the country. The money and grain collected by grassroots prefectures and counties do not need to be sent to the official warehouse of the Ministry of Household, but are transported to the nearest departments in need of money and grain. This kind of 'based on The original intention of the "win-win, loss-compensation, nearby supply" arrangement is to reduce links, save costs, and prevent corruption, but it is a typical slap-on-the-head decision! "

"Take Wuxian County in Suzhou Prefecture as an example. The money and grain collected must be directly supplied to more than a dozen surrounding houses with thousands of households, as well as inns, express shops, and... my palace. In total, there are nearly a hundred supply points." Zhu Zhen said in a deep voice: "Other counties are similar, and some are even more outrageous. For example, Yingtian Mansion asked five thousand wealthy households to have their tax rice paid directly to the homes of five thousand Jinwu Guards soldiers."

"The same is true in Beijing yamen. Each yamen can make its own revenue and expenditure. If the Ministry of War needs horses, it allocates private horses to the people. The land tax and labor service of each horse-raising household are transferred to the Ministry of War. The post station also belongs to the Ministry of War, and is managed by the nearby li Jia is responsible for supplying the needs, and this part of the financial resources goes to the Ministry of War."

"There is also the Ministry of Works. To build projects, wood, stone and other materials are needed. This is also allocated to the local areas. The people who originally paid taxes and grains paid wood to the Ministry of Works. Even the Ministry of Punishments, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Personnel, The paper, ink, pens, inkstones and other office necessities of these departments are all allocated directly to the people, instead of being collected and paid by the Ministry of Household Affairs, so no one is spared this time, and they all go in. "

"As a result, the country is covered with countless short-distance transportation lines, and even gods cannot carry out unified organization and management, nor can they supervise them with strict accounting systems. Such a messy financial system is not only extremely inefficient, but also causes It’s a huge waste and will definitely breed endless corruption!”

"Sigh... I feel like my head is buzzing just listening to what the prince said." Xu Da wanted to defend the emperor, but Lao Liu spoke so thoroughly that he was speechless and could only smile bitterly. : "It seems really chaotic."

"This is just chaos at the macro level. Within each yamen, the statutory office expenses are too low, and the salaries given to officials are so meager that they are unrealistic." Zhu Zhen continued:

"The result is that if the yamen wants to maintain normal operations, it must charge additional fees in addition to the regular taxes. Officials will inevitably ask for additional income. This is the so-called 'routine', 'rice consumption', 'water money' and other all kinds of chaos. The origin of the charges.”

"This kind of gray income that seems legal but is actually illegal has actually existed in all dynasties. However, the court has adopted an attitude of not recognizing it but letting it go. Otherwise, the court will not be able to operate and taxes will not be collected..." Zhu Zhen sighed. Said: "Why do I think I am different from others?"

"..." Xu Da pondered for a long time before digesting Zhu Zhen's long speech, and said slowly:

"I understand what the prince means. You are saying that the fight against corruption is correct, but we should not be so involved as we are now. Most people are involved because they follow bad habits, not because they are connected with Guo Huan, and there is no nationwide connection. corruption gang."

"That's right, the ministers of this dynasty are changing like a revolving door. How can Guo Huan, a mere minister of household affairs, have so much energy?" Zhu Zhen nodded and said:

"The reason why there is such a big fuss this time is that some people confuse pure corruption with bad habits. Although bad habits are illegal, they have their own rationality. No matter whether you are honest or not, you cannot completely follow them. Isolated, so no one can escape, rather than someone working together across the country to deceive the emperor."

“Therefore, we must distinguish between ‘pure corruption’ and ‘bad habits’. For the former, we must strictly eradicate corruption and show no mercy. For the latter, we should focus on re-establishing rules and eliminating bad rules through reforming the system. Instead of beating all the officials to death, Xu Da said slowly, "Is that what you mean?"

"As expected of his father-in-law, he is more than capable of being a general and a prime minister." Zhu Zhen gave a thumbs up and said, "That's what I mean!"

"Then how do you plan to stop this?" Xu Da asked: "It seems inappropriate to say these things directly to the emperor, right?"

"Of course it's inappropriate. If I dare to tell my father that your carefully designed financial system is a piece of shit, he will definitely have me taken back, hung up and beaten." Zhu Zhen smiled bitterly.

In fact, he had long advised the prince to adopt the memorial method to manage the financial revenue and expenditure of each province, but facts have proved that no matter how good the management method is, it will be in vain against Boss Zhu's shitty financial system...

"Have you ever said that about me?" Xu Dabai glanced at him and said, "Our generation has done a good enough job, but you young people don't like it. Let's wait for you to slowly change in the future."

"How can it be so easy?" Zhu Zhen shook his head and sighed: "Let's not go so far, it's not something I should worry about. Let's just focus on the present - I thought over and over again, to untie the bell, you need to tie the bell. . Since this case started because of my father-in-law, the best way now is for my father-in-law to write a letter to my father."

"Hmm." Xu Da said noncommittally: "What does the memorial say? Don't forget, I am not in a position to do politics."

"There is no need to get involved in politics. From a purely military perspective, it is enough to say, 'In the current war, domestic stability takes precedence over everything else.'" Zhu Zhen said lightly:

"Father is a military strategist and politician who only appears once every five hundred years. He would not fail to understand such a simple truth. In fact, it is those old customs and habits. Father came from the bottom of society, how could he not know? He could tolerate it for so many years, why can't he tolerate it now? It's just because he suddenly heard that the military rations were stolen and his father-in-law was seriously ill. He thought that this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity would be missed, so he was furious and took heavy measures."

After a pause, he chuckled and said, "Father-in-law also knows that my old man is more likely to get angry, and once he gets angry, he will not care about anything."

"Yeah." Xu Da nodded. He didn't dare to criticize the emperor like Lao Liu.

"But now that we have military rations again, my father-in-law is out of danger, and more importantly, the war has not been delayed. My father's mood must be different from before. He may have regretted that the Guo Huan case was getting bigger and bigger and the situation was out of control. It is just right for my father-in-law to submit a petition at this time to give my father a chance to step on the brakes."

"Well..." Xu Da thought for a while, then nodded slowly and said, "Okay."

"Thank you, father-in-law, for your help!" Zhu Zhen stood up and bowed to Xu Da, smiling awkwardly, "I've been worried to death recently. People from all sides have come to me for help. Now I can finally breathe a sigh of relief."

"In fact, the prince himself said that the effect is the same." Xu Da said, suddenly realizing, "Oh, by the way, the Prime Minister's Navy Office."

"Hehe." Zhu Zhen smiled embarrassedly, "Does my father-in-law feel that he doesn't owe me a favor?"

"Hahaha..." Xu Da couldn't help laughing, but he pulled the wound on his back again, and he was so painful that he kept saying "ouch".