Chapter 335: The Prime Minister Is Old, and the National Debt Is a Problem

Although national debt is a new term, it is not new at all.

From ancient times to the present, there have been cases of the court or the emperor "borrowing money", but the final result is almost always breach of trust and default, and even this dynasty has had the largest breach of contract in this century.

In the process of Zhu Di's uprising to seize the throne, because his own military force was too weak, he borrowed troops from Ning Wang Zhu Quan, who held a large number of troops, and personally promised Ning Wang Zhu Quan that he would divide the world equally after the success.

Half of the world is an inestimable wealth, and it is no wonder that Ning Wang Zhu Quan would be tempted at the time.

However, after Zhu Di captured Nanjing City, the matter of dividing the world equally was no longer mentioned, and even Ning Wang Zhu Quan did not dare to say a word, watching Zhu Di breach the contract.

In the end, Zhu Quan was arranged to leave his fiefdom and change his fiefdom to Nanchang.

It can be seen from this that even if the high imperial power breached the contract, even the princes would not dare to say a word. In this feudal dynasty, once the emperor breached the contract, who would dare to ask the emperor for debt?

If it were a weak emperor, there might be a little hope, but since Hongzhi ascended the throne, he has been worthy of the title of tyrant, and even the royal family has shown no mercy.

Once Emperor Hongzhi chooses to break his promise and breach the contract, all the rich families in the capital can only consider themselves unlucky, and the three million taels they have worked so hard to save will be wasted.

"Your Majesty is a king who keeps his word, and we, the important officials in the court, are not the kind of people who cheat and deceive. One cent of interest a year is already a favor to the people! Ahem... If the Ministry of Revenue cannot fully fulfill its task of issuing national debt, then all the officials of the Ministry of Revenue are derelict in their duties!" Wan'an sat here to listen with his old body, but he defined the national debt.

The voice reached the attic, and the fragrance of tea here rose.

Zhu Youtang reached out and picked up the teacup handed over by Han Youying, and took a sip gently.

He knew that the results of the national debt investigation were the public's doubts about his credit, and now seeing Wan'an protecting him like this, he felt a little relieved.

It's just a pity that Wan'an's health is obviously in trouble now. Even if he wants to keep using this old prime minister, he still needs the consent of God.

The current national debt questionnaire survey shows unsatisfactory feedback. Although he has no intention of defaulting, he also understands the concerns of these subjects.

Compared with the temptation of that one interest, the emperor and the court as the borrowers are too powerful, and the risk factor of losing their principal is indeed not low.

If he really breaks his promise and becomes the second Zhu Di, these people can only swallow the bitter pill.

Even clay people have three points of anger, not to mention that the Ministry of Revenue has been doing its best.

Facing Wan'an's accusation, Li Si's face suddenly darkened, but he hated this old prime minister who was talking without any pain in his waist.

Wu Yu, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, knew that Hongzhi was indeed a king who kept his word, and he immediately expressed his opinion: "What the Yuanfu said is very true. Issuing national debt is indeed a favor to the people, but now the people are indeed worried that the court will default. The Ministry of Revenue alone may not be able to dispel the people's concerns, so it is necessary for all the yamen to cooperate and build momentum, and I would also like to ask all the adults for advice!"

At this point, it is useless to shirk responsibility blindly. The current plan is to discuss a countermeasure and come up with an effective plan.

After so many top meetings, in fact, the solutions to many difficult problems may not be proposed by the officials of the department, but the result of brainstorming.

That's why he chose to take some responsibility first and pull everyone in at the same time.

Huh?

Officials such as Jia Jun, the Minister of Works, were originally sitting on the Diaoyutai, but they didn't expect this small assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue to drag them down with them. Now this trouble is shared by all of them.

Wan'an saw Wu Yu take the initiative to take responsibility, and his face suddenly eased a lot.

He Qiaoxin, the Minister of Justice, hated Wu Yu's cleverness and said with a fake smile: "Cooperation? Why don't you just let the officials of the six ministries subscribe together!"

The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional. A flash of inspiration suddenly flashed through everyone's mind.

Li Yu, the Minister of Personnel, reacted the fastest and immediately said: "Huh? This is a good idea!"

"If we take the lead, it will really serve as a demonstration!"

"Yes, Minister He's method is indeed a good solution!"

"If so, I am willing to subscribe to the national debt issued by the Ministry of Revenue!"

...

After thinking about "He Qiaoxin's proposal", officials such as Li Si, the Minister of Works, suddenly lit up their eyes, but they knew that it was indeed a good measure for them, the important officials, to take the lead in purchasing national debt.

"This... That's not what I meant!"

He Qiaoxin, the Minister of Justice, was completely dumbfounded when he saw the reactions of the people around him, and shouted innocently in his heart.

He just wanted to ridicule the cleverness of Wu Yu, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, but he wanted to drag them down with him. Who knew that he would become the one who offered advice?

Wang Yue sat quietly on the side, and seemed to be out of tune with the officials of the six ministries.

He has now completely integrated into the role of the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, and has a pair of extremely sharp eyes, and he is fully prepared to capture the changes in He Qiaoxin's expression.

Since returning to the capital, he has conscientiously performed the duties of the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, so he can clearly see the current situation in the court.

Although the officials of the court now seem to be in harmony, he has a vague feeling that the twenty people here are not united, at least the Minister of Justice He Qiaoxin is a hidden danger.

According to his observation, the emperor must have seen that the Minister of Justice He Qiaoxin is not a true loyal minister, and even wants to pull his legs, but he doesn't know why the emperor still keeps He Qiaoxin.

Of course, these matters were not his responsibility, and his main responsibility was to supervise the officials and present the evidence collected by the Inspection Office to the emperor.

The snow outside had subsided, and this financial meeting was coming to an end.

Although the theme of this meeting was to solve the gap of three million, the more important thing was the financial budget for each item next year, and strive to spend money on the cutting edge in each government office.

The Ministry of Rites cut some sacrificial expenses.

The Ministry of War began to check the accounts of various guards.

The Ministry of Works stopped some unimportant sacrificial projects.

…

The officials of the six government offices came prepared, and conducted corresponding checks on the unreasonable expenses of their own government offices, striving to plug some loopholes.

As for the main matters of the court next year, they were to control the Yellow River, develop Jianzhou and the Zhiyuan treasure ship, and of course the Luzon mining plan that only needed the east wind.

Although the Ming Dynasty still had various problems, and the forces hostile to Emperor Hongzhi were very strong within the dynasty, the entire dynasty was striving for development.

"I will take my leave. Long live the emperor!" Li Yu, the Minister of Personnel, and other officials saw that things were almost done, and immediately bowed respectfully.

Guo Yong, who was standing next to the dragon throne, waved the whisk in his hand, and then conveyed the will: "Please stay, Mr. Wan, the others can leave!"

Li Yu, the Minister of Personnel, and other officials looked at the cabinet chief with envy, but they did not have much hostility in their hearts when they saw that this diligent old chief was still on duty with illness.

Putting aside the inherent prejudice, Wan An is indeed a very competent chief.

Zhu Youtang saw the ministers below leave one after another, and then he gently put down the teacup in his hand, and then got up from the comfortable recliner and walked down the stairs.

"Ahem... Old ministers greet your majesty, long live the emperor, long live the emperor, long live the emperor!" Wan An had already arrived at the stairs and knelt down excitedly.

Zhu Youtang gave Liu Jin a look and asked with concern: "Wan Ge Lao, you haven't recovered from this illness yet, you shouldn't have come here today!"

Liu Jin had already stepped forward and was about to help Wan An up.

"I am an old minister with a broken body and I am ashamed of your majesty's grace. Please punish me, your majesty!" Wan An was already in tears at this moment, looking up with guilt.

Zhu Youtang knew that Wan An was indeed a loyal minister, at least he had a belief in the emperor, and he sighed in his heart: "You are not suffering from an incurable disease, you just need to cooperate with the imperial physician for treatment, and you will definitely recover! You don't have to worry about your position, the position of the prime minister will always be reserved for you, but after the new year, I will add a new member to the cabinet, and then let the Minister of Rites Xu Qiong join the cabinet to check and balance Liu Ji."

Although he did not intend to replace Wan An, it was just that Liu Ji was in charge of the entire cabinet now, which did not conform to his own way of checks and balances, so adding new members was a wise move.

Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, is mediocre in talent, but he is loyal to me, and is the most suitable third person in the cabinet.

"Your Majesty, I am afraid that I can't bear it, so I want to present this strategy of governing the country and controlling the ministers to Your Majesty!" Wan An reached out and took out a book from his sleeve, and said it very seriously.

Guo Yong just saw it very carefully, and Wan An was ready to leave with everyone.

If Your Majesty hadn't asked him to stay, maybe this book would not have been submitted. Of course, this is his petty speculation, and now the emperor's retention has undoubtedly eliminated all unnecessary troubles.

Zhu Youtang was not happy when he saw the book presented to him. Instead, he looked at Wan An seriously: "Wan Ge Lao, you want to know my wish. I need you to help me govern the country, so you have to continue to live well, instead of thinking about leaving me!"

"Your Majesty, please leave this book here first! If the old minister recovers, then please return it to the old minister intact, is that okay?" Wan An was very moved and immediately proposed a compromise.

Zhu Youtang was not a fussy person, and immediately handed the book to Guo Yong: "Seal this book and return it to Wan Ge Lao in the spring of next year!"

"As you wish!" Guo Yong knew that this was an agreement between the monarch and his minister, and said respectfully.

Zhu Youtang kept Wan An to discuss important matters, and asked directly: "Wan Ge Lao, I wonder what you think of the method of the six ministries taking the lead in subscribing to national bonds?"

"This method seems to be very feasible, but the effect is probably far less than expected!" Wan An can be said to be the best candidate for the prime minister of this era, and he seemed to have seen through the essence at a glance.

Although it is a good method for the court officials to take the lead in subscribing to national bonds, there is actually a big problem here, that is, how much is the subscription amount of these officials?

Just like the management of a listed company repurchases shares, if the management takes out hundreds of millions of funds to repurchase, this move is undoubtedly very optimistic about the prospects of its own company, and naturally can have a positive effect.

If the entire management only takes out tens of thousands of yuan, it will be meaningless. Not only will it not stimulate the emotions of shareholders, but it will also be regarded as a bearish signal by the market.

Combined with the current actual situation, it is difficult for the six ministries to subscribe in large amounts.

Whether it is for their own official reputation or for their own wealth to be concealed, they dare not take the lead, and the biggest possibility is to express a small amount.

After all, the court's salary is very low now. If they take out tens of thousands of taels to subscribe, where does this huge amount of money come from? It is easy to be regarded as a corrupt official.

Unfortunately, although the officials in the capital did not directly embezzle the court's public funds, they received a lot of ice warnings, charcoal warnings, and other warnings, so there was no official who was truly clean.

It's just that the ministers of the Sixth Ministry only made a small gesture, so let alone motivating the people to subscribe enthusiastically, it is likely to discourage more people.

Zhu Youtang had just realized this problem, but he had already made up his mind and said: "Mr. Wange, I plan to ask a minister to subscribe for a large amount of money, but I don't know who is suitable?"

"If this is the case, the most suitable candidate is probably He Qiaoxin, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice. He Qiaoxin comes from a well-known family, his father He Wenyuan was the former Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and He Qiaoxin has a good name in Shilin. If he comes forward, one of his properties will be Secondly, he can use his reputation to call on Shilin to subscribe, not to mention that this plan was proposed by him first!" Wan An thought briefly and gave a name.

Nowadays, most of the important ministers in the imperial court come from ordinary families. Because they are too close to the emperor, their official reputation is not good, and they even have a bad reputation.

It's just that He Qiaoxin has a strong appeal in Shilin, both in terms of his origin and status, so he is the most suitable one among the six ministers.

Zhu Youtang realized that He Qiaoxin was indeed the best candidate, and nodded gently: "In that case, let him lobby for He Qiaoxin to come forward with a large amount of money to subscribe. Let's set a benchmark first, and then Then imagine selling three million of the bonds between the two countries!”

Although he doesn't like the rich and powerful, the current wealth is controlled by this group of people. Now if he wants to raise three million taels, he mainly has to rely on this group.

The reality is so helpless. Even the aloof emperor sometimes has to make some compromises with the groups that control the wealth of society.

I just hope that this group of people can give themselves a face and subscribe for the first batch of national bonds since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, thereby achieving a win-win situation.

Since the New Year is just a few days away, and it is urgent to raise funds to mine Luzon gold mines, the Ministry of Household Affairs also officially launched the Hongzhi National Bond.

The face value of each treasury bond is ten taels, and a total of 300,000 treasury bonds were issued. The coupon interest of each bond is 10%. If it expires next year, the court will need to pay a total of 3.3 million taels.

"The interest is quite high, but who dares to collect debt from the emperor?"

"Not to mention whether we can mine the gold mine, even if we have money, we may not be able to pay it back!"

"Yes, how many people came to Yihong Tower and said they wanted to redeem themselves, but ended up getting into bed and didn't even want to admit it!"

…

Faced with the sudden introduction of national debt by the imperial court, although the 10% interest rate offered was very tempting, the reaction of the people in the capital was as reported earlier by the Ministry of Household Affairs. They were still worried about their emperor's default.

In fact, this kind of worry is very normal. The emperor may be willing to fulfill the contract now, but when it expires next year, he may have a different attitude when he sees 3.3 million taels.

According to the original plan, important officials from the Sixth Ministry would spend real money to subscribe to dispel the public's doubts, but things suddenly changed.

He Qiaoxin, the Minister of Justice, who originally had high hopes, not only failed to take up the banner of subscribers, but only subscribed for one treasury bond, which immediately cast a shadow on the issuance of treasury bonds by the imperial court.