Chapter 356 Another Year of Imperial Conference

The entanglement between Dongguanzhuang and Nanlu Zen Temple.

With the appearance of the running guarantee book in the twenty-third year of Hongwu, the Yang family of Dongguanzhuang was forced to stop their activities for the time being.

Until there is more evidence in favor of Dongguanzhuang.

They are already at a disadvantage.

As for the affairs of the White Lotus Sect, Dongguanzhuang naturally didn't know about it. All they knew was that Nanlu Zen Temple had privately set up an altar.

Locally.

Most of the time, I tend to keep things under control.

And in the court.

Most of the time, the scope of an event will be expanded as much as possible to achieve someone's goal.

The end of December.

It's only a few days until New Year's Eve.

At this time, the Little New Year has passed.

From now on, every day will be considered as Chinese New Year.

Most government offices in the imperial court have already entered the final stage of preparation for the New Year according to past rules.

This day.

It was agreed that the officials from various departments of the court and the chief officials from various places would go to Wenyuan Pavilion to hold the year-end summary meeting with the elders.

After the cabinet has grasped the situation of various ministries and offices, it will re-select the sorted materials. Then the cabinet and the nine ministers of the court will go to the Wanshou Palace in the Western Garden separately to hold the last imperial summary meeting of the year in front of the emperor.

Wait for the meeting to end.

The court would completely close the office and put down the seal, and would not reopen until the fifth day of the first lunar month.

However, on the eleventh day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival will begin, and it will not stop until the twentieth day of the first lunar month.

of course.

These policies only appeared after the Hongwu Dynasty.

During the Hongwu Dynasty, all civil and military officials in the court were still Ma Lao.

So generally speaking.

The court basically does not handle official business during the first month of the year.

Even if something happens, it will be handled by a specific government department.

We have to wait until the end of the month to get back to normal to do anything.

Early.

Yan Shaoting quickly drank two mouthfuls of porridge and ate two bites of meat buns at home, then rushed to Wenyuan Pavilion with Old Yan.

When the grandfather and grandson arrived, there were not many people in Wenyuan Pavilion.

Most of them are officials whose ranks are not as high as those of the six ministers and five ministers, but who are responsible for certain special tasks in the court.

Yan Song was the first cabinet member to arrive.

The officials hurried forward to pay their respects, and Yan Song simply smiled and nodded in response.

It is now clear that he has no desires or demands. No one can say whether he gives face to someone or not.

If you have the ability, ask the emperor to replace the prime minister.

Yan Shaoting also followed Old Yan into the classroom. He deftly pulled out a wooden basket from under the Prime Minister's desk and took out the pots, pans, and bowls inside.

Then he started to make tea for Old Yan and arranged cakes, melons and fruits.

Although it is freezing cold today.

However, there are many places with hot springs outside the capital, and the greenhouse technology has been around since the Western Han Dynasty. For the real powerful and wealthy, it is not difficult to eat out-of-season fruits and vegetables.

Those officials who arrived early could only stand outside the classroom with their necks stretched out, watching the scene inside.

Some people naturally fantasize that it would be wonderful if one day they could sit in this classroom.

Some people also sighed and lamented that they were afraid that they would never be able to sit in the cabinet classroom that was so close to them in their lifetime.

Yan Song took a sip of tea, then held a fruit whose name he could not tell in his hand. He glanced sideways at Yan Shaoting standing beside him.

Yan Shaoting understood immediately and immediately bent down and stretched his head.

Yan Song whispered, "Are there no problems with the tasks you have on hand?"

Yan Shaoting nodded: "Don't worry, Grandpa. I have been dealing with the tasks on hand with Mr. Wenchang since the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, and they have been sorted out long ago."

"That's good, that's good."

Yan Song nodded with a smile and muttered to himself.

He now seemed to be really fed up with the noisy court, especially after knowing that his grandson's wife was finally pregnant. Yan Song really wanted to quit and go home, just waiting for his great-grandson to be born.

Yan Shaoting glanced sideways at Old Yan.

I saw the old man leaning back in his chair and taking a nap.

He stood aside.

As the time goes.

There are more and more officials in Wenyuan Pavilion.

Wait until later.

First, Li Chunfang appeared in Wenyuan Pavilion, and the noise around him suddenly quieted down.

Li Chunfang entered the classroom, not caring whether Yan Song was really asleep or napping, he bowed respectfully and then sat in his seat.

Following the arrival of Li Chunfang, the three of them arrived one after another in this order: Yuan Wei, Gao Gong, and Xu Jie.

Wait for Xu Jie, who arrived last, to sit down.

Li Chunfang immediately stretched his head and looked outside the classroom.

"Today is the 41st year of the Jiajing reign. This is the last cabinet meeting. All the officials from the ministries and departments should come in and speak according to the rules."

Originally, this task should have been done by Yuan Wei.

But Li Chunfang was a newcomer to the cabinet and ranked last in the cabinet, so he had to take on the task of making such calls.

Yuan Wei seemed to be at ease.

He didn't care about most things in the court, as long as no one messed with the Ministry of Personnel.

He did not covet more power. As long as he held the power of the Ministry of Personnel, he would have a certain authority in the court.

On the contrary, eating too much can easily lead to indigestion.

Think of this.

Yuan Wei's gaze immediately began to move secretly in the classroom.

As Li Chunfang shouted outside, officials began to follow the rules of previous years and lined up to walk into the cabinet to explain the situation of various ministries and offices and their errands.

In fact, these things are not that important.

Even Yan Shaoting felt a little sleepy after listening to it.

It's nothing more than what the plan was last year, what plans the court made, how much money and grain were allocated for it, how much money was spent this year, and how things were going.

If the money is spent and the job is done, then it is a top-notch job.

If the money is spent but the work is not done, then it is inferior.

And if the job is done before the money is all spent, that would be excellent, and the court would most likely promote the official next year.

Of course there is one last possibility.

That means the money was spent but things were not done well, and in order to continue to do things well, money and grain had to be borrowed, causing a deficit for the court. That is the worst kind.

According to the current court rules.

This official's career is probably over.

This was all because of the imperial conference held the year before last. Zhang Juzheng said, "If you plan ahead, you will succeed; if you don't plan ahead, you will abolish it." The court has become more cautious about things that have a budget.

Even though Zhang Juzheng is no longer in the cabinet.

Even, he was not qualified to attend today's cabinet meeting and the subsequent imperial meeting.

After all, no matter how high the rank of Shuntian Prefecture is, he is just a local official. After the various errands and the five temples are finished.

Only the ministers of the six ministries needed to report the situation.

But before that, it was Yan Shaoting's turn to make a report in front of everyone.

This undoubtedly implies Yan Shaoting's current status and identity in the court.

I heard Li Chunfang calling my name.

Yan Shaoting looked at the new cabinet minister with some embarrassment.

In fact, in his opinion, today is just a day for self-promotion and boasting.

It would be better for the old Taoist priest to preside over it personally and give a certificate of honor for being a "Three Good Officials" to whoever he thinks has done a good job.

But that's the rule.

Yan Shaoting could only walk from behind Old Yan to the center of the cabinet classroom.

He bowed his head and clasped his fists, saying, "Reporting to all the ministers, I, Yan Shaoting, am in charge of the increase in silk production in the two southeastern provinces for overseas sales. This year, according to last year's order, we have completed the delivery of seven million in goods to a group of foreign merchants headed by the Spaniard Bo Fugui. All the money and grain have been sent to the Ministry of Revenue and recorded in the Ministry's accounts.

According to the initial agreement, a month ago, all foreign merchants have already handed over 3 million taels of silver to foreign merchants in advance as a deposit for the monopoly of purchasing our silk in the 42nd year of Jiajing next year. This account has also been fully recorded. "

Although it was something that had been decided in the court long ago.

But whether inside or outside the classroom, people were all amazed.

With just a few words, Yan Shaoting successfully completed the deal worth tens of millions of taels.

If this happened in the past, who would believe it?
No one believes it!
But now it is so real, right in front of everyone.

Ten million taels of silver worth of goods were brought in every year.

immediately.

Yan Shaoting added, "This year, the imperial court officially opened the sea, and the emperor allowed the seven maritime customs offices in the southeast to continue to specialize in foreign trade. Tax silver was collected by the tax and military offices at each port. Because the government order was just launched this year, private merchants were not well prepared. The seven maritime customs offices collected 700,000 taels of tax silver in half a year, which has been delivered to the capital by the tax and military offices and sent to the Ministry of Revenue's warehouse and recorded in the Ministry of Revenue's accounts."

This is the first time that Kaihai’s account has been made public.

For a moment, the entire classroom was noisy and in uproar.

In less than half a year, he had earned 700,000 taels.

This is still a case of insufficient preparation.

If we wait until after the New Year and the news spreads, with people from the imperial court and foreign businessmen arriving, I'm afraid the income will increase exponentially.

Gao Yao, the Minister of Revenue, who was standing outside the classroom, immediately said to the inside: "Mr. Yan, may I ask how much tax silver the Maritime Customs Office is expected to collect next year?"

"Yeah yeah!"

"Guest Yan, you have to be honest with us."

"The millions of taels of silver traded this year are of great benefit to the court!"

"..."

There was a buzz of conversation outside the classroom.

Even Li Chunfang, who was supposed to be in control of the situation, completely forgot what he was supposed to do and stared at Yan Shaoting.

Yan Shaoting just stretched out a fist in front of everyone.

then.

The fist opened and turned into five fingers.

Gao Yao couldn't help but tremble all over, and the beard on his mouth was almost shaken off.

He said excitedly: "But it's five million taels of tax silver!"

"Oh my God! When did our Ming Dynasty become so rich?"

"How can I spend all this money?"

No matter what kind of people the officials present were, the contrast of the court suddenly becoming wealthy continued to shock everyone.

Yan Shaoting smiled and shook his head: "As you all know, since our dynasty has just opened the sea this year, we have to do this step by step. I estimate that if we want to collect 5 million taels of tax silver from various checkpoints a year, it will take several years. But next year, we will be able to collect at least 2 million taels of tax silver."

You want to brag.

But the facts must also be made clear.

really.

Hearing Yan Shaoting say this, the excitement and joy on Gao Yao's face faded a little.

But someone nearby nodded and said, "That's not bad. If we can get two million taels of tax silver next year, the court can repair several parts of the Great Wall or rivers. Even if we do nothing, it will be enough to pay the salaries of officials in the court."

It's not someone else who's speaking.

It was the Minister of Works, Lei Li.

Yan Shaoting smiled and continued, "The last one is the job of Changping Public Security Bureau. This year, the harvest of grains has been good under the jurisdiction of Changping Public Security Bureau. Both grain production and small-scale commerce have greatly improved. More importantly, Changping Public Security Bureau has added a total of 1,272 new babies this year."

Let me tell you some little-known fact.

fertility rate.

Survival rate.

In fact, these two sets of data are also particularly important criteria for assessing the capabilities of local officials in the Ming Dynasty.

One thousand two hundred and seventy-two babies.

Since Yan Shaoting said this, it means that these babies did not die and are still alive and well.

Without waiting for anyone to ask why.

Li Chunfang has begun urging the ministers of the six ministries to report on their work.

It was difficult for Yan Shaoting to explain gynecological hygiene conditions to these people. He had to go back and sort out a clear proposal when Li Shizhen was not busy and submit it directly to the court.

However, Yan Shaoting, who retreated behind Old Master Yan, saw that Yan Shifan was making the annual report in public on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

But that's not surprising either.

Today, the post of Minister of Justice is still vacant, and the Ministry of Justice is still being served by Yan Shifan, the Left Vice Minister.

It was as if the emperor had forgotten that he still needed a Minister of Justice.

Although the court occasionally submitted memorials requesting discussion of the matter, in the end, nothing was done.

gradually.

Everyone in the court understood it.

This was probably the emperor's appropriate compensation to the Yan family because the prime minister began to retire in public in the cabinet.

The more the Prime Minister shows that he is not greedy for power, the more likely the position of Minister of Justice will remain vacant.

Wait until the matter of the six departments is finished.

The 41st year of the Jiajing reign was considered to be the end as far as the imperial court was concerned.

The time was exactly noon.

As per custom, everyone present had their meal together in Wenyuan Pavilion today.

This is also an official opportunity for everyone to get together at the end of the year.

After the meal, officials who were not qualified would leave the imperial city and return to their offices.

The remaining nine ministers of the six ministries and five temples will accompany the cabinet ministers to the Wanshou Palace for the final imperial meeting.

Then the same routine will follow.

The Wanshou Palace will host a dinner for the emperor and his ministers to enjoy together, as a reward for everyone's hard work throughout the year.

The emperor would give a few symbolic compliments, and then criticize a few minor tasks specially selected by the cabinet.

But overall, the atmosphere is definitely and necessarily harmonious.

After the king and his ministers enjoyed themselves together.

Everyone went back to their homes.

Everything will have to wait until after the end of the year, when the first imperial meeting of the year will be held.

…………

Monthly PassMonthly Pass
　Today's update, my throat hurt when I woke up this morning, and as expected, I had a low-grade fever and felt uncomfortable all over. I'm even considering whether to have my tonsils removed...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)