All the princes present sobered up and began to look at each other.
How to choose?
Should the national treasury bear the vassal kings' clan salaries, or should the internal treasury bear the vassal kings' clan salaries?
Chongzhen’s words were very clear.
From now on, the national treasury will first guarantee military expenses and officials' salaries.
Only at last will the royal salaries be distributed to the vassal kings.
If the national treasury is in deficit, then the clan salary will be in arrears.
It will be reissued when you have money.
However, if the imperial treasury is used to bear the vassal kings' royal salaries, there may be arrears due to deficits.
After asking this question, Chongzhen smiled but said nothing.
How could there be no money in the treasury?
Even if he really had no money, he could, like the Qing Dynasty did in history, package the expenses of the treasury and let the Ministry of Revenue reimburse them with money from the national treasury.
Then declare to the outside world that public and private affairs are clearly distinguished.
The King of Zhao and the King of Zhou had moved to the capital for more than ten years.
He is a vassal king who has neither secrets nor money.
They played the same tune as Chongzhen sang.
Prince Zhao was the first to say, "Your Majesty, please let the royal salary of Xu Yunchen be borne by the imperial treasury in the future."
King Zhou then bowed and said, "I second the proposal."
Seeing this, the other princes had no choice but to agree.
They knew very well that if they insisted on having the national treasury bear the cost of the clan salary, then defaulting on the payment would become the norm.
After discussing this matter, Chongzhen's face turned cold again.
He looked at the King of Shu and said, "Now that we have finished talking about the vassal king Zonglu, it's time to talk about resisting the national policy, occupying the people's land, and causing chaos in the local area, right?"
The King of Shu finally put his mind at ease, and he knelt down and kowtowed: "I know my crime, please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
The Embroidered Uniform Guards investigated his situation thoroughly.
Pleading guilty and accepting punishment can also leave a good impression in Chongzhen's mind, thereby reducing the punishment.
Denial will only make the consequences more serious.
Seeing that the King of Shu had already confessed his guilt, Chongzhen said in public: "Since you have confessed your guilt, let's stay in the capital and slowly discuss how to punish him."
King Zhu Zhishu of Shu opened his eyes and mouth wide: "Ah? This..."
Chongzhen narrowed his eyes and asked, "Is there a problem?"
King Zhu Zhishu of Shu quickly bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty...Your Majesty obeys your order."
Chongzhen looked at Prince Fu and said, "Brother Prince Fu, you should stay in the capital too. I miss you very much. When you have nothing to do, let's go out and visit each other more often."
Prince Fu Zhu Yousong was shocked and said with a sad face: "I obey your order."
"Uncle Lu, you should also stay in the capital and reflect on yourself. And Uncle Lu..."
Next we discussed the matter of investing in the Ming Money House.
At first no one was willing to pay.
Chongzhen’s method was simple: to pay with fines instead of taxes.
All the princes are guilty.
Take the King of Shu as an example.
He had more than ten million taels of silver in his mansion that had not been exchanged for Ming Yuanbao.
According to the rules, all of them should be confiscated.
But Chongzhen only fined five million taels.
The money was not confiscated, but was used as capital to invest in the Ming Money House.
The King of Shu could only enjoy a portion of the profits and could not recover his capital.
Although the King of Shu did not petition.
But compared to being fined and confiscated, this is already very good.
Seeing this, other princes had no choice but to do the same and pay capital according to their own property.
After the banquet, the princes had different reactions.
Those princes with good reputations were very happy because not only were they given additional clan salaries during this trip to the capital.
Also received various awards.
They returned to the fiefdom along the same route with the things.
Those princes with bad reputations were suffering more than each other.
Because they would be kept in the capital, subject to Chongzhen's surveillance and blackmail...
Without waiting for the princes to leave the imperial city, Chongzhen found Xie Sanbin, the chief minister of the cabinet and the minister of the Ministry of Revenue, to discuss the issue of the princes' clan salaries with him.
Chongzhen said: "All existing fiefs of the vassal kings will be brought under the management of the inner court. From now on, no more fiefs will be added. Moreover, all clan salaries will be covered by the inner court, and the national treasury will not be touched at all!"
Xie Sanbin asked tentatively: "As time goes by, the number of clan members will increase. If we don't increase the fiefdom, the treasury may not be able to make ends meet..."
Chongzhen said calmly: "Don't worry, I will reduce the power of the vassal states!"
"Since your majesty has made up his mind, I can only obey your order."
The king and his minister talked for a while, and then Xie Sanbin stood up to say goodbye.
When he was about to leave the hall, Chongzhen suddenly asked, "Minister Xie, where do you think the prince went?"
Xie Sanbin was stunned, his brain thinking rapidly.
Chongzhen knew that he had no idea where the prince had gone.
Chongzhen obviously had other purposes in asking this question.
What is the purpose?
Xie Sanbin couldn't figure it out for a moment.
Chongzhen said slowly: "If Minister Xie can't think of it, go back and think about it slowly."
Xie Sanbin still couldn't figure it out, so he could only get up and say goodbye.
After he walked away, Chongzhen told Wang Chengen: "Let Qiu Yu come!"
It was already evening when the Minister of Personnel Qiu Yu arrived at the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
He bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."
Chongzhen waved his hand: "Forget it."
Qiu Yu asked, "I wonder why Your Majesty asked me to come here?"
Chongzhen did not answer, but asked: "Minister Qiu was born in Xiangyang Prefecture, Huguang in the 23rd year of Wanli. He won the provincial examination in the 43rd year of Wanli, the first place in the metropolitan examination in the 5th year of Tianqi, and ranked 181st in the palace examination in the same year."
"Later he was promoted to the position of Minister of Personnel and Cabinet Minister."
"In the 16th year of our dynasty, Sun Chuanting led his army to Shaanxi. At that time, many court officials urged Sun Chuanting to go out and suppress the bandits. Only you thought that we should wait until Guanzhong was stabilized before ordering the generals to send troops according to the time."
"I didn't listen!"
"As a result, the king's army was defeated and Chuan Ting died for his country!"
"From this alone, we can see that Minister Qiu has far-sightedness and foresight!"
Qiu Yu quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I am overly flattered. I am deeply awed."
Chongzhen waved his hand again: "Don't be alarmed! What I want to say is that according to my calculations, Minister Qiu is already sixty years old this year."
Qiu Yu was shocked.
Judging from Chongzhen's words, he wanted him to go home and retire.
He was indeed sixty.
But he is still in good health.
I won’t say too much, it should be fine if I work for three to five years.
Now that he was asked to retire and return home, he felt somewhat unwilling.
Just as he was daydreaming, Chongzhen said, "If Minister Qiu doesn't try again, he may never become the Prime Minister in this life."
Qiu Yu suddenly raised his head and looked at Chongzhen in disbelief.
What Chongzhen meant by this was to let him compete for the position of Prime Minister.
But the seat of the cabinet prime minister is already occupied.
It’s Xie Sanbin.
Think deeply about it.
Another meaning of letting him compete for the prime minister at this time is: thank you.
That is to overthrow the cabinet chief minister Xie Sanbin!
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