Chapter 241: Let the advisors assist the local officials in handling daily affairs and use the Ming Dynasty Bank to manage local taxation
After thinking for a moment, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly to show his approval.

Then he asked, "That's great. What specific tasks does this master have?"

Zhu Gang responded with a smile: “Although these advisors are not official positions in the imperial court, their role in local government cannot be underestimated.

Because the legal advisor is mainly responsible for assisting the chief official in handling various daily affairs, such as document writing, case trial, money and grain management, etc.

These seemingly trivial matters are actually related to the effectiveness of local governance and the well-being of the people.

Therefore, the existence of advisors is of great significance to maintaining local stability.”

Zhu Yuanzhang continued to ask: "How should the salary of this advisor be determined?

After all, they are also working for the court, we can't let them work for nothing, right?"

Zhu Gang replied confidently: "Your Majesty, I think the salaries of the teachers should be raised by the prefectures and counties themselves.

This will not only ensure the treatment of the advisors, but also will not add too much burden to the court.

At the same time, each prefecture and county can also give additional rewards to outstanding advisors based on actual conditions to encourage them to better serve the prefecture and county."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction, indicating that he agreed with Zhu Gang's suggestion.

"We are fully aware of the complexity and importance of local governance, and as an important role in local government, the role of the legal advisor cannot be ignored.

By reasonably formulating the salary system for legal advisors, we can not only motivate them to perform their duties better, but also improve the efficiency and quality of local governance.

At the same time, this method of allowing each prefecture and county to raise their own salaries for legal advisors also reflects the court’s support and trust in local autonomy.”

Zhu Biao frowned and said, "Letting each prefecture and county raise the salaries of their own advisors is equivalent to taking a portion of the salaries from local officials to support these advisors who are not official officials of the court.

In this way, even if we increase the salaries of Ming officials, it will still be difficult to improve their living conditions. "

Zhu Gang picked up his pen and wrote down the four characters "Da Ming Money House". He said, "We can encourage local officials to deposit the taxes of various prefectures and counties in the Daming Money House for a long time by agreeing on the interest on deposits.

The tax revenue of the prefecture and county must be a considerable sum. The interest can not only guarantee the salaries of the secretaries and clerks, but also be used to pay money to families that comply with the family planning policy.

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed a little hesitant this time, "You mean, allow the local governments to withhold part of the tax revenue?
But the imperial court also needs money, and if some of it is withheld by the local governments, there will be less in the national treasury.

Isn't this the same as using the court's money to support those secretaries and clerks?"

Seeing that his father had gotten stuck in a dead end again, Zhu Gang quickly explained patiently, "In fact, if we do this, the tax revenue paid by the local government will not only not decrease, but will increase.

The most important thing is that we can plan for next year's fiscal revenue through the data statistics of the third-party organization "Da Ming Money House".

As long as there is enough data as a reference, even the imperial court can monitor whether local officials are embezzling taxes.”

In fact, the reason why Zhu Gang proposed that the Ming Dynasty Money House should manage taxation was also to prevent the "Guo Huan Case" that occurred in the 18th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty.

The case involved 12 provincial governments and six central ministries across the country, and involved tens of thousands of people.

After strict investigation, Zhu Yuanzhang soon discovered that almost all officials of the six ministries had become accomplices of Guo Huan. Of course, this result was also something Zhu Yuanzhang should have thought of beforehand.

Among the officials involved in the case were the then Vice Minister of War Wang Zhi, Minister of Rites Zhao Mao, Minister of Punishments Wang Huidi, and Vice Minister of Works Mai Zhide.

In addition to the senior officials of the six ministries listed above, all officials below the rank of vice minister were involved.

The heads of the six ministries were left alone, with no one to do their work.

The scope of the "Guo Heng case" was so alarming that even the ministers were in a state of panic. When they met in the morning, the first question changed from "Have you eaten?" to "How many people were arrested in your place today?"

The biggest problem in this case is that in the 18th year of Hongwu, not a single grain of summer tax and autumn grain was submitted to the national treasury by the five prefectures including Yingtian and Zhenjiang.

These places were the bases that Zhu Yuanzhang used to pacify the country, and they provided long-term support to the rebel army in its campaigns during the war years.

Zhu Yuanzhang never forgot this favor, so after he ascended the throne, he exempted all the summer taxes and autumn grains on the farmers' fields in the area.

However, all taxes and grain on private land were exempted, and there were still hundreds of thousands of acres of government land in the area.

Where did the grain collected from government fields go?
The case ultimately pointed to one person, Guo Huan, the assistant minister in charge of grain collection at the Ministry of Households.

The investigators concluded that local officials such as Zhang Qin colluded with the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Guo Huan and embezzled all the tax grain that should have been stored in the warehouse.

According to what Zhu Yuanzhang said in the "Great Edict" in history: Guo Huan and others embezzled and stole the grain within a few years, and also ruined the official grain by mixing it with water.

This caused the Ming Dynasty to lose 2400 million shi of grain, which was equivalent to the annual fiscal revenue of the entire court at that time.

But the "Guo Heng case" is something that will happen in the future after all, and now Guo Heng is just a fifth-rank assistant provincial judge of Shanxi.

What's more, the other party is Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew and the cousin of Crown Prince Zhu Biao. You can't convict him of something that is completely fabricated, right?
Seeing that Zhu Gang looked thoughtful, Zhu Yuanzhang took the opportunity to change the subject and said, "In less than three months, you will marry Xu Miaoyun.

Now Xie Yuer is pregnant with our Zhu family's child, we must not forget the old one just because we have a new one."

Zhu Gang came back to his senses and nodded quickly to assure, "Yu'er and I have been childhood sweethearts since we were young, and we will definitely not do anything like forgetting the old and loving the new.

Besides, Marquis Yongping has been helping to expand the Prince of Jin's Mansion in my fiefdom in Shanxi.

If I did something to let Yu'er down, wouldn't I be ashamed of Yongping Hou?"

Since Xie Cheng was conferred the title of Marquis of Yongping, he took the initiative to ask to become the left prime minister of the Prince of Jin's Palace and began to expand Zhu Gang's mansion in Taiyuan.

After looking at the planning drawings, Zhu Gang felt that this could already be called the "Palace City of Prince Jin's Mansion."

This city consists of two walls: the outer city and the palace city. The outer city wall is within the Nanxiao Wall, Dongxiao Wall and Sanqiang Road of Taiyuan in later generations.

Inside the outer city is the palace city, which has four gates: Xihuamen, Donghuamen and Nanhuamen.

In front of the main gate of Wangfu City is Cheng'en Gate of Taiyuan City.

Between the main gate of the palace and Cheng'en Gate is the Red Four-Arch Archway that carries the "aura of fragrance and kindness".

Opposite the Houzai Gate of Jinwangfu City is the Gongji Gate of Taiyuan City.

To the left and front of the Prince of Jin’s Palace in Taiyuan is the “Imperial Temple” where ancestors are worshipped.

On the right rear, between the royal palace and the outer city, is the "Sheji Altar" for worshipping the gods of community and grain.

Standing on the Cheng'en Gate Tower and looking north, the Taiyuan Jinwang Mansion "receives the grace" of the Emperor of Heaven in the south, and "supports the country" in the north.

The upper left is the "Imperial Temple" and the lower right is the "Sheji Altar".

It constitutes the orthodox layout of an imperial palace: the central palace, the left Mu, the right She, the front Zun, and the rear guard.

The design and planning of Yongping Hou made Zhu Gang feel that if he did not go overseas to become a foreigner in the future, the only way left for him was to "wear the yellow robe".

(End of this chapter)