Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

After the ceremonial director played the deacon's salute, he went through a long ceremony such as blowing the whip to tell the time, saluting and bowing, etc., and then came to the stage of shouting "Long Live the Mountain".

At this time, some censors were eager to try.

However, the expressionless Zhu Di spoke up, breaking their plan.

"Today we need to go to the eastern suburbs to offer sacrifices at the altar. Keep things simple."

"Only two things to discuss."

"The first thing is that I plan to appoint Cao Guogong Li Jinglong as the envoy to go to Japan to submit credentials on behalf of the Ming Dynasty. Do you have any objections?"

The ministers looked at each other, wondering what the emperor wanted.

It was similar to Xia Yuanji's reaction when he heard this question.

Only a few ministers who knew some of the past events of the Hongwu Dynasty thought for a moment and felt that they had vaguely guessed the deep meaning of the emperor's move.

Are you afraid that you are going to kill someone with a borrowed knife?

Four years ago, the Japanese envoy Zua and the wealthy Hakata maritime merchant came to the Ming Dynasty to show their sincerity and returned several people who had been captured by the Japanese pirates.

Three years ago, the young Emperor Jianwen conferred the Datong calendar and sent the Zen monk Daoyi Tianlun and the teaching monk Ichian Yiru to return to Japan together with the Japanese envoys. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the Muromachi shogunate, personally went to Hyogo (today's Kobe ) received him at the port, and held a grand acceptance ceremony at Kitayama Kinkakuji Temple in Kyoto, recognizing Japan as a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.

When Japan became a vassal, it promised that if the Ming Dynasty could always ensure smooth sea routes, Japan would be willing to pay tribute every year in exchange for the benefits of "exploration and joint trade."

The so-called Kanhe is a wooden trade certificate officially issued by the Ming Dynasty. It has text and signatures written on it. It is divided into two halves in the middle. China and Japan each hold one half. They are combined according to the number every time the Japanese side comes. Whether it should be used as a standard to verify one's identity.

If a joint trade can be achieved, the benefits to Japan will be huge. For example, if you buy raw silk in Ningbo worth 250 wen, you can sell it for 5,000 wen in Japan, making a profit of 20 times; if you export it, For example, copper shipped from Kyushu and Shikoku Island to the sea, a lump of copper purchased for ten guan, was purchased by the Ming Dynasty for 40 to 50 guan, making a profit of four to five times.

This is also the reason why Japan's attitude towards the Ming Dynasty took a 180-degree turn after ending the separation of the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

Of course, although Emperor Jianwen was not smart, his long-term Confucian education also gave him an advantage that was not an advantage, that is, he did not look down upon the barbarians. Therefore, although Japan came several times to send Ming envoys, it never got the Ming Dynasty. Here is the permission to explore and trade.

But now, seeing that the deadline for Japan's promised annual tribute is approaching, Japan still has not made any move. In addition, Ming Dynasty changed its emperor but did not come to court. Ming Dynasty used this as two excuses to severely reprimand Japan in its credentials. .

But none of the ministers wanted to take this job.

The difficulty of this job was that he had to condescendingly reprimand Japan on behalf of the Ming Dynasty, but at the same time he had to not be arrested or beheaded directly by the angry little day.

The failure of the Hongwu Dynasty's diplomacy with Japan has proved that the Japanese are quite temperamental sometimes.

In the second year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Yang Zai as an envoy to Japan with an imperial edict to inform the Japanese of the ascension to the throne. At the same time, he condemned the Japanese pirates for harassing our southeastern coast, and ordered the Japanese to strictly clamp down on them and come to pay tribute early, otherwise they would send out troops to attack them. The tone is quite strong.

Following the traditional route to Japan, Yang Zai and his party set off from Ningbo and landed in Kyushu, Japan. The edict that was supposed to be delivered to the Emperor's court in Kyoto fell into the hands of Emperor Go-Daigo's son, General Prince Huai Liang. Due to the long-term war, Japan is also confused about the regime change taking place in China.

Zhu Yuanzhang's threatening edict aroused the common hatred of the Japanese, thinking that it was the prelude of another "Yuan invader attack". Prince Huai Liang, who had been in charge of Kyushu for ten years and was extremely powerful, scorned Zhu Yuanzhang's edict and imprisoned him. Yang Zai, Wu Wenhua and other envoys killed five of their attendants.

Now, Li Jinglong has successfully taken over this hot potato.

This means that the Gonggun princes here do not have to worry about being randomly selected by the emperor as his envoys and having their heads accidentally killed!

As a result, with the silence of many ministers, the matter of sending an envoy to Japan with Cao Guogong Li Jinglong as the envoy was approved.

"The second thing is that Xia Yuanji, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, proposed that the civil and military officials of the capital should set an example for the world and subscribe for the first batch of five-year Ming government bonds. The interest rate is 8%, which will be directly deducted from the next month's salary."

As soon as this statement came out, all the officials were in an uproar!

"this"

"Isn't that too much? Why doesn't he pay for it himself?"

"Yeah, isn't this a clear deception?"

The imperial court's first batch of five-year Ming Dynasty treasury bonds were sold only in the capital. If calculated based on the current silver price, they would be worth more than 160,000 taels of silver, with each face value being 100 Wen Hongwu Tongbao (Ministry of Industry Baoyuan). Bonds cast by the Bureau (Jianwen Tongbao had a short casting time and a small circulation quantity, and Zhu Di did not recognize Jianwen Tongbao, and Yongle Tongbao had not yet come out) can be exchanged for 140 Wen Yongle Tongbao in the next five years.

The Ming Dynasty treasury bonds currently planned to be delivered to the civil and military officials in the capital account for about four-fifths of them, half of which are planned to be purchased compulsorily with the officials' salaries next month.

Forced buying and selling belong to yes.

And this is only the first batch of five-year terms.

There are four-year, three-year, two-year and even one-year periods later.

Who knows if it will come once every three to five? This time I pinched my nose and recognized the five-year term. What about the next four-year term?

If this continues, will the officials of the Ming Dynasty still be alive?

You must know that if the Ming government bonds want to achieve the effect of recovering the bubble caused by the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes, then one-tenth of the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes on the market must be recovered in the first stage.

Considering the total amount of Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes issued in the past, if the corresponding current silver price is calculated based on the copper coins that the current treasure banknotes can exchange for, that is, a treasure banknote with a face value of one thousand guan can actually be exchanged for 80 guan copper coins, then The total amount of Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes in the country still exceeds tens of millions of taels of silver.

What I want to say here is that just the corresponding calculation does not mean that there really was so much silver in the Ming Dynasty, nor does it mean that all these treasures are in a state of flow.

If we only consider the Ming Dynasty banknotes circulating in the market, then this number will undoubtedly be greatly reduced.

Therefore, even if Xia Yuanji sold all the first batch of Ming Dynasty treasury bonds, it would still be a drop in the bucket compared to the huge overall stock of Ming Dynasty treasure notes.

What's the point of deducting official salaries to subscribe?

It is precisely because these officials can see clearly that the vast majority of officials agree that the Ming Dynasty government bonds in their hands in five years will only be able to recover their costs at best and will not make any profits. It can even be said to be a loss-making transaction!

Moreover, if money is deducted from salary, the higher the official rank, the greater the loss.

If the interest rate is 50%, do you think the various guilds in the court will rush to "spend money to go to work"?

To put it bluntly, the money was not paid enough.

"This damn old fox is really good at taking advantage of others."

In the court, many ministers cursed in their hearts and looked extremely ugly.

Everyone was naturally extremely angry about Xia Yuanji's actions.

Moreover, many officials realize that this is a good opportunity to overthrow others.

With such a coveted position as Minister of the Ministry of Finance, Liu Guan, the right minister of the Ministry of Finance, is already a little unable to hold back at this time.

But these people didn't have any black material about Xia Yuanji. Even if they wanted to turn the court struggle into a personal attack, they couldn't find any suitable material.

Therefore, since we cannot judge people based on their circumstances, we can only discuss matters based on their circumstances.

After communicating with each other with winks or gestures to the wat board.

As usual, it was time for a group of pawns belonging to different factions to appear.

What stands out among these low-level officials who serve their mentors and higher-ups is that they dare to criticize without fear of punishment.

"Your Majesty! I implore you to refuse Xia Shangshu's request!"

A tall and thin censor came out and admonished Zhu Di: "This kind of thing must not be agreed to. If we do as Xia Shangshu said, and the court does not pay salaries, won't we and other ministers live in poverty for decades? From now on, we will borrow money from lowly merchants every month for the food, clothing, housing and transportation of our whole family? In this case, where is the face of the imperial court? If all the Confucian scholars in the world know this, how will the academy teach its disciples in the future? Could it be that it is better to be an official than not to be an official? ? Then who is willing to come out and do things for the country? How can officials be respected by the world? I hope Your Majesty will think twice!"

After hearing this, Zhu Di frowned, his eyes were deep, and he seemed to be deep in thought.

The eldest prince Zhu Gaochi, who was sitting next to him, had a blank expression, as if what was happening now had nothing to do with him.

The second prince Zhu Gaoxu and Cao Guogong Li Jinglong who should be there below are not here. This time, the officials have no intention to care about it. They just thought that Cao Guogong was sent to Japan as an envoy by the emperor, so he must be preparing for the mission.

As for the two Taoist masters who were meditating and waiting in the side hall on the other side of the hall, they were not bored at all.

They studied the beautifully made and brightly colored "fertilizer elixir" in their hands, and they all looked confident.

"Zhang Tian. Da Zhenren, I have something unclear."

The third prince, Zhu Gaosui, was not wearing armor today, but was wearing a bullfight uniform, and still had a pumpkin hammer hanging around his waist.

Zhang Tianshi was the common name, but Zhu Gaosui felt it was inappropriate as soon as he said it, so he changed the title.

After all, Zhang Yuchu was in the 13th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang decreed that he was the "Zheng Yi Si Jiao Tao He Wu Wei Chan Zu Guang Fan Da Zhenren" and took charge of Taoist affairs in the world.

Although during the Jianwen Dynasty, Emperor Jianwen, who was controlled by Confucian scholars, would not even be called "Tianshi", let alone "Great Master".

This shout of Da Zhenren really made Zhang Yuchu smile.

"Your Highness, Third Prince, please speak."

Under Zhu Gaosui's aquiline nose, his thin lips were pursed so tightly that even the nasolabial folds were elongated.

"Since you two know the inside story, there should be no harm in talking about it now. I heard last night that my father seemed to have used some trick to deceive the officials, but now the matter is a hammer in the east and a hammer in the west. What kind of mission is it that Duke Cao Guo is on an envoy? Japan, what Xia Shangshu is selling Ming government bonds."

"But the problem is." Zhu Gaosui couldn't help asking questions in his soul, "Isn't the main thing I have to do when I go to the altar today to demonstrate the 'fertilizer elixir'? What do these messy things have to do with the demonstration of the 'fertilizer elixir'?"

Yuan Gong was wearing a clean Taoist robe today and looked like a kind old man with a white beard. He twirled his beard and looked at the two of them with a smile, looking very confident.

Zhang Yuchu opened his mouth to answer, but before speaking, he was still cautious and asked: "I would like to take the liberty of asking, how much does His Highness the Third Prince know about the causes and consequences of this matter?"

Zhu Gaosui scratched his head.

All he knew was that in the three memorials submitted by his second brother, it was said that Japan was indeed rich in gold and silver. Therefore, he speculated that Cao Guogong Li Jinglong's mission to Japan should be closely related to this matter.

As for the Ming Dynasty national debt, he had heard his father mention it a little bit, but he was basically confused. If you asked him to sit there and listen to Jiang Xinghuo's lecture, he wouldn't be able to understand it, let alone what others said.

Moreover, Zhu Di, who was originally not as good as Emperor Taizu Gao of the Ming Dynasty in managing the country and the people, the principles of economics and the people he relayed were so horrifying that it is no wonder that Zhu Gaosui became more and more confused the more he listened.

In the end, Zhu Gaosui knew a lot about the 'fertilizer elixir', because he took care of many things by himself.

But he only knew that the 'fertilizer elixir' could increase the yield of crops per mu. Zhu Gaosui knew nothing about why such a thing was needed, what its principle was, and how to use it in the end.

Therefore, it is difficult for Zhu Gaosui to string these three things together.

Since there are no necessary puzzle pieces in hand, it is of course impossible to piece together the whole story, and it is also impossible to clearly see the series of plans that Dao Yan guided Zhu Di to make.

These three things seem to be scattered and unrelated, but together with the previous thing, they form a complete cause-divergence-turn-purpose.

When Zhang Yuchu arranged these four things and clearly displayed them in front of the third prince Zhu Gaosui, he suddenly realized it.

"Master Dao Yan is indeed a sage seeker! In this way, not only are the four things accomplished, but the final goal is also achieved, but all the officials are kept in the dark!"

"No."

Zhang Yuchu and Yuan Gong denied it at the same time, which made Zhu Gaosui surprised for a moment.

Yuan Gong motioned to Zhang Yuchu to speak first.

Zhang Yuchu said frankly: "Master Dao Yan is just following the situation to his advantage, but the real situation is still with Jiang Xianren."

Return to the main hall.

Xia Yuanji, who was as popular as the stars in the past, now stood alone, enduring overwhelming criticism from his colleagues.

Originally, some of them didn't want to or didn't dare to accuse Xia Yuanji.

However, as the trend spreads, some behaviors similar to "temple correctness" are involuntarily formed. Since everyone has carried out collective behavior, then maybe no one will remember what you said when you expressed your stance, but they will definitely remember that you did not express your stance.

"Xia Shangshu, there is no reason to do things like this. This is simply making fun of Ming's reputation."

The speaker was the right minister of the Ministry of Rites, who was born in the Jiangnan gentry. His face was full of indignation: "Thankfully, Your Majesty still trusts you and entrusts you to take care of the Ministry of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty. Is this a suggestion that a senior minister of the country should make? "

The Minister of Punishment was also filled with righteous indignation: "All the upright ministers in the Manchu Dynasty depend on the imperial salary for their daily lives. Aren't these the people of the emperor who are waiting to be fed? How can anyone suggest that the emperor should not feed his children?"

The other officials all echoed: "Extremely yes! Absolutely yes!"

"You must know that the most important thing for scholars of our generation is their integrity. How could we do such a disgraceful thing just to raise money? Xia Shangshu, it is in vain that I have always regarded you as a role model. But I never expected that you would be like this. Wait for someone!"

Listening to the loud accusations from people around me,

Xia Yuanji, who understood the emperor's meaning, felt his ears buzzing and gradually became impatient.

Zhou Yu hit the yellow cover, and everyone was willing to hit and others were willing to suffer.

But the process of being beaten seemed to be quite painful!

His colleagues who usually seemed extremely respectful to him seemed to have changed at this time, and his words were like a knife stabbing Xia Yuanji's chest.

In fact, Xia Yuanji also knew that the struggle in the temple was always life-and-death. Once someone caught the opportunity, countless people would stare at his throne.

But even though Xia Yuanji was well prepared, it was still as if a big hand was stretching out from his abdomen, tugging at his heart as it kept falling.

The world is hot and cold, nothing better than this.

At this moment, Jian Yi, the Minister of Civil Affairs, suddenly slapped the ivory tablet in his hand twice.

"My lords, Shangshu Xia is doing things for the court, not for himself!"

"After all, it is a ministerial book. How can it be criticized in such a group?"

When the Heavenly Official spoke, the palace was temporarily quiet for a moment.

A friend in need is a friend indeed. After hearing these words, Xia Yuanji suppressed the emotions surging in his heart and forced a smile at Jian Yi beside him.

This kind of silence is only for a moment.

The trend is coming together, and with their strength, even the Lord of the Book of Secrets cannot contain it.

Moreover, this trend is not all directed at Xia Yuanji. A large part of it is actually the gentry from Jiangnan. They are opposed to the emperor's recent implementation of "shared labor into acres" in Jiangnan, which has greatly harmed their interests. One kind of verbal catharsis, one kind of criticism.

After a quiet period, public opinion was like the wind fanning the flames, and it started raging again.

I don't know who shouted.

"Every right and wrong can be judged by the public, how can it be because of the minister?"

After shouting this sentence, the sky was filled with uproar.

"That's enough! Shut up, everyone!"

A majestic and cold roar came from the dragon chair, and everyone suddenly fell into silence, no longer daring to say a word.

Xia Yuanji raised his head and looked in the direction of the dragon chair.

Zhu Di, wearing the emperor's crown, was seen sitting on the dragon chair, staring coldly and sharply at the officials kneeling in a row. That usually resolute and calm face looked particularly ferocious and terrifying at the moment.

The officials who were shouting as if they were about to overthrow the palace were frightened by the emperor. They immediately lowered their heads and did not dare to say a word again, as if they were afraid that if they hesitated for a moment, they would anger the murderous monarch.

But Zhu Di just spoke calmly.

"Aren't you all accusing Xia Shangshu?"

"Then have any of you ever thought about why Xia Shangshu did this?"

The ministers looked at each other.

The reason for issuing the "Ming Dynasty National Bonds" is of course because the Ministry of Revenue has no money and wants to make money.

Zhu Di stood up from the dragon chair. He came to the front of the platform, looked down at the civil and military officials, and spoke loudly.

"Because an immortal came to me in a dream and told me that the Ming Dynasty will gradually become colder in the next few hundred years!"

"If we want to fight future disasters and leave a long-lasting Ming Dynasty to our descendants, our generation must find a solution."

"The solution is a fairy recipe for refining the elixir. The immortal who entrusted me with the dream has given it to Master Zhang Tian of Longhu Mountain."

"The two masters Zhang and Yuan have initially refined the elixir called 'fertilizer' according to the immortal recipe."

"But this is far from enough. Ming Dynasty needs more fertilizer elixirs."

"It takes a lot of money to refine the elixir!"

Zhu Di pointed to the lonely Xia Yuanji in the crowd and said: "I asked Xia Shangshu for advice, and Xia Shangshu told me that the Ministry of Revenue has no money."

"Xia Shangshu has been running around for many days, and finally, under the guidance of an expert, he worked hard to come up with an emergency solution to the 'Ming Dynasty National Debt'. Do you understand?!"