These years of being the queen mother!

Well, Qi Chengzhi's reason was too strong, at least he convinced Mrs. Qi who wanted to stay home to take care of her young son, and the couple rushed to the capital together with the little Huangmen who came to read the decree.

Qi Chengzhi was born in the general family, and his wife Li was also from the general family. Naturally, his physical fitness is much better than that of a lady who does not go out of the door and does not step out. Even horses can ride.

Because of the delay, Xiao Huangmen was afraid that Empress Dowager Yang would blame her if she found out, so she took three fast horses from the post station, and the three of them rode one separately, and rode on the road with the ordinary Jin Yiwei who guarded the safety.Due to traveling day and night, the horses were replaced at the post station when they were tired. Qi Chengzhi and his wife quickly rushed to the capital, and went to the palace to meet the Empress Dowager Yang and the little emperor Zhu Cilin.

"Mother, is this the coach of the new army, the future admiral of the navy?" Zhu Cilin, who was wearing a small version of the bright yellow regiment robe and a crown of black gauze wings, stared up and down with big, round, grape-like eyes. Looking at Qi Chengzhi, who 'robbed his money', with a smile on his face, he thought in his heart, it's fine if the money is spent, but if the money is spent and the so-called new army doesn't come out, then... huh,

Zhu Cilin firmly grasped the claws hidden in the sleeves. Xiaodouzi said that the worst thing in the world is to lose the empress. If the new army is not trained after spending my money, hehehe, even if it is in front of the mother, he will It must be broken... Thinking of this, Zhu Cilin smiled brighter at Qi Chengzhi.

This unlucky boy...

If Empress Dowager Yang knows that you have such thoughts, I can’t guarantee anything else, but your own mother and Comrade Empress Dowager Yang will definitely treat you to fried pork with bamboo shoots.

Of course, Empress Dowager Yang didn't know that the mind of the little emperor she gave birth to had been distorted in that direction. She saw Zhu Cilin smiling happily at Qi Chengzhi, obviously very satisfied, she couldn't help nodding in relief, and said in a more amiable tone: "This must be Mrs. Qi, she looks pretty, and she and General Qi can be called a beautiful couple."

"The empress dowager's reputation is too high, and the wealth of my concubine Puliu can't even compare with the aunts who serve by her side. I'm afraid it's..."

"You're humbled..." Empress Dowager Yang interrupted Madam Qi's self-effacing words with a wave of her hand, and turned to Chun and said, "I think at this time, Sister Ci'an is paying respects to the Buddha, and you lead Madam Qi, Bao'er, Bei Let's go together to pay respects to Sister Ci'an."

Mrs. Qi is a smart woman. As soon as she heard what Empress Dowager Yang said, she understood that the things she was about to talk about one after another were not suitable for her, so she hurriedly got up and saluted, and followed Chunlai and the reluctant Zhu Shuxie and Zhu Shuxie together. Leave the Qianqing Palace.

After they left, Qiu Qu and Dong Guo also withdrew from the Nuan Pavilion and stood guard outside the palace gate.Ordinarily, after clearing the scene, we should start talking about business, but the strange thing is that Queen Mother Yang didn't directly talk about business, but asked about Qi Chengzhi's youngest son.

"The Ai family remembers that General Qi has a son who is comparable to the emperor. If General Qi is willing, why not send him to the palace as a companion to read, how about being with the emperor?"

Qi Chengzhi was dumbfounded by the words, which were obviously gifts, and he said excitedly after a long while: "Thanks to your mother's love, I will definitely let the boy accompany you and accompany your Majesty."

Empress Dowager Yang nodded invisibly, and then began to talk about the topic: "General Qi, you are from Penglai, Shandong. The Ai family asked you, is this sea ban good or bad? Should the Ai family continue the sea ban or withdraw it. "

Hearing this, Qi Chengzhi's face suddenly became serious.There was silence in the Warm Pavilion for a while, and everyone, including the little emperor Zhu Cilin, all focused on Qi Chengzhi, which made Qi Chengzhi feel more pressured.

After a long while, Qi Chengzhi, who had been frowning all the time, turned into a firm expression.He crossed his hands and respectfully said to Empress Dowager Yang and the little emperor Zhu Cilin who was sitting beside her: "Your Majesty, do you want to hear the truth or a lie!"

"Of course it's the truth!" Empress Dowager Yang was too lazy to ask 'what is the truth?What's a lie?" He asked directly and decisively with his pretentious behavior.

"Since this is the case, please forgive me, Your Majesty." Qi Chengzhi said neither fast nor slow: "During the period, the princes of the Wa Kingdom separated and attacked each other. The princes of the Wa Kingdom who failed in the war organized Japanese pirates (collectively referred to as samurai, merchants, and ronin) came to the coastal areas to carry out armed smuggling and plundering and harassment. In this regard, in order to prevent coastal Japanese pirates from insurrection and pirate harassment, the lord ordered the continuation of the sea ban that had existed since the Yuan Dynasty."

The main object of the maritime embargo in the early Ming Dynasty was commerce (commercial ban), that is, prohibiting Chinese people at that time from going overseas to do business, and also restricting foreign businessmen from trading in China (except for tribute). Only the tribute trade was released, and private individuals were still not allowed to go to sea.Later, with the trouble of Japanese pirates, the sea ban policy became stricter.

The sea ban has both advantages and disadvantages. In terms of advantages, it has played a role in self-protection, but it has narrowed the horizons of the Chinese people and greatly hindered the development of exchanges between China and foreign countries.

During the Longqing period of the Ming Dynasty, the Central Court adjusted its policy and allowed private people to go overseas for business.Only in the Yongle period, the Japanese pirates once again made troubles along the coast, and the sea ban was opened again. In the Jiajing period, the sea ban policy was further strengthened.Don't ask how the merchant ships under the name of Empress Dowager Yang went to sea, hehe, for the truly privileged class, there is no sea ban, and the sea ban is only private businessmen and foreign businessmen who come to China to do business.

Of course, this is the case on the surface, but in private, just like the Empress Dowager Yang asked Xia Shi to arrange manpower to sell a large number of silk and woven porcelains to European countries, there are also merchants who have inextricably linked with the officials of the Ming Dynasty. It was done, otherwise how would the smugglers think of using the sea to send food and grass to the chieftain of the Houjin Tatars!

It is precisely because of this that Empress Dowager Yang intends to open the sea ban and circle out several important seaport cities in later generations, as ports for foreign business, to communicate with the outside world, to stimulate the country with prosperous foreign trade, and to let those privileged classes in the country and The big landlords no longer set their eyes on the land, but look overseas, and no longer exploit the people, but earn money from foreigners to enrich their pockets.At that time, even if she took all the land into national ownership and lowered the agricultural tax to nothing, not many people would object to it!

Thinking of this, Empress Dowager Yang couldn't help but be ambitious and said: "General Qi's mourning family is well known. It is true that the sea ban has advantages and disadvantages, but in general, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Now the Ming Dynasty has internal and external troubles, and natural disasters continue year after year. There are Tartars who are eyeing it and want to replace it."

"During the reign of the First Emperor, Duke Wei raised the commercial tax, which made the treasury have extra money to support the Liaodong garrison and the military supplies of the garrison in various places, so that there was extra money for disaster relief..."

"It was precisely because of this benefit that the Ai family refused to raise the agricultural tax and instead increased the commercial tax after the emperor ascended the throne and against the opposition of the civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty.

It's just that these taxes are of no use in the face of continuous natural disasters. Aijia doesn't want to increase the burden on the people, so he can only think of other ways.The fact that the smugglers went north and transported grain to the Tatar Ministry via Koryo gave the Aijia an idea. Instead of letting the profiteers who cheated their hearts and forgot their ancestors and made all the money, it would be better to hold it in Daming and Aijia And in the hands of the emperor, at least Aijia and the emperor will no longer worry about military expenditures every year, disaster relief, and no money in the treasury. "

"The empress dowager's concern for the common people is the blessing of all people, but the reopening of the sea ban is of great importance, I'm afraid the cabinet will not let it go easily!" Qi Chengzhi also wanted Daming to lift the sea ban, after all, the new army he trained was considered a thing worth it.But just as he was worried, those scholar-bureaucrats who are usually full of principles but pedantic at critical times may not let go so easily, and it is estimated that the lifting of the sea ban will be a matter of wrangling.

Qi Chengzhi thought about it, he could only fulfill his duty as a minister first, and persuade him.It's just that as soon as he opened his mouth, before he could say all the words he wanted to say, Zhu Cilin, who had been sitting and expressing that he was a good baby, stared at him.

"Why do they disagree? Confucius said that every inch of land that the sun shines on belongs to me, including the subjects on the land. Since they are all mine, why should they object? What qualifications do they have to oppose... ..."

This... Domineering words made Qi Chengzhi a little dumbfounded on the spot, while Empress Dowager Yang, whose eyelids were twitching, was unable to support her forehead.What the fuck Confucius said, damn it, if Confucius knew that you were talking nonsense in his name, he would be so angry that he would come back to life and drive you out of the school, even though you are a fake Confucian student.

Thinking of this, Empress Dowager Yang, who wanted to laugh for some reason, slapped Zhu Cilin lightly on the head, and scolded: "What are you talking about, what do you mean that every inch of land that the sun shines on belongs to me, let alone far away, Don’t the Tartars and the red-haired barbarians also live under the sun, could it be that the ground they are stepping on is also yours..."

"What the queen mother said is true. The land they stepped on belongs to me, all of which belong to me. They just took advantage of my young age to occupy it. Humph, wait, when I grow up, I will definitely lead an army to step on it. Pingtazi and Hongmaoyi, regain the lost land, so as not to be ashamed of the ancestors, so that the queen mother can have the face to see her father after a hundred years..."

This... She felt awkward no matter how she heard it!

Empress Dowager Yang twitched her face, and said with a smirk: "Emperor, you are so filial!"

The word filial piety was quite gritted, but the little emperor, who was complacent, didn't hear it.The little emperor Zhu Cixiu heard the Queen Mother Yang's "praise", and smiled sweetly on the spot: "Mother, don't worry, my son will always be so filial to you..."

Empress Dowager Yang: "..."

Damn, she really wanted to slap Zhu Cilin in front of General Qi!

The author has something to say: One update o(*￣︶￣*)o