The Ming Dynasty started with caution

Early in the morning, the eunuchs of the Palace of Gods were sweeping snow in Guangting.

Yan Chengjin didn't notice on the road that Xie Qian and his son were walking in front of him. Xie Pi came back from the south to control the flood and seemed to have made another contribution.

The faces of the gentlemen were solemn, and they all had something to report.

The golden bell rang, and the officials filed into the Fengtian Hall, blowing hot air from their hands.

Li Dongyang said: "The tribute envoys from Samarkand asked for an order to let the court pay all the food and travel expenses of the tribute envoys, a total of 60,000 taels of silver."

The retired emperor Hongzhi raised his eyebrows and couldn't help but want to say: Let them not come to pay tribute in the future.

Although the gentlemen didn't say anything, their faces were also somewhat dissatisfied.

It was the end of the year, and envoys from various countries came to Beijing to pay tribute, but only Samarkand had to reimburse the travel expenses.

Yan Chengjin knew Samarkand, which was the territory of Uzbekistan in the previous life.

The people were poor and still needed the protection of the court.

Korea, Siam, Tubo and Hami all brought tribute.

Only Samarkand came with the intention of group trading.

They purchased silk, porcelain, tea and other items from the Ming Dynasty, and then returned to their homeland to sell them and earn the difference.

They also asked the Ming Dynasty to reimburse their travel expenses.

They didn't lose anything.

But we can't blame them. That place is barren and too poor.

There was nothing to offer as tribute.

"It's a pleasure to have friends coming from afar. Since it's a tribute, the court should pay this money, but how much?" Wang Qiong was a little unhappy.

Are they coming to the Ming Dynasty to make trouble?

All the officials nodded their heads. In comparison, the kings of Tang and Song were simply saints.

The retired emperor Hongzhi said in a deep voice: "Let them come once every five years, not every year. The number of tribute envoys entering the capital is limited to 100 people, and the Ministry of Revenue will allocate the expenses."

"As ordered!"

Wang Qiong looked around and felt a little excited when he reported to him.

"The spices of the Tang and Song dynasties were converted into silver, which was 8.37 million taels. Adding the annual commercial and agricultural taxes, there were more than 45 million taels.

Minus salaries, military pay, relief silver and shipbuilding expenses.

The national treasury has more than 19 million taels of silver in reserve."

The retired emperor Hongzhi raised his eyebrows slightly. There were more than 19 million taels of silver left in the national treasury?

Is this considered a prosperous era?

The eyes of the gentlemen also lit up. Zhu Houzhao's eyes burst into spirit and listened carefully.

When my father was in power, although there was a lot of money flowing in, the silver stored in the national treasury was at most 5 million taels.

This is 12 million taels more than when my father was in power.

Yan Chengjin was slightly stunned. During the reign of Emperor Hongzhi, the court vigorously developed infrastructure and invested huge amounts of money.

Now Zhu Houzhao has picked up a bargain. The money that should be spent was spent in the Hongzhi Dynasty.

If it is evaluated by future generations, it should be called the prosperous era of Hongzheng, right?

Although the retired emperor Hongzhi was trying to hold back his smile, he couldn't help but smile at this moment.

"Your Excellency Wang is good!"

Wang Qiong's heart moved slightly, and he noticed that the retired emperor had changed his name, and he bowed to express his gratitude.

Yan Chengjin said, "I think it's time to expand the East City."

The capital only expanded the South City.

The East City is the east of the capital, where many merchants from Tianjin Wei come to Beijing by boat, which can be called the second largest checkpoint for people.

"This kid is going to waste money again." Wang Qiong gritted his teeth.

Li Dongyang turned his eyes back and fell on Yan Chengjin.

Cui Yan was still immersed in the increase in the treasury's revenue, but was pulled back by Yan Chengjin's words.

Young officials just don't know how to save money.

If they get money, they will hide it, but this kid always wants to spend it.

"The Yan family is now considered a prosperous age, right?" said the retired emperor Hongzhi.

The Book of Wei says that a prosperous age is when the world is peaceful and the four directions are safe.

But how should a prosperous age be judged? The retired emperor Hongzhi and the other officials have no standards and don’t know what to use to measure it.

So, they don’t know whether this is a prosperous age.

Zhu Houzhao also looked at Yan Chengjin with curiosity and nervousness.

Yan Chengjin pondered for a moment before speaking: "I think that the prosperous times can be divided into the first, second and third levels of prosperity.

The first level of prosperity means that the people have no worries about food and clothing, no one picks up things on the road, and no one locks their doors at night. The warehouses of the court and the people are full.

This is the lowest level of prosperity.

The second level of prosperity means that the population doubles, the literary world flourishes, all industries flourish, the Silk Road and the sea trade prosper, and there is no distinction between household registrations in the world.

The third level of prosperity means that every household in the world wears silk, has a carriage to travel, has a hundred acres of land, and has no less than 500 taels of silver in deposit.

The court has not even achieved the first level of prosperity so far."

If all the wealth and food in the world are plundered and brought to the Ming Dynasty, there may be a fifth level of prosperity.

But he didn't say it.

Zhu Houzhao listened very seriously. The first level of prosperity that Lao Gao said was the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

Doors are not locked at night, and no one picks up things on the road.

Nowadays, there is no extra grain in the rice jars of the people. Just like what Lao Gao said, the court has silver, but the people do not.

It is far from the first-level prosperous age.

Although Li Dongyang also heard that the first-level prosperous age is the Tang Dynasty.

It's just that this boy "polished" it a little.

It's still reasonable. The second-level prosperous age, with a little effort, may be achieved.

But the third-level prosperous age, this... This doesn't look like a world that can be governed at all.

The gentlemen also frowned. Who are you fooling here?

"Sir Yan, I'm not targeting you. Everyone has at least 500 taels of pure silver in their homes. How can this be done?" Jiang Mian said with a straight face.

The retired emperor Hongzhi was fully focused at this moment, completely immersed in the prosperous age that Yan Chengjin said.

"What Jiang Qingjia said makes sense. How can this be done?"

Yan Chengjin thought for a moment, how to tell you, you can't say that you plundered the world's money and grain and moved all to Ming Dynasty.

The ceiling of the ancients' prosperous age was the Tang Dynasty.

But he had seen a more prosperous age than the Tang Dynasty, and that was in the last life.

Every household can take out 500 yuan, but at this time, 500 yuan is worthless.

"I don't know."

This guy didn't dare to say it again...

The retired emperor Hongzhi gradually came to his senses, thinking about the fact that there are still many places in Ming Dynasty that need relief, and the people have no grain in their warehouses.

Indeed, it is not a prosperous age.

He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"But what does this have to do with the construction of East City?"

"What will happen if the people have nowhere to stay in the capital?" Yan Chengjin asked back.

Zhu Houzhao's eyes moved slightly, and he looked up: "Will they migrate outward?"

"Yes."

The more and more people gather in the city, the more prosperous it will be.

Cities with population loss will decline rapidly and eventually become deserted or small cities, such as Chang'an today.

The same applies to the previous life.

To determine whether to invest in buying a house, it depends on whether the population of the city is constantly gathering or flowing out.

If it is constantly gathering, the economy will become more and more prosperous, and housing prices will become higher and higher.

If it is constantly losing, the economy will be sluggish, and housing prices will naturally fall.

What attracts population gathering are workshops, the Imperial College, and the court.

As long as the court does not move the capital, it will continue to gather.

Merchants from all over the world come to the capital to make money, but they cannot settle down here, so they will return to their hometowns or find other places to buy houses.

This is the process of loss.

The retired emperor Hongzhi squinted his eyes slightly, a little puzzled, and could only pretend to understand, and ordered Xiao Jing to disperse the court.

The gentlemen stayed in the hall.

"What did Mr. Yan say just now, what does the expansion of East City have to do with the prosperous times?"

"Will the emperor leave the palace with me?"

The emperor Hongzhi looked at the light outside the window, and nodded in agreement before the hour of Si.

The gentlemen exchanged glances with each other, and were quite interested in the three prosperous times mentioned by Yan Chengjin.

He also ordered someone to go back to the duty room to get clothes.

I ask for monthly tickets every day, thank you everyone~~