In the imperial study room, there was silence.
Zhu Di felt angry and funny now, and tired for no reason.
After finally waiting and hoping, Zheng He finally came back.
And Zheng He lived up to expectations and returned home with a full load.
But what he brought back was not a boatload of money, but an unmanageable quantity of goods.
And damn, more than half of the shipments of goods come from overseas merchants!
Why, you are helping people to the end, and by the way, helping them transport goods to Ming Dynasty for profit？
When he thought of this, Zhu Di became a little angry and wanted to give Zheng He a kick.
However, seeing Zheng He’s dark and thin appearance, Zhu Di finally held back and did not even say any harsh words.
At this moment, Prince Zhu Gaochi and King of Han Zhu Gaoxu came hand in hand, giving Zhu Di a glimmer of hope.
Prompted by Zhu Di’s eyes, Xia Yuanji quickly explained the current predicament so that the prince and the king of Han could understand the matter.
After a moment, Zhu Di looked at Big Fatty.
‘Prince, what do you think？’
Zhu Gaochi thought about it for a moment, and then replied cautiously, ‘Father, this, I want to go to the dock to read those words and then make a decision.’
Zhu Di didn’t find this answer surprising.
Prince Zhu Gaochi has always been experienced in supervising and managing the country, and seeking stability is his first principle.
But Zhu Di was not satisfied with this answer.
It’s almost time to lose it right now, and I’m waiting for you to go to the pier and see it before making any plans.
In desperation, Zhu Di had no choice but to turn his attention to Zhu Gaoxu, the king of Han.
‘Hanwang, what do you think？’
Zhu Gaoxu faced everyone’s gaze and tentatively made a suggestion.
‘Dad, as far as I know, Zheng He led the Ming Dynasty treasure ship to patrol the Western countries all the way to Guli. Along the way, he saw various countries making profits. That’s because they mostly used tax collection methods.’
The tax method he talks about is actually commercial tax.
But now in the Ming Dynasty, there is no concept of commercial tax at all.
After Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang founded the country, he vigorously developed agriculture, constantly encouraged people to reclaim wasteland, expand planting area, increase food production, and help more people escape the plight of starvation. He successfully expanded the cultivated land area of the Ming Dynasty by hundreds of millions of acres and fed the Ming Dynasty. More people.
However, precisely because of the great emphasis on agriculture, Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang formulated a strict policy of focusing on agriculture and suppressing business, restricting the development of business in the Ming Dynasty, restricting businessmen within a certain range, and preventing businessmen from being too mobile and bringing great disadvantages to the grassroots society. to instability factors.
Even Zhu Yuanzhang implemented a strict maritime ban policy and prohibited private overseas trade, which cut off the Ming Dynasty’s connections with other parts of the world, restricted the development of industry and commerce, and restricted the circulation of goods, in order to focus on agriculture and suppress commerce.
Against this background, the Ming Dynasty’s tax revenue was mainly supported by agriculture, and a complete commercial tax system was not established at all.
In other words, no one pays attention to the huge benefits hidden behind commercial tax.
Zhu Gaoxu made this test just to make Zhu Di pay attention to business tax in order to fill the national treasury.
But as soon as he finished speaking, Zheng He immediately jumped out to refute.
‘Your Majesty, absolutely not!’
‘Since the seventh year of Hongwu, our country has banned the sea, and fewer and fewer tribute envoys are coming. Now is a good time to attract more friends and good neighbors. I think it is better for the court to not impose taxes for the time being.’
After Zhu Di heard this, he nodded with deep understanding.
After all, in his cognition, there is no concept of commercial tax at all.
‘Only by being gentle and benevolent can all nations come to court!’
‘Zheng He’s intention is far-sighted. My brother, your method is inappropriate!’
Zhu Gaoxu shook his head when he heard this, somewhat dumbfounded.
In fact, we really can’t blame them. Even the wise and mighty Emperor Yongle would be limited by this era.
‘In that case, Zheng He, what can you do？’
Zhu Gaoxu kicked the ball back. After all, it was Zheng He himself who caused the trouble.
He wanted to see what good advice this man with the second farthest vision in the Ming Dynasty would give.
Zheng He thought for a moment and said slowly, ‘Your Majesty, I would like to ask you to count the personal belongings brought by the kings and envoys of various countries and keep half of them, allowing them to trade on their own within seven days.’
‘What about the other half？’ Xia Yuanji asked.
Zheng He smiled slightly, ‘The imperial court can purchase the other half at the official price and then sell it on the market. The difference in price will definitely make a huge profit!’
After Zhu Di heard this, he nodded repeatedly.
‘Good! That’s a good idea!’
‘You can get money without losing my Ming etiquette. It’s the best of both worlds!’
It’s just that some people are happy and some are sad. Prince Zhu Gaochi’s chubby face is full of worry.
‘Father, although this is a good idea, who will be responsible for the business of buying and selling？’
Zhu Di also hesitated after hearing this.
Taizu banned the use of Fanhuo by the imperial court.
Then we can only sell the goods and exchange them for money.
But who should entrust this business operation to？
Zheng He suddenly had an idea and made a death-defying proposal ‘Your Majesty, I think we can let the Ministry of Household Affairs send personnel to manage and operate it on our behalf…’
Before he finished speaking, a sarcastic voice rang out, ‘What did Mr. Zheng say？ Let all my ministers and servants in the household department do business？’
‘Buying and selling, just like a small businessman？ Master Zheng, are you humiliating my servants in the Ministry of Household Affairs？’
Xia Yuanji had always been unhappy with Zheng He because he had spent so much money on his voyages to the West without seeing any gains. Now that he heard Zheng He’s proposal, he was even more furious and almost pointed at him and scolded him.
Jin Zhong, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, also said at this moment, ‘Your Majesty, you must not do this! Since ancient times, a gentleman has been known for his righteousness, and a villain has been interested in profit. How can this official of the Ministry of Households go out to do business？’
Zhu Di’s face darkened when he heard this, and he felt a little unhappy.
These civil servants have been clamoring all day long to share the worries of the king and father, but now they are asked to lower their status and make a deal. They are all worried about their reputation and resist in every possible way!
The national treasury is almost too poor to open the pot, and it is still in the mood to pay attention to those with good reputations!
Is this just sharing your father’s worries？
The faces of the ministers are disgusting.
However, Jin Zhong was one of the biggest contributors to Jingnan. Now he is old and frail, and Zhu Di cannot say a harsh word.
He slowly stood up and ordered without any doubt, ‘That’s it for the seven-day transaction!’
Xia Yuanji and other important ministers were shocked, but felt helpless.
However, what Zhu Di said next made their expressions change drastically.
‘Allowing the Ban people to do business will also allow the people of the Ming Dynasty to get to know these overseas Ban goods and realize the benefits brought by my voyages to the West.’
‘Don’t you all keep sharing your worries for your father？ Well, starting from this month, all officials in the country don’t have to go to the treasury to receive their salaries. I will use the goods brought back by Zheng He to equal your salary!’
‘This is called discounting salary for extra goods, sharing your worries!’
Discount on salary for extra goods？
Xia Yuanji was dumbfounded, and Jin Zhong was confused.
None of them thought that Zhu Di would play such a trick.
Xia Yuanji opened his mouth and was about to argue, but Zhu Di sneered and said, ‘You think doing business is an insult to the name of a gentleman and contrary to the way of being an official. Well, I will do this business!’
Angry, Zhu Di was angry.
Xia Yuanji was about to argue, but Jin Zhong stopped him with a stern look.
As a veteran hero of Jingnan, Jin Zhong knew very well that the emperor was now on the verge of rage.
If Xia Yuanji continues to persuade, it will only backfire and implicate himself.
However, at this moment, a discordant voice came over.
‘Dad, you can come up with such a bad idea about discounting salary on extra goods!’