Zhu Gaoxu left gracefully, leaving behind a confused crowd.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the royal study became extremely strange.
Zhu Di’s face sank into the water, and he was very dissatisfied with Huang Huai and others.
All day long he kept shouting that he would take care of your troubles and it would be fine if he didn’t do anything. The second brother finally managed to achieve some results, but these bastards even attacked him in groups!
In Zhu Di’s eyes, a few supervisory qualifications can be exchanged for a huge sum of money. No matter how you calculate this transaction, you won’t lose money!
Seeing that the atmosphere was a little awkward, Xia Yuanji changed the subject and said, ‘Your Majesty, Zheng He brought back so many tribute envoys from overseas. The food and accommodation are all provided by the court. There will be a small banquet every three days and a big banquet every five days. If things go on like this, it will take a lot of money.’ how much？’
Zhu Di smiled helplessly when he heard this, ‘Bullshit, blind abacus, you just settled the small accounts but not the big ones.’
‘The foreign guests are in uniform, and all the nations are coming to court. This is a feat that attracts worldwide attention!’
‘After these Fan people returned to the country, they became my envoys, spreading the power of the Ming Dynasty’s civilization overseas…’
After hearing this, Xia Yuanji’s frown did not relax.
‘Your Majesty, I don’t agree with this, so what will happen if it gets spread out？ Don’t you still have to live your own life？’
‘Drought in Henan, drought in Shandong, Japanese invasion in Fujian, the construction of Shuntian, the northern and southern expeditions, the dredging of the Grand Canal, the compilation of the ‘Yongle Dadian’, Zheng He’s voyages to the West… Which of these does not cost a huge amount of money？’
‘The country’s tax revenue is only over 30 million taels a year, and including salt, iron ore, etc., it is only over 70 million taels. Just for the ‘Yongle Dadian’ alone, 15 million will be allocated, and Suncheon has to leave again. More than 10 million, the Grand Canal also took more than 10 million…’
‘Six ministries and hundreds of departments are asking for money from the Ministry of Revenue. I, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, want to break a copper coin in half and spend it. Your Majesty, what do you want me to do？ Could it be that…’
Zhu Di was angry and his eyes widened.
‘Okay, okay, it’s the same old story again, you’re complaining again.’
‘Aren’t I trying to find a way to fill the emptiness of the treasury？ But as soon as the King of Han made achievements, they jumped out to refute it one by one. So what do you think we should do now？’
After going around in circles, the problem is still the same as before.
But Xia Yuanji and others had no solution a few days ago, and now they can’t think of a proper solution either.
In desperation, Zheng He once again proposed his own method.
The imperial court purchased half of the goods at official prices and brought them to the market to trade for profit. The other half was allowed to be sold by the merchants themselves.
Zhu Di was already angry. After hearing this, he simply continued to implement the method of discounting salary for extra goods.
‘From this month on, all officials across the country do not need to go to the treasury to receive their salaries. I will use the goods brought back by Zheng He to equal your salary!’
‘I’ll give you a discount on my salary and share my worries with you. That’s it!’
Yang Shiqi and others looked at each other in shock when they heard this. Xia Yuanji opened his mouth to dissuade him, but was interrupted by Zhu Di waving his hand.
‘I have made up my mind, everyone, please retreat!’
…
Han Dynasty Palace.
As soon as Zhu Gaoxu entered the door, he called Zhou Chen and Qiu Guangde.
‘Things have changed and the tasting may be postponed for a few days.’
Zhou Chen was stunned after hearing this, not quite understanding what the King of Han meant.
Just now, he was also in the imperial study room and witnessed with his own eyes Huang Huai and other ministers impeaching the King of Han for his wanton behavior.
Then the king of Han left in anger, and he also retreated wisely.
With things already like this, how could King Han have the confidence to continue holding a tasting？
Qiu Guangde didn’t know why and immediately became anxious.
‘Your Majesty, those merchants are trying their best to raise money. If we suspend the tasting party now, wouldn’t we be slapping ourselves in the face？’
He and others had been working hard for a day and a night, and when they were about to be finished, something unexpected happened, which made Qiu Guangde feel very uncomfortable.
Zhu Gaoxu took a sip of tea, smiled and said, ‘Don’t worry, the fun has just begun.’
‘Old Qiu, go tell those wealthy merchants to continue preparing silver coins and continue transporting silk tea and other goods. The tasting will be postponed for a few days and will be held as usual.’
‘But before that, they are not allowed to buy or sell any goods, otherwise they will lose their qualifications to participate in the tasting event, and I will also find them to settle the matter in the future!’
As soon as these words came out, Zhou Chen was shocked.
‘Your Majesty, are you going to…’
‘Those ministers won’t let us hold a tasting meeting. How else can the court turn the goods into cash？ There are only two ways to convert the goods into cash and sell them at official prices.’
Zhu Gaoxu sneered and said, ‘Idiots like Huang Huai impeached me for acting arbitrarily, so I will act arbitrarily and let them suffer some hardships to know who is right and who is wrong!’
‘Lao Qiu, tell them what happened. There are important ministers in the court who have forced me to suspend the tasting because of their qualifications to donate prison. As long as they boycott, the tasting can be held as usual within three days, and they can continue to raise money.’
‘Xun Ru, you rush to the Lou Jiangnan Pavilion and tell the foreign merchants that there is an insider and the transaction has been suspended. They will sell the foreign goods themselves.’
“In addition, part of the transaction amount can be disclosed appropriately to let them know the benefits of the tasting!”
After hearing this, the two nodded repeatedly and immediately took the order and left.
The two of them have been busy for so long and are counting on this tasting to be a great turnaround!
In the end, all their efforts and efforts were in vain because of Huang Huai’s words. How could they not be angry？
The news spread quickly, and a group of wealthy businessmen were furious when they heard the news.
They were trying their best to raise money for the qualification to be a prisoner donor, but now the result was not good, because Huang Huai’s words all came to nothing.
The profit from Fanhuo is gone, and so is his son’s bright future!
You Huang Huai are noble and noble, you Huang Huai are great. Didn’t your son Huang Cai enter the Imperial College through the back door？
Everyone is the same, why are you so arrogant？
The wealthy merchants were furious and immediately agreed to the King of Han’s boycott plan.
Although there are very considerable profits from buying and selling goods, they, wealthy owners, are not short of money.
If you don’t steam the steamed buns, you’ll lose your reputation!
Don’t you, Huang Huai, look down on us humble merchants？
Then you can buy and sell these goods yourself!
…
Lou Jiangnan Pavilion.
Zhou Chen first told these small country merchants according to the regional list, how high the price of those foreign goods was.
However, just when they were ecstatic, Zhou Xunru spoke with regret and announced that the transaction was suspended.
Because someone in the court was impeached, the King of Han had to cancel the tasting meeting. All the previous ones were cancelled, and they were left to sell the goods themselves.
After hearing this, all the merchants immediately became angry.
It’s clear that tastings can make more profits, but they don’t have to get involved, so why not？
As a result, the tasting event has been suddenly cancelled, leaving them to go and sell it on their own. Isn’t this deceiving？
The official price of the imperial court was far lower than the market price, and even lower than the auction price. The merchants were naturally unwilling to accept it, and they reported to their own envoys one after another and refused to sell the goods to the Ming Dynasty court.
But the people who were more angry than them were Huanghuai Yang Shiqi and other court officials.
They didn’t care about the buying and selling of foreign goods, but the emperor’s discounting of the foreign goods would cost them their lives.
Who doesn’t have dozens of mouths open, waiting for that salary to eat？
It’s better now, the salary is gone, and we have become extravagant goods.
These civil servants have always regarded themselves as noble men and women who cherish feathers, but they cannot take these goods to the market and sell them openly. What should they do？
For a time, resentment spread everywhere, all because of the Western goods brought back by Zheng He, which turned the Ming Dynasty into a mess!