I'm really not doing business

Chapter 799 I only have one thing to say: everything must be settled in silver!

It is not easy to leave your name in history books. It is really very difficult.

And the donation can go down in history, even if it is just an inscription on a tombstone at a normal school.

This was a huge temptation for the wealthy and powerful who didn't know where to spend their money. Therefore, the main difficulty in the donation work for the Ming Dynasty Imperial Normal School was to divide the spoils, rather than forcing the powerful and wealthy to donate.

This also involves the issue of confidence. The powerful and wealthy people in the Ming Dynasty had great confidence in the Ming Dynasty, and this trust was mainly in the emperor.

The most dangerous period of the Wanli Reform was the tenth year of Wanli's reign, when there were initial results, but not much. The contradiction between incremental allocation and stock allocation was the most intense, which was also the time when the emperor went to the Southern Court for inspection.

Your Majesty used powerful measures to ensure your own safety at the most dangerous time and also protected the achievements of the Wanli Reform.

It is easy to govern a strong country, but difficult to govern a weak and chaotic country.

When the country is strong, all decisions made can be successful; but when the country is weak, even the most brilliant plans will fail.

The Ming Dynasty has truly entered an upward cycle, so the wisdom of the emperor will determine the length of this upward cycle, so the wealthy are willing to spend money to buy some fame.

At this point, no one could destroy the Wanli New Deal of the Emperor and the Prime Minister, not even the Emperor and the Prime Minister.

"That's good. Just don't make a fuss and complain." After listening to the report, Zhu Yijun felt relieved when he knew that they almost had to fight for the opportunity to leave their names in history.

A political decree that caused widespread complaints was not what the emperor wanted to see.

Zhang Juzheng held his hand and continued, "In addition to leaving a good name in history, these powerful people also want to do it for the sake of loyalty. Since the heaven, earth, emperor, parents and teachers are teachers, they teach, teach and answer questions, so naturally they have loyalty. No matter who becomes successful in the future, it has something to do with them."

"Your Majesty, sometimes bribery also has a threshold, and it is very high."

"It's already difficult to know which temple to kowtow to. If someone can give you some pointers, you can kowtow to the right temple. But kowtow to the right temple door is not enough. If the temple doesn't open the door for you, you can't burn incense and worship Buddha."

"The incense and love can be used in places like this."

The teachers in the funded normal schools are part of the network of powerful people.

Sun Kehong liked to invest money in the Maritime Academy to ensure his absolute advantage in maritime trade.

Not only the emperor knew the importance of education, but the powerful and wealthy knew even more that the bureaucratic system grew out of the education system and the Dinghai school system was also a way to divide the spoils.

Zhang Juzheng talked about the other thoughts of these powerful and wealthy people. They burned incense and worshipped Buddha. Whether it was real Buddha or not, and whether it would work or not, required guidance from an expert. Whether they could enter the temple required a guide. However, the love for incense could be used in such places.

Political resources are an extremely expensive resource. Those who take on too much and engage in blatant corruption will definitely get themselves into trouble.

Yan Song was very covert in accepting bribes, but Yan Shifan was unsystematic in accepting bribes, and everyone knew about it. He even blackmailed Prince Yu's Mansion, so they naturally could not tolerate him.

How to bribe without any smoky eyes is a compulsory course for the powerful and wealthy.

How to put the money into one's pocket quietly and land it safely is a profound knowledge for all bureaucrats.

Bribery and corruption are never something that can be done simply by having money.

"I see." Zhu Yijun sighed and said, "The court has no money. Even if it had money, it wouldn't be their turn."

Zhang Juzheng thought for a moment and chose to tell the truth: "Your Majesty, the imperial court has a fixed amount of money and grain. Even the normal schools in various provinces are built with silver directly provided by the imperial court. In the end, they are still local normal schools, not the imperial court's."

"Besides, there are also high schools, secondary schools, and primary schools. Even if the imperial court's money is as vast as the Pacific Ocean, it would not be enough."

Before his death, Wan Shihe submitted a memorial saying that colonizers are inevitably localized in the process of colonization.

These colonists stayed in those places for a long time, and the information and education they received changed. Their ideas became increasingly different from those of the Ming people. They looked the same and even spoke Chinese, but their interests were no longer completely consistent with those of the Ming Dynasty.

The same was true for some envoys sent abroad. Because of the long distance or the different countries, they lived like foreign barbarians, without any regard for the interests of the Ming people. They would even follow the local barbarians and use the Ming Dynasty to pursue their own interests.

The same is true for schools at all levels, which are inevitably localized.

"Sir, what you mean is that in terms of cultural context, the Ming Dynasty should pay special attention to the fact that Kowloon University follows the imperial court closely?" Zhu Yijun frowned.

Wan Shihe only advocated that Southeast Asia, that is, within the Strait of Malacca, was the core interest of the Ming Dynasty. As for areas outside the Strait of Malacca, they were out of reach and could be left to the merchants.

What Zhang Juzheng meant by this was that he wanted the court to keep a firm control over the Kowloon University, so that top talents would be concentrated in the Ming court.

It's probably because the Kowloon University is the eldest son, and as for the other schools, the court will give more if it has money, and will just let them go if it has less.

"Your Majesty is wise." Zhang Juzheng bowed his head and said, he hoped that His Majesty would be more realistic and that those local schools would eventually be under the management of local government offices.

The court’s energy is not unlimited, and its money is not unlimited.

"What you said makes sense." Zhu Yijun agreed with Zhang Juzheng's suggestion. Gao Qiyu proposed the framework of the Dinghai school system, but this framework needed to be revised.

We must clearly understand the priorities and distinguish between close and distant relatives.

Zhang Juzheng no longer acknowledged Gao Qiyu as his student, but he still actively offered suggestions for the Dinghai school system that Gao Qiyu had developed. Zhang Juzheng also supplemented some issues that Gao Qiyu could not see.

"Your Majesty, the large sailing ships have arrived at the port again this year, and the silver imported from the West is only 3 million taels of silver, but this time there are 120,000 taels of gold." Zhang Juzheng talked about his other purpose of entering the palace, diplomacy.

The inflow of silver was slowing down visibly, and the large sailing ship sent by Felipe this time still did not have sufficient silver supply, which was really hard to accept for the Ming Dynasty.

The listed price of the Ming Dynasty is that one tael of gold is equal to sixteen taels of silver. Of course, this price will fluctuate greatly under Wang Qian's manipulation.

This time the large sailing ship arrived at the port, including the gold, it was worth only 5 million taels of silver, but these 120,000 taels of gold were not included in the liquidity of the currency. The currency of the Ming Dynasty was still silver and copper coins.

"With the slowdown in the inflow of silver, prices in major metropolises may be sluggish. Fortunately, the implementation of the Single Whip Law was stopped at the beginning of the year, otherwise I would not be a hero of the Wanli Reform, but a sinner." Zhang Juzheng was still a little scared.

The silver imported from the West was intermittent, and it almost caused Zhang Juzheng to fall into trouble.

Without sufficient supply of silver, the single-whip system of monetary tax could not be implemented.

The decline in prices has led to a reduction in the scale of production in workshops;
The scale cannot dilute the cost, the overall profit decreases, and the workshop owner can only squeeze the labor cost;

This further led to a reduction in scale, resulting in a decrease in goods, vicious competition among workshops, and lower labor remuneration. People were generally unwilling to buy non-essential goods, consumption declined, and demand decreased, ultimately leading to further economic downturn.

If the Ming Dynasty court used the "One Whip" method to withdraw silver at this time, it would be equivalent to withdrawing silver, which would be equivalent to reducing the liquidity of goods and further aggravating the money shortage and deflation.

"Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty is too big and requires too much silver." Zhang Juzheng sighed.

The essence of the problem is that the Ming Dynasty was too large. With a population of 130 million and a vast and complex territory, it was extremely difficult for the Ming Dynasty to transform its small peasant economy into a commodity economy.

It is really not enough to rely solely on silver as currency.

But the time has not yet come to issue treasure notes.

Zhu Yijun said helplessly: "Before we finish collecting gold, the money shortage will probably continue for a while."

"Your Majesty, you can actually issue an additional one million silver coins for overseas circulation, anchored by tobacco. Not many people in the Ming Dynasty recognize overseas circulation coins, but in Southeast Asia, there are still many people who recognize them." Zhang Juzheng put forward his own opinion.

To make the Ming Dynasty great again, neither the emperor nor his ministers thanked free trade. Now Zhang Juzheng meant to make the Nanyang barbarians suffer a little more and contribute to the liquidity of the Ming Dynasty's currency.

Could it be that the people of the Ming Dynasty, who were already suffering greatly, would suffer even more?

If this kind of thing happened to Westerners, they would have no doubts at all, and there would not even be any need to debate. The high moral disadvantage of the Ming Dynasty during the colonial era was real, and they actually had to think about, propose, and weigh the pros and cons of something like making the foreigners suffer.

This mentality is not conducive to colonial development.

"Then this is the only way. The slave laborers in the plantation are already suffering. I searched my pockets and didn't find much silver. I can't be kind either. I have no other choice but to issue an additional one million silver notes to supplement the currency." Zhu Yijun was silent for a moment and chose to agree.

Zhu Yijun was an emperor, but he was also a human being, not an omnipotent god. He could not create silver. To truly make silver cheap, it had to wait until the third industrial technological revolution, when silver became a by-product of electrolytic aluminum, that there would be almost endless silver.

This one million silver coins worth of overseas circulation notes were mainly used to exchange for red copper from Luzon.

"Your Majesty, the envoy from Western France this time is a woman, the Patriarch of the Great Illuminati, Marion de Montmorency." Zhang Juzheng leaned forward slightly and said with some concern: "She created the Free Knights, a 12,000-man religious army, a little too fast."

"Her father is a French field marshal, and her motives are not pure."

If he had come only as the Patriarch of the Great Light Church, Zhang Juzheng would not have thought so much about it, but this time Marion was also an envoy from France.

What this means is self-evident.

The French royal family is already in a precarious situation because of the issue of succession. It is like a piece of fat meat that everyone is eyeing. It is obvious to everyone that the Montmorency family wants to replace it.

Zhu Yijun immediately said: "Without sufficient benefits, I will not provide more help and support just to confer an additional overseas vassal king. That is just an empty title. Whether it is the King of Kings or the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets, it is not important."

"I have only one thing to say: everything is settled in silver!"

"That's what I mean. The West is too far away for the Ming Dynasty to interfere directly. France and Portugal are completely different, and Marion and Antonio are completely different. Without your Majesty's support, it will be questionable whether Antonio can continue to sit on the throne." Zhang Juzheng reminded of the risks.

In the 34th year of the Jiajing reign, France launched an attack on Rio de Janeiro, the capital of the Spanish Governorate of Brazil, but ended in failure. After that, France relied on the northern Atlantic route to carry out colonial activities in the northeast of North America, but it was not very smooth.

Overall, France is not qualified to sit at the table when it comes to colonization.

Zhang Juzheng frowned and said, "At present, Marion can't produce much. The only thing worth paying attention to is the nautical chart and compass chart of the northern Atlantic route. Due to geographical reasons, it is not of great value to the Ming Dynasty."

"As for Marion's promotion of the Great Light Cult, I don't think it's necessary."

Zhang Juzheng was a scholar-official. He never understood why religion was such a big deal. The Westerners fought over such a small matter and got their heads broken and bloodied.

In fact, most of the Ming Dynasty scholars and officials found it difficult to understand why religion became the representative of Western order.

King Antonio of Portugal was able to receive aid from the Ming Dynasty because the Ming Dynasty was in urgent need of a fulcrum in the West at that time, so it granted a war loan and paid it in the form of a five-masted ocean-going ship.

The return on this investment was very high. Portugal paid 4% interest for the -year extension, but the Ming Dynasty had already recovered its costs long ago, and it was pure profit afterwards.

At that time, the cost of a five-masted ocean-going ship was not high, but the selling price was extremely expensive. Even so, if Felipe II wanted to buy one, he had to queue up.

The Ming Dynasty's excessive interference in Western affairs would not be worth the cost, as interference would cost manpower, material resources and financial resources.

"Your Majesty, the Shah's envoy has arrived, and he has brought with him the Mughal prince, Salim." The eunuch walked into the imperial study and reported the envoy's arrival.

"Announce." Salim is the eldest son of Akbar of the current Mongol Empire. Salim is not an easy person to deal with, which makes Akbar love and hate him. There is no way out, so he has to send Salim to Ming Dynasty to study. It is better not to go back in the short term.

Salim didn't do anything, he just became a little impatient waiting for the throne, so he started a small rebellion and almost succeeded.

Akbar was the actual founding emperor of the Mughal Empire. Without Akbar, there would be no Mughal Empire's rule over the South Asian subcontinent for more than 200 years. To be able to almost succeed in treason under such a powerful ruler, it would have been impossible without some skills.

Akbar had three sons. Among them, Salim was the most talented and showed extraordinary wisdom since childhood.

Emperor Akbar had been a man of many talents throughout his life, but when it came to the issue of succession, he lacked the decisiveness and iron-fisted approach he once had. He chose to forgive Salim and sent him to study in the Ming Dynasty.

"Greetings, Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty." Shah Mamtim saluted respectfully, and then something happened that gave him a splitting headache!

Salim did not kneel down, but looked at the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty with curiosity.

"Excuse me, the Shah's envoy."

"You're quite courageous." Zhu Yijun looked calmly as he looked at Salim, who was about eighteen or nineteen years old, at the rebellious stage of being the eldest, second only to the eldest and third in the family. He was dressed like a typical Turkified Mongolian, wearing a gold and black turban and a yellow jacket embroidered with various patterns.

Zhu Yijun asked with a smile: "Why, you are not convinced by kneeling before me?"

"You are a young king. You have no outstanding achievements. Why should I kneel down to you?" Salim said with some pride, half raising his head.

Shah Mamtim didn't know how to translate. This trouble-making prince had caused a huge disaster. Salim didn't know what kind of existence he had angered.

At the emperor's command, a navy of 130,000 might really be deployed in the Indian Ocean to capture his father and bring him to the capital to charge him with disrespect.

Zhu Yijun didn't even wait for the translation. Salim had a defiant look on his face, with two words written on his face: I don't accept!
Zhu Yijun had a lot of experience with this kind of children. Zhu Yiliu had shown this kind of expression many times. The best way to deal with this kind of rebellious children is to beat them. If one beat is not enough, then beat them again.

"You are also a martial artist. Let's go to my martial arts room and take a walk." Zhu Yijun stood up, looked at Zhang Juzheng and asked, "Has Captain Luo arrived?"

"Here I am, Your Majesty..." Zhang Juzheng said with his head bowed.

"Don't worry, sir. I am not a kid anymore. He is disrespectful and doesn't know the importance of things. I am the ruler of a country." Zhu Yijun said with a smile, "I will not fight him. I will fight Luo Sigong and let Luo Sigong beat him."

"Call Big Bear again."

"Your Majesty is wise." Zhang Juzheng bowed his head again. Your Majesty is the ruler of a country and the most important person in the country. If he rashly fights with princes of other countries, once anything happens, it will be a diplomatic accident of the magnitude of a landslide.

Xiong Tingbi wanted to go to Korea to fight against the Japanese invaders, and wanted to return to Suiyuan to continue suppressing the horse bandits. The emperor was reluctant to let him go, and asked him to prepare well for the Jinshi examination, and pass the civil Jinshi examination first, and not to rush to make achievements, but to consolidate the gains from Suiyuan.

It's just the right time to bring them together for a fight, and don't accuse Luo Sigong of taking advantage of his age to bully him, a foreigner.

About a quarter of an hour later, Zhu Yijun put on his armor, finished warming up, and started fighting with Luo Sigong. Luo Sigong was a stubborn person who didn't think about being submissive at all. His moves were fierce and fast. If you knew that he was his childhood friend, you would think he was the murderer of his father.

The emperor has ordered: Go all out and don't hold back.

Zhu Yijun's response was very easy. In a total of twenty rounds, Luo Sigong only won one game and lost eighteen.

In the last round, Luo Sigong was already a little tired of parrying. Zhu Yijun took advantage of the opportunity and hooked his foot on Luo Sigong's outstretched left foot. The kick was fast, accurate and powerful, and Luo Sigong was knocked to the ground.

"You are still the same, your lower body is unstable." Zhu Yijun stretched out his hand and pulled Luo Sigong up.

Luo Sigong was disgraced that year because he could not stand steadily in horse stance and fell to the ground. Then, just like now, Your Majesty reached out his hand and pulled him up, and also pulled him out of the hell of being blamed by everyone.

In a fight, what you are competing for is actually the basic skills. The more solid the foundation, the more adept the fighting will be. When the skills reach a high level, the attacks and withdrawals become almost instinctive.

Luo Sigong's talent was not as good as the emperor's, especially in lower body kung fu, so the older he got, the more Luo Sigong lost.

"I am ashamed." Luo Sigong said helplessly, "I am no longer qualified to give advice to Your Majesty."

"It's okay. I've been looking for you for so many years, and you're the only one who dares to fight with all your strength." Zhu Yijun took off his helmet and said with a smile: "When you leave, take a stewed goose back. There are too few dodos, and I can't bear to eat them."

This is the truth. Even Zhu Yiliu was like this. The older he got, the less he dared to use his full strength. Later on, he couldn't even fight back. He fell down before the sword even arrived. The point was that Your Majesty was a martial arts master!
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace." Luo Si thanked him respectfully.

After each sparring session, His Majesty would reward us with some food. It didn’t matter what the food was specifically, as it was a sign of His Majesty’s favor.

"Beat him up." Zhu Yijun looked at Salim beside him and whispered.

Salim was indeed a martial artist. He could see that in the fierce battle just now, both the king and his ministers had fought with all their strength without holding back. Every move was extremely dangerous and a killing move.

Salim accepted Luo Sigong's challenge and was defeated.

Luo Sigong had already fought with the emperor for twenty rounds. Even though he had used up most of his strength, he still managed to ruthlessly crush Salim. Salim was beaten so badly that he had no power to fight back at all. It was as easy as an adult beating a child.

When it comes to wrestling, one can tell at a glance whether one has the strength or not. Luo Sigong already has the strength to be a sharp soldier, and Salim is really no match for him.

"Now, this troublemaker has finally surrendered." Zhu Yijun said happily to Zhang Juzheng while sitting on the armchair in the martial arts room.

There were ten rounds in total. Salim didn't win once, and he didn't launch any effective attack either. Luo Sigong was holding back a little and was letting Salim win the whole time, making fun of him for ten rounds.

His Majesty asked him to beat people, not to kill people.

"It's very ordinary. It's difficult to even enter the Beijing camp." Luo Sigong came down from the battlefield and gave a fair evaluation.

Salim had no time to show off his rebelliousness, because the next person to come on stage was Xiong Tingbi!

Xiong Tingbi had no intention of letting him off at all. They were of the same age, so why should he let him off?
Full firepower, full momentum!
In ten rounds, Salim fell to the ground with his armor on for a full ten times. Each time he fell heavily. In the end, Salim couldn't even get up. He lay on the ground, took off his helmet, and gasped.

At this time, Salim was lying on the ground, doubting his life.

Among the three people who went into battle from the Ming Dynasty, the emperor was the strongest, followed by Xiong Tingbi, and then Luo Sigong. He was invincible in the Mongol Empire, but when he came to the Ming Dynasty, he couldn't survive a single round.

Xiong Tingbi came before His Majesty, bowed his head and said, "I am indeed ordinary and cannot enter the Beijing camp."

"Very good, take a stewed goose with you when you leave." Zhu Yijun said with a smile.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Xiong Tingbi also ate the big goose.

Shah Mamtim walked over, his face extremely excited, and kept lecturing. He helped Salim stand up from the ground and take off his armor before he went before the emperor to pay his respects again.

"Greetings to Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty, long live Your Majesty." Salim performed a not-so-standard five bows and three kowtows, and greeted in broken Chinese.

"Do you know why your father sent you to the Ming Dynasty?" Zhu Yijun did not let Salim stand up. After Shah Mamtim translated, the emperor continued: "Your father told me that he didn't know who he was. This is a great sorrow."

"Your father, you, your descendants, and your grandchildren, generation after generation, must ponder this question: Who am I?"

Zhu Yijun asked Feng Bao to bring the letter written by Akbar himself, which had been prepared long ago. The letter had many errors in Mongolian but could contain long sentences in Persian.

"You are not yet king, you are still very young, and you do not know the importance of who I am." Zhu Yijun held the letter and said, "If you do not want to receive education in the Ming Dynasty, I can return your tuition and you can go back."

"I allowed you to receive education in the Ming Dynasty because of your father's earnest prayers."

Who am I? This is very important and involves the fundamental issue of identity in the construction of a country.

Akbar called studying abroad "roots-seeking".

For a ruler, it is a great sorrow and irony that he cannot even figure out who he is and where he comes from. His rule will also become precarious because of identity.

Akbar really made an earnest request, hoping that the Ming Dynasty could teach something to these international students. Even if it was not science and engineering subjects, just teaching the Four Books and Five Classics would be a courtesy.

The tuition fees for international students like Salim are really expensive, costing 3 taels of silver per student, not to mention the % profit margin on cotton trade.

"Do you want to go back?" Zhu Yijun asked Salim what he thought.

Salim thought for a long time before he kowtowed again and said, "No, I will go back after I finish my studies."

Salim is really a loser because he is confused. Akbar had killed him long ago. His rebellion to seize the throne failed, but he is still alive and is the crown prince. Akbar has high hopes for Salim.

"I sincerely apologize for my recklessness and thank His Majesty the Emperor for his tolerance and kindness. I have a treasure to present to Your Majesty as compensation." Salim bowed again and communicated frequently with Shah Mamtim.

After Shah Mamtim confessed his crime to the emperor, he left the martial arts room.

Salim didn't get up either. It would be insincere to apologize with empty hands.

Zhu Yijun and Zhang Juzheng talked about state affairs, mainly about the many issues of the Korean War, which involved many problems.

For example, Korea needed more officials, but the Ming Dynasty could not send many scholars and officials. No one was willing to go to the remote and poor areas. In the eyes of the Ming Dynasty scholars and officials, Korea was not as good as Suiyuan and Liaodong. However, Korean scholars and officials could not be employed. Many of them were from the civil and military classes, so only some schools could be established in Korea.

Until Korean scholars and officials are trained and matured, Korea will remain in a state of semi-military control.

"Your Majesty, this is an apology from His Highness Salim." Shah Mamtim walked up to the emperor holding a box, showing a rare painful expression. It was obvious that the items in the box were extremely precious.

When Feng Bao took the box from Shah Mamtim, Shah Mamtim was reluctant to let go.

Feng Bao opened the box and examined it carefully for a long time. He turned the box to His Majesty with a look of shock and said, "A huge diamond, shining brightly."

A diamond the size of a baby's fist appeared in front of Zhu Yijun. It was the first time that Zhu Yijun had seen such a big diamond. Zhu Yijun picked up the diamond in front of him and took a look at it. The diamond was smooth and translucent without any impurities.

"Send it to the Queen." Zhu Yijun didn't care much. Whenever he had something good, he would think of Wang Yaozhuo.

Shah Mamtim said with a painful look on his face: "This is Koh-i-Noor, or the Mountain of Light. It was discovered in the Kohler Mountains more than 200 years ago. It is extremely precious. Your Majesty, I am sure that His Highness Salim is indeed very sincere."

Even Shah Mamtim thought it was too valuable. It was indeed a treasure.

"No need to be polite." Zhu Yijun said calmly: "I am indeed sincere."

Salim bowed again with trembling hands and said sincerely, "Your Majesty is indeed a philosopher king. Facing such a treasure, he still has no greed. Even my father is afraid of this mountain of light."

"My father said that he who is not controlled by fear or lust, and who is free even in chains, is the philosopher king."

"Nonsense! I just prefer silver." Zhu Yijun shook his head in denial. He was a vulgar man, and his ideas were completely different from those of the philosopher king.

(End of this chapter)