My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 266 The Emperor Has to Pay Taxes
Xia Yuanji has no objection to the commercial use of official ships. After all, he is a person in charge of the economy, with a flexible mind and knows what it means to make the best use of everything.

But this kind of thing is not very easy to operate. If it is not done well, it is likely to be reported to Zhu Di by the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and it will not end well at that time.

So on the afternoon of the second day after returning to Beijing, Zhu Zhanhe decided to go to the palace to seek Zhu Di's opinion.

Wuying Hall, when Zhu Zhanhe entered the main hall, he saw that Zhu Di was discussing matters with Zhang Fu, so he stood aside and waited, listened to the content of the discussion between the two, and found that it was to strengthen the military defense around Beijing.

Soon the two of them finished discussing the matter, and after Zhang Fu resigned, Zhu Zhanhe stepped forward to salute and said, "See Grandpa Huang!"

"I heard that you have blocked the gate of the household department?"

Zhu Di asked without raising his head.

"It's not blocking the door, it's for the grandson to pay taxes!"

Zhu Zhanhe explained.

"Don't make excuses for me, I don't know your little thoughts?"

Zhu Di finally raised his head and glared at Zhu Zhanhe. He knew better than anyone else that Zhu Zhanhe used this to promote his voyage to the West.

"This...hehe~"

Zhu Zhanhe smiled cheekily, it wasn't a big deal anyway, and he didn't care if Zhu Di broke his mind.

"Take those carriages away today. After all, the Household Department is an important place for the imperial court. What is it like to be blocked by so many carriages at the door?"

Zhu Di reprimanded again.

"Grandson obeys!"

Zhu Zhanhe immediately agreed, anyway, the household department has been blocked for a day and a night, and the publicity effect has been achieved.

"By the way, I heard that I still have a share of the proceeds from this voyage?"

Zhu Di suddenly changed the subject and spoke again.

"Yes, and there are quite a few. The goods on the official ship of Zheng Neigong were also handed over to Zhang Zhong and his merchant ships for sale, and all the proceeds were sent back!"

Zhu Zhanhe immediately nodded and said.

"That's right, the three main halls have been destroyed, and now they need to be rebuilt. It's the time when I need money, so you send the money to the palace today!"

Zhu Di nodded in satisfaction, and then ordered.

"I'll give it away today, won't Grandpa Huang wait until the taxes are paid?"

Zhu Zhanhe was stunned for a moment before asking.

"What kind of tax to pay? It's already good if I don't ask the Ministry of Households for money, so I still need to pay taxes to them?"

Zhu Di stared, a little unreasonable.

"This one……"

Zhu Zhanhe was a little embarrassed, he hesitated for a while and finally persuaded him.

"Grandpa, Xu Jingchang, Zhang Chang and others were a little reluctant when they paid taxes to the Ministry of Households yesterday. After all, they have been enjoying the privilege of being tax-free. I'm afraid it will not be easy for them to continue paying taxes in the future."

"Why, are you still afraid that they will learn from me?"

Zhu Di snorted coldly and said, he is the emperor, how can others compare with him.

"Grandfather, how about this, even if you are pretending to pay taxes to the Ministry of Household Affairs, so that others will not dare to say anything, and I promise, I will help you make up for the taxes you paid, and it is definitely not worse than You pay less tax!"

Zhu Zhanhe suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and immediately proposed to Zhu Di.

"I remember that the tax amount set by the Ministry of Households for going to the West is quite large. You don't want to pay for the tax I paid, do you?"

Zhu Di asked curiously.

"You don't have to worry about this grandpa, anyway, your money will definitely be a lot in the end, and you may even get a little more."

Zhu Zhanhe chuckled and said, anyway, he must not be subsidizing Zhu Di with money himself.

"Okay, you can figure it out for yourself. Anyway, I need money very much now. Speaking of this, I want to tear Song Li into pieces!"

When Zhu Di mentioned Song Li, he also gritted his teeth. If it weren't for him, why would he rebuild the three halls?

Song Li had already been sentenced to death during the joint trial by the three divisions before, and now he is temporarily detained in the Imperial Prison, waiting to be executed in the autumn.

"Grandfather, I entered the palace today to discuss something with you!"

At this time, Zhu Zhanhe finally had the opportunity to tell his purpose of coming.

"whats the matter?"

Zhu Di asked casually.

"It's like this. The shipping fleet is about to return, but the ships are all empty. If we just go back like this, it would be too wasteful..."

Zhu Zhanhe briefly explained the matter, and finally said this.

"That's why Zhang Fu and the others feel that they can cooperate with private merchants to help them bring some goods when they return to the voyage. This can not only subsidize the shipping, but also speed up the circulation of goods in Daming."

After hearing Zhu Zhanhe's words, Zhu Di frowned all of a sudden, and he said after a while: "Aren't you an official ship merchant? If this precedent is set, other people will follow suit. In the future I'm afraid there will be more private use of public equipment, and even if you want to stop it, you won't be able to stop it!"

"Grandfather, in fact, this kind of thing has already happened. It's just that the people below did it secretly before, so it wasn't made public."

Zhu Zhanhe stood up straight and said again.

"What do you mean?"

Zhu Di frowned even tighter, and he felt that Zhu Zhanhe's next words would definitely reveal to him something he didn't know.

"Grandpa, you don't know. According to my previous investigation, every time the official water transport ship transports supplies, the officers and soldiers on the ship will carry some private goods with them to sell on the road, and all the proceeds belong to themselves! "

Zhu Zhanhe was also not polite, directly revealing the truth.

This is not because he is slandering the water transportation, but he is actually using the public to seek personal gain. Every time when the water transportation is carried out, there will be officers and soldiers who carry goods privately. The cargo shall not exceed [-]% of the cargo on board.

"What a big dog!"

Zhu Di slapped the table angrily when he heard the words. As Zhu Yuanzhang's son, he inherited his father's temper and hated corruption and bribery the most, but he didn't expect the people below to be so blatantly seeking personal gain for himself.

"Grandpa, please calm down. This kind of thing can't be stopped at all. Even if all the people on the water transport are killed, new people will still do it. Rather than letting them do it secretly, it's better to make things public and get income. Some subsidize the personnel, and some are handed over to the court, which is good for everyone!"

Zhu Zhanhe persuaded.

All he agreed with Mr. Qi's proposal was actually because he was afraid that the sea freight would also carry goods in private, so it was better to make it public from the beginning, so that the income would be more transparent and everyone would benefit.

Although Zhu Di was annoyed, his rationality told him that what Zhu Zhanhe said was right, this kind of thing couldn't be stopped at all, his father killed many corrupt officials back then, but corruption and bribery still happened from time to time.

In the end, Zhu Di was silent for a long time, and finally nodded helplessly: "Okay, you and Xia Yuanji discuss it, and you can decide how to operate it yourself!"

"Thank you, grandpa!"

Seeing that Zhu Di agreed, Zhu Zhanhe immediately said happily.

Then Zhu Zhanhe bid farewell and left, and when he was about to go to the household department, he suddenly received a message from Jin Yiwei: Song Li in prison wanted to see him.

(End of this chapter)