The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

Cao Jixiang really wanted to hit Pan Yun, but he still listened to what was said.

The emperor did not want to lift the maritime ban at first, but after being persuaded by his court officials, he softened his stance.

When Cao Jixiang left Beijing, the emperor had already planned to lift the maritime ban in several coastal cities, such as Quanzhou, Nanjing, Suzhou and Tianjin.

However, the emperor only wanted to set up customs offices in these cities and partially open up maritime trade, but he did not think that he would have to pay taxes when he shipped out his ships. Pan Yun wanted to make such a suggestion through him, wouldn't that make him anger the emperor?

If Wang Zhen adds fuel to the fire and sows discord among them, he will be in danger.

So Cao Jixiang did not plan to report the matter, but he took these words to heart.

Cao Jixiang was a good commander of troops, literate, and had always been by the emperor's side. He knew very well how difficult it was to get a new decree from its birth to the state, to the prefecture, and then to the county, and finally to its implementation.

Not to mention the distant past, Emperor Taizu stipulated that merchants could only wear soap and white, and were not allowed to wear bright colors such as red, yellow, purple, and blue. However, in the more than 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, have merchants ever abided by this rule?

From today's perspective, this decree may never be truly implemented. Can the local government really lock up a big businessman and throw him in jail just because he wore blue or red clothes?

Similarly, even if the policy of lifting the maritime ban is announced, no one knows when it will be lifted and to what extent.
Not to mention requiring government ships to pay taxes like private ships, which is something we dare not even mention.

Even if Cao Jixiang didn't mention it, the Jinyiwei would report today's events truthfully to the emperor.

The carrier pigeon arrived in Beijing, so within two days, the emperor in the palace knew about the conversation between Pan Yun and Cao Jixiang in the front hall.

The emperor was so angry that he slammed the note on the table: "How outrageous!"

Wang Zhen, who was sitting not far away reviewing memorials for the emperor, immediately stood up and walked forward quickly: "Your Majesty, what happened?"

Seeing Wang Zhen's concerned expression, the emperor's expression eased a little. He was about to show him the note, but after thinking for a while, he put it down and shook his head, saying, "A bunch of idiots in Fujian have not been able to suppress the rebellion so far. Song Zhang is immoral and incompetent. I wish I could kill him. He allowed the rebellion to develop to this point and even dreamed of taking Nanjing and Suzhou."

Wang Zhen lowered his eyes and said, "Your Majesty, these rebels are so daring that we should send more troops to kill them. They want to attack Quanzhou, Nanjing and Suzhou. It is obvious that they are targeting the Japanese silver mountain. Minister Chen mentioned that the silver mountain is as important as the Ming Dynasty's circulating banknotes. The rebels want to rule the world on behalf of the Zhu family. They have evil ambitions. It is not too much to kill all their clans."

The emperor lowered his eyes and said, "I also want to send more people, but now is the time for rice harvesting in various places. The Ministry of War reported that the Southwestern Yi tribe is ready to move again and is likely to invade again. In the northwest, north and northeast, the Oirat, Tatar and Jurchen are also making unusual movements, and we need to send troops to patrol. Sending troops requires not only soldiers and horses, but also food and military equipment. The Ministry of Revenue said that after the disaster relief, they can no longer pay the soldiers."

"These are all excuses from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War." Wang Zhen said, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of War is still headed by Wang Ji, but Wang Ji is already 66 years old and Lian Po is old. We must train new generals. Otherwise, the Ministry of War will have to listen to the opinions of Yu Qian, Shi Heng, and Jiang Gui in the future. Among these three, Yu Qian has a bad temper and will not act according to your Majesty's wishes.

Shi Heng is like a fence-sitter, sometimes he listens to Your Majesty, sometimes he listens to the cabinet; Jiang Gui is even more obedient, he obeys Wang Ji and is a man of old honors. "

Wang Zhen whispered, "Your Majesty needs the Ministry of War to obey you completely, so that you can control the troops of the world as if they were your own arms."

The more the emperor listened, the brighter his eyes became. Although Wang Ji was still relatively obedient, he was old and had made several contributions, so he always had the intention of retiring.

The emperor could sense it, and he didn't want to fight the Luchuan battle again.

But the Battle of Luchuan is the emperor's pride and his military achievement, which will be recorded in history books in the future and will be remembered forever. He must see it through to the end!
Wang Zhen was right, he needed a general who would completely obey his wishes.

Wang Zhen stole a glance at the emperor's face, took a step closer, and whispered, "If the Ministry of War is like this, the Ministry of Revenue should be even more so. Your Majesty, do you still remember the importance of Chen Shangshu's silver mine in the Shangshufang?"

The emperor said in a deep voice: "Of course I remember."

It was at that time that he was inclined to lift the maritime ban.

Chen Xun said: "If the output of the Japanese silver mine is as Pan Yun said, it is equivalent to building another Ming Dynasty overseas. Your Majesty, if the court cannot control such a silver mine, a hundred years later, my Central Plains will be in great disaster."

The emperor thought Chen Xun was exaggerating. Even the ministers who advocated lifting the maritime ban like Chen Xun thought he was exaggerating. The military commanders rolled their eyes at him and said, "Who is responsible for this disaster? Pan Yun? Isn't he a Taoist priest?"

Chen Xun shook his head: "No, it should come from Japan."

The civil and military officials couldn't help but laugh. Even Wang Ji laughed and said, "Minister Chen, there is a sea between Japan and the Ming Dynasty. Do you think it is possible to attack from the sea?"

Chen Xun: "Why is it impossible? Aren't the Japanese pirates rampant along the southeast coast from Japan?"

"Only a few thousand people," Wang Ji said, "Can our great China be conquered by a few thousand people?"

"If he can bring thousands of people, he can bring tens of thousands of people."

"That's only tens of thousands of people," even the civil servants couldn't help but refute him: "Could it be that the soldiers of our Ming Dynasty can't even take down tens of thousands of rebels?"

"That is, on the coast. If they dare to enter the mainland, I will make sure they never return!"

"Why do we have to wait for them to enter the mainland? Aren't the coastal areas and even the sea the territory of our Great Ming? If we have the ability, we should stop them overseas and not even let them get close to the sea!" "Japan is a tiny country with only tens of millions of people, less than the people of one state of ours. Why should we be afraid of it? Not to mention becoming a disaster for our Great Ming."

"Instead of looking at Japan, it is better to look at the Oirat, Tatar and Jurchen in the north. We have always heard that the northern barbarians went south to attack cities and seize territory, but we have never heard that the Japanese could cross the sea to attack the Central Plains."

Chen Xun waited for them to finish speaking before saying, "Everyone, don't forget this silver mountain. Just because they couldn't do it before and didn't dare to do it, doesn't mean they won't dare to do it in the future.

Of course, I also think that they can’t conquer my Central Plains, but war always hurts people. If they come, it will be a disaster for my Central Plains.”

"Wars are fought with people. They didn't dare to come before, but now they dare to come just because they have a mountain of silver?"

Chen Xun said: "Do you remember the notes issued by the Baochao Tizhusi?"

The ministers were silent. They remembered it very well. After all, banknotes were not printed very often nowadays, but this thing would still appear in their lives from time to time.

When the national treasury was short of money, sometimes it would give officials treasure notes instead of salaries.

Only the officials knew the pain of having the precious banknotes but being unable to spend them.

Seeing that they were quiet, Chen Xun continued, "If the value of Baochao is equal to that of silver, and the people of the world use Baochao as currency for transactions, and the power to mint coins lies with Your Majesty and the Ministry of Revenue, and you can print as many as you want, and no matter how many you print, its value is equal to that of silver and will not fluctuate too much, then what will happen to our Ming Dynasty?"

Emperor: "My Ming will be extremely strong!"

Chen Xun: "What will happen to the Ministry of Revenue?"

Cao Nai was shocked and whispered, "The Ministry of Revenue will be above the six ministries and can be compared with the Cabinet."

Chen Xun: "What about the Baochao Tizhusi?"

No one spoke.

Chen Xun said: "It can also override the cabinet and the six ministries. It can even decide whether to depose or enthrone the emperor. This is the right to issue currency. All the money in the world belongs to it."

Chen Xun bowed solemnly and said, "Your Majesty, the Japanese are narrow-minded and vicious, and their ambitions are no less than those of the Oirat and Tatars. They don't come here now, not because they don't want to, but because they don't dare.

Because they can't do it, they dare not. But once they find a silver mountain and mine it in large quantities, they can first use the silver to blast open the gates of our Ming Dynasty and the hearts of the people, and then take action, hoping to make this land theirs."

"This is wishful thinking! Minister Chen, have you been drinking today?"

Chen Xun said in a deep voice: "Governing a country is like building a career, it is like sailing against the current, if you don't move forward you will fall behind. Your Majesty, our Ming Dynasty has accumulated problems for a long time, if we don't make further progress..."

The emperor's face darkened, and Wang Zhen immediately shouted angrily: "How dare you!"

Wang Zhen asked, "My Great Ming is now rich and strong, where did the evil come from? Emperor Taizu Gao was the first person to create the world and unified the country after four hundred years of division. Emperor Taizong Wen made the four barbarians submit and the world was stable. Emperor Renzong Zhao also did not waste time and was enlightened in his administration. The previous emperor was also a great man of civil and military affairs. Could it be that Minister Chen thinks that the Empress Dowager and Your Majesty have caused the evils in the Great Ming?"

Chen Xun was not very courageous, and the courage he had just summoned was mostly dispersed by Wang Zhen. He could only kneel down and apologize: "I did not mean to do this, but the treasury is empty at this time. I often think that if the treasury is more abundant and the national strength is stronger, the next time there is a natural disaster, we can allocate relief money and food early, so that the people will no longer suffer from hunger and cold."

He paused, gritted his teeth and admitted his mistake: "I am not good at military affairs, so I may have thought wrongly. Japan is indeed a small country with a low status, and may not dare to invade, but the silver shortage in Ming Dynasty is real. Your Majesty, please lift the ban on sea trade and go to Japan to open mines."

"Not only that, Your Majesty, please send a letter to Japan to officially open the seaports of the two countries." Yang Shan, the Junior Secretary of the Honglu Temple, stepped out and said solemnly: "My Ming Dynasty is willing to pay a large sum of money to buy the silver mountain..."

"Buy?" General Jiang Gui couldn't help but ask, "Master Yang, are you out of your mind?"

Yang Shan: …

He said with a serious face: "Your Majesty, how can the Ming Dynasty, a great country, do such a mean thing? I ask Your Majesty to organize an embassy to go to Japan to buy the mountain, and order Japan to explain the massacre of the village by the Japanese pirates last year."

Jiang Gui shouted, "You asked them to give an explanation, and they gave it? In my opinion, there is no need to talk about this, just attack them directly. As for the silver mountain, we will send people to mine first. If they don't comply, we will just attack them directly."

Yang Shan: "It has lost the demeanor of a great country..."

Finally, the court meeting in the Shangshufang ended with the civil and military officials greeting each other's eighteen generations of ancestors. Because they cursed too vulgarly, and because new proposals and new problems emerged, the emperor was exhausted and did not want to discuss the matter for several days.

The emperor was inactive and the matter was put on hold for the time being. It was a secret report from the Imperial Guards that reminded him of the court meeting that day.

Although he was tired, the emperor had to make a choice: "Summon the people from the Cabinet, the Honglu Temple, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Works to come and discuss the matter." (End of this chapter)