I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 121 Sooner or later you will remember my kindness!
Zhu Yijun saw the expressions of the crowd.

What's so hard to understand?

However, since they were all his trusted associates, Zhu Yijun was still willing to explain a few words.

"Opening up border trade can bring peace to the border, so why not do it? But whether it is decided by the Shanxi merchants and the Shanxi Party or by me is completely different.

If the Shanxi merchants and the Shanxi Party join forces to promote the opening of border trade, they will control it and we will have nothing to do with it! If I push it, the horse market in the northern market will be under our control.

Shanxi merchants controlled the market. They didn't care what could be sold and what couldn't be sold! As long as they could make money, they dared to sell anything! Before the border trade was opened, they dared to sell weapons and ironware.

If the horse market in the market is controlled by them, do you think they would dare to sell it?"

Everyone was stunned. Yes, it would probably sell even better.

"I'm promoting border trade, so I have to set the rules. It's still the old rules. The Coordination Bureau controls remotely, issues licenses, and follows the Southeast Sea trade practice.

The Southeast Sea Merchants License System has been in place for several years, and there are many loopholes in it. Smuggling, tax evasion, and smuggling of banned goods are all done to the extreme. It doesn't matter. There is no perfect rule in this world.

The key is that we can find out and stop it.”

Zhu Yijun shook his sleeves and talked freely.

Everyone looked at the young man, no one dared to underestimate his youth, and everyone pricked up their ears and listened attentively.

"It's the same in the north. If we want to open border trade, we have to follow our rules. Ruzhen is now in Shanxi Xuanda. We have been working hard to rectify the situation. We have eliminated those who should be eliminated. The whole army has returned to their loyalty. The situation is under our control, so we can open border trade.

Select three to five checkpoints and designate them for mutual trade. Issue five to ten licenses, which are issued by the Coordination Bureau. The Mutual Trade Bureau of the Lifanyuan Trade Bureau will set up mutual trade sub-bureaus at those checkpoints, just like the Shibo Sub-bureau, to supervise the mutual trade and collect tariffs.

Border troops are like naval forces, responsible for checking smuggling and plugging loopholes. The Trade Hall draws up a catalogue, which clearly states what can be sold and what cannot be sold. It is also clear how much tariffs are levied on what can be bought and sold. Some people must know that the Ming Dynasty does not prohibit merchants from making money, but there is some money that you can earn but not spend! "

Everyone understood.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been playing chess and arranging the pieces.

This is true in the southeast and the north.

As soon as the situation in the southeast stabilized, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince took advantage of the Guihai Incident to transfer Hu Zongxian, Tan Lun, Qi Jiguang and others to the north to take control of the western border towns of Ji, Liao, Xuan and Dashan.

This move is bound to cause backlash from Shanxi merchants and the Shanxi Party.

During that period, the Jin Party headed by Gao Gong was desperately looking for trouble with Hu Zongxian and others, and even used Lu Tong's bombardment of Hirado Port as an excuse to impeach Lu Tong for holding his own troops and provoking border conflicts, which led to his death.

Then, using Lu Tong as an excuse, they tracked down Hu Zongxian and thoroughly defeated the Prince's Party, and expelled Hu Zongxian and others from the Nine Frontiers.

Unexpectedly, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince assisted Emperor Chengzu in crossing the Yinshan Mountains five times and plundering the enemy's court three times, and characterized Lu Tong's bombardment of Hirado Port as the Emperor's military achievement of punishing the criminals and comforting the people, in order to comfort the souls of hundreds of thousands of victims of the Japanese invasion in the southeast.

The emperor just wanted to wash away the bad reputation of neglecting state affairs in recent years, which led to the rampant Japanese invasion in the southeast, so he acquiesced and issued an edict to inform the world. The Jin Party was defeated in one move, and the reputation of the Prince Party in the southeast was further enhanced.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was no pushover either. He took advantage of the clues that Hu Zongxian found when he was rectifying Xuanda in Shanxi to conduct a secret investigation. He then turned around and traced back the root cause of the Gengxu Incident. He accused the Shanxi merchants and the Shanxi Party of treason and colluding with the enemy in order to open up border trade. He then chopped off thousands of heads in one breath.

The powerful Shanxi merchants were almost wiped out, and the Shanxi Party was also seriously injured.

The leaders of the Jin Party, Gao Gong and Yang Bo, had no choice but to resign and return home in disgrace.

It was thrilling to watch at the time, but looking back now, wasn't it His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who led the Shanxi merchants and the Shanxi Party step by step into the abyss just for the current situation?

The Lifanyuan was established some time ago, and the Department of Commerce was under the jurisdiction of the Maritime Customs Bureau and the Inter-country Trade Bureau.

At that time, everyone felt that the establishment of the Border Trade Bureau was unnecessary, as there had never been any border trade in the north and west.

Now it seems that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had already made a plan.

Xu Wei said, "Your Highness, we agree to open border trade. What conditions do we need to put forward?"

As the executor of many of Zhu Yijun's secret operations, Xu Wei was the one who knew the inside story best, and his heart was calm. When he heard that Zhu Yijun agreed to open border trade with Altan Khan, the first thing he thought of was what conditions to put forward.

Xu Wei already knew very well that it was not so easy to get the benefits from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

"Of course there are conditions. Generally speaking, the Ming Dynasty will not suffer any loss from opening up border trade, but Altan Khan will benefit greatly.

He controls the trade with our Ming Dynasty, and can make a lot of money by reselling our goods to the north and west. While strengthening his power, it can also help him win over his subordinates, as well as gather and detain the subordinates and allies in the west and north, and consolidate his rule there.

So over the years, Altan Khan has been trying every possible way to open up border trade with the Ming Dynasty."

Li Zhi's eyes lit up, as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince revealed the secret in one sentence.

Many famous scholars of the Jin Party kept saying that Altan Khan opened up border trade with the Ming Dynasty because he could not bear the suffering of the people and wanted to stop fighting and rest. They were moved by the teachings of saints and understood the principles of benevolence.
Many people believed it and kept saying that the court was not concerned about the people's feelings and the lives of the people by not opening up border trade.

Fortunately, the Jin Party had political enemies in the court who knew that these were all nonsense. Although they were not clear about the most fundamental reason, they were unwilling to let the Jin Party get the big fat meat, so it has been dragged on until now.

Today, the Crown Prince casually revealed the secret of Altan Khan's long-cherished wish to open border trade, which was exactly what Li Zhi was thinking, that everything was related to utilitarianism.

No one does anything without a reason, and no one will do anything without benefits!
Even when doing good deeds, we also want to gain inner comfort and satisfaction.

Zhu Yijun continued, "Now that we have let Altan Khan take advantage, they must agree to our terms.

First of all, they must trade at designated ports, must trade with licensed businesses, and pay taxes according to the law. They must trade according to the product catalog, and they cannot force people to sell what they cannot.

From now on, Altan Khan must strictly control his people and not disturb the border again. Three to five checkpoints are used to demarcate areas. If Altan Khan's people cause trouble in a certain area, the checkpoint will be closed for a period of time.

Altan Khan will place the heads of the troublemakers at the checkpoint, and we will reopen the market. If there is trouble once a month, we will lock them up for a month. If there is trouble three times a year, we will lock them up for a year.

Everyone nodded repeatedly, yes, that's right!
The Ming Dynasty agreed to open border trade, and one important reason was that it hoped for peace on the border.

What's the point of opening up border trade if the Tumed people still cause trouble every other day?
"In addition, the White Lotus leader Zhao Quan and his gang who fled to the south of the desert previously killed officials and rebelled in the Shuo and Dai areas of Shanxi. Their crimes are unforgivable. Tell Altan Khan to arrest all these people and send them back. The Ming Dynasty will punish them according to the law!"

Zhu Yijun put forward more than a dozen conditions in succession, and Xu Wei silently kept them in mind.

He made a preliminary assessment and thought that Bershall would most likely agree to it, or at least would agree to most of the conditions. He just needed to persuade him and talk slowly.

Xiyuan, in the side hall of Wanshou Palace.

After reading the secret report from the East Factory, Emperor Jiajing threw it aside, put his hands in his sleeves, stood up, and said to Huang Jin.

"Burn these papers. Don't let Jun'er see them, and don't let him know."

"The servant knows."

Huang Jin responded, reached out and hid the secret report in his sleeve, followed Emperor Jiajing, slowly walked out of the side hall, and came to the corridor outside the hall.

Emperor Jiajing looked up at the sky and saw rows of wild geese flying southward.

"The falling leaves herald the coming of autumn." Emperor Jiajing suddenly sighed and asked without turning his head, "Huang Jin, do you still remember the day when we, master and servant, set out from Chengtian Prefecture to Beijing?"

"I will remember this for the rest of my life."

"I remember it too. What I can't do in this life, maybe Jun'er can do it."

"Your Majesty, that is for sure."

"Haha, my good saintly grandson, you have bigger ideas than me, stronger courage than me, and more methods than me. These civil officials will cry in the future.

It doesn’t matter. When they cry their hearts out, maybe they will think of me, the old Taoist emperor, and remember my kindness. They will remember how kind and compassionate I was back then.”

(End of this chapter)