I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 88 Emperor Jiajing started scolding again
Zhu Yijun wore a white deerskin hat with five-colored jade beads on it, a red skirt and a crimson gauze robe, a large belt around his waist with a jade pendant, and a large brocade ribbon behind him.

He walked in from the gate of Wanshou Palace, swinging his sleeves.

Emperor Jiajing put his hands in his sleeves, tilted his head slightly, and looked at him with a smile.

When Zhu Yijun was walking up the stairs holding up his clothes, he accidentally stepped on a corner of his clothes and fell to the ground.

Emperor Jiajing laughed and waved his hand to signal Huang Jin and Li Fang to quickly help Zhu Yijun.

Without waiting for the two men to help him, Zhu Yijun got up and walked to Emperor Jiajing.

"Grandpa Huang, your grandson is back."

"Did you have fun today?"

"It's not fun. I feel like I'm being watched by the officials like a monkey."

Emperor Jiajing laughed even more happily, and his three strands of beard kept shaking.

"You also treat them like monkeys and sit there and watch the show, isn't that good?"

"Grandpa Emperor, this is not good. The king treats his subjects like monkeys, and the subjects treat the king like monkeys."

Emperor Jiajing's face straightened and he nodded with satisfaction, "Yes, he is really my good grandson. The day before yesterday, he offered sacrifices to heaven and earth at the Tiandi Temple, yesterday he offered sacrifices to the ancestors at the Taimiao, and today he offered sacrifices at the Wenhua Hall. Jun'er did it in an orderly manner, and even the most demanding old teacher could not find any faults.

Your father, my good prince, yawned constantly. The day before yesterday, when offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, he fell asleep while kneeling while listening to the priest reading the sacrificial text. If you hadn't helped him up, he would have almost made a fool of himself.

Yesterday, when offering sacrifices to the ancestors, he knelt there and actually took out a small bottle of wine from his arms and took two sips. Hehe, Jun'er, did your father ask you if you wanted to have a few sips? "

"No. Grandpa Huang, he didn't ask about that. He just glared at me fiercely when he took out the bottle and told me not to say anything."

"My good prince."

Looking at Emperor Jiajing who was sighing, Zhu Yijun couldn't help but mutter in his heart.

You threw my father and fourth uncle out of the palace when they were young, and ignored them. When they grew up, you sent a few Hanlin scholars to teach them. But no one taught him how to be a man, how to be a crown prince.

My father was better. He was always under your watch and didn't dare to let himself go. But my fourth uncle let himself go completely and ended up ascending to heaven.

I think I am lucky to be able to recite the "Tao Te Ching" and "Tai Shang Ganying Pian", which shocked the emperor, and then live with this lonely and brave Taoist practitioner.

Then I discovered that Grandpa Huang was actually extremely lonely inside, but he had no one to confide in, and by chance I filled this gap.

A mature soul in his forties, with insights beyond his age and unbiased evaluations, so two lonely souls, one old and one young, came together.

it's fate.

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Jun'er, go change into your regular clothes. I've asked the imperial kitchen to prepare the skewers you mentioned. Let's try them together. Let me see if the peppers that Westerners brought from overseas are really as delicious as you said?"

After half an hour, Emperor Jiajing said with sweat all over his forehead: "Wow, this pepper is really amazing! It's so spicy!"

Zhu Yijun ate the last skewer of beef, wiped the sweat off his face, stuck out his tongue and said, "Yes, yes, it's very spicy, very spicy!"

Emperor Jiajing took the tea bowl, rinsed his mouth, washed his hands and face in the copper basin, and waited by the side.

Zhu Yijun took a look at the jar. The soup inside was red, reflecting your little face. There was a layer of oil on it, with sesame seeds and chili skins floating on it.

Among all delicious foods, only spicy food can be regarded as divine!
After rinsing his mouth and washing his hands and face, Zhu Yijun followed Emperor Jiajing and slowly walked out of the Wanshou Palace.

The two of them turned into the garden next to them in the sunset and afterglow.

Xiyuan itself is a huge garden surrounding the three lakes of North, Middle and South Seas, with birds singing and flowers blooming everywhere, and the scenery is pleasant. No wonder Grandpa Huang lives here and refuses to move away.

It's much more comfortable to live here than in the lifeless Forbidden City.

The key is that there is water everywhere, so there is no need to worry about the palace catching fire and there is nowhere to escape.

The Forbidden City is prone to fire. In addition to conspiracy theories, there is actually another important reason, which is that it is easily struck by lightning.

A large area near the Forbidden City was not allowed to build any buildings taller than it. A few palaces stood in the empty space, and the thunder would strike no one else.

The problem is easy to solve. Just add a lightning rod to each palace.

But the Forbidden City is not mine yet, there is still a father between us. I am so enthusiastic and anxious that others think I want to own the Forbidden City.

Imperial power is a very serious thing.

I am in Xiyuan and am so close to the Emperor, but I only dare to talk about the affection between grandparents and grandchildren.

Wait a minute, there are so many palaces in the Forbidden City, if I chop them down one by one, I will have enough space to live when I ascend the throne.

Emperor Jiajing seemed very excited today.

He was suffering from heavy metal poisoning, and his sense of taste and gastrointestinal tract were seriously disordered. Only something as stimulating as spicy food could make him feel a little different.

"Jun'er, I've been looking through the accounts of the Coordination Bureau over the past few days and found a big problem."

Emperor Jiajing spoke leisurely as he walked in the style of cultivating immortals.

Zhu Yijun was delighted, as the foreshadowing he had laid finally worked.

"Grandpa Huang, what problem did you find?"

Emperor Jiajing stopped his immortal cultivation steps, inhaled and exhaled, and after a period of regulating his breathing, he let out a long breath and then said leisurely: "The tribute system established by the Second Ancestor is simply too wasteful."

"The tribute system? Is it the tribute system established by Emperor Taizu?"

"Correct."

The tribute ship system refers to a series of diplomatic and trade measures towards overseas vassal states formulated by Zhu Yuanzhang during the Hongwu period, following the tribute trade system of the former Song Dynasty.

The basic principle was that foreign envoys coming to China were allowed to bring with them commercial goods in addition to tribute. Non-tributary countries were strictly prohibited from entering the Ming Dynasty and were not allowed to have exchanges.

The Ming Dynasty had specific regulations on the tribute period, tribute routes, number of ships and number of tribute payers from overseas countries coming to China to pay tribute.

There are three types of tribute periods: usually every three years (such as Siam, Goryeo/Korea), every two years (such as Ryukyu) for nearby countries, and every ten years (such as Japan) for distant countries.

In order to identify the authenticity of tribute ships, in the 16th year of Hongwu, the Ministry of Rites formulated the Kanhe system and issued Kanhe documents to 59 overseas vassal states including Siam.

After the tribute ship arrived at the port, it would first be inspected by the Maritime Customs, and only those that met the requirements would be allowed to enter the capital to pay tribute.

The commercial goods brought by tribute ships can be brought into the capital by tribute envoys. During the three or five days when the Huitongguan is open for business, Ming merchants and military and civilians can transport non-prohibited goods into the hall and conduct "fair transactions" under the supervision of personnel sent by the Ministry of Rites.

It is also possible to conduct trade at the location of the Maritime Customs, which will be presided over by the Maritime Customs and have officials set up brokerage offices to trade with the people.

From the Hongwu and Yongle periods to the Xuande and Zhengtong periods, tribute trade was completely tax-free.

It was not until the Hongzhi and Zhengde periods that the tax collection system was implemented, with different tax rates.

During the Hongzhi period, the Beijing Huitongguan levied a tax of 5% on trade.

During the Zhengde reign, a tax of 2% was levied on trade in the Guangdong Maritime Customs Office, and this was generally followed thereafter.

Our dynasty also follows this example, that is, the tariff during the Jiajing period was 20%.

Emperor Jiajing put his hands in his sleeves and said angrily: "These overseas vassal states, every time they pay tribute, they offer a few pieces of scrap copper and iron, write a memorial of congratulations with great care, and they can deceive a lot of gifts in return.

The full shipload of goods could be sold for money, and a lot of Ming silk, tea, and porcelain could be bought back to the country, making huge profits.

However, I have looked through the account books of the Coordination Bureau in recent years and found that licensed trade has been implemented, and ships from overseas countries can travel freely to and from Ming Dynasty, trade with licensed maritime merchants, and pay taxes.

I did a preliminary calculation and found that annual transactions have more than tripled and taxes have more than quintupled.

These bastards!"

Emperor Jiajing became more and more indignant!

"I won't talk about my ancestors, but in this dynasty alone, over the past thirty years, these bastards have colluded with both the inside and the outside world, and embezzled so much of my silver every year under the guise of paying tribute! It's all my silver!

These bastards!"

(End of this chapter)