When the prince of no descendants found out that he had a baby, he went crazy

Chapter 92 Forced Purchase and Sale
At this time, the emperor, who was worried about money, was at a grand court meeting and scolded all the civil and military officials, "Useless, all of them are useless."

Xiao Junmo, who had just turned forty, had sleepy eyes and looked tired and listless.

After taking the pills refined by the Taoist priest, he became more energetic, but his temper also became extremely irritable.

When he thought about the fact that the national treasury had no money to build the imperial mausoleum, and that he had promised to build a unique palace for his favorite concubine, and that money was needed for everything, he could not help but get furious.

After venting his anger to the minister, Xiao Junmo said, "That minister can help me share my worries. I can give him a promotion by three levels."

The officials below gasped.

I have never heard of any emperor in any dynasty doing such a thing in order to raise money to build a mausoleum for himself to be buried after his death or to build a palace for his favorite concubine.

Originally all the officials were still keeping their heads down and pretending to be cowards, but after hearing the emperor's words, except for those high-ranking officials, they remained calm.

If other upright censors had not been stopped by their acquaintances, they would have run out and cursed the emperor for his incompetence and threatened to die for their advice.

But where there are upright officials, there are also treacherous and corrupt officials who are bent on climbing up the social ladder by flattering others with evil intentions.

Zheng Yongquan, who had entered the Maritime Customs as a fifth-rank official by marrying into the Wenchang Marquisate, felt that his chance for promotion and wealth had come when he heard what the emperor said.

During this period, he secretly colluded with the Prince of Wenchang Marquis's Mansion, his wife's brother, to resell many overseas trade licenses. Apart from handing over half of the money and keeping it in the account, the rest of the money went into their pockets like water.

Thinking about how I was once a poor scholar who was laughed at by others, I now not only have money, but also have the hope of being promoted to a third-rank official at a young age.

The corners of Zheng Yongquan's mouth raised uncontrollably, and he realized that when he and his classmates encountered an accident on the way to Beijing, abandoning the mother and child might have been the right choice.

Otherwise, even if he passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, without the help of his relatives, he would probably have no hope of staying in Beijing, let alone having such a good opportunity for promotion.

Zheng Yongquan lowered his head slightly and glanced at other officials out of the corner of his eyes. Some people around him also wanted to take advantage of the emperor's words and seize the opportunity to be promoted.

But they had no way to make money at the moment, and could not solve the problem of the emperor's need for money. They all sighed helplessly, feeling that time was running out.

So Zheng Yongquan came out and knelt in the center of the hall in front of everyone, and suggested to the emperor: "Your Majesty, I have a way to solve the problem of the empty treasury of the court."

When Ji Yuanhong saw his half-sister's husband from a poor family walk out, his face instantly darkened.

The Wenchang Marquis Mansion has gradually fallen into decline over the years. If they did not want to take advantage of Zheng Yongquan's official position to make a large amount of money to pave the way for the future development of the mansion, why would they have spent the effort to push Zheng Yongquan to this position?

Now, not long after he started making money, Zheng Yongquan wanted to kick out the Marquis' Mansion and offer the overseas trade to the emperor in order to get promoted. These powerful people could secretly gain a lot of benefits from this fat piece of meat.

Not noticing the other officials from aristocratic families who had planted themselves in the Maritime Customs Office to gain benefits, they all looked at Zheng Yongquan in the center of the hall with unfriendly eyes, wishing they could step forward and cover his mouth.

The prince of Wenchang Marquisate looked coldly at his half-sister's husband. He thought he was the only smart person in the court. Didn't he notice that other officials working in the Maritime Customs Office all showed mockery on their faces after seeing his behavior?

Although Zheng Yongquan's action flattered the emperor, it also angered the powerful people who wanted to make money from those wealthy businessmen. Even if he was promoted later, he would not be able to keep it for long due to the obstruction of these people.

At this time, Ji Yuanhong, the son of Wenchang Marquis, also received dissatisfied looks from other dignitaries.

Stopping someone from making money is like killing their parents.

Who else would be the target of public anger if not Zheng Yongquan, since he was brought into the Wenchang Marquisate to be an official in charge of issuing overseas trade licenses?

When Ji Yuanhong, the son of Wenchang Marquis, tried to please and flatter those powerful people whom he could not afford to offend.

His half-brother-in-law Zheng Yongquan, who is obsessed with promotion and unaware of the trouble he has caused, has already presented to His Majesty the fee standards for selling licenses privately to those wealthy businessmen.

"Okay, okay, um..." "I recommend Zheng Yongquan, the deputy director of the fifth rank."

There were too many officials at the grand court meeting. Xiao Junmo couldn't even remember the names of those who held low positions below the fourth rank and were not in the emperor's eyes. Zheng Yongquan was tactful enough to introduce himself.

"Oh, Minister Zheng just mentioned that those wealthy merchants are very confident that they can make huge profits by trading overseas, and they are willing to pay a high price to buy the licenses to go out to sea to do business from the court?"

Zheng Yongquan knelt in the hall and replied, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Xiao Junmo was very happy to get Zheng Yongquan's affirmative answer.

Then he took a look at Gao Qinfen, the fifth-rank official of the Maritime Customs, who was standing next to him in fear and dared not look up, because Xiao Junlin had an impression of him as he was a senior official in the yamen.

"Since the Maritime Customs has such a good method that can both fill the national treasury and relieve my worries, you, the chief officer, don't report it..."

Gao Qinfen hurriedly walked out and knelt down with a thud. When Zheng Yongquan went out to flatter the emperor, he knew that he was going to be blamed.

Prime Minister Gao Chengyu narrowed his old eyes slightly and looked at Zheng Yongquan with a cold gaze.

That family does not need money to develop. Gao Qinfen is his nephew, and it was he who got him into the lucrative Maritime Customs Office in order to make money for the family.

I didn't expect that the Wenchang Marquis' Mansion was so unreliable that they would come up with such a disgusting thing. They bypassed his nephew as their boss and, for the sake of their own promotion, they offered the method of these powerful people to make money privately in the name of the court directly to the emperor who was short of money in exchange for official positions.

Even if he was promoted from the fifth rank to the third rank, so what? He was the first rank prime minister. If he wanted to kill him, he only needed a good excuse.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the current emperor is already senile, but now that Zheng Yongquan can help him out, the emperor still looks at him.

After that he was of no use and was left to be dealt with by these people.

Gu Hua learned that all the wealthy businessmen who came to the capital this time had to pay to purchase overseas trade licenses issued by the court. This act of forced buying and selling made her realize the corruption and darkness of the ancient court.

Those wealthy businessmen who originally had assets of only a few million now have to use all their money to buy this crappy license. When they return, they have no money to buy large sailing ships or pay for other personnel, goods, and other expensive expenses.

Having an overseas trade license is useless.

Gu Hua met the Chen father and son again, and saw the blisters on their mouths. They looked at each other, smiled bitterly, and sighed helplessly.

I originally thought that the license would only cost a few hundred thousand, but now it has risen to several million. Who wouldn't be angry?

Both Gu Hua and the Chen family have the financial resources to purchase the license, which has become a hot potato.

However, the profits from overseas trade are very lucrative, but the risks involved are also great.

The climate at sea is changeable.

Large ships are loaded with millions of goods and sailors, sailing on the sea to trade with various countries. If an accident occurs on the rough sea or something happens in other countries, they may lose all their money.

Therefore, even though maritime trade was lucrative, when people heard that the court would need so much silver to issue a license, they began to back off.

Faced with the court's forced buying and selling, even if the wealthy businessmen are unhappy, they can do nothing about it.

Because the court only allowed the two companies to purchase the property together because the license was issued for five million taels of silver with a term of ten years.

Finally, after Gu Hua and the Chen family father and son discussed it, since they couldn't escape, the two families jointly paid five million taels to buy a ten-year license for overseas trade.

Afterwards, while all the wealthy businessmen came to Beijing happily, and were then forced to buy and sell by the court, and left with hatred, the difference was that Gu Hua and his gang were exiled by the court.