My father is Jiajing

cabinet.

Li Chunfang, Gao Gong, Zhao Zhenji, Hu Zongxian, and Guo Pu sat in their respective seats in the cabinet.

Li Chunfang and Gao Gong exchanged a glance, their understanding unspoken.

Although they had some open and covert struggles within the cabinet, they were still able to maintain a consensus on some important court discussions and issues.

After all, their struggle was nothing more than an effort to have their respective governing philosophies implemented through their cabinets.

It wasn't about a life-or-death struggle; in fact, the two had weathered many storms together during the reign of Prince Yu under Zhu Zaiji.

So, in a sense, the two understood each other, unlike the relationship and state of Yan Song and Xu Jie before.

After exchanging glances with Gao Gong, Li Chunfang turned his gaze to Hu Zongxian.

Because Hu Zongxian had previously fought against Japanese pirates in the southeast, he was naturally the one among those present who knew the most about the pirates.

Therefore, now that such a stimulating event has occurred, Li Chunfang must also want to ask Hu Zongxian if he knows about the Japanese treasury.

Li Chunfang looked at Hu Zongxian, who was handling the government affairs under her jurisdiction, and said with a warm smile, "Ruzhen, have you heard the news that's been circulating in the capital these past two days?"

Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang couldn't help but put down their pens and raise their heads.

As he made these moves, everyone in the cabinet, whether they were the Grand Secretaries or the scribes responsible for organizing their documents, couldn't help but turn their attention to Hu Zongxian.

Clearly, everyone at this moment wanted to know some of the sights and sounds of Japan, which they had the advantage of being so close to the country.

Hu Zongxian naturally sensed the attention of the crowd. He straightened up and bowed slightly to Li Chunfang. "Is the Grand Secretary referring to the rumors about Japan's rich silver these past two days?"

Li Chunfang nodded slightly and smiled gently, "That's exactly it. Everyone in the capital is talking about it now, and naturally, this pavilion can't escape the trend either."

"Moreover, if this is true, it will be an extremely important event for our Great Ming Dynasty."

"It's time to settle the scores of the border troubles and grudges that have plagued our Ming Dynasty for over a hundred years."

Li Chunfang's thinking was so pragmatic; even though she was going to steal from someone else, she still needed to find a respectable reason.

Moreover, this reason is impeccable, a reason that everyone has no choice but to accept.

Hu Zongxian said, "I also find it difficult to distinguish the truth from falsehood in this matter. When I was in charge of the anti-Japanese affairs in the southeast, I only focused on military issues and did not actively learn about the internal situation of Japan."

"These rumors circulating in the capital are said to be based on the confession of Luo Longwen, an accomplice of Yan Shifan."

"We haven't seen Luo Longwen's testimony yet, so it's really hard for me to draw a conclusion right now."

No sooner had Hu Zongxian finished speaking than Guo Pu chimed in, "Ruzhen is right. We haven't even seen Luo Longwen's testimony yet, so how can we be sure it's true?"

"What if this is just a misinformation, and the imperial court believes it and sends a large army to conquer Japan at any cost? Without these silver mines, wouldn't it be another costly and exhausting expedition?"

Guo Pu's words are not without merit.

After all, the most important matters of state are sacrifice and war.

The sacrifice represents ideology, which is relatively simple, since all dynasties have revered and developed Confucianism to maintain ideological unity.

But the Rong were different.

"Rong" means war. Regardless of victory or defeat, war is incredibly costly. If one is not careful, it can lead to serious consequences, which is no laughing matter.

Although the Ming Dynasty's treasury is now much richer than before, this wealth is still limited.

Although there is no shortage of silver, the food, weapons, equipment, etc. that need to be purchased with silver do not appear out of thin air.

Therefore, sometimes having money doesn't necessarily guarantee enough food, weapons, and equipment for a large army.

After all, no matter how productive the people are, there is a limit to the yield of their land.

It's impossible to sell one's last rations to the imperial court just for money.

Moreover, the imperial court might not actually spend money to buy grain and other supplies from the people.

Based on past war experience, when the imperial court wanted to prepare a large army, in addition to the national treasury contributing silver and manpower, most of the grain was directly requisitioned from the local areas by increasing taxes and levies, and then a promissory note was issued stating that taxes and levies would be waived for a few years.

However, in practice, the tax exemptions and levies promised by the imperial court were almost never fulfilled.

The imperial court does not collect taxes directly from the common people, but it does collect them directly from local officials. Therefore, when it is time to exempt taxes, unless the imperial court is truly not short of silver and grain, and the local officials have a conscience, they will not levy taxes under any other pretext.

Only then would it be possible to fulfill some of the tax exemption and tax relief promises made by the imperial court in the past.

Otherwise, they will still collect the same amount as usual, and the variety of charges will only increase year by year, with no decrease whatsoever.

Because in this process, some local governments, after collecting enough of the taxes previously levied by the imperial court, would become dependent on them and continue to collect these taxes even after the imperial court stopped collecting them.

This makes the lives of ordinary people unbearably burdened by round after round of taxes.

Therefore, whether for the sake of national stability or for other selfish reasons, the central court, dominated by scholars, was almost unwilling to start any foreign wars without authorization.

Therefore, Guo Pu's words also represent a certain opinion.

After hearing Guo Pu's words, Li Chunfang, Gao Gong, and the others nodded silently.

That makes sense.

Moreover, given the current development trend of the Ming Dynasty, even without coveting the so-called super silver mines of Japan, it will definitely continue to develop positively in the next twenty or thirty years.

Given such favorable circumstances, based on their past habitual thinking, they were genuinely unwilling to let the imperial court spend huge sums of money to take a risk with an uncertain outcome.

Of course, this is not absolute!

If the legend of Japan's rich silver is indeed confirmed, then this news will be extremely encouraging for both the cabinet and the general public.

After all, in the real world, no one ever thinks they have too much money.

The imperial court, in particular, which spends money like water, is eager for a stable and huge source of revenue.

With such a source of funding, the court will find it much easier to undertake important tasks for the country and its people. It will also prevent situations where deciding whether to do something or not will inevitably provoke resentment.

Meanwhile, Zhu Zaiji, inside the Wenhua Hall, was also constantly monitoring public opinion regarding the Japanese silver taels.

As the highest ruler of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Zaiji naturally received many memorials with similar views to those of Guo Pu on his imperial desk.

Upon seeing these memorials, Zhu Zaiji certainly couldn't simply laugh them off and dismiss them as a short-sighted view.

After all, he was the only one in the entire era who "opened his third eye" and knew some information and trends about the future.

The rest of the people are still confined to the mindset of this era. If one ignores the thoughts and opinions of these people and insists on implementing certain national policies and wars of foreign expansion, then...

In most likely cases, he will face opposition and resistance from nearly 80% to 90% of the population across the country.

After all, the disasters caused by warlike monarchs throughout history are all too clear to be ignored. It is not true that being warlike and winning battles equates to great achievements.

It's important to understand that within the limitations of today's era, regardless of winning or losing, the resources and money consumed are enormous and incalculable.

And this doesn't even take into account the cost incurred by ordinary people's lives.

Therefore, throughout history, apart from early dynasties like the Han and Tang, which advocated military conquest, only a few could manage the Western Regions and expand their territory.

Apart from the first one or two emperors who waged some large-scale foreign wars for the survival of the country, the remaining dynasties were almost entirely defensive wars and internal repressions.

Large-scale combat operations initiated by the enemy are extremely rare.

It is evident that under this ideological trend, if Zhu Zaiji could not fundamentally awaken the support for the war against Japan among the court, the people, and the general public.

The consequence of his stubbornness will only be the destruction of the current favorable situation, turning him into a second Emperor Yang of Sui!
Therefore, Zhu Zaiji now has to add fuel to the fire by considering the changing public opinion.

This would convince the government, the public, and ordinary citizens that Japan possessed a super silver mine, and that winning this battle would be a sure-fire way to profit.

Otherwise, even if Zhu Zaiji wanted to forcefully promote this matter, it would take a lot of effort and time, and there was no guarantee that it would have a good outcome.

"Someone, bring Yu Huatian over here."

Zhu Zaiji's calm voice echoed in the Wenhua Hall.

Upon hearing Zhu Zaiji's voice, the young eunuch waiting inside the hall immediately bowed to him, saying, "This servant obeys!"

Soon, in less than half an hour, Yu Huatian hurriedly arrived at the Wenhua Hall.

After entering the hall, Yu Huatian immediately knelt on the golden bricks inside and bowed deeply to Zhu Zaiji, saying, "This servant Yu Huatian greets Your Majesty."

Zhu Zaiji slightly raised his hand. "Get up."

Then Zhu Zaiji instructed: "Send the confession of Luo Longwen that you have interrogated to the Grand Secretariat. Let the Grand Secretariat review it as appropriate, extract the key information, hand it over to the Office of Transmission, and print a new issue of the Imperial Gazette to spread throughout the country, so that the people of the Ming Dynasty can see how Luo Longwen was so ruthless as to evade the court's punishment, and how he was brought down by the court in accordance with the law."

"And you should also tell the cabinet to discuss and decide who to send to North Korea to negotiate the recovery of Luo Longwen's hidden illicit funds and assets, as well as the illicit funds used to bribe North Korean officials."

Yu Huatian immediately bowed, "This servant obeys the decree. This servant will now deliver Luo Longwen's confession to the cabinet."

Zhu Zaiji nodded slightly and said, "Go ahead, and make sure the cabinet drafts a plan for me today."

Yu Huatian bowed again and withdrew from the Wenhua Hall. Then he went to the Wenyuan Pavilion, where the Inner Cabinet was located, which was not far away.

At this time, the cabinet was still discussing the matter of Japan, and it was clear that this matter was not something that the cabinet could easily reach a conclusion on.

Upon entering the cabinet, Yu Huatian first bowed to the Grand Secretaries: "I, Yu Huatian, the eunuch supervising officer of the Eastern Ocean Navy, pay my respects to all the Grand Secretaries."

Li Chunfang, Gao Gong, and the others also felt unfamiliar when they saw Yu Huatian enter.

After all, Yu Huatian had only appeared in the palace a few times, and he was not a eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial. So at this moment, Li Chunfang and the others couldn't help but show their curiosity and doubt towards Yu Huatian.

Guo Pu, the Grand Secretary who held the lowest rank in the cabinet and was also the closest to Yu Huatian, couldn't help but stand up and ask, "What important matter brings you here, Your Excellency?"

Yu Huatian replied politely, "I have been ordered by His Majesty to send the confession of the wanted criminal Luo Longwen to the Grand Secretariat for the Grand Secretaries to review. Then, some key information will be extracted and handed over to the Office of Transmission to print and publish in the official gazette to set the record straight."

Upon hearing that it was Zhu Zaiji's decree and that it was Luo Longwen's confession, Li Chunfang, Gao Gong, and the others were immediately invigorated.

They all stood up from their respective seats and stood opposite Yu Huatian, saying politely, "Thank you for your trouble, Eunuch Yu."

Yu Huatian politely returned the greeting to Li Chunfang and the others, and continued, "His Majesty also said that the cabinet should discuss a plan to demand the return of Luo Longwen's stolen silver and property from Korea, and present it to the Wenhua Hall today."

Li Chunfang and the others bowed again, facing the direction of the Wenhua Hall, and said, "Your subjects obey the decree."

Then Yu Huatian handed over the Luo Longwen confession he had compiled to Li Chunfang, and then left Wenyuan Pavilion.

After Yu Huatian left, the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet gathered together to look at Luo Longwen's confession in Li Chunfang's hand.

They each took several copies of the confession and quickly read them over and over.

After reading these testimonies, whether it was Li Chunfang, Gao Gong, Zhao Zhenji, Hu Zongxian, Guo Pu, or others, they all couldn't help but gasp in shock!
They never expected that Luo Longwen had hidden three million taels of silver in Korea, of which 250,000 taels were bribes to the Left State Councilor and the Crown Prince of Korea.

Such a large sum of money truly shocked everyone!

It's worth noting that even in the Yan Shifan and Jiangnan cases, which involved such a wide range of people, this much cash wasn't confiscated.

Luo Longwen, a lackey of Yan Shifan who was in exile, had three million taels of silver hidden in Korea. That was an incredible fortune!

For a moment, Li Chunfang, Gao Gong, and the others couldn't help but look at each other in bewilderment.

Could Japan really have a super silver mine?

Otherwise, what merit or ability did Luo Longwen possess to amass so much silver?
Moreover, with these three million taels of silver, the imperial court could say that it hardly needed to spend any more money, as it was enough to cover the military expenses for waging war against Japan.

Therefore, at this moment, an unusual light shone in the eyes of Li Chunfang and the others.

It's as if they've already seen an incredibly shiny silver mountain drifting towards the Ming Dynasty. If they're willing to reach out and grab it, this silver mountain will be rightfully theirs!
Gao Gong exclaimed excitedly, "Heaven blesses the Ming Dynasty! It truly is heaven blesses the Ming Dynasty! Although Luo Longwen deserves to die, he is also a great lucky star! This three million taels of illicit silver must be recovered. If Korea dares to shirk responsibility or harbor him, let Qi Jiguang punish him on the spot!"

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