Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 248 Donating money to support the emperor, Jiajing was very pleased!
After listening to the arguments of cabinet ministers Mao Ji and Yang Yiqing asking the Nanzhi gentry to pay money to the emperor to show their loyalty, the Minister of Rites Wu Yipeng did not directly agree to the cabinet's suggestion.

Because he needed to discuss it with the officials in Nanzhi.

"Xu Jie, you say!"

"Should we in Nanzhi help His Majesty build warships?"

Wu Yipeng specially called a group of Nanzhi officials in Beijing to his home and mentioned Xu Jie's name first.

Because he recently discovered that Xu Jie, this young man, has always been relatively clear-headed and looks at things more deeply.

Xu Jie came to Wu Yipeng first, folded his hands in front of his abdomen, bent down slightly and said: "In my opinion, this money should be paid!"

"Why?"

Wu Yipeng asked with a smile.

Xu Jie said: "As long as we can stop Zhang Fujing and his men from reforming the tax policy, everything is worth sacrificing!"

"Besides, we can't be worse than His Majesty who is less than 20 years old. His Majesty can still pardon Wang Qiong to achieve his own goals. We can't really let His Majesty really change the tax policy just because we are reluctant to spend a little money. If we do that, we will suffer even more!"

"Besides, the Fujian and Zhejiang gentry are indeed stubborn and unyielding. We cannot expect that by conspiring with them, Your Majesty will be willing to overthrow Zhang Fujing and give up building warships. That will only force Your Majesty to give up building ships and simply unite with Zhang Fujing and others and the poor scholars and common people to revise the tax policy!"

After Xu Jie said this, Wu Yipeng nodded and said, "Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of one. If Your Majesty really insists on letting Zhang Fujing and others change the tax policy, no one will benefit!"

"Then I will write a letter to Mr. Zhenze and ask him to gather the officials from Nanzhi to raise funds to help Your Majesty build warships!"

Wu Yipeng said.

The ninth day of the winter month in the third year of Jiajing.

Wu Yipeng's letter arrived at Wang Ao in Suzhou.

Wang Ao immediately summoned Qin Jin, Gu Qing and other Nanzhi officials to his home and conveyed Wu Yipeng's intention to them.

“It’s worth it!”

"We in Nanzhi cannot be without cabinet ministers in the court. Rather than waiting for Xie Yuyao and Lin Putian, who represent the Fujian and Zhejiang gentry, to come to their senses and join the cabinet in support of Your Majesty's large-scale shipbuilding, it is better for us to seize the initiative first."

"These days, Nanzhi has no cabinet ministers. Isn't that a small loss?"

As Qin Jin spoke, he asked the local officials another question.

Gu Qing also said: "Yes, if we can really support the court to strengthen maritime defense, and we have people in the cabinet, we will naturally have the opportunity to persuade His Majesty to strengthen the maritime ban, crack down on smuggling, and weaken the power of Fujian and Zhejiang!"

"Then let's discuss how many models are appropriate."

Wang Ao said at this time.

As a result, these local officials from Nanzhi actually started to discuss matters with each other.

……

……

The Minister of Rites Wu Yipeng received a reply from Wang Ao at the end of winter.

In the letter, Wang Ao told Wu Yipeng that the local officials in Nanzhi had decided to raise funds and donate silver to support the emperor in building warships.

Wu Yipeng therefore called Xu Jie and others again and said, "Mr. Zhenze has sent a letter, saying that the villagers agree to support Your Majesty in building warships and strengthening naval defenses."

"In this case, Your Majesty will have no reason not to allow Mr. Zhenze to join the cabinet. After all, my Nanzhi gentry, at least the Xie Yuyao and others in Fujian and Zhejiang, are more willing to support the court, and they really support the court!"

Xu Jie said with a smile. He was delighted by this, because as long as the emperor's attitude towards the Southern Zhili gentry changed, his official career would become much smoother.

Not long after, it was another day when Zhu Houcong held court with all officials at Zuoshunmen.

"Your Majesty, the Portuguese are arrogant and rude, bullying the Celestial Empire, and have evil ambitions. They have repeatedly committed massacres in various parts of the country, and we must punish them! However, our country has been at peace for a long time, and maritime affairs have not been repaired for a long time. Your Majesty intends to revive maritime defenses and build more warships, so that we can conquer the sea barbarians in the future to boost national prestige! How can we not unite with the enemy?"

"What's more, the people of the world are extremely angry about this, and even resentful because of their anger, and they are blaming the court for its cowardice. Therefore, in order to punish the sea barbarians and boost the country's prestige, the officials of Nanzhi asked me to pass on a petition, willing to donate 2 million silver dollars to help the court build warships and train naval forces, to show the people of Nanzhi's heart to repay the emperor's kindness!"

On this day, the Minister of Rites Wu Yipeng came out to report that the Nanzhi gentry wanted to donate money to support the court in building warships and strengthening maritime defenses.

After hearing what Wu Yipeng said, Zhu Houcong was also quite surprised, so he hurriedly asked the eunuch to present Wu Yipeng's memorial.

After Zhu Houcong took the memorial, he actually took out the bill for two million silver dollars that was inserted inside it.

"Very good!"

"Nanzhi is indeed a civilized and virtuous place, with a high level of awareness! I am very pleased!"

Zhu Houcong also smiled and said some good things about this.

Yao Tan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War who had already returned to Beijing from Datong, looked gloomy when he saw this. He really did not expect that Wu Yipeng and other Nanzhi local officials would take the initiative to show goodwill to the emperor and support the emperor with real money to build warships.

This made Yao Tan furious, and he thought, "Just because you Nanzhi gentry don't directly participate in smuggling, you don't care whether the maritime trade is controlled by the court or the gentry, right?"

at the same time.

At this time, the Minister of Works, Tong Rui, stepped forward decisively and said, "Your Majesty! The Ministry of Works received an urgent report from the prefect of Hangzhou. It is true that there was a fire at the Hangzhou Drawing Factory, but Zhang Fujing has not reported it to the court. I think it is better to send an imperial envoy to investigate this matter!"

Fang Feng, the director of the Engineering Department, said, "Your Majesty, I request that you go to Hangzhou to investigate this matter."

Zhu Houcong knew that Fang Feng was from Kunshan, Suzhou, Nanzhi. Nanzhi had just donated two million to the court, so he didn't want to offend him and affect the enthusiasm of various places to contribute to the court. So he said, "Approved!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Fang Feng was secretly delighted by this and quickly bowed to express his gratitude.

He asked for this mission naturally in order to put the affairs of Hangzhou on Zhang Cong.

to this end.

Before leaving Beijing, Fang Feng came to the cabinet and said to Mao Ji and Yang Yiqing: "Please rest assured, elders, I will go to Hangzhou this time to investigate the crimes of the treacherous minister Zhang Fujing."

Mao Ji and Yang Yiqing nodded.

It is said that Zhang Cong left Beijing in early October of the third year of Jiajing, and arrived in Hangzhou in early winter of the third year of Jiajing. The bamboo and wood he seized from Xie Di's home in Yuyao were loaded onto ships and transported to Beijing in mid-winter of the third year of Jiajing.

Because the northern section of the canal was frozen at this time, the bamboo and wood would be transported to Beijing by land by mule cart after being transported to Qingjiangpu by ship. This would delay the arrival of the wood in Beijing until at least the end of the year.

However, Zhang Cong's memorial on the investigation of the Hangzhou lottery factory arrived in the capital in mid-winter of the third year of the Jiajing reign, almost at the same time as Wang Ao's reply.

Not long after Fang Feng spoke with Mao Ji and Yang Yiqing, a secretary brought an urgent letter from Zhang Cong.

"My Lords, the Minister of Works and Right Censor-in-Chief Zhang Fujing has an urgent report to Beijing, saying that a large amount of illegal bamboo and wood was found and brought into Beijing, and that Xie Di, the former governor of Guangdong, and others were impeached for plotting to burn down the extraction plant and slander the imperial envoy!"

Mao Ji and Yang Yiqing looked at each other in surprise after hearing what the Secretary of the Central Secretariat said.

Fang Feng, who hadn't had time to leave yet, was also stunned.

My mother was sick and I was delayed accompanying her to the emergency room of the hospital. I didn’t write too many words in this chapter. I’m sorry!
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(End of this chapter)