Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 301 The emperor’s ambition is unstoppable, donations go into the imperial study!

Fei Hong, who was hesitating, saw Wang Qiong take the lead again, so he immediately followed and echoed: "Your Majesty is right, officials and businessmen have received great favors from the country, and we should encourage all merchants in the world to be loyal to the country!"

Zhu Houcong nodded: "Then let's do it."

"Yes!"

After Fei Hong responded, he took his leave and returned to the cabinet, and informed Wang Ao and Lin Jun about the matter.

"Your Majesty wants us to call on the rich and powerful in the world to donate money for disaster relief!"

Lin Jun was shocked after hearing this and said hurriedly: "How can this be possible!"

"If you don't reflect on yourself when there is a natural disaster, how can you extort merchants and civilians?"

Although the scholars and officials did not really believe in the will of heaven in their hearts, on the surface they all liked to interpret natural disasters as divine punishment and hoped that the emperor and his ministers would reflect on themselves as a result.

After all, there are few things that can make the emperor afraid, and "heaven" is one of the few things that can make the emperor afraid.

After Lin Jun said this, he asked Xiang Feihong: "Yuan Fu, don't you want to persuade His Majesty?"

Fei Hong glanced at Wang Qiong, then shook his head and said, "There's no way to persuade her!"

Lin Jun immediately understood what Fei Hong meant, and glared fiercely at Wang Qiong who had returned to the cabinet with him.

Wang Qiong didn't notice it.

He and the three cabinet ministers Fei Hong, Wang Ao and Lin Jun could not get along during the Zhengde period.

The main reason is that they have different ideas about being an official.

Wang Qiong advocates seeking power and benefits without caring about reputation or being anyone's servant.

Fei Hong, Wang Ao and Lin Jun pursued the goal of being upright in government and serving the emperor with loyalty, while also establishing virtue and gaining a good reputation among the gentry.

Therefore, after returning to the cabinet, Wang Qiong went directly to his duty room without talking to the three people.

Lin Jun continued to persuade Fei Hong: "Yuan Fu should not be too mediocre and peaceful. You should still fight for what you should fight for!"

Fei Hong blushed after hearing this, and looked at Lin Jun and asked, "What do you mean by fighting for what should be fought for?"

"The emperor is the Holy Son of Heaven, and there is an old man in the palace like Gu Dayong standing beside him. In addition, my Fei family has received great favors from the country. If I no longer care about the country and only care about the gentry and wealthy businessmen in the world, then am I worthy of being a minister of the Ming Dynasty?!"

"You have the courage to report it yourself and fight for the gentry and wealthy businessmen in the world!"

"Just when the time comes, if the king and his subjects fall out, don't blame me for not being able to mediate."

Fei Hong got angry and started to criticize Lin Jun.

Lin Jun couldn't help but spread his hands and laughed: "Is it possible that I am not worthy of being a minister of the Ming Dynasty?
"I am afraid that doing this will make the gentry in the world more dissatisfied with the court, and thus affect your majesty's reputation!"

"The Prime Minister also knows that the foreign court owes Your Majesty such a heavy debt, and everyone in the world is uneasy!"

"Is it true?"

"Although this is due to the good deeds of Zhang Fujing and other sycophants, if we do not persuade the emperor to be honest, simple, calm and serious, over time, people will think that your majesty is not virtuous, which is why the national treasury is so seriously depleted!"

"At that time, our guilt will be great!"

After Lin Jun said this, he looked at Wang Ao: "What does Lord Zhenze think?"

Wang Ao looked up at Fei Hong and Lin Jun and said:

"Actually, this isn't extortion, because it's just advocacy, not coercion."

Lin Jun was stunned.

Wang Ao continued, "I think that asking the rich and powerful in the world to donate money to help the disaster relief is also a proper move by the court to care about the people of the world."

"Besides, when disasters and famines occur, local governors will organize local gentry and wise men to donate money to help the people. So, you can't say that the court can't do this!"

"After all, saving the common people has never been the responsibility of Your Majesty alone, nor is it the responsibility of the court alone. The bureaucrats and gentry who receive salaries and are exempt from military service also have the responsibility to contribute to the long-term peace and stability of the world."

Fei Hong nodded: "That's exactly what I said. We can't really think that disaster relief is just the business of Your Majesty. The safety of the country is also related to the safety of our families."

"But, have you ever thought about this? The court was already too heavily in debt, which made the gentry all over the country uneasy. As a result, everyone was worried about the country's bad fortune, and there were rumors everywhere that the Ming Dynasty had entered a period of decline and that it was time to change the dynasty."

"Now, the court is calling on the people to donate money, which will only make people think that we are incompetent and unable to improve the finances to reduce redundant expenses, redundant officials and redundant soldiers, and advocate reforms. They will even think that the emperor is ambitious and stingy, so he is only willing to borrow money from the inner court to make profits instead of directly transferring money from the inner court, which makes the deficit of the national treasury increasingly serious!"

"If this continues, how can the emperor's virtue and the stability of the country be maintained?"

After Lin Jun said this, Fei Hong and Wang Ao were silent.

They admitted that what Lin Jun said was true. Among the scholars and people in the world, those who paid attention to the government were also worried because of the serious debts of the foreign court, and they had all kinds of bad fantasies.

People were not used to a court that was heavily in debt.

Therefore, the two could not refute.

After a long while, Fei Hongcai said, "Trust your Majesty, and trust future generations!"

"If this really causes more resentment among the people, I, as the Prime Minister, will resign to appease the people and hand over power to new people who are keen on reform!"

Fei Hong laughed after he said that. Wang Ao also laughed and said, "Yes, Your Majesty is not a foolish and lazy king. In addition, you are young, so it is inevitable that you have ambitions. Sometimes we old people will inevitably be out of place. When the time comes, we will step down, calm down the resentment, and give way to the newcomers. It is a good thing!"

"That's fine!"

Lin Jun sighed.

Afterwards, Lin Jun just sneered and said, "I'm just afraid that by then there won't be many dignitaries and nobles who will actively respond to the donation!"

Fei Hong said: "That's another matter."

Wang Ao nodded.

And next.

After returning home, Wang Ao invited the Minister of Rites Wu Yipeng to his home and told Wu Yipeng about this matter.

Wu Yipeng burst out laughing after hearing this: "Your Majesty is really always keeping an eye on the money bags of the rich and powerful."

"That's the truth."

"But fortunately, His Majesty did not force it."

Wang Ao replied.

Wu Yipeng nodded, thought for a moment and said, "This is actually an opportunity for Gong to enter the imperial study!"

Wang Ao smiled embarrassedly.

Wu Yipeng said solemnly: "I speak from the bottom of my heart! Your Majesty is wise. You allow donations instead of bribes. This prevents the gentry from seeking power through profit. Instead, they can only continue to help people of high moral character like Mr. Zhenze, who are more trusted by Your Majesty. This is undoubtedly better than allowing those gentry to manipulate local government offices through donations and intensify mergers!"

"Moreover, the external court's debt is getting more and more serious. We can no longer continue to borrow from the internal treasury."

“For this reason, we should rather accept donations than borrow from the treasury.”

After Wu Yipeng said this, Wang Ao nodded: "That's right, we can't add to the debt."

"I have already communicated with Lord Qin and his men. We, the people of Nanzhi, can collectively contribute 5 million silver dollars to help you get into the imperial study! Now why not use this donation as a pretext to help the disaster relief efforts and let His Majesty see our loyalty!"

Wu Yipeng then spoke solemnly to Wang Ao.

Wang Ao smiled and said, "Great! With this money, the debt owed by the foreign court can be reduced a lot!"

“It would be even better if other places also donated money, maybe we could pay it off in one go.”

Wang Ao spoke with a look of anticipation.

Wu Yipeng nodded.

"We in Fujian should not donate more this time! I believe that other places will not be so active in donating either."

"Firstly, the more donations one makes, the more it shows that the local gentry is wealthy."

"Secondly, it will teach His Majesty the importance of saving money, so that he won't ask the rich for donations and try to make profits from the sea in the future!"

After returning home, Lin Jun also called his fellow countrymen in Chao to give them some instructions.

Zhang Chuo, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, nodded and said, "Please rest assured, Lord! We will go to the Guild Hall right away to spread the message and ask them not to donate too much."

Lin Jun nodded and smiled.

And the next morning.

After Fei Hong and Wang Qiong came to the Imperial Study, Zhu Houcong asked them, "How is the donation?"

Fei Hong replied: "Your Majesty, the decree has been issued. At present, the Nanzhi Guild Hall has expressed its willingness to donate 5 million silver dollars, and the Fujian Guild Hall has expressed its willingness to donate 5,000 silver dollars."

Before Fei Hong finished speaking, Zhu Houcong smiled and said, "I have heard for a long time that Nanzhi is rich, but I didn't expect that it is not only rich but also kind! The customs have become much more refined!"

"This is all due to your Majesty's teaching."

Fei Hong replied.

Zhu Houcong then said: "I remember that Lord Zhenze is from Nanzhi."

then.

Zhu Houcong waved to Gu Dayong and said, "Let him enter the Imperial Study Room as well. It's just right. I also want him to ask about Confucian classics and the issue of heavy taxes in Jiangnan."

Gu Dayong bowed and agreed.

then.

Not long after, Wang Ao received an imperial decree allowing him to enter the imperial study.

Wang Ao quickly thanked him.

Lin Jun, who was also in the cabinet, was stunned and thought, "Why did Wang Zhenze suddenly enter the imperial study? We are all veteran officials of four dynasties and entered the cabinet together, so why don't we enter the imperial study together?"

(End of this chapter)