Jiajing Chengming

The night was as clear as water, and the eaves of the Forbidden City cast mottled shadows in the moonlight.

Inside the Qianqing Palace, the flickering candlelight stretched the shadow of Emperor Jiajing Zhu Houcong out of sight.

He sat alone in front of the dragon desk, holding a secret report from the East Factory in his hand, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.

This secret report is about the reactions of the government and the opposition to the purchase of bonds issued by the Ministry of Revenue.

Zhu Houcong had to admit that although he tried his best to show a lot of sincerity, most of the powerful officials and gentry who came from wealthy and luxurious families in the court and the country were still stubborn. They not only questioned the motives of the court, but also strongly opposed the idea of ​​the court helping the wealthy and luxurious families to get rich together.

The reason behind this is naturally just, that is, the imperial court should not become a tool for the wealthy and powerful to make profits.

But in fact, Zhu Houcong understood that, apart from some really stubborn and corrupt scholars, there were some wealthy and powerful officials who only wanted to monopolize the world's benefits, did not want the country to be strong and the people to be rich, and only wanted to eat alone and then control the government and the court in turn, so he strongly opposed it.

Otherwise, no one would be so stupid as to be unwilling to do something good even when the country really wants to make them rich.

The reason why they refused could only be that they had greater ambitions.

"How many bonds has the Ministry of Revenue sold during this period?"

Zhu Houcong also asked Zhang Cong about this in the imperial study the next day.

Zhang Cong replied: "Your Majesty, it has not yet sold for one million."

Zhu Houcong nodded after hearing this.

Zhang Cong continued, "The wealthy still have concerns, and even intend to resist. They don't want to be too tied to the fate of the country, but only want to be local emperors who can control the foundation of the country."

"That's fine!"

"They have been local emperors for thousands of years. If they are suddenly asked to stop being local emperors and learn to form a community of shared destiny with the country, they will naturally be unwilling to do so."

"But the general trend of the world is unstoppable. Those who follow it will prosper, and those who go against it will perish. The Ming Dynasty is destined to become a trend in which everyone must be more deeply tied to the fate of this country. They cannot stop it."

When Zhu Houcong got to this point, he forced a smile and said, "As long as there are wealthy and luxurious people willing to buy it, it will be fine. The court does not really need this money. It is just giving a chance to wealthy people who are willing to share the fate of the country."

“Wealth and silk touch people’s hearts!”

"I believe that as the court brings more and more benefits to the world and the interest distribution becomes higher and higher, more big players will participate."

Although the total amount of bonds issued by the Ministry of Households purchased by wealthy families was not large, the number of families that bought the bonds was quite large.

Most of these families are from the middle and lower class official gentry, and they represent middle and lower level officials in the court.

Firstly, they did not have much wealth and few investment opportunities; secondly, they had more trust in the imperial court and were more willing to support it. After all, the reforms implemented by Zhu Houcong after he ascended the throne were very helpful to them.

Whether it was the repeated opening of special examinations and expansion of enrollment, or the reduction of tax burdens, lower loan interest rates, and increased salaries and food for officials and scholars, these middle and lower-level officials and gentry were not averse to the New Deal of Jiajing.

Fu Hanchen, the head of the Ministry of Personnel, did not oppose the purchase of bonds issued by the Ministry of Revenue like Lu Cheng. Instead, he used his annual salary and savings to buy a lot of bonds.

"The emperor is so kind to us ministers today. He lends us money not to collect money from the rich, but to allow the rich to share the fate of the country and not let the rich only care about their own interests. After all, the court is not short of money now."

"So, I, Fu Hanchen, decided to use all the money I saved from living in the public housing of the Ministry of Personnel and eating public meals instead of renting a house and cooking for myself to buy bonds to show my loyalty!"

Fu Hanchen also told his good friend Li Xueshi the reason why he did this.

Li Xueshi nodded: "It should be so! I, Li Xueshi, should also do this!"

Lu Shen, the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, also heard that Li Xueshi, who had become an official of the Imperial College, had taken a lot of silver dollars out of the Imperial College. When his colleagues asked him the reason, he talked about the purpose of taking the silver dollars out.

Therefore, Lu Shen also had a gloomy expression, and when Li Xueshi passed by him, he said: "Adding fuel to the flames is unworthy of being a clean official! You people will regret it!"

Li Xueshi just laughed and walked away. Although Zhu Houcong did not sell many bonds when he asked the Ministry of Revenue to issue bonds at the beginning, it was still worth a million.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong could not ignore the amount just because it was not a large number. He naturally had to continue to pay the interest on the bonds that had been sold by increasing the benefits of the world.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong asked Zhang Cong about Yang Yiqing's situation on this day: "Has Yang Yiqing arrived at sunrise now?"

Zhang Cong replied: "Your Majesty, Yang Yiqing is estimated to have arrived at sunrise, but it will take some time for the report to be sent to the capital."

After hearing this, Zhu Houcong nodded and said nothing more.

sunrise.

Yang Yiqing woke up before dawn.

He has been here for five days.

Xu Jie did not stop treating Yang Yiqing with the courtesy of a scholar-official just because he was a prisoner sent here. On the contrary, he had someone prepare a house for Yang Yiqing and assigned several beautiful, respectful and gentle Japanese women to serve him.

Xu Jie himself often came to visit him.

Not only did Xu Jie often come to visit him, but former court veterans such as Wang Shizhong and Tong Rui who were exiled here also often came to visit him.

This was certainly related to the fact that Yang Yiqing was closer to them in political views, and also because Yang Yiqing was once the chief minister of the cabinet and could bring them information about the court situation that they were not aware of.

So, on this day, when Yang Yiqing had washed up and had breakfast, and was still feeling lost because of his sudden fall from a high position above everyone else, and could not help muttering a few new poems he had thought of, Xu Jie, Wang Shizhong and Tong Rui came to him again.

Xu Jie even brought a jar of wine.

This made Yang Yiqing very moved.

He knew that Xu Jie knew that he was lonely and had no way to vent, so he thought of bringing him a jar of wine.

Of course, what is more important is that Xu Jie, as the most powerful Ming official in the entire Japan today, still treats these old men who came here because of crimes with great courtesy as the elders of the court.

“Shaoxing’s daughter’s red wine.”

"It's rare that you have such a heart, Shaohu!"

Therefore, after taking the wine from Xu Jie, Yang Yiqing smiled and spoke to Xu Jie first, and directly called Xu Jie by his nickname, which showed that he already regarded Xu Jie as a fellow traveler.

Xu Jie smiled slightly and said, "I know you like this kind of thing, so I used my salary to buy a jar, just as a gift from the younger generation."

Yang Yiqing nodded, and then asked someone to make tea for Xu Jie, Wang Shizhong, and Tong Rui. He himself asked someone to bring an empty bowl, and then he opened the ink in the wine jar in his arms, poured the gurgling and extremely clear wine into the bowl, and asked Xu Jie: "Are there any new stories in the court recently?"

"Your Majesty has issued a decree for the issuance of three million bonds, but few have responded."

Xu Jie replied.

After hearing this, Yang Yiqing did not pour more wine, but stood aside in silence. After a while, he sighed and said, "Your Majesty has good intentions!"

"It is well-intentioned, but since Your Majesty has great strategies, why did you depose Lord Yang and keep Zhang Fujing in power?"

Wang Shizhong couldn't help but say at this time.

Tong Rui echoed, "That's right, this is really puzzling. Everyone knows that the wealthy families in the world hate Zhang Fujing to the core!"

Yang Yiqing smiled sadly: "Because I am needed more here!"

"How do you say it?" (End of this chapter)