Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 43 Eight Tigers in the Palace!

Not long after Zhu Youtang returned to the imperial study, Gao Shun, who had been waiting in the palace, came to ask for a meeting.

"General Gao Shun pays respect to His Majesty!"

Gao Shun walked into the imperial study and knelt down to pay his respects.

"No gift."

Zhu Youtang began by praising: "General Gao, I am very satisfied with the performance of the Xianzhen Camp today."

Gao Shun replied respectfully: "I will obey your majesty's orders in everything."

Zhu Youtang ordered: "From now on, the Xianzhen Camp does not need to return to Changtong, but stays around the capital."

"Pick out some good fighters and train the three camps of the capital for me, so that they can quickly recover their combat effectiveness."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"What should we do with the more than 26,000 prisoners and the captured supplies?"

Zhu Youtang thought for a while and made a decision.

"All the captives will be separated and broken into small groups and sent to Annan to guard the border for me."

"As for the supplies, grain, salt, iron, and tea, you can keep half for yourselves in the Xianzhen Camp, and send the rest to the imperial treasury."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The Wala were people from the grasslands and were accustomed to living on horseback.

Nan'an is mountainous, full of miasma, snakes, insects, rats and ants.

How long these captives can survive after arriving in Annan depends on God's will.

Zhu Youtang chatted with Gao Shun for a while before letting him leave.

Afterwards, Zhu Youtang summoned the eunuch in charge of the seal of the Baochaosi and prepared to let him take charge of the printing of the new Ming Baochao.

Although Baochao Tizhusi and Baochao Si only have two words in common, their functions are completely different.

The Baochao Tizhusi was a department managed by the Ministry of Revenue and responsible for printing the Ming Dynasty's Baochao.

The Baochaosi was one of the four departments of the Inner Palace, responsible for producing toilet paper for the palace.

Zhu Youtang let the Baochaosi supervise the Baochaotizhisi, which meant that he took back the printing power of the Ministry of Revenue and managed it himself.

Soon, the eunuch in charge of the Baochaosi knelt in front of Zhu Youtang and kowtowed respectfully.

"I, the old slave Gu Dayong, come to see your majesty!"

Zhu Youtang's hand holding the pen paused and his brows furrowed.

"what's your name?"

"Um, Your Majesty, my name is Gu Dayong."

Zhu Youtang put down his pen, looked at Gu Dayong, and suddenly burst into laughter.

He was so busy that he forgot that there were eight tigers hidden in his palace.

Looking at Zhu Youtang's smile, Gu Dayong felt uneasy.

For some reason, Zhu Youtang started laughing after hearing his name.

After Zhu Youtang had laughed enough, he asked again: "Do you know a person named Liu Jin?"

Gu Dayong was stunned for a moment, then immediately replied, "Yes, I know him. Liu Jin is a director of the Bell and Drum Department. He is the one who rings the bell in the palace every morning."

Zhu Youtang nodded. It was a waste of talent to have such a killing god from the East Factory ringing the bell in the palace.

Professionals should be placed in professional positions.

Zhu Youtang had something in mind and started talking about business.

"Gu Dayong, I will merge the Baochao Tizhu Division into the Baochao Division, and you will be in charge of the unified management."

"I want to re-print the Ming Dynasty Treasure Notes. The denominations will be the same as before, but the reign title will be changed to Hongzhi."

"Print money for me urgently, day and night, as much as you can!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Gu Dayong was overjoyed and immediately picked up his clothes and ran out quickly.

This is the advantage of using eunuchs. No one asks questions or dissuades them. They just do what the emperor orders.

They are much more useful than the civil servants in the court.

Zhu Youtang then summoned Wang Zhi and told him about the planned opening of the Ming Bank.

And appointed Wang Zhi as the president of the Ming Central Bank.

However, Zhu Youtang was undecided about the position of president of the Beijing branch.

This is Zhu Youtang's current situation. He has many people who can kill people, but few who can get things done. He does not trust civil officials, so he can only choose from the eunuchs in the palace.

Zhu Youtang gave the last position to He Yong, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department.

Let him be responsible for setting up a branch in Beijing.

……

Wenyuan Pavilion.

Ever since Zhu Youtang left, this place has been shrouded in gloom.

The four ministers all frowned and sighed.

"Prime Minister Xu, what should we do?"

"If the officials in the capital knew about this, we four would probably be stabbed in the back by them!"

"Not only did we fail to gain the authority of the Ming Bank, we even lost the Baochao Tizhusi. What should we do?"

Xu Pu also had a gloomy face and was at a loss as to what to do.

"I don't have any good solution. We really can't stop what His Majesty wants to do."

Xu Pu sighed, feeling deeply powerless.

I believe that after tonight, when this order is passed down, officials in the capital will be in mourning again.

The four of them never imagined that Zhu Youtang had no intention of reap- ping the people's wealth, but instead targeted officials like them.

Such a precise cut was like a complete slash to their aorta.

Xu Pu slowly walked to the desk, spread out the memorial and picked up a pen: "Let's all think about how to implement this policy so that it can be as beneficial to us as possible."

"The general direction has been set, and even if we make minor changes, it won't help."

Liu Jian also walked back to the case and sighed deeply: "As long as His Majesty does not relax this rule that officials are not allowed to use silver, we will have no room for maneuver and can only exchange silver for banknotes."

Xu Pu did not answer, but just pondered and wrote down specific steps for implementation under the memorial.

Li Dongyang and Xie Qian actually did not have much say in front of the two old men, Xu Pu and Liu Jian.

In addition, Xu Pu and Liu Jian also served as Minister of Revenue and Minister of Rites.

And they only work in the Hanlin Academy. The comparison makes it seem that they have no foundation at all.

But this also prevents them from being swayed by civil service interest groups.

The two of them also walked to their own desks and thought about the implementation plan of currency reform based on Zhu Youtang's ideas.

The next evening, a thick memorial was delivered to Zhu Youtang's Qianqing Palace by Huai'en, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department.

"Your Majesty, the memorial sent by the cabinet has been specially annotated to be handled expeditiously."

Huai En respectfully raised the letter above his head.

Zhu Youtang took the memorial and flipped through it casually.

At the same time, Zhu Youtang also asked: "Huai En, do you know that there is a chief named Liu Jin in the Bell and Drum Department?"

Zhu Youtang's words seemed unintentional, but Huai En had already started to think quickly in his mind, analyzing the meaning of Zhu Youtang's words.

"Your Majesty, I don't have much impression of Liu Jin. The Bell and Drum Department is under the management of Ge Hong."

"Your Majesty, what did Liu Jin do wrong?"

Zhu Youtang raised his head from the memorial and glanced at Huai'en.

"I'm just asking, don't think too much."

Huai En's heart trembled, and he nodded quickly.

Zhu Youtang looked at the memorial again and said, "I think this man has a good name. He should not stay in the Bell and Drum Department. He should go to the East Factory to train himself."

Huai En raised his eyebrows, feeling excited, and quickly bowed: "Yes."

Afterwards, Zhu Youtang spent a long time carefully reading the memorial and then gave instructions to Huai'en.

"Okay Huai'en, don't wait here, go and call Gu Dayong to me."

"Here."

After Huai En respectfully left the Qianqing Palace, he immediately walked towards the Baochaosi.

After Huai'en conveyed Zhu Youtang's order to summon him to Gu Dayong.

Gu Dayong immediately put aside all his affairs and ran to the Qianqing Palace as fast as he could.

Afterwards, Huai En stood there and thought for a while, and decided to go to the Bell and Drum Bureau in person to meet the director named Liu Jin.

He wanted to know what ability Liu Jin had that could make Zhu Youtang, the emperor, know his name?
(End of this chapter)