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

Chapter 54 Then You Will Build the Garden for Me

Forbidden City.

Royal study room.

Led by Wang Zhi, Jia Jun walked into the imperial study with his head lowered, and immediately knelt down to pay respect to Zhu Youtang: "I, your humble servant Jia Jun, pay my respects to Your Majesty."

Zhu Youtang sat on the dragon throne with a gloomy face.

He didn't even say anything, and asked directly: "Jia Jun, I want to ask you, how much silver is needed to repair the three main halls of Fengtian?"

When Jia Jun heard that Zhu Youtang was asking about the renovation of the palace, the heart that had risen to his throat finally settled down.

He even felt a little happy and excited.

He calculated it in his mind, and in a flash, he had already thought of the number.

"Your Majesty, to repair the three main halls of Fengtian, we must use the century-old nanmu wood from the southwest. This kind of wood is very precious and extremely inconvenient to transport."

"Plus, there is a serious shortage of carpenters and craftsmen, so we need to hire additional craftsmen to repair the car, which is another huge expense."

"Probably... six million taels of silver."

"what?!"

Zhu Youtang slammed the dragon table and stood up in shock.

"Just to repair the three main halls of Fengtian, it would cost so much silver?!"

Zhu Youtang stared at Jia Jun, burning with anger.

Jia Jun was so frightened that he trembled all over, but he gritted his teeth and continued to persevere.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Building a palace has always been extremely expensive."

"When Emperor Taizong renovated the three main halls of Fengtian, he also spent six million taels."

"Bastard!"

Zhu Youtang angrily cursed: "During the Yongle period, the three main halls of Fengtian were severely damaged and almost had to be rebuilt."

"Now the three main halls of Fengtian just need to repair the roof. Does it cost the same amount of money as for the renovation?"

"This... this is because... it is very difficult to collect materials..."

Jia Jun swallowed, cold sweat broke out all over his body, and his answers were intermittent.

Zhu Youtang was filled with murderous intent when suddenly a young eunuch came to report, "Your Majesty, the cabinet ministers Xu Pu and Liu Jian want to see you."

Zhu Youtang was silent for a while before nodding: "Announce."

"Here."

Soon, Xu Pu and Liu Jian walked into the imperial study.

When the two saw Jia Jun kneeling on the ground, they were extremely surprised, but they did not dare to disturb Zhu Youtang.

So after the two of them exchanged greetings, they waited on the side.

Zhu Youtang didn't want to argue with Jia Jun any more and issued an ultimatum directly.

"I will only grant you two million taels of silver."

Upon hearing this, Jia Jun breathed a sigh of relief. Although the pressure was great, he had at least managed to secure two million taels of silver.

Although two million taels of silver was not as much as he wanted, it was more than enough to repair the roofs of the three main halls of Fengtian.

But Zhu Youtang's next sentence shocked Jia Jun.

"However, with these two million taels of silver, in addition to repairing the three Fengtian Palaces, you must also build me a new Yangxin Palace next to Yuehua Gate."

“Use the best materials! The best craftsmanship!”

"what?!"

Jia Jun looked up in shock, his face full of disappointment.

Although two million taels of silver were more than enough to repair the roofs of the three main halls of Fengtian, it would not be a big problem to use the remaining money to build a Yangxin Palace.

But that way there wouldn't be much money left.

As the Minister of Works, wouldn't his work be in vain?

Seeing the opportunity to make a fortune slipping away, Jia Jun's heart was broken.

Zhu Youtang didn't look at Jia Jun lying on the ground, but glanced at Xu Pu standing next to him. "Then it's settled. The two million taels of silver will be paid by the Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Treasury in half."

This sentence seemed to have hit Xu Pu's sore spot.

Xu Pu's originally calm expression suddenly turned ferocious.

He no longer cared about the etiquette of being a subject, and knelt down in front of Zhu Youtang, shouting that it was not possible.

"Your Majesty, you must not do this!"

"The Ministry of Revenue doesn't have much silver to begin with, and the summer tax hasn't been collected yet. There are many expenses, and the Ministry of Revenue is already under tremendous pressure."

"A large amount of money has already been spent on building the Maoling Mausoleum for the previous emperor. Now you want the Ministry of Revenue to allocate another 1 million taels to build the palace. Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue cannot bear this heavy responsibility!"

"Your Majesty, you must not use the Ministry of Revenue's money to build a palace for you!"

With Xu Pu's lead, Liu Jian also knelt in front of Zhu Youtang and tried his best to dissuade Zhu Youtang from building the garden.

"Your Majesty, repairing the palace will cost a lot of money and will not benefit the country."

"Your Majesty has just ascended the throne, and it is inappropriate to renovate the palace."

"Your Majesty should also rest and recuperate, replenish the treasury, and not engage in large-scale construction projects, which may harm the country!"

"Oh!"

Zhu Youtang was so angry that he threw the teacup beside him to the ground with a loud bang.

"You keep saying that I should rest and recuperate, and not start any large-scale construction projects. Are you going to let my three main Fengtian palaces rot like this?!"

"The three great halls of Fengtian are my face and the face of the Ming Dynasty!"

"As the Celestial Empire, the Ming Dynasty has countless tribute-paying people coming to Beijing every year."

"If foreign envoys see this, they will think that I can't even afford to repair the house I live in. How can this be considered good?!"

"Look for yourselves at the house that Ma Wensheng built in Junzhou. It is so magnificent and gorgeous!"

"It is bigger and better than my imperial garden!"

"The houses you corrupt officials live in are better than mine. Are you the emperor, or am I?!"

Faced with the furious Zhu Youtang, the three people kneeling on the ground were terrified and no one dared to answer.

Zhu Youtang glanced at the three of them and his tone became extremely cold.

"Well, since you said that the Ministry of Revenue is short of money and the pressure is huge, then I will not use the money from the Ministry of Revenue to repair the palace."

After hearing Zhu Youtang's words, Xu Pu and Liu Jian both felt relieved.

Although he was scolded by Zhu Youtang, at least it was worth it in exchange for Zhu Youtang not touching the money of the Ministry of Revenue.

As for Zhu Youtang using the money from the imperial treasury to build the palace, that was Zhu Youtang's own business and they had no right to interfere.

But before Xu Pu and Liu Jian could catch their breath, Zhu Youtang's next words made the three people present open their eyes and mouths in horror.

"The money for building the palace will be paid by you, the officials of the court!"

"I don't care whether you raise money or borrow money, you must repair my three Fengtian halls!"

"Not only that, my Yangxin Palace will also be renovated, and my West Garden will also be rebuilt. The area will be twice as large as it is now!"

"Everything must be made with the best materials and the best craftsmanship!"

"If it's repaired well, then there will be no trouble."

"If you can't afford to build the garden, or if the garden you build doesn't satisfy me, I will check your accounts!"

"I will investigate every single one of the civil and military officials in the court!"

"I will not only check your accounts in the capital, but also your accounts in your hometown!"

"If I find anyone who has embezzled money, I will kill him and his entire family!"

"The Ming Dynasty has been nurturing scholars for more than 120 years since Emperor Taizu Gao founded the country. I have no shortage of people who want to be officials!"

At the end of his speech, Zhu Youtang stretched out his hand and pointed at the three of them solemnly and seriously, speaking every word with a ferocious look.

"I will do what I say!"

　I'm asking for tomorrow's follow-up reading data in advance!!! Everyone, please come to the last page of the book tomorrow, please!!! Just a quick revision, the previous Hall of Supreme Harmony and Gate of Supreme Harmony were both wrong. During the Hongzhi period, the Hall of Supreme Harmony and Gate of Supreme Harmony were still called the Hall of Fengtian and Gate of Fengtian. The three main halls of Fengtian refer to the Hall of Fengtian, the Hall of Huagai and the Hall of Jinshen.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)