Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 153: State affairs are the most important! We need to practice in seclusion and not see any guests!
Yoshigaki kowtowed and bowed.

Uh……

A thought flashed through Lao Zhu’s mind.

It seems that there is some truth in what he said.

When I wrote the small note, I also simplified the contents of the memorial, or combined the contents of several memorials into a small note with dozens of words written on it.

Isn’t it almost the same as reading a briefing?
However, the little note was written by himself after he read the memorial.

Now, my grandson has simply handed this work over to the Ministry of Public Security, saving a lot of trouble.

Compiled into a briefing, it is also clearer and easier to understand than small pieces of paper.

But after all, the original idea was actually one I came up with myself.

The grandson simply made further improvements.

Thinking of this, Lao Zhu felt relieved immediately.

It turns out we are not that stupid!
It turns out we had figured it out a long time ago!

It's just that ours is a little rough, while my grandson's is more complete and detailed.

the student surpasses the master!

In a flash, Lao Zhu's mood soared from the bottom of the valley to the top of the mountain, and he was very happy: "As expected of my good grandson, he is as smart as me, hahahaha!"

He was beaming with joy and looked extremely proud.

Yoshigaki asked quietly beside him, "Your Majesty, do you still need to return to the palace?"

"No need!" Old Zhu waved his hand and said, "As long as Hu'er takes care of the government affairs, we'll let him do what he wants."

Since the child has finished his homework, there is nothing for the parents to say.

However, Old Zhu asked again: "What did Hu'er do after handling the government affairs?"

"Your Highness spends most of his time writing in his room." Yoshigaki said with a smile, "Whatever Your Highness writes in his study is all treasured."

"For example, the world map that I showed Your Majesty last time was drawn by Your Highness the Crown Prince alone in his room."

Old Zhu nodded gently and said, "It's hard for this child."

"How many ancient books must I read before I can draw this!"

"There are many great scholars in our Ming Dynasty who have spent their whole lives studying classics, but they are far inferior to our Hu'er."

"That's right!" Yoshigaki continued to praise: "His Royal Highness also wrote many interesting things in the room, such as a drum mimeograph machine and some strange and novel firearms."

"Recently, the Daming Manufacturing Bureau has produced something called 'cement', which is used to pave roads and build houses. It is very useful. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wrote down the production method and asked his subordinates to make it."

"Speaking of which, there is also a cement path in your Majesty's palace. Would you like to go and take a look?"

When Mr. Zhu heard this, he immediately became interested.

"Take us to see it!"

Yoshigaki led Lao Zhu there and they arrived soon.

Walking on the cement road, Lao Zhu looked around like a curious baby.

He squatted down again, knocked the ground with his hand, and then picked up the hammer and knocked again.

Extremely hard, like a stone.

Unlike stone, cement road is a whole, not piece by piece like bluestone bricks.

"What exactly is this cement? Why is it so magical?" asked Lao Zhu.

Ji Yuan smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you have stumped me with this question. Cement is a treasure made by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. How would I know about it?"

"I heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's Daming Manufacturing Bureau is quite impressive and has produced many treasures."

"There are many good things that even I cannot name."

"His Royal Highness said that once the Ming Manufacturing Bureau produces all those treasures, our Ming Dynasty will undergo earth-shaking changes."

“Take this cement, for example.”

"His Royal Highness said that all roads in the Ming Dynasty will be made of cement."

"This way, when it rains, the road won't be muddy anymore, and the carriage won't be as bumpy as it is now."

Old Zhu was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

“Cement is indeed a good thing, but it’s probably not cheap, right?”

"It's definitely not feasible to use cement roads for everything."

He smiled and shook his head.

Ji Yuan supported Lao Zhu and walked slowly, and agreed: "That's right, I think so too."

"Although according to His Royal Highness, cement roads are cheaper than paving with stones, it is already very good to have cement roads in the city. How is it possible to use cement for all roads?"

"However, it is a good thing that His Royal Highness has such an ambition."

"I also heard that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is planning to build a cement road from Jinling City directly to Songjiang Prefecture."

"This area is a prosperous and wealthy area of our Ming Dynasty, with many merchants and frequent exchanges of people."

"If there is a cement road, wouldn't it be much more convenient?"

"Besides, Songjiang Prefecture is on the sea, so it's convenient to dispatch troops to Songjiang Prefecture to resist the Japanese pirates."

Old Zhu listened to him and smiled slightly, "Is this what his Daming Manufacturing Bureau does?"

The Ming Manufacturing Bureau spent 30 million taels of silver to set up and build it.

It would be a lie to say that Lao Zhu doesn't care at all.

That amount of silver was enough to cover the military expenses for mobilizing a large army for an expedition against the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

"That's right." Yoshigaki smiled and said, "In addition to cement, the Ming Manufacturing Bureau also casts iron and smelts steel, and also makes guns and cannons."

"I had thought of bringing it to your majesty to see."

"But His Royal Highness said that guns and cannons are dangerous weapons and they all fire gunpowder. For the sake of His Majesty's safety, it is better not to let His Majesty try them out, so as to avoid accidentally hurting the dragon's body."

Old Zhu laughed and said, "What does that matter?"

"It's not like we haven't used firearms before."

"When we fought against Chen Youliang, the firearms in our army were very useful."

"Bring it next time and let us see it."

"Take a look at the firearms made by the Ming Dynasty Manufacturing Bureau and see how they differ from the ones we made back then."

Yoshigaki said hurriedly: "I will definitely bring it to Your Majesty next time."

Old Zhu looked at the mountains in the distance, feeling very happy, and said, "Our grandson is much better than us in these aspects."

"Your Majesty is wise and powerful. Your Highness the Crown Prince has inherited your Majesty's true teachings, which is why he has such abilities." Yoshigaki flattered hurriedly.

Old Zhu laughed loudly, and then ordered: "In the future, send me a copy of the daily briefing submitted by the Ministry of Public Administration." "With my body, I can't review so many memorials, but I can still read the briefing."

Although he did not want to interfere in how Zhu Yunhuan governed the country, he was very happy to see what happened.

Yoshigaki responded quickly and added, "Speaking of government affairs, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has just established the Ming Dynasty Taxation Bureau and is currently investigating and collecting commercial taxes."

Old Zhu had already received the secret reports from the Jinyiwei spies and the inspectors, so he naturally knew about this matter. When he heard Ji Yuan talk about it, murderous intent suddenly ignited in his dragon eyes, and he said, "Good investigation! Those people dared to evade the imperial court's taxes, they should be beheaded and their property confiscated."

Under the arrangement of Zhu Yunhuan, the Jinyiwei arrested many people who had previously evaded commercial taxes.

The large number was far beyond Lao Zhu's expectations.

Zhu Yuanzhang had never imagined that under his rule in the Ming Dynasty, there would still be so many people evading taxes, which immediately made him want to kill them.

We have set the commercial tax so low, only one in thirty, and you still want to evade taxes?

Originally, Zhu Yuanzhang was not very supportive of Zhu Yunhuan's decision to double the commercial tax rate to 15%. However, since he had handed over the government affairs to his grandson, he did not speak out against it, thinking that he would first see the impact and consequences.

After hearing about so many people evading taxes, Mr. Zhu suddenly changed his mind.

Businessmen who evade taxes should be severely taxed.

This is also Mr. Zhu's usual character.

Yoshigaki smiled and said, "Your Highness has changed the original tax collection method. It will be difficult for those merchants to evade taxes in the future. However, Your Highness is under great pressure!"

Old Zhu asked quickly: "Where did this come from?"

Yoshigaki then explained in detail Zhu Yunhuan's method of collecting commercial taxes, from the role of invoices, to tax inspections, to the fact that all tax money went into the treasury of the Ming Bank, to the separation of revenue and expenditure and other measures.

After listening to him, Old Zhu couldn't help but exclaimed: "These methods are great! As expected of our grandson, he can come up with such a wonderful method."

"This way, those nasty businessmen will no longer be able to evade taxes."

"Local tax collectors, don't even think about lining your pockets! Great! Great!"

He laughed up to the sky, and after a while, he remembered something and asked, "What did you mean when you said that His Royal Highness was under a lot of pressure?"

"Do these businessmen dare to rebel?"

As he spoke, Old Zhu frowned and murderous intent rose again.

"Of course they don't dare!" Yoshigaki said, "Those merchants wouldn't dare to rebel even if they had a hundred times more courage!"

"However, I heard that those merchants are supported by royal relatives and high-ranking officials of the court."

"Many people are actually helping high-ranking officials and royal relatives to run their businesses."

Yoshigaki's voice gradually faded away.

"What's wrong with high-ranking officials and royal relatives? High-ranking officials and royal relatives should set an example!"

Old Zhu became even angrier and spoke louder.

"Tell me, which high-ranking official or royal relative does not pay taxes when doing business? And you are putting pressure on Hu'er. Let's see who dares!"

Yoshigaki hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, please calm down and don't get yourself hurt by being angry."

"At present, all those people have been arrested and thrown into prison by the head of the tax department."

Old Zhu reached out and stroked his beard, smiling happily: "Gao Xu has captured them all, well done!"

"Gao Xu is a good kid, but he's a little naughty. If we teach him well, he will be a good descendant of our Zhu family in the future."

Yoshigaki smiled and said, "Your Majesty's grandsons are all sons and grandsons of the dragon, so their abilities are naturally beyond reproach."

He paused, then continued in a low voice: "But I heard that among those arrested, there is Princess Baoqing's consort, and..."

He called out a series of names one by one.

It also includes how they went to the Taxation Commissioner to make trouble, how they gave gifts, and how they were arrested by Zhu Gaoxu's order.

As Old Zhu listened to him, the expression on his face suddenly became darker.

"Have these people done anything else that violates the law?"

"That's not the case!" Yoshigaki whispered.

Old Zhu Long's eyes flickered slightly, and one could vaguely see that deep in his eyes there were clouds and winds rolling, changing unpredictably.

"After all, they are royal relatives. If it's just this little thing, it's not appropriate to punish them severely."

"But they also need to be locked up for a while to teach them a lesson and let them reflect on their actions in prison."

Old Zhu then asked, "The prince consort was locked up. Didn't our daughter go to Hu'er to cry and make a scene?"

"He went." Yoshigaki said with a smile, "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was not in the East Palace. Princess Anqing searched everywhere but couldn't find him."

"Later, Her Royal Highness went to the Taxation Department again. But the young prince refused to let the prince consort go no matter what."

Old Zhu's expression suddenly became extremely interesting.

Not in the East Palace?

Can't find anyone?
How could he not understand what was going on!

This is hiding!
However, if this child is handed over to Zhu Gaoxu, can he withstand it?
Sudden.

Old Zhu remembered something.

"Where is our daughter now?"

Ji Yuan said: "I heard that Princess Baoqing cried and made a scene in front of the tax bureau, but failed to rescue her husband. Now she is riding in a sedan chair and rushing to your majesty's palace."

When the secret agents of the Imperial Guard came to deliver messages, they rode at full speed.

Naturally, he was much faster than Princess Baoqing who came in a sedan chair, so he had received the news a long time ago.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Old Zhu glared at him unhappily.

Thinking of his daughter coming to him and crying, he suddenly felt a headache!

If the son-in-law had committed a serious crime, Zhu would certainly be ruthless and punish him severely, and would ignore his daughter no matter how she cried.

But the crime committed by the prince consort was not that serious.

If it were under normal circumstances, when his daughter came to plead for mercy, Mr. Zhu would give her face and release her directly.

But now is the critical moment for his grandson to rectify commercial taxes, and he is planning to use the son-in-law and a group of royal relatives to establish his authority.

I can't go and sabotage my grandson or hold him back at this time.

This is the biggest national event right now!

National affairs are of primary importance.

Then I can only let my daughter and the prince consort suffer.

Thinking of this, Lao Zhu hurriedly ordered: "Hurry up and pass the order down, saying that I am in seclusion with the monks these days and cannot see guests."

"No matter who comes to see me, I will stop them all and will not see them."

……

(End of this chapter)