Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 160 Serial...Zhu Yunxun’s ultimate move!
Wenhua Hall.

This is where the crown prince studies.

It was also the place where he learned how to govern the country.

When Zhu Biao was the crown prince, he served as regent for a long time, and Wenhua Hall was where he handled state affairs on a daily basis.

After Zhu Yunhuan was named crown prince and took over the government, Wenhua Hall continued to retain its original function.

However, Zhu Yunhuan was rather lazy and had not come to the Wenhua Hall for a long time, so only the ministers discussed state affairs here.

Yesterday evening, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince suddenly issued an order to all government offices, asking all officials to come to the Wenhua Palace to discuss the case of tax evasion and tax resistance by royal relatives.

Early this morning, all the officials rushed into the Wenhua Hall.

It was Zhu Gaoxu's first time to attend such an occasion, so he couldn't help feeling a little nervous.

But when he thought of the heavy responsibility of upholding the laws of the Ming Dynasty, he straightened his chest with pride.

"Your Highness, this is the file of the family members of the royal family evading and resisting taxation, as well as their open bribery. There are witnesses and evidence. Please take a look, Your Highness."

The eunuch immediately stepped forward to take it, but Zhu Yunhuan said, "Let the gentlemen take a look first."

The officials in Wenhua Hall took the files one by one and began to read them.

Soon, rebukes were heard everywhere.

"Shocking! Shocking! How dare they ignore the laws of the country like this?"

"This is extremely audacious and reckless. Only severe punishment can restore order in the court!"

"As relatives of the emperor, they are indebted to the emperor, but instead of being role models for the people, they wantonly break the law and disregard the laws of the country. This is extremely disrespectful!"

……

Everyone was very excited, as if they had an irreconcilable hatred against those royal relatives who evaded or resisted taxes.

They probably have forgotten that not long ago, also here, Zhu Yunhuan had not come to Wenhua Hall to meet them, and the "Da Ming Daily" had not reported this matter. Their attitudes were completely opposite.

Everyone felt indignant for the arrested royal relatives, and everyone believed that they should be acquitted.

"Let's discuss what crime we should charge them with, shall we?" Zhu Yunhuan said calmly.

All the officials in the court, without exception, had submitted their reports before he came to the Wenhua Hall to discuss matters.

The officials’ attitude is naturally very clear.

The so-called discussion is actually just a formality.

After that, he ordered, "Bring up all the royal relatives."

The royal relatives who were imprisoned by Zhu Gaoxu that day had already been taken out of the palace.

After hearing the order, the guards brought them all up.

A clean official stepped forward and said, "In theory, the court has a system of judging relatives and nobility. As they are royal relatives, even if they break the law, they can be given a lighter sentence."

"But what they did was too outrageous. They disregarded the laws of the country and disrespected Your Majesty. This has caused public outrage. I think they should be sentenced to death!"

The son-in-law Ouyang Lun turned around and looked at the official in surprise.

This person used to be good friends with me and visited the Prince Consort's residence many times.

I didn't expect that they would add insult to injury like this.

He was imprisoned, and although he did not suffer any torture, he was not aware of the changes in the outside world.

Until Princess Anqing sent someone to summon him and asked him to apologize, Ouyang Lun thought it was fake news and that the messenger was deceiving him.

That's hard-earned money, how can we just pay the tax in vain?
Ouyang Lun was extremely unwilling.

I'm the prince consort of the Ming Dynasty and I'm just doing some legitimate business, but I still have to pay taxes?
When Ouyang Lun came to the court at this time and heard that some officials actually said they wanted to sentence them to death, he felt like he had been struck by lightning.

Is this official crazy?

I am the prince consort, the husband of Princess Anqing, and he actually wants to kill me?
However, as soon as the official finished speaking, officials came out one after another.

"I second the proposal!"

"I second the proposal!"

"I second this motion!"

……

"If we don't kill, we won't be able to appease the people's anger, and if we don't kill, we won't be able to uphold the law!"

"These people are guilty of unforgivable crimes and should be killed!"

……

Inside the Wenhua Hall, all the officials were furious and shouted for killing.

All the royal relatives, including Ouyang Lun, were immediately shocked as if they had fallen into an icy cave.

I originally thought that everyone had a stake in the issue of commercial taxes, and there were quite a few officials' family members and servants who were involved in business.

They will definitely stand on the same front with me and others.

Together they opposed the imperial court's imposition of commercial taxes and the actions of the tax commissioner.

I didn't expect such a situation would occur?
Instead, they have become the rats crossing the street, and everyone is calling for their deaths!

The officials who were supposed to stand with them in battle turned against them and became traitors.

At this moment, the royal relatives, who had been calm and composed and not afraid of being imprisoned, suddenly became panicked.

"us……"

Some royal relatives wanted to speak up to defend themselves.

But as soon as he opened his mouth, he was interrupted by harsh rebukes from other officials.

"To this day, you still don't know how to repent and confess your sins?"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the royal relatives suddenly woke up as if from a dream, and immediately knelt down and confessed their guilt.

"Your Highness, we know we were wrong. Please forgive us."

Even the dumbest person could see that the wind in the court was not blowing in the right direction.

Zhu Yunxun raised a smile and sighed, "They are all my relatives, so I should have given them a lighter sentence. But public opinion is overwhelming, and all officials say you should be killed. This palace is in a difficult position!"

"Your Highness, I am willing to pay the taxes I have evaded over the years and donate a large sum of money to the court. I beg Your Highness to forgive me."

Ouyang Lun was so frightened that he spoke first.

After the establishment of the Taxation Department, it has been investigating tax evasion.

But many things happened so long ago that it is impossible to find out everything.

Unless the other party pleads guilty voluntarily.

At this moment, Ouyang Lun only wanted to save his life and didn't care about money.

"I do too!"

"I do too!"

"The same goes for me. I can donate millions to the court."

Other royal relatives spoke up one after another.

"Well!" Zhu Yunxun said, "Since everyone has confessed their guilt, I can't help but show some sympathy."

"As long as you pay all the taxes and fines according to the law, I will pardon your death penalty."

He had no intention of killing these people.

But the knocking effect must be achieved.

Now that the goal has been achieved, you can naturally stop.

With these royal relatives setting an example, other businessmen would definitely not dare to evade or resist taxes anymore.

The royal family members were overjoyed when they heard this: "Thank you, Your Highness!"

Zhu Yunhuan nodded, then looked at the officials and said, "Let's discuss the reform of commercial taxes today."

……

Prince Consort's Mansion.

Ouyang Lun returned home exhausted.

But he found that the study was empty, and all the treasures he had collected in the past were gone.

"This...this...what's going on?" Ouyang Lun asked hurriedly.

"It's all for your salvation!" Princess Anqing walked in and said, "Do you think the back taxes and fines are a small amount? If we don't sell our property, we simply can't raise that much money."

Ouyang Lun was stunned. Thinking of the various antiques and paintings he had collected with great difficulty, all of which were now gone, his heart was bleeding. "After so many years, don't we have any savings at home? Do we have to sell off our property?"

Princess Anqing glared at him angrily and said, "Don't you know how much savings we have at home?"

"Although I have made a lot of money from business over the years, I still have so many servants at home, and they all need money to support them."

"And the troupe you bought and the garden we built, which one doesn't cost money?"

"Money is spent like water every day." "I earn a lot, but I spend it fast."

"And where did you save so much money?"

Ouyang Lun lowered his head in anger.

He knew that Princess Anqing was telling the truth.

The expenses at home have always been high.

Those antiques and paintings, which are rare and precious, were all bought at great prices.

Princess Anqing comforted her, "It doesn't matter. Money is only a thing outside of one's body. As long as my husband can return safely, that's all that matters."

"Besides, we can continue doing business in the future and make the money back."

"Although we have to pay business taxes now, my husband, don't forget that most of the business in Jinling City is controlled by us, the royal relatives."

"Since the imperial court won't give us tax exemptions, we'll raise prices."

"In the end, aren't the taxes collected by the court still borne by the common people?"

She had already made up her mind.

Ouyang Lun smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "I'm afraid it's difficult."

"Today in Wenhua Palace, the Crown Prince discussed with all the officials and believed that there were many inappropriate aspects in the previous business strategies."

“Only businessmen can do business, which causes prices to rise.”

"Moreover, many court officials borrowed the identities of domestic servants to make profits."

"The Crown Prince believes that this policy should be reformed. From now on, anyone can apply for a business license from the court."

"As long as you get the license, you can do business legally."

"And it does not change his original status."

"This proposal has been approved by all officials and has been passed by the court!"

Princess Anqing was stunned.

The Yuan Dynasty had always been laissez-faire towards private commerce.

However, since its establishment, the Ming Dynasty has established extremely strict systems.

The sons of farmers farm, the sons of soldiers serve in the military, the sons of merchants do business, and the sons of craftsmen continue to be craftsmen, and this trend remains unchanged from generation to generation.

In Zhu's view, if everyone does their own job in this way and it remains unchanged forever, the rule will be stable.

Although merchants made considerable profits from their business, their status was low.

People from other classes know that they can make money by doing business, but they are unwilling to give up their "noble" status, so they cannot do business.

Only the royal family, meritorious officials, and high-ranking officials in the court found a way to circumvent it.

That is to let one's own slaves do business.

Household slaves have a low status to begin with, so it's no problem for them to become businessmen.

The money they earned was given back to the owner.

In this way, we can achieve the best of both worlds.

Over time, most of the business in Jinling City was controlled by powerful families.

They have cornered the market, and if everyone reaches a private agreement, they can raise prices together.

The people had no other options.

But now that the imperial court has opened up to business, anyone can apply for a license, and the original monopoly will be broken.

“How can officials support this policy?”

Princess Anqing also became anxious when she heard this.

The plan in her mind was completely disrupted.

"Isn't it for your own reputation?"

After Ouyang Lun was released, he quickly figured out the situation outside.

"With the instigation of the Ming Daily, public opinion is fermenting."

"Everyone says that business cannot be monopolized by the rich and powerful."

"Those officials are all just vain."

"At a time like this, how could they not support open business?"

Princess Anqing was distraught: "What should I do?"

"Can our business continue?"

She knew it very well.

The company's business is flourishing mainly due to not paying commercial taxes and monopolizing the market.

If we really want to compete fairly with other businessmen, we will never be able to win.

What's more, after opening up for business, the competitors are not just businessmen.

Anyone can get involved.

How can they make huge profits then?
"I just thought about it and I have a solution."

Ouyang Lun's eyes flashed with ruthlessness: "In the eyes of many people, doing business means making huge profits."

"Now that the court has opened up to business, there will definitely be a lot of people rushing in like crazy."

“But they don’t have the capital!”

Princess Anqing's eyes lit up: "You mean, we don't do business, but lend money at high interest. Lend money to those who want to do business, and we just sit back and collect the interest."

Ouyang Lun nodded gently: "That's right! The profit from lending money is much higher than doing business."

Princess Anqing smiled and said, "My husband is really thoughtful."

"We have always lent money at interest, but not much."

"Now is the opportunity."

As the two were talking, the housekeeper came to report.

"Your Highness, Prince Consort, the Cao family, the Ma family, and the Liu family are all here today to pay back the money."

"He also said that he would never lend it to me again."

Princess Anqing's face changed.

These families were the ones who had borrowed money from the Prince Consort's Mansion at high interest before.

"If you don't want to lend it, then don't lend it."

"Can't I beg them to borrow it?"

"It just so happens that the imperial court is now open to business. Those who want to do business will have to raise money everywhere, right?"

"From today on, the interest rate for borrowing money will be doubled."

"If they don't lend it, naturally other families will."

She is full of confidence.

But just as he finished speaking, he heard the butler whisper: "Your Highness, I'm afraid no one will come to borrow money from you anymore."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Ouyang Lun scolded.

How is it possible that suddenly no one comes to borrow money?
The butler bent down and said, "I just received news that in order to support the development of commerce, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ordered the Ming Bank to open up its lending business."

"Anyone who has property in Jinling City can pledge their property to the Ming Bank and immediately obtain a loan from the Ming Bank."

"The interest rate of loans from Daming Bank is very low."

"Not even one tenth of what we earned from loan sharking."

"In this case, who would come to us to borrow money?"

As soon as the butler finished speaking, Princess Anqing and her husband Ouyang Lun blurted out their anger at the same time.

"what?"

Ouyang Lun plopped down and sat heavily on the armchair.

"Da Ming Bank lends money?"

"The interest on the loan is not even one tenth of the usury?"

He just felt dizzy.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince uses a series of moves, each one more powerful than the last!
The plan I just thought of has failed again.

"Husband, what should we do?" Princess Anqing looked helpless and burst into tears.

……

(End of this chapter)