My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 119 The prince who kills people and Chongzhen who takes the blame!

After having a simple meal, Zhu Cilang took Zheng Xiaomei out of the Eastern Palace and prepared to pay a visit to Chongzhen and Queen Zhou.

This is both a procedure and represents the royal family's importance to the Zheng family.

Zheng Xiaomei also dressed up today and wore a dark red cloak.

As for why it is dark red instead of bright red, of course it is because bright red can only be worn by the wife, the future Crown Princess.

But she was just a concubine of the crown prince, so she was not qualified to wear bright red.

There is no way. After all, in ancient times, the hierarchy was very strict and could not be easily violated.

Chongzhen and Empress Zhou also knew that Zhu Cilang would bring his new bride to visit them today, so they made preparations early.

"Your son greets his father, the emperor, and his mother, the empress."

"I greet the Emperor, Father, and the Empress."

Upon seeing Empress Zhou and Chongzhen, Zhu Cilang and Zheng Xiaomei kowtowed to them politely.

"Good good."

Seeing their eldest son and his wife coming to kowtow, Chongzhen and Queen Zhou were rarely happy.

After all, what the ancients valued most was the inheritance of offspring, let alone the royal family.

Moreover, Zhu Cilang was the first among many princes to marry, so Chongzhen and Queen Zhou were naturally happy.

After drinking the tea offered by Zhu Cilang and Zheng Xiaomei, Chongzhen and Queen Zhou each gave Zheng Xiaomei some gifts.

However, the formal wedding ceremony has to wait until Zhu Cilang is older, after all, Zhu Cilang is indeed too young now.

According to Taizu's rules, one has to wait until the age of fifteen or sixteen.

Of course, Chongzhen and Queen Zhou were somewhat surprised by Zheng Xiaomei's appearance.

According to the previous rules, a woman with such a charming appearance would never be allowed to enter the harem, because such a woman might confuse the king and cause him to ignore state affairs.

But it is obvious that the situation now is different from the past. The Ming Dynasty needs Zheng Zhilong to serve the Ming Dynasty wholeheartedly, so it can only marry him.

Empress Zhou and Chongzhen turned a blind eye to this.

In their opinion, she was just a concubine of the crown prince. When Zhu Cilang grew up a little, he would definitely marry the crown prince's wife and other concubines.

When there are more women, Zhu Cilang's energy will naturally not be focused on one woman.

Having said that, before Zhu Cilang left, Chongzhen still quietly told him:
"Rebellious son! You must remember not to indulge in women!"

When Zhu Cilang heard this, he was speechless, but he couldn't refute Chongzhen.

Because among all the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen was one of the best in terms of women. He was emperor for fourteen years and only had three women.

That is, Empress Zhou, Royal Concubine Yuan, and Royal Concubine Tian.

"Don't worry, Father. I understand!"

After casually fooling Chongzhen, Zhu Cilang left.

After returning to the East Palace, Zhu Cilang went to see Bi Wenxuan because this guy had already started making hot air balloons.

Zheng Xiaomei gathered the eunuchs and palace maids of the Eastern Palace, and then rewarded each of them with some silver.

The eunuchs and palace maids were naturally overjoyed when they received the silver, and they kowtowed repeatedly to express their gratitude.

At the same time, they all became extremely alert, because they knew that from today on, even though the East Palace had a mistress, they could no longer be as careless as before.

That afternoon, Ma Bao came to report that Prince Zhang Shize of the Duke of Yingguo had brought someone with him to the door to ask for a meeting.

Zhu Cilang happened to have nothing to do, so he planned to meet the person brought by Zhang Shize.

A moment later, Zhang Shize walked into the hall with a middle-aged man, who was the Xia Dewu mentioned earlier.

Zhang Shize bowed respectfully.

"I see His Highness the Crown Prince!"

Xia Dewu knelt on the ground in fear and trepidation, his voice trembling:
"I have met His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. May His Royal Highness live a thousand years, a thousand thousand years, and a thousand thousand years."

Although Zhang Shize had revealed to him in advance the reason why the prince summoned him, Xia Dewu still felt a little uneasy when facing the prince.

After all, the tragic scene of the eight major merchants in Shanxi being executed for having secret dealings with the Qing army is still vivid in his mind, and that bloody scene still scars him to this day.

Although he knew that he would never get involved in such business, the court's harsh attitude towards merchants still made him feel uneasy.

Zhu Cilang also noticed the other party's emotions and gently comforted him:

"Stand up, don't be nervous. I summoned you here today. I'm sure Zhang Shize should have told you the reason."

Xia Dewu stood up tremblingly and responded cautiously:

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince has already explained the reason to me. I just don't know what Your Highness wishes to sell."

Zhu Cilang didn't say anything, but just nodded to Ma Bao beside him.

Ma Bao understood what he meant and walked towards the side hall. Soon he came in with a few eunuchs and several heavy boxes.

The boxes were opened one by one, and the items inside instantly attracted everyone's attention.

I saw that these boxes were filled with various beautifully shaped objects, including mirrors with exquisite craftsmanship, nearly transparent glassware, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, toilet water, perfume and other items.

Zhu Cilang stood up and walked over, picked up a mirror and handed it to Xia Dewudao:

"Look at this mirror. How much is it worth in the market?"

Xia Dewu quickly collected his thoughts, took the mirror with both hands, looked at it carefully with shock, and replied respectfully:
"Your Highness, this mirror can be sold for at least five hundred taels of silver on the market. If it is carefully packaged, it may even fetch seven or eight hundred taels of silver."

Zhu Cilang nodded with satisfaction, picked up another bar of soap, and introduced it to Xia Dewu:
"This thing is called soap. It has a strong cleaning ability and can be used for washing hands, laundry or bathing."

As he spoke, he asked Ma Bao to fetch some clean water, and then asked Ma Bao to personally demonstrate to Xia Dewu how to use the soap.

Xia Dewu looked at the soap that exuded a faint fragrance, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

He knew very well that such things would be favored by those rich ladies.

Thinking of this, he saluted Zhu Cilang again and said:
"Your Highness, I think this item should be able to sell for ten silver coins!"

Soap actually existed in ancient times, but because the manufacturing method was imperfect, the quality was not as good as the one made by Zhu Cilang.

Moreover, he specially asked Bi Wenxuan to add various perfumes to the soaps, giving these soaps a very special fragrance that was enough to kill all the soaps on the market.

Ten taels of silver is really not expensive!

Then, Zhu Cilang briefly introduced various glassware, toothbrushes, toothpaste, floral water, perfume and other items.

What shocked Xia Dewu the most was the floral water and perfume.

Because he had never smelled such a strange fragrance.

If this thing were put on the market, it would immediately become popular throughout the capital!
He felt that no rich lady could refuse something like this.

Most importantly, these things are consumables!

You have to buy a new one when you run out of it!

Thinking of this, Xia Dewu's mind began to work rapidly.

The next second, he knelt down and said sincerely:
"Your Highness, if you can hand over this Royal Chamber of Commerce to me, I will definitely bring you endless wealth."

"I am willing to guarantee it with my life!"

At this moment, Xia Dewu's mentality has undergone a drastic change.

From initial fear to current anticipation, he knows that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

An opportunity to get close to the prince!
If he can achieve something, his future will be limitless.

Zhu Cilang looked at the gleam in Xia Dewu's eyes and nodded with satisfaction.

He was not afraid that Xia Dewu had ambitions, but he was afraid that Xia Dewu had no ambitions, because if he had no ambitions, he would not work hard.

Then Zhu Cilang said calmly:

"Although Zhang Shize praised you as a talent, I still want to test your ability."

"How about this, I'll give you all these boxes of stuff, and you can do whatever you can to sell them."

"As long as the price of these boxes can satisfy me, the position of the head of the Royal Chamber of Commerce will be yours."

"In addition, I will also reward you with a sixth-rank official hat."

"If your son is willing to study, let him go to the Imperial Academy. If he is not willing to study, let him serve as a centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

When Xia Dewu heard this, he was almost crazy with joy.

He originally thought that the prince would at most reward him with some property or shops, but he didn't expect that the prince actually planned to grant him an official position!
And he is a sixth-rank official!
Although it is very likely a nominal position, it is still a sixth-rank official!
You have to know that now he is just a businessman and a commoner. He could not even dream of jumping from a commoner to a sixth-rank official.

What's more, his son could enter the Imperial College or become a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Such temptation was too great for him.

So, Xia Dewu knelt down again, with endless gratitude in his voice.

"I thank His Royal Highness the Crown Prince! I will definitely not let His Royal Highness the Crown Prince down!"

Zhu Cilang waved his hand:
"Alright, you can leave now. These things will be delivered to the Duke of England's residence soon. You can handle them yourself then."

"I don't care how you sell it, I just want to see the silver!"

Xia Dewu replied respectfully:
"Don't worry, Your Highness. I know what to do. I'll take my leave!"

After saying this, Xia Dewu left the East Palace happily.

Then, Zhu Cilang turned his gaze to Zhang Shize and asked with a playful smile:

"Zhang Shize, are you interested in doing this business with me?"

Zhang Shize's heart trembled when he heard this, and he quickly waved his hand to refuse:
"Your Highness, I dare not even think of this!"

He knew very well that this was the royal business and ordinary people had no right to get involved, not even nobles.

If we really agree to it, wouldn’t we be competing with the royal family for business?
He really doesn't have that much courage.

However, Zhu Cilang laughed and said:

"Don't worry, I'm not testing you. I really want you to do this business." Zhang Shize became even more confused after hearing this.

He couldn't understand what Zhu Cilang was trying to do. Why didn't he do this lucrative business himself, but instead asked him to cooperate with him? What was the logic behind this?
In fact, Zhu Cilang naturally understood in his heart that it would be best to do this kind of business alone.

But, he knew that wouldn't work.

Because the wisdom of the working people is infinite.

No matter how well he hides the formulas of all his products, when these products are officially sold, there will definitely be people who will start to figure out the formulas of these products and eventually figure out a rough idea.

He can't just give an order that no one is allowed to study the formula of these things, right?
Regardless of whether it is feasible or not, the benefits behind it are enough to make people willing to risk their lives to do it.
Instead of waiting for all kinds of counterfeit and shoddy products to flood the market and affect the sales of the Royal Chamber of Commerce, it is better to be the manufacturer ourselves.

He had already figured it out. All the products of the Royal Chamber of Commerce were of the best quality, but those sold to Zhang Shize were of slightly lower quality.

If other merchants also want to do this business, then sell them products of lower quality.

This can not only ensure the interests of the Royal Chamber of Commerce, but also prevent all kinds of counterfeit and shoddy products from flooding the market.

It can also allow ordinary people to have access to these things.

It's like killing three birds with one stone!
Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang looked at Zhang Shize and continued:

“When these items are sold at the Royal Chamber of Commerce, they will be specially engraved with the Royal Chamber of Commerce logo.”

"But if you also want to do this business, then I will specially customize a batch of products without logos. The shapes and specifications will also be different from those sold by the Royal Chamber of Commerce."

"This way you can sell it in your own shop."

"As for the profits, how about a 50-50 split?"

When Zhang Shize heard this, he finally understood that Zhu Cilang was not joking but was serious.

He then grinned and said:

"If that is the case, then I thank Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"But forget about half of the profit. I'll take 30%."

"For a business like this that's incredibly profitable, even if the profit is only 30%, it's still an astronomical figure."

Zhu Cilang nodded in satisfaction after hearing what he said.
"Okay, it's settled!"

"First, use these things to test Xia Dewu's strength. If there is no problem, let him officially take over as the treasurer of the Royal Chamber of Commerce."

"Don't be idle these days. Help me find a suitable place in the capital to be the headquarters of the Royal Chamber of Commerce."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Shize happily agreed.

"Don't worry, Your Highness, I'll go find him right away!"

After saying this, Zhang Shize also said goodbye.

Soon, several Jinyiwei came in and sent the boxes of things to the Duke of Ying's Mansion.

In the evening, just after dinner, Zhu Cilang received three secret letters from the Jinyiwei one after another.

These three secret letters were lists of confiscated property sent from the south, and the homes of those Donglin Party members who had been killed by Zhu Cilang were all confiscated.

The items recorded in these three letters alone amounted to 13 million taels of silver, 700,000 taels of gold, hundreds of boxes of rare treasures, and 850,000 acres of land.

It can be seen that these people have been quite corrupt over the years, and the land tax they owe is an astronomical figure!
After all, these 850,000 acres of land are tax-free!
Come to think of it, who would dare to collect taxes from such high-ranking officials as cabinet ministers and the six ministers?
Of course, not everything goes so smoothly.

This large-scale house-raiding operation caused dissatisfaction and resistance among some local gentry.

Although they were not copied, they still felt the crisis, and then they took the most effective method in the past:
Crying in the temple!

The so-called crying temple in ancient times actually refers to a custom in the Jiangnan region.

Whenever the local government committed "illegal" acts, the scholars would gather in the Confucian Temple, cry out to the ancestor Confucius, and call on the people to appeal to the higher authorities.

In the Ming Dynasty, this act of crying in the temple would often gather hundreds or thousands of people, and sometimes even lead to large-scale riots.

This often makes local officials unable to sleep or eat.

When the Jinyiwei who were responsible for confiscating property encountered this situation, they were at a loss for a moment. After all, these people were not on the list of people to be confiscated, so they could not take action.

So I hurriedly asked Zhu Cilang what he meant!
When Zhu Cilang saw this, he sneered in his heart, then walked to the table, picked up the pen, pulled the rice paper and wrote a big word.

"kill"!
It's just a simple word, but it represents his determination to deal with this matter!
Although the tactic of crying in the temple was useful for the emperors of the Ming Dynasty in history, it was useless for the emperors of the Qing Dynasty.

After the Qing Dynasty entered the pass, those who cried in the temple were killed one by one.

They killed countless people, flowed blood like a river, and also stripped them of their fame and honor!
In the end, these guys were killed and became completely obedient, and they didn't make any waves for nearly three hundred years.

He even paid back all the land taxes owed to Chongzhen to the Qing Dynasty!
Some say that taxes were paid until the Wanli period, for a total of nearly a hundred years!

Since the Qing Dynasty could deal with these people in this way, why couldn't Zhu Cilang do the same?
Anyway, Chongzhen is the one who takes the blame. No matter how many people are killed, it will not be blamed on him. What is there to be afraid of?

Immediately, Zhu Cilang called the Embroidered Uniform Guard and handed him the piece of rice paper with only the word "kill" written on it.

"Eight hundred miles, rush! Tell all the teams sent south to confiscate property. If they encounter any more people who are crying in the temple and resisting, they will be killed without mercy and their property will be confiscated!"

"As for the charges, let them decide. I don't believe these people are clean."

Upon hearing this, Jinyiwei carefully took the rice paper and said with a bow:

"I obey!"

Then he left.

Looking at the Jinyiwei leaving, Zhu Cilang sneered in his heart again.

Go ahead and make some noise, let’s see which is harder, your necks or the knife in my hand!
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was the next morning.

Having been absent from work for a day yesterday, Zhu Cilang couldn't afford to be absent from work again, so he got up early today and planned to go to court.

But for some reason, Zheng Xiaomei also got up early, then dismissed the palace maids and eunuchs, intending to comb Zhu Cilang's hair herself.

Zhu Cilang said somewhat embarrassedly:

"What are you doing up so early? Go and get some rest. I have others to serve me."

Hearing this, Zheng Xiaomei smiled slightly and said:

"But I want to serve His Royal Highness the Crown Prince personally."

After hearing this, Zhu Cilang no longer refused.

He simply let Zheng Xiaomei take care of his hair and dress him personally.

This was a problem in ancient times. Men in the Ming Dynasty had to tie their hair up, and then let their hair down when they rested every night, so they had to comb their hair every morning.

This is incomparable to later generations, where most men have short hair and only need to wash their faces when they go out in the morning, which only takes a few minutes.

But there is nothing we can do about it, after all, when in Rome, do as the Romans do!
After everything was ready, Zhu Cilang went to the palace.

The melodious bell for court rang out, and the morning court officially began.

"When there is something going on, we will start, and when there is nothing going on, we will retreat."

Following Wang Chengen's call, Minister of Revenue Ni Yuanlu stood up and said respectfully:
"Your Highness, I have something to report to you."

Zhu Cilang nodded slightly, signaling Ni Yuanlu to continue.

Ni Yuanlu said bluntly:
"Your Highness, the treasury was previously empty. In order to support Liaodong, His Majesty ordered an increase in the three taxes."

"But now that the treasury is full, I feel it is necessary to temporarily suspend the additional levies of the three taxes to allow the people to recuperate. I ask Your Highness the Crown Prince to make the decision."

Three taxes?

Zhu Cilang was slightly stunned when he heard this. He almost forgot about this.

You know, in the turbulent period of the late Ming Dynasty, what the common people were most afraid of hearing was the Three Taxes.

Because the three taxes have been increased to a level that the common people cannot bear, and they have been increased from the Wanli period to the present, and have crushed countless people to death.

He had always wanted to resolve this matter, but he almost forgot about it because of the matter of the eight imperial merchants.

Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang nodded solemnly.

"Master Ni is right. In that case, I hereby declare that, effective today, all three additional taxes imposed by the imperial court will be completely abolished."

After these words were spoken, none of the civil and military officials in the court reacted much.

Logically speaking, taxation involves national finances. If a tax is suddenly cancelled, the national finances will definitely be affected, and officials should be anxious.

But at this moment, these civil and military officials were not at all anxious.

Firstly, everyone knows that the three taxes have indeed made it impossible for the people to survive. If they are not abolished, more and more people will rebel.

Secondly, the Ming Dynasty now has no shortage of silver.

After all, the silver that was confiscated before was transported in from outside the city in a fair and honest way, and there were hundreds of boxes of it.

It is said that there are as much as 100 million taels of silver!

It would be unprofitable if the people were forced to rebel because of such a small amount of tax.

Moreover, Zhu Cilang did not put all the silver from the confiscated property into the imperial treasury, but instead allocated 30 million taels to the Ministry of Revenue.

That's why Ni Yuanlu had the confidence to say that the three taxes should be abolished, because the Ministry of Revenue was not short of money.

Immediately, Xue Guoguan and Li Banghua on the side hurriedly bowed and said:

"Your Highness the Crown Prince is wise."

After the other ministers realized what was happening, they all echoed:
"Your Highness the Crown Prince is wise."

In this way, the three taxes that crushed the Ming Dynasty were finally completely abolished.

Perhaps in the eyes of some people, abolishing the three taxes is an unwise decision, because although the Ming Dynasty has money now, the money will still be spent. What should be done after the money is spent?

Wouldn’t we have to add other taxes by then?

But in Zhu Cilang's view, this is nothing at all.

After all, he was about to reform the Ming Dynasty's tax system.

Just three taxes, that's nothing!

(End of this chapter)