Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

Jia Lian was truly annoyed by this stubborn old man who wouldn't listen to reason.

I almost blurted out the sentence, "Kong Qing is getting old; he should return to his hometown as soon as possible to enjoy his old age."

After a moment's hesitation, he didn't say it.

As expected, not just anyone can become Li Shimin.

When Emperor Ningkang appointed Kong Si, Jia Lian observed with a cold eye, feeling that Kong Si was well-versed in Emperor Taizong of Tang's theory of using history and people as mirrors.

I didn't feel there was anything wrong with it.

Now that I've encountered it myself, I realize how difficult it is to tolerate having someone under your command who constantly disagrees with you.

Moreover, firing Kong Si is easy; the difficulty lies with the others, and there are probably quite a few who share Kong Si's views.

So Jia Lian suppressed his temper and kindly advised, "I already understand Minister Kong's intentions."

I wonder if Minister Kong is familiar with the phrase "seeking common ground while reserving differences"?

Kong Si looked up in surprise, thought for a moment, and then said, "Your Highness, are you referring to the passage in the 'Record of Music' in the Book of Rites, which says, 'Music is for harmony, rites are for difference. Harmony leads to intimacy, difference leads to respect'?"

Jia Lian thought to himself that this fellow was indeed from the Ministry of Rites, as he knew the Book of Rites so well.

So he nodded and said, "Since Lord Kong understands this principle, and we both hold our own opinions..."

No, it's not just the two of us. I imagine that among everyone present today, there are those who support Kong Qing's words and those who believe in my arguments.

Adhering to the principle of seeking common ground while reserving differences, I decided to temporarily select only two ports nationwide as a trial for opening the sea.

The time limit is one year; the results will be reviewed after one year.

The facts will prove whether my strategy of opening up the sea was more beneficial or harmful than beneficial.

If it is proven that I was wrong, I will agree to ban the seas again.

Conversely, if this were not the case, then Lord Kong and the other officials would no longer be able to stop the plan to open the sea.

"I wonder if Minister Kong would accept my suggestion?"

Jia Lian's statement was not an act of compromise.

Because he never intended to fully open the sea from the beginning.

After so many years of maritime restrictions, a complete lifting of them all at once could easily lead to unpredictable changes.

Therefore, it is safest to first select a few ports along the coast for pilot testing.

This would both reduce the adverse effects and facilitate the court's control.

However, when it comes to negotiations, you have to put on an act as if I originally planned to fully open the sea, but for your sake, I'm taking a step back. What else can you do if you don't accept it?

As expected, upon hearing Jia Lian's words, most of the officials breathed a sigh of relief.

Supporters have confidence in Jia Lian's strategy of opening up the sea, so they are naturally not afraid that Jia Lian will lose.

Those who oppose or hesitate think that it's just opening two openings, and if the results are not good after a year, they can close them at any time, so they don't think it's a big problem.

Kong Si, on the other hand, was two beats slower.

He murmured to himself, "Seek common ground while reserving differences..."

Then, looking up at Jia Lian, he sighed, "I never expected that Your Highness, at such a young age, would have already grasped the words of the sages to such a profound level, and could summarize them into such concise and refined language..."

As the Emperor Emeritus had predicted, His Highness's bearing is truly extraordinary.

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian's old face flushed slightly, then he casually asked, "I wonder what Minister Kong thinks of my suggestion?"

"Can."

Kong Si got up on his own, patted his knees and said loudly, "Since Your Highness is so confident in the plan to open the sea, it would be rude of me to obstruct it."

Since that's the case, then as Your Highness has said, we will set a one-year limit and judge right and wrong based on the outcome.

Please rest assured, Your Highness, that within this year, your humble servants and the Ministry of Rites will not only refrain from opposing Your Highness's policy of opening up the seas, but will also strongly support and promote it, in order to repay Your Highness for your open-mindedness in accepting wise advice.

But Your Highness, please keep your promise.

If, a year from now, my concerns prove correct, I urge Your Highness to reconsider your plan to open the seas.

Jia Lian smiled upon hearing this.

That old man.

His final words were a request for him to restrain himself rather than shut down, clearly indicating that he was aware of the strong desire to open up the sea.

To prevent him from going back on his word, he dared not ask for a complete ban on the sea.

As for what constitutes restraint, it probably means what he said before: banning private individuals but not official ones.

Jia Lian really had nothing to say about this.

He then asked his ministers, "What do you all think?"

"Your Highness is wise."

Seeing that the ministers had completely agreed with his wishes, Jia Lian was in a good mood and continued to implement his ideas.

"I have already made up my mind. The ports for opening the sea will be one in the south and one in the north."

To the north lies Tianjin, and to the south lies Quanzhou Port.

"In order for the court to better manage the opening of the seas, I have decided to establish the General Administration of Customs."

Whether civilian or official vessels, they must be registered with the Customs Service and must enter or leave through either Tianjin Port or Quanzhou Port before they can go to sea.

Otherwise, it will all be considered smuggling, and those found guilty will be severely punished.

Perhaps Jia Lian had been imparting too much knowledge to the officials these past few days, because everyone was listening attentively and taking notes.

Everyone knows that whoever can understand Jia Lian's true thoughts first will be able to complete the tasks assigned by Jia Lian better in the future and will be appreciated and given important responsibilities.

The Directorate General of Customs is easy to understand; he regulates merchants and ships that go to sea, much like a border market.

The Minister of Revenue had a more acute sense of smell and accurately detected the scent of "money".

"If a Customs Commissioner is established, will all ships going out to sea for work or trade have to pay taxes to the imperial court, just like in border markets?"

Indeed.

"All ships entering or leaving Tianjin Port or Quanzhou Port will be protected by the Royal Navy of our Great Wei."

At the same time, they also had to be subject to the jurisdiction of the Customs Commissioner and pay taxes to the court according to the value of the goods shipped out.

Of course, in order to encourage merchants to go into business, the imperial court should have set the tax rate lower in the early stages.

Once more merchants and ordinary people go to sea, the tax rate can be increased reasonably.

This would both increase the court's annual revenue and control the number of people going into business, preventing, as Minister Kong suggested, from hindering agriculture and sericulture.

An old minister suddenly asked, "Wouldn't this be seen as competing with the people for profit?"

Lu Zhongxiang directly retorted: "What does Lord Zhang know? What does it mean to compete with the people for profit?"

Does Lord Zhang know how much revenue the border market brings to the imperial court each year?

If this is considered profiting at the expense of the people, then what about the salt tax, tea tax, and iron tax? Aren't they all profiting at the expense of the people?

I have said before that if the court wants to increase annual revenue, it cannot focus solely on land tax.

The land under heaven is finite; no matter how hard farmers work, the annual yield is also fixed.

On the contrary, merchants traveling to trade could earn money from various places and even foreign countries, in amounts that were unpredictable.

The imperial court should have levied hefty taxes on merchants long ago!

With that, Lu Zhongxiang cupped his hands to Jia Lian and said, "Taking advantage of Your Highness's plan to open the seas, this old minister proposes that we restart discussions on commercial taxes and establish a more comprehensive system for collecting them!"

Jia Lian waved his hand: "The collection of commercial taxes is a highly controversial and complicated matter."

Let's set that aside for today and focus on strategies for opening up the seas.

Jia Lian was starting to like the new Minister of Revenue.

She has financial acumen.

However, governing a large country is like cooking a small fish; many things must be done slowly and cannot be rushed.

"To ensure the establishment and operation of the Customs Directorate General, the newly established Customs Directorate General is independent of the six ministries and is directly responsible to me."

As for the person in charge, I wonder if any of you have a candidate to recommend?

Lu Zhongxiang said urgently, "Your Highness, since the Customs Commissioner is responsible for collecting taxes on behalf of the court, it is only reasonable for him to be placed under the Ministry of Revenue."

Jia Lian laughed and said, "After all, the Customs Commissioner is involved in maritime affairs, not the traditional Ministry of Revenue Commissioner."

If it were placed under the Ministry of Revenue, it would be easily affected by the operation of the Ministry of Revenue itself, and it would also make the Ministry of Revenue's organization bloated and chaotic.

Minister Lu, rest assured, even if the Customs Service operates independently of the Six Ministries, all its tax revenue will ultimately go into the national treasury and be under the control of the Ministry of Revenue. Minister Lu has no need to worry about this.

Hearing Jia Lian say that the customs revenue would go into the national treasury, not only Lu Zhongxiang, but everyone else felt much more at ease.

They feared that Jia Lian's purpose in establishing this Customs Commissioner was not pure.

After all, throughout history, there have been many emperors who devised various pretexts to stuff silver into their own private treasuries.

Jia Lian now has the appearance of a wise ruler, and they must also guard against him going astray!

"Your Highness, I have a candidate for the position of Director-General of Customs."

This man was named Xie Lü. He was originally a secretary in the Ministry of Works. Later, due to his meritorious service in managing the Grand Canal, he was appointed as the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Shandong.

He is upright and honest, and his conduct is incorruptible; he is perfectly suited for the position of Director-General of Customs.

Cabinet Minister and Minister of Works Wang Chun stepped forward.

The others immediately realized what was happening.

Even if they don't know how much money is available at the Customs General Office, at this time, the most important thing is to get people in there first.

So they all stepped forward to recommend candidates.

Just as everyone was praising their own wares, Shui Rong stepped past the crowd, cupped his hands to Jia Lian, and said, "Your Highness, I have just listened to Your Highness and the ministers' discussion, and I feel that this matter of the Customs Commissioner may seem small, but it has far-reaching implications."

If Your Highness trusts me, why not entrust this task to me?

Your Highness, I assure you that I will do this task in accordance with Your Highness's wishes.

If not, Your Highness, please question me directly.

Once Shui Rong opened his mouth, everyone else shut up.

Regardless of the circumstances, if the Water Prince wanted this job, they would have to give him face, both morally and logically.

"That's not appropriate. As a prince and the head of the nobility, it's beneath you to hold the position of Customs Commissioner. It's not right."

Shui Rong was getting a little anxious and hurriedly said, "Since we are serving the court and sharing Your Highness's burdens, how can we be picky?"

I believe that with the new Director-General of Customs, there will likely be many people who outwardly comply but inwardly defy him.

At this time, it is only right that someone of certain status, like Chen, should be sent down to keep order.

I hope Your Highness will reconsider.

Seeing this, the others felt sorry for Shui Rong.

The glory of being the Prime Minister came and went quickly; Jia Lian only enjoyed his position for half a year before taking office.

Now, he asked for a position as the Director-General of Customs, but Jia Lian refused.

Thinking that Jia Lian shouldn't be such a heartless person, he couldn't help but wonder if this Prince Shui had offended His Highness in the past and was now being deliberately retaliated against by His Highness.

Seeing that Shui Rong was about to cry, Jia Lian knew that if he didn't tell him the truth, he would be seen as a mean and ungrateful person by others.

Therefore, he smiled and comforted him, saying, "I have always been well aware of Prince Shui's talent."

The reason I didn't appoint you as the Director-General of Customs is that I have a more important task for you.

I was thinking of calling you in a few days to discuss this... but never mind, you can stay behind alone after the meeting."

"Is Your Highness's statement truly true?"

Sure enough, when Shui Rong heard that Jia Lian was not trying to neglect him but had other plans, he immediately stopped vying for the position of Customs Commissioner.

After all, for someone as high-ranking as the head of the imperial relatives and a prince, it would indeed be beneath him to try and steal from a mere third-rank official.

Jia Lian smiled and said to the assembled officials, "With all of you talking at once, I can't hear you clearly at this moment."

"Alright then, after you leave, compile a list of the information and resumes of the people you recommended, and send it to the Southern Study first thing tomorrow morning. I will review it and then make a decision."

"Yes."

The officials accepted the order, and seeing that Jia Lian had no other arrangements, they all took their leave to digest the contents of today's meeting.

Shui Rong didn't leave, and Princess Zhaoyang also stayed.

Jia Lian glanced at Shui Rong, who was staring at him expectantly, and then said to those around him, "Please take a seat."

Seeing that Shui Rong was about to refuse, Jia Lian said, "There are no outsiders here now. What I'm about to say is quite long and important, so it's better to sit down and talk."

Shui Rong's suspicions gradually dissipated, and he recalled the deep friendship he had once shared with Jia Lian.

Hearing Jia Lian say that the matter was very important, he couldn't help but get excited.

He was younger than Jia Lian, and had already inherited the title of prince when Jia Lian was still a playboy.

No man starts out wanting to be a salted fish, especially someone like him who was born into privilege.

Therefore, when he served under Emperor Ningkang, he always volunteered to do things and demonstrate his value.

However, serving a traditional emperor like Emperor Ningkang, he was naturally cautious and dared not overstep his bounds.

Unlike Jia Lian, who was someone he recognized as exceptional long ago and invested in.

Now that Jia Lian has inherited the throne, he is very much looking forward to working with Jia Lian to make a name for himself in history.

Who knew that Jia Lian was just like the heartless man in those storybooks?

He had just assumed the regency and had already forgotten about him.

Not only was he not summoned for the first political meeting, but he has also not been summoned at all in the past few days.

No one knows how difficult these past few days have been for him.

Jia Lian had deliberately left Shui Rong hanging, wanting to test his character and shrewdness.

As for where the water-soluble substances should go, he did have some ideas.

After all, Shui Rong's position as Prime Minister was personally appointed by Emperor Ningkang, and now that he must abolish it in order to maintain his authority, it would be unreasonable and unjust not to provide appropriate compensation.

Now that Shui Rong couldn't sit still any longer and came knocking, Jia Lian naturally couldn't keep them in suspense any longer and got straight to the point:

"The Water Prince may have heard that since I took over the reins of government, he has put forward several decrees."

They reduced taxes, launched a massive steel production campaign, and established a new army.

The ministers in the court are all worried that if I act so recklessly, the national treasury will not be able to support the next year's revenue.

What are your thoughts on this, Lord Water?

Upon hearing this, Shui Rong was initially puzzled, but then realized that this was probably another test from Jia Lian.

So he thought for a moment and said, "Although I do not know Your Highness's specific plans, I know that Your Highness acts only after careful consideration, and you will certainly not cause the court's finances to run out of money as they think."

For example, Your Highness's proposed new Customs Commissioner, I believe, will certainly bring considerable revenue to the court.

Jia Lian shook his head: "The opening of the sea has just begun, and no one can predict how things will develop in the future."

Even if it develops well, it is unlikely to increase the court's annual revenue by much in the short term.

My question is, assuming I want to make the imperial court very wealthy in a short period of time, what should I do?

"Well……"

Shui Zhong was speechless, and for a moment he almost thought Jia Lian was a delusional fool.

Governing a country boils down to nothing more than money and provisions. If money were so easy to come by, then the high-ranking officials of the Six Ministries and Nine Courts wouldn't have to argue so fiercely in the Southern Study every year over that tiny bit of budget.

Princess Zhaoyang understood Jia Lian better and said with a smile, "Brother, stop teasing Prince Bei Jing. Just say what you're thinking."

Shui Rong also smiled and said, "What the eldest princess says is true. Please enlighten me, Your Highness."

Jia Lian shook his head, still asking in a questioning tone, "Your Highness and my sister, do you think there's anywhere in the world with the most silver besides the national treasury?"

Shui Rong seemed to be deep in thought upon hearing this.

Unlike Shui Rong, Princess Zhaoyang answered without hesitation, "Of course it's Father's private treasury. What, is my brother eyeing Father's private treasury?"

Jia Lian glared at her: "Be serious."

"That's just how it is..."

Princess Zhaoyang remained unconvinced.

However, seeing Jia Lian's increasingly stern expression, she restrained herself and thought for a moment before asking, "Is it these powerful and wealthy families in the capital, or perhaps the salt merchants of Jiangnan?"

"Think about it again."

"None of these are it. Could it be one of those money lending companies?"

Seeing Jia Lian's smiling face, Princess Zhaoyang said in surprise, "This is not right. The silver in those big banks does not belong to them. It is deposited by others in their banks."

"If Your Majesty were to set your sights on these money shops, wouldn't you be condemned to death by the entire world?"

Jia Lian rolled his eyes; he was more than just cursing him to death.

Tempting someone's money is like killing their parents. (End of Chapter)