Prince of Chaos

Chapter 442 Arrangement

After Dong Qichang and Liu Pinru stepped down, Zhu Changluo asked Wei Zhongxian to call all the cabinet veterans.

Shen Li is going to Beijing soon, he has been in the posthouse for several days now, there is no reason for him to stay any longer.

Therefore, some things must be settled before he officially enters the capital, otherwise, with Shen Li's identity and reputation, any disagreement with the government may lead to certain policies not being implemented smoothly, so, Zhu Changluo had to fight fast.

"The three gentlemen are here today to discuss military expenses for the war."

Zhu Changluo preemptively set the tone of the theme of this meeting, which is to discuss military expenditures, not whether to discuss the truce.

After Shen Shixing and others heard Zhu Changluo's words, they replied, "Yes."

Then, Zhu Changluo took out a memorial from his desk.

Zhu Changluo said: "This is a note I just received, and it was handed over by the British official. The three gentlemen should also take a look."

As soon as Zhu Changluo handed over the notebook, Wei Zhongxian immediately stepped forward to take it, and then handed it over to Shen Shixing. Shen Shixing bowed his body, took the notebook, and read it quickly.

Then he handed the folder to Wang Xijue and Wang Jiaping.

Shen Shixing replied: "Your Highness, I think what the British lord said is justified. The Japanese pirates are brutal, and the lives of the Korean people are miserable. As the suzerain of North Korea, I, Ming Dynasty, are the vassal state, and I should do my best."

Zhu Changluo hummed, then looked at Wang Xijue and Wang Jiaping.

After the two felt Zhu Changluo's gaze, they also immediately replied: "What Yuan Fu said is true."

Zhu Changluo said: "Then let's discuss the issue of military expenditure. This is an account from the Ministry of Household Affairs."

Zhu Changluo handed over another brochure, which was the brochure that Liu Pinru reported on the financial situation of the household department earlier.

Wei Zhongxian took the memorial and passed it to Shen Shixing and others, and Shen Shixing and others took it and read it again.

In fact, the cabinet had read this memorial long ago, and it contained draft opinions made by the cabinet.However, behind this draft opinion, Zhu Changluo did not have any approval. It can be seen that Zhu Changluo has opinions on this.

Shen Shixing said: "Your Highness, it is no secret that the household department is struggling. The imperial court has a fixed amount of taxes every year, but there have indeed been some droughts in the north and south floods in these years, which made it impossible for the household department to collect taxes in time, which affected the court. policy."

Zhu Changluo said: "What should we do? The Ministry of Household Affairs can't always be like this? My Daming has a vast territory and hundreds of millions of people. Logically speaking, taxes should increase year by year. But why is it going from bad to worse?"

Zhu Changluo threw out this question unceremoniously, which surprised the three members of the cabinet.

This question is really complicated and cannot be explained in one or two sentences.

However, as ministers, they had to answer Zhu Changluo's question.

So, in the end, Wang Xijue bit the bullet and said: "Your Highness thinks, I dare not agree."

Zhu Changluo looked at Wang Xijue, and he said, "What is Mr. Wang alone?"

Wang Xijue said: "Your Highness said that my Great Ming has a vast territory and hundreds of millions of people. This is not a problem. However, because of the vast territory of my Daming and the hundreds of millions of people, I encountered more and more problems. It's complicated. When the imperial court deals with this problem, it often has to spend a lot of energy and financial resources, and it is normal for the financial resources to gradually run out."

Zhu Changluo hummed, and said lightly: "Mr. Wang is right. However, don't forget that almost all the military rations for the war in the court came from the isolated Xishan Huangzhuang, and part of the military expenses came from the palace's internal funds. .And the money from the Ministry of Households is nothing more than expenses for armaments and military uniforms. If it is already difficult to get the money, how can we continue to maintain the border defense of the Ming Dynasty?"

Wang Xijue didn't expect Zhu Changluo to settle this account, which caught Wang Xijue a little off guard.

However, the difficulty of the household department is on the bright side, and it is simply impossible to come up with money now.

Zhu Changluo looked at Wang Xijue's embarrassed look, and at Shen Shixing and Wang Jiaping's restless expressions.

Zhu Changluo calmed down and said: "Today, Gu asked the three gentlemen, but it was not to force money. Gu was just thinking, how can we increase revenue and reduce expenditure. Find a way to make money for the Ministry of Households. During the Emperor Longqing Dynasty, Gao Gong is in the cabinet, and some of his ideas seem to have some reference value now. Gao Gong advocated the opening of mutual markets in the north and sea bans in the south, and also won an extra income of several 10 taels of silver for the court every year. Gu is now acting on behalf of his father The emperor supervises the administration of the country, and he cannot disappoint his father and the subjects of the world regardless of emotion or reason."

"So, Gu also talk about his own thoughts. The three gentlemen will help Gu to fill in the gaps, and see if it is feasible?"

When the three of them heard that Zhu Changluo already had his own ideas, the three of them immediately replied: "Please speak, Your Highness."

Zhu Changluo said: "The mutual market in the north is intermittent and the effect is not good. I think the reason for this is that the place of the mutual market is messy, the people who guard the mutual market have limited ability, and do not understand the art of merchants. Therefore, Gu absorbs Lessons learned from the predecessors, they plan to open two new mutual markets in Ningxia Town Niutougou City and Liaodong Daxinganling City. Although Niutougou City and Daxinganling City are new cities, these two cities have strong military strength, orderly management, and are located in the fortress outside the pass. There are conditions for becoming a mutual market.”

"After the establishment of the mutual market in these two cities, Gu also intends to send an official who knows how to operate and manage to station in this city. All into the national treasury. What do the three gentlemen think?"

After Shen Shixing and the three of them heard Zhu Changluo's words, they looked at each other, and then replied in unison: "Your Highness, you are wise."

Zhu Changluo said: "If that's the case, let's do it this way."

"The minister obeys the order."

The three replied again.

Zhu Changluo continued: "Now that the mutual market has been settled, the affairs of Tianjin Wei can also be dealt with along the way. Tianjin Wei is located in a special position, close to Gyeonggi, and is an important place for South goods to be transshipped. Now, the war is in full swing, The Zhili navy was also set up there, and there will be many ships traveling between North Korea and Ming Dynasty in the future. Therefore, I think that Tianjin Wei should set up a Tianjin Maritime Department to deal with private merchant ships, and the taxes collected by the Municipal Maritime Department can also follow The example of Niutougou City and Daxing'anling City's mutual trade is stored in the treasury."

When Shen Shixing and others heard that Zhu Changluo was going to break the sea ban and set up a shipping department in Tianjin Wei, the three of them immediately hesitated.

Because, this is not a small matter.This is robbing the southern family for food. If you are not careful, you may provoke a crazy counterattack from the southern family.

Zhu Changluo looked at the hesitant three people, and said, "What? Is this difficult?"

Wang Jiaping stood up at this time, and he said: "Return to Your Highness, the sea ban is an ancestral system, and it should not be moved lightly."

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(End of this chapter)