Hongwu Daming: Why hasn't my son rebelled?

Chapter 231 Tariffs and Currency

Hearing Zhu Di's question, Zhu Qina was like a bolt from the blue. If there were not too many people around, he would have given Zhu Di a peanut right away.

"Don't talk nonsense, what kind of relationship do I have with my elder brother, how could I do such a thing."

After Zhu Qi finished speaking viciously, Zhu Di breathed a sigh of relief and said:
"Let me just say, that's just nonsense rumors. If the third brother has plans to seize the heir, how could he not tell me?"

Zhu Di's expression of "I'm a good helper of the third brother" also made Zhu Qi speechless for a while.

Zhu Qi even felt that if he rebelled today, Zhu Di would probably follow him tonight.

But such a thing as rebellion is absolutely impossible. I am living such a happy life, and the prince Zhu Biao is still alive, who has nothing to do to rebel.

The ceremony of the Great Court Meeting over there was still going on, and after all the officials entered the court, someone shouted "The Emperor is here!" soon after.

Later, behind a long line of guards of honor for the Son of Heaven, I saw Zhu Yuanzhang, who was wearing a crown suit, striding out.

When the rest of the officials saw the emperor, they also shouted long live in unison and knelt down to salute.

After the etiquette, a group of foreign envoys in different costumes, under the guidance of an eunuch, filed into the hall.

Many of those envoys were familiar faces, and Zhu Qi also knew them. Naturally, they were very respectful when they saw His Highness King Liao.

But at this time, they still looked at Zhu Yuanzhang on the table one by one. After all, the emperor was still in front, and they didn't dare to look casually to the side.

Everyone knelt down together and shouted long live in unison.

They are envoys from foreign countries, and they mainly came here to pay tribute to Daming, and the tribute between countries is still a process of mutual transactions at this time.

Naturally, the Ming Dynasty suffered a little bit, and the things they gave were more expensive than what they brought over.

However, there are also many benefits in exchange, such as international diplomatic support.

In addition, when the army passed by their border, they could obtain all kinds of supplies, and let them recognize Ming as the suzerain country.

The resulting international prestige is also very important.

For example, the last time Zhu Qi prevented Naha from annexing the grassland tribes.

These foreign countries have helped Daming more than once, even if they didn't send troops or money, they have made a lot of efforts in public opinion.

Those letters of invitation were sent to Nahachu, but Nahachu was frightened all of a sudden.

No matter what, when Zhu Yuanzhang saw the courtiers kneeling and saluting one by one, his face was full of smiles.

Then let them sit flat, after the envoys of these foreign countries took their seats.

Soon the music was played again, and then there were singing and dancing performances. Naturally, these were things that had been arranged long ago.

And Zhu Yuanzhang also had people serve food and drink. Today's court meeting is very different from the previous court meeting.

The drinks to be served are not for everyone to eat, but for watching.

The Great Court Meeting is not only to show the prestige of the Ming Dynasty, but also to pray for good weather and prosperity in the coming year, so it is naturally extremely grand.

The major events of the country are only the sacrifice and the Rong.

So the wine, wine and meat served today are actually for sacrificial offerings, and they don't seem to have much appetite.

Of course, these things are edible, but the taste is really not flattering.

Zhu Qi tore a bit out and stuffed it in his mouth, chewing like wax paper, and also had a fishy smell.

He just spit it out and put it under the table as if nothing happened.

Then came a series of ceremonies for offering sacrifices to the heavens, as well as the ceremonial links of offering sacrifices and so on.

Zhu Yuanzhang was the son of heaven who started as a commoner, and he paid the most attention to etiquette. He believed that the emperor should look like an emperor, and these etiquettes that his ancestors began to have would naturally not be discarded.

Under the command of the ceremonial officials, a series of ceremonies and processes are completed, and only the last step is the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven.

Zhu Yuanzhang is also very old, and he doesn't look tired at this time.

Zhu Qi secretly felt that his father's health was really good enough, he was a little young, and he was a little tired just sitting on a chair.

Today's Daming is naturally full of beauty, and Bei Yuan is suppressed and beaten by Daming.

Wang Baobao suffered another defeat under the Liao King.

Those envoys who came to congratulate, needless to say, congratulated Daming one by one.

I hope that I can get the canonization of the emperor of the Ming Dynasty and become a tributary state of the Ming Dynasty, while also ensuring the stability of my throne.

After all, with Daming's protection, if there is civil strife in the country, Daming will definitely not ignore it.

Naturally, Zhu Yuanzhang would not refuse such a request, and those leaders who requested canonization were also granted one by one.

For Daming, this is naturally a great opportunity to swear an oath of sovereignty.

They nominally agree that Zhu Yuanzhang is their emperor, and their territory is naturally also the sphere of influence of Ming Dynasty.

Among them, those Buddhist countries on the plateau have the largest number, and after controlling the plateau.

The Silk Road leading to Central Asia was basically under the control of the Ming Dynasty.

It's just that the Northern Yuan forces in the north should not be underestimated, and if the Ming Dynasty wanted to form a large-scale caravan, they had to completely eliminate their threat.

In fact, Zhu Qidu had already discussed with Zhu Yuanzhang about the idea of ​​forming a caravan to go to Central Asia for trade.

This is a huge amount of income. You must know that the demand for Chinese tea, porcelain and silk in the West is still huge.

At this time when navigation cannot be carried out on a daily basis, the benefits of the Silk Road naturally needless to say.

The Maritime Silk Road, that is, through the Southeast Asian peninsula, continues along the coastline to India, and then to the Arabian Peninsula. This route can also be developed.

Anyway, Daming has already discovered the American continent. It would be a bit of a waste if we don't develop the maritime silk route.

You must know that this is a lot of benefits. If the people in Central Asia are used as middlemen to earn the difference, it is better for Daming to organize his own team and then go to the West for trade and business.

But this will definitely be blocked by the Central Asian gang.

There will inevitably be another conflict at that time, and there must be some people who will object, saying that the Maritime Silk Road is a waste of money and people, and disputes with others will only increase casualties and so on.

Then these people are really bad-headed. The benefits brought by the Silk Road are unimaginable. If you give up such a big benefit because you are afraid that others will fight against you, you are not clear-headed. of.

And Zhu Qi also knew that this was not a trivial matter. The Maritime Silk Road would definitely cause conflicts between Ming Dynasty and Central Asia, especially the Timurid Empire.

But now the Ming Dynasty and Beiyuan are still inseparable. Although the current Timur Empire has just started, the majestic Timur has grown up and is still leading the young empire forward.

In less than 10 years, it will enter its peak period.

Zhu Qi also knew that if Daming didn't make proper arrangements for Beiyuan and provoke Timur, it would definitely not be the best policy.

So Zhu Qi planned to wait until the situation stabilized before talking about it.

When Zhu Qi was sitting there thinking about these things, he suddenly heard someone calling his name.

"His Royal Highness Liao Wang, Liao Wang His Royal Highness!"

Zhu Qi was stunned and looked to the side, only to realize that it was a minister who was calling him, and the other ministers were also looking at him.

It turned out that when Zhu Yuanzhang was offering sacrifices to heaven, he called himself up to stand with Zhu Biao to complete the ceremony together.

Zhu Qi hurriedly stood up, bowed his hands to Zhu Yuanzhang in front of him, and said respectfully:

"Father, this is not in accordance with the rules of etiquette."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and pulled Zhu Qi's wrist, and then said:
"What's not in line with etiquette? This is also what your elder brother meant. We are all one family. You are the best one in our old Zhu's family. I asked you to come and worship ancestors with me. I hope you will continue to maintain this in the future. Bei Yuan, we are still waiting for you to clean him up."

After Zhu Yuanzhang said this, seeing Zhu Biao with a smiling face beside him, Zhu Qi had no choice but to stand up bravely and walk towards the stage.

I saw all the civil and military officials watching from the audience, and Liao Wang Zhu Qi, as the third son of Zhu Yuanzhang, stood with His Royal Highness the Prince, and then began the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors.

Two years ago, Zhu Qi just watched from a distance from the audience, but he didn't expect to be able to perform sacrifices to heaven and ancestors together on the stage now.

And after Zhu Yuanzhang took his two sons to sacrifice to heaven and ancestors, he said some words of encouragement, which was nothing more than to let everyone work together to create a bright future for Ming Dynasty, all kinds of words like this.

After finishing speaking, those leaders were conferred as tributary states, and various benefits and trade shares were given to them.

However, this year's tribute is indeed different from the past. In the previous tribute, they took all kinds of benefits from Daming, but Daming didn't have much benefit.

But after Zhu Qi checked, Zhu Yuanzhang no longer closed his eyes and let them take those benefits.

But anyone who wants to do business with Daming has to pay customs duties.

That's right, it's the tax system.

Now that it is fully implemented, those tributary countries who want to come to pay tribute will not be able to use the name of tribute in exchange for free goods from Ming Dynasty.

If you want to get the goods, you have to pay tariffs, and the benefit of the tributary country is the opportunity to pay tribute.

Daming allows them to do business, like Bei Yuan.

Those who don't pay tribute don't even have the opportunity to do business.

As soon as this plan was announced, those foreign envoys naturally had great opinions.

They originally wanted to use the opportunity of paying tribute to do business and make a lot of money from the Ming Dynasty, but now they can't make much money because of tariffs.

After all, the tariffs are very high, and the profits that could have been made have been compressed by more than half.

But they didn't dare to say anything at the court meeting. After all, all the civil and military officials of Ming Dynasty were there, and the emperor wanted to save face.

If I say something at this time, I am afraid that I will never have the opportunity to pay tribute in the future. Doesn't this mean that I have ruined my job?

They can only wait for the court meeting before going on activities, and after the court meeting in the first year of junior high school, in the second year of junior high school, these foreign envoys began to look for relationship activities.

I hope to find a way to reduce their tariffs, but the officialdom of Daming has already issued a death order.

Zhu Yuanzhang also said hello, whoever dares to open the back door on tariffs will just wait to lose his head.

And those officials also knew Zhu Yuanzhang's temper, and now the tariff was already a key item of Ming Dynasty, so naturally they didn't dare to do it indiscriminately.

Those envoys who were looking for them could only frown and send them away.

He is also an official from the Liao Palace. It is said that he also studied mathematics in the past, and now he is incorporated into the tax bureau. He gave them an idea for the foreign ministers.

Since this tariff is a rule set by His Royal Highness Liao Wang, if you want to find a solution, you must go to His Highness Liao Wang.

You must know that now, Emperor Ming has given full authority over this matter to His Royal Highness King Liao.

When those foreign ministers heard this, they still felt that it was quite reasonable, but His Royal Highness Liao Wang is so upright, it is hard to say whether he will open this back door for us or not?

But after all, they had to give it a try, so these foreign ministers quickly contacted Liao King Zhu Qi under the introduction of caring people.

Liao King Zhu Qi was also very busy every day, when he saw them hearing their intention, he frowned, shook his head and said:

"I am the prince of Daming, how could I do such a thing that would harm the country?
No way, you should find someone else. "

Good guy, it won't work to find His Royal Highness King Liao, but can it be useful to find someone else?

Go directly to Prince Zhu Biao and Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.It's almost the same, but they dare not look for it,

For a while, everyone lost their minds, but fortunately, the official said to them.

Your Highness is not without demand. Recently, I heard that there is something about printing money. If you are willing to buy all those banknotes home and use them as settlement currency instead of gold and silver in your own country, His Royal Highness King Liao may give you taxes. Reductions are also possible.

Those people were dumbfounded when they heard it. Since ancient times, gold and silver have been used as settlements. Can you still use these currencies to buy things now?
Of course you can.

These envoys also took the attitude of giving it a try, and went to His Royal Highness Liao Wang to inquire about this matter, and His Royal Highness Liao Wang frowned and asked after hearing their answers:

"My lord has indeed planned to print some banknotes recently, but where did you hear that?"

They didn't dare to betray the official, they only said they heard it from the side, and Zhu Qi didn't say much, just said with a sigh.

"This matter is very difficult, Father has already made up his mind to impose tariffs in Daming.

Even if I open this back door for you, the probability of success is not very high to be honest.

But we are also old friends, if you are willing to buy some banknotes from me back, and use these banknotes for settlement on your side, it is not impossible. "

When everyone heard this, they were somewhat confused, but His Royal Highness Liao Wang sat down very patiently.

After that, he poured a cup of tea for everyone, and asked someone to bring drinks, and then said with a smile.

"It's okay, let's discuss it slowly."

(End of this chapter)