My uncle's name is Zhu Di

Chapter 172 The Scary Xu Family Brothers
With the support of his brothers, Xu Qin became more courageous, changed into his official uniform, and went out directly.

After a few steps, he suddenly saw his father Xu Huizu waiting in front of him.

"father!"

With a smile on his face, Xu Huizu walked up to Xu Qin and patted him on the shoulder, "Don't embarrass our family, straighten your chest and act like a man."

Xu Qin hesitated a little, then nodded vigorously, his heart beating wildly.

Could it be that the father has already recognized himself?
When he was happy, Xu Huizu said to Xu Jingchang again: "Your brother is still immature, take good care of him."

No matter how you say this, it sounds a bit awkward.

But Xu Jingchang still nodded happily, "Don't worry, we will definitely win this time."

Xu Huizu smiled relievedly, "Okay, come back after winning the battle."

Is this war?

Xu Qin was startled, but found that Xu Jingchang had already walked ahead, so he quickly followed.

When they arrived at the palace, Zhu Di was already waiting here, as were all the officials.

And everyone has a copy of the article written by Xu Qin.

Zhu Di is reading it carefully... In fact, it can be seen that this article is in the same line as the article in Xu Qin's palace examination.The article in the Palace Examination is about preventing the loss of wealth, and this article is to further explain the disadvantages of the tribute trade.

"Shocking!"

Zhu Di raised his head slowly, and said in a deep voice: "It's a waste of money for the people, and everyone from top to bottom has been harmed by it. Is it necessary to continue doing this kind of thing?"

is it necessary?

The emperor issued a soul torture, and none of the people present was willing to speak. Jian Yi remained silent, and Xia Yuanji lowered his head and pretended to be dead. At this time, he stopped talking about being the head of all officials.

I'm just in charge of the account department, so don't come to me for anything.

The rest of the people, such as the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Ministry of Industry, had nothing to do with this shit, so they were happy and silent.

In the end, it still fell on Song Li, who made him the Minister of Rites!

"Qizou Your Majesty, the climate of Shangguo, and the coming of all nations to court is a great thing, and it is a good time to show the country's prestige. Even if it is a bit extravagant, it seems that it cannot be easily banned. If the cost is too high, you may order the vassal state , once every two years, once every three years? You don’t have to come every year.”

Xu Jingchang couldn't help laughing as he listened: "What Song Shangshu means is that it's not okay to lose a million, but it's fine to lose 50?"

It's Xu Jingchang again!
When Song Li thought of this kid, his brain hurt.

"Mr. Dingguo, foreign countries have come to court for generations. It has been like this since the Qin and Han Dynasties. I am a state of China, a state of etiquette. I have always paid attention to having friends from afar. It is not unreasonable! How can the state treat honored guests slowly? "

Xu Jingchang said again: "I don't understand this. It's fine to entertain guests, but it's a waste of people and money. From top to bottom, everything is lost. Isn't this too much? What's more, it's a distinguished guest or a bad guest. It's hard to say."

Song Li had confronted Xu Jingchang too many times, and he almost didn't get any advantage. Fortunately, he was not polite.

"Dingguo, the family and the country are one, live at home, relatives and friends are lively, and outsiders are happy to see it. The country is also like this. Only when people move around and communicate with each other can they show the atmosphere of the country. Otherwise, they just close the door by themselves. Talking about yourself, isn’t that self-deception?”

In a word, Shangguo needs face.

"What's more, the situation in the foreign countries is complicated. Emperor Taizu decided not to conquer the country at the beginning. Now he has more contacts with other countries, exchanges what is needed, and is kind to the country. It is also a good thing that the two sides are in harmony and do not use weapons. I admit that , The rewards from the Shang Kingdom are a bit richer, but this is also inevitable to win people's hearts. Isn't it a good thing that war can be avoided by spending a little money?"

Song Li's reasoning is almost the best he has ever said since his confrontation with Xu Jingchang.

In terms of reason, the sage said that it is not unreasonable to have friends come from afar.

We must treat distant guests kindly and show the atmosphere of Shangguo.

In terms of the ancestral system, Emperor Taizu had a rule that the country should not be confiscated. If you can't fight, you must make friends.

Talking about the actual situation, how much military expenditure can be saved by giving some money to reassure people and avoid war?

There is nothing to question this kind of benevolent government that spends a small amount of money to do big things. It is not good enough. It is purely not enough brains.

After Zhu Di listened patiently, he read Xu Qin's article again. Two voices kept ringing in his head. Which one is more reasonable?

"Xu Tanhua, you wrote this article, what's your opinion?"

Xu Qin shivered, bowed hastily and said, "Your Majesty Qizuo, what Song Shangshu said, I thought about it when I was preparing, but I think his words are not worth refuting."

"It's not worth refuting, but I still don't know how to refute it?" Zhu Di asked in a deep voice.

Xu Qin said proudly: "It's not worth refuting! He put his family and country together to talk about things, which is to confuse the public. Between families, gifts are exchanged, and relatives and friends move around. There are rules for how many gifts are given. How can there be a Ministry of etiquette?" This is what I did... I have calculated that the difference is the largest, more than a thousand times! Foreigners sent some spices, agarwood, pearls... We gave back [-] bolts of silk, pots and pans, and various utensils. There are tens of thousands of pieces, as well as iron wares, bronze wares, and hundreds of loads of tea. I really can't figure out, whose relative is this, with such a big face?"

Xu Jingchang was listening beside him, secretly happy in his heart.My cousin has a good fighting power, come on!
Xu Qin continued: "There is still one thing that I can't figure out. Since foreign countries admire the scenery of Shangguo, they should find a way to buy it instead of asking for alms. Is this a vassal state, or is it a beggar? Whatever you ask for, is there any reason for who is the upper kingdom?"

Song Lidao: "Tanhualang only knows one thing but doesn't know the other thing. The feudal kingdom is poor and the products are scarce. Let them come and buy, but they can't afford the money..."

"Wait a minute." Xu Jingchang frowned, and said hastily, "Song Shangshu, you talked about overseas poverty again. I remember Guo Zi said the same thing not long ago. Where did you hear that there is no money overseas? Can't afford the products of Shangguo?"

Song Li was shocked, his face turned pale quickly.

broken!

Sure enough, Zhu Di immediately became angry, and snorted coldly: "If overseas is poor, barren, and there is no output, why should I raise a fleet of merchants to go to the West? I have already said that anyone who says so, go overseas and see for yourself. Look, is this the case, and then report back to me, hearing is believing...Song Shangshu, what do you think?"

Song Li was shaken all over. When it was over, if he said something wrong, he would be with Guo Zi.

What a disaster!
An old bone, ran overseas, can you come back?
Song Li had no choice but to kneel down slowly, "I would like to obey the imperial decree."

Zhu Di also took a deep breath and looked at him, "Fortunately, I didn't pass out. When you go overseas, pay more attention and look carefully. I will reward you later."

It's not bad, as long as Song Li doesn't have any accidents, he can come back with the fleet, not only can he wash away his guilt, but he can also be reused... But voyage to the west is not as simple as just talking about it.

The wind is high and the waves are rough, no one can say whether he can come back.

Zhu Di looked at the ministers again, "The exchange of tribute will bring disaster to the country and the people. It is absolutely not advisable. But we have to contact foreign countries. If you have any good ideas, please speak out."

All the people present were still immersed in the shock of Song Li's relegation, and they didn't slow down.

And asking them to come up with a model that is different from paying tribute is really embarrassing for them.

"Qizou Your Majesty, I thought maybe we should figure out one thing." Xu Jingchang said.

"what's up?"

"The overseas countries need Daming's products, to what extent... are they dispensable, or are they willing to pay a lot of money to buy them? We should also find out, what is the price of Daming's products?"

After Xu Jingchang finished speaking, he looked at Jian Yi and said with a smile, "Jian Tianguan, do you know?"

Jian Yi frowned. It's hard to say if this question is true, "I heard that tea is unique to China. If many foreign domains do not have tea supply and drink tea, they will get sick and die in a few months."

Jian Tianguan also heard from hearsay that there are indeed some grassland tribes who eat beef and mutton as their staple food and need tea to supplement vitamins. If they don’t drink tea for a long time, they will indeed feel uncomfortable... But if they die of disease, it’s over.

However, Xu Jingchang didn't want to correct Jian Yi, instead he continued: "Jian Tianguan, since that's the case, how much should our tea be sold for? Or, how much are foreign merchants willing to pay to come to Daming to buy goods?"

Jian Yi frowned, "It seems that we should ask Xia Shangshu about this matter. He is in charge of the household department, so he should be clear about it."

When the ball reached Xia Yuanji's feet, Lao Xia secretly scolded Jian Yi for being shameless, but fortunately, he and Xu Jingchang had teamed up and knew it well.

"Your Majesty, I think that the silk and porcelain produced by the Ming Dynasty are all exquisite. The rich barbarians are all proud of their country's scenery. No matter how expensive they are, they are willing to pay. In the past, we sold treasures as mud. It is true. The loss is not small. The minister thinks that in the future, the internal and external trade should be separated."

When Zhu Di heard this, he became interested, "How to separate?"

"It means that barbarian merchants want to buy, and they need to designate a place, which is Shibosi. The price of Shibosi must be separated from that in China. Only in this way can they be sold at a good price."

Zhu Di nodded again and again, "As expected of an expert in financial management, this proposal is very good."

After admiring, Zhu Di looked at Xu Qin again, and said with a smile: "Tanhua Lang, you have done a good job, do you think there are any shortcomings in this arrangement?"

Xu Qin was shocked, as if there was some inspiration in the dark, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty Qizuo, the minister was just thinking, because Confucius said that a friend came from afar, it's unreasonable to say that he should treat foreign feudal officials so generously, Harm the interests of Ming Dynasty, from this point of view, I am afraid that the way of Confucius and Mencius may not be able to govern the country!"

Good guy, this Xu Qin is bolder than Xu Jingchang.

It can only be said that it is the Xu family who directly attacked the way of Confucius and Mencius.

All the important officials present cheered up, they couldn't bear it anymore, and had to fight back.

But at this moment, Xu Jingchang suddenly said: "Xu Tanhua, I think you said this because you haven't read the book well!"

Xu Qin was terrified, "I would like to hear the details."

Xu Jingchang said with a smile: "Confucius talked about the difference between barbarians and barbarians. If that's the case, are Hua and barbarians considered friends? If not, why do friends come from afar?"

Xu Qin suddenly said, "So, Master has been misinterpreted too much."

(End of this chapter)