Jingtai Fengyun: The First Absurd Emperor of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 664: Congratulations on the Queen Mother’s Birthday, Shandong Flood Disaster Outbreak
Whether it is the emperor or the court, as long as the money is enough, Zhu Qiyu does not want to keep collecting the money in his arms.

Drilling holes in mountains to collect business taxes, how much money can you get if you vomit blood when you are tired?

In the Silver Mountains of Potosi, South America, the silver content in the ore is as high as [-]%, and a total of [-] tons of silver were mined.

Convert it to more than 5 million taels?
It is no exaggeration to say that it is a mountain of silver. It is genuine and can be spent in a lifetime.

So if you have the energy, it’s better to go on a big voyage.

Before that, as long as the imperial court firmly controlled the minting rights and the salt tea franchise, it was enough to live a prosperous life.

Completely lift the maritime ban and stimulate the vitality of the people. With the hardship and hard work of the Han people, we can also spread across the five continents and seas, turning the Ming Dynasty into an empire on which the sun never sets.

Seeing that Zhu Qiyu was distracted, Qianxue quickly stretched out her hand and pulled it: "Husband, look at this, the memorial sent by Yue Zheng."

Zhu Qiyu took it and read it over, and was amused: "No matter what these civil servants do, the first thing they think of is farming.

He wanted to give part of the land on Jeju Island to the vassal king, part to the guards, and all the rest as official land, and then recruit people to rent crops.

The government provides seeds and farm tools, and the people don't have to worry about anything but farming.

Keep [-]% of the harvest for yourself and hand over [-]% to the government.

Only the rent is paid, and the rest of the corvée, poll tax, etc. are exempted.

In this way, everyone can worry less and don't have to worry about land annexation. After all, no big or small landowner can seize land from the government.

Jeju Island is a large island with flat terrain far away from the mainland. We can do some bold land reform experiments. Even if it fails, it doesn't matter. Anyway, the land is ours.

Okay, reply to Yue Zheng, yes, let him do it easily. "

Zhu Qiyu took a sip of tea and continued: "Yue Zheng also asked for permission to create a feudal prince on Jeju Island. Well, let's do it. No one has taken the title of King Ji yet, so let's make the emperor's twelve sons King Ji."

Qianxue nodded and smiled: "Okay, my son is no longer needed, so I have to give birth to a batch of them quickly."

Zhu Qiyu spread his hands helplessly: "It's really difficult for me too. I want to choose a concubine and get a batch of fertility tools, but you threaten to kill me. Don't take concubines. Most of you don't like to have children. Fifteen women can give birth in a year. Three or two sons are simply not enough."

Qianxue replied: "You deserve it, you brought it all on yourself. Back then, you first released thirty sisters to the generals of the Yingzhou Guard, and not long after, you released the five Xiao sisters, and finally four more A royal concubine went to Shandong to look after her family.

You didn't appreciate it when you were able to expand your harem, and now you complain that there are not enough reproductive tools. "

Zhu Qiyu explained: "What I thought at the beginning was that if fifty women slept with three women a day, each of them would be slept with less than twice a month on average.

As time goes by, no one will be able to live well, and they will all become resentful women.

Imagine if I slept with you twice a month, would you be happy? "

Qianxue shook her head firmly: "How can that be done? The slave family must do it at least fifteen times a month. If it is less than twice a month, the slave family will have to do something that is sorry for the husband."

Zhu Qiyu replied innocently: "Isn't that right? My worries are not a problem at all. If I kept all fifty sisters, none of you would be able to feed them, and you would have already been scrambling to raise male pets."

Qianxue tilted her head and asked Ningxiang: "My husband's words may sound reasonable at first, but I always feel that something is wrong. Why do I seem to be involved?"

Ningxiang smiled and said: "Okay, okay, don't think nonsense. Even if you figure it out, you are no longer my husband's plaything. A plaything can just accept the plaything of its master. If you want to know what to do, you can do it."

Qianxue nodded: "That's true. Today's political affairs have been dealt with. Let Xi'er send the memorial back to Feng Pavilion. I want to get into bed with the master."

……

Early the next morning, Zhu Qiyu and his concubines came to Changle Palace to pay their respects to Empress Dowager Wu.

Changle Palace was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and it was full of joy.

Everyone was sitting on the couch, and Qianxue asked: "Empress Mother, the Ministry of Rites would like to ask the officials and the concubines to give instructions on the etiquette for tomorrow's court greetings." Empress Dowager Wu replied: "Oh, it's so annoying. We have this question every year. They are tired. , I am tired too, you are tired too, why bother.

I plan to draw up a Taoist decree and permanently exempt all officials and wives from congratulations.From now on, they will stop asking questions and I won’t answer them. Let’s all be lenient and free ourselves. "

Everyone advised: "How can this be done? Doesn't it violate the laws of the court, and neither the government nor the public can agree to it."

Empress Dowager Wu shook her head: "I have made up my mind, and you don't need to persuade me any more. I am already so old, and I am no longer as young as you, so don't torment me any more. Let me cultivate my moral character in peace."

Zhu Qiyu smiled and said: "Just follow the mother. Does it mean that if the officials and the married women come to kowtow a few times, they will have filial piety towards the mother? Isn't it true that everyone in their hearts hopes that our whole family will die?"

The Queen Mother also included me in her decree, and from now on I will be permanently exempted from the congratulations of all officials. "

Empress Dowager Wu nodded and said with a smile: "Okay, we, mother and son, will no longer play tricks with them, and we can cultivate ourselves together behind closed doors."

The mother and son acted vigorously and resolutely, and the decree was passed to the cabinet in the afternoon.

After receiving Yi's decree, all the cabinet ministers were stunned.Everyone has read history books, and this is the first time they have seen such an absurd queen mother and emperor.

You should know that the Queen Mother and the Emperor were not only exempted from the birthday greetings, but all the greetings related to the two of them were exempted. Major greetings such as Zhengdan were permanently exempted.

The ministers did not dare to accept such an edict and did not clarify the matter. When future generations read the history books, they will think that the ministers bullied the queen mother and the emperor to such a heinous level.

Even when the Han Dynasty presented the emperor, the powerful minister Cao Cao never said that officials were not allowed to congratulate the emperor.

Once Yi's decree is accepted, the cabinet and the Ministry of Rites will be besieged to death by Yanguan.

The ministers are all people who just watch the excitement and don't take it too seriously. If the cabinet ministers are killed collectively, it will be a great sense of accomplishment.

The cabinet continued to report and repeatedly refuted Empress Dowager Wu's decree.

Over time, the news spread, shaking both the government and the public.

Although this was a trivial matter, civil and military officials actually took it seriously.

Not only officials, but officials of all sizes wrote letters begging the Queen Mother and the Emperor to withdraw their orders.

Later, Zhu Qiyu couldn't read them all and ordered the Supervisor of Rites to archive the imperial edict.Whether you accept it or not is up to you. Anyway, I gave the order.

Even though you are so fierce in your opposition and all of you are right and righteous, when it comes to my birthday and the Queen Mother's birthday, no one really insists on coming to congratulate me. They are all typical of Mr. Ye who loves dragons.

On May 21, Zhu Qiyu finally held a small court meeting at the cabinet's repeated request.

Qingyun Pavilion is a familiar yet unfamiliar place. The important ministers have not been here for half a year.

Zhu Qiyu was lying on the couch, waiting for the ministers to do something.

Shen Yi took the lead and said: "Your Majesty, there has been a lot of rain in the north this year. Floods have occurred frequently in Shandong and people have been displaced. If relief is not stepped up, civil unrest may occur."

"Then quickly mobilize supplies for disaster relief."

Shen Yi replied helplessly: "The imperial court is very rich now and has too much money to spend, but its reserves of food and grass are very limited.

The scope of the damage is not too large now, and it can barely sustain it.Once the entire territory of Shandong is hit by a disaster, the food and grass that the court can mobilize will be completely insufficient for disaster relief. "

Zhu Qiyu was stunned for a long time: "Why is there such a shortage of food and grass in the imperial court?"

Shen Yi was helpless. It was no wonder that the emperor had doubts. The imperial court had plenty of silver and copper coins, as well as weapons and armor, but food and grass were seriously insufficient.

(End of this chapter)