If I fail to overcome the tribulation, I can only return to the Ming Dynasty and become a prince.

Chapter 335
The news that the imperial court was going to open the sea soon spread throughout Nanjing, and all businessmen with some connections got the news in advance.

"Brother Wang, is the court really going to impose a sea ban this time?" A wealthy businessman asked another thin official on the side for information. He also received the news that the court was about to impose a sea ban, but he was not sure. Then he hurriedly asked his friends for information.

In order to confirm the news and get the truth out of my friend's mouth, I even spent a lot of money to book a private room at Tingtaoshui Pavilion.

The lean official known as Brother Wang nodded affirmatively. While looking at the delicious food on the table, he secretly swallowed his saliva. At the same time, he still pretended to be reserved in response to the wealthy businessman's question: "That's true. The big businessman a few days ago At the court meeting, the imperial court decided to lift the maritime ban and re-establish the Municipal Shipping Department to engage in foreign trade.

It’s just that the court has not yet made clear regulations on how to lift the maritime ban. The emperor’s intention is to let the prince and His Highness Prince Zheng discuss it. However, there is no news in the court about the specific results of the discussion between these two people... "

Having said this, the lean official also deliberately added: "However, I recently heard from colleagues at the Ministry of Industry that Song Shangshu from the Ministry of Industry had participated in the discussion between the Crown Prince and His Highness King Zheng, and they seemed to have talked about the craftsmen's household. "

"Craftsmen? If the imperial court relaxes the maritime ban and develops overseas trade, these craftsmen will indeed be the top priority. After all, the bulk commodities available on the market are produced by craftsmen." As a businessman, the wealthy businessman's acumen The speed was quite sufficient, and he quickly thought of the connection between the two.

The thin official nodded affirmatively, and then said: "It is said that His Royal Highness Prince Zheng intends to relax the restrictions on all craftsmen's households, but the Crown Prince and Song Shangshu opposed this proposal, so what regulations will the court come up with now? , no one knows.”

"Ah! What should we do? Is there no accurate information at all?" The wealthy businessman looked very disappointed. He didn't want to spend so much money and get only a few indifferent words.

However, the thin official could not provide any other information, but just when he was about to say sorry, he suddenly remembered something, so he asked the wealthy businessman: "Brother Zheng, do you have a sea ship? "

"This..." The rich businessman hesitated for a moment, but still nodded: "If others ask, there is definitely no such thing, but if you ask, Brother Wang, I do have two ships worth [-] yuan in my name."

Hearing this, the lean official nodded, and then pointedly said to the wealthy businessman: "Sea ships are good things. Brother Zheng, you must take good care of these two ships. In addition, do everything right." "Brother Zheng, please stop hiding these two ships."

"Listen to Brother Wang, the court..." The rich businessman had a look of uncertainty on his face, and he was a little unsure about what the thin official meant.

However, the lean official didn't say anything else. He just turned to chat with the wealthy businessman about the romance, and covered up the matter while changing glasses.

The wealthy businessman seemed to have noticed something, so he did not continue to ask questions. He just exchanged cups with the thin official. The two people seemed to be very speculative in their chat about the affair.

At this time, in the Tingtaoshui Pavilion, there were many people like them discussing the imperial court's opening of the sea.

"I didn't expect that so many people were concerned about the opening of the sea." In Zhu Zhanqun's box at Tingtaoshui Pavilion, Zhu Gaochi couldn't see the expression on his face after listening to the situation reported to him by the shopkeeper of Tingtaoshui Pavilion. After sighing, he shook his head and asked the shopkeeper to leave.

Although Tingtaoshui Pavilion did not deliberately collect information from the guests, the waiters in the building walked among the guests and could more or less hear what they were talking about.

As the backer behind this restaurant, it was simple for Zhu Gaochi to want to know some news.

It's just that although this news has been inquired about, for Zhu Gaochi, the information has reference value, but it is not enough for him to make a decision.

However, Xia Yuanji, who was dining with him today, was very concerned about this and said to Zhu Gaochi: "Your Highness, there are so many businessmen interested in the imperial court's sea ban. This is enough to prove that the imperial court is right to lift the sea ban. You should be happy." Yes, why are you still so gloomy?"

"It is certainly a happy thing that there are businessmen willing to devote themselves to sea trade. It means that the court will be able to obtain enough taxes from sea trade in the future." Zhu Gaochi asked Xia Yuanji to come today to talk about this matter, so He also said frankly to Xia Yuanji: "It's just that I'm worried. The news has spread all over the sky before the imperial court has officially opened the sea ban. What is the intention? I also saw many officials of the imperial court interacting with these businessmen. This It is inevitable that some of them will accept bribes from businessmen.

Moreover, the people are so enthusiastic about sea trade. If the court does not provide good guidance, I am afraid that the people will also rush to join in it. This may not be a good thing! "

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's worries are normal, but the private dealings between court officials and businessmen have been banned repeatedly in all dynasties. During the Hongwu period, Emperor Taizu severely cracked down on officials taking bribes, but he was not able to stop this matter. This shows that this The matter cannot be stopped." Xia Yuanji did not defend the officials who accepted the invitation from the businessmen, but he still said some good words to excuse these colleagues: "And this matter of favors is also human nature. If the officials eat a few If it is considered a crime to entertain every banquet, then our Ming Dynasty will really have no official life!"

Although Xia Yuanji's last sentence was somewhat humorous, it also reflected the fact that it was indeed difficult to be an official in the Ming Dynasty.

The main reason is that it is still the early Ming Dynasty. The rules left by Zhu Yuanzhang are still there. The sword of the Jin Yiwei is also a sufficient deterrent. The four major cases of the Hongwu Dynasty have only passed a few decades. There are still many officials in the court who have experienced the major Hongwu cases. This official system has not collapsed to the level of disintegration that it was in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, being an official in the early Ming Dynasty was indeed a hard job. The salary was a treasure banknote that was too hard to wipe your buttocks, and you had to be careful about being skinned and made into a scarecrow after receiving some bribes. It can be said that being an official was indeed a hard life. The Zhu family The officials and dogs are all inappropriate.

Zhu Gaochi also understood this, so he shook his head and said: "I'm not criticizing them, I just think that court officials should have some rules. Accepting banquets from businessmen and revealing important news from the court... "

"So... Your Highness, why don't you go back and give me a warning?" Xia Yuanji thought for a while and felt that these colleagues did go a bit too far to some extent.

"Let the officials know about this later and ask Jin Yiwei to draw up a list and give him a salary of three months." Zhu Gaochi still had no intention of pursuing the matter, and just settled on a moderate salary.

But after saying this, Zhu Gaochi got to the point and said to Xia Yuanji: "I have discussed with Zhan Yun before about the sea ban. What he means is to allow merchants to go to sea, but ban sea ships. All can Sea-going ships that go out to sea must be purchased from the Municipal Shipping Department, and private citizens can only build fishing boats for offshore fishing. In this way, all the people are restricted from investing in sea trade." "Banning sea-going ships? His Highness Prince Zheng has a good idea. The imperial court does not prohibit people from engaging in maritime trade, but it prohibits people from building their own sea-going ships. In this way, all ships going to sea are under the control of the imperial court. Even if someone occasionally builds sea-going ships privately for smuggling, it will not be large-scale." Xia Yuanji can naturally hear the benefits of this, and naturally appreciates it greatly.

Zhu Gaochi also nodded at this and said affirmatively: "When we discussed this matter with Song Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, Song Shangshu also agreed very much with this. At that time, Zhanjuan also mentioned the need to reform the system of craftsmen and let the craftsmen We are able to undertake private orders, and this official ship building may be used to try the reform of the craftsman system that Zhan Yun mentioned.

It's just that the reform of the household registration system has huge implications and impacts, and Gu is a little undecided, so I specially invited you, Xia Shangshu, to hear your opinion. "

The private banquet was not a formal discussion, so the attitude was relatively casual. The reason why Zhu Gaochi invited Xia Yuanji privately was to make him less formal and formal and to speak freely.

"Reform of the craftsman system? His Highness Prince Zheng thinks that the shift craftsmen and the live craftsmen in the imperial court are not efficient enough and the quality of the things they produce varies, right?" Although Xia Yuanji did not participate in the previous discussion, Zhu Gaochi said Said, he understood what was going on.

After all, he is the Minister of Household Affairs. Although this craftsman's shop is under the control of the Ministry of Works, the raw materials used by the craftsmanship bureau for production still have to be allocated from the Household Department, and the finished products are also received by their Household Department. What's the problem? Household Department Nature is also crystal clear.

Now that Zhu Gaochi mentioned that Xia Yuanji could certainly understand the so-called problem.

Seeing that Xia Yuanji had hit the point, Zhu Gaochi couldn't help but nodded and said affirmatively: "That's how it is. Gu Ye knows that the lives of those craftsmen families are miserable. In addition to the money and food rewarded by the court, serving in the Craftsmanship Bureau is No extra income.

It's okay for shift workers. After all, they only come once every year or five years, and they can still maintain their daily livelihood on weekdays.

But the craftsmen who live there are a little uncomfortable. They have to go to the imperial craftsmanship bureau every month to answer questions, and they can't just accept private orders to make a living. This will naturally affect the livelihood of the craftsmen in the long run.

It's just that the employment of craftsmen is part of the court's tax. If it is changed to paid employment, it will be a huge expense for the court.

Although the silver finances obtained by the imperial court through the Japanese conquests are now quite improved, the imperial treasury should have been emptied out due to the successive conquests in the past few years, right? "

During the Yongle period, whether it was the Northern Expedition or the pacification of Annan, the people responsible for the allocation of money and food and logistics for the army were Zhu Gaochi and Xia Yuanji. Of course, they knew what the imperial court was like when it was emptied out.

It can even be said that the Second Northern Expedition the year before last would have been impossible to talk about if Zhu Zhanquan had not found a way to help the court improve its finances and obtained enough food from merchants to supply the army.

You must know that the imperial court was really out of money at that time. It finally established a money order system with the help of the Ming Dynasty Treasury. If there was an over-issuance due to the Northern Expedition, although it could support it for a while, it would undoubtedly be a loss. Money orders once again followed in the footsteps of treasure notes.

The money order may not depreciate in a short period of time, but once the court tastes the benefits of super issuance, the momentum cannot be stopped.

So Xia Yuanji was really worried and almost bald at that time, especially for the imperial court. In fact, what was needed was not money, but food that could be transported to the frontline troops.

You must know that it was thousands of miles away from the fortress and reached Mobei Mongolia!If this grain had to be transported from the south of the Yangtze River, it would have to travel thousands of miles. If it had to be transported by civilians, it would be impossible to eat all the grain on the road!
As for the other extravagant expenses on the road, there is no need to mention it. The previous Northern Expedition had already wiped out all the taxes for the seven provinces in the south of the Yangtze River for a year. As soon as the treasury was filled up, the imperial court began to levy the Japanese. After the Japanese levy was completed, the following During the second Northern Expedition, there was no time to breathe. For Xia Yuanji at that time, he really wanted to break a penny into an eight-petal flower every day.

So he got the bad reputation of Xia Laoji, and it was not because of the situation at that time!Otherwise, Xia Yuanji also wants to be a famous minister. Who would want to give himself a bad reputation?
Therefore, when Zhu Gaochi talked about this matter, Xia Yuanji naturally felt very sympathetic.

However, the current household department is not like before. With the money bank and Japanese silver, Xia Yuanji has begun to play with the central bank under the guidance and instruction of Zhu Zhanjuan. Today's household department is actually rich.

This is also the first time in many years that the Yongle Dynasty's household department has a balance, instead of a clean warehouse that can run away with rats.

Therefore, in the face of the question raised by Zhu Gaochi, Xia Yuanji did not object directly. Instead, after thinking about it, he said: "His Royal Highness King Zheng's suggestion is beneficial to the country in the long run. After all, even if the craftsman family has a low status, it is We, the people of the Ming Dynasty, not to mention that both the armor and swords of the border soldiers and the clothes and robes of the court officials are all made by craftsmen.

Letting them live a better life is also beneficial to the court. After all, the Ministry of Revenue also has a headache. Every time the things sent by the Ministry of Work are of varying quality and sizes.

It's just that there must be a good time to do this. Otherwise, it is very likely that good intentions will lead to bad things, and it will be counterproductive in the end. "

"Yes, that's what Gu means!" Zhu Gaochi was very happy that Xia Yuanji thought of it with him, but then he said: "However, Zhanjuan thinks that the opening of the sea will stimulate the Ming Dynasty, so we allowed some craftsmen to take on private orders in advance. , and at the same time, sea vessels can be transformed into official buildings. This is an opportunity to carry out craftsmanship reforms!

He wants to pass this maritime ban and take care of the craftsmen's business as well!After much deliberation, he agreed to move only part of it, and also persuaded Song Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry to cooperate with him in the so-called 'pilot'. Alas!I don’t know whether it will be a blessing or a curse in the end! "

"I don't think you need to worry, Your Highness, Prince Zheng. His Highness, Prince Zheng, is extremely resourceful. Since he wants to do this, he must be sure of it. We just have to watch." Xia Yuanji had full confidence in Zhu Zhancheng. He also added: "And even if something happens, wouldn't you still be here, Your Highness? Are you afraid that you won't be able to clean up the mess?"

(End of this chapter)