Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Although Xu Huizu really wanted to let Zhu Wenyao ride a big horse, there was no such opportunity. The fat kid didn't even want his biological father, let alone his uncle whom he had only met a few times.

However, Xu Huizu was still very happy. After all, he had heard about it before and had indeed seen the emperor's favor for Zhu Wenyao. But looking at it now, those rumors were still far inferior to seeing it with one's own eyes.

Zhu Yunhuan said to Xu Huizu without further ado, "The navy has made great contributions this time. The Five Military Commandery and the Ministry of War should reward them as soon as possible. You and the Duke of Liang should handle this matter well."

Xu Huizu immediately accepted the order. For him, as long as it was the will of the emperor and the crown prince, he would do it unwaveringly.

Lan Yu was a little surprised, thinking that he didn't need to deal with this matter. But since the Crown Prince said so, he must do it well and there must be no mistakes.

Zhu Yunhuan continued, "We should do this as soon as possible. After all, the soldiers have made contributions and should be rewarded. If the Ministry of War has any obstacles, you should hurry up. I will arrange for the rewards and pensions to be paid out as soon as possible."

The Five Military Commands are powerful, but that doesn't mean they don't have some restrictions. The Ministry of War seems to be controlled by the interests, but it still has some of the powers it should have.

Xu Huizu and others naturally understood what to do, especially Xu Huizu, Lan Yu, Chang Sheng and others, who knew what the situation was on the navy side.

Old Zhu suddenly spoke up and said, "Lan Yu personally went to Taicang. You have always been domineering. If there are civil officials causing trouble, you can be more aggressive."

Lan Yu was a little trembling, he was still afraid of Lao Zhu, "Your Majesty, I am stupid."

Old Zhu said angrily, "Stupid? Are you stupid now?! We asked you to calm the situation. This matter can only be handled by the royal family and the Five Military Commanders' Office. Let the civil officials go aside!"

Zhu Yunhuan also smiled and added, "Don't start a fight. Being a little domineering won't cause any trouble. You, the Duke of Liang, should just stay in charge. After all, this is a military matter."

This is one of the benefits of the powerful noble group. If they say now that this is a military action, it will be difficult for the civil servants to intervene before things are settled.

Old Zhu also smiled and nodded, "Remember this, you should tell us now that this is a great achievement in suppressing bandits. This trip itself has yielded some gains, and you should know what to do!"

Although he fought some pirates, he was not a big thief or a famous bandit, but he did have some military achievements.

If you think about it carefully, maybe there is some merit in destroying a country. However, even if some small countries and tribes in Southeast Asia call themselves countries, the Ming Dynasty will not recognize them.

The soldiers would probably only report their achievements in suppressing bandits. Even if a country was too small to be destroyed, reporting their achievements in destroying the country would become a joke and would be really not worthy of public display.

The Emperor and the Crown Prince basically set the tone for the navy's voyage, so the following matters would naturally be handled by the nobles of the Five Military Commanderies.

They already had some military merits, and with instructions given, they naturally knew what to do and seemed very at ease.

This is definitely a good thing. For the noble group, constantly making new achievements is something to be happy about.

Continuing to suppress the civil servants and continuing to enjoy the trust of the emperor are what the noble group should do.

Old Zhu happily carried Zhu Wenyao away, not because Old Zhu didn't want to stay, but because the little fat kid was clamoring to leave. This child really couldn't stay in the house and liked to walk outside.

Seeing Old Zhu leaving, Zhu Yunhuan also smiled and said, "You should know about this trip. Before, I was afraid that things would not go well, so I asked many noble families to help with money and manpower."

Xu Huizu and others immediately said that this was because the Crown Prince was kind-hearted and that it was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who was helping them.

After all, now we have started to reward people for their contributions and distribute the benefits, and this is a real thing.

As for the fact that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked everyone to contribute money and effort, many people privately felt that this was an apportionment and that they could only choose to spend money to avoid disaster. They felt that contributing money and effort was just a waste of money and they did not expect any return at all.

However, these words must not be said, especially at such a happy moment. Even the most blind people know that some words cannot be said. The only thing to do is to sing praises to the Crown Prince and express loyalty. This is the correct approach.

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "The women of each mansion should come to the palace. I don't know much about many things, so it's up to the Crown Prince's Consort to arrange this matter."

All of these nobles were smiling happily, even though they now had status and family businesses.

But there are some things that no one thinks are too much, whether it's gold, silver, jewelry, or power and status, the more the better.

As for arranging many things for Xu Miaojin, Zhu Yunhuan felt at ease with it all, and the nobles were not surprised at all.

Xu Miaojin herself was born into a noble family, and many things before were indeed arranged by Xu Miaojin.

Under such circumstances, it was reasonable to let her continue to complete the finishing work. Besides, anyone with a discerning eye could see that this was the Crown Prince asking the Crown Princess to do him a favor.

One also has to sigh that some of the royal family's styles of doing things are too straightforward. Whether it is the emperor sparing no effort to cultivate the crown prince, or intentionally letting the master of the harem establish his authority, etc., this is supported without reservation.

Establishing rules can help avoid unstable factors in the future, and there is nothing wrong with that.

The various internal struggles of other aristocratic families had no place to survive in the Ming Dynasty royal family, and the difference between legitimate and illegitimate children was very obvious.

After everyone else left, Zhu Yunhuan looked at Daoyan and said, "Master, can you tell me if there is anything perfect about this arrangement?"

Daoyan answered without thinking, "Your Highness, I think that no matter whether it is the royal family or the nobles, everyone should be happy. I am just afraid that some people will want more after getting what they have. We must guard against such things."

Zhu Yunhuan was naturally aware of this, even though some of the nobles now seemed very satisfied and contented with this unexpected windfall.

But there is no guarantee that after getting some benefits, you will want more.

The same is true for the royal family members. After receiving a benefit, they may think that they can get more. The part given by the court is not enough, so they will think of ways to get more.

There are so many examples like this, and it all comes down to greed.

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "These things are indeed something we must guard against, but we shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater." It is indeed possible that some people are too greedy and therefore a little insatiable.

But Zhu Yunhuan knew better that some things still needed to be done, and the most that was needed was more prevention and improvement of policies.

Zhu Yunhuan then continued to ask, "Master, do you think those civil servants or the wealthy families behind them would be tempted if they knew about the profits to be gained from maritime trade?"

Daoyan answered without hesitation, "Your Highness, I think they will never give up. Even if Your Majesty and Your Highness can make the officials dare not covet them now, they will definitely make more attempts in the future."

It seems that there is no need to doubt this at all. Anyone with a discerning eye knows that such a thing seems inevitable.

Zhu Yunhuan also knew this and could only say, "This is bound to happen sooner or later. The greater the profit, the more those people will covet it. Let's wait and see what these people can do."

Some things really cannot be avoided, so be more careful and make preparations early, so that you can control the situation as much as possible when it happens, rather than losing the initiative in an instant.

Some things cannot be avoided, so take the initiative in your hands now while you can control them. While you can control the situation now, let those huge benefits play out where they should.

These are more meaningful to Zhu Yunhuan, and these are naturally what he should do.

Daoyan thought about it carefully and said, "Your Highness, I think those wealthy families in Jiangnan, or the gentry in Fujian, Guangdong and other places, will most likely have ulterior motives in this matter."

Zhu Yunhuan had no doubt about this. Judging from the current situation, some gentry in the coastal areas seemed to be the easiest to gain benefits. It would be normal if they had any ideas in the future.

Zhu Yunhuan could only smile and said, "I think we can't let this matter go now. Another thing is the commercial tax. The commercial tax previously set by the court is too low. If it is not changed, all the benefits will be taken away by the gentry."

In fact, the current commercial tax in the Ming Dynasty is 1% of the tax rate. This does not seem to be a particularly high tax rate, and is even considered relatively low in the eyes of some people.

But in addition to these, there are also commercial taxes in the Ming Dynasty, which are divided into residence tax and transit tax, which are further divided into banknote tax, deed tax, door tax, etc.

Residential tax is the tax levied by the government on the transported goods or merchants during the commodity trade process, including various transaction taxes, business taxes and landing taxes, etc. Since it is mainly limited to collection in the local market, it is also called city tax.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not clearly define the content of commercial taxes in the early Ming Dynasty. In the actual collection process, it often varied from time to time and from place to place, and there were gains and losses. However, in general, the scope of collection was very wide, and almost everything was taxed.

The transit tax refers to the fact that goods need to pass through various water and land checkpoints during transportation, which is also the main source of commercial taxes for the Ming Dynasty.

To be honest, these business taxes are not low, but they are definitely not high. Some powerful people or gentry have many ways to pay as little tax as possible.

Not only Zhu Yunhuan knew these things, but smart people like Daoyan also knew them very well.

Zhu Yunhuan continued, "If the Maritime Customs Office is handed over to the Provincial Administration Office, let's not talk about the corrupt officials for now. I'm afraid it won't be long before the Maritime Customs Office becomes a place for some people to profit, and the court will not get any benefits."

Daoyan echoed, "I am also afraid that this situation will happen. If the Maritime Customs Office is handed over to the local provincial government, many things will be difficult to handle."

We are all smart people. As long as we realize the huge profits brought by maritime trade, naturally some people will choose to take risks. There is no doubt about this.

"So some things can be left to the Provincial Administration and the Ministry of Rites, but matters concerning commercial taxes and maritime trade cannot be taken away by them." Zhu Yunhuan smiled, "What belongs to the court belongs to the court, and this cannot be changed."

If the court only enriched some wealthy businessmen and could not collect money, Zhu Yunhuan would be furious.

He worked so hard for a long time, hoping for more financial resources for the court, rather than fattening up some wealthy families and merchants and making their lives more prosperous and luxurious.

Of these profits, the imperial court should have taken most of them, and only a small portion would be snatched away by other interest groups.

Looking at Daoyan, Zhu Yunxun said with a smile, "Let's start with the Maritime Customs Office. I guess a lot of people will discuss this matter during this period. You arrange a few people to start with the reform of the Maritime Customs Office."

Taking back the taxation rights for maritime trade is of course extremely important, and it can even be said that this is the key to the success of the maritime trade policy. Tribute and so on can be put in a secondary position.

After all, Zhu Yunhuan was very pragmatic. Although it was impressive to have all the nations come to pay tribute, he did not want others to give him scrap copper and iron, and he would give him gold, silver and jewelry in return.

What's more important is that even if some gold, silver and jewelry are given as gifts, they must also receive tangible benefits, rather than the so-called foreign envoys coming here to get benefits and then turning around and going against the Ming Dynasty in every way.

Such things must never be allowed. Even if money needs to be spent, it needs to be spent on the right places.

The right to levy taxes must never be given up. This is Zhu Yunhuan’s bottom line.

Daoyan was also aware of this, and he knew the bottom line of the Crown Prince. "Your Highness, I will arrange it right away. I believe that there are still many selfless ministers in the court who care about the country. These people only care about the country, not those petty maneuvers."

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "That's true. There are still some useful people in the court."

If the court is really full of people with too many small thoughts, then Zhu Yunhuan needs to reflect on himself.

Fortunately, there are still some ministers with conscience in the Ming Dynasty. These people also care about the world and have lofty ambitions.

Maybe some of these people can only talk big, but that doesn't matter. As long as they are allowed to contribute to some specific things, these so-called censors can still play a good role.

Zhu Yunhuan was relieved to let Daoyan arrange these things. This monk was very capable in handling affairs, and most of the time, Zhu Yunhuan didn't need to worry about anything.

You just need to be more patient. Daoyan can arrange these things clearly, and there won't be any fluctuations at that time.

As for temporarily stabilizing the various interest groups that are ready to make moves in the next few days, this is not too difficult for Zhu Yunhuan, and he is confident that he can do it.

If you think about it carefully, this matter can't be dragged on any longer, it's time to have an ending. (End of this chapter)