I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 493: Court Meeting Debate
As the music started, the Fengtian Hall suddenly became quiet.

Zhu Houzhao and Zhu Houxun walked up from the back hall. Zhu Houzhao went directly to the imperial platform and sat on the dragon throne.

Zhu Houxun walked to the front of the ministers and saluted Zhu Houzhao together with them. After the ceremony, Zhu Houxun sat on a chair under the imperial stage.

I don't know since when, the ministers have accepted Zhu Houxuan's appearance in the court meeting. It is probably because they all know that Zhu Houxuan is actually handling state affairs, so they are too lazy to go through the process again.
However, Zhu Houxuan knew that he was not qualified to receive the same kind of respect from the ministers as Zhu Houzhao, so he still insisted on paying homage to Zhu Houzhao together with the ministers.

Zhu Houzhao also gave Zhu Houxuan some preferential treatment, allowing him to sit and attend court meetings.

As Zhu Houzhao and Zhu Houxun sat down.

The ministers began to speak, they could no longer hold back.
Yang Tinghe was the first to step out and said, "I have recently heard rumors that Your Majesty wants to personally lead an expedition to the Western Regions. Can Your Majesty tell me whether this is true or not?"

"It's true!" Zhu Houzhao said simply.

There was an uproar inside and outside the Fengtian Hall. Rumors were just rumors after all, and they were not as shocking as Zhu Houzhao's own admission.
Everyone immediately became restless and wanted to step out to advise Zhu Houzhao, but due to the court meeting discipline, they could only stay in the queue and wait for Yang Tinghe to finish his speech.

Yang Tinghe's face darkened, and he said, "Your Majesty, the expedition to the Western Regions is a major military and national event, which is costly. Your Majesty has been using troops for six consecutive years, which has cost a lot of money. The people also need to recuperate. The expedition to the West needs to be considered in the long run."

After hearing what Yang Tinghe said, all the ministers in the hall nodded, thinking that it was mature and prudent advice.

"I have counted the military operations and it has been no more than six years. The inland areas have never known the need for conscription. As for the waste of money and manpower you mentioned, let the Prince of Jing talk about it," Zhu Houzhao said calmly.

Zhu Houxuan immediately stood up and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, the military expenses for this Western Expedition will all be borne by the Royal Group. There will be no additional taxes or corvée labor for the people, and it will not delay the various expenses of the court. So please rest assured that the Western Expedition will not cost the people money and labor."

Zhu Houzhao's words caused the ministers in the hall to discuss in a low voice. A person's reputation is like the shadow of a tree, and Zhu Houchun's reputation for being good at management is too great. As soon as these words were spoken, all the ministers believed Zhu Houchun's words. In the Ming Dynasty, only Zhu Houchun could say such words, and only Zhu Houchun's words would convince people.

Wang Chengyu, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, could not help but step out and ask, "I wonder how much military funds His Royal Highness the Prince of Jing has prepared for the Western Expedition."

All the ministers in the hall pricked up their ears and listened to Zhu Houxuan's answer.

Zhu Houxuan chuckled and said calmly: "The Royal Group has prepared 20 million silver coins for military expenses. If the Western Expedition continues into the third year, the Royal Group can come up with another 20 million silver coins."

Everyone in the hall fell into a state of aphasia. Without imposing additional taxes and corvée on the people, and without delaying the various expenses of the court, they were still able to take out 20 million silver coins. Everyone knew that the Royal Group was rich, but they didn't expect it to be so rich.
This financial strength is too terrifying.
Zhu Houxuan smiled as he watched the reactions of the people in the hall. The gold brought back by the expedition fleet helped him a lot, allowing him to issue a lot of silver yuan notes as military expenses. In addition, the new fleet to America had been sailing for more than two months. It was estimated that more gold and silver would be brought back in a year. This gave him the confidence to take out the second 20 million silver coins.
"The gold and silver of the Far East, the war horses of Mongolia, the grain and fodder of Zhili and Henan, the cloth of Jiangnan, and the steel of Tangshan will all support this Western Expedition. Please rest assured about the logistics issues." Zhu Houxuan said and sat down. The ministers were silent for a while, and they were tactful not to dwell on this issue. If the King of Jing said it was no problem, then it was definitely no problem.

Yang Tinghe continued, "Your Majesty, please allow me to report that although the Imperial Guards are strong and invincible, our military strength is still inferior to that of the Taizu and Taizong. The Western Regions are a desolate place with a remote area and a small population. Taizong and Taizu did not take them, so why waste food and money to take them now? Even if you want to take them, Your Majesty does not have to lead the army in person, you can just send a general to the expedition."

The time when the Ming army was at its strongest was definitely during the time of Taizu and Taizong. Even with such a powerful army at that time, they did not conquer the Western Regions. So there is no need to spend the effort to conquer the Western Regions now!

This was the most discussed point among the ministers recently, and Yang Tinghe directly brought it up.
Zhu Houzhao took a deep breath. He knew he would be asked this question. He recalled what Zhu Houxuan had written in the booklet he had given him. He stood up suddenly and said in a deep voice:
"Since Yang Qing mentioned this, let's talk about it today!"

The ministers were cheered up and began to listen carefully to Zhu Houzhao's words.

"From Shi Jingtang's cession of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, to the loss of the Central Plains during the Jingkang Shame, to the loss of the world during the Battle of Yashan, the living space for the Han people has become smaller and smaller."

"When the land of China was sinking and the land was covered with blood and the smell of blood was everywhere, Taizu, a commoner from Huaixi, took up his sword to suppress the rebellion. Within fifteen years, he established the empire, opened the Mingtang, and worshiped the God. His achievements were great! Taizu rebuilt the mountains and rivers and recreated China!" Zhu Houzhao said excitedly.

Everyone in the hall began to get excited by what they heard.

"But!" Zhu Houzhao suddenly changed his mind. "During the time of Taizu and Taizong, our military strength was indeed much stronger than it is now. But we also need to understand the problems that Taizu and Taizong faced. Only in this way can we understand why Taizu and Taizong did not recover the Western Regions."

"It's not that I don't want to, but I can't." Zhu Houzhao sighed.

“When our army recaptured the Central Plains, it had been more than 240 years since the last Han dynasty ruled the Central Plains;
When our army recovered the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, it had been more than 400 years since the last Han dynasty in the Central Plains set foot in the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun.

When our army recaptured Yunnan, it had been more than 600 years since the last Han dynasty that ruled Yunnan.
When our army recovered Liaodong, it had been more than 600 years since the last Han dynasty in the Central Plains that ruled Liaodong.
When our army recaptured Longxi, it had been more than 200 years since the last Han dynasty in the Central Plains set foot in Longxi.

When our army recaptured Ningxia, it had been more than 300 years since the last Han dynasty set foot in Ningxia;

When our army recovered Hexi, it had been more than 600 years since the last Han dynasty ruled Hexi.
When our army recaptured the Hehuang area, it had been more than 600 years since the last Han dynasty ruled the Hehuang area! "

Zhu Houzhao's string of data confused the ministers present, but many people also intuitively realized the situation at the founding of the Ming Dynasty.
(End of this chapter)