Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 46: Prospects of the Great Voyages
Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Wanli sat on the dragon throne with his eyes wide open and angrily.

Under the hall, a group of nobles prostrated themselves on the ground, not daring to breathe, for fear of angering the emperor.

"A bunch of useless people, you good-for-nothings, I give you so much money on a daily basis, why do I support you useless people!" Seeing that no one dared to speak, Emperor Wanli became even more arrogant and cursed hysterically, "Speak up, you bunch of dogs, why don't you say anything?"

The eunuchs were silent, their bodies shaking like sieves, and they wished they could just hide their heads in their crotches.

"Sun Hai." Emperor Wanli turned around and pointed at someone and shouted.

"Ah, I'm here." A man responded and crawled out on his knees.

"Can you help me make money?"

"Small. Small."

"Hurry up and tell me." Seeing that he was dithering, Emperor Wanli opened his eyes wide, pointed at him and shouted, "If you can't tell me, I will send all of you useless people to Nanjing to grow vegetables, and you will never be able to return to Beijing in your lifetime!"

Sun Hai thought of a solution: "Why not open the mine again?"

"Good-for-nothing, you change your mind every day. Can I still be called the emperor?" Wanli walked down the dragon throne with a thud and kicked Sun Hai. Sun Hai groaned and somersaulted backwards.

Emperor Wanli was about to say more when a eunuch came to report that Zhang Yunxiu had arrived.

"Let him go to the East Warm Pavilion and wait for me." After Emperor Wanli said this, the eunuchs breathed a sigh of relief.

After sorting out his thoughts, Wanli walked through the pile of heads and came to the door. He suddenly turned back and shouted, "All of you kneel here. When I think of a way to make money, you can stand up again."

Rushing to the East Warm Pavilion, the king and his minister met.

Zhang Yunxiu bowed and then stood with his hands hanging down.

Emperor Wanli raised his eyebrow and said unhappily: "Is this the way to make money you told me about? It's only been a few days and you've already disappeared? I don't care. If my inner treasury income is less next year than this year, I will punish you."

Zhang Yunxiu didn't expect that his father would do this.

However, although it is not possible outside the palace, it is possible inside the palace, and the palace is not under Zhang Juzheng's control. Increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, it is not a good idea anyway, so it is useless.

"Your Majesty, I have another idea."

"explain."

Zhang Yunxiu thought for a while and said aloud: "The 'fighting for treasure' method cannot be used outside, but no one can stop it in the palace. There are 30,000 eunuchs and maids in the palace, and it is a considerable income every day."

"Well, that's good."

Emperor Wanli stroked his chin and nodded slightly.

Zhang Yunxiu smiled and continued, "Increase income and reduce expenditure. In fact, Your Majesty can also do business in this palace."

"Doing business?"

"Yes, the Forbidden City is so huge, and the daily food and drink costs a lot. Why don't you imitate the outside world and open a shop in the Forbidden City, and then sell things to these palace maids and eunuchs."

"Hurrah!"

Before Zhang Yunxiu finished speaking, Emperor Wanli sat up from his chair, paced back and forth twice, and said incoherently, "So, I am the boss, and these guys get my money every day, and then they come to buy my things."

"This way I will have an endless supply of money."

Zhang Yunxiu followed suit with a smile.

Earn money in the palace and spend it in the palace. Don’t even think about taking a penny home.

"Well, we need to send someone to handle this matter as soon as possible. The purchasing of goods will be left to you." Emperor Wanli said shamelessly.

What about money?

You don't fucking want me to advance the money, do you?

Zhang Yunxiu looked at the emperor tentatively. Emperor Wanli ignored Zhang Yunxiu and ordered, "First, bring in 20,000 taels of goods. Remember to make sure the goods are complete. Anyway, whatever is available outside the palace must be available in the palace, and whatever is not available outside the palace must also be available in my palace."

"It seems that this kid really wants to get something for free."

Zhang Yunxiu's face was filled with grief and indignation. Suddenly, he thought of something and gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, in fact, doing business in the Ming Dynasty is not the most profitable way."

“So what’s the most profitable?”

"Rob."

"Rob?" Emperor Wanli was stunned, shook his head, and said with a bitter face, "I am the emperor, how can I rob? Then how will people in the world see me, and how will the history books of future generations write about me?"

Do you still care about these?

You are a bad king.

Zhang Yunxiu secretly complained in his heart, picked up a pen and paper and drew a ball on the drawing.

"Your Majesty, we actually live on this ball."

"Ball? The ball is so small, how can we live on it?" Emperor Wanli didn't believe it at all, and asked, "Are you still trying to say that the earth is also round?"

Zhang Yunxiu nodded.

Emperor Wanli sneered, tilted his head and asked Zhang Yunxiu: "Have you ever heard of going in the opposite direction?"

"I read in a book that there was a guy named Magellan in Portugal who led his crew around the globe. He died, but his crew returned to Portugal."

"Really?" Emperor Wanli felt his head buzzing.

The sky is round and the earth is square; it has been so since ancient times.

"It's absolutely true." Zhang Yunxiu smiled, and drew the Ming Dynasty, Korea, and Japan, and continued to instigate, "To the east of Korea is Japan, which is rich in silver."

"I know, and there's also that teacher you mentioned."

Zhang Yunxiu was interrupted by this, his face turned red, and he thought for a long time before continuing, "So, we should send troops to transport all the silver back."

"This is too far." Emperor Wanli looked embarrassed.

"Not far. Eunuch Zheng made seven voyages to the West. This is nowhere near where he can go." Zhang Yunxiu smiled and waved his hand.

The Ming Dynasty only had naval forces but no navy.

The Age of Discovery had begun, the Spanish Armada was on the verge of destruction, and the British Empire was preparing to harvest colonies on a large scale.

If the Ming Dynasty wanted to quickly accumulate capital, it had to have a strong navy.

"Then building a ship must cost a lot of money, right?" Wanli was still a little hesitant.

"Let the Ministry of Revenue pay the money."

"Can they afford it? A few days ago, Qi Jiguang said that he wanted to build a fortress in the north, and now he wants to build ships. Where will he get so much money?" Wanli still felt that the sea was illusory and that the Mongols in the north were the Ming Dynasty's biggest enemy.

"A thousand-mile fortress cannot be built overnight, so let's get some of it out first. When we make money overseas, we can pay it back."

“Is there really a mountain of gold and silver overseas?”

"It's more valuable than mountains of gold and silver. You have to go quickly, or those red-haired devils will snatch it all away."

Zhang Yunxiu's mouth was dry when he spoke, and the Wanli Emperor was slightly moved and replied: "Then wait until the beginning of next spring, order the treasure ship factory in Nanjing to build a large ship, and then go out to sea to have a look."

"The Emperor's Holy Might."

"Stop flattering me." Emperor Wanli glared at Zhang Yunxiu, grabbed his hand, and said in a low voice, "Go out quickly and help me prepare for the store. If you do a good job, I will reward you handsomely."

"I obey your command." Zhang Yunxiu knew that this guy was not prepared to pay any money.

(End of this chapter)