Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 246: How dare you, as the Prime Minister!
Seeing Liu Yu looking at him with a puzzled look on his face, Wang Qiong just smiled secretly in his heart, thinking that he was regretting that when His Majesty first ascended the throne and was fighting against powerful ministers, he did not seize the opportunity to invest money in His Majesty's royal business because he was serving in a foreign post, so he missed the chance to make a fortune.

Now that His Majesty the Emperor has proposed to set up an infrastructure bureau, he will naturally not miss the opportunity to make a fortune with His Majesty.

Although, Wang Qiong actually just knew the word infrastructure, and even just knew that it might mean building roads and bridges.

But he believed that if the Emperor wanted officials like him to use their ill-gotten gains to invest in the Infrastructure Bureau, he would definitely not let himself suffer any loss. After all, the Emperor would not let him suffer any loss.

In order to get rich with the Emperor, and even with the country behind the Emperor, Wang Qiong would naturally seize this opportunity immediately, so he exaggerated that he had accepted a bribe of 300,000 taels from Prince Ning. He now understood that as long as he followed the Emperor and invested more money, his Wang family would get more benefits in the future.

The Prime Minister in front of him, whose daily food consumption was no less than a thousand taels, and the former Prime Minister Wang Hua, who had just resigned and bought half a mountain in Shaoxing and Kuaiji to build a garden, were examples.

As for his voluntary confession that he had accepted so many bribes from Prince Ning, Wang Qiong believed that the Emperor would not really punish him severely. After all, the Emperor had said that he, as the Emperor, had also accepted benefits from Prince Ning. The implication was that he himself had no intention of pursuing the matter of accepting bribes from Prince Ning before he rebelled.

Moreover, Wang Qiong also knew that if the emperor really wanted to investigate, it would be the same whether he admitted it or not, and it might be better to admit it voluntarily.

Zhu Houzhao pretended to be angry and slammed the teacup on the table, pointing at Wang Qiong:
"Humph! This Prince Ning is really rich. He gave your Prince Qiong so much money as a bribe, and you, the Second Assistant, dared to accept it. I wish I could let the people force the Ministry of Justice to skin you alive and stuff you with straw!"

"I am guilty, but Your Majesty, I was trying to paralyze King Ning and make him think that we were not aware of his rebellious intentions, and that we dared not stop him from rebelling because we had received benefits from him! That's why I had the guts to accept the money from King Ning!"

Wang Qiong knew that the Emperor was deliberately trying to warn him. After all, when it came to accepting bribes, the Emperor would never openly say that he was doing a good job.

Zhu Houzhao really just wanted to put on a show. After talking about the various disadvantages of accepting bribes, he said, "Of course, the fact that you took the initiative to hand over this ill-gotten wealth is enough to prove that you really did not intend to collect money or solicit bribes. I will believe you for now, but I can avoid the death penalty, but I can't escape the punishment of life. I will order the Ministry of Personnel to fine you half a year's salary!"

"As for the ill-gotten gains of more than 300,000 taels, I will order them to be put into the reserve fund of the Infrastructure Bureau. But I will not let you donate them for nothing. You can use them as shares and become a shareholder of the Infrastructure Bureau. After the Infrastructure Bureau contracts construction projects, part of the profits will be distributed to you. However, only half of the 300,000 taels can be allocated to you, and the other half must be handed over to the court to participate in the formation of the court's shares."

After hearing what Zhu Houzhao said, Wang Qiong naturally had no objection, and could only express his gratitude. After all, if the emperor was willing to confiscate all his property, he would have no way to resist.

But what makes Wang Qiong more suspicious now is why the imperial court also wants to hold a share, and why the imperial court actually wants to take half of the ill-gotten gains that he donated!
"Your Majesty, I don't understand. The court is not a physical thing. Unlike families and individuals, the court also owns shares, and half of the shares. In this case, where will the profits distributed to the court go?"

Wang Qiong asked.

Zhu Houzhao knew that the Ming officials of this era did not quite understand the concepts of public and private ownership of the economy, and naturally did not understand what state-controlled enterprises were.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao had no choice but to continue to explain patiently:
"The court is the country, the Ming Dynasty, and represents the interests of all the people of the Ming Dynasty. The court's shares are the country's shares, that is, the shares of all the people of the Ming Dynasty. He must not only own half of the shares, but also more than half of the shares, because the Infrastructure Bureau can only belong to the court! He must let all the people of the Ming Dynasty profit!"

“This is called the Central Commercial Bank (the Ming Dynasty version of a central enterprise), a commercial bank controlled by the central government. Private individuals can own part of the shares of the Central Commercial Bank, but this is only a return on the state’s investment. It is also to stimulate the enthusiasm of private individuals in operating the Central Commercial Bank. The control of the Central Commercial Bank must be in the hands of the central government!

In this way, most of the profits of the Infrastructure Bureau will belong to the country, so that the country can better manage the world's infrastructure and the derived income, understand?"

"Otherwise, if all the official roads, bridges, canals, and ports in the world are controlled by the powerful, how can the common people enjoy the benefits brought by the court's large-scale infrastructure construction? In addition, how can the court control you wealthy tycoons! By then, I am afraid that the court will be controlled by you!"

After Zhu Houzhao said this, Wang Qiong understood what Zhu Houzhao meant. This was somewhat similar to the clan land and clan property in a large clan. The clan land and clan property accounted for the majority in order to facilitate the basic care of the more vulnerable members of the clan, which was beneficial to the stability of the clan. For the country, it was beneficial to the stability of the entire Ming Dynasty.

Wang Qiong admitted that this was the right thing to do, and he also believed that His Majesty did this out of consideration for the people of the world. However, it was certainly not the best thing for the royal family and the powerful like himself, because this meant that the big trading companies would still be controlled by the court in the future, and the powerful gentry would still find it difficult to compete with the court and make the most profit.

"Your Majesty is right. This will prevent the rich from being too rich and the common people from being too poor, but it will also affect the Infrastructure Bureau's ability to achieve maximum profits," Wang Qiong said. "The Infrastructure Bureau is not limited to doing business within the territory of the Ming Dynasty. Let me give you an example. If I give the King of Korea a statue of the Great Sage (Confucius), and require the King of Korea to build a ten-foot-high platform and use a magnificent Confucius Temple to worship it, and must use cement concrete, and require the Ming Dynasty Infrastructure Bureau to undertake the project, and the Korean royal family will allocate the project funds, first allocating two or three million taels of silver or something. If he has no money, I can ask the Ming Dynasty bank to lend him money, but if he can't pay it back, the Infrastructure Bureau can have the right to develop one of his ports and lease it for a hundred years to collect taxes and profits. Isn't it possible to take wealth from all over the world to benefit the Ming Dynasty?"

"In addition, the other surrounding vassal states can do the same. To facilitate the silk trade, we can ask other countries to build roads. To facilitate the trade between our neighboring countries and Ming, we can ask other countries to build ports. All of these can be done by the Infrastructure Bureau!"

After Zhu Houzhao said this, Wang Qiong and Liu Yu suddenly understood.

Wang Qiong knew that this was actually equivalent to building infrastructure for foreign vassals, but in reality it was to seize the interests of foreign vassals and benefit the Ming Dynasty. This was much better than directly engaging in war and plunder. So Wang Qiong hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I think this is a very good thing. Not to start a war easily and benefit the Ming Dynasty is the best strategy! I think we can also ask the Tushe and Ordos tribes to build roads, and we can also ask Malacca to build roads, and even ask Jiaozhi to build roads to connect to the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty can also take back Jiaozhi more cheaply in the future when there are roads!"

"In addition, I believe that spreading Confucianism abroad is beneficial to the stability of the Ming Dynasty. This should be done as soon as possible. The cabinet should immediately ask the Ministry of Rites to submit a petition to send an envoy to Korea."

Wang Qiong said as he looked at Liu Yu again: "What does the Prime Minister think?"

Even though Liu Yu, the chief minister of the cabinet, was not as quick as Wang Qiong in reaction, he could understand the benefits of this after listening to Emperor Zhu Houzhao and Wang Qiong for so long. Therefore, he just bowed to Zhu Houzhao and said, "Your Majesty! I am guilty! I also received benefits from Prince Ning, about 100,000 taels. I am determined to hand over this ill-gotten wealth. I dare not deceive Your Majesty, nor do I dare to keep it for myself. Please punish me for my crime!"

At this time, Wang Qiong was shocked to hear Liu Yu say this. He did not expect that Liu Yu, an official who had always been relatively honest, would admit that he had also received benefits from King Ning and wanted to invest in the Infrastructure Bureau because of the temptation of such huge wealth.

Seeing this, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but shook his head: "Liu Qing, you have changed!"

Liu Yu knew that what the Emperor meant was that he, who had always been honest and upright, would actually see the benefits in front of him and take the initiative to admit that he had also received benefits. But only he knew that if he followed the Emperor in investing, the benefits would be indeed huge, and not only huge, but also profitable and fair, and would not even harm the people, because the money earned was all from outside.

Liu Yu couldn't help but lower his head: "I'm sorry to disappoint your majesty. I really, really want to contribute to the infrastructure construction of the Ming Dynasty!"

Wang Qiong was very depressed, thinking that your Excellency the Prime Minister did not want to contribute to the infrastructure construction of the Ming Dynasty at all. It was obvious that he could not resist the temptation to make money with His Majesty and was willing to give up his reputation for integrity.

Zhu Houzhao could not help but shake his head. He naturally understood Liu Yu's fundamental purpose of contributing to the infrastructure construction of the Ming Dynasty. However, apart from sighing in his heart that "all the people in the world are for profit, and all the people in the world are for profit", he could not refuse the Prime Minister's investment of 100,000 taels of silver. He just snorted: "As the Prime Minister, you have the nerve to do this!"

"Your Majesty, please allow me to explain. As Wang Qiong said, I accepted the bribe from Prince Ning in order to paralyze him!" Liu Yu had no choice but to continue making up excuses.

"In that case, you will be fined one year's salary! You will be stripped of your title as the Prince's Tutor! If you do such shameful things again, I will not forgive you easily!"

Zhu Houzhao turned away after saying this. Liu Yu was the Prime Minister, the only first-rank official in the court. Fining him one year's salary and taking away a first-rank official position would save the court a considerable amount of salary expenses.

But for Liu Yu, it was nothing, and he hurriedly bowed and said, "I thank your majesty for not killing me!"

"Your Majesty! I am your humble servant," Sanfu Kang Hai saw the emperor was about to leave and hurriedly chased after him.

Zhu Houzhao did not bother to look back. He had seen through the true colors of these court officials. Because an earlier group of officials had made a fortune by following him, now these new officials truly believed that they could make a lot of money by following him. They even ignored their reputation for integrity and vied to admit that they had received benefits from Prince Ning.

Zhu Houzhao had no choice but to reply: "Those who have accepted benefits from Prince Ning should go to the Censorate and surrender themselves. I don't care about your shameless deeds. You are really ruining the morals of the Ming Dynasty!"

After thinking for a long time, I think it is better not to refer to the West, but to use public ownership as the main system. This will make it easier for the protagonist to intervene in the economic crisis caused by the market economy in the future. Therefore, in this chapter, the protagonist asks the court to hold a controlling stake in the Infrastructure Bureau (actually the Infrastructure Company). Thank you book friend Huachen for the 500 starting coins reward. Thank you book friend 294090690 for the 200 book coins reward.
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(End of this chapter)