Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 270 Demolition in Ming Dynasty
The amount of public debt funds raised is still rising!

In just less than three months, the entire Ming Stock Exchange raised more than five million silver dollars through the issuance of government bonds!
Zhu Houzhao looked at the boxes of silver dollar bills shipped from Guangzhou Prefecture and couldn't help asking Xia Yan: "This money must be enough for you to attack Goa, India three times. How do you plan to arrange this money?"

"Your Majesty, according to the budget of me and Governor Wang, and according to the intelligence of the Royal Guards, the Portuguese fleet in Goa now has 21 ships, 40 cannons, 1,600 soldiers, and 12,000 other non-combatants and slaves; therefore, I plan to prepare a third-class battleship with 750 soldiers, three fourth-class battleships with 350 soldiers each, a total of more than 1,000 people, plus 10 warships of various types responsible for charging, burning, and landing, a total of more than 2,000 officers and soldiers, plus muskets, ammunition, divine fire, flying crows, etc., and silver, the cost is about 1 million silver dollars! The remaining 4 million, I haven't thought about it yet, please give your instructions, Your Majesty!"

Xia Yan replied.

Xia Yan really hadn't thought it through, because he had never imagined that issuing government bonds could raise so much money.

The officials in Guangdong and Guangxi did not expect this either, and they all looked at Emperor Zhu Houzhao excitedly to see how he would arrange the funds.

Of course, because the Imperial Maritime Trade Corporation was a state-owned company of the Ming Dynasty and was established by Xia Yan in the name of the Minister of Nanyang, all these funds were public funds, not private funds, so they could only be arranged by Emperor Zhu Houzhao.

This is also a special feature of this colonial era. Large maritime trading companies are all owned by the state or the royal family, especially in a centralized empire like the Ming Dynasty. It is difficult for private capital, that is, merchants, to compete with the court in maritime trade. It can be said that the entire Ming Dynasty’s maritime interests are now almost entirely controlled by the government and the court.

Zhu Houzhao was very happy to see this result. A public-owned economy was the main body, which was of great significance to maintaining the stability of the empire.

Whether it is banks such as the Royal Bank and the Ming Central Bank, industries such as the Royal Industrial Company, and projects such as the Infrastructure Bureau, the royal family and the court are the first owners.

This can also be considered a characteristic of the Ming Dynasty.

Now, what Zhu Houzhao has to do is to make use of the vast majority of funds occupied by the Ming court to do things that are beneficial to the national economy and people's livelihood.

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but think of what he had encountered in Hai Tian Sheng Garden a few days ago. He had to admit that with the rise of capitalism in the Ming Dynasty, the lives of the powerful officials in the Ming Dynasty were becoming more and more extravagant.

Now that the stock exchange has been established, there are more opportunities to make a fortune by speculating in money and finance. This will make it easier for those powerful officials who hold most of the interests of the empire to become lazy and no longer invest their money in industry, thus failing to promote the development of Ming Dynasty's productivity.

Therefore, Zhu Houzhao felt that as the emperor and the largest capitalist of the Ming Empire, he must first prevent the empire's funds from flowing into the beds of the imperial nobles and becoming drops of semen.

"Tomorrow, summon all civil and military officials above the fourth rank in Haojing. I have decided to hold a court meeting to discuss in detail how to use these funds and how to use the public interests of the court in the future. Let Lord Jiao, Han Wen, Marquis Shouning, and Earl Xiangcheng also participate."

Zhu Houzhao returned to his residence in Haojing overnight and wrote down on paper his ideas on how to use the large amount of public funds obtained by the country to benefit the people without making them lazy. After revising it several times into the final draft, he proposed it at the court meeting the next day: "I wrote this overnight. You can pass it around and take a look. Then I will tell you how to arrange it."

Officials such as Xia Yan quickly agreed and passed it over to look at.

Zhu Houzhao waited for these people to read the news, and then said, "Recently, I came to Guangzhou and saw many high-ranking officials being unruly. Even those who used to be the Prime Minister of the Cabinet or even the Minister of State were deeply involved in such behavior. This really saddened me. Our Ming Dynasty is strong, and foreign invaders will naturally not be able to destroy us. If one day, the Ming Dynasty declines and goes to extinction, in addition to the fact that I, the emperor, have fallen into depravity, it will also be due to the corruption of you officials!"

Zhu Houzhao's opening sentence made all the officials present lower their heads, especially Jiao Fang and Han Wen.

Everyone knew that what Emperor Zhu Houzhao said was right. Compared to the early years of Zhengde, everyone now had beautiful wives and concubines, indulged in sensual pleasures, and even built mansions. They were more extravagant than ever. Although the court had issued repeated orders, it was still difficult to stop the situation, and it was even getting worse.

Everyone knows that this is not a good phenomenon, but apart from saying "the world is in decline, people's hearts are not the same as before", the rest can only comfort themselves by saying that it is a peaceful and prosperous time so they can enjoy themselves. After all, as a minister and common people, what can they do? "I know that after the empire opens up the sea, facing the influx of a large amount of wealth, you will be confused and at a loss, and you may even say that this is the disadvantage of the court's emphasis on commerce and opening up the sea. It is best to abandon commercial profits and focus on agriculture. But what I want to say is that we cannot stop pursuing a strong country and a rich people just because money can wear down people's will."

Zhu Houzhao continued, "Regarding the public benefit of the Ming Dynasty court, how to arrange it, I have already written it above. Let me briefly explain it now. The court makes money naturally in order to strengthen the country and enrich the people. Strengthening the country is easy to understand, undoubtedly by training elite soldiers and manufacturing sophisticated weapons and warships. But to enrich the people, we cannot simply give money to the people. That will only make the people enjoy the favor of the court and no longer work hard. That will only destroy the country and the people!"

"Therefore, I believe that the public interest of the court should be mainly spent on things that are beneficial to the prosperity of the country and the common interests of the people of the world, such as building government-run hospitals for the poor, building schools, and even building some institutions for government and people to consult, such as legal consulting institutions and policy consulting institutions. In addition, there are orphanages to increase the benefits of the elderly!"

"For example, with the remaining four million silver dollars, once the new shipping route is opened, the sea route from Haojing to Guangzhou will also flourish. You Guangzhou officials can use this money to build a better port on the coast of Guangzhou.

In addition, if a port is to be built, the poor people in the surrounding area will have to be relocated. At that time, the government will directly pay a huge amount of money, and even issue a relocation notice six months or even a year in advance, so that the people have more time to prepare, and naturally they can spend the money in the best way. "

After Zhu Houzhao said this, Zhang Run, the Left Governor of Guangdong, could not help but say, "Your Majesty, the people have always been cunning and cunning. If the government issues a relocation notice in advance, I am afraid that these unruly people will take the opportunity to build houses, and then the government will have to pay more compensation for the relocation."

"My intention is to give these people a chance to take advantage. Instead of distributing the large amount of funds obtained by the court to the wealthy gentry and letting them pursue pleasure, it is better to let these ordinary people get it. Although they are cunning, they are still hardworking. Sharing the public benefits with them will not make them lazy all of a sudden.
Moreover, they will definitely need a lot of bricks, tiles and mud when they build new houses, which will boost the income of brick and tile workshops. You Guangzhou government can even ask for compensation only for cement brick and tile houses, which will also encourage Daming cement workshops to find ways to increase cement production!"

"In addition, you can also concentrate the best doctors, the best schools and even the best welfare in Guangdong in the urban areas near the relocated people, and build the best houses for sale in the urban areas near the relocated people. The houses are concentrated in a block, and the block is equipped with gardens, guards and even institutions that work specifically for the people in the block. This institution can also be called a property management company! Do you understand?"

"In this way, you can raise the price of houses here and directly let some businessmen develop the land. You only sell government land, but the price should be higher, so that the common people have to spend all the compensation your government gives them for demolition. In this way, although they can live in the best houses and have the most peaceful and harmonious life, they have no money. If they want to pursue pleasure, they can only continue to work, whether it is to continue farming or fishing. In short, as a government, you must prevent the rich from getting too rich and the poor from getting too poor. The final possible result is to make all the people of the Ming Dynasty rich!"

Zhu Houzhao's words made all the officials present look at him with astonishment as if they had suddenly been enlightened. They seemed to begin to understand the benefits of controlling the most profitable industries in the hands of the court.

Most of the officials present were those who had received a deep Confucian education and they all had a longing for the ancient harmonious society. Now, when they heard that Zhu Houzhao would eventually make everyone rich in the Ming Dynasty, they also became excited.

Xia Yan couldn't help but laugh at this moment, thinking to himself: "In the past, I thought that making everyone rich was just a fantasy of the world, but now that your majesty has said this, it seems that it is possible to achieve. No matter what, I, Xia Yan, must follow your majesty and try to do this once, so that the court can control the benefits of the world, so that the rich cannot be too rich, and the poor cannot be too poor."

"Of course, this is difficult to achieve, at least not in the short term. But no matter what, people's desires cannot be stopped. As long as people are not absolutely richer than others, they will not be satisfied. Therefore, we cannot let the people have too much spare money. We can make their houses better and better, the roads they walk on better and better, their parents, that is, you, more honest, and their travel more convenient and their food better, but we cannot let them have too much free time!"

After Zhu Houzhao finished speaking, he asked, "Do you understand everything?!"

"We understand!" All the bureaucrats present stood up and responded in unison.

then.

Three days later.

Zhang Run, the Left Governor of Guangdong, issued a notice to prepare for the construction of Guangzhou Port, and some coastal fishing villages in Guangzhou needed to be relocated. The government would compensate them at a price 50% higher than the average price. Among the houses, the compensation price for cement brick and tile houses would be doubled, and the compensation price would be calculated based on three feet square. Areas less than three feet square would not be counted.

Upon hearing the news, some coastal residents in Guangzhou started building houses. Suddenly, cement workshops and brick and tile workshops sprang up like mushrooms after a rain in Guangzhou.

(End of this chapter)