My uncle is Zhu Di

Chapter 163 Your Majesty, You Are a Bit of a Spendthrift
After Xu Qin finished speaking, everyone looked at Zhu Di, thinking, how could Zhu Di agree to such a thing? Besides, Xu Qin was an earl, so would he be required to attend court in the future?

"Afternoon? There is no problem summoning you in the afternoon, but what about attending court?" Zhu Di frowned and said to Xu Qin.

"Going to court?" Xu Qin opened his eyes wide and stared at Zhu Di.

"Aren't you going to court?" Zhu Di asked immediately when he saw him like this.

"I still need to go to court. Well, then, Your Majesty, otherwise, why don't you take back the title of Earl of Haozhou? I don't want to be the Earl anymore. The salary is not much, but there are a lot of things to do." Xu Qin complained immediately, and then spread out his hands, meaning, I quit.

"Ah?" Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi both looked at Xu Qin in shock.

Yang Rong and others looked at Xu Qin in dumbfoundedness. In order to avoid attending court, he was willing to give up his status as an earl.

"Shakyabao, think it over carefully before you speak!" Zhu Gaochi immediately reminded Xu Qin.

Xu Qin turned his head and looked at Zhu Gaochi, and said sincerely: "Brother, I really can't get up. If I were asked to go to court, I would rather not be a minister. I might as well go home and make my own money!"

Zhu Di stood there, staring at Xu Qin, and found that this kid seemed to seldom get up early, and had to come to the palace before dawn to attend court. This was a bit difficult for this kid.

Hu Guang, who was standing beside him, couldn't help but ask Xu Qin, "Is your father spoiling you like this?"

"Nonsense, I'm the only son. My family is not short of money. Most of the money in my family is earned by me, after waking up. I'm not a spendthrift. Why does my father ask me to get up so early? There is no money to pick up if I get up so early. Even if there is money to pick up, it's not worth it. My family is not short of this." Xu Qin stared at Hu Guang and said proudly.

"You, you, this is simply, a playboy, and your father doesn't care about you?" Hu Guang found it difficult to understand when he heard Xu Qin say this, but it seemed to make sense.

"What's wrong with being a playboy? Did I spend your family's money?" Xu Qin rolled his eyes at Hu Guang.

Zhu Di quickly stretched out his hand to interrupt and said, "Alright, alright, you don't want to attend the morning court? You have to attend the grand court anyway, right?"

"The grand court? Can I not attend? I'm afraid that if I do, I'll fall asleep and then those ministers will impeach me. Not only might there be quarrels, but there might also be fights. That would have a bad impact." Xu Qin thought for a moment, looked up at Zhu Di and said.

Zhu Di's face was filled with black lines. This kid, this kid likes to sleep so much?

So he stared at Xu Qin and said in a serious tone, "You are not allowed to sleep during the court session."

"How do I control this thing? How do I control my sleepiness?" Xu Qin immediately refused. If he was not allowed to sleep, how could he attend court?

"Okay, okay, okay, it's up to you, but you have to attend the court session. Also, I won't look for you in the morning. I'll look for you in the afternoon, okay?" Zhu Di waved his hand in compromise.

Xu Qin was still dissatisfied and complained: "Since I have to sleep, why can't I sleep at home? How comfortable it is to sleep at home?"

The six cabinet members all looked at Zhu Di in shock. Zhu Di had just asked Zhu Gaochi why Xu Huizu spoiled Xu Qin so much, and now it was his turn, and he spoiled him the same way?

"Your Majesty!" Xie Jin was fed up and immediately bowed his hands and wanted to speak.

"Go out and let the imperial physician take a look. You all go out first. Sakya Bao, bring me the memorial you wrote." Zhu Di didn't want to listen to their nonsense, and he also knew what the purpose of those civil officials was.

"Yes!" The six cabinet members didn't dare to say anything and could only raise the issue. However, they knew that Xu Qin brought a memorial from the Trade Bureau today, and they really wanted to know what was written in the memorial.
But Zhu Di didn't let them stay here, so they had to leave first.

After they left, Xu Qin handed the memorial to Zhu Di and said, "Your Majesty, prepare six million taels for me, and a place for me to work. We also need warehouses, carriages, horses, military garrisons, etc. Anyway, I have written it all."

"Six million taels?" Zhu Di looked at Xu Qin in shock.

"Yes, six million taels. This amount of money is a small amount for Your Majesty. I earned so much for you before the New Year." Xu Qin nodded.

"Sakya Bao, let alone six million taels, we don't even have six hundred thousand taels left." Zhu Gaochi said with a wry smile while standing there.

Zhu Di didn't care about the two of them and just read the memorial.

"What?" Xu Qin was shocked when he heard this, and then he pulled Zhu Gaochi and said, "We brought back more than 20 million taels of silver before, where is the money? What did you do with it?"

"Military pay, disaster relief, canal construction, Yongle Encyclopedia, Great Wall construction, plus the several million taels owed before, now, it's all gone." Zhu Gaochi first counted on his fingers for Xu Qin, and when he finished speaking, he spread out his hands, meaning that it was all gone.

"How is it possible? More than 20 million taels? Not 2 million taels. How could your father be such a spendthrift?" Xu Qin stared at Zhu Gaochi with his eyes wide open. "Ahem!" Zhu Di coughed twice after hearing this.

Xu Qin heard it, turned his head and looked at Zhu Di and said, "He can ruin the family!"

"Say less, everything has to be paid. I'm saving this money. If I hadn't, it would have been gone long ago!" Zhu Gaochi said helplessly while pulling Xu Qin.

"Then what about the Trade Bureau? We need to purchase goods. How can I purchase without money? Will the Trade Bureau still do anything?" Xu Qin stood there, staring at the father and son and said.

"Bao'er, how about you take over?" Zhu Di said as he lowered his head and looked at the memorial written by Xu Qin.

When Zhu Gaochi heard this, he looked up at the ceiling of the imperial study, as if looking for the differences between the two patterns.

Xu Qin looked at Zhu Di with disbelief, and took two steps forward, staring at Zhu Di carefully.

"Is it okay?" Zhu Di said with his head down.

"Uncle, you are bullying me! I came here with money to be an official? So you awarded me the title of earl just to make me pay money?" Xu Qin stared at Zhu Di and shouted angrily.

"Borrowing is not taking. You have to pay back what you borrow. I have no money!" Zhu Di emphasized immediately.

"More than 20 million taels. It's been just over two months, and it's gone? Who would believe it? Your Majesty, my uncle, you can't play with people like this!" Xu Qin shouted at Zhu Di at this moment. Zhu Di lowered his head and did not look at Xu Qin.

Zhu Gaochi, who was standing next to him, said to Xu Qin, "It's really gone. I'm not lying to you."

"What should we do then?" Xu Qin shouted to Zhu Gaochi.

Zhu Gaochi stopped talking too.

Xu Qin looked at Zhu Gaochi, then at Zhu Di, and then sighed and said, "Then I don't care. How can I do business without money? How can I buy goods? Besides, it will cost a lot of money to set up a trade bureau. You can't even pay the salaries, right? How can I set up a trade bureau if you are like this?"

"Also, I still have a little. I still have about one million taels. Boss, you can also gather some money from your own sources, about 500,000 taels. I will also see if I can get one million taels from the Weaving Bureau. I estimate that I can give you three million taels. As for the remaining three million taels, it is up to you to see if I can buy it on credit." Seeing Xu Qin say this, Zhu Di had no choice but to tell the truth.

Xu Qin thought for a moment, nodded and said, "That's fine. The weaving bureau, tea, and porcelain can all be bought on credit. They all belong to the court anyway. Is that okay?"

When Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi heard this, they nodded. There was nothing they could do about it.

"That's enough!" Xu Qin was relieved when he saw them nod, but he couldn't help but complain, "You guys are too good at spending money!"

"Hey, if you give me another 20 million taels now, I promise to spend it all within two months. Maybe it's not enough. I have so many things to do. What's this little money?" Zhu Di said with a sigh.

Xu Qin looked at Zhu Di, who sighed and waved his hands, saying, "That's why I asked you to set up the Trade Bureau. There's nothing I can do about it. This year, you have to find a way to get me 20 million taels of silver. That way, my life will be easier. Otherwise, I'll probably have to settle accounts again in the winter. I'll leave this matter to you."

"Okay, I'll try my best." Xu Qin waved his hand and said, twenty million taels is not a big deal, besides, when all his glass products come in, he can reap a lot of profits.

"By the way, there is a problem now. As for tea and porcelain, they said that the production is insufficient. Maybe they won't give you too many goods!" Zhu Gaochi said with a sigh as he sat there.

"Tsk, how can I indulge their bad habits? I will spread the word that the Trade Bureau will acquire some workshops, and Your Majesty will also spread the word that those tea mountain and porcelain workshops will be reduced in the future, including the tea mountain, and will all be incorporated into the Trade Bureau in the future. I will make them anxious. No goods yet? I guarantee that they will be anxiously begging me to buy their goods. If their goods cannot be sold by then, you will see, how can they still be officials and how can they make money from them?" Xu Qin said contemptuously when he heard what Zhu Gaochi said.

"Hey, this is a good idea, Sakya Bao, just go ahead and do it. If you need anything from me, just notify me!" Zhu Di said happily when he heard Xu Qin's idea.

"Are you doing the same with those workshops among the people?" Zhu Gaochi said happily.

"Yes, aren't they worried that overseas trade will have nothing to do with them at that time? In addition, with the children of military honors here, how could they not know whether they have goods and whether they can produce goods? Don't worry, it's a small matter and it can be handled." Xu Qin stood there and waved his hands casually. How big a deal could this be? Merchants pursue profits. If it is possible for him to cut off their interests, who among them would not be afraid?
"Well, Sakyabao, there is no problem for you to recruit more than a hundred sons of nobles, but the salary is too much, isn't it? According to your system, a clerk of the seventh rank has an annual salary of five hundred taels, which is equivalent to a third rank official in my Ming Dynasty. This..." Zhu Di said anxiously as he looked at the memorial written by Xu Qin.

"You've read it wrong. Five hundred taels is the basic salary, and there is a bonus. If, as Your Majesty said, you can get 20 million taels of profit every year, this person can probably get about 3,000 taels. It's written at the back, please continue reading." Xu Qin pointed at the memorial and said to Zhu Di.

"Ah?" Zhu Di was even more surprised.

(End of this chapter)