Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 560 Closing the Net
Many people don't understand Chen Ce's recent decisions and actions. Emperor Hongzhi has not attended court recently and occasionally wonders what Chen Ce is doing.

However, after thinking about it for a long time, he still had no clue. Aren't Li Dongyang's doubts the same as Emperor Hongzhi's doubts?

In the harem, Empress Zhang was a little unhappy and was complaining to the Zhang brothers, saying that Emperor Hongzhi had not come to the harem for a long time.

The Zhang brothers asked suspiciously, "Sister, you say... Could it be that the emperor has found a new lover? Is he taking advantage of your age and lack of beauty and no longer likes you?"

Empress Zhang glared at Zhang Heling fiercely and said, "Nonsense!"

She is watching all the women in the harem. Doesn't she know who is serving the emperor?
Zhang Heling asked, "Could it be possible that the Emperor is looking for a woman outside?"

"Sister, I heard that the emperor hasn't been attending court recently, and all court affairs have been handed over to our nephew, the crown prince."

"Hey, Chen Ce hasn't been coming to the court recently. It's a lot less fun."

Zhang Yanling sighed and said, "Is Chen Ce going to die soon?"

Empress Zhang was speechless. They were clearly talking about the emperor, so why were you discussing Chen Ce?
Empress Zhang took a deep breath and said to the Zhang brothers, "Look carefully outside. If the emperor really has a woman outside... Humph!"

The Zhang brothers hurriedly said, "Okay!"

At this moment, Emperor Hongzhi came over with his hands behind his back, looking unhappy. The Zhang brothers shrank their necks and said hurriedly, "Sister, we have something else to do. We'll leave first."

After saying that, the two brothers ran away in shame with their butts sticking up.

Empress Zhang glanced at Emperor Hongzhi, snorted, and said, "Your Majesty has a new lover outside, how can you have time to come to see me?"

Emperor Hongzhi: “…”

"There's nothing."

Empress Zhang asked, "Why hasn't the emperor been in the harem for such a long time?"

Emperor Hongzhi hesitated to speak and ultimately did not tell Empress Zhang about his illness. He truly loved Empress Zhang and did not want her to be sad.

"I'm too tired. I need to have a good rest, otherwise my body won't be able to hold on."

Empress Zhang hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, are you alright? You should have a good rest. Just leave the affairs of the court to Houzhao. Your health is more important than anything else."

Emperor Hongzhi smiled and said, "Yes."

"Yan'er, the prince is young and has a very good relationship with Chunjian. Chunjian's health is getting worse and worse, and I'm afraid she won't be able to hold on for much longer."

"You must take good care of the prince in the future..."

Empress Zhang was a little confused. Emperor Hongzhi hadn't called her that for a long time. And Chen Ce wasn't in good health, so why did he ask her to take care of the prince? You are the prince's biological father!
"Your Majesty, what's wrong with you? I don't understand what you are saying."

Emperor Hongzhi shook his head and said, "It's okay. I want to eat the food you cook."

When Emperor Hongzhi was still the crown prince, Empress Zhang married him. At that time, there was Concubine Wan above him. Emperor Hongzhi's position as the crown prince was not stable at all, but Empress Zhang did not hesitate. She was afraid that someone in the East Palace would harm Emperor Hongzhi, so she always cooked for him personally. The couple loved each other deeply. After Emperor Hongzhi ascended the throne, he never treated Empress Zhang badly. He doted on her and never had any affairs with other women in his life. This was rare for an emperor.

He doesn't have much time left, and he always feels sad and reluctant when he thinks back on the past.

Empress Zhang smiled and said, "Your Majesty likes the dishes I cook, so I will cook for you every day. I don't have anything to do anyway."

"Wait a minute, I'll go cook for you."

Watching Empress Zhang leave with a smile on her face, Emperor Hongzhi also smiled gently.

I have a great wife and an outstanding son, and my life is worth it.

If they knew my physical condition, I don't know how sad they would be...

……

Xu Jing and Tang Yin were also wondering what their teacher was planning for Annan and why he wanted to send so many merchants to Annan. From any perspective, this was obviously not a good move.

However, Chen Ce is their teacher. No one will question Chen Ce's decisions. The fact that they don't understand it just means that they have not reached Chen Ce's level. They will never doubt that Chen Ce's decisions are wrong.

Fu Yuan, who was far away in Liaodong, was also paying attention to a series of operations by the Ming Dynasty. When he turned his attention to Annan, he also saw a series of unusual operations regarding Annan.

"I don't know how Chen Chunjian is doing."

"What exactly is he planning against Annan? Is it to take back the land of Annan?"

"But what's the reason for driving merchants to Annan?"

Fu Yuan thought about it for a long time but still couldn't figure it out. He even suspected that this was a stupid move and should not have been made by Chen Ce.

But in the current Ming Dynasty, apart from Chen Ce, he really couldn't think of anyone else who could do these things without being convicted by the upper echelons.

Let's wait and see, this matter will be concluded sooner or later.

Just as Fu Yuan thought, in May of the summer of the seventeenth year of Hongzhi, the Ming Dynasty suddenly announced that interest rates would begin to fall across the country.

If the interest rate is only lowered a little bit, the value of Ming Dynasty's currency will naturally fluctuate downward. Although people complain, it is still within controllable range.

But Annan is different!
Annan and Ming Dynasty have too much business cooperation. Once Ming Dynasty's currency rate drops, Annan's currency will also drop accordingly.

Because the economic scale of Annan was incomparable to that of Ming Dynasty, the value of Daming's currency declined, and the direct result was that Annan's currency began to appreciate wildly!
The Ming merchants who had borrowed money from Annan, as well as the Ming merchants who owed money to Annan merchants, could not help but be ecstatic this time!
To give a simple example, they borrowed 10,000 coins from the Annan Bank. Although they still have to pay back 10,000 coins now, compared with before, 10,000 coins are now perhaps only worth 5,000.

Who can accept this?
In the past, when the merchants of Ming Dynasty traded with the merchants of Annan, the principal for settlement was 10,000 coins. According to the current currency fluctuations and value exchange, the merchants of Ming Dynasty should pay them 15,000 coins to break even. If the original value is maintained now, the merchants of Annan may lose everything!
The merchants of Annan collectively began to challenge the Annan court, begging the court to help them solve these problems.

But the Annan court is now more troubled than anyone else. The Ming Dynasty only lowered the interest rate a little, which led to the appreciation of the Annan country's currency. Annan has borrowed too much money! If they still repay it according to the previous currency, their country's financial system may collapse!
After the financial collapse, all industries in Annan will collapse, and the imperial court will collapse with it!
It was not until this time that Li Yi finally learned of the Ming Dynasty’s conspiracy. He was extremely angry, but there was nothing he could do. The top leaders of Annan kept looking for Li Yi to discuss countermeasures, but the final result was... there was no solution!
Unless we talk to the Ming Dynasty and ask it to restore its previous currency value, don't lower interest rates!

(End of this chapter)