Ming Dynasty: Traveling through the harem, Zhu Yuanzhang was dumbfounded

Chapter 177 Is this black thing shit?
In today's muddy water, Teng Yi felt that he really shouldn't be here.

First, he allowed himself to stand up and judge some of the Ming Dynasty's policies. Zhu Yuanzhang learned from him how the grassroots viewed these policies.

Then he was asked to recommend civil and military officials to form an envoy to Japan, and now he was asked to express his views on the Ming Dynasty's national debt.

He really didn't know what this familiar yet unfamiliar emperor in front of him was doing.

If he doesn't even have the right to know, how can he continue?

If he said something offensive, Teng Yi couldn't even imagine how miserable the rest of his life would be.

Although he was only a minister in the court, who was envied by everyone, he was also the pillar of a family with elderly parents and young children.

He has a whole family waiting for him at home. He can't just abandon his wife and children for a small matter.

Teng Yi could never do such a heartless thing.

Looking at the uneasy Teng Yi in the audience, Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a moment before speaking again:

"If Mr. Teng wants to know, I won't hide it. Otherwise, it would be too unfair for you to choose me so early on.

Just as you expected in your heart, the Ming Dynasty is now prosperous and the hidden dangers on the border will be completely resolved in the near future. However, Mr. Teng, do you know how big the world outside the Central Plains is?
Do you know how vast the world outside the Ming Dynasty is?

Did you know that all the land we live on is less than half the size of the ocean?

I! As the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, I have settled disputes and restored the Han people to their status as the masters of the Central Plains. If I were to die like this in my old age, I! Would not be willing!

I think! I am now at the age of fighting for the Ming Dynasty. I know how vast the outside world is. If I cannot seek blessings for the people of the Ming Dynasty, then I will be unworthy of my status as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty!
And Japan! Is the first country we will conquer in the future!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's heroic speech instantly ignited the passion that had been in Teng Yi's heart for a long time.

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, many heroes emerged. As a Confucian scholar, Teng Yi not only wanted to prove his own worth, but also wanted to become a Han figure who would go down in history.

And now, as the Minister of Personnel, he is second only to the emperor but above everyone else, and can also be a minister of the dynasty.

But as time passed and he grew older, Teng Yi suddenly realized that he seemed not to have fulfilled his dreams in his youth.

Minister of Personnel.

Since Qin Shihuang established the centralized unified dynasty, how many people have served as the Minister of Personnel, and how many of them were famous?

Teng Yi didn’t know, he only knew that if he didn’t make any changes, he would be the next unknown person.

"Your Majesty has great ambitions! As your Majesty's subject, Teng Yi will naturally devote himself to the cause until his death!
But Your Majesty, Japan is an independent island far from the ocean and is often eroded by strong winds and rainstorms.

If the Ming Dynasty wanted to launch overseas conquests, why not find another way?

According to my understanding, Europe beyond the ocean is very suitable. I have seen the Kunlun slaves they brought with them. They are taller and stronger than us, but they are all barbarians with empty reputation.

The Ming Dynasty's firearms are much more powerful than theirs. As long as the Ming Dynasty's navy is willing to go out and attack, it will only be a matter of time before they are captured."

This was the only thing that confused Teng Yi.

Logically speaking, His Majesty has been on the battlefield for a long time and is a good fighter. It is impossible that he does not know that the essence of war is to seize benefits.

If you want to gain more benefits, you need to make an advance judgment on a war, otherwise a misjudgment of the war will greatly affect the process and even the outcome.

Going to war across the entire Ming Dynasty for a barren land seemed like a decision that would bring no benefit.

Teng Yi racked his brains but couldn't figure out why Zhu Yuanzhang would issue the Ming Dynasty's war bonds.
The ministers and officials would not be so stupid as to use their limited money to buy Ming Dynasty bonds and let the Ming Dynasty's soldiers do something meaningless.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Teng Yi and then at Zhu Biao. Both father and son saw a message from each other's eyes.

That is, Teng Yi seemed to be unaware of the news that Japan had mountains of gold and silver.

In fact, in the entire Ming Dynasty, there seemed to be no more than ten people who knew that Japan had mountains of gold and silver.

Apart from the military generals and his sons that Zhu Yuanzhang summoned last time, there seemed to be only one civil official who knew about the gold and silver mountains.

Minister of Revenue Yang Siyi!

After coming to his senses, Zhu Yuanzhang realized that he had made a mistake. How could he get the other party's support when he made such a seemingly extremely rude request without saying anything to the other party?

Zhu Yuanzhang, who was very proud, did not feel embarrassed. Instead, he said calmly:

"I understand that Lord Teng thinks that I am just trying to save face, thinking that Japan submitted to Zhao Kuangyi instead of the Ming Dynasty, and that this is an impulsive move. However, based on my understanding, Japan has many islands exposed in the sea.

Those islands are sparsely populated, but civilian navigators once recorded that there were countless gold and silver mines on a certain island.

These ores were exposed to the sun, but the Japanese metal smelting technology was too backward. It would be a complete waste of such treasures in their hands.

Teng Qing, although you are not from the Ministry of Revenue, you should also know what the Ming Dynasty lacks most at present?"

"Real money?" Teng Yi answered without hesitation.

Some time ago, Yang Chen passed on the knowledge about inflation to Yang Siyi. After Yang Siyi went back and meditated deeply, he finally summed up this set of knowledge.

Just as Yang Chen said, the Ming Dynasty lacked a large amount of real gold and silver, and had too many silver notes that consumed the Ming Dynasty court.

If such behavior is not curbed in time, sooner or later, the Ming Dynasty's credit crisis will affect the court's means of controlling the Central Plains.

If the people do not trust the imperial court, then what is the use of having such a powerful imperial court?
If people don’t recognize the printed money, all this is meaningless.

Zhu Biao glanced at Teng Yi and said:

"Minister Teng, since the Ming Dynasty lacks real gold and silver, can the real gold and silver from Japan be used by the Ming Dynasty? Father has developed Ming Dynasty war bonds, which is an investment, allowing all the ministers and officials to make money for free.

We are doing this for their own good.”

This made Teng Yi even more confused. His face became serious and he asked again:

“But Prince, since this is for their own good and this is an opportunity to make a fortune, why not just tell them what Japan has?

I think by then, when the ministers know about this in advance, they will be willing to buy Ming national debt, and it won’t be difficult to prepare food and wages.”

Zhu Biao made a sound of "tsk", and reminded the other party:
"Minister Teng, you may not know this, but my father has discussed this matter with me and Yang Siyi.

If the officials and even the people of the world were told in advance that Japan had mountains of gold and silver, and that as long as they bought Ming government bonds, when the Ming soldiers returned in the future, all those who bought Ming government bonds would receive a generous return, what do you think the people would do? "

At this point, Teng Yi began to fall into thought.

He is not an official but an ordinary citizen. What will he do when he suddenly hears such a fortune-making news?
Without a doubt, just four words. Completely crazy!

This madness does not just refer to people's reactions, but to the entire state.

Some of them would spend all their money buying government bonds. No one knew how this battle would turn out. Even if Zhu Yuanzhang was absolutely sure, he would not dare to claim that he would definitely win this war.

If something unexpected happens in the middle and the government bonds purchased by the people become bad debts, that would be a real disaster that could destroy a country.

Ask yourself if you can afford such a risk?
Zhu Yuanzhang, who was extremely vigilant, would never allow such a risk to occur around him.

Even if we earn less money, it won't let everyone's hard work go to waste.

It took a long time for Teng Yi to understand Zhu Yuanzhang's good intentions. No wonder people say that a minister is a minister and a king is a king. No matter how powerful a minister is, when faced with some problems, the answers he comes up with will definitely be very different from those of a king.

What just happened is the best proof.

Teng Yi raised his hand to salute, and said with conviction:

"Your Majesty! I understand! Thank you for your guidance!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was not in any state of anxiety, and waved his hand calmly, saying:
"Okay, in a few days, the court will hold a grand meeting and all officials will gather in the square. At that time, Teng Qing can take the initiative to stand up and set an example. Don't worry, besides you, there are others who will stand up."

Hearing this, many people flashed through Teng Yi's mind, and finally landed on the Minister of Revenue Yang Siyi.

It's nothing, this is Teng Yi's intuition. Although the work of each department of the six ministries is very different, sometimes the six ministers will still communicate with each other privately, especially in the handling of some things. They will even fight in the temple because the other party does not cooperate with them.

Don't think that the ministers always behaved properly when they attended court. That was only because Zhu Yuanzhang was able to control them. If Zhu Yuanzhang tacitly agreed, sometimes the ministers would solve the day's problems in the court.

The solution is to fight, and whoever wins will be the one to listen.

Now that Teng Yi had completed his task, Zhu Yuanzhang let him leave first.

Before leaving, Teng Yi specifically told Zhu Biao his request.

"Your Highness, I wonder if you still keep your promise to take me to Zhenjiang Prefecture for observation?"

Zhu Biao, who was about to discuss something with his father, turned around and glanced at him.

I never thought that a Shangshu would actually think about such a thing. Zhu Biao, who was confused, sneered and said:

“Don’t worry, I will certainly do what I promised. When the time comes, not only you but also my father will go there in person.

Right, Father."

Zhu Biao turned his head and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang, who was sitting cross-legged above, smiled with wrinkles on his face and said:
"We will do whatever Biaoer says. Besides, Yang Chen has been mysterious in Zhenjiang Prefecture for such a long time. It's time to go and see what he has done to my Zhenjiang Prefecture."

Come to think of it, Yang Chen seemed to have not appeared in Zhu Yuanzhang's sight for a long time.

Recently, he did not deliberately send people to Zhenjiang Prefecture to inquire about the other party's specific situation. He just went to see from time to time whether there were any new and interesting things in the Ming Dynasty, that's all.

After Teng Yi left, the Zhu family father and son finally sat down to discuss the matter.

Even Mao Xiang, who had been standing behind Lao Zhu, came to wait outside the door.

No one is allowed to be here.

Zhu Yuanzhang poured a cup of tea for his son:

"Biao'er, you must be tired from standing just now. Come and have some tea to moisten your throat."

He took the teacup, put it to the corner of his mouth and took a sip, then put the teacup back on the table. Zhu Biao became serious and immediately looked at his father and said:
"Father, I have something to report to you today."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang remained silent, but nodded slightly, indicating that the other party should continue.

After getting the affirmation, Zhu Biao took out four kinds of crops and made them into food.

They are potato pancakes, corn pancakes, sweet potato pancakes and chocolate.

I still want the first three, the color is all light yellow after being made into pancakes, although there are some differences in color.

Zhu Yuanzhang felt that it was very familiar no matter how he looked at it, as it was almost the same as the kind of bran bread he ate when he was a child.

“Father, these four things are potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, and chocolate made from cocoa beans.

The ship led by Wang Haihan took a month to cross from the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean, and then cross to the European continent on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Seeing the European countries that Yang Chen mentioned, such as France, England, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, etc., these kingdoms are now in a very chaotic stage. When they saw that Wang Haihan represented the Central Plains Dynasty, everyone was horrified.

There are even many people who took the initiative to stand up and want to sign an alliance directly with the Ming Dynasty. I once told Wang Haihan that if the federal kingdoms on the European continent show goodwill to them.

In order to successfully cross the North Atlantic and enter South America, I allowed them to sign alliances with many countries as envoys of the Ming Dynasty.

Those European federal states were weak, and their impression of the Central Plains dynasties was still stuck on the Northern Yuan Dynasty's Iron Cavalry stage. Therefore, Wang Haihan encountered almost no obstacles. Instead, he received support from Juan I, the eldest son of the King of Spain. On the basis of the original fleet of more than 100 ships, they strengthened the ship modifications, allowing them to successfully enter the American continent.

There, they encountered the Mayan civilization, which had already domesticated these crops.

I thought there would be a conflict, but unexpectedly, the people of the Mayan civilization worship nature. They believe that the people of the Ming Dynasty are the sons of the ocean and can cross the boundless ocean to America.

From there, Wang Haihan took away a lot of crops, including 50,000 kilograms of sweet potatoes, corn, and potatoes, and 20,000 kilograms of cocoa beans and cocoa bean powder.

At present, some grain has been sent to Zhenjiang Prefecture for experimental planting. With the small amount of money allocated by Yang Chen, we will be able to see how much grain these crops can produce per acre of land in January next year."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked carefully at these things that had never been seen.

When the three American warriors arrived in Ming Dynasty a few days ago, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to go and see the crops that could save millions of people in Ming Dynasty in the future.

Unfortunately, he was troubled by other things at the time, so he had to postpone the matter.

As time went by, I finally saw four kinds of food that I had never seen before.

Not only did he see it, he also ate it. I won’t say much about the taste of the first three, which is almost comparable to rice, so Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to continue eating after taking one bite.

Except for the last chocolate.

Zhu Biao made chocolate bars according to the production method left by Yang Chen, the authentic traditional way of making chocolate.

(End of this chapter)