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

Chapter 185: Confucianism has many things to do

"His Majesty!
I am the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty. Since you have asked me to go on a diplomatic mission to Japan, as a subject, I naturally dare not disobey Your Majesty's request!

I am only talking to Your Majesty for a while because I have too many concerns. I have no intention of rejecting Your Majesty. I hope Your Majesty will not misunderstand me!"

Hu Weiyong spoke these words in a sonorous and powerful voice that made him laugh and cry.

What can he do?

If the king wants the minister to die, the minister has to die.

All kinds of negative emotions began to slowly rise from the soles of his feet to his entire torso.

Seeing that this hot potato had fallen into his hands, Hu Weiyong could never have imagined that he had finally come out of his seclusion at home and reappeared in the court, but he did not expect to end up like this. It was really sad.

After all, he was once a high-ranking official in the court, but now he has not only lost the trust of the emperor, but also ended up like this for unknown reasons.

Hu Weiyong felt very uncomfortable, but he didn't dare to speak out.

Because he knew very well that if he dared to show his unwillingness now, the most severe torture would be waiting for him.

Relying on His Majesty's temper, Zhu Yuanzhang would definitely do it and would not forgive him just because he was once the prime minister.

There are so many similar examples. Hu Weiyong can only think of seven or eight people who contradicted Zhu Yuanzhang in the court and were eventually turned into meat paste.

Even if the other party is from Fengyang, he will not be let go.

Zhu Yuanzhang withdrew his gaze from Hu Weiyong and a very satisfied smile appeared on his face.

It now seems that these ministers are still very afraid of him.

This result made Zhu Yuanzhang feel quite good.

He said cheerfully:

"Very good! Since Hu Weiyong has no objection, then this matter is finalized. Seven days later, the civil and military envoys of the Ming Dynasty will represent the Ming Dynasty to go to Japan!

Make due contributions to the expansion of Ming territory!"

"Then, next is another matter. This matter is closely related to everyone. I hope you can listen carefully. Otherwise, don't blame us for speaking the ugly words in advance.

Just when everyone thought it was over.

Zhu Yuanzhang's words instantly made many people's hearts jump to their throats.

Is it relevant to everyone?

Is there anything else that could get everyone going next?
Shouldn't it?

Various question marks began to arise in people's minds, and curiosity was on everyone's face.

"quiet!"

At the command, everyone shut their mouths, not daring to say a word, waiting quietly for Zhu Yuanzhang to give the next order.

Standing up from the dragon throne, Zhu Yuanzhang walked to Zhu Biao and said:
"Biao'er, you should bring up this matter first."

Zhu Biao, who was dressed in golden yellow crown prince's attire, nodded slightly and said softly:
"I understand, Father."

Zhu Biao then walked to the front of the stage, gathering his strength and trying his best to make his voice heard by everyone.

"Gentlemen! Since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, my father has imposed a lenient tax system on the people of the world. As you all know, the national treasury has been in a very tight state over the years.

If it weren't for my father and mother taking the lead in tightening spending, the national treasury would have been used as economically as possible.

Even so, the Ming Dynasty's treasury could not be enriched.

Some time ago, the Ming army cleared the south of the Yangtze River and obtained a lot of silver, but all of this silver had to be spent on the Northern Yuan Dynasty in the north and the old king of the Northern Yuan Dynasty in Yunnan in the southwest.

In order to ensure the success of the war against Japan, my father and the Minister of Personnel Teng Yi proposed that all civil and military officials in the capital take the lead in setting an example.

From today until the next three years, a portion of my monthly salary will be used to purchase Ming war bonds.

The total value of this batch of Ming Dynasty war bonds is two million taels of silver.

Officials in the capital were the first to purchase it.

After all the purchases by officials are settled, the remaining amount will be released to the public for people to invest.

The interest rate is tentatively set at 10%, which means that after the war in Japan is over, an extra 10% of this salary will be returned to you.

It’s just that the process will require some hardship for you all, and I hope you can forgive me.”

Everyone: "."

In an instant, the sounds that were originally accompanied by some small movements became silent.

There is no movement on the surface, but there are huge waves in private.

"What's wrong with you, Your Majesty? How could you do such a thing?"

"Yes! My salary is not much to begin with, and now I have to take out a portion of it every month to buy Ming Dynasty bonds?
If my wife saw that my monthly salary had decreased, she would definitely skin me alive!"

"The key is that this time is too long. The first phase is three years. I am not sure whether I can live to the end of three years. Your Majesty actually asked me to buy three years of Ming Dynasty bonds. Can I refuse this?"

"It's all Teng Yi's fault! Damn it, this guy actually dared to make such an unreasonable request to His Majesty. If I don't have food to eat every month, I will go to his house first to find him!"

"That's right! His family is rich and powerful, and we are all from humble backgrounds. We don't have any extra money at all. How can we support your majesty's measure?
If we want to buy it, let this guy buy it. We are short of money, so it shouldn’t be our turn to pay the biggest bill, right? "

As people's dissatisfaction grew, many ministers had begun to express their dissatisfaction to Zhu Yuanzhang, asking why they had to spend so much money to help others when they didn't even have much money left at home.

This was simply an act of forced voluntary consent. Although every minister was afraid of Zhu Yuanzhang, they were also human beings and did not have to obey Zhu Yuanzhang's orders in everything.

This is a matter of life and death. If they don’t speak up, Zhu Yuanzhang will probably squeeze their entire family dry.

When that time comes, you won’t even be able to save your life, so how can you talk about contributing to the country?

This is just the first issue of national debt, and it will take three years to pay back the investment.

What is even more unacceptable to them is that the war with Japan is no joking matter.

When Kublai Khan of the Yuan Dynasty wanted to launch a war of genocide against Japan, what was the final outcome?
After repeated natural disasters and complete annihilation, Japan has never broken the taboos of most emperors in the Central Plains. At least that was the case during the Yuan Dynasty.

Who could have thought that when a Han Chinese became emperor, the first thing he would do was to do exactly the same thing as the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty.

If we really ask the ministers to make an evaluation, that would be simply unreasonable.

Together, this batch of Ming Dynasty treasury bonds had a total value of several million taels of silver. With so many treasury bonds, they couldn't understand why anyone would really buy them.
After being sold, it is still unknown whether these government bonds can make a profit.

If Japan loses the war, what should be done with the purchased government bonds?
It's impossible for the emperor to let all this money disappear with just one word, right?

Soon, someone stood up and raised questions.

This guy is a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, specializing in the study of mathematics. Although his achievements in mathematics are not that impressive, at least he can integrate ancient and modern knowledge.

When he heard that the Ming Dynasty had issued so much national debt, the first thing he thought of was that he would not be able to get his money back, which meant that the court had completely lost its credibility among the people.

Therefore, he was not afraid of being punished and bravely stood up to warn everyone:

"Prince! I have something to say!"

Zhu Biao looked down at the other person and found that it was an old man, so he waved his hand to signal him to speak:

"Oh? It's Mr. Tang. Since Mr. Tang has something to say, please come out and say a few words."

After getting the chance to speak, Zhu Yuanzhang also looked at him to see what he would say.

The official named Mr. Tang was very thin. It was unclear whether he had nothing to eat or was unwilling to eat. Overall, he gave people the impression of being malnourished.

He walked through the crowd and finally came to the middle avenue where civil and military officials were sitting. During court time, if anyone wanted to speak, they had to stand here holding the jade tablet and speak.

Otherwise, no one would know who was speaking, and the court would be in chaos.

After he had gained a firm foothold, Mr. Tang said to Zhu Yuanzhang with deep sorrow:

"Your Majesty! The Ming national debt must not be issued!

I know that Your Majesty wants to expand the territory of the Ming Dynasty, but Your Majesty, if it is simply a matter of militarism, this is not a good choice!

If the prince really said that, we could take a portion of the money from the civil and military officials in the capital every month to buy the Ming Dynasty's national debt, the court would indeed be able to reduce the burden, but the price we paid was that all these burdens would fall on us! As a minister of the Ming Dynasty, as a doctor of the Five Classics in the Hanlin Academy, I have a low position and I can't say much.

Your Majesty also knows that this kind of official position can be inherited at any time, and I can only receive such a small salary every month, which is just enough for my family of five to get by.

In order to prove that Your Majesty is honest, I am also willing to learn from Your Majesty how to be an honest person.

For this reason, I have repeatedly refused other people's temptations of money, isn't it just for the last bit of face of the court?
However, now, Your Majesty has forced us, your subjects, into a desperate situation. We have to use our meager salary every month to buy government bonds, which will take three years to get a chance to pay off.

How should a person like me survive during these three years?
You can't just ask private merchants to buy it, right? If the Confucian scholars of the world knew that he had finally become an official of the Ming Dynasty, but he had to borrow money from merchants to make a living, it would not only be a disgrace to His Majesty, but also make the students of the world feel heartbroken!

Your Majesty! You must think twice before you act on this matter!

Otherwise, the reputation of the imperial court will be completely despised by the people, which will lead to the destruction of the country!"

"Hiss! This old Tang is really bold. He actually dared to mention the word "subjugation" in front of His Majesty. I bet he will be in big trouble soon."

"Who says it's not true? Everyone knows that His Majesty hates bad news about the Ming Dynasty the most. He actually dared to bring it up at this time. I think he will not live long!"

"Minister Teng, since you are the one who mentioned this matter to His Majesty, why don't you stand up and say a few words?"

On the spacious square, the voices of officials' heated discussions could be heard one after another. Each of them argued for his own position.

The shock this morning's court session brought to them was truly surprising.

They never expected that the emperor would ask them to reduce their wages.

If this kind of behavior had happened in the past, it would only happen when a country was about to perish.

It was actually brought up by the founding emperor, and no one dared to point the finger at Zhu Yuanzhang, which led to Teng Yi becoming the target of public criticism.

Faced with all kinds of accusations from his colleagues, Teng Yi felt bitter but could not say anything. He thought to himself that he was just cooperating with the Emperor in a play, so how could he have fallen to this point?

Once the insults directed at him began to form waves, they quickly condensed into a tornado.

Among them were some people from very poor families. They stood out from the crowd and mocked Teng Yi with all kinds of words.

"Minister Teng, those of us who hold lower positions than you cannot discuss important matters with His Majesty, but we cannot make such a decision that is not in our favor in front of His Majesty, right? You must know that scholars like us are upright and have the Confucian pride as a part of our spine, which allows us to stand up straight in front of the world and do things. Today, you actually asked His Majesty to reduce our salaries every month.

What you said, in the end, someone in my family starved to death, is it your fault? "

The rest of the officials who didn't dare to stand out echoed in the crowd:
"That's right! That's right! Minister Teng is a high-ranking official with a high salary, how could he not be interested in this little money? But how can it be the same for us? We are so poor, how could he make such a decision? His mind is really not pure!"

Listening to the insults from all around him, Teng Yi couldn't hold it in any longer. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He stood up and angrily scolded everyone:

"What's wrong? What's wrong? What's wrong with me raising this issue with Your Majesty? The Ming treasury is in such a tight spot right now. Don't you have any idea of ​​what's going on?"

They already had a lot of resentment towards Teng Yi. Now seeing that Teng Yi not only did not stop but also dared to refute all of them, some people could not accept this fact and took the initiative to jump out and say:

"Bah! Minister Teng! Don't think that you can slander all of us for no reason just because you hold a high position and receive a generous salary. Although we have made some mistakes in the past, now everyone has turned over a new leaf. As the ancients said, a prodigal son who returns is worth more than gold. This is also an opportunity given to us by His Majesty. Don't you dare to disobey His Majesty's wishes?
Even if we helped the tyrants to do evil in the past, nowadays, everyone who has committed serious crimes has been dealt with by us completely.

How come you say we are unforgivable sinners?
Besides, you are the Minister of Personnel. Instead of managing the transfer of officials, you are actually managing the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue. You are overstepping your responsibilities. Where do you put the Minister of Revenue?"

With just these words, a lot of abusive voices began to rain down on Teng Yi himself.

He had already prepared himself to be the target of everyone's venting, but he never expected that this group of guys' verbal skills would really hurt people's hearts.

The world is fickle and indifferent, and people get forgotten when they leave. Not to mention that he hasn't left yet. This group of people is like this. It's really hard to imagine what some individuals think of him in private.

I'm afraid she must be coveting his position.

"Everyone! Be quiet! Be quiet! Although Minister Teng's proposal angered you, I, Yang Siyi, know Minister Teng very well. He must have made this proposal for the sake of the people of the world."

At this moment, a voice that was different from the others sounded, and in an instant everyone's eyes turned to the source of the voice.

This person was none other than the Minister of Revenue Yang Siyi.

Originally, they thought that the Ministry of Revenue would have great objections to the Ministry of Personnel managing the Ministry of Revenue, but they did not expect the Minister of Revenue to take the initiative to stand up and say that it had nothing to do with it.

(End of this chapter)