The Holy Emperor of Ming

Chapter 104 Three Hundred Million Taels of Silver

"Okay, from now on, you are the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce, a third-rank official.

There is another person who decided to join the Ministry of Commerce before you and is on his way to Beijing. He is the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce, also a third-rank official.

You two must work together to first take control of the business that the court has gained in Jin and make it run smoothly.

Then see how to integrate the business that originally belonged to you?

There won't be a Minister of Commerce for the time being. Who will be the Minister of Commerce will depend on your performance in a few years.

Do you understand?" Zhu Houzhao asked expectantly.

Wan Sanqian's heart was filled with an uncontrollable heat again.

Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce!
Third rank!
Although he had anticipated and expected this beforehand, he still felt touched by the fact that he got the position so easily.

"I accept your order and thank you for your grace. Your Majesty, I am so grateful that even if I die a thousand times, I will not be able to repay you." Wan Sanqian knelt down again and said with emotion.

"Get up, take charge of the Ministry of Commerce, that's all." Zhu Houzhao said generously.

"Yes, I will definitely run the Ministry of Commerce well, put the interests of the people first, and at the same time earn more money for the court." Wan Sanqian stood up and said solemnly and firmly.

"Yeah." Zhu Houzhao nodded with satisfaction.

"Your Majesty, may I ask who the other Left Vice Minister is?" Wan Sanqian asked curiously.

At the same time, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart that among the businessmen in the world, he was indeed not the only one with courage.

If he had come later, he might not even have been able to get the position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce.

"Fan Fenyang from Jin." Zhu Houzhao said directly.

"Fan Fenyang, who is known as the Tao Zhu of the land!" Wan Sanqian said immediately in surprise.

My thoughts raced, and something dawned on me.

What happened in Jin has spread far and wide. Perhaps Fan Fenyang was also involved, so he was willing to give up his family business and join the court.

Thinking of this, although he still regarded Fan Fenyang as a formidable enemy, he also gained a bit more confidence.

He is the most determined among the 13,000 people who have invested in His Majesty and joined the court.

"Yes, it's him. By the way, how much is your family's business worth?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

Wan Sanqian felt a flash of heartache, but he had been prepared for this. He gritted his teeth and said firmly, "Your Majesty, my family property, excluding cash, some land and real estate, is worth about 200 million taels of silver. I am willing to donate it all to the court."

"Two hundred million taels is indeed a lot." Zhu Houzhao was quite surprised, then shook his head and said without question: "I said that I would spend money to buy your family business, and I will definitely spend money.

Just two hundred million taels of silver.

But the court really can't afford so much money right now, so I'll give it to you over 40 years, 5 million taels of silver per year, how about that?"

"Your Majesty, I am really willing to donate these properties." Wan Sanqian felt better, but still said firmly.

"Doesn't that mean the court is forcing your family property to go? No, you have to pay." Zhu Houzhao waved his hand, not allowing Wan Sanqian to say anything more.

"The official system of the Ministry of Commerce is similar to that of the other five ministries. After you understand it, do you see anything inappropriate? If you have any ideas, please tell me directly.

After all, you are the professional, so you don't have to worry too much and just say whatever you want to say.

From now on, you and Fan Fenyang will be directly responsible to me, and you don’t need to pay attention to anyone else.

The same was true for the local Ministry of Commerce, which was only responsible to its superiors but was also supervised by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Also, the people you recommend to become officials in the Ministry of Commerce must be loyal and reliable," Zhu Houzhao added.

"I understand, and I will get it done as soon as possible." Wan Sanqian said cautiously.

Without further ado, Wan Sanqian followed the eunuch to receive the corresponding official uniform and official seal, and then went to the Ministry of Commerce office, etc.

Zhu Houzhao had already prepared all these and was just waiting for someone with sufficient ability to take office.

Wan Sanqian didn't dare to delay and started to get busy right away.

Fortunately, the Ministry of Commerce is special and directly responsible to the emperor, so there are not so many troubles.

In other words, Wan Sanqian had great power, which was evident from the fact that he recommended a group of officials.

Who are these officials he recommended?

Of course, they are his own people, all of whom are his trusted confidants who manage and run the Wanjia business.

All of a sudden, Wanjia Business just changed its name to the imperial court, but in reality it was still controlled by Wan Sanqian.

The court didn't even know he was cooking the books.

There is no way around it.

However, as the Wan family's business merged with the Fan family's business, as time went on, more and more officials from the Ministry of Commerce who were not Wan Sanqian's confidants appeared.

Naturally, those businesses gradually became the real property of the imperial court.

Everyone knows this.

It was naturally impossible to conceal the fact that Wan Sanqian became the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce, and his identity and the value of his family business also spread.

The incident shocked the entire capital city that day, causing countless people to express envy, jealousy and hatred.

That’s a family fortune worth 200 million taels of silver!
Money is always attractive.

From high-ranking officials and powerful people to ordinary people, everyone couldn't help but talk about it.

Various voices swept across the entire capital today.

At the same time, some senior officials were very angry.

"What a great 13,000! What a great 13,000!"

"How dare he? How dare he?" "What a daring businessman, do you really think that no one will dare to touch you after you surrender to the imperial court?

Well, even if no one dares to touch you now, you will not make mistakes when you are in charge of business for the court and enjoy such huge profits. Once you make a mistake and His Majesty gets tired of you, humph.

Let’s see how you die then.”

·····
Before the heated discussion had died down, the next day, another young man in his twenties walked into the palace.

"Your Majesty, I, Fan Fenyang, pay my respects to you." He bowed deeply.

"Hurry up, hurry up, you are the son-in-law of our Zhu family, you are one of us.

I never thought that a business genius could emerge from my family." Zhu Houzhao said happily.

He also praised: "And this time your family was not involved in smuggling, I am even happier, very good."

"Your Majesty, I am overwhelmed by your praise.

Both my father-in-law and the family motto have taught me that merchants must never betray the Ming Dynasty or harm the people.

The Fan Yongdou family in Jiexiu is somewhat related to me, so I was wrong for not being able to stop them." Fan Fenyang said cautiously.

“It happened more than ten generations ago. It has nothing to do with you.

The court has so many officials in Jin, but they still failed to stop these damned people? It has nothing to do with you. "Zhu Houzhao said indifferently.

Fan Fenyang heaved a sigh of relief. Although he had known for a long time that His Majesty would not say anything about this matter, it was still a hidden danger after all.

This time, he gave up his family business and came to the capital to be an official. Besides the fact that he could not refuse due to his status, there may also be other reasons.

"Do you understand the situation?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

“I already know that although I am the son-in-law of my father-in-law, I gave up my family business and entered the court as an official mainly for my own reasons, and also because of the relationship with the Jiexiu Fan family.

It has nothing to do with my father-in-law." Fan Fenyang said solemnly.

"Well, it's not appropriate for your father-in-law to reveal his true identity now, so let's leave it at that." Zhu Houzhao nodded, his face became serious, and he repeated to Fan Fenyang what he had said to Wan Sanqian.

Fan Fenyang's reaction was similar. After being shocked and surprised, he almost swore.

Afterwards, Fan Fenyang also had to give up his family property.

Of course Zhu Houzhao would not allow it and did the same thing.

In addition to cash, land and real estate, Fan Fenyang also had businesses worth about 100 million taels, which were also paid in 40 years.

Two and a half million taels per year.

Fan Fenyang then became the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce.

This news, plus yesterday's.

The left and right assistant ministers of the Ministry of Commerce had a property valued at three hundred million taels of silver.

There were few people in the capital who were not shocked.

"Yesterday, a super-big businessman from Jiangnan came, and today, the biggest businessman from Jin came. Together, they brought a total of 300 million taels of silver!"

"This doesn't even include cash, land, and real estate. Just from business, how rich are they?"

"Now they all belong to the imperial court. Your Majesty is quite good at doing business. Two third-rank ministers were exchanged for 300 million taels of silver."

"Bullshit, Your Majesty also paid for it. I heard that the two assistant ministers wanted to present it to Your Majesty for free. How wise and powerful Your Majesty is!
How can I take it for free? I have to pay, but it will be paid over 40 years, which means several million taels of silver every year."

"Haha, Your Majesty will pay, but a business worth 300 million taels of silver can generate a lot of profit every year, maybe tens of millions of taels, so paying a few million taels every year is more than enough."

·····
There was a heated discussion in the capital, and Wan Sanqian and Fan Fenyang met.

They were all well-known businessmen in the Ming Dynasty. They had a lot of business exchanges with each other and were not strangers to each other.

After some brief pleasantries, there was no further communication.

Now we should first understand the Ministry of Commerce, recommend officials, and establish the general framework of the Ministry of Commerce. The real work has not yet begun.

To Zhu Houzhao's surprise, many memorials came in.

Almost all of them were advice and suggestions to the Ministry of Commerce, mostly from censors and a small number from middle-level officials from other departments.

"Your Majesty, Fan Fenyang and Wan Sanqian said that they have so much commercial value, is that really the case?
We need to conduct a thorough investigation before we can make a final decision.”

"Your Majesty, how could Fan Fenyang and Wan Sanqian have accumulated such a huge fortune? They must have violated the laws of our Ming Dynasty. Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly."

"Your Majesty, the establishment of the Ministry of Commerce and the appointment of merchants as officials is actually a violation of the ancestral system and a matter of competing with the people for profit. Please abolish the Ministry of Commerce."

·····
Zhu Houzhao became angry after reading several memorials.

The next day, a morning court session was held.

Without giving the ministers a chance to say anything, Zhu Houzhao threw the memorials to the ground.

"Didn't I make it clear? The censors no longer have the power to report things based on hearsay. Who told you to tell me these messed up things?"

"And officials from other departments, have you done your own jobs well? How dare you talk about the Ministry of Commerce?

Who gave you the courage? "

“All officials who submitted memorials to the emperor and criticized the Ministry of Commerce will be demoted one level in their performance evaluation this year.

Also, from now on, officials below the third rank will not have the power to submit memorials directly to me.

Just do your own job well first.

If you really discover anything illegal, you can report it to the Jinyiwei, the Censorate, or the Six Departments.

Do you understand everything? "

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(End of this chapter)