My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 296 What to do if you don't have money to repair the road? Learn about the Ming Dynasty's national debt!

Of course, while this number is somewhat exaggerated, Zhu Cilang could still accept it, since the Ming Dynasty was still quite wealthy at the moment.

Then Zhu Cilang continued:

"Although it costs a lot of money, this matter is still imperative!"

"Moreover, the Ministry of Revenue should still have tens of millions of taels of silver, and with next year's various revenues, this amount of silver shouldn't be a problem for the Ministry of Revenue, right?"

Upon hearing this, Ni Yuanlu's face instantly fell, and she began to complain:

“Your Highness, that’s not how it works. The Ministry of Revenue does have silver, but every single transaction is accounted for and has a specific purpose.”

"Putting aside other matters, just take the Ming Dynasty's plan to station troops in Mongolia. For this matter alone, the Ministry of Revenue will need to prepare more than ten million taels of silver."

"After all, recruiting soldiers requires paying them wages, purchasing weapons and equipment, and building barracks, all of which require a lot of money."

"In addition, the imperial court continued to send immigrants to Liaodong, with monthly expenses of around 100,000 taels of silver."

“When immigrants arrive in Liaodong, we need to allocate land to them, provide them with seeds and farming tools, and help them settle down. These expenses are also essential.”

"In addition, the monthly military pay is also a huge expense."

"Therefore, the Ministry of Revenue really doesn't have enough money. If we need to come up with 40 million taels of silver to repair the road all at once, the Ministry of Revenue simply can't afford it."

"I hope Your Highness can find another way to resolve this matter, otherwise the Ministry of Revenue will really be in dire need of funds."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cilang did not say anything, but instead glanced thoughtfully at Ni Yuanlu.

Because he realized that the old man was implying that the money should not be paid by the Ministry of Revenue, but rather by the Imperial Treasury!

After all, everyone knows that there are at least 200 million taels of silver in the imperial treasury, which is 200 million taels!

Taking out this sum of money was incredibly easy.

However, Zhu Cilang did not intend to do so.

It's not that he's stingy, but if this kind of thing happens once, it will happen again and again, and in the end, we might have to use the imperial treasury to repair roads.

However, he plans to build roads throughout the entire Ming Dynasty, similar to the national highways, provincial highways, and county roads of later generations. At that time, even the imperial treasury will not be enough to squander.

Therefore, we must find a way to solve this problem once and for all.

Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and a glint of light appeared in his eyes.

He then looked at Ni Yuanlu and said with a smile:

"If I had a way to do this without using either the imperial treasury or the Ministry of Finance, what would you say?"

what?
Upon hearing this, Ni Yuanlu and Zhou Shipu were instantly stunned.

They looked at Zhu Cilang in shock, their faces filled with confusion and astonishment.

The road can be repaired without the imperial treasury or the Ministry of Revenue's money? That sounds so far-fetched.
The next second, Zhu Cilang, too lazy to play games with them anymore, said directly:

"To put it simply, I want to issue a kind of debt to borrow money from the people, merchants and officials of the world. I have already thought of a name for this: the Great Ming National Debt."

“We can promise them a certain interest return, and after six months or a year, when the court has money, we will return the principal and interest to them together.”

"In this way, we can raise money for road repairs without putting too much pressure on the imperial treasury and the Ministry of Revenue."

That's right, at this very moment, Zhu Cilang is preparing to issue the Ming Dynasty national bonds.

After all, he didn't want to use the funds from the imperial treasury and the Ministry of Revenue, so he had to raise money from other sources, and issuing national bonds was the fastest and best way to make money.

He knew in his heart that as long as it was done properly, this method would definitely work.

When Zhu Cilang slowly revealed his ideas about national debt, Zhou Shipu and Ni Yuanlu were instantly struck dumb, standing there speechless.

Zhu Cilang's words sounded quite good at first glance, and he even came up with a novel name like "Ming Dynasty National Debt" with great seriousness.

However, in their view, these so-called "Ming Dynasty national debts" are nothing more than borrowing money from ordinary people in the name of the emperor or the state!
Moreover, this kind of thing is not a new phenomenon that has just emerged recently.

According to the Records of the Grand Historian, during the reign of King Nan of Zhou, in order to unite the feudal lords to attack the powerful Qin, he actually asked the merchants in Luoyang for money to raise military funds.

Those merchants, whether out of awe of the Zhou emperor's authority or out of anticipation of a bountiful future, were willing to generously lend money to King Nan of Zhou.

King Nan of Zhou used the borrowed money to purchase military supplies on a large scale, intending to make great strides on the battlefield.

However, fate played a cruel trick on him. The battlefield was ever-changing, and he was ultimately defeated.

After the defeat, the enormous debt weighed on him like a heavy mountain, making it impossible for him to breathe and impossible for him to repay.

But his creditors wouldn't let him off easily, and they came to his door demanding repayment. King Nan of Zhou was driven to desperation and had no choice but to hide on a high platform in the palace, living in constant fear.

This is why a widely circulated story was born in later generations: "piling up debts".

As time went by, during the Song Dynasty, the Song court also issued something similar to what we now call "national debt," and its form was quite similar to the paper money that was popular at the time.

If we turn our attention back to the Ming Dynasty, there's even more to it than meets the eye.

In its early days, the creation of the Ming Dynasty Treasure Notes was actually similar to "national debt," except that it was a type of debt that was only borrowed and not repaid.

Zhu Yuanzhang used the Ming Dynasty's official paper money to plunder vast amounts of wealth from the people to enrich the national treasury.

This led to an astonishing rate of devaluation of the Ming Dynasty's paper money, rendering it worthless in an instant and plunging the people into extreme hardship.

It wasn't until Zhu Cilang made the decisive decision to link the Ming Dynasty Treasure Notes with gold and silver that the Ming Dynasty Treasure Notes regained their normal market value, and the lives of ordinary people gradually improved.

However, in the past, the imperial court only borrowed money when the national treasury was empty and the finances were tight.

But now, both the Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Treasury are overflowing with silver, so why are they borrowing from the private sector?
Isn't this just unnecessary trouble?

Ni Yuanlu became increasingly puzzled as she thought about it, and the doubts in her heart surged like a tide that she could no longer suppress.

He frowned slightly and couldn't help but speak:
"Your Highness, I truly do not understand why this is happening. The country is clearly not short of money at all; the Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Treasury are overflowing with silver. Why then do we need to borrow from the people?"

"This seems a bit unreasonable, both logically and emotionally."

Zhu Cilang did not show the slightest surprise when he heard Ni Yuanlu's words.

Instead, he patiently explained:

"Of course I know that the Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Treasury have money, but don't forget, the court will build far more than just these three roads in the future!"

"Once these three roads are completed, the Ming Dynasty will immediately begin the next phase of road construction, at which point all provinces must be connected to form a comprehensive transportation network."

"Our Great Ming Dynasty has a vast territory, far exceeding tens of thousands of miles. How many tens of thousands of taels of silver will be needed to build the roads?"

"I'm afraid that even if we combine all the money in the Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Treasury, it won't be enough to fill this huge funding gap."

"Therefore, we must find a safe and reliable way to solve this problem, and issuing national bonds is the method I came up with after careful consideration."

Zhou Shipu hesitated for a moment, but still couldn't help but speak:
"Your Highness, but then again, this borrowed money isn't something you can just take for free; it still has to be repaid in the end!"

"We can't just default on our debt, can we? If we do that, wouldn't we lose the trust of the people? What will become of the court's prestige? What will become of the Ming Dynasty's reputation?"

Zhu Cilang coughed lightly, then calmly said:
"Of course the money must be repaid. Didn't I make it very clear before? It will be for a period of six months or a year. After the term expires, the people can take the national bonds directly to the Great Ming Bank to exchange them for real gold and silver. They will not be shortchanged by a single penny."

He paused, then continued to explain:
"My purpose in doing this is absolutely not to plunder the people's wealth, but only to temporarily alleviate the court's financial difficulties."

"For example, the Ministry of Revenue currently has 30 million taels of silver, but these 30 million taels of silver have other more important uses and cannot be used arbitrarily for road construction."

"And the road construction is urgent. At this time, the imperial court can issue 30 million national bonds and use the money to build the road."

"Once the tax revenue arrives next year, a portion of it can be used to repay the 30 million taels of silver. In this way, the funding problem for road construction will be solved without affecting other plans of the court. Wouldn't that be killing two birds with one stone?"

Now, Zhou Shipu and Ni Yuanlu finally understood.

Ultimately, this is just a normal lending activity, only it's being handled by the imperial court to alleviate the current financial difficulties.

Although they still felt that the imperial treasury and the Ministry of Revenue were not short of money at all, there was really no need to introduce "Ming Dynasty national bonds".

However, as the saying goes, "He who does not plan for the future will have trouble in the present." If we could save the money from the Ministry of Revenue for a rainy day, and then use the borrowed money to repair the road.

For the imperial court, this certainly brought many benefits.

Although this debt will be repaid next year, it will be paid using next year's tax revenue and will not affect any subsequent plans.

Besides, even if the Ministry of Revenue can't come up with the money to repay the debt, there's still the imperial treasury.
After all, this debt was issued in the name of the state and the emperor. If the state didn't have the money, wouldn't the emperor have to pay for it?
Thinking about this, they were all somewhat tempted, feeling that the method of issuing national debt might not be impossible.

The key point is that this method can be used to solve any future financial difficulties the country may face!

As for whether ordinary people and merchants would buy these Ming Dynasty bonds, they were not worried at all at this time.

Because if it were before this year, they really wouldn't have been sure if people would have bought it.

After all, a year ago, the Ming Dynasty was in dire straits, on the verge of collapse. The country couldn't even pay the salaries of its civil and military officials, and the military pay of its various armies had been in arrears for half a year.

The imperial court's financial situation was in dire straits.

If "Ming Dynasty bonds" were issued at this time, even a fool would see that it was just a tool for the court to amass wealth, and there was absolutely no guarantee of its security.

If someone were to buy government bonds at this time, they would probably be called a fool.

But the situation is quite different now. First of all, after a series of sweeping reforms, the imperial court's financial situation has greatly improved, and it is not short of money at all.

The Ministry of Revenue still has more than 60 million taels of silver in its coffers, and the imperial treasury has more than 200 million taels of silver in its coffers!

When the time comes, as long as the imperial court reveals these circumstances to the people and lets them know that the country is not short of money, the people will naturally be willing to buy government bonds.

Of course, having money is secondary; the most crucial factor is the previous Battle of Songjin.

In this battle, the Ming army fought bravely and killed more than 100,000 enemy soldiers, completely destroying the Jurchens' prestige and showing everyone the strength of the Ming Dynasty.

The once weak and feeble Ming Dynasty has now become incredibly powerful.

In addition, Zhu Cilang's great victory in Mongolia brought the Ming Dynasty's credibility to its peak.

At that time, the people had full trust in the imperial court and confidence in the future of the country. Under these circumstances, issuing national bonds was indeed very appropriate.

In addition, to further encourage merchants to purchase large quantities of government bonds, the imperial court could offer some tangible incentives.

For example, purchasing government bonds can be used to offset or reduce taxes, which is undoubtedly a huge temptation for shrewd businessmen.

They are already adept at calculating gains and losses, and now with such a policy, they are naturally even more willing to buy government bonds.

Thinking about this, Ni Yuanlu felt more and more that this was a feasible option!
The next second, he cupped his hands in a respectful gesture to Zhu Cilang, and then said with great excitement:

"Your Highness, I believe this matter is indeed feasible!"

"Furthermore, in order to encourage ordinary people to buy Ming Dynasty bonds, I think we should first let the civil and military officials and nobles of the court buy some."

"In this way, when other common people see that nobles and officials are all eagerly buying national bonds, they will naturally become envious and willing to follow suit."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cilang nodded slightly, a look of approval on his face:
"What you say makes a lot of sense. I will find a way to properly handle this matter."

"Don't just sit idly by. Go back and reorganize this matter, write a detailed memorial, and then discuss it with the ministers at the court meeting."

"If there are no problems, proceed as instructed."

Upon hearing this, the two quickly bowed and accepted the order:
"The minister obeys the order!"

Then, Zhu Cilang waved his hand, indicating that they could leave.

Without hesitation, the two turned around and left the East Palace.

After the two left, Zhu Cilang had nothing to do. Suddenly, an idea struck him, so he strolled to his desk and casually tore off a piece of Xuan paper.

He then picked up a brush, dipped it in ink, and began to paint on the rice paper.

He would sometimes concentrate in thought, and sometimes wield his brush with ink. Before long, a somewhat complex pattern gradually appeared on the rice paper.

In the very center, he solemnly wrote four large characters: "Great Ming National Debt".

After finishing writing, Zhu Cilang immediately summoned Ma Bao.

Upon hearing the summons, Ma Bao hurriedly ran into the study and stood respectfully to the side.

Zhu Cilang handed him the newly drawn blueprints and said:
"Take this paper to the Treasury of Paper Money and have the craftsmen there draw several finished products based on this design. Remember, make sure they draw them very carefully and without any carelessness."

Upon hearing this, Ma Bao quickly replied:

"This servant will go right away. Your Highness, rest assured, this servant will handle things perfectly."

After saying this, Ma Bao carefully took the Xuan paper and then hurriedly ran away.

As the saying goes, professional matters should be handled by professionals. Zhu Cilang did not consider himself to have any talent for painting, and the pattern he drew was just a rough idea of ​​what the Ming Dynasty's national debt would look like.

As for the rest, they were left to the artisans of the Treasury of Paper Money.

After finishing all these tasks, it was already noon before I knew it.

Zhu Cilang's stomach started growling at just the right time, so he decided to treat himself to a delicious hot pot meal.

Before long, everything was ready.

On a cold winter day, sitting around a steaming hot pot and enjoying it is an absolutely wonderful experience.

The hot pot was filled with bright red broth, and various ingredients were floating up and down, emitting an enticing aroma.

Zhu Cilang picked up a slice of tender mutton, dipped it lightly in the pot, and quickly took it out after it changed color. He then dipped it in the carefully prepared sauce and put it in his mouth.

The tender and juicy texture instantly blossomed on his taste buds, making him squint his eyes and look completely satisfied.

About an hour later, a eunuch rushed in and reported:

"Your Highness, Eunuch Wang Chengen requests an audience."

Zhu Cilang was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and felt somewhat puzzled.

He wondered why Wang Chengen was here. Could it be that Emperor Chongzhen sent him?

Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang didn't hesitate and directly gave the order:

"Let him in."

A moment later, Wang Chengen followed the little eunuch in quickly.

Upon seeing Zhu Cilang, he quickly and respectfully bowed and said:

"This servant greets Your Highness!"

Zhu Cilang waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to be so polite, then looked directly at him and asked:
"What, does Father Emperor wish to see me?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Chengen's face immediately lit up with a smile, and he quickly said:

"That's right, it was His Majesty who sent this servant to summon the Crown Prince to the palace."

If it were any other crown prince, upon hearing the emperor's summons, he would certainly have respectfully accepted the order and followed the eunuch to see the emperor without delay, to show his respect for the emperor.

But clearly, the situation was different with Zhu Cilang.

Zhu Cilang first stretched lazily, loosening his limbs, before casually asking:
"Did you tell me what it was?"

Wang Chengen was not surprised to see this scene. After all, the Crown Prince in front of him had "rebelled" before, so what was so surprising about such a small matter?

Besides, Emperor Chongzhen never said that the Crown Prince couldn't be told about this beforehand!

Thinking of this, Wang Chengen smiled and said:
"Your Highness, it's a joyous occasion! His Majesty and the Empress are discussing finding you a Crown Princess, and they've sent you here to seek your opinion."

what?
To take the Crown Prince's wife?

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cilang's eyes widened in disbelief.

He hadn't expected that Chongzhen would seek him out for this very reason.

And then again, he really wasn't prepared for this.

Although he had previously taken Zheng Xiaomei as a concubine of the Crown Prince, it was only out of necessity.

The situation was complex at the time, with various forces vying for power. He made that decision in order to win over Zheng Zhilong and make him serve him.

But now, the matter of taking a Crown Princess is a rather formal affair, concerning the succession of the Ming Dynasty's royal family, and he was momentarily taken aback.

The main issue is that he is only fourteen years old. Isn't it a bit too early to choose a crown princess now?
Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang rubbed his temples with a headache and said helplessly:
"I am only fourteen years old now. Isn't it a bit too early to choose a Crown Princess now?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Chengen still smiled and replied:

"In response to Your Highness, the selection of imperial concubines is never a simple matter. It requires going through various procedures, from selecting suitable candidates to examining their character, talents, family background, and so on, and finally determining the final selection. This series of procedures can take as long as a year or as long as two or three years."

"After the candidate is confirmed, there is another six months to prepare for the wedding."

"By then, the Crown Prince will have already come of age, so it's not considered early."

"Moreover, His Majesty was only seventeen years old when he got married."

Ok!

At this point, Zhu Cilang was speechless.

He knew in his heart that in this era, royal marriages were often subject to many political considerations and were not something he could decide on his own.

But after thinking about it again, he realized that he couldn't remember who Zhu Cilang's crown princess was in the original history.

After all, Zhu Cilang was only sixteen years old when the Ming Dynasty fell, and he probably hadn't even gotten married yet.

However, in theory, the Crown Princess should have been chosen long ago, but that Crown Princess did not leave her name in history.

But perhaps this is a good thing for the Crown Princess?
After all, if she really became the Crown Princess, she would become the last Crown Princess of the Ming Dynasty to lose its kingdom, which is not a glorious thing.

Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang shook his head helplessly, and then prepared to go see Emperor Chongzhen and Empress Zhou.

Just as he was about to get up and leave with Wang Chengen, he noticed that Wang Chengen suddenly looked hesitant, as if he had something to say.

(End of this chapter)