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

Chapter 303 Your Highness, it seems you have overstepped your authority!
Over the next two days, Zhu Cilang was also busy, because he knew very well that it would snow in the capital in a few days.

In the depths of winter, taking precautions against the cold is of paramount importance and cannot be taken lightly.

After all, the winters of the Little Ice Age were not to be underestimated; every year, many people in the capital would freeze to death during the winter.

But now that he's here, he won't allow that to happen again!
Therefore, Zhu Cilang began to carefully inspect the winter preparations in various places.

The results of this examination were truly satisfactory to him.

The supply of grain, cotton, coal, and honeycomb briquettes in the capital was generally sufficient.

Take honeycomb briquettes for example. According to statistics, during the time he was away from Beijing, tens of millions of yuan worth of honeycomb briquettes were sold in the city.

Nowadays, if you walk into any household in the streets and alleys of Beijing, you can see that almost every family has stored up to several hundred honeycomb briquettes.

Moreover, the sale of honeycomb briquettes is proceeding smoothly and normally, which means that people's fuel problem for getting through the winter this year is solved.

In addition, the price of grain did not rise. Ordinary rice was basically maintained at three taels of silver per shi (a unit of dry measure), while wheat was about two taels of silver per shi.

As for millet and other grains, the prices are even lower, and overall prices remain relatively stable.

In addition to basic necessities such as fuel and food, Zhu Cilang also made a special trip to see the places used to shelter homeless refugees.

These places were arranged quite properly, with quilts and honeycomb briquettes already prepared.

Although the food provided to these people was not very good, consisting only of thin porridge and pickled vegetables each day, it was enough to fill their stomachs and prevent them from starving to death in the cold winter.

This is something that these people have been dreaming of.

After all, in previous years, they would have starved or frozen to death by this time!

Zhu Cilang didn't want to feed these commoners better, but if the food was too good, the places where refugees were taken in would be packed with people from all over the country in less than three days, and the situation would be difficult to control.

Therefore, for now, we can only maintain this situation and ensure that these people can survive first.

After finishing his work on providing warmth and resettling displaced people, Zhu Cilang immediately went to inspect all the garrisons around the capital.

As luck would have it, it happened to be the month-long payday.

Zhu Cilang had previously established a rule that he would personally deliver the salaries to officials with a thousand households or more each month.

Since he was not in the capital that month, the matter was handled by Emperor Chongzhen.

Chongzhen didn't find it troublesome. After all, he had come to understand that the most important thing now was to firmly control the army.

As long as the emperor holds the army, the civil officials will not dare to act too recklessly, and the power of the court can be firmly held in the emperor's hands.

In short, everything is now arranged perfectly, and we're just waiting to get through this winter smoothly.

That morning, after Zhu Cilang had breakfast, Ni Yuanlu, the Minister of Revenue, rushed over to pay his respects.

Zhu Cilang knew that he had come about the Ming Dynasty's national debt, so he quickly invited him into his study.

As soon as Ni Yuanlu entered the study, he said respectfully:

"Your Highness, this is the Ministry of Revenue's regulations regarding the issuance of national bonds for the Ming Dynasty. Please take a look."

Zhu Cilang nodded slightly, then reached out and took the memorial.

He glanced through it and the first thing he saw was the interest rate.

The Ministry of Revenue ultimately decided that the interest rate for the Ming Dynasty bonds would be one percent. That is, if you bought 10,000 taels of silver worth of Ming Dynasty bonds, the principal and interest would amount to 11,200 taels of silver after one year!

That interest rate was extremely high at that time!
In addition, the memorial detailed all the details, arrangements, and allocations of the issuance of the Ming Dynasty's national bonds.

Don't assume that as long as the Ming Dynasty's national bonds are printed and promoted, people will rush to buy them. In fact, things are not that simple at all.

First of all, this time the Ming Dynasty national bonds to be issued amount to 30 million taels!
This is no small sum; the people, wealthy merchants, and nobles of the capital city alone could not possibly absorb such a large amount of national debt.

Therefore, it was necessary to distribute these 30 million taels of Ming Dynasty national debt across the country.

Which province has more and which has less requires careful consideration, as the economic conditions and population sizes of different regions vary.

Therefore, the Ministry of Revenue has been busy with this matter for the past two days.

After careful discussion and planning, they finally determined the allocation plan.

Among them, the capital city, being the capital, had a relatively large number of officials, nobles, and wealthy merchants, and thus had relatively strong spending power, so it received a share of the eight million taels.

In addition, although Nanjing, as the secondary capital, has seen a decline in its political status, its economic strength is still considerable, so it is entitled to share the quota of six million taels.

The remaining 16 million taels were allocated to various regions based on the specific circumstances of each province, and the local governments were responsible for promoting it.

Of course, due to their special circumstances, Henan and Shaanxi were bypassed in this round of national debt allocation.

Even so, the Ministry of Revenue still decided to allocate a separate sum of one million taels of silver to the King of Qin.

However, there's no need to transport this silver to the capital; just give it directly to Sun Chuanting. After all, Sun Chuanting isn't having an easy time in Shaanxi, so this silver can be used as military funds for him.

He will be responsible for the use and supervision of this money.

Besides the King of Qin, the regional princes also had to contribute a share, with a minimum of 100,000 taels of silver and no upper limit.

It must be said that the Ministry of Revenue's allocation of the Ming Dynasty's national debt was quite reasonable, taking into account both the actual conditions in various regions and the interests of all parties.

After reading it, Zhu Cilang nodded in satisfaction and said:
"Okay, let's do it that way."

Ni Yuanlu then said:

"I obey!"

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, Ni Yuanlu hesitated for a moment and said:
"Your Highness, I haven't discussed this matter with the Cabinet or other ministers yet. I think we should inform them?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cilang nodded and said:
"That's the proper way. This matter is of great importance, and it is indeed necessary to inform the cabinet and other ministers."

Thinking of this, Zhu Cilang immediately summoned Ma Bao and gave him instructions:

“Send someone to invite several cabinet ministers, ministers of various departments, the Duke of Yingguo, the Duke of Wei, the Marquis of Wuding, the Earl of Xiangcheng, the Earl of Xinjian, the Earl of Jiading, and others to the Taiji Hall for a meeting.”

Upon hearing this, Ma Bao quickly replied:
"The slaves obey."

He then withdrew.

In Zhu Cilang's view, since this matter needs to be informed to the cabinet, he might as well just summon all the ministers of the six ministries, the cabinet, and some of the leading nobles.

We need to sit down together and discuss things openly so that we can pool our wisdom and handle things more thoroughly.

Of course, Chongzhen couldn't forget that he was the emperor, and such a big matter definitely required his involvement.

When Ni Yuanlu saw this scene, she was completely dumbfounded.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately remained silent, his eyes filled with complex emotions. Why did he react this way?
Because just now, this young master in front of me seemed to have exercised a power that did not belong to him.

After all, convening the cabinet, the six ministers, and the nobles is a power that the emperor should exercise!

The fact that the Crown Prince dared to do this is clearly an overreach of authority.

To put it more dramatically, it could even be linked to rebellion!
When it came to rebellion, these ministers had long harbored some suspicions.

After all, something extraordinary seemed to have happened in this palace a few months ago!
But since this matter involved imperial power and there was no substantial evidence, how could these subjects dare to say anything?
Moreover, the Crown Prince and the Emperor are currently on good terms, with no signs of discord. If anyone dares to question the Crown Prince's overstepping of authority or his rebellion at this time, wouldn't they be courting death?
Furthermore, the Ming Dynasty is much stronger now than before; it can practically be said to have been brought back from the dead!

And all of this is thanks to Zhu Cilang!
Given all this, who would dare to say even the slightest bad word about Zhu Cilang?

Of course, Zhu Cilang had no idea what Ni Yuanlu was thinking at the moment, and even if he did, he wouldn't care.

Anyway, he had already reconciled with Chongzhen. At this point, if anyone ran up to Chongzhen and accused him of his previous rebellion, Chongzhen could just kill him!

Just as Ni Yuanlu was lost in thought, Zhu Cilang's voice rang out again.

"Lord Ni, let's set off too. Let's go to the palace first and wait for the other officials to arrive before discussing this matter together."

Ni Yuanlu snapped out of her daze and quickly stood up, saying:

"My minister obeys."

The two then went to the palace together.

Because they arrived too early, before the other officials had arrived, Ni Yuanlu had to wait in the Taiji Hall, while Zhu Cilang went directly to the inner palace to find Emperor Chongzhen.

When Chongzhen saw Zhu Cilang arrive, he knew without a doubt that something important had happened, so he asked directly:
"Speak, what's the matter this time?"

Zhu Cilang smiled but didn't say anything. He simply handed the memorial that Ni Yuanlu had presented to Chongzhen earlier.

Emperor Chongzhen curiously opened the memorial and read it carefully. Then, his expression instantly softened, and he nodded in satisfaction, saying:

“Excellent, excellent. The Ministry of Revenue has handled this matter well. If the distribution continues in this manner, these 30 million taels of Ming Dynasty bonds should be sold off very soon.”

"The road repairs won't be a problem next year then!"

Zhu Cilang nodded and said:

"Your subject also thinks that the Ministry of Revenue has handled this matter well. However, we should first inform the Cabinet and all the civil and military nobles, and then use the 'Da Ming Daily' for publicity. Only in this way can it be promoted smoothly."

"After all, the issuance of the Ming Dynasty's national bonds involves many aspects. Only by making everyone understand them clearly can we eliminate their doubts and make them willing to buy the national bonds."

Emperor Chongzhen nodded upon hearing this.

"That's certainly how it should be."

Zhu Cilang then added:
"Your Majesty, I have already summoned the ministers of the six ministries, the cabinet, and some nobles, and asked them to wait in the Taiji Hall."

"Father, please make the preparations here, and we can head over!"

When Emperor Chongzhen heard Zhu Cilang's words, he was truly speechless.

Although Zhu Cilang had always acted boldly in the past, he had at least tried to be discreet. Why was he now so blatantly issuing an order to summon the cabinet, the ministers of the six ministries, and the nobles in his capacity as crown prince?

Isn't this blatantly telling everyone that he is exercising imperial power?
Although he didn't care, it's still best to keep a low profile about these things.

However, after a moment's thought, Chongzhen suddenly stopped caring about the matter.

Since you're already planning to step down and hand over the reins to someone more capable, why bother with these trivial matters?

Immediately afterward, just as Chongzhen was about to leave the inner palace for the Taiji Hall, he suddenly remembered something and turned to walk to the two wooden boxes beside him.

He reached into the two wooden boxes and took out a thick stack of Ming Dynasty bonds from each.

Seeing this, Zhu Cilang found it somewhat amusing and couldn't help but ask:

"Father, are you planning to sell all these Ming Dynasty bonds today?"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen replied with a serious expression:

"Since we are summoning civil and military officials to discuss this matter, we should naturally bring these things along! If we can sell them, it would be good to sell some today."

"They've got money anyway!"

Zhu Cilang found this even more amusing, but he didn't say anything.

Afterwards, the father and son went directly to the Taiji Hall.

Meanwhile, a group of civil and military officials had already gathered in the Taiji Hall.

However, at this moment, these civil and military officials were still somewhat confused, because when they were summoned, they were only told that the emperor had important matters to discuss and asked them to go to the Taiji Hall immediately, without specifying what the matter was.

When they arrived, they discovered that they had not been summoned one person, but a large group of people.

Currently, there are more than twenty people in total, including the six ministers, the cabinet, and nobles.

Everyone was curious about what could have brought so many important figures together.

Grand Secretary Xue Guoguan was the first to notice Ni Yuanlu's unusual behavior, as Ni Yuanlu was the first to arrive.

He looked at Ni Yuanlu and asked:
"Lord Ni, what exactly is going on?"

Upon hearing this, Ni Yuanlu quickly replied with a smile:
"Reporting to the Grand Secretary, His Highness the Crown Prince and I discussed the matter of building a cement road earlier. His Highness has some ideas, and we have come today to discuss this matter."

"As for the details, you will find out in a moment."

Upon hearing this, Xue Guoguan hesitated to ask any further questions.

Although he, as the Grand Secretary, was the leader of all civil officials and held a pivotal position in the court, strictly speaking, the responsibilities of the Grand Secretariat and the Six Ministries were actually separate.

Even if he is the Grand Secretary, he cannot directly interfere in all matters concerning the Ministry of Revenue.

Moreover, since this matter was discussed together by Ni Yuanlu and Zhu Cilang, he had even less right to interfere.

He could only wait patiently to see what would happen next.

On the other side, several nobles also surrounded the Duke of England, asking one after another:
"Duke of England, what's going on? Why has His Majesty suddenly summoned us?"

The Duke of England was also completely bewildered at this moment, because he had no idea what was going on.

Therefore, he could only say helplessly:

"Gentlemen, I don't know what's going on either! But it must be something big, otherwise His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince wouldn't have summoned all of us, the civil and military officials, here."

Everyone was speechless upon hearing this, because what the Duke of England said was utter nonsense!

They asked for nothing!
(End of this chapter)