Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 769 Inquiry
"The branch manager of Zhengyangmen branch, Gao Shiming, is here to see you!"

The sharp sound pierced through the half-open vermilion gate like a sword, going straight into Gao Shiming's heart.

He couldn't remember the last time he had visited the Qianqing Palace. Perhaps it was forty years ago, or perhaps even longer. The imperial city was simply too vast, so vast that most people outside the Forbidden City could never even catch a glimpse of the emperor's face in their entire lives.

Gao Shiming was such a person. Although he had been working in the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs since he was thirty years old, and even once held a high position such as the Junior Director of the Inner Secretariat, he had almost never seen the late emperor, and had even less opportunity to meet the current emperor.

After being transferred to the banking department, Gao Shiming always hoped that one day he would be summoned by the emperor, and he had imagined the scene of meeting the emperor countless times. But he did not expect that day to come so suddenly.

Gao Shiming took a few deep breaths, trying to suppress the restless pounding in his chest, but his heartbeat only got faster and faster, almost bursting out of his chest. He lowered his eyes and stared at the smooth, mirror-like ground beneath his feet, and in a daze, he seemed to see his slightly pale face.

Gao Shiming tried to take a step, but his legs were so stiff that they wouldn't obey him, as if they were filled with lead.

"What are you still standing there for?" Seeing that Gao Shiming hadn't come out of the right side room yet, Shi Fuming went up to him, opened the door, and beckoned him while urging him on. "The master has summoned you! Go quickly!"

"Ah! Yes." This greeting injected a bit of energy into Gao Shiming. He took a forceful step, his movements mechanical and slow.

After passing through the Qianqing Gate, Gao Shiming's first thought was to continue towards the majestic Qianqing Palace in the distance. But as soon as he reached the steps, someone stopped him: "Eunuch Gao, where are you going? It's over there!"

"Huh?" Gao Shiming was completely stunned and didn't even hear what the other person was saying.

"His Majesty is in the Southern Study to govern. He is not in the Qianqing Palace," the young eunuch who had stopped Gao Shiming said kindly.

“Southern Study?” Gao Shiming blinked blankly.

"Hmph," the eunuch said, unfazed. He turned his head, craned his neck, and gestured towards the south study. "It's over there."

"Oh! Thank you very much." Gao Shiming looked in that direction and immediately saw the heavily guarded Southern Study.

"Practice makes perfect, you'll get the hang of it after a few more tries," the young eunuch said with a kind smile.

"Thank you for your kind words," Gao Shiming replied with an awkward smile.

Gao Shiming shakily entered the South Study. In the center of the open space, he lifted his robe and knelt heavily: "This servant!!" His voice rose ridiculously high as soon as he spoke. However, no one in the entire South Study laughed at him; only the echo of the room and the continuous rumbling and chiseling sounds in the distance responded. "Sun and Moon Bank, Zhengyangmen Branch, Director Gao Shiming, pays his respects! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

After performing the five bows and three kowtows, Gao Shiming felt completely exhausted. He lay on the ground, curled up in a ball, breathing heavily but quietly.

"I heard from Wang An," the emperor's voice descended like a thunderclap. "You went to the Ministry of Revenue this morning?"

Gao Shiming's body trembled, and his head went blank.

The sudden clap of thunder blocked Gao Shiming's ears, preventing him from hearing the emperor's words clearly. He dared not ask a question, much less remain silent; he could only force himself to remain calm and reply, "Yes!"

Zhu Changluo himself hadn't quite heard what was said, but since Gao Shiming had responded by accident, he abandoned his intention to repeat it and continued, "What did they say?"

"Them? Who are they?"
If it weren't for the thunderclap earlier, Gao Shiming would have naturally followed the emperor's words and assumed that the "they" he was referring to were Wang Yingjiao and Shen Guangzuo. But now, lacking the crucial information of "this morning" and "Ministry of Revenue," Gao Shiming could only subconsciously think of the memorial Wang An had taken:

"Reporting to Your Majesty. Those European merchants said that before Minister Li placed the order on behalf of the court, they had never sold large quantities of grain or crude iron. They could only exchange silver and gems and spices from Southeast Asia for things like cotton, silk, porcelain, and tea. I guess that's why they were willing to transport grain and crude iron all the way to Tianjin for trade."

"Hehe." Zhu Changluo listened silently to Gao Shiming's answer, then chuckled and said, "Gao Shiming, did you not hear my first question?"

The emperor's laughter held no malice, but Gao Shiming couldn't discern it; he only perceived it as a cold, mocking laugh. His heart tightened, his vision blurred, and cold sweat instantly soaked his back. "I...I...I'm hard of hearing! I'm hard of hearing! I beg your forgiveness, Master!"

"Why is everyone like this?" Zhu Changluo looked at Wang An helplessly and asked, "Am I some kind of monster who would eat people after saying just a few words?"

Wang An gave an awkward laugh, then turned to Gao Shiming and said gently, "Just say what you have to say. The master isn't blaming you."

The emperor's image in the eyes of his close eunuchs was completely different from that in the eyes of other palace servants. To the close eunuchs, the emperor was benevolent and easygoing; he wouldn't even get angry unless certain fundamental issues were raised. But in the eyes of the other palace servants outside the Qianqing Palace, the emperor was ruthless, adept at using drastic measures, and constantly suspicious. Otherwise, he wouldn't have established the Western Depot and reorganized the Eastern Depot immediately upon ascending the throne, and wouldn't have carried out a massive purge and layoffs within the inner court.

Gao Shiming barely managed to calm himself down, and after kowtowing once more, he said, "Your Majesty, I am hard of hearing and disturbed by the thunder, so I did not hear your first words clearly. I thought you were asking about the document that the Ancestor had taken away."

"Hmph," Zhu Changluo sighed softly, moved the document in front of him, pointed to a passage on it, and said, "Since we're on the topic, then continue. A ship traveling from Zhangzhou to Tianjin would cost at least a thousand taels of silver. How did you calculate that number?"

“Reporting to Master. This is what I asked from Western merchants.” Gao Shiming explained, “They said that a fully loaded ship of a thousand taels, including the crew’s monthly wages, the consumption of supplies during the voyage, the depreciation and maintenance of the ship itself, and the necessary bribes along the way, would cost at least a thousand taels of silver per month. And from Fujian to Tianjin, even if the journey is smooth sailing and there are no obstacles, it would still take at least a month to sail.”

"A thousand taels of silver a month? Is it really possible to afford that much money?" Zhu Changluo had hardly ever left the Forbidden City, and had no concept of the cost of sailing in those days.

“This servant is not certain, but I think it should be necessary,” Gao Shiming continued. “This servant has some basic understanding that a large ship of a thousand liang (a unit of weight) requires at least two hundred crew members to sail normally. Each of these two hundred crew members usually receives two taels of silver per month, which is four hundred taels of silver. If you add in rations and fresh water supplies, the personnel costs alone would be six or seven hundred taels of silver per month. If you add in spare supplies and the necessary expenses when the ship docks, it should cost one thousand taels per month.” Zhu Changluo then asked, “So, one thousand taels a month for this ship is the reason you believe that Yuegang Port must be closed?”

Gao Shiming thought for a moment and said, "The Records of the Grand Historian says, 'The world is bustling, all for profit; the world is bustling, all for profit.' Merchants pursue profit, and foreign merchants are even more so. A fully loaded ship takes a month and costs a thousand taels of silver to sail from Fujian to Tianjin. Then, it takes the same amount of time and costs to sail back from Tianjin to Fujian. This round trip, no matter how fast, will still take two months and cost two thousand taels. Moreover, anything that can be bought in the north can also be bought in the south, and even better. If the two ports are established, those ship owners and foreign merchants will definitely not waste this time and money, going all the way to Tianjin to do this business that could have been done long ago."

"Hmm," Zhu Changluo nodded, moved the sign aside, and looked down at Gao Shiming's back: "And then?"

Gao Shiming was stunned.

Despite Gao Shiming's fluent answers earlier, he was merely mechanically repeating things he had thought about countless times, simplifying them. Now, the emperor had suddenly thrown a nonsensical "and then" at him, leaving him completely bewildered and unsure of which direction to take.

The simplest way to find the clue would be to ask the emperor "what then?", but Gao Shiming dared not ask that question. Even if the emperor wouldn't reprimand him, he was still afraid that the emperor would think he was foolish and thus waste this precious opportunity.

Gao Shiming's body temperature gradually rose, and his mind became increasingly muddled.

Seeing that he was lying on the ground and hadn't responded for a long time, Zhu Changluo thought that he hadn't heard him clearly again, so he cleared his throat and repeated: "Gao Shiming, what do you think should be done after Yuegang is shut down?"

Gao Shiming immediately cursed himself inwardly. This "then" clearly followed the topic of shutting down Moon Harbor, but he had been thinking wildly and couldn't have thought of it!
Overcome with self-reproach, Gao Shiming's tense nerves relaxed. This was a problem he had already pondered, so he said loudly, "Your Majesty, I believe that the first thing to do after closing Yuegang is to crack down on smuggling! If we don't strictly combat smuggling, even if we issue an edict to close Yuegang and force Tianjin to open to trade, it will be difficult to supplement the national revenue."

"What makes you say that?" Zhu Changluo asked calmly.

“Reporting to Your Majesty,” Gao Shiming said, now both nervous and excited, “there are three main reasons for this judgment.”

"Firstly, the South, especially the coastal provinces of Fujian, Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Zhili, has a developed commerce and numerous industries. Many wealthy merchants make their fortunes by trading with the sea. Closing Yuegang Port will inevitably harm their interests. Even if these wealthy merchants dare not openly defy national policy, they will find ways to maintain the status quo through smuggling."

"Secondly, foreign merchants come to the Ming Dynasty only to make money. Silk and tea produced in the south can be loaded directly onto ships at Yuegang. Now, forcing them to take a long detour to Tianjin, costing each ship an extra two or three thousand taels of silver round trip, is something they certainly won't be willing to do. Given the connections, even if Yuegang is closed, foreign merchants will still prefer to continue trading in the south. Thirdly…"

Gao Shiming swallowed hard and exhaled a few breaths: "Zhangzhou has been a port for a century, and interests have become entrenched. Even if the officials in Fujian, Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Zhili appear to obey the imperial court, they will certainly be outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant, secretly facilitating smuggling for both domestic and foreign merchants. With such collusion between officials and merchants, supplying domestic needs with external demands, the national policy is rendered useless!"

“Hmm,” Zhu Changluo nodded approvingly, and continued the conversation, “So, what do you think we should do to combat smuggling?”

This time, Gao Shiming heard it clearly without any ambiguity, but at the same time, he was speechless. Gao Shiming had only thought about the necessity of closing Yuegang and cracking down on smuggling. But how to crack down on smuggling was something he hadn't really thought about.

"This...this..." Gao Shiming's thoughts were churning, but such a far-reaching matter could not be solved by quick thinking or a few flashes of inspiration.

"Alright, let's leave it at that for now." Zhu Changluo didn't wait long, waving his hand to change the subject. "Tell me about the silver notes again. What are the Ministry of Revenue's plans?"

The emperor's noncommittal attitude left Gao Shiming feeling empty inside, like a young girl in love who couldn't get a response from her sweetheart. But he dared not show it in the slightest, and could only quickly change his mind and say as calmly as possible, "Your Majesty, the basic intention has been finalized. The Shuntian Prefecture and the Ministry of Revenue have both agreed that the collection of silver notes will begin at the earliest in the middle of this month, and at the latest in the first ten days of next month. As for the details, I have a document here that I am preparing to send to the head office. I respectfully present it to Your Majesty for your review!" After saying this, he took out the document from his pocket and held it high above his head.

"A petition?" Zhu Changlu blinked and looked at Wang An: "Why didn't you bring it along earlier?"

"This..." Wang An was taken aback, and said truthfully, "Your Majesty, I thought that document was nothing special. It contained matters that had already been discussed and did not need to be presented directly to Your Majesty, so I returned it to him after reading it. The reason I brought him here today was only for the matter of Yuegang."

"Since that's the case, then I won't bother looking." Zhu Changluo smiled and turned his head. "The Wei Dynasty."

“This servant is here.” Wei Chao immediately stood up.

"Take it away," Zhu Changluo pointed to Gao Shiming, who was still lying on the ground. "Do as agreed."

"Yes." Wei Chao immediately walked around the desk, quickly went to Gao Shiming's side, and took the document from his raised hand.

“Gao Shiming.” Zhu Changluo withdrew his gaze.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Gao Shiming's heart jumped into his throat.

"Look up. Let me see you."

Gao Shiming was startled at first, then slowly braced himself on the ground and tried his best to raise his head.

"All I can see right now is your forehead and the whites of your eyes," Zhu Changluo said. "Straighten your back now."

"Yes!" Gao Shiming slowly straightened up, moving his hands, which were supporting him on the floor, to his thighs, assuming a kneeling posture. However, he still dared not look up at the emperor's face, his pair of cloudy old eyes fixed on the ground.

(End of this chapter)