The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 31: Qingliu Goes Crazy
The next morning, the sky was covered with dark clouds and a storm was about to come.

At around noon, when the sun should have been rising, the sky was still gray, like dusk.

This kind of weather is rare in the summer, especially in northern Zhili.

On the west bank of the Chaobai River, in the huge summer resort, tens of thousands of craftsmen and their families are still busy at work.

The dense black spots seemed to be filling up the frame enclosed by the wall.

At this time, Wanli was not staying in the cool water room.

He had already brought Yongnian Earl Wang Wei, Li Xuancheng, Shan Sinan and others, and arrived at the western wall under the protection of hundreds of imperial guards and light cavalry.

The inside of the wall was already nailed with rows of wooden boards.

The slanted part above, like half an eave, is the eaves.

Below, a wooden board about ten feet high stood upright, with many doorways roughly two people wide in the middle, through which simple wooden tables and beds could be seen.

This is the temporary residence of the craftsmen. Because there are too many people, there is no time to build a house, so they can only build a simple wooden shed with wooden boards on the wall.

Fortunately, it’s summer now, so it’s not cold to live inside.

Wanli took a closer look and then couldn't help but frowning and said, "Father-in-law, this is too simple. What if it rains heavily later?"

Yongnianbo Wang Wei said without hesitation: "It's okay, Your Majesty, there is oil paper sandwiched under the wooden boards on the roof, so the rain can't reach inside.

This is already very good. When I was working outside, I lived in thatched houses. No official would buy so many wood and planks to build a wooden house for us like Your Majesty does.

Is the life of a craftsman so hard?
Wanli looked back at the densely packed courtyards and asked, "When will these courtyards and the barracks in the middle be completed?"

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei estimated, "This was originally scheduled to be completed in September, but His Majesty has mobilized tens of thousands of craftsmen to Yongping Prefecture, so progress has been a bit slow. However, it should be completed before the weather turns cold in October."

Wanli thought for a moment, then asked, "How many craftsmen have we recruited in total, and how much do we pay them per month?"

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei introduced in detail: "Your Majesty, we have recruited more than 30,000 carpenters, more than 20,000 blacksmiths, and more than 20,000 masons, stonemasons, painters, etc., which adds up to more than 80,000 households.

As for wages, you said that anyone who can work should do it, and regardless of age, you'll pay one tael of silver a month. So, the wages are a bit high, almost two hundred thousand taels a month."

It seems that we have to find a way to make money to support these craftsmen.

These craftsmen are all treasures.

For example, carpenters can not only build water wheels, but also spinning machines, looms, ships, and so on.

The Ming Dynasty is now in the period of capital budding. Whoever controls these skilled workers will control the lifeline of economic development.

Those civil servants did not understand this principle. They only knew how to merge land for profit, or use the power in their hands to monopolize business to make money. They exploited and squeezed the craftsmen and even merchants. In fact, this is missing the forest for the trees.

The surplus value created by these craftsmen is the most fundamental profit.

His goal was to create conditions for these craftsmen to create as much surplus value as possible.

To put it bluntly, it means setting up factories and producing high-quality and low-priced products in order to monopolize various industries.

The question is, what kind of factory can make money now?
There are many such methods in later books, such as making soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, glass, mirrors, etc.

Don’t think about soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste and the like for now. That relies purely on quantity. You can only make a lot of money if everyone can afford it and use it all the time.

The Ming Dynasty is now facing serious land annexation, and wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few people. Most ordinary people cannot eat enough or wear warm clothes. It is impossible to make a lot of money by selling these daily consumer products.

Glass and mirrors are a good choice. Nowadays, glass and mirrors are as rare as crystal, and they should be able to sell for a good price.

Moreover, glass can be made into telescopes, which are powerful weapons on the battlefield.

Wanli was just thinking about what to do to make money when the sound of horse hooves suddenly came from the east. Duke Yingguo Zhang Yuangong came galloping over and said, "Your Majesty, today's memorial has arrived."

I'm afraid today's memorials will be difficult to review, and Zhang Siwei will definitely not give up. Upon hearing this, Wanli frowned, then waved his hand and said, "Let's go back and review the memorials first."

The western wall was not far from the water room where he lived, and it would take less than a quarter of an hour to get there by horseback.

As soon as he took Li Xuancheng and Duke Yingguo Zhang Yuangong to the washroom, Duke Dingguo Zhu Yingzhen stood up and handed over a memorial with a frightened look on his face with both hands.

This memorial was not submitted by Zhang Siwei, but by Yan Qing.

Your Excellency, Minister of Justice Yan Qing, respectfully reports:
Duke Dingguo and his relatives bribed for military honors, abused their military positions, and disrupted the government. They should be dismissed and investigated.

Since ancient times, emperors who wanted to achieve the best governance were always determined to get rid of villains and were eager to employ gentlemen. Therefore, when Yu Shun ascended the throne, he executed the four evildoers, recruited Yuan Kaiqing, eliminated the evil around him, and employed loyal and good ministers to promote good.

As the saying goes, when there are ferocious beasts in the mountains, foxes will hide; when there are virtuous ministers in the country, evildoers will hide. Your Majesty, tolerating evil is absolutely unacceptable.

This bunch of Qingliu are mentally ill!
You're trying to reason with me in this power struggle?

Do you know that you've been used by Zhang Siwei?

The Qingliu people never let others off the hook. If they think you are doing something wrong, you will be in big trouble.

Even if they think it is wrong to be an emperor, it must be corrected according to their will.

If they don’t change, there will be no end to them!

This Yan Qing is a clean official, and a real clean official, not someone who pretends to be clean like Xu Jie.

Most of the true clean people only care about fame and not profit. They like to talk about benevolence, righteousness, morality, courtesy, integrity, right and wrong, etc.

They are willing to sacrifice their lives for this so-called fame. During the Jiajing period, Yan Song killed countless upright officials, but he could not kill them all. The upright officials continued to impeach people and were not afraid of death at all.

This is still considered good. At least they are impeaching corrupt officials, which is of some benefit to the Ming Dynasty.

During the Chongzhen reign, things were completely confusing. The Ming Dynasty was about to fall, but those upright officials were still speaking out and making reasonable suggestions.

Does Nurhaci reason with you?
Does Huang Taiji reason with you?

Is Zhang Siwei reasoning with you?

Yan Qing is a guy who never gives in even when he is right.

Zhang Siwei wanted to use this guy to deal with Duke Cheng Zhu Yingzhen and seize control of the Jinyiwei.

This bunch of Qingliu are really sick in the brain.

Wanli was so angry that he simply threw the memorial on the table and said coldly: "Keep it in the palace and do not approve it."

Duke Chengguo Zhu Yingzhen was deeply moved when he saw this.

His Majesty is really good to him.

Is this all?

If the clear stream was so easy to deal with, it would not be called the clear stream.

In the next few days, the Minister of Justice Yan Qing kept submitting memorials and arguing that Wanli must dismiss and investigate Duke Chengguo Zhu Yingzhen and his relatives.

Wanli didn't care and just kept it without approval.

As a result, Yan Qing went crazy.

This guy actually wrote a memorial to curse Wanli, saying that he was a tyrant and did not listen to the advice of loyal and honest people.

Wanli still ignored it and kept it without approval.

Yan Qing was so angry that he went crazy and directly submitted a letter of resignation, saying he would quit!
Wanli didn't tolerate it and directly picked up his pen and approved it!
This guy Yan Qing actually went back to his hometown to retire while cursing all the time!
(End of this chapter)