Chapter 74 Trade

On June 25th, Emperor Wanshou of Feixuan Zhenjun once again summoned Prince Yu, the regent, and the cabinet to give instructions on important matters.

Li Shizhen's medical skills were indeed miraculous, or maybe Master Feixuan was in a good mood and had a strong physique, but in just a few dozen days, the emperor was able to walk with the help of eunuchs and express his opinions clearly - of course, these opinions were still short and concise, usually not more than twenty words, because the sequelae of the head had not been completely eliminated, and if he talked too much, he would easily drool, and then babble, and make a mess.

But no matter what, the emperor did not kick his legs, and he was still conscious and energetic, able to fully express his wishes. Well, under the absolute imperial system of Da'an, everyone had no choice but to return to the team immediately and express their unreserved loyalty and obedience to Feixuan Zhenjun Wanshou Emperor. Feixuan Zhenjun would never let go of this opportunity and began to suppress Prince Yu, who had been in charge of the government for several months, during the question and answer session, intentionally or unintentionally reshaping the emperor's authority.

Perhaps it was because he had been holding back without saying a word for dozens of days, and his mouth was almost dry, so the concentration of sarcasm in this instruction was much higher than the limit, and even the long-tested cabinet ministers could not bear it. During the report, if Prince Yu made any omissions or mistakes, Master Feixuan, who was sitting cross-legged on the couch, would immediately raise his eyebrows, take the medicinal tea handed over by Li Zaifang, blow on it and taste it slowly; all the important officials in the hall would just stand still, feeling like a thorn in their backs or a fishbone stuck in their throats, and experience indescribable tension in absolute silence; but if things were done too well or too actively, it would not work, because Master Feixuan would look up at his own son, and then say something very kindly and slowly:

"You did a good job. My son is so concerned about the government, he can take care of it slowly in the future."

Everyone: …………

Even though everyone had been trained in Zhenjun's great Yin-Yang magic, they were still exhausted by his almost unreasonable neurosis. The one who bore the brunt of the attack and suffered the most was Prince Yu - he had thought about today's situation, so he basically just answered without arguing and apologized frantically throughout the whole process; but Master Feixuan's sharp tongue was indeed very powerful, and he broke through his defense with just a few words, and directly confused him.

Zhenjun has been trying to prevent the two dragons from meeting each other for so many years. His two sons know their father far less than the eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department, and they basically have no chance to get involved in government affairs. Previously, the distance created a sense of beauty, and I might have really thought that the national center was a high-end place where people could sit and discuss things and bow to each other. But now, I was hit by the Yin-Yang sound, and my poor little heart was immediately broken:

My god, is this how the court does things?

This method of mixing a small amount of serious business with a large dose of PUA was too exciting for Prince Yu, who had just started to get involved in government affairs. Moreover, without the caring and considerate Master Gao by his side to protect him all the time, Prince Yu, who was weak in nature, could only stare in amazement, cowering with his head down as he listened to Master Feixuan venting about his fatherliness.

——It’s pitiful to say, those present are all old-timers who have been tempered by saliva, and their endurance is definitely not comparable to that of ordinary people, but it is difficult for ordinary people like Prince Yu to resist the mental pressure. If you think about it carefully, Prince Yu might have developed learned helplessness due to his own father's arrogance and fickleness. After he came to power, he just threw up his hands and directly entrusted the affairs of state to the cabinet. This led to the situation in which Gao Suqing and Zhang Taiyue took charge of the affairs and the country was almost revived after wise men took over.

...Well, it is true that misfortunes often come in pairs. If Lao Deng had lived a few more years and taken care of his eldest grandson, maybe he could have learned empathy from Bai Zong and understood a little bit of human nature under pressure.

After beating up Haodaer, Zhenjun felt even happier. In fact, according to Li Shizhen's medical advice, he has just gotten better and must not worry too much, so it is impossible to remove Prince Yu's power as regent for the time being. Now, the sarcastic talk is purely for the purpose of seeking presence, besides to scare away evildoers. In the past few months, everyone has been working hard and honestly, and life has been so comfortable and smooth. Such a relaxed, friendly, harmonious and united atmosphere is not conducive to the struggles of politicians, so Lao Deng always has to come out and make some brilliant remarks to let the ministers know who they are working for and how bad this meal is.

After leading everyone to reminisce about the good old days, the True Lord paused contentedly, looked around the crowd for a moment, and chose his next target of persecution:

"Mu Qi, come up."

The Prince of Duke Mu was stunned for a moment, then he stood up obediently and saluted respectfully.

The emperor said briefly: "I have read the official documents. The coastal defense and maritime trade you and Yan Donglou have run are very good."

Hearing the three words "Yan Donglou", several important ministers standing on the left and right raised their heads slightly and looked at Lord Yan who was standing in front of them. The high-ranking officials in the imperial court were all in charge of their own affairs, and basically would not ask about the government affairs of their colleagues except when the emperor issued an edict for public discussion. Everyone knew that the Prince of Mu was in charge of maritime trade, coastal defense, and the reform of the royal family, but they did not expect that he was working together with Yan Fenyi's own son. Now, hearing the emperor mention this, all the shrewd people had doubts in their hearts - Yan Fenyi had been making things difficult for the Prince of Mu in both open and covert ways these days, and the swordplay was everywhere, which looked quite frightening; but in private, he actually condoned his son to cooperate with the enemy?

What on earth is this old man trying to do?

Mu Qi bowed to express his gratitude and said, "Your Majesty, I am too humbled to accept your praise. Coastal defense involves the foundation of the country. I rely on your Majesty's earnest instructions and foresight, and I rely on the hard work of the officials to achieve the little success we have today. When dealing with many matters of tribute and maritime trade, the Minister of Works Yan Donglou once assisted in confidential matters and had many insights on fundraising and investment promotion. As for me, I am just doing my humble part."

After all, the prince has been in the imperial court for several years and has seen and experienced a lot. These words flatter the emperor, share the credit with the ministers, and also give a helping hand to the partners. They are a proper and prestigious way of managing both the upper and lower levels.

But precisely because it was so dignified, calm and to the point, the important ministers who were slightly surprised just now felt their hearts tighten and immediately aroused great waves - there are official and private affairs in the court, and just cooperating in some official business is not a big deal; but if the prince can mention it in front of the emperor, then the relationship between Yan Donglou and Duke Mu's Mansion is really unspeakable!

The dragon's head can turn stone into gold with just a glance. The emperor's attention is definitely the most precious and rarest political resource of this era. Not to mention such lengthy praise for "practical work", even if it is just a casual mention in front of the emperor, it is worth a thousand gold coins, a great favor that is enough to make people grateful until death - but now, the prince has given this favor with just a few words!

If you say that there is no collusion between these two people and that they are purely working for the country out of public interest, do you think that the officials will believe you?

So in an instant, the look he gave to Lord Yan immediately became wrong. Before, it was vague and ambiguous, but now it is sharp and experienced, as sharp as a thorn, carrying great suspicion and inquiry - when the father plays the good cop and openly betrays the father, and the son plays the bad cop and secretly colludes, what do you people with the surname Yan mean?

Killing two birds with one stone, right? !

Of course, now everyone is still unclear about the real purpose of the Yan family's killing two birds with one stone, but this does not prevent the important officials from speculating with the greatest malice about Yan Fenyi's black heart and viciousness - we can't afford to offend Master Fei Xuan, so why should we not be suspicious of you?

Being surrounded by such suspicious and sharp eyes was difficult to bear for a while even for Yan Fenyi, who was so cunning. But the situation was such that he was powerless to refute (could he lie down and roll around and say that he had no control over his life?), and he could only stand there in a daze.

The atmosphere in the hall was unusually mysterious, but no one said a word. The emperor glanced at him lightly and asked again:

"I saw the memorial you submitted yesterday, and it seems that there are still problems with the coastal defense."

Mu Qi was slightly surprised, thinking that Lao Deng was inexplicably concerned about coastal defense and maritime trade, it was really like red rain from the sky; so he thought for a moment and explained carefully:

"The cabinet has allocated money to the Ministry of War to build firearms and train sailors, but there are not enough warships now. Even if we have enough manpower, we can't use it."

"Since there are not enough warships, why not build ships?"

The prince said, "Your Majesty, the maritime industry has been abandoned for a long time, and the shipbuilding craftsmen must be re-selected. Moreover... and the soil in the Middle Earth is thin, and there is not enough large wood to serve as the keel of the ship."

Dozens of days ago, Mu Qi took over the coastal defense in the name of being in charge of confidential matters. He made up his mind to investigate it carefully and found out the biggest trouble and the most insurmountable obstacle at the moment - before the completion of the First Industrial Revolution and the maturity of ironclad ships, the construction of large ships is absolutely inseparable from giant trees. However, China has been developed for a long time, and the giant trees over 500 years old have basically been cut down, which is really unaffordable.

It takes ten years to build an army and a hundred years to build a navy. In the pre-industrial era, the shipbuilding industry was such an extravagant industry that it was unbelievable. There is only a limited amount of wood available for shipbuilding, and once it is used up we will have to wait a hundred years or so for the environment to be upgraded. However, China's wooden palaces have always been consumed too much, and after thousands of years of construction, there are very few resources left that can be used on ships - the Ministry of War cannot dismantle the beams of the Forbidden City to build ships.

The problem was so embarrassing and specific that it was no wonder that emperors of all dynasties turned a blind eye and simply adopted an ostrich-like evasion policy. However, evasion obviously could not solve the problem. Mu Qi hesitated for a moment and finally spoke:

"With the timber currently stored in the Ministry of Industry, we can only build some small boats of seven or eight feet at most. They may be used on the Yangtze River, but they are definitely not going to be effective in the vast ocean. For now, we still have to find a way to build large ships, otherwise there will be no way to talk about coastal defense..."

Before he finished speaking, Elder Yan, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke:

"Large warships? Even a good cook cannot make a meal without rice. Where can you find a piece of wood several dozen feet long, my lord?"

He paused, then pretended to be surprised:

"Could they go to Yunnan, Guizhou, Liaoning and Shenyang to cut down trees? After thinking about it, these are the only two places that still have wood."

The Yan family climbed to their current position by doing engineering and building Taoist temples, and they knew the distribution of wood in the country very well, so when they heard the prince mention wood, they immediately knew the whole story - that's right, after thousands of years of mining by successive dynasties, probably only the sparsely populated Yunnan, Guizhou and Liaodong mountains that were developed more recently might still have towering trees of sufficient size.

In other words, if one really wanted to cut down huge trees to build large ships, one could only send people to such places to personally survey and collect materials, and then open up mountain roads and fill in ditches, and send laborers to drag them all the way to the capital - not to mention the staggering expenses of transporting these huge trees along the way, and the conscription of labor that would inevitably result in many casualties; even the subtle political pressure would be extremely difficult to overcome. Since there are "only" these two places with large timber, it is difficult to divide the shares occupied by each of them: the royal family also relies on these woods to build palaces and tombs.

Sure enough, Lord Yan added:

"When the Imperial Garden caught fire earlier, I was thinking about repairing it, but I was so busy these days that I completely forgot about it. It was the Crown Prince who took the trouble to think about it first. Young people are really responsible."

If it was still a little vague before, now everyone in the hall could hear the hidden meaning in Yan Fenyi's words. All we can say is that old ministers are old ministers after all. After decades of experience in officialdom, they have become more restrained and are able to dig holes without any worldly concerns - what does it mean to be "responsible"? The young man was only thinking about cutting wood and building ships to show off his power, while he, an old minister, was so busy that he had to think about building a garden for the emperor to earn respect. The contrast was so strong that it undoubtedly sent a clear signal to Master Fei Xuan:

Do young people who don’t know much know how to be considerate of the emperor? Only an old baby like Yan Fenyi knows how to love others!

So, after throwing out the trump card lightly, Yan Fenyi didn't even look at the prince, but looked straight at Master Feixuan, waiting for the victory. Given the unspoken understanding between him and the emperor, the emperor will definitely not be vague in safeguarding his own interests, so he is likely to take action to crack down on the ignorant Prince Mu and consolidate his authority as Lord Yan.

But unexpectedly, the emperor hesitated for a moment but did not say a word.

Mr. Yan:?

In this fatal hesitation, the prince seized the opportunity and spoke:

"I am ashamed of your praise. But I don't dare to set my sights on Yunnan and Guizhou. I just heard from Yan Donglou, the Minister of Works, that it seems possible to buy wood from wealthy merchants overseas."

Mr. Yan:? !

Lord Yan stepped on empty air and was immediately furious. He wished he could fly back and spit at his prodigal son - what the hell was this "overseas wealthy businessman"? Even he, the biological father, was still confused, but this guy named Mu actually knew it first! I'm asking you to manage the relationship privately so that it doesn't become too awkward, and to distinguish clearly between public and private, but I'm not teaching you to stick your whole self to them!

Damn it, how disgraceful!

Of course, this is a bit unfair to the young minister. The young cabinet minister might have mentioned the dealings with overseas merchants in front of the prince, but the idea of ​​buying timber came from the prince's own imagination - he couldn't just hold up a book about the great navigation of the world and say that trade in Southeast Asia was very active and there was a lot of money to be made, so after looking around, he simply asked the young cabinet minister who was familiar with maritime trade to take the blame.

As for how Lord Yan would settle accounts with his own son when he returned, that was not within the scope of the Crown Prince's consideration. He explained a few more words:

"Decades ago, the English, Dutch, Portuguese and other people from the West used their powerful ships and guns to open up settlements in India, trading spices, cloth and various gems, making a lot of money. India has a hot and humid climate, abundant vegetation and towering trees. We can learn from its strengths to meet our current needs."

Da'an was far from being as closed and corrupt as the Qing Dynasty. The important officials present were conservative, but they were quite familiar with the climate and products of Southeast Asia and India, so after a little thought, they could not find any flaws. Fei Xuan Zhen Jun pondered for a moment and asked slowly:

"The Ministry of Industry bought it to build warships. Are they willing to do that?"

The prince said respectfully, "Merchants are tempted by huge profits, so of course they are willing to sell. There are many ship merchants along the coast who buy English timber, but their scale is too small to make a big difference."

The Age of Discovery was the purest and most original starting point of capitalism. In this barbaric and chaotic era, the merchants who were willing to abandon their families and go out to sea despite a one in ten survival rate were all the most fanatical and obsessed profit seekers, and were absolutely willing to sell their noose for a 300% profit.

Among the many maritime merchants, the English were particularly the leaders of the capitalist profit machine, the embodiment of capital desire walking on earth. They could definitely be regarded as all the evil in this world, masters who could even make Satan change his name to Little Satan. The Europeans had been coveting India for a long time, and the Dutch and the French even made the earliest and most meticulous arrangements. But after all the fierce competition, why was it that the English were the ones who benefited the most? ——Because the facts have eloquently proved that when it comes to colonialism, burning, killing, looting and doing business, there is no bottom line. I am not targeting anyone when I bring up Britain. Everyone here can only be regarded as garbage.

The living embodiment of this kind of capital is very terrifying, but as long as enough money is given, it is indeed willing to sell everything, can sell everything, and dares to sell everything. In fact, timber trade has always been an important source of profit for the British-occupied India. In order to expand exports, the British cut down trees indiscriminately in India. The cut trees could not be shipped out, and even piled up in the mountains until they rotted and became infested with insects. At this time, a generous, stable and reliable big customer was willing to take up the excess share in one gulp, completely eliminating the worries about overproduction. How could this not be a great joy?

This is the invisible hand of the free market. It is recommended that English businessmen kowtow to Party A.

The emperor said, "It will cost a lot to transport the wood across the ocean."

"Your Majesty, of course money has to be spent, but it is still much cheaper than logging in Yunnan and Guizhou, otherwise the English would not be able to do this kind of business." The prince bowed his head and replied: "Sea transportation is much cheaper than land transportation. India has abundant wood plants and does not need to be surveyed. In addition, the English are also very experienced in controlling costs..."

What are your thoughts? In a nutshell, the English people's lack of morality is even more outrageous than that of the feudal dynasties, and they can really squeeze out the oil from the bones. If the wood is mined in Yunnan and Guizhou and transported thousands of miles to Beijing, there will be too many casualties and too much harassment, which will certainly be intolerable to the prefectures along the way; not to mention that there is the magic sword Hai Gangfeng in the south, which may use a powerful move to go straight to Lao Deng; but for Dai Ying, what does "dead people" mean? If I expel those who died, then it means that no one is dead, right? !

After the prince finished his explanation, Master Fei Xuan remained silent, as if he was still thinking. Yan Fenyi, the caring old cotton-padded jacket who had just been frustrated for half a quarter of an hour, finally seized the opportunity. He paused and asked in a rather surprised tone:

"Your Highness, do you want those English barbarians to deliver the timber directly to the capital?"

"We can follow the precedent of Emperor Taizong's use of sea vessels to transport grain and order the English to transport the timber to Tianjin or Shandong, which will save a lot of time on the journey."

I've been waiting for you to say this! A faint smile appeared at the corner of Lord Yan's mouth - if you only engage in maritime trade and mutual trade in the south, then no one will say anything about the fact that the emperor is far away; Tianjin and Shandong are the keys to the capital, do you think it is your turn to do whatever you want? If we allow foreign ships to approach Tianjin, what if they somehow spy on the capital's defenses? What should we do if the barbarians cause trouble? Young people just don’t know their place. It’s still us, the old veterans, who have to take the helm!

In just a moment, Lord Yan had already arranged a series of innuendos in his mind, which were enough to wash away the humiliation he had endured for the past half day. He would eloquently prove in front of all the important officials in the court that although Yan Donglou, this rebellious son, was hopelessly disloyal, he, Yan Fenyi, was determined to overthrow Mu. No matter if he resorted to pestering or bullying the weak, at least he could demonstrate his political attitude of drawing a clear line between himself and the Mu Mansion. So, he cleared his throat and was ready to speak——

"That's fine," said the emperor.

Yan Fenyi: ...Ah? !

"You go and do it." the emperor said again.

This time, not only Yan Fenyi, but even Mu Qi looked up in surprise, and glanced at Master Feixuan behind the veil almost in an impolite manner.

To be honest, he had fully anticipated Zhenjun's weirdness, sharpness and difficulty, so he had already thought out a whole set of explanatory words in advance, such as exaggerating the value of noble woods such as Indian nanmu, camphor and sandalwood, and hinting that imported giant woods could be used to repair the burned imperial garden; based on historical experience, Lao Deng was quite keen on repairing palaces and gardens, so as long as he aroused his desire and opened the door to importing wood, wouldn't he have the final say in the future projects? ——At worst, I’ll just give up my pride and use the money that Lao Deng used to build the garden to build warships!

But what no one expected was that Lao Deng didn't even say no and agreed so easily!

Master Fei Xuan has never been human, especially after his wanton evil behavior today, this kind of understanding is truly unbelievable, which surprised Mu Qi so much that he was speechless. He was stunned for a moment before he knew how to bow and express his gratitude.

Master Feixuan nodded casually, but glanced at Elder Yan again. With the wisdom and sharpness of the True Lord, of course he could see the unspeakable thoughts of Yan Fenyi, but after all, it was in his own interest, so there was no need to interfere; now that the matter had come to this, he had to give the Prime Minister some face, so he personally named him:

"What else does Yan Qing have to say?"

What else can Lord Yan say? The words he had just prepared were completely dispelled by the emperor's unexpected reaction. I could only helplessly find a panacea reason:

"If we want to buy a giant tree, I'm afraid the funds will be ..."

"Hasn't several million silver coins already been allocated for coastal defense?" The emperor disagreed: "We'll talk about it later if it's not enough."

As soon as these words were spoken, even the breathing in the hall stopped for a beat. The important ministers could hardly believe their ears - they still clearly remembered that when the cabinet was reporting on government affairs a quarter of an hour ago, the emperor had said five full sentences to trick Prince Yu just because of a mistake of tens of thousands of taels of silver!

No, on one side, people are haggling over tens of thousands of taels, while on the other side, people are willing to give out millions without hesitation. Isn't this bias a bit too much?

Who is the emperor’s biological son? !

Of course, considering the meanness, selfishness and self-interest of Feixuan Zhenjun and Wanshou Emperor, as well as the shallow and cold relationship between father and son, it is not surprising that they are more favored than Prince Yu. However, this kind of magnanimous move of "making up for insufficient money" could only be seen in major immortal cultivation projects undertaken by Taoist priests in previous years. But can a noble son of secular origin actually compete for favor with Lao Deng, who is obsessed with the great cause of cultivating immortals?

The important officials present bowed their heads and said nothing, with only one thought in their minds:

——The emperor’s brain might have really been damaged by the knock!