Many concubines in the harem felt uneasy, especially Consort Guo Ning. She had received word that the Emperor would be spending the night in her palace. However, she heard that the Crown Prince's fleet had returned from the South Seas, bringing back bird's nest and coral.

Now that's settled, Consort Guo, being an 'outsider,' is naturally no longer qualified to serve the emperor.

She did want to go to the Qianqing Palace, but she wasn't qualified. The Crown Prince, on the other hand, was frequently kept in the Qianqing Palace by the Emperor during the two months he was 'sick,' and slept directly in the Emperor's bedchamber.

At this moment, Zhu Xiong Ying was very proud and said with a bit of arrogance, "Grandpa Emperor, I'll leave this gemstone to Xi'er. I need to prepare some dowry for her! I'll take care of the affairs of the Princess's residence."

Old Zhu looked at the red coral in front of him with satisfaction, thinking it was quite good. He planned to have the Crown Prince take it back to the Eastern Palace to display.

Old Zhu didn't like these things, but he knew that red coral was a symbol of wealth and good fortune, and was listed as one of the Seven Treasures in Buddhist scriptures.

Zhu Biao fiddled with the ruby, then suddenly remembered something. "This ship's earnings are quite substantial, and it's time to put them into the imperial treasury. Ying'er, I'll grant you 30,000 taels of silver, which you can spend as you please. As for the rest of the money, I'll manage it for you and give it to you when you grow up."

Um?

Is this a common practice with New Year's money?!

Old Zhu nodded in satisfaction and then said, "Ying'er should also be careful. It's not a good thing for the Crown Prince to hoard money. The shipwrights have already earned a lot from building ships and cannons, so there's no need for so many expenses. It's better to let your father manage it for you. You spend money extravagantly."

Zhu Xiong Ying was speechless. She tried to struggle a bit, "Grandpa Emperor, you said back then that the imperial treasury would be under my management."

Zhu Biao retorted directly, "Your imperial grandfather would actually care about this little bit of money?! It's just that you're young and usually spend money recklessly. If I don't keep an eye on it, it'll be squandered very quickly. What will you do if you need to spend money to repair the palace later and the imperial treasury is empty!"

Old Zhu chimed in, "What a waste of money! Where did they buy that Yan Zhenqing calligraphy copybook the other day?!"

"Father, those were given to your son," Zhu Biao quickly said to avoid being unjustly punished. "It's just that this child doesn't have many good things in his own palace. He just likes a few fine horses from the Imperial Horse Stables and has collected a few weapons. Other good things he collected were either given to Yunwen or rewarded to Yunhuo. Xi'er and Yue'er don't have to worry about not having expenses after they get married."

Old Zhu thought for a moment and then said, "Leave a few smaller gems for us, and give them to the concubines in our palace as a reward. As for the rest, put them into storage."

Zhu Xiong Ying immediately replied generously, "Grandfather, please don't be stingy. My fleet makes a round trip every three months, and we have a lot of success in the South Seas and Japan. My fleet is getting bigger ships, and the soldiers and weapons are new and strong enough. I'm thinking of paying 300,000 taels into the Imperial Treasury every year."

"The small amount is fine, you can keep the rest for yourselves." Old Zhu didn't care, but said, "Ying'er, it's just that 300,000 is too little. We haven't lifted the sea ban for anyone else. We think you should pay 500,000 taels every year, and you can squander the rest."

Zhu Biao chimed in, "Five hundred thousand is too little. The salaries of those naval personnel are paid by the imperial court."

Zhu Xiong Ying was speechless, feeling like she had been blackmailed.

Actually, the Ming Dynasty was more accustomed to using copper coins, although it also had its own paper money. The main problem was that the Ming Dynasty didn't have enough copper, so in the eighth year of the Hongwu reign, Emperor Zhu established a paper money standard system, set up the Paper Money Administration Office, and enacted paper money laws.

Emperor Zhu did indeed repeatedly order that gold and silver could not be used for transactions in the market, and only the Ming Dynasty Treasury Notes were permitted. However, the circulation of the Ming Dynasty Treasury Notes was not very good because of the repeated issuance of new notes. But when the notes were issued, the imperial treasury did not have enough gold or silver, and Emperor Zhu also forbade the exchange of notes for silver or gold.

Simply put, the Ming Dynasty's paper money only went out and never came in, while silver only went in and never came out.

Old Zhu's treasury is desperately short of silver, which is why he sees Zhu Xiong Ying's navy constantly accumulating wealth. Old Zhu and Zhu Biao had long ago reached a tacit agreement: the money the grandson earns is their money, and they will definitely take it back, at least a large portion of it.

Before the eighth year of the Hongwu reign, the Ming Dynasty could only produce about 200,000 taels of silver annually. Things are a little better now, but not by much.

Now, the Ming Dynasty stipulates that five strings of cash can be exchanged for one shi of rice, and one tael of silver can be exchanged for two shi of rice. Therefore, ten strings of cash can be exchanged for one tael of silver.

Nowadays, a family of five needs about ten taels of silver a year to maintain a decent standard of living.

Old Zhu and Zhu Biao had no reason not to be tempted; their grandson's money and their son's money were naturally their money too. They just needed to leave some money for Zhu Xiong Ying; children shouldn't have so much money in their hands.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty is really short of money now. Although it has been established for more than 20 years, compared with the Yuan Dynasty, the land area of ​​the Ming Dynasty is close to 8 million hectares, which is four times that of the end of the Yuan Dynasty. The tax grain collected has also reached nearly 30 million shi.

According to the current tax system of the Ming Dynasty, in the early Ming Dynasty, a mixed tax system of goods and currency was implemented, and the total fiscal revenue of the imperial court was about five million taels, which was constantly increasing.

With the finances steadily improving, many civil and military officials in the court have indeed developed a tendency towards extravagance, especially some nobles. However, there are also those who practice frugality, such as the imperial family.

Old Zhu was still very proud, feeling that his eldest grandson was very much like him at heart.

Old Zhu valued family ties, and this was something he was very certain of. He basically wanted to give all the good things to his sons and grandsons. Apart from his most beloved eldest son and grandson, Old Zhu treated his other children quite well as well.

Zhu Yuanzhang wasn't particularly concerned about his own food, clothing, and daily necessities, even though he was now the emperor.

His eldest grandson was the same way, always grabbing the best things first. In the end, they all ended up being given away – either to his grandfather, his father, or as gifts to his younger siblings; he had practically nothing for himself.

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