Seeing that he seemed to have an idea, Lin Wuchen said, "Why not? Who wouldn't want to do this when they're in the shipping business?"
Shen Zhixiu then expressed his thoughts. Song Hongshen and Lin Wuchen looked at each other, and both of their eyes lit up.
Lin Wuchen didn't expect that his visit to the Shen family would solve the most important issue in the sea transportation process.
If it is true as Shen Zhixiu said, then all merchants engaged in sea transportation will lose a lot less money every year.
Song Hongshen did not expect that the Song family found a way out of the dilemma.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that Shen Zhixiu's idea was good, and he suddenly felt a surge of fighting spirit.
The more the Crown Prince tried to stop him from going to Fujian, the more he wanted to go. He wanted to seize command of the Fujian navy first, and then come back to settle accounts with the Crown Prince.
Since the Crown Prince could not tolerate the Song family, the Song family could no longer stand by and watch indifferently during the struggle for the throne. He wanted to see how the Crown Prince would ascend the throne without the support of the Song family.
People like them, if it really comes to a life-and-death situation, can bring down not only a prince but even the emperor.
Song Hongshen entered the Shen family's gate in a rage, and left the Shen family with full confidence.
Lin Wuchen was worried when he entered the room, but the corners of his lips curled up when he left.
After leaving the Shen family, Lin Wuchen returned to the Lin Company, wrote a series of secret letters and asked people to send them out.
When he handed the last letter to his subordinate, he hesitated for a moment.
But he still handed the letter over and said, "Send this letter to the Bai family."
For several days, the Song family father and son acted as if nothing had happened. They did not go to the Ministry of Revenue to ask for money, nor did they mention this matter again.
Emperor Xuande was vaguely disappointed, feeling that Song Hongshen's move completely disregarded the safety of the southeastern coast.
If he was truly concerned about this matter, he wouldn't be so calm. He should at least go to the palace to negotiate, or confront the Ministry of Revenue with a firm attitude.
Even if the court cannot provide money, he should find a way to share the court's worries.
Seeing Song Hongshen's lack of reaction, the Crown Prince assumed that Song Hongshen had given up on the matter in a fit of rage. Overjoyed, he repeatedly advised Emperor Xuande to replace the Southeast Commander.
In the blink of an eye, it was early September. On the evening of the first day of September, Lin Wuchen knocked on the gate of the Shen family's west courtyard.
Not long after, Wenzhu left the Shen family and secretly went to meet Song Hongshen.
Song Hongshen was relieved when he heard the news from Wenzhu. He saw that the emperor's patience was about to run out.
If Lin Wuchen didn't make any move, he would be unable to hold on. Fortunately, the third young master of the Lin family was extremely capable, so he would have someone to rely on when he went to court tomorrow.
The next morning, Song Hongshen went to the palace as usual.
At the beginning of the morning court session, an official from the Crown Prince's party stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the Southeast Navy has been waiting for a commander to take office. I wonder when King Zhongyong will depart for Fujian?"
"If I don't take up my post, I'm afraid trouble will easily arise in the army."
Emperor Xuande looked at Song Hongshen and asked, "What does the King of Loyalty and Bravery say?"
Song Hongshen stepped forward and replied, "Your Majesty, it's not that I intentionally delayed my journey. But the Ministry of Revenue couldn't allocate the funds, so I had to find a way. That's why I haven't set out yet."
As soon as he finished speaking, the prince said, "Think of a solution? How did King Chungyong think of a solution?"
"These past few days, I've seen Prince Chungyong out drinking or sparring with others. A few days ago, he even went out of town for horse racing with His Royal Highness Prince Ning."
"The way the King of Loyalty and Valor thinks of this really impresses me."
After saying this, the Crown Prince turned to Emperor Xuande and said, "Father, I believe this incident shows that Prince Zhongyong is indifferent to the affairs of the Southeast Navy."
"If he cared about this, he wouldn't spend his days drinking and having fun knowing that the treasury was empty and the shipbuilding couldn't go smoothly."
"As a minister, I eat the emperor's salary but do not know how to be loyal to him. I, your son, petition the emperor to replace the commander of the southeast."
Many people present agreed with the prince's words.
The officialdom requires a lot of knowledge. As a minister, you may not have enough ability, but you must have the attitude.
Just like this time, if they were Song Hongshen, even if they knew the treasury was empty, they would still do something to save face, to prove that they cared about the court and devoted all their energy to share the worries of the emperor.
However, Song Hongshen acted as if nothing had happened. Although the responsibility lay with the Ministry of Revenue, it did affect the emperor's opinion of him.
After the Crown Prince finished speaking, Song Hongshen glanced at him meaningfully, "Your Highness, how do you know that I have no loyalty to the emperor?"
After that, he asked Shen Zhixiu, "Sir Shen, does the Ministry of Personnel's evaluation focus on political achievements, or does it focus on who does things that save face well?"
Shen Zhixiu replied expressionlessly, "The Ministry of Personnel evaluates everything based on performance."
The Crown Prince sneered, "What's the point of King Zhongyong showing off his eloquence in this Ganyang Palace? If you truly have a solution, please speak up. If I've wronged you, I apologize."
Other officials from the prince's party also made suggestions, saying that King Zhongyong was not worthy of being the commander-in-chief of the southeast because of his moral character.
Song Hongshen raised his head, looked directly at Emperor Xuande, and said solemnly.
"Your Majesty, all the merchant ships of the Great Zhou Dynasty now leave from Fujian. There are many pirates on the sea, and their merchant ships are often attacked by pirates."
"I have contacted merchants involved in shipping these days, and they have agreed to raise funds to cover the cost of building new warships."
"We only need to escort the merchants while we train our navy to protect them from being attacked by bandits."
"I believe this will achieve three goals at once: first, it will reduce the losses of merchants; second, it will eliminate pirates at sea; and third, it will train the navy through actual combat."
In Song Hongshen's view, this method has advantages and no disadvantages.
Especially in naval training, only actual combat with real guns and swords can achieve real results.
When he led the army to Liaodong, the Marquis of Zhenbei had told him that there were no bandits in Liaodong. All the bandits had been dealt with by the Marquis of Zhenbei. Every attack on the bandits was like a drill for the Liaodong soldiers.
Song Hongshen's words caused an uproar among the court officials in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Since ancient times, among the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, merchants have the lowest status. Although the Great Zhou Dynasty attaches great importance to commerce and does not suppress merchants as much as the previous dynasty, the status of merchants is still low.
It was unheard of for the imperial army to protect merchants' ships.
Looking back at the dynasties before the Great Zhou, there has never been such a thing.
However, a few pragmatic veteran officials' eyes lit up, and the more they thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. If they could seize the opportunity to further expand the maritime transport business, it would also be a good opportunity to enhance the national strength of the Great Zhou.
The Crown Prince, however, frowned and angrily retorted, "I thought the King of Chungyong could come up with some good ideas."
"According to what King Zhongyong said, what has become of the navy maintained by the imperial court? Just lackeys of the merchants?"
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