For the Ming Dynasty court, the main effect of traveling to the West was of course social, with economic effects secondary.
After all, the Ming Dynasty is now rich enough, and the annual income is very gratifying. The Minister of Revenue Zhao Mian, who used to be frowning every day, now smiles at everyone he meets every day.
During these two years, no one could tell anything else, but Zhao Mian, who was originally a little skinny, now showed signs of gaining weight.
Just because of this weight gain, a censor submitted a memorial to the court, requesting an investigation into the Minister of Revenue, believing that the sudden weight gain was definitely due to embezzlement.
This scared Zhao Mian to death.
If it weren't for the ban on reporting rumors, the memorials impeaching the Minister of Revenue Zhao Mian would probably pile up like a mountain.
In the past, being the Minister of Revenue was a tough job. One had to find ways to deal with various expenses every day, and sometimes he even had to argue with the emperor.
The national treasury and the imperial treasury are two different things. When the year comes to an end, one has to rack one's brains to keep more of the annual revenue in the national treasury rather than put it into the imperial treasury.
When the treasury was out of money, the salaries of officials had to be delayed. In those days, a large number of officials lived on salaries, and when the court could not pay their salaries, they naturally became miserable.
The emperor certainly cannot be blamed. No matter what the mistake was, it could not be the emperor's fault. So only the Minister of Revenue can be held responsible.
It's okay for ordinary civil servants, at most they just talk about it and submit impeachment memorials. If you are thick-skinned enough, just pretend you didn't hear it.
Anyway, Your Majesty knows the situation of the national treasury. It is useless to submit impeachment memorials. It will be the same no matter who comes.
But it’s different for military officers, they really fight.
In previous years, every New Year's Day, the Minister of Revenue would probably be beaten twice, and complain in the Fengtian Hall with a bruised face. Then Zhu Yuanzhang would stand up and severely reprimand the military officers who had committed the violence.
This happened almost every year in the past few years.
For others it was the New Year, but for the Minister of Revenue, it was a test.
In such a living environment, his hair turned white with worry every day. He stared at the small amount of stock in the treasury every day, like a stingy old man guarding his treasure. How could he gain weight?
It's different now.
After the Crown Prince came, the first thing that happened was that the Qunying Chamber of Commerce was merged into the imperial treasury. Apart from anything else, the imperial treasury no longer needed to take money from the national treasury and was even richer than the national treasury.
No cost-cutting, open source everywhere.
Taxes from all quarters poured into the national treasury like the sea flowing into the east. The originally dry treasury swelled up as if it were inflated.
Zhao Mian's good days are coming.
You can’t spend it all. You can’t spend it all.
The speed at which the money came in was so fast that it was beyond Zhao Mian's imagination. As the person who knew the situation of the national treasury best, Zhao Mian was full of admiration for Zhu Ying despite his horror.
In just less than two years, not only were the bad debts of the Ming Dynasty accumulated over twenty years since its founding settled, but even the increase in various expenditure items could not keep up with the speed at which the Crown Prince made money.
Even the internal treasury, which only knew how to take money from the national treasury, went against its norm and supported the national treasury.
This feeling was very magical for Zhao Mian. This was the kind of life he had never dreamed of.
In the blink of an eye, the Ministry of Revenue became a popular commodity.
The basic expenses of government offices at all levels are enough to cover their expenses, but who wouldn’t want to get a little more?
For example, the government buildings were repaired, tables, chairs and benches were added, and daily meals were improved.
For example, the maintenance and construction of military equipment and armaments in various garrisons, and all kinds of other things, all these money, big or small, are under the control of the Ministry of Revenue.
With too much meat, it would naturally attract a pack of wolves. Everyone kept a close eye on Zhao Mian. As long as he did anything out of line, they would definitely impeach him.
During the initial period, Zhao Mian really couldn't eat or sleep well.
With the shadow of his previous experience in the court, Zhao Mian was afraid that he would be killed by His Majesty.
However, Zhu Ying discovered this and summoned Zhao Mian to Kunning Palace for a private talk.
"I know you are having a hard time right now, and I am afraid you have made some mistake and will be impeached."
"You don't need to worry too much about these things. As long as you strictly follow the rules, no one can do anything to you. I can block some messy reports for you. Don't worry about those unnecessary things."
"Everyone's life is better now, so we should be generous when doing things, but we should not waste money when we should save money."
"Grandpa and I remember all your contributions during our difficult times. There's no need to be afraid. You are a second-rank minister anyway. As long as you don't interfere, I will not let you be impeached."
Zhu Ying's words gave Zhao Mian a great reassurance, and he immediately expressed his gratitude with tears in his eyes.
After this, Zhao Mian, who had experienced repeated torture, finally became really tough.
In the future, when it comes to projects arranged by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the first priority is to ensure sufficient money.
Now that the mission to go to the West has been issued, Zhao Mian takes it extremely seriously.
He immediately summoned many officials from the Ministry of Revenue to discuss the matter.
"The matter of sailing to the West is the focus of your majesty's greatest concern. In this matter, our Ministry of Revenue has an important responsibility."
"Everyone needs to work hard these days and list all the rules and regulations. Nothing should be left out. After finishing, check three times to make sure there are no mistakes."
"I know that our Ministry of Revenue is now a lucrative government office. Now that something like this has happened, I don't know how many businessmen are eyeing this piece of fat meat. Within the scope of your review, you must first put the interests of the court first."
"All the rules of this matter must be included in the Yellow Book Inventory. If anyone is found to have tampered with it, I will report it to the court and will not tolerate it."
"If anyone is imprisoned for this, please don't blame me for not considering the feelings of my colleagues."
There was a cold tone in Zhao Mian's voice.
He himself did not dare to be greedy because his position was too high and there were too many people watching him.
But of course he knew some rumors about his subordinates. He would turn a blind eye to minor matters in normal times, but when it came to the major event of the voyage to the West, he would show no mercy at all.
The left and right assistant ministers below did not look away, and they could be said to have a clear conscience.
After all, the Vice Minister is not a small official. After the six ministers, the next highest rank is the Vice Minister.
There were also quite a few people staring at him.
After the reform of officials' salaries, we now eat and drink well, so there is no need to interfere in these things.
However, the people in charge below were all trembling with fear.
It is impossible to say that you are not greedy.
Even though Zhu Yuanzhang enacted severe punishments to combat corruption and killed almost everyone in the court for more than 20 years, he was still unable to eradicate the situation.
You can’t kill them all. You can’t kill them all.
In fact, strictly speaking, the corruption problem in the Ming Dynasty court is now more serious than before.
Because during the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang, there was only so much money and grain, and if you were a little greedy, it would easily cause problems, and if you had a little more, it would affect people's livelihood.
There is little money, and money is needed for everything. We all live a tight life, so if one piece is missing, it will be a big problem.
But now it is different. With the rapid development of various economies, especially the establishment of a large number of factories, and the breakup of the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce, they are placed under the jurisdiction of various places.
This means that for most officials, they can earn a considerable amount of money by just saying a few words and extending a hand.
The most important thing is that these revenues that were once easy to make mistakes now seem very small and insignificant.
Taking away one string out of ten strings of treasure notes would mean a loss of ten percent.
But if a few copper coins were missing from ten thousand strings of treasure notes, not many people would care. Perhaps the accounts were not calculated properly.
In the past, two taels of silver were enough to sentence a person to death, but now twenty taels of silver may not even be enough to pay for a meal.
All I can say is that times have changed.
…
Since the matter of sailing to the West was confirmed in Fengtian Hall, Li Jinglong was appointed as the general person in charge.
The threshold of Duke Cao's Mansion, which was once deserted, is now almost trampled apart.
"Didn't I tell you that no matter who sent the gifts, all of them should be returned to me, and the door should be closed tightly, and no one should be allowed to come in."
Li Jinglong frowned and scolded the housekeeper.
The housekeeper looked bitter and replied, "This was not the old servant's intention. It was the Madam who let him in."
Li Jinglong was stunned and asked, "Who is this person?"
The housekeeper quickly replied, "It's the Madam's family, the youngest son of Duke Ji, Ding Chang, Master Chang."
As Li Jinglong was the son of Zhu Yuanzhang's only relative, his nephew Li Wenzhong, and a legitimate royal relative, it was natural that he would marry a wife of equal status and position.
Duke Ding Dexing of Ji was one of the first people to follow Zhu Yuanzhang.
The year Ding Dexing defected to Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yuanzhang was 25 years old and had just joined the Red Turban Army.
At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang, because of his literacy, bravery in combat, and quick wit, had just been appreciated by Guo Zixing and was appointed as the captain of nine soldiers of the Marshal's personal guards.
It was not until the second year after he married Empress Ma that he returned to his hometown to recruit soldiers. Only then did Xu Da, Zhou Dexing, Guo Ying and other acquaintances from the same village and neighboring towns come to join him.
In terms of seniority, apart from Tang He, Ding Dexing is the oldest.
When Li Wenzhong defected to Zhu Yuanzhang at that time, he was under the leadership of Ding Dexing, so the two had a good relationship.
Later, Li Jinglong was born, and within two years Ding Dexing also gave birth to a daughter, and the two children were immediately engaged.
Unfortunately, in the 27th year of Zhizheng, two years before the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Ding Dexing died in the army when Pingjiang was about to be captured.
In the first year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang posthumously conferred the title of Duke of Ji on Ding Dexing and listed him in the Temple of Meritorious Officials.
Li Wenzhong attached great importance to this child marriage. Under the auspices of Empress Ma, Li Jinglong naturally married Ding Dexing's youngest daughter, Ding.
"Madam, don't you see what time it is now? The whole court, including His Majesty's grandson, are watching me. How can I make the slightest mistake at this time?"
"Hurry up and ask Ding Chang to go back. Don't let him stay in our house. It will be bad if others see him."
Li Jinglong asked the housekeeper to entertain Ding Chang well first, and then rushed to the backyard to complain to Ding.
Ding Dexing, nicknamed Heiding, is tall and strong, brave and good at shooting, and has a very bad temper.
The daughter takes after her father. Ding actually has a bad temper and has the potential to be a shrew.
But her man is Li Jinglong, who is known as the most noble son of the Ming Dynasty.
Every time when I was about to get angry, as soon as I looked at Li Jinglong's handsome face, all the anger in my heart would disappear.
The five senses follow the three views. This is not something that only happened in later generations. Not to mention the Ming Dynasty, there were even more exaggerated things in many dynasties before.
Moreover, Li Jinglong was not only handsome in appearance, but also had elegant manners and speech, and he also had a good character.
He never flirts with other women and has a mild temper. He is simply the prince charming in every girl's dream.
If it weren't for the arranged marriage between Li Wenzhong and Ding Dexing, it would not have been Ding's turn. There were so many women in the capital who wanted to marry Li Jinglong.
That is because Li Jinglong is Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew and grandson, and is within the five degrees of mourning, otherwise all those princesses would not want to marry Li Jinglong.
On the day of Li Jinglong and Ding's wedding, many noble ladies and girls in the capital had their dreams shattered and cried late into the night.
Ding felt that being able to marry Li Jinglong was the greatest luck in her life.
Listening to Li Jinglong's complaints, Ding quickly explained: "Xiaochang is already 32 years old. People often say that a man should be independent at 30, but he is still idle now."
"As a sister, I am usually anxious when I see things happen. This time my husband has the opportunity to lead the Western affairs, but without anyone familiar to accompany him, I am worried that he may not be able to handle the matter properly."
"Xiao Chang is not asking for any business, he just works beside his husband. He is promoting talents even if they are related to him. If His Majesty and the Crown Prince have any objections, let me speak to them."
Ding was similar to Xu Yihua when she was a child. She also lived in the palace as a maid of Empress Ma and was no stranger to Zhu Yuanzhang.
She only left the palace after she married Li Jinglong.
With Ding Dexing's friendship, it would not be a problem for Ding to plead with Zhu Yuanzhang.
The most important thing is that Ding’s mind is still lingering with what her brother had said to her before.
"Sister, my brother-in-law is so noble. It's no problem for you to be in charge in the capital. But if we go overseas, you are the Duke of Cao of Ming Dynasty and you are in charge of the entire fleet."
"Don't the monarchs of those small countries have to curry favor with them and give them women? Look at His Royal Highness, isn't that what he does?"
"My brother-in-law is so handsome, how can those overseas girls not be attracted to him? There is no one watching him, I am afraid my brother-in-law can't control himself."
"One or two is fine, but I'll be away for several years. I'm afraid he'll bring back dozens of them at once, and I won't have anything to do on weekdays."
Ding Chang is the posthumous son of Ding Dexing. He has never seen his father since he was born, but he is very smart.
After the news of the voyage to the West spread, everyone wanted to join in the fun, whether it was to make a fortune or become an official, they would always be able to climb up.
He is Ding Dexing's third son. His eldest brother inherited the hereditary title of commander-in-chief, and his second brother has some family property.
But his father passed away when he was born. Although he had no worries about food and drink, he was not rich.
After hearing what her brother said, Mrs. Ding felt a little worried and anxious, which was why she was determined to let her brother go to the West with her husband.
I would even go to His Majesty to plead for mercy.