It doesn't matter if he doesn't understand. This is two generations of emperors educating the future emperor, so that little Zhu will be influenced by what he sees and hears and become interested in certain things, so that this little guy will begin to understand some principles at a young age.
Old Zhu smiled and handed the fruit platter to Little Zhu again, who felt incredibly safe. He didn't need his father's support at all, grabbing the fruit with both hands and eating it. This was Little Zhu's spirit, this was the demeanor of a crown prince.
"The reason my grandson came up with this idea is because those scholars are ignorant and always think about limiting imperial power," Zhu Yunying said to his father. "This time, we're not going to kill anyone, we're just giving them a warning."
Old Zhu nodded, then said, "In my opinion, your ambitions probably go beyond just these things. The imperial treasury and the national treasury have indeed been shrouded in ambiguity over the years. You either want to clarify things, or you want to take them all back."
"There's no need to take it back. The national treasury has always been under our control," Zhu Yunying said with a hint of pride. "I just can't stand those people guarding the national treasury too tightly. Our Ming Dynasty was weak in the past, so it was necessary to stockpile some supplies. But some things can't just be hidden away; they should be put to use."
Old Zhu didn't particularly agree with Young Zhu's view. In Old Zhu's opinion, he only felt at ease when the national treasury had silver, grain, cloth, and so on. In his view, the more of those things, the better, ideally with no expenditure and only income, for that would ensure peace throughout the land.
However, Old Zhu did not object. The one sitting on the dragon throne now was his grandson, the grandson who made him extremely proud.
Now that he's abdicated, it wouldn't be good for his grandson to control the court if he continued to interfere all the time. If something really goes wrong, he can help clean up the mess later. There's no need to say anything now; he'll let his grandson gain some experience. He believes he can live a few more years and protect his grandson.
"Actually, with our personalities, the imperial treasury is no different from the national treasury," Zhu Yunying laughed and said to Old Zhu. "And our father is the same way. We're all reluctant to spend money, and we're not too particular about food and drink."
"Your father is alright. You may seem unrefined, but when you do care, you're more picky than anyone else," Old Zhu said with a smile. "Speaking of which, even if we're not particularly picky, we're still much better off than ordinary families. There are countless people serving us inside and outside the palace. The food and things we use are all the best."
Needless to say, Zhu Yunying continued, “We’ve been giving too much to the national treasury from the imperial treasury over the years. It’s not that we’re unwilling to spend money whenever the court is short of funds, nor are we using that money to build gardens. It’s just that we said some time ago that we wanted to make things better for the imperial clan, so we can’t just leave the imperial treasury in a muddled way.”
Old Zhu was taken aback for a moment, then quickly asked, "You mean that from now on, the salaries of our imperial clan will be paid from the imperial treasury?"
Up to this point in the Ming Dynasty, the salaries and other stipends of the imperial family were the responsibility of the court, meaning that the production output was funded by the national treasury. The reason why Zhu Yunying is so sensitive now is because he intends for the imperial treasury to take on this responsibility.
Zhu Yunying quickly said, "That won't do. We'll only bear part of it, otherwise the imperial treasury will be emptied. As emperor, we need to keep some spare money. Otherwise, if something really happens and the national treasury can't provide the funds, we, the emperor, will have to pay for it ourselves."
Old Zhu was relieved. If the imperial clan's stipends were truly funded by the imperial treasury, it seemed there was no need to worry about them being unable to afford it. However, the fact that it was indeed solely funded by the imperial treasury raised serious questions.
For example, if there's always more money in the future, the imperial treasury might not be able to keep up. Furthermore, if all the money in the imperial treasury is used to support the imperial clan, the emperor won't even have an emergency fund, which is clearly not a good thing. Or, if the imperial treasury does release funds in the future, but the national treasury doesn't provide any, the imperial clan will be left helpless.
Therefore, while the imperial treasury could bear a portion of the cost, the court also needed to cover the majority, thus ensuring the livelihood of the imperial clan. After all, the national treasury's income was relatively stable, and the imperial clan didn't need to worry about running out of food.
As for the imperial treasury, it's fine to cover a portion of it, since the imperial treasury can also generate sufficient revenue.
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