When the drum sounded, half of Beijing city heard it. Although he was extremely reluctant, Wanli had to announce the audience.

Half an hour later, Wanli took his seat in the main hall of the Yiku Palace. Above his head was a plaque with the words "Bright and Prosperous" written by his grandfather.

"Xuan Hai Rui comes to see you." The eunuch on duty at the palace gate said in a long voice.

Hai Rui then walked slowly into the hall, leaning on his cane. Going up the stairs and beating the drum had already consumed too much of his energy.

Wanli was angry at Hai Rui for forcing him, so he deliberately did not send a sedan chair to pick him up. Instead, he let Hai Rui walk through the numerous palace gates and arrive at the Yiku Palace.

Hai Rui was extremely tired at this time, and it was so strenuous for him to cross the high threshold, and no eunuch came forward to help him. He grabbed his trouser legs with his hands, and used his hands and feet to move one leg into the hall, and then the other leg.

The miserable look made several young eunuchs' eyes turn red.

"Alas, Lord Hai, why are you doing this..." Wanli sighed, and said to Hai Rui, who staggered in front of him and knelt down to salute, "Stand up and show Master Hai a seat."

"No need!" Hai Rui did not stand up, but shook his head. He took out a memorial from his sleeve, raised his hands above his head, and said loudly, "Your Majesty, I beg you to stop the mining supervisor and tax collector from leaving the capital immediately for the sake of the ancestral temple, so that the people will not be harmed and the situation will be out of control!"

"Why is the palace tutor also learning from those censors, exaggerating and using the people as a shield?" Wanli did not accept that. He said with an unhappy look on his face, "The palace and the government have no money. I sent mining supervisors and tax collectors to extract the benefits of heaven and earth and collect the surplus from merchants, so as not to add burdens to the people. This is the embodiment of loving the people. Why does the palace tutor say that it is poisoning the people?"

"It is correct that the emperor wants to increase industrial and commercial mining taxes to supplement national expenditures, but he needs to first order the Ministry of Revenue in the north and south to work with the provincial governments to conduct a statistical survey on the scale of industry and commerce in the prefectures, counties and cities in the province and how much profit they make. Then, either create new names or impose appropriate additional taxes to increase the amount of tax. Then, issue a decree to make it clear to the world so that the people know it. Then, try it out in a certain province to see its pros and cons. If the pros outweigh the cons, then it can be promoted. However, the provinces of our Ming Dynasty are very different, and it is inevitable that the southern tangerines will be different from the northern tangerines. Therefore, we should not rush to collect taxes, but should proceed cautiously and slowly - we must not exhaust the pond to catch all the fish!"

As he said this, he raised his memorial to Wanli again and said, "You must not bypass the imperial court and appoint eunuchs to take another path to seize the wealth!"

Wanli listened patiently and sneered, "It seems that the governor is allowed to set fires, but the eunuchs are not allowed to light lamps."

"Even the prefectural officials are not allowed to set fires! We must be extremely cautious when raising taxes, and be careful not to let corrupt officials take advantage of the opportunity to enrich themselves and harm the people. Therefore, we must have the governors to supervise, the officials to report, and the people to complain, and we cannot blindly favor the government." Hai Rui said in a deep voice:

"I heard that as soon as the emperor was going to send a mining supervisor and tax collector, the eunuchs immediately rushed out like flies to the smell of stench! I heard that the positions to those lucrative counties and prefectures have been priced at more than 100,000 taels of silver. Moreover, they have to pay 20% to 30% of the harvest to the Grand Eunuch every year!"

"Oh, really?" When Wanli heard this, his face became even uglier. He glanced at Zhang Hong coldly and said, "Damn it, you have such a good thing but you don't offer it to me?"

"I will investigate right away." Zhang Hong first cleared himself out, then glanced at Hai Rui and whispered, "Master Haigong is just believing everything he hears. The children in the palace are all suffering. How many of them can come up with a hundred taels, let alone a hundred thousand taels?"

"Most of them can't take it out." Hai Rui had sharp ears and sneered, "But they have many ways to do it. The honest ones pooled money to buy a position of mine supervisor or tax collector. The ones with wide connections went to the royal family to borrow money at high interest rates, and nine out of ten returned the money! There are also the bold ones who just made a fortune out of nothing - they went out and lied that they had got a lucrative position, and then sold the positions of their subordinates at a high price. As a result, they used the money they received to buy the lucrative position and even made a profit!"

Wanli was stunned. He didn't realize that they were all talented. If they were sent to the local areas, wouldn't they find ways to make money for me?

"So, Your Majesty, they have paid a lot of money to buy the positions of mine supervisors and tax collectors. When they go to the local areas, they will definitely make up for it and get back both the capital and interest! They do not hide this fact at all. They are all sharpening their knives and wailing, waiting for Your Majesty to open the floodgates and let them go! In this case, who will supervise the eunuchs, and who will restrict the eunuchs? If the eunuchs do evil in the local areas, how will the county officials deal with these eunuchs of the emperor?" Hai Rui said with great sorrow:

"If we let these hungry tigers and wolves, who are uncontrollable, go to the local areas, they will definitely impose heavy taxes and levies, extort money and rob the emperor and the court of their people's support! They will push everyone to the opposite side. If someone raises their arms and calls for action, there will definitely be civil unrest and the country will be shaken!"

Wanli was speechless after being confronted by Hai Rui. Since he couldn't win by reasoning, he changed his strategy and started to attack him. He rested his hands on his knees, leaned forward slightly, looked at Hai Rui coldly and said:

"Master Gong, why don't you explain it clearly? Who will give a shout-out?"

"Anyone can do it!" Hai Rui had never lost in terms of momentum before. He looked at Wanli coldly and said, "Your Majesty, don't forget how the previous dynasty fell and how the Ming Dynasty came to power!"

"Don't say that the stone man has only one eye, can you stir up the Yellow River to rebel?" Wanli chuckled and said grimly: "Master Haigong, Master Haigong. How come even you can't wait, do you want to change the dynasty?"

"My Hai family has been blessed by the Emperor for generations, and this old minister's life was given to me by Emperor Shizong." Hai Rui was not affected at all, and said calmly: "If it were not for the sake of preserving the Emperor's ancestral temple, why would I, with my old and dying body, travel 6,000 miles north to endure the hardship?"

"That's a nice thing to say!" Wanli finally couldn't help but explode. He stood up suddenly, walked in front of Hai Rui, leaned over and roared, "Stop pretending to be a loyal subject! I asked someone to investigate. Jiangnan Group grew big when you were the governor of Yingtian! You even gave gifts to Zhao Hao back then! You have been colluding for decades!"

Hai Rui was stunned, and finally remembered that he had given Zhao Hao a bag of eggs and candles from his hometown... This, this is also considered bribery?

"This old minister and Zhao Hao are indeed close friends regardless of age difference, but our relationship is no more than that of friends. I have never used favoritism for him, nor have I done any shady deals with him." Hai Rui said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, please take back what you just said!"

"Haha, being a door god is different. You even dare to give orders to me!" Wanli sneered and asked coldly: "If you are a loyal minister, then why did you never remind me of Zhao Hao's wolfish ambitions? Never told me that the Jiangnan Group has become too big to be eliminated?!"

"I didn't expect it at first, because Jiangnan Group has taken a new path that has never been taken before. They are rooted in China, but are growing and developing overseas. They have grown rapidly out of everyone's sight." Hai Rui said frankly:

"By the time I realized this, Jiangnan Group was already unrivaled. Telling Your Majesty would only make the situation worse..."

"Ha..." Wanli sneered, put his hands behind his back and looked at the eunuchs and said, "Listen, is this still human language? This is the Hai Rui you admire!"

"Your Majesty, please don't rush to get angry. I have three reasons for this old minister. First, the other party is so powerful that it is beyond imagination. Compared with the imperial court, it is like a strong man compared to a baby."

"Tsk..." Wanli spat and wanted to retort, but the report from the East Factory made him hold back his words.

"Second, their purpose is to benefit the people and revitalize China. They have been doing this for more than 20 years. Moreover, the Jiangnan Group is outward-looking and has been committed to expanding China's territory and giving the Han people a wider living space - allowing those previously unsolvable conflicts to be alleviated and even faded away during the expansion!" Hai Rui continued with his eyes shining:

"In addition, they have increased the yield per mu of land several times, which is a way to ease the contradiction vertically - so, the Ming Dynasty can completely survive the catastrophe of decline and enter a prosperous era that far surpasses the Han and Tang dynasties!"

"Ming Dynasty..." Wanli snorted and said, "It should be Song Dynasty."

"This is my third reason - Zhao Hao has absolutely no intention of usurping the throne!" Hai Rui said firmly.

"Yes, yes, yes. Just like his ancestors, how could he have moral flaws? He should wait for the Chenqiao mutiny and then the people below will crown him with the yellow robe." Wanli teased.

"Neither will the people below." Hai Rui said in a deep voice, "Because Zhao Hao has already solemnly announced at the group meeting that anyone who dares to say 'the country will be restored to Zhao' will be immediately executed for treason!"

"Uh..." There was a flash of surprise in Wanli's eyes. Wasn't Zhao Hao giving him time to save the situation?

"Your Majesty, don't be optimistic. Zhao Hao is definitely not soft-hearted. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to keep the Jiangnan Group firmly under his control." Hai Rui broke his fantasy and said something that made Wanli unable to sleep peacefully:

"His goal is to destroy the imperial system - to make the world belong to all people, not just one family!"

"What?" Wanli was stunned for a long time and said, "You mean, he wants to restore the abdication system?"

If the people below were given the opportunity to become the king, they would definitely support him desperately.

That's really scary.

"Your Majesty, it's fine if you understand it this way." Hai Rui said quietly, "A thousand-foot-high wall stands firm, and without desires one is strong. If he doesn't want to turn the world into his own private property, he can take the world out and share it with the people of the world. There is no need for him to be on guard against the people of the world in order to protect his own world."

"Your Majesty, however, thinks that the power over the interests of the world all comes from you. You take all the benefits of the world for yourself and all the harms of the world for others. You take it for granted that you are squeezing the marrow out of the world and separating the children of the world to serve my pleasure. You call it the interest on my property." At this time, Hai Rui's eyes had completely overwhelmed Wanli, and he said mercilessly:

"Compared to Zhao Hao, Your Majesty is a dictator! He has already won the hearts of the people. If he raises the banner of rebellion, the whole country will change in an instant! Your Majesty will definitely lose, there is no chance of winning!"

"Hahaha..." Wanli was so scared that Hai Rui pissed himself. He took two steps back, steadied himself and asked, "Then why can't he get an erection?"

"I have said that if we raise the banner of rebellion, we must have the reputation of being a righteous man!" Hai Rui said expressionlessly, "He and his son have been deeply blessed by the late emperor. Your Majesty is not as cruel as Jie and Zhou. How can Zhao Hao raise the banner?"

As he said this, he sneered and said, "Your Majesty sent out the mining supervisor and tax collector to wreak havoc throughout the world. Could it be that you think he is too slow and are helping him raise the flag?"