Upon hearing the emperor reject Yuan Chonghuan's plan, the ministers present dared not say anything.
Before today, there would definitely have been people who would have stood up.
But they've just made a huge fool of themselves, so they're not that thick-skinned yet.
"We have nothing to say. We beg Your Majesty for your wise judgment."
Zhu Youjian was very pleased that his ministers were so obedient.
He looked at Qin Liangyu and Li Ruolian: "What are your thoughts, Generals?"
Li Ruolian wanted to speak, but after opening and closing her mouth a few times, she still didn't step forward.
He whispered to Qin Liangyu, "General Qin, please tell me."
Qin Liangyu wasn't bothered by it. She stepped forward and said to the emperor:
"Your Majesty, the most urgent task is to reorganize the Beijing Garrison."
"The Jurchen army numbered about 70,000 to 80,000. Although we defeated several thousand of them at Shanhai Pass, the Jurchens were not seriously injured."
"To defeat them steadily, we need at least 100,000 elite troops."
"To support so many elite soldiers, whether it's their armor and weapons or their daily rations, it would cost five million taels of silver every year."
"As for pacifying Liaodong, the army will have to go out of the pass to fight, which will cost a thousand gold coins a day."
"After defeating the Jurchens, the court will need to spend a lot of money to appease the people and rebuild the cities in various places."
"Therefore, after reorganizing the Beijing garrison, we need to accumulate military funds."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian's smile widened.
"General Qin is indeed a pillar of the state; these are all wise and insightful words on governing the country."
"Master Gao once told me that fighting a war is all about logistics."
"Raising funds for the army is indeed of paramount importance."
Upon hearing this, Bi Ziyan couldn't hold back any longer.
He stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue absolutely cannot come up with this amount of silver!"
"If we absolutely must train 100,000 elite troops and launch another campaign against the Jurchens, then we'll have no choice but to raise taxes!"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian instinctively shook his head: "Three stipends? No, no!"
Bi Ziyan was taken aback: "Your Majesty, what are you saying? What three taxes?"
Zhu Youjian then realized that the term "three taxes" was something he had heard from Gao Qingyun; at that time, it was not yet used.
Or rather, at this time, the Ming Dynasty only had the Liaodong military pay.
He coughed, did not answer Bi Ziyan's question, and changed the subject.
"What I mean is that the imperial court has imposed an additional tax on Liaodong, which has already made life unbearable for the people."
"If we add one or two more levies, making it two or three levies, wouldn't that lead to chaos throughout the land?"
"Therefore, raising taxes is absolutely unacceptable!"
Bi Ziyan quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise."
"But if taxes aren't increased, where will the imperial court get its money?"
After going around in circles, Bi Ziyan brought the topic back to itself.
However, this time, he did not bring up the old matter again and make Zhu Youjian pay out of his own pocket.
As the Minister of Revenue, he had some intelligence and knew that although the emperor had made a fortune with the Donglin Party and Wei Zhongxian.
But all they managed to seize were tens of millions of taels of family property.
Zhu Youjian is indeed unwilling to spend money to help the Ministry of Revenue now, but if another disaster strikes and the Ministry of Revenue has no money, Zhu Youjian will have no choice but to help reluctantly.
But if all this money is used to support the army, then if something else happens, there will really be no way to deal with it.
Bi Ziyan thought that Zhu Youjian would be speechless after he asked him that question.
To everyone's surprise, Zhu Youjian smiled slightly.
"I actually had this idea a long time ago."
He repeated almost verbatim what he had heard from Gao Qingyun a long time ago.
“If taxes are levied on the common people, it must be because the government is oppressing the wealthy households, and the wealthy households are then passing the tax burden onto the common people.”
"In the end, the people sold their children and had nowhere else to turn but to rise up in rebellion!"
"Therefore, if the Ming Dynasty wants to expand its sources of revenue, it can only look overseas."
"I intend to open the seas to the seas. What do you, my esteemed ministers, think?"
These words immediately caused chaos in the imperial court.
"Your Majesty, this is absolutely forbidden!"
"The maritime ban is an established law of our ancestors; how can it be changed at will?"
“That’s right. The imperial court has already established several maritime trade offices in the southeast, which is enough. We must not add any more.”
"Your Majesty, please rescind your decree!"
Zhu Youjian frowned slightly, feeling displeased.
"In that case, let's discuss it another day!"
After saying that, he turned and left, walking back to the Imperial Study with a displeased expression.
"Hmph, these ministers are all stubborn!"
"It's just opening up the seas. Although it does conflict with ancestral laws, what does it matter if we break some established rules as long as it helps the Ming Dynasty earn money?"
At this moment, Cao Huachun walked in, smiling broadly:
"Your Majesty, please don't be angry. Those ministers don't understand the difficulties the court is facing."
"If they knew that the Ming Dynasty would fall to the Jurchens in the future, they would definitely support the court in opening up the seas to raise gold and silver, and then go to pacify Liaodong."
"Furthermore, Your Majesty may not know that this matter of opening the sea is actually also related to their own interests."
Zhu Youjian quickly asked, "Does Grand Eunuch Cao know something?"
Cao Huachun smiled.
"Your Majesty, this old servant actually knows quite a lot."
"Back then, I was framed by Wei Zhongxian and forced to retire in Southern Zhili, which I witnessed firsthand."
"Although our Great Ming Dynasty says it will ban the seas, that only means our court will not do business with foreigners."
“The wealthy merchants in Jiangnan don’t care about these things; they’ve always had dealings with foreigners in private.”
"And since what they did was still against the law, more than half of the profits had to be used as tolls..."
By this time, Zhu Youjian was no longer the naive young man he had been when he first ascended the throne.
He immediately understood what Cao Huachun meant.
"Hmph, what toll money? It's just bribery of superiors!"
"Cao Daban, are you saying that the profits from those transactions basically went into the pockets of officials, and then were passed up layer by layer?"
"The ministers who opposed my opening of the sea routes have already profited greatly from maritime trade, which is why they oppose me!"
Cao Huachun nodded and said, "Your Majesty is wise."
Throughout history, the most profitable ways to make money have always been written in the law.
If the imperial court does not ban maritime trade, the profits from doing business with foreigners will not be as high.
Zhu Youjian immediately became angry.
"These bastards! I thought they were opposing me because of some ancestral law."
"So it was all for their own little scheme after all!"
"Hmph, I'll teach you a lesson sooner or later!"
After a moment, Zhu Youjian's anger subsided somewhat, and he asked Cao Huachun:
"By the way, Cao Daban, haven't you always been by Master Gao's side? Why are you coming to see me now?"
Cao Huachun quickly replied, "Your Majesty, this old servant has indeed come here on business."
"Master Gao heard the shouts of 'Long live the Emperor' from the people in the city just now, and he seems to be a little suspicious."
"This old servant has come specifically to report to Your Majesty, requesting that you send someone to put on a play for Master Gao..."
Cao Huachun spoke his mind.
It's simply following Gao Qingyun's original idea, treating it as if someone had turned on some kind of external speaker.
"Have two eunuchs argue next to Master Gao, cursing each other for... what kind of outside assignment is this?"
"That way, we can cover up any disturbances that happen in the city in the future."
Zhu Youjian also became interested after hearing this.
"Oh? Acting? Then I must go and see."
"Perfect timing. I also need to ask Master Gao about the opening of the fishing season."
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