Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

Du Ming, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, and others couldn't help but sigh inwardly, showing some respect for Li Sisheng.

Although the approach advocated by Li Si was very offensive, if the court could close these two big holes, it would indeed be able to convey the court's decision to control salt, and then it would be more effective to eliminate salt abuses.

It's just that Li Si took the initiative to stop salt consumption by Beijing officials. I'm afraid his reputation will be really bad in the future, and some petty officials will even deliberately find fault with him.

Zhu Youtang could feel that Li Si was dealing with the problem from the standpoint of solving political malpractice, and he made a decision immediately: The salt for Beijing officials was not customized by Taizu. I have also heard that officials from Beijing often sell salt on their way back. This hole really needs to be made up. After a pause, he looked at Li Si and said: The salary in this dynasty is not high, and it cannot make you a bad person. Then the court should give more salt to officials to make up for it! Li Qing, please go back to your home. The ministry will discuss it and see what the quota is!

Because there was so much room for profit from the official salt in the capital, many officials had surplus salt for sale, so it was certainly impossible to make up for the full amount of the salt that had been discontinued.

It's just that I have given them salt supplements. If these officials still think that eating shit tastes better, then I don't have to be so polite.

The reason for doing this this time is naturally not to compromise with Beijing officials, but to increase wages appropriately so that these officials who chant empty slogans can work harder.

I accept the decree! Li Si did not expect that Zhu Youtang would take the initiative to give salt to the officials in the capital to reduce the pressure of public opinion on him, so he expressed his gratitude secretly.

After spending a long time together here, he knew that although the emperor was decisive in killing, he still protected his ministers who were loyal to him.

If I could meet such an emperor, what reason would I have for not being loyal to him wholeheartedly?

Your Majesty, most of the royal palaces are located in non-Huai salt sales areas, and they have always been averse to eating salt from other countries. This matter may cause trouble in the clan! Xu Qiong, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, was the most concerned about the clan's situation, and he sounded worried.

The common people have food, why can't they? In my opinion, they actually want to embezzle national interests and are maggots who eat insatiably. What happened to the King of Chu is a lesson from the past! He Cong, the left minister of the Ministry of War, told Mingming The vassal king, who was rich but still wanted salt, felt disgusted and immediately accused him loudly.

Zhu Youtang did not make an easy decision to stop eating salt in the palace. He turned to look at Wan An who was closest to him and said, Mr. Wange, what do you think?

Du Ming, the Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, and others all looked at Wan An. Although the outside world has always called Wan An Paper Pavilion Elder, how could this chief minister who had been in the court for more than ten years really be an ordinary person.

I think Li Shangshu is right! This salt law must be understood and everyone should be treated equally. This gap should not be opened again. Restoring the salt tax is the first priority! Wan An is not a person who likes to express himself, but facing Zhu Youtang All inquiries will be answered attentively.

When Zhu Youtang saw Wan An's statement, he decided directly: In that case, as requested by Li Shangshu, we will stop the royal palace salt and the imperial official salt, and restore the salt tax as the first priority!

Your Majesty is wise! When seeing Zhu Youtang make his decision, even Xu Qiong, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, expressed his support.

The eight of them are here just to make suggestions, but the final decision is still made by the emperor, not to mention that the emperor's decision is so wise and powerful.

Zhu Youtang knew that he still had to rely on himself for many things, so he told Li Si: Li Qing, clear up the long-standing issues and go back to the Ministry of Household Affairs to hold a ministry meeting and try to come up with a plan tomorrow. We will be here then. Let’s discuss again!”

I accept the decree! Li Si secretly rejoiced when he saw that his proposal just now was taken seriously.

Du Ming, the Minister of Punishment, and others exchanged silent glances, but they knew that they were now at the core of power, and now they were almost equal to Mr. Zhun Ge.

Zhu Youtang picked up the memorial sent back by Liu Jin, and then picked up Wang Yue's memorial and said: The corruption case in Yangzhou is unheard of! It's just that Wang Yue claimed in the memorial that important officials of the court were involved behind the case, so Please let me investigate more closely, what do you think?

As soon as these words came out, Wan An and Liu Ji couldn't help exchanging glances, and then sat there calmly.

Your Majesty, if we have obtained clues, Wang Yue will continue to pursue the case! No matter who is involved, they should be severely punished and must not be tolerated! Du Ming, the Minister of Punishment, expressed his position with murderous intent.

Yes, if there is someone behind this case, we should investigate it to the end! He Cong, the left minister of the Ministry of War, did not get any benefits at all, and he also strongly supported it.

Your Majesty, we should be cautious about this matter! If there is definite evidence, we will be severely punished. However, if there is no evidence and a strict investigation is carried out, it may cause panic among all the officials in the capital, which will not be conducive to governance! Li Yu, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, considered stability, but He stood up and took a stand.

What Li Shangshu said is true! Today's Yangzhou City matter has been widely implicated. Once the court conducts a strict investigation again, it will be difficult for hundreds of officials to serve, which is not conducive to governance. Of course, this case cannot be dismissed hastily. Wang Yue can keep it confidential on his own Investigate, if there is solid evidence, we can eliminate it! Liu Ji turned his head and glanced at Wan An, then stood up and expressed his stance.

Zhu Youtang saw the reactions of the courtiers present, but he knew that if such a case occurred in Yangzhou, it must be related to the important ministers in the court.

For example, the fact that the Salt Inspector of the Lianghuai River was dragged into the water in such a short period of time has proved that the power of the court was helping, otherwise a Lianghuai Transport Envoy would not have such great energy.

It's just that it's really not appropriate to conduct a rigorous investigation. It's not that he wants to be lenient to these officials, but he already knows the faces of such officials. If we really want to carry out a strict investigation, how many people in this capital can be saved? Maybe half of the officials in front of them will be dragged away.

Zhu Youtang was not a perfectionist, so he made a clear statement: In this case, it is not appropriate to go to war on this matter, so let Wang Yue continue to investigate closely!

Your Majesty, Your Majesty! Wan An and the others sighed secretly and bowed their hands in a polite manner.

Zhu Youtang picked up the tea cup brought by Liu Jin and mentioned another matter: Dear ladies, do you know why I want to plant more cotton in this year's farming gift?

I dare not presume to judge the Holy Heart! Jia Jun, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, who was wearing a first-grade official uniform, hesitated for a moment and then expressed his position.

Zhu Youtang held the tea lid and poured the hot tea lightly, and said calmly to all the officials present: Don't be careless here!

I... No!

Xu Qiong, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, glanced blankly at Jia Jun, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, and then turned to look at Zhu Youtang who was sitting on the dragon chair. He couldn't help but secretly scream in his heart.

At that time, Zhu Youtang ordered to plant more cotton, so he naturally obeyed the instructions, but he did not dare to ask more questions. He simply could not guess Zhu Youtang's intention.

In my humble opinion, Your Majesty wants to promote cotton cloth! Jia Jun, Minister of Industry, had been trying to figure out the Holy Heart, and immediately expressed his guess.

Officials such as Li Si, the Minister of Household Affairs, had some guesses, but they did not want to be 100% sure, so they turned to look at Zhu Youtang curiously.

Zhu Youtang took a sip of tea and nodded with the banner of justice: That's right! During the cold winter last year, I heard that people in the capital froze to death, but people everywhere lacked things to keep out the cold, and many people froze to death! I can't bear the cold winter this year. When I come back, many of the people under my rule froze to death, so I want to choose a place to plant cotton to increase the production of cotton cloth!

Your Majesty, cotton is easy to come by, but weavers are hard to find! It takes several years for a skilled weaver to start working, and it is easy to miss farm work when weaving. A piece of cloth takes more than ten days. This cotton is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and it is really poor. The house can be worn! Li Si, the Minister of Household Affairs, was moved by Zhu Youtang's love for the people, but he still pointed out the crux of it.

After all, cotton cloth cannot be produced by just drawing and writing, but it requires weavers to work day and night to finally weave one piece. It's just that the weavers don't leave it to themselves, and the poor naturally can't afford it.

Liu Ji and others nodded secretly. It was impossible to give away the cloth that someone spent half a month weaving for free. This man-hour was added to the cost of the cotton cloth, making it something that poor people could not afford.

Zhu Youtang naturally understood this economic principle, so he nodded gently and said: I know that expanding cotton production is only the first step. Next, we have to consider how to benefit the cotton industry so that the cloth industry can prosper? Until The price of cotton has dropped, allowing people to buy cheap cotton, and poor people can have clothes to wear!

When he was a financial researcher, he already knew that if he wanted to develop an emerging industry, one person or a company often had limited power, and the best way was to provide national policy support.

Only when the state vigorously supports emerging industries can it attract industrial funds and talents to enter, thereby continuously overcoming technical difficulties, and ultimately leading to cost reductions.

Take photovoltaic power generation as an example. The initial power generation cost was several cents per unit of electricity generated. However, after several years of continuous government subsidies and support, the cost of power generation fell below that of thermal power generation.

Without the initial state support, profit-seeking capital would not have been able to intervene. Naturally, there would have been no subsequent technological upgrades, and the cost reduction compared to thermal power might never have occurred.

Now if you want to make the price of cotton cloth fall, according to simple economics, you only need to increase production. If you just want cotton to plummet, you need to encourage technological upgrades to improve production efficiency and reduce production costs.

In the original historical trajectory, it was not until the emergence of the pedal reel that the production efficiency of Ming Dynasty cotton cloth was greatly improved.

Your Majesty, I am stupid, how can this cotton become cheaper and cheaper? Xu Ming, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, couldn't turn his head around and said in confusion.

Zhu Youtang knew that others might be confused as well. Each of the Four Books and Five Classics could speak clearly and logically, but this economic principle was indeed too difficult for them.

Of course, it cannot be said that these important ministers are not smart, but that they are caused by traditional concepts. They have always despised business, so how can they seriously study it?

Zhu Youtang gently put down the tea cup in his hand, immediately turned to look at Wan An on the left and asked, Mr. Wange!

Old minister is here! Wan An looked at Zhu Youtang without knowing why, and immediately responded respectfully.

Zhu Youtang picked up a book on the table and asked Wan An seriously: I heard that you have studied history books very deeply. Do you know how much ordinary books cost in the Tang Dynasty?

The Prime Minister Yuan Zai of the Tang Dynasty mentioned in his memorials that one volume of a book can be purchased for a thousand dollars, but a five-volume book costs a total of 5,000 dollars! Wan An thought for a moment and gave an authentic answer.

Du Ming, the Minister of Punishment, and other officials didn't know why Zhu Youtang suddenly touched the books, and they looked at Zhu Youtang in confusion.

Zhu Youtang smiled slightly and asked: Where is Song Dynasty?

I remember that there are historical records that a volume ranges from dozens to a hundred words! Wan An thought for a moment and gave an authentic answer.

Zhu Youtang put down the book in his hand and asked very seriously: Why?

On the one hand, there are many people who are literate, and on the other hand, movable printing has been used, so the price is less than one-tenth of what it was in the Tang Dynasty! Wan An thought for a while, then expressed his feelings.

Du Ming, the Minister of Punishment, and other officials learned that the prices of books were so different. Thinking of the cotton cloth Zhu Youtang just mentioned, they couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

If the price of books is not static, then the price of cotton cloth is naturally not static. If the price of cotton cloth can really fall, it will be a great thing for the people.

Compared with those in power who only care about government administration and education, if they can really bring down the price of cotton, this will indeed be a truly benevolent government.

I occasionally go to the Drum Tower to buy books. Nowadays, a volume only costs tens of pennies, which is many times cheaper than in the Tang Dynasty! Now it seems that cotton cloth may not become cheaper and cheaper! Liu Ji looked enlightened. said.

Zhu Youtang met everyone's gaze and spoke eloquently: Because there are so many people engaged in it and movable type printing technology has emerged, the price of books has been falling repeatedly! I think that if we can find ways to improve the production efficiency of looms, we can encourage more If more workshops are engaged in the cotton industry, things can be done! Today, one piece of cotton cloth costs more than one yuan. If we can reduce the price of each piece of cotton cloth to 50%, then the people will be able to wear more clothes! I am planting more cotton as a gift for farming. I want to promote the cultivation of cotton to the world, starting from the yield of raw materials! In order to increase the enthusiasm of the people, our court thinks that we can choose some areas. Those who grow cotton will not be taxed thirty to one, but will be taxed one hundred. This way, we can Let’s increase cotton production!”

Your Majesty, this is so detrimental to the court's tax revenue! Xu Qiong, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, sighed secretly and immediately pointed out the harm.

Zhu You met the eyes of the important ministers present and showed his attitude: My dear friends, we have to plan for a hundred years, and we will not fight for the gains of one day and one night! When I was in the Qing Palace, I had already learned: Every tree is worth a gain. , a grain; a tree that yields ten harvests is a tree; a tree that yields a hundred harvests is a human being. If we can sacrifice a small profit and get the people to be able to afford cotton-padded clothes, what will be more than a hundred harvests? I and you all have this long-term plan today, I thought I could enter the annals of history!”

Naturally, there is no concept of policy support in this era. Since we govern this country ourselves, we cannot be influenced by this traditional concept.

Not to mention that the development of the cloth industry can indeed enable the people to have clothes to wear, and if he wants to embark on the road of truly strengthening the army, he cannot do without the support of foreign exchange earnings from the textile industry.

Whether it is to break traditional concepts or to bring new concepts of governance, this industrial support is undoubtedly the best way to revitalize China at the moment.