Author: Taixu Laodao

"When the country is in trouble, it is also difficult to take care of the family. The country and the family are the same."

Jiajing sighed, and suddenly turned his attention to Yan Shifan, who was nearly fifty years old.

Mr. Xiao Ge's eyes dodge slightly, not daring to look at each other.

As for what he is thinking about now, you can't tell from his expression.

Undoubtedly, Yan Shifan was a political master of the Ming Dynasty and a born political animal. He was actually the roundworm in the belly of Emperor Jiajing. He understood Emperor Jiajing better than Jiajing. Yan Shifan was not only a master of politics, but also the brains of his father, Yan Song, the chief minister of the Ming Dynasty.

.

There is a saying that goes, "You can live up to your talent and never open your arms in your entire life."

This sentence is quite appropriate to apply to Yan Shifan.

The greatest genius of the Ming Dynasty, the shadow of a famous tree should not be underestimated.

It's a pity, it's too greedy.

But now they want to use him to make money, Yan Dang can't help it, and Qingliu won't build a small treasury for himself.

If you don’t have a small treasury, you can support Wang Chongyang in his fight against gold.

Jiajing sneered: "Yan Shifan, Gao Gong just said that you married the ninth wife yesterday. What happened?"

Yan Shifan was a little startled and knelt down: "When I return, I will send my wife back to my parents' home."

For a moment, the atmosphere became solemn again, and the eunuch Chen Hong grinned even more. He could only hear the "tick-tick" sound of water leaking in the hall, which was particularly clear.

a long time!

"Only a good man marries nine wives!"

As soon as he said these words, Gao Gong, the minister of household affairs, was immediately stunned.

Jiajing smiled but said: "What should I do if I send you back? Or stay here, as long as you focus more on the affairs of the court (me). Get up!"

"Yes." Yan Shifan's voice was so quiet that only he could hear it.

Jiajing secretly felt happy after knowing the little Ge Lao, "Last year has passed, what will we do this year? We have to quarrel when we should. Ge Lao, you are the chief minister, the head of the cabinet, what are your plans?"

After paving the streets with stones, Jiajing brought the conversation to the main topic.

Make money! Make money! Still make money!

"Being a master is nothing more than reducing expenditure and increasing revenue."

Yan Song talked eloquently about the so-called "reducing expenditures", which is exactly what Zhang Juzheng said just now: "Everything is done in advance, and failure in advance will lead to failure." He took Yunnan and Guizhou as an example.

It is said that if a road had been opened in the deep mountains and old forests of Yunnan and Guizhou more than ten years ago, millions of taels of lumber would have been saved last year.

Saying it means not saying it.

The most important thing is open source.

How to open source? Jiajing naturally has many ideas in mind.

Although Qingliu is not a good bird, it really takes them to accomplish this.

Open the sea!

Across the sea there are mountains of gold and silver.

"Zhang Juzheng."

Jiajing suddenly called Zhang Juzheng's name.

This big shot was known as a child prodigy when he was a child, and now in his thirties, he has a long and beautiful beard.

According to unofficial history, he also had an affair with his daughter-in-law, Wanli's mother... For the sake of extending the life of the Ming Dynasty for decades, Jiajing was not prepared to argue with him about this matter.

Zhang Juzheng immediately raised his head, waved his beautiful beard slightly, and replied: "I am here."

"I just listened to your calculation inside and it was very thorough! You said that as long as the trade routes on the sea are open and the Ming Dynasty's merchant ships can transport goods to Persia and India, more than 10 million taels of silver can be released every year. I think

Let me talk about this idea."

"yes."

Zhang Juzheng was obviously a little excited, but he tried his best to calm down: "Actually, this is not my idea. Starting from the third year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizong Wen ordered Zheng He to lead a fleet to the Western Ocean, seven times before and after, and trade goods were transported far and wide. Until Jiajing

For more than ten years, maritime trade has remained frequent."

"Later, due to Japanese pirate riots, the sea was unstable and business was hindered. When I was at the Ministry of War, I also looked at it from the perspective of the Ministry of War. I thought that we should increase military pay for Fujian and Zhejiang, and let Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou recruit troops, build warships, and then take the initiative to attack.

Wipe out the Japanese pirates and reopen the way for merchants on the sea."

Suddenly, Yan Song interrupted Zhang Juzheng, took over the conversation, and said shamelessly and smoothly: "Zhang Juzheng discussed this idea with me."

Xu Jie and Gao Gong immediately looked at Zhang Juzheng subconsciously.

Zhang Juzheng was stunned at first, and then shook his head gently as if confessing his love to Xu Jie and Gao Gong, to show that he had not had any discussions with Yan Song.

Yan Song lightly fired his gun and then continued: "As long as the road for merchants on the sea is smooth, the next step is to transport something. For example, silk from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, a piece of high-quality silk can be sold for six taels of silver in the mainland. If sold

In Western countries, it can be sold for more than ten taels of silver. Now there are 10,000 looms in Yingtian and 8,000 looms in Zhejiang. Can we increase the number of looms and produce more silk?"

"You mean changing rice into mulberry?"

The corners of Jiajing's mouth twitched slightly.

"The Emperor's Holy Ming!"

Mr. Yan Ge didn't know that the flattery was on the horse's leg this time, and said with a smile: "Historically, Yingtian's silk has mostly relied on Zhejiang to supply silk. Due to the climate, Zhejiang is suitable for planting mulberry and producing silkworms. What the cabinet wants is to simply let

If half of the existing farmland in Zhejiang is converted into mulberry fields, more than 10 million taels of silk can be produced a year, which means that an additional 200,000 pieces of silk can be produced."

Jiajing lowered his eyes and said gloomily: "The farmland has been transformed into mulberry fields. Do the people of Zhejiang eat dirt?"

Yan Song heard the strange mood of Emperor Jiajing and quickly replied: "Allocate from other provinces. In the past, other provinces would allocate more than one million shi of grain to Zhejiang every year. If there are more mulberry fields, we will allocate more grain."

"Besides, the silk yield per mu of mulberry field is higher than the grain yield per mu of farmland."

Jiajing sneered: "Land annexation, natural and man-made disasters, and Japanese pirate rebellion. If the national policy of converting rice to mulberry is implemented, Zhejiang will be in chaos..."

Changing rice to mulberry is absolutely not something you can do.

I am short of money, and I really want to make money, but changing rice to mulberry is not an option, because he knows the result.

Yan Song was silent for a moment. This was a little different from what he had imagined. He needed to think about it carefully.

At this time, Yan Shifan said: "Your Majesty, there may be a little chaos at first when changing from rice to mulberry, but as long as it lasts for a year, the mulberry farmers will benefit from it. By then, the people of Zhejiang will be rich, and the court will also be rich.

It’s a double win.”

Yan Shifan was very good at harvesting the wealth and wealth of the people.

He was the roundworm in Jiajing's belly and knew what Jiajing wanted.

But the Jiajing now is no longer Jiajing after all.

"Hey! Food is the first priority for the people. Even if the converted mulberry fields are still taxed as farmland, there will still be rice farmers who are unwilling to change rice to mulberry. How will the people below implement it? Is it to destroy the seedlings with horses, enforce the decree, or blow up the river?

The embankment flooded the farmland?"

Jiajing looked at Yan Shifan indifferently.

"Boom!"

Yan Shifan suddenly knelt on the ground: "I think it's too simple."

"Get up!"

Jiajing stared at Yan Song and said: "Changing rice to mulberry is not feasible, but it is feasible. Extending the national policy to five years, or even ten years, can enrich the people and strengthen the country. But water from afar cannot quench the thirst of the near. I will try another way.

"

He knows there is a way to solve the current fiscal crisis.

Yan Song raised his head. He was thinking about something in his cloudy eyes. Finally, he spoke.

"Your Majesty, go south to inspect the salt!"

Carnivorous animals will hunt each other only when there is not enough prey. This is the case with swordsmen and salt patrols.

Mr. Yan Ge is worthy of being Mr. Yan Ge.

Jiajing got a satisfactory answer, got down from his seat, and said: "That's all we can do for the time being. But open source still needs to be opened, no... it should be said to open the sea. Westerners can come to the East from far away, and we must also go out.

. How to get started? The cabinet will go back and discuss a strategy in detail, and then send an urgent delivery to Hu Zongxian. The affairs in the southeast must be handled by Hu Zongxian."

Yan Song and Lu Fang loudly replied almost simultaneously: "Yes."

Jiajing seemed to be very excited. When he reached the palace door, he stretched out his hand to open the palace door. The two eunuchs, Chief Li and Superintendent of Ceremonies, hurriedly ran over and opened the palace door.

A gust of snowy wind blew in, and the sleeves of Jiajing's broad robe immediately floated back.

"Ouch! My master, be careful of catching a cold!" Lu Fang hurried over and was about to close the door.

"I'm not as delicate as you."

Jiajing raised his hand to stop Lu Fang.

Snow is falling heavily outside the palace gate, and the lanterns hanging all over the place are dotted red and bright in the snow curtain, creating an auspicious scene.
Chapter completed!