Zhao Ce glanced at Mr. Zhu who was looking at him curiously.

"The affairs of the court are more related to the royal family. How many of us can we discuss it?"

Zhu Houzhao said nonchalantly: "What are you afraid of?"

"I will definitely not betray you, and neither will my father."

"You can just say so."

Zhao Ce gave him a funny look.

He also said that he would not betray himself. It was obvious that he told his father everything he said that day.

Otherwise, Mr. Zhu wouldn’t have come here just to get some food, right?

But Zhao Ce doesn't care about this.

Telling this to Mr. Zhu has the purpose of letting them know.

Discussing political affairs in front of His Majesty today still concerns the royal family of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhao Ce asked this mainly to seek Master Zhu's consent.

Emperor Hongzhi nodded and said, "That's what my son said."

"Don't worry, Uncle Yongxi. My servants will stay nearby and no one else will hear you."

"Today we are just talking casually. It will come out of your mouth and into the ears of our father and son. No one else will know."

In fact, Emperor Hongzhi was also very curious.

Of course he knew that there were many shortcomings in what Zhu Houzhao said.

But it was just put forward this morning, so it can't be perfected all at once.

He has already told the people below him to hand over a complete charter to him.

I came here in person today because I wanted to hear if Zhao Ce had any other opinions.

After Zhao Ce got the promise, he said: "I am not talented. If what I said is wrong, please don't blame me."

"If I guess correctly, the number of people in the Ming clan today has grown to a point where the imperial court has to pay attention to it."

"According to Mr. Zhu, only one port will be temporarily opened when the sea opens. How many people can go with the ship at once?"

"The royal relatives of the Ming Dynasty cannot be sailors or coolies."

"The money earned from overseas trade can indeed relieve the imperial court from a certain amount of pressure on the clan's salary."

"However, this treats the symptoms rather than the root cause."

Zhu Houzhao sat upright and listened carefully to Zhao Ce's words.

He suddenly realized: "You are right!"

"Nowadays, there are hundreds of thousands of imperial relatives in the Ming Dynasty. Only a few dozen people can really contribute to maritime trade."

Zhao Ce nodded: "Opening the sea will undoubtedly gain huge profits in the short term."

"In this way, the dynasty will no longer have the pressure to support the royal family."

"The royal family members are no longer under pressure in life. They are well fed and clothed. Then..."

"I'm afraid that the population of the royal family will also increase dramatically in a short period of time!"

"Tax revenue has not increased much every year. The money gained from maritime trade has temporarily alleviated the pressure on salaries."

"However, the problem of clan population explosion that will follow immediately after there is no pressure will cause the finances to sharply increase financial expenditures."

"in this way......."

"It's an endless loop!"

Zhu Houzhao's eyes widened, he stood up in disbelief and said: "How, how could this happen!"

"I've never thought about this!"

"Yes, King Qingcheng now has 106 sons. He has a lot of money and nothing to do."

"Each of his sons may not have five children, but ten!"

"If I live like this, 106, 1060, 10600..."

The more Zhu Houzhao calculated, the more desperate he became.

He wailed: "Here, no matter how much money I make, I still can't live on!"

The wailing was so loud that even Su Cai'er from over the corner looked over curiously.

Zhao Ce smiled at Su Cai'er and mouthed "It's okay". Su Cai'er also smiled at him.

He lowered his head and continued to do his own thing.

Emperor Hongzhi frowned slightly as he listened to the conversation between his son and Zhao Ce.

He suddenly realized this problem.

As an emperor, you should prepare for a rainy day.

However, these were their royal relatives, and he could not be too ruthless to punish them all at once.

I originally thought that if it was true as Zhao Ce said, high profits could be obtained by briefly opening the sea.

That would alleviate the salary problem of their royal family members.

It was only after Zhao Ce prompted Zhu Houzhao to let it go that he realized the seriousness of the problem.

The consequences of this solution may be more serious!

Zhao Ce glanced at Mr. Zhu with admiration and thought that Mr. Zhu was quite familiar with this quantitative deduction.

Although this quantitative deduction is a bit confusing for many people, I have to say that if it is used well, this is a method that can even deduce the national destiny!

Zhao Ce said: "Master Zhu is right."

"The number of people waiting for salary will only increase. If for a period of time the money earned from maritime trade is not enough to support the salary, the country will be in trouble again."

"So this matter can only temporarily let the country and the dynasty get out of trouble temporarily."

"But we cannot predict the consequences."

Zhu Houzhao frowned and suddenly said: "Since the trade in one port is not enough, how about opening a few more ports?"

"Even as you said, we can expand externally!"

As soon as these words came out, Emperor Hongzhi looked at him with some disapproval.

Zhao Ce shook his head: "If you open a few ports, the consequences will be the same."

"The money earned from going to sea can only be used to support the royal family and clan members. What will the common people do?"

Zhu Houzhao sat back down in his seat a little discouraged.

"I thought that the method His Highness the Crown Prince mentioned today can already be described as brilliant."

"Now after listening to what you said, I realize that it is indeed as Liu Shangshu said, it is too shallow."

Zhao Ce looked at him like this and joked: "It seems that Mr. Zhu has high regard for His Royal Highness?"

Zhu Houzhao glanced at him and then at his father.

Emperor Hongzhi also looked at him and smiled gently at him.

Zhu Houzhao said in a sincere voice: "The current prince... is a very good person."

"I do admire him..."

"Pfft." Emperor Hongzhi clenched his fist, put it under his nose, and covered his mouth.

Zhao Ce also looked at him with a smile.

Zhu Houzhao said shamelessly: "You don't understand His Royal Highness!"

Zhao Ce smiled and said: "His Royal Highness is naturally an extremely wise man."

"Otherwise, we wouldn't have come up with such a two-for-one solution to solve the problem."

Although he was very happy to receive Zhao Ce's praise, Zhu Houzhao felt that it still couldn't work when he thought about the shortcomings Zhao Ce analyzed just now.

He muttered: "But as you said, this method has too many disadvantages."

Zhao Ce said seriously: "I think this method is indeed good, but of course there are disadvantages."

"I feel that if we can add one more method to this matter, it will be a perfect solution."

When Zhu Houzhao heard this, his eyes lit up.

"What can I do? Tell me quickly!"

Emperor Hongzhi also looked at Zhao Ce expectantly.

Zhao Ce thought for a while and said: "There is indeed a way to completely solve this matter."

"That's-"

"The Son of Heaven will be killed in five lifetimes."
Chapter completed!