Four hundred and fiftieth chapters a stroke of the pen
Several people wrote down everything Zhu Biao said and agreed in unison. There was nothing they could do if they refused. His Highness the Crown Prince seemed to know his stuff.
Several people were about to bow away when Zhu Yuanzhang, who had been silent just now, suddenly said: "The Ministry of Rites should start preparing for the prince's concubine. The Korean people have been urging it for half a year, and Li Shanchang is also here.
It was done a year ago, and we will prepare for the second and third children next year.”
The Minister of Rites accepted the promise, and Zhu Biao didn't say anything when he saw this. Although he originally wanted to wait until Chang Luohua gave birth before taking a concubine, the ones he had originally decided on had indeed been delayed for too long, just like the Goryeo Dynasty.
The princess has been waiting in the capital for seven or eight months."
The wedding officials in Korea were almost crazy with anxiety. They went to the Ministry of Etiquette to make a fuss almost every day to commemorate Zhu Yuanzhang. They were so panicked that they were afraid that their princess' engagement would be annulled and she would not be able to explain it to the King of Korea when she returned home.
After everyone left, the father and son put down their work in a tacit understanding and called the eunuch to pass the meal. It was already noon. If they didn't pass the meal, Queen Ma would come and watch them eat in person.
The eunuchs serving in the Jinshen Palace were relieved when they saw this. They did not dare to go up to antagonize His Majesty and His Highness when they were handling government affairs, but if they starved these two, they would not be able to escape punishment as slaves.
After a while, four dishes and one soup were served on the table. Zhu Biao glanced at the crowds of palace maids and eunuchs in the room and waved his hands. They all left, leaving only Liu Jin to serve the dishes.
After the father and son took a few bites at the table, Zhu Yuanzhang said: "If you want to issue banknotes, your little silver is not enough to make a reserve. It would be almost enough if you have hundreds of thousands more taels."
Zhu Biao took a mouthful of bird's nest red and white duck and said: "It's not enough, but the issuance of banknotes will have to happen next year. I just have to find a way to save some during this period."
Whether it is a perfect banknote system or the anti-counterfeiting work of banknotes, it takes a long time, and there are many things that can be done during this period.
What's more, the salt, iron, tea, minerals and porcelain in the hands of the imperial court are not a huge profit business. They are far more valuable than anything else, not to mention salt and iron, which are all in short supply.
The allure of tea alone to northern Mongolia was terrifying. Every year, the court had to kill a group of people who secretly sold tea to Mongolia. There must be nearly a thousand people.
In the early years of Hongwu, his father had issued an order that people could not store tea for more than a month, and anyone found to have private tea leaving the country or not inspecting the passes would be executed without delay!
There are still those who have been caught, but there are even more who have not been caught. Officials, merchants, and border troops are all involved. This is a crime of beheading. There are still people who follow, so you can imagine how big the benefits are.
In fact, there was no shortage of tea in the Ming Dynasty. The tea planting area in Hanzhong, Jinzhou, Shiquan, Hanyin, Pingli, and Xixiang counties alone has reached 45 hectares of tea gardens and more than 860,000 tea plants.
Not to mention the newly recovered Bashu land, where the tea production is even greater. The imperial court has now set a tea tax of one out of every ten tea trees. For unowned tea gardens, the sergeants are ordered to pick eight out of ten tea trees.
In one year, the imperial court collects tens of millions of kilograms of tea from taxes. Naturally, it cannot be said that rare things are more valuable. What's more, unlike salt, tea is not something that is necessary for people's daily life. Even if it is not available, it can be obtained through other means.
something to replace.
This scarcity is not that scarcity. What Comrade Lao Zhu mainly cares about is not the economic value of tea, but the added value, or strategic value, that tea can bring to the Ming Dynasty.
Although there was no shortage of tea in the Ming Dynasty, the Mongolians in the north and the Jurchens in the northeast did not lack tea. Facts have proved that they were not only short of tea, but also had a huge demand for tea.
They all eat meat and milk as their staple food. Nomads lack vegetables, fruits and other foods, so they have problems such as greasy, hot and difficult to digest.
According to the records of the Ministry of Rites, during the Yuan Dynasty, people in Mongolia who went without tea for a day would suffer from a weak heart, dizziness, poor food and sleepless nights.
This may be an exaggeration, but we can also see the importance of tea to the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. Now that they have lost the tea supplied by the Central Plains, Zhu Yuanzhang strictly prohibited the officials and people from selling tea privately.
This led to the scarcity of tea in Mongolia, and they could only exchange precious horses, cattle and sheep for tea. It all depended on Zhu Yuanzhang's mood. If he was happy, he would sell you more, but if he was unhappy, he would cut you off for two or three months.
Zhu Biao put down his chopsticks after eating eight minutes full and said, "Father, I remember that because of the incident with Yesudier, the imperial court has blocked trade in the north for several months, right?"
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he glanced at him and nodded: "It's been half a year. Only the Tianbaonu side still has some trade. The rest of the Oara and Tatar Mongolian tribes have been blocked."
Zhu Biao laughed when he heard this and said: "That's not a coincidence. I plan to use salt tea to search for their gold and silver treasures. When they withdrew from the Central Plains, they took away many good things. I didn't know how many good things I brought here last time."
I’m afraid it’s just a drop in the bucket.”
"For example, the gold and silver reserves that Emperor Yuan Shun took away from Dadu for the restoration of the country were not found after several rounds of raids by his ministers after they raided Xanadu."
After Zhu Biao forced the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty to death, he seized many rare treasures, but now that he thinks about it, there are indeed too many treasures missing. I don't know if it was because of the three burrows of a cunning rabbit or because he had given them to various kings to appease them not to rebel.
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "Everyone has abandoned his country and fled. If he is not appeased with large sums of money, who can continue to support him? Now I think it is all scattered among the Tatar kings."
Zhu Biao sighed regretfully. In order to resolve the war as soon as possible, he ordered his generals not to occupy the property of the Mongolian princes. After all, compared with the yellow and white things at that time, appeasing the Mongolian kings to submit to the Ming Dynasty was the first priority.
It's a pity to think about it now. I should have blackmailed them more if I had known, but it's not too late now. Mongolia is now trapped in the grassland. The gold and silver in their hands are no different from scrap copper and iron. They can only spend it on trade with the Ming Dynasty.
Mongolia has long ceased to be a huge empire that dominated the great Eurasian trade circle. Now it is just a scattered group of wolves in a corner that is still fighting among themselves. Now they can't even choose a wolf. They are biting each other if they don't agree with each other. There is even one final one.
I'm so weak that I want to be a dog.
"What do you think, father? It's impossible to count on the territory. With just one stroke of your pen, several states have been exempted from tax. If this continues, let alone enough reserves to issue banknotes, I'm afraid you won't even be able to issue banknotes in three years' time."
I can’t even afford the food.”
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he put down his chopsticks in embarrassment and said: "Smelly boy, what should I do if there is no tax exemption? You can't just watch the people rebel without being able to survive."
When Zhu Biao heard this, he also sighed. The common people have cultivated enough land, but natural and man-made disasters are rampant, and corrupt officials are making things difficult for them. If the court does not give them hope, then the princes and generals will really have to cultivate their land.
Meng Yuan still has grasslands to retreat to, but the old Zhu family does not. If the world is really in chaos, I am afraid that if I return to Fengyang, I will die even worse. Now Fengyang has a lot of immigrants, and most of them will hate Emperor Zhu to death for forcing them to leave their hometowns.