With the support of his brothers, Xu Qin became more courageous, put on his official uniform and went out directly.
After walking a few steps, I suddenly saw my father, Xu Huizu, waiting in front.
"father!"
With a smile on his face, Xu Huizu walked up to Xu Qin and patted him on the shoulder, "Don't embarrass our family, straighten your chest and act like a man."
Xu Qin hesitated for a moment, then nodded vigorously, his heart pounding wildly.
Could it be that my father has approved of me?
When he was happy, Xu Huizu said to Xu Jingchang again: "Your brother is still immature, take good care of him."
What I said sounded a bit awkward no matter how I said it.
But Xu Jingchang still nodded happily, "Don't worry, we will definitely win this time."
Xu Huizu smiled happily and said, "Okay, come back victorious."
Is this war?
Xu Qin was startled, but found that Xu Jingchang was already walking in front, so he quickly followed.
When they arrived at the palace, Zhu Di was already waiting here, as were all the officials.
And everyone has a copy of the article written by Xu Qin.
Zhu Di is reading carefully... In fact, it can be seen that this article is in the same vein as Xu Qin's imperial examination article. The palace examination article talks about preventing the loss of wealth, and this article further explains the disadvantages of tribute trade.
"Shocking!"
Zhu Di slowly raised his head and said in a deep voice: "We have wasted people and money, and everyone has suffered from it from top to bottom. Is it necessary to continue doing this kind of thing?"
Is it necessary?
The emperor issued a soul torture, but no one in the room was willing to speak. Jian Yi remained silent and Xia Yuanji lowered his head and pretended to be dead. At this time, he no longer talked about being the head of a hundred officials.
I'm just in charge of the accounts department. You can come to me for anything.
The rest of the people, such as the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Ministry of Works, had nothing to do with this nonsense and were happy to say nothing.
In the end, it fell to Song Li, who made him the Minister of Rites!
"Your Majesty, it is a great blessing to have all nations come to court. It is a great opportunity to show off the country's prestige. Even if it is a bit extravagant, it seems that it cannot be easily banned. If the cost is too large, the vassal country may be ordered to do so.
, once every two years, once every three years? You don’t have to come every year.”
Xu Jingchang listened and couldn't help laughing: "What does Song Shangshu mean? It's not okay to lose one million, but only five hundred thousand?"
It’s Xu Jingchang again!
When Song Li thought about this boy, his head hurt.
"Ding Guogong, foreigners came to visit the court, which has been going on for generations, and it has been like this since the Qin and Han Dynasties. Our country, China, is a country of etiquette. We have always paid attention to friends coming from far away, so why not! How can our country be slow to treat distinguished guests?
"
Xu Jingchang said again: "I don't understand this. It's okay to entertain guests, but it's a waste of people and money, and everyone from top to bottom will lose money. Isn't this too much? What's more, whether they are distinguished guests or unwelcome guests, it is...
It’s hard to say.”
Song Li and Xu Jingchang had fought against each other too many times, and they almost never got any advantage. Fortunately, they were no longer polite.
"Ding Guo Gong, the family and the country are integrated, living at home, with relatives and friends coming and going, it is lively, and outsiders are happy to see it. The country is also like this. Only when people move around and interact with each other can it show the atmosphere of the country. Otherwise, you will just close the door and live on your own.
If you talk to yourself, isn’t that deceiving yourself?”
In a word, going to the country requires face.
"What's more, the situation in the foreign vassal countries is complicated. Emperor Taizu originally decided not to conquer the country. Nowadays, it is a good thing to have more exchanges with other countries, exchange what we have, and give favors to other countries. It is also a good thing for both sides to be harmonious and not to use weapons. I admit it.
, the rewards from the kingdom are a bit richer, but this is also necessary to win people's hearts. Isn't it a good thing to spend a little money to avoid war? "
What Song Li said was almost the best he had ever said since his confrontation with Xu Jingchang.
In terms of truth, the sage once said that friends come from far away, so it is not true.
We should treat distant guests kindly and show the atmosphere of the Kingdom.
Regarding the ancestral system, Emperor Taizu had a rule not to conquer the country. If he could not fight, he had to make good friends.
Talking about the actual situation, how much military expenditure can be saved by giving some money to appease people's hearts and avoid war?
What is there to question about this kind of moral policy of spending a small amount of money to do big things? If I think it is not good, it is just a lack of brains.
Zhu Di listened patiently and then read Xu Qin's article. Two voices kept ringing in his head. Who is more reasonable?
"Xu Tanhua, you wrote this article, what are your opinions?"
Xu Qin was startled and hurriedly bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I have thought about what Song Shangshu said when I was preparing, but I feel that his words are not worth refuting."
"It's not worth refuting, or I still don't know how to refute it?" Zhu Di asked in a deep voice.
Xu Qin said proudly: "It's not worth refuting! He puts the family and the country together to talk about things, which is just confusing the public. Every family exchanges courtesy and relatives and friends move around. There are rules for how many gifts you give. How can there be a Department of Etiquette?
This is what I did... I have calculated that the largest difference is more than a thousand times! The foreign vassal sent some spices, agarwood, pearls... We gave back 500 pieces of silk, pots and pans, and various utensils.
There are tens of thousands of pieces, as well as ironware, copperware, and hundreds of loads of tea. I really can’t figure out whose relative this is with such a big face?"
Xu Jingchang was listening, secretly happy in his heart. This cousin of his has good fighting ability, come on!
Xu Qin continued: "I still have one thing that I can't figure out. Since the foreign vassal countries admire the scenery of the upper country, they should find ways to buy it instead of praying for alms. Is this a vassal state, or is it a beggar? But the upper country gives back.
Regardless of what you ask for, who is the superior country? Is there still such a truth?"
Song Li said: "Tanhualang only knows one thing but not the other. The vassal country is poor and lacks products. Even if they come to buy it, they can't get the money..."
"Wait a minute." Xu Jingchang frowned and spoke hurriedly, "Song Shangshu, you mentioned poverty overseas again. I remember Guo Zi said the same thing not long ago. Where did you hear that there is no money overseas? Buy
Can’t you afford to buy the country’s products?”
Song Li was shocked and his face quickly turned pale.
broken!
Sure enough, Zhu Di immediately became angry and snorted coldly: "If overseas is poor, barbaric, and has no output, why should I raise the cargo for the fleet to go to the West? I have already said that if you say this, I will go overseas and see it with your own eyes.
See if this is the case, and then report back to me. What you hear is false and what you see is true...Song Shangshu, what do you think?"
Song Li was shocked all over. It was over. He made a mistake and had to stay with Guo Zi.
What a bad luck!
If an old man goes overseas, can he come back?
Song Li had no choice but to kneel down slowly and said, "I obey the imperial edict."
Zhu Di also took a breath and looked at him, "Fortunately, I didn't faint. When you go overseas, pay more attention and look carefully. I will reward you heavily when you come back."
It's not bad. As long as Song Li doesn't have any accidents and can come back with the fleet, he can not only wash away his guilt, but also be reused... But going to the Western Ocean is not as simple as casual talk.
The wind is high and the sea is rough, no one can say whether we can come back.
Zhu Di looked at the ministers again, "It is absolutely undesirable to pay tribute and harm the country and the people. But we have to contact foreign countries. If you have any opinions, please tell us."
Everyone present was still immersed in the shock of Song Li being demoted and could not recover.
And asking them to come up with a model different from paying tribute is really difficult for them.
"Your Majesty, I think I should clarify something," Xu Jingchang said.
"What's up?"
"Even overseas countries need the products of the Ming Dynasty. To what extent... are they dispensable, or are they willing to pay a lot of money to buy them? We should also find out what the prices of the products of the Ming Dynasty are."
After Xu Jingchang finished speaking, he looked at Jian Yi and said with a smile: "Jian Tianguan, do you know?"
Jian Yi frowned. It was hard to tell whether this question was true, "I heard that tea is unique to China. If many foreign vassals do not have tea supplies and cannot drink tea, they will get sick and die in a few months."
Jian Tianguan also heard from hearsay that there are indeed some grassland tribes who rely on beef and mutton as their staple food and need tea to supplement their vitamins. If they don't drink tea for a long time, they will indeed feel uncomfortable... But if you want to die from the disease, then that's it.
However, Xu Jingchang did not want to correct Jian Yi, but continued: "Jian Tianguan, in this case, how much should our tea be sold for? Or how much are foreign barbarian merchants willing to pay to come to Ming Dynasty to buy goods?"
Jian Yi frowned, "It seems that we should ask Xia Shangshu about this matter. He is in charge of the Ministry of Revenue and should know more about it."
When the ball reached Xia Yuanji's feet, Lao Xia secretly scolded Jian Yi for being shameless, but fortunately he and Xu Jingchang had joined forces and knew what was going on.
"Your Majesty, I think that the silks and porcelain produced in the Ming Dynasty are all exquisite. The rich barbarians are all proud of the customs of the country. No matter how expensive they are, they are willing to pay. In the past, we sold the treasures as mud. It is true.
The loss is considerable. I think that in the future, domestic and foreign trade should be separated."
When Zhu Di heard this, he became interested and asked, "How to separate?"
"If the barbarian merchants want to buy, they need to designate a place, which is the Shibo Department. And the price of the Shibo Department must be separate from that in the country. Only in this way can the price be sold at a good price."
Zhu Di nodded repeatedly, "As expected of a financial expert, this is a good suggestion."
After admiring, Zhu Di looked at Xu Qin again and said with a smile: "Tanhua Lang, you have done a good job. Do you think there are any shortcomings in this arrangement?"
Xu Qin was shocked, as if he was inspired by something in the dark, and he mused: "Your Majesty, I just thought that because Confucius said that friends come from afar, it is not surprising that he should treat foreign vassals so generously.
It harms the interests of the Ming Dynasty. From this point of view, even the teachings of Confucius and Mencius may not be able to be used to govern the country!"
Good guy, this Xu Qin is bolder than Xu Jingchang.
To directly attack the teachings of Confucius and Mencius can only be said to be worthy of the Xu family.
All the important ministers present cheered up. They could no longer bear it and must fight back.
But at this moment, Xu Jingchang suddenly said: "Xu Tanhua, I think you haven't read the book well when you say this!"
Xu Qin was horrified, "I would like to hear the details."
Xu Jingchang smiled and said: "Confucius talked about the distinction between Yi and Xia. In this case, can China and Yi be considered friends? If not, how can we have friends from far away?"
Xu Qin suddenly realized, "So, Master has been misunderstood too much."
