Chapter 269 Civil servants failed to blackmail: Our emperor has changed
The morning of May 17th.
Three shipping cargo ships arrived at Tianjin Port, delivering 55,600 stones of sugar belonging to the royal family.
The royal transport convoy, which had been waiting at the port for a long time, immediately loaded the sugar into trucks and passed the more than 300-mile-long "Beijing-Tianjin Highway". In just one day and one night, the first batch of 5,000 stones of sugar was transported non-stop.
, and sent it to the capital.
The evening of the 18th.
A rather grand celebration dinner was held in the Forbidden City.
It’s called the ‘White Sugar Banquet’, and the prominent theme is sugar.
There are sweet and sour fish, sweet and sour pork ribs, sweet cakes, sugar drinks, sugar cakes, dried red dates and white sugar cakes, etc. There are hundreds of sugar-related delicacies.
It can be said that sugar freedom has been completely realized.
When modern people see it, they may worry about whether it will lead to diabetes, and they feel very unhealthy.
But for the ancients who ate less sugar, this kind of worry was a luxury worry and something that did not need to be considered at all.
Of course, the royal family of the Ming Dynasty could definitely afford to buy and eat sugar, but Zhu Youjian wanted to be frugal, and he took the lead in eating old grains. The price was still relatively expensive, and he would not buy too much sugar. He really did not achieve the freedom of white sugar.
degree.
Now that overseas royal estates can produce sugar, the freedom of white sugar has finally been realized. From now on, you can eat it however you want without any worries.
I took a nice sip of the Tremella Lotus Seed Soup which was sweet to my heart.
I ate a piece of soft sweet cake.
Zhu Youjian, who was sitting at the top, shook his head and said: "It's a pity that the prince is still studying in Harbor City and can't come here. Otherwise, these delicacies must be his favorite. The No. 1 Prince Manor is also in his name. He
You should be the protagonist and host this banquet."
"Your Majesty, didn't you send someone to deliver twenty kilograms of white sugar from the Prince's Manor to Harbor City? The Prince will be able to taste it soon, but all the white sugar in the world is the same, so he shouldn't be able to taste any difference."
Queen Zhou, who was sitting next to her, said.
"I hope that the prince and the others will return to the capital as soon as possible. I heard that in late June, schools in Xujiazhuang will have a twenty-day summer vacation. Will the prince be able to come back by then?" Zhu You asked.
"Yes, I can come back next month."
Queen Zhou nodded, but shook her head secretly, because Prince Zhu Cixiang would send a telegram every week to introduce his life and study situation at Harbor City No. 1 Primary School, why he played with a certain classmate today, and played with a certain classmate tomorrow.
I got a high score in the exam the day after tomorrow, but I only got sixth place in the class. The top five students were all top students with perfect scores, so I was not in a good mood. Why couldn't I get a perfect score and couldn't surpass them...etc.
The contents of several telegrams shocked Queen Zhou, and she wanted to send someone to take the prince back immediately, thinking that he had been bullied and abused. However, Zhu Cixi quickly called back and said: There is no problem, it is just a trivial matter, there is no need to answer it.
When he went back, he had to know that Xu Jiaguang, who was in the first grade this year, was ridiculed by many classmates because of his name. He couldn't bear to fight back with fists and kicks. As a result, he suffered a big loss and his face was scratched. Even so, it didn't matter.
For a major matter, the teachers each made a big deal and asked them to apologize to each other without disturbing the parents to handle it. Regardless of the status of the parents, their privileges cannot interfere with the campus. Every student here is equal.
It was in this equal atmosphere that Zhu Cixiang made many friends, realized his own shortcomings, and found that there were many smarter and more powerful people in the world than him. Although this was a big blow to him, it drove him to be more successful.
With hard work and humility, you will make greater progress and growth, and don't dare to slack off too much.
He even said that if possible, he hopes to continue studying in Harbor City in the second half of the year.
This made Empress Zhou very happy, but she also missed her even more, so in the second half of the year, she would still ask the prince and the others to come back. After all, their mother was worried about her son traveling thousands of miles away, not to mention they were still so young.
"It's good to come back. After all, Harbor City is someone else's territory. Where can it be better than my own home? In addition, this palace really needs to be repaired. Electric lights, running water and flush toilets should be installed, as well as heating facilities.
Do everything, so that when the prince and others come back, they will say that this is inconvenient and that is inconvenient. This place is not as good as Xujiazhuang and that is not as good as Xujiazhuang. From now on, no one will like to stay at home. Including you, the mother of a country, you have had trouble with me several times and you have always yelled.
Isn’t it also because the life in the palace is not very convenient for you to go to Harbor City to accompany your son?”
Zhu Youjian has decided to carry out a major renovation of the palace. The professional construction team from Xujiazhuang will enter the palace tomorrow and start the renovation. Five nine-story reinforced concrete buildings will be built specifically, and the electrical system will be added.
The lighting system, ceramic tiles and greening, running water and new toilets, as well as the heating system, etc., are very large and are expected to cost more than 5 million silver dollars.
The main purpose is to eliminate the voices in our ears that praise Xujiazhuang every day.
"Your Majesty, what I said was nothing but angry words."
Queen Zhou blushed at what he said, and then she became happy again. His Majesty finally figured it out. When the major renovation of the palace is completed, and the living conditions are as convenient as those in Harbor City, then she really has nothing to say, and she will definitely not come back.
Talk about Xujiazhuang.
…
The sugar feast is over.
the next day.
All the well-informed civil and military ministers and nobles in the court knew about it.
I know His Majesty the Emperor is going to get rich again!
A large amount of white sugar has been sent to the warehouse under the royal family's name, and the amount is no less than several thousand dan.
Combined with the information collected from other sources, it should be that the royal sugar cane estate on the island of Taiwan has achieved a bumper harvest. Even though such a small estate has only 10,000 acres of sugarcane fields, it cannot compare to the large sugar cane estate in Xujiazhuang.
But after the harvest is obtained, there is no problem in getting 40,000 to 50,000 shi of sugar.
Multiplied by the number of royal sugar cane estates.
Thinking about the current price of sugar in Beijing, which is 180 Wen/jin, if all the sugar worth about 300,000 shi were sold at this price...
Get rich!
His Majesty, who had made a fortune of 20 million yuan by relying on Lu Xiangsheng, a treacherous jester, who turned into a sharp blade and ruthlessly exploited the ministers of the court, was about to make another fortune.
Thinking that His Majesty is so rich, these loyal and virtuous ministers are so poor and poor.
The afternoon of the 19th.
Wen Tiren, Zhang Zhifa, Huang Shijun, Kong Zhenyun and other cabinet elders, together with the Minister of War Yang Sichang, the new Minister of Household Affairs Cheng Guoxiang, the Minister of Industry Liu Zunning and other important ministers, made full preparations in advance and came hand in hand to ask for an audience with the emperor. They all secretly swore that they would never
Don't come home empty-handed.
There were so many important ministers asking to see them, and even though Zhu Youjian knew their purpose of coming, it was impossible to refuse them.
I could only summon them in Dongnuan Pavilion.
After all the ministers took their seats.
"Your Majesty's face has been glowing recently, and his complexion is good. Unlike the old minister, who often can't sleep at night, his food and drinks are tasteless, and he has lost a lot of weight." Wen Tiren, the first assistant, said.
"Tea and rice are tasteless, so eat more meat and nutritious food. My palace bought some sugar yesterday, so I will give you twenty kilograms as a reward, so you can replenish your body."
Zhu Youjian said, not answering his questions at all, not asking him why he couldn't sleep at night or what he was worried about.
"...Thank you, Your Majesty." Wen Tiren felt choked and could only express his thanks.
"I heard that there was a sugar banquet held in the palace last night. I wonder if this is the case?" Zhang Zhi, the second assistant, asked.
"It's just an ordinary family dinner. It doesn't cost much. It's a little celebration. Is there a problem with that?"
"Your Majesty, I like sweet things. I long for such a grand banquet. I wonder if you can hold another banquet for me and other ministers to show the kindness of the king and his ministers to have fun together?" Zhang Zhifa said.
"No need to go to such trouble, I will also give you twenty kilograms of sugar. Wouldn't it be more beautiful to hold a sugar banquet at home when you return and have fun with your family? I am in a good mood today. Since you are all here to congratulate me,
Let's give each person twenty kilograms of sugar, lest anyone slander me and favor one over the other." Zhu Youjian said with a generous look.
The ministers who heard this could not help but twitch the corners of their mouths.
"Your Majesty! We are not here to congratulate you today, but we have something important to do. I beg your Majesty to allocate money and food to deal with it."
Yang Sichang, the Minister of the Ministry of War, could not sit still and stood up and said: "This year, the drought continues in the north. The Ye Fushou dispatched from the border towns of Xuanhua and Datong discovered that the nearly 100,000 troops of Mongolia's Chahar Lindan Khan were migrating southward and approaching the Great Wall.
There are signs of an invasion of the Ming Dynasty. I beg your Majesty to allocate two million in money and food, mobilize 100,000 troops and horses for support, and repel the Chahar tribe to prevent them from breaking through and invading the Datong people."
"Lin Dan Khan died of illness last year, and his son Ezhe is cowardly. But our Nine-Border Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty has been repaired in the past two years, and many places have been reinforced with cement. In addition, we have enough food and wages, and we have 30,000 elites trained by Hong Chengchou at any time.
How can Ezhe have the guts to invade? He must have come to ask for annexation, hoping to be accepted by the Ming Dynasty. He refused directly and just gave him some food. If he dared to send troops to invade, he would fight back with all his strength and destroy the Chahar tribe!
"Zhu Youjian said.
"But the strength of the Datong and Xuanhua border troops is still insufficient. If they cannot be supplemented by money and food, they may not be able to withstand it."
"I will give you three hundred thousand shi of food."
Zhu Youjian thought for a while and said: "If we can successfully defeat the Chahar tribe, I will reward another 300,000 dan of grain. If there is more, it will be gone."
"This is not enough."
Yang Sichang was helpless. How much money was the current food worth? Moreover, what the emperor brought out would definitely be old food that tasted bad, not even worth 0.5 silver yuan/stone. Even the other half of the reward could only be obtained after the war was won.
,What should I do if I fail to win?
Regarding this problem, Zhu Youjian said that he would send the Royal New Army to deal with it. At worst, let Lu Xiangsheng be the commander-in-chief, and given a budget of 1 million silver dollars, the Chahar Department would definitely be solved.
Yang Sichang had nothing to say.
Then Cheng Guoxiang, the Minister of Revenue, stood up and reported that there were severe floods in some areas in the south this year, and at least 5 million yuan of grain was needed for relief.
"Any area that has suffered from severe floods will be exempted from taxes for three years, and then borrow some money and food from surrounding states and counties, and return it after three years. If it is really unable to pay back, then the taxes of those supporting states and counties will be exempted for one or two years.
, let these states and counties help each other, and I can waive taxes and taxes if I can, it is better than having to adjust grains thousands of miles away."
"But the surrounding states and counties are also very nervous. They cannot provide money or food for the secondment, so we can only rely on His Majesty's support." Cheng Guoxiang said.
“Isn’t tax exemption called support?”
"What is exempted is only future taxes, but it cannot solve the current difficulties."
"Then let the disaster-stricken people seek refuge with relatives and friends, immigrate to other places, or go overseas to colonize. There are many options for survival. There is no need to stay in the disaster area and wait. The way to survive is to find your own way!"
"this……"
Let the people in the disaster area save themselves, are these words coming from the mouth of a holy king?
Cheng Guoxiang complained in his heart and had no choice but to retreat.
Finally, Liu Zunning, the Minister of Industry, stood up and said that the armor factory and gun factory established by the Ministry of Industry have recently formed mass production capabilities, and tens of thousands of craftsmen have been recruited, but the latest Shenwei cannon costs 8,000 silver dollars each.
The Ministry of Industry plans to manufacture 500 guns, as well as flintlock Rumi guns copied from the Rumi Kingdom (i.e. the Ottoman Empire). The craftsmen of the Gun Factory of the Ministry of Industry have overcome all technical difficulties and are powerful and reliable.
With the advantages and the ability to mass-produce, the Ministry of Industry plans to mass-produce 100,000 pieces, and the cost of each piece is about thirty silver dollars.
That is to say, a total of seven million silver dollars is needed to mass-produce so many guns and weapons.
Face this normal and reasonable request.
Zhu Youjian said: "The Ministry of Industry will first produce these guns. Each cannon and each gun will pass the target shooting. After passing the inspection and acceptance, I will pay you the money."
Liu Zunning was surprised: "Your Majesty, if you don't allocate funds to the Ministry of Works first, how can the Ministry of Works possibly build guns?"
"If you don't make guns of high quality, how can I give you money?" Zhu You asked.
"We can really make qualified weapons, but we need His Majesty to allocate funds first, otherwise we won't even be able to start construction."
"Then you think of a way to start work first, build the first Lumi gun, the first divine cannon, and place them in front of my new army. I will pay immediately on delivery. The Ministry of Industry will not be so poor that they can't even shoot a single shot."
You can’t even make a gun, can you?”
"Your Majesty, there are tens of thousands of people in the Ministry of Industry, and they have to consume tens of thousands of taels every day. When purchasing materials, it is impossible to buy only a small amount at a time, but to purchase in large quantities in order to get preferential prices... You require guns and guns first, and then you pay.
The Ministry of Industry really can’t do it.”
"If you can't do it, forget it. At worst, you can go to the military factory in Xujiazhuang to purchase it. They have countless ready-made items and the price is even cheaper."
"this……"
Liu Zunning felt like he was arguing about the classic question of 'which came first, the chicken or the egg'. In the end, he lost the argument and thought that the chicken came first. The emperor asked him to bring out the eggs, even just one.
.
Lost.
In the end, all the ministers left Dongnuang Pavilion in despair. This blackmail operation ended in complete failure. Except for 300,000 stones of old grain, almost nothing was harvested. Even the very useful magic weapon produced by the Ministry of Industry had to be harvested.
Cash on delivery, unwilling to invest large amounts of money.
Even Emperor Zhu Youjian wanted to harvest their wool and placed an advertisement in front of them, saying that the royal family had recently purchased a batch of high-quality white sugar. If they needed it, they could buy it at a wholesale price of 150 Wen/jin. After all, they were behind
There are more or less merchants serving them, and there are many stores. They will definitely be able to wholesale a lot of such cheap sugar - which is why the ministers left in despair.
On the way out of the palace.
Zhang Zhifa couldn't help but sigh: "He has changed. Our Majesty has changed. He is no longer the sage king he used to be. He has become more and more like Emperor Shenzong."
"In terms of shrewdness and stinginess, I'm afraid even Emperor Shenzong is not as good as this one." Huang Shijun shook his head repeatedly.
"The foolish king, the foolish king, since the failure of the food war last year, he has changed from a wise king to a foolish king."
"Maybe in the future we will no longer deal with an emperor, but with a businessman."
"Hey! How can the Ming Dynasty get better if this continues? Is it possible that we have to start thinking of ways to find and train a new Mingjun again?" The minister thought to himself.