Absolute power brings not only corruption but also huge benefits.
What is an emperor?
Ten thousand people, ten thousand answers.
But in the final analysis, the core of power is what everyone acquiesces to.
Xia Chong can't say anything. People who have never been emperors will never know that supreme and charming feeling. The pleasure of controlling thousands of people with just one word impacts the mind of the otaku Zhu Shou all the time.
Zhu Shou has not read a few history books, and he does not even know the famous saying "When the emperor is angry, his blood flows down the river", so don't expect him to become a wise king.
As an otaku, with his inherent sex-shaking attributes, he is destined not to become a tyrant.
There was no predictability in what he did after traveling through time. Most of the time, he was just taking advantage of the situation, sometimes making mistakes, and sometimes going completely off topic.
In any case, standing in the position of the emperor, the otaku saw an unprecedented world: the picturesque country of the Ming Dynasty.
The centralized power system established by Zhu Chongba allowed Zhu Shou's words and deeds to be like a paintbrush, drawing out strong colors in this magnificent landscape.
Just like now, looking at the dozens of representatives of giant businessmen kneeling on the ground, Zhu Shou felt like "the world is in the palm of my hand."
He was not in a hurry to announce his opinion on the "30,000 taels". The emperor's authority told him: If you have to hold back, you can still squeeze out some oil.
Some people may ask, if a first-level agent only has a 2,000-ton material ship, it will cost about 13,000 taels. How can a colored diamond with the right to operate a province be worth only 30,000 taels?
In fact, as mentioned before, a two thousand material ship has absolute freedom of trade on the sea. Using it as the flagship, it can form an ocean-going commercial fleet.
Not to mention ancient times, even in modern times, if there are 50-50 pairs of genuine goods and private goods, it can be regarded as a good conscience, and 19 pairs of 19 pairs is not necessarily a rare thing.
A big boss who can spend 13,000 taels of silver can't handle a small official?
Even if Zhu Shou doesn't understand this, who of the Eight Tigers around him, Li Dongyang, and Jiao Fang in the court are not the top figures of the Ming Dynasty? Naturally, these little tricks can be seen clearly, and the only countermeasures given are
One: Tolerance.
If the water is clear, there will be no fish. Even if smuggling groups can supervise each other and undermine each other, there are some unspoken rules that everyone must abide by. The trick in the agency system is one of them.
It is completely feasible to find tricks in the colored diamond system, but the cost of crime is much higher than that of the first-level agency system.
There will never be a perfect system. This is true both in ancient and modern times.
The cost of crime directly determines the amount of gold nuggets obtained through the colored diamond system, which is not much higher than the first-level agency system. Therefore, thirty thousand taels is already the psychological bottom line for businessmen.
Colored diamonds are also reviewed once a year. This entry price is converted into commercial tax, which is equivalent to a trade volume of 900,000 taels.
How many merchants in the Ming Dynasty could manage nearly one million taels of trade a year?
Even if the businessmen present were all top figures in the Ming Dynasty, if they wanted to reach this amount, they would still have to fight for their lives.
After telling the price, there was no response from the emperor. The fat businessman's face was covered with sweat, his hands were shaking violently, his lips were twitching, and he was speechless.
"Thirty-five thousand taels." Han Bangqi knocked his head on the floor and said loudly. This was the highest amount his father had ever given him.
"I'm sure," Zhu Shou laughed, "Who are you?"
"Thank you for your permission, Your Majesty," Han Bangqi didn't dare to raise his head, "Han Bangqi, a humble citizen, and Jiayan, the deputy envoy of Fujian Province, are Han Shaozong."
Zhu Shou had forgotten Shi Wenyi's introduction to the Han brothers. It was very normal for the emperor to not be able to remember the resumes of these common people...
Besides, the otaku classmate didn't even know Shi Wenyi's resume. He only knew that the boss of Jinyiwei was Liu Jin's lackey. In this way, he could be regarded as his younger brother's younger brother and could be reused for the time being.
“Have you ever read the Articles of Association of the Royal East China Sea Company thoroughly?”
"It's so familiar."
Zhu Shou stared at him and said slowly: "What are the six taboos?"
Han Bangqi quickly replied: "It is forbidden to export saltpeter, gold, iron, copper, lead, and grains to the sea."
“Why ban grains?”
"For the millions of lives along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal."
Zhu Shou nodded with satisfaction, knowing that he was not just a nerd, but also knew the biggest drawback of maritime water transportation.
In fact, the otaku himself doesn’t understand: sea transport is obviously far superior to river transport. Considering the maritime transport strength of the Ming Dynasty, with such an obvious advantage and disadvantage ratio, why did the Ming and Qing Dynasties still choose canals?
It was Li Dongyang’s words that reminded us: There is no other but the livelihood of the millions of people along the river.
Zhu Shou also didn't know that the young man in front of him would achieve astonishing achievements in the future. He was known as "a master of arts and sciences, comparable to Shao Kang in terms of elephants, and unique to Zhang Hengqu in terms of Taoism."
Shao Kangjie is Shao Yong, a famous philosopher in the Northern Song Dynasty. He is unparalleled in Yi Shu and has the reputation of an inner sage and an outer king; Zhang Hengqu is Zhang Zai, the founder of Guanxue and the founder of Neo-Confucianism. He has the famous "Hengqu Four Sentences".
He was honored as Zhang Zi by later generations.
Han Bangqi's final outcome was not good. He died in the Guanzhong earthquake. More than 830,000 people were killed and injured in the battle. It was considered one of the most tragic natural disasters in the Ming Dynasty.
However, these things were very far away from Zhu Shou, and he would not care about them at all.
"Do you have any fame?" The otaku emperor looked at Han Bangqi. He had read too many yy articles in later generations. He had a habit of collecting civil servants and generals, but the tragedy was that he had no idea about any peerless military generals or virtuous ministers in the Zhengde Dynasty.
Therefore, it will take a long time and clever opportunities to discover outstanding talents of this generation such as Wang Shouren, Qiu Yue, and Yang Rui.
Fortunately, the otakus were lucky. Although Wang Shouren was still squatting in a corner in Guizhou, and Qiu Yue had just been recommended by Yang Yiqing, Yang Rui had already been promoted to the right guard of Longjiang and was currently supervising the construction of Caozhou in Huai'an.
Calculating the time, after Eunuch Luo Xiangluo went south with the money and troops, Yang Rui happened to be assigned to the subordinates of Bizhen and Wang Wei. The day when Commander Yang would make his mark was just around the corner.
"I'm a humble citizen," Han Bangqi replied honestly, "and so are my younger brothers. They all want to go to the competition next year in the hope of becoming a saint and bringing shame to the Ming Dynasty."
"As expected, he is the son of a loyal minister," Zhu Shou smiled, "Announced Han Bangqi to review for the board of directors of Donghai Company."
Review is an official position set up in a central institution such as the Hanlin Academy. From the seventh rank, it is responsible for work such as document annotation and legal compilation. In the words of later generations, it is equivalent to the secretary of the board of directors.
This is a lucrative position that even Jinshi may not be able to obtain, let alone the now hot Donghai Company.
For a moment, the onlookers were filled with all kinds of envy, jealousy, and hatred. It seemed that Han Bangqi, a small person, had ascended to heaven and was in the heart of the emperor.
However, Han Bangqi was not happy. Once he attained enlightenment, he could save twenty years of hard work. Although it was a happy event, it also meant that the value of his scientific examination was reduced.
Do I still need to take a scientific examination when I become a reviewer?
Of course!
Starting from the second year of Tianshun reign of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty had a custom: "non-Jinshi will not be admitted to the Hanlin, non-Hanlin will not be admitted to the cabinet, and non-Hanlin will not be appointed as ministers of the Southern and Northern Rites, ministers, and right ministers of the civil service."
A person who does not want to be a prime minister is not a good scholar.
Ever since Han Bangqi was appointed to review the Donghai Company, he has been marked as a "fool". Even if he wins the Jinshi next year, he can only be classified as an outlier among the civil servants...
Zhu Shou was not aware of this situation. He was the emperor and did not need to know about the huge pit below.
And Han Bangqi didn't dare to refuse. This was God's grace. If he didn't want to be like Fang Xiaoru, he would still work honestly and be a fool. There were many successful treacherous officials.
"The humble minister kowtows to thank Tianen." Han Bangqi knocked his head to the floor again to express his joy. He has successfully blended into the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty. From now on, he can call himself a minister.
"Do you have any objections?" Admiral Zhang Yongzhang stood in front of the businessmen and asked majestically on behalf of the emperor.
This kind of trivial matter was always a slap in the face when Admiral Zhang was flattering him. If the emperor asked this question, it would not be a slap in the face, but an embarrassment.
What do the emperor and a group of small businessmen have to discuss? This sentence is just a formality.
Naturally, the businessmen dare not have objections. Anyway, thirty-five thousand taels is equivalent to a trade volume of about one million taels, which is still much lower than the cost of laundering black money.
There are more than thirty business representatives from various places, each with one to several colored diamond qualifications, and they have nearly two million taels of silver.
Although he had given mathematics back to the physical education teacher long ago, Zhu Shou could still do simple addition.
The agency system at all levels netted more than three million taels, of which fifty-four first-level agents alone amounted to more than 700,000 taels. In addition to the more than two million taels obtained from colored diamonds, this photo shoot can be described as a big event.
be successful.
More than five million taels can be regarded as a shocking feat of the Ming Dynasty. In the words of Eunuch Luo Xiangluo: "Damn it, this time it's really a big deal."
Among the Eight Tigers, Luo Xiang, whose cruelty was second only to the two gods Zhang Yong and Qiu Ju, counted the money with his heart beating wildly after the auction.
You must know that in the Ming Dynasty, the average annual tax revenue of the seven major banknotes on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the most prosperous place in the entire empire, was only 30,000 to 400,000 taels. However, the annual Donghai Company auction raised ten times that amount.
above.
If converted into a large ship with two thousand materials, it would be more than a thousand ships!
In the Ming Dynasty, when a hundred large ships with two thousand materials could sweep across the world, this number was quite astonishing.
However, we are not in the Yongle Dynasty now. The productivity of ships during the Zhengde period can be described in one word, that is "scum". If we want to be closer, it is "the scum comes to grandma's house".
Therefore, it will take a long time to turn this silver into an invincible fleet.
Famous generals, navy, artillery, giant ships, military academies, where are you? Zhu Shou's heart was calling fervently.
This is a burning otaku's heart, filled to the brim with the passion of the Age of Discovery.
As for sanity?
For a mediocre and otaku emperor of the Ming Dynasty, such things as reason had long been thrown out of Shanhaiguan.