Gradually, the sky gradually became dark, but among the many ministers who had previously knelt outside the Yangxin Hall, no one dared to leave.
Finally, there was a 'plop' sound, and one of the ministers could no longer hold on and fell to the ground! After a while, the imperial guards came forward and carried him away.
And his fall was like a falling domino, causing others to follow suit. Soon, most of the officials kneeling in the Yangxin Palace Square were gone.
"Father, your body..."
Yan Shifan turned his gaze to Yan Song aside and said worriedly.
"Shut up and keep kneeling!"
Yan Song just glanced at Yan Shifan and said in a deep voice.
"Yes, Mr. Yan Ge, if this continues, your body will not be able to bear it!"
Xu Jie on the side also followed up with words of comfort.
After Xu Jie opened his mouth, Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng on the side also opened their mouths, but did not make any sound.
Lu Fang took in all this and felt that the heat was almost done, so he said loudly: "That's it for today! You can go back."
What Lu Fang just said was undoubtedly the sound of nature in the eyes of the remaining ministers.
Immediately afterwards, they all stood up from the ground and moved their legs, which were about to lose consciousness. Their faces were full of expressions of surviving the disaster.
Lu Fang also walked up to Yan Song and the others at the right time, and said in a low voice: "Please come with us."
After hearing Lu Fang's words, the five people who had been kneeling on the ground became "vital" again.
"Thank you so much, father-in-law!"
Yan Song said respectfully after being helped up from the ground by his son Yan Shifan.
"Where is it? Let me tell you all the details here first! When you go in later, don't disobey His Majesty. Your Majesty is not in a good mood over there."
Lu Fang chuckled lightly, and then gave some advice to everyone.
"Thank you, Eunuch Lu, for the tip. I'll take note of it."
Xu Jie bowed his hands to Lu Fang and lowered his voice.
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, just come with me."
After Lu Fang finished speaking, she continued to lead the way, while Yan Song reluctantly stepped onto the steps with the help of Yan Shifan.
"Your Majesty, they are here."
After Lu Fang brought the people there, he came to Jiajing's side and stood still.
"Um."
Jiajing just nodded slightly, still sitting on the dragon chair, expressionless, just stroking the carved dragon heads on both sides with his hands.
"I bow to your Majesty, long live my emperor!"
Under the leadership of Yan Song, the remaining people knelt on the ground and said respectfully.
"Well, everyone, get up."
Jiajing waved his hand and said casually.
"Don't you have anything to say to me?"
After Jiajing finished speaking, he picked up the teacup on the side and took a sip.
"Your Majesty, Wei Chen is guilty! In fact, Wei Chen has known about this all along, but he never took it to heart."
As soon as Jiajing finished speaking, Yan Song took the lead and admitted his mistake.
"Oh, since Mr. Yan Ge knew about this matter, why didn't he report it to me?"
Jiajing was a little surprised that Yan Song stood up and admitted his mistake so quickly, and raised his eyebrows.
"Your Majesty, in fact, this matter has always been one of the unspoken rules of officialdom! As early as the Zhengde period, the taxes the court could collect were getting less and less."
"In order to maintain the daily expenses of the imperial court, we had no choice but to collect more taxes from the people."
After Yan Song finished speaking, he knelt down tremblingly on the ground and said respectfully to Jiajing.
"Oh, then according to Mr. Yan Ge, it was because of necessity, and now the treasury is full, why not implement it in accordance with the decree issued by the imperial court?"
Jiajing did not agree with Yan Song's statement and asked immediately.
"Your Majesty, Mr. Yan Ge discussed this matter with Wei Chen before! But later, the affairs of the court were too heavy and he was so busy that he forgot about this matter."
Xu Jie on the side also stood up and came to Yan Song's rescue.
"Mr. Yan Ge, is what Mr. Xu Ge said true?"
After hearing what Xu Jie said, Jiajing couldn't help but feel a little funny, and then confirmed it to Yan Song.
"Your Majesty, this is indeed the case."
Seeing this, Yan Song had no choice but to respond bravely.
"Okay, I'll just treat it as if we have discussed it!"
Jiajing waved his hand and immediately skipped the topic.
Seeing that the emperor was no longer obsessed with this matter, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"So what Mr. Xu Ge means is that you have discussed before that the policy of tax reduction and exemption for the people should be implemented!"
"It was just that due to the numerous affairs, I forgot about it for a while. It was not until I sent the Jin Yiwei to Zhejiang to investigate the truth that you realized it later."
"Is there something wrong with what I said?"
After Jiajing finished speaking, he turned his gaze to Yan Song and Xu Jie and asked.
"Your Majesty, this is what I mean."
Xu Jie bowed slightly to Jiajing and responded.
"Xu Jie, do you think I am a three-year-old child? How can such a coincidence happen in this world! If I don't send Jin Yiwei to investigate, are you planning to hide it from me for the rest of your life?"
Jiajing slammed the table and yelled angrily.
"Your Majesty, what I just said is the truth."
The moment Jiajing slapped the table, Xu Jie knelt down on the ground with a thunderous sound. The speed of his movements was jaw-dropping.
"Since all this is caused by the empty treasury, I have a once and for all solution."
Jiajing chuckled and then said slowly.
"Here you go, Your Majesty is finally getting down to business!"
When Lu Fang, who was standing by, saw this, his heart was in his throat and his breathing became rapid.
"Do you still remember what I once said? Since ancient times, in order to solve the situation of fiscal emptiness, there are only two measures, one is to increase revenue, and the other is to reduce expenditure!"
"Sure enough, His Majesty still hasn't given up on lifting the sea ban!"
After hearing what Jiajing said, everyone present reacted quickly.
"Needless to say, this expenditure reduction is nothing more than cutting unnecessary expenditures of the court and advocating frugality! But no matter how frugal a glass of water is, it will eventually be finished. If it is an endless river, then Things are different.”
"Earlier, you used the Japanese pirates in coastal areas as an excuse. Now, all the Japanese pirates in the southeastern coastal areas have been wiped out! I feel that the time is now ripe and it is time to lift the maritime ban."
"After I have finished speaking, do you have any other opinions?"
After Jiajing finished speaking, he glanced at several people one by one.
After hearing the emperor's words, everyone looked at each other, and for a while they couldn't find a suitable excuse to refute.
"It's all Hu Zongxian's fault for wiping out all the Japanese pirates in the coastal areas so quickly!"
Seeing that Yan Song and the others had no intention of speaking, Jiajing was not in a hurry. He immediately stood up from the dragon chair and poured himself a cup of hot tea.
"Your Majesty, I feel that there may be some hidden dangers in lifting the maritime ban rashly! The smuggling families along the southeast coast are quite rampant."
"Therefore, I would like to ask Your Majesty, how about temporarily opening a few ports for trade?"
Sensing Jiajing's gaze, Yan Song had no choice but to stand up and admonish.
"Okay, Mr. Yan Ge's suggestion is a good one, I'm sure!"
"Besides, I already have my favorite place. What do you think of Quanzhou?"
Seeing Yan Song give the answer he wanted, Jiajing immediately took action and settled the matter.
"It's over, I've been fooled. His Majesty's original purpose was to reopen Quanzhou Port!"
Seeing Jiajing agreeing so readily, Yan Song quickly came to his senses and said silently to himself.
"Your Majesty, I think this matter should be discussed in the long term."
Xu Jie on the side saw the expression on Yan Song's face, then stood up and asked Jiajing.
After hearing what Xu Jie said, Jiajing's face visibly turned cold, he frowned, and glanced at Xu Jie with a cold gaze.
"Xu Jie, what did you just say? Repeat it to me?"
"Your Majesty, I didn't say anything just now. You heard me wrong."
After noticing the emperor's murderous gaze, Xu Jie immediately gave in!
Moreover, Xu Jie had a strong hunch that if he really repeated it just now, His Majesty would really kill someone!
Thinking of this, Xu Jie couldn't help but shudder.
(End of chapter)
