As the second matter was discussed, everyone present could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.
This means that the hardest time is over.
Sure enough, after resting for a while, Lu Fang stood up as before, looked around, and then spoke.
"The next thing to discuss is the specific matters of sea trade!"
After Lu Fang finished speaking, Jiajing added immediately.
"Before this, Hu Zongxian wrote me a letter."
"In the letter, Hu Zongxian mentioned that with the imperial court officially lifting the maritime ban and reopening Ningbo Port, the number of ships going to sea has increased day by day, and the taxes paid have also been considerable."
"For this reason, Hu Zongxian also specifically requested me to send officials from the Maritime Trade Department to Ningbo Port to handle matters related to maritime trade!"
After Jiajing finished speaking, his eyes fell on Gao Gong intentionally or unintentionally, and immediately asked: "Gao Gong, as the Minister of Maritime Trade, what do you think?"
As soon as Jiajing finished speaking, Gao Gong stood up and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, I have received a letter from a subordinate not long ago, and he also clarified this matter in the letter."
Gao Gong paused for a moment, then added.
"Wei Chen originally planned to raise this matter face to face through this cabinet meeting, but now it seems that there is no need for this at all."
After Gao Gong finished speaking, he took out the letter Yang Zongtai had written to him from his sleeve and raised it high above his head.
When Lu Fang saw this, he immediately stepped forward, took the envelope from Gao Gong's hand, and then handed it to Jiajing's hand with all respect.
Jiajing did not open the letter in a hurry, but looked at the signature on the letter. After thinking for a moment, he asked Gao Gong.
"Is this Yang Zongtai the person you recommended to me before?"
Hearing this, Gao Gong bowed slightly towards Jiajing and replied respectfully.
"Yes, Your Majesty, this Yang Zongtai is currently the prefect of Quanzhou!"
After getting the exact answer from Gao Gong, Jiajing nodded, opened the envelope and browsed the contents.
Jiajing quickly read through all the contents of the letter, put it aside, looked around, and asked.
"Well, I think it is indeed necessary to send officials from the Maritime Trade Department to those ports that have been opened!"
"It would also help to appropriately lighten the burden on local officials. What do you think?"
When Yan Song saw this situation, he expressed his attitude almost immediately. He stood up from his seat and said respectfully to Jiajing.
"Your Majesty is wise, I feel that the maritime trade issue is of great importance and should be taken seriously!"
Jiajing was noncommittal to Yan Song's unusually positive statement, and immediately turned his gaze to Xu Jie aside, asking for his opinion.
"Xu Jie, what do you think?"
When Xu Jie heard this, his brain whirled rapidly and he began to weigh the pros and cons.
“Sending officials from the Maritime Trade Department to serve in local areas means that the power of the Maritime Trade Department will be further expanded.”
"As for Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, one is the minister of maritime trade and the other is the left governor of maritime trade. Two against one, the advantage is mine!"
Xu Jie quickly came to his senses and responded respectfully.
"Your Majesty, I have no objections to this!"
Jiajing saw that both Yan Song and Xu Jie had stated their positions one after another, so he couldn't help but nodded, turned his gaze away, and said in a deep voice.
"Since you all have no objections to this, I announce that after the cabinet discussion is over, officials from the Maritime Trade Department will be sent to take up posts. Their rank will remain unchanged and they will be mainly responsible for handling maritime trade disputes, taxation and other matters! "
Seeing that the emperor had made a decision, everyone present said in unison.
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
Jiajing glanced at everyone present one by one, nodded, thought for a moment, and then continued.
"The next thing is the last thing, which is related to the official's holiday!"
After hearing this, everyone present could not help but become nervous, perhaps because they were too excited.
Due to Zhu Yuanzhang's experiences in his early years, he did not have any good impression of officials as a group.
Therefore, in addition to having the lowest salary in the history of the Ming Dynasty, officials in the Ming Dynasty also had the fewest vacations. Except for a few fixed days of vacation every year, officials in the Ming Dynasty could almost be said to be working continuously without much rest time.
But now, His Majesty is actually willing to give officials one day off every week, which is simply unheard of!
When Jiajing saw everyone looking at him expectantly, he immediately calmed down and said with a half-smile.
"I plan that from now on, all officials, regardless of rank, will have one day off every week to rest!"
"What do you guys think, dear friends?"
As soon as Jiajing finished speaking, Yan Shifan stood up and complimented.
"Your majesty is wise, I am very much in favor of this measure. If you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools."
"In this way, officials can devote themselves more fully to their daily work, so as to better share His Majesty's worries!"
After hearing what Yan Shifan said, Jiajing turned his attention to the others and asked quite casually.
"What about you guys? Do you think so too?"
Seeing this, the remaining people could only nod in agreement.
"Forget it, this matter is settled. Later, your cabinet will sort out the matters discussed today and officially announce it!"
When Jiajing said this, as if he suddenly remembered it, he turned his eyes to Zhang Juzheng and asked immediately.
"By the way, Zhang Juzheng, how have you implemented the rebuilding of Shenji Camp that I ordered you earlier?"
Seeing the emperor asking him about this, Zhang Juzheng responded after organizing his words.
"Your Majesty, I have selected five thousand brave men from the guards all over the country to join the Shenji Camp!"
"Currently, Weichen is intensively arranging training for these people, and we should be able to see results soon."
After Jiajing learned the specific progress from Zhang Juzheng, he felt relieved and immediately waved his hand and gave instructions.
"I'm a little tired too, so I'll come here first today!"
After Jiajing finished speaking, he stood up from his seat and walked out of the cabinet. Lu Fang, who had been waiting beside Jiajing, saw this and quickly followed Jiajing's pace.
Immediately afterwards, under the leadership of Yan Song, the chief minister of the cabinet, everyone knelt on the ground and saluted respectfully towards the emperor's leaving figure.
"I will respectfully send you off to Your Majesty!"
After the emperor's figure was no longer visible, everyone stood up from the ground and immediately sat down in their respective seats.
Xu Jie turned his gaze to Yan Song, sighed helplessly, and asked him as if asking for his opinion.
"Mr. Yan Ge, what should we do next?"
Hearing this, Yan Song's face was full of helplessness. He looked away from Xu Jie and said slowly.
"It's better to follow His Majesty's orders!"
…
Soon, Yan Song and others finished sorting out the matters discussed at the cabinet meeting today and then announced them.
Unsurprisingly, these two things, the unified payment of grain by the government and the gentry, and the fact that officials will get one day off every week, caused an uproar in the capital and triggered discussions among countless officials!
In front of the bulletin board, several officials were gathering together to discuss the contents.
A tall official asked his colleagues on the side after browsing through all the contents on the bulletin board.
"What does it mean that the government and the gentry are all paying taxes together? Is it possible that we have to pay taxes honestly like the common people? Doesn't it mean that the gentry is exempt from paying taxes?"
Upon hearing this, the colleagues on the side glanced at the man with disdain and replied.
"Do you even need to ask? Isn't it clearly written in black and white on the bulletin board?"
When the tall official heard this, he couldn't help but clenched his fists. His whole body seemed to be full of pride, and he said in a deep voice as if he was looking forward to death.
"Hmph, your Majesty must have been deceived by a traitor. I will go and persuade your Majesty to take back his life!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he was ridiculed by his colleagues.
"I think you'd better not go. Otherwise, His Majesty will be angered. What should I do?"
At this moment, a white-haired old man couldn't help but burst into tears after reading the content on the bulletin board.
"Your Majesty is wise!"
(End of chapter)
