Night, Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.
At this moment, Yan Song was kneeling on the ground respectfully, reporting the results of this auction to Jiajing.
"Your Majesty, a total of 4,260,000 taels of silver were obtained in this auction, and all of it has been confiscated into the national treasury!"
When Jiajing, who was sitting on the dragon chair, heard this, he took his eyes away from Yan Song and turned to speak.
"Well, get up, Yan Song, you did a great job on this!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
After getting Jiajing's permission, Yan Song slowly stood up from the ground. Then, Jiajing's Gujing Wubo voice sounded in Yan Song's ears again.
"Yan Song, in a month or two, the mulberry seedlings in Zhejiang will be mature. I plan to leave the purchase of raw silk to you. What do you think?"
After Yan Song heard this, he immediately responded without thinking: "As ordered, Your Majesty, I will definitely handle this matter properly!"
After hearing Yan Song's assurance, Jiajing nodded imperceptibly, and then continued: "Well, I believe you will definitely handle this matter well. Only those farmers who plant mulberry seedlings can see the benefits. , only then can we drive them to take the initiative to do this!"
When Jiajing said this, he turned his gaze to Yan Song, and then said: "Yan Song, do you understand what I mean?"
Yan Song naturally heard the meaning contained in Jiajing's words. Jiajing meant: "At that time, when purchasing raw silk, we must purchase it at full price, even if it is a premium purchase. Only in this way can we increase the price of raw silk." Farmers’ enthusiasm!”
After that, Yan Song responded tremblingly: "Your Majesty, I know what to do!"
After Jiajing got Yan Song's promise, he quickly looked away. At this moment, Yan Song summoned up the courage to ask Jiajing.
"Your Majesty, in fact, I have always had a question, Your Majesty, please answer it!"
After Jiajing heard this, he looked at Yan Song again, raised his eyebrows, and immediately spoke.
"Yeah, but it doesn't matter!"
After Yan Song carefully considered the words in his mind, he carefully asked Jiajing: "Your Majesty, what I don't understand is that our Ming Dynasty has abundant products and is completely self-sufficient. Why are you still so keen on sea trade?"
When Jiajing heard this, he did not respond immediately, but after pondering for a moment, he gave the answer: "Yan Song, there is only one reason why I am keen on sea trade, and that is that this matter is beneficial to my Ming Dynasty!"
When Jiajing said this, he paused for a moment and then continued.
"In this world, there are countless new things waiting for us to discover and explore. If we just stick to our own laurels, sooner or later our Ming Dynasty will fall behind the world, and if we fall behind, we will be beaten!"
"Yan Song, do you still remember what I mentioned before when I was teaching at the Imperial College, about the countries in Europe?"
After Yan Song heard this, he recalled it for a long time and immediately responded: "Your Majesty, I still remember the countries you mentioned before, including England, the Netherlands, France, Spain, etc.!"
Seeing this situation, Jiajing couldn't help but feel a trace of relief on his face, and then continued.
"The national strength of these countries is comparable to that of our Ming Dynasty. In some places, our Ming Dynasty is even slightly inferior!"
After listening to Jiajing's words, Yan Song was thoughtful. At this moment, Jiajing's voice sounded again.
"Yan Song, do you know what these countries are doing now?"
When Yan Song heard this, the curiosity on his face became even more intense, and he immediately asked.
"This humble minister is stupid, please express it clearly, Your Majesty!"
Jiajing took in the expression on Yan Song's face and said in a deep voice: "Right now, they are massacring the natives and plundering a large amount of gold and silver from them!"
Before that, Yan Song had never expected to get this answer from Jiajing. Soon, he came back to his senses and said hesitantly: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, this..."
Seeing this, Jiajing withdrew his gaze from Yan Song and continued: "It is precisely because of this that I am so keen on developing sea trade!"
"Right now, our Ming Dynasty's silk, tea, porcelain, etc. are extremely popular in Europe. By trading with them, our Ming Dynasty can not only get a lot of benefits from them, but also find the right time to get a piece of the pie!"
After listening to Jiajing's explanation, Yan Song looked like he suddenly understood, and immediately said: "That's why your Majesty is so keen on building a navy while developing trade!"
Jiajing nodded, and then said in a deep voice: "Well, yes, I, Daming, should take a longer-term view. Sooner or later, I will drive these bandits out one by one from the territory they occupy!"
After hearing what Jiajing said, Yan Song, with great reverence, knelt down on the ground with a thump and said loudly: "Your Majesty, the Holy Might!"
When Jiajing saw that the time was almost up, he immediately turned his eyes to Yan Song and gave instructions.
"Okay, it's getting late, so let's stay here for now!"
"As ordered, Your Majesty, I will retire now!"
Upon hearing this, Yan Song stood up from the ground tremblingly and said respectfully.
…
On the other side, Xu Jie's mansion.
At this moment, Xu Jie was looking at the book in his hand with relish. At this moment, there was a knock on the door.
Seeing this situation, Xu Jie couldn't help but frown slightly and turned to give instructions.
"come in!"
After a while, the housekeeper walked in and reported to Xu Jie.
"Master, the thing you ordered earlier has been completed, and everyone who knew about it has been dealt with!"
After listening to the butler's report, Xu Jie couldn't help but show a disappointed expression on his face. After that, he came back to his senses and gave instructions to the butler.
"Well, I know about this, go down!"
After Xu Jie finished speaking, the housekeeper in front of him didn't make any move, but just stood there.
Xu Jie keenly noticed something was wrong, turned his attention to the housekeeper, and asked.
"Do you have anything else to say to me?"
After hearing this, the housekeeper seemed to have made a great determination, gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice.
"Master, just now, our people sent news that Zhejiang has received enough food now!"
When Xu Jie heard this, his brain shut down for a moment. Soon, he came back to his senses, grabbed the butler's collar with a ferocious expression, and asked.
"What did you just say? Say it again!"
Seeing this situation, the housekeeper had no choice but to lower his head deeply and look at the ground without saying a word.
After Xu Jie calmed down, he immediately let go of the butler's collar, sat back in his seat in despair, and kept mumbling.
"How could this be? Where does Zhejiang's food come from?"
"What exactly went wrong? Logically speaking, I have made all preparations for Jiangxi. Cao Shunhe must have been busy for a long time. How can he find the energy to transport grain to Zhejiang?"
"Is it possible that something went wrong with Tan Lun?"
Suddenly, such an idea suddenly appeared in Xu Jie's mind.
But soon, this idea was rejected by Xu Jie himself: "No, it's impossible. It's absolutely impossible for him, Tan Lun, to transport grain to Zhejiang. There must be a problem somewhere!"
Later, Xu Jie came to his senses and asked the steward: "Did they say where this batch of grain arrived in Zhejiang?"
After hearing this, the housekeeper thought about it for a long time and immediately gave the answer: "Master, they didn't mention this news in the letter!"
After hearing the butler's answer, Xu Jie's expression suddenly turned gloomy, and he immediately ordered: "Send someone to check immediately to see where the food is transported to Zhejiang!"
"Yes, sir!"
By the way, I would like to recommend a book about becoming a phantom thief starting from the world of American comics.
(End of chapter)
