"Besides, there is the matter of the property of those noble families in Fuzhou."
"Just after the imperial court opened this year, someone from the Censor's Office came to your attention, saying that you were using the palace's name to make money in Fuzhou with the intention of blaspheming the holy name."
"I ignored them and kept them in mind, but..."
The emperor stretched out his hand and knocked on the table habitually, and said: "However, the palace will not interfere with the property of the Fuzhou nobles. It will be left to you, Shen Qing, to handle. What I mean is that if Shen Qing is not prepared to transfer these families to If they want to confiscate their homes, then there is no need to rush to touch their fixed properties, just ask them to hand over some money every year."
"This money..."
The emperor said slowly: "Just give subsidies to the coastal capitals that have not yet been built. There is no need to send them to the palace, so as not to spread the news and the people will say that I am competing with the people for profit."
It's all about reputation.
If the imperial court is compared to a large company, the first thing the emperor, the big boss, must ensure is that the company continues to exist and that he, the boss, has a stable position.
And the next step is to make money.
The more money in hand, the easier the emperor's job is.
But in this era, the profession of emperor is not entirely a profession. After thousands of years and the efforts of generations of emperors, this profession already has some flavor of "the unity of god and man".
The so-called god refers to the identity of the emperor, the "Son of Heaven".
The emperor is the son sent from heaven by God to manage the people in the lower world for God.
In addition to this statement that is similar to faith but not like faith, there is also a Confucian statement that starts from loyalty and filial piety.
That is, the emperor is the "king and father" of the people in the world.
Although I don’t know how this logic works, from the perspective of Confucianism, the emperor is the biological father of the common people who are not related by blood.
Therefore, everyone in the world must be loyal and filial to the emperor.
The so-called "ruling the world with filial piety" does not necessarily mean consolidating rule.
Since he has this level of status, the emperor's reputation cannot be too bad. Otherwise, "the father is unkind" and the people below will be "the son is unfilial."
Therefore, the reputation of the emperor is very important. Even if the court does something bad, the blame cannot be placed on the emperor.
It can be said to be "not connected with cause and effect".
The emperor himself must also pay attention to safeguarding his reputation.
For example, the palace naturally wants the money of the Fuzhou nobles, but it cannot be taken directly. Instead, it must go through the current anti-Japanese army and the future coastal capital in a circle.
If this incident happened in the future, it would be the anti-Japanese army bullying the local nobles and had nothing to do with the palace.
At this time, Shen Yi had a clear understanding of the social logic of this world. He naturally knew why the emperor would say such things. After thinking about it, Master Shen lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, Xu Fu has a teahouse in Fuzhou. Yes, and the scale is not small. What I want to do is to let Xu Fu take charge of the properties of these Fuzhou nobles. If there is any benefit, whether it is subsidizing the coastal capital, or sending it to Jiankang, and adding it to the coffers, we can slowly discuss."
The emperor touched his chin.
"It's not impossible to do this, but..."
The emperor said leisurely: "Everyone in Jiankang City knows that Xu Fu is Gao Ming's nephew. It is not appropriate for him to take over the property of the local nobles."
Having said this, the emperor smiled at Shen Yi: "Shen Qing, that Mrs. Ye from Fuzhou, since she has a favor for you..."
"How about taking advantage of the situation and letting her take charge of these Fuzhou industries and communicate with the Fuzhou nobles. Wouldn't it be the best of both worlds?"
You get the best of both worlds.
Shen Yi felt a little helpless.
Although these Fuzhou nobles are willing to spend money to eliminate disasters, if more than half of their family property is lost for no reason, anyone will feel uncomfortable, very uncomfortable.
This discomfort will slowly turn into resentment.
If he really has something to do with Miss Ye, and lets Miss Ye take care of those properties, then the Fuzhou nobles who have suffered a great loss and are full of resentment will be heaped on Shen Ziheng.
This…
Maybe this is what the emperor wants to see.
His Majesty the Emperor does not want to have too good relations with the local authorities.
After Shen Yi was silent for a while, he lowered his head slightly and said, "Your Majesty, I will deal with these small matters slowly after I arrive in Fuzhou. Regarding the affairs of the Fuzhou nobles, I will definitely not let them get involved in the palace."
The emperor nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "I can trust Shen Qing to handle affairs."
The emperor and his ministers talked a lot about the coastal capitals. At the end, the emperor suddenly remembered something. He looked at Shen Yi and asked, "Is there another brother in Shen Qing's family?"
Shen Yi nodded quickly and said, "Yes, there is a younger brother at home named Shen Heng."
The emperor asked again: "Did you rank second in the Jiankang rural examination last year?"
A smile appeared on Shen Yi's face and he nodded: "Yes, my brother is much better at learning than I am."
"Well."
The emperor nodded thoughtfully and said with a smile: "It's almost February. Will your younger brother participate in this year's Spring Festival?"
"I want to participate."
Shen Yi lowered his head slightly and said, "Brother-in-law has wanted to serve the imperial court for a long time."
"OK."
The emperor clapped his hands and said: "He is not very young this year. If he can win the Jinshi and join the Shen family in Jiangdu, he will be really glorious."
Shen Yi lowered his hands and said yes.
The emperor glanced at him with a smile, and said with a smile: "Shen Qing has outstanding achievements, but due to his age, I have no official position to reward you. Your brother will be born this spring, do you want me to help?"
This makes no sense.
Scientific examination is also one of the foundations of the imperial court. In theory, the emperor is the one who should uphold the fairness of scientific examination, but he said this.
Seeing the surprised look on Shen Yi's face, the emperor smiled and said, "Don't get distracted, I won't help him cheat."
"Every year in the palace examination, the chief examiner will send out ten test papers and let me comment on the ranking..."
When the emperor said this, he stopped talking.
Does this mean that if Shen Heng is among these ten test papers, the emperor will consider giving him a good ranking?
Or should we directly promote him to the first class?
Shen Yi did not hesitate too much, just shook his head slightly and said: "Your Majesty, the scientific examination is a national talent promotion ceremony, and it is also a major national event..."
"That's how many names my brother can win."
There was a trap buried in the emperor's words.
First of all, the top ten in Chunwei, that is, from the number one scholar in the first class to the seventh in the second class, can theoretically enter the Hanlin Academy.
The difference is just whether it sounds good or not.
If Shen Yi agrees, and if Shen Heng wins the first prize this year, then Shen Yi will inevitably owe the emperor a huge favor.
More importantly, the emperor may not be testing Shen Yi when he said these words.
This Emperor Hongde is very thoughtful...
When the emperor heard this, he smiled slightly and said, "Qing Shen is fair and selfless. I am very relieved."
"In this case, I will not care about this matter. As for Shen Qing, I will keep your contribution in mind."
The emperor stood up, walked to Shen Yi, patted Shen Yi on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "After the Coastal Capital Division and the City Shipping Division are completed this year, Shen Qing will be done."
"At that time, I will be struggling with those old guys and think of ways to benefit you, Shen Qing."
Shen Yi bowed his head respectfully and thanked the emperor.
From now on, the conversation between the two people is almost over.
Shen Yi stood up and excused himself, leaving the Manlu Hall.
Arriving at the entrance of Ganlu Hall, Cheng Tingzhi was still waiting at the door.
At this time, the weather in Jiankang had not warmed up yet, so Shen Yi went in and stayed for more than half an hour, which made the frontier official feel so cold that his calves were shaking.
See Shen Yi walking out. Cheng Tingzhi hurriedly greeted him, pulled Shen Yi's sleeve and said, "Scholar Shen, Mr. Cheng invites you to drink."
】
Shen Yi didn't refuse, he just smiled and said, "It's a great honor to be invited to drink by a feudal official."
"Teasing, making fun."
Cheng Tingzhi watched Shen Yi walk out and said, "I just want to discuss the Fuzhou Shipping Department with Bachelor Shen. I just thought about it. After we go back, we will start to establish the City Shipping Department. I need Bachelor Shen's hand." under…"
"Almost a thousand elite soldiers."
Cheng Tingzhi's eyes were full of enthusiasm.
"April, at most April!"
"Fuzhou Shipping Division will be able to operate!"
"Want to borrow troops from me?"
Shen Yi glanced at him and said with a smile: "Zhong Cheng is afraid that he can't mobilize the soldiers of Zhensi Yamen?"
"The governor is sent from Yushitai, mainly to supervise the local area."
Cheng Tingzhi took a deep breath and said: "Although the governor's power has become increasingly powerful in recent years, and he has vaguely overtaken the local three-si Yamen, the three-si Yamen in Fujian..."
"You may not be able to convince me."
Cheng Zhongcheng said slowly: "When I return to Fuzhou this year, I plan to request an order to bring the people from the Sanfa Division back with me. However, I want to clean up Fujian and let the Sansi Yamen operate normally..."
"I'm afraid it will take at least half a year or even more than half a year."
Hearing this, Mr. Shen couldn't help but glance at Cheng Tingzhi, and then sighed silently.
"Zhongcheng is really a cruel person."
Cheng Tingzhi shook his head slightly and said, "Scholar Shen has never been in a local area and has never seen the evil of those local officials."
"If I cure them, that will benefit the country and the people."
"If they are cured, the Fuzhou Shipping Department can be put into operation as soon as possible."
Cheng Tingzhi's eyes were firm.
"You can't... you can't betray your father's trust!"
