Jin Xiang took action.
He wrote an impeachment memorial overnight.
There are many courtiers who are as excited as him.
In other words, half of these courtiers were bewitched and instigated by the gentry, and the other half were tempted by the huge profits at sea!
After all, who wouldn’t be tempted by the terrifying profits of maritime trade?
The former Song Dynasty had been poor and weak for hundreds of years. How could it use half of the country to fight against the Jurchen Mongolians and other foreign barbarians for hundreds of years?
It is precisely because of maritime trade that brought astonishing wealth!
Naturally, the little actions of these people could not be hidden from Gu Zuo, the censor of Zuodu.
But the highest official of the Metropolitan Procuratorate was livid at the moment.
Because in the brand new Metropolitan Procuratorate built by Gu Zuo himself, a corrupt and bribe-taking bastard like Jin Xiang appeared!
If it weren't for Jin Xiang's memorial to impeach the navy, Gu Zuo wouldn't have noticed him.
You really don’t know if you don’t check it, but you will be shocked if you check it!
The amount of corruption and bribery Jin Xiang took was simply shocking and heartbreaking!
No wonder the emperor not long ago ordered the entire Imperial Procuratorate to be on standby to thoroughly investigate those officials who impeached the navy for no reason!
It turns out that the new Metropolitan Procuratorate built by Gu Zuo himself has begun to follow the old path of the previous Metropolitan Procuratorate, and it has gradually become corrupted by corruption and bribery!
When he thought of this, Gu Zuo became extremely angry and immediately found Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs.
Since the royal family divided the financial power of the imperial court, the status of Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs, has been elevated, and he has become the head of the court.
After all, the Ministry of Revenue is in charge of the court's financial power, and Xia Yuanji has become the money bag of the Ming Dynasty. Who dares to go against this God of Wealth!
Because this case involves financial tariffs, and a large number of court officials are involved, Gu Zuo knows that this case is a shocking case that even the size of the Metropolitan Procuratorate cannot handle.
So he immediately found Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs, and Jian Yi, the Minister of Personnel Affairs, and planned to discuss it with these two capable ministers before reporting it to His Majesty the Emperor.
Xia Yuanji was a little puzzled when he heard that Gu Zuo, the censor of Zuodu, was looking for him.
When he learned what Jin Xiang and others had done, his scalp was instantly numb with shock.
"Master Gu, do you have any conclusive evidence?"
"This case is of great importance, and we must not be careless!"
Gu Zuo nodded solemnly.
"Twenty-seven officials and courtiers, including the supervisory censor Jin Xiang, have been involved in varying degrees of corruption and bribery, and have colluded with the local gentry. Every year, the ice and charcoal ceremony has never stopped!"
"I came to visit Mr. Xia today because I want to know what these dogs want!"
"They united to impeach the navy, what are their intentions?"
When Jian Yi and Xia Yuanji heard this, their expression turned extremely ugly!
Xia Yuanji sighed and spoke slowly.
"What other purpose could there be? You are so stupid!"
"These gentry officials are eyeing the huge benefits of sea trade, so they have united to put pressure on the court!"
Ocean trade?
Shocking profits?
Gu Zuo obviously didn't understand.
As the saying goes, there are specialties in the arts, but Gu Zuo really doesn't know much about finance and taxation.
"But according to the rules set previously, the royal family is responsible for sea trade tariffs!"
"Where do these gentry officials get the courage to dare to target the royal family?"
Not to mention that Gu Zuo didn't understand, Jian Yi was also a little surprised.
Rather than saying that these gentry officials were putting pressure on the court, it would be better to say that they were putting pressure on the royal family!
That's the Ming Dynasty royal family. Where did you get the courage to steal money from His Majesty the Emperor?
Seeing that the two of them still didn't understand, Xia Yuanji immediately changed his explanation.
"Let's put it this way, you all know that the former Song Dynasty fought against the Mongolian Houjin and other foreign barbarians for hundreds of years, right? What do you two think the former Song Dynasty relied on? It was this maritime trade!"
The former Song Dynasty adopted a series of strict control measures in maritime trade and firmly controlled the astonishing profits of maritime trade in its own hands. The annual commercial tax revenue alone was as high as 19.75 million yuan!
Two people: "???"
What?
How many?
19.75 million yuan?
A string is called a string, which is one thousand copper coins, or roughly speaking, it is one tael of silver!
The annual commercial tax revenue from maritime trade in the former Song Dynasty was as high as more than 19 million taels of silver?
How is this possible?
Nearly 20 million taels of business tax revenue!
Is this still a dispensable business tax and miscellaneous tax in their memory?
Xia Yuanji had a panoramic view of the two men's performance and found it a bit funny.
"Otherwise, why do you think His Majesty the Emperor and the Crown Prince would divide the financial power of the imperial court?"
"It seems that the royal family has divided the two major parts of agricultural tax and salt tax to my Ministry of Household Affairs, but in fact this is just for the time being."
"Given the prince's temperament of not being willing to take advantage of others, it's strange that he would be so kind-hearted!"
"I didn't understand it at first, so I agreed directly. Now it's too late to react!"
"The royal family divides its financial power because it wants to control maritime trade and strictly prohibits anyone from interfering in it."
After a pause, Xia Yuanji revealed another secret.
"Now the Ming Navy controls the five major customs and collects slightly expensive trade tariffs. This is just one of them."
"I heard that the royal family is joining forces with noble military officials to form an ocean-going trade caravan, escorted by the Ming Dynasty navy, to earn profits from price differences at sea. What a huge sum of money it must be!"
Xia Yuanji sighed with some annoyance.
It was only now that he realized that he had been tricked by the prince.
The astonishing profits from ocean trade were simply given to the Ming Dynasty royal family!
Thanks to him, Xia Yuanji often claimed to be an expert in finance and taxation, but he never expected that he would sometimes stumble.
Gu Zuo listened for a long time and finally understood.
"In other words, the profits from ocean trade are amazing, but now the royal family controls this business."
"And those gentry officials also know that this is a huge piece of fat, so they also want a piece of it?"
"It seems like they are impeaching the navy for being arrogant and domineering and competing for profits with the people, but in fact it is putting pressure on the royal family to allow them to participate in ocean trade?"
As expected of Gu Zuo, Gu Zuo reacted in a flash of his mind.
However, after the Zuodu Yushi understood this, his expression became strange.
"Are those people just mindless idiots?"
"Since this business has become the royal family's business, how can it be given up?"
"What's more, the royal family is also responsible for supporting the army and military expenses. This is related to the country, the country, and the country. What if it is left to the royal family to make money?"
Xia Yuanji smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"As the saying goes, money moves people's hearts!"
"The astonishing profits from overseas trade are a figure they cannot imagine!"
"In the face of huge interests, these people have long forgotten what superiority and inferiority are, and they just want to take desperate risks to get a piece of the pie!"
"The so-called profit makes one's mind dim, that's nothing more than that!"
Gu Zuo also sighed, he had learned a lot!
There are still people who dare to put pressure on the royal family because of money and want to steal money from the emperor!
