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After receiving the summons, Zhao Junchen did not dare to neglect and quickly arrived outside the imperial study room, but he was not immediately summoned by Emperor Deqing.
It seems that Emperor Deqing is summoning another person at this time, and it will be Zhao Junchen's turn until the summons is over.
Zhao Junchen was not in a hurry, just stood quietly outside the door and waited.
Not long after, the door to the imperial study room was pushed open, and a handsome young official walked out of the imperial study room.
After the young official saw Zhao Junchen, he was slightly startled at first, then bowed with a respectful expression and said, "Your Majesty, Li Chunchen, I have met Mr. Zhao!"
"It turns out to be Chunchen!" Zhao Junchen said with a gentle expression and a warm smile: "His Majesty has summoned you again? Recently, your favor has become more and more prosperous. This is the fourth time that His Majesty has summoned you after the end of his southern tour. Are you right? You have also done well in the Propaganda Department recently. You really have a bright future. You must do things well in the future and don't waste the opportunity."
Seeing that Zhao Junchen knew his situation so well, Li Chunchen couldn't help but feel slightly tense.
To be honest, Li Chunchen didn't want to attract the attention of several powerful officials in the court too quickly, especially Zhao Junchen! This is not a good thing in any way.
However, Li Chunchen's expression became more humble, and he bowed his head and said: "How can I dare to mention the word 'sacred family' in front of you, Mr. Zhao? Everyone knows that you, Mr. Zhao, are the closest ministers that His Majesty values the most. Of course, I will definitely follow Mr. Zhao’s teachings, target you, Mr. Zhao, serve the court wholeheartedly, and I will never let down His Majesty and Mr. Zhao’s expectations for me.”
"That's good." Zhao Junchen nodded, then waved his hand and said, "I won't stop you. I still want to meet with His Majesty to discuss some matters. You can go about your own business."
Seeing that Zhao Junchen no longer bothered him, Li Chunchen quickly bowed to Zhao Junchen again, and then left quickly.
Looking at Li Chunchen's back, Zhao Junchen's eyes flashed with contemplation.
This Li Chunchen is not a simple character. He has a very accurate vision and great ambition. When he was in the imperial examination, he actually submitted an article titled "Long Hearing" to the Emperor Deqing, suggesting that the imperial court should use "heard things" According to the policy, officials will no longer need to collect concrete evidence to impeach others. They can submit it to the emperor as long as they hear a little rumor. Such a policy will undoubtedly put everyone in danger and greatly enhance the emperor's authority.
Naturally, this article attracted the attention of Emperor Deqing, but he was worried that it would cause a backlash from officials, so he did not implement it immediately. However, he had been secretly preparing it, and sent Li Chunchen to the Xuanzheng Department in charge of the communication of memorials. This is obviously to prepare for the future implementation of the policy of "talking about things based on rumors."
In recent times, Emperor Deqing has repeatedly summoned Li Chunchen to discuss matters, and has praised Li Chunchen for his various suggestions. For a time, everyone knew that Li Chunchen had received divine favor, and even compared Li Chunchen with the fledgling Zhao Junchen.
Of course, this comparison is not without basis. Nowadays, as Zhao Junchen's status is getting higher and higher, and his power is getting stronger, even Emperor Deqing no longer dares to treat Zhao Junchen as an ordinary jester! At some point, Emperor Deqing would even put Zhao Junchen and other cabinet ministers such as Zhou Shangjing and Shen Changmao at the same height and treat them equally! As a result, many of Emperor Deqing's private affairs were not easy to deal with Zhao Junchen, and Li Chunchen has obviously gradually taken over Zhao Junchen's former role during this period and became Emperor Deqing's new jester!
"Are you targeting me? This Li Chunchen actually told the truth..." Recalling what Li Chunchen said just now, Zhao Junchen sneered in his heart and thought to himself: "However, my goal is not just what it is now! You are now The environment we face is also very different from what I did back then! If you want to learn to walk in Handan, this road is not easy!"
While thinking deeply, Zhao Junchen withdrew his gaze, turned and walked towards the imperial study room.
After entering the imperial study, Zhao Junchen immediately changed his expression to a humble and humble expression, and respectfully saluted Emperor Deqing to greet him.
Zhao Junchen is already extremely skilled at changing his face at such a speed.
After Emperor Deqing saw Zhao Junchen appear, his attitude was amiable and his smile was harmonious, which was quite similar to the way Zhao Junchen looked when he saw Li Chunchen just now.
"Junchen is here. We are the only two here, so there is no need to be polite." After saying that, Emperor Deqing turned to Zhang Xiu, the eunuch in the imperial study, and ordered: "Bring a stool to Mr. Zhao and sit down. Mr. Zhao is here. He has been standing for a long time in the morning, so don’t continue to tire him.”
After hearing Emperor Deqing's instructions, Zhao Junchen was flattered, but felt a little stressed in his heart.
Although Zhao Junchen is a close and favorite minister of Emperor Deqing, such treatment is extremely rare. As the saying goes, "To show courtesy for nothing is to be a traitor or a thief." Now that Emperor Deqing is so polite, I am afraid that he has no intention of summoning Zhao Junchen today. Simple.
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty!" After Zhang Xiu brought the stool, Zhao Junchen sat down gently, and then asked: "Your Majesty summoned me to see you, but I don't know what you have to tell me?"
Emperor Deqing glanced at Zhao Junchen, his expression full of sincerity, and said: "This morning, Young Master Guo Tang came to trouble you. I can also see that you are unhappy, but I consider that Guo Tang is an old minister after all. Yes, he has always had a good reputation among the government and the public, so he was given a lenient sentence. He was only fined one year's salary, and asked him to come to you in person to apologize... Junchen, you won't blame me, right?"
Zhao Junchen bowed his head and said: "As long as it is your Majesty's decision, I will never question it. Everything I have is given by Your Majesty, so how can I dare to blame Your Majesty!"
Emperor Deqing nodded with satisfaction and said, "If you think so, I will feel relieved."
At this point, Emperor Deqing changed the topic and said: "However, the reason why I summoned you to see you today is for the matter of the 'United Shipping Company'! I see that you have specifically asked your colleagues in the DPRK and China for the matter of the 'United Shipping Company'" We are raising money, is it possible that there is still a gap in the financial resources of the United Shipping Company?"
Zhao Junchen's heart moved, and he had probably guessed Emperor Deqing's thoughts. After thinking about his words, he slowly replied: "It cannot be said that it is due to lack of financial resources. Now the 'United Shipping Company' has thirty-seven powerful Hui... Joining the merchants is enough to provide nearly ten million taels of silver! However, this amount of money seems huge and barely enough. However, the goal of establishing the 'United Shipping Company' is to monopolize shipping on the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and the Yangtze River Waterway. This goal is even greater. The more resources you invest, the sooner you can see results and the more obvious the results. Therefore, if the financial resources of "United Shipping Lines" are sufficient, they are indeed enough; if they are insufficient, they are indeed insufficient. "
Zhao Junchen's answer could be described as ambiguous, but Emperor Deqing didn't care. He just blamed: "So it turns out that rectification of commercial tax is the top priority of the imperial court. Naturally, I hope that the 'United Shipping Line' will see results as soon as possible, and The greater the effect, the better! However, Junchen, since the 'United Shipping Company' still requires a large investment of money, forcing you to deliberately seek help from your colleagues in the DPRK and China, why don't you explain the situation to me? There is still some money in my internal funds. It’s several million taels of silver. For the sake of the imperial court’s future plans for business taxation, am I going to be stingy with my private money?”
Hearing Emperor Deqing's impassioned speech, Zhao Junchen secretly curled his lips with some disdain in his heart.
Emperor Deqing's words sounded nice, but the imperial court was often short of money. Why did Emperor Deqing never use his own money to help the imperial court tide over difficulties like he does today? Instead, he repeatedly covets the money in the Ministry of Finance's treasury?
In the final analysis, Emperor Deqing's statement was just that he was optimistic about the development prospects of the "United Shipping Company" and felt that he could reap several times the profits after investing his private money in the "United Shipping Company", which is why he is so generous now. appearance.
Although he was disdainful in his heart, Zhao Junchen naturally would not show it. Instead, he looked frightened and said: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I have also thought about transferring part of the money from internal funds to the United Shipping Company, but I just said It would be a bit ugly to immediately reach out to His Majesty to ask for the money from the internal funds after getting rid of the errand of the internal transport warehouse, so in order to avoid suspicion, I..."
Zhao Junchen was just halfway through what he said when Emperor Deqing reached out and interrupted him: "Junchen, you are my close minister. Don't I still trust you? Why should I avoid suspicion? Let's do this. Today I will transfer some money from my internal funds." One million taels of silver have been invested in the United Shipping Company. As long as the imperial court's commercial tax rectification can see results as soon as possible, I will never be stingy with private money!"
Zhao Junchen's face was full of gratitude and admiration, and he said: "Your Majesty is so generous and selfless, which is really an example of emperors in ancient and modern times. Today, your Majesty uses private money to benefit the world. It will definitely be passed down as a good story through the ages. I deeply admire you!" "
Facts have proved that Zhao Junchen's ability to flatter him did not decrease with his promotion of status. After hearing Zhao Junchen's flattery, Emperor Deqing couldn't help laughing proudly.
After the laughter subsided, Emperor Deqing seemed to suddenly think of something, and asked again: "By the way, before I went on my southern tour, Junchen, you boasted to me about the beautiful gardens in the south of the Yangtze River. During my tour to the south, I saw those gardens in the south of the Yangtze River. After the beautiful scenery of the garden, it is indeed as beautiful as a scene in a painting... So I have made up my mind to follow your suggestion and build a palace near the capital similar to the gardens in the south of the Yangtze River... This matter I have been telling you this for many days, how are you preparing now?"
Zhao Junchen bowed his head and replied: "In reply to Your Majesty, after receiving His Majesty's instructions, I did not dare to neglect at all. I have recruited a large number of garden craftsmen from all over the south of the Yangtze River, and summoned many famous experts to design garden landscapes for Your Majesty. Now it is We have preliminary plans.”
Emperor Deqing nodded again and asked: "So, in your opinion, if this palace is to be built, how much money will it cost? Is it still your original estimate? Can't it be lowered?"
Zhao Junchen already had a plan in mind and replied: "If everything is kept simple, it will cost about three million to five million taels of silver. If you want to be perfect and build the best garden in the world in one go, the amount of money needed will be To increase it by more than half, it would be about five million to eight million taels of silver, and I’m afraid it would be difficult to reduce it.”
After Emperor Deqing heard this number, his expression changed slightly.
He didn't have that much money in his personal funds. Even if he had so much money, it would be painful for him to take it all out in one go.
Therefore, Emperor Deqing no longer showed his previous generous appearance, but asked directly: "Of course I hope to build the best garden in the world in one go. This will be in line with the royal style, but my internal funds are invested in the "United Nations" After the shipbuilding industry, there is not much money left. I am afraid that such a huge sum of money cannot be obtained. Junchen, you are in charge of the household department, can you embezzle some of the money from the treasury?"
You know it is!
Zhao Junchen couldn't help but feel dumbfounded when he saw Emperor Deqing's change of attitude even faster than his own. Just now he had said that he was rich with money in his own money, but in the blink of an eye he became poor.
In fact, this is not the first time that Emperor Deqing has misappropriated money from the treasury for his own use. A large part of the bad debts in the Ministry of Accounts was caused by Emperor Deqing! Over the years, Zhao Junchen spent a lot of effort to smooth out the various holes in Emperor Deqing's life.
At this time, after hearing Emperor Deqing's inquiry, Zhao Junchen first looked embarrassed, and after pondering for a long time, he slowly said: "Your Majesty's palace cannot be built in a short time. How much money can be spent on it?" In terms of annual expenditure, it is about one million taels of silver per year, but it is also not a small number. If the officials know about this, I am afraid it will cause a lot of trouble."
Emperor Deqing's face darkened and he asked: "Junchen, you are in charge of the Ministry of Revenue and have a close relationship with the Ministry of Industry. If you are willing, it is not difficult to hide it from all the officials in the court... Why, Junchen, your wings are strong now, Don’t you want to share your worries for me?”
Seeing what Emperor Deqing said, Zhao Junchen lowered his head and said: "I dare not, but I am willing to share your worries for Your Majesty! However, the Ministry of Revenue does have difficulties now. At most... it can only provide 60% of the silver at most!"
"Sixty percent..." After Emperor Deqing pondered for a moment, he nodded slowly and said: "Sixty percent will be sixty percent, and the rest of the money will be used from my internal funds! I will leave the construction of this palace to my hands. You are here to take full responsibility. You should worry more when the time comes. When the palace is completed, I will not forget your benefits!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty! I will try my best!"
Zhao Junchen stood up, bowed to Emperor Deqing and said.
However, when he bowed his head, Zhao Junchen had a sneer on his face.
He knew the prodigal character of Emperor Deqing very well. Once he had spare money in his hands, he would immediately want to spend it. This was one of the reasons why Zhao Junchen was relieved to rectify the business tax for the court, because Zhao Junchen knew very well that even if The imperial court succeeded in rectifying commercial taxes, and the annual commercial tax revenue increased significantly. However, as long as Emperor Deqing's prodigal temperament did not change, the imperial court's financial and food situation would still be unable to make ends meet!
Now that the national treasury and internal funds are slightly richer, Emperor Deqing has taken action, which is a clear example!
In fact, the amount of money Zhao Junchen just reported to Emperor Deqing was also carefully considered. Once this money is used, the turnover of the national treasury and internal funds will inevitably be tight in the next few years. In this case, Deqing will Emperor Qing's dependence on Zhao Junchen will further deepen.
Taking advantage of the few years that Emperor Deqing could not live without him, Zhao Junchen was able to accomplish many things!
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Well, the second update today! There will be another update around midnight!
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