Mei Kejia, who had never been able to get the chance to meet the emperor, finally waited for the opportunity after many ministers took turns to meet the emperor.
They have a relationship as son-in-law, but after leaving the harem, they are still king and minister.
During the Hongzhi period, the emperor was very generous to his father-in-law and his family, including Emperor Xianzong, who would basically grant them the title of uncle or marquis.
When Zhu Houzhao arrived, he had not done anything yet.
Not only the two noblemen Huaixiao and Huaiyan, but also Queen Xia's father could not sit on the title.
The main reason is that Zhu Houzhao is still a bit harsh in the eyes of some honorable ministers. It is already a bit biased to turn around and reward his own people heavily.
The two people from Yongshou Palace returned to the Mei Mansion to visit relatives, and Mei Kejia also saw his two daughters. Now her belly has swelled, and the two doctors accompanying her said that her condition is now very stable, and she will be pregnant in the summer or autumn.
This kind of news made Mei Kejia extremely happy. Moreover, after handing over the five million taels of sea trade money, his burden from last year was relieved, and he could relax before returning to Zhejiang.
Although the emperor had something on his mind, he couldn't talk to Mei Kejia. He only asked about sea trade.
The husband-in-law, the king and his ministers get along well with each other, and there will be more gossip. Zhu Houzhao would also openly talk to him about some of his hidden worries.
"When you do business overseas, you will come into contact with some Westerners, and in the past two years, the amount of sea trade will gradually increase. In this way, within a few years, Ming Dynasty will become very dependent on this silver income. Mainly ...The benefits of commercial shipping are indeed huge. So this is too big, and it also has its disadvantages."
"Your Majesty, are you referring to the recent dispute between the DPRK and China?"
Zhu Houzhao smiled, "No way, that's a small trouble at most. What I mean is that the scale of this silver coin is too big, and the imperial court is very dependent on it, but none of us really understands who is doing business with us. Who are they? What if something happens to them and it affects us? Mei Qing, don’t you feel that the responsibility on your shoulders is too heavy? "
Mei Kejia couldn't say no.
He was originally a healthy middle-aged man, but his hair has become significantly grayer in the past few years.
"Eating the emperor's salary, being loyal to the emperor, and serving your majesty are the greatest honors of the Mei family for generations."
"I believe this, but once our ship goes to sea, many things are actually beyond your control and mine. To put it more bluntly, people know that you have made a lot of money in the past few years. What should I do if I get to know your details carefully and then sell you at a lower price, or if others are jealous of our money?"
Mei Kejia seemed to have this feeling, "Fortunately, Your Majesty already has a reputation as a foresight. Isn't Wang Shenzheng also training the navy and expanding the team?"
He was talking about Wang Shouren.
But the emperor himself laughed, "Yes, eight ships a year. Anyway, this is gossip between you and me, the emperor and his ministers. Don't talk about it when you go out. In fact, I am still worried. The Tatars in the north invade the border every year, and they will return again and again." There are still people competing for the silver, and I’m afraid it will be even harder for the navy’s money to be sourced in the future.”
In fact, not many people in the Ming Dynasty cared about this navy.
Although some money was spent, it was not much compared to the whole thing. Moreover, it came from internal funds and not from the treasury. The ministers would not have such difficulty with him as the emperor.
But this won't work.
This amount of money is so crucial. If something happens one year, the Ming Dynasty will have to stop for a year, and this year it can only rely on farming.
In other words, he, as a time-traveler, has to look at the foreigners' face when he does this.
Besides, it’s a good thing he’s still around now. I don’t know what the maritime policy of future generations will be like.
"...Having said that, there is another situation that I would like to report to Your Majesty."
Zhu Houzhao put back his wandering thoughts and said, "You tell me."
"That is, does sea trade allow relatives and ministers to participate?"
"Someone found you?" The emperor guessed it immediately.
"I don't dare to make rash decisions. But as Your Majesty said, the sea is very windy and unpredictable. If anyone loses money, I will have a hard time explaining it."
"Then they have to worry too, right?"
He does not mean that.
Zhu Houzhao seemed to suddenly think of something, and murmured as if to Mei Kejia, or to himself, "Mei Qing, how can you make them realize this risk and really worry about it? How can we continue to implement the policy of opening up the sea for generations to come?”
At this point, a bright light finally flashed in my mind.
Yes,
A community of interests!
Zhu Houzhao stood up slightly excitedly.
Mei Kejia looked a little strangely as the emperor walked back and forth in such a hurry twice, "Your Majesty...?"
"Mei Qing is right. No matter how many strict orders the court issues, it can't stop such a profitable thing. It's just a private affair. For thousands of years, which dynasty has really banned it, but can the court not stop it?"
The navy team is not strong enough, and he is the only one worried about this, because all the money here belongs to him!
What if the clan members, honorable ministers, and ministers of the court all share the money from here?
Anyway, so much money is said to belong to him as the emperor, but in fact he has never spent any money on himself, and he has just spent it all around! So dividing into points doesn't change anything.
Furthermore, as a descendant, of course he knew why the pirate nation burned, killed and looted all over the world. It was not that they liked killing people, but that they had interests in doing business!
This is different from our farming civilization.
Therefore, we really need to change Ming's 'temperament' so that it has the motivation to actively participate in the Age of Discovery. Silver is actually more useful than imperial edicts.
"I understand!"
Zhu Houzhao was a little happy and said to Mei Kejia: "Mei Qing, you have made great achievements today!"
Mei Kejia was confused, "I'm scared, I don't know where my merit lies?"
This question was ignored directly. Zhu Houzhao asked him: "When you were doing business, did you have the concept that... everyone would get different benefits based on their different efforts?"
Mei Kejia answered very smoothly, "The thing your Majesty is talking about is called the Ten Thousand Gold Account."
"Ten Thousand Gold Account? Tell me in detail."
"It's actually quite simple. When I first started doing business in Shaanxi, I learned this method from others. The main reason was that I just started doing business and didn't have enough capital. So I thought of a few friends investing together. The specific amount was recorded on a red heart cloth In the ledger, this is called the ten thousand gold account. If you lose money, you will lose money together; if you make money, you will divide the profits according to the original proportion, which is also called a 'broken account'."
Zhu Houzhao took another lesson and thought to himself: So, we had the concept of joint-stock system in the Ming Dynasty.
In fact, the Chinese are smart. The Chinese want to get everything from banknotes to banks, including this ten thousand gold account, and some initial financial tricks.
It’s just that the business atmosphere is not strong, so it loses the momentum for continued development, so we often feel that many modern things can find their origins in our history.
But in the end it is usually not us who bear the fruit.
"Your Majesty, do you want to create a ten thousand gold account for maritime trade?"
"Not bad, what do you think?"
"In this way, the income of the imperial court will be divided. Moreover, the reason why there is a ten thousand gold account is because of insufficient capital, but Mei Ji does not have such a problem at the moment."
"Mei Ji is not short of money, but the people are short of land."
Rather than letting these worms exploit the people every day, it would be better to transfer their interests overseas.
By that time, there will probably be people everywhere clamoring to open the sea.
In case any overseas country makes some 'unfriendly' moves towards us, it affects our maritime trade interests. Those who are clamoring to build the Ming Dynasty Navy will not be able to turn to him as the emperor.
It is indeed not good to eat alone.
Zhu Houzhao made a plan in his mind and told his left and right, "Mr. Xuan Wang, enter the palace."
He had to find someone to discuss this matter.
It just so happened that he took this time to think about it himself.
Seeing the emperor sitting back at the imperial desk, Mei Kejia said, "Your Majesty, are you going to retire now?"
"No, you stay. The most important thing in this matter is you."
Zhu Houzhao is not joking, the specific implementation still depends on Mei Kejia.
Or... it's time to promote him to an official position, otherwise how can a sixth-grade official coordinate with those noble clan members?
Not long after the time passed, Wang Hao walked into Qianqing Palace.
"I am here to see you, Your Majesty."
"Without courtesy, bring the stool to sir."
Zhu Houzhao came out from behind the imperial desk with a smile on his face, "I have good news to share with you, sir."
Wang Hao looked at Mei Kejia and subconsciously guessed in another direction, "But His Majesty has an heir? No, it shouldn't be..."
"Hahaha." Zhu Houzhao couldn't help laughing, "My father-in-law is here, so I misunderstood you. But it also has something to do with my father-in-law, and it is something called the Ten Thousand Gold Account that he mentioned."
"I am stupid, I don't know what this is?"
Zhu Houzhao explained naturally.
When Wang Hao heard this, he also felt that his thinking was broadened, "Your Majesty means that all the clans, honorable ministers and ministers in the world will share in the benefits of sea trade."
"That's right. In fact, if I don't allow them to divide it, then they won't divide it?"
This...Wang Suoxin said, don't say it so straightforwardly.
"I didn't think of anything wrong at the moment..."
"I don't think so. For example, this year's shipping income from the three places is 5 million taels. According to the market price of one acre of land, no matter who is willing to give out how much land, they can convert it into silver taels and get a proportion. Next year, Mei Ji I will share the profits with them in proportion. But this is not mandatory, it is mainly voluntary."
As for the land price itself, it fluctuates greatly, ranging from 10 taels to 100 taels. After all, there are good and bad fields.
So if you want to have more than two million acres of farmland, actually the plate of 5 million is not enough. But there is no need to worry, because it is voluntary, and these people will not give up all their family wealth to exchange money.
Wang Hao sighed: "Your Majesty, this is redeeming the land for the people!"
"I also thought about it before my husband came here. The matter of Zhuangtian in Beizhili must be investigated and redeemed, and we must combine kindness and power. A two-pronged approach is better than placing all our hopes on the eight prefects."
Wang Hao could feel the emperor's good intentions, so he took the initiative to ask for help, "I am willing to work for your majesty. Let's go and find out what's going on."
Zhu Houzhao agreed happily, "Okay, then I'll ask you sir to go there."
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(End of chapter)
