In the officialdom, people are usually beaten rather than slapped in the face. You can impeach someone to death and take his life, but you cannot put his face on the ground and trample on him. After all, scholar-bureaucrats are a collective and they all need face.
But Gu Zhengchen didn't follow this trick. Yan Bu, a guy who didn't even have many good teeth, dared to speak out on this occasion. It was clearly someone who had given instructions. Among all the civil and military officials in the court, he was the one he was least likely to deal with. The only one who can instruct the censor is Chen Ning.
If you don’t want to show your face, I have to stand up.
Chen Ning gritted his teeth. He didn't want to come forward because Gu Zhengchen was very articulate and difficult to deal with when he argued. It was a good thing that Yan was blunt and his defeat would not harm him. At worst, he would find another opportunity to impeach him and there would be room for advancement and retreat.
Now that my name has been called, I have to stand up.
Chen Ning had a straight face, and snorted with disdain: "Yan Yushi is speaking out for the country and the court, and has nothing to do with Chen. Mr. Quanzhou County, you framed me like this in front of the civil and military officials of the entire dynasty, and ruined it." Due to the reputation of the Yushitai, as a Yushi doctor, I cannot agree."
Gu Zhengchen looked at Chen Ning coldly. This guy was really a stalker. Whenever there was any possible flaw, he would say something bad about himself.
It's just that Chen Ning used this trick on the wrong opponent. He is not the Korean prince Li Shanchang. A bunch of censors have been saying bad things for many years, so Lao Zhu asked him to retire early.
The key to Li Shanchang's resignation was that his ability to "coordinate the generals" was too strong. Civil servants listened to him, and military generals also had a favorable impression of him. Even without the Yushitai saying bad things, he would not be able to stay in the position of prime minister for too long. Who do you think I am? I have nothing to do with the founders of the country, and I don’t even know many civil servants. You cause trouble for me everywhere, how can you drive me away?
"It's okay to object to the design of the banknotes, but if you object to the design of the banknotes because you criticize Mr. Gu, then I don't mind discussing it with you."
Gu Zhengchen spoke frankly.
Chen Ning rolled up his sleeves: "The treasure cannot be small, it can only be big!"
Gu Zhengchen looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, please demonstrate the use of treasure banknotes in front of the court to explain the disadvantages and disadvantages of the size of treasure banknotes."
"How to show it?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was expressionless.
Gu Zhengchen asked his chamberlain to find some pieces of white paper, and cut them into ten large and small banknotes. Then he pulled out Li Min, Minister of Industry, Yan Xizhe, Minister of Household Affairs, and others. He also pulled out Chen Ning, Yan Du, and others. Wait for someone to click it out.
"Your Majesty, everyone, now Li Shangshu is pretending to be a farmer, while Yan Yushi, Chen—— and others are pretending to be businessmen. Now the businessman has ten large banknotes in his hand and needs to keep them with him."
Chen Ning, Yan Du and others took the ten "treasure notes", folded them several times and put them in their sleeves.
Zhu Yuanzhang, Hu Weiyong and others looked at this scene with some confusion.
Gu Zhengchen continued: "Now please merchants from Yushitai to find farmers to purchase a batch of grain, silk, and cotton cloth. The farmers will accept the treasures and keep them."
Li Min and others took the treasure note, pretended to inspect it, then folded it and put it in their arms.
Gu Zhengchen glanced at Li Min and others. These people were close to the lives of the people. He knew that people rarely had wide sleeves and mostly hid their money in their chests or robes.
"The Ministry of Household Affairs acts as a yamen servant, collects two taxes, and turns over colored treasure banknotes."
Gu Zhengchen ordered.
Yan Xizhe and others came out, took away the treasure notes from Li Min's hands, and inevitably unfolded and folded them.
Gu Zhengchen pointed to the boxes that had not yet been moved: "The local government will transport the two taxes and transport the treasure banknotes to the Ministry of Household Affairs for inspection."
Yan Xizhe and others were a little embarrassed. After all, the box was heavy and difficult to transport, so they had to recruit a few people to carry it a few symbolic steps.
Gu Zhengchen added: "The imperial court wants to build water conservancy projects, and the Ministry of Household Affairs has allocated treasure money."
Yan Xizhe was stunned for a moment. What do you mean, you are asking us to carry the box again?
Zhu Yuanzhang became excited and saw that Yan Xizhe and others were not moving, so he interrupted: "Listen to him."
Yan Xizhe had no choice but to carry several boxes back, and at the same time handed the treasure notes on his body to Li Min and others.
Gu Zhengchen repeated it three times, which made Yan Xizhe jump to his feet and curse. If you want to make trouble, just go to the Yushitai. Why are you having trouble with our household department...
When the treasure notes returned to Yan Xizhe's hand again, Gu Zhengchen stopped, took out the small notes, repeated the operation three times, and then took out ten large "treasure notes" and ten small "treasure notes" and said solemnly: "Everyone Please see, when using large banknotes, whether you carry them with you or trade goods, you will fold the banknotes several times. After only three times of circulation, there are many marks on the folds, and the paper is no longer brand new."
"On the other hand, small treasure banknotes do not need to be folded during carrying and buying and selling. They are circulated three times, but they can be as new as ever. If the court wants to promote treasure banknotes, it must consider the problem of faint banknotes. The later the faint banknotes appear, the more important it is for the court. The more advantageous it is. What’s more, whether the small treasure banknotes are paid upwards by local taxes or allocated downwards by the court, the manpower consumed is obviously smaller."
"The same 100,000-guan banknote may require fifty people to deliver if a large banknote is used, but only a dozen people will be required to deliver it if a small banknote is used. The savings are not only the loss on the road, but also the Requisitioning the common people has won the hearts and minds of the people, and the transportation can even be directly handled by the county government without requisitioning the common people!"
"In addition, it seems that more content can be added to Dabao banknotes, but in fact it is more likely to be counterfeited. The smaller it is, and the more details are embedded, the better it can reflect the level of craftsmanship and reduce the risk of rough forgery. It combines convenience for businesses and people, saving people's labor, safety, etc. After considering it, I believe that the smaller the treasure note, the better."
The wrinkled paper, the brand new paper, is clearly visible.
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded repeatedly when he saw this scene.
This is just a few circulations. If it has been circulated hundreds or thousands of times, wouldn't the big treasure banknotes be in ruins?
The treasure banknotes should have your own face printed on them. Not to mention that it will look new in ten years, but it will not be too bad in at least two or three years. If it is a big treasure banknote, your face will be wrinkled and ugly in just a few months.
After Gu Zhengchen found someone to perform a "performance", everyone started to care about which one was better, Dabao Chao or Xiao Bao Chao.
Zhu Yuanzhang saw that all the officials had nothing to say, so he said bluntly: "I will transfer you to Jinling, and you will also serve as the deputy director of the treasure banknote lifting department. You and Fei Zhen, etc., can confirm the treasure banknote matter. It will take half a month." Take out the treasure banknotes and finalize the issuance of the treasure banknotes with the Ministry of Revenue and Zhongshu. If anyone obstructs you and refuses to listen, you are allowed to go directly to the Huagai Hall."
"Go straight into the Canopy Palace!"
The faces of Hu Weiyong, Chen Ning and others became solemn.
According to the ordinary document process, court affairs need to go through Zhongshu before they can reach Zhu Yuanzhang's ears.
But Hu Weiyong has been feeling more and more that something is wrong recently. Not to mention the damn Liu Ji who has written letters to Zhongshu several times, and even Gu Zhengchen has done the same! It's just that Liu Ji blatantly ignored Zhongshu, and Gu Zhengchen took the route of writing letters from the East Palace and passed Zhongshu.
Now, His Majesty has given him direct access to the Huagai Hall, which is a bit surprising.
Even Hu Weiyong did not dare to say that he could enter the Huagai Palace directly. He had to wait for the eunuch's notification and His Majesty's permission before he could enter the palace.
Only Zhu Yuanzhang's sons and empresses in the world have the authority to directly enter the Huagai Hall. Although people like Xu Da and Li Shanchang also have such honors, they dare not go beyond the rules and always wait for notification.
Directly entering the Huagai Hall means that Gu Zhengchen can go up to Tianting at any time, which is not a good thing for Hu Weiyong, Chen Ning and others.
But to Gu Zhengchen's ears, the so-called "go straight to the Huagai Hall" actually means "hurry up and work overtime. If you encounter difficulties, come to me, I will solve it for you, and you can go back and continue working overtime."
It takes half a month to get the treasure. You are too impatient. No monkey is as impatient as you.
There was no way, Lao Zhu didn't allow room for negotiation, so Gu Zhengchen had no choice but to agree.
The court meeting is very long. One person talks about one thing, another person talks about two things. One person talks about impeaching someone, and another person talks about where a good official should be promoted. Things may not necessarily be important, but you can say a few more words to make them look familiar. It is still necessary to show your presence.
This makes the court meeting very boring and very long...
After finally staying up until the end of the court meeting, Gu Zhengchen was already ravenous with hunger. He left the palace, looked at the noon sun, and cursed in his heart a head of the Criminal Department named Ru Taisu.
This guy kept talking for nearly half an hour in order to get a dry cell for the prisoners in the Criminal Department. Sister, if you have this time, you can fix the cell yourself, so there is no need to waste everyone's time.
"Fei Zhen, a famous man from Quanzhou County whom I have admired for a long time."
Fei Zhen bowed with his hands in hand.
Gu Zhengchen returned the courtesy: "It's Fei Tiju."
Fei Zhen must have seen Gu Zhengchen's power. Whether he directly confronted Chen Ning, or was favored by His Majesty, and officials cooperated with his performance, it all showed that this person had won the Holy Heart and was also a courageous person.
"In order to raise the treasure, we need to rely more on the men from Quanzhou County."
Fei Zhen didn't dare to blame him.
Gu Zhengchen waved his hand and said sternly: "Your Majesty's will is very clear. Give out the treasure banknotes in half a month. This means that my time in Jinling will be at most half a month. It is still necessary to raise the treasure banknotes. You are the main one. Time is tight, can you please ask Fei Tiju to come to your home to talk about it?"
Fei Zhen looked at the sun and nodded: "Then I'm sorry."
Gu Zhengchen smiled and was about to leave with Fei Zhen when Zhang Huan came over, took off a badge from his waist and handed it to Gu Zhengchen: "With this badge, you can directly enter the palace and Huagai Hall."
The waist plate is made of copper, with gold characters painted on the outside. On the front are Xie Zhi and cloud flowers. In the middle are the words "Qianjun Fufu Qianhu", and on the back are two seal characters of "Sui Jia".
Gu Zhengchen looked at the bronze medal, frowned and said, "This is the brand of the pro-military captain's palace. Those who go directly to the palace don't need this kind of badge, right?"
Zhang Huan chuckled and said bluntly: "Apart from this brand, the only one you can choose is the eunuch's waist brand. How about I change it for you?"
"eunuch?"
Gu Zhengchen shuddered, wasn't that the eunuch?
Fei Zhen watched Gu Zhengchen put away his badges. After Zhang Huan left, he muttered: "There are many badges that can enter the palace. Officials in Zhongshu and Dukes and Counts have their own badges, but they can directly enter the palace." I am afraid that the only person who belongs to the palace is the pro-military captain's palace. By the way, when did you become a member of the pro-military captain's palace..."
