These words were so shocking that Zhu Qiyu's blood boiled when he heard them.
That was his ancestor, and as a descendant of future generations, he felt honored.
But he heard Li Qing change his subject, "And I am not immortal. I will grow old and die one day. So, Your Majesty, why bother pursuing the small way at the expense of the big way?"
Zhu Qiyu was stunned and nodded: "Sir, I am just a little curious."
Li Qing smiled and did not expose him.
Then he brought the topic to the court: "If the emperor can't refuse, then just delay it."
"How long can we delay this?" Zhu Qiyu smiled bitterly, "I'm afraid the longer I delay, the more energetic they will become."
"That's true." Li Qing nodded: "However, it is not difficult to punish them."
Zhu Qiyu perked up and said, "Sir, you might as well say it clearly."
Li Qingdao: "The emperor has just ascended the throne and does not have a thorough understanding of the court situation. The people below will definitely not miss this opportunity. There has been a lot of financial expenditure in the past six months, right?"
"That's true." Zhu Qiyu nodded, and immediately understood the deeper meaning, "Sir, what you mean is... they lied, concealed reports, and embezzled the court's public funds."
“Whether this is the case, we will find out once we investigate.” Li Qing said with a smile, “Jinyiwei and Dongchang are institutions that monitor hundreds of officials, and they are not within the official system;
In the past, Taizu built Jinyiwei and Taizong built Dongchang. Their purpose was to supervise ministers for a long time. Why did the emperor abandon them? "
Seeing that Zhu Qiyu was still hesitant, Li Qing smiled and said: "It's normal for factory guards to be unpopular with the officials. There are indeed some bad people in these two institutions, but this cannot be completely denied;
Abandoning the factory guards is tantamount to abandoning the emperor's martial arts. The ministers hope you will do this. "
Zhu Qiyu said slowly: "I will consider this, but..."
He asked the question he was most concerned about: "If it really comes to the point of welcoming the Emperor back, can Sir really do it...?"
"I keep my word, he can't come back." Li Qing said seriously.
"Well..." Zhu Qiyu felt relieved and sighed: "Let's settle it like this for now. It's all for the sake of the country and the country. I think the Supreme Emperor can understand."
"He will definitely understand." Li Qing nodded.
Seeing this, Zhu Qiyu felt relieved. Then he remembered something, his smile gradually faded, and he said:
"Some time ago, Yu Aiqing told me to cast copper coins and exchange them for treasure banknotes, always one hundred coins..."
As he spoke, he frowned: "This is not a small number!"
It's not like people don't know how expensive firewood and rice are. Nowadays, Zhu Qiyu no longer has the mentality of "you can't spend all your money".
He had to return all the treasure banknotes printed by several emperors alone. Although Zhu Qiyu hadn't calculated the reason yet, he knew that it must be an astronomical number.
This alone may require more than ten years of national fiscal revenue, and maybe even more.
He didn't know about the others, but it was said that Taizong printed a lot of money.
Li Qing sighed and asked, "Are there any oranges?"
"?"
Zhu Qiyu was a little confused: What is this? I come to you to discuss state affairs, but you are only thinking about food.
"...Yes." Zhu Qiyu ordered someone to bring fresh oranges.
Autumn is the season when oranges are ripe, and the imperial ones are large, plump and of excellent quality. Li Qing picked them up with his left hand and poured them into his right.
If you want to eat, just eat. After eating, let's talk about it... Zhu Qiyu was a little helpless and said, "Sir, you might as well try it. These oranges taste good."
"Okay, let's talk while eating." Li Qing pushed one aside.
Um~
Sweet and juicy!
I unconsciously ate a few more until there were only five left in the fruit plate, and then I started talking about the five oranges theory.
Zhu Qiyu didn't take it seriously at first, but as he listened, his expression became serious.
Li Qing was talking about something very new, and it was difficult for him to listen, but he could feel that although Li Qing's theory was unbelievable, it was very useful and not alarmist.
The importance of currency and purchasing power... Zhu Qiyu pondered for a long time and said:
"Sir, since the people pay for the printing of banknotes by the imperial court, and in the end the Ming Dynasty will bear the consequences, why not abolish the treasure banknotes?"
Li Qing was stunned: "Abolish treasure banknotes?"
"Yeah." Zhu Qiyu said: "What if a prodigal king appears in the future and prints money like crazy, and the subsequent emperor doesn't want to pay it back, or can't afford it?"
"It's better to abolish it directly." Zhu Qiyu said, "Wouldn't it be better to do it once and for all?"
Li Qing was moved, but after thinking about it carefully, he still refused rationally.
It is true that the excessive printing of treasure banknotes is full of disadvantages, but this is the last line of defense for the imperial court. If treasure banknotes are abolished, then the Ming Dynasty will really have no money when it has no money.
Da Ming Bao Chao is like a trump card, you can use it, but you can't live without it.
Li Qing wiped his mouth and said: "As long as there is stable development, there will be more and more oranges, and accordingly more currency will have to be added to facilitate the circulation of the market economy, and treasure banknotes are the most efficient and cost-effective way to issue currency;
It's better to keep it in case you need it in case of emergencies. "
"Yeah... that's right." Zhu Qiyu nodded lightly, "Then let's take what the gentleman said."
After a pause, "I guess they will bring the matter to the table soon. Sir, don't leave without saying goodbye like before."
Li Qing smiled bitterly and nodded: "Don't worry, I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere."
…
~
It has to be said that civil servants are still very particular. They did not act recklessly to the end, but played with courtesy first and then attack.
They proposed to canonize the former Princess Ni as queen.
Naturally, Zhu Qiyu would not refuse. He was the emperor, and it was natural for his wife to be the queen. At the same time, she could also set off the emperor from the side.
The only catch is that his son is not a prince.
Zhu Qiyu was still very concerned about this, but he had made a promise before and swore a poisonous oath. It had only been half a year, and he was embarrassed to break the promise openly.
Let's do this for now, wait until the Ming Dynasty settles down and the ministers return to their hearts... Zhu Qiyu settled down and began to manage politics more diligently.
At the same time, he listened to Li Qing's suggestion and secretly asked the factory guards to investigate the affected states and counties in the past six months and the use of the government's funds.
The top guards in the factory were all promoted by Zhu Qizhen. Now that the emperor has changed, I feel guilty. When I see that the new emperor is willing to use them, I feel happy.
He rolled up his sleeves and went to work, hoping to make some achievements and improve his status in the emperor's heart.
On the other hand, the six ministries, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Cabinet... all departments also have a correct working attitude and coordinate their work with each other.
The Ming Dynasty fell into a short-term prosperity, and everything seemed to be developing for the better.
However, the good times did not last long. In the second month after the Queen's appointment, the civil servant group began to act evil.
——Cancel the vehicle and vessel tax.
In the court, a group of people quoted from various sources and talked about how beneficial it would be to the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty after the abolition of the travel and boat tax. They said that the commercial tax was too high and was not conducive to the development of the country. A wise king should make concessions to benefit the people.
To be fair, there is some truth to what they say.
Commercial taxes are indeed set high, but this is based on the huge profits from maritime trade. Commercial taxes on domestic sales are still very low, and they are all aimed at exports.
To take a step back, if the commercial tax is really abolished, the extra money earned by the officials and gentry will not be given to the people.
Zhu Qiyu decisively refused, joking, not fancy enough, not fancy enough at all.
If it weren't for the fear of public outrage, he would have wanted to increase the price again.
The loans accumulated over the past several dynasties were now all weighing on him, and Zhu Qiyu was under great pressure.
The civil service group was not happy when they saw this posture.
Let's work hard. The princess will transform you into a queen. You have to give some positive feedback, right?
Therefore, they put forward another suggestion - officials should not compete with the people for profits, and all maritime trade should be decentralized to the people.
Good guy, this is really going to cost Zhu Qiyu his life. If maritime trade is stopped, how can he repay the loan?
Zhu Qiyu refused without even thinking about it.
Zhu Qiyu directly handed in the blank paper for the multiple-choice questions given by the civil service group.
This time, the civil service group quit.
If the soft one doesn't work, then the hard one will have to be used.
Welcoming the Supreme Emperor, he was officially moved to the stage.
All the ministers unanimously asked Zhu Qiyu to welcome the Emperor back.
Especially the Hanlin Academy, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the ministers, all burst into tears in the court hall, which moved the heaven and the earth.
For those who didn’t know, I thought my biological father had been kidnapped.
However, the fact is that a large number of them have been severely beaten by Zhu Qizhen.
Zhu Qiyu couldn't refuse, and he didn't dare to refuse, otherwise he would be criticized by thousands of people.
"Welcoming the Supreme Emperor is something we must do!" Zhu Qiyu said solemnly: "I will not abandon the Supreme Emperor and ignore the Ming Dynasty. Of course, I will not ignore the Ming Dynasty. This matter must be taken seriously and we will discuss it later..."
Let's discuss it again. Let's see if we come up with a proper solution. How can you delay it? The civil service group thought bitterly.
They hope that Zhu Qizhen will come back. They really hope that because Zhu Qizhen is back, Zhu Qiyu will definitely not dare to be so tough.
If the Ming Dynasty can change its emperor once, it can change it a second time!
