In the evening, the capital was busy with traffic, and the setting sun painted the world in red.
The boys were running on the street, and their mother was telling them to go home for dinner.
The people from the Five Cities Military and Horse Division were preparing for the night patrol, and a few people on the street were preparing a few lanterns.
A carriage was driving ricketyly.
"Dad, what does your Majesty mean by this?"
In the car, Zhu Xizhong and his son were thinking about something.
"I don't know!" Zhu Xizhong shook his head, "Why do you think so much? Can't you just do things according to His Majesty's wishes?"
"My son knows that I shouldn't ask too much! But..."
"Maybe it's because of the Japanese pirates!" Zhu Xizhong said, "The years from His Majesty's birth to adulthood were exactly when the Japanese pirates were at their worst. You can hear news of Japanese pirates' attacks almost every month."
"Perhaps the desire for revenge against Japan was planted in His Majesty's heart during those years!"
Zhu Shitai listened to his father's explanation and recalled the emperor's eyes just now.
When it comes to those vicious elixirs, all of which will be sold to Japan, the kind of thing in the eyes of the emperor...how should I put it...
It was a kind of hatred, viciousness and cold-bloodedness that he had never seen from the emperor.
Zhu Shitai did not deny the emperor's approach. After all, Japanese pirates were not good things.
"So sending you to check the Nanjing Jinyiwei is by no means as simple as just checking the Jinyiwei!"
Zhu Xizhong looked at him without saying anything, and turned his head to look out the window.
"Japanese pirates, seven out of ten Han, there is not a single gentry or wealthy merchant south of the Yangtze River who is clean!" he sighed.
"Collusion between officials and businessmen is something that can never be eradicated. Nanjing Jinyiwei is not clean, which means that the officials are not clean either. If they are not clean, they can also find out the wealthy businessmen behind them!"
Speaking of this, he couldn't help laughing.
"Dad? Why are you laughing?"
"Boy! After we have offended the people in Beijing, we are going to offend the people in Nanjing!"
"Hahahaha!" The father and son laughed together.
~~
In the evening, all cabinet officials gathered in Qianqing Palace.
Zhu Zaijing ordered that dinner be shared with them, so the eunuchs prepared vegetables and rice for everyone.
Because Zhu Zaijing increased the proportion of meat in his diet, although the old men in the cabinet were greedy, they did not dare to eat more.
On the contrary, Zhang Juzheng and Gao Gong devoured the food as if they were competing.
"There are a lot of documents in the cabinet today. Look at how hungry Mr. Taiyue and Mr. Gao are!" Zhu Zaijing said with a smile.
"I'm really hungry!" Gao Gong's mouth was full of oil. "Although it will definitely be uncomfortable to go home at night after eating like this, I can't control that much!"
"Drink more tea!" Zhu Zaijing personally placed a cup of tea in front of him.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"I won't waste your time, so let's chat while eating. It's been a hard day today, so you should go back and rest early."
"Your Majesty, please make it clear!" Everyone stopped eating and wiped their mouths.
"I want to open the sea!"
Everyone looked at each other, and Qianqing Palace fell silent.
"Does Your Majesty want to open customs?" Xu Jie asked.
"Yes, lift the maritime ban and allow private maritime trade! What do you think?"
"I think it's okay!" Gao Gong was the first to say, "At present, the national treasury is empty and the Japanese pirates are causing trouble. Opening the sea can alleviate these two problems."
"Open the sea, and Ming Dynasty's tea, silk, porcelain, etc. can be sold overseas and make money!"
"Also, I believe you all know well that the Japanese pirates colluded with the residents and wealthy businessmen of the southeast coast because the Ming Dynasty prohibited private trade in the sea!"
"If allowed, this situation will be alleviated, and the Japanese pirate rebellion will not be so rampant!"
Zhu Zaijing listened and ate mutton.
"Actually, many people had this idea during the late emperor's time!" Zhang Juzheng said, "It's just that we were fighting fierce battles with Japanese pirates at that time, so we didn't dare to say it openly!"
"Master Gao is right. The Japanese pirates would not have been rampant for so many years without the cooperation of those on the coast! There is no harm to the court in opening the sea, at least not for the time being!"
Zhu Zaijing is not interested in the creation of a systematic customs system for the time being.
Don't get me wrong, it's not that he doesn't want to make money, but for him, the most important role of opening the sea now is to calm the sea, not to make money.
Once the southeast is stabilized, military expenditures there can be saved and they can concentrate on running the northern defense line.
Historically, Tan Lun wrote to the court in February of the first year of Longqing, requesting the sea to be opened.
It was only after Zhang Juzheng's reforms that the imperial court really started to make money. Before that, the national treasury was still losing money, even if it should have been losing money.
Historically, the ports operated by Longqing Switch could earn a total of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver per year, and were not particularly profitable.
The most important function of the switch is to stop the Japanese pirates.
If possible, Zhu Zaijing also hopes to formulate a detailed system now, open more customs, and manage trade so that the national treasury can be filled immediately.
But the more than a dozen northern crises in the first year of Longqing made it impossible for him to turn a blind eye.
The north was unsettled and Zhu Zaicheng could not sleep.
Mongolia is not stable. Even if he kills the old slave, there will still be another ruthless person in Liaodong.
Whether it is for Liaodong or for future reforms, all Mongolian ministries must stop.
"I think this is a strategy to benefit the country!" Yang Bo said, "Your Majesty, we set up so many guard posts on the seaside in the previous dynasty, but many of them were abandoned! In the end, we had to recruit troops to fight the Japanese pirates."
"Every time I see those guard posts in the coastal areas, my heart is as sharp as a knife! Tens of thousands of people have fled! There are not a few who surrendered to the Japanese pirates!"
"If Kaihai can really free up the imperial court to solve the problems of these guard posts, I can definitely guarantee that no one in the Ministry of War will have any objections!"
"Who dares to object to the old minister going to his house in person! Chat with him!" Yang Bo said eagerly.
"You're an old killer!" Zhu Zaijing said with a smile, "You can go find someone else, but don't make it black and blue the next day!"
"Hahahaha!" Everyone laughed.
"Then there is no objection?" Zhu Zaijing looked at the cabinet ministers.
When no one spoke, Zhu Zaijing said seriously, "Then the cabinet will issue a document recommending a few ports from several southeastern provinces to be opened!"
"The cabinet should listen to the advice of local officials in the southeast. They are familiar with the real situation in the southeast!"
"The cabinet will then make a detailed plan, taking into account all the problems that may arise with the switch, and then submit it to me!"
"yes!"
After eating some more food, the cabinet ministers went home to rest.
Zhu Zaijing went to play with Queen Chen.
"I see you, Your Majesty!"
Zhu Zaijing hugged her and remained silent for a long time.
Zhu Zaijing himself was also surprised that he had no feelings for Wanli's mother, but he became more and more lustful for Empress Chen!
In view of the fact that Emperor Longqing in history emptied his body and died young, Zhu Zaijing has been restraining himself since traveling through time.
Except Queen Chen…
Qianqing Palace had no sleep all night...
