Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 058: Defend the Mine
Although this body is only six years old, no one in the palace dares to treat Zhu Youdong as a child.
The wisdom shown by this grandson was far superior to the previous two grandsons of the Ming Dynasty: the Jianwen Emperor who played a good hand badly was of course not to be mentioned. Let's take the Xuanmiao grandfather, the de facto creator of the Renxuan Reign, for example. No matter how great he was, he couldn't have come up with so many things at the age of five, right?
Therefore, Li Caifeng, the owner of the Cining Palace, was not at all arrogant about Zhu Youdong's greetings. She received him strictly according to the requirements of etiquette and also sent someone to deliver some small gifts as usual.
"Hey, every time I come to visit the Queen Mother, she has to give me something. It's been like this for a long time, and I feel embarrassed to come again."
"My dear, this little bit is nothing compared to the fifty thousand taels of silver you sent to the Cining Palace a few days ago."
"Hahaha, Wang Chengen, you are the same as Shize and Chunzhong. You are willing to give. Only by giving can you gain. Money is only money when you spend it. Why pile it up in the house? Can you wear it? Can you eat it? Besides, the Queen Mother didn't spend the money herself after getting it. She expanded the main hall of Dajue Temple in the capital and provided porridge to the poor in Northern Zhili... With such good deeds, which grain of money was spent on yourself?"
The conversation between the master and servant was, of course, meant for the Queen Mother to hear. As time went on, Wang Chengen and Zhu Youdong gradually developed a tacit understanding.
The distance from the Cining Palace to the Qianqing Palace is not far. Not long after leaving Empress Dowager Li, Zhu Youdong arrived in front of Emperor Wanli.
"Grandson greets Grandpa Huang."
"Well, where's Dong'er? Huh? Where's the prince?"
"Uh...Father said he caught a cold last night, so..."
"Hmph, forget it, forget about him, Chen Ju, let's get started."
"Ahem...Yes, Your Majesty."
At this time, Chen Ju had reached the pinnacle of the eunuch profession: the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department and the eunuch in charge of the East Factory. This combination of the power of approving and the power of law enforcement was extremely rare in the entire Ming Dynasty.
However, reaching the peak meant that no matter how he went on, it would be a downhill road. It was also in this year that Chen Ju's health completely collapsed. It was obvious that this "virtuous prime minister" praised by the officials outside the court had run out of energy and would not live long.
"Your Majesty, let me first talk about the Ministry of Works. The Governor of the River, Cao Shipin, submitted a petition, again requesting the court to increase the allocation by 200,000 taels. The Cabinet said that the Ministry of Revenue has no money now, so they are asking the Emperor's inner treasury again..."
"Why are you asking me for money again? Didn't you give me 100,000 taels last time? It's gone again now?"
"Your Majesty, the cabinet's draft clearly states that, ahem, General Cao said that the Zhuwangkou Project is a major project to return the Yellow River to its original course. The court has already invested 600,000 taels of silver. If we don't add these 200,000 taels, these 600,000 taels of silver can only guarantee safety for three years. If we add another 200,000 taels, we can guarantee safety for the lower reaches of the Yellow River for 50 years."
"…Well, give it to him. However, Chen Ju, let the Imperial Palace and the Ministry of Revenue jointly send people to check the accounts. If Cao Shipin has embezzled money during this process, I will make him experience the punishment of being skinned and stuffed with straw left by our great ancestor!"
"Yes, I obey your command."
After quickly writing his red comment on this memorial, Chen Ju picked up the next one and said, "Ahem, Your Majesty, this one is a bit troublesome. Liang Yong, the tax supervisor of Shaanxi, impeached Chen Shiji, the magistrate of Xianyang County, for defying the emperor's order and robbing taxes."
"Bang~~" Wanli threw a tea bowl to the ground fiercely. Fortunately, it was bone china sent by Zhu Youdong, so it was not smashed to pieces like ordinary ceramics.
"Does this make sense? The Cabinet keeps asking my inner treasury for money, but the local civil servants are resisting the work of the mine supervisor? My inner treasury can't make money on its own, it still depends on the mine supervisor's hard work to collect money!"
"Your Majesty, calm down!"
"Humph, calm down, calm down, do you old guys have anything else to say besides asking me to calm down? Zhu Youdong!"
"Ah? What does Grandpa Huang want?"
"How do we deal with this?"
Huh? You ask me, who should I ask? The mine supervisor sent by the palace can write directly to the emperor, but the voice of a mere county magistrate cannot reach the emperor directly. Therefore, Zhu Youdong instinctively did not believe this one-sided complaint - at least not now.
"Grandpa Emperor, the truth becomes clearer the more it is argued. In my opinion, it would be better to let Liang Yong and Chen Shiji come to the capital together and discuss the matter face to face. And in my opinion, let father listen to them first. If Liang Yong is right, then let them speak at the grand court meeting."
Looking at Wanli, whose chest was still rising and falling violently, Zhu Youdong's eyes turned and said, "Grandpa Emperor, Shaanxi is no longer the prosperous Guanzhong during the prosperous Han and Tang dynasties. I noticed that Shaanxi has suffered from drought for nine out of ten years in recent years, and the people's livelihood must be very difficult . Therefore, we must be very careful when collecting mining taxes in these places, otherwise it is easy to provoke civil unrest. In addition to confronting Liang Yong face to face, Grandpa Emperor can also listen to the voices of the most grassroots officials of our Ming Dynasty by letting Chen Shiji, the local county magistrate, come to Beijing. As a king, you need to look up at the stars, but you also need to bow your head and care for the people."
"My Lord, what you said is very good! Your Majesty, I second the motion."
"Well, then, let's arrange it this way. However, when your father meets Chen Shiji, you have to stand by and watch for me!"
"Yes, grandson, I will obey your order."
"Well, Chen Ju, next one."
"Yes, uh, Your Majesty, this matter is even more troublesome. The Yunnan Provincial Administration Office reported that Myanmar is mobilizing the whole country, and the target is the Mubang Xuanwei Office of our Ming Dynasty. The Mubang chieftain requested that our Ming Dynasty prepare reinforcements in advance."
"Myanmar, Myanmar again! These barbarians have never stopped since I took the throne. For decades, have you forgotten that Gao Guochun, a captain, led a few hundred people to break through five camps last time, and tens of thousands of people fled in panic? Hey, what does the cabinet's proposal mean?"
"Well, the cabinet said that Mubang is the barrier of Yunnan of our Ming Dynasty, so it must be saved. But..."
"You don't have any money again? And you want my inner treasury to pay for it?"
"Hehe..." No matter how crooked his butt was, Chen Ju felt that the cabinet was really going too far. So at this moment, he didn't want to speak for the cabinet and could only respond with an awkward smile.
"Zhu Youdong!"
Why is it always me? "Grandpa Emperor, regarding this matter, I think that paying money is a small matter. The key is to see how much effect the money has."
"Hmm? Interesting. Can you tell me how to judge the effect?"
"Grandpa Emperor, Mubang is a barrier with a very important geographical location. We must defend it if we can. However, we also have to see whether this barrier is solid and reliable, whether we fulfill our responsibilities, and whether we cause trouble to the owner behind the barrier. I have read the reports about Mubang in the past few decades. Sometimes it was Myanmar that took the initiative to invade, and sometimes it was Mubang that took the initiative to provoke the other side. The latter situation appeared more and more after Liu Jing, Deng Zilong, Gao Guochun and others repelled the Burmese in the tenth year of Wanli. What does this show? Mubang thought that its position was important and that our Ming Dynasty could not ignore it, so it completely ignored its own weak strength and kept provoking Myanmar - anyway, things would get out of hand in the end, and our Ming Dynasty would have to come out to rescue it. So, Mubang still had to be rescued. But this time, we can't just send troops and withdraw after the battle as we did in the past."
"Hmm... The chieftain of Mubang's last name is Han, right? He is such a ruthless fellow. But Dong'er, it's not difficult to take over Mubang, but it's too far from Kunming and the production is very small. If we change Mubang into a prefecture directly under the jurisdiction of Yunnan, the production will not be able to support the garrison there. After a long time, we will have to give up."
"Haha, let Grandpa Huang know that there are a lot of jade mines underground in Mubang and Mengyang, which is northwest of Mubang! If they are developed properly, they can generate at least one million silver coins in revenue every year!"
