After five years of teaching support, Daming became an empire on which the sun never sets.

Chapter 37 Zhu Yuanzhang's reminder to the ministers

Zhu Yuanzhang picked up the largest one of "Patriotic Businessman" and said: "This word is worth 5000 million taels of silver." He pointed to the pile next to him: "The rest of the smaller characters are worth 500 million taels each. silver."

The big one is 5000 million taels and the small one is 500 million taels?Who are you selling it to?Now the whole Ming Dynasty is very poor!The ministers whispered in their hearts when they heard the words, and whispered to each other in the court hall.

"We want to sell these words to you!" Before the officials came back to their senses, Zhu Yuanzhang uttered another earth-shattering sentence, "You can't afford this pair worth 5000 million taels. The small ones should be alone. Take a pair back and hand over 500 million taels of silver to us in half a month to enrich the treasury, and those who fail to pay or fail to pay in full will be beheaded!"

When the ministers heard the words, they were all stunned, unable to speak for a long time.

"Your Majesty, let me spare my minister!" A minister was so frightened that he knelt down immediately, and said tremblingly, "How can I get 500 million taels of silver? Your Majesty's imperial pen minister dare not buy it, nor can he afford it."

"Your Majesty, I have always been a clean and honest official, and I will never be able to get 500 million taels of silver!" Another minister knelt down and reported.

Seeing this, the rest of the ministers also knelt down and kowtowed to beg for mercy.Emperor Zhu's joy and anger were indistinguishable, and many ministers couldn't understand his mind, and they didn't know when they touched his inverse scales.

Moreover, the killing was extremely decisive, and the head of the person who said that he was going to kill would fall to the ground immediately.

If I don't beg for mercy, I'm afraid my life will be gone in half a month.

Li Shanchang was dripping with sweat, and knelt down with the ministers: "Your Majesty, the old minister's family doesn't have that much money, and he can't afford His Majesty's royal pen." He secretly guessed that Emperor Zhu wanted to use the pretext of selling characters to punish corruption, but this The plot seems too clumsy, not like the style of Emperor Zhu.Although Emperor Zhu did not read much, his methods were very powerful.

Liu Bowen stepped forward and reported: "Your Majesty, in the past six months, the minister's family has almost been unable to afford food, and they have to rely on selling calligraphy and paintings to barely make ends meet. Although my hometown Qingtian still has some ancestral property, it is still not enough for 500 million taels. .Your Majesty, please take it back and don’t sell it to the minister.”

"Five million taels is an astronomical figure. Even if I go back and sell pots and irons, it will not be enough." Another minister said.

There are not many really capable ministers in the court, but Hu Weiyong, Yang Xian and others are veritable capable officials and officials.

Hu Weiyong wiped the sweat from his forehead and calmed down: His Majesty's inscription on the banner is about patriotic businessmen, not the rulers of the country who are honest and clean, and those who reward businessmen, not ministers.

Obviously, the emperor's move must have deep meaning, it is better to look at the situation first.

And Yang Xian also did not say a word, watching the changes.

Zhu Yuanzhang did have his deep meaning in doing this. He wanted to take the opportunity to inspect the ministers.Looking at the different reactions of the ministers after hearing the will, it is clear at a glance who is the capable minister and who is the mediocre.

"Bold!" Zhu Yuanzhang's expression turned cold, "Don't you want to resist the decree!?"

"Weichen dare not!" The group of ministers shivered.

"Biao'er, send them our words." Zhu Yuanzhang said to the prince standing beside him.

"My son leads the decree." Zhu Biao took the script from the eunuch and went to the court to distribute it to the minister of civil and military affairs.The ministers took Zhu Yuanzhang's words with trembling hands one by one, and some of them almost fell to the ground unsteadily.

In their opinion, this picture of Emperor Zhu's royal gift is simply a hot potato, or a life reminder.

When Prince Zhu Biao was posting, not everyone posted it, but was selective.It was only given to some high-ranking ministers. The ministers who received it were trembling, and those who did not receive it secretly rejoiced.

"My dear friends, your families are too poor to afford our characters, right?" After all the ministers received them, Zhu Yuanzhang said, "If you can't afford it yourself, you can resell it to someone who can afford it." People. We will give you a grace this time, and we will not punish anyone who resells to others. In short, as long as you can use our words to get 500 million taels of silver, it will be considered as completing the task."

Can it be resold to someone else?When the ministers heard the words, their eyes lit up, and they seemed to see a glimmer of life.

But immediately his expression darkened again. The whole country was very poor in the early Ming Dynasty. How could anyone spend 500 million taels to buy a picture?The emperor's last words seemed to give everyone life, but it was the moon in the water.

"Also, if you feel that no one in Yingtian Mansion can afford it, and you want to take our words and sell them elsewhere, we can make you a minister of imperial envoys, and the time can be postponed." Zhu Yuanzhang said again.

Go to another line to save the sale?
There was another movement in the minds of the ministers.

"Your Majesty, Yingtian Mansion is the most prosperous place in my capital of the Ming Dynasty. No one in Yingtian Mansion can afford it, and I'm afraid there will be no one else in the area." The speaker was Song Lian, a famous Confucian scholar, the Prince's Grand Master.

Because Song Lian was too old, Zhu Yuanzhang did not ask Zhu Biao to give him the font.Compared with the other ministers who got the words, he was relaxed, standing and talking without backache.

And based on the character of the literati, he did not choose to be alone, but stood up and spoke for the ministers.

"Song Lian?" Zhu Yuanzhang's expression turned cold, "You haven't been to the place, how do you know that no one can afford it? It's nonsense! From now on, you won't need to teach the prince any more, go to the Hanlin Academy. Be a waitress."

Song Lian slumped to the ground.

When the ministers saw it, they were too frightened to speak. The dignified Confucian Song Lian just offended Emperor Zhu because of one sentence, so he couldn't be the prince's teacher?So the entire courtroom was silent.

"Looking at all of you looking like mourners and concubines, how can you look like an important court official who can shoulder the heavy responsibility of the country? This trivial matter stumps you?" Seeing the reactions of the ministers, Zhu Yuanzhang said, "We asked you to sell it." It’s just 500 million taels of silver, but what we want to sell is the one worth 5000 million taels. Compared with it, our task is ten times more difficult than yours.”

"We can do it, why can't you do it?"

The emperor wants to personally sell the 5000 million taels of silver?Go dreaming!The ministers thought to themselves, but none of them dared to reveal it.

"If we can sell the largest one within five days, what would you say?" Zhu Yuanzhang said.

The ministers dared not answer.

"Okay, retreat!" Zhu Yuanzhang was very disappointed with the ministers, and said coldly, "Take our words back and put them away. If anyone loses it, don't blame us for not being sympathetic at that time."

After speaking, he and Prince Zhu Biao left Fengtian Temple.

After seeing Zhu Yuanzhang and the prince leave, the courtroom was filled with mourning.

Some ministers slumped on the ground as if they had collapsed.

"Everyone, let's go, Fengtian Temple is about to close." The eunuch in charge stepped forward.

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(End of this chapter)