I, Jiajing, successfully cultivated immortality

Chapter 10 Imperial Meeting (3)

Jiajing buried his head for a long time, then slowly got up, looked at the chaotic crowd in front of him, and said coldly.

"Get up, what do they look like! Is this still my Ming's cabinet?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Immediately afterwards, the cabinet ministers and the supervisor of ceremonies all got up from the ground. Yan Song sat back tremblingly with the support of Xu Jie beside him, while Gao Gong's eyes were red, still immersed in the previous atmosphere, unable to extricate himself.

"Since ancient times, there have been two ways to fill the national treasury: increasing revenue and reducing expenditure." Jiajing glanced at the group of officials and said loudly.

"The throttling starts with me first. The palaces and mansions planned before will not be repaired for the time being. Mr. Xu Ge, you are the Minister of the Household Department. Let me do the math."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Xu Jie replied in response, and then summoned the guards, took the account book from his hands, took the pen and paper, and began to check the calculation carefully. After a while, Xu Jie raised his head.

"Your Majesty, according to Yichen's calculations, if the palace is not repaired, there will probably be a balance of 400 million taels of silver."

Hearing the number reported by Xu Jie, Jiajing's eyes flashed a hint of disappointment, it was too little, a mere 400 million taels of silver was a drop in the bucket for the Ming Dynasty today, and it was far from plugging the financial hole.

Apart from other things, just take the southeast Japanese suppression as an example, the money spent by the imperial court every day is astronomical, not to mention there are floods, droughts, and locust plagues. A sum of money, and there are Tatars in the north spying on the Central Plains, and the annual military expenditure is not small.

"It's very good that Your Majesty has such a heart, but those timbers have already been transported to the capital, if they are not built, wouldn't they all be wasted?"

Yan Shifan frowned, but couldn't help but speak dissuadingly.

"What's so difficult about it? Just put it on the royal brand and sell it on the spot. Some rich people want to buy it. It's better to set a restricted sale."

Gao Gong stroked his beard, not paying attention to Yan Shifan's words, and retorted casually.

"This is wood that can only be used by the royal family, just sell it to those..."

Before Yan Shifan finished speaking, he was interrupted by Yan Song: "I think this method is very good. It can not only reduce the burden, but also fill the national treasury, killing two birds with one stone."

"Then follow Yan Ge's words and implement it." Jiajing nodded, agreeing to Yan Song's proposal.

"Throttling is just a small thing. No matter how much you save a glass of water, there will always be a day when it will be used up. But open source is the big thing. Turn the water in the cup into a surging river, irrigating the two capitals and thirteen provinces of my Ming Dynasty. I don’t know everyone. What is Aiqing's best plan?"

After Jiajing finished speaking, he looked at the ministers in the room, and everyone seemed to be thinking hard.

"Return to Your Majesty, I have a plan!" Yan Song's indifferent voice sounded particularly abrupt in the silent room.

"Oh, Mr. Yan Ge, please tell me." Jiajing was also interested, wanting to know what suggestions this elder Yan Ge, who has dominated the government for more than 20 years, can offer.

"Your Majesty, a piece of high-quality silk can only be sold for six taels of silver in the mainland, but it can be sold for more than ten taels of silver in Western countries. Jiangsu now has fifteen thousand looms, and Zhejiang has ten thousand looms. looms, the minister is wondering if we can increase the number of looms and produce more silk.”

"The minister has already calculated before coming here. If the policy is implemented smoothly, I will increase taxes by at least 800 million next year."

"Increase mulberry fields and looms? Of course, but how to increase the production of silk?" Jiajing held his chin and carefully figured out the feasibility of Yan Song's plan.

"Your Majesty is wise! Since ancient times, the silk in Jiangsu has been supplied by Zhejiang. I wonder if we can increase the supply of silk in Zhejiang, increase the number of mulberry fields, and set up more looms."

"You mean to let farmers in Zhejiang stop farming and instead plant mulberry trees?"

Yan Song turned around tremblingly, glanced sideways at everyone, and then responded: "The cabinet means to let farmers in Zhejiang change half of their farmland into mulberry fields."

"Changing all the farmland into mulberry fields, what will the people in Zhejiang eat?" Xu Jie seemed to be quite critical of Yan Song's suggestion, and retorted.

"Farmers switch to planting mulberry trees, and their profits will be far greater than those from farming before. As for food, they can be temporarily transferred from other provinces. Are you afraid that you can't buy food if you have money?" Yan Song explained to Xu Jie unhurriedly.

"Mr. Yan Ge's strategy is very feasible. It's just that it's the autumn harvest. Let's wait for the people to harvest this year's grain before making a decision."

"In addition, the taxes in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are also reduced by [-]%." Jiajing seemed to suddenly remember, and added.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Seeing that Jiajing had decided on this matter, the remaining ministers stopped talking.

Jiajing then returned to his seat, looked at the cabinet ministers present, and added: "Of course, the policy proposed by Mr. Yan Ge is very good, but I am thinking, can we take it one step further?"

"One more step forward?"

The cabinet members present looked at me and I looked at you, and they all showed a state of confusion and confusion. It was not that they did not understand what the emperor meant, but that none of them had the courage to speak out.

The atmosphere was so dull, Jiajing's eyes swept over all the cabinet members one by one, and the officials who were caught by Jiajing's eyes all lowered their heads, not daring to speak.

In the end, Lu Fang, the eunuch in charge of the supervisor of ceremonies, broke the silence: "I understand what the emperor means, but you want to open the sea ban?"

"Yes." Jiajing looked at Lu Fang and nodded, with a hint of approval in his eyes.

"Your Majesty, absolutely not! The sea ban is a national policy, and it cannot be shaken!"

Seeing that Lu Fang had just pierced the window paper, Gao Gong fell to his knees with a 'plop', intending to dissuade him.

"At this time, the Japanese plague has not been eradicated, and there are frequent wars between Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Opening the sea ban will cause harm but no benefit!" Seeing this, Xu Jie also spoke to dissuade him at the right time.

"Your Majesty, I have the same opinion as Elder Xu Ge." Yan Song cupped his hands, expressing his wishes.

"The sea ban will be lifted, and the sea trade routes will be completely opened up. My Ming's cargo ships can be exported to India, Persia and other places, and the goods are not limited to silk. Tea, porcelain and other goods can be exported. I made a rough estimate before. Just this time alone, my Daming income can reach 1000 million taels, not to mention the taxes paid by those merchants."

"Tell me, this makes me give up!" Jiajing said, his tone gradually became stricter, and there was a sense that anyone who disagreed would be punished.

"Your Majesty, even if you want to punish us, we still insist on our own opinion. We must be cautious about opening the sea ban. If you don't pay attention, it will shake the foundation of the country. Therefore, you can't advance rashly, you have to take it step by step."

"Borrowing the old Xu Ge's words before, lifting the sea ban now will do all harm but no benefit."

Yan Shifan, who had been "hanging up" for a long time, also followed in the footsteps of Yan Song and Xu Jie, and voiced his objection.

At this time, among the five members of the cabinet, only one Zhang Juzheng remained silent.

"Okay then, according to the elder Xiaoge's opinion, the sea ban will not be lifted for the time being, and we will discuss it after the Japanese problem in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is completely resolved."

Jiajing said helplessly, with a strong sense of exhaustion and powerlessness in his tone.

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

Seeing that the emperor no longer clamored to lift the sea ban, everyone present breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a deep sense of guilt in their hearts.

"Since the sea ban will not be opened for the time being, let's expand the army first, build up the navy, and prepare for the future."

Jiajing picked up the teacup and asked in a relaxed tone.

Hearing the emperor's words, the eyes of Zhang Juzheng, who had been silent for a long time, gradually brightened. Just when he wanted to thank the emperor for his kindness, Gao Gong said anxiously: "Your Majesty, the treasury is currently empty, please..."

Just listen to 'Bang! ', a crisp sound exploded in everyone's ears, looking around, it turned out that the emperor was so angry that he dropped his teacup.

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

Seeing that the emperor was angry, everyone knelt down and pleaded guilty.

"You don't let me open the sea ban, and you don't let me expand my army, so what can I do? I don't care about anything, just sit here and be a mascot!" Jiajing looked at the crowd and said coldly.

"Returning to Your Majesty, it is not difficult to train a navy. With the 380 million taels of silver that you allocated to the treasury earlier, it is enough to train a powerful navy! Then we will be able to open up sea routes and sell my Ming's goods farther away. I support the expansion of the army." Yan Song lowered his head, and the old god spoke.

"The minister also supports the expansion of the army!" Almost at the moment when Yan Song finished speaking, Yan Shifan followed up.

"I also support the expansion of the army!" After Yan Shifan, Xu Jie had no choice but to express his support.

And Zhang Juzheng still didn't speak, just kept silent, but his gaze towards Emperor Jiajing was more inexplicable.

"Since that's the case, let's make it so. I'm tired, so you all go."

Jiajing waved his hand, looking very tired.

"I also hope that Your Majesty will take good care of the dragon's body, ministers, please leave."

(End of this chapter)