My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 264
There were too many carriages pulling gold and silver goods. Although the official road from Tianjin to Beijing was wide, so many carriages lined up so long that it almost blocked the official road.

After spending two days, Zhu Zhanhe and the others finally returned to Beijing.

When they first arrived at the city gate, they saw Ma An and brought people forward to greet them. Before that, Zhu Zhanhe sent Ma An back to Beijing ahead of time to help them make a stop.

"My lord, everything has been done according to your orders!"

Ma An moved closer to Zhu Zhanhe and reported to him in a low voice.

Zhu Zhanhe looked up at the city gate, and saw that there were already countless people with good deeds watching, which made him nod in satisfaction and said: "It's done well!"

He asked Ma An to take the first step, that is, after he returned to Beijing, he would spread the news about the return of the Western Ocean Fleet and bring a large number of gold and silver treasures as soon as possible. The more people who know, the better.

Then Zhu Zhanhe and the others led the carriages into the city, and one after another the carriages connected head to tail, forming a long line.

Such a huge team, coupled with Ma An's previous publicity, suddenly attracted many people to watch.

Although the boxes on the carriage are locked, each one of them is very heavy. Even if it is pulled by two horses, it seems a little difficult. This makes many people guess how much gold and silver are in the boxes on the carriage. treasure?
"It's fake, so many carriages, if they are all gold and silver, wouldn't they fill up the national treasury?"

At this time, someone questioned.

"What do you know, when we first sailed to the West, the nobles organized fifty large ships to accompany them, and the goods loaded on one ship were worth hundreds of thousands of guan, and the value was doubled when they were shipped overseas. What is this amount of money? ?”

Someone immediately retorted.

"That's right, when I went to the Western Ocean a few times ago, I was fortunate enough to see the fleet transporting property to the palace when they returned. There were no fewer carriages than now, and the boxes were full of gold and silver treasures. Why is a ship called a treasure ship?"

At this time, someone echoed, and one could tell from his words that he must have just moved here from Nanjing.

"I've heard that the fleet that came back this time is only a small part, and most of the ships have gone to the west. When they come back, they will probably make several times more money than the current ones!"

A well-informed person said again, of course, these news must have been released on purpose by Ma An.

Just when everyone was discussing, suddenly a horse pulling a cart might have been frightened, neighing "Yu~", its front hooves were raised high, causing the cart behind to tilt.

The boxes on the car were already heavy, and the ropes binding the boxes might not be strong. As a result, as the car tilted, several large boxes slipped from the car and hit the ground heavily.

Just hearing a "bang~", the originally sturdy box was smashed to pieces, and the gold bricks inside were scattered everywhere with a "crash".

Under the sunlight, the gold shone brightly, dazzled the eyes of the crowd, and many people even instinctively wanted to fight for it. After all, it is gold. As long as you grab a piece, it will be big. Rich.

Seeing that a looting incident was about to happen, the guards of the convoy didn't dare anyone to take the chance. They saw a team of guards rushing forward, drew out their waist knives with a "choke", and surrounded the gold on the ground.

Facing the sharp blade, those people who were fascinated by gold finally calmed down. After all, this is the gold brought back by nobles who sailed to the west. According to the law, it is a felony to rob other people's property. Don't be charged with the crime if you don't get the money.

Therefore, the restless crowd gradually calmed down. At this time, the stewards who transported the gold also rushed over. After moving the gold to the car and counting the number, they slowly left.

Seeing those big chunks of gold, the onlookers were envious of each other, but there was nothing they could do, it was someone else’s stuff, and they couldn’t even grab it, even touch it, so they had to just watch it and enjoy it. .

"Zhan He, your acting is too fake, and the rope that binds the boxes is too thin. You can tell the difference when you compare it with other cars."

Zhu Yong in the front couldn't help laughing and complaining when he saw the farce behind.

"All minds are on gold, who pays attention to the thickness of those ropes?"

Zhu Zhanhe laughed.

The ancients said that wealth is not revealed, but he is doing the opposite now. He wants to let more people see the wealth brought by the voyages, and even attract the envy of more people, the better.

"Such a lot of property, shall we send it to your house next, and then we can share dividends with each family?"

Zhu Yong asked with a smile at this time.

Seeing so many gold and silver treasures, he couldn't bear it long ago.

"No, these belongings can't be sent to my house, but all of them will be sent to the household department!"

Zhu Zhanhe smiled and shook his head.

"Why send it to the Ministry of Households? Isn't this our money? Should it be handed over to the court?"

Zhu Yong asked in surprise when he heard the words.

"This is indeed our money, but when we sailed to the West, we had already negotiated the terms with the imperial court. All the proceeds from the voyages need to be taxed, so all these properties need to be registered with the Ministry of Households. Let them After calculating the tax amount, it is our property to remove these taxes!"

Zhu Zhanhe patiently explained.

"Yeah, I almost forgot, we still have to pay taxes!"

Zhu Yong slapped his forehead and said.

In fact, this is not his fault, because for the nobles of Ming Dynasty, tax exemption is the most basic right of nobles, so they have no habit of paying taxes at all.

It's just that voyages to the West are special, and it has been negotiated in advance that taxes must be paid. Otherwise, why should Zheng He and the others protect the safety of merchant ships?
Soon Xu Jingchang, Zhang Chang and others also learned that they had to pay taxes at the Ministry of Household Affairs, and they all seemed a little reluctant, after all, they were not in the habit of paying taxes.

But it's useless to be reluctant, this is a rule that the imperial court has established long ago, and Zhu Zhanhe is forcing it, so they have to hand it in if they don't want to.

So this huge convoy came to the household office in such a mighty manner.

The six ministries in Beijing are all crowded together, and next to them are the Zongren Mansion, Honglu Temple and other yamen. Last time when Zhu Zhanhe took Jin Yiwei to the Ministry of Industry to catch Song Li, many officials came out to watch.

As a result, not long after this had passed, Zhu Zhanhe staged a bigger battle, and saw one after another carriages arriving at the household department, and soon filled up the open space in front of the household department.

This not only attracted people from the household department, but also officials from other yamen ran out to watch the fun, especially when someone saw Zhu Zhanhe leading the team, which made them speculate, could it be that the prince of the Han Dynasty came to arrest someone again?Seeing that they blocked the household department, could it be that Xia Yuanji, the secretary of the household department, also committed a crime?
(End of this chapter)