My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 265 Blocking the Door of the Household Department

Xia Yuanji was dealing with business in the room, but he didn't expect someone to rush in in a panic and shout: "Shang Shu is not good, something serious has happened!"

"What happened?"

Xia Yuanji frowned, and asked rather displeased.

"The prince... the prince is here!"

The scribe who broke in to report the letter said out of breath.

"Didn't the son come here often before, what is there to panic about?"

Xia Yuanji asked even more puzzled when he heard the words, before Zhu Zhanhe discussed bank matters with him, and often went to the account department, so he really couldn't figure out why the other party was so flustered?
"The son not only came alone, but also brought many people and carriages, blocking the gate of our household department!"

The clerk again anxiously reported that Zhu Zhanhe's posture today was very similar to when Song Li was arrested before.

"The prince brought a lot of people and carriages?"

Xia Yuanji also said to himself in surprise again when he heard the words, he stood up and walked outside, intending to see the situation for himself.

When Xia Yuanji came to the gate of the household department, he saw that the open space outside was full of large carriages, and Zhu Zhanhe stood with Zhu Yong and other nobles, directing the carriage to stop.

"My lord, what are you doing?"

Xia Yuanji stepped up to Zhu Zhanhe and asked with a puzzled expression.

"Pay taxes, Xia Shangshu, please send someone to check it out. We will deduct as much tax as you need to pay. We will never pay less!"

Zhu Zhanhe replied very boldly, but Xu Jingchang and others next to him all looked distressed.

"What tax do you pay?"

Xia Yuanji was taken aback, but still didn't understand what Zhu Zhanhe meant.

"Taxes for voyages, didn't we agree at the beginning, as long as there are profits from voyages, we will definitely pay taxes to the court!"

Zhu Zhanhe stretched out his hand and pointed to the carriageways in front of him.

"This...these are all obtained from voyages to the West!"

Xia Yuanji finally came to his senses. In fact, he had also heard about the return of part of the fleet from the voyage these days, but he had too many things to do and didn't take it to heart at all.

"That's right, there are gold and silver treasures obtained from the sea trade here, as well as a huge amount of goods. We are not easy to estimate the value, so we still have the Ministry of Households to estimate the value, so that we can pay taxes uniformly!"

As Zhu Zhanhe said, he stepped up to a carriage, reached out and opened a box on it, revealing the yellow gold bricks inside, causing the officials onlookers to exclaim.

"This...all these cars are filled with gold?"

Even Xia Yuanji couldn't help but gasp when he saw so much gold all of a sudden.

Although he handles countless money every day, it is just a boring number, far less than the impact of box after box of gold.

"Gold is not too much, only about ten carts, and most of the rest is silver. In addition, there are special products of Southeast Asia such as coral and hawksbill shell, as well as spices and other goods."

Zhu Zhanhe replied loudly on purpose.

"Top Ten Cars of Gold!"

When the surrounding officials heard Zhu Zhanhe's answer, they all exclaimed in amazement, and some even turned their eyes red with envy. It was gold, and there were more silver, jewels and valuable goods. Give it to a person, and that person will immediately become rich as an enemy.

"Even if it is to pay taxes, there is no need to bring all of them to the household department!"

At this time, Xia Yuanji said, dumbfounded, that Zhu Zhanhe could have taken these things to the palace, and then notified the officials of the household department to inspect them, instead of making such a big commotion like now.

However, Xia Yuanji quickly understood what Zhu Zhanhe meant, and it is estimated that the other party did it on purpose, in order to show off the huge profits brought by sea trade to outsiders, so that when he went to the West in the future, there would definitely be more people wanting him. Participating in it, if anyone wants to oppose the voyage to the West at that time, I am afraid that they will become the target of public criticism.

"Xia Shangshu, ten ships came back this time, one sank on the way, and one ship of spices was lost. The rest are all here. Here is the account book. You can count them!"

At this time, Zhu Zhanhe took out the account book, handed it to Xia Yuanji and said again.

He just wants the household department to count all the belongings face to face, so that everyone around can see the profits brought by the sea trade, so as to impress more people.

"Okay, then I'll let someone take an inventory, but with so many belongings, I can't finish it in a while."

Looking at the continuous stream of carriages behind, Xia Yuanji said helplessly again.

The property brought by the nine ships cannot be counted in a short period of time.

"It's okay, I'm not in a hurry, just put these here, you guys take your time to count them, and you don't have to worry about safety, I will send someone to take care of it!"

Zhu Zhanhe waved his hand boldly again.

What he wants is this kind of effect. The longer it is parked in front of the household department, the more people will see it, and naturally it will have a greater publicity effect.

Hearing what Zhu Zhanhe said, Xia Yuanji also smiled helplessly, so he had to order the officials of the household department, and at the same time mobilize some officials of the warehouse, to help count these belongings.

"My lord, when will they have to count so many belongings?"

Xu Jingchang couldn't wait any longer, and brought Zhang Chang and others to Zhu Zhanhe and asked, "They are all waiting for the distribution of property."

"What's the rush, even if you want to distribute the income from going to the West, you have to pay taxes, and these properties are placed at the door of the household department, and they won't run away on their own, we just need to wait patiently for two days That's it."

Before Zhu Zhanhe could speak, Zhu Yong who was beside him answered for him.

"Everyone, Brother Zhu is right. No matter how profitable our voyage to the West is, don't forget that it is the court's warships that protect the safety along the way, so the tax must be paid first. Everyone just came back from Tianjin. We are all tired, why don't we go back to rest first, and after paying taxes in two days, we will distribute these properties together!"

Zhu Zhanhe also took advantage of the situation and said.

Hearing what Zhu Zhanhe said, Xu Jingchang and the others couldn't say anything more, and finally took a reluctant look at the belongings on the carriage, and went back to rest.

Of course, the guards here must not be withdrawn, and each family has also sent stewards to watch here, in case there is any problem, they can get news in time.

Seeing that everyone else had left, Zhu Zhanhe found Xia Yuanji again and said, "Xia Shangshu, there is something related to shipping, I want to discuss it with you..."

As Zhu Zhanhe said, he took Mr. Qi's proposal, that is, when the seaborne ships return, they can bring some private goods back, so that the seagoing ships can be fully utilized, and at the same time, some income can be increased. It can also strengthen the commodity circulation of Ming Dynasty.

Xia Yuanji pondered for a while after hearing this, and then he said: "This proposal is not bad. I think it is feasible. It is an official ship commercial use. There is no precedent for this. I don't know if His Majesty will agree to it?"

(End of this chapter)