Emperor Zhengde of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 159 Talent
Inside the Xuanzheng Hall.

Zhu Houzhao asked: "If you count by time, Qi Jingtong from the General Administration of Customs should have arrived, right?"

"Return to His Majesty, if there is nothing to delay, I will arrive today according to the schedule."

Zhu Houzhao nodded. He felt that this Qi Jingtong was a talent, and if he could contribute to the country well, he could still be worthy of great responsibility.

His Majesty attaches great importance to the Governor of the Ming Navy. Qi Jingtong is the commander of the Daming Navy.

However, it was not without reason that Emperor Zhengde trusted him. After seeing what Qi Jingtong had done for him, the officials of the court asked themselves one by one. I am afraid that there will be no more officials like Qi Jingtong.

Almost all civil servants are very important to their own reputation, and all of them are ready to go down in history, but Qi Jingtong is different. Importantly, he also put his son into the army for rigorous training.

How can such a family not produce generals?
In Zhu Houzhao's eyes, what he needs is a talent like Qi Jingtong, who can stabilize the country and be loyal to himself!
It's a pity that there are too few such people in the court.

"Your Majesty, Qi Jingtong of the General Administration of Navy is waiting for orders outside the Meridian Gate!"

"Really, Cao Cao Cao Cao is coming! Tell him to come in!"

Zhu Houzhao seemed a little excited. What he was excited about was not that he was going to see this old guy, but that he saw that the construction of the Ming Dynasty's navy had achieved certain results.

Soon, Zhu Houzhao saw a black man who couldn't be more black came in, knelt down on one knee, and kowtowed to Zhu Houzhao: "Chen Qi Jingtong, see my emperor, long live, long live, long live!"

The exposed Qi Jingtong knelt there and looked up at Zhu Houzhao. He really had mixed feelings. If it weren't for the good emperor in front of him, he might be dismissed and investigated. He might still be in prison for the rest of his life today. .

Now he is the General Administration of the Ming Dynasty Navy, and he has a good reputation among the common people. Qi Jingtong knows that everything he has is given to him by the man in front of him, otherwise he would definitely not be where he is today.

"Let Aiqing be flat!"

"You have worked hard during this period of time. You have worked so hard to defend our Daming country. Afterwards, I will reward you heavily."

When Qi Jingtong heard that he was being praised heavily, he lowered his head and said humbly: "Your Majesty, the matter of loyalty to the emperor is a matter of loyalty to the emperor. I have received your majesty's favor, and I am rich and heavy responsibility. I am trembling. How dare I accept your majesty's reward?"

In Qi Jingtong's heart, he eats the royal food of the country, and doing things for His Majesty is a matter of course. In addition, he has learned traditional culture since he was a child, and he attaches great importance to the idea of ​​loyalty to the emperor and patriotism in his bones. Therefore, in his eyes, these things should be done. do it.

"I just like talents like Aiqing. If there are more talents like you in the Ming Dynasty, I will be able to sit back and relax!"

Qi Jingtong cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I have one more thing to report to Your Majesty when I enter the palace this time, and that is the construction of our Ming Navy."

"Now my Ming Dynasty has more than 150 naval warships, [-] supply warships, and one iron-clad warship. Such power is enough to dominate the Quartet."

Zhu Houzhao nodded in satisfaction after listening.

"Then what about your military expenses?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, I have already agreed with Shen Wanqian that I will allocate thirty small warships to him. He will go out to sea for business and pay us 500 million taels of boat rental fee every month. These are enough for the military to spend. .”

Sure enough, Zhu Houzhao burst into laughter after hearing Qi Jingtong's report. He really didn't miss Qi Jingtong, who would use Shen Wanqian to start a marine trade business, what a talent!
"Aren't you afraid that I will thoroughly investigate you by doing this?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, the minister is for the Ming Dynasty. Besides, the military expenditure, if you don't want to find a way yourself, you still need to ask the court for money. The minister thought, instead of doing this, it is better to save some money and food for the country, which is also a responsibility of the minister!"

"Okay, Aiqing, you are very right. Not only will I not investigate you thoroughly, but I will reward you heavily."

"Come here, give Qi Jingtong a gold belt from the Admiralty of the Navy."

This golden belt is only eligible to be obtained by those who have major military industry in the army. Ever since Emperor Wen, this habit has been kept.

Qi Jingtong hurriedly knelt down to thank him.

"Aiqing, come and tell me about the customs and customs of the southeast coast. I plan to go to Jiangnan in the spring of the coming year and visit your place."

Although these things he asked can be seen in memorials from various places on weekdays, Zhu Houzhao is still willing to listen to Qi Jingtong's talk, after all, seeing is better than hearing.

Over the past year, he read the memorials from various places, and most of them reported good news but not bad news, so many of them seemed to be the same.

Hearing Zhu Houzhao's question, Qi Jingtong cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I have to say that I have broadened my horizons after visiting the north and south of the river these years, especially the mergers of land in various places are very powerful, but this year I will re-measure the impact of land policies. Now, it's getting better."

"Although the old aristocratic families are slowly disappearing, new aristocratic families are forming. In the end, it is the common people who still suffer."

Zhu Houzhao frowned after listening, feeling that the question Qi Jingtong said was very realistic.

But what could he do?Land annexation is getting more and more serious, and there is only one result, that is, the gap between rich and poor is getting bigger and bigger, which eventually leads to refugees everywhere.

But this problem is not easy to solve now, we can't kill all the great families in the world, can we?If only the new aristocratic family gets up, he will kill everyone, then he is meaningless as an emperor.

As for the reason for the land annexation, it is very simple. Zhu Houzhao is the big landlord in the world, and the small officials under him are small landlords. Apportionment of tax burden, such a layer upon layer of apportionment, the poor will inevitably become poorer and poorer.

And all the orders of the Ming Empire have been firmly established, and if this new order is to be broken, there will be no heroes like their ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang.

Therefore, it is a lie that Qi Jingtong said that under the influence of His Majesty's policies, things have improved.

Zhu Houzhao stayed in the palace, how could he know the real situation outside?

Ministers expand their power and annex land. After all, in their eyes, land is the most important.

Even if you get a lot of money from doing business, it is not as important as the land.

So to put it bluntly, the land issue has been a headache for the emperors of all dynasties, and the root cause lies with the ministers under him.

"Your Majesty, I suggest that some famous families be arrested. They hold land and wealth in their hands, and they don't pay taxes or food. If things go on like this, more people will be displaced and leave their homes. At that time, there will be turmoil in the Ming Dynasty. .”

Zhu Hou looked at Qi Jingtong's face became very gloomy, and knew that what he said was true, but how could he touch the interests of these people?

"Aiqing, you said that I know all these things, and I also want to reform, but what can I do?"

"Think about this question after you go back, and give me a clear answer."

(End of this chapter)