Emperor Zhengde of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 78
Zhu Houzhao was furious at the censor who was kneeling below. This was the third time he got angry at the civil servants, because he wanted to find out the force behind it.

"Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment?"

"According to my Ming law calendar, how should I deal with this person?"

"Report to Your Majesty, according to my Great Ming's legal calendar, the family should be stripped of skins, property should be confiscated, and those who have a huge amount of corruption should be punished by the three clans."

After Zhu Houzhao heard it, he immediately said angrily: "In the future, the cruel criminal laws in the Ming Dynasty will not be applied to ordinary people, but court officials will use them all. I will let them know what to do at all times!"

"I obey the order!" The Minister of the Ministry of Punishments bowed his hands and saluted Zhu Houzhao.

"Cao Zhengchun!"

"Chen is here!"

Zhu Houzhao pointed to the censor and said, "Take him into Dongchang and torture him. I want to know who instructed him. He is so bold that he dares to attack my cabinet scholar."

"The minister obeys the order!"

The censor Li Du had lost all hope at this time, he knew that once he fell into Dongchang's hands, there would definitely be nothing good to eat!
Cao Zhengchun led people to escort Yushi, walked out of the court hall, and returned to Dongchang.

As His Majesty's confidant, finding out who is behind this is a big thing for him to do now.

Moreover, this matter must be completed in the shortest possible time. Of course, Cao Zhengchun also has his own ideas.

At this time, in the court, no one dared to speak out anymore. The three officials all expressed their thoughts recently and many people. They originally wanted to gain a good reputation, but they did not expect that the young His Majesty not only failed to fulfill their purpose, And ruined their futures one by one.

Zhu Houzhao sat on the dragon chair and said, "All my loves, do you have a book to play?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Dongyang, the second assistant to the cabinet, stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty Qi Zuo, since your Majesty ascended the throne, our Ming Dynasty has become more and more prosperous, especially the destruction of the Tatars and the resistance to the Franji Kingdom have greatly demonstrated our prestige and prestige."

Listening to this old fox flattering Zhu Houzhao, there was a trace of complacency deep in his heart. In fact, this is also a small vanity of his. Everyone has it, why doesn't the emperor not?
As soon as Li Dongyang finished speaking, civil and military officials from all over the court congratulated and shouted: "Your Majesty, this is really a blessing for all people!"

Who doesn't like the feeling of being flattered?

Zhu Houzhao waved his hand and said, "Aiqing, don't say any more, if you have anything to say, just say it!"

At this time, a small civil servant came forward, bowed and said to Zhu Houzhao:
"Your Majesty, there are many people outside, saying that there is a severe drought this year, and they are asking your Majesty to find someone to go to the Temple of Heaven to pray for rain and good weather!"

When Zhu Houzhao heard it, he was happy. When he was the prince, his favorite thing was to use guns and sticks, and there were also some things that had nothing to do with the government. He liked to do it to pray for rain.

"Shut up! Minister of Rites, Yang Yiqing, listen to the decree!"

Yang Yiqing came out.

Zhu Houzhao said: "The Ministry of Rites chooses auspicious days, and I want to go to the altar to worship the ancestors, and the queen will find someone to pray for rain!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

After Yang Yiqing returned to his class, Li Dongyang continued to play: "Your Majesty, since Your Majesty wiped out the Tatar tribes and defeated the warships of the Franji Kingdom, the taxes and silver of the [-] affiliated countries around the Ming Empire have doubled."

"Another thirteen small countries want to join the Ming Dynasty and become a vassal state of the Ming Empire. They are willing to pay taxes every year and submit to the Ming Dynasty. They were originally small countries in the Western Regions, but they were ravaged by the Tatar Kingdom. would like to belong.”

After Yang Yiqing finished speaking, Zhu Houzhao suddenly remembered that it seemed that the princess of North Korea had entered Beijing.

Among the many satellite countries surrounding the Ming Dynasty, only Korea paid the most tribute. Moreover, every time a new emperor of the Ming Dynasty came to the throne, they would send one or two princesses to serve the emperor.

Zhu Houzhao sat on the dragon chair, his eyes were piercing, and his brows were full of pride. Since he ascended the throne, he has created a lot of wealth for Daming.

"How much money did these dependent countries bring me?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, North Korea's annual silver is 50 taels, and the future dependent countries are all between 30 and [-] taels. In addition to the annual silver, there are corals, luminous pearls, crystal cups and other rare items in the world."

"Is North Korea the only country with the most silver?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, only they are 50 taels."

Listening to Zhu Houzhao's words, Yang Yiqing's face was uncertain. He knew that His Majesty has been crazily accumulating money recently. In order to develop Daming, it can be said that he has exhausted all means. accumulated.

North Korea is not rich in the first place, and it is already very good to be able to do this. As for the annual silver of other countries, it is also a major expenditure of a country.

This money is probably the protection fee paid by these dependent countries to Daming, right?Otherwise, why did they give you so much money for no reason?

To repair the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, 30 taels is more than enough. As for the repair of the river, the yearly silver of this country is enough.
Zhu Houzhao was sitting in the court hall, but he no longer thought about this matter in his heart. He was thinking that the annual silver paid by these dependent countries would add up to a lot, a lot
At this time, Zhu Houzhao in the court suddenly said to Li Dongyang: "Go and tell those dependent countries that if you want to get the protection of our Ming Empire, on the basis of the current old silver, each country will send an additional 10 taels. If not, don’t come to pay tribute in the future.”

After Li Dongyang heard this, he silently sweated for Zhu Houzhao. In fact, he knew in his heart that this was His Majesty's intensification of money-gathering, which was not realistic at all.

If these dependent countries are pushed into a hurry and they unite to rebel, it will have a great impact on Daming.

Even though Da Ming is as strong as a tiger now, but when he will doze off eventually, won't this time plant the root of disaster?

But now, persuasion fails, and Zhu Houzhao acts decisively, no better than his father, Emperor Hongzhi Zhu Youtang.On the contrary, Emperor Hongzhi was generous and benevolent by nature. Perhaps he would sympathize with these countries.
Li Dongyang handed over the memorials of these vassal states, Zhu Houzhao opened them and calculated carefully, and said silently in his heart: "25 vassal states, each country handed over 30 taels, then it is"

Thinking of this, Zhu Houzhao showed an unbelievable smile on his face. He felt that his emperor was really capable.

However, the ministers below are very clear in their hearts that this false "prosperity" may be very good, but the suffering he left to future generations is beyond words.

At this time, Li Dongyang stepped forward and reported: "Your Majesty, the Franji Kingdom sent envoys to establish an armistice agreement with Daming. They are willing to compensate for the losses in the naval battle of Daming, and they are also willing to spend money to send those captured warships and All the captives will be redeemed."

"Hehe, how much compensation will they pay me?"

In the court hall, Zhu Houzhao began to ask about the relevant information of the Franji Kingdom.

Right now, his Daming Navy is not capable of sailing to the west for the time being, and it has to be trained for at least a year. The best way to do it now is to pay for it from the people of France.

As long as you have money, you can do anything, Zhu Houzhao thinks so.

"Report to Your Majesty, the people of Franji use gold coins for settlement. They are willing to pay three gold coins for a prisoner of war, and more than 2000 prisoners, that is, more than 6000 gold coins. Then they plan to buy back the captured warships, each ship is [-] gold coins."

"Three thousand gold coins? Do they think I'm still young?"

"Go and tell them! I don't want their gold coins, I want silver, more than 1000 million taels of silver, let's talk, let's talk about this amount, no talk!"

This is Zhu Houzhao's imperial decree, and no one dares not to listen to it.

　Ask for collection.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)