Before Gao Gong left, Feng Bao, the eunuch of the East Chamber, walked in and said softly,""Your Majesty, Hai Rui has been brought to the capital by me.”
Gao Gong's eyes darkened.
Hai Rui...
Although he was an official at Hai Rui, he was extremely famous.
……
Moreover, Hai Rui and Gao Gong were not on good terms.
Most importantly, Hai Rui's official position was lost by Gao Gong. Back when Gao Gong and Xu Jie were fighting, Hai Rui and Xu Jie were on Gao Gong's side and hated him.
Now, the Emperor wanted to bring Hai Rui back.
After Feng Bao left, Zhu Yijun looked at Gao Gong and said,""Grand Secretary Gao, someone said that Grand Secretary Gao is narrow-minded and intolerant, so I rebuked him for being blind. Grand Secretary Gao is the prime minister of the current dynasty, so he has a big heart.”
Gao Gong heard Zhu Yijun's flattery and laughed involuntarily.
The little emperor's words were already so clear. If Gao Gong still didn't understand the emperor's meaning, then he would have been the chief assistant of the cabinet for so many years.
" Your Majesty, Hai Rui and I were angry because of our work, not because of our selfish motives. Your Majesty, I will go and welcome Sir Hai."”
" Thank you for your help, Senior Gao. The position of assistant minister is still vacant, so let's put Hai Rui in that position.”
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The Ministry of Works had always been the most corrupt department, and Hai Rui hated corrupt officials the most. Zhu Yijun allowed Hai Rui to join the Ministry of Works because he wanted to use Hai Rui's integrity to supervise the Ministry of Works.
……
After Gao Gong left, Zhu Yijun sat on the dragon throne and looked at Feng Bao.
During this period, Feng Bao had worked hard. Under Zhu Yijun's checks and balance, he had already recognized his position. If it was not for the suppression of the East Chamber, the cabinet would have been dominant. However, without the cabinet's support, Feng Bao would have had immense power.
Zhu Yijun knew officialdom the best. He would not easily let Gao Gong step down, nor would he listen to the words of the censor to impeach Feng Bao. Without the checks and balance of Feng Bao from the East Chamber, who would suppress the cabinet for him?
During this period of time, Zhu Yijun had already received four memorials to impeach Feng Bao.
It was because Zhu Yijun's checks and balance were so well done that the cabinet and the East Chamber cooperated like never before. This punishment of corrupt officials was successful.
However, Zhu Yijun also knew that going too far was as bad as falling short, so when Gao Gong still wanted to dig up the corrupt officials, Zhu Yijun stopped him.
The matter of punishing corrupt officials had come to an end. They could not continue investigating. Otherwise, the people inside and outside the court would be in panic and the country would be in turmoil. The current situation was just right.
……
Zhu Yijun had been the emperor for ten days.
The construction of the old emperor's mausoleum had been completed. In a few days, after sending the old emperor away, Zhu Yijun would completely take over the empire.
Although the Ming Empire's national strength was declining, there were still many famous officials. As long as the business was invigorated, the Ming Empire would definitely be able to rebuild its prosperity.
However, Zhang Juzheng and a group of politicians had their eyes on agriculture and did not care about business at all. To them, business was a side issue, and agriculture was the foundation of a country…
However, Zhu Yijun knew that if he wanted to make the country rich and powerful, he could not lack commerce. What the Ming Empire lacked now was commerce.
Ever since Zhu Yuanzhang imposed the ban on the sea, not a single tile was allowed to enter the sea. Now, the ban on the sea had been slightly relaxed, but it was still not enough…
The maritime trade was only one of the commercial activities, and many commercial activities were still prohibited.
For example, salt and tea were monopolized by the state, and merchants had to pay the government to buy "salt lead" and "tea lead".
The " lead " was the certificate that merchants used to transport goods, and it was printed with the legal unit of weight.
Those guilty of selling illegal salt were hanged, and those with military weapons were beheaded.
There were strict restrictions on all kinds of business operations, which greatly restricted the business activities of the Great Ming Empire…
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, private sailing was strictly prohibited. Violators were punished with 100 sticks and hanged or beheaded.
……
In Zhu Yijun's opinion, it was easy to reform the business, but it was difficult to check the farmland...
Reforming the business industry would take a year to see results.
However, reforming agriculture would take ten years, or even decades, and it would easily arouse the opposition of the aristocrats and the powerful.
Moreover, reforming commerce could make the Ming Empire look brand new, while reforming agriculture could only make it prosperous for a while…
……
Zhu Yijun sat on the dragon throne and wrote down the business reform policy.
He had decided to completely open up commerce. Other than salt, armaments, and minerals, the country's commerce was completely open.
The sea ban was lifted and a free port was set up in Fujian. Yin Zhengmao was to inform all merchants to participate in the construction of the free port. Merchants who participated in the investment would receive a 30% tax reduction reward.
Strengthening the military defense of Datong Prefecture and buying large amounts of Fohlang Machine Cannons. Datong Prefecture was the closest to Mongolia, so Zhu Yijun had the intention of opening a horse market in Datong Prefecture to trade with Mongolia and the countries of the Western Regions to earn profits.
Zhu Yijun's horizons were unprecedentedly broad. Although Zhang Juzheng and the others were famous reformers, they did not know what was happening in the West...
It was already 1573. Europe and other countries had entered the colonial era, and all kinds of technology had taken off!
The Franc cannon was invented in Europe. It was introduced to China from Portugal in the first year of Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty (1522). It was called the Franc machine according to its country name and became the cannon in the middle of the Ming Dynasty.
In the third year of Jiajing (1524), the Ming court successfully copied the first batch of 32 Flang machines, each weighing about 300 jin, the mother was 2.85 feet long and equipped with four children. After that, the Ming court continued to imitate all kinds of Franc machines of different sizes and models to equip the northern and coastal armies.
Now that Zhu Yijun had money, he naturally wanted to purchase a large number of cannons. Zhu Yijun opened the sea ban because he wanted to build a powerful navy and let the Western European countries experience the toughness of the Ming Empire!
Zhu Yijun wrote 13 articles on business reform.
The most fundamental business reform was to completely open up business, no longer impose restrictions on business activities, and collect taxes for all kinds of business activities...
Zhu Yijun increased the tax provisions by nearly a hundred.
After all, there were only a dozen or so agricultural taxes…
If these taxes were to be seen as heavy taxes by all the civil and military officials, they would definitely be heavy taxes. However, these taxes were very common in Zhu Yijun's eyes. This was because the world's powerful countries 500 years later would collect thousands of taxes…
A hundred types of taxes were very few!
……
After Zhu Yijun placed the thirteen imperial edicts on the table, he felt a little tired. He returned to Yangxin Palace Hall and went to rest…
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