The army set off!
Zhu Zaihou returned to the Forbidden City and discussed the distribution of military rations.
After the court session, Zhu Zaihou went to the Palace of Heavenly Purity. The Chief Assistant of the Cabinet, Wang Shouren, the Minister of Personnel, Li Mo, the Minister of Justice, Yu Maojian, and the Minister of Revenue, Fang Dun, followed behind the Emperor.
On the dragon table of the Palace of Heavenly Purity were piles of memorials that had not been read yet.
"Take a seat."
As soon as Zhu Zaihou finished speaking, the eunuchs brought over three armchairs. Wang Shouren and the others were flattered. Zhu Zaihou looked at them and smiled brightly.
Wang Shouren even felt that if the Emperor was furious in the court and reprimanded the officials, he could guess what the Emperor was thinking.
But now, seeing the smile on His Majesty's face, Wang Shouren couldn't help but shiver.
"Tea."
After the eunuch served tea, Wang Shouren, Li Mo, and the others became even more terrified. They saw the smile on the emperor's face and felt that the emperor was brewing something.
Moreover, this matter was very difficult to handle…
" The four beloved ministers are all my subordinates. When the former emperor was alive, he often mentioned the four lords. If he couldn't decide on internal affairs, he would ask Li Mo. If he couldn't decide on external affairs, he would ask Yang Ming…"
When Wang Shouren and Li Mo heard Zhu Zaihou's praise, they immediately stood up and cupped their hands."How can we deserve such praise from Your Majesty?”
Zhu Zaihou waved his hand." Don't belittle yourself, dear ministers. You are not only my underlings, but also the backbone of the Ming Dynasty."”
The Minister of Personnel Affairs, Li Mo, said," Your Majesty, don't make me wait. If Your Majesty has any instructions, feel free to issue a decree. I will sacrifice my life to serve the country!"”
Wang Shouren, Fang Dun, and the others saw that Li Mo had already expressed his stance. They all said that they were willing to do their best for the Emperor until their deaths!
Zhu Zaihou looked at Fang Dun and said,""Tell the lords about the state's treasury silver and the army's rations and military expenses.”
Fang Dun stood up and said," I will obey your orders. There are 6,300,000 taels of silver and 3,800,000 stones of grain in the Ming Dynasty's treasury. We need one million stones of grain for the soldiers. According to our preliminary estimates, we need more than 5,500,000 taels of silver to support 500,000 soldiers. On average, each soldier needs 10 taels of silver as a military allowance…"
Wang Shouren and Li Mo were smart enough to understand the Emperor's intentions.
This war had already exhausted the national treasury. The emperor wanted silver.
A while ago, Yan Song and the corrupt officials in the court were confiscated and 1.5 million taels of silver were confiscated. The confiscated silver was sealed in the Ministry of Justice and had not been handed over to the national treasury.
However, distant water could not quench immediate thirst. Although this 1.5 million taels of silver seemed to be a huge amount, it was not enough to support the army's food and pay for the expedition to Tartar.
Zhu Zaihou still needed silver!
He needed more silver!
"Everyone knows that this war is a war to destroy a country, but the silver in the national treasury can't support this war. Everyone, how can we solve the problem of insufficient silver?”
As soon as Zhu Zaihou finished speaking, Wang Shouren, Li Mo, and the others looked at each other. Wang Shouren stood up and cupped his hands."Your Majesty, how much silver does Your Majesty want?”
"Of course, the more the better. My estimate is ten million taels of silver…"
Zhu Zaihou's voice was very soft, but when Wang Shouren and Li Mo heard the figure of ten million taels, they were so scared that they almost fell off their armchairs.
Ten million taels of silver?
The amount of silver in the Ming Empire's treasury had never exceeded ten million taels!
Zhu Zaihou saw the worried look on Wang Shouren and Li Mo's faces and said,""All of you are extremely talented. I believe that a mere ten million taels of silver will not be a problem for you!”
Wang Shouren and Li Mo complained endlessly in their hearts.
The phrase 'outstanding talent' was worth ten million taels of silver.
As expected, the emperor's praise was not something that ordinary people could enjoy.
Zhu Zaihou looked at Wang Shouren and Li Mo's bitter faces, and his originally happy expression instantly pulled down. He frowned and said,"Why aren't you speaking? If you have any dissatisfaction with me, you can raise it!”
When Wang Shouren and the other important officials heard the Emperor's tone become stern, they couldn't help but think of Yan Song's destruction!
Tian Zi's methods were swift and decisive!
Li Mo cupped his hands." I don't dare. I'm just thinking about how to raise the ten million taels of silver."”
Zhu Zaihou laughed and said,"The wine and meat in the vermilion gate are stinky, and there are starving bones on the road."”
After Wang Shouren and Li Mo heard this poem, they came to a sudden realization. If they wanted to gather 10 million taels of silver in a short period of time, they would probably have to knock on the Vermilion Gate.
Most of the civil and military officials in the court were descendants of large families, and they had complicated aristocratic families behind them.
A flowing dynasty, an ironclad aristocratic family.
The wealth of the aristocratic families was not something that ordinary people could guess.
There were many wealthy families in the capital.
The mansion was grand and majestic, with a red door.
In the Palace of Heavenly Purity, Wang Shouren and Li Mo looked at each other. Now that things had come to this, they could only target these rich families.
Wang Shouren never thought that he would offend the most deep-rooted power of the Ming Empire, the aristocratic families, just as he took the position of the chief minister of the cabinet.
However, there was no other way. His Majesty needed a lot of money to conquer the Tartar Kingdom.
How could he get this money? He couldn't just appear out of thin air.
Zhu Zaihou looked at the four ministers and said,""I will leave the matter of raising the silver to the four sirs. No matter what method the four sirs use, you must gather the silver for zhen!”
After Zhu Zaihou finished speaking, he waved his hand and Wang Shouren, Li Mo, and the others left the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
After the four of them left the Imperial Palace, they looked back at the Forbidden City and smiled bitterly at each other.
"As expected, after being praised by the emperor, you want to think of a way to take out ten million taels of silver. In your opinion, how should we gather this ten million taels of silver?”
Outside the noon gate.
Chief Assistant Wang Shouren looked at the Minister of Personnel, Li Mo, Fang Dun, and Yu Maojian.
Chief of the Cabinet.
Minister of Civil Affairs.
Minister of Revenue.
Minister of Justice.
As expected, the emperor had long planned this. These four high officials represented the four most powerful forces in the court.
Moreover, it was extremely important to the aristocratic families. If the aristocratic families wanted to live comfortably, they could not afford to offend the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Justice.
The Ministry of Revenue also knew the annual grain income of the aristocratic families. They knew their situation clearly and knew who had money and who didn't.
It would be easier to make a move.
Now, it seemed that His Majesty had long begun to plot to extort money from the hands of the aristocratic families.
Shouren Wang raised his head and said,""It's a matter of loyalty to the monarch! Sirs, we must do what His Majesty has instructed us to do! The soldiers of Great Ming were on an expedition, so it was time for these people to express their gratitude!”
Wang Shouren's gaze became sharp!
Li Mo, Fang Dun, and the others nodded heavily."Then this storm will start with the aristocratic families!”
Inside the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
After Zhu Zaihou read the memorial, the eunuch of Cining Palace entered the Palace of Heavenly Purity and reported,""Reporting to Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager is calling for you.”
"Alright, I understand. I'll go later!”
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