Palace of Heavenly Purity.
This morning, Zhu Qizhen suddenly proposed a trade zone in the Imperial Court, causing a lot of controversy among the ministers.
This was because such a bold idea had never been seen in the previous dynasty.
To regulate market regulations and regulate market prices.
The imperial court had never interfered with these matters, nor had it established a separate trading zone in the city.
Usually, it was the merchants who spontaneously conducted the trading activities in the market.
If such a trading zone was set up, there would be too many restrictions on merchants. Would it cause them to be dissatisfied?
If this important decision was made, it would probably affect the interests of a group of people.
Zhu Qizhen frowned when he saw the ministers discussing. He suddenly looked at Yu Qian.
"Yu Qian, as the chief assistant of the cabinet, don't you want to say something about the decision I proposed?”
"I'm stupid," Yu Qian quickly stepped forward and reported,"I dare not add any valuable information to Your Majesty's decision.”
"Then do you support me?"
Zhu Qizhen wanted to get an affirmative answer from Yu Qian, but this guy was actually playing dumb.
"I don't think it's appropriate, but this is only my personal opinion." Yu Qian shook his head. His Majesty's decision was related to the interests of the merchants. He was afraid that it would cause a large number of merchants to be dissatisfied. At that time, His Majesty would fall into the fishing wheel of the people.”
It turned out that even the Chief Assistant of the Cabinet, Yu Qian, opposed his decision. Needless to say, almost half of the people in the court would not support his decision.
Although Zhu Qizhen's decision was to encourage business development, it also controlled the market to a certain extent, which would violate the interests of many merchants in the world.
Among the important officials in the court, many of them had started off as merchants.
If the imperial court started to control the commercial market, how could they make a lot of money in the future?
"Whose interests are my decisions violating?" Zhu Qizhen sneered. All of you are opposing me, even Yu Qian is opposing me?”
"I don't know what will happen if the imperial court gets involved in the reform of the market," Yu Qian hurriedly knelt down and said. However, this would indeed cause dissatisfaction among a large number of merchants, unless the imperial court could raise the status of the merchants and appease their dissatisfaction.”
Yu Qian hit the nail on the head and pointed out the root of the conflict!
To put it bluntly, if the imperial court wanted to intervene in the management of the market and make the market more business-oriented, it would have to raise the status of merchants in the social class.
In ancient times, there was a clear division of ranks, which was why they were called the three religions and nine schools of thought.
And merchants were among the Lower Nine Paths, and their status was very low.
If he wanted the imperial court to control the development of commerce, he had to appease the merchants and raise their social class status. Only then would it not intensify the conflict, but instead ease it.
After Zhu Qizhen heard Yu Qian's words, he laughed out loud and said,""Yu Qian, you're so thoughtful. I now order you to write an edict to raise the status of merchants in society and encourage the people to develop their businesses. Let them trade in the established trade zones so that the court can effectively govern these places.”
Yu Qian knelt on the ground and quickly reported,"Yes, Your Majesty."
Zhu Qizhen was very happy that Yu Qian had solved the problem.
He said to Yu Qian,"You helped me solve such a big problem. What reward do you want?"”
"It is my duty to offer advice for the country. I dare not ask for any praise from Your Majesty. However, I'm worried about what direction the country's economy will develop in after His Majesty has established the trade zone.”
Yu Qian's question was indeed a question worth pondering.
What direction should the country develop in?
The ancestors had all vigorously developed agriculture, with agriculture as the main industry and other industries as the support.
Now that Zhu Qizhen had made this decision, wouldn't it be breaking the original tradition?
This was not only Yu Qian's worry, but also the worry of the ministers. It was also a worry for the future development of Great Ming.
To put it bluntly, these ministers were too old-fashioned.
Could it be that the Emperor did not intend to abide by the things passed down by the ancestors and planned to take another path?
How could this not arouse the doubts of the ministers?
If it did not develop and lost the things left behind by the ancestors, wouldn't the national strength of the Ming Dynasty decline?
These were all hidden dangers that they had thought of, but they were helpless because the Emperor insisted on doing so, so they did not dare to advise him.
Zhu Qizhen saw some clues from the eyes of those officials and knew the worries in their hearts.
Thus, Zhu Qizhen stood up from his dragon throne and said to the ministers,""I know what you are worried about. I'm worried that if my decision fails, it would be equivalent to forgetting my roots and would be very detrimental to Ming's future development. Regarding this issue, I have another important decision to tell all of you.”
All the ministers were stunned.
Isn't the decision to establish a trade zone big enough?
What other important decision does the Emperor intend to make?
Would the Ming Empire still be able to stabilize under the Emperor's bold and decisive reform?
The conservative ministers couldn't help but worry.
Zhu Qizhen enunciated his decision,"I have decided to lift all the sea restrictions, open up the coastal cities, open up overseas trade, and never close the country!”
Zhu Qizhen's words left the ministers speechless.
This…was overturning the ancestral teachings!
Was the emperor crazy?
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。