In the evening, Zhu Houzhao summoned Liang Chu in the Palace of Heavenly Purity. When Zhu Houzhao heard that the treasury of the Ministry of Revenue had been emptied, with less than two million taels of silver, his expression changed.
Zhu Houzhao roared and questioned Liang Chu,""Why did you spend so much money? At the beginning of the year, there were more than twenty million taels of silver. It's only been two months. Where did you put my silver?”
Liang Chu felt wronged as he thought," It's all because of your generosity. You spent five million taels to build a border city, ten million taels to build the empire's navy, and each prefecture and county built an empire's bank. There are a total of eight hundred banks, and every bank needs an accountant who knows how to calculate. It would be good if the national treasury has more than one million taels of silver left…"
However, Liang Chu did not dare to say it directly. He could only cupped his hands and said,"Your Majesty, the empire is building too much, and there are too many places where money is needed…"
Zhu Houzhao frowned. There was not enough money in the national treasury. Zhu Houzhao still planned to take out 300,000 taels of silver from the national treasury to repair the water transport. There was too much silt in the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and many river sections had been cut off...
Furthermore, if a large number of cannons and fire systems were to be put into production, they would also require a large sum of silver…
Zhu Houzhao looked at Liang Chu and said,""What if we increase the tax by another four million taels?”
"No! You must not, Your Majesty!"
Zhu Houzhao listened to Liang Chu's advice and dispelled the idea of increasing taxes.
……
Before the morning court session began, the cabinet first received Zhu Houzhao's approval of the memorials. I have read most of the memorials, and they are accurate.
Until Liu Jian came over with three memorials and placed them in front of Liang Chu."Look, His Majesty is warning those Imperial Censors to behave themselves.”
The three memorials were written by Zhu Houzhao in reply to the Imperial Censor. After the Liang Prince read them, he had a different opinion."This matter is not that simple!”
"Oh, Shu Hou, what do you think?”Liu Jian wanted to hear Liang Chu's opinion.
Liang Chu placed these three memorials on both sides. He first pointed to the two memorials on the left."These two memorials are indeed warning the Imperial Censor to behave himself and not be like a mad dog, but…"
Liang Chu pointed to the memorial on the right and said,"There's a lot of meaning in this. Xixian, please savor it carefully.”
(Note: Shu Hou-Liang Chu's handwriting, Xi Xian-Liu Jian's handwriting)
Liu Jian carefully read through the memorial that accused them of accepting bribes from merchants and protecting the interests of merchants, as well as the Emperor's review of the memorial. There were many different meanings in his eyes.
"Alright, before punishing Liang Chu and Liu Jian, you have to produce 10 million taels of tax for Zhen!”This was His Majesty's reply to the memorial. The 10 million taels of tax was stated very directly.
This 10 million taels of tax was probably not only to intimidate the censors, but also to show the cabinet.
The hidden meaning of His Majesty's words was: " Cabinet and Ministry of Revenue, you can do whatever you want. I will be your backer. However, I am in a hurry to spend money. Hurry up and gather ten million taels of silver for me…"
……
Liu Jian walked back and forth in the cabinet corridor several times, then whispered to Liang Chu,""Are you saying that this memorial is not only warning those rabid Imperial Censors to behave themselves, but it also points out that we have to quickly give the Emperor silver, or else Shu Hou and I will have to bear the consequences? If someone can get silver for His Majesty faster, His Majesty can replace us!”
Liang Chu also nodded and softly said,"Xixian, you've hit the nail on the head. That's indeed the case. If we weren't in the cabinet, perhaps His Majesty wouldn't have such an intention. However, we happen to be in the cabinet. Xixian, you're the chief assistant, and I'm the Minister of Revenue.”
This time, Liang Chu and Liu Jian's views were the same again, pulling them to the same front.
Their main task now was to make money for Zhu Houzhao and the empire's treasury, so they had to reform the empire's commerce.
The wool still came from the sheep, so they decided not to rush to increase the commercial tax again and were prepared to speed up the revival of commerce.
In this way, the sheep's hair grew faster. If they cut the wool, they would cut more.
……
Thus, the two of them continued to discuss in the cabinet.
After all, Liu Jian was not as familiar with business reform as Liang Chu. Liang Chu had always been in charge of this area, so he decided to listen to Liang Chu's views first before continuing the discussion.
Last night, when Liu Jian knew that Zhu Houzhao had asked them to raise the taxes of the empire by four million taels, he felt dizzy.
Even his complaints were the same. At that time, he shouted in his own study,"Your Majesty, raising the tax by four million taels at once is simply harder than ascending to the heavens. Why don't you just sell this old minister? Perhaps you can raise a little more money!”
However, Liu Jian's complaint was immediately recorded by the people from the East Military Department. Zhu Houzhao happened to wake up today and knew about this matter.
After Zhu Houzhao finished reading it, he threw the secret scroll back to Cao Zhengchun.""Hehe, this cabinet chief and the Minister of Revenue are actually the same. They all say that I love to spend money and they can't produce silver. Why don't I sell the two of them and exchange them for some silver?”
Cao Zhengchun also knew that Zhu Houzhao was joking. He smiled and said,""Your Majesty, Chief Assistant Liu and Minister Liang only complained a little, but when they really want to do it, they will do their best. They don't dare to be careless at all. Moreover, there are old officials watching over them.”
"Yes, indeed, these two people will definitely not do anything rash, but this one will remember this score in my heart!”Zhu Houzhao thought of a way to deal with Liang Chu and Liu Jian." Cao Zhengchun, come here. I have something to tell you!"”
After Zhu Houzhao whispered in Cao Zhengchun's ear, Cao Zhengchun asked with uncertainty,""Your Majesty, what should we do?”
"Yes, this matter must be arranged as soon as possible. We can't delay it!”Zhu Houzhao said with certainty.
Cao Zhengchun lowered his head in agreement, but he sighed in his heart. Chief Liu, Minister Liang, you two can just pray for your own good!
After giving instructions to Cao Zhengchun, Zhu Houzhao thought of something. After the palace maid helped him put on the dragon robe, he turned to Cao Zhengchun and said,"Cao Zhengchun, those imperial censors will probably attend court according to the ancestral system. You guys have to be more strict with them.”
"Since they want to capture the courtiers, then go to the place where they are going to be more polite and make them behave.”
"This subject obeys the decree!" Cao Zhengchun smiled to himself.
He had long wanted to settle scores with those imperial censors. Those imperial censors looked down on him and cursed him all day long. They all bombarded him.
The most hateful thing was that some of the Imperial Censor's memorials actually said that Cao Zhengchun had secretly colluded with assassins to assassinate Zhu Houzhao, and that he was in cahoots with the White Lotus Society.
Cao Zhengchun found this unbearable. The rebellion of the White Lotus Society was his biggest mistake since he became an official.
Now that Zhu Houzhao was inspecting them to see if they had crossed the line, Cao Zhengchun could rightfully teach these Imperial Censors a lesson.
One could imagine how difficult it would be for these imperial censors to wait for the court to begin.
After all, there was always a pair of eyes from the East Chamber staring at them. As long as they made a slight mistake, they would be reported to the Emperor…
……
Wuwuwu--
The bugle horn sounded.
Pa!
Pa!
Pa!
Three whips sounded, and Zhu Houzhao ascended the court!
Zhu Houzhao wanted to see what kind of power dared to cause trouble in the dark and what kind of unspeakable secrets were hidden by the power that blocked my reform!
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