Zhu Qizhen still waited until Wang Zhen arrived.

Zhu Qizhen asked: "How much money is left in the inner treasury?"

Wang Zhen said: "Last year, gold, flowers and silver were exempted. Although the palace has various incomes, it still cannot make ends meet. Now it only has 29.3 million taels."

Zhu Qizhen silently calculated the various rewards and the consumption of the palace, especially the construction of the three main halls.

Zhu Qizhen had just taken office, so he naturally wanted to win over people's hearts.

It is useless to talk about how to win over. Of course, real money and silver are needed. If nothing else, the reward for the soldiers who conquered Luchuan is a huge sum of money.

It can be seen that for a long time to come, the internal treasury will only see less money, not more.

Zhu Qizhen was stunned for a moment. Wang Zhen asked cautiously: "Your Majesty, is there something wrong?"

Zhu Qizhen seemed to suddenly wake up and said: "From now on, all memorials from the Ministry of Revenue will be sent directly to the Qianqing Palace."

Wang Zhen immediately said: "I obey the order."

Zhu Qizhen decided to increase the importance of financial issues.

He carefully thought about the solution to the current food crisis. The first thing he thought of was overseas food. So he asked Wang Zhendao: "Is Wang Jinghong still there?"

Wang Zhen said: "Your Majesty, the prince went away in the second half of last year."

After Zhu Qizhen heard this, he sighed in his heart and said to himself: "There is one less old man who followed Zheng He to sea." He continued to ask: "Does Wang Jinghong have any sons, adopted sons or something like that?"

Wang Zhen said: "Eunuch Wang Jinghong has an adopted son, but he seems to have passed away. He only has one grandson who has just served as a guard in Nanjing."

Zhu Qizhen said: "Let him go to Beijing."

Zhu Qizhen asked again: "Has Li Shimian arrived in the capital?"

Wang Zhen's mouth trembled slightly after hearing this, but his voice remained unchanged and he said: "It's been more than ten days."

After hearing this, Zhu Qizhen said sternly: "Why didn't you say it earlier?" Then he remembered the feud between Wang Zhen and Li Shimian, and it was too simple for Wang Zhen to suppress Li Shimian's memorial.

In any case, Li Shimian's arrival in Beijing was not considered an important or urgent matter. Li Shimian had already taken office in a few days, and Zhu Qizhen had not received the news yet.

Although Zhu Qizhen felt a little uncomfortable, he didn't blame Wang Zhen much. He ordered Wang Zhen to immediately invite Li Shimian into the palace.

Wang Zhen looked a little embarrassed and said: "Your Majesty, it's getting very late."

It's almost evening now.

Zhu Qizhen went to court every morning, very quickly, but it was just a matter of routine. He started reviewing memorials in the morning and summoning ministers at the same time.

The ministers summoned at this time were all minor officials.

Before most county magistrates take office, several or a dozen people will accept Zhu Qizhen's summons.

Under such circumstances, Zhu Qizhen just said a few words about being diligent and loving the people, or saying that the people's hearts are hard to bully, and let them go. Of course, if anyone dared to report anyone to Zhu Qizhen at this time, Zhu Qizhen would The town will also investigate carefully.

It's just that in the past six months, I haven't had this kind of stupidity.

In the afternoon it was time to meet with the ministers.

There were many questions. Zhu Qizhen couldn't figure them out just by reading the memorial, so he had to invite the relevant ministers to come over.

However, these days, Zhu Qizhen mainly talks with people in the cabinet.

The financial crisis that Wang Zhi mentioned was so terrifying that Zhu Qizhen spent a very long time talking to him. It would also take time to invite Li Shimian over now.

It is estimated that after Li Shimian came over, it would be dinner time.

Zhu Qizhen said: "If you are asked to go, you go."

Wang Zhen then hurried out.

Although it was dark that day, Li Shimian arrived.

When Zhu Qizhen saw Li Shimian, he said, "Sir, he has grown old."

Li Shimian had been living in Lingnan for several years, and he seemed to be aging very quickly. His hair had turned white. His complexion had also become much darker, and even his strong temper had softened. He was also very weak in his actions.

Li Shimian saluted and said: "Your Majesty, I am old. I am sixty-six this year. I can no longer bear the imperial court's orders."

After hearing this, Zhu Qizhen said: "Sir, are you going to abandon me? I am young and need the help of someone like you. Even if you let me go, you must do it for the sake of Taizong, Renzong, and Xuanzong."

After hearing this, Li Shimian said: "I know your Majesty's intention. Please rest assured, your Majesty. From now on, I will never mention the matter of becoming an official again."

Zhu Qizhen breathed a sigh of relief, asked Li Shimian to sit down, and said, "Sir, you come from Xin'an. How is Xin'an doing?"

Speaking of Xin'an, Li Shimian had a mixed expression, seeming a little happy and helpless, and said: "After His Majesty ordered the opening of the sea in Xin'an, the number of Nanyang ships coming from the old port increased every day, especially during the monsoon season, hundreds of ships a day.

There are so many ships that they almost block the river. Moreover, the people from Southeast Asia are extremely mixed, and there are criminals and criminals among them. There are even some gentry who have become officials in this dynasty and are held by thieves. It is really hard to tolerate!"

"I think it is urgent to rectify Xin'an Port."

"Even if Your Majesty does not summon me, I still have something to say. Tuen Mun Port is already overwhelmed, and it is too close to Xin'an. There are even people who have mixed with the ships and fled to Southeast Asia."

"I think we should stay in a remote place and choose a new port to separate it from the people and block the people's escape route."

When Zhu Qizhen heard this, he thought something terrible had happened in Xin'an. It was just a disorder of public security. When Zhu Qizhen thought about it, he realized that the population of Xin'an County had increased by tens of thousands in a short period of time.

With so many people gathered, given the management level of this era, it is normal if something goes wrong, and it is abnormal if something doesn't happen. Although Zhu Qizhen didn't pay too much attention to this matter.

He doesn't care about the so-called people fleeing overseas.

After all, people rely on mountains to eat mountains, water to eat water, and sea to eat sea. Since the sea can bring wealth, people's yearning for the sea is irresistible.

But for people like Li Shimian, it is absolutely unacceptable.

Emperor Taizu built a stable agricultural country, so in Li Shimian's opinion, so much money and food obtained by opening the sea was not as important as the escape of the people of Xin'an County.

Zhu Qizhen couldn't deny it either.

Because it was not only Li Shimian’s point of view, but also the point of view of most conservative civil servants, and these most conservative civil servants were die-hard loyalists of the Ming Dynasty.

For example, this man had already retired and returned to his hometown. However, after hearing about the Tumubao Incident, he sent his son to write to the court, requesting the selection of troops and generals to go out to Wazi and welcome back the emperor. He was even so sad that he died within a few days.

Already.

Zhu Qizhen could only follow him and said: "But I don't know where Mr. has chosen?"

Li Shimian said: "There is a small island in the south of Xin'an County, named Hong Kong. It is named after the fragrant wood it produces. I went to the island to see it. The island is not small and has a natural harbor. I thought that merchants could trade on the island.

Boats are needed to travel. This not only facilitates tax collection, but also prevents people from going to sea."

Zhu Qizhen never expected that someone else would tell him the name Hong Kong in this era.

But if you think about it carefully, it’s natural.

Because Xin'an is too close to Hong Kong. Within the scope of Xin'an County, Li Shimian's choice of ports was originally limited.

The choice of Hong Kong is naturally a high probability.

Perhaps the root cause of this incident also lies with Zhu Qizhen.

If Zhu Qizhen had not selected Xin'an but another county, it is estimated that the one that has been submitted now will definitely not be Hong Kong.

"It can be regarded as fate. Anyway, there will never be a Victoria Bay in this life." Zhu Qizhen said: "Since sir wants to do this, there is nothing wrong with me."

This is not a big deal.

There is actually no problem if we don't report it, but Xin'an Customs is, after all, linked to the central government and must report it to the authorities.

Zhu Qizhen said: "But I don't know what the city of Xin'an is like. I have heard that Xin'an is now known as Little Guangzhou."

Li Shimian had to admit: "Every industry in Xin'an is booming. Every time the south wind comes, tens of thousands of people gather in the city within a few days.

More than 10,000 taels. In my opinion, there is still huge room for development."

"In time, it is not surprising that Xin'an Customs has more than one million taels of silver. It can be called the emperor's southern treasury. But before I came today, there were already as many as one million taels of silver in Xin'an. It's just that I thought that the emperor was rich all over the world and should not compete with the imperial court.
Chapter completed!