Chapter 46 Customs Bank

This amount of one million taels frightened Zhu Qizhen.

One million taels is not a small amount.

Many poor provinces pay less than this amount in annual taxes.

Zhu Qizhen didn't know that Li Shimian was so ambitious that all ships that could go to sea had been drafted. Maritime trade between Xin'an and various countries in Southeast Asia was temporarily interrupted.

All ships have been drafted.

Li Shimian announced that any ship that is not involved in transporting grain will not be eligible to do business in Xin'an in the future. Similarly, some ships that have problems with the ownership of the ship will be able to operate in Xin'an without any hindrance as long as they are willing to serve the Ming Dynasty. Then he started

The rewards were enough to mobilize such a large fleet.

Zhu Qizhen may not know what Li Shimian has done, but he does not think that one million taels is more than one million taels of silver. Because now he has more than 20 million taels of silver lying in his inner treasury. If it can be exchanged for food, even one tael

One stone, or more than 20 million stones, can solve all problems.

But where is such a large supply of food?

Now, including all kinds of consumption, the average price of four million shi of food is less than one tael or one shi.

As for whether Li Shimian was embezzled or not, Zhu Qizhen didn't care.

Because as long as things can be done, even if there are some emotional flaws, Zhu Qizhen will ignore them. Of course, Li Shimian has a good character and will never be greedy for this money.

It’s just that people seem to be able to share adversity, but not wealth.

This is so bad. The previous attitude of Zhu Qizhen and Yang Shiqi was that they were working together to overcome the difficulties and cooperate sincerely. But with the arrival of these four million shi of food.

The crisis in Beijing has been resolved. Even though Zhu Qizhen has money in his hands, his first feeling is still: this money cannot be paid out by the internal treasury. Even if the internal treasury pays, the cabinet must make concessions.

So Zhu Qizhen paused briefly and said, "It won't be too late to discuss this matter later after the bachelors from the cabinet arrive."

In fact, there is no need to wait for someone from the cabinet.

Because the people from the cabinet had already been waiting at the Wenhua Hall.

It was just that in order to show his closeness to Li Shimian and to take the initiative, Zhu Qizhen summoned Li Shimian before the meeting.

Immediately, Zhu Qizhen and Li Shimian went to the Wenhua Hall together.

At this moment, there are seven cabinet members, six ministers, and people from the Fifth Army Commander's Office.

Zhu Qizhen asked Li Shimian to explain the situation again. When he mentioned one million taels again, Zhu Qizhen said smoothly: "This matter is reasonable and reasonable. Let the Ministry of Household Affairs allocate one million taels."

Before anyone else could say anything, Liu Zhongfu couldn't bear it any longer. He stepped out and said, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Household Affairs needs money, but it is important to have an old minister."

"Since last year, the Ministry of Household Affairs has been spending money like water. Now the Ministry of Household Affairs only has more than three million taels of silver in it. At that time, the money was used to provide salaries to hundreds of officials. It is absolutely impossible to use it."

"I think this amount should be used in the internal treasury."

If others don’t know, how can Liu Zhongfu not know?

Others only have a concept of how rich the inner treasury is, but Liu Zhongfu knows how rich the inner treasury is. The reason is very simple. Liu Zhongfu is a person of the Empress Dowager.

Money is transferred from the Ministry of Accounts to the internal treasury for various reasons.

Without the support of him, the Minister of Household Affairs, it would have been impossible. Therefore, he knew how much money there was in the inner treasury.

So it can be said that he was justified in shouting this.

Previously, there was a balance in the household department, and most of it went into the palace.

Otherwise, the imperial court would not be so stretched.

Zhu Qizhen said: "The internal treasury has already spent one million and a half million taels, so we can't all do it internally."

Liu Zhongfu said: "Your Majesty, I have objections to this matter. The emperor is rich all over the world, so why should he compete with the imperial court for profits? The imperial court's taxes should be taken from the people and used for the people."

"As for Xin'an Customs, nearly one million taels per year is already the largest revenue for the imperial court after field tax, salt tax, and tea tax. I don't think it will be entered into the shipping warehouse anyway."

"Your Majesty, please give me a clear warning."

Wang Zhi also came out and said, "Your Majesty, please give me a clear warning."

Zhu Qizhen looked at the two people, and then his eyes fell on Yang Shiqi.

Seeing this, Yang Shiqi said: "Your Majesty, this matter should be discussed."

Zhu Qizhen sneered in his heart and said to himself: "Old fox, just after the emotional crisis has passed, you are going to surprise me with a sudden attack?" Zhu Qizhen had completely forgotten that, in fact, he just wanted to take out some benefits from the cabinet.

It can be seen that the heroes have similar views.

However, Yang Shiqi discovered a problem: the imperial court's financial resources were too weak.

First of all, this is because of the financial issues designed by Emperor Taizu. Not all money and food must be in the hands of the Ministry of Household Affairs. The central finance system design is quite limited.

Secondly, it is the behavior of the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager saving money every day for several years.

The Empress Dowager is actually very measured. If the court is short of money, she will not transfer money from the Ministry of Household Affairs to the inner treasury. However, in the ten years since Xuande, she has given up all non-urgent tasks and recuperated, and the real big expenditure is Xuanzong's

The funeral, the Northwest War, and now the Battle of Luchan. There are also the catastrophes that lasted from the fourth year of Zhengtong to the fifth year of Zhengtong.

Before the fourth year of Zhengtong, the financial flow of the imperial court had always been positive.

Whenever the imperial court has a surplus, the Empress Dowager will set aside a portion of it. This is the simplest love an old woman has for her grandson. It is also her restriction on the imperial court.

As a result, the internal treasury was full, and the Household Department was in a rather passive situation in dealing with this major disaster.

Yang Shiqi doesn't think this is normal.

Therefore, he wanted to take back some of the financial rights from the emperor, but how could he take back the financial rights? He wanted to take out the money that had gone into the inner treasury. Yang Shiqi knew that this was completely impossible, so he thought of pulling out the financial resources from the inner treasury.

Come out part of it.

The inner treasury's financial resources, in addition to the offerings from eunuchs from various places, include gold and silver.

In order to avoid the pain of transportation, in the first year of Zhengtong, the grain that should have been supplied to the palace was converted into silver, which was gold and silver. Each quarter was 250,000 taels, and one million taels a year.

This is a major item of income for the palace.

But that is not the case now, because customs revenue is on the verge of exceeding that of gold and silver.

Yang Shiqi didn't want the emperor to have no money, but he didn't want the Ministry of Revenue to be in such a passive situation. That's why he had to renegotiate the customs money issue at this time.

Zhu Qizhen said: "What do you mean, sir?"

Yang Shiqi said: "I thought that Your Majesty was so talented that he decided to open the sea when he came to the throne. It was indeed a wise move. It was clearly seen thousands of miles away. Now Xin'an Customs does not disturb the people and can collect as much as one million yuan a year. Yang Rong

At that time, I often lamented why the sea was not opened in Fujian, and the gentry from the coastal provinces frequently asked when the sea would be opened in various places. I thought this was the result of His Majesty's far-sightedness."

Zhu Qizhen was a little excited when he heard Yang Shiqi's rainbow fart. But he had also been in the court for several years and calmed down immediately. He didn't believe that Yang Shiqi said this just to praise him.

Zhu Qizhen said: "Sir, I am too ashamed to deserve the praise."

Yang Shiqi said: "I think that Li Shimian is transporting grain from Guangzhou to Tianjin at this moment, which shows the necessity of sea transportation. Therefore, I think that the time is right to open the sea."

When Zhu Qizhen heard that Yang Shiqi agreed to open the sea, he was happy but also felt more and more suspicious.

With Yang Shiqi's prestige in the court, he nodded to this matter, and there was no obstacle to implementing the policy of opening up the sea. But would Yang Shiqi be so kind?

Sure enough, Yang Shiqi's plan was poor but his dagger was revealed. Yang Shiqi said: "It's just that it's not appropriate for customs from all over the country to throw it into the palace."

Zhu Qizhen understood immediately.

Yang Shiqi made a condition.

That is to say, they support Kaihai's exchange for Zhu Qizhen, which transfers the management of customs from the inner court to the Ministry of Household Affairs. There will also be future customs income, which is likely to be a tax of millions of taels a year.

How to choose Zhu Qizhen?

In fact, Zhu Qizhen made the decision as soon as Yang Shiqi started talking about it.

As Yang Shiqi said, the emperor is rich all over the world. What does Zhu Qizhen need so much money for? In fact, it is just to control the court and implement various policies as a bargaining chip.

The emperor himself does not need money. No matter how poor the court is, the emperor will not starve to death.

But the emperor wanted to turn his opinions into the national policy of the imperial court and promote it throughout the world, and finance was an important bargaining chip.
Chapter completed!