Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

Da Shi Yong Fang, in a mysterious house.

Black robes have become the standard attire of this group. Everyone wears the same black robes when they get off the sedan chair, and their true faces are not revealed until the conference hall.

The number of people in this meeting has reached eight, and the person sitting in the chair is still Ma Wensheng, the former Zuodu Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Ma Wensheng's face was haggard, and he was looking like an old man. He sighed helplessly while holding tea, and found that this year was indeed a bad year.

At the beginning of the year, the court was rectifying the financial system, and the pawnshop under his name suffered huge economic losses. His stupid son was even dragged to the Western Market and beheaded for causing trouble and hurting others.

The reason why these people were able to get together was not only to form common political interests, but also to form an alliance in finance and real estate.

Originally, the pawn shop they ran had accumulated a lot of houses, but because the funds were squeezed out of the financial shop, they directed the hype of houses in the capital this year.

With their financial advantage, and the fact that houses in Beijing are indeed very scarce. In order to drive up the price of houses in the capital, they also raised funds to purchase many houses, so that now they have at least a hundred houses worth more than a thousand taels.

Who would have thought that as the New Year approaches, the hype of the most proud house in the capital this year would be severely punished by the imperial court again.

Now facing the upcoming luxury tax, not only will most of the houses be lost, but they will also likely have to pay a terrifying real estate luxury tax later this year.

This luxury tax is not 10,000 or 20,000 taels. At least one zero must be added to the end, and the actual tax amount may even be higher. Just thinking about it makes people feel sick.

At this moment, he also realized the terror of power, but the power now was not in the hands of the civil servant group, but in the hands of the young emperor.

At this point, he knew that the key to all problems was that young man, and the solution to the problem was ready to come out.

“Is it really impossible to stop the luxury tax?”

"Stop it? Tell me who can stop it now?"

"In the past, there were three pavilions made of paper, six ministers made of clay, and now there are twenty ministers!"

…

Facing the twenty important ministers present at the Supreme Meeting, everyone present had no favorable impressions of them. They even couldn't help but ridicule them, and even labeled them as "twenty ministers".

Regardless of whether they admit it or not, the current court is completely controlled by Zhu Youtang, but he also has the strong support of twenty important ministers.

It's just that their voices are destined to become nothing more than nagging, and now the court has become Zhu Youtang's one-word hall.

If Zhu Youtang hadn't changed his mind, with Zhu Youtang's current power and reputation, this luxury tax would have been introduced without any hindrance, and they would have become the biggest victims.

"Damn it!"

"This is clearly a robbery!"

"Calm down, it's rare that you still dare to... do that?"

…

Everyone present seemed very unwilling. Many people felt that Zhu Youtang was clearly robbing them of their money, but everyone knew that there was nothing they could do.

Even though we were in this situation, there were two words that no one dared to say.

"If you tell me, this is all caused by those traitors! Especially Dong Shan, the right servant of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, who even ignored the stability of the country in order to please the emperor!"

Commander Wu knew that he could not keep an eye on Zhu Youtang, so he criticized the group of treacherous ministers in the court, and even pointed the finger directly at Dong Shan, the right minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

"Dong Shan is not a good bird. I will collect his evidence later and hand it over!" The eldest old man gritted his teeth and made a decision.

Wu Shanchang suddenly noticed that Ma Wensheng had not been humming, so he took the initiative to ask: "Brother Ma, I wonder if you have any solution?"

Several old men present turned to look at Ma Wensheng, but they noticed that the corners of Ma Wensheng's mouth were slightly raised, and they immediately felt a sense of expectation in their hearts.

In terms of strategy, all of them here were actually inferior to Ma Wensheng.

If Li Min hadn't had some accidents, with Ma Wensheng's intelligence, he would have become a powerful figure in the court.

"You don't need to be so impatient! He ascended the throne at a young age and has been going smoothly for the past two years. His luck is indeed very good. It's just that no matter how good luck is, it will run out, so let him offend everyone in the world first. , then the unjust person will naturally have few helpers!" Ma Wensheng seemed to be full of wisdom and confident.

Wu Shanchang and others realized that this was true, and couldn't help but silently exchanged glances.

They also realized that things might not be as bad as they thought. The luxury tax introduced by the emperor this time was not just for them, but a tax on all the rich in the world.

If you think about it from this direction, things are developing in the direction they expected.

Just thinking about the losses they are about to face and the luxury tax they will have to pay after the new year makes everyone unhappy. Even if the emperor's final fate is to be drowned, they will all bleed heavily after the new year. How long will this miserable life last?

If they have a choice, how much they hope that someone will not see the sun tomorrow.

"Don't worry, everyone. The leader has made a comprehensive plan, and things will take a turn for the better soon!" Ma Wensheng knew that everyone was worried, so he assured her seriously.

Ever since his son was pushed to the guillotine, he hated Zhu Youtang more than anyone else, but now he knew how to tolerate it better than anyone else.

Now that the person behind him has made arrangements, he just needs to wait quietly.

What's more, if Zhu Youtang really introduces this kind of extravagant tax on the rich, he will definitely offend the entire world of officials and gentry, and then he won't even need to take action himself.

"Pao Shou really said that?"

"What? You don't even believe what I say now?"

"No...no, I'm just too excited!"

"Haha... If this is the case, then things will definitely succeed immediately!"

…

Wu Shanchang and others could not believe the news at first, but after receiving confirmation from Ma Wensheng, the atmosphere in the entire conference room immediately became relaxed.

From this reaction, it can be seen that the unseen robe leader has a strong prestige in their hearts.

Wu Shanchang's eyes flashed with joy, but he knew the information revealed by a major turn of events.

Maybe the next year will be dark, but the future will definitely be bright.

The city of Beijing has always been shrouded in white snow, the clouds in the sky are unpredictable, the sun rises and sets in the winter, and the capital always seems to be undercurrent.

In the blink of an eye, time has come to Hongzhi three years.

Unconsciously, history has opened a new chapter, and the situation we are facing this year is bound to be more complicated.

At dawn, Zhu Youtang got up and changed his clothes under the service of Queen Chang Yourong. He put on the most solemn dragon robe, and his whole body became more and more imperial.

As in previous years, Zhu Youtang came to Fengxian Hall to worship his ancestors.

"Prince Xing, kowtow to your emperor brother quickly!" Concubine Shao seemed to have a natural fear of Zhu Youtang. When she saw Zhu Youtang just appeared, she hurriedly urged Zhu Youtang.

Although she is considered the first concubine under the Queen Mother, she was born as a palace maid after all, so some rules seem to be engraved in her bones.

"My younger brother, Zhu Youtang, wishes my brother the Emperor a happy New Year!" Zhu Youtang knelt down and kowtowed heavily to Zhu Youtang.

In fact, it was not only Zhu Youtang who paid New Year's greetings to Zhu Youtang in this courtyard, but all the emperor's brothers present knelt down one after another, as if they all understood this rule.

Zhu Youtang knew that his reputation as a tyrant was not only external, but also within the palace. He is feared by many people, even his younger brothers.

He glanced lightly at his brothers present, said a few simple words of courtesy, and finally his eyes fell on Zhu Youqi: "Prince Xing, you will be outside the palace after the new year. You should be careful in your words and deeds in the palace!"

He is already twenty years old this year, but he is six years older than his eldest brother Zhu Youqiu, so Zhu Youqiu is already fourteen years old this year.

Fourteen years old is only the age of a junior high school student in later generations, but in this era, you can marry a wife and have children, so it is no longer suitable to stay in the palace.

Originally, Prince Xing was supposed to be released directly to his fiefdom, but Concubine Shao, Empress Dowager Zhou and the Queen Mother successively came forward to intercede, and he finally decided to place Zhu Youqi in Prince Xing's Mansion outside the palace.

Zhu Youtang naturally knew that placing King Xing outside the palace was not a foolproof strategy, but now that he had everything under control, he did not need to be wary of everything.

In fact, the intercession of Concubine Shao, Empress Dowager Zhou and the Queen Mother was on the one hand, and on the other hand, he wanted to take advantage of the settlement of Prince Xing and other emperor's younger brothers to find a suitable time to completely solve the current Ming Dynasty's captive vassal system.

Although keeping sects in captivity is conducive to stabilizing the imperial power, the Zhu family's royal family is indeed too prolific. The Lumi originally given by the court was already quite high, but the speed at which they were created could be called an invasion of alien species.

Lin Run, the imperial censor of the Jiajing Dynasty, once said, "The wealth in the world provides four million dan for the capital's food every year, while the royal palaces in various places have 8,530,000 dan. Today's affairs in the world are extremely harmful and need to be taken care of. There is nothing more serious than this." Zongfan."

Although Zhu Youtang is confident in his ability to obtain resources from the outside to nurture China, he is not willing to let the cancer of Zongfan grow bigger step by step, so this is a problem that he must solve during his reign.

It was precisely based on many considerations that Zhu Youtang decided to temporarily keep Zhu Youtang in the capital, and everything was still based on the interests of the country for the time being.

"My brother, please remember the teachings of the emperor and be careful in your words and deeds in the palace!" Zhu Youqian, still kneeling on the ground, responded with a polite salute.

Zhu Youtang took a deep look at Zhu Youtang who was kneeling on the ground. Last year when he met King Xing, he felt that King Xing was too timid, but this year he had a different perception.

Although King Xing still looked submissive in front of him, he had clearly dared to raise his head and take a look at him just now, and King Xing's eyes seemed to have something different.

"Get off!" Liu Jin immediately sang loudly when he saw Zhu Youtang sitting on the dragon chariot.

Seeing Zhu Youtang leaving, the princes present all greeted him respectfully: "My dear brother, I send my brother the emperor my sincere greetings!"

Zhu Youtang stood up first, only to see Zhu Youtang disappear around the corner. His earlier timidity had disappeared, and his eyes had a firmness that was inconsistent with his age.

In the third year of Hongzhi, Ming Dynasty is about to usher in a new chapter.

In Fengtian Hall, the mountains shout for long live.

Zhu Youtang, who was wearing a dragon robe, sat down on the dragon chair. All the officials of the fourth rank and above in the entire hall came to greet him, and they felt more and more that the emperor in front of him could not be looked down upon.

The first half of the court meeting is when officials and envoys congratulate and present gifts to the emperor, which is called congratulations. The second half is a banquet given by the emperor, which is called the Grand Banquet Ceremony.

"On behalf of my father, I would like to present a congratulatory gift to His Majesty: five thousand-year-old ginseng plants, five leopard skins, five pieces of ramie cloth, ten gold and silver utensils, and ten pairs of mother-of-pearl combs. I wish the emperor eternal longevity and endless longevity!" North Korea Prince Li came out of the queue and recited the words nervously.

After Li Ju was summoned to the capital last time, Zhu Youtang had an interview with Li Ju. Although he did not take the opportunity to kill Li Ju, he had beaten Li Ju well and even kept the crown prince Li as a hostage.

After the last beating, no matter what the reason was for Li Ju to become so generous, it proved that Li Ju really wanted to please Zhu Youtang, the Ming emperor.

Li Si, the Minister of Household Affairs, and other officials couldn't help but nodded secretly when they heard the gift list from North Korea.

The two young eunuchs next to him stepped forward to receive the congratulatory gifts from North Korea, and then registered and stored these congratulatory gifts one by one.

Zhu Youtang looked very indifferent when facing the congratulatory gift from North Korea, so he gave Guo Yong next to him a wink.

Guo Yong opened the imperial edict with understanding and returned the favor to North Korea.

According to the Ming Dynasty's consistent principle of "little comes, thick exchanges", although North Korea's gifts are not worth much, the Ming's return gifts are often higher than the value of the gifts.

Today's Ming Dynasty is obviously financially tight, but it still insists on doing things that make it look fat.

Huh?

When the crown prince of Joseon retreated, a young man wearing the attire of a Ming Dynasty scholar came out, but this young man was clearly Luzon's envoy.

"On behalf of Luo Jian, I would like to present a congratulatory gift to His Majesty, and wish the emperor a long life and a long life!" He obviously has Chinese ancestry and congratulated him awkwardly.

Li Si, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, did not hear the singing and couldn't help but asked doubtfully: "Envoy of Luzon, where are your congratulatory gifts?"

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I came here in a hurry. Most of the gifts were damaged on the way here. Now I only have a carpet as a gift!" Seeing that there was no way to avoid it, Cai Cai had no choice but to explain.

A rug?

Li Si, the Minister of Household Affairs, could not believe his ears. The congratulatory gift given to the emperor by a Nanyang vassal kingdom turned out to be a blanket.

Guo Yong noticed Zhu Youtang's eyes and immediately said expressionlessly: "Send it up!"

"Here is the carpet. It is made from Maratha hemp from Luzon. It is very durable even if it is soaked overseas!" The color was displayed on the carpet, and he explained hard.

Li Si, the Minister of Household Affairs, and other officials could not help but shook their heads secretly when they saw that the carpet presented was obviously a vulgar thing made of hemp rope. In terms of wealth, these island countries are not even as good as the Southwest Chieftains, and even insult the title of vassal state.

Zhu Youtang knew that Marani hemp was actually suitable for making fishing lines, but after a brief glance, he seemed to be talking to himself: "It is a strange thing that a great vassal country actually brought me this gift!"

"Your Majesty, please punish me!" Se Zi realized that the emperor was not an easy-to-talk emperor, and immediately took the initiative to confess his crime.

Zhu Youtang made a decision in his heart and said calmly: "Although Luzon is a big island, as far as I know, there are six major forces on the island, and you Luoja only occupy the Malani Bay. Since You have not unified Luzon, and you do not have the magnanimity to act like a powerful country. From now on, please stop calling the country Luzon and call it the Malani country instead!"

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the audience was shocked. The majestic Luzon Kingdom was wiped out with just one sentence, but this approach was very unruly.