Chapter 301

He had long since grown accustomed to the fact that great eras of strife produce great ministers of strife.

Just as the ministers in the Grand Secretariat were whispering among themselves.

A carriage slowly came to a halt outside the Grand Secretariat.

When Du Du Yinxi saw that "Mr. Su" who was even younger than himself.

He was utterly stunned, standing frozen in place.

"Is this the one, Su, Mr. Su?"

Du Du Yinxi looked at Sun Chuanting, who was standing beside him.

Only then did he realize that Sun Chuanting was also standing frozen in place.

And Wang Chengen was on the side introducing these Grand Secretariat ministers present.

"This is Du Du Yinxi, Minister Du."

"This is Sun Chuanting, Grand Secretary Sun."

"..."

Hearing names that he had only ever heard in history books of later generations.

Su Qiao could not help but feel a deep respect.

Especially for Du Du Yinxi.

He was almost the only person with a clear mind from the beginning to the end of the Southern Ming dynasty.

In the original history, when the news reached Du Du Yinxi that Zhu Youjian had hanged himself at Coal Mountain and Li Zicheng had been defeated at Yishan.

Du Du Yinxi almost without hesitation submitted a memorial to the Six Ministries in Jin Ling, and advised the various princes and all the Ministers in Jin Ling.

Not to dwell on the great grievance against the father and sovereign.

The immediate priority at this time was to preserve the Han people's Jiangshan.

They should immediately pardon all of Li Zicheng's crimes, ally with the bandits to resist the plunderers, and hold the Qing army outside the pass.

But at that time, the ministers in Jin Ling were "hotly discussing" exactly who should be established as the monarch.

After Jin Ling fell.

Du Du Yinxi once again strongly advised the Longwu Emperor to recruit the remnants of Li Zicheng's forces.

Once again, it was shelved due to internal problems within the Longwu court.

This time, Du Du Yinxi simply left the Eight Fujian region directly and trained his own troops.

Until the Yongle era.

Du Du Yinxi's strategy was finally adopted by Zhu Youlang.

Du Du Yinxi even went alone to persuade tens of thousands of righteous army soldiers to surrender.

Unfortunately, by then the small Yongli court had already fled to the rule of the King of Burma.

Truly, he was a person chosen by Old Zhu!

Su Qiao, having regained his composure, looked at the crowd before him and whispered.

"This junior, Su Qiao, pays his respects to all the elders."

He willingly performed a deep bow to the crowd before him.

Instead, it made Du Du Yinxi and the others feel embarrassed.

Du Du Yinxi hurriedly stepped forward.

"Minister Su, we are all serving the court; since Your Majesty has ordered us to fully assist you, you might as well speak your thoughts."

Su Qiao was not polite.

He spoke bluntly.

"Just eight characters."

"Do not abolish silver money; let Baochaohai Society circulate alongside it!"

Even though Su Qiao had already mentioned not abolishing silver money.

But when they heard the two characters "Baochaohai Society".

These Grand Secretariat ministers could not help but feel a shock in their hearts.

"Minister Su, now that the empire is recovering from ruin, rashly reviving Baochaohai Society now would likely cause the court to lose the people's hearts!"

Clearly, the shadow of Baochaohai Society from those years still weighed heavily on these ministers.

Su Qiao could only add from the side.

"This junior said not to abolish silver money; let Baochaohai Society circulate alongside it."

Hearing Su Qiao emphasize not abolishing silver money.

The expressions of these Grand Secretaries only then relaxed slightly.

But Du Du Yinxi frowned and asked.

"Not abolishing silver money... not abolishing silver money, will the common people still use Baochaohai Society?"

Su Qiao looked at the crowd before him and smiled mysteriously.

"Of course, people will use it."

"And I guarantee that within three years, the people of Great Ming will certainly abandon silver money and use Baochaohai Society."

Having said this, Su Qiao looked at the assembly of Grand Secretaries before him and asked.

"Previously, Your Majesty had already discussed the matter of opening the seas with all of you; how far has opening the seas progressed now?"

Upon hearing this, Du Du Yinxi's eyes immediately lit up.

"Could it be that the memorial requesting to open the seas was submitted by Mr. Su?"

Su Qiao let out a long sigh and said.

"Barely, I suppose."

Du Yinxi immediately pulled a memorial from his sleeve and said,

"We have just finalized the preparation status of the Maritime Trade Offices across the various regions."

"The Daghu, Denglai, and the five major Maritime Trade Offices of Jiangnan have all been fully established."

Su Qiao nodded slightly, then turned to look at the crowd behind him and asked,

"I trouble all my elders to draft an imperial edict notifying the major Maritime Trade Offices that, effective immediately, any Western merchants coming to Great Ming to purchase goods,"

"must exchange their currency for Treasure Notes at the Treasure Note Bureau."

Hearing this, Sun Chuanting immediately smiled bitterly and said,

"My Lord Su, the court opening the seas has already made that Five Tiger General extremely displeased; now to forcibly order him to collect Treasure Notes, I fear it will not be easy."

The Five Tiger General Sun Chuanting spoke of was actually Zheng Yiguan, who controlled the southeast, that is, Zheng Zhilong.

At this time, Zheng Zhilong was stationed in the Min Sea with three thousand warships.

The Great Ming's most elite 560 naval forces can be said to be entirely under Zheng Zhilong's control.

Similarly, more than half of the silk, tea, and porcelain in the southeastern half of the realm have already been almost monopolized by the Zheng family.

Su Qiao was not at all worried about Sun Chuanting's doubts.

He said leisurely,

"What harm is there? Tell that Five Tiger General that he may use Great Ming Treasure Notes to exchange for silver at the Treasure Note Bureau at any time."

"The court guarantees immediate payment upon exchange."

Hearing this,

all the Grand Secretaries in the Grand Secretariat were stunned.

"Exchange it back to him? Isn't that just taking off one's pants to let out wind?"

"Besides, that Zheng Yiguan is no fool; how could it be that if the court wants to exchange, he would exchange everything as listed? If he exchanges half, we should thank heaven and earth."

He Tengjiao could not hold back and immediately blurted out.

"Not so."

"Please draft it immediately."

"Let him exchange as much as he wants, but he must exchange; surely he will not refuse to give the court this face?"

Su Qiao slowly stood up, looked at the crowd before him, and said,

"In addition, I ask all my lords to notify below that at every pass of the Great Wall,"

"all goods reported at the horse markets of each garrison must be traded using Treasure Notes."

"The Treasure Note Bureau will exchange Treasure Notes without question of origin; payment upon presentation of the note!"

When Sun Chuanting and the rest of the Grand Secretaries heard this,