Chapter 46: Prospects of the Age of Discovery

Qianqing Palace.

The Wanli Emperor stared with wide eyes, sitting on the dragon throne, puffed up with anger.

Below the hall, a group of high-ranking eunuchs prostrated themselves on the ground, not daring to even breathe loudly, fearing they might annoy the Emperor.

"A bunch of trash, you pack of good-for-nothings! I give you so much silver every day, how did I end up raising a bunch of trash like you!" Seeing that no one dared to speak, the Wanli Emperor's fury grew even higher, and he cursed hysterically, "Speak! You pack of curs, why aren't you saying anything?"

The eunuchs were as silent as cicadas in winter, their bodies trembling like chaff, wishing they could shrink their heads into their crotches.

"Sun Hai." The Wanli Emperor turned around and pointed at one person, shouting.

"Ah, this servant is here." One person responded and crawled out on his knees.

"Can you help Me make money?"

"This servant... this servant..."

"Speak quickly." Seeing him dawdling, the Wanli Emperor opened his eyes wide, pointed at him, and shouted, "If you can't say it, I will send all you trash to Nanjing to grow vegetables, and you can forget about ever returning to the capital for the rest of your lives!"

Sun Hai had a sudden flash of inspiration: "How about opening the mines again?"

"Good-for-nothing! If I change my orders from morning to evening, can I still be called an Emperor?" Wanli stomped down from the dragon throne and kicked Sun Hai; Sun Hai let out a muffled groan and tumbled backward.

The Wanli Emperor was about to say more when a gatekeeper suddenly came to report that Zhang Yunxiu had arrived.

"Tell him to wait for Me in the East Warm Pavilion." After the Wanli Emperor finished speaking, the eunuchs let out long sighs of relief.

Composing his mood, Wanli walked past the sea of heads, reached the door, and suddenly turned back to shout: "All of you stay kneeling here! You are not to get up until I think of a way to make money."

Arriving at the East Warm Pavilion, the monarch and his subject met.

Zhang Yunxiu performed a bow, then stood with his hands hanging down.

The Wanli Emperor raised an eyebrow and said unpleasantly: "Is this the way to make money you told Me about? It's only been a few days, and it's already vanished? I don't care; if My Inner Treasury income next year is less than this year's, I will punish you."

Zhang Yunxiu had not expected his old man to pull a move like this.

However, although things outside the palace wouldn't work, things inside would; the inside of the palace was not under the control of Zhang Juzheng. Open source and reduce expenditure—anyway, that wasn't a good method, so it was fine to scrap it.

"Your Majesty, this subject has thought of another idea."

"Speak."

Zhang Yunxiu drafted his thoughts for a moment and said loudly: "That method of 'gambling on treasures' cannot be used outside, but inside the palace, no one can interfere. With thirty thousand people including eunuchs and palace maids, it would be no small sum of income every day."

"Hmm, that's not bad."

The Wanli Emperor stroked his chin and nodded slightly.

Zhang Yunxiu smiled and continued: "To open source and reduce expenditure, Your Majesty can actually do business inside this palace."

"Do business?"

"Yes, this Forbidden City is so vast, the daily food and drink expenses are no small figure. Why not imitate the outside world, open shops within this Forbidden City, and then sell goods to these palace maids and attendants..."

"Great!"

Before Zhang Yunxiu could finish, the Wanli Emperor sat up from his chair, paced back and forth twice, and said incoherently, "Like this, I am the big boss. These fellows get My silver every day, and then come back to buy My things."

"That way, My money will be inexhaustible."

Zhang Yunxiu smiled along.

Money earned in the palace is spent in the palace; don't even think about taking a single cent home.

"Very well, this matter must be handled urgently; I leave the stocking of goods to you." The Wanli Emperor said shamelessly.

And the money?

You motherfucker, you don't expect me to front the capital, do you?

Zhang Yunxiu looked at the Emperor tentatively. The Wanli Emperor ignored Zhang Yunxiu entirely and ordered on his own: "Start by stocking twenty thousand taels worth of goods. Remember, the goods must be complete. Anyway, whatever is outside the palace must be in the palace, and whatever isn't outside, My palace must have it too."

"It seems this kid really wants to get a free ride."

Zhang Yunxiu was full of grief and indignation, but suddenly thinking of something, he gritted his teeth and said: "Your Majesty, actually, doing business within Great Ming is not the most profitable way."

"Then what is the most profitable?"

"Plundering."

"Plundering?" The Wanli Emperor was stunned, shook his head, and said with a bitter face, "I am the Emperor, how can I plunder? What would the people of the world think of Me, and how would the history books of later generations write about Me?"

You still care about that?

You king of rotting away.

Zhang Yunxiu complained to himself, picked up paper and pen, and drew a sphere on the diagram.

"Your Majesty, we actually live on this sphere."

"A sphere? This sphere is so small, how could we possibly live on it." The Wanli Emperor didn't believe it at all, and added, "Are you trying to say that the earth is round too?"

Zhang Yunxiu nodded.

The Wanli Emperor sneered, tilted his head, and asked Zhang Yunxiu: "Have you never heard of 'driving south by pointing the shafts north'?"

"This subject saw in a book that a fellow in Frangistan named Magellan led sailors and has already circled this sphere once. He died, but his subordinates returned to Frangistan."

"Really?" The Wanli Emperor felt his head buzzing.

Heaven is round and the earth is square; it has been like this since ancient times.

"It is absolutely true." Zhang Yunxiu smiled, drew Great Ming, Joseon, and Japan, and continued to incite him: "To the east of Joseon is Woguo, which is rich in silver."

"I know, and that so-called teacher of yours."

Zhang Yunxiu was interrupted, his old face flushed, and after brewing for a long time, he continued: "Therefore, we should send troops to bring all that silver back."

"That's too far." The Wanli Emperor looked troubled.

"Not far. Back then, Eunuch Zheng went to the Western Oceans seven times; this is nothing compared to that." Zhang Yunxiu waved his hand with a smile.

Great Ming only had a water force, but no navy.

The Age of Discovery had already begun, the Spanish Armada was on the verge of destruction, and the British Empire was preparing to harvest colonies on a large scale.

If Great Ming wanted to complete its capital accumulation quickly, it had to have a powerful navy.

"Building those ships must cost quite a lot of money, right?" Wanli still carried a hint of hesitation.

"Just make the Ministry of Revenue cough up the silver."

"Will they be able to? A few days ago, Qi Jiguang was still talking about building fortresses in the north, and now we want to build ships; where would all that money come from?" Wanli still felt that the sea was illusory and ethereal, and that the Mongol people in the north were the Great Ming's greatest enemy.

"A thousand-mile line of fortresses cannot be built in a single day; we can prioritize a portion first. Once we have earned money overseas, we can pay it back."

"Are there really mountains of gold and silver overseas?"

"It is even more golden than mountains of gold and silver; we must go quickly, otherwise those red-haired devils will snatch it all up."

Zhang Yunxiu had talked until his mouth was dry, and the Wanli Emperor was slightly moved, replying: "Then we shall wait until the spring of next year, and order the Treasure Shipyard in Nanjing to build large ships, then set sail to take a look."

"Your Majesty is wise."

"Stop with the flattery." The Wanli Emperor glared at Zhang Yunxiu, grabbed his hand, and lowered his voice to say, "You should head out quickly and help me prepare for the shops; if you handle it well, I will reward you handsomely."

"Your subject obeys the decree." Zhang Yunxiu knew that this fellow was not prepared to cough up a single cent.

(End of this chapter)