Chapter 201: The Western Hills Coal Bureau

Zhu Yijun received the memorial from Zhou Liangyin. In it, he reported in detail the process of going to the camp of the Tümen Khan for peace talks, as well as the confusion he felt. As a Confucian scholar who had read the theory of contradictions, he had already learned to stand in the position of the lowest-level commoners to think about problems.

In the memorial, Zhou Liangyin also reported to the Emperor of Great Ming on various details regarding border trade. The Northern Hu brought enough wool and came to Green Dragon Fort for mutual trade, but the long, extensive arguments were about his reflections on war.

Zhu Yijun finished reading Zhou Liangyin's memorial. This long-winded memorial was currently undergoing court deliberation.

"Great Ming is indeed the son of a farmer, because the wandering, treacherous, and cunning scoundrels in the city are absolutely unusable. The best source of troops is the border army of the military colonies and guards; though called border troops, most are farmers." Qi Jiguang first confirmed Zhou Liangyin's core argument: Great Ming's recruitment here does not recruit the wandering, treacherous, and cunning scoundrels in the city.

Zhang Juzheng let out a deep breath of turbid air, shook his head, and said: "His thinking is also correct. In the memorial, he asks: war, such an act that angers both heaven and man, why on earth has it flourished openly for thousands of years, and why must it continue? Why must one hundred thousand herdsmen constantly enter from outside the passes to slaughter and harm the commoners of Great Ming? And why must Great Ming consume vast amounts of the people's fat and blood to support the million troops of the Nine Borders?"

Zhu Yijun, while looking at the memorial in his hand, looked at the court officials with a playful expression. Zhou Liangyin's memorial was not the traditional line of thought that promotes literature and suppresses martial arts—that one could stop strengthening the military by spreading benevolence and righteousness, or that one could soften distant people by cultivating literary virtue. Zhou Liangyin did not say any of that.

Zhou Liangyin was simply reflecting on the essence of how war is conducted.

The meaning of this memorial by Zhou Liangyin was: cruel slaughter and monstrous sins—the initiators of war are the meat-eaters, yet it is the commoners who bear the cost.

Therefore, the Confucian set of "noble and lowly"—that official ranking where noble and lowly each obtain their proper place, the order of seniority between noble and lowly, old and young, is the most stable state of society—the reason this set of propositions is widely accepted is for the sake of stability.

Zhang Juzheng's reform, which treats the gentry like fish and meat, standing from the perspective of the common people to view problems, seems to have made things complicated.

Zhu Yijun picked up his brush and began to use the vermilion brush on this memorial. While writing, he shook his head and said: "The answer to this question should be sought from the theory of public and private. The Capital Battalion and border armies of Great Ming maintain the overall interests of Great Ming. Before the Earl of Ningyuan conquered Gule Fort in the first year of Wanli, Great Ming had no ability to fight outside the passes."

"As the Son of Heaven of Great Ming, I am responsible for the billions of commoners of Great Ming."

"I would rather kill others than have the commoners of Great Ming be killed."

Zhu Yijun answered Zhou Liangyin's question without evasion. As the monarch of the empire, protecting the empire's interests and the safety of the commoners is the monarch's innate mission. He is the monarch of Great Ming, and he puts the interests of Great Ming's commoners first.

Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang looked at each other, and both felt more at ease. His Majesty was still that reassuring Majesty.

"Yesterday, I received a memorial impeaching Wang Chonggu, saying: 'Since ancient times, how can the Son of Heaven bribe ministers to seek wealth and profit?' The meaning of this memorial is that the wool factory sharing accounts with Wang Chonggu is me bribing Wang Chonggu." Zhu Yijun pulled out a memorial and said with a full face of smiles: "I don't know if the Minister of Justice agrees."

A very peculiar angle, a familiar recipe: using the great righteousness of respecting the monarch's power and authority to perform acts that trample upon the monarch's power and authority.

Wang Chonggu was rarely silent. Many things, when viewed from a different angle, become strange.

He did not agree with this statement, but viewed from the perspective of respecting the monarch's authority, the truth of the matter seemed indeed to be so. To keep the Northwest stable, he had to be lenient toward important figures of the Yan Dang; even in the major case of burning the imperial palace, he could only cut off a strand of Wang Chonggu's hair. For the sake of the court's finances, he had to rely on Wang Chonggu to supervise the official factories.

"The Minister of Justice certainly does not agree." As the Senior Grand Secretary, Zhang Juzheng spoke for Wang Chonggu. The court censors' technique of "peeling the skin to see the bones" was used to perfection. This sophistry made Zhang Juzheng slightly angry; even Zhou Liangyin didn't talk much about that "cheap Confucian" stuff anymore.

In Great Ming, it is just like this: doing anything is as difficult as ascending to heaven. Therefore, sometimes the private leniency of a supreme monarch appears exceptionally important.

Zhu Yijun drew an 'X'.

The lowest form of monarchical education is reading the Four Books and Five Classics; the next is using power and strategy to push through decrees while watching coldly from the sidelines; the highest form is naturally "the Great Dao prevails, the world is for all." Zhang Juzheng's education had no problems; he had always wanted to teach an emperor of the Great Dao.

"A few floating rumors, not worth mentioning." Zhu Yijun used the vermilion brush on the memorial, rejecting the censors' impeachment of the ministers. Even if this impeachment logically seemed to have no flaws, Zhu Yijun did not agree. In this memorial, he, the emperor, was the party concerned.

Wang Chonggu became even more certain of his inner thoughts: the bullshit Great Ming laws are all royal power. The court loves wealth; as long as he can stabilize the wool official factory, things will not become unmanageable.

At this moment, Wang Chonggu again secretly cursed Zhang Siwen for being an idiot.

If it weren't for this idiot, he wouldn't be so passive now.

"Your Majesty, I have a memorial to present." Wang Chonggu shook his sleeves, took out a memorial he had written for a long time, and submitted it to His Majesty.

Zhang Juzheng knew the content of this memorial very well, because the content inside was completed by Wang Chonggu and Zhang Juzheng together. During this period, Wang Chonggu had been perfecting his theory, using government-run official factories to settle the world's displaced people.

From the moment this idea was born, it had been lingering in Wang Chonggu's mind, eventually becoming the "Memorial on the World Suffering from Annexation and Relieving the Displaced."

"Your Majesty, some time ago, a fight broke out at the Coal Market Entrance, leaving twelve dead and seventy-four injured. This matter is extremely vile, but every time it reaches this time, it becomes this intense." Wang Chonggu did not start by talking about his theory, but instead spoke of a tragedy that recently occurred at the Coal Market Entrance at Xizhimen.

A gang fight with twelve casualties. In the capital, the place of supreme goodness in the world, a mass brawl occurred. The reason for this mass brawl was fighting over coal.

Wang Chonggu looked at the court officials and continued: "The capital has a population of a million. Coal for heating in winter has become a major event. Since the Jin Dynasty, a complete upstream and downstream coal supply and demand system has formed around the capital. Powerful and influential families open wells in the Western Hills to mine coal. Some porters lead pack horses, while others rely on their backs to carry the coal from the Western Hills to the Coal Market Entrance for distribution."

"Every time it rains or snows, the price of coal increases by ten to twenty times. If the rainy days are muddy, the snow is deep, and the roads are frozen for more than ten days, then the price of coal at the Coal Market Entrance will soar again."

"Prices are affected by supply and demand. On ordinary days, a catty of coal is at most ten wen, but at its highest, it can skyrocket to a hundred wen."

"In the autumn, every household stockpiles coal, but the lives of these commoners are not easy, and they are far from stockpiling enough for the winter. This leads to fighting and snatching. Therefore, every year at the Coal Market Entrance, they fight fiercely over coal and profit, and the commoners suffer unspeakably."

Wang Chonggu clearly explained the causes and consequences of this Coal Market Entrance brawl: the season, weather, and so on caused the coal supply shortage, affecting coal prices and profits.

"The Minister of Justice has worked hard." Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial in his hand and said very definitely.

"Ah? I am dull-witted and do not understand what Your Majesty means by 'worked hard.' I am terrified and cannot discern the holy intent." Wang Chonggu was full of confusion. As the Minister of Justice, understanding vicious cases was his duty; how could this be called working hard?

One must know that in His Majesty's presence, this phrase "worked hard" was absolutely the highest praise. This phrase "worked hard" was for traveling for the sake of Great Ming's national interests, speaking out for the livelihood of the common people, and saving the commoners—only then would one receive such praise.

Zhu Yijun did not answer immediately, but passed the memorial down. The court officials actually all knew about this memorial; for the sake of this memorial, Wang Chonggu had communicated quite a bit with the other six ministries.

After the court officials finished reading the entire memorial, Zhu Yijun said firmly: "The reason I said you worked hard is that in this memorial, the Minister of Justice, after in-depth visits and investigations, obtained results based on actual practice."

"The Minister of Justice talks about coal, from how many kilns and wells are in the Western Hills, the number of kiln workers, the price per catty of coal, the annual death toll in the Western Hills, the price of porters carrying coal, the treacherous private checkpoints set up along the way, the distribution at the Coal Market Entrance, the peddling by merchants in the city, the use of coal by commoners in the capital, and so on—he discusses the causes behind the fighting over coal at the Coal Market Entrance."

"This memorial, from phenomenon to problem to cause, has all been thoroughly investigated."

"Even here, it is still not enough. To let me, an emperor living deep in the nine-fold palace, understand, the Minister of Justice also told a story from the perspective of a kiln worker and spent many paintings just to let me see clearly what he was talking about."

"I am very gratified to receive such a memorial. If the court officials and hundred officials of Great Ming could all write memorials like this, the world would be well-governed."

Wang Chonggu told the emperor a story about a kiln worker and laborer named Chen Siliu, nicknamed Xiaoliu.

Starting from Xiaoliu waking up in a mud-brick house: his wife nagging that their youngest son is old enough to go to school, but the tuition is too expensive to pay; his father was beaten and injured while fighting for coal at the Coal Market Entrance and is lying in bed with no money for medical treatment, having to just endure it; his eldest son, sixteen and slow-witted, is packing things, preparing to go to work; recently, the family is preparing for the eldest son's marriage, but they cannot come up with the bride price, nor have they built a new house.

Xiaoliu put on his axe and chisel and went to work at the kiln well owned by the family of the Duke of Dingguo, Xu Wenbi. At the kiln well, it is necessary to pump water, prop up the well, and go down the well. In private kilns without any laws, hundreds of people die every year, either because the coal gas is ignited or because of water seepage and ineffective pumping.

Xiaoliu's father was responsible for being a porter, carrying coal from the kiln well down the mountain. One catty of coal is one wen. On the way to the Coal Market Entrance, he had to be extorted by rural ruffians, city gangs, and the Wucheng Military Commission upon entering the city. Finally, when he reached the Coal Market Entrance, he encountered a conflict and was hit by a stick.

Rural ruffians are actually a group of idle people among the rural commoners who gather together and run rampant in the countryside. These people seek shelter under the gentry, and the leading big brother is often a servant in the gentry's home;

City gangs seek shelter under powerful and influential families, acting as their thugs;

The extortion upon entering the city is not part of the court's finances; this is the oil and water of the Wucheng Military Commission.

Just as Zhu Yijun said before, when commoners transport manure out of the city for fertilizer, some cheap people in the Wucheng Military Commission also want to take a few sips and drink some soup.

Extortion is everywhere. Wang Chonggu did not speak well of the Great Ming court in the memorial; he described the faces of the Wucheng Military Commission and the yamen very clearly, and even spent a great deal of space criticizing them.

For example, in the memorial, Wang Chonggu said that Xiaoliu's distant cousin, who does coal business, seems to live much better than Xiaoliu, but the gangs in the city, seeking shelter under yamen clerks, also make things difficult for Xiaoliu's cousin.

Wang Chonggu heard His Majesty's praise and understood what His Majesty was praising. He immediately bowed his head and said: "This Chen Siliu is a name I fabricated, but he is also the name of tens of thousands of kiln workers in the Western Hills."

This Chen Siliu is not a real person; he is a silhouette of all the kiln workers in the Western Hills. This is not deceiving the emperor. Cheap Confucians will write small essays, and Wang Chonggu will also write small essays, but his small essay is too long. Just the story of Chen Siliu and his relatives, Wang Chonggu told for a full twenty thousand words. This memorial is no longer a ten-thousand-word memorial, but a fifty-thousand-word memorial.

"The Minister of Justice proposed the idea of opening official factories to settle the commoners. I am quite delighted." Zhu Yijun could actually understand why Wang Chonggu wanted to write this memorial.

Wang Chonggu also had worries. He actually felt that his days were numbered. The public opinion in the court against Wang had exceeded that against Zhang Juzheng. Now, Wang Chonggu had already become the number one treacherous minister in the court, and the kind of treacherous minister whose whole family must die to appease public anger.

The miscellaneous reports in the capital also lacked no articles criticizing Wang Chonggu.

Now Wang Chonggu relied entirely on the emperor's protection. Wang Chonggu also did not know how long the emperor's protection could last, but doing things well was the foundation of everything.

Considering that he could make money, he hoped to at least be left with a whole corpse.

Zhang Juzheng told Wang Chonggu that he was saving himself, and Zhu Yijun also issued an imperial decree, saying that Wang Chonggu was a good minister and capable official who embodied the court's spirit of revitalization and disregarded his own honor and disgrace.

But Wang Chonggu himself did not believe it.

"This memorial was written by me in communication with the Senior Grand Secretary, and the long-winded discussions in it were all written by the Senior Grand Secretary himself." Wang Chonggu was not a person willing to exercise subjective initiative, so he still brought Zhang Juzheng out to attract firepower.

"Your Majesty, I think that the Minister of Justice should enter the cabinet. The matter of running official factories still needs the Minister of Justice." Zhang Juzheng expressed again, very definitely and certainly, his idea of recommending Wang Chonggu to enter the court.

Everyone has their own field of expertise. Zhang Juzheng is best at official governance, Wang Guoguang is best at finance and taxation, Tan Lun and Qi Jiguang are best at military affairs, Wan Shihe is best at ritual and law, and Wang Chonggu is best at doing business.

"Your Majesty, I have doubts." Wan Shihe did not echo him, but chose to question.

"Minister Wan, please speak." Zhu Yijun nodded, letting Wan Shihe say his thoughts.

Wan Shihe finished reading the entire memorial, sighed, and said: "The court's starting point for supervising official factories is good. There is the Minister of Justice in the court, and this matter can also be supervised. I cannot help but think of the reason for abolishing official factories across the world during the Hongwu reign."

"During the Song and Yuan dynasties, because of excessive profit-seeking, coal was government-run. In the two Song dynasties, the price of coal was two hundred wen per catty. This government coal could not be sold, and commoners could not mine coal, so they could only cut wood and carry firewood for a living. Emperor Taizu Gao, for the sake of settling the people, therefore abolished the official factories."

Wan Shihe had to mention the government-run coal of the two Song dynasties, two hundred wen per catty of coal, and the result was that it couldn't be sold, and commoners couldn't afford it, which was awkward.

Court official factories have not only benefits but also drawbacks, and they are profound historical lessons, the "Manure Tyrant Emperor" Song Gaozong.

"Our Great Ming is far inferior to the two Song dynasties in this regard. It's not bad to be able to generate profit." Wang Chonggu's reason for refuting was very interesting.

"The Minister of Justice is absolutely right. It is I who thought too much. We cannot starve to death just because we are afraid of being stuffed to death." Wan Shihe's answer was even more interesting.

Wang Chonggu said that Great Ming simply couldn't do the profit-seeking face of the two Song dynasties. Two hundred wen per catty of coal? Keep dreaming.

He was talking based on actual practice. Some time ago, the wool factory that washed wool had three people die of heatstroke, which had already made Wang Chonggu frantic.

Great Ming does not have the conditions for the court to seek profit. If Great Ming's Confucian scholars could talk about seeking profit, could Great Ming still be poor to this extent?

During the two Song dynasties, before silver flowed in in large quantities, the annual tribute from Song to Liao already exceeded three hundred thousand taels of silver, and it was increased repeatedly thereafter.

Great Ming simply has no public opinion foundation for seeking profit, let alone seeking profit.

The inexplicable conversation between the two made the court officials smile knowingly. The court censors in the court were always exerting their due role from a strange angle in certain aspects.

"I think we can try." Wang Guoguang looked at Guo Chaobin and asked: "What does Minister Guo think?"

"It can be done." Guo Chaobin was concise and comprehensive. It was not supervising the imperial mausoleum; it was just kiln wells. As long as the court deliberation passes, the Ministry of Works will absolutely not hold back.

"If there are official factory craftsmen, then recruitment will be much easier." Qi Jiguang started from the perspective of recruitment, believing that official factory craftsmen would be first-class high-quality soldiers.

Craftsmen have top-notch physical fitness, and craftsmen are the most law-abiding; not being law-abiding easily leads to production accidents. If recruitment is done from among craftsmen, then the replenishment of the Capital Battalion's troops will not be rootless wood or water without a source. This is a beautiful thing.

Tan Lun also said very solemnly: "The General is right!"

"If you ask me, don't be cautious and tentative. Silk and wool can be supervised by official factories, coal can be supervised by official factories, and firewood, rice, oil, and salt can all be supervised by official factories. It's not like we are trying to monopolize. Everyone is eating from the same pot; whoever eats more counts as theirs. Directly build a Hundred Crafts Official Factory on the banks of the Yongdinghe. The good days of these merchants lying down and counting money are over!"

The most radical person in the court was Tan Lun. The court's wool official factory already had successful experience. The shipyards and weaving bureaus were all run well. Directly pull it to the full. The court supervises the Hundred Crafts Official Factory, and it's not like we are not letting the private sector run it. Eating from the same pot, what we compare is production efficiency.

"Hmm, the Minister of War's strategy is excellent." Zhang Juzheng said with great approval.

As soon as Tan Lun heard Zhang Juzheng agree, he immediately smiled and said: "Senior Grand Secretary, I was just saying. Running a factory is not that simple. Even if the Minister of Justice is exhausted, he can't do it. It is still the fundamental duty to run more factories, cultivate craftsmen, and cultivate officials."

He himself knew that he was very radical. The road must be walked step by step, and the meal must be eaten bite by bite. If the step is too big, the court is prone to pulling a muscle.

Zhang Juzheng, however, very solemnly noted down Tan Lun's suggestion. Not being able to do it now does not mean not being able to do it later. This is a good idea and needs to be kept in mind.

Half of the court officials had already agreed to this matter, so it could begin.

Zhu Yijun used the vermilion brush on the memorial and said: "Let's start with the Qianqing Palace kiln wells. Just talking without practicing is a fake trick. The Qianqing Palace has one hundred and twenty kiln wells in the Western Hills. From today, transfer them to the Ministry of Revenue for supervision. Feng, send an inner official to handle this matter well."

"I obey the decree." Feng Bao bowed his head and accepted the order.

Zhu Yijun taking the kiln wells affiliated with the Qianqing Palace from the emperor's private treasury and giving them directly to the outer court was an injection of capital and also a signal.

The emperor had already taken out his own kiln wells. If the powerful and influential gentry in the city didn't hand them over, it would be a bit shameless. Of course, in principle, it was still voluntary. Those who really didn't want to hand them over could keep them themselves.

This is the same as the emperor being frugal, belonging to using the emperor's special status to support and push through decrees.

Emperor Jiajing had done this before. He wanted to clear the fields of the relatives of the emperor and the nobility, so he first cleared the imperial estates, eventually causing himself to be abandoned by his followers.

For the mining of coal wells in the Western Hills, Zhu Yijun taking out the Qianqing Palace kiln wells was also an injection of capital. The injection of capital from the private treasury and the national treasury into the Western Hills coal affairs was fifty-fifty, and the dividends were also fifty-fifty. The first phase required five hundred thousand taels for construction, roughly equivalent to the construction price of Emperor Longqing's mausoleum.

This memorial by Wang Chonggu was also telling a story, soliciting investment. He told the emperor a beautiful story: using the authority of the Great Ming court to build official factories, while settling the commoners, repairing roads, reducing the impact of rain and snow on coal prices, and reducing the occurrence of vicious incidents.

The story was told well. Whether it could be done would depend on specific practice.

"Your Majesty, the matter of the Minister of Justice entering the cabinet should be discussed." Zhang Juzheng again brought up the old matter, letting Wang Chonggu enter the cabinet to supervise.

Zhang Juzheng valued capable officials and knew the difficulty of doing things in Great Ming, and also knew that the Western Hills Coal Bureau was not so easy to land.

The wool business was in full swing, and many people entered the game, only to lose their capital. Until now, the private wool factories on the banks of the Yongdinghe still existed completely by relying on the official factories. The official factories shared some work they couldn't finish. The only one that could produce completely on its own was Yongsheng Hao, which was the property of the Cining Palace.

Running a factory is not as simple as saying "let there be light," and after court deliberation approval, there is light. That is a myth. The landing and supervision of a project is really too difficult. Looking at the inner and outer court officials of Great Ming, only one Wang Chonggu can handle this matter well.

Pan Jixun, the Governor of Jiangxi, was in Jiangxi supervising, but still held the concurrent post of Viceroy of River Affairs, responsible for the Yellow River. Because the matter of governing the Yellow River really could not do without Pan Jixun, Pan Jixun had to supervise Jiangxi and also manage the Yellow River.

"How about we discuss it after the Western Hills Coal Bureau matter is finished?" Wang Chonggu still refused to enter the cabinet. The reason this time was to supervise the Western Hills Coal Bureau.

"Before it was the wool official factory, later it was the imperial palace construction, and now it is the Western Hills Coal Bureau. Minister of Justice, how long are you going to push this off?" Tan Lun asked happily: "The Senior Grand Secretary has recommended you several times. If you keep pushing like this, the Senior Grand Secretary is afraid he will get angry."

Wang Chonggu still insisted: "At least wait until the imperial palace construction is finished. For now, the Western Hills Coal Bureau matter can be supervised without entering the cabinet."

Entering the cabinet is like being put on a shelf to be roasted. Wang Chonggu didn't want to enter the cabinet. It was quite good like this now.

Zhu Yijun saw that Wang Chonggu still refused, and didn't force it. No merit, no reward. The wool official factory had already seen initial results, the imperial palace construction already had a basic prototype, and the Western Hills Coal Bureau had no start yet. Wang Chonggu would always have to enter the cabinet; it was just a matter of time.

If Wang Chonggu changed his heart, Zhu Yijun would also take out that strand of hair and take Wang Chonggu's life.

After the court deliberation, Zhu Yijun did not have the usual lecture, but called the Duke of Dingguo Xu Wenbi, the Duke of Yingguo Zhang Rong, and the Duke of Chengguo Zhu Yingzhen to the side hall of the Wenhua Palace to discuss the Western Hills coal well matter.

"The court taking your coal wells is not for nothing. The coal wells opened by you nobles in the Western Hills will all count as shares, with dividends distributed annually." Zhu Yijun got straight to the point, making a promise to the hereditary dukes: not for nothing, dividends will be given.

Coal mining in the Western Hills was mostly the industry of the nobility. The court wanting to build the Western Hills Coal Bureau would naturally create a conflict of interest with the nobility. He was not willing to tear his face off.

"According to the ancestral system of Great Ming, opening mines is a violation of the system. I am willing to hand over all coal wells to Your Majesty." The Duke of Yingguo Zhang Rong represented the nobility in expressing his stance. He said it very clearly and plainly: he was not handing them over to the court, but to His Majesty.

Compared to the outer court, the hereditary nobility still trusted the emperor more.

If they were confiscated for nothing, they would rather be confiscated for nothing by the emperor. What would it count for if they were swallowed by the outer court?

The nobility had been declining for a long time and couldn't fight the ministers. When these book-reading people's eyeballs turned, it was an idea. The nobility were all hereditary officials. How could heredity guarantee that every generation would be a dragon or phoenix among people?

Handing them over to the emperor meant that the matter of dividends depended entirely on the emperor's face.

Zhu Yijun pondered for a moment and said: "Duke of Yingguo, rest assured. My word is gold."

"Your Majesty, the nobility are not all loyal to the monarch and the country, embodying Your Majesty's spirit of revitalization. There are always some bedbugs. Please, Your Majesty, be careful." Xu Wenbi reminded the emperor that the nobility also had black sheep, and many of them. This Western Hills Coal Bureau might not be so easy.

"Thank you, Duke of Dingguo, for the reminder." Zhu Yijun said with a full face of smiles: "Feng, bring the rewards."

Feng Bao brought out three crane cloaks, three Zheng Wang watches, twenty-seven bottles of national cellar liquor, and three thousand silver coins. This was His Majesty's reward for the three dukes above the nobility.

"We take our leave." Zhang Rong, Xu Wenbi, and Zhu Yingzhen bowed again, and after receiving the rewards, left directly.

Zhu Yijun looked at the backs of the three and also felt deeply touched. Zhu Yijun was actually quite worried that these three would clearly oppose. If the emperor and the dukes tore their faces off, wouldn't that be a joke for the court officials?

Fortunately, after all, the dukes were shareholders of Great Ming. In revitalizing the court, the three dukes did not make things too difficult for the emperor.

"The three dukes made a wise choice." Zhang Hong said with great emotion: "They saw that the wool official factory was highly profitable. These Western Hills kiln wells earned a lot in their hands, but in the hands of the court, they will only earn more, and they can also fish for favors from His Majesty."

"No matter how you look at it, it's not a losing business."

This has to mention the matter of returning fields hosted by Song Yangshan in the Southern Yamen of Great Ming. This was setting an example. For the gentry who supported clearing and returning fields, the court also gave ship certificates. Even if their own family was not good at maritime trade, selling these ship certificates could also preserve their income.

The court really didn't take them for nothing, not directly confiscating them. Otherwise, the Sun family of Songjiang would not have donated silver to the Great Ming Songjiang Maritime Academy because they earned too much and felt guilty.

"I still have some credibility." Zhu Yijun said happily.

"Your Majesty, I think that because the court is supervising the Coal Bureau, there will definitely be some chaos." Zhang Juzheng and Xu Wenbi had the same attitude. Not all the nobility were good people, and there were many bad people. There would definitely be some chaos.

"Isn't the Senior Grand Secretary here? No problem." Zhu Yijun said confidently.

With Zhang Juzheng in the court, one could indeed do whatever one wanted.

I've been running around for renovations these past two days, so the update volume is a bit low. I am extremely sorry. Please vote for the monthly ticket, Awoooo!!!!!!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 202 =====