Chapter 336: Small Kindness, Great Evil; To Spare One Life is to Harm Thousands

Wang Wang Chonggu was overseeing the official factories, which concerned the livelihoods of tens of thousands of commoners. Wang Wang Chonggu repeatedly urged Wang Qian not to make enemies outside, not to make enemies. Having reached their current position, the only thing that could destroy them was defying the imperial will; the only ones who could destroy their family were themselves.

Wang Wang Chonggu used Zhang Zhang Siwei as an example. The Emperor of Great Ming was deliberately looking for trouble with Zhang Zhang Siwei, but Zhang Zhang Siwei hid far away, retreating to his hometown. Could the Emperor really chase him all the way to Shanxi to kill him? His Majesty was busy with a thousand tasks every day, concerned with state affairs, family affairs, and the affairs of the world; how could he have the time to bother with Zhang Zhang Siwei?

Yet, Zhang Zhang Siwei insisted on jumping out.

Wang Wang Chonggu did not want his son to make enemies everywhere. He wanted him to be low-key and cautious outside, not to bring trouble to the family, and not to provoke His Majesty.

"Vice Minister Wang, I actually think Wang Qian did quite well. He didn't spend money, nor did he let the wealthy families who migrated to the capital get their way. He gave them a hard kick; he did extremely well. Vice Minister Wang, in this officialdom, this arena of fame and fortune, how many things can one decide for oneself?" Zhu Zhu Yijun, however, put in a good word for Wang Qian.

In the world of men, one is not always the master of one's own actions.

The Great Ming officialdom was the world's largest zero-sum arena of fame and fortune. Rolling around in it while wanting to remain untainted, to be like a lotus rising from the mud without being stained, was extremely difficult, even impossible.

To this day, Zhu Zhu Yijun had only seen one such example: Hai Rui. And the reason Hai Rui could do it was largely because he was accustomed to poverty; his material desires had long since transformed into concern for the country and the people through long-term practice.

Hai Rui was a divine sword of Great Ming, but this divine sword was too sharp, too rigid. Zhang Zhang Juzheng's attitude toward Hai Rui's return to court was summed up in six words: "Bend to be complete, twist to be straight."

Wang Qian's status destined him to be stained by these matters; he would have to participate in them. This was his fate; he could not escape it.

"He is still too hot-headed. Isn't this just making a scene?" Wang Wang Chonggu still did not approve of Wang Qian participating too much in such matters.

"Young people, if they aren't hot-headed, are they still young?"

"Vice Minister Wang, do you think this was done by Yao Xu Guangqi?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked with some curiosity.

He hoped to hear Wang Wang Chonggu's deduction. Yao Xu Guangqi was the prime suspect.

"I actually think it is likely not him." Wang Wang Chonggu said with a strange expression: "I feel it is not. Your Majesty, I dare not say that the official factory is as solid as a golden soup, impenetrable by water, but we have stationed so many retired elite soldiers in our official factory. I do not believe Yao Xu Guangqi has the ability to do this."

Great Ming official factories had their own regulations and many strange rules, all of which were universally observed. Those who enforced these regulations were elderly retired elite soldiers—though called elderly, they were actually only ten years older than His Majesty, looking about twenty-six or twenty-seven; they were definitely not old gatekeepers.

These elite soldiers knew the official factory was a matter of great importance and kept strict watch over it, especially the warehouses. Even if Yao Xu Guangqi had the skills of Sun Sun Wukong, could he really fly in with a single somersault?

"Vice Minister Wang means?" Zhu Zhu Yijun pondered for a moment and asked: "There is an inside traitor?"

Wang Wang Chonggu said quite definitively: "There is definitely an inside traitor! Your Majesty, before the New Year, Liu Liu Qiniang met with the Emperor and told Your Majesty about the encroachment. Your Majesty issued an edict for me to investigate myself. Just as I let out a little wind here, the official factory caught fire there. I believe Yao Xu Guangqi could not have done it; only an inside traitor could."

"Very well, investigate them all." Zhu Zhu Yijun deliberated for a moment and asked: "Vice Minister Wang, are there any difficulties in this internal investigation of encroachment? If there are, I can dispatch two Thousand-Man Commanders of the Judicial Office and one hundred Embroidered Uniform Guards to help Vice Minister Wang handle the case."

"There are no difficulties." Wang Wang Chonggu thought seriously and shook his head: "Your Majesty, people are actually much more fragile than one imagines. They don't even need any methods. Sit them on that chair, and in three or five sentences, their words become incoherent; in a dozen sentences, they start talking nonsense; in fifty sentences, their defenses crumble, and they become flustered. Repeat the questions three times, and the vast majority will confess."

As Minister of Justice, Wang Wang Chonggu really had the right to speak on this matter. People were more fragile than they imagined. When committing crimes, they were as bold as they could be, but when sitting on the stool of repentance, they were as timid as mice. They didn't even need much questioning; once pressed onto the Judicial Office's stool, they would confess everything clearly.

"Ah, is it really like that?" Zhu Zhu Yijun looked around. The ceremonial officials in the hall, the Red-Helmet Generals outside the hall, the Great Han Generals at the Meridian Gate, the Embroidered Uniform Guard scouts of the Northern Depot outside the Meridian Gate, and the Garrison Commanders of the three thousand beacon towers scattered across the grasslands—which one of them did not have a will as firm as iron? Zhu Zhu Yijun had never seen the words "timid as a mouse" applied to them.

Zhu Zhu Yijun was very certain that even if they were to die, they would die standing.

Wang Wang Chonggu clearly noticed His Majesty's gaze. He thought seriously and said: "High morality is not entirely a disadvantage."

"The high-morality disadvantage of the Western envoy Li Ya-shi is a disadvantage in colonial wars. Great Ming cannot completely enslave the natives, or even completely eliminate the opponent to obtain everything."

"However, morality within the four corners of Great Ming is the foundation of peace under heaven."

Virtue is what traditional Confucianism advocates most. It seems that as long as everyone cultivates their own morality, the world can be in Great Harmony. This logic is theoretically sound: if everyone possesses high morality, then everyone treats each other with respect, and naturally, it would be a prosperous age where no one picks up lost items on the road and doors do not need to be locked at night.

But in practice, due to material foundations, human nature, education, and so on, everyone's morality is uneven. This moral gap forms various contradictions, which ultimately must be appealed to the constraints of law.

This is what has been done since Qin unified the world: Confucian skin, Legalist bones. It wears the skin of Confucianism, but inside, it is supported by the bones of Legalism.

And law is only the lower limit, responsible for the bottom line, while morality is the upper limit, determining the ceiling of a civilization.

The Han dynasty had loyal officials in every generation.

Those distant beacon-tower guards who still drifted on the grasslands in the white-haired winds where one could not distinguish up, down, left, right, east, or west—these endless loyal officials were not refreshed out of thin air; they were people made of living flesh and blood, with fathers, mothers, wives, and children.

Wang Wang Chonggu slightly disliked the term "high-morality disadvantage." He believed this term was a special word under a special background, a specific word established under the environment of Great Ming opening the seas and competing overseas. It did not have reference significance for the governance of the four corners of Great Ming.

"Your Majesty, most ordinary people, when they do something wrong, especially when they know they have done something wrong, do not have much will to resist. Before the matter is exposed, they can still be stubborn for a while, but once it is exposed, they will say everything after being locked up for a day or two." Wang Wang Chonggu answered His Majesty's question affirmatively again.

"How can the swallows and sparrows know the ambitions of the swan? How can those petty people who steal public property for private gain be mentioned in the same breath as the distant beacon-tower guards whom even Heaven looks upon with respect?" Wang Wang Chonggu reminded His Majesty that the gap between people is sometimes even greater than the gap between people and dogs.

"Then this matter is fully entrusted to Vice Minister Wang. If there are any difficulties, just mention them." Zhu Zhu Yijun understood and said with a smile.

"I obey the edict." Wang Wang Chonggu bowed his head. After reporting the fire at the Yongding Woolen Factory, Wang Wang Chonggu did not plan to rest during the New Year; he would handle the matter first.

Actually, Wang Wang Chonggu had a trump card he hadn't explained to the Emperor. Wang Wang Chonggu's biggest trump card was the Emperor himself.

Originally, taking a few dozen catties of wool, a few bolts of coarse-spun fabric, and a foot of fine-spun cloth scraps would at most result in a fine. Those with large quantities would be expelled from the official factory. After leaving the official factory, they could also go to the derivative private workshops around the official factory.

But if these matters were really brought before the Emperor to be weighed, it probably wouldn't be that simple.

The fact that His Majesty liked to kill was known to everyone, from Hokkaido in Japan to Ireland.

As long as Wang Wang Chonggu brought out the great Buddha of the Emperor and said that if they didn't confess honestly, they would be sent to the Northern Depot for the Embroidered Uniform Guards to question them, Wang Wang Chonggu did not believe that this group of people, one by one, would dare not confess! As for those who said they weren't afraid, Wang Wang Chonggu would praise them as men!

Let alone them, even Wang Wang Chonggu, a first-rank official of the court, kept the Northern Depot at a respectful distance. He didn't want to be questioned inside it in his entire life. How many people could come out alive after entering the Northern Depot prison?

Wang Wang Chonggu's judgment was extremely accurate. Especially when the Emperor's personal instruction to inquire about all matters was mentioned, several people started wailing on the spot. His Majesty had executed seven hundred and twenty people the day before his wedding!

This kind of occupational encroachment, especially in a relatively closed environment, as long as a gap was torn open, the case was quickly cleared up. The case of the warehouse fire was also brought to light. Indeed, there was a Warehouse Ambassador who embezzled excessively. Hearing the rumors of an investigation, he panicked, and after repeated hesitation, he set a fire.

It was a typical case of "Fire Dragon Burning the Warehouse."

Whenever the court went to inspect the grain stored in the Ever-Normal Granaries of various prefectures, the granaries would start to catch fire one after another. The fire could burn all traces clean. This was "Fire Dragon Burning the Warehouse."

Wang Wang Chonggu bringing out the Emperor's banner was truly effective. It basically conveyed one meaning: if you are given decency, speak properly; don't be shameless and insist on getting slapped before you are willing to open your mouth.

This time, it was truly Zhu Zhu Yijun, the Emperor, who misunderstood Yao Xu Guangqi. Yao Xu Guangqi was indeed bold, but not bold enough to seek death in the Emperor's minefield. Who didn't know that the Yongding and Yongsheng Woolen Factories were the Emperor's private treasury? Yao Xu Guangqi was pushed out to compete for the right to speak, not to be pushed out to die. It was just that the local wealthy families were impolite and played tricks while competing in wealth, causing Yao Xu Guangqi to stumble.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month of the seventh year of Emperor Wanli, most of the private workshops in the capital had not yet started work, and the capital was still immersed in the joy of the New Year. After all, the Aoshan Lantern Festival would only start on the seventh day, and the New Year would not end until the sixteenth day.

But the Great Ming court's holiday had ended, and various government offices began their busy work after the New Year. Zhu Zhu Yijun also appeared in the Zhao Wenhua Hall with a yawning Zhu Zhu Yiliu.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng led the court officials in respectful salutes. He stood up straight, glanced at Zhu Zhu Yiliu, and could only sigh secretly. Zhu Zhu Yiliu's appearance was almost carved from the same mold as His Majesty before the case of the assassination attempt. This was the appearance of a natural noble, not taking anything to heart, coveting comfort and pleasure.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng had seriously thought about the problem His Majesty raised: completely distinguishing between the monarch as father, the monarch as the state, and the monarch as teacher. Because the personal level of the monarch had too great an impact on the fate of the empire. What kind of dynasty could survive two Ming Yingzongs?

Can someone who has been a noble since birth really become a qualified monarch, a cold political machine, a master of the world who leads Great Ming to another revival?

From His Majesty's perspective, it was possible, but looking at all the dynasties, it seemed it had never happened before.

"This Warehouse Ambassador, nothing else, just exile him to Song Yingchang for military service." Zhu Zhu Yijun picked up the red pen on the table and looked at Wang Wang Chonggu: "Does the Minister of Justice think this disposition is appropriate?"

"Your Majesty is wise. This is truly the utmost benevolence of Your Majesty, bestowing benevolence upon the people." Wang Wang Chonggu had no intention of vetoing it. Wang Wang Chonggu had sentenced the Ambassador who burned the warehouse to immediate execution, and Lu Guangzong of the Grand Court of Revision also determined he should be killed. But from beginning to end, Wang Wang Chonggu had never respected the Great Ming Law. In a Great Ming imperial dynasty, where did the rule of law come from? There was only rule by man. If His Majesty was willing to show leniency in the name of the Son of Heaven, Wang Wang Chonggu had no need to obstruct it excessively.

"Your Majesty..." Zhang Zhang Juzheng said with slight hesitation: "Your Majesty's benevolence is spread throughout the world, this is a joyous event for the world. However, unclear rewards and punishments are a great harm to the country. I ask Your Majesty to think thrice."

Zhang Zhang Juzheng could understand why the Emperor wanted to show leniency, simply because this Warehouse Ambassador had a poor background, was a poor commoner, and was one of the first one hundred craftsmen of the Great Ming Yongding Woolen Factory.

The Great Ming Yongding Woolen Factory was not built on flat ground; it was built bit by bit. At the beginning, the factory had only one hundred people; now it had expanded to over thirty thousand registered workers. And this Warehouse Ambassador was indeed a veteran of the official factory.

"He has merit to the official factory." Zhu Zhu Yijun put down the vermilion pen, explaining the reason for his decision.

"Merit and demerit have never offset each other since ancient times. Merit is merit, demerit is demerit." Zhang Zhang Juzheng said quite definitively: "Your Majesty, the Book of Changes says: 'A family that accumulates goodness will surely have surplus blessings; a family that accumulates evil will surely have surplus calamities.' People's words and deeds will produce corresponding consequences. Only with a cause can there be an effect."

"People's past merits and present faults cannot offset each other, because each cause produces its own effect. Hence, 'The arrogant dragon will have cause to repent.'"

"The arrogant dragon will have cause to repent" is an idiom from the Book of Changes, meaning that those in high positions must think thrice before acting, must guard against arrogance and rashness, and must think comprehensively. Otherwise, if they are slightly careless, they will surely feel regret because of failure.

Merit and demerit do not offset each other; virtue and obstacles do not communicate.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng saw that His Majesty was still somewhat hesitant and bowed his head again: "Your Majesty, what he should not have done most was to set the fire, not to take property from the warehouse. Even ten thousand taels of property cannot offset one human life. But since he set the fire, he cannot be shown leniency."

"Master Zhang Yuanfu, His Majesty just feels that this Warehouse Ambassador is not the kind of person who is stubborn and ignorant, and is someone who can be saved. He is willing to give him a chance. Why must Master Zhang Yuanfu be so aggressive? There is a suspicion of intimidating the monarch and seizing power. Thunder, dew, and rain are all imperial grace." Wang Wang Jiaping, who had been promoted to Minister of the Hanlin Academy and concurrently Junior Preceptor of the Heir Apparent, directly fired at Zhang Zhang Juzheng, and the point of attack still fell on the power of intimidating the monarch and seizing power.

Wang Wang Chonggu was terrified. Whose subordinate was this, actually so fierce, actually firing directly at Zhang Zhang Juzheng? Looking closely, it turned out to be his own subordinate, Wang Wang Jiaping, a direct descendant of the Jin Party.

Wang Wang Chonggu wiped his face and could only admire Wang Wang Jiaping's courage. He dared to provoke Zhang Zhang Juzheng, who was known for his vengeful nature?

Zhang Zhang Juzheng immediately smelled a familiar scent. This scent was too familiar.

Ge Ge Shouli had already passed away, but Ge Ge Shouli's two direct disciples, Wang Wang Jiaping and Fan Fan Yingqi, were still active in the court. Wang Wang Jiaping had taken over the banner of the power of intimidating the monarch and seizing power from Ge Ge Shouli's hands.

"Scholar Wang's words are wrong. This is a court deliberation, a place to speak. How is this intimidating the monarch and seizing power?" Li Li Youzi, Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, immediately opposed Wang Wang Jiaping's attack. This was the Zhao Wenhua Hall, a place for discussing politics. If people were not allowed to speak, what was there to discuss in the Zhao Wenhua Hall?

Wang Wang Jiaping frowned and said: "Censor-in-Chief Li, this is indeed a court deliberation, but does the Zhang Yuanfu also need to manage criminal matters? Isn't this a bit overstepping?"

The war of words began. Zhu Zhu Yijun, on the platform, watched with great interest!

Wang Wang Jiaping and Li Li Youzi were still arguing, while Zhang Zhang Juzheng, Wang Wang Chonggu, and Wan Wan Shihe were watching His Majesty's expression.

The reason His Majesty was so diligent was found. It wasn't that His Majesty loved attending court; His Majesty just loved watching the excitement, loved watching people fight! Looking at those bright little eyes, it seemed as if he was saying, "Fight, hurry up and fight."

Wang Wang Chonggu looked at Wang Wang Jiaping; Wang Wang Jiaping was of the Jin Party. Zhang Zhang Juzheng looked at Li Li Youzi; Li Li Youzi was of the Zhang Party.

Wang Wang Jiaping and Li Li Youzi finally stopped arguing, as their party leaders had already told them with their eyes: argue if you must, but don't cause a party struggle, otherwise no one can cover for it.

Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Zhang Juzheng, then at the memorial in his hand. He did not intend to change the punishment. According to the Ministry of Justice and the Grand Court of Revision's judgment, he picked up the Emperor Wanli Great Seal, stamped it on Wang Wang Chonggu's memorial, and said: "Kill him."

"Master's words are very true. I thought too little."

"If I open this gap, the officials of our Great Ming will dare to replace all the Warehouse Ambassadors of all the Ever-Normal Granaries in Great Ming with poor commoners. Not for anything else, just to let them take the blame. Then the Ever-Normal Granaries of our Great Ming cannot be inspected anymore, because once inspected, they will surely catch fire. At that time, should I show leniency, or not?"

"Officials, limited by their status as officials, cannot speak directly about my mistakes. I also know that I am doing something wrong, but I am the Emperor of Great Ming, how can I be wrong? I can only be so muddled. How many things in Great Ming have been ruined by the word 'muddled'."

"Master's words are reasonable. For a monarch, there are only two words: reward and punishment."

"Small kindness, great evil; to spare one life is to harm thousands."

Some benevolence is hypocritical kindness. If Zhu Zhu Yijun shows leniency to this Warehouse Ambassador, the prefectural treasuries and Ever-Normal Granaries under heaven will inevitably be corrupted. Once there is a natural or man-made disaster, it will be a disaster of collapse.

Small kindness, great evil.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng's words always hit the core of the problem very accurately. If this Warehouse Ambassador from a poor background had not set this fire, Zhang Zhang Juzheng would definitely not have obstructed the Emperor's private leniency. But the Warehouse Ambassador involved in the case was wrong in setting this fire, and the nature of the matter had completely changed.

"Your Majesty is wise." Zhang Zhang Juzheng breathed a sigh of relief and said solemnly.

"Master blames Chen Shan, fulfilling the duty of an assistant. Scholar Wang, there is no need to be so nervous." Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Wang Jiaping, not criticizing, just confirming that during court deliberations, anything could be said, but once a decision was made, it must be firmly implemented. This was also the consistent style of the Zhao Wenhua Hall when Ge Ge Shouli was in court.

"Continue the court deliberation." Zhu Zhu Yijun waved his hand, signaling that Zhang Zhang Juzheng could begin the court deliberation.

"Last year, the nine border military towns and the Capital Battalion cumulatively spent 9.28 million taels of silver in grain, salt, beans, grass, oil, and other physical goods. The old treasury had 5.42 million taels of silver in reserve. The Grand Granary has enough for over eight years of expenditure. This is the result of enriching the country and strengthening the army." Zhang Zhang Juzheng briefly reported on military support.

These conversions were extremely cumbersome, as grain prices, bean prices, etc., varied from place to place, making conversion extremely troublesome. However, the Ministry of Revenue led by Wang Wang Guoguang and Zhang Zhang Xueyan completed the sorting of these accounts very well. Since the implementation of the physical military salary system and the "six books and one account" system, the border regions of Great Ming had visibly become more substantial. Places where the Northern Tatars could sneak in before were now all guarded by Great Ming border troops eyeing the rewards.

When the country loses great trust, people become suspicious.

When the dynasty loses its credibility, people's hearts are scattered, and they begin to suspect each other. Can the court's decrees really be fulfilled? Do the border troops really have the strength to fight and defend? This mutual suspicion will further disperse people's hearts.

The establishment to the destruction of a dynasty is actually a process of the concentration and dispersion of people's hearts. This process is not quantifiable.

The Great Ming physical salary system was actually the "Open-Middle Law" implemented during the Emperor Hongwu and Yongle years. It was not a new decree, but back then, the soldiers only received salt; now they have grain, oil, beans, grass, and other physical goods.

There must be some corruption in this, but it is much better than the years of unpaid salaries before. The border troops have gradually shown their strength. They may not be able to beat this group of Northern Tatars in the desert, but at the passes, how can these Tatars be fierce?

"Master deserves the first merit." Zhu Zhu Yijun was very satisfied with the results of enriching the country and strengthening the army, and affirmed Zhang Zhang Juzheng's contribution.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng did not hide it and said: "Most of the 5.42 million taels of silver in the old treasury is His Majesty's money, or money brought back by His Majesty's efforts to open the seas."

"Among them, 3.2 million taels of silver were accumulated from the customs duties on Western galleons in recent years, and 1.2 million taels were submitted by the shipping offices of Mizhou, Songjiang, Ningbo, Fujian, and Guangzhou. In other words, if it were not for His Majesty's insistence on opening the seas and making independent decisions, I am afraid the old treasury would only have been able to save a million taels of silver, still showing a deficit in financial resources."

The silver stored in the old treasury was all the share brought by the Emperor. The Emperor had saved a little silver by being frugal and threw it all into the bottomless pit of opening the seas in the southern region.

"Oh? Is that so? I just did a little insignificant work." Zhu Zhu Yijun waved his hands repeatedly and said: "The world is my Zhu family's world; it is all what I should do. Continue the court deliberation, continue the court deliberation."

The petty Confucians have always opposed the "degree-number" method and opposed data-fication. This is the reason. Once specific quantification is made and specific data is produced, one can see who is working and who is barking and not working. Data is the best feedback from practice.

Since the Emperor began to listen to government from behind the curtain at the age of ten, in seven years, he had secretly saved over 5 million taels of silver for the national treasury.

This was the confidence for extravagance.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng looked at the Emperor, who was already in his prime, and smiled. He actually held reservations about opening the seas. It was not that he had overseas interests, or that the court setting up checkpoints to collect taxes would damage Zhang Zhang Juzheng's private interests. His reservations about opening the seas were because of the difficulty.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng read history books. Great Ming's maritime power was at its peak during the Yongle years. Even then, Great Ming could not even solve the problem of transporting grain by sea.

In the sixth year of Yongle, Emperor Emperor Chengzu issued an edict to build two thousand ocean-going ships, planning to transport 800,000 piculs of grain to the northern region for the northern expedition. That year, Minister of Rites Song Li argued that the construction of ocean-going ships was too urgent and proposed building flat-bottomed grain ships to travel the Grand Canal, transporting grain to make up for the shortage of grain transported by sea.

And the grain transported by sea was gradually reduced from the originally planned 10,000 flag soldiers, each commanded by commanders and thousand-man commanders, to 3,000 flag soldiers. The number of times was also reduced from twice a year to once a year, then to twice every three years in the tenth year of Yongle, and completely stopped in the thirteenth year of Yongle.

There was only one reason: grain transported by sea was really easy to sink. In the seven years from the sixth year of Yongle to the thirteenth year of Yongle, the original plan was to transport 5.6 million piculs of grain, but only 1.5 million piculs arrived in the capital. The other ocean-going ships sank.

The suspension of the Great Ming's last official fleet going south to the Western Ocean in the ninth year of Emperor Xuande was also related to the fleet's income being far less than expected.

It was not that Zhang Zhang Juzheng had not thought about opening the seas. Liang Liang Menglong, who handled grain transport by sea during the Emperor Longqing years, was Zhang Zhang Juzheng's direct disciple. But the practice during the Emperor Longqing years also proved that grain transport by sea was really not feasible.

If grain transport by sea, short-distance transport, could not be solved, was opening the seas really the right choice?

Fortunately, Yin Yin Zhengmao, Zhang Zhang Yuanxun, and Deng Deng Zilong took a group of pacified pirates led by Lin Lin Afeng and rushed into Manila, the territory of the red-haired barbarians who had not yet established a firm foothold. After archaeological research combined with Western ship methods, the three-masted sandwich ship was born, and the five-masted ocean-going ship was born. The problem of Great Ming's grain transport by sea was also slowly solved through the "degree-number" method.

"This year, it is still about enriching the country and strengthening the army." Zhang Zhang Juzheng wanted to set a tone for the New Year's New Deal of the seventh year of Emperor Wanli, continuing to deepen the reform. The main theme remained unchanged: enriching the country and strengthening the army.

"The Great Ming dynasty is still not rich enough, and the Great Ming troops still need to be strengthened. I deeply agree with this point." Zhu Zhu Yijun's attitude toward the enriching the country and strengthening the army proposed by Zhang Zhang Juzheng remained as supportive as ever.

When Great Ming can be so wealthy that Zhu Zhu Yijun waves his hand and the Great Ming border troops can have the same treatment as the Great Ming Capital Battalion, that is truly rich. Now, where are we? Continuing to gather wealth and promote profit, continuing to strengthen the army, and continuing to expand the territory is the main melody and main tone of the New Law.

"Officials of the Shipping Office have reported that recently, sea merchants have frequently evaded sea taxes. The court's prohibitions are ineffective, private trade is fearless, and private markets in the southeast are rampant. They often trade in pepper, spices, oil, and other goods, often violating the law to the point of death, yet they refuse to stop, and repeated prohibitions are ineffective." Zhang Zhang Juzheng spoke of the first thing in enriching the country: collecting taxes, collecting sea taxes.

"I remember that our Great Ming sea tax is six percent. Is such a tax rate considered harsh?" Zhu Zhu Yijun frowned. He had seen the memorials of the officials of the Shipping Office. Great Ming's tax rate was a tax rate that even the Western pirate leaders would call a great philanthropist!

A tariff of only 6% was like a clear stream in a mudslide in this era.

"Naturally, it is not a harsh tax." Wang Wang Guoguang said very confidently.

"Taking Yuegang as an example, the eunuchs in the palace, the local patrolling censors, and the shipping officials of the shipping offices can be said to be mutually checking and supervising each other, and there is no excessive additional taxation." Zhang Zhang Xueyan added a detail, which was that Great Ming's management of the Shipping Office was very strict, using the mutual checking and supervising of civil, military, and eunuch officials, which was only used in the army.

Therefore, there was no situation where the officials of the Shipping Office were excessively harsh. At least in the early years of Emperor Wanli, there was no situation where there was a 6% tax on the surface and a 60% tax in reality.

"They! Why! Don't pay taxes!!" Zhu Zhu Yijun slammed the table when he heard this.

Body temperature has returned to normal. Seeking monthly tickets, Awoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 337 =====