Chapter 339: Great Ming Has No Aristocracy

Sun Sun Kehong's meaning was very clear: the court did not allow Great Ming's grain to go overseas, but allowed overseas grain to be transported to Japan and exchanged for silver, continuing to seek huge profits. Sun Sun Kehong saw this very clearly from the imperial edict.

Then what were these merchants crying and wailing about when they ran to his house? Crying that the court wouldn't let them squeeze the commoners' food for silver, crying that it was more troublesome to find grain overseas, crying that the court was managing so broadly and so quickly, and that the business hadn't stabilized yet before it was prohibited by the Emperor.

If it were just a piece of paper, it would be fine. But what if it was accompanied by a "Gaomin Order" that allowed informers to share thirty percent of the confiscated assets? This piece of paper was not a blank sheet, but had great effect.

"Overseas? Easier said than done? The sea is windy and rough, and pirates are frequent. A slight carelessness means the ship is destroyed and people die. Even if you barely reach the shore, you still have to be squeezed by various small barbarian countries. Where is the profit?" A merchant still felt dissatisfied and shouted loudly.

Sun Sun Kehong tilted his head and looked at the man, sneering: "This is the Songjiang Ocean-going Trading Firm. You, me, him—we are all maritime merchants. This is not a book post in a magazine, nor is it a courtroom in a Southern Yamen. Do you need to pretend to be pitiful like this? Now, the sea ships are tossing around in the 'Ten Thousand Mile Sea Pond,' just like splashing in a bathhouse. Will they capsize? Are you questioning the quality of the ships from the Songjiang Shipyard?"

"And this talk of pirates—your ships ran out of the Malacca Strait and appeared east of Nagasaki before pirates appeared. In the big ports, are there really pirates? Do you think the Great Ming navy eats as much as you, fat and greasy, and can do nothing?!"

"The small barbarian countries treat you slightly coldly, and you show off your power in various ways, wishing you could break into people's palaces and rob them clean. You tell me, have you ever paid a single cent of tax to the small barbarian countries when being squeezed by them?! You don't even want to pay this share to Great Ming!"

"Stop farting in front of me!"

Sun Sun Kehong's words were very, very impolite. When facing Great Ming officials like Wang Daokun, Guo Guo Rulin, and Zhao Li Shizhen, he was cautious and careful, looking like a gentle and easy-going gentleman. But when talking about business, he had such a large family property; if his heart wasn't ruthless, how could he stand firm?

"Sun Sun Shangzong, you say this as if you are standing with the court. You are our merchants' Sun Shangzong!" This merchant was scolded and immediately retorted loudly. Everyone was a merchant; why was Sun Sun Kehong, this Sun Shangzong, speaking for the court? He didn't go to react to the court's tyranny, but instead let them adapt to it themselves?!

Sun Sun Kehong slammed the table, pointed at the man's nose, and said sternly: "This Sun Shangzong was appointed by the court, not lifted by you!"

"Speaking for you?! How do I speak for you? Why does the court want to implement this Gaomin Order? I have said it repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly: pay taxes, pay taxes! My family even pays taxes on the painting boat business. What about you! If you pay taxes honestly and obediently, would there be so many moths?"

"Six percent! Six percent! Are you all cheap bones? You won't be satisfied until the court increases taxes to thirty or fifty percent?"

"You play tricks to evade taxes, which harms the interests of me, a tax-paying merchant! Tomorrow I will organize a set of accounts and send them to the Songjiang Prefecture Southern Yamen to report you first and make a fortune!"

Sun Sun Kehong was stunned after saying this. The more he thought about it, the more he felt this idea was good. He turned to his head manager and said: "Sun Sheng, go immediately. Tomorrow, bring the accounts, and we will go to the Songjiang Prefecture Southern Yamen to report the case. We will make a fortune this time!"

"What are you looking at! Get out, go home, raise silver, and prepare to pay the fine!"

Sun Sun Kehong let all the merchants get out. It would be best if they paid the taxes. If they didn't, it didn't matter. The court's Tax Inspection Institute would investigate them itself. As for whether he offended these merchants, they were all maritime merchants, and there were originally conflicts of interest. They had offended each other long ago. Smiling on the surface didn't mean they were friends.

"Big Boss, do we really want to organize a set?" Sun Sheng said with difficulty after the merchants left: "Will we become the target of public criticism?"

"Target of public criticism?" Sun Sun Kehong's expression suddenly changed, his whole person became full of hostility, and even his facial features were somewhat distorted. He patted his crippled leg hard and said through gritted teeth: "So what if I am the target of public criticism?! When Xu Xu Jie broke my leg because of a little business in the cloth shop, didn't they follow Xu Xu Jie and chase our Sun family? At that time, our Sun family was already the target of public criticism!"

"Today, I, Sun Sun Kehong, have gained power, so I won't let them have a good day!"

Because Sun Sun Kehong's leg was crippled by Xu Xu Jie, his temperament changed drastically, and he was unpredictable. A slight disagreement would lead to a fit of rage. Sun Sheng heard Sun Sun Kehong's anger, and thinking about the situation of the family back then, indeed, at that time, their Sun family was already the target of public criticism. Later, after dedicating themselves to the court, it was even more so.

"Big Boss, I will go handle it." Sun Sheng stopped persuading him. They were all eating from the same trough; if you kick someone else, you eat a little more.

"That's right!" Sun Sun Kehong's face gradually became normal. He drank tea and began to miss the time when Sun Sun Keyi was still there. When his brother was there, Sun Sun Kehong's emotions would be more stable because someone was carrying the beam.

The next day, at dawn, Sun Sun Kehong did not take the account book to the Songjiang Prefecture Southern Yamen, but the Songjiang Prefecture Southern Yamen brought more than a thousand navy officers and soldiers to the Sun Mansion. The land of Songjiang Prefecture seemed stable, but the undercurrents were surging. Sun Sun Kehong was worried that it would be unsafe for him to go out with the account book, so he asked Wang Daokun, the Songjiang Governor, to come and take it.

When Wang Daokun heard that there was a great merit, he immediately brought people to the Sun Mansion and successfully took the account book.

All the merchants watching, and even the merchants who planned to do something, could only wail. This Sun Sun Kehong's apparent arrogance was backed by extreme caution, not giving anyone any chance at all.

Songjiang Prefecture's Xingang was currently the shipping office with the largest throughput in Great Ming, with more than a thousand three-masted sandwich ships entering and leaving the shipping office every day. Other shipping offices, at most, had one hundred and twenty ships a day, such as Yuegang in Zhangzhou, Fujian.

And the Songjiang Ocean-going Trading Firm was the largest trading firm in Songjiang. The account books in their hands were the details of Great Ming's cargo distribution. With such account books, there was no fear of tax loss.

"Sun Sun Shangzong is loyal to His Majesty and promotes the court's spirit. As a family of official caps, ritual, music, and poetry, it should be so. No need to be formal." Wang Daokun signaled Sun Sun Kehong not to salute. His body was inconvenient, so there was no need for so many tedious rituals.

Sun Sun Kehong, a merchant, actually directed the Songjiang Governor to run back and forth. This was breaking the rules. In this land of Great Ming, the one who held the power was the biggest official.

Of course, for such a great merit every day, Wang Daokun was willing to run!

"Thank you, Governor Wang." Sun Sun Kehong finally stopped struggling to crawl up. Since the Emperor bestowed the title of "Family of Official Caps, Ritual, Music, and Poetry," he finally didn't have to crawl on the ground to see officials in a wretched manner. At least he could maintain decency, and the court officials were also willing to give him decency.

Wang Daokun said with great relief: "Before, the court had no way. Tax inspection could only be handled by the Tax Inspection Institute. Our maritime defense inspections did not have the authority to pursue arrears, urge payment, audit, or investigate. It was somewhat passive. Now it's good. The Tax Inspection Institute has finally expanded, and our maritime defense inspections finally have a place to use their skills."

"Since Yu Shuai created the navy and maritime defense inspections in Songjiang, I have been worried that this navy and inspection are not a long-term plan. After all, for the court, this is a place that spends money, but the benefits are general, broad, and not specific. Now it's good. Maritime defense inspections can truly reduce the court's tax loss, so there is a necessity for long-term existence."

Sun Sun Kehong said with a full face of smiles: "Governor Wang has a high opinion. Before, the maritime defense inspections were also difficult. This sea tax is the most difficult to audit, and the maritime defense inspections had no authority. Anyway, our family acts according to the rules and never lacks tax."

The Sun family not only did not steal, leak, or avoid the court's taxes, but occasionally, because they earned too much and felt uneasy, they donated money to the Maritime Academy and the shipyard. Regardless of the big hat of "loyal to the monarch and the country," the Sun family's dedication to the court had huge returns.

Just the painting boat business allowed the Sun family to eat until they were full.

The New Deal of the seventh year of Emperor Wanli, the expansion of the Tax Inspection Institute, and the wind of comprehensive investigation and pursuit of sea tax arrears started from Songjiang Prefecture. This violent wind blew through Songjiang, blew through the southern region, blew through Fujian, and blew to the two Guang provinces.

On the tenth day of the second lunar month of the seventh year of Emperor Wanli, the Tax Inspection Room of Songjiang Prefecture began to issue tax payment tickets. This meant that the accounts had been completely checked. Who owed how much, how much should be supplemented, and how much should be fined had already been recorded in the account book. The court's pursuit of arrears officially began.

And on this day, a five-masted ocean-going ship came from the direction of Yuegang and slowly approached the Xingang. Under the guidance of the barge, it slowly docked. And the flag hanging on this ship was not Great Ming's Seven-Star Flag, nor the Western Red Cross, but the Lion and Sun emblem.

Wang Daokun did not expect at all that the fleet of the Mughal Empire, which left in August last year, would return to Songjiang Prefecture in February this year. In just six months, they completed a round trip. Great Ming's clearing of pirates in the "Ten Thousand Mile Sea Pond" was still in progress, and the sea route was not smooth.

Of course, in front of the five-masted ocean-going ship, ordinary pirates had to weigh whether they could eat it, rather than being blown into fragments by the ship's cannons. The five-masted ocean-going ship, the giant beast crossing the ocean, not only had strong anti-risk ability but also had firearms armed to the teeth.

The person leading the fleet this time was still Shah Mamet, the big client who added 50,000 silver to each ship and mentioned two ships. He returned to Great Ming again. This time, he brought nearly 3 million taels of silver and over 2 million taels of goods—cotton and grain, which were the specialties of the Mughal Empire and sold well in Central Asia.

Shah Mamet bought a large number of Taiyue grain transport boxes, specifically for transporting grain.

"These are four Arabian horses from Moon Bay. They are hardworking and have endurance. Such handsome horses are presented as a congratulatory gift to the Great Ming Emperor. The great, wise, and supreme Emperor will surely like them." Shah Mamet introduced the four warhorses behind him.

This was a gift from Emperor Akbar to the Great Ming Emperor, thanking the Great Ming Emperor for his generosity in selling him two big ships, allowing him to regain some face in front of the Westerners who were pressing step by step.

Shah Mamet focused on introducing two horses. One was date-red, with a touch of snow-white between the eyebrows, tall and fierce, with extremely developed tendons, looking like it was good at sprinting. The other was wide-eyed, sharp, and fierce, standing in place, constantly scanning, quite arrogant.

Shah Mamet said with a smile: "This one is called 'Flying Wing.' Its running speed is far beyond other horses. And this one is called 'Winning Sword,' extremely fierce on the battlefield, sharper than a sword. These four can be called thousand-mile horses even in Great Ming."

Good generals assist wise masters, and precious horses match heroes.

Shah Mamet knew that the Great Ming Emperor practiced martial arts and was skilled in martial arts, so he catered to his preferences and sent four horses.

"Does the Mughal Empire have many horses?" Wang Daokun looked at these four horses, his face showing heaviness. Recently, the Ming officials in the Zhao Wenhua Hall were extremely troubled by the source of horses. The Tatars would not sell them, the Western Regions had none, and Great Ming had no channels to obtain warhorses except for the military horse farms. This was an important obstacle to Great Ming's formation of cavalry.

And now, Shah Mamet brought his precious horses!

"I am very happy to hear the word 'Mughal' from the mouth of a Great Ming official. As you said, if the Mughal Empire has no horses, is it still the Mughal Empire?" Shah Mamet said with a full face of smiles.

Last time, when he had an audience in the Zhao Wenhua Hall, he specifically asked this question. The Ministry of Rites clearly knew the origin of the Mughal Empire, but insisted on translating it as "Mowuoer," which made Shah Mamet very dissatisfied, although the Emperor brushed it off with "Great Ming has its own national conditions."

If someone else said that the Han people's ancestors were the Xiongnu, Great Ming would not be happy either, just like the Ministry of Rites repeatedly corrected Shah Mamet that Great Ming was Great Ming, not Khitan.

And now, Great Ming finally corrected this translation error, which made Shah Mamet very happy. Once he was happy, he scattered money.

"Take it to drink tea." Shah Mamet took out a bag of silver coins and handed it to a small official of the Shipping Office. Weighing it slightly, there were at least fifty taels of silver!

The official refused to take it. Shah Mamet said with a smile: "My ship is in your hands. You help me watch and clean it. I hope that when I see it again, it will still be as beautiful as it was at the beginning."

Wang Daokun nodded, and the official accepted the silver coins and took people to clean Shah Mamet's ship.

"Governor Wang, take it to drink tea." Shah Mamet took out a bag of gold coins from his belt and handed it over.

"I cannot take it. If I take it, it is bribery. Special Envoy Shah, please come in." Wang Daokun refused the gold coins and invited Shah Mamet off the pier.

Shah Mamet was really very happy. This time, every time he saw someone, he threw out a bag of silver coins, some more, some less, some fifty taels, some ten taels. He had two servants, and their bodies were covered with bags.

"Is this your custom and etiquette?" Wang Daokun frowned and asked. Such strange etiquette, he was really seeing it for the first time.

"That's not it, just happy to come to Great Ming again." Shah Mamet didn't know what Wang Daokun was talking about at first, until someone reminded him, and then Shah Mamet suddenly realized where the problem was. This was cultural difference.

Shah Mamet said quite solemnly: "Governor Wang, I stayed in Great Ming for more than a year before I saw the supreme master of the world. What shocked me most in this year is that Great Ming has no aristocracy. Great Ming's Emperor, as the highest king of the Great Ming Empire, lives slightly extravagantly, yet is criticized by his officials. Is this reasonable? This is not reasonable at all."

"Great Ming has no aristocracy. Princes, nobles, generals, and ministers cannot do whatever they want. Even the Prime Minister of the empire, once his family commits a crime, will become a target for everyone."

What is an aristocracy? Aristocracy is the power of life and death downward, omnipotent! What is an aristocracy? It is the rule-maker, who can ignore the rules downward.

An aristocrat killed someone, but actually had to face punishment, and even the Emperor refused to show leniency, paying the price of his life. In their Mughal Empire, if an aristocrat killed someone, the other party had to apologize, and the aristocrat would continue to chase them down. This is an aristocracy, this is a strict hierarchy.

The Mughal Empire, which implements the four-class system, is the real aristocracy. Great Ming's aristocracy must also follow Great Ming's laws.

Shah Mamet was a Great Ming expert. During his year in Great Ming, he survived a life-and-death disaster, and he was very curious about Great Ming. In his understanding, Great Ming had no real aristocracy, only meat-eaters.

For example, Great Ming's founding master Zhu Zhu Yuanzhang's son-in-law, Ouyang Lun, because he coveted huge profits and indulged his servant Zhou Bao to beat the tax official of the Heqiao Division in Lantian County, was beheaded by the Ming Taizu High Emperor. For example, the Prime Minister of the During Zhengtong years, Yang Yang Shiqi, because his son Yang Ji was arrogant and killed someone, was finally dismissed and retired.

Shah Mamet did not think Great Ming had aristocracy, just meat-eaters.

Wang Daokun thought for a while and shook his head: "Special Envoy Shah is joking. This time, Special Envoy Shah doesn't need to wait a year to have an audience."

After resting in Songjiang Prefecture for three days, Shah Mamet boarded Great Ming's new three-body hydrofoil sailboat and headed north. This was a new type of hydrofoil sailboat, about three feet long, with three masts, belonging to an improved version of the painting boat. The ship speed was slightly lower, but the comfort was greatly improved. The ship speed was slightly lower compared to the hydrofoil sailboat, but the three-body hydrofoil sailboat still only took three days to reach Mizhou, Shandong.

Five days later, Shah Mamet's delegation arrived in Great Ming's capital.

The Third San Niangzi stayed in the capital for a month. She mainly discussed the details of the wool business in the capital. The Third San Niangzi also knew very well that Great Ming lacked warhorses. Although Wang Wang Chonggu tactfully expressed some ideas about letting the Third San Niangzi play a role again, the Third San Niangzi thought about it and finally did not become more active.

There is an essential difference between a surrender faction and a peace faction. The Third San Niangzi was also not sure how many people would support her if she became a surrender faction.

And when Shah Mamet moved into the Four Barbarian Hall, he caused a stir again, letting everyone in the capital know that he, Shah Mamet, was back.

Shah Mamet threw silver bags everywhere when he was happy. Coincidentally, he threw one at Cai Pan Jixun, a Han Junior Preceptor of the Four Barbarian Hall. And this Han Junior Preceptor, Cai Pan Jixun, happened to be a real "clean and noble" official, the kind who would rather die than accept food given in contempt. Shah Mamet threw this bag of silver over, and Cai Pan Jixun was furious on the spot and flicked his sleeves and left.

Shah Mamet was stunned. This was cultural difference. After figuring out the origin, Shah Mamet never dared to throw silver to people wearing official robes again. Shah Mamet never imagined that there were really people who didn't like silver.

This matter caused quite a stir, mainly because Cai Pan Jixun himself was at the center of the storm. He opposed the court's strengthening of tax inspection, opposed Zhang Zhang Juzheng's expansion of the Tax Inspection Institute, and opposed this decree, and caused a great stir.

The "clean and noble" officials mostly supported Cai Pan Jixun. The Great Ming Emperor specifically observed Cai Pan Jixun. He was a fifth-rank Han Junior Preceptor of the Four Barbarian Hall, and his knowledge was extremely rich. In addition to being a successful candidate in the forty-fourth year of Emperor Jiajing, he worked in the Four Barbarian Hall and was proficient in Tatar language, Western Tibetan language, Indian Sanskrit, Hui language, Bai Yi language, Gaochang language, and Latin.

Cai Pan Jixun was not short of money. He was not content with poverty. He translated several books of Western stories and earned a lot of money in the book club.

Cai Pan Jixun's logic for being angry was: "A gentleman loves wealth, but takes it in the right way; a gentleman does not accept food given in contempt."

His political inclination was to support Great Ming's opening of the seas, and it was to support full opening of the seas, but he opposed gathering wealth and profit. This time he opposed Zhang Zhang Juzheng's two new policies for this reason.

The reason was very simple: Cai Pan Jixun believed that excessive gathering of wealth and profit was a great harm to the country, especially the continuous strengthening of tax inspection. Because the tax inspection on the powerful and wealthy families in Great Ming would inevitably become a knife to squeeze the commoners in various forms. The meat-eaters would not suffer any loss from the court's gathering of wealth and profit; they would deduct all costs from the commoners.

Cai Pan Jixun's point of view was recognized by many people, and Shah Mamet just happened to run into it, and this matter immediately became noisy.

On the fifteenth day of the second lunar month of the seventh year of Emperor Wanli, Zhu Zhu Yijun summoned Cai Pan Jixun in the side hall of the Zhao Wenhua Hall. This made countless people excited! The fact that His Majesty was willing to see court officials made some petty Confucians hate him to the bone, because being summoned meant being scolded; it made some ambitious people overjoyed, because this meant that His Majesty was always inclusive and accepted good advice.

"I pay homage to Your Majesty. Long live, long live, long live." Cai Pan Jixun knelt on the ground and bowed his head.

"Junior Preceptor Cai, no need for courtesy." Zhu Zhu Yijun waved his hand and said: "I have read your article in the magazine. What you said, Junior Preceptor Cai, is excellent and makes a lot of sense."

Cai Pan Jixun looked at Zhang Zhang Juzheng, while Zhang Zhang Juzheng was looking at his nose and nose, without any excessive changes in expression.

In the eyes of different people, Zhang Zhang Juzheng's appearance was different. At least in Cai Pan Jixun's eyes, Zhang Zhang Juzheng was Huo Guang, Wang Mang, and Dong Zhuo, bullying the Emperor for being young, usurping the power of the gods. Even before seeing the Emperor, he thought Zhang Zhang Juzheng would stand by the Emperor's side, and the Emperor could not speak, with everything presided over by Zhang Zhang Juzheng.

After entering the hall, Cai Pan Jixun found that this was not the case. Zhang Zhang Juzheng did not intend to interfere with His Majesty, and the Emperor recognized his, Cai Pan Jixun's, point of view, while Zhang Zhang Juzheng was silent and made no comments.

This meant that the one in charge was the Emperor, not the Zhang Yuanfu Grand Preceptor.

"Your Majesty, I believe that opening the seas is a matter of great importance, a national event. Communicating with the inside and outside, exchanging what one has for what one lacks, learning from the strengths of all families to reach far, to promote culture and stabilize the country, to push to the reasons for the rise and fall of all countries in ancient and modern times, and the great return is to govern by inaction." Cai Pan Jixun stated his point of view again.

He supported opening the seas, supporting cultural exchange, to remove the dross and absorb the essence, absorbing the content that Great Ming culture lacked, to lay the foundation for the prosperity of culture and education, to educate the people. The prosperity of culture and education is the root of the rise and fall of all countries in ancient and modern times, rather than focusing on silver. This is putting the cart before the horse.

"Does the Junior Preceptor know how much the court spent on military affairs last year?" Zhu Zhu Yijun did not refute, but asked a question.

"I don't know..." Cai Pan Jixun was stunned and bowed his head. Liu Liu Zhizhi is knowing, not knowing is not knowing. He had not paid attention to Great Ming's military expenses, so naturally, he could not discuss it.

Zhu Zhu Yijun said with a smile: "Last year, military expenses were 9.28 million taels of silver."

"Ah?" Cai Pan Jixun frowned. He knew a lot, but he never expected it to be so much. Fortunately, the Great Ming court was rich now. Otherwise, just this military expense would be very difficult to bear, and they could only owe salaries.

"Does the Junior Preceptor know how much the salaries of all civil and military officials in the court were last year?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked another question.

"I don't know." Cai Pan Jixun bowed his head again, already slightly ashamed.

"4.32 million taels of silver." Zhu Zhu Yijun told Cai Pan Jixun the answer. Maintaining the normal operation of the court was really very, very expensive. And the expenditure of this silver involved the strength of Great Ming's administrative power. The Daoist master claimed to govern by inaction—without silver, what could he do?

Zhu Zhu Yijun said earnestly: "Junior Preceptor Cai, as the saying goes, one doesn't know the price of firewood and rice without managing the household. Master, as the Zhang Yuanfu Grand Preceptor, opens his eyes and needs money in two places. It's money needed here and money needed there."

"The soldiers can't get their salaries and want to riot; the capital officials can't get their salaries and go to the Ministry of Revenue to scold the street; the local officials can't get their salaries and collude with the local gentry to seek their own way."

"The Ministry of Works has no money, and even the imperial mausoleum cannot be repaired. The palaces in the palace have collapsed, and there is no budget to repair them. Isn't this also the face of the court? The Ministry of Revenue has no money, so it asks the inner treasury to borrow; the inner treasury has no money, so it asks the Ministry of Revenue to beg for food. Begging back and forth, everyone is poor and ringing."

"The six ministries are all stretching out their hands to ask the Zhang Yuanfu in charge for silver. What can the Zhang Yuanfu do?"

"What does the Junior Preceptor think?"

Cai Pan Jixun was stunned for a long time. He thought about a problem: if he were the Zhang Yuanfu, what could he do? It seemed unsolvable, because in his proposition, culture and education were the reasons for the rise and fall of all countries in ancient and modern times, and culture and education also needed money! And a lot of money!

"I really don't know." Cai Pan Jixun thought for a long time and did not find a suitable answer on how to maintain the normal operation of the court without gathering wealth and profit.

Zhu Zhu Yijun sighed and said: "Junior Preceptor Cai, the court can't do anything without money. Who would believe and recognize a court that can't do anything? When the court's decrees reach the local level, they are like waste paper. Then wouldn't the wealthy families and gentry be even more unscrupulous, wanting to do whatever they want? When the court tries to stop them but can't, won't their knives for squeezing the commoners be even sharper?"

"Junior Preceptor Cai, the world is trapped by land annexation. You should taste it carefully."

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(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 340 =====