Chapter 346: A Single Thought of Opening the Seas, the World Widens in an Instant

Back when Wang Qian was clamoring for the worsted wool business, Wang Wang Chonggu opposed it immediately. He felt that once this "silk currency" business affected the common people and provoked public anger, his family would surely be dragged out and beheaded within a quarter of an hour. From that moment on, Wang Wang Chonggu had been thinking of a substitute. A "treasure basin" was a must; Wang Wang Chonggu was very clear about his own positioning—he was a sycophantic official who gathered wealth and promoted profit.

Therefore, after the old treasure basin was smashed, Wang Wang Chonggu used the fastest speed to offer up another one to continue gathering wealth. This time, it was the three-masted galleons and the five-masted ocean-crossing ships.

The five-masted ocean-crossing ships were also on the list. Zhang Zhang Juzheng had previously discussed this with the Emperor. At this time, the Ming merchant ships going out to sea were all armed merchant vessels; unarmed merchant ships on the sea were merely meat in the mouths of others.

The last time the Tax Audit Bureau expanded, the Ming imperial court had already made concessions regarding armed merchant vessels: as long as they did not draw bows or load gunpowder upon entering the port, they would not be restricted.

The "Ding" type of the five-masted ocean-crossing ship was the most formidable armed merchant vessel.

The five-masted ocean-crossing ships came in four models: Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding. The Jia model was the prototype; one was deployed in Luzon, and one each in Songjiang, Ningbo, Fuzhou, and Guangzhou. Production was halted afterward because there were many flaws in the design.

What appeared afterward was the Yi type. This type of sea ship was mainly used for foreign trade—essentially a stripped-down version. The decking, ramming prow, cannons, and so on were all downgraded, pursuing profit maximization. Antonio, Philip II, and Shah Muhammad all purchased this model. This ship had one characteristic: it could not continue to have gun decks added or the quantity of gunpowder increased. Adding them privately easily led to listing, and the stability was relatively poor.

The Bing type was the Ming dynasty's main battle warship, with over twenty-five deployed. They were warships with no merchant attributes whatsoever. Looking across the entire maritime world, these were the warships with the most formidable firepower.

As for the Ding type, it was a civilian armed merchant ship used by the Ming for maritime trade. Its firepower was slightly stronger than the Yi type, but extremely limited. However, the Ding type's sailing speed was extremely fast. The fast-speed design was intended to shake off pirates and increase the efficiency and speed of maritime trade.

In the new exchange, among the traded vouchers, the Ding-type five-masted ocean-crossing ship was divided into one thousand shares, because the selling price of the five-masted ocean-crossing ship was too expensive. Even for the stripped-down Ding-type five-masted ocean-crossing ship, the selling price of a single vessel exceeded 180,000 silver taels.

"Why not establish the exchange in Songjiang Prefecture? Why the capital?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked Wang Wang Chonggu. Logically speaking, most of the ships passed through Songjiang Prefecture. Establishing the exchange in Songjiang Prefecture would be more convenient; the ships were right before their eyes, the flow of goods was right before their eyes, and the dividends were right before their eyes, which could better stimulate the trading volume of the exchange.

Wang Wang Chonggu said quite definitively, "Your Majesty, the exchange cannot be established in Songjiang Prefecture; it can only be established in the capital. It is indeed inconvenient to establish it in the capital, but it is precisely this inconvenience that is desired."

"It is precisely this inconvenience that is desired?" Wan Wan Shihe frowned, then reacted, smiled, and said no more.

The meaning of Wang Wang Chonggu's words could not be clearer. The people sitting here were all the cream of the crop of the Ming dynasty. If it was inconvenient for everyone, then the degree of convenience would create an information gap. An information gap could facilitate the market manipulators, allowing them to use the information gap to make money and facilitate the market manipulators in harvesting the leeks.

Wang Wang Chonggu had never been a virtuous official; he was a proper sycophantic official who offered up his services, anxious to meet the Emperor's anxieties.

The price of the ship vouchers would definitely fluctuate. For example, a certain ship should have returned to the Ming's Songjiang Port in the third month, but by the fifth month, the ship still had not returned to the new Songjiang Port. At this time, the vouchers for this ship would plummet. Having been delayed for so long without receiving news, it could basically be determined that it would not return. But what if this ship suddenly returned to port in the sixth month?

At this time, the capital would receive the news with a significant lag, but the Emperor, through the coastal defense inspectors, could receive the news within two days. Under this information gap, the Ming Emperor had a great deal of room to maneuver. As long as the Emperor was ruthless enough, the little money the speculators made from their speculation would all be working for His Majesty.

This was the fundamental purpose of Wang Wang Chonggu establishing the exchange in the Northern Capital; the various Maritime Trade Offices even wanted to strictly prohibit the appearance of the exchange.

"Impressive!" Zhu Zhu Yijun understood the meaning of these words. He had to say that Wang Wang Chonggu was worthy of being a scholar. The mind of this scholar was truly dirty; as long as he came up with a bad idea, it could affect a large number of innocent people.

No matter how impressive Qi Qi Jiguang was at killing, he had fought battles his whole life, and the calculated primary merit did not even reach 100,000. But for civil officials like Wang Wang Chonggu, coming up with a bad idea could affect the livelihoods of millions of common people—it was even more vicious than killing directly.

It was fortunate that Zhu Zhu Yijun was a monarch who practiced the unity of knowledge and action. When he said "the people are the foundation," he meant the people were the foundation; it was not just shouting slogans, and even less was it holding up a banner to engage in political activities. He consistently practiced his political promises. And as a sycophantic official offering up his services, the things Wang Wang Chonggu did were not so heaven-defying and human-provoking; on the contrary, after Zhang Zhang Siwei's death, Wang Wang Chonggu's actions greatly benefited the Ming.

What kind of monarch determined what kind of officials. What the monarch wanted was the posture displayed by the sycophantic officials offering up their services.

"Then, is it permissible for merchant firms to build their own foreign states overseas?" Zhu Zhu Yijun threw out the second topic of the day. The benefit of establishing the Yanxinglou Exchange in the capital was to facilitate manipulation and control of the major merchant firms. Then, whether merchant firms could build their own states overseas became a question that had to be discussed.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng finished reading the memorial. Wang Wang Chonggu avoided talking about this question. What was meant by building a foreign state overseas? It meant the merchant firm possessed an independent government, had its own military, its own diplomacy, its own taxes, its own judiciary, and so on. This question involved a matter of stance; Wang Wang Chonggu could not talk about it. This involved the question of the ownership of overseas colonies.

In an imperial state, this question was clearly a question that could not be touched. Wang Wang Chonggu's original intention was to avoid talking about it and tacitly accept the established fact.

Avoiding talk was also a kind of attitude, expressing a kind of tacit approval. As long as they mixed well overseas, the Ming would tacitly approve of the existence of this self-built foreign state.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng thought for a moment and asked, "What does Your Majesty think?"

"This question should have been determined at the beginning of the exchange's establishment. Does the imperial court allow the existence of self-built foreign states? Otherwise, in the future, it will be a pile of troublesome matters. Whether or not it is recognized in the future will be of no benefit to the Ming, and of no benefit to the self-built foreign state overseas." Zhu Zhu Yijun first clearly stated his stance: this question could be talked about, and it must be talked about.

After the self-built foreign state factually existed, for the Ming imperial court to then recognize the legitimacy of the foreign state would inevitably involve a question of ownership. Were these foreign states Ming foreign states, belonging to the Ming, and were they militarily, politically, economically, and culturally restrained by the Ming? If they belonged, that was picking peaches, which would inevitably cause widespread dissatisfaction in the local area. If they did not belong, why should the Ming recognize their legitimacy?

The question of stance must be clearly confirmed so as not to bury hidden dangers for future government decrees.

Zhu Zhu Yijun looked around the room and said, "The Western envoy Li Li Yashi once discussed the Ming's 'high moral disadvantage' with the Minister of the Court of Ceremonial Rites, Chen Chen Xuehui. This is the fundamental reason why Li Li Yashi firmly believes that the Ming's overseas colonies will definitely be unable to succeed. The high moral disadvantage means being unable to exploit with peace of mind, unable to plunder with peace of mind, and unable to invade with peace of mind. The pioneering of overseas colonies is a bloody and tragic matter. High morality is a disadvantage in overseas colonization."

"However, overseas pioneering is also a matter that the Ming imperial court urgently needs right now."

"The world is plagued by land annexation; the contradiction between people and land in the Ming is very sharp. With many people and little land, it will inevitably lead to the instability of the imperial court. If the common people cannot eat, they will rise up. There are too many people in the Ming, and they need to be dredged overseas. Since the first year of Yongle, the north has become increasingly bitter and cold. The winters on the grasslands come earlier every year and are colder every year. It is not just the grasslands; the grain in Shandong, the various prefectures of Northern Zhili, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Henan is all decreasing."

"The Ming territory is vast. It looks like it has everything, but is that really the case?"

"The Ming lacks high-quality iron ore; currently, there is only one open-pit ginseng iron mine in Liaodong. The Ming lacks high-quality timber; after thousands of years of slash-and-burn, the mountains in the Ming hinterland are all bare. Even shipbuilding lacks timber. The Ming lacks copper, lacks silver, and lacks gold. Copper is no more than 6.5 million catties a year, and now it is only the output of one town, Tongxiang Town in Manila, Luzon. Silver is no more than 100,000 taels a year, while Western galleons bring in nearly 3 to 4 million silver taels a year, and Japan also has over 1.5 million silver taels flowing in every year."

"The imperial court has no way to solve these fundamental contradictions. There is only so much land, producing only so much grain, and there is only so much gold, silver, copper, and iron. The demand is huge, but there is not enough supply. This means that we must resort to overseas."

"The Ming imperial court is like a starving strong man, but it is limited by the disadvantage of high morality, doing things with hesitation."

"And merchants, they are not constrained by the disadvantage of high morality; they can do whatever they want."

This was the first time Zhu Zhu Yijun described his understanding of the issue of opening the seas in such detail, specifically, and definitively. This was a political statement. The existence of the Ming imperial court was to regulate the contradictions between various classes. When the imperial court could not fulfill its obligations, the moment of destruction would arrive. And the contradictions Zhu Zhu Yijun listed were all contradictions that the Ming imperial court could not solve within the Ming territory.

And these contradictions together constituted a main contradiction: the world is plagued by land annexation.

"Your Majesty is wise." Zhang Zhang Juzheng bowed and said. He was not flattering; His Majesty was truly wise. The logic of opening the seas was very complete, the government decrees for opening the seas were orderly, and the purpose of opening the seas was very clear. For the officials doing the work, this was a great, great stroke of luck.

The holy will being difficult to fathom was indeed a way for a monarch to be above, but it brought too many troubles to the people doing the work below. Whether this matter should be done, whether it could be done, to what extent it should be done, and what kind of results should be produced—these were all questions. They all needed to guess the imperial will. Guessing what was on the mind above was really very meaningless.

The ambiguity of orders inevitably led to the confusion of the executors and deviations in execution.

But Zhu Zhu Yijun was not such a monarch. He was always able to deeply analyze phenomena, find the problems behind the phenomena, explore the causes of the problems, and try to find a way. Even if this way was not overly perfect, the effect of alleviating the contradictions was extremely obvious.

The Ming had had such monarchs, such as Ming Taizu, Ming Emperor Chengzu, Ming Xianzong, and the Ming Shizong Emperor Jiajing Emperor, who failed to finish his work, tried hard for more than twenty years, and became disheartened after being assassinated.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng was a Ming Jinshi from the Emperor Jiajing era. He knew the Emperor Jiajing Emperor's temper and character. The Emperor Jiajing Emperor's disappointment had accumulated to despair, and he finally chose to hide in the West Garden, intent on burning incense and cultivating.

"Then, since we are going to let the merchants handle matters, the imperial court must give them some convenience. While giving them convenience, we can also reasonably increase the military, political, economic, and cultural restraint on overseas foreign states. Whether it is directly administered overseas territory, directly administered colonies, or loosely restrained colonies, they all belong within the sphere of influence of the Ming." Zhu Zhu Yijun said very seriously, "I think we can recognize their overseas foreign states. If they are mixing well outside, I can also grant them titles, and even bestow upon them the imperial surname, to represent the Ming imperial court, to represent my recognition of them."

On this question of stance, Zhu Zhu Yijun made a clear statement: allowing merchants to establish foreign states overseas, allowing them to engage in colonial activities overseas, allowing them to exploit and plunder overseas wealth, and giving them corresponding treatment and status.

Wanting the horse to run while not wanting to give the horse grass—this mentality must absolutely not be had.

"Your Majesty, overseas titles and bestowing the imperial surname should be done with extreme caution. If it is a figure like Yin Yin Zhengmao, it might be permissible. But if it is a person with wolfish ambition, granting a title would be a great harm. It should also be done with caution, and caution again. Military titles are not Han horse merits and cannot be granted lightly." Wan Wan Shihe expressed his stance from the perspective of ritual and law: granting titles is fine, and bestowing the imperial surname is not impossible, but it must be done with caution, and caution again, and titles must not be granted indiscriminately.

"Minister Wan's words are reasonable." Zhu Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said very solemnly.

If it were some con artist, clearly a pirate, burning, killing, and looting, committing all kinds of crimes, even hijacking Ming ships—similar to the pirate Chen Chen Zuyi whom Zheng He pacified—if such a pirate were to trick the imperial court into granting a title, that would be compiled into a collection of Ming jokes and mocked by people for generations.

Zhu Zhu Yijun was not afraid of being scolded, but being mocked was something he absolutely could not accept.

Caution was inevitable. Overseas titles for Yin Yin Zhengmao, Chen Lin, Zhang Zhang Yuanxun, Deng Deng Zilong, and others were all granted after a long period of testing their actions overseas, and finally determined to be granted. Even Xu Wei and Xu Xu Wen Zhang did not manage to get a title, which shows the preciousness of Ming titles.

"Is there any difficulty in granting titles for overseas merit?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked about ritual and law.

"There is no difficulty, Your Majesty." Wan Wan Shihe said with a very strange expression, "Your Majesty, in fact, these two virtuous eunuchs, Zheng He and Liu Liu Yongcheng, were granted the title of Hou Jue in the eleventh year of Yongle. Unfortunately, during the revision of the Taizong Veritable Records in the Emperor Xuande era, because the two were eunuchs, they were ultimately not granted grace and do not appear in the Veritable Records."

"Ah?" Zhu Zhu Yijun was stunned.

Liu Liu Yongcheng—Zhu Zhu Yijun really knew such a person. This person was skilled in riding and shooting. During the Northern Expedition of the Emperor Chengzu Emperor, he served as a Assistant Regional Commander in the army many times. During the Emperor Xuande era, he escorted the Ming Emperor Xuande Emperor to pacify the rebellion of the Prince of Han. During the Ming Yingzong era, he guarded Gansu, Liangzhou, and other places, establishing military merit many times. He also led troops to conquer Wuliangha with the Left Commander Ma Liang and others, with outstanding military merit. He was as famous as Zheng He and was one of the few geniuses in the Ming dynasty with military talent.

Zhu Zhu Yijun knew Zheng He and knew Liu Liu Yongcheng, but he really did not know that the Emperor Chengzu Wen Emperor had even granted them the title of Hou Jue.

They were eunuchs.

"After toppling the eunuch Zhang Yong, who was known as the 'Standing Emperor,' and pacifying the Prince of Anhua, Zhu Zhifan, he cited the case of Zheng He and Liu Liu Yongcheng being granted the title of Hou Jue and begged the Ming Wu Sect to grant him a title. The cabinet rejected it on the grounds that it was not according to the system. Zhang Yong was very frustrated and even declined the grace for pacifying the rebellion of the Prince of Anhua." Wan Wan Shihe told an old story.

This matter was recorded in the Ming Wu Sect Veritable Records. The cabinet's memorial approval at the time still exists. The cabinet's questioning was mainly that it was not according to the system, not that Zheng He and Liu Liu Yongcheng were not granted the title of Hou Jue. Moreover, how could Zhang Yong, who pacified the rebellion of the Prince of Anhua, be compared with Zheng He, who traveled to the Western Oceans many times, visited various foreign states, proclaimed the Son of Heaven's edicts, and if they did not submit, intimidated them with force, and Liu Liu Yongcheng, who established numerous military merits?

But the matter of Zheng He and Liu Liu Yongcheng, two eunuchs, being granted titles did indeed exist.

Wan Wan Shihe searched through all the old files and only found in the "Feihuan Nunnery Incense Image Record" that Zheng He had once been granted the title of Hou Jue. Zheng He's adopted son, Zheng Yi, inherited the title of Hou Jue, which was later stripped and changed to a hereditary grace-bestowed Embroidered Uniform Guard Battalion Commander.

The "Feihuan Nunnery Incense Image Record" was a stele inscription left at the Bifeng Temple in Nanjing by Zhou Man, the deputy envoy of Zheng He's seventh voyage to the Western Oceans.

A single piece of evidence is not proof. Too much time has passed, and there is no good way to verify it, but it does not matter. If someone objects, Wan Wan Shihe will bring this matter up. If he is not allowed to open a window, he, Wan Wan Shihe, will lift the roof!

When he wants to lift the roof, naturally someone will come out to compromise, and it would be better to just open a window.

Granting titles to eunuchs is not only something the military nobles do not want to agree to, but the civil officials who have fought with eunuchs for thousands of years are also unwilling to agree.

"In that case, I will have to trouble Minister Wan." After hearing this, Zhu Zhu Yijun handed this matter over to Wan Wan Shihe. Wan Wan Shihe was clearly well-prepared. He dared not say anything else, but in terms of ritual and law, Wan Wan Shihe was truly like a three-fingered hand grabbing a river snail—he had it in the bag.

"There is one more matter, and that is the dividend account. Who will audit it?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked a key question. Who would calculate the dividend account? If the merchant firms calculated it, Zhu Zhu Yijun had no doubt that these ships going out to sea would all have to lose money. Maritime trade was indeed profitable, but these merchants, in order to reduce dividends or even not pay dividends, would make the accounts into flat accounts, or even loss-making ledgers.

Who would calculate the accounts and who would audit the dividends became the biggest dilemma for the Yanxinglou Exchange.

Wang Wang Chonggu did not discuss this question too deeply either. It was because he had not thought it through, not because he dared not talk about it. If the imperial court calculated this account, then clearly the imperial court would have to bear this responsibility. Whether it was ships sinking, goods getting damp and moldy and depreciating, or even being looted by pirates, the losses caused would definitely lead those who held ship vouchers to pin the responsibility on the imperial court.

At that time, it would be a mess again.

But if the imperial court did not calculate this account, then this dividend would be meaningless, because the merchant firms that actually operated would definitely make up accounts. Dividends? It would be good if they did not ask you for money.

"Why not let the Songjiang Ocean Merchant Firm calculate this account?" Tan Lun thought for a moment and said, "The Songjiang Ocean Merchant Firm is a guild. It is most appropriate for them to calculate this account. The imperial court is only responsible for auditing. In this way, the problem Wang Wang Chonggu is worried about will not happen, and at the same time, the imperial court also has the power of supervision."

"This idea is good!" Zhang Zhang Juzheng's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he clapped his hands, agreeing with Tan Lun's statement.

The imperial court did not want to bear too much responsibility; this was inevitable. But necessary auditing and supervision must be done. Then, for this person to take the blame, a merchant firm that was half-official and half-civilian was the most appropriate.

The problem of auditing merchant firm profits was relatively simple in the early years of Emperor Wanli, because the profits of all merchant ships were transparent to the Ming imperial court and clear at a glance. The Maritime Trade Office knew exactly what was being transported on every ship, what the destination was, and what the profit was.

The hard work and the blame-taking would be done by the merchant firm, while the auditing and accountability would be done by the imperial court—this was extremely appropriate and suitable.

After repeated discussions, various key systems and principles of the Yanxinglou Exchange, the division of responsibilities, the auditing of accounts, and other issues were clearly determined during the discussions at the Quanchu Guild Hall.

When the moon was above the willow branches, the Ming Emperor finally ended this briefing session. He held a closed-door meeting for major events. In order to inject a steady stream of silver into opening the seas, the Ming Emperor had exhausted all his efforts.

The Ming had many contradictions that the Ming could not currently solve. Relieving pressure externally was the current optimal solution. A single thought of opening the seas, and the world widened in an instant.

On the morning three days later, the lobby of the Yanxinglou Exchange opened its doors to guests again. Everyone was puzzled from the bottom of their hearts. The price of worsted wool was still 700 cash per foot; it had already become a fabric for clothing from a silk currency. What was this Yanxinglou Exchange opening to trade?

When people walked into the exchange with curiosity and saw the notice in front of the door, they clearly knew that the person behind this exchange was truly a big shot with eyes reaching the heavens. The subscription for the first batch of fifty three-masted galleons and five Ding-type five-masted ocean-crossing ships had already begun.

While people were still hesitating, a group of merchants with typical Shanxi accents rushed into the exchange, heading straight for the counter to subscribe for the five-masted ocean-crossing ships. Clearly, these people were the Shanxi merchants who had received Wang Wang Chonggu's news. They had been waiting in front of the door early in the morning and rushed in as soon as it opened. In order to subscribe for the five-masted ocean-crossing ships, these Shanxi merchants did not even use brokers or buyers; they went into battle themselves!

The five-masted ocean-crossing ship was a legendary ship that lived in the miscellaneous reports. It was a ship that even the Western captain Antonio and the Mughal envoy Shah Muhammad had to pay extra to purchase. Now, one could subscribe at Yanxinglou. This was the only opportunity to own such a ship, even if one did not have the right to use it, only the power to subscribe and become a shipowner.

At the moment the Shanxi merchants rushed in to subscribe, everyone knew that these Shanxi merchants who had received the news in advance were secretly making big money again! Back when the worsted wool business started, it was this group of Shanxi merchants who entered the market first, and then withdrew at the highest price point, making a fortune. Now they were here to grab money again!

Damn the Shanxi Party, damn Wang Wang Chonggu, leaking news to his own clique again! The Shanxi merchants, who had become accustomed to the privilege economy, had formed a path dependency. Every time, they could accurately grasp the trend and then make money that made people extremely jealous.

Zhu Zhu Yijun had thought that these fifty three-masted and five five-masted ships would take a month or so to digest. After all, by the Tonghui River, dozens of people had just jumped in. With the rabbit dying and the fox grieving, after the collapse of the worsted wool business, these wealthy households would choose to wait and see cautiously regarding the ship vouchers.

The subscription price for these fifty-five ships was as high as 3.5 million silver taels. This was not a small amount. What shocked Zhu Zhu Yijun was that these fifty-five ships were fully subscribed in just one day.

There was even scrambling here. The Shanxi merchants and the wealthy households of Xitucheng even staged a full-scale martial arts brawl in the exchange for the subscription of the last five-masted ocean-crossing ship, fighting each other!

Zhu Zhu Yijun had still underestimated the amount of silver hidden in the pigsties of the Ming's wealthy households. Even in the Northern Capital, where there was not that much silver, he was still shown what was meant by the speed of the wealthy households.

This rich mine could continue to be mined and dug.

"The head of the cabinet, the second head of the cabinet, and the Tan Sima could not withstand the pestering and asked the Minister of Works, Guo Guo Chaobin, about the approximate time for the next batch of ship subscriptions. Minister Guo is an honest man and was a bit confused by the questioning. The head of the cabinet, the second head of the cabinet, and the Tan Sima—Minister Guo could not afford to offend any of them. He submitted a memorial to resign and retire." Feng Bao placed a memorial before the imperial desk and said with a bit of schadenfreude.

Wang Wang Chonggu naturally did not need to be mentioned; he styled himself a treacherous official, and it was normal to leak some news to the Shanxi merchants. But even Zhang Zhang Juzheng was pestered to the point of questioning the Ministry of Works, which showed the high degree of recognition the wealthy households had for the plan of everyone becoming a shipowner.

Buying a ship was much more cost-effective than buying worsted wool. According to the Ming's high probability of over 80% for ships returning safely, it could be called a steady profit without loss.

Especially since the imperial court used the six-volume ledger to audit the accounts of the Songjiang Ocean Merchant Firm, which made people feel even more at ease. Zhang Zhang Siwei was a joke; the shopkeepers and accountants under him deceived Zhang Zhang Siwei and occupied over 70% of the profits, leaving Zhang Zhang Siwei with only 30%. This had become a joke on the streets of the capital. Of course, the formidable auditing ability of the Academy of Sciences also left a deep impression.

With the imperial court auditing, the Songjiang Ocean Merchant Firm, which was responsible for operating these merchant ships, did not dare to act recklessly.

"Minister Guo was doing fine, in the prime of his life, why retire? Pass an oral edict to the second head of the cabinet and the Tan Sima, telling them not to put pressure on the Ministry of Works anymore. The expansion of the Ming shipyards has not stopped for a single moment." Zhu Zhu Yijun drew a big 'X' on Guo Guo Chaobin's resignation memorial. This was an honest man, diligent and conscientious, just burying his head in work. With the three party leaders putting pressure on Guo Guo Chaobin, Guo Guo Chaobin naturally could not withstand it.

"Only pass the oral edict to the second head of the cabinet and the Tan Sima? What about the head of the cabinet?" Feng Bao was just about to receive the edict when he suddenly discovered that His Majesty had only notified two party leaders.

Zhu Zhu Yijun said as a matter of course, "As for the head of the cabinet, naturally I will tell him the news myself."

When in doubt, resort to the ocean. Begging for monthly tickets, Aowu!!!! Aowu Aowu Aowu!!!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 347 =====