My God, I am the emperor, the lord of mankind.

Chapter 327 Tribute Fees
"The imperial court should send a great Confucian scholar to go deep into Korea, to meet the Korean royal family with great righteousness, and to make a strong statement to return them to the right path... so that our Chinese people can still stop fighting, recuperate, and enjoy a peaceful world for a long time!"

Wang Shouren knew that the power of the Emperor was still there, and even though some people had doubts in their minds, they did not dare to refute them face to face, so he took the opportunity to speak.

When Zhu Houcong heard that Wang Shouren said that he would send a great scholar to North Korea, he thought of those Hanlin bachelors in the Hanlin Academy who had difficulty even "I am good at cultivating great righteousness", expelling evil spirits and protecting themselves.

Can't help asking.

"The common people in the world have worked hard, and I pity them deeply."

"I want to declare to the world that "forbidding corruption, punishing people in prison, promoting savings, caring for scholars, saving expenses, pacifying barbarians, and improving military preparedness" are the top priorities of the country."

Zhu Houcong spoke slowly.

"But sending an envoy to North Korea is of great importance. I don't know who you think can take on this important task——"

After hearing Zhu Houcong's words, everyone was silent.

Like the Ming Dynasty, Confucianism is also respected in North Korea today. A highly respected Confucianist will naturally gain a very high prestige, and in the future, whether he reprimands powerful officials and returns them to the king of North Korea, or In turn, it will be extremely beneficial to urge the Korean king to appoint talents and obey the teachings of the Emperor of Heaven -

But the selection issue is undoubtedly a huge difficulty at present.

After all, there are names and surnames in the world, and there are only so many great Confucians who have written books and established sects.

Most of them are in court.

No one is willing to leave their position at home and go to North Korea to perform a thankless task in a foreign country.

Although the envoys ostensibly went to North Korea on behalf of the Emperor of Heaven to help the North Korean emperor rectify the imperial court.

In fact, it was all about offending all the forces in North Korea's officialdom.

Although there is a high probability that if it succeeds, it will go down in history, but it is more likely that it will be mired in the politics of North Korea, which is more intricate and muddy than the Ming Dynasty.

Then the rest of his life was consumed in the endless wrangling and games between all parties.

"I do have a candidate who may be able to relieve your father's worries."

In the silence of all parties, Wang Shouren stood up again and submitted suitable candidates to the emperor to go to North Korea.

"Oh? Who is he? Mr. Wang Ge, please tell me quickly!"

Zhu Houcong felt a little happy and asked.

"I think Xie Qian is worthy of this important task!"

Wang Shouren replied.

When everyone heard this name, they were all shocked.

When Mao Cheng, Liang Chu and others heard that Wang Shouren wanted to send Xie Qian as an envoy, they nodded and said that the appointment was quite appropriate. At the same time, they pointed out with concern that Xie Qian had been a little discouraged since he was kicked out of the court by Liu Jin during the Zhengde period. cold.

Now facing the imperial court's call again, I don't know if he will agree.

After all, when Wu Zong was in power, he didn't give this "Taifu Xie" any face, and directly beat him to the end. Not only did he deprive him of all honors, but also took back all the jade belt official uniforms given by the emperor, and directly knighted him. The edict was destroyed directly, which can be described as extremely ruthless.

When Zhu Houcong first came to the throne, Yang Tinghe and others wanted to take the opportunity to bring him back to the court to give him a platform, and join forces with the Empress Dowager Zhang to fight against the young emperor.

Unfortunately, several requests were rejected by Xie Qian.

The reason is that he has become disillusioned with officialdom, is preparing to write a book, and spends his later years in secret.

But in Wang Shouren's mouth, it was another story.

Hearing Liang Chu's worries, Wang Shouren said with a smile. "The reason why Xie Qian was unwilling to become an official at the beginning was because he saw Yang Tinghe and others bullying the emperor and monopolizing power, and was unwilling to return to the capital to help Zhou in his abuses. Now that Yang's thieves have been eliminated, as long as your majesty gives him the jade belt of his official uniform and gives him a title as compensation, he will receive The emperor is so kind, why doesn't Xie Qian come out to help the court?"

"Very good! I'll leave this matter to Wangge Lao."

The emperor's joyful words came.

When Yan Song stopped holding the wolf-hair gold pen in his hand, he and his ministers respectfully sent the emperor away who didn't know when they would see him next.

When Huang Jin started to smile and arrange for the eunuchs to escort Ge Lao out of the palace, Yan Song took another look at the words recorded tonight and would be compiled into the "Records of Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty" in the future.

Tonight is destined to leave a mark in history.

Three months after the end of the Eastern Expedition, the emperor finally clearly expressed his expectations for the empire.

There are also plans for future development.

Starting today, Daming will enter a period of recuperation that will last for several years.

By expanding the scale and scope of the tribute trade, the imperial court would gradually reduce taxes on peasants and resettle the millions of displaced people within the empire.

Reduce large-scale military and engineering operations.

Light corvee and low tax, save people's energy, recuperate and recuperate.

And train troops and horses, nourish soldiers, repair weapons, and prepare to wait for the opportunity to prepare for the next round of military expansion.

The national policy has been decided!

Yan Song had already begun to sort out tonight's records, returned to Hanlin Garden to make selections, and distributed them to various officials in the form of a newspaper to inform the world.

After Zhao Xie moved to the DPRK from the imperial court, the power of the Ministry of Rites, which had continuously enhanced its voice through tribute trade, was destined to be further enhanced as the Ming court strengthened its control over the Korean states.

It seems that since the sharks were wiped out and the navy was established, the merchant ships of the Ming Dynasty can reach as far as Europe and trade with the Frankish countries without the help of Xiyi escort.

The large ship loaded goods from Fuzhou Port and passed through Java, Luzon, Tianzhu and other countries. It could land in Levia (Africa). Once again, it followed the Yongle court, canonizing local chiefs and kings, and giving recognition to the Ming Emperor.

When the officials of the Ming court saw the caravans under the Ministry of Rites sailing out of the Yangtze River like giant dragons and traveling around the world, everyone realized that the Ministry of Rites was no longer the most insignificant department among the six departments.

Perhaps from now on, officials from the Ministry of Rites of the Ming Dynasty will frequently visit the mansions of vassal states and the courts of barbarian monarchs around the world.

When they continuously transported huge amounts of wealth from the Ming Dynasty to all countries trying to join the Ming court's trade system, they then recovered the costs and profits together through various means.

And so on and on.

Perhaps in the future, surrounding countries will no longer perceive the Ming Dynasty as the majestic Forbidden City and the emperor surrounded by ministers.

It was the officials of the Ministry of Rites who carried the imperial court's golden seal and edicts to canonize and recognize rulers in various places, and granted them permission to enter the Ming Dynasty's trade system.

Thinking of this, Yan Song shook his head, raised his pen, and smiled bitterly.

It was really hard for him to imagine what kind of world that was.

But according to this year's financial report calculated by the Ministry of Household Affairs, that short half-year was almost equivalent to one-third of the taxes collected by the imperial court over the years. The tribute fees collected by the Ministry of Rites from foreign caravans entering the Ming Dynasty - and the emperor It is called customs tax.

And this number has gradually increased over time.

Thinking of those staggering numbers, Yan Song knew that no matter what the power structure in the court would be in the future, the empire that had already tasted the sweetness of dominating the world trading system would never be able to go back to the past.

(End of this chapter)