It was a good situation just now, but because Lu Xiufu made lightning and thunder with a few words, everyone was embarrassed all of a sudden. We all know that in the past two years, with the little emperor taking full control www.biquge.info of the government, the majesty has become increasingly prosperous, and the army has long been subdued by him, from top to bottom. Looking at the several guards beside His Majesty who saw that he was annoyed, his hands were on the hilt of the knife, and he was afraid that the little emperor would not hesitate to take someone with a look.

However, everyone also thinks that Lu Xiufu is a little excessive, and the situation here has just been seen, it is very hard for the little emperor to train the new army personally, and its purpose is not also for the great cause of restoring the country! And His Majesty had promised to hold a banquet to listen to the lecture after he was busy with military affairs, but he was in a hurry, which made him angry, and even let them give a lecture to Kublai Khan.

"Hehe, you don't know that Your Majesty is extremely intelligent, and within three days on the plague ship that day, the Analects can be memorized backwards, which makes me stunned. Since then, Governor Ying and Jiang Shangshu and Deng Yushi have taught His Majesty that they are great Confucian talents in the world, and His Majesty's talents and learning are changing with each passing day. Liu Huang stood up at this time and said with a smile, "Your Majesty has long been tired of this, so you don't want to hold a sutra feast anymore?" ”

"Well, Governor Liu still knows what I mean, don't be endlessly rambling about the same things!" Zhao Hao's face softened slightly, looked at Liu Huang and said with a wry smile.

"Your Majesty, everyone has their own strengths, what the ministers learn is not without bias, and the learning is endless, even if you learn through the ancient and modern, you don't dare to say that you can learn one in ten thousand, Your Majesty should also take the strengths of a hundred schools, don't just learn the skin and stop moving!" Ying Jieyan also got up and said at this time.

He knew that when His Majesty arrived in Qiong, he proposed the policy of Taoguang and Hui, reorganizing the elite army and developing the economy, but the defeat of the Xing Dynasty made him have to give up the idea of Taoguang and Yanghui, which exposed his strength in advance, but this also made His Majesty's plan to train the new army run aground. However, it is obvious that he has not given up this goal, and he is making up for the class at the moment, and Lu Xiufu is obstructing it with 'idle things' such as opening sutra feasts at the moment, which is indeed the wrong time, which angers the little emperor.

"What Mr. said is reasonable, but I am impatient, and I hope that Lu Xiang will not be blamed. However, at the moment when our great enemy is present, the matter of reorganizing and training the new army must not be delayed! Zhao Yu knew that these two were playing a round for themselves, so he hurriedly got off the donkey.

"The minister doesn't dare, it's the minister who is reckless!" Lu Xiufu hurriedly saluted. But he also suddenly realized that the little emperor was not an ordinary child, he had his own opinions and ideas, and it was by no means a few kind words or coercive words that could make him change his mind, and acting too quickly would only make the little emperor more disgusted.

"Your Majesty, the minister also has an urgent matter to report!" Seeing that the situation had eased slightly, but it was still quite delicate, the city secretary raised Pan An and said.

"Pan Aiqing, please speak!" The City Bo Division is now another money bag in Qiongzhou, and of course Zhao Yu has to pay attention to it, so it has been presided over by Pan An.

"Your Majesty, the current trade winds have risen, and a large number of merchant ships crossing the sea have passed through the strait to the Xiyi countries, and they will often stop at Qiongzhou to replenish their goods and water, and pay taxes." Pan An said.

"Exactly, aren't these things normal? Could it be that someone is carrying private goods! Zhao Yu frowned and said, not feeling anything abnormal.

"Your Majesty's words are good, because the tax in Qiongzhou is very low, and the surrounding area is peaceful, many inland merchants will directly transport goods to Qiongzhou and then trade with the merchants, and even some merchants simply docked in Qiongzhou as early as last year to trade with inland merchants, so as to save a lot of taxes." Pan An said.

"Isn't it precisely to attract merchants and inland traders to trade in Qiongzhou?" Zhao Yu is even more strange, this Pan An is not a grinding person, how could he say something inexplicable today.

"Your Majesty, the minister found that among the ships that came to trade was actually a merchant ship." Pan An said.

"Knock off the merchants?! It's the guys who lend money on behalf of the Tartars? Zhao Hao frowned and asked rhetorically.

Zhao Yu knew that the Mongols were developed in the interior of Mongolia and were not rich in products, and the basic necessities needed needed to be trafficked and traded by merchants. Since the time of Genghis Khan, the Mongolian nobles have provided the principal silver and entrusted the Central Asian Musuman merchants to run the business, which was a special commercial practice in the Mongol and Yuan dynasties. The essence of this commercial activity was that the capital of this commercial activity came from the Mongol princes and nobles, and the operators were the merchants of the Western Regions who were known as the Hui people at that time. There are two main ways to operate this kind of business: one is usury; The other is the sale of goods over long distances.

It can be said that he was ordered to lend money by disbursing usury and using the principal provided by the government to collect high interest rates from it in order to maintain military expenses and obtain luxury goods. In the early days of Mongolia, the annual interest rate of usury was 100 percent, and the next year the interest was converted to the foundation, and the interest was restored, and the store with one ingot of silver for ten years could make a total of 1,002 ingots. This predatory exploitation was then called "lamb's breath".

The pursuit of money and debts is very harmful to residents. If the debtor is unable to repay, he will lose his property and even his wife and children. The Mongol Khanate's court even stipulated that if a case of theft or robbery could not be solved within a year, the local residents would compensate for it, and if they did not pay compensation in time, it would be regarded as a debt and forced to pay "lamb's interest". The extrication of money and debts has bankrupted many households and even some local officials, and they have fallen into a situation where the sale of wives and children is not enough to repay debts, causing serious social problems, comparable to the modern donkey rolling.

After entering the Yuan Dynasty, the royal family, concubines, and kings continued to develop. Due to various reasons, their status was very special, and at that time, households were often divided according to occupation, and the government set up a special household registration for officials and merchants who held holy decrees and decrees, which was called a household registration. Kublai Khan ordered the establishment of institutions such as the Governor's Office, the Governor's Office, and the Governor's Office; In the local Yuan government, there were also official offices such as the Mediation Bureau and the Mediation Mansion to take charge of the affairs of the Settlement.

The merchants who had taken off the Yuan court and the kings continued to contribute rare treasures and large quantities of money and goods, and of course they were also given special protection, and the Yuan government also reciprocated and provided various privileges for the merchants. These officials and merchants held holy decrees and decrees, and could use the post house to shop horses and give food and drink. They either carried weapons or were escorted by officers and soldiers. Goods are tax-deductible. The boats beat gongs and drums, forced their way through without the opening time of the river, and beat the gate guards at every turn. These privileged merchants bought salt and bullied the warehouse officials.

In addition, the businessmen also used private funds to make profits and make extra windfalls. However, the epileptic households are often not allowed to serve as errands, and enjoy the same or similar preferential treatment as the clergy such as monks, Taoists, Yeli Kewen, and Da Shuman. From the perspective of their responsibilities, they are similar to Zhao Hao's bureau procurement office, but they all operate in secret, and they never dare to do it blatantly, so he has to admire Kublai Khan's 'courage' and dare to make enemies of the world for money.

Although some courtiers repeatedly stated that they had temporarily abolished the mediation institutions due to their repeated statements that they were disturbing the people and harming the government, the usury business was an important source of exploitation income for the Yuan Dynasty government, the royal family and the princesses, and soon it was restored and expanded its business scope and authority, and when Kublai Khan became emperor, due to the long-term conquest, in order to solve military expenses, the state began to operate "official-based" commerce on a large scale. It was also one of the root causes of acute social contradictions in the Yuan Dynasty.

"Your Majesty is right, but it's different now. The Thief Chieftain ordered the dispatch of envoys to overseas vassal states to procure goods and collect tribute for the royal family, and they took the opportunity to monopolize the goods for profit. Pan An said.

"Oh, now they're still Shanghai businessmen!" Zhao Yu nodded. He thought that it would be a few years before there would be officials and businessmen when Lu Shirong implemented the official ship, but he did not expect that these businessmen had already preemptively become Dayuan's trade representatives, foreign agents, and import and export companies.

"That's why many merchants are now trading with Joan!" Pan An knew that the little emperor was a good hand at collecting money, and of course he knew something about these merchants, so it was much easier for him to speak, "His Majesty the ministers once said that if they want to defeat the Tartars, they must not only kill their generals, but also destroy their economic base, so that they will not be able to fight. Therefore, the minister thought that those merchants who had escaped were serving the thieves and collecting the wealth of the world, and if they were to be detained, they would be cut off from their way to wealth! ”

"Well, Pan Aiqing said it well, these merchants are all Tartars' tools for collecting money, and detaining them is equivalent to cutting off their financial routes!" Zhao Hao was very relieved to hear this, and the most important thing is that someone in the DPRK and China can understand his strategic intentions.

"Then the minister immediately orders that all enemy ships in the harbor be seized!" Pan An immediately asked.

"Wait a moment and let me think about it!" Zhao Yu waved his hand, he wanted to think about the pros and cons, so as to get the maximum benefit, and the others saw that the little emperor tapped on the case and stopped talking, so naturally they stopped talking, but they all looked at him fixedly.

"Since we're going to do it, we're going to do it." Zhao Yu pondered for a long time and said a few times, "The capital held by these merchants is all official capital, and there is a special yamen, which means that they belong to the puppet dynasty. We can treat them as enemies, not only to seize their ships and goods as hostile funds, but also to intercept them at sea, not to allow them to pass through the strait, and to sink those who force their way through! ”

"Your Majesty, if this is the case, won't it anger the enemy chief and attack Qiong again?" Xu Zongren listened with some concern.

"Xu Shangshu, now that our Qiongzhou soldiers are strong and strong, as long as they dare to come, we want them to come and have no return!" Jiang Xuan didn't wait for the emperor to answer, and then retorted.

"What Jiang Shangshu said is right, we can't just seize their merchant ships, so we can't worry about the enemy soldiers coming, otherwise how can we talk about recovering the country?" Lu Xiufu was very supportive of this and spoke out.

"What Lu Xiang said is extremely true, we have just repelled the land of Qiong, and sent troops to attack the enemy's hinterland, which is no greater than the seizure of a few of their ships. If this is the case, if you are worried about the enemy's retaliation, then how can you talk about restoring the country? Liu Huang was also dissatisfied.

"Your Majesty, the minister did not mean this, but was worried that it would attract the attention of the enemy chieftain, and then strictly guarded against it, and did not allow merchant ships to come to Qiong, so that the customs duties of the DPRK will be greatly reduced, and the revenue of finance and taxation will be affected!" Xu Zongren didn't expect his words to cause opposition from the ministers, and hurriedly explained.

"Xu Shangshu's words are not unreasonable, but whether this matter is evil or auspicious depends on how it develops, but I think that we can't let the enemy country get benefits from us just because of this, and we can't let the enemy enter and leave our portal at will because of petty profits." Zhao Yu said.

"Your Majesty Shengming, it's the minister who is short-sighted!" His Majesty rounded the scene for himself, Xu Zongren was naturally grateful, and Shi Li admitted his mistake.

"Xu Shangshu doesn't have to be like this, our monarchs and ministers discuss matters, just to speak freely, and if you have any opinions, you can be blunt, and the more you argue, the clearer the truth!" Zhao Yu raised his hand and said slowly, without any intention of blaming.

Intercepting and seizing the merchant ships of the Yuan Court, although Zhao Yu thought about it for a short time, he also analyzed the pros and cons. From a point of view, a large part of the goods that were sold were gold, silver, jewelry, precious furs, gold brocade grosgrain, and other luxuries for the enjoyment of the royal family and nobles, and they could first make a profit, and it was reasonable in every sense to strike at the enemy's merchant ships, and would not arouse opposition. But this year, the Yuan court will inevitably lose a lot of money financially, and a group of Mongol princes and nobles led by Kublai Khan will also be in pain, and it is already very happy to think of their thunderous appearance.

In the long run, the finances of the Yuan court were very dependent on the fiscal revenue presided over by the Semu people, and although the current Silk Road from the Western Regions to Eurasia was reopened by the Mongols, because of the Khan's throne, Kublai Khan and the Mongol kings had already turned against each other, and the parties were in a state of hostility and had actually been cut off, so they relied more on maritime trade to maintain financial needs. Blocking the strait and prohibiting the passage of its official ships is tantamount to robbing them of a purse and will inevitably cause their financial revenues to drop sharply.

Of course, Zhao Yu understood the truth that 'cutting off people's wealth is equivalent to killing parents', so Kublai Khan would definitely not give up and would definitely try to retaliate, but he must also understand that the defeat of several naval battles had made Kublai Khan understand that it was difficult to cross the Qiongzhou Strait with the strength of his naval army, and the most likely way to retreat was to blockade the southeast coast, and take Zhancheng and Annam as soon as possible, cut off Qiongzhou's contact with the outside world, and strive to trap them on an isolated island.

However, Zhao Yu is not worried about this, but hopes that so, at that time, he will be impatient to officially get rid of these businessmen. Don't underestimate these people, they manage the finances of the Mongolian Yuan, and their tentacles have already infiltrated into all aspects of the Yuan court, and have attracted many Mongolian princes and nobles, and have the strength to influence the direction of the court and decide the country's policy.

Therefore, whether it is waging war against Qiongzhou or banning the sea on a large scale, it will affect the interests of the merchants. Of course, they do not want to damage their own interests because of the interests of the state, and they will definitely lobby the courtiers and even face Kublai Khan to prevent him from using force. and negotiate privately with Qiongzhou in order to reopen the trade route, then Zhao Hao will have room for maneuver to strive for greater interests. But naturally, he couldn't say these words explicitly in the court meeting, and he could only rely on them to understand them personally......