"Resign! Resign! Liu Zongzhou, do you think it's useful for you to threaten me like this! Zhu Ci stood up abruptly, pointed at Liu Zongzhou, and shouted angrily.

"The minister is not threatening the emperor, the minister is persuading the emperor!" Although he said that, Liu Zongzhou's attitude was still resolute and did not change at all.

"Your Majesty, the minister Huang Daozhou also resolutely cannot agree!" Huang Daozhou also knelt down.

"The ministers can't agree either!" A dozen other courtiers also knelt down with them.

"You, you" Zhu Ci was so angry that his face was a little pale, but he couldn't really attack.

Although there are not many people such as Liu Zongzhou and Huang Daozhou, they are a group of people who are extremely loyal to the Ming Dynasty, and they are all thinking about the Ming Dynasty.

Although he was a little angry, it was not enough to make Zhu Ci lose his mind, he really couldn't allow Liu Zongzhou and others to resign in a fit of anger, the court couldn't afford such a loss, and Zhu Ci didn't want to be really stubborn and disregard the reputation of the court.

"Forget it, open up trade routes, advocate business I must do, this is for the sake of the Ming Dynasty to be more prosperous, by no means harm to the Ming Dynasty, harm the people, I am here to make a bet with you, advocate business after five years, the world's grain, salt, cloth and other important food and clothing related to the livelihood of the people compared with the current at least double the current price, and at the same time increase the treasury of the Ming Dynasty by more than 30 million taels of silver every year, if not, I will admit my mistake to you Aiqing, and withdraw the will to promote business?" This is already Zhu Ci's biggest concession, and it is also a trap laid by Zhu Cijiao.

The court was silent, they couldn't imagine that the emperor would compromise, you know, Ma Shiying, who was the first assistant back then, couldn't make the emperor compromise in the slightest.

"What the emperor said is true?" Liu Zongzhou and the others thought for a while and asked.

"Naturally, take it seriously!" Zhu Ci promised with a smile.

"In this case, the ministers will remember the emperor's words, if in five years, the price of grain, salt, cloth and other items mainly related to the livelihood of the people in the world cannot really be at least doubled as the emperor said, and increase the income of more than 30 million taels of silver for the Ming treasury every year, please don't forget today's words, and at the same time, the emperor will also guarantee that if there is any major matter in the future, if the emperor can't achieve the consent of more than half of the courtiers, he will not be able to go his own way!" Liu Zongzhou, Huang Daozhou and others are well aware of Zhu Cijiao's character, and they know that it is rare for Zhu Cijiao to make such a concession, and if they continue to be persecuted, it may backfire, and at the same time, they are not old stubborn who do not know how to be flexible, they think very simply, if advocating business can really reduce the price of food and clothing related to the livelihood of the people at least double, then it is indeed beneficial to the people and the Ming Dynasty, and they will not object.

Liu Zongzhou and others did not object, and most of the civil and military officials such as Qian Qianyi also jumped out to oppose it.

Although some officials still feel uncomfortable, they feel that even if the emperor improves the status of merchants and advocates business, it is impossible to reduce the price of all those things at least double in just five years and at the same time increase the annual income of the treasury by at least 30 million taels of silver, which is simply impossible, salt and cloth are better, and the increase in the treasury is reasonable, but the price of grain is absolutely impossible, after all, there are only so many fields in the Ming Dynasty, and only so much grain can be produced every year, and the people are hungry every year. How can the price be lowered, let alone more than doubled, then Daming must at least produce nearly half of the grain, is it possible?

Anyway, almost all the officials felt that it was impossible, and another important reason why no one of them came out to oppose it was that they wanted to use these five years to make the emperor realize his mistakes, and he could not insist on doing anything in the future.

Zhu Ci knew what they were thinking about as soon as he looked at the expressions of the officials, and it seemed that everyone jumped into the trap he had dug. Zhu Ci is not a person who makes bets easily, since he dares to speak, he has absolute certainty, no one knows better than him the impact of commercial prosperity on the Ming Dynasty, the price reduction of salt and cloth is inevitable, it is inevitable to drive the increase in the treasury income, as for grain, there are sweet potatoes, potatoes and corn, three things, it is inevitable.

None of the officials knew what the yield of sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn was, or they wouldn't have just let it go.

"Since all of you Aiqing no longer object, then from now on, I will immediately issue a holy decree to announce this matter!" Zhu Ci smiled happily.

"The Emperor Shengming!" When all the officials shouted in unison, it was a tacit acquiescence.

On the same day, Zhu Ci issued a holy decree and ordered people to post the emperor's list to various places.

"Fengtian carrier, the emperor said: July of the second year of Zhongxing in the Ming Dynasty"

The gist is that from today onwards, all restrictions on merchants will be lifted, and in the future, merchants can not only wear silk, but also go out with more than two horses, and more importantly, businessmen can also take the imperial examination and gain fame, but although businessmen can obtain fame, and they do not kneel when they have meritorious fame, they are still not allowed to enter the court as officials.

Although Zhu Ciji was anxious to prosper the commerce of the Ming Dynasty, he was not confused, and it was impossible for him to let go of the fact that businessmen were not allowed to hold official positions and officials were not allowed to engage in business.

Businessmen concurrently hold official positions is the integration of money and power, and even the word collusion between officials and businessmen does not have to exist, and businessmen are always busy making money, and there is no possibility of being an official wholeheartedly, and it is even more impossible to think about the people wholeheartedly, and the same is true for officials, if they become officials and go to business, it is also impossible to think about the people wholeheartedly, so officials and businessmen must always be separated.

Although Zhu Ciji still has not completely relaxed the restrictions on businessmen, this is also a great encouragement for businessmen or people who have business intentions.

Many merchants no longer did business for fear of lowering their social status, so much so that on the day of the decree, many wealthy merchants dressed in rich silk for their vanity and went out in carts drawn by three, four, or even eight horses to show off.

The show-off of businessmen undoubtedly makes many people envious and jealous, and the number of people doing business is increasing day by day, even some poor clans, nobles, etc. can't help but do business, and the commerce of the Ming Dynasty is becoming more and more prosperous, and all kinds of new technologies have brought about a surge in the output of all kinds of items, and the people are buying things more and more simply, and they are getting cheaper and cheaper, as far as the price of salt is concerned, the original salt per catty is at least two or three hundred yuan, and the merchants gradually increase and then become one hundred Wen, until a few years later, even more than a dozen Wen a catty, It is at least double the price that Zhu Ciji originally promised.

While the people benefited, the complaints in their hearts gradually decreased.

...