Although Emperor Zhu used the excuse that he had no money to return to the court, and he also messed up the plan to return to Beijing, which the Manchu officials were looking forward to, but the lack of money was just an excuse!

How could the current Ming Dynasty have no money? Don't look at who is in charge of the household department? That is known as the richest man in the Ming Dynasty, in fact, the richest man in the world, and Zheng Zhilong, who built a wealth empire worth hundreds of millions from scratch!

With him in Nanjing, how could Emperor Zhu's Ming have no money?

"Money, money, of course money! Your Majesty can rest assured that a family with a minister in charge of the household will never let the court be impoverished. In fact, since the rise of the Northern Expedition, the financial income of the imperial court has risen sharply year after year, and the debt issuance plan drawn up before is a bit redundant in the eyes of the minister. Now there are hundreds of millions of dollars in the accounts of the household department, which is enough to meet the military needs of the Northland......"

The one who patted his chest in the Yanshan Hall of the Laoshan Palace and assured Emperor Zhu that he had money to spend was, of course, the richest man Zheng Zhilong.

Zhu Cihong returned to the Laoshan Palace on March 25, and then issued an edict, saying that he had to recuperate for a few days and prepare for the military parade on the first day of the first month of April, so the large and small dynasties would continue to suspend and wait until the third day of the first month of April to officially resume.

However, no matter how tired he was, the old man still had to meet, so the day after Emperor Zhu returned to Laoshan Palace, he issued an order to summon Wu Xiang and Zheng Zhilong to come. Wu Xiang was in Yangzhou because he was in Yangzhou because he released the fat shortage of the governor of Jiangbei, so he didn't arrive so quickly. On March 26, the person who entered the palace to meet was Zheng Zhilong.

"Wait!"

On the second floor of the Dongnuan Pavilion of Yanshan Palace, in a Chinese-style living room, Emperor Zhu interrupted Zheng Zhilong, who was "showing off his wealth".

Of course, Emperor Zhu knew that the imperial court was rich, and he said that the emperor who was the most proficient at money in the Ming Dynasty for more than 200 years would not know that the imperial court was rich?

Before the Northern Expedition was prosperous, he knew that he would definitely get richer and richer! Not only because war stimulates demand, but also because victory in war brings a lot of loot. Of course, the movable property floating wealth in the spoils of war is easy to lose, and it is difficult to fall into the hands of the Ming court. But the real estate of land, cities, ports, canals, mines, salt farms, forests, pastures, etc., is hidden from nowhere.

If the industry and commerce in the southeast were underdeveloped, and there was no financial system that could support a large number of real estate transactions, there would be no way to realize or mortgage the real estate obtained from the Northern Expedition.

The industrial, commercial and financial industries in the southeast of the Ming Dynasty have developed enough, so the real estate seized by the Northern Expedition can be turned into money on the books of the two banks.

Even taking into account that most of the cultivated land (flag land) obtained would be distributed to the meritorious heroes, the Ming court could still obtain hundreds of millions of dollars of wealth from the remaining assets.

So the last thing Emperor Zhu lacks now is money!

But now is not the time to show off wealth, now the Ming court must pretend to be poor - the pillars of the court are the exiled northerners, and they have only been away from their hometown for more than ten years, and they are all homesick and want to move back to Beijing! Although the gentry and wealthy merchants in the southeast profited handsomely from Emperor Zhu's rule, they did not necessarily want the imperial court to stay in Nanjing.

If the imperial court stays in Nanjing, it will not be easy for them to evade taxes!

Don't be a financial expert like Zhu Cihong to be the emperor, it is an emperor like Chongzhen who grew up in the deep palace and doesn't know much about outside things, only if you go out of the Forbidden City in Nanjing to the Qinhuai River for a private visit, you will know how rich you are these inferior gentry and profiteers in the south of the Yangtze River.

Why was the Song Dynasty so rich in history? Isn't it because Bianliang itself was the economic center of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the Jiangnan region where Lin'an is located was the most prosperous and wealthy region in the world during the Southern Song Dynasty.

If you can't receive money like this, the emperor is really a fool!

"Quan Guogong," Zhu Cihong lowered his voice and looked at Zheng Zhilong with a solemn expression, "Does Wei Xiang know that we have money?" Do the other cabinet elders know that the imperial court is very rich? ”

Zheng Zhilong was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood what Emperor Zhu meant, and immediately smiled: "Your Majesty, of course they know that the income of the imperial court is enough for expenses, but they don't know how rich they are...... The account books of the imperial court are in front of them, and they don't know where the money is! ”

They are all great Confucians who are familiar with the books of sages! Where do you know that profiteers have the ability to make false accounts?

And Zheng Zhilong is not stupid, he is not worried about the Hubu Shangshu being opened - this errand is a burden for him, and it is good to open it! So he won't put pressure on himself by whitewashing the report beautifully.

Therefore, the generation of famous ministers Wei Zaode who "beat Zhuge Liang" used by Zhu Cihong is a famous minister who doesn't even know that the cabinet office he is responsible for has money...... And Zhu Cihong is also bad, and he doesn't tell Wei Mingxiang that the court is rich.

"That's good," Zhu Cihong smiled, "Old Taishan, you have to hide the money of the imperial court, don't let them find it." We can't show our wealth, we have to pretend to be poor! ”

"Pretending to be poor?" Zheng Zhilong thought about it for a while, and then understood, "Is the emperor worried about the proposal to move north?" ”

Zheng Zhilong was one of the few important ministers who opposed the imperial court's northward move, and the reason for his opposition was not that he was willing to pay more taxes, but that he hoped that the imperial court could work harder at sea!

With the full development of exchanges between China and the West, Zheng Zhilong, who has been staring at the world with his eyes, has fully understood the importance of the ocean.

In his opinion, Zhu Cihong invested too many resources on the territory of Huangjiao Mongolia, and if these resources were used to develop the navy at sea, the "Invincible Armada" would have it.

With the "Invincible Armada" as their backing, the Zheng family will be able to trade maritime trade in the Spice Islands, India, and the Ottoman Empire!

This is a big deal with rolling money!

Zhu Cihong nodded: "In the next one or two decades, the theory of moving north will not be extinguished, after all, the homesickness of people who go south is not so easy to resolve." They have to wait until their children grow up in the southeast before they can really integrate into the southeast, and they won't be able to leave at that time! ”

In fact, moving south was a hot topic in the Ming court for many years after Zhu Di's move north, until a month before Zhu Gaochi's death, Mingrenzong, who wanted to move the capital back to Nanjing.

Zhu Cihong paused, and then said, "Does the household department have any thoughts on the unofficial property in the north?" Is it necessary to set up a yamen and send a more shrewd official to take care of this matter? ”

Zheng Zhilong thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty, there are a large number of unofficial properties in the north, and they really have to be carefully disposed of, and if they are disposed of, hundreds of millions can be recovered!" But ordinary officials may not be able to do such an errand...... There is a candidate for the minister. ”

"Who?" Zhu Cihong looked at Zheng Zhilong with great interest - he wanted to know who Zheng Zhilong wanted to dump this black pot to?

Zheng Zhilong said: "Minister of Beiyang, Shen Tingyang, Marquis of Chongming!" ”

This is the "Second Rich Man of the Ming Dynasty" (not counting Zhu Cihong), and he will be after Zheng Zhilong!

Zheng Zhilongfa is in maritime trade and finance, and this one is benefiting from the manufacturing industry. Because of the demand created by the three-year Northern Expedition, Shanghai Shengang, Shanghai Shenche, Shanghai Shenchuan, and Shanghai Shenyao (gunpowder) have all made a lot of money!

Moreover, in order to open a handicraft workshop in Shanghai, Shen Tingyang also purchased a large piece of land located in or near the Shanghai commercial port, and the land price of the Shanghai commercial port has been rising in recent years, and the commercial port itself has been repeatedly expanded, including many lands near the commercial port, so Shen Tingyang issued a vote in the process of land appreciation.

"Shen Tingyang......" Zhu Cihong actually thought of this duke, because he was the only one of the super capitalists in the Ming Dynasty who had a large investment in the north and was successful.

"He's willing to take on this errand?" Zhu Cihong asked, "He doesn't even seem to want to be the minister of Beiyang, right?" ”

Shen Tingyang is now a great meritorious hero, he has been awarded the title of Marquis of Chongming, and he is already ranked as a first-class noble, and whether he has the actual position of the minister of Beiyang or not, it will not have an adverse impact on the business activities of the Shen family.

Therefore, he handed in his resignation before that, wanting to tell his old man to return to his hometown to concentrate on business, and also suggested that the outdated Nanbeiyang Yamen be abolished.