Seeing that the Apocalypse not only did not take back the shares in the hands of these big merchants, but wanted to give them hereditary treatment, they all opened their mouths wide and were speechless in surprise. This has only heard of someone who has a peerless military merit to be crowned a marquis, and the merit is too great to be allowed by the emperor to allow his title to be hereditary, and the businessmen who were at the bottom of the society at the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty now have this kind of treatment, and they can't believe their ears ‰ Use to visit this site.

Liu Yixiao first asked, "Your Majesty, why is this?" It is already a great mercy not to blame these wrongdoers, and at most they should be blessed to let them go home and not take back their shares. Isn't it inappropriate to give them such unprecedented benefits now? ”

Seeing that the others were also looking at him with surprised eyes, Tianqi knew that everyone had the same opinion, so he said to Liu Yixie: "Before answering your question, I would like to ask Lord Liu a question, that is, in the past few years, have I been in the Ming Dynasty for peace and security?" ”

Liu Yixiao thought for a while and said: "There are strong enemies outside, and internal disasters are frequent, so it can be said that the wind and rain are as dangerous as a tired egg!" ”

Tianqi nodded and asked, "Then may I ask Lord Liu, what are your plans to make my Ming turn from danger to safety in the current situation?" ”

Liu Yixiao listened to the apocalypse and let him offer advice, and his heart couldn't help but be excited, as if the apocalypse in front of him was Wei Linggong in the Spring and Autumn Period, Liu Xuande in the Three Visits to the Thatched House, and Li Shimin in the early Tang Dynasty, and he was Confucius, Zhuge Liang, and Fang Xuanling. Eat: "Learn literary and martial arts and sell them to the emperor's family." "Haven't you been waiting for this moment for years? He forcibly suppressed his excitement and pretended to be calm: "The minister thinks that the foreign government should select strong generals, train soldiers diligently, and run equipment extensively, first stick to the accumulation of strength, and wait for the enemy's situation to change and then finish the battle in one battle." Internally, we should select capable ministers, provide relief to the victims, and replenish the national treasury, so that the national fortunes will naturally prosper in time. ”

Tianqi saw that Liu Yixiao had a certain amount of truth, so he continued to ask: "Does Lord Liu need silver to train soldiers, run equipment, help disaster victims, and implement the treasury?" ”

Seeing Tianqi ask like this, Liu Yixian couldn't help but be stunned for a moment and said, "Naturally, the more the better." ”

Tianqi asked, "May I ask Lord Liu, where does this silver come from?" How much silver does the imperial court have now? Is there any way you can get as much silver as you ask for? ”

Liu Yixiao thought for a while and said: "The minister understands what the emperor meant, the treasury has always been empty, and now although there are some silver deposits, there are arrangements, including borrowing from the emperor." But it is precisely because of this that the ministers thought that the shares in the hands of the big merchants should be recovered, so that the annual fire consumption of the imperial court could not be divided, and the taxes of the road merchant bureau could also be all owned by the imperial court. ”

Tianqi smiled and said: "At that time, the total price of the Qian Zhuang and the Road Merchants Bureau was 10,000 taels, excluding the hidden shares and land and houses, the real silver taels were only 50 million, if the imperial court wanted to regret the monopoly, it would have to return double to the investors, and I don't know if others were willing or not, even if they were willing, where would they find that silver now?" ”

King Xin said at this time: "Brother Huang, the shares of the palace and the officials of the court and the imperial family will not move for the first time, and only the 20 million shares of the North and South Chamber of Commerce will be confiscated, I don't know what the imperial brother thinks?" Of course, the courtier's meaning is to find a suitable excuse, none of these businessmen are clean, and slowly looking for their forks will always leave them speechless, just like the people who participated in the posting of the tabloids this time, just took the opportunity to confiscate their shares. ”

Seeing that King Xin also had an interest in the merchant's silver, Tianqi felt that this silver was indeed a harmful thing, and King Xin, who had always been loyal and honest, also had the intention of stealing other people's property, but he was only sixteen years old and still a minor!

The Apocalypse said to King Xin: "If the court will no longer be short of money in the future after all the money of these big merchants is confiscated, Brother Wei will definitely arrest them all, and it is easy to find a fork for the wolf to find sheep." The problem is that even if the meat on these people is made of gold, there is not much to slaughter them all, and besides, this is a casserole and garlic pounding a hammer business, who will dare to believe the imperial court if there is a shortage of silver in the future? Besides, if people don't have trust, they can't stand, if the court doesn't talk about credit, no one in the people will talk about credit, and if people in a country don't talk about credit, the country will not be far from bankruptcy. ”

Ye Xianggao said at this time: "The emperor is right to talk about credit, but is it a bit overkill to raise the status of a businessman so high?" ”

Tianqi said: "Speaking of the status of merchants, I decided to set up merchants, so that they have a legal status, neither too high nor too low, and manage them like farmers and artisans, I don't know what Lord Ye thinks?" ”

Ye Xianggao said: "The emperor's idea of setting up merchants is very good, so that the imperial court can collect commercial taxes in the name of justice, and the merchants should not oppose it if they have a proper identity, but the minister still thinks that the emperor should think twice about whether the shares are hereditary." ”

Tianqi said: "At present and for a long time to come, the imperial court is inseparable from merchants, and since it is inseparable, it should cooperate with each other, and this cooperation should first trust each other. Several of you have the idea of seizing other industries at any time, and there are probably not a few others who have this kind of thought, so how can the merchants trust the court? What I mean is to make the idea of hereditary replacement of shares known to the world, and let the people of the world supervise the imperial court, so that businessmen can rest assured that they will cooperate ♀ with the imperial court, and there is another purpose, which is to promote honesty and trustworthiness into a spirit, which is the spirit of contract. ”

Han Yi said: "The emperor has repeatedly mentioned the spirit of contract, what is the benefit of this spirit of contract? ”

Tianqi thought for a while and said: "People say that a companion is like a tiger, this is because the emperor is unhappy and wants to kill, if I announce to the world that as long as you, Lord Han, do not rebel, I will never punish you, will you feel more at ease?" ”

Han Yi smiled and said: "That's natural, no matter which courtier gets this promise from the emperor, he will be ecstatic, and the minister will not be an exception." ”

Tianqi said: "I am ready to take this incident as an opportunity to gradually promote the spirit of contract, that is, don't make promises but promise must be fulfilled. If the people of our Ming Dynasty are proud of their honesty and trustworthiness, then our Ming Dynasty will become more and more prosperous, at least there will be many fewer people like Nurhachi who rebel at will. Of course, this is only my personal opinion, and you should submit this opinion to the Holy Academy for discussion, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate will make the final choice. After finishing speaking, he also deliberately glanced at Ye Xianggao and Han Yi.

Ye Xianggao knew that the meaning of the Apocalypse to let the Metropolitan Procuratorate make the final choice was to let the Donglin Party check it, and felt the trust of the Apocalypse Ye Xianggao couldn't help but be secretly happy, and asked: "The emperor's words and ministers will immediately bring it to the Holy Academy and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, but will the heads of those big families continue to close or release it now?" ”

Tianqi thought for a while and said, "Let it go, but let them go to the presidents of the Huguang Chamber of Commerce and the Shanxi Chamber of Commerce, and ask for a list of the big merchants who own the shares of Qianzhuang, and let them go to these houses to preach the meaning of me one by one and ask for signatures, indicating that they have indeed been there." If they didn't go, it means they didn't take my words to heart, and what are the consequences for them to think about. ”

Han Yi said: "They are all a little old, and I am afraid that they can't stand it." And what do they want to preach? Please show the emperor. ”

Tianqi said: "It doesn't matter if they are old, the old man allows them to send people to preach, just like they send people to post tabloids. As for what to say, I will let them make three points: first, all those who have shares must continue to participate in business activities, and whoever hides the silver and does not take it out for circulation and trade, I will return the principal and recover his shares. The second is that all people who have shares must abide by the provisions of the 20% profit cap, once anyone is found to violate this article, it means that he does not want to continue to cooperate with the imperial court, and the imperial court will recover his shares and punish only half of the silver. The third rule is simple: if the people on the list finance the enemy are tantamount to rebellion, then all family property, including their shares, will be confiscated. ”

Seeing that everyone nodded, Tianqi finally said: "If they don't commit these three things, their shares will be hereditary, and I will also make this clear to the whole country, so that everyone in the world will supervise the court to see if it has the spirit of contract." ”