Chapter 12 Economic Storms

From the beginning of Zhang Juzheng and Wang Siming's planning to recover the dry shares of the Royal Commercial and Trade Bank, it took nearly a month to recover all the dry shares of the forty percent. But the benefits brought by this incident to the imperial court are extraordinary, and in the blink of an eye, the household department has an extra income of more than 12 million taels a year!

Such a major matter is naturally to be reported to Emperor Longqing, which is Zhang Juzheng's first thought after the dust settles on this matter.

In fact, Emperor Longqing has more or less heard a little wind these days, although he feels that Zhang Juzheng is doing something wrong, but as soon as he thinks about increasing the income of the imperial court, this little idea will dissipate without a trace, and it is not far away to catch up with the prosperity of the Han and Tang dynasties.

"Your Majesty, this time to recover the shares of the royal trade bank, the court spent a total of 6.7 million taels of silver before and after. Except for Shen Chongming, who secretly added 500,000 taels of silver at the original price, all the rest were repurchased at the original price, and did not encroach on the slightest interests of the shareholders. "Zhang Ju is just like the truth, but whether this is an encroachment on interests is not such a simple arithmetic problem.

However, Emperor Longqing didn't know much about arithmetic, and when he heard that it was taken back at the original price, he was calm in his heart, this matter was done well, and he couldn't let people criticize the policies of the imperial court behind his back.

"Zhang Aiqing, this matter has been done well, especially the increase of 500,000 taels to Shen Aiqing, which is even better." Emperor Longqing nodded and said, his thoughts couldn't help but go back to the time when Shen Chongming seduced him to open a royal trading house.

"To say that this royal trading house was completely founded by Shen Aiqing at the beginning, I just made a royal name, but he threw a million taels of silver into it without blinking his eyes, now think about it, what kind of spirit Shen Aiqing was at the beginning. Only now, alas. ”

Thinking that Shen Chongming was seriously ill and withdrew from the court, Emperor Longqing couldn't help but sigh and asked, "Zhang Aiqing, has Shen Aiqing's health ever been better today?" ”

Knowing that Emperor Longqing would have such a question, Zhang Juzheng was already ready to answer and waited for him to mention this stubble. "If you go back to the emperor, this time to repurchase dry shares, Weichen informed Gonggong Chen that he took some nourishing things from the inner treasury and brought them to Nanjing without your permission. According to the report, Zhongguo Gong's health has improved slightly during these days, but this time he is recovering from an old illness, and he is afraid that it will take a long time to fully recover. ”

Emperor Longqing nodded, "It's good if there is an improvement, I hope he recovers soon." Chen Hong, in the future, will send someone to Nanjing every once in a while, bring more precious medicinal materials in the palace, and then pass on the Tai Hospital, let Li Shizhen stay by Shen Aiqing's side, so that he must carefully regulate Shen Aiqing's body. ”

Chen Hong hurriedly responded, if Feng Bao knew about this matter, he would definitely have to go to ruin.

"Your Majesty, Weichen still has something to do." Seeing that Emperor Longqing had finished arranging Shen Chongming's affairs, Zhang Juzheng bowed down and said.

"Oh, what's the matter?" Emperor Longqing asked with interest, he has always felt weak recently, and he has not dealt with government affairs for a while. If it weren't for the spirit today, maybe I wouldn't have seen Zhang Juzheng during the break. Taking advantage of today's efforts, I want to have a good understanding of some of the things of this time.

Before Zhang Juzheng could speak, a smile appeared on his face. "Your Majesty, the tax revenue of the household department in the first half of the past few days has just been calculated, and the total tax revenue of various places is more than 19 million taels of silver, and it is expected to break through the 40 million mark by the end of the year. If you add the income of the Royal Trading House, it should be about 55 million taels. ”

Emperor Longqing's eyes suddenly lit up, "How much?" ”

"If you go back to the emperor, if there is no major mistake, it should be around 55 million taels." Zhang Juzheng said with a smile on his face, knowing that Emperor Longqing would be taken aback by this number.

Emperor Longqing's expression gradually became a little sluggish, and it took a long time before he said: "There are so many, compared to when I first ascended the throne, but it has more than doubled." ”

Emperor Longqing's heart is also flying in this matter, if you add his dividends in the royal trade house, it will be more than 60 million, a full three times!

Emperor Longqing vaguely felt that it was no longer a dream for the imperial court to exceed 10,000 taels a year. When that time comes, the Ming Dynasty must be the richest dynasty in history, and he, the king, must also be remembered by future generations.

Today is destined to be an extraordinary day, and I heard Zhang Juzheng continue: "According to the statistics of the household department, in the first half of the year, 19 million taels of tax income, 12 million taels were commercial taxes, according to the law of ten taxes and one tax in the imperial court, it can be preliminarily estimated that in the past half a year, merchants from all over the country have earned 120 million taels of silver!" ”

Emperor Longqing's head exploded, and the whole person was completely shocked by this number, and his eyes were wide open and speechless for a while.

Zhang Juzheng was very patient, but he just stood there and waited for Emperor Longqing to speak. If you want to reform at this value, you must get the support of Emperor Longqing, otherwise you may not be able to withstand the uproar at that time.

"Aiqing, you're not mistaken, right?" After being stunned for a long time, Emperor Longqing finally opened his mouth, but what he said made people feel a little funny.

"Your Majesty, this number is true, only a little." Zhang Juzheng said with a serious face, and then changed the conversation and said: "But such a large fortune is hidden in the people, and Weichen is really relieved in his heart. ”

Emperor Longqing was stunned and wondered: "The people are rich under his rule, but the lifelong wish of the kings of the past dynasties, why can't Zhang Aiqing rest assured?" ”

Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said, "Forgive Weichen for his courage, the emperor's words are wrong. If the annual commercial tax revenue of the imperial court reaches 24 million taels, then the people will have a wealth of 240 million taels of silver, but such a large wealth is not evenly distributed among the ordinary people, but concentrated in the hands of those big merchants. Once they participate in the rebellion, the wealth in their hands will definitely be able to form an army of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands in a short period of time, which is a fatal hidden danger for the imperial court. ”

Zhang Juzheng explained the situation very clearly, and Emperor Longqing couldn't help but believe it, and his heart couldn't help but be raised with his imagination. "What you say is reasonable, once such a thing really happens, it must be a disaster today."

The more he thought about it, the more worried he became, and Emperor Longqing couldn't help but say a little anxiously: "Then Zhang Aiqing, how to prevent this kind of thing from happening?" ”

"The solution is simple, that is, to impose heavy taxes on merchants, which not only weakens their strength, but also increases more revenue for the imperial court, and this hidden danger does not exist." After that, Zhang Juzheng stared at Emperor Longqing's expression very presumptuously, he had to deal with it according to Emperor Longqing's reaction, and he couldn't make the slightest mistake.

Sure enough, as soon as he heard that it was a heavy tax, Emperor Longqing's expression immediately became hesitant. "Aiqing, increasing the tax burden will definitely hurt people's livelihood, and I am afraid that it will be inappropriate to solve the problem in this way."

"The emperor is too worried, what the imperial court wants to increase is only the tax of merchants, although this will greatly reduce their income, but it will not hurt their roots." Zhang Juzheng replied without thinking about it, he had prepared all his words before entering the palace, and he would not be asked by Emperor Longqing at all.

Emperor Longqing shook his head, and his mind also turned into a mess, thinking about it, he always felt that it was inappropriate to do this. "Alas, if Shen Aiqing is here, he will definitely be able to analyze the pros and cons of this increased tax for me."

Emperor Longqing's unintentional sigh made Zhang Juzheng's face change. After being busy for such a long time, he only regarded himself as having occupied an important position in the emperor's heart, but now he is still not as good as Shen Chongming, who is already idle at home.

"Okay, I don't understand this matter, so you might as well take it to the cabinet and discuss it with the heads of various ministries. If everyone thinks it can be done, then try it out in various places, and if not, find another way. As soon as he moved his brain, Emperor Longqing felt that his body was starting to get tired, waved his hand lazily, leaned on the soft couch and closed his eyes to recuperate.

In fact, what Zhang Juzheng wanted was Emperor Longqing's words, as long as he gave himself power, there was nothing that could not be done.

Although Zhang Juzheng has decided that it must be implemented, he does not dare to make such a decision alone. Otherwise, after the implementation, there are officials in the court who oppose it, and it will be a joke.

Therefore, following the instructions of Emperor Longqing, the six chief officials were gathered, and intense consultations and discussions began on the same day.

The stakes are very high, and before he began to discuss it, Zhang Juzheng strictly ordered the officials who knew about this matter not to leak the matter, so as not to cause unnecessary chaos and ruin his layout. But despite this, he still couldn't hide the ubiquitous Jinyi Guard, and before the overnight, detailed information was presented in front of Liu Shouyou's case.

Liu Shouyou is not a simple martial artist, he was scared into a cold sweat when he saw this information, the commercial tax has changed from the original ten taxes to ten taxes two, Zhang Ju is just a big deal. Liu Shou keenly felt that this news must be of great value to Shen Chongming.

So without thinking about it, he immediately stuffed the information into an envelope and sealed it with fire paint and ordered someone to send it to Nanjing City urgently to see what he thought about this matter.

"Ten taxes two, he Zhang Juzheng's head hit the pig, right?" At first glance, a wave of anger immediately rose in Shen Chongming's heart, and he played the piano indiscriminately!

"The total income of private merchants in half a year is 120 million taels, and if it is according to the ten taxes and two, it can still make a profit of 96 million taels." Xiao Ershao muttered to himself.

"Brother Shen, this is a lot, after all, everyone has to earn it. The court is too powerful, so it's okay for us to suffer some losses. Xiao Ershao looked at Shen Chongming with some wonder and said, I really don't know why the boss is so angry.

"Fart." Shen Chongming glared at him fiercely and reprimanded: "Think about it again, how much tax do we pay every year, and what is the final profit?" ”