In the upper study, Zhu Youzhen read the Daming Times sent in the morning, and also noticed the controversy in the newspaper. After reading the newspaper, he instructed Wang Chengen to take the Book of Filial Piety and Guo Jujing's "Twenty-Four Filial Piety Pictures", and sat at the desk and read it for a long time.

On the morning of this day, Zhu Youzhen stayed in the upper study and did not go out, sat at the desk and scribbled two articles, and then asked Lu Qi to hand them over to Sun Zhiqi of the Daming Times to revise and publish them.

After handing over the two articles, Zhu Youzhen's sullenness when he saw the newspaper article just disappeared, and then he felt a little hungry in his stomach, he put down the stationery in his hand, and asked Wang Chengen: "What did the queen and Concubine Tian eat at noon?" Can I catch up with them for dinner now? ”

Wang Chengen looked at the self-striking bell on the side, and then said helplessly to Chongzhen: "The two highnesses have almost finished their meal at this moment, and the little princess and the little prince are also going to take a lunch break at this time, so Your Majesty should go back in the evening." Is Your Majesty going to bring lunch now? ”

Zhu Youzhen glanced at the bell with a little disappointment, and then shook his head and said, "It turns out that it's already this hour, so let them pass it on." Is there any news outside the palace today? ”

Wang Chengen gave an order to the little eunuch outside the door, and then replied to Chongzhen: "In addition to some officials of the Sixth Ministry who are still entangled with several gentlemen in the cabinet, what the officials and people of the capital are most concerned about now is this dispute between filial piety and women's morality.

Other news? The representatives of the Maritime Association finally adopted a standard for free trade, but when it was submitted to the Prime Minister's Yamen for discussion, the Prime Minister's Yamen returned it..."

Zhu Youzhen immediately attracted attention, interrupted Wang Chengen and asked, "Why?" I haven't had time to read the free trade standards they sent over, what is the opinion of the Prime Minister Yamen? ”

Wang Chengen recalled for a moment before he said to Chongzhen: "The representative of the maritime association believes that since free trade is to be promoted, then tariffs should be lowered by each other. Therefore, it is necessary to re-examine the existing tax rates on imported and exported goods, abolish the proportional tax system for the entry of overseas precious metals and the provisions on the compulsory exchange of banknotes.

Premier Yamen believes that what these delegates are proposing is not a free trade clause, but an attempt to evade taxes in the name of free trade. As a result, Mr. Feng suspended the review of the free trade standards, claiming that he would return them no matter how many times he handed them in, unless the association removed the clauses on tariffs and compulsory exchange of precious metals. ”

Zhu Youzhen thought for a while and asked, "So what does the Maritime Association say?" ”

Wang Chengen immediately replied: "The Maritime Merchants Association is planning to send a letter to Your Majesty, asking Your Majesty to suppress the Prime Minister's Yamen. They believe that when the Prime Minister's Yamen was established last year, the tariffs on certain goods were set too high, and when there were price fluctuations in overseas markets, the Prime Minister's Yamen still imposed high tariffs, so that they did not make any money at all when they went to sea.

For example, the cotton cloth exported to Southeast Asia, because the number of Indian cotton cloth shipped to the Southeast Asian islands has increased this year, and after our side has lifted the sea ban, there are too many Ming merchants who go to Southeast Asia to do business, so the price of cotton cloth in Southeast Asia has plummeted this year, and many people can only barely keep their capital.

There is also a raw silk, raw silk is the most profitable goods exported by my Ming Dynasty, but the capital of Southeast Asian and European merchants is too small, although the number of raw silk exports this year has increased greatly, but the profit has increased little.

The country with the largest demand for overseas raw silk is still Japan, but after a large amount of silver outflow from Japan last year, it not only restricted the trading port of our Ming merchant ships, but also strengthened the silk cutting charm system, and I am afraid that the price of raw silk in Japan will only get lower and lower in the future.

Therefore, the representatives of maritime businessmen strongly demanded that tariffs should fluctuate up and down, and that they should not be fixed for 10,000 years after they are set, which is not in line with common sense. In addition, there was no problem with the Prime Minister's yamen and the banks now forcing the settlement of precious metals imported from all foreign countries. However, the exchange ratio between paper money and precious metals fluctuated too much, and they had to lose a lot of fees by exchanging paper money with the bank, so they asked for the abolition of this system..."

Zhu Youzhen thought about it, and then said to Wang Chengen: "This afternoon, in the Wulong Pavilion opposite the Jiale Palace, let the 15 standing representatives elected by the Maritime Association and the officials of the Prime Minister's Yamen be present, and I will listen to their opinions in person, and then hold consultations..."

Although the emperor personally participated in the meeting, the maritime merchants who wanted to protect their own interests did not flinch because of this, but had a heated argument with several prime minister's yamen officials brought by Feng Quan for an afternoon.

Zhu Youzhen did not interfere too much in the meeting, he only interrupted the meeting at the height of the quarrel, asked the two sides to calm down for a few minutes, and then continued the consultations.

Chongzhen's impartial posture made both sides lose their confidence. The maritime representatives realized that if this agreement of freedom could not be compromised with the Prime Minister's Yamen, they would not be able to obtain the protection of the imperial court in foreign trade, and their losses would obviously be greater.

Feng Quan, on the other hand, was more worried about whether the inability to get these maritime merchants to accept the advice of the Prime Minister Yamen would make the emperor feel that he was incompetent. Under the scruples of both sides, Zhu Youzhen guided them slightly, and the two sides reached a compromise before dark.

Regarding the issue of the amount of customs duties, Feng Quan consulted Chongzhen and decided to adjust it every five years. For some goods encouraged by the imperial court to be exported, although the prime minister yamen will not adjust the tax amount, he is willing to set the terms of tax rebate according to the amount of trade.

For the precious metals brought back from overseas business, they must still be deposited in the bank designated by the customs, but if they are unwilling to exchange banknotes, they can be deposited in the bank in the form of precious metals, and they can be withdrawn and taken away the next time they go to sea, but they must pay a certain storage fee.

This negotiation between the businessmen and the government did not affect the people of the country in any way. But it undoubtedly set a precedent for merchant organizations such as the Maritime Merchants Association, which could sit down with the high-ranking government to discuss things.

Although most of the previous requests made by the maritime representatives in this consultation meeting were rejected, the merchant representatives in the Jiale Hall still welcomed back the 15 representatives who went to negotiate like heroes. Because most people feel that the development of this free trade standard is still their victory.

In the newspaper office of the Daming Times, after receiving two articles signed by Su Changqing personally sent by Lu Qi, Sun Zhiqi carefully checked the text of the two articles, modified a few tone words, and ordered them to be published in the Daming Times published the next day. And Sun Zhiqi himself also wrote an editor's note, fiercely touting Su Changqing's two articles.

The next day, after the Daming Times was distributed to various sales outlets in the capital, it quickly pushed the originally fierce public opinion in the capital to another*.

Although the first month is coming to an end, the temperature in the capital is still very cold, and there was just a spring snow a few days ago, and you can still see snowdrifts gathered here and there on the streets of the capital. In addition to the ordinary people who went out to work, most of the students, scholars, and wealthy people with small assets preferred to stay in the warm room to hide and relax.

Of course, students from Yenching University and several other schools in Beijing are gathered in the campus dormitories, which have been remodeled and heated to make them much warmer than the average person's home. The high-quality anthracite transported from Mentougou is given priority to schools, academies of sciences, government offices, almshouses, hospitals and other places, which makes students even less inclined to go out.

With so many students gathered together, but the school's classes did not start normally, it was natural that everyone was talking about the focus of public opinion in the capital recently. Although most of the students were in favor of the emperor's severed hair to pay tribute to the heroic spirit, they believed that it was not a violation of women's morality for a woman to go out to work, and that it was not a corrupt custom for a woman to show her head outside.

However, the scholars who stood on the opposite side of them exalted the righteousness of filial piety and morality, so that the voices of the large number of students were far less than those of the scholars who opposed them. After all, students cannot directly criticize filial piety and morality, which is the core of the rule of etiquette and music proposed by the master.

Although the students of Yenching University resisted stubbornly under the organization of the student union, they always felt that they were unable to sustain themselves in the debate, and many began to wonder whether their ideas were correct.

Niu Jinxing, who lives in the dormitory of Room 55 of Yenching University, does not care about the controversy that has swept the entire campus, and he still maintains a state of seclusion, hiding in his room and reading books as long as he does not have his own classes.

After breaking up with Song Xiance, Niu Jinxing, who returned to Henan for a few months, resigned from the title of gentry representative after dealing with the family, took his two brothers to the capital, and was admitted to Yenching University.

Niu Jinxing, who is already a lifter, can actually continue his own road to science and technology after dealing with family affairs. However, in the course of his limited contact with Chongzhen, he was keenly aware that the young Ming Emperor did not seem to have a good impression of Jinshi, who could only read four books and five classics.

Every time Chongzhen came to inspect Yenching University, most of the topics he came out of were mainly policy discussions and current affairs commentary. As a scholar who was keen on fame, Niu Jinxing decided to study at Yenching University to understand the emperor's preferences.

Regarding the controversy about filial piety and women's morality that suddenly became lively in the capital, in Niu Jinxing's view, there is actually nothing to argue. There is no emperor in the past dynasties who did not advocate filial piety and women's morality, the former is to transfer filial piety to loyalty, and the latter is to maintain the principle of governing the country with etiquette and music, no matter which one is not to be lightly moved.

Now the students and scholars in the capital have been discussing these two issues for so long, and when the emperor makes a move, he will inevitably suppress this controversy. This is because such arguments are harmful to the state and do not benefit them, but they may be exploited by some unscrupulous people and disturb social stability.