Counting from the 35th year of Jiajing, the prosperity of silk and cotton spinning in the southeast lasted for 13 years, although there were occasional twists and turns in the middle, and there were also workshops that closed their doors, but they would be eaten quickly, and even the looms were reluctant to stop. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Everyone knows that it is not silk that is woven, but silver, gold!

This time it was different, the workshop fell, five days, no one took over, the weavers of the workshop were stupid, they went to the street to inquire, a question is not tight, there are several workshops although not down, but in the secret layoffs. Running to the silk shop, the price of silk has been falling since five months ago.

The top-quality soft satin fell from fifteen taels of silver to twelve taels, which was a full two percent lower.

What's more chilling than the price is the sales volume, a silk shop, more than a dozen shops, in one day, only three silk horses are sold, and the money earned is not enough for rent!

The chill swept through the south of the Yangtze River, and a terrible panic spread rapidly, and even the capital, which was thousands of miles away, felt a bone-chilling coldness.

The budget must be drastically reduced!

This was Tang Yi's first sentence when he presided over the financial meeting.

In the past, the financial revenue of the Ming Dynasty was mainly divided into three parts, Tian Fu accounted for the majority, full of fifty percent, and then the city of silver accounted for three percent, and the remaining two percent was salt Fu.

In the third year of Longqing, after Qingzhang Tianmu, the income of Tianfu is close to 8 million taels, and if it goes well, after the expansion of Qingzhang next year, Tianfu will exceed 12 million taels. The overall annual income will also exceed 20 million taels, which is comparable to the income of the Jiajing Dynasty for five years, and the whole court is very excited, full of expectations, and it seems that a rich country and a strong army are just around the corner.

Just under the optimistic situation above and below, suddenly a basin of cold water was poured on the head.

Zhang Shouzhi, the secretary of the household department, said in a low voice, "Elder pavilions, colleagues, after preliminary accounting, the trade volume of the city ship division in Longqing for three years is only more than 47 million taels, and the tariff income is 4.3 million taels, deducting the operating expenses of the city port division, the city ship silver sent to the capital is only 2.8 million taels!" ”

What the!

Suddenly, all the big men were dumbfounded, in the past, there were at least five or six million taels of silver in the market, and it was more than half at once, isn't this fatal?

"How can this be, Lord Zhang, what's wrong with the City Division?" Tan Lun, the secretary of the Ministry of War, said sharply, after a year of repair, Tang Yi promised that the Ministry of War would fight abroad and completely relieve the border troubles, and suddenly said that there was no money, what was going on?

Zhang Shouzhi spread his hands, "Lord Tan, you suspect that the City Ship Division is cheating, and I suspect it, but compared with various data, it is unlikely that it will be faked. ”

This news is even more terrifying than just now, the Xiyi ships are not coming, they don't want silk anymore, they don't buy porcelain? Impossible, I heard that Xiyi all eat raw meat, and if they don't drink tea, they will all have indigestion and won't live for a few years -- these officials and masters in the capital have such a shallow understanding of Xiyi, and even many officials can't catch up with Longqing's understanding of the West.

Hu Zongxian, who was sitting next to the seven pavilion elders, spoke, "Princess, Hu has checked a lot of Xiyi recently, among the Western countries, Spain is the most powerful, and its territory is large, there are about two or three provinces of the Ming Dynasty, and among the Xiyi, it is like a big country. ”

It's only two or three provinces, what's the big deal, there are thirteen provinces in the Ming Dynasty!

The ministers were full of disdain, but Hu Zongxian said: "Although Spain itself is not big, its overseas territories are twice as large as those of the Ming Dynasty, rich in gold and silver, and rich in gold!" ”

Many people gasped, they thought that there was a civilized place in the world, and the others were barbarians, the farther away from the Ming Dynasty, the more barbarian they were, the more backward they were, and suddenly they heard that there was an empire that could be compared with the Ming Dynasty, and they couldn't help but be shocked, incredible.

Looking at the reaction of the Manchu Dynasty, Tang Yi was also helpless, he spared no effort, hoping that the scholars of the Ming Dynasty could look at the world and not always stare at their own one-third of an acre.

Those young scholars are okay and have a strong ability to accept them, but no matter how many times these old people say it, they all regard it as nonsense such as "Classic of Mountains and Seas" and "Journey to the West".

It is only at this moment, with the pain of their own body, that they will wake up.

"The king of Spain is powerful, with thousands of warships, known as the invincible armada, and no one is afraid of the Western kingdoms. Spain traded with the Ming Dynasty, losing money year after year, and gold and silver flowed into the Ming Dynasty. The Spanish court was very dissatisfied, and had ordered a strict ban on Spanish merchant ships and trafficking in the goods of the Ming Dynasty. ”

After Hu Zongxian's introduction, the ministers were dumbfounded.

How good is this, some people scold Spain for being domineering and rampant, and dare not buy the things of the Ming Dynasty, it is simply impossible to kill...... It was suggested that a man of eloquence should be sent to Spain to denounce the barbarian king and ask him why he was so daring!

Not to mention Tang Yi, even Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng turned their faces and couldn't bear to look at them directly.

Not to mention whether people listen to you or not, just when you go to the West, it will take a year or two to go back, and the daylilies are cold, what is the use.

Tan Lun thought for a long time and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, Xiyi's ships don't transport our goods, let's just organize our own fleet to go to sea, and the living can't be suffocated by urine!" ”

Zhang Shouzhi said: "Lord Tan, the city has been encouraging the fleet to go to sea over the years, and our people have indeed gone to the South Seas, India, the Middle East, Africa and other places to trade. However, after all, our ocean-going fleet started late, the scale is small, and the navigation technology is not as skilled as others. In addition, the product is abundant, as long as you sit at the door of your home, someone will come to buy it. I am used to the days when I come to the clothes to reach out for food and open my mouth, and then let them go to sea to chop the waves, without a few years of hard work, I am afraid it will not work. ”

He said it politely, people's fear and awe of the sea are innate, and the spirit of the sea cannot be cultivated without a few generations and decades of hard work.

The big guy discussed and discussed, but he couldn't come up with a good way.

Zhao Zhenji said with a calm face: "Since the tariffs are less, let's find a way to save expenses, isn't it just a matter of millions of taels of silver, and if we do a good job of clearing the fields, we can make up for the holes." ”

After the old master finished speaking, he found that several people were covered with gloomy clouds, and they were even more miserable. Zhao Zhenji was puzzled, and Tang Yi glanced at Fang Shi, the right attendant of the household department, who was also transferred from the City Shipping Division.

He hurriedly said: "Elder Zhao Ge, it's only a few million taels of tariffs, and the problem is not big, the trouble is the trade of tens of millions of taels." Just imagine, with the loss of huge overseas orders, how will the workshop trading houses in the southeast be maintained, and how many craftsmen will lose their jobs if the workshops are closed? For more than ten years, overseas trade has been prosperous, and the southeast is full of workshops and large families, changing rice to grow mulberry and cotton, and the mulberry and cotton cannot be eaten, and without overseas income, there is no way to buy grain, and I don't know how many people will starve and freeze, and they will not have enough to eat. The prosperity of the southeast will plummet, and the livelihood of tens of millions of people will be at stake. The imperial court must allocate a large budget to deal with the impending disaster, and the lower officials think that the current crisis is countless times more serious than the bursting of the Yellow River and the drought in several provinces! ”

Economic crisis, for the officials of the Ming Dynasty, is definitely a new term, judging from Fang Fengshi's statement, it is indeed very fatal, originally a good business, how to say that it will be broken, and it will not matter if it is broken, how can such a big thing happen?

Tang Yi's face was extremely grim, "Princess, the national disaster is at the head!" The big guy went back for a while, brainstormed, and thought about what would happen and how to prevent it. Gao Ge Lao, Zhao Ge Lao, Zhang Ge Lao, a few of you stay, and the cabinet will come up with a response charter. ”

The court officials could only leave with a stomach full of melancholy, and the elders of the Seven Great Pavilions gathered in Tang Yi's duty room and held an emergency meeting overnight.

Among all the courtiers, only Yang Bo frowned, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong, the carriage arrived at the door, the old man lost his soul and almost fell off the carriage, but fortunately the family helped him.

"Master, are you alright?"

Yang Bo raised his head, looked at the dim sky, and suddenly shouted: "Something, something big is going to happen!" ”

……

Yang Bo, Ge Shouli, Wang Guoguang, Zhang Siwei, including Wang Chonggu, who went to Beijing to report on his work, and several leading figures of the Jin Party, all gathered in the Tianguan Mansion.

Yang Junmin helped his father out, it was only a day's work, Yang Bo's face was pale, and he was covered with an ice towel on his head, as if he was several years old. He sat down on the lap chair and gasped for breath.

"The big guys are all their own families, let's do it, how should we get through this hurdle in front of us?"

yes, what's going to do?

Everyone, you look at me, I look at you.

Wang Guoguang is most familiar with finance, he thought about it and said: "Yu Pogong, since last year, we have been promoting wool spinning, and this year, more than 20 workshops have been set up in Tuoketo alone. There are two sales channels for the woven woollen wool, one is the purchase of the Ministry of War, and the soldiers of the nine sides are used as military uniforms, and the other is exported overseas. ”

"Don't even think about the list of the military department." Zhang Siwei said in a low voice: "Without the city's silver, the imperial court can't afford to buy military uniforms, and I'm afraid that the change of clothes on the nine sides will be postponed." ”

"Ahh Wang Guoguang opened his mouth wide in surprise, "How can the imperial court be like this, you can't help but be trustworthy!" ”

Zhang Siwei smiled bitterly: "I mentioned it at the cabinet meeting, but Zhao Dazhou scolded his mother when he opened his mouth, and Zhang Juzheng also said that it was a big deal to pay liquidated damages. ”

Wang Guoguang almost fainted, the liquidated damages were only a few dollars, millions of taels of wool, there was no market, should you keep it in your hands and grow hair?

"Yu Pogong, you old man have to think of a way, how many people's net worth and lives are on it!"

Yang Junmin blushed and said angrily: "Looking for my father for everything, he was scrambling to raise sheep and build a workshop, why didn't you let me a little at that time?" ”

"Shut up!" Yang Bo slapped Yang Junmin and pulled him aside.

"When is it, it's still in the nest, everyone is in the same boat, and no one can run!"

Yang Junmin blushed and said, "Dad, it's the child who is dizzy, the child is not right!" ”

"Alas, the house leak happened to rain overnight!" Yang Bo sighed, "I pounced on it like a swarm of bees, and it has only been a year, and it has ...... That's it, the old man doesn't want to fight with an old face, I'll go and ask Tang Yi for help! While speaking, Yang Bo's eyes shrank into a gleam! (To be continued.) )