Chapter 17: Changing Rice to Mulberry, Yan Song's Anxiety After a brief moment of astonishment, Qingliu reached its climax. Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng immediately raised their heads and looked at Jiajing excitedly. Your Majesty is actually willing to give up Xuan cultivation for the sake of the court? Is it possible that in your Majesty's later years, you will turn over a new leaf and regain your wisdom? Hiss, this is unscientific. Most emperors become more and more foolish as they age. Why has His Majesty turned over a new leaf? Of course, if Your Majesty can really turn back, it would definitely be something to be happy about. These two men, one has a hot temper and is straightforward, and the other is still cunning and scheming at present. Naturally, they can't think too deeply. They just think that it is a good thing that Your Majesty is willing to make concessions for the people. However, the other two people's eyes flickered at this time. Xu Jie was a man of great shrewdness and was even as good as Yan Song. Although Zhao Zhenji usually only knew how to talk, he could see everything clearly at this moment. The changes are so great, and everything that happened in this hall today is simply a huge change for those who are interested! "Your Majesty, I am ashamed for having served the country and the people." Yan Song reacted quickly and immediately knelt on the ground to express his agreement with this move. Now that things have come to this, if you continue to make excuses and sing a different tune, you would be shameless. He did not forget that the Yan family could be what it is today by sharing the emperor's worries and protecting him from the wind and rain. He relied on the emperor.
If the emperor's will cannot be carried out, then what is the point of the Yan family's existence? Seeing that Yan Song had expressed his stance, Xu Jie also knew that he had to do what he wanted, and he began to praise him. Those who seek the best will get the middle, and those who seek the middle will get the worst. Jiajing smiled and said, "Everyone, stand up and talk." The atmosphere in the hall had dropped to freezing point, but it ended with Jiajing's laughter, and everyone felt relieved. "Yan Shifan," Jiajing looked at the strong man who held the entire Ming Dynasty on his shoulders and began to settle accounts to ease the atmosphere, "I just heard from Gao Gong that you married your ninth wife yesterday?" When asked this by Jiajing, everyone present had different expressions. Yan Shifan was shocked and immediately knelt down and spoke. "Your Majesty, I will send my wives back to their parents' homes after I return." Gao Gong looked at Yan Shifan, who had been so arrogant just now, with contempt. You are awesome, why aren’t you awesome anymore? If you are really so capable, why don't you shout to the person above to stop talking nonsense? The others glanced at Yan Shifan and then looked away. Which man doesn't have three wives and four concubines? There's nothing to be surprised about. Only in the Imperial Household Department, Chen Hong curled his lips in dissatisfaction. The purpose of starting a conversation was to ease the atmosphere. Jiajing didn't really want to blame him, so he smiled slowly and said, "A real man marries nine wives." Gao Gong: “?” "I'm not a hero?" This move really made Gao Gong feel helpless. He was so brave, but he was not a hero? Your Majesty is too partial to the Yan father and son. "It's good to quarrel. We can settle the account by quarreling." He ignored the crowd and continued, "In the past, Zheng He sailed to the West and brought rich products to our dynasty." "What do you think about maritime trade... Zhang Juzheng?" Jiajing called out Zhang Juzheng's name. After all, in the previous accounting, he mentioned that smooth sea transportation could make money, citing the Japanese pirates in the southeast sea. However, he did not expect that these words fell into the ears of the emperor.
The Ming Dynasty banned maritime trade, but what was banned was merchants trading privately with overseas parties, not the court’s maritime transport. The imperial court received tribute from overseas, and trade between various countries has always existed. Hearing the emperor calling his name, Zhang Juzheng had no choice but to stand up. "Your Majesty, from the time Zheng He sailed to the West until the Jiajing period, maritime trade was still prosperous. However, in recent years, Japanese pirates have caused unrest and the sea has been blocked, so commercial transport is no longer as good as before." "If sea transportation is smooth, our Ming Dynasty can ship goods overseas, such as to Persia and India, earning tens of millions of silver dollars every year, and greatly enriching the national treasury." "Therefore, I propose that if the Ministry of War can provide money for the war in the southeast, the sea route can be cleared quickly..." What this means is that military spending in the southeast will be expanded. Your Majesty wanted to demolish the palace, sell the property and cancel the expenses for Taoist practice, so Zhang Juzheng naturally set his sights on this piece of meat. However, Zhang Juzheng just paused, and the shrewd Yan Song made a precise move and took over the conversation on the spot. "Zhang Juzheng has discussed this matter with me." What? Discuss with you? Do you want to hear what you are saying? Who discussed with you? Could it be that I am the Yan Party? Zhang Juzheng, the former child prodigy who was being "discussed", was stunned for a moment, and glanced at Xu Jie and other upright people in a panic. But he found that no one was looking at him, and he felt like a huge pot had been thrown down on him. For a moment, the expression on Zhang Juzheng's face was extremely wonderful! Yan Song ignored all this, briefly mentioned the issue of military expansion, and began to plan his own plans. You, Zhang Juzheng, are aiming at His Majesty sacrificing himself to save this huge sum of money? Not to mention that the emperor will definitely keep an eye on it, even if he is demoted, it will not be your turn. Go and have fun, this money was given by my Yan family, and it should be controlled by my Yan family! He did not forget that his student Hu Zongxian was still in charge of the war in the southeast. Hu Zongxian was a key chess piece in his plan. "As long as the sea routes are open to merchants, the next thing to consider is what to transport." As he spoke, Yan Song raised his eyes with a gleam in his eyes, and he was about to draw his knife. "For example, the silk from Zhejiang!" "A piece of high-quality silk can be sold for six taels of silver in the mainland, and more than ten taels of silver in Western countries overseas." "Now there are 10,000 looms in Nanzhili and 8,000 looms in Zhejiang. Can we increase the number of looms and produce more silk?" As he spoke, he looked up at Jiajing with a hesitant look. "Of course, it's approved," Jiajing waved his hand, leaning his body slightly, with a relaxed and comfortable posture, and said, "The key is silk. How can we increase the mulberry fields and produce more silk?" This old man, does he really think I don’t know the prices? Tell me that you can sell it overseas for more than ten taels. Then you can sell it for dozens or even a hundred taels. The difference will make you rich! However, Jiajing did not intend to bring up this idea. He had other plans. Just right! "Your Majesty is wise," Yan Song stood up tremblingly, and began to get to the point with a smile, "Southern Zhili has always relied on Zhejiang to supply silk. After all, it is due to the climate. It is suitable." As he spoke, he slightly turned sideways and glanced at the people behind him. This light sentence represented the cabinet and demonstrated his omnipotence. "The cabinet's idea is to simply cut half of Zhejiang's current farmland into mulberry fields. This way, we can produce more than 10 million taels of silk and weave an additional 200,000 bolts of silk!" This is completely disregarding the people of Zhejiang as human beings.
Hearing this, Jiajing looked at the old man, with a dangerous light surging in the depths of his eyes. This old thing is useful, but he must be severely punished, otherwise he really thinks he is lawless. Go ahead and be crazy. I will watch you go crazy! "If farmland is converted into mulberry fields, what will the people of Zhejiang eat?" Jiajing said calmly. "From other provinces," Yan Song answered fluently, and then he made a thoughtful preparation: "The silk produced by each acre of mulberry field is higher than the grain produced by each acre of farmland. The harvest is higher, and the people will not starve." "One more thing," Jiajing sat up straight, "the converted mulberry fields will still be taxed as farmland, and no tax increase is allowed." As soon as Jiajing finished speaking, Yan Shifan followed up with a flattering compliment, "No one is more wise and witty than the emperor." "In this way, the people will be eager to plant mulberry trees." "With the silk source, it won't be a problem for Zhejiang and Nanzhili to add several thousand looms each." "Okay, okay, okay." Hearing this, Jiajing smiled and said, "Lord Yan is indeed a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty." "Such a constructive policy has been proposed in such a short period of time, which is very much to my liking." In fact, the policy of replacing rice with mulberry trees has a certain rationality from an economic perspective alone. Firstly, changing from rice to mulberry is essentially an attempt to upgrade the industry, changing food crops into cash crops with higher economic benefits. It is forward-looking and ahead of the world. It is expected to improve overall economic efficiency and fiscal revenue. Secondly, it can achieve a diversified economy. An economic system that relies on a single crop (such as rice) is too fragile and easily affected by natural disasters, market fluctuations and other factors, especially in the Ming Dynasty. Natural disasters are notoriously frequent, and at least Jiajing has no ability to change the natural climate now, so the agricultural economy is too weak. Developing the silk industry can reduce overall economic risks. Third, it can increase foreign exchange earnings. The silk of the Ming Dynasty enjoys a high international reputation. By increasing silk production, we can further open up overseas markets, attract appropriate foreign exchange inflows, and enhance economic strength. As long as you avoid certain risks, slow down your pace, eat one bite at a time, and develop step by step in a down-to-earth manner, everything will proceed smoothly. Jiajing had already considered all these. Now, he just needs to watch the performance of this old man Yan Song, and then he will show him what a surprise is! When Yan Song and Yan Shifan were all smiles and Qingliu looked unhappy, Jiajing changed the subject and said, "But..." Yan Song's eyelids twitched and he had a bad feeling. "..." (End of this chapter)