My father is Jiajing

Chapter 327 Southeast Pillar Hu Zongxian

Yan Maoqing listened to Yan Shifan's words and agreed, "What the young minister said is right. It's easy for these red-haired barbarians to make money. Now it's all controlled by people from Zhejiang and Fujian. It's unacceptable."

"Now that Luo Longwen has a channel to smuggle through the Japanese, we will naturally be able to earn money from the sea in the future."

Yan Shifan nodded in agreement.

They were relying on the little profits from the farmland and the salt administration. To be honest, Yan Shifan was also anxious.

When Yan Shifan thought about how the people from Zhejiang and Fujian could earn boatloads of silver from the red-haired foreigners just by making some worthless things like tea, silk and porcelain, he would be a fool if he said he was not envious.

Yan Shifan imagined excitedly for a while, and finally calmed down.

Because he also knew that it would take at least three to five years to expect Luo Longwen to succeed in getting through to the Japanese.

Therefore, the most important money at the moment is the money that can be grasped, which is the most practical.

Yan Shifan said: "We don't need to worry about the silver of the red-haired barbarians now. We just need to sort out the silver of the salt administration first."

"Originally, I wanted you to continue paying the court according to the previous share, but the emperor is too troublesome. Every day he holds either the Luotian Grand Ceremony or the Immortal Pill Conference. It gives me a headache."

"In order to divert the emperor's attention, I can only give him an idea and ask him to continue building the palace. The construction of this palace will naturally be the responsibility of the Ministry of Works that I am in charge of now."

"So, if we want to continue to earn money from the court, we can only make money by building palaces and temples for the emperor. Although this method is a bit slow, it is also safer."

"After all, according to the accounts, the money was spent by the emperor, and it has nothing to do with us. Therefore, we should collect the money from the salt administration as we wish."

Yan Shifan's words directly explained the current situation.

Yan Maoqing asked, "Young Lord, what about the outer city project of the capital?"

Yan Shifan snorted and said, "It's cold. The construction of the outer city of the capital is not ours, although we were asked to use the silver from the salt administration as the construction fee at the beginning."

"But what could be more important than building a palace for the emperor? Besides, the misappropriation of this money was tacitly approved by the emperor, so it has nothing to do with us."

"No matter how much trouble that sea black guy makes, he can't make it to our place. So, we just need to hand over the silver, and then it will be returned to us."

"And the more money you pay and the more punctually you pay, the more the emperor will value our role. Then, promotion and wealth will be within reach, right?"

Yan Maoqing listened to Yan Shifan's words and instantly understood what Yan Shifan meant.

Yan Shifan was using the construction of palaces and temples for Emperor Jiajing to launder money, and was laundering the silver that was originally earmarked for specific purposes into his own pocket through the project. This was a really clever move.

Yan Maoqing bowed to Yan Shifan with admiration, "Young Minister, your advice is good and valuable, and I admire it very much. Next, I will do my job well and hand over the money from the salt administration to the Ministry of Revenue on time, so that Your Majesty can see who is capable of working for the court."

After hearing what Yan Maoqing said, Yan Shifan also laughed happily.

That's how it has to be done.

Otherwise, they would just foolishly make money for the emperor without leaving any benefits for themselves. Wouldn't that be a waste of time? Just as Yan Shifan and Yan Maoqing were talking about these silver issues, a pillar minister who had experienced many vicissitudes of life once again came to the capital from the local area.

This person is none other than the wise minister who will preside over the overall situation in the southeast in the future - Hu Zongxian!

Hu Zongxian was a Jinshi in the 17th year of Jiajing, but due to his ranking, he did not qualify to enter the Hanlin Academy, so he was arranged to observe politics in the Ministry of Justice.

After observing politics for two years, Hu Zongxian was appointed as the magistrate of Yidu County, Qingzhou Prefecture, Shandong Province. While in office in Yidu County, Hu Zongxian demonstrated his political talents.

He first organized the people of Yidu to put out the drought and locust plague that had not been seen in many years, and then he persuaded the local bandits in Yidu to surrender.

These bandits had been causing harm in Yidu for many years, but Hu Zongxian used his outstanding political talents and the strategy of appeasement and persuasion to disperse these bandits, and organized more than a thousand of them into an army of volunteers.

From this we can see that Hu Zongxian is not only talented in governing affairs, but also in commanding troops.

He is a rare all-round talent who is proficient in both civil and military affairs.

Later, he served as an imperial censor and inspected important border towns such as Xuanfu and Datong, where he improved military discipline and strengthened border defense, further demonstrating his military talent.

So in the 30th year of Jiajing's reign, Hu Zongxian was appointed as the governor of Huguang and participated in quelling the local Miao rebellion.

Now Hu Zongxian finally completed his mission and returned to the capital from Huguang.

Looking at the majestic and vicissitudes of life city of the Son of Heaven before him, Hu Zongxian's heart was filled with emotion.

During his more than ten years as an official, except for the two years he spent in the capital at the beginning of his career as an observer in the Ministry of Justice, he spent the rest of his time in Shandong or border towns such as Xuanfu and Datong. Now he has been in Huguang for several years and finally put down the rebellion of the Miao people there.

When returning to Beijing to report on his work, Hu Zongxian couldn't help but wonder if he would be just a passing visitor in the capital again?

When Hu Zongxian thought of this, he sighed in his heart.

The official system of the Ming Dynasty was quite different from that of previous dynasties.

The official positions in the Ming Dynasty seemed to be a double-regulation system.

For those nobles who were able to stay in the Hanlin Academy, their path to promotion was to move around the capital. Without much effort, they could rise quickly from Hanlin to important positions in the six ministries and the cabinet, which could influence the court's major policies.

However, people with practical talents like Hu Zongxian missed the opportunity to enter the Hanlin Academy because of their exam ranking. They had to work hard to circle outside like a homeless goose, proving their abilities again and again. Only then could they gain the favor of the court and slowly climb up from the grassroots.

However, the height one can climb is also severely limited. Except for a few lucky ones who can hold the position of Minister of the Six Ministries, the rest of the people can at best be a local governor with the title of Minister, and have no chance to participate in the decision-making and management of the central court.

Therefore, at this moment, Hu Zongxian was also thinking about his future. Will he be a governor who manages a region, or a good minister who can enter the imperial court?

However, judging from his past experiences, Hu Zongxian knew very well that he might not have the opportunity to stay in the capital to work in this lifetime. The capital was just a temporary stop in his hurried life journey. After arriving at the station, he could only take a quick look at where the next stop was, and then he had to leave.

It can be said that such a future is also cruel to Hu Zongxian. He obviously has the talent to govern the country, but he just doesn't have the opportunity to stay in the center. He can only continue to hover outside like a lone goose, proving his value to the predators in the court.

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(End of this chapter)