Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 182: Economic boom, people’s smiles!
"The minister obeys the order."

Lu Bing said without hesitation.

More than 6,000 court officials were executed immediately.

More than 23,000 court officials were dismissed from office.

There must be innocent people among them, but there are too many of them. It is difficult for the Jinyiwei and the court to find a few gold grains from a handful of sand. For the sake of the Ming Dynasty, there must always be sacrifices.

Zhang Juzheng's cabinet remained silent upon hearing this.

During the 40th year of the Jiajing reign, they lost too many colleagues and gained too many colleagues. Over time, everyone became somewhat numb.

Moreover, the emperor spared the lives of those court officials who did not participate in the Huizhou merchants' rebellion and only dismissed them from their posts. In the eyes of Zhang Juzheng's cabinet, this was a act of mercy from heaven.

Zhang Juzheng and his companions, who had never believed in gods or Buddhas, suddenly heard the same Buddhist saying in their hearts at this moment.

Good! Good!
Zhu Houcong looked at Zhang Juzheng and called out, "Zhang Juzheng."

"I'm here!" Zhang Juzheng stood up, leaned forward slightly, and listened to the holy voice.

"The cabinet quickly filled the vacant positions of the rebellious officials who were executed and the eunuchs who were dismissed with the sons of farmers and workers."

"I obey your order." Zhang Juzheng bowed and accepted the order.

this matter.

The cabinet had already thought about it and kept a copy of the roster of officials funded by Huizhou merchants. Although it was not known at the time how many of these officials would survive, it was known that at least some of them would be dismissed from their posts.

The cabinet then made a list according to the positions of these officials, and compared it with the list of 200,000 children of farmers and workers selected from across the country, and selected 30,000 children based on their merits.

The Ministry of Personnel was the government office under the control of Zhang Juzheng. Even the appointment documents had been prepared and stamped. One could just go back and fill in the name to fill the vacant position in the court.

Lu Bing finished his work.

He hunched over and retreated to the door of the main hall, then turned around and left Yuxi Palace.

When it was the cabinet's turn to make a report, Zhang Juzheng, as the chief minister of the cabinet, stepped forward and gave Zhu Houcong a detailed account of the poor business situation in the Ming Dynasty.

After listening to Zhang Juzheng's report, Zhu Houcong thought for a moment and said, "Are there fewer merchants in the two capitals and thirteen provinces?"

Hear the words.

Zhang Juzheng was stunned.

Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian, Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin were also confused.

I carefully recalled the official documents from the local government. They talked at length about how miserable the merchants in the dynasty were and how difficult it was to do business, but it seemed that the number of merchants was not mentioned much.

But from a normal human perspective, it is so difficult for businessmen to do business and their status is so low, so naturally some businessmen would be unwilling to run the business.

Anyway, the people of the Ming Dynasty had their citizenship released, and after they stopped doing business, they could still do other things.

It seems that there are fewer businessmen in this dynasty.

However, since His Majesty asked this question, there must be a deeper meaning behind it. What is it?

It's impossible that the number of merchants in the Ming Dynasty increased under such difficult circumstances?
The emperor's eyes were sharp, and Zhang Juzheng could not remain silent for long. He gritted his teeth and replied, "In my humble opinion, it may be a little less."

Zhu Houcong neither nodded nor shook his head. He looked at Gao Gong and the other three and asked, "What about you?"

"We agree with what Yuan Fu said." Gao, Hu, Li and Chen answered fluently.

No matter whether the number of merchants in the country increases or decreases, we have Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng to take the lead. If the answer is correct, it is correct. If the answer is wrong, it is the Prime Minister's fault. If the emperor blames, the Prime Minister will be held responsible for the major crimes, and they will be held responsible for the minor crimes.

Zhang Juzheng's mouth twitched. Only then did he realize the difficulty of being in charge of the center and the wickedness of people. He couldn't even trust his colleagues. "Gao Gong."

"The minister is here."

"I heard that when you were on your way back from work, you often passed by Qipan Street and often opened the curtains of your sedan chair to listen to and observe the conversations and expressions of the vendors and peddlers on both sides of the street?"

Gao Gong's heart tightened when asked by His Majesty. He had never thought that his little habit had been noticed by His Majesty. How well did His Majesty know him? However, this did not involve anything. He calmed his mind and said, "Your Majesty, yes."

"Then let me ask you, are the smiles and laughters of the street vendors and the people selling pulp on carts more or less?"

Gao Gong held his breath and concentrated, carefully recalling the expressions and words of the people passing by Qipan Street. After a moment, he exclaimed, "Your Majesty, there are too many!"

Zhang Juzheng, Hu Zongxian, Li Chunfang and Chen Yiqin were all stunned. They were not stupid, nor did they not understand the ways of the world.

For ordinary people at the bottom of society, the simplest and most direct way to increase smiles and laughter is to fill their wallets.

You can work hard for a living, but you no longer have to worry about making a living. People's laughter will overflow from the bottom of their hearts.

There is no doubt that the three major business groups of the Ming Dynasty, Jin, Hui and Chao, were all selling out their country for wealth.

However, the market in the Ming Dynasty was mainly controlled by Shanxi merchants and Huizhou merchants, while Chaozhou merchants had been engaged in maritime smuggling.

After the demise of Shanxi merchants, Chaozhou merchants once felt that the opportunity to return to the domestic market had come. However, they were hit hard by Huizhou merchants and became obedient.

Today, the Huizhou merchants are gone. It can be said that the two huge mountains that weighed on all the merchants in the Ming Dynasty are gone. As a result, there are countless gaps in the market of the Ming Dynasty.

Those who were already doing business would definitely continue to do it after tasting the sweetness, and the smart people keenly noticed the opportunity to make a fortune and started doing business.

The Ming Dynasty lost the two major merchant groups, Shanxi merchants and Huizhou merchants, but that number was less than 10,000 people. Apart from them, no other merchants left the market.

On the contrary, more and more people engaged in buying and selling, so the number of merchants in the Ming Dynasty should have increased.

"Lu Fang."

"The servant is here."

"Show the case files to my elders."

"Yes."

Lu Fang came to the imperial desk, took out the case file that the Emperor had asked the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate, and gave it to Zhang Juzheng.

The case files clearly record that as of November of the 40th year of the Jiajing reign, there were five million registered merchants in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Juzheng's hands trembled and he almost couldn't produce the case file. He still remembered that in December of the 39th year of Jiajing, there were less than four million merchants in the Ming Dynasty.

Within one year, the number of merchants increased by more than one million, which was unprecedented in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Juzheng's heart was pounding. He looked at the specific number of merchants who increased every month. In the past year, the number of merchants increased more than the previous month, especially after the demise of Shanxi merchants and Huizhou merchants, there was an explosive growth.

Zhang Juzheng couldn't understand why people all over the world were cursing unscrupulous businessmen and calling businessmen shameless, but more and more people were engaging in business.

The case file was passed to Gao Gong, then to Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang, and finally fell into the hands of Chen Yiqin.

Chen Yiqin was not as confused as his colleagues, but instead had a sudden realization. In the Chen Family Books, there were detailed records of business under the rule of the Song court. The lower the status of the merchants, the more merchants there were.

In the final analysis, it comes down to two sentences, "When the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they have enough food and clothing, they know honor and disgrace."

And, "Laugh at poverty, not prostitution."

(End of this chapter)