The Age of Discovery: Chinese cuisine swept across Europe

Yun Ji, who had been silent, spoke up: "The most crucial point in this matter lies in your Majesty's attitude. As long as your Majesty insists on reforming the law, those people will be helpless."

Wanli nodded: "Yunqing's words make sense."

After breakfast, Min Xi and Yun Ji left the Qianqing Palace and headed for the Wenyuan Pavilion. Noticing that there was no one around, Min Xi spoke in a low voice, "Seventh Brother, I really wanted to ask Your Majesty whether the cabinet's prime minister has been decided. But I felt that it was a bit presumptuous, so I held back."

Yun Ji glanced at him and said, "It is indeed inappropriate to ask about this matter now. His Majesty's attitude towards Elder Zhang is still unclear. If you ask now, it will be easy for His Majesty to think that you are Elder Zhang's man. It is best to wait until the result comes out. If it is not Elder Pan, you can advise His Majesty as an imperial censor. Asking too early may make him disgusted."

"Well, let's go meet those cabinet elders and find out the details of the cabinet."

Since it is the highest power center, the cabinet certainly cannot be composed entirely of people from the same faction, as this would be detrimental to the balance of power. Therefore, if Pan Sheng wants to become the prime minister of the cabinet, he still has a long way to go. After all, the prime minister is the center of the power center, second only to the emperor and above everyone else.

When they arrived, several bigwigs in Wenyuan Pavilion had just finished breakfast and were gathering together to discuss the affairs of the Nanyang Continent. Min Xi and Yun Ji were led to the meeting room and respectfully saluted the elders.

Pan Sheng said: "Please sit down, my lords."

"Thank you, Lord!" Yun Ji thanked him and sat down with Min Xi at the last seat in the hall.

The cabinet had a maximum of seven members. When Zhang Juzheng was the chief minister, the cabinet had five members. After he retired, the emperor asked Fang Wenxuan, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, to join the cabinet. Although the Hanlin scholar was only a fifth-rank official, which was much lower than the other six ministers, he was the emperor's teacher and often taught Wanli. Although his official position was low, his status was not low.

This Lord Fang was also Yun Ji's former superior. He had just entered the cabinet and was relatively low-key. When Yun Ji saluted him, he just nodded slightly to show his goodwill.

Min Xi was not quite clear about the positions of several people in the cabinet, so he could only observe while doing his work, and then he would go back to inquire about the factions of several cabinet elders.

The Prime Minister has not been officially confirmed yet. Pan Sheng is currently acting as the Prime Minister, so he is the one presiding over this meeting. "I believe that you all have already known about the Nanyang Continent to some extent. Your Majesty attaches great importance to the Nanyang Continent. Today we will discuss how to deal with the Nanyang Continent. The Nanyang Continent was discovered by Lord Yun and Lord Min during their diplomatic missions. They are very familiar with the specific situation. Now that they are here, let them introduce the situation of the Nanyang Continent first."

Min Xi and Yun Ji looked at each other, and Yun Ji stood up: "I am Yun Ji, a doctor of the Ministry of Revenue, and I have served as the chief envoy of the diplomatic corps. Let me introduce the situation of the South Sea Continent to you gentlemen. If you have any questions, you can ask us."

Yun Ji reiterated the general situation of the South Sea Continent, including how far away it was, how long the voyage would take, the specific situation of the South Sea Continent, the people there were, the products available, the climate conditions, etc. He also answered questions from several ministers.

When no one asked Yun Ji any more questions, Pan Sheng spoke again: "Now that everyone knows the situation in the South Sea Continent, and knows that the most important thing is the gold mines, let's discuss how to dig for the gold mines. Should the court send people to dig, or encourage private ships to dig?"

"Isn't there one that's already being dug? That must be a private boat digging it. Whose idea was this?" Wei Zhan, the Minister of Personnel, looked at Min Xi and Yun Ji.

Yun Ji was about to speak when Min Xi pulled him back and said, "It was my idea. When I and Lord Yun were traveling in Europe, we learned that when European countries were developing the New World, they were all doing it with private ships. When the private ships brought gold, silver, jewelry, medicinal herbs and spices back to their countries, they paid taxes to the king. In this way, their kings did not have to bear the costs and risks and could make a profit without losing money."

Wei Zhan looked at Min Xi and said, "Since the private ships are responsible for all the costs and risks, why do we still need the Ming Navy to escort the private ships?"

Min Xi explained: "This is the price the court needs to pay. Although the court will not come forward to develop the gold mine, the gold must be safely transported back to Ming Dynasty. Only then can the half of the gold be truly considered as our Ming Dynasty."

Minister of Finance Zheng Tuo frowned in dissatisfaction, stroking his beard: "Since the court sent the navy to escort the private ships, the risks borne by the private ships are very low. They get half of the gold, which is too much!"

As soon as he said this, the other ministers all felt that it made sense.

It turned out to be from the Ministry of Household Affairs. Min Xi looked at Yun Ji, meaning that you should deal with your boss yourself.