Daming: The system rejected my request for salted fish

So after Zeng Tai and Tang Duo finished speaking, all the other officials changed their tune and expressed their strong support for the campaign against the Japanese pirates.

Of course, there are many different kinds of people. Although officials have basically changed their words, there are still some people whose heads are as hard as if they were coated with magic oil. They are simply stubborn.

This person was the censor who first brought up this matter.

"Your Majesty, even if attacking the Japanese pirates is profitable, I still oppose sending troops now. The issue of the Japanese pirates can be suppressed for now and dealt with later."

"Now, the most important thing for our Ming Dynasty is to completely eliminate the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty. Otherwise, no matter what we do, we will be constrained by them, or even destroyed by them."

"I believe that if the production of new firearms is sufficient, we should prioritize supplying them to the Nine Borders. This way, we can reduce casualties both in defending the borders and in counterattacking the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty."

"Furthermore, I must be frank, but Your Majesty's use of the treasury to support the war is inappropriate. If the war reaches a stalemate, it will be difficult to sustain."

As soon as the censor finished speaking, the entire Fengxian Hall fell silent, and everyone's eyes turned to where he was.

Indeed, what he said was true. In terms of danger level and geographical location, the hidden dangers posed by the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty were indeed greater.

However, this hidden danger was not enough to cause the collapse of the Ming Dynasty, and Zhu Yuanzhang had just said that he would only send 30,000 people to fight the Japanese pirates.

Thirty thousand people is already a national defense force for the surrounding small countries, but for the Ming Dynasty, it is just a drop in the bucket.

Moreover, there is no need to withdraw troops from the nine borders. Even if the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty take the opportunity to move south during the campaign against the Japanese pirates, it will not affect the garrison capacity of the border.

The most important thing is that compared with the benefits that can be gained from attacking the Japanese pirates, the Ming Dynasty can fully afford these risks.

As for the issue of money and grain, the emperor has already mentioned the expenditure of the imperial treasury. The emperor will definitely not speak nonsense about such an important matter.

Since you can say this, you must have the confidence. Is it your turn as an imperial censor to question it? Didn't you see that the officials of the Ministry of Revenue didn't say anything?

In fact, when all the officials rushed to change their words, the outcome of the Eastern Expedition against the Japanese pirates had already been decided, and there was no need to discuss it further.

But this censor seemed to be possessed by a demon. For some reason, he just couldn't think straight.

Although it didn't change anything, it did make Zhu Yuanzhang feel disgusted.

As an emperor, he must be magnanimous and certainly cannot cause trouble for his ministers just because he is disgusted by them.

However, as an emperor, he could let other ministers cause trouble for this minister just because he was disgusted!

So, after the censor finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang did not get angry, but just said with a smile:

"Even without new firearms, the Nine Border Defenders could still hold off the Northern Yuan. On the contrary, with new firearms, the Navy could defeat the Japanese pirates more quickly."

"As for whether our treasury can support the war, that's not your concern. But since you've asked, there's something I must say upfront."

"Since the money and food for this eastern expedition against the Japanese pirates is paid for by our treasury, then after defeating the Japanese pirates, most of the gains will also be added to our treasury. Is that okay?"

is that OK?

Zhu Yuanzhang's words were fine for other officials, but for Zeng Tai, it was like taking a steel needle and piercing his lungs.

The Japanese pirates have a silver mountain and a gold mine. What a terrifying wealth!

If this money could be added to the national treasury, he would no longer have to look at the Ministry of Revenue's account books and expenditure items and worry about it!

Everyone thought that the Ming Dynasty was so powerful now, and there would definitely be no shortage of money and food in the treasury, but who could have known his difficulties!

Other officials only saw how much money and grain the Ministry of Revenue could collect from taxes each year, but they did not see how much money and grain the Ministry of Revenue had to spend each year.