dognovel Chapter 565 We can consecrate the indulgences!
Chapter 565 We can consecrate the indulgences!
They secretly mined and stole money from the national treasury. Should we thank them?
The more Emperor Zhu thought about it, the angrier he became.
Yang Shaofeng laughed and said, "They are secretly mining in the Ming Dynasty, which is equivalent to stealing money from the national treasury."
"But they secretly went to mine outside the Ming Dynasty. Who knows which vassal state or which barbarian tribe they stole money from?"
The local gentry and gentry were bad, but not stupid.
The previous cases of the plowshare case and the blank seal case, plus this case of Chen Da, should at least intimidate these gentry, if not frighten them.
Just as after the Plowshare Case, few dared to openly embezzle government resources, after the Blank Seal Case, no one dared to use blank seals with overlapping seams.
Now that the Chen case has occurred, coupled with the deaths of more than twenty Korean laborers in Luan County, while the county magistrate Zhou Liangyu has escaped unscathed, these gentry can easily draw a conclusion.
Harming the people of the Ming Dynasty could easily lead to death or even the extermination of one's entire family.
The infamous Yang the Mad Prince Consort lineage gets away scot-free no matter how much they wreak havoc on the barbarians.
Therefore, as long as Emperor Zhu is still alive, and that jinx Yang the Madman has not lost his power, we will not harm the people of the Ming Dynasty.
If we go out to sea to wreak havoc on the barbarians, then Zhu Chongba and Yang Dianfeng can't keep clinging to us like this, can they?
The decision of the gentry in Jiangnan was naturally a great thing in Yang Shaofeng's eyes.
Yang Shaofeng continued, "The most important thing is that although these people are not good people, they value returning home in glory and returning to their roots."
"No matter how much money they secretly make outside of the Ming Dynasty, that money will eventually be brought back to the Ming Dynasty."
Yang Shaofeng counted on his fingers as he explained to Emperor Zhu: "First, these people won't harm the people of the Ming Dynasty, so their livelihoods will be better."
"Secondly, their harm to vassal states or barbarians is tantamount to weakening the power of the vassal states and barbarians for the Ming Dynasty."
"Third, the money they bring back will eventually be spent and will ultimately end up in the national treasury and the hands of the people of the Ming Dynasty."
"Isn't this a good thing?"
After Yang Shaofeng said that, Emperor Zhu immediately realized what was going on.
Whether or not it helps the Ming Dynasty weaken the power of vassal states or barbarians is irrelevant.
After all, with the tributary system in place, which was incredibly corrupt, these people didn't actually play a very significant role.
The key points are the first and third points; these two points are extremely important.
Emperor Zhu even spontaneously came up with a fourth point.
If one day the Ming Dynasty needs to take action against a vassal state or a barbarian country, these gentry who secretly went to the vassal state or barbarian lands to mine can be transformed into Han envoys of the Ming Dynasty.
Whether or not you mine cryptocurrency is unimportant, and whether or not you make money is also unimportant.
The important thing is that they can die in the vassal state or among the barbarians.
Then Xu Da and Chang Yuchun could lead the Ming army to relieve the people and punish the guilty.
After figuring out the intricacies of the situation, Emperor Zhu grinned and said, "It is indeed a good thing, a good thing."
After a slight pause, Emperor Zhu turned his gaze to Xia Yu: "Did you hear everything?"
“Those who secretly mine in the Ming Dynasty, especially those who use the people of the Ming Dynasty as laborers and do not pay them enough wages, should be arrested and their entire families wiped out.”
“Those who secretly mine, but pay enough wages, just arrest them and teach them a lesson. Whoever runs the mine must hand over a person in charge to work as a laborer in Dengzhou.”
"As for those who are discussing going overseas, let's leave them alone for now."
Xia Yu bowed and agreed immediately, but Yang Shaofeng's eyes darted around, and he inexplicably thought of something.
As is well known, the father and son of Eagle Capital were once known as the "empire on which the sun never sets."
In the early days of the Daiying's rise to power, the license to plunder played a significant role.
Even the whole of Europe made its fortune in the early days by plundering licenses.
Of course, the Ming Dynasty could not directly issue something like a license to plunder.
After all, the Ming Dynasty was a superior nation, and it had to maintain its dignity while making money; it couldn't act like those barbarians who had such an unseemly way of doing things.
However, the Ming Dynasty could choose to go blind.
For example, there's Zheng Chenggong's father, and then there's Wang Zhi, who had a deep grudge against the Xie family of Yuyao.
These people were able to make a name for themselves at sea.
In the early days of the Ming Dynasty, there were certainly many more ruthless individuals willing to venture out to sea to take risks.
While pondering this haphazardly, Yang Shaofeng said to Emperor Zhu, "Father-in-law, what if some people are unwilling to be obedient subjects and are single-mindedly focused on plundering at sea, yet this person happens to have some principles and never plunders Ming Dynasty merchant ships, and even provides some protection and assistance to Ming Dynasty merchant ships and fishing boats..."
Emperor Zhu glared at Yang Shaofeng. "You expect those pirates to not plunder Ming Dynasty merchant ships, but to provide protection and assistance to Ming Dynasty merchant ships and fishing boats? Do you think they are the navy of our Ming Dynasty?"
“Pirates only plunder; they don’t care whose ship it is, and they certainly won’t provide protection for merchant ships and fishing boats.”
"The navy can provide protection and assistance, but the navy will not plunder."
Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but roll his eyes and said, "There weren't pirates like this before, and there won't be any in the future?"
"They plunder Ming Dynasty merchant ships and fishing boats, but the Ming Dynasty navy won't plunder them?"
"If we just pick a few outliers and teach them a lesson, the rest will naturally know what to do."
"Take the Jiangnan gentry this time, for example. They would rather discuss going overseas to mine than harm the people of the Ming Dynasty. This shows that the previous major cases have had an effect."
Seeing that Emperor Zhu still looked noncommittal, Yang Shaofeng rolled his eyes and continued, "I have heard that in the far west there is a continent called Europe, where small countries are scattered and exploit their people without restraint. There is also a religious sect that stands above all the kings."
Emperor Zhu glanced at Yang Shaofeng and snorted coldly, "Get to the point."
Yang Shaofeng paused for a moment and then said, "That barbarian sect prints something called an indulgence certificate. Barbarian people with a little money will use it to buy indulgence certificates."
Emperor Zhu immediately perked up.
We're familiar with this.
Don't those bald monks in the temple always spout nonsense about sacrificing themselves to worship Buddha?
Yang Shaofeng glanced at Emperor Zhu discreetly and said, "What do those barbarians know about design and printing?"
"Let's have the Duke of Han and the Earl of Chengyi, as well as the Ministry of Rites, discuss and design an exquisite indulgence certificate, then mass-produce it using woodblock printing and colored ink."
"Then have Commander Xia find a way to persuade a few barbarian missionaries to work for the Ming Dynasty and secretly sell indulgences to Europe..."
The Emperor Zhu's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
We never imagined there could be such foolish and barbaric people in the world.
But now that we know, can we just stand by and watch them be deceived by that barbarian sect?
They're selling fakes!
What we sell is the real deal!
We can find some highly virtuous monks to consecrate the indulgences!