In the Jinluan Palace, Emperor Hongzhi ascended his throne with a smile on his face, obviously in a very good mood.
He had carefully calculated last night that the amount of silver produced every year in the Iwami area alone in the battle with the Japanese country would belong to him as the emperor, which was worth several million taels.
It has already collected enough for the annual military expenditure.
This military expenditure is a serious problem that bothers Emperor Hongzhi right now.
The military power was recovered, but military expenditures also fell on the shoulders of the emperor. To build an army that was completely independent of production, the investment and start required were too great.
In addition, we need to carry out military reform and organize and train a new army. The new army's equipment, armor, weapons, artillery, logistics, etc., all aspects of expenditure are money.
Not to mention anything else, the money flowed out like water just for the 10,000 new troops in Tianjin. Emperor Hongzhi had already spent hundreds of thousands of taels of silver on just 10,000 new troops.
After calculation, the average expenditure of a new army may be hundreds of taels of silver per year.
Such a huge expenditure also made Emperor Hongzhi doubt whether he should carry out military reform and whether he should be so extravagant. After all, it is difficult to make money. He used to be picky and souchou, and finally got a little rich. Spending all this money is really hard.
It's heartache.
Well, now, for the war against Japan, the 15 million taels of silver compensation paid by the Japanese country must be returned to Emperor Hongzhi's own internal funds. After all, this army belongs to Emperor Hongzhi, and this military expenditure is also paid for by Emperor Hongzhi.
Emperor Hongzhi must have been the boss of the Iwami Silver Mine in the Iwami area. With a reserve of several hundred million taels of silver, there should be no problem in extracting tens of millions of taels of silver a year from the Iwami Silver Mine.
When the time comes, Emperor Hongzhi will get millions of taels of silver for each cent, and it can still be mined for decades, and the pressure of military expenditure will be gone.
Without the pressure of military expenditure, Emperor Hongzhi was naturally much more relaxed.
Emperor Hongzhi was in a good mood, and everyone could clearly see it.
"If there is something to do, start the show, if there is nothing to do, leave the court~"
As Xiao Jing was the personal eunuch of Emperor Hongzhi, he knew everything about it, so when he shouted, his voice was quite loud.
"I have something to report~"
Liu Jian was the first to stand up.
"Liu Aiqing, what's the matter?"
Emperor Hongzhi nodded slightly and said.
"Your Majesty, our Ming Dynasty's army defeated the Japanese country, which is really a gratifying and congratulatory event. Last year, we destroyed the little Tatar prince, and this year we defeated the Japanese country again. With the country's prosperity and the love of the people, the Ming Dynasty is flourishing."
"This is a sign of a prosperous age. We should take this opportunity to celebrate the country, grant amnesty to the world, and congratulate the Ming Dynasty for its eternal prosperity!"
Liu Jian's voice was very loud, and his words were obviously flattering.
"Well, what Ai Qing said makes sense, what do you think?"
Obviously, Emperor Hongzhi was very satisfied with Liu Jian's flattery. The restoration of the Ming Dynasty and the creation of a prosperous Ming Dynasty were what Emperor Hongzhi had always pursued.
Thinking about it now, Ming Dynasty is indeed moving towards ZTE and prosperity.
Not to mention anything else, just last year's killing of the little Tatar prince and this year's victory in the Eastern Conquest of Japan are enough to be called the ZTE. As for the prosperous age, looking at the current Beijing-Tianjin area, it can definitely be called the prosperous age.
.
"What Liu Gong said is true. This is a sign of the prosperous Ming Dynasty. Your majesty's civil and military achievements have been shining through the ages. He is enough to be called an emperor through the ages. He deserves to grant amnesty to the world and celebrate the prosperous Ming Dynasty."
Li Dongyang stood up and said that he now understood a little bit. Liu Jian probably wanted to take this opportunity to see if he could get Zhou Jing and Ma Wensheng out through the amnesty when Emperor Hongzhi was happy.
These two ministers are still in prison.
Zhou Jing and Ma Wensheng are both upright ministers. They are not corrupt ministers. They were just implicated in last year's case.
The corruption of the military household system in the imperial court is also an inevitable result of the development of the military household system to its current stage. It is also the result of civilian officials holding military power.
They really have little to do with Zhou Jing and Ma Wensheng. They were just unlucky. They were just in that position when Emperor Hongzhi wanted to take it back.
This matter was exposed, and naturally the two of them could not escape responsibility.
Emperor Hongzhi treated them quite well. He just locked them up, but he actually had the intention of letting them go. After all, they were not the main culprits of corruption.
The really corrupt officials, Emperor Hongzhi, had already been killed. Zhou Jing and Ma Wensheng were not killed, but they were actually prepared to let them go. They just lacked an excuse.
After all, Emperor Hongzhi was still a good man with a kind heart. If a minister asked for mercy, he would use Po Xia's donkey to let Zhou Jing and Ma Wensheng go.
But because there have been too many major cases in the past few years, and Emperor Hongzhi killed too many ministers, everyone did not dare to touch this issue, so no one asked Emperor Hongzhi for mercy.
Now Liu Jian was very smart and used this incident to release this information to Emperor Hongzhi.
Li Dongyang was a man of talent and could later become the chief minister of the cabinet. He immediately guessed what Liu Jian meant, so he followed suit.
Of course, this is indeed something to be happy about.
Since ancient times, winning a battle has been a matter of joy, not to mention that the current Ming Dynasty is indeed showing signs of prosperity.
"Hmm~"
Liu Jian and Li Dongyang flattered him one after another. Emperor Hongzhi was in a very aggressive mood.
He has long been used to ordinary flattery and doesn't feel anything about it anymore.
But this was a prosperous age and a ZTE, and Li Dongyang was called the emperor of the ages. This flattery made him enjoy it very much.
"Mr. Liu, what Mr. Li said is true. Our Great Ming Dynasty's Haiqinghe Banquet is flourishing. Your Majesty is more successful than the Three Emperors, and the Five Emperors are of high virtue..."
"Your Majesty is the Holy King of the Qianqiu~"
“We can expect a prosperous Ming Dynasty~”
With Liu Jian and Li Dongyang at the beginning, the ministers in the court immediately began to flatter Emperor Hongzhi one after another, and each one was more eloquent than the other, and Emperor Hongzhi blushed a little when he said it.
But who doesn’t like flattering others, even if they know that what the other person says is exaggerated, they still enjoy it.
Emperor Hongzhi was smiling all over his face, and he had already guessed what these ministers meant, but it didn't matter, he was in a good mood now.
The Eastern Expedition against Japan was a great victory, which meant that he gained money and face. The key is that his losses were minimal. This is very worthy of joy, and it is natural to celebrate properly.
"Your Majesty, I want to impeach the British Duke Zhang Mao, the sacked Hou Yang Yun, the counselor of the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion Liu Jin, and the Hanlin Academy Wang Shouren~"
However, just when Emperor Hongzhi was about to borrow the donkey from the slope to grant amnesty to the world, Yushi Jiang En stood up and said seriously and seriously.
His words were as cold as a basin of cold water. Suddenly, the entire Jinluan Palace was silent, and everyone looked at Jiang En.
"oh?"
A trace of displeasure flashed across Emperor Hongzhi's face and he replied lightly.
"Your Majesty, our Ming Dynasty is the suzerain state of Japan, and Japan is a vassal state of our Ming Dynasty. Our country, Ming Dynasty, has always treated each vassal country with benevolence, righteousness, and honesty. Therefore, all the countries surrounding our country, Ming Dynasty, admire our country, and have written letters to declare themselves ministers.
Pay tribute every year.”
"Today, the Japanese state only expropriated some merchant ships and killed a few merchants. I, the Ming Dynasty, can only send people to issue instructions. We will not accuse the Japanese state of raising an army because of a trivial matter."
"The British Duke Zhang Mao, Polu Hou Yang Yun, Liu Jin, the staff officer of the Fifth Army Governor's Office, and Wang Shouren of the Hanlin Academy, as the main generals in the eastern expedition against Japan, should be aware of this."
"However, when the army marched eastward to the Japanese country, they burned, killed, looted, and committed all kinds of evil. They directly destroyed several Japanese lords on the Japanese side and bombarded several cities, causing heavy casualties to the people of the Japanese country and ruining their lives."
"They even forced the Japanese king, the shogunate and all the great names of the Japanese country to sign a city alliance. The Japanese country is a small country, but it wants to compensate me, the Ming Dynasty, fifteen million taels of silver."
"How is this behavior different from that of an animal?"
"If the news spreads, how will the surrounding vassal countries view our Ming Dynasty?"
Jiang En's voice was full of emotion, as if he was a Japanese man and he was the one who was hurt.
After hearing his words, Emperor Hongzhi's face changed. He was in a good mood, but now it disappeared in an instant. These censors are all full and have nothing to do. No matter what, they have to come out.
With some messing around, good things can be turned into bad things.
In the past, Emperor Hongzhi was often disgusted by these censors, but he had nothing to do with these censors.
Because Comrade Lao Zhu, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, gave the imperial censor the ability to speak out and impeach ministers directly on hearsay. This was an important way for the Donglin Party members to gain power in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.
Just use the imperial censor to constantly impeach your competitors.
Keep impeaching, keep impeaching, until your competitors are embarrassed and resign and go home, then they will naturally win.
Not only was Emperor Hongzhi unhappy, many ministers in the court also changed their expressions. Liu Jian and Li Dongyang even frowned. Everything was arranged well, but you, the censor, came out to cause trouble again.
"Your Majesty, the Japanese country is certainly at fault, but this is because the Japanese country does not know education, benevolence, justice, etiquette, wisdom, and trust. What we should do is to teach them the way of Confucius and Mencius, the way of benevolence and righteousness, instead of raising troops to punish them."
"Under the pressure of this large army, the Japanese country was forced to sign an alliance under the city. Such a treaty is simply embarrassing. It has completely lost the magnanimity of our great country, the Ming Dynasty."
"From now on, how will I, the Ming Dynasty, face the surrounding vassal states? How can these vassal states be sincere to us?"
"Our Ming Dynasty is the suzerain state, and the suzerain state should have the magnanimity of the suzerain state. If a vassal state makes a small mistake, it will be fine with a small punishment and a big warning. It should not be like this to raise an army to investigate the crime and force the Japanese country to sign an alliance under the city."
"Since ancient times, rebellious ministers and traitors have all been noble military officers. These noble military officers hold military power and are the greatest threat to the imperial power. I am afraid that the country of the Ming Dynasty will be in turmoil if things go on like this."
"I impeach Zhang Mao, Yang Yun, Liu Jin, and Wang Shouren for burning, killing, and looting in our Ming vassal state, and forcing the Japanese to sign an alliance under the city, which is detrimental to the benevolence and righteousness of our Ming Dynasty."
Gann's words of justice are awe-inspiring, as if he is the embodiment of justice.
"I also want to impeach Zhang Mao, Yang Yun, Liu Jin, and Wang Shouren for plundering the vassal states of our Ming Dynasty. They are no different from barbarians and beasts. The army marched eastward and made our Ming Dynasty lose its trust in the world. The name of our Ming Dynasty's century-old benevolence and righteousness has been wiped out.
From now on, the neighboring countries of our Ming Dynasty will no longer have any admiration for our Ming Dynasty, but will only be afraid that our Ming Dynasty will attack them, burn, kill, and loot."
After Jiang En, the censor Zhang Wenjing also stood up to impeach.
Soon, several more censors and Hanlin came forward to impeach Zhang Mao, Yang Yun, Liu Jin, Wang Shouren and others. Some even suggested canceling the treaty just concluded with the Japanese country.
It is believed that this treaty was an alliance under the city that the Japanese army forced the Japanese to sign. It was not something the Japanese really wanted to sign, and the treaty was very harsh on the Japanese.
The Japanese country has a small population and wants to compensate the Ming Dynasty for 15 million taels of silver. This is really too much. It is an exploitation and oppression of the Japanese country. It will make the Japanese people miserable and make the people of the Japanese country miserable. It will be harmful in the future.
The majesty of the Ming Dynasty is detrimental to His Majesty’s Heavenly Majesty.
In short, in the eyes of these people, Zhang Mao, Yang Yun, Liu Jin, Wang Shouren and others were heinous people who allowed the army to burn, kill and loot in the Japanese country and wantonly poisoned the Japanese people.
As for the Japanese side, they expropriated the merchants of the Ming Dynasty, looted the merchants of the Ming Dynasty, and killed the merchants of the Ming Dynasty. In their eyes, it was worthless and a trivial matter. It was not necessary to raise an army to punish the Japanese nation, and there was no need to even give a warning to the Japanese nation.
After all, that would be detrimental to the name of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty is the suzerain state, and the suzerain state should have the demeanor of a suzerain state. For such a trivial matter, they raised an army to accuse the Japanese country, and also killed and looted wantonly. The suzerain state of the Ming Dynasty lost face.
Listening to these people impeaching Zhang Mao, Liu Jin and others, Emperor Hongzhi's face darkened.
In Emperor Hongzhi's mind, these people were now treating themselves like fools.
The suzerain and vassal states are good, but they are just for the Ming Dynasty to entertain itself. In the past, the Japanese country did not treat you as a green onion at all.
Whether it is the Japanese king of the Japanese country or the shogunate, who needs you, the Ming Emperor, to canonize him?
It was said that they were paying tribute, but in fact they all came here to seek benefits from the Ming Dynasty. Every time they came to pay tribute, the Ming Dynasty paid back several times the amount, so that when the Ming Dynasty's national power was weak, it was unable to bear the burden and had to order the surrounding vassal states not to pay tribute.
Pay tribute every year.
In the final analysis, they are just trying to make a fool of themselves, a typical example of great success.
A suzerain country or a vassal country really takes itself seriously.
Now it is clear that the Japanese nation disrespected the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty launched an army to attack them, but it was just to uphold justice, but in the mouths of these people, it completely changed the taste.