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In the quiet study, there is a waft of incense and a faint scent of tea.
Qin Mu wanted to hand over the Longjiang Treasure Shipyard to merchants for reconstruction. Sima An was unable to refute Qin Mu's wild idea at first, but after thinking about it, he still felt that it was inappropriate to hand over the official shipyard to merchants for operation.
He said directly: "King of Qin, all dynasties have upheld the national policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce. Isn't there a reason for this? King of Qin wants to hand over the official shipyard to merchants. This means that the court will have to rely on merchants in the future and ask for help from merchants, which will invisibly raise the status of merchants. Moreover, a shipyard like Longjiang requires tens of thousands of craftsmen and laborers. How can I allow merchants to gather so many people next to my bed?"
As the Prime Minister, it is not surprising that Sima An said such things. Emperors and officials have always relied on political privileges to maintain their ruling status and vital interests.
However, merchants quickly accumulated a lot of wealth by doing business and exchanging what they had. Some of them were even rich enough to rival a country. They were also able to live a luxurious life like an emperor. This, to a certain extent, has threatened the traditional ideas that have been promoted for a long time, and threatened the identity and status of emperors and officials.
Therefore, almost all dynasties implemented the policy of "promoting agriculture and suppressing commerce", relegating merchants to the bottom of the social ladder and imposing many restrictions and suppression on their political status. Otherwise, national politics would sooner or later be controlled by those financial tycoons.
Qin Mu pondered for a moment and said, "The policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce has a long history, at least dating back to the pre-Qin period. Mr. Sima, have you ever thought about this? In the pre-Qin period, productivity was low and the supply of goods in the market was short. Emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce could suppress the number of merchants and allow more labor to be invested in agricultural production. Therefore, emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce was indeed beneficial to the country at that time.
But after two thousand years of development, productivity has greatly improved. The emergence of a large number of commodities must be circulated by merchants. This is the general trend. Forcibly suppressing merchants will only cause the entire society to regress. Therefore, I think that the national policy of my Great Qin should follow the trend of society, emphasizing agriculture rather than suppressing commerce... "
"King Qin!"
"Don't worry, Mr. Sima. Among the four classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, merchants will definitely be the last. The fact that I will not suppress merchants does not mean that I will let them run wild. I will still impose restrictions on their political status, but this will not hinder my idea of developing industry and commerce. Some important industries such as salt, iron, and tea will still be managed by the court.
However, if the shipbuilding industry is handed over to merchants, this is not a big problem. In the future, the difference between merchant ships and warships will become increasingly greater, and naval battles will no longer be dominated by traditional stringed battles, but will be dominated by gunboats.
As long as the imperial court controls the steel industry and the cannon casting technology, it will always be able to control the sea. As for the gathering of several thousand laborers outside the city, if this can pose a major threat to the imperial court, then even if these several thousand people do not rebel, the demise of our Great Qin will not be far away. "
After hearing what Qin Mu said, Sima An felt relieved. What he cared about was not the Longjiang Shipyard, but Qin Mu's attitude towards merchants. He was worried that Qin Mu would give merchants too much power and too high a social status. This would lead to strong opposition from the scholars and civilians, and thus shake the rule of Qin.
It now seems that Qin Mu has not made much change in his policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce. The liberalization of the shipbuilding industry can be regarded as an individual case, and there is nothing to worry about.
Zhu Yuanzhang also tried his best to suppress the political status of businessmen, but in fact he also encouraged industry and commerce. The low tax rate of 50% to 1% was the best proof of this.
Sima An was a more pragmatic person. As long as the political policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce remained unchanged, he would not oppose the liberalization of the shipbuilding industry.
The next issue is the actual operation. Xu Yingjie has more say in this regard. He said, "King Qin, there are many wealthy families in Jiangnan with assets of millions. It is definitely not a problem for merchants to take over the operation of the shipyard in terms of financial resources. However, it is unprecedented in all dynasties to let private individuals take over the shipbuilding business. Therefore, if you want to let private individuals take over the operation, the first thing to solve is the credibility of the court."
"Well, Xu Qing, tell me in detail."
"First, how to convince merchants that the court will really hand over the Longjiang Shipyard to them for operation; second, how to convince merchants that the court will really place orders for shipbuilding at their shipyard and pay at a fair and reasonable price; third, rebuilding a shipyard requires a huge investment, how to convince merchants that the court's policy will not change for a long time; for example, the Ming Dynasty Law clearly stipulates that military and civilians who build illegal large ships with more than three masts will be executed. If the Qin Dynasty also formulates such a policy in the future, merchants will definitely not want to operate shipyards."
Qin Mu nodded and said, "First, I can personally issue this decree to win the trust of the people. Second, the Ministry of Revenue can prepay the first shipbuilding fee in full. As for the third, in the early Ming Dynasty, the private sector was not allowed to build large ships with more than three masts, mainly due to the sea ban policy; this is an extremely absurd policy. When Yu the Great controlled the flood, he knew that it was better to drain than to block. How can we just ban the vast sea? There is no need for the court to discuss this matter. I can tell you with certainty now that my Great Qin wants not only the vast land, but also the wealth of the four seas. The sea ban will never be allowed in my Great Qin."
"If this is possible, I am sure that many wealthy merchants will be willing to run a shipyard."
"That's good, you can handle this matter."
After the discussion, it was already 3:00 pm. Qin Mu wanted to keep the two of them in the palace for dinner, but the two of them were tactful and said goodbye and left the palace together, claiming that they had important business to attend to.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang prohibited meritorious officials and nobles from building gardens. Xu Da was always so respectful in front of the emperor that he could not speak, and the palace was very simple. In the early years of Jiajing, the imperial court relaxed the ban, and the trend of building gardens began to prevail. Xu Pengju, the seventh-generation grandson of Xu Da, built a garden in the western part of the rubble field.
In the middle of the Wanli reign, the ninth-generation grandson Xu Weizhi started a large-scale construction project. He built a foundation on the mountain, diverted water to form a swamp, built halls and pavilions, dug ponds and piled up mountains, and bought rare stones from all over the world to gather in the garden. Since then, the garden has been famous for its stones, winding paths, and flowers and plants blooming all year round.
Walking in the garden, you can see that the Yiyun Peak looks like white clouds leaning against each other, or like a fairy holding a baby, standing tall and graceful, leaning on the clouds, which gives people endless reverie.
There are also some strange peaks and rocks such as Xianren Peak, Guanyin Peak, Yousong Peak and Xuelang Stone, all of which are graceful and varied, and they set off the green tiles, winding bridges, carved eaves and embroidered pavilions in the garden, making it poetic and picturesque.
Orange blossoms bloom as Mancheng enters the stream, osmanthus leaves are thick as the jade chariot climbs the mountain. The garden is beautiful and the people are even more beautiful. Dong Xiaowan has already stood under the osmanthus tree in the archway, waiting for Qin Mu to return to the garden.
The beauty has silk thread tied around her hair and gold hairpins dotted with kingfisher feathers, and she’s wearing a pine-colored Xiang skirt with eight panels embroidered with hundreds of butterflies. She is naturally beautiful, as warm as the moon, and as graceful as the breeze blowing on the willows and the snow pressing down on the red plums.
"Is dinner ready?" Qin Mu asked with a smile, took Dong Xiaowan's hand, and walked towards the flower hall from the path in the garden.
"Everything is ready, King Qin..." Yang Zhi and the others were waiting in the flower hall. Dong Xiaowan felt very shy as Qin Mu held her hand.
Qin Mu looked back at her and saw that she was half a step behind, with her head lowered. Her delicate neck was clear and her skin was as white as snow, which made him think about her endlessly. Qin Mu couldn't help but tease her and said, "Xiao Wan, have you missed me during this period?"
"King Qin..." It would be a lie to say that she didn't miss him, but she had a relatively calm personality, so how could she say that she missed him
"Ahem. I miss you. I wanted to stay in your room tonight. But since you don't miss me, I have no choice but to stay in Xiangjun's room instead."
Qin Mu's voice was very soft, but it made Dong Xiaowan's heart numb.
"King Qin, I am not... not..."
"Not what?"
Dong Xiaowan's shyness became more intense. She raised her head and glanced at him leisurely, then lowered her head and said in a whisper as soft as a mosquito: "I... I miss the King of Qin too, but... the King of Qin and the Queen have been separated for several months. They are reunited tonight, so it is better for us to stay in the Queen's room. My sister Xiangjun and I will serve the King of Qin again tomorrow."
"Oh? Is it the Queen who is...?"
"No, no, King Qin, please don't misunderstand me. The Queen treats me and Xiangjun like sisters and has never wronged us. The Queen is virtuous and kind, so how can I and Xiangjun not keep our responsibilities? What I said just now came from my heart, and I was not hypocritical, King Qin!"
Dong Xiaowan was anxious. To be honest, Yang Zhi treated them very well. She was kind by nature, so how could she slander Yang Zhi against her conscience
What's more, she knew very well that with their backgrounds, they had no ability to compete with Yang Zhi. Even if Yang Zhi fell out of favor, the position of queen would not fall to them, and the ministers would not allow such a thing to happen.
Yang Zhi treated them well, so it was also beneficial for them to protect Yang Zhi's position as queen.
Seeing the harmony in the backyard, Qin Mu was happy. He hugged her delicate body and pressed her against the rockery to kiss her.
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ps: Today is the 26th. The closer we get to the end of the month, the less books are sold. For me, May is a dark month and I am struggling. I hope my brothers can give me more support and encouragement.
Please give me a monthly ticket!
Please give me a monthly ticket!
.(To be continued..)
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