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The next morning, Qin Mu came to the Xuan Zheng Hall wearing a black robe and a twelve-character crown on his head, with a happy face.
Today is the day of the regular court session. As soon as the third drum beat, two groups of civil and military officials filed into the hall led by ceremonial officers.
"Your Majesty has arrived!" Qin Mu walked out from the back hall at the eunuch's call, spread his sleeves, and sat down on the throne.
The ministers in both rows immediately stepped forward, holding their hu tablets and bowing in respect, saying, "Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor! Long, long live the emperor!"
During the regular court sessions held in the Xuanzheng Hall, ministers did not need to kneel, they only had to hold the tablets and bow to pay their respects.
After the worship ceremony, ministers above the third rank sat on the left and right, while those below the third rank had no seats and could only stand solemnly on both sides.
For those officials below the third rank who do not have seats, there is one thing to say: the revolution has not yet succeeded, comrades still need to work hard.
When you have made enough contributions and are promoted to the third rank, you will naturally have a place for yourself.
Qin Mu first asked Han Zanzhou to read Zhao Han's urgent report in the hall. After listening to it, most of the ministers looked at each other and exchanged glances.
Didn't the navy protect Ai Nengqi in his expedition to Guangdong and Guangxi by sea? Why did it go to Luzon
Most of the ministers in the palace did not know about the navy's expedition to Luzon, but now Zhao Han was reporting that the two fleets had defeated the Spaniards, captured 1,200 Westerners and 400 of their families, seized 19 Western warships, more than 700 artillery pieces of various types, and property worth nearly 2 million taels.
What's going on? We haven't even heard of it, but the navy has already opened up thousands of miles of territory and brought back nearly two million taels of silver. This is incredible, equivalent to half of the annual revenue in the early Ming Dynasty.
In the hall, many ministers could not help but whisper to each other.
"Silence!" The Imperial Censor in the palace shouted loudly, and the Xuanzheng Hall finally became quiet again.
Qin Mu said: "Luzon Island has been occupied by the Western Barbarians for nearly a hundred years. This time, the Royal Navy defeated the Western Barbarians and captured the main island of Luzon. Its area is equivalent to the size of Fujian Province. How to govern it, please express your opinions, ministers."
When Qin Mu asked this question, the expressions on the faces of the ministers in the palace were really interesting. Although Luzon was heard to be nearby, no one had ever seen what it looked like.
Besides, we were not even prepared, Your Majesty, you suddenly announced that Daqin had a new province overseas. And then asked how to govern it. Without investigation and research, you have no right to speak, which is what Your Majesty often said. We haven't even figured out how many monkeys there are on Luzon Island, and you immediately asked everyone to come up with a governance plan. Isn't this embarrassing!
Regardless, the Minister of War He Liang stepped forward and loudly congratulated: "Congratulations to our emperor, congratulations to our emperor, for adding new overseas territories."
All the ministers in the palace came out and shouted, "Congratulations to the emperor. Congratulations to the emperor!"
Qin Mu looked expressionless at He Liang and said, "Why did Minister He emphasize the word overseas?"
"this... ... "
He Liang didn't expect the emperor to react like this, and he secretly groaned in his heart, is it wrong to congratulate him
The ministers in the hall looked at each other in bewilderment. No one could figure out what was wrong with He Liang's words.
Qin Mu coughed twice and said in a deep voice: "In my eyes, the South China Sea is like a bathing pool in my imperial garden. Minister He does not need to deliberately emphasize that Luzon is located overseas."
"Your Majesty is right. I know I was wrong."
"Huang Zhenlin."
"I am here."
"Tomorrow you will be in charge of having the Ministry of Works make a globe with a height of two meters and a diameter for each government office in the court. They will be placed outside each government office. There will also be one outside the Meridian Gate."
"I respect your order."
"I often ask my ministers to look at the world, but it seems that no one has listened. So let everyone take a look at how big the world is when they go to court every day."
A change in concept needs to be gradual, and putting up a globe outside each government office may be a good way to do it.
Let the ministers take a look every day when they go to court. Ah! There is still such a large area that has not been incorporated into the rule of the Qin Dynasty. It turns out that our Celestial Empire only occupies a corner of the land. This is not good!
In order to avoid the situation in the Qing Dynasty, where the emperor and his ministers only knew about China and knew nothing about overseas, and even believed that foreigners' knees were naturally inflexible and therefore could not kneel. The Qin Dynasty must not repeat such a joke.
Qin Mu then said to Huang Zhenlin: "Mr. Huang, when you rush to make the globe tomorrow, don't forget to mark Luzon as the territory of our Great Qin."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"My dear ministers, the Royal Navy has added a new province to our Great Qin. However, I think you are still at a loss as to how to govern it. This makes me very disappointed. Very disappointed! Among my ministers, is there no one who has ever thought about the world outside of Great Qin?"
Qin Mu said with emotion, "Am I a warmongerer? This time, the expansion of Luzon did not require the Ministry of Revenue to allocate an extra tael of silver, nor did it require the people of Daqin to pay an extra penny of tax. On the contrary, the Royal Navy not only expanded a province for Daqin, but also added two million taels of income to the national treasury. I want to ask all the ministers, am I a warmongerer and a waste of money and labor?"
"Your Majesty is wise and brave, this certainly does not count as warmongering." The three giants of the Ministry of Revenue, Shangshu Liu Boquan, Zuo Shilang Xu Yingjie, and You Shilang Yang Chao, all came out and played at the same time. The sound was as crisp and pleasant as the collision of silver.
"It's not about militarism. What I want to tell you today is that if the Royal Navy sends back a victory report saying that a new province has been opened, I hope you won't be at a loss like you are today. You must be prepared to take over the governance of a new province at any time."
"Your Majesty, I will follow your instructions."
"Since none of the ministers are prepared this time, let's let the South China Sea Fleet take charge of Luzon."
Qin Mu never thought of sending civil servants to govern Luzon immediately. He let Zheng Sihai, Hai Rufeng and others do it first. After the natives on Luzon Island were dealt with completely, it would not be too late to send civil servants there then.
He mentioned this matter today just to take the opportunity to warn the ministers in the court.
There is no doubt that this incident also caused great shock to the ministers in the court.
In every dynasty, the expansion of territory required the mobilization of large armies, huge expenditures of money, and the loss of manpower and wealth. Has anyone ever heard of an army expanding thousands of miles of territory and bringing back huge wealth, but the ministers in the court knew nothing about it
While the ministers were still confused, Qin Mu asked the Hanlin scholar Gu Yanwu to draft an imperial edict to attack our country, and then promulgated it to the world with his imperial seal.
Of course, he would not immediately send troops to attack Dongwu State. He just wanted to set the tone for dealing with Dongwu State first.
Just like when the Northern Expedition was launched and the imperial edict was issued to punish Zhu Youlang, the nature of the matter should be determined first. As for when to attack, it depends on when the Qin Dynasty can free up its hands.
The King of Dongwu, Talong, had responded to Mu Tianbo's request and sent 20,000 troops to Yunnan to help in the war, which was equivalent to making an enemy of Daqin first. Now that the Emperor of Daqin wanted to denounce Dongwu, the ministers were not surprised.
Everyone was still immersed in the fact that Daqin had suddenly gained an additional province. Even after the court session ended, the ministers were still talking about Luzon.
As for the attack on Dongwu, it was not an immediate move, and perhaps after the edict was issued, the King of Dongwu would come and apologize, and the matter would be over, so people did not discuss it much.
After the morning court session, Qin Mu had a quick lunch in the Huagai Palace, and then immediately summoned the Minister of Revenue and two vice ministers.
When Liu Boquan, Xu Yingjie and Yang Chao entered the palace to pay their respects, they all had happy expressions on their faces. Seeing that the treasury was becoming increasingly empty, the navy suddenly brought back so much silver, and the Ministry of Revenue's life became much better.
The three of them were typical money-grubbers who didn't care how the navy got the money. As long as it went into the national treasury, it was fine.
"Everyone, please sit down."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Qin Mu immediately got to the point: "I summoned you today mainly for the currency issue. I have read Xu Qing's memorial. The court has put so much effort into it. The Great Qin Treasure Note has still depreciated;
If the circulation is increased, it will not only harm the common people, but also cause huge losses to the court. The only ones who benefit are those unscrupulous merchants;
By the way, has Xu Qing investigated whether there are any unscrupulous businessmen behind the devaluation of the Qin Treasure Notes, spreading rumors to shake the people's confidence?"
Xu Yingjie replied: "Your Majesty, there are indeed many rumors, but it is almost impossible to find out where the rumors come from. Although Huitong Bank has always exchanged the money in full, its branches are difficult to cover the rural areas. Many farmers are unaware of the situation and believe the rumors and refuse to accept the treasure notes. Those who get the treasure notes sometimes exchange them for silver at a low price from local merchants because of the difficulty in traveling back and forth."
Qin Mu felt helpless after hearing this.
It is easy to spread rumors. Although the court has issued an order allowing the use of paper money to pay taxes, if the people in the countryside suddenly heard that the court would no longer accept paper money for taxes, what would they do
Who did they ask for confirmation? Many of them had never left their hometown in their entire lives. For such people, they would definitely exchange the banknotes at a low price to avoid them becoming waste paper in their hands.
Such things happened repeatedly in the Ming Dynasty.
Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, who was full of small peasant consciousness, changed the currency system again and again during his 30 years in power. As a result, the good treasure notes became as good as waste paper, and countless people had no place to cry.
With such a precedent, the people are still frightened. Once there is any rumor, they will definitely exchange the Qin treasure notes in their hands as soon as possible, based on the mentality of believing it is true rather than not. This gives illegal businessmen an opportunity to take advantage of it.
They will be more active in spreading rumors and causing greater panic so that ordinary villagers will be more eager to exchange banknotes, which is almost the same as directly robbing money from ordinary people.
Qin Mu suddenly thought that the circulation area of Jiaozi in the Song Dynasty was specified. For example, Jiaozi issued in the capital area could only be circulated in the capital area and could not be used outside this area. Could this also be to prevent the situation from getting out of control due to rumors
For example, if the Qin Dynasty issued a kind of paper currency and stipulated that it could only circulate in Nanjing City, it would be useless for unscrupulous businessmen to spread rumors, because the people could directly take the paper currency to the bank to exchange it, which would not take much time.
In this way, paper money will not depreciate easily.
In this way, after the credibility of the paper currency is gradually established, the circulation area will be gradually expanded from the capital to the nearby states, from point to surface, and finally the goal of circulation throughout the country will be achieved.
Thinking of this, Qin Mu immediately expressed his idea and discussed its feasibility with Liu Boquan, Xu Yingjie and Yang Chao.
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.(To be continued..)
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