The next morning, all the ministers who attended the morning court stood at the palace gate in silence. It was obvious that they were thinking of the palace coup a few days ago and had some psychological trauma.
As the palace gate was pushed open, everyone's heart was nervous. Even though the palace had been cleaned up, it still gave people the illusion that there was blood everywhere.
Zhou Shuren has been to the palace many times, but this feeling has not eased. Looking at the long palace alleys, Zhou Shuren felt a chill in his heart. This is the imperial palace, a place that represents power, and also a place where dead bodies are piled up.
In the hall, the emperor and the prince arrived first, and the prince stood under the dragon throne.
Zhou Shuren took a glance and then looked away. As the ministers entered the hall and finished kneeling, they stood up.
The emperor had no intention of speaking, and he did not sit with his back straight as usual. Instead, he sat in a very casual position, with his arms leaning against the armrests of the dragon throne.
The prince stepped forward and said, "Yesterday, General Hou returned from clearing out the remaining evildoers and brought back the ointment that harmed people. The amount was so large that I was shocked to hear it. It was as much as 2,000 kilograms. The court has banned the flow of this ointment into the country, but some people still take the risk and sneak into the country for the sake of profit. I am very angry."
The prince paused, "Two thousand kilograms, I don't know if it's a year's supply, or how long it will take. I only know how many families could be harmed by two thousand kilograms, and these things were found on the island where the Zhang family was hiding, and not only that, we also found the foreigners who made them."
As soon as the prince finished speaking, the ministers below began to discuss whether the remnants of the Zhang family had cooperated with the foreigners, whether the foreigners and the Zhang family were purely seeking profit, or were they involved
The meaning is different.
Zhou Shuren was familiar with history. He knew all the humiliating history. The history of the previous dynasty had a good turn. Although the previous dynasty was incompetent in the later period, it changed history. Moreover, the population continued to grow. Even after ten years of war, there is still a certain population today.
Now he has slowly laid some foundations, which he will not allow to be destroyed. He does not want to let these foreigners go. Those who are not of my race must have different hearts. He prefers to think in conspiracy theories.
Zhou Shuren took a step forward and said, "I have something to say."
There was surprise in the eyes of the prince, and the emperor's expression also became much more serious. In previous court meetings, Zhou Shuren would never speak unless it was necessary, and he would never be the first to speak. Today was the first day he spoke.
Zhou Shuren felt that everyone was looking at him, but he straightened his back and looked directly at the prince.
The prince looked at his father, the emperor nodded, and the prince said, "Master Zhou, please speak."
Zhou Shuren organized his words in his mind, "Before I talk about foreigners and harmful ointments, I want to talk about the taxation of the Ministry of Revenue."
After a pause, he continued, "Before my country opened up its maritime trade, merchants were not very prosperous. Although agriculture was emphasized, tax exemptions continued, and national tax revenues were not high. The salt tax, which was the main tax, was evaded severely at the time."
After these words were spoken, the faces of the old ministers in the court fell silent. Indeed, at the beginning of the dynasty, the court was in a difficult situation, especially the treasury.
Zhou Shuren continued, "After the opening of maritime trade, the country relaxed its policies on merchants and commerce prospered. With the continuous development of maritime trade, the tax revenue from maritime trade has become one of the important taxes in our country. Last year's tax revenue was twice that of the year before. This year, before the beginning of autumn, the silver and money collected has almost caught up with the annual tax revenue from maritime trade last year."
The ministers in the court all gasped; the growth was too fast.
Zhou Shuren did not mention the specific amount, but some ministers would estimate it. They knew better than Zhou Shuren how much tax these controlled merchants paid every year.
Zhou Shuren's expression was serious. "Taxes represent interests. With the improvement of our glass and other technologies, the advantages of foreign goods have decreased. In the eyes of many Western countries, our country is a gold mine, and everyone wants to take a bite."
I wanted to say cake, but unfortunately this metaphor was not intuitive in ancient times.
The prince already understood what Zhou Shuren was trying to say after all the preparation. It should be said that Rongchuan was worthy of being taught by Lord Zhou, as he had a broad vision.
After Zhou Shuren and the others digested the information, he said, "I want to say now that I think the appearance of foreigners on the Zhang clan's island is not accidental. I heard that there are cannons on the island, plus the gunpowder used in this coup, I firmly believe that it is the foreigners' support and cooperation with the Zhang clan. The foreigners support the Zhang clan to take the throne because the emperor and the prince are blocking their way. These foreigners want to disrupt and interfere in our internal affairs, and their intentions are worthy of death. Please understand, Your Majesty and the prince."
As soon as Zhou Shuren finished speaking, there were more discussions in groups of three or two.
Some pedantic ministers said, "I think what Lord Zhou said is too extreme. The Ministry of Rites is preparing to welcome the envoys from afar. I think there may be a misunderstanding."
Zhou Shuren had a gloomy face. Damn it, it was a misunderstanding. He really hated talking to some pedantic ministers. Why didn’t he want to speak up before? Sometimes it really made him angry. His teammates were so stupid that he didn’t want to continue talking.
The emperor was amused to see Zhou Shuren angry, but then he thought that Zhou Shuren and Rongchuan had basically the same idea. The emperor also felt that his youngest son had far-sighted thoughts, which he obviously learned from Zhou Shuren. His youngest son also believed that the foreigners had evil intentions.
The prince looked at the pedantic old ministers who were talking big. If he was not afraid of discouraging them, he really had had enough. He secretly thought that when he succeeded to the throne, he would definitely select people with quick brains.
The prince gestured for silence, "There is irrefutable evidence that the foreigners on the island made the ointment to harm people. As for the other crimes, I will send someone to investigate."
Some ministers who had received benefits from foreigners had shut up at this time. Sometimes they could plead for mercy, but since the prince had said so, it was obviously not possible to plead for mercy.
Zhou Shuren knew clearly that the Crown Prince and the Emperor wanted to convict the foreigners, but several countries were involved. Even if they were certain that the foreigners had evil intentions, they would not draw a conclusion based on a single court meeting.
Zhou Shuren didn't say anything else. He had expressed what he needed to say. Brainwashing is not something that can be done in one go. Zhou Shuren counted the people he knew around him, and he didn't believe it. If he brainwashed more, he would have more teammates sooner or later.
Zhou Shuren curled the corner of his mouth. Sometimes, he really hated some arrogant ministers. He didn't know where their self-confidence came from. A strong country is a real superior country. It is not enough to just brag. Only a big fist can do the job.
What followed was the publicity about the harmful ointment, as well as the laws that had been drafted long ago, and the political affairs were quickly handled.
After the morning court was over, Zhou Shuren was too lazy to listen to some people's long talk. He suddenly felt that the emperor was sometimes quite miserable. Even though he clearly didn't like it, he still had to concentrate and listen most of the time. He couldn't even be distracted.
Mr. Wang came over and said, “Today, I saw the sharp Lord Zhou.”
He had always thought that Zhou Shuren was smooth, and too smooth, but today made him change his impression of him a lot.
Zhou Shuren, "I am just worried. You know that my second son likes foreign knowledge, and my wife also reads it. Although I don't have time to read these, I have heard more about them because there are people at home who understand them. The development of foreigners is too fast, so fast that it scares me. In a few hundred years, if our descendants are not enterprising, what will the future be like? If the old man falls behind, he will be beaten."
Mr. Wang was stunned. He muttered, "If you fall behind, you will be beaten?"
Zhou Shuren nodded, "Yes, that's right. In the future, it's not just about population, it's about technology and firepower."
Only by maintaining the advantage can we maintain our position.
Old Master Wang was looking at Zhou Shuren. At this moment, the image of Zhou Shuren in his eyes changed from a skinny fox to a person who was worried about the future. Zhou Shuren was looking into the future, but he was still limited to the family inheritance.