Chapter 24: Brat, we can print Ming Dynasty treasure notes (Please read, vote for the monthly ticket, and recommend!)
As he spoke, Lao Zhu took out a memorial from his pocket and threw it directly on the table.

"The prince shall receive an annual allowance of 50,000 dan of rice, 25,000 strings of paper money, 40 rolls of brocade, 300 rolls of linen, 100 rolls of gauze and 100 rolls of silk, 500 rolls of silk, and 1,000 rolls of winter and summer cloth."

"Two thousand taels of cotton, two thousand yin of salt, one thousand jin of tea, and fifty pieces of horse fodder per month. The satin is given to the craftsmen every year, and the palace is allocated for its own production."

"Prince Jingjiang receives 20,000 dan of rice and 10,000 strings of paper money per year, and the rest is half of what a prince receives, with fodder for 20 horses per month."

"Before the princess was given a title, she was to receive ten rolls of ramie silk gauze and silk gauze, thirty rolls of silk winter and summer cloth, and two hundred taels of cotton each year."

"She has been conferred the title of Princess, and has been granted a farm with an annual yield of 1,500 dan of rice and 2,000 guan of banknotes."

"If a male prince has not been granted a title, he shall receive silk, gauze, silk, winter and summer cloth, and cotton every year, the same as the princess who has not been granted a title. If a female prince has not been granted a title, the amount shall be reduced by half."

Zhu Gang directly took the memorial from the table and looked at its contents. His expression suddenly changed. He was obviously shocked by the contents of the memorial!
Even Zhu Biao, who came closer, was shocked and looked at Lao Zhu and said, "Dad, isn't this a bit too high?"

This prince's salary is not just high, it is simply staggering!

You should know that Li Shanchang, the Duke of Korea and the first meritorious minister of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, had the highest annual salary, but it was only four thousand stones.

As for the other dukes, their annual salary was 3,000 dan, the marquis' annual salary was 1,200 dan, and the earl's annual salary was only 240 dan.

But according to the memorial before him, the prince’s annual salary for rice alone is as high as 50,000 dan?
What is this concept?
Let’s put it this way, a prince is equivalent to sixteen dukes with an annual salary of 3,000 stones.

And this is only one year old!
"The reason why we set such a high annual salary is naturally for our own reasons."

"High salaries can ensure that the princes have a worry-free life in their fiefdoms, so that they don't have to worry about their livelihoods and develop dissent. This will help stabilize our Ming Dynasty."

In this regard, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Gang and Zhu Biao with a sharp gaze and said: "Secondly, the prince has a large army and sufficient financial resources, so he can effectively resist foreign aggression on the border and guard the country. This is the strategy of maintaining internal stability and resisting foreign aggression."

Then Old Zhu paused again before continuing, "Besides, high salaries and high status also come with high responsibilities."

"Father, I understand why you want to enfeoff the kings. It's simply because my Zhu family is weak, and you need to gather the military power and control the country with your own family."

"You are right about this, but we are not going to discuss these big principles today, because I just want to settle a score with you."

Zhu Gang, who had not spoken a word, suddenly raised his head and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and said seriously: "Of course after settling the account, if you still insist on doing so, then your son has nothing to say."

"What account?"

After hearing this, Old Zhu couldn't help but look doubtful.

"If my son remembers correctly, the price of one stone of rice fluctuates between four and six coins of silver."

"Then let's take a compromise, that is, one dan of rice is equal to half a string of silver."

"Five cents of silver can buy one dan of rice, so 50,000 dan of rice per year is equivalent to 25,000 taels of silver."

"Is that right?" Zhu Gang continued to look at Old Zhu.

"That's right." Old Zhu also nodded.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the price of grain fluctuated, but most of the time it would not exceed this range, so the total amount was indeed 25,000 taels of silver.

"There are also 25,000 strings of banknotes. One string is equal to one ounce of silver, which is 25,000 ounces."

"Let's not count other things today. The annual rice and banknotes alone are already 50,000 taels, right?" Zhu Gang continued.

Old Zhu also nodded and said, "Yes, it is indeed fifty thousand taels."

"Well, you have fourteen sons now, and given your physical condition, you will definitely have more in the future."

"So, apart from my eldest brother being the crown prince, we can assume that you have twenty sons, which means you are twenty princes."

"The annual salary of a prince is 50,000 taels, and the annual salary of 20 princes is 1 million taels." "This means that the court has to spend 1 million taels every year just on the princes' salaries, right?"

Zhu Gang thought for a moment before looking at Zhu Yuanzhang and said.

"It's one million taels." Zhu Yuanzhang said with a calm expression.

After all, one million taels is not a lot of money for Zhu Yuanzhang!
what?
The Ming Dynasty had only been established for nine years, and Zhu Yuanzhang no longer cared about a million taels of silver?

That’s right, Zhu Yuanzhang really didn’t need to take it seriously, or even to heart, because Zhu Yuanzhang issued the Ming Baochao in the eighth year of Hongwu.

So even if there was no silver, Zhu Yuanzhang could print money without limit. How could he be moved by one million taels?
"And the system of succession to the royal family that you established, the title of prince is hereditary and passed down from generation to generation. As for the heirs of the princes, their titles are downgraded to county princes."

"As for the annual salary of the prince, which is 6,000 dan of rice and 2,800 guan of paper money, we will calculate it as 6,000 taels."

"That prince has ten sons, isn't that too much?"

"After all, you encourage childbirth, so as a prince of the Ming Dynasty, you naturally have to set an example."

"That means there are 200 dukes, and each duke gets 6,000 taels, so 200 dukes get 1.2 million taels."

"And with this calculation, the annual salary expenditure of the Ming Dynasty's royal family is as high as 2.2 million taels."

"In addition, there are the princesses, county ladies, and other miscellaneous items. We should spend three million taels every year."

"Then my son would like to ask, can your treasury afford the annual expenditure of three million taels?"

After saying this, Zhu Gang looked straight at Zhu Yuanzhang.

Moreover, this is not the limit of annual expenditure. Otherwise, how could Zhu Yuanzhang change the salaries of vassal kings to ten thousand shi in his later years?
It’s because the Ming Dynasty’s treasury simply cannot support such huge expenditures.

After all, if you think about the Ming Dynasty's royal family system compared with previous dynasties such as the Han, Tang, and Song dynasties, the biggest drawback of the Ming Dynasty's royal family system was that there was no mechanism for descending to a lower rank and inheriting the title.

This means that as time went on, each generation of emperors enfeoffed their princes as princes, and each generation of princes continued to enfeoff many princes, resulting in a rapid expansion in the number of royal family members.

Furthermore, the children of the royal family enjoyed high annual gifts, including grain, cloth, gold, silver, salt, tea and other supplies, as well as horse fodder.

These expenses constituted a huge burden on the Ming Dynasty's finances.

"It's just three million taels, we don't even care about it."

However, Lao Zhu still smiled nonchalantly.

".???"

Zhu Gang suddenly looked at Lao Zhu with eyes wide open.

Zhu Biao, who was sitting next to Zhu Gang, also remembered something and nodded and smiled, "It's indeed not a lot."

"Did I travel through time the wrong way? When did the Ming Dynasty become so rich?"

Looking at the confident Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao, Zhu Gang was stunned, but subconsciously Zhu Gang always wondered if he had forgotten something?

"You little brat, you are busy with military affairs outside, so you naturally don't know that the Ming Dynasty is no longer what it used to be."

As he finished speaking, a hint of pride and honor flashed across Lao Zhu's face again.

"You little bastard, if the treasury is out of money, we can print Ming Dynasty banknotes!"

"666!"

(End of this chapter)