Chapter 108 I Reward You
Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and filled with righteous indignation. At this moment, he seemed to be filled with a sense of justice.

"Taxes are the foundation of a country. So many good merchants are willing to share the worries of the court. Only some scoundrels not only conceal taxes but also dare to act so arrogantly after their crimes were exposed. Do they think my sword is not good enough?"

These words scared Deng Qianqiu.

He said, "Your Majesty, I have some superficial knowledge...May I present it to you?"

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Deng Qianqiu, as if guessing what Deng Qianqiu wanted to say, and asked, "Why, you have been hanging out with the prince for so long that you are beginning to show mercy to him?"

Deng Qianqiu said to himself, I’m not a born killer.

Of course, he dared not say this. Deng Qianqiu smiled awkwardly and said, "No, what I want to say is that it is enough to impose a fine on merchants who evade taxes. Such a punishment is already severe. If they are sentenced to confiscation of property and extermination of the clan, it can certainly serve as a warning to others, but it may also scare other merchants. Who would dare to do business in the future? They will worry about whether they have evaded taxes. The punishment should be appropriate, rather than the death penalty. Otherwise, it would be an overreaction."

He paused, then continued, "As for the man surnamed Zheng, he has wronged me everywhere. I have long hated him, but for the sake of national interests, I think... I should just ignore him. Now that most of his property has been lost, his vitality has been greatly damaged. In the future, whether he does business or not, he will not dare not pay this tax. It will also be a long-term benefit to the court."

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression relaxed slightly. For the first time, he realized that he had been persuaded.

Deng Qianqiu did not talk to him about benevolence, righteousness, and morality. In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang did not believe in this either. But what Deng Qianqiu talked about was naked interests.

When Zhu Yuanzhang thought about the possibility of scaring the golden hen that laid golden eggs, he fell silent.

After a long pause, Zhu Yuanzhang said, "I don't know much about merchants' affairs. Since you do, I'll handle it according to your method."

Deng Qianqiu smiled and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Zhu Biao's eyes suddenly lit up at the side. He felt that he had learned something and wanted to write it down immediately.

Zhu Yuanzhang turned to the merchant Liu Kang and said in a friendly manner: "I have a bad temper. Didn't I scare you just now?"

When Liu Kang heard that the whole family would be killed, his face turned pale. Now seeing Zhu Yuanzhang being so kind, he was still frightened and said hurriedly: "No, no, your majesty is very courageous, your majesty hates evil and is wise."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled, trying to look more friendly, and said: "From now on, if there are other merchants who commit illegal acts, you don't have to be afraid, you must be brave enough to report them. Whoever does not pay taxes is not only harmful to the court, but also to you merchants."

Liu Kang said hurriedly, "Yes, some people don't pay taxes, so their prices are low. Their prices are low, and their peers can't do business. Your Majesty, don't worry, I will never stand idly by. If my peers do this again, I will report them."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Look, this is a kind merchant from my Ming Dynasty. He is very kind. I will allow you to ride in a sedan chair and wear silk."

"Ah..." Liu Kang was stunned and didn't react for a moment.

Zhu Yuanzhang once issued a decree to put an end to the extravagant lifestyle among merchants. Merchants were not allowed to ride in sedan chairs or wear silk when traveling.

Therefore, although these merchants were rich, they had to wear cloth clothes and cloth shoes.

This is also the reason why high-quality Songjiang cloth is so popular!

Since people couldn't wear silk, this finest fabric naturally became the object of people's desire.

Therefore, this was a special favor, allowing Liu Kang to wear silk and ride in a sedan chair, which was an honor in itself.

When Liu Kang realized what was happening, he was overjoyed and quickly expressed his gratitude.

Zhu Yuanzhang was obviously in a good mood at the moment, and said with a smile: "You don't have to thank me. You are a good citizen, different from those criminals. This is what you deserve. You must manage your business well and abide by the law in the future."

Liu Kang thanked him profusely and finally left with a sense of relief.

After waiting for the "outsider" to leave, Zhu Yuanzhang became particularly excited. He rubbed his hands excitedly and said, "I think... not only Liu Kang, but all good merchants should be allowed to wear silk and not be regarded as inferior. Deng Qianqiu, what do you think about this?"

Deng Qianqiu could not help but get excited and said, "Your Majesty means that anyone who has paid taxes and received tax receipts from our Hundred Households Office will be exempted from the ban on silk and satin? This is easy to do. I will immediately draft a regulation and implement it in the Hundred Households Office."

Wen Yuanji was speechless watching from the side, he did not expect that His Majesty would change his expression so quickly. He always felt that something was wrong with what happened today, but he could not tell what was wrong. It was as if something had touched his instinct as a scholar.

So he subconsciously said, "In the first year of Hongwu, Your Majesty lifted the ban on merchants wearing silk, but in just three or four years, the order changed every day. Is this..."

Zhu Yuanzhang was not angry at all. He looked at Wen Yuanji with a smile and said, "Wenqing's family, is there anyone in your family doing business?"

Wen Yuanji hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I don't have it at home."

Zhu Yuanzhang continued to look at him with a smile, and said patiently, "Think about it again."

"Really not." Wen Yuanji looked at His Majesty's smiling face and felt a chill on his back.

Zhu Yuanzhang put away his smile and frowned, "No one in the whole family?"

"This... this... shouldn't be the case. Your Majesty, I come from a family of scholars, and poetry and literature are passed down in my family..." Wen Yuanji said.

Zhu Yuanzhang uttered an "oh" and looked very disappointed: "Then how does your family live?"

Wen Yuanji subconsciously said, "Of course it's poetry and books..." Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him as if he was mentally retarded: "Your parents raised you with poetry and books?"

"Ahem..." Wen Yuanji was a little embarrassed and said hurriedly, "We have some land at home."

"Oh." Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "How many acres?"

Wen Yuanji said: "I don't know."

Zhu Yuanzhang angrily asked, "You don't even know how much land your family has?"

"I really don't know." Wen Yuanji was about to cry: "There are too many plots of land, I can't figure it out."

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered: "The saint once said something, but I forgot it. It was about upright heart and sincerity..."

Wen Yuanji let out a long sigh of relief, and immediately said skillfully: "This sentence comes from the Book of Rites, which says: In ancient times, those who wanted to make the virtues known to the world first governed their country; those who wanted to govern their country first put their family in order; those who wanted to put their family in order first cultivated themselves; those who wanted to cultivate themselves first rectified their hearts; those who wanted to rectify their hearts first made their intentions sincere; those who wanted to make their intentions sincere first acquired knowledge, and acquiring knowledge lies in investigating things. After investigating things, knowledge is achieved; after knowledge is achieved, intentions are sincere; after intentions are sincere, hearts are rectified; after hearts are rectified, bodies are cultivated; after bodies are cultivated, families are in order; after families are in order, the country is governed; after the country is governed, the world is at peace."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Yes, yes, that's it. Wenqing's family, you don't even know how much land your family has, how can you manage your family? If your family is not managed, how can you talk about managing the country? Do you understand the principle of managing the country?"

Wen Yuanji's face changed and he was dumbfounded for a moment.

Zhu Yuanzhang said politely: "It's okay, you are good at studying. Although you are still lacking in family management, it doesn't matter. You are smart and learn quickly. You will have great potential in the future."

Wen Yuanji nodded awkwardly: "I will definitely follow your majesty's teachings and cultivate my character..."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and interrupted him: "You are not good at calculating. How about this? From now on, you will come to this Hundred Households Office. I order you to be the assistant secretary of the Hundred Households Office. There are too many rough people in this Hundred Households Office. We need people like you who are full of knowledge to help."

As he said that, he looked at Deng Qianqiu and said, "Deng Qianqiu, he will be your deputy from now on. You should teach him arithmetic well in the future, otherwise he will not know how many cows and acres of land he has at home."

Deng Qianqiu was stunned. Is this possible?
Wen Yuanji just stood there in a daze, his face turning blue and pale.

He was dumbfounded and silent. He was the Imperial Censor! Although his rank was not high, he was still considered a noble one, and his future was limitless.

But when he arrived at the Hundred Households Office, although the Secretary was considered a civil servant, he was actually only a soldier of the seventh rank. Anyway, no one in the court recognized the Secretary as a civil servant.

To put it another way, the superior of the Imperial Censor is the Crown Prince, while the superior of the signatory is the dog-like centurion Deng Qianqiu.

He felt as if he had suddenly fallen into an ice cellar, and felt the chill from the bottom up spreading throughout his body, making him feel suddenly chilled.

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him and said, "You will settle the accounts with me in the future. You understand. Why didn't you say anything?"

Wen Yuanji was still standing there.

Zhu Yuanzhang stretched out his hand and tapped him directly on the head.

Wen Yuanji shuddered and finally came to his senses.

"Okay, I'm going back to the palace." Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Biao and said, "The Crown Prince should also go back to Chunhe Palace. You are the Crown Prince, do you want to stay here all day? Wenqing, you will be on duty here today..."

Wen Yuanji: “…”

He wanted to refuse, but in the end, he didn't dare to say a word as His Majesty turned and left without hesitation.

Before leaving, Zhu Yuanzhang could not help but point at Wen Yuanji in the distance and said to Zhu Biao, "He kept chattering all the way here. I have tolerated him for a long time. My son, how can you tolerate him normally?"

Zhu Biao said calmly: "Father, he did nothing wrong, why do you treat him like this?"

Zhu Yuanzhang became serious, "What are you talking about, my son? Is it a demotion for the Imperial Censor to be appointed as a deputy secretary? This Hundred Households Office is so important, it is related to such an important source of revenue as commercial taxes. How can I assign a good assistant to Deng Qianqiu be deposed?"

Zhu Biao smiled bitterly: "No wonder Deng Qianqiu said... the economic base determines the superstructure..."

"Hmm?" Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned and asked puzzledly: "What does this mean?"

Zhu Biao explained: "The source of the court's tax revenue is from agricultural taxes, so even if the emperor hates the gentry, he has to give them preferential treatment because they are the economic foundation of our Ming Dynasty. Similarly, if the source of the court's tax revenue comes from merchants, then the emperor will naturally find merchants amiable. This does not depend on the good or bad temperament of the emperor, and it is not subject to the emperor's will."

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have his thoughts revealed all of a sudden.

He chewed over these words carefully and felt that they made a lot of sense, so he said excitedly: "He is really a man of great talent. In my opinion, he is as good as ten thousand Wen Yuanjis. What else did he say? Tell me quickly!"

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(End of this chapter)