Chapter 12 The Ming people do not understand economics
In Yuxi Palace at this moment.

Zhang Juzheng's face was as brilliant as a kaleidoscope.

He knew that Yan Shaoting and the Yan family wanted him to say that silk was more profitable.

But he couldn't tell lies in front of the emperor.

Zhang Juzheng bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, it is true that the silk trade is more profitable. A piece of top-quality silk can be sold for six taels of silver in the Ming Dynasty. If it is sold to Western countries, it can be sold for more than ten taels of silver.

But now there are 10,000 looms in Nanzhili and 8,000 looms in Zhejiang. If we want to trade with the West and do silk business, we need to increase the number of looms and increase silk production. "

Sudden attack by Yan Shaoting forced Zhang Juzheng to respond hastily, his eyes moving constantly as he thought about the consequences of this matter.

Jiajing leaned forward and said, "Then add more looms and increase silk production."

Zhang Juzheng's eyes flashed, he finally found an opportunity to turn the situation around: "Your Majesty, the most important thing now is how to increase the mulberry fields, produce more silk, and then use the looms to produce more silk."

Although Zhang Juzheng is still unclear about the purpose of Yan Dang's proposal of this matter, as long as it is something Yan Dang wants to do, there must be something fishy.

As for Yan Shaoting, he said that he was the one who proposed this matter.

Zhang Juzheng glanced at his teacher's back and felt that he should explain it later.

Yan Shaoting, who had helped Old Yan to sit down and was standing behind him, immediately poked the old man with his arm.

Yan Song raised his head and said, "Your Majesty, I have discussed with Zhang Juzheng that we can replace rice with mulberry in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. This way, we can increase the number of mulberry fields, produce more silk, and increase the number of looms, so that we can increase the production of silk and sell it to Western countries overseas."

Yan Shaoting did not stop the practice of replacing rice with mulberry, but he changed the area from Zhejiang to both Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

As Old Yan spoke, Yan Shaoting glanced at Zhang Juzheng out of the corner of his eye.

really.

At this time, Lao Zhang's expression had become extremely solemn.

And what about Xu Jie?

He still had no expression on his face, as if the sky of the Ming Dynasty had fallen, but he still had the same expression.

Jiajing nodded and said, "How much can we earn every year if we do this?"

Zhang Juzheng interrupted again and said quickly: "Your Majesty, the court is currently in deficit of 8 million taels. If we want to make up for this deficit, we need to increase the land in Nanzhili and Zhejiang by at least 500,000 mu and convert it into mulberry fields to make up for this deficit."

As Zhang Juzheng spoke.

Xu Jie, who had been silent the whole time, finally spoke up: "Your Majesty, changing rice to mulberry may help fill the deficit of the court and sell it overseas. But if the rice fields in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are all turned into mulberry fields, what will the people eat? The court will have to spend more time and money on this."

Yan Shaoting listened quietly at the side.

In fact, standing in this Yuxi Palace, many things are not really discussed for the people's livelihood and the country.

Everything is just for their own interests.

Just like now, Xu Jie opposed changing rice to mulberry simply because the proposal was put forward by the Yan family.

Yan Shaoting raised his head and glanced at Jiajing.

Jiajing narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "Jiangsu and Zhejiang changed rice to mulberry. Yan Shaoting, since you said you were there at the time, what do you think?"

Yan Shaoting nodded immediately and replied, "Your Majesty, what Elder Xu and Elder Zhang are worried about is actually groundless."

This is a bit harsh to say.

This was also the first time that Yan Shaoting spoke harsh words directly to Qingliu in Yuxi Palace today.

Gao Gong was immediately unhappy.

He sneered, "Young Master Yan's words are really shocking. Both Lord Xu and Zhang Juzheng have been officials in the court for many years, and they always take all parties into consideration when they think about things. Does Young Master Yan think that he can be more thoughtful than Lord Xu and Zhang Juzheng?" Yan Shaoting simply chose to ignore this troll.

He asked in return: "Does Gao Ge Lao mean that we are not going to do the work of replacing rice with mulberry trees?"

Gao Gong snorted and said stubbornly, "I didn't say that."

Yan Shaoting asked again: "Does Mr. Gao have any way to fill the current deficit of the court?"

Gao Gong said nothing more.

Yan Shaoting smiled slightly, and then looked at Jiajing: "Your Majesty, in fact, since Elder Zhang and Elder Yan discussed this matter, I have been thinking about it for a while."

He is now dead set on this. Zhang Juzheng was actually involved in the matter of changing rice crops to mulberry trees.

Zhang Juzheng has become numb to this.

He had no chance to defend himself in front of the emperor.

The more he defends himself at this time, the more likely he is to confirm the fact that he has dealings with the Yan Party.

Jiajing was curious and asked, "What have you figured out?"

Yan Shaoting nodded. All the people present were the smartest people in the Ming Dynasty, but their minds seemed to be focused on political struggles.

Throughout the Ming Dynasty, there were only a few people who truly understood money and economics.

He said, "Lord Zhang said that we need to convert 500,000 mu of rice fields into mulberry fields in order to meet the needs of overseas merchants and fill the deficit of the court. Lord Xu said that we need to consider the food rations of local people to prevent them from starving because of the conversion of rice to mulberry fields."

Jiajing nodded, this was indeed something that needed to be considered.

Yan Shaoting continued: "In fact, why don't we think about it from a different perspective?"

As soon as these words came out, everyone in Yuxi Palace had different expressions.

Yan Shaoting ignored it and said, "Everyone in the world agrees that only the Ming Dynasty can produce silk. Although in the Ming Dynasty, a piece of silk can only be sold for six taels of silver, it can be sold for more than ten taels of silver outside.

But why can't we raise the selling price to twenty taels? Thirty taels?

Your Majesty and the other ministers may be worried that if the Ming Dynasty raises the price, merchants from Western countries will not buy. But if they don't buy from the Ming Dynasty, where else can they buy from? "

These people simply did not understand the monopoly that the Central Plains had on products such as silk and porcelain at that time.

Zhang Juzheng frowned, he felt that this statement was a bit perverse, but it also seemed to make some sense.

Xu Jie fell silent again.

Gao Gong said loudly: "Twenty taels? Thirty taels? Young Master Yan really doesn't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are. If the court really sets the price so high, then the merchants from Western countries are not fools. They can just buy it from the people themselves."

Yan Shaoting immediately replied: "Therefore, the court must handle this matter specifically and send someone to the southeast to keep an eye on this matter, and strictly prohibit private merchants from selling silk to foreign countries."

The monopoly system has existed since the Qin and Han dynasties.

Gao Gong hummed and said, "Even so, it would require at least 200,000 mu of rice fields to be converted into mulberry fields."

Yan Shaoting smiled, turned around, and when he looked at Gao Gong, he glanced at the silent Xu Jie.

I heard that Lord Xu's hometown is in Songjiang Prefecture, and most of the hundreds of thousands of acres of land are planted with cotton.

As a result, many wealthy families in Suzhou Prefecture also followed suit.

He slowly said, "Zhejiang has many mountains and little land. We can convert 50,000 acres of land around Hangzhou Prefecture into mulberry fields, and the remaining 150,000 acres of cotton fields in Suzhou Prefecture and Songjiang Prefecture into mulberry fields!"

(End of this chapter)