Chapter 344: Baizhan Is Short of Money, Penicillium Sprouts

The dynasty is the same as the family. If one's own economic strength is insufficient, it is extremely irrational to buy a car and a house to compete with others.

Since Hongzhi ascended the throne, although he has done a good job in increasing revenue, the court's "employee expenses" have never stopped, and several "big projects" have been done.

Because Hongzhi insisted on not raising taxes on the people and did not want to squeeze the life-saving money from the families of the lower-class people, the finances of the Ming Dynasty were already stretched.

That's why, when the court was blocked from implementing national debt, even if it did not give priority to solving the initial funds for mining the Luzon gold mine, it could not go to war against the Haixi Jurchens.

You know, the most expensive behavior in this era is not to build palaces, but this kind of long-distance crusade. Every war is burning money.

In the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, after much recuperation, the Han Dynasty had the capital to attack the Huns in the north, and the Ming Dynasty also collapsed the monetary system because of Emperor Taizong Zhu Di's wars in the south and the north.

Although Qiu Jun was full of resentment, he chose to remain silent like other officials in Fengtian Palace.

In fact, there were many officials who had the same idea as Qiu Jun, but now Zhu Youtang was an emperor whose words were law, and the Kulecha just now was simply taking advantage of him, so no one dared to stand up and oppose.

In the final analysis, this matter can only be blamed on that small tribal leader, who did not even look at who the current emperor of the Ming Dynasty was, and dared to openly provoke the tyrant.

Now, the tyrant has sufficient reasons to fight, even ten cows can't pull him back.

As for the final outcome, it is destined to be a lose-lose situation. They in the Ming Dynasty have to rack their brains to raise money and food for the war, and the Alechuka tribe is facing a catastrophe.

New Year's Day ushered in a bright sunrise, and the golden sunlight fell in the Forbidden City, and the palaces here became more and more magnificent.

The following banquet was carried out according to the fixed process, but there was no more trouble.

But after the turmoil just now, no matter whether they were from the imperial party or the Qingliu, they didn't have a good appetite when facing the table full of delicacies, so naturally they couldn't enjoy it to their heart's content.

Zhu Youtang was not affected by the incident, and his appetite was good today, but for his own safety, he only ate a little of each dish.

He naturally knew that once the war broke out in the northeast again, it would put a great pressure on the finances of the Ming Dynasty, and even force himself to impose additional taxes on the people.

But if the Ming Empire wanted to rise, it could not give in easily, let alone compromise on principled issues, otherwise it would eventually have to continue on the old path of history.

Rise, the people suffer.

Fall, the people suffer.

This situation must be cured, otherwise it will be the Chinese people who suffer in the end, and no matter how prosperous the times are, they are just a self-deceiving game of literati.

That's right, since the Haixi Jurchens are not convinced, then they will be beaten until they are convinced, and even take the opportunity to change this foreign policy of "taking from the people and using it on the barbarians".

If the people do not love it, then this kind of empire is doomed to not last more than three hundred years.

Originally, he planned to mine the gold mines in Luzon, and then slowly collect the blood-sucking worms attached to the Ming Dynasty after the court had a more stable source of funds.

But the plan could not keep up with the changes after all. He did not expect that the small Haixi Jurchen tribe would dare to make such a request at the court meeting, simply wanting to use the Ming Dynasty as their ATM.

Although there will be more complicated problems to face next, they must not give in to the Haixi Jurchens who are pushing their noses and faces, and they must plunder resources from the outside to feed their people.

It is difficult to repay the emperor's kindness with a meal after ten years of empty companionship.

In the sound of palace music, Liu Ji raised his glass to greet the emperor when he saw him serving wine, and he also followed the emperor with chopsticks when he saw the emperor holding chopsticks, like a puppet without a soul.

Liu Ji is already a real cabinet chief, and now that he realizes that the Ming Dynasty will face more serious financial problems, he is also silently thinking hard to show himself.

Officials such as Li Yu, the Minister of Personnel, also wanted to share the emperor's worries. Although they were now facing the problem of war funds, they knew that they had to solve the mining funds of the Luzon gold mine first.

It was just three million taels of silver. Even if they were willing to contribute all their assets to the court, it would only be a drop in the bucket.

History seemed to have played a big joke again. They were obviously the most powerful group of people in this era, but they still had to worry about money.

After the banquet was over, the civil and military officials, a group of honors and envoys sent the emperor away, and finally breathed a sigh of relief, and left the Fengtian Hall in groups of three or five.

The winter sun was high in the sky, and the whole world was bathed in golden sunshine.

"Are we going to fight again at the beginning of the year?"

"They are so angry, how can we not fight?"

"It's just a small Jurchen tribe, just destroy it!"

...

Martial Honors such as Wu Jinghou Zhao Chengqing left Fengtian Hall. When a military honor talked about war, most of the military honors expressed their support.

In fact, military honors have a stronger obsession with war, not because they love war so much, but because they need to improve their status through war.

Unlike civil officials who are proficient in governing the country, their greatest capital is always military merit.

They have been cultivated as the seeds of the empire's generals since childhood. They don't need to be strong themselves. As long as they are stronger than their peers, they are already outstanding.

As long as they are brave enough, they will go around the army and take the initiative to attack when they encounter a large number of people fighting a small number, and they can often get high praise from the court.

Of course, now they hope to emulate Zhao Chengqing, and be promoted through foreign wars, and also hold military and political power.

Although the current emperor has received Confucian education since childhood, he is not an emperor who values ​​literature over military affairs. Instead, he provides them with many opportunities for military merit.

In the past, Xu Shiying of Dingguo Mansion was the governor of Donghai, and later Zhao Chengqing ruled Jianzhou as the general of Jianzhou.

Wang Hua, the chief priest of the Imperial College and the Earl of Xinjian, listened quietly beside him. He did not have a strong desire for military merit, but knew that the Imperial College would have to pay more attention to military subjects after the beginning of the year.

Thanks to the appropriation of the court, the Imperial College he presided over not only expanded the campus, but also established a bonus system.

Since he became the chief priest of the Imperial College, he has become more and more aware of the importance of money, and the Imperial College has become the cradle of talents in the empire without the allocation of finances.

Now that he knows that the empire is going to fight abroad, his first reaction is to cultivate more military talents to help the empire win every battle.

"This war can't be fought at any time, where will the money and food come from?"

"The money in Luzon has not been raised yet, so where will the money come from for the war now!"

"The money and food for the war is indeed a problem, but this war must be fought!"

"If it weren't for He Qiaoxin's trick before the New Year, how could things have come to this?"

...

Officials such as Li Si, the Minister of Revenue, walked down the steps towards Fengtian Gate. Some officials couldn't help but worry about money and food, but more officials supported the war and then pointed the finger at He Qiaoxin, the Minister of Justice.

In fact, the most ideal result is that the court will solve Luzon's funding problem through national debt, and they will be much more relaxed when facing this war.

But now, they not only have to solve the war money against Haixi Jurchen, but also have to find ways to prepare the three million taels of silver.

That's right, after thinking of the disgusting behavior of He Qiaoxin, the Minister of Justice, they also wanted to eat He Qiaoxin's flesh alive.

Ah Chu...

In the prison of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, He Qiaoxin, who was imprisoned here, sneezed loudly.

After being locked up in this cell for a night, not to mention the pampered He Qiaoxin, even ordinary people couldn't stand it here, and naturally caught a cold.

He Qiaoxin was curled up in a corner at this moment, and suddenly realized that someone was cursing him. Thinking of being frozen like a dog here last night, he immediately looked towards the Forbidden City with resentment.

Such a tyrant, so ruthless, probably won't live long.

The sunny weather easily brings people a good mood, and the officials who left the Forbidden City seem particularly excited.

Although they had a holiday the day before yesterday, they still had to attend today's New Year's Day meeting, so strictly speaking, the Spring Festival holiday officially started today.

"The most important thing now is to solve the problem of national debt first!"

"There is actually no solution to this problem. Who really dares to lend money to the court?"

"From ancient times to the present, we have always talked about loyalty and filial piety. How can the people lend money to the emperor and father? This is unethical!"

"If we can't even fill the hole of three million taels, how can we talk about conquering the Haixi Jurchens? This war can't be fought at all!"

...

Qiu Jun, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, and other clear streams seemed to be sober in the world. After pointing out the most urgent problem at the moment, they poured a basin of cold water.

Now everyone knows that the court is short of money and is in urgent need of money, but the national debt proposed a year ago is not favored by everyone, and it has even been determined to be a dead end.

It is precisely because of this realization that some smart officials are in a good mood, but they know that the tyrant may hardly get what he wants.

In the Qianqing Palace, the red cannon clothes in the morning fell to the ground.

Zhu Youtang returned here on the dragon chariot and was very satisfied with the courtyard where he lived.

Although he was facing a war because of the grand court meeting, he knew that he needed to be calm when facing major events, and the most important thing now was to spend this year's long vacation well.

Although he had everything as an emperor, he didn't have many times to relax, and he cherished this leisure time.

Although it was impossible to put all the government affairs behind him, this holiday would put these government affairs in a secondary position.

The situation of the New Year was quite special. In order to make the rain and dew equal, the New Year's Eve of each year was first decided to spend the spring night with the queen, and then five consecutive draws were made.

From the first day to the fifth day of the New Year, the concubines who served in the bed were destined to be non-repetitive.

I don't know whether Zhu Youtang did it intentionally or it was God's will.

The first day of the New Year was Chongyuan Lin Qiqi, the second day was Shurong Yang Zisu, the third day was Yue Meiren Qingyue, the fourth day was Lian Meiren Fan Jinling, and the fifth day was Beifei Yikexi.

For some reasons, the third and fourth days were actually the same, and it was a game of sharing happiness.

On the night of the second day of the Chinese New Year, Zhu Youtang met Yang Zisu, who was skilled in medicine.

Yang Zisu was unconventional among the concubines. She was not as cold as Qingyue, not as hot as Lian Meiren, not as upright as the Queen, and not as wild as Bei Fei. Instead, she was tender but a little wild.

She was the ceiling of the slightly plump world. Her face had a little baby fat, but she had a pair of bright big eyes. Her figure was thin where it should be thin and fat where it should be fat.

In this cold winter, this slightly plump woman is undoubtedly more attractive.

The candlelight was like a torch, and the whole room was very bright.

The maids and eunuchs had left, and only the female officials and eunuchs in charge of recording were waiting outside.

Yang Zisu had already crawled into Zhu Youtang's bed. Although she had undressed, she was sitting in front of Zhu Youtang, and her beautiful eyes gently looked at Zhu Youtang who was lying on the head of the bed.

Because Zhu Youtang did not destroy the nature of his concubines too much, and even encouraged them to cultivate their own hobbies, the secret skills of the Northern Concubine did not decrease but increased.

Yang Zisu was actually a medical geek. She seemed to treat Zhu Youtang as a little mouse, and she also helped Zhu Youtang feel his pulse seriously.

In this dim light, Yang Zisu, as a concubine, felt the emperor's pulse on the bed. This was undoubtedly a very rare scene.

"I designed a batch of medical gloves for you. If you really insist on feeling the pulse of the concubine or the palace maid in the future, remember to wear them and be careful of bacterial infection!" Zhu Youtang looked at the woman who was vaguely in front of him and warned him seriously.

Although Yang Zisu listened to the heart carefully and checked Zhu Youtang's final physical condition, she also asked distractedly: "Your Majesty, what is bacteria?"

Since the successful development of Guilinggao, she realized that the man in front of her was extraordinary. Even if she had been obsessed with medical skills since childhood, she might not be better than the man in front of her.

"A microorganism that we cannot see but exists is also the medium of many infectious diseases!" Zhu Youtang thought of the image of bacteria in the advertisement and gave a simple description.

In fact, many people today do not realize that many diseases are caused by personal hygiene problems.

Yang Zisu thought of the fact that many infectious diseases in medical books spread rapidly among the poor, and immediately asked seriously: "How can we eliminate them?"

"This question is a bit difficult, but as far as I know... penicillin is effective!" Zhu Youtang thought seriously and then gave an answer.

If we mention immunology, we can't do without the inspiration of cowpox, but if we mention the enemy of bacteria, it is undoubtedly the famous penicillin.

The advent of penicillin can be said to have saved the lives of hundreds of millions of people.

Yang Zisu was attracted by Zhu Youtang's words, but forgot to feel his pulse, and moved closer to Zhu Youtang involuntarily: "Penicillin? Is this medicine? How to get it?"

"First..."

"Your Majesty, what's wrong!"

Following Zhu Youtang's gaze, Yang Zisu soon noticed that she was already exposed.

Facing the emperor's fiery gaze, she glanced at Zhu Youtang with affection, then pulled up her nightgown sensibly, and sat on it.

"First... First, boil taro into juice..."

"Mix the juice ground from rice... Cultivate..."

"Cultivate Penicillium... Then wait... Wait for a week!"

...

In the intermittent voice, Zhu Youtang confessed all the methods of making penicillin, but his forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat.

The woman silently memorized this method while shaking her head.

The wheel of history seemed to change at this moment. Things that should not have appeared, but tonight have planted the seeds of spring. (End of this chapter)