As Xu Qingnian’s voice rang out.
Zhang Ruhui’s first reaction was a little confusion.
Big business? How big of a business?
“Xiandi first sit down and speak slowly.”
However, Zhang Ruhui still immediately told Xu Qingnian to sit down, his eyes full of curiosity.
Xu Qingnian sat down.
He then opened his mouth and said.
“Brother Zhang, have you received the circular sent by the Ministry of Household Affairs?”
Xu Qingnian spoke directly and asked.
When he had left the palace, the Ministry of Household had already sent out a notice, and it was impossible for a big merchant like Zhang Ruhui not to know about the Ministry of Household’s announcement.
“It was received, the water chariot project is in dire need of silver, and the merchants of Kyoto are needed to donate silver to contribute to the country.”
“Xiandi, although my brother is a merchant, he also understands the fundamental saying that if Great Wei gets better and better, naturally we merchants will earn more and more.”
“So I have already had two hundred thousand taels of silver prepared and sent to the Ministry of the Household as a donation.”
“At the same time, I also had people prepare 500,000 taels of silver to be donated additionally, this is for the sake of Xiandi.”
Zhang Ruhui spoke out.
His family was rich and wealthy, and he would also help out with such things as donations. 200,000 taels of silver was very good, right for his status.
The additional donation of 500,000 taels of silver was really for Xu Qingnian’s sake, as he knew that Xu Qingnian was dealing with the waterwheel project.
Adding bricks and mortar himself was a favour to help Xu Qingnian.
Hearing this, Xu Qingnian could not help but smile.
“Brother is indeed profoundly righteous.”
“However, my humble brother is here today because he wants to do a big deal with your brother, but it depends on whether your brother is willing to part with money.”
Xu Qingnian said so.
“Oh? How much do you need?”
Zhang Ruhui made tea for Xu Qingnian, while his eyes looked curiously at Xu Qingnian.
“Ten million taels.”
Xu Qingnian spoke indifferently.
And Zhang Ruhui paused slightly, but quickly resumed fiddling with the tea set on the table.
“Ten million taels is a lot, at least for my brother, it is a huge amount, but since brother Xu has asked, my brother will do his best to agree.”
“It does not matter if the benefit is not beneficial, if it can help Brother Xu out of his predicament, ten million taels will not hurt.”
Zhang Ruhui looked at Xu Qingnian and said so seriously.
When this was said, it made Xu Qingnian a little surprised, he really did not expect that Zhang Ruhui would believe in himself like this.
He really did not expect Zhang Ruhui to believe in him so much. 10 million taels was given without any hesitation.
For a moment, Xu Qingnian could not help but feel emotion in his heart, but on the surface, he smiled bitterly and said.
“Brother has misunderstood, it is not that brother is helping me, but that Great Wei is making a deal with brother, and my brother is just a middleman.”
Xu Qingnian explained.
“A deal? A middleman? Xiandi, why don’t you tell us more about it?”
Zhang Ruhui was now also a little curious, to be honest, when he heard about the 10 million taels of silver, he did freeze for a moment. It was the annual income of their Zhang Chamber of Commerce.
If they really gave it to Xu Qingnian, it would be an extremely troublesome matter for the Zhang’s Chamber of Commerce.
But if you take this 10 million taels and help Xu Qingnian, so that Xu Qingnian can better establish his footing in the court, this 10 million taels of silver, there is no problem.
It was equivalent to an investment, and if one day Xu Qingnian really became the Minister of Household Affairs, this favour would be returned at 30 million taels, or 50 million taels.
This he fully believed.
So ten million taels would be ten million taels, but now hearing what Xu Qingnian said, it seemed that it did not mean what he thought it meant.
“Brother, my humble brother asks you, if this ten million taels of silver is exchanged for a first rank position, do you want it?”
Xu Qingnian spoke.
When this was said, Zhang Ruhui directly froze.
What? A first rank?
What is the concept of a first rank? The rank of Minister of the Sixth Ministry, what was this? This was a minister of the highest rank, an existence that could call the shots in the Great Wei Dynasty.
Ten million taels?
Not to mention 10 million taels, even 10,000,000 taels would be willing to buy it, right?
“Xiandi, do you mean to say that if I take out 10 million taels, I can help you become the Minister of the Six Ministries?”
“If that is the case, I will try my best to help you raise another thirty million taels to help you go up.”
Zhang Ruhui subconsciously thought that the ten million taels was something that could help Xu Qingnian become the Minister of Household, so he got a little excited.
A twenty-year-old Minister of Household, what concept was that? If Xu Qingnian became the Minister of Household, and he helped Xu Qingnian in this way, it would be a breeze to make money in the future.
You know, there are many things in the Great Wei Dynasty that require the use of merchants, and Xu Qingnian is the Minister of Household, so if he gives himself a regular batch of work to do every year, he will be able to make his money back in just a few years.
So if that was the case, not to mention the 10 million taels of silver, he would have given 30 million taels of silver.
Seeing that Zhang Ru would have some misunderstanding, Xu Qingnian spoke up.
“It’s not me, it’s you.”
Xu Qingnian uttered one sentence.
Zhang Ruhui, who was somewhat serious, froze again.
Me?
Zhang Ruhui was really a bit confused this time.
What he didn’t expect was that Xu Qingnian would actually say himself?
10 million to buy himself a first rank official position?
That would definitely be a blood profit, just was it possible?
“Xiandi, you don’t have to make fun of brother, me? I’m just like this, a first rank? Who in the court has not been in power for decades, and all of them are talented and capable.”
“Besides, from ancient times to the present, buying and selling officials is a great crime that kills the head, you this ……”
The actual fact is that you can find a lot of people who have been in the business for a long time, and they’ve been in the business for a long time.
The actual fact is that you will be able to get yourself a tenth-grade official, a ninth-grade official, he believes there is this ability.
But to make himself a first-rate official? The Minister of the Sixth Ministry would not be able to cut himself to death?
“No!”
“Brother Xian, listen to me.”
“Now His Majesty intends, to open up a brand new official path, which is not for the civil and military officials, but for the world’s chambers of commerce.”
“That is to say, the road of government and commerce, in other words, in the future, merchants can also become officials, but without any real power, only status and position is given.”
“Of course there are three more benefits.”
Xu Qingnian threw out heavy news, causing Zhang Ruhui’s entire body to stand up in disbelief.
“The path of government and business? His Majesty actually had this in mind?”
Zhang Ruhui really did not expect it, nowadays, whether it was Great Wei or other countries, the status of merchants was generally very low, especially the big merchants.
Although it is said that when you spend money, people admire and worship you, but in reality? After you turn your back, people scold you one by one.
And merchants were never a good word, as long as officials were involved, it was collusion between government and business, and when that official was investigated, the people applauded, and that merchant was copied.
The people were extremely happy and there was a general hatred of the rich, and the only way for a merchant to improve his status was through some other method, the most direct one being to spend money.
They bought all kinds of land and then built some wonders to show off their wealth.
But in the end, it is still not convincing and cannot really gain the recognition of others.
If His Majesty really opened up a path of official business, it would be a different story.
After all, with the imperial court behind him, who would dare to say anything? Who would be able to say anything?
Seeing how excited Zhang Ruhui was, Xu Qingnian did not delay, but continued to drop one piece of news after another.
“More than that, these three benefits are also very good.”
“First, for merchants who join the official merchants, in the future, all official business in every town, town, county, province and county in Great Wei, and even in Kyoto, will be given priority to the official merchants, nothing more than bidding, but absolutely no other merchants will be allowed to do it.”
Xu Qingnian stated the first benefit.
If one wanted to truly get the merchants of the world to jump into this pit, one had to put bait inside this pit, and this bait absolutely could not be something fake and big.
What is the essence of a businessman? What is the nature of businessmen? They are profit-seekers. Are they going to believe it? Sorry, there may be people who will join, but it is almost impossible to get more than 50% of the merchants to join.
If only 20% or 30% of the merchants join in, then the project won’t make much sense, it will have to be at least 50%, and then some of the big merchants won’t be able to do it alone.
You’re going to do it alone, aren’t you? I will directly exclude you and make it impossible for you to do business, are you happy?
If you don’t join, you are dying a chronic death.
If you don’t join, you will be subject to the constraints of others.
I believe these merchants themselves understand better, so Xu Qingnian threw out the bait, and this first one is the official bid. The government’s business is definitely number one.
Xu Qingnian really did not believe that no one would want to eat such a big piece of fat meat.
No, Zhang Ruhui was already showing his astonishment when he heard the first benefit.
“Priority bidding?”
Zhang Ruhui swallowed his saliva, there were many businesses in Great Wei, such as land sales, which honestly depended on connections, you wanted to expand your business territory to the whole of Great Wei, you couldn’t do it, it wasn’t that you didn’t have the financial resources or the drive, but you didn’t have the local connections.
But Xu Qingnian this bid is different, even if it costs more, at least the business does itself, for example, the property of Peach Blossom An, want to open in other places, even if it loses money, it does not matter.
Why? Because it has made a name for itself, people know about the Peach Blossom Nunnery and want to come to the capital even more to see how good the real Peach Blossom Nunnery is, so that business here is good and the prices can be adjusted upwards a bit, the end result is both fame and money.
But if you don’t have local connections, it’s useless even if you want to open a shop, so this bidding by Xu Qingnian saves them trouble and benefits them as merchants, really smart, smart.
Xu Qingnian looked at Zhang Ruhui like this and did not stop, but continued to say the second benefit.
“Secondly, all direct descendants of the official business lineage will be given priority for admission into the major academies of Great Wei.”
Xu Qingnian threw out the second benefit.
This benefit was, in simple terms, extra points in the entrance examination.
The people of the world, whether they were the powerful or the common people, all knew the fact that if they wanted to really get ahead, they had to study.
The people would rather eat the chaff than save money to send their children to school, for what? Isn’t it for the sake of their children to become scholars?
Once they become scholars, they will have turned over a new leaf.
And the powerful and noble people sent their descendants to school in order to stabilise their families, didn’t they? The position of a scholar in the Great Wei was completely high.
All things are inferior, but only reading is superior.
This is true for the whole world, not just for Wei.
The second advantage is that any businessman in his right mind would choose to join.
What is the purpose of working hard for most of your life? Isn’t that what you want your descendants to enjoy? This alone is enough for them to be accepted into the major academies.
“Xiandi, are you serious?”
Zhang Ruhui swallowed his saliva, he inexplicably felt a little unreal.
And Xu Qingnian did not answer this question, but continued to say the third benefit.
“Thirdly, all officials and merchants can be knighted if they serve the country diligently!”
Xu Qingnian had spoken the third benefit.
But when this third benefit was finished, Zhang Ruhui was directly dumbfounded in his place.
Xu Qingnian’s first two benefits, the first one was to allow merchants to sell more at a lower profit, costing more but at least doing more business, a kind of profit concession, and the second was to benefit future generations, something that every chamber of commerce should do.
But this third benefit is completely and utterly different.
There is no place in the world that would give a merchant an official position, let alone a knighthood.
How do you get a knighthood? It had to be a great contribution to Great Wei, no, not a great contribution, but a heavenly contribution.
Those warriors, who guarded the borders, gave their lives to kill the enemy and defend the country, were not necessarily knighted.
The civil servants, who dealt with the affairs of state and solved crisis after crisis, were not necessarily knighted either.
What face do they, the merchants, have to think about knighthood?
A knighthood!
If being an official is to honour one’s ancestors, then knighthood is to make the eighteenth generation of one’s ancestors laugh.
A knighthood, a supreme honour, is a symbol of power and nobility.
Even the biggest merchants are just pawns, just like the Jin merchants, they may seem to flaunt their power in front of Xu Qingnian, but that is because they have someone bigger behind them.
But once Xu Qingnian becomes the Minister of Household Affairs, or if Xu Qingnian becomes a marquis, who would dare to act against Xu Qingnian?
In the end, they are just inferior people who will give you face when you are needed, but when you are not needed, you are worse than a dog.
Now Xu Qingnian said that joining the government and merchants could also lead to a title.
This was unbelievable.
It had turned his outlook on life upside down.
Zhang Ruhui froze in place, unable to return to his senses for a long time.
He knew that the three benefits he had promised would be difficult for normal people to accept, especially for a businessman like Zhang Ruhui.
He knew better than anyone else the position of a businessman, on the surface it was beautiful, but behind the scenes? Not much more to say about this.
Anyway, seeing Zhang Ruhui’s reaction, Xu Qingnian believed that once this news was released, all the merchants in the whole of Great Wei would be screaming and wanting to donate their entire fortune.
A full quarter of an hour.
Zhang Ruhui was shocked for a quarter of an hour.
Only then did he come back to his senses.
“Xiandi ……. Are you not joking with my brother here?”
Zhang Ruhui said with a sobbing face, his heart was both hoping that this was true and thinking that it couldn’t be true ah.
“Xian brother, even though my humble brother is sometimes rather flamboyant, but the important matters in the court, but I do not dare to say a thing.”
“Moreover, I am not satisfied with what you have said, but His Majesty has given me full authority over this matter, and it is up to me to decide whether it is true or not.”
“Brother Xian, have some tea first.”
Xu Qingnian poured Zhang Ruhui a cup of tea, and poured himself a cup of tea, blew on the hot air and took a small sip.
Looking at how calm Xu Qingnian was, Zhang Ruhui had to believe it even if he didn’t believe it anymore.
“Xiandi, what you say, what to do, I, will do.”
Zhang Ruhui was also a ruthless person, and since he believed Xu Qingnian, he did not question it half as much.
“Fine, since Xiandi is so trusting, then my humble brother will make it clear.”
“Have someone prepare 10 million taels of silver, no matter what, and send it to the Ministry of the Household by this evening, and then elaborate clearly that the waterwheel project will benefit the country and the people.”
“As a merchant of Great Wei, you take from Great Wei and use it for Great Wei, the people will be rich, the merchants will be rich, and Great Wei will be richer, the country will be richer and the people will be stronger.”
“Yin brother should have curators, have them write an article with this, bring it to the Ministry of the Household, and then have it spread.”
“Don’t bother with the rest of the matters, sage brother, let my humble brother handle everything.”
“Make sure not to involve my younger brother, that is, to contribute to the country, got it?”
Xu Qingnian spoke up, informing Zhang Ru what he would do.
“Yes!”
“Xiandi, don’t worry, I will have someone take care of these matters immediately.”
Zhang Ruhui nodded, his expression very serious.
“Alright, then, Xianbro will wait for good news at home, my humble brother still has things to do, so I will leave first.”
Xu Qingnian finished his cup of tea and got up with the intention of leaving.
However, Zhang Ruhui immediately got up and said.
“Xiandi, let me ask a question, if you promise so many benefits, will the Great Wei court agree to it? I feel that the civil and military officials will not agree to it.”
Zhang Ruhui was a little worried, although His Majesty had explained this matter, but the question was, would the big guys agree to it? The civil and military officials, it felt like they would not agree ah.
“Brother, don’t worry, my humble brother has quite some face and will take care of it.”
“Let’s go, there’s no need to send it off.”
Xu Qingnian didn’t feel anything.
The six ministries did not agree?
The military generals wouldn’t agree?
He had his own way of getting them to agree.
After saying this, Xu Qingnian left straight away.
After Xu Qingnian left.
Zhang Ruhui also quickly went to deal with this matter, while he was inwardly excited and nervous.
If what Xu Qingnian said was the truth, then he would really turn over a new leaf, a real new leaf.
About a quarter of an hour later.
Xu Qingnian left the peach blossom nunnery and returned to the Shouren Academy.
At this time, because of the rain, the sky had long been dark.
The Shouren Academy was empty, Li Shouming did not know where he had gone, and the rest of the readers did not know where they had gone either.
Xu Qingnian returned to his room and also had to start doing something.
The number of officials and merchants is limited.
For a tenth-ranked official, a donation of 10,000 taels, personally and permanently
For officials of the ninth rank, a donation of 50,000 taels, personally and permanently.
For officials of the eighth rank, a donation of 100,000 taels, personal and permanent.
Official of the seventh rank, donation of 200,000 taels, personal permanent.
For an official of the sixth rank, a donation of 500,000 taels, personal and permanent.
For officials of the fifth rank, a donation of one million taels, personal and permanent.
For officials of the fourth rank, a donation of five million taels, personal and permanent.
Official of the third rank, donation of ten million taels, ten-year system.
Official of the second rank, donation of 50,000,000 taels, ten-year system.
Officials of the first rank, donate 10,000,000 taels, ten-year system.
And then, officials and merchants of the fourth rank and above, with three stable rises or no changes, which cannot go down anyway, can be awarded titles, specific titles, selected according to what you have done for the country, and what you have done for the people.
It is verified by the Confucian officials, a*sisted by the six ministries, and finally presented to the head of the merchant officials, that is, to himself, and then again to His Majesty, who finally approves it.
The whole process is open and fair, and no favouritism is allowed.
Xu Qingnian was also curious about how much silver could be brought to Wei by this system.
At a conservative estimate, 50,000,000 taels should be available.
There would be six first-rank officials, but he himself would count for one position, and Zhang Ruhui would count for one position, so there would only be four positions, and there would definitely be people waiting to see what would happen, and taking out 10,000,000 taels in one breath was not a small amount.
One had to give the eight chambers time to think about it.
So Xu Qingnian was given a sum of 50,000,000 taels for the time being, of course this was a conservative estimate, as to how it would actually be, it was different.
After making the plan.
Xu Qingnian could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.
This second cut had already been formed, now it was up to the merchants to jump in or not.
As long as more than 50% of the merchants jumped in, the initiative would be in their hands, but if they didn’t, it would be a bit embarra*sing.
As for the civil and military officials, Xu Qingnian did have a countermeasure.
It just has to be seen if this can be pa*sed tomorrow.
It was also at this time.
A piece of news, too, spread throughout Great Wei Kyoto.
The Ministry of the Treasury issued an announcement that due to the promotion of the water chariot project, there was a large shortage of money and the merchants in Kyoto were required to donate silver.
In less than an hour after the announcement was made, donations were made one after another, up to 200 taels and as low as one penny, but at that very moment, the wealthy merchant Zhang Ruhui.
The donation of 10 million taels of silver immediately exploded throughout the whole of Great Wei Kyoto.
No one would have thought that Zhang Ruhui would actually donate 10 million taels, and even the Ministry of Household Affairs was dumbfounded, as they were still curious when they made the announcement.
The highest amount of silver someone would donate was 10,000 taels, and most guessed that it would be 10,000 taels of silver.
But what they didn’t expect was that Zhang Ruhui would donate 10 million taels. Even Gu Yan, the Minister of Household Affairs, was alarmed and, after confirming this, praised Zhang Ruhui profusely for his patriotism.
Even the Minister of Household Affairs, Gu Yan, was shocked and praised Zhang Ruhui for his patriotism.
Everywhere, Zhang Ruhui was praised for his love for the country and the people, for being a merchant and not pursuing profit, for stepping forward and donating 10 million taels of silver when the country needed it.
How could this not make the people praise Zhang Ruhui as a good businessman? For a while, it was a great reputation.
As for the other merchants of the Great Wei, all of them could not guess what Zhang Ruhui was doing, and only thought that Zhang Ruhui was wrong in the head.
Even when the eight merchants learned of the news, they could not figure out what Zhang Ruhui was up to for a while.
It’s not like Zhang Ruhui is the only one with money and silver, do the other managers want a share?
What is the use of spending 10 million taels for nothing? Just to gain a good reputation?
This is not right, one can get a good reputation by giving porridge in a disaster area, so why do this?
They couldn’t figure it out, and neither could the powerful people of Wei, and the final conclusion was that this Zhang Ruhui was wrong in the head.
And so it was, until the dawn.
A new day of court meetings began.
The military officials went to court in high spirits.
But the civil officials were a little tired of each other. The six ministers were fine, especially Gu Yan, who was in a happy mood, having received a donation of 10 million taels for nothing.
But the courtiers of the six ministries were a little tired.
The Taiping Poetry Competition ends tomorrow.
So today they went too. And a lot of things happened today, first of all, the Great Wei Palace of Literature no longer sends people, Chen Zhengru is in full charge.
Sun Jing’an didn’t come.
The Ten Kingdoms Talents came, after all, Kyoto was on lockdown and it was impossible to run away, plus a man called Li Shouming, who took many people and literati to invite people.
When the Ten Kingdoms Talent dared not come, Li Shouming went straight to work, so that at the feast Li Shouming was bruised and battered, but the Ten Kingdoms Talent was even worse.
The ten talented scholars did not want to be humiliated, even if they did not want to be humiliated, they did not want to be beaten.
And at the feast, the people and literati of Great Wei ate and drank happily, the ten great talents of the ten kingdoms were quiet, not speaking to each other and running faster than anyone else when they heard that the feast had broken up.
The six ministers now hoped that this would be the end of the matter, and that tomorrow it would be best to do the same, and that after the banquet was over there would be nothing at all.
A quarter of an hour later.
As the eunuchs proclaimed, the hundred officials entered the court.
Soon, as usual, the civil and military officials headed for the hall.
After the court session.
The first hour was the usual one, where there was a calamity, where something had happened.
The Ministry of Officials reflected that officials everywhere were so poor that they couldn’t even fill their clothes, so they hoped that His Majesty would allocate funds and give out some silver.
The Ministry of Justice reported that there were many stray pirates in the Wei Dynasty, all of whom were extremely poor people, so they wanted to send troops to suppress them.
The Ministry of Rites has reported that there are more amba*sadors than ever before, and they have sent a lot of things, cattle, sheep, horses, pearls, onyx and gems, etc. How many gifts should be given in return?
The Ministry of Works reflected that there was a shortage of artisans and an urgent need for funds to train a group of artisans and a shortage of silver.
The Ministry of War reflected that there was nothing to reflect, the Northern Expedition Cema would be good, and then hoped that His Majesty would prepare provisions, although he knew that the Northern Expedition was impossible, but he should still say it.
The Ministry of Household spoke out, firstly, Zhang Ruhui’s matter, and received a compliment or two from His Majesty, and then elaborated on what and what calamities had occurred in various places and needed to be allocated money, so the meaning was simple, the Ministry of Household had no money and saved itself.
The military generals were collectively upset and spoke up, they had to send out military pay, roughly meaning, no matter if you are on a northern expedition or not, military pay is coming this year, not to say too much increase, just any increase, or send it out in advance, so that everyone can be happy with the king.
Basically, the first hour was spent discussing some of these things.
Of the six ministries, five of them want money, and the military generals also want money.
Not without money anyway.
And when the hundred officials had finished their exchange.
The Empress’s voice rang out.
“I, today, have two matters to discuss with you all.”
As the Empress said this, Zhao Wan’er took out the holy decree and said.
“Your Majesty has decreed that, with immediate effect, the Secretary’s Ritual Supervisor will be established, to be headed by a Great Wei eunuch, with twelve supervisors, including the Secretary’s Ritual, the Inner Officials, the Imperial Household, the Secretary’s Establishment, and the Imperial Horse, with each supervisor having a eunuch in charge of the seal, ranked up to the second rank, as the Supervisor’s Leading Servant.”
“Responsible for the inspection of the plight of the people, the supervision of the correct hundred officials, responsible for the intelligence agencies, the right to arrest and seize, the special division of the imperial prison, the seizure of criminals, the officials of the six ministries shall not interfere.”
Zhao Wan’er spoke.
This first holy decree instantly made the civil and military officials frown.
They were extremely high ranking officials, so how could they not hear what this Secretary of Justice was for?
Wasn’t it a matter of checking and balancing the civil and military officials and gathering intelligence?
Previously there was a Jin Yi Tian Wei, but the Jin Yi Tian Wei rose with great vigour, but it was cooled off in less than half a year, after all, the forces penetrated too quickly.
Without giving His Majesty any chance, the entire Heavenly Guards, who are either nephews of this or relatives of that, can now only go and catch demons and deal with trivial matters.
It is impossible to leave the really big things to them.
The only point was that the court was presided over by eunuchs, which was a bit of a problem.
“Your Majesty!”
“Your Majesty, I don’t think this is right, since ancient times, we have never heard of eunuchs in power, so I hope Your Majesty will think twice.”
“Your Majesty, I also think this is inappropriate, it has never been heard of eunuchs taking power, I hope Your Majesty will think twice.”
Many courtiers spoke up, pleading with the Empress to think twice and not to allow the eunuchs to take power.
However, the Empress’ voice rang out.
“I have made up my mind.”
The calm and unmistakable four words represented her attitude.
For a moment, the civil and military officials were silent.
The court is a kind of struggle, and this kind of struggle is basically about taking a stand, taking sides and fighting.
When the empress reappointed the eunuchs, they were just taking a stand, not yet taking sides, because after all, setting up this thing was good for His Majesty.
For them it was the equivalent of someone taking away power, but the power itself was given by the empress, and they were not va*sal kings.
Whoever the empress says is in power will be in power, that’s the rules of the game. A few words of persuasion are fine, but there’s no point in really taking sides directly, unless it affects great interests.
Otherwise, there was nothing that could be done.
The hundred officials were silent, and the empress spoke again.
“Declare the second matter.”
She said calmly.
Zhao Wan’er continued to speak.
“His Majesty has decreed the establishment of the Official Merchants of Great Wei, from now on, merchants of Great Wei may join the Official Merchants and become officials of the court, one to ten ranks, not holding real power.”
“The official rank is determined by the amount of silver donated, ten ranks of ten thousand taels of silver, one rank of ten thousand taels of silver, a hundred positions for the third rank, twenty positions for the second rank, six positions for the first rank, and ten years of replacement for the third rank and above.”
“Moreover, after entering the Great Wei Official Merchants, all commercial affairs of the official government everywhere may be selected by the Great Wei Official Merchants on a priority bidding basis, and the descendants of the Official Merchants shall be given priority in admission to the schools throughout Great Wei, and the Great Wei Palace of Literature shall give full cooperation, and those Official Merchants with excellent performance may be knighted.”
“Those who are knighted will be subject to a different type of examination, with the Great Wei Palace of Literature and the six ministries participating in the examination, open and fair.”
“Those who enter the official merchant shall write their individual application dossiers and send them to the Great Wei Shouren Academy, where they will be fully handled by Xu Qingnian, the Minister of Household Affairs, with the full cooperation of the Six Ministries, the Great Wei Palace of Literature, and the State Dukes and Marquises, without any breach.”
“Qin this.”
Zhao Wan’er’s voice rang out.
Declare the court.
The voice rang out.
The civil and military officials were completely seething.
If anything, they weren’t too happy to have the eunuchs in power, but they didn’t stand in the way too much, after all, if they were in power, they were still in power, it was just one more group of eunuchs in their hands.
They are still in power, they are just a bunch of eunuchs. They are not afraid of these eunuchs taking off!
We all know how to check and balance, but it is good to have a group of such people, to check and balance each other, this is the right thing to do.
If the emperor does not have checks and balances, the society collapses, and everyone feels that they are right and no one feels that they are wrong.
Unhappiness is unhappy, but it is within reason. This time we let you, next time you just let us.
But not this government-business system.
How can this be?
A businessman as a government official? How much does it affect them?
What the people hate most is corrupt officials, and what they hate even more is businessmen plus corrupt officials.
Officials should not be too close to businessmen. Who would believe you if you said you didn’t take bribes?
Who would believe you if you said you hadn’t taken bribes? Now you’re giving businessmen official positions? And to pay for it directly? Even if Wei is poor, how can it be this poor?
Impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
“Your Majesty! If a merchant becomes an official, I fear the people will resist, and if a merchant is driven by profit, his heart is not pure.
“Your Majesty, think twice.”
Chen Zhengru spoke up at the first opportunity, rejecting His Majesty’s intention, this was not a statement, but a direct stand, he did not agree.
“Your Majesty, the world’s merchants are inherently good businessmen, it is enough to give them commendation, the official position will indeed lead to chaos in the world, I, in no way, can agree to this, I hope Your Majesty will think twice.”
The Minister of Justice, Zhang Jing, also followed suit, although he knew that this matter was related to Xu Qingnian.
But the implications of this matter were too great, a merchant as an official? Is this outrageous? And to spend money to become an official, isn’t that just buying an official with money? If this precedent is set, the authority of the Ministry of Justice will be lost and the country’s laws will become a joke.
“Your Majesty, it is anathema for a businessman to become an official. Although Wei is now in a bit of straitened circumstances, there is no need to please businessmen like this.”
The Minister of Rites spoke up, also taking sides.
“Your Majesty, I also disagree, it is a laughing stock for the world to have a merchant as an official.”
Li Yanlong, the Minister of Works, spoke out.
“Your Majesty, a merchant as an official involves the foundation of the country and shakes the Great Wei, please think twice, Your Majesty.”
Zhou Yan, the Minister of War, also followed suit and spoke up.
Not only him, but the military generals also spoke out in unison, and the state princes spoke up.
“Your Majesty, officials and businessmen, since ancient times, cannot conspire with each other, please think twice, Your Majesty, and grant titles, this is never possible.”
The State Princes knelt down in succession, pleading with Your Majesty to think twice.
And one of the great scholars also followed suit and spoke.
“All scholars in the world study on merit, and priority is given to those who are admitted, breaking the rules, Your Majesty, I do not agree.”
All the civil and military officials, plus the line of Confucian officials, all of them stood in neat formation, and all but one did not speak, all spoke up to stop the empress from doing such an absurd act.
Giving official positions to merchants?
They disagreed on three points.
First, they had worked hard to study and sharpened their skills in the imperial court to reach this position, while these speculators could become officials for the cost of silver? Would they be willing to do so? They would only feel disgusted!
Secondly, if one wanted to be knighted, one would have to go through a lot of hardships and even die without a knighthood. Look at Xu Qingnian, who did so many things, which were not things that shook the world, before he was knighted.
Thirdly, official positions and titles are extremely noble things in themselves, so if merchants like them are involved, won’t that bring down the status? How will the people of the world laugh at them later?
To put it bluntly.
It is clear that they despise these merchants.
What a stinky fish and a rotten shrimp.
Give them official positions? Even if they are not in power, it’s too embarra*sing.
It’s a bad influence.
That’s why the civil servants did not agree.
Because in contrast, to have eunuchs in power is to actually get power, whereas to have merchants with official positions is a matter of influence.
A eunuch in power is essentially more influential than a merchant having an official rank, but this is an internal issue, an internal matter for the court.
A merchant having an official rank, on the other hand, was not an internal issue, but a matter of how the world viewed and influenced Great Wei.
The court was full of civil servants.
Only one person was silent.
That was Gu Yan, the Minister of Household Affairs.
He knew from the first moment that Xu Qingnian’s ploy was this.
He wanted to help Xu Qingnian, but looking at how resolute the hundred officials were, plus he didn’t approve of it either ah, merchants were no good in his eyes.
If he really wanted to let these merchants have official positions, he wouldn’t be happy either.
Putting it all together.
Gu Yan also spoke up.
“I hope Your Majesty will think twice.”
He didn’t have much to say and made his position clear in one sentence.
For a moment, the courtroom was incomparably quiet and a pin drop could be heard.
Looking at the civil and military officials kneeling in front of him, the empress was expressionless.
“I have already made up my mind on this matter.”
“There can be no change.”
“After the court meeting is over, the Minister of Justice will make a public announcement to the world.”
“I have also heard of the donation of ten million pieces of silver by the merchant Zhang Ruhui, who has been rewarded as a second-ranking official merchant and given a baronet of Wei.”
“By September, the Ministry of Rites and Ceremonies will draw up the appropriate official uniforms, distinguish them from the court uniforms, and create the appropriate ceremonial weapons, ornaments, arrows, and so on.”
“There must be no delay.”
The empress spoke out in this way, her attitude was even more resolute, and at the same time, she even rewarded Zhang Ruhui with a second-ranking official merchant position and a baronetcy of Great Wei, and also asked the Ministry of Rites to prepare these things.
It could be said that her attitude was extremely firm and did not allow any opposition.
As soon as these words were spoken, the court was abuzz with excitement.
“Your Majesty!”
“This must not be done.”
“If Your Majesty insists, I will kneel in the court and die without retiring.”
Some spoke up, full of sincerity, hoping that the empress would change her mind.
However, when they heard these words.
The Empress still looked calm.
Only she stood up and looked at the hundred officials and said.
“Then kneel here.”
After saying these words, the Empress turned and left.
For a moment, within the courtroom, there were no more crows.
They could see Her Majesty’s intentions.
This was playing for real.
There was no chance of negotiation at all.
But the more this happened, the more the hundred officials became a little angry.
Some sat withered and said they would not leave.
Others frowned and got up to leave; after all, the court meeting was over.
One third of the people left, but two thirds of them stayed in the court.
Not one of the six ministers left.
As powerful ministers of Great Wei, it would have been somewhat unbecoming of them to leave.
But those who left knew.
Great Wei, once again, was about to make a huge wave.
Oh, no, a huge wave.
And there are already people who have sensed that this matter has a great deal to do with Xu Qingnian.
This Xu Qingnian.
This Xu Qingnian is really capable of causing trouble.
Indeed.
It took less than a quarter of an hour.
Word of the opening of a government business in Great Wei spread instantly.
Including the Beijing merchant Zhang Ruhui, who was made a first-rank official and given a title in Great Wei.
This matter, like a meteorite falling to the ground in the business world, spread throughout the entire business world of Great Wei in less than half an hour.
Countless information spread out from the capital of Great Wei.
It could be said that this official-business affair was so shocking that no one cared about the eunuchs taking power.
