allonlinenovel Chapter 1206 My God, this world is absolutely insane!
Chapter 1206 My God, this world is absolutely insane!
Wang Guangyang rambled on and on, but it all boiled down to two words: send money.
Smelting steel costs money.
They demand money from buying furs from the barbarians.
Extracting oil requires even more money.
Black Sesame Dumpling glared at Wang Guangyang resentfully.
So, my brother-in-law and I have been busy in Fujian for so long, and before the money even reached the national treasury, you, Wang Guangyang, have already set your sights on it?
That's my money!
My money!
Black Sesame Dumpling snorted and said, "Your Ministry of Industry's budget is already exhausted?"
Wang Guangyang, without batting an eye, raised his voice and said, "It's not all spent yet, but it's almost gone. The previous budget was all allocated to the light and heavy industry departments, leaving only a small portion for petrochemicals. But then, the Chemical Engineering College of Dengzhou University suddenly jumped out and asked for 50 million catties of oil... This..."
Yang Shaofeng glanced at Wang Guangyang with considerable surprise.
Ever since this old scoundrel made his way up, his audacity seems to have skyrocketed—back when he was the Shandong Provincial Governor, you, Wang Guangyang, wouldn't have dared to confront Black Sesame Dumplings head-on!
Now things have gotten really bad. Not only does Wang Guangyang have the audacity to speak sarcastically to Heizhi Tangyuan, but the key point is that he's already eyeing the money that those aristocratic families, maritime merchants, and officials have confiscated and exterminated before it even reaches the capital!
Yang Shaofeng clicked his tongue, pondering how to take advantage of the opportunity to gain some benefits from Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture, when Zhu Biao said with a dark face, "The Chemical Engineering College cannot reduce the 50 million catties of oil it wants, but I don't have extra money to give to your Ministry of Industry."
Zhu Biao reached out and tapped the armrest of the dragon throne, then stood up and walked down the steps. He said in a deep voice, "Although some people's homes were confiscated in Fujian this time, the money was all the hard-earned money they had squeezed from the people. I intend to use all of this money back on the people and not spend a single penny on other places."
"I plan to divide this money into three parts: one part for Huimin Pharmacy, one part for Almshouse, and one part for Louzeyuan."
"As for what Minister Wang said about the 50 million catties of oil exceeding the Ministry of Industry's budget... that's a problem with how you, Minister Wang, formulated the budget, not with me."
Wang Guangyang reluctantly agreed, then turned his gaze to Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen: "Auditing Department, Supervision Department, Discipline Department, keep a close eye on where this money goes. Anyone who dares to reach out will have their claws chopped off."
Li Shanchang, Liu Bowen, Wang Guangyang, and others were already used to this behavior of the black sesame glutinous rice balls.
This was the first time Yang Shaofeng had ever seen Zhu Biao officially overseeing the country.
Is this still the same black sesame glutinous rice ball that occasionally acts as erratically as a husky?
No wonder everyone says this guy is a cultured version of Zhu Yuanzhang.
This series of combined measures first forcefully suppressed Wang Guangyang, then used Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen to clean up corruption in officialdom, and most importantly, used all the money recovered from the confiscation of his property to enhance his reputation.
Tsk tsk.
With such a crown prince, it's no wonder that Emperor Deng went to great lengths to abolish the position of prime minister. In the original history, if Zhu Biao hadn't suddenly died, the Ming Dynasty court would have become a structure with an emperor and a vice emperor. Simply put, Emperor Deng would have been in charge of being the emperor, and Zhu Biao would have been in charge of being the prime minister, or vice emperor.
If nothing unexpected happens, when Old Deng wants to abdicate, Black Sesame Dumpling will be able to seamlessly take over, directly transforming from Vice Emperor and Prime Minister into a proper Emperor.
Of course, no matter how wonderful Old Deng's plan was, it was ultimately just his idea.
In reality, first, Zhu Biao died young, and then Zhu Laosi and his son misinterpreted the scriptures. Zhu Laosi, who originally wanted to be a good emperor, turned himself into the General Who Conquers the North, while Fatty, who wanted to be a good vice emperor and prime minister, took on three positions at once: emperor, prime minister, and also the crown prince who was constantly being reprimanded.
Later on, Zhu Youcheng and his son also went astray. The father held two positions, being both emperor and prime minister, while the son was the crown prince and the mighty general.
There's not much to say about the Jiajing and Longqing emperors after them. To protect his son, Jiajing went so far as to create a situation where the two emperors could not meet.
In other words, Deng Xiaoping successfully abolished the position of prime minister, but the plan of having an emperor plus prime minister and vice emperor also failed and there was no perfect replacement. It wasn't until Zhu Yuanzhang established the cabinet that the cabinet gradually grew in power during the reigns of Emperor Renzong and Emperor Xuanzong, and reached its peak during the reign of Emperor Wanli, when it began to officially rival the imperial power.
Yang Shaofeng's train of thought went astray once again, but someone from the Court of State Ceremonial rushed to the Qianqing Palace, saying that Mosha, an envoy from the Timurid Khanate, had important business to discuss with Yang Shaofeng.
When Yang Shaofeng arrived at the Honglu Temple, he was greeted by Mo Siha and two "gifts" beside him.
"Didn't the Prince Consort tell his ministers before that he planned to buy two barbarians from Europe?"
Mosha pointed to the two "souvenirs" and said, "These two are the barbarians that our country captured from the Ottomans. I heard they are some kind of barbarians from the Fa something-or-other tribe, and their ruler sent them to the Ottomans to negotiate peace."
"It just so happened that the Ottomans wanted to show off their military might in front of them, so they brought them to the front lines."
"Then he was arrested by our country."
Yang Shaofeng looked at the two "gifts".
Law?
It should be France.
拜？
What if it was the Byzantine Eastern Roman Empire, which was neither holy nor Roman, and even less worthy of being called an empire?
Yang Shaofeng smiled and pointed to the chair next to him, saying to Mo Siha, "I am very satisfied with this generous gift from your esteemed envoy. Please sit down and let's talk."
Mosha sat down cautiously, and Yang Shaofeng continued, "Has Your Excellency found out what these two barbarians' identities are in their respective countries? Are they lords? Knights? Or priests?"
Mosha shook his head blankly, then ordered the servants behind him, "Quickly find out what kind of people they are?"
The two Europeans, whom Mosha had brought as "souvenirs," were already filled with turmoil.
Europa could not defeat the Ottomans.
It could even be said that they were completely dominated by the Ottomans.
That's why the two of them were sent to the Ottomans to negotiate peace.
However, the Ottomans could not defeat Timur—no matter how much the Ottomans boasted, the fact remained that the two of them were captured on the front lines of the war between the Ottomans and the Timurid Empire.
The Timurid Empire's envoys, after traveling thousands of miles to the East, could only wait to be received by officials of the "Ming Dynasty," and even had to be extremely careful when sitting down to speak.
My God, this world is absolutely insane!
Just as one of them was making the sign of the cross with his hands, Mosha's attendant reprimanded the two men without any politeness: "What are you standing there for! State your identities clearly, what country you are from, what you do in your country, what your names are, how old you are. The sons-in-law of His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty are waiting for your answers!"