Chapter 97: The True Reaper Arrives!
The old Yongle Emperor looked at the civil officials, each with his own hidden thoughts, and said coolly, “Did you not understand? I am putting Xia Yuanji in charge of all military expenditures.”
“Your Majesty’s command is obeyed!”
The Minister of Personnel, Jian Yi, bowed his forehead to the ground. “I shall have the accounts audited at once, and the handover with Minister Xia can be completed very soon!”
The ministers kept their faces composed, but in truth none of them took it too seriously. At most, they would have to share a little of the profit with Xia Yuanji and bleed a bit for it.
That was simply how the court worked: one had to adapt to circumstances.
The old Yongle Emperor sat back upon the high seat. His eyes swept over the ministers’ habitual expressions, and he waved a hand. “You may withdraw.”
“Your Majesty’s command is obeyed!”
The civil officials rose one after another and withdrew.
Ashikaga Yoshimochi also retreated respectfully.
The old Yongle Emperor watched them go with an indifferent gaze, then gave a cold inward smile.
To covet silver before the face of the Grand Ancestor himself—truly not knowing how the word death was written.
Suddenly, he lifted a brow and said, “Why are you still here? There’s no dinner today.”
“I take my leave, Your Majesty!”
Xia Yuanji hurriedly bowed and withdrew, obediently going off to gather the death rolls from the campaign homecoming route.
...
The heirs of the Ming emperors had been observing all this from the little world.
The old Yongle Emperor was summoned in, seated upon the Yongle dragon throne, and said respectfully, “Father, it has all been settled.”
“Hmph!”
Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the Hongwu dragon throne and looked at him with a cold snort. “In my view, this cabinet is nothing much. A bribe of merely sixty taels and they can be skinned alive and stuffed with straw, yet they still dare meddle in military affairs. May these corrupt officials choke on it!”
The old Yongle Emperor hurriedly said, “Father, rest assured. Your son understands. The Japanese are always rumored to have skinning cannibals among them. If the civil officials of the Yongle reign happen to encounter them, that too would simply be fate!”
Only then did Zhu Yuanzhang’s expression ease somewhat. Turning to his great-grandson, he asked, “Great-grandson, you said that pressing silver into coins is different from silver ingots. How?”
“An ingot of silver is one tael for one tael, but a silver coin of one tael can be used as if it were ten taels!” Zhu Youjian said, rising to his feet. “All my ancestors, please come with me.”
Old Zhu stood up and patted the old Yongle Emperor. “Come on, stop sitting there.”
“Right!”
The old Yongle Emperor quickly rose.
The heirs of the Ming emperors all set out together. After only a few steps, the mist before them parted, and a colossal iron beast came into view, its smooth surface gleaming.
“What is this!?” Old Zhu asked in astonishment.
...
“It is a mint. As long as the silver is brought into the little world, it can be struck into silver coins, and...” With a thought, Zhu Youjian activated the machine before him.
Buzzing!
The more than one hundred thousand taels of silver that had been stored in the little world vanished in great sheets.
Then, one after another, brilliant silver coins were spat out in batches, each bearing a serial number and more than a dozen anti-counterfeiting marks.
Before long, they had piled up into a small hill.
Zhu Youjian picked up a few. They were about the size of the one-yuan coins from his previous life. The denomination engraved on the back was one tael of silver, while the front bore a design of the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers, crafted with enamel, sandblasting, filigree, chrome plating, and a host of other techniques.
They were beautiful enough to be jewels.
Most importantly, each silver coin weighed only one mace, yet could circulate as one tael of silver. It could absolutely be put into circulation among the common people.
There was also a denomination of one mace.
The front bore a blazing great sun and a thousand-radiance design, while the back was marked as one mace of silver. The reverse was chrome-plated and the obverse richly colored, executed with extreme precision.
At last, there were silver coins the size of a fingertip, denominated as one cash. These were made of brass with a hint of silver thread added.
On the front was a silvery-white full moon.
The workmanship was comparatively simple, yet still remarkably refined.
Old Zhu cradled a handful of the coins and said in shock, “Grandson, won’t we be losing money on this? T-this could be sold for a hundred taels each in the common markets and people would still want them!”
“The cost is not high. Overall, the loss does not exceed one-tenth, so after accounting for it, the profit is eight or nine times over,” Zhu Youjian said after some thought.
In truth, there was not even a one-tenth loss.
The mint of the little world had no real cost at all. It was only that even the closest relationships could not keep demanding free labor forever.
After all, taking money was only so that, in the future, he could better serve the ancestors!
“Good, good, good!”
Old Zhu’s eyes shone with brilliance, delight overflowing from him.
This was far more practical than the Hongwu treasure notes. Though it still used silver as raw material, one ten-thousand-tael batch could be used like one hundred thousand taels. It could circulate rapidly among the people and, at the same time, preserve its value to the greatest extent without depreciation.
This was a national fortune-protecting divine artifact!
“Use this to exchange for the silver in the common markets. As long as they’re not fools, they’ll all rush to trade. We’re rich, rich indeed!” The Yongle fat man was so excited that the flesh on his face trembled.
The Hongxi fat man was also beaming and could not help praising him. “This time, Youjian has truly done something of lasting merit, beneficial now and for all generations to come!”
Zhu Youjian was just about to say something when his eyes suddenly widened and his expression changed drastically. He cried out:
“Bad! Something huge has happened!”
Zhu Yuanzhang asked sternly, “Great-grandson, what happened?”
The emperors and heirs, who had been wallowing in the sea of silver coins, all took half a step back without changing their expressions.
The Hongxi fat man looked frightened and muttered, “What is wrong with you, child? Such a scare.”
Zhu Youjian suddenly looked at Old Fourth Zhu with a strange gaze and said slowly, “Ancestor, did we leave something behind in the Jianwen timeline?”
Huh?
Old Fourth Zhu blinked, his expression hesitant. “Great-grandson, don’t be like that. You’re making your ancestor a little scared. Just say what you mean directly.”
“The Han King, Zhu Gaoxu, has been on a killing spree in Japan,” Zhu Youjian said, swallowing.
Old Fourth Zhu pondered. “How much of a spree?”
Zhu Youjian was silent for a moment, then said, “The captives he left behind aren’t taller than a wagon wheel.”
That startled me!
And here I thought it was something serious.
Old Fourth Zhu let out a breath and laughed. “That was my order. The Japanese will one day provoke China and massacre women and children with extreme cruelty. Since my ancestors have learned of it, then naturally it should be tooth for tooth and smash their nest to the ground.
“Besides, an ordinary wagon wheel is more than four feet high. Most Japanese aren’t that tall. There should still be quite a few of them alive—enough to keep as miners and farm slaves.”
Old Zhu nodded, smiling. “Old Fourth has arranged this well.”
Zhu Youjian hesitated. “But... the Han King set the wagon wheels flat on the ground...”
“What!?”
Old Fourth Zhu’s voice shot up by several octaves. His expression turned grave. “How many did he kill?”
“Half of Japan has been emptied.”
Zhu Youjian took a deep breath.
Although the Jianwen-era Zhu Gaoxu had slain tens of thousands of Japanese and pirates, he had not emptied half of Japan.
It was just that anyone shorter than the laid-flat wagon wheel had to be executed. Terrified, most of the Japanese fled by ship if they had one, and if they did not, they jumped into the sea and swam for it.
Or they wrapped themselves in fine robes and fled north, all of them running north.
With Kyoto and Muromachi as the dividing line, the entire lower half had nearly no Japanese left at all.
“What is Zhu Gaoxu trying to do? Showing me attitude?” Old Fourth Zhu said with a cold snort, his fingers trembling with rage.
He was not angry that Japan had been emptied. He was angry that the Han King had deliberately twisted his intent—such conduct was clearly an expression of dissatisfaction.
When Yongle Zhu Gaoxu heard his name, he patted his rear and came over, curious. “What’s wrong, Second Father?”
Old Yongle Zhu snorted. “You rebelled again in the Jianwen timeline.”
Hm?
Zhu Gaoxu was stunned.
Why do I rebel wherever I go?