Zhu Biao was in the eastern side hall of the Hall of Heavenly Favor, so he arrived quickly.
Zhu Yuanzhang handed him the stack of papers to read.
There were quite a few expressions he had never encountered before, so Zhu Biao read rather slowly, even going through the papers a second time to deepen his impression of certain passages.
Li Shanchang arrived just as he finished. Once Li Shanchang had paid his respects, Zhu Yuanzhang signaled for Zhu Biao to hand him the papers.
"Father, the proposals here for placing greater importance on medicine and developing Development Medicine are rather bold, but they are also thoroughly considered. Reading them feels like having the tangled weeds cleared from one's mind. May I ask which worthy man submitted them?" Zhu Biao asked curiously.
"Never mind whose proposals they are," Zhu Yuanzhang said. "Just tell me whether these measures would be useful."
Zhu Yuanzhang asked partly because he subconsciously wanted to avoid blindly trusting only the Rebel Army Group, and partly because he wanted to take this opportunity to gauge Zhu Biao's judgment.
Zhu Biao considered for a few moments, then said, "Father, forgive my candor, but there are quite a few points in these proposals that warrant discussion."
"First, it says that renowned physicians at the Medical Academy should receive official appointments, with the highest rank equivalent to a Grand Academician and the next to an Academician. Leaving aside the fact that Great Ming has no office of Grand Academician, would doing this provoke discontent among scholars throughout the realm?"
"Although scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants are all cornerstones of the state, scholars have held the highest standing since ancient times, followed by farmers, with artisans and merchants at the bottom."
"Physicians have always been tacitly regarded as artisans. If their standing were suddenly raised to equal that of scholars, I fear it would cause an uproar among the literati."
"Second, establishing Medicine Schools and Public and Private Medical Clinics in every province, prefecture, subprefecture, and county would indeed help cultivate medical talent and make it easier for commoners to seek treatment and medicine. But the expense would inevitably be enormous, perhaps beyond what the court could afford."
"You oppose these proposals?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.
"I do not oppose them," Zhu Biao said. "I merely think they should be adjusted as appropriate. Establishing a Medical Academy is indeed a good idea, but the official ranks granted to renowned physicians need not be so high. If the Medical Academy were placed under the Imperial Medical Academy, its highest appointment should rank one or two grades below the Director of the Imperial Medical Academy."
"As for Medicine Schools and government clinics, we could begin by establishing them only in the seats of the provincial administration commissions and in prefectural and subprefectural cities. That would greatly reduce the money and grain, material resources, and other supplies required at the outset."
Zhu Yuanzhang pondered briefly, then said, "Your ideas are not without merit. Old Li, what do you think?"
Li Shanchang bowed with his hands clasped. "Your Majesty, I also believe His Highness the Crown Prince makes sound points. These past few years, Great Ming has been stockpiling money and grain in preparation for pacifying Yunnan and Liaodong and launching a third northern expedition against the Remnant Yuan. There truly is little to spare for other matters."
"Moreover, both Medicine Schools and clinics require considerable numbers of physicians. If we extended them down to county towns from the outset, I fear Great Ming would not be able to find enough physicians."
"Furthermore, whether we lower the official ranks granted to the Medical Academy's renowned physicians or reduce the initial scale of the Medicine Schools and clinics, either measure would lessen resistance to these decrees."
Zhu Yuanzhang felt somewhat dissatisfied after hearing this.
Li Shanchang's words were sound, but in practice he had merely elaborated on and refined Zhu Biao's remarks, offering nothing new.
He immediately fixed Li Shanchang with a searching look. "These proposals state that establishing this entire medical system would indeed require substantial funds, so we must find ways to increase the court's annual revenue."
"You served as our Great Ming's chief minister for many years, and now you oversee the affairs of the Chief Military Commission, the Central Secretariat, and the Censorate. Surely you have some ideas for increasing annual revenue?"
Li Shanchang looked helpless. "Your Majesty, throughout history, increasing the court's annual revenue has meant little more than raising taxes and miscellaneous levies, then establishing government monopolies over daily necessities such as salt, iron, tea, alcohol, and vinegar."
"Yet ever since Great Ming was founded, Your Majesty has made light labor obligations and low taxes national policy. Aside from heavier taxes in Suzhou and certain other parts of Jiangnan, local taxes and miscellaneous levies have not been increased or altered to this day."
"Furthermore, Great Ming currently maintains monopolies only on salt, iron, and tea, and the money and grain they yield are largely set aside for military needs such as northern expeditions and border defense."
"As for alcohol and vinegar, the glutinous rice cultivation ban issued in Year Twelve of Longfeng has yet to be repealed. Private citizens may neither sell alcohol nor open taverns; they are permitted only to brew it for their own consumption. Compared with the Song Dynasty, this effectively leaves us with no alcohol tax."
"Vinegar, like most ordinary goods, is taxed at only one-thirtieth of its value. Its contribution to the court's annual revenue is also negligible, almost nonexistent."
At this point, Li Shanchang cautiously studied Zhu Yuanzhang's expression before continuing. "If Your Majesty insists on increasing annual revenue, the only option is to lift the alcohol ban and follow the Song Dynasty's example by establishing monopolies on alcohol and vinegar."
After hearing Li Shanchang out, Zhu Yuanzhang fell into thought.
After Great Ming's founding, some of its major policies had been modeled on the Yuan Dynasty, while others had been borrowed from the Song Dynasty.
It borrowed from the Yuan because the Mongol Yuan had immediately preceded Great Ming. Indeed, many of Great Ming's officials had come from Mongol Yuan offices, making that system the one they knew best and the easiest to draw upon.
But Great Ming was a new dynasty founded after the Han people drove out the Tartar invaders. It certainly could not copy Mongol Yuan policies wholesale, and even had to change most of them-at least on the surface.
Thus, Great Ming had also borrowed some policies from the Song Dynasty.
Yet the Song Dynasty had fallen a century earlier, and many relevant books and records had been destroyed in warfare. Even if Great Ming wished to copy certain Song policies in full, it could not.
Take the Song Dynasty's government monopolies, for example. Even important civil officials such as Li Shanchang and the late Liu Bowen knew only that the Song had monopolized salt, iron, tea, alcohol, vinegar, and certain other important goods.
As for precisely how the Song Dynasty had operated those monopolies, or exactly which goods it had monopolized beyond salt, iron, tea, alcohol, and vinegar, they simply could not establish the details.
Moreover, wealthy though the Song Dynasty had been, it had been forced to pay annual tribute first to Liao and then to Western Xia. Later, the Jin had stormed its capital and carried off two emperors, forcing it to flee south and cling to a dwindling breath of life before finally falling to the Mongol Yuan.
That cautionary mirror was barely a century old. Great Ming's ruler and ministers certainly had to reflect on the flaws in those policies, and could not simply copy the Song's many policies.
Furthermore, when formulating policies, they had to consider Great Ming's present circumstances.
One major purpose of policies such as banning alcohol and restricting commerce, for instance, was to ensure that Great Ming had enough people farming the land to produce more grain, guarantee supplies for military rations and officials' grain stipends, and prevent widespread famine among the populace.
Thus, hearing Li Shanchang propose lifting the alcohol ban inevitably left Zhu Yuanzhang hesitant.
At this point, Zhu Biao said, "Father, since I began participating in affairs of state, I have reviewed local tax records from the past few years and found that tax receipts in most places have risen year after year."
"The court has imposed no additional taxes, yet local tax receipts continue to rise. This undoubtedly shows that Great Ming's efforts to restore farmland and reclaim wasteland have achieved considerable success in recent years, with local grain production increasing annually."
"Furthermore, the records of censorial inspections of the ever-normal granaries and community granaries show that their stores are all above the required level, or even full. From this, I believe that unless an exceptionally severe disaster occurs, Great Ming should have no need to fear grain shortages for several years."
"With grain to spare, lifting the alcohol ban would not only increase the court's revenue but also enrich the common people's food and drink. Why not do it?"
Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was tempted, Li Shanchang decided to give him another push.
"Your Majesty," he said, "as far as I know, Wine Qu is now one of the essential goods carried by peddlers through the streets and alleys. This shows that many commoners brew their own alcohol, and that their households have grain to spare."
Li Shanchang kept his persuasion restrained, making his point and going no further.
Zhu Yuanzhang understood his meaning. "I will consider lifting the alcohol ban. Are there truly no other ways to increase annual revenue?"
Li Shanchang bent forward and clasped his hands. "I am incapable of offering any, Your Majesty."
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, then waved a hand. "Enough. You may both withdraw. Whether it concerns the Medical Academy or lifting the alcohol ban, let nothing get out before I issue a decree."
"Yes. Your son takes his leave." "Your servant takes his leave."
After Zhu Biao and Li Shanchang left, Zhu Yuanzhang had someone summon Chen Zhong.
Like Mao Xiang, Chen Zhong was a capable officer of the Ceremonial Guard Bureau under the Imperial Guard Chief Military Commission. He was currently responsible for gathering intelligence of all kinds for Zhu Yuanzhang, serving as his eyes and ears.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
"Rise."
Once the formalities were over, Zhu Yuanzhang gave his orders directly. "Send some clever, trustworthy men to investigate the counties of Yingtian Prefecture. Find out how the commoners' harvests have been these past few years, how much alcohol ordinary households brew each year, and whether there are many peddlers selling Wine Qu."
"As you command!"
After Chen Zhong left, Zhu Yuanzhang sat back behind the imperial desk and sank into thought.
Naturally, he would not investigate only Yingtian Prefecture. At the next morning's court session, he would also dispatch censors to inspect actual grain production in Jiangnan in Zhili, as well as Henan and Huguang, two major grain-producing regions. Sichuan was not yet a major grain-producing province at this time.
If conditions truly matched what Zhu Biao and Li Shanchang had described, he would then decide whether to lift the alcohol ban and how to increase annual revenue through government sales of alcohol.
Coming out of his reverie, Zhu Yuanzhang could not help summoning the translucent letter sheet again, pondering what he should ask Liu Bang in this first letter...
In the front hall of Changle Palace.
Liu Bang sent for Xiao He again.
"Xiao He, quickly find a few trustworthy alchemists and artisans, and see whether they can make this."
As he spoke, Liu Bang handed over a piece of silk covered with writing.
Xiao He took it and quickly finished reading, then asked in surprise, "Gunpowder? Once ignited, it has the might of a thunderbolt?"
Liu Bang smiled and nodded. "Exactly!"
Xiao He did not believe any mundane substance could possess the might of thunder. Frowning, he urged, "Your Majesty, the First Emperor blindly trusted the words of alchemists, refining Immortality Pills and seeking the Elixir of Immortality, yet gained nothing and merely squandered money and grain. That shows such absurd claims cannot be trusted!"
Trying to counsel your old man as though he were the First Emperor?
Liu Bang was speechless.
He immediately said, "It's only a matter of finding some niter, sulfur, and charcoal. How much money and grain could that possibly cost? If this gunpowder really can be made, your old man guarantees he'll beat the Xiongnu until they piss and shit themselves!"
Helpless, Xiao He could only say, "Very well. I will find people to try."
With that, he withdrew.
Liu Bang stood and called after him at the top of his voice, "Don't just go through the motions!"
Xiao He stopped, turned back, and bowed toward the hall. "Rest assured, Your Majesty. I would never dare deceive my sovereign."