After returning, Marlin thought about it over and over again, feeling that Zhang Cai and Cao Yuan, who were Liu Jin's party, could not be left behind. After all, they were the Minister of Personnel and the Minister of War, and they were the two most powerful knives under Liu Jin. At this moment, it would be better not to offend them.
However, I had already told Liu Jin that I had no money, so it seemed unreasonable to send money again. So, Marin thought of a solution - borrowing...
When Liu Jin was in power, Liu Jin blackmailed all the ministers. If he didn't give it, he would let the Ministry of Personnel controlled by Zhang Cai give a bad review... This bad review is much better than the bad reviews on Taobao in later generations, and can ruin people's official career. Therefore, all officials had no choice but to give gifts. As for those who had no money, they could only borrow money from the rich in the capital to give gifts...
At this time, there is no special money dealing with deposits and receptions. Generally, large investors lend money privately, and the interest rate is quite high. In many cases, loans can reach three-point profits, which is 3% monthly interest and 36% annual interest. Some unscrupulous lenders have a surge in profits, resulting in higher annual interest rates. Of course, loans to officials are generally not three-point profits, after all, they are big bosses. But even if they have one profit, the annual interest rate is 12%.
In order to show that he had no money, Marin specially sent someone to deliberately find a pawnshop owner named Liu Ju and borrowed 4,000 taels of silver from him to give two thousand taels to each of the two big bosses Zhang Cai and Cao Yuan.
Liu Ju is actually Liu Jin's slave, and the pawnshop he opened is also Liu Jin's property. Ma Lin has been asking about this for a long time.
Liu named it as a pawn shop, but in fact he was lending usury. With Liu Jin behind his back, there were naturally no taboos. Moreover, many officials who gave gifts to Liu Jin also came here to borrow money. Because, in secret, this pawn shop was actually one of the "officially designated" loan points for Liu Jin...
Liu Ju quickly reported the news about Malin's loan. Liu Jin nodded and signaled that he could receive it. However, bullying Malin was a barbarian and demanded 2 points of profit, which is 24% of the annual interest.
"He really has no money..." Liu Jin sighed, no longer thinking about slaughtering Ma Lin, Yang Hu...
In fact, on the Dagukou warship, Malin still saved a lot of silver, guarded by the Friesian sailors who were left on the ship. Liu Jin didn't know this. Moreover, even if Liu Jin sent someone to search on the ship, he might not be able to find it. Because these silvers were in the secret compartment of the cabin and were relatively hidden. Even most sailors on the ship did not know the existence of these silvers.
That night, Ma Lin sent two thousand taels of silver to Zhang Cai and Cao Yuan. Although the two felt that they were too little, as members of Liu Jin's party, they also heard about Ma Lin's gifts to Liu Jin and was poor, so they couldn't say anything. After all, the big head of the benefits was taken away by the boss, and they dared not be satisfied?
As for Liu Zhong, when Ma Lin asked, it seemed that this guy had not yet entered the cabinet. Liu Zhong entered the cabinet, as if Liu Jin had fallen, and he had a vacancy because Cao Yuan was implicated and resigned. Now, Liu Zhong is still in charge of the Hanlin Academy. Although Qinggui has a future, he has little say.
Moreover, Ma Lin had already dealt with the three big bosses Li Dongyang, Yang Tinghe and Liang Chu, which was enough. Li Dongyang was a sleek and had a good relationship with anyone. After Wang Yang retired, Yang Tinghe became a representative figure of the Qing sect in the court. At this time, Liang Chu did not enter the cabinet because there was not enough seats in the cabinet, but it was only one step away from entering the cabinet.
With the support of Liu Jin's party, as well as the support of Li Dongyang, Yang Ting and two civil leaders, Ma Lin felt that the problem should not be big, so he stopped bribery. Moreover, he, a foreign country, was not suitable for continuing to jump up and down in the capital.
...
Then, five days passed, and Malin also waited for the court meeting on June 15th of the lunar calendar...
This super conference is actually a temporary increase between the Grand Chamber and the Changchao. Generally speaking, foreign envoys choose to pay tribute to the Zhengdan Grand Chamber. The so-called Zhengdan Grand Chamber is the first Grand Chamber meeting for the New Year at the beginning of the first lunar month.
This time, all officials gathered in the capital, and the envoys from various countries also concentrated on this day to pay tribute, which was very lively. Strictly speaking, Malin came at the wrong time. Because according to the rules, he should come by the end of the year and then attend the New Year's ceremony.
However, the people of Marin have come, and it is mid-year, and there are still several months before the end of the year. If an ordinary messenger is still able to make the other party wait. But the person who comes is the king of the country, he cannot wait. After all, the king of a country is very busy, so where can he wait for a few months?
Taking the precedent when the king of Boni, the Boni Kingdom of the South China during the reign of Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, the prince would even come to receive the king. However, Zhengde was young and had no son, so he could only let the Ministry of Rites receive him first. Moreover, since Zhu Yuanzhang founded, there were very few kings who came to pay respects in person, and the most concentrated ones were the few kings of the South China that Zheng He brought back to the West. Moreover, this was because people thought that Zheng He's ship was large and safe, so they dared to come with the ship. At other times, the kings of foreign countries rarely came to pay respects in person. Only tribal leaders occasionally came to pay respects in person in the northwest, but those tribes were not regular countries, and they were destroyed every day and changed quickly.
Therefore, it is rare for Malin's parents to come to court. For this reason, the Ming court held a small and large court meeting that was more than usual, specifically used to receive Malin's tribute.
In fact, if ordinary people came to pay tribute on a ship, the Ming court might not believe it. Because, during the Song Dynasty, there were incidents of Arab merchants pretending to be envoys of the Seljuk Empire. At that time, the Seljuk Empire had already perished, but some people pretended to be envoys of the Seljuk to pay tribute and received generous rewards. Fortunately, some people knew about the demise of the Seljuk Empire and exposed it. Otherwise, the Southern Song Dynasty would make a big joke.
Since then, the Ming Dynasty learned lessons and often had to confirm the other party's identity in every way before it was willing to issue a "license" for tribute (you cannot pay tribute without a license).
But Marin made a lot of work, and at first, he had 10 warships and thousands of guards who shocked the Ming court. In this way, Marin was unlikely to be suspected of being a merchant pretending to be a merchant. Because ordinary merchants could not have the ability to create such a giant ship. Moreover, the elite of thousands of guards were definitely not trained by ordinary forces. In this way, the Ming court officials no longer doubted Marin's identity. Moreover, because of the silver, Liu Jin, the controller of the government, also helped to speak, and no one doubted it.
In addition, Marin made a lot of work, and at first, he had nine "black turtles", which shocked all the civil and military officials of the Ming Dynasty...
The situation at this time is - if you question Malin's identity, it is questioning the origin of the black turtle. The Ming Dynasty needs this auspiciousness very much. Questioning Malin's identity is equivalent to questioning whether the Ming Dynasty should get auspiciousness, and it is the top black turtle among auspiciousness... Only a fool will question...
Well, since your identity is fine, I will greet the king of Marin. So the court held a small and large dynasty meeting between the Grand Court and the Chang Dynasty. The specifications are not low, and it means paying attention to it and showing off the majesty of the Celestial Empire...
Chapter completed!