First Prince of Ming Dynasty - Chapter 759

  Chapter 759 Jiang Yuan

  Zhu Yuanzhang’s icy eyes fixed on the man for a moment, and he said word by word: “No one can deceive our prince!”

  The man hurriedly knelt down on the ground: “It’s the guilty minister who speaks nonsense, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is wise and prudent in distinguishing loyal and sycophantic traitors, like a mirror carved with rhinoceros, all sides are clear, no one can deceive the eyes and ears.”

“snort!”

  The people around him moved slightly, guessing that next time this person would not have the opportunity to enter the country to discuss politics, but unfortunately he just climbed up from the ground, but he didn’t know the rules of the court, and any bad things must not be involved with the prince.

The Minister of Rites bowed and said: “My lord, the overseas land is very desolate. The barbarian people are like ghosts and inhumans and cannot be educated. In addition, the sea waves are dangerous. If you are not careful, the boat will capsize and be buried on the bottom of the sea. My Ming Dynasty has everything, so why waste people’s energy?” Yu Hai, Your Majesty!”

   “There are many sneaks in the foreign domain. If the people are lured by them, it will disturb the peace of the coastal state capital.”

   “The most important thing is that once the sea trade is opened, merchants will inevitably trend, the people will be uneasy, and there will be a lot of worries.”

Seeing the words of the crowd, Chen Youzong stood up as the spokesperson of the crown prince and the Jiangnan gentry, and said: “My minister thinks that the advantages of opening up sea trade outweigh the disadvantages. Now that the court is short of money and food, the only way is to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. My emperor is rich in the world. As far as I know, I can eat and drink.” It’s nothing more than four dishes and one soup, and it’s not as good as a wealthy household in the south of the Yangtze River.”

   “The empress is the mother of the country, and she leads the concubines in the harem to sew and weave old clothes every day. From the Qin Dynasty to the current dynasty, the frugality of the emperor and empress is unprecedented.

   Speaking of this, no one dared to interrupt him, so they could only bow and salute in unison: “Emperors, empresses, sages!”

Zhu Yuanzhang also looked a lot better: “thrifty makes appointments, appointments make all good things prosper, extravagance leads to wantonness, wantonness leads to all kinds of evils, and is the key to politics. Those who are frugal will spend enough, and those who put the most importance on the end will have peace in the world, and I hope that all the ministers will encourage themselves.”

   “The ministers are taught.”

  Chen Youzong continued: “It can be seen that the imperial court has insufficient money and food, and it is not a waste of extravagance. What if there is no extravagance and no matter how frugal it is? It can be seen that today’s focus is on open source, and the huge profits of sea trade have been recorded in detail in Song and Yuan Dynasties, and there is no one better!”

  Zhongshu Youcheng Chen Liang smiled gently and said: “What the envoy said is biased. We don’t know the importance of increasing income. The Yantiejiuzheng widely persuades Nongsang, that’s all.”

   “What You Cheng said is true, open source is imperative, but the first thing is stability, the benefits of maritime trade are illusory, and it is not enough to rely on, and it is better to seek it from within.”

  Zhu Yuanzhang’s gaze finally fell on Hu Weiyong: “What does the prime minister think?”

Hu Weiyong took out a memorial from his cuff and said: “I have heard that not only merchants and aristocratic families in the coastal state capital built seagoing ships for profit, but even some ordinary people are like this. Sang retreat.”

  ”The so-called business, men do not farm and women do not weave, clothes must be literary, food must be meat, no farmers suffer, but there are thousands of gains, if everyone is like this, the country will be in danger.”

  Zhu Yuanzhang frowned again. This was also what he was worried about. The merchants were different from the other three people. They could be found by scholars, peasants and workers.

  But it was still unfolding in just a moment. Merchants and merchants are not in the flow, it is difficult to become a climate, and the benefits of sea trade are also real. Of course, the most important thing is that I have made up my mind, and I can’t stop it.

  But it is inevitable to be irritable in my heart. The opening of the sea trade is far more than this. The capital is near the sea.

  The move of the capital will cause more problems…a single hair will affect the whole body.

   But there is nothing to do, since these things are imperative, it is best to arrange them during his reign. If you don’t leave a peaceful world for your son, I am afraid that he will not be at ease in the future if he dies.

  ………

  A group of merchants dressed in silk robes carefully adjusted their sleeves, and their expressions were a little nervous. They are the leaders of various merchant gangs, and they are waiting for His Royal Highness to be summoned at this moment.

  The headed old man with a gray beard closed his eyes and rested his mind, but his complexion was a little pale, and his feet moved slightly from time to time. They had been waiting here for more than an hour, and he was too old to stand up.

   “Master Jiang, why don’t you go sit down and rest for a while, I’ve heard of His Highness’s benevolent reputation, and I think I will understand your old age.”

  Jiang Yuan slightly opened his eyes and said with a smile: “It’s okay, if I can see His Highness, I will have no regrets in this life, not to mention at this age, if I can stand for a while, I still have to stand for a while, and there will be plenty of time to lie down in the future.”

  The old man was funny and elegant, and the rest of the people felt more at ease. They echoed a few words in a low voice. Not long after, Liu Jin came to summon him. The old man stomped his feet and saluted Liu Jin.

  The size of the house prepared by the Zhang family was not small, especially the main hall, which was spacious and bright. Zhu Biao met many dock officials and master craftsmen here on this day, and discussed the specifications of seagoing ships to be built in the future and suggestions for marine artillery.

  Compared with them, businessmen are naturally ranked last. They are a very important part, but they are also the best replacement part. As long as Zhu Biao is willing, he can support substitutes at any time.

   There were more than 20 people in the group, and when they entered the room, they didn’t dare to look up at the prince’s honor, and then they knelt down obediently.

   “Cao Min and others kowtowed to His Highness the Crown Prince, His Highness will be safe forever.”

  Zhu Biao stretched out his hand to signal, and Liu Jin supported Jiang Yuan very quickly. He was seventy or eighty years old, not to mention Zhu Biao, even if Lao Zhu was here, he would not let an old man of this age kneel down easily.

   “Bring a stool to the old man.”

  Jiang Yuan slightly raised his head and glanced at the crown prince, then hurriedly said: “Your Highness has broken the grassroots…”

  Zhu Biao said with a smile: “It’s Mr. Jiang. Before leaving, I heard my father said that you are old, so you don’t have to be polite to me.”

  Jiang Yuan wept and sighed: “Ah, Cao Min, thank you Your Highness. I never thought that the Holy One would still remember that the old man will die in peace now.”

  Zhu Biao spoke a few words of consolation, but he was indifferent in his heart. She was born in Jiang Yuan, a wealthy man from generation to generation. He started a business since he was a child.

  As if he just noticed it: “Get up too.”

   “Caomin and others thank you, Your Highness.”

  Several major merchant gangs, eight major merchants and some local tycoons total more than 20 people. These are the leaders of Daming Commerce.

   It’s not their personal reasons, businessmen have no status, no matter how much money they have committed crimes, they are not as good as a poor scholar in the yamen, and the county magistrate can disturb their peace even if he is cruel.

  However, the transformation may start now. The development of handicraft manufacturing and the high taxes generated by commerce will make their status continue to rise. This is an inevitable result.

  It was originally a self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy, and it was not that important to have merchants without merchants. Even the imperial court generally tried to reduce the number of merchants.

  After the access to sea trade, the imperial court finances will rely more and more on them, and not only these, the prosperity of maritime trade will inevitably give birth to a profession, pirates.

  The emergence of pirates will also force the caravan to pursue the ability to protect themselves. As the caravan expands, their strength will also grow, making the imperial court have to start to pay attention to and recognize their status.

  The economic base determines the superstructure, and non-manpower may change.

  The increase in the strength and status of merchants is actually not a good thing in Zhu Biao’s mind. They have no status now because of their virtues, but it still doesn’t delay them from selling private salt, and even selling ironware to the grassland for profit.

  In the final analysis, what do businessmen want? For money, sweet, hot, poisonous!

   Partially retains the face, picks it up to moisturize, is good at curing hunger, and relieves distress immediately. If the greedy take it, it is good if it is even;

  Its medicine is not available when it is collected, and if it is collected unreasonably, it will hurt the spirit. This is popular, and it can summon gods and ghosts. If you take it unreasonably, you will be weak and hurt your mind, so you must avoid it!

  ………

  (end of this chapter)