My Brother-in-law is the Prince - Chapter 436

Chapter 436 It scares you to death

Ma Yangming is not a fool.

Having lived most of his life, how could he not know the power of this?

Why do you serve as an official for thousands of miles?

Is it really for Confucius?

This is a pure profit of 70,000 taels of silver for a round trip.

Within a few years, it will be millions of dollars.

Naturally, merchants also have many disadvantages.

For example, it is easy to be looked down upon by scholars, but his son is a real champion. Even if he is not an official, his fame is real.

In the county, scholars can talk about things, but when it comes to juren, they can almost push the cup with the county magistrate. As for the Jinshi…even if it is a Jinshi who is not an official, it is not something that anyone can bully!

If it is the number one scholar, to be honest…although he cannot be an official and cannot bully others, he is by no means a person who allows others to bully him.

Plus so much white money.

As for being an official…it is a pity, but to be honest, the danger involved is beyond what ordinary people can expect.

This is the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. From Emperor Taizu Gao, although standing in the temple is noble, but since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the head of this minister is like a leek, and I don’t know how many stubbles have been cut.

Emperor Taizu Gao killed several groups, and after Jing Nan, he cleared Jianwen’s party members and killed another group.

Now, because of the New Deal, another group of people have been killed.

Entering the court and becoming an official is really more dangerous than going up the mountain to be a bandit!

If you are not careful, not only your own head will be lost, but your family may also be harmed.

The reason why he wholeheartedly hopes that his son will be famous is because for the Ma family, there is only one way to go.

But now, since there is a new way, although it sounds ugly, the benefits are real.

After he slapped Ma Chao viciously, he looked back at Ma Yu, his face suddenly relaxed. He supported Ma Yu with both hands, looked straight at him, and said, “Your business is not a crime, is it?”

Ma Yu hurriedly said: “My son responded to Taiping Mansion’s move to open the door. My son’s fleet arrived in Luzon, and the local Prince Ning’s Mansion was overjoyed. This is an upright business, and there is no crime. Father, I have read books for so many years, don’t I understand these things?”

When Ma Yangming heard this, he was very relieved, and his whole body seemed to have a little vitality all of a sudden, and he hurriedly said: “This… this is good, this is good, as long as you can keep yourself safe and don’t commit crimes, our Ma family will be happy.” You are the smartest, and the most obedient when you were young, as the saying goes, everyone has his own ambitions, and as a father, he also supports you.”

As he spoke, he stroked Ma Yu’s face lightly, and continued: “It’s not serious to attack my father just now, it didn’t hurt, good boy.”

Ma Yu shook her head.

Ma Chao on the side covered his face, looked at Ma Yangming with tears in his eyes, and hesitated to speak.

He felt that his heart was pierced again.

It was Ma Yangming who seemed to have suddenly realized something at this time. He got up immediately, bowed at Zhu Di’s feet, and said: “The grass people will die.”

After listening to Ma Yu, he seemed to understand at once. He had been doubting the identities of Zhu Di and Zhang Anshi, but felt that the other party was not an ordinary person. Now that he heard his father’s words, he suddenly came to his senses, and hurriedly knelt down to Zhu Di and said, “Wan Shi !”

Zhu Di was actually quite regretful.

He originally thought that it was a fight between chicken and dog, father and son turning against each other, or some kind of human tragedy, who knew it would have such a happy ending.

Zhang Anshi was also very surprised. He didn’t expect that the rumored number one scholar…hid here in Qixia just to do business.

All of a sudden, Zhang Anshi’s head started to spin rapidly, and then he said: “Wait for father and son to cause trouble, can you be convicted?”

This is not a small matter, Ma Yangming said immediately: “This matter was done by Caomin and Caomin’s son Ma Chao. If you want to kill him, Caomin has no complaints. As for Caomin’s eldest son, Ma Yu, he really has nothing to do with this matter. Your Majesty, please help me.” Know everything.”

Zhu Di gave Ma Yangming a hard look.

But at this time, he can quite understand the feeling of this horse’s famous licking, but he glanced at Ma Chao, and couldn’t help thinking in his heart, this horse’s famous licking has some, but not many.

Zhu Di collected his thoughts, looked up at Yang Rong and Hu Guang and said, “Yang Qing, Hu Qing, do you have any suggestions?”

Yang Rong took a deep look at Ma Yu, feeling a little weird.

But Hu Guang was heartbroken, and after looking at Ma Yu with the eyes of a kind-hearted beauty who is a thief, he still said: “Your Majesty, I think that it is an unforgivable crime for this horse to gain fame and credulously believe the words of the market. , but it is also understandable. Your Majesty values ​​loyalty and filial piety the most, and those who are sons should obey filial piety, and those who are fathers naturally need to love their sons. This is the principle of ethics. I think… it is better to be punished lightly.”

Even though the father and son didn’t quite suit Hu Guang’s wishes, even Ma Yang’s famous philistine aroused Hu Guang’s great disgust.

But Hu Guang still thinks that if Ma Yangming is held accountable just because of this, it would be too much punishment.

Zhu Di nodded and said: “What Hu Qing said is not without reason.”

He stood up, but looked at Ma Yu: “Others have worked so hard to test for fame, and if they have an official career, they will be ecstatic. You are good, you are different from ordinary people! Of course, there are also people who resign, but these people resign , it is also for the sake of fame, but you, the number one scholar, resigned because of business. It is really unimaginable, unprecedented.”

Ma Yu breathed a sigh of relief, but replied: “Your Majesty, when the sage was alive, he had three thousand disciples and seventy-two sages, but the sage never taught these seventy-two sages three thousand disciples, so he must be an official. Back then, the disciples of the sage included farmers, merchants, and naturally nobles.”

“It can be seen that what the sages teach is not just the knowledge of becoming an official. Nowadays, after reading the Four Books and Five Classics, they must be admitted to fame and enter the temple. The grassroots think that this is really weird.”

Zhu Di listened and said, “What exactly do you want to say?”

Ma Yu said frankly: “Later people praised the sage, and they all said that the knowledge of the sage is the most holy knowledge. Such a great knowledge should be able to solve all kinds of problems. After learning it, no matter what kind of work you do, you can do it. I learned skills from it. But now I only use the knowledge of saints as officials. From the perspective of grassroots people, people in the world look down on saints. But any way can be learned, so that people can be reborn, so that they can mount horses and soldiers, and dismount If you can write, why stick to being an official?”

“Craftsman’s business is not only because of interest, but also because of the profit of the grasslander. There is one less Hanlin in the world, but one more merchant. What’s wrong?”

After listening, Yang Rong stared at Ma Yu, his eyes flickering, and nodded secretly.

Hu Guang only blew on his beard, but he was speechless.

After Zhu Di heard it, he said: “This statement is not unreasonable. The saint you speak of is ten times wiser than the saint mentioned by the Imperial Academy. I thought that the saint only knows what he knows. I see you Sincerely, I will accept your resignation. You have your aspirations, and I will not force you. And your father, he committed a heinous crime, but I have a kind heart, and it is understandable to miss him. , there will be no punishment, and after that, you can do it yourself.”

Ma Yu hurriedly kowtowed gratefully: “Your Majesty’s kindness, it is hard to repay the grassroots even if they die.”

Zhu Di waved his hand, looked at Hu Guang and said, “Hu Qing’s family, do you have anything else to say? Do you still want to complain for the Ma family?”

These words were like pricking Hu Guang with a needle, Hu Guang blushed, shook his head and said: “I have nothing to say.”

Zhu Di said: “Since this is the case, don’t watch the excitement, let’s go.”

Zhu Di didn’t stay long, he paced away while thinking.

Ma Yu left a deep impression on Zhu Di. This person…is not an ordinary scholar, and Zhu Di was also deeply impressed by his conversation just now.

Walking out of the horse house, Zhu Di couldn’t help saying: “It’s a pity.”

Zhang Anshi said: “Your Majesty, what is there to regret?”

Zhu Di said: “Such a person cannot be used by the imperial court. Even if I force him, I’m afraid it may not be able to make him sincerely convinced and willing to use his life. Wouldn’t it be a pity…”

Zhang Anshi smiled, lowered his voice and said: “Who said it can’t be used by His Majesty? Think about it, Your Majesty. If his fleet is managed well in the future, it will be of great benefit to opening up many routes. Your Majesty…”

Zhang Anshi gave a small smile, and continued: “He has to pay customs duties when he brings the goods back…”

The voice was inaudible, but Hu Guang and Yang Rong heard it.

The two pretended not to hear, turning their heads to the other side.

When Zhu Di heard this, he felt relieved.

Entering the court as an official, I spend money to support him, and in business…he earns money to support me.

After such a calculation, Zhu Di’s slightly frowning brows suddenly relaxed, and he felt much happier. He said with a smile, “That’s okay, this person is quite talented. Maybe he can be Tao Zhu in the future.”

Hu Guang muttered: “Or Lu Buwei…”

Zhu Di also heard these words, and turned his head to give Hu Guang a sideways glance.

Hu Guang consciously made a slip of the tongue, hurriedly said: “Millions.”

Zhu Di didn’t bother to pay attention to him, and continued to talk to Zhang Anshi: “This Taiping Mansion has opened up its doors, and even this Ma Yu is engaged in shipping, earning so much money, it seems that this Taiping Mansion’s shipping has begun to take shape. ”

Zhang Anshi introduced enthusiastically, saying: “Your Majesty, there are hundreds of new docks, big and small, almost all of which are working day and night to build ships, and the number of manpower recruited is endless. Besides…you have to buy a ship if you have one. A large amount of goods went to sea, which made many merchants have to gather a large amount of goods to Taiping Mansion to board the ship to go to sea…”

After listening to Zhu Di, he couldn’t help asking curiously: “There are hundreds of shipyards, how to deal with this ship material…?”

Zhang Anshi smiled and said: “That’s right, the wood on the ship needs to undergo special treatment if it wants to withstand the corrosion of sea water and wind and waves. What everyone uses now is still the wood left over from the past, but this wood is not It is inexhaustible and inexhaustible.”

“However… Qixia Trading Company’s several shipyards are trying their best to… improve the wood.”

Zhu Di was taken aback, looked at Zhang Anshi and said: “I heard that it takes ten years of hard work for high-quality ship wood before it can be used on a ship. How can you improve your wood?”

Zhang Anshi smiled and said: “Nowadays, the demand for ordering ships is high, and the price is naturally rising. Therefore, the price is not a problem after the ship is built. The biggest problem is indeed the required ship materials and the lengthy time. Find a way to step up and improve some shipbuilding techniques, especially the processing of this wood, if it can be successful, then the use of ship materials can be greatly reduced, and then… the speed of shipbuilding will be even faster.”

Zhu Di asked: “Is there any progress?”

Zhang Anshi said: “There has been progress. In just a few months, this new ship will be launched for sea trials. If it can be successful…the speed of ship construction will be greatly accelerated, and the processing of wood will also be greatly improved. simplify.”

Zhu Di said: “It’s so good.”

Zhang Anshi said with a smile: “Actually, building more ships is no problem for me. More ships mean more cargo. Less ships mean higher prices. You can earn money anyway. But this time The boat built by the Qixia Commercial Shipyard is actually just a demonstration.”

“Demonstration?” Zhu Di looked at Zhang Anshi suspiciously.

Zhang Anshidao: “Many shipyards only know how to bury their heads in shipbuilding. The ships they build are similar with minor differences. They all hope to catch up with the construction period to earn money.”

Zhang Anshi paused, and then said: “The dock of Qixia Commercial Company is actually to set an example for them, that is to tell them that they can’t make a lot of money if they only concentrate on recruiting a large number of manpower to build ships. Only by improving production and innovating new ships can we greatly reduce the construction period and improve the process, so that we can make a fortune.”

“Only the dockyard of Qixia Commercial Company made a fortune through it. This kind of concept can be deeply rooted in people’s hearts. In this world, the most difficult thing to change is the heart. Only when the heart is changed can everything go smoothly.”

Zhu Di looked at it with great interest and said, “I’ll wait for your good news.”

…

After sending off Zhu Di and the others, Ma Yangming went back to pick up the letter, and after rereading it a few times, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He raised his head, with a look of relief on his face, looked at Ma Yu with burning eyes and said: “My son… is really promising, won the first prize, and can easily earn such a big family fortune… Chaoer…”

Ma Chao was beside him, drooping his head and said, “Yes, yes.”

Alas, he always felt that he was not his own.

I saw Ma Yang said famously: “You go back to your hometown and bring your mother and other family members to the capital. Sell everything in the family that can be sold, and move the whole family to the capital.”

“Ah…Father…” Ma Chao couldn’t care less about mourning, and said in shock, “Father, where are our roots…”

Ma Yangming sighed and said: “Now that something like this has happened, you can’t go back to your hometown. After you go back to your hometown…if you know that your brother is in business, you will make fun of your neighbors. Instead of being laughed at by others, the whole family will move out.” At this point, you have settled down again. Trees move to death, people move to life, don’t you understand this truth?”

“Of course, when you go back this time, you have to prepare a sum of money and give it to your cousin to ask him to take care of the ancestral grave. When the time comes, tell someone to bring some money back.”

After saying that, Ma Yangming ignored Ma Chao, and said to Ma Yu: “Your brother, you are not promising, and he has no skills, but Brother Dahu, if you think he can help you, give him one.” Errands, of course, others are honest, which may not be all bad, at least he is willing to listen to what you say.”

Ma Yu said: “Of course.”

After Ma Yangming explained this, he sat down and said enthusiastically, “My son, will there be any great risks in doing business at sea?”

“Don’t worry, if you want to buy insurance, if you really encounter any risks, at least you can get back some losses, and you won’t lose everything. What’s more, this time to go to sea to do business, in fact…” Ma Yu thought for a while, and said with a smile: ” In fact, the money earned is just a small amount.”

“Little head?” Ma Yangming’s calm face was shocked again.

Can you not be surprised, this is tens of thousands of taels of silver!

Here you are, the little head?

Ma Yu said: “Right now, everyone in Qixia is waiting to see if the Haimao business is profitable. My son went to sea first, and took this opportunity to get in touch with each other. But Haimao is not a workshop business after all. It is beneficial for everyone to meet a certain workshop. To plan, you must rush to do it. But maritime trade requires proficiency in shipping routes, buying ships at a large price, and having certain connections overseas. There are countless troubles in this. Many people see such Huge profits, even if you want to earn money right away, you will definitely be daunted when you think of the troubles that are so numerous.”

Ma Yu paused and continued: “Because of this, at this time, it is a good time for my son to take this opportunity to expand his business. If the fleet returns safely this time, when my son distributes the dividends to others, everyone Everyone is happy after getting the money, then… I am afraid that more people will want to give money to my son to invest in Haimao, and even if my son wants to refuse, it will be difficult.”

“My son’s next step is to find a way to raise 500,000 taels of silver. In addition to buying more new ships and opening up a few new routes, in addition, I want to buy a few warehouses in the commercial ports of Luzon and other places. For the collection and distribution of goods…”

Ma Yu thought for a while, and then said: “Of course, it is inevitable to cooperate with some local merchants. Now in Luzon and other places, if you can invest in several sugar workshops first, extract sugar cane, make sugar, and then pass through our ship I’m afraid it will be a huge profit to transport it back. Of course, although these are only for making money, they are not the purpose. Instead, Luzon and other places have fertile land and a lot of sugarcane plantations. Whether it is Zhao Wang or Ning Wang, they also urgently need to use these lands The sugar cane planted was exchanged for real money to maintain the income and expenditure of the palace. At this time, the son cooperated with them and solved a big problem for them, which is equivalent to selling a favor.”

Ma Yangming half understood what he heard, and finally said simply: “Just tell me how much money you can earn in the future?”

Ma Yu smiled wryly and said, “It’s hard to calculate, but…if it succeeds, I’m afraid that the gold and silver can fill all the rooms in this mansion.”

Ma Yangming took a deep breath, and felt that his heart was a little stuffy again. He covered his heart, tried hard to stabilize his beating heart, and said: “Oh, oh, don’t say it, don’t say it. You can go on , father will die soon.”

Ma Chao immediately rubbed Ma Yangming by the side, and said: “Father, brother has no winks, don’t scold him.”

Ma Yangming stared at him with a red face, and squeezed out a word between his teeth: “Get out!”

(end of this chapter)