Chapter 221 If this road works, it works
Wang Chonggu returned home from the side hall of Wenhua Hall and sat in the main hall with his brows furrowed, a little lost in thought.
"Father, is your Majesty not to blame?" Wang Qian was very worried about the trouble he had caused. Uneasy, he waited until his father came back and immediately went to ask.
Wang Chonggu ignored his son's inquiry and was still lost in thought. He was thinking about a question.
"Father?"
"Son, do you think His Majesty knew from the beginning that the price of worsted wool would soar?" Wang Chonggu raised a terrible question. In fact, I already have the answer in my heart, that is, His Majesty has long known that worsted woolen cloth will definitely become what it is now.
Your Majesty started discussing this issue from the use value of worsted wool.
Worsted woolen cloth is a rare fabric. Like satin, it is a top luxury item. Even though the official woolen cloth factory only has 5,000 pieces a year, it is destined to be rare and colorable. Strong, bright color, slender wool, comfortable to wear, crisp and stiff garments made of wool, not easy to wrinkle, wear-resistant, excellent warmth retention and many other advantages. In addition to being easy to be eaten by insects, it is a top-quality product.
Symbols of wealth and status are most easily sought after by people, and it is natural for powerful people to pursue them.
Whether the sale of worsted woolen fabrics was directly prohibited like satin. Wang Chonggu asked His Majesty what he meant. His Majesty said that the priority was to ensure the palace's expenses and allow private use. In terms of etiquette and law, worsted woolen fabrics would not be used. This is classified as transgression.
There aren't many pieces of worsted woolen fabric in this house, so how dare you say that you are powerful?
Under the theory of supply and demand, it has become inevitable that the use value of worsted woolen fabrics is ignored and is exaggerated by speculative merchants. It will become inevitable from popularity to craze, and His Majesty seems to be Wang Chonggu shuddered at the deliberate condoning of this kind of flattery.
If His Majesty had thought of today, it would be really terrifying.
"What do you mean, father, is this a deliberate trap set by His Majesty?" Wang Qian swallowed his throat and said in horror.
"Maybe I'm overthinking it." Wang Chonggu waved his hand feebly. He didn't want to maliciously guess the holy will, but according to past experience, the price of worsted woolen cloth is probably too high for Your Majesty. It was expected.
Wang Chonggu’s guess is correct. When Zhu Yijun emerged from the worsted woolen cloth, he discussed with Zhang Juzheng why the sale of satin should be banned, and even its use among the people was regarded as transgressive. Even so, the worsted woolen cloth was still Flowed into the public.
On December 28th of the fourth year of Wanli, Zhang Juzheng and the young emperor had a fierce quarrel in the side hall of Wenhua Hall. The content of the quarrel was related to the price of worsted woolen cloth.
Zhang Juzheng's opinion is to immediately restrict it and completely prohibit its flow into the market. Its use by the people will be regarded as trespassing. In this way, there will be no poison caused by strange goods. In order to keep it in the hands of the emperor, Zhang Juzheng The powerful right-wingers have tried their best.
Zhu Yijun disagreed with Zhang Juzheng's idea and insisted on continuing to sell like this in order to seek huge profits and amass profits. He found out the money buried by the landlords in the pig pens and let the money join the market circulation. Among them, the money shortage of the Ming Dynasty was adjusted.
The money shortage of the Ming Dynasty, or the Central Plains Dynasty, is a fact that has existed widely since ancient times.
Since the Han Dynasty, a large amount of flying coins and iron coins have been used. By the Song Dynasty, even if five billion copper and iron coins were minted a year in the Song Dynasty, they still could not meet the needs of regular circulation, and they had to start issuing money to attract money. , Jiaozi, and Hu Yuan, in order to solve the money shortage, Baochao officially appeared, and then quickly went bankrupt.
Bao banknotes, a piece of paper can represent one tael of silver, which is completely plundering, so the price of Bao banknotes has been falling since the beginning of its issuance. When the price of Bao banknotes is no longer paper, new Bao banknotes will become useless. The banknotes will be replaced, replaced, and continued to be issued. Even so, every time the emperor of Hu Yuan used this clumsy method, he could get money.
During the Hongwu period, the Ming Dynasty's treasure banknotes had become waste paper, but the Ming Dynasty still insisted on issuing two hundred years of treasure banknotes. It couldn't make money, and there was no gold, silver, and copper. How to make money.
After the Ming Dynasty Baobao became waste paper, the currency of the Ming Dynasty was actually salt currency. However, with the complete destruction of the salt currency system by two relatives of the Xiaozong Dynasty, the value of the salt currency dropped significantly. Even so , Yanyin still has use value and exchange value, and is the substantial paper currency of the Ming Dynasty.
In the eyes of the little emperor, powerful rightists are like silver mines. It is inevitable to dig out their silver and put it into circulation in the world. If they ransack their homes, they would only bankrupt them. However, You can deceive them into being heavily in debt.
Worsted wool has become a very good tool for collecting silver.
Just the inflow of silver from overseas is still too slow. Mines still have to be opened, and a human-shaped silver mine must be opened with a powerful force.
Zhang Juzheng finally chose to compromise and agreed to your majesty’s mining method, because the Ming Dynasty really needed silver. After clearing the land, returning the land, and inspecting the land, a whip method was to be implemented, and the core motivation of the whip method was It's silver. How to circulate silver instead of piling it up under the pig pen is a problem that Zhang Juzheng, the first assistant, must face.
His Majesty's methods are not glorious, but they are effective.
"They said I was tyrannical during the house raid. In this way, everyone will be better off, and I will keep my reputation. If I want to be powerful, I don't have to be frightened by the power of God and dare not do anything." Zhu Yijun stood up and said with a smile. : "Sir, will you come with us to watch the excitement?"
"Watching the fun?" Zhang Juzheng discovered that the little emperor really liked watching the fun.
Zhu Yijun smiled and said: "Sir, come with me."
Worsted woolen cloth needs a trading place, and the wealthy merchants of the Ming Dynasty chose this place in Yan Xinglou, and on the way to watch the fun, Zhu Yijun also asked Zhang Hong to call Wang Chonggu to come over to watch the fun.
When Wang Chonggu stood in front of the Yanxing Tower, he clearly knew that the person in charge was not him or Wang Qian at all, but the Ming Emperor.
The layout of Yanxing Building is different from other places. As soon as you enter the building, there is a lot of people and excitement. You can see a long counter. Inside the counter, there are more than a dozen boys. Keep running.
The transaction of worsted woolen cloth needs to be weighed at the counter, mainly to check its weight. After the appraisal, each foot of cloth must be placed on a piece of white paper for appraisal. Sewing the seal, only if the seal on the paper and the cloth can match, can it be the worsted wool that can be traded in Yanxinglou.
Behind the counter, there is a board hanging on which is written the purchase price, sales price and quantity for sale. If you want to sell worsted woolen cloth, you can register at the counter and then put the information on the appraisal certificate. The number is listed, and the listed price is the selling price of the consignor.
All these services are not free. Three thousandths of the transaction amount will be charged. This service fee will maintain the operation of Yanxing Tower. It is also a tax for the court and goes into the national treasury. Half split.
This is entirely a business of the Imperial Manor, why should we give a share of national funds? If the emperor controls more silver, doesn't he have more power? Wouldn't this kind of tax and court sharing break one's own legs? It's just stupid!
Zhu Yijun was just trying to cheer up the Ming Dynasty.
He could gather silver into his own hands, but he could not send the silver into the hands of the poor coolies. Under the political correctness of Zhang Juzheng's portrayal of the hard-working tycoon and the rescue of the head of Guizhou, the court could send silver to the poor through spectacles and large-scale construction. It is in the hands of the people's coolies, so money must be allocated to the national fund.
Wang Chonggu looked at the busy counter and felt dizzy. As he expected, the emperor was the biggest trader, because the biggest consumer of worsted wool from the official woolen factory was none other than His Majesty. I, Your Majesty, have the most worsted woolen goods in hand.
Zhu Yijun took Zhang Juzheng and Wang Chonggu to the private room on the second floor.
The second floor of Yanxing Building has also been renovated. A famous prostitute from the south of the Yangtze River is playing and singing. If Luo Bingliang were here, he would find that this woman was the oiran on Sun Keyi's boat. Sun Keyi sent this oiran to the capital. Come here to make money.
The singing party is actually an auction. Starting from the ninth year of Wude, Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty, the auction extended from the temple's handling of the belongings of deceased monks has become more and more mature. In the second year of Chongning, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, , Zen Yuan Qinggui describes the process of singing clubs, including posting posters, displaying pre-sold goods, evaluating singing, drawing points, etc. It is already very complete.
The excitement that Zhu Yijun took Zhang Juzheng and Wang Chonggu to see was the singing club, or bulk trade. What was sold on the second floor was not the bulk goods on the first floor, but sold in pieces.
The sound of silk and bamboo gradually stopped, and everyone began to take their seats. The oiran stood up, came to the stage, and said with a smile: "Everyone, we are all gathered here today. We are all destined to be in Yanxing Tower. The owner’s hands and eyes are very good, and he has found all kinds of rare treasures from all over the world for you to taste. The most precious thing today is the 137 pounds of ambergris, but the one that attracts the most attention is the worsted wool.”
"How many big cloths are there in Yanxing Tower?"
The oiran walked up to a sign, pulled off the red silk cloth to reveal the number inside, and said with a smile: "One thousand five hundred pieces . ”
After this number was announced, everyone exclaimed. You must know that even the wool that flows into the market is rarely a whole piece, and it is calculated in feet, and this piece is five. Ten feet, 1,500 horses, the price is 615,000 taels based on eight taels. Not counting other rare treasures, it is just like a big cloth, which has already exceeded the price when Qi Jiguang was training troops in Jizhen. One year's military expenditure.
Wang Chonggu asked in a low voice with some doubts: "Your Majesty, I am confused, why did your Majesty release so many at once?"
Wang Qian held the 600-horse smashing plate and did not smash it down. The emperor took it out directly. One thousand five hundred horses will definitely have an impact on the price.
Zhu Yijun said with great certainty: "I am smashing the market. I hope that the power of the Ming Dynasty will make the powerful right people more awake. Pies will not fall from the sky, nor will wealth pour from the sky. Such a lot of money will fall." , even if it is to build a handicraft workshop, it is better than buying these."
Zhang Juzheng finally sighed and said: "Your Majesty, is it possible that they actually know that this is a big gamble, and they are just gambling, and they are not. The last one to take over? It's like the one who thinks he won't be the unlucky one in the casino. "Then there's nothing we can do. We've already ruined the game and they still won't wake up." Zhu Yijun shook his head and said.
The oiran waited until the crowd gradually became quiet, then showed an extremely peaceful smile and said: "Even if I have not gone to the grassland to do business, I have heard others say that the water plants on the grassland are not lush. The conquests are endless, so a certain number of horses must be maintained for attacking each other.”
“Some people may ask, why not herd sheep in the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty to obtain wool? Because there is not enough land in the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, let alone farming. Raise sheep.”
“It is destined that the quantity of wool and worsted wool is limited and very small. Even the noble nobles in the palace cannot use it as they wish. . ”
The oiran was telling a story according to his words. It was about scarcity. There are only so many aquatic plants, only so much wool, and only so much worsted wool. The less it is, the more precious it is.
Zhu Yijun was sitting on the Taishi chair and suddenly said loudly: "If you can't graze in singing clothes, you can also grow pasture to raise sheep. Why is the number limited?"
The oiran was angry for a while, who was causing trouble!
But in the private room, no one can be seen at all, but this question must be answered.
“The land and water support the people and the lambs. The fur of the sheep raised in the hinterland can only be used for woolen spinning, not worsted spinning. Even the wool from the grassland is used for worsted spinning. There are very few." The oiran was annoyed, but still answered the question with a smile on his face.
“That’s it.” Zhu Yijun finally agreed with this answer.
Antonio brought a kind of grass seed called corn grass, which is a kind of high-quality grass. One acre of land can cut more than 10,000 kilograms of grass every year, but the growth environment of this thing is in the north. , and it requires a lot of irrigation. Irrigation is a big problem these days. The oiran breathed a sigh of relief and continued: "Big cloth is actually a kind of silk coin. No one can control its quantity. Even the official factory that weaves it depends on God's face. There is a drought in the grassland this year. The sheep The number of sheep has dropped sharply, and the cloth is scarce. If the weather is good in the grassland, no matter how many sheep there are, the amount of wool for weaving and spinning will increase, but the output of the official factory will be only a little."
"And Dabu is being widely recognized."
"From the moment Dabu appeared, the price of Dabu has risen from seven silver coins to eighty-two coins, and will continue to rise, except In addition to being used to make ready-made clothes, it can also be used in bulk transactions..."
Oiran is still boasting about worsted woolen cloth, which is large cloth.
But Zhu Yijun shook his head, the oiran was telling a story.
He tells a great spring and autumn dream that everyone can get rich, and confuses the powerful people sitting in the audience to enter the scene and fight.
"Sir, you will not deceive me." Zhu Yijun looked at the people outside the box. Their eyes had become eager. When the price of woolen goods was soaring, everyone was blinded by the huge profits. Like a gambler who loses, he always thinks he is the winner.
The Wool Factory is already an extremely profitable industry, but its profit margin is only 35%. However, it only took ten days to increase from seven cents per square foot to eighty taels per square foot. If It only takes a dozen days for money to be invested in it, and it can be doubled tenfold. What kind of terrifying wealth myth is this?
“Now, let’s start the bidding, each piece of cloth is five hundred taels.” The oiran finally finished telling the story and started the bidding process. A piece of cloth is fifty feet, and the starting price is ten silver per foot, which is higher than what is sold outside. It is much more expensive, but here they are sold by pieces, not by feet, so the price is destined to be higher than outside.
The gentry were betting that prices would soar.
"Five hundred and twenty liang, I want five hundred!" A man with a slightly rich body stood up and shouted with a ferocious expression.
The crazy bidding started. Zhu Yijun looked at this scene and the crazy looks of those people and could only shake his head. In fact, he had arranged several trustees. If no one bought it, he would also ask someone to buy it. Call out the price, turn the left hand to the right hand, and just post the account.
But the child care arrangement arranged by the little emperor did not work at all, and there was no need to warm up the scene at all.
Fifteen hundred pieces of worsted cloth were sold for 820,000 taels of silver, which completely exceeded Zhu Yijun's expectations. The average price exceeded 11 taels of silver per foot. In other words, the powerful rightists believed that fine goods The price of textile fabrics will rise to more than 11 taels.
The subsequent auction seems boring. The ambergris is not for sale. It is just to show Yan Xinglou’s ability to know everything. This piece of ambergris will be processed and sold at the price of fifty silver per tael. Selling in Huangzhuang, Zhu Yijun also bought a good thing.
Qiu Ying's version of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" is a painting that Qiu Ying imitated Zhang Zeduan's painting structure of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" and based on Suzhou City in the Ming Dynasty. The suburbs - Hongqiao - outside the city - inside the city, and Qiu Ying added palaces In the garden part, Zhu Yijun spent 1,500 taels of silver to acquire this object.
Zhang Zeduan's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" was stored in internal funds. During the Jiajing period, Yan Song obtained the original copy. After Yan Song's downfall and his house was confiscated, he entered the palace. Zhu Yijun even went to see the original copy.
The oiran began to toast one by one, thanking the powerful people for their sponsorship. She smiled very sincerely, from the bottom of her heart. In this auction, the oiran earned enough money to redeem her life in one go.
Zhu Yijun and Zhang Juzheng communicated about the official post road of Daningwei. The post road from Daningwei to the capital needs to be fully hardened, and in order to transport goods more conveniently, Zhu Yijun believes that, A horse-drawn carriage track with concrete sleepers and rails can be constructed.
The horse-drawn carriage track is not a rare thing. It was called Chidao in the Qin Dynasty.
The reason for building such a road is naturally for military needs, but also for economic needs. The expansion of the official wool factory has led to a surge in the use of white clay, and the wool of the Tuman tribes also needs this road to be transported to the capital. .
“The wooden rails are not durable and easy to break, and they cannot be repaired very long. In addition to the influence of the terrain, they are only a few miles long at most, that is, from Xishan to Gyeonggi, this time from the capital of Ming Dynasty to Daning. This Chi Road of Wei should be supervised by Guo Chaobin, Minister of Industry." Zhu Yijun decided to repair it after much thought.
This kind of Chi Dao is very expensive, but the expensiveness is not the shortcoming of Chi Dao. It is because Ming Dynasty is short of money. It doesn’t matter if it can’t be repaired well. Quan should just accumulate experience. Anyway, the Chi Dao from the capital to Daningwei is It requires a fee and is sponsored by the powerful and influential people in the capital.
“Silver must be distributed to the hands of ordinary people, to the hands of craftsmen, to the hands of kilns, blacksmiths, plasterers and woodcarvers. Then this road leading to Liaodong, if it can The greatest blessing of the Ming Dynasty is that all lines are connected." Zhu Yijun once again clarified the purpose of building this road, exploring the logic of redistribution in the Ming Dynasty, and creating a class that supported the New Deal.
"If this road works, it will work." Zhu Yijun finally said a very strange concluding sentence. This road is naturally the Beijing-Liaochi Road, and it is also the New Deal of the Ming Dynasty. Tongtian Avenue.
"The World is Trapped in Merger and Relief the Rogues" is an ancient memorial written by Wang Chong, and Zhu Yijun highly agrees with it.
Zhu Yijun's methods are ruthless and merciless.
The oiran quickly made a toast to Zhu Yijun’s elegant room. As a result, when she entered, it was already empty. After Zhu Yijun saw the excitement and talked about things, he naturally left. As for the oiran, what if this meeting On the one hand, it was time for Feng Bao to send people to Yongsheng Woolen Factory for resettlement.
There’s no need to go to all that trouble, I’ll just show you off.
On New Year's Eve, Zhu Yijun met Chen Siliu, the same Chen Siliu in the story told by Wang Chonggu in his 50,000-character memorial.
Chen Siliu is already twenty-two years old. He is not tall, that is, he is about the same height as the little emperor who is about to be fifteen years old. He is very thin and has dark skin. When he saw the emperor, he knelt down He didn't dare to get up from the ground, so he was finally helped up and sat on a stool before he stammered clearly what he wanted to say.
Mining in the Xishan Coal Kiln is very hard, and you need to go down the well. The well is more than twenty feet deep. It is not an open-pit coal mine, nor is it the kind in England where there is coal under one foot. The Xishan Coal Kiln in the Ming Dynasty, They were all kiln shafts, the lowest of which was twenty feet deep. Mining accidents occurred from time to time, and water leakage, collapse, and explosions were also common. Chen Siliu had no idea why His Majesty the Emperor received him.
But Chen Siliu could answer all the questions His Majesty asked. His Majesty asked several people, whether they had a mother-in-law, how many children they had, whether they pulled two feet of cloth to make new clothes during the New Year, etc. These were common questions, and Chen Siliu answered them truthfully, not daring to lie in any way.
The story of Chen Siliu is the core story of "Rescuing the Hooligans". When Chen Siliu smiled and said that he had cut five pounds of meat for the New Year this year, both Zhu Yijun and Chen Siliu smiled brightly. got up.
After Chen Siliu left, he met farmers from all over the world, including one of the landless farmers resettled by Wang Chonggu in the northwest, farmers farming in Weixin, Daning, farmers farming in Shaanxi, etc. Zhu Yijun asked them Regarding the issue of farming, the born noble man spoke clearly and clearly about farming, which surprised all the farmers.
After the farmers left, the generals and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty came from Jiubian and Jingying. These generals and soldiers talked about their lives in detail. The program for reorganizing the soldiers of Jingying was to save the people. The soldiers in Guizhou and border military towns mainly talked about the hardships of life.
Thanks to the in-kind military pay promoted by Wang Guoguang, the border defense military towns can finally fight without hunger. Even if the salary given is not enough, they can still grow some sweet potatoes to survive. If they can eat, they can defend the country. You have to live on, this is what Qi Jiguang said when he met the saint for the first time, and the soldiers were particularly grateful for the salary in kind. They had to eat first before they could concentrate on fighting.
After the generals and soldiers left, Zhu Yijun finally met the foreign official.
This year’s foreign official is Shaanxi Governor Shi Maohua. Shi Maohua strongly expressed the beautiful vision of reintegration, and also expressed his worries about not reintegrating. If the three sides suffer from consecutive years of drought, I am afraid that Ming Dynasty will be destroyed. The disaster of overthrow was due to the fact that Shaanxi had less food and more soldiers, and suffered from severe droughts for many years, which would inevitably lead to widespread civil unrest.
Zhu Yijun made it clear that it must be repeated, but now is not the time.
Shi Maohua requested to go to Baoqisi, not to see where the emperor lived, but to see sweet potatoes, potatoes to be precise. Shaanxi is not suitable for growing sweet potatoes, but it is very suitable for growing potatoes. Shi Maohua said to His Majesty I am a farmer, and I am very grateful. There was no snow in Shaanxi last winter, and this spring is cold and severe. There is a severe drought. If I hadn't stocked up on some potatoes, I'm afraid there would be a big mess.
Shi Maohua visited Baoqisi and finally bid farewell to His Majesty with satisfaction.
After meeting the craftsmen, farmers, soldiers, and foreign officials, Zhu Yijun took his seven windows to the Ancestral Temple to worship his ancestors and made a report on what he had done this year.
The biggest thing that was done was to liquidate the clan party headed by Zhang Siwei and prevent the further deterioration of the northwest vassalization.
Zhu Yijun talked for a long time, especially about the book "Resettlement of Gangsters". The emperor even had a copy copied and burned to his ancestors.
On the last day of the fourth year of Wanli, the minister of Honglu Temple went to the Taoist temple and sent a memorial to the palace asking for an official appointment.
Zhu Yijun took this memorial and said helplessly: "Didn't Da Sikou already send a letter to the northwest asking Sanniang to send her cousin and child back? Sanniang also agreed, does Sanniang want to break the appointment? "
"I heard from you at the border that I have entered the border and will be able to arrive in Beijing in the next year," Zhang Hong replied quickly.
"Let's discuss it after the New Year." Zhu Yijun still didn't want to deal with Chen Xuexue. After all, Chen Xuexue was really useful. He wanted to wait until after the New Year to discuss it again. Zhu Yijun used the procrastination trick to deal with it.
But obviously, the officials of the Department of Science and Technology did not intend to delay the emperor. On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, just after the bathing break, the memorials of the officials of the Department of Science and Technology floated into the cabinet like snowflakes.
Zhang Juzheng posted a floating ticket in his memorial, thinking that a certain amount of punishment could be imposed in this matter to calm public opinion, and a fine of half a year would be appropriate.
Zhu Yijun rejected Zhang Juzheng's proposal and still insisted on his own opinion. He did not make any disposition and did not allow Chen Xuexue's official memorial. He sent Chen Xuexue's concubine and son away, thinking that he was going home. Visit family and stick to your guns.
Zhang Juzheng wanted to compromise and ease the contradiction, but Zhu Yijun refused to give in even a step and wanted to intensify the contradiction.
Originally, according to Zhu Yijun's expectation, the officials should have gone to the palace to show the emperor how powerful they were. Zhu Yijun was ready to prepare, but in the end, he did not wait for the courtiers to go to the palace. What happened to Chen Xuexue seemed to have become The trivial matter, the focus of the officials' attention, immediately turned to the worsted woolen cloth whose price had increased to 11 taels of silver per foot.
As soon as this worsted woolen product opened on the market, the price began to soar to a high of 11 taels again at a terrifying speed.
The requests of the officials coincided with Zhang Juzheng's ideas. They all asked the emperor to set the worsted woolen cloth as a royal exclusive and prohibit the sale of worsted woolen cloth. They still said the same old thing. If a ruler loses the support of the people, he will always be in trouble. When gathering begins, if it is covered to facilitate gathering, then the ministers who are interested in profit will cater to the superior's will and carve out the people's wealth. This person's heart is full of resentment, and the world is impoverished.
If the emperor likes to amass, then the ministers who seek profit will rob the people of their wealth, people will be resentful, the world will be poor, and the emperor will lose the support of the people.
That is indeed the case.
Please give me a monthly ticket, wow! ! ! !
(End of this chapter)