Chapter 113 Your Majesty is financially incompetent! (Second update)
As soon as the word "military pay" came out, Wenhua Pavilion became completely quiet.
Even Zhu Yuanzhang was silent.
Xia Zhibai said: "Guo Huan guessed this, so he finally gave up and told me, 'If you want me to die, I have to die.'"
Zhu Yuanzhang sneered. Said: "We did ask the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs to raise military pay, but why did we ever say that we wanted him to die? If he was really clean and not greedy, how could we kill him?"
"The words are clever, but I just think we are cruel and unkind."
Zhu Yuanzhang did not deny it.
He didn't even bother to deny these things.
He looked at Xia Zhibai and said indifferently: "That's why you said in front of the people in the city yesterday that a king must be benevolent and a minister must be loyal."
"You also think What did we do wrong?”
Xia Zhibai chuckled lightly, shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, you are overthinking it. As Your Majesty said, if officials like Guo Huan were really not greedy or greedy, how could Your Majesty actually kill Guo Huan?" How could they care so much about the accounting method I provided?"
"They are indeed unclean."
"They should be killed too!"
" There is no such thing as innocence. "
"The reason why Guo Huan is angry is that your Majesty can kill people directly, so there is no need to go around so much."
"It also made him fearful for a while."
"The reason why His Majesty did so many things was mainly because he was thinking about pursuing bigger things, because the existence of Beiyuan has always been like a problem in His Majesty's throat. Your Majesty is always worried that one day, Beiyuan will come back and take back the world that your Majesty conquered."
"Your Majesty is anxious!"
"I am anxious to plan for the world as soon as possible. Good for everything."
"We are also eager to eliminate all hidden dangers that may affect the safety of the Ming Dynasty."
"In the eyes of His Majesty, all this is worth it. Guo Huan and others, or those who were implicated, also deserved to die."
"Because they died for the eternity of the Ming Dynasty. "
"Their deaths will bring peace to the Northern Territory of the Ming Dynasty for decades or even hundreds of years to come."
"This is a good deal in His Majesty's heart."
"Guo Huan also understood this later, so he gave up the struggle directly, waiting for His Majesty to catch him, waiting to be in His Majesty's hands, laying the cornerstone of the Ming Dynasty for generations to come, even if he was unwilling to do so. If you are dissatisfied, you can only die without hesitation.”
"They indeed deserve to die."
"But at this moment, they are also fulfilling His Majesty's great achievements."
"I have neither sympathy nor regret."
"Not at all. "I am just a business official. Your Majesty's ambitions and the greed for profit of Guo Huan and others have nothing to do with me. This political turmoil and political storm have nothing to do with me. Great meaning.”
"I am also happy to see it."
"Your Majesty and I stand on the same page when it comes to dealing with corrupt officials."
"I also dislike the current atmosphere of scholar-bureaucrats. "
"It's true that something should be done."
Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes moved slightly, a little surprised by Xia Zhibai's words.
He originally thought that Xia Zhibai would accuse him, or at least make sarcastic remarks, ridiculing himself for being both pretentious and upright. However, Xia Zhibai did not. He was calm from beginning to end, and told the whole thing with a kind of transcendent calm. out.
"Do you really think so?" Zhu Yuanzhang was a little suspicious.
He was a little unsure.
Xia Zhibai smiled and said: "Your Majesty, there is no need to question it. I am indeed dissatisfied with many of your Majesty's actions, but Guo Huan and I are indeed not the same people. Flies do not bite seamless eggs. If Guo Huan and the others It's really clean. No matter how dissatisfied your Majesty is, he will not kill him easily, because your Majesty has always hoped that the officials of the Ming Dynasty would be law-abiding and honest. "
" Again "
< br>
"I said it during the imperial examination that day."
"I don't like the 'scholar' class."
"Your Majesty's killing spree in the world is tantamount to loosening the foundation of the scholar-bureaucrats. I Why not? Perhaps with time, with the decline of the 'scholar' class and the rise of the 'worker, peasant and merchant' class, my idea of 'bringing down the 'scholar-official class' will be realized. ”
Xia Zhi. A clean smile appeared at the corner of Bai's mouth.
Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes dropped slightly and he was thoughtful.
This is indeed in line with Xia Zhibai's style and his style.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "So yesterday, you clamored in the city to open a trade route for the world."
Xia Zhibai nodded.
He looked at the account book placed on the table and said slowly: "Your Majesty, you can actually take a good look at this account book. I am here to present this account book."
Zhu Yuanzhang lowered his eyes.
He looked at the account book at hand and glanced through it briefly.
Not much interest.
But when he saw that the final profit was only four thousand taels, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but have a strong sense of ridicule in his eyes. He raised his head, looked at Xia Zhibai, and said coldly: "You have been How much do we think we earned from such a big battle? Just four thousand taels!"
"How can you pay us back with this profit?"
"If we do. I remember correctly, when you borrowed money from us, you said you would return home after ten or twelve years." Zhu Yuanzhang threw the account book on the table.
Zhu Biao also frowned.
Fifty thousand jins of salt, only a little over 4,000 taels?
This is too little.
Zhu Biao stood up, cupped his hands towards Zhu Yuanzhang, took the account book on the table into his hand, and looked through it carefully.
Xia Zhibai sighed and said, "Did your Majesty only see four thousand taels?"
"We indeed only saw four thousand taels." Zhu Yuanzhang grabbed Yu Ruyi and scratched his back , and then said: "Of course we have seen that you have spent a total of forty thousand taels of silver in the past three months, but this is loaned money. I admit it. We will not find fault with this. We will see if you can pay it back in the end. How much do you want to give us?”
“There are still nine months, can you pay us back sixty thousand taels of silver?”
Xia Zhibai shook his head: “Not yet.”
Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes turned cold.
Xia Zhibai looked calm and said calmly: "But I have no intention of paying it back."
"I did not submit this account book to show His Majesty. I have started from scratch in the past three months. "How much money do you make?"
"If you really talk about how much money you make, Kyoto Salt Industry can normally earn 1,560 taels a month, which is about 20,000 taels a year, and the start-up expenses are just 20,000 yuan." After investing 40,000 taels, if we only look at the figures of expenses and gains, I really feel that the enterprise founded by Chen is not worth it.”
“But the account does not look like that.”
"It can't be calculated that way."
"It's just that I have overlooked one thing, that is, your Majesty does not understand economics."
"The only thing your Majesty can understand about these accounts is the last few figures, but if you only rely on a few results, It would be too ridiculous, even ridiculous, to make a judgment easily and determine something accordingly."
Zhu Yuanzhang's face darkened.
The eyes he looked at Xia Zhibai were full of evil.
Xia Zhibai ignored it directly. He cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty started from a humble beginning. You should be very clear that it is difficult to start a business, especially in the beginning. If you are not careful, it may overturn, but as long as you hold on, After the most difficult period, everything will gradually get better.”
"Just like the salt enterprises."
"The initial investment is indeed very large, but your majesty can look through the account books. In this month, the investment of the salt enterprises has been significantly reduced. As long as there is no major situation in the future, basically The investment will gradually decrease or even stabilize. Now the Kyoto Salt Shop can make a stable profit of more than one thousand taels per month. "
"In less than three years, you can earn 60,000 yuan and completely replenish your debt. "
"After three years, all the profit earned by the salt shop will be profits. In just three years, it will be completely profitable. This rate of return is already astonishingly high."
"This is just the beginning."
"When doing business normally, how can we not expand?"
"When Yingtianfu's operations are stable, Kyoto Salt Shop will expand to the surrounding areas. Shouzhou, Chuzhou and other places that need to resume production are the best In the place of expansion, the profits of the three prefectures will be doubled. If the operations of the Kyoto Salt Shop are expanded to the entire Ming Dynasty, has Your Majesty ever calculated what the profits will be in one year? "
" I have calculated it.”
“It’s almost more than six million.”
“Of course, the price of salt fluctuates in different regions, and the profit will be affected, but even so, the profit for a year will be affected. At least four to five million.”
"This is profit under the condition of benefiting the people."
"Payment is proportional to harvest. The more you pay, the greater the harvest."
"It is true that, As your Majesty can see, it will indeed cost a lot of money in the initial stage, but as long as it officially starts, it will turn around in a few years. As I said before, what I established is a state-owned enterprise, that is, it is an official enterprise of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, this The four to five million taels of silver will be directly deposited into the national treasury."
"These four to five million taels of silver are extra."
"As far as I know, the fiscal revenue of the Ming Dynasty is over. , only around 30 million.”
"These four to five million taels of silver are already equivalent to one-sixty-seventh of the Ming Dynasty's fiscal revenue."
"And how many exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes will your Majesty have to collect to collect this money?"
< br>"How much more greed will there be among them?"
"Of course, in His Majesty's heart, this is not worth it, because not to mention the impact of setting a precedent for 'merchant officials' on the world, Will it aggravate official corruption, that is, operating a salt company in Yingtianfu will increase the official expenditure of the court. This is another point I want to say."
"Your Majesty cannot understand. Account book.”
"Your Majesty only saw the final profit of four thousand taels, but he did not see that this profit had already deducted the wages of thousands of people in the two enterprises of 'salt and coal'."
"I submitted it to Your Majesty. The account books are very detailed and specific."
"It's just that your Majesty didn't read it."
"Maybe your Majesty still thinks that the business he founded, the salt workers and miners in his hands, are not the same. Like the Zaohu miners, no additional expenditure is required, just a certain amount of food and a small amount of money to survive is enough.”
“But this is not the case”
"Because these workers are considered employment."
"They will be paid on a monthly basis."
"I came here this time to tell your Majesty clearly what I have done. The system I want to establish is feasible, and after three months of practice, it has indeed been proved that this is a feasible way."
"Your Majesty, please look at this account book again. ”
Xia Zhibai bowed slightly, taking the initiative and clearly showing his attitude.
Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were uncertain. He hesitated for a moment and looked at the account book again.
(End of this chapter)