Chapter 193 How can Xiao Xiaozhuan be made more beautiful than before?
Xia Zhibai left.
He walked away very calmly, leaving Zhu Biao alone in deep thought.
A long time.
Zhu Biao closed his eyes, stretched out his thumb, and pressed his eyebrows, which were a little sore due to fatigue. After pressing for a while, he felt that the fatigue was not so obvious. Then he opened his eyes again and put the things on the table. Finished the strong tea.
Xia Zhibai's words cannot be fully believed.
In Xia Zhibai's words, the officials in Jiangnan are all bad, but what he wants to achieve is good.
This is obviously impossible.
"Through trade, strengthen the connection between the north and the south, and break the 'conservatism' of the Jiangnan region. Due to its economic prosperity, the Jiangnan region is full of contempt and ridicule for other regions. Xia Zhibai does not want to suppress it, but wants to Let it go, even push it."
"Open the sea"
"Let the materials in the Jiangnan region flow out more conveniently."
"And through large-scale equipment such as steam engines? The Jiangnan region has to let go of its conservatism in exchange for coal and iron from the north. In this way, let The economy of the world has become more active, and there is me among you, and you among me. Jiangnan is still economically prosperous, but it can no longer be 'self-sufficient' like it is now, and there will no longer be only one voice of 'anti-foreign'."
“This is indeed very effective in bridging the north and the south.”
“It’s just that Xia Zhibai is a lunatic. He not only wants to interfere in business matters, but also wants to interfere in the war between the Ming Dynasty and the Northern Yuan Dynasty.”
Zhu Biao asked the eunuch to bring him another cup of strong tea.
The tea is piping hot.
Zhu Biao's reaction was slightly slow.
His attention was not on the tea, but on the pros and cons.
Xia Zhibai’s suggestion is very tempting.
And Xia Zhibai attaches great importance to attacking the Jiangnan gentry.
It is directly called "cutting the feudal vassal".
This is the first time Zhu Biao has heard of this kind of title and importance. Just thinking about it carefully, he feels that it makes sense. Did his father have less control over Jiangnan? Since Zhang Shicheng, the Jiangnan region has been filled with voices opposing the Ming Dynasty.
After that, the Ming Dynasty imposed heavy taxes on Jiangnan, forcibly relocated the population in Jiangnan, and so on.
Now, with the help of the Guo Huan case, many wealthy merchants in the Jiangnan region were killed. The killings caused the Jiangnan region to mourn and even directly caused turmoil. The voices calling for Zhang Shicheng's soul came out.
Not so.
The officials of the Salt Transportation Department proposed to establish a salt enterprise and invest a certain amount of pig iron to maintain stability. It was impossible to pass the memorial. It was just that the public opinion in Jiangnan was boiling. The court had to do something to calm the people's hearts. Kyoto, which is widely praised by the world, Salt industry', lowering salt prices and benefiting the people is naturally one of them.
Although the imperial court had dealt a heavy blow, the officials and gentry in the Jiangnan region still did not change their minds at all.
My father scolded me for this for a long time.
In Zhu Biao's own opinion, his father was at the end of his rope.
If there are no other ideas, the Ming Dynasty will maintain high-pressure rule over Jiangnan and force these Jiangnan gentry to bow their heads with strong violence. But as Xia Zhibai said, Jiangnan is 'rich' in scholars. , no matter how much the court kills, it will eventually be used.
Just changed a wave of people.
Does this really work? Maybe, but not too much.
Zhu Biao rubbed his eyebrows again and sighed: "I haven't had a good rest recently, my body is getting heavier and heavier, and I am getting tired."
"Go and tell these things to me. Father."
"Let Father decide."
Zhu Biao held the teacup in his hand, took a few sips, put it aside, and walked towards Fengtian Hall.
In the city.
Xia Zhibai walked out of the palace.
Yingtian Mansion is more prosperous than in the past.
With the stability of the world, as the capital of the Ming Dynasty, this kind of prosperity is destined.
It's just that this prosperity is relatively empty, and the price is not very low. The transportation in Ming Dynasty is not very convenient, and the transportation of goods is not very smooth. In addition, in the past year, the imperial court has carried out a search for the world's richest people, and a large number of big merchants have Po Jia, today's world, under the governance of Zhu Yuanzhang, has become more and more closed and conservative, and the exchanges between each other are shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye.
This is not a good sign.
Businessmen are the barometer of the world’s economy.
More merchants represent close exchanges with various places, while fewer merchants represent closedness and conservatism.
Relying on the court's means to bridge the gap between the north and the south is too costly. The stronger the court's control, the less exchanges between the north and the south will be. It may even block normal exchanges between the two places, causing various problems. Rumors are rampant, and given time, the South will despise the North, and the North will despise the South.
"Sigh."
"I don't know if Zhu Biao listened to what I said."
"The Ming Dynasty's governance system for the world is full of all kinds of contradictions and problems. The solution of all problems is due to the power of the emperor alone. This is really speechless. It suppresses the subjective initiative of the people. Problems solved by force are destined to collapse with the disappearance of the strong man. "
"But this is something the Zhu family has to consider."
"What I want to consider now is to deal with Li Sheng's matter."
"Although you have conveyed this set of 'standards' for me, it is not a good thing to praise yourself too high. I don't like being calculated like this. Jiangnan gentry and these officials with evil intentions will do it." Let them pay the price."
Xia Zhibai withdrew his gaze.
He looked for direction and walked towards the salt shop. Xia Zhibai returned to the salt shop, but Jing Man hadn't come back yet. The transportation is not convenient now. The salt factory is several miles away from Yingtian Mansion. Without half a day, Xia Zhibai would not be able to come back. During this time, Xia Zhibai also Take a nap.
After more than half a year of traveling and traveling, even if my body is made of iron, I really can’t bear it.
Now when he relaxed, he soon fell asleep.
This sleep.
Xia Zhibai slept soundly.
Also slept soundly.
When Xia Zhibai woke up, it was already afternoon.
Zhou Ning and other engineers had arrived long ago. They heard that Xia Zhibai was sleeping and did not dare to disturb him. They just stayed in the living room worriedly, with worries in their eyes.
"Governor, what shall we do later?" Tang Yi looked at Zhou Ning.
Zhou Ning's face was covered with frowns, and there was an indescribable sadness in his eyebrows.
How did he know?
He was more uneasy than others.
The reason why the Kyoto Salt Industry is in its current state is inseparable from him.
He was the one who called Li Sheng, and the drawings that Li Sheng took away were, to a certain extent, his fault.
It’s just that he really didn’t expect that his old friend’s son would become like this. Because he made some contributions to the steam engine, he completely drifted away. He actually greedily wanted to take the credit for the steam engine as his own. He told the outside world that this was his own design. Xia Zhibai was jealous of talents and suppressed his talents.
When he heard Li Sheng slandering Xia Zhibai, Zhou Ning was stunned.
My face turned the color of pig liver with anger.
He had been having trouble sleeping and eating in the past few months, and had been thinking about how to deal with it, but Li Sheng didn't know how to restrain himself at all, and went even further. He not only stole the drawings, but also gave them to officials of the Salt Transportation Department. Now with this Due to his contribution to the painting, he became the honored guest of the Salt Transportation Department and became famous all over the world.
But it is precisely because of Li Sheng's shamelessness that the Kyoto Salt Industry is under a lot of pressure.
And slander.
He caused all this.
Thoughts kept coming to Zhou Ning's mind, and finally turned into a long silence.
He couldn't think of a way to defend himself.
There is no argument.
He looked at Tang Yi and others, and said in a deep voice: "Don't panic, you guys. All of this was caused by me. I will make it clear to Xia Zhuangyuan and will not implicate you. I was too much at that time. I trusted Li Sheng, thinking that Li Sheng was just complaining and dissatisfied. I didn’t expect it.”
“Oh.”
While Zhou Ning and Tang Yi were communicating quietly, they fell asleep. Xia Zhibai has arrived in the living room. Seeing Xia Zhibai coming, Zhou Ning and others were quiet for a moment and bowed respectfully. Xia Zhibai smiled and said: "I don't have so many red tapes, so there is no need to be so polite. ”
At this time.
Zhou Ning took the initiative to admit his mistake and said with shame: "Xia Zhuangyuan, Li Sheng's matter is all my problem. It's because I don't know people well, and it's because I trust him too much that I let him do such a thing. I..."
Before Zhou Ning finished speaking, Xia Zhibai interrupted with a smile.
"Li Sheng?"
"I don't care about him."
"I'm not calling you here this time because of Li Sheng's business."
"Li Sheng is just an engineer. There are not only a thousand but also a hundred such people in the world. My vision is Very high, you won’t take these things to heart, and you don’t need to worry about the blueprints. Even if Li Sheng doesn’t steal them, I will take them out.”
Zhou Ning was stunned.
Tang Yi and others were also at a loss.
They couldn't figure it out for a while. Such a big thing happened in the Kyoto Salt Industry. Why did Xia Zhibai seem to be unaware of it?
Zhou Ning hesitated for a moment, thinking that Xia Zhibai didn't know the specific matter yet, so he quickly explained: "Xia Zhuangyuan, maybe I didn't explain it clearly."
"I know." Xia Zhibai gave Zhou Ning gave a clear look and said: "Li Sheng stole the blueprints and used them to open salt companies in many salt-making areas in Jiangnan. He also spread various rumors in Yingtian Mansion, saying that the cost of salt production is very low. , Kyoto Salt Shop made a lot of dirty money, and said that I suppressed him and so on."
"I know all this."
"Then why are you still so calm? A look of confusion.
Isn’t this a big deal?
Xia Zhibai smiled and said: "If I only ran the Kyoto Salt Industry, these things would not only be important but also fatal, but I am not just a businessman. From an official level, these things are not very important."
“Li Sheng is certainly hateful.”
“But he helped me.”
“I originally planned to publish these drawings after returning to Yingtian Mansion. But because of Li Sheng's trick, he was released in advance, and under the influence of Guo Huan's case and the greed of the gentry in the Jiangnan area, the effect was much better than if I announced it myself."
"It's just that. The way is disgusting”
"One of the purposes of calling you here this time is to announce the 'drawings' again!"
"How can such a beautiful thing make a one-night stand better than before?"
Xia Zhibai smiled at the corners of his eyes, as if he really didn't take these things to heart.
(End of this chapter)