My uncle is Zhu Di

Chapter 35 Yao Guangxiao

Zhu Gaochi had no choice but to agree.

How could I not know what kind of personality my father has? If I don't agree, I don't know how he will scare me!
After Zhu Gaochi left, Zhu Di sat there, feeling very upset. He could not stop Xu Qin from expanding the workshop, but the livelihoods of millions of weavers depended on him. How could he solve this problem?

However, Zhu Di knew in his heart that Xu Qin could not be blamed.

Zhu Di sat there thinking for a long time, and after thinking it over, he decided to go to Jiming Temple to find the old monk.

There lived an old monk in Jiming Temple, his name was Yao Guangxiao, and his previous monk name was Daoyan.

Before the Jingnan Campaign, Yao Guangxiao had been persuading Zhu Di to rebel. When Zhu Di succeeded in his rebellion, he appointed Yao Guangxiao as the Left Benefactor of the Monks' Office and the Junior Tutor of the Crown Prince! He gained Zhu Di's trust!

But even when Yao Guangxiao became an official, he still wore a black robe and lived in Jiming Temple after leaving court.

Zhu Di also liked to go to Jiming Temple, firstly to rest and relax, and secondly, if he had any unresolved issues, Zhu Di could discuss them with Yao Guangxiao.

At this moment, Yao Guangxiao was sitting on a cushion in a side room, chanting Buddhist scriptures. When he heard footsteps, he opened his eyes and saw Zhu Di walking towards him with the gait of a dragon and a tiger.

"Old monk, you are enjoying yourself!" Zhu Di walked over and sat on the cushion opposite Yao Guangxiao.

There was a low square table between the two of them, with a Go board on it.

"Your Majesty, why are you coming here at this time? Is there something wrong?" Yao Guangxiao turned his head and looked at Zhu Di's copy.

"Well, there is something going on, Sakya Bao, do you know?" Zhu Di nodded, holding the black flag and started to march down.

Yao Guangxiao saw Zhu Di holding the black flag, so he also took the white chess piece and started playing: "I heard that Xu Huizu's son is a playboy. How come Your Majesty is interested in this playboy? However, it is indeed worthy of Your Majesty's attention. After all, it was he who cured the Empress!"

“Well, do you know that there is a kind of cloth that is popular in the capital now, which comes from the Xu Mansion? Moreover, the weaving and spinning speed of the Xu Mansion is very fast, more than ten times that of other spinning machines and looms!
Now, the Xu Mansion is going to expand. Logically speaking, the court should not be involved in such commercial matters as long as they do not break the law. But now it is not possible. Once the Xu Mansion expands, the livelihoods of millions of weavers will be difficult!

Old monk, please give me some advice on how to settle these weavers!" Zhu Di told Yao Guangxiao about his worries while playing chess.

Yao Guangxiao nodded. He knew all these things. After all, he would go to Nanjing every few days, so he naturally knew some things about Nanjing.

"Your Majesty, just stop the Xu family from expanding. The livelihood of millions of weavers is no small matter. It is worth sacrificing the Xu family to preserve the livelihoods of millions of weavers!" Yao Guangxiao said without raising his head.

Zhu Di glanced at Yao Guangxiao and said, "He has an imperial decree in his hand, which allows him to do business. Now, his cloth business is legal and compliant. Even if I order him not to expand, Sakyabao may not listen. We can only force him to do it, but..."

"It just affects Your Majesty's reputation? When has Your Majesty ever been afraid of this?" Yao Guangxiao looked up at Zhu Di and said.

"It's not reputation! I don't care about this!" Zhu Di shook his head and said.

Yao Guangxiao took a closer look and understood, so he looked up and asked, "What does your majesty mean, the Weaving Bureau?"

"Old monk, you are still smart, hahaha! I just want to merge the Xu family's machines and businesses into the Weaving Bureau. Do you know how much the Xu family's profit is in a day?

The current daily profit is estimated to be no less than seven thousand taels, and there are only a few thousand machines. There are tens of thousands of weavers in the Weaving Bureau. If all of them are equipped with such machines, the profit of the Weaving Bureau can be imagined!

I still have a lot of things to do. I still need to fight against Mongolia and build Beijing. The Yongle Encyclopedia has not been completed, the canal has not been dredged, and the Japanese pirates have not been eliminated. If I want to accomplish these things, I must have money.

My eldest son has lost ten pounds. If I continue to let him handle these things, I am worried that he will die before me. That won't do!
I cannot let the boss get ahead of me. I don’t understand the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue, nor do I know how to make money. I have also found some people for the boss, but they are all mediocre and can only manage the Ministry of Revenue but cannot bring wealth.

But this Shakya Baoxing, this kid seems to be able to do it now! But I am worried!" Zhu Di sat there, smiling and said, but his face was full of worry.

"Your Majesty, are you worried that Sakya Bao cannot be controlled? Or, the person behind Sakya Bao has other purposes!" Yao Guangxiao looked at Zhu Di with a smile.

Zhu Di nodded. He had this concern.

"Your Majesty, Xu Huizu will not rebel against you. Although he may not be loyal to you, he will definitely not rebel against you. You know that in your heart!" Yao Guangxiao said to Zhu Di with a smile.

"It's not a question of whether to oppose or not. If he comes out and doesn't express himself, it will give up hope for many people and will bring a lot of trouble!" Zhu Di said, waving his hand.

Xu Huizu cannot be released now.

"I didn't say to let him out, I just said that Xu Huizu will not rebel against you!" Yao Guangxiao reminded.

After hearing this, Zhu Di thought for a moment, nodded, and continued: "He is not rebelling, but many people hope that he will rebel, and many people even want to push him from behind!"

Yao Guangxiao immediately understood that Zhu Di was suspicious of the people behind the scenes and was pushing Sakya Bao to rebel, and now all this was for the purpose of rebellion.

The most crucial issue is that the life and death of Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen is unknown!
If he is dead, it’s okay. But if he is alive, the situation may collapse in an instant!

"Old monk, I want to ask you, how to solve the problem of one million weavers?" Zhu Di continued to ask, Zhu Di really wanted to know this. "This, I can't think of it for the time being!" Yao Guangxiao shook his head and said, one million people, not a hundred people.

After hearing this, Zhu Di smiled. Sakya Bao had said before that even a fool could think of a solution, but Yao Guangxiao in front of him was a smart man, and he couldn't think of a solution.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di got angry. This kid even scolded him.

"The livelihood of millions of weavers is a big matter. I want this money, but the prerequisite is to settle these millions of weavers!" Zhu Di said as he stood up and did not go down.

He couldn't beat Yao Guangxiao, and each time he would stop after playing for dozens of moves.

"Your Majesty, this is unlikely!" Yao Guangxiao also stood up and said.

"It's possible. The people behind Sakyabao have a way!" Zhu Di turned his head to look at Yao Guangxiao and said gritting his teeth.

"This!" Yao Guangxiao looked at Zhu Di with suspicion. This should be unlikely.

"So now I am waiting, waiting for Sakyabao to expand, waiting for the master behind Sakyabao to come out. As long as he reveals his true colors, I can find him!" Zhu Di narrowed his eyes and said with determination.

"But, Your Majesty, have you ever thought about this? If the master behind the scenes does not come out, or if the livelihood problem of millions of weavers cannot be solved by then, Your Majesty, the consequences..." Yao Guangxiao said to Zhu Di worriedly.

"I think it's worth it!" Zhu Di turned his head and looked at Yao Guangxiao and said.

Yao Guangxiao immediately understood that Zhu Di was determined to find out the person behind the scenes. Not only did he want to find out the person behind the scenes, he also wanted to swallow up the Xu family's money.

If the problem cannot be solved by then, the Xu family will be the first target. If the problem can be solved, the person behind the scenes will not be able to escape. In any case, Zhu Di will win.

Just the livelihood of millions of weavers...

"Your Majesty, I think this matter needs to be discussed with the officials of the Ministry of Revenue and the ministers of the court. Now it is winter, and the livelihoods of millions of weavers..." Yao Guangxiao had not finished speaking.

Zhu Di waved his hand and said, "There is not one million. I have calculated that there are at most 300,000 people who make a living from this business. Most of them are women who spin yarn at home and exchange it for money to supplement their family income."

"Three hundred thousand is not a small amount! There are three hundred thousand families behind it!" Yao Guangxiao said again.

"It's worth it!" Zhu Di said firmly.

Seeing that Zhu Di was so persistent, Yao Guangxiao stopped talking.

"Old monk, if you have a chance, keep an eye on this kid Shakyabao and find out his background. I am a little unsure about this kid!

When I asked for the imperial decree before, I didn't expect this to be the case. I thought he was just doing a small business, but I didn't expect him to do it so big and bring me such a difficult trouble!" Zhu Di turned his head and looked at Yao Guangxiao and said.

"Yes!" Yao Guangxiao nodded.

"I'll stay here for a few days to calm down and think some things through!" Zhu Di said as he sat down again.

At Xu's house, Zhu Gaochi came again and saw Xu Huizu still assembling machines there, and Xu Qin had not returned either.

"Uncle, have you persuaded Sakyabao? This is not an option. The livelihoods of millions of weavers need to be considered. Uncle, you don't want those weavers to point at you and scold you, right?" Zhu Gaochi sat there and said to Xu Huizu.

"Scold? Why are you scolding me? Can't my Xu family do fabric business?" Xu Huizu said nonchalantly.

You are a person who has been confined at home and even lost the title of Duke passed down by your father. Why do you still care about being scolded by others?

"Uncle, you... my father said that the share should be increased to 20%, of which 15% will go to your family and half will go to my third uncle's family. Uncle, please think about it!" Zhu Gaochi said to Xu Huizu.

"Isn't the Weaving Bureau afraid of being scolded by the people?" Xu Huizu smiled and asked Zhu Gaochi in return.

"Uh~" After hearing this, Zhu Gaochi didn't know how to answer.

"Okay, Prince, you go find Sakya Bao. I haven't been out for five years. I don't know what's going on outside. I'm idle now. I thought that I have been at home for five years and my sons have all gone to do business. As a father, I can't do nothing. It's a good opportunity for me to assemble these machines and share some of the pressure with Sakya Bao! I don't understand other things, I really don't understand!" Xu Huizu said to Zhu Gaochi with a smile.

How could Zhu Gaochi believe it? He didn't understand. How could he dare to do business without his consent?

Isn't it that Xu Huizu is supporting Shakyabao by assembling machines here? Is it that he is giving Shakyabao confidence?

However, these words cannot be said!
"Uncle, can you please help me? My father has given everything he wanted and has gone to Jiming Temple. What do you think I should do?" Zhu Gaochi had no choice but to beg.

(End of this chapter)