First Prince of Ming Dynasty

Zhu Yuanzhang's icy eyes fixed on the man for a moment, and he paused every word: "No one can deceive our prince!"

The man hurriedly knelt down on the ground: "It's a guilty minister who speaks nonsense, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is wise and prudent in distinguishing loyal and sycophantic traitors, like a mirror and a candle carved with rhinoceros, all sides are clear, no one can deceive the eyes and ears."

"snort!"

The footsteps of the people around him moved slightly, guessing that next time this person would not have the opportunity to enter the interior to discuss politics, but unfortunately he just climbed up from the ground, but he didn't know the rules of the court, any bad things must not be involved with the crown prince.

The Minister of Rites bowed and said: "My lord, the overseas land is very desolate. The barbarian people are like ghosts and inhumans and cannot be educated. In addition, the sea waves are dangerous. If you are not careful, the boat will capsize and be buried on the bottom of the sea. My Ming Dynasty has everything, so why waste people's energy?" Yu Hai, Your Majesty!"

"There are many sneaks in the foreign domain. If the people are lured by them, they will disturb the peace of the coastal state capital."

"The most important thing is that once the sea trade is opened, merchants will inevitably trend, the people will be uneasy, and there will be a lot of worries."

Seeing the words of the crowd, Chen Youzong stood up as the spokesperson of the crown prince and the Jiangnan gentry, and said: "My minister thinks that the advantages of opening up sea trade outweigh the disadvantages. Now that the court is short of money and food, the only way is to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. My emperor is rich in the world. As far as I know, I can eat and drink." It’s nothing more than four dishes and one soup, and it’s not as good as a wealthy household in the south of the Yangtze River.”

"The empress is the mother of the country. She leads the concubines in the harem to sew and weave old clothes every day. Since the Qin Dynasty to this dynasty, the frugality of emperors and empresses is unprecedented.

Speaking of this matter, no one dared to interrupt him, so they could only bow and salute in unison: "Emperor, empress, sage!"

Zhu Yuanzhang also looked a lot better: "thrifty makes appointments, appointments make all good things prosper, extravagance leads to wantonness, wantonness leads to all kinds of evils, and is the key to politics. Those who are frugal will spend enough, and those who put the most importance on the end will have peace in the world, and I hope that all the ministers will encourage themselves."

"Your servant will be taught."

Chen Youzong continued: "It can be seen that the imperial court has insufficient money and food, and it is not a waste of extravagance. What can we do if we are frugal without extravagance? It can be seen that today's emphasis is on open source, and the huge profits of sea trade have been recorded in detail in Song and Yuan Dynasties, and there is no one better!"

Zhongshu Youcheng Chen Liang said with a gentle smile: "What the envoy said is biased. We don't know the importance of increasing income. The Yantiejiuzheng widely persuades Nongsang, that's all."

"What You Cheng said is very true. Open source is imperative, but the first thing is stability. The benefits of maritime trade are vain and illusory, and they are not enough to rely on. It is better to seek internally."

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes finally fell on Hu Weiyong: "What does the prime minister think?"

Hu Weiyong took out a memorial from his cuff and said: "I have heard that not only merchants and aristocratic families in the coastal state capital built seagoing ships for profit, but even some ordinary people are like this. Sang retreat."

"The so-called business, men don't farm and women don't weave, clothes must be literary, food must be meat, there is no pain for farmers, but there are thousands of gains, if everyone is like this, the country will be in danger."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned again. This was also what he was worried about. The merchants were different from the other three peoples. They could be found by scholars, peasants and workers.

But after a while, it was still unfolding. Merchants and merchants are not in the flow, it is difficult to make a fortune, and the benefits of sea trade are also real. Of course, the most important thing is that I have made up my mind, and I can't stop it.

But it is hard to avoid being irritable. The opening of the sea trade is far more than that. The capital is near the sea. In case of an attack from the sea, there is no time to react and dispatch troops. Relocation is inevitable.

The move of the capital will cause more problems...a single hair will affect the whole body.

But there is no other way, since these things are imperative, it is best to arrange them during his reign, if you don't leave a peaceful world for your son, I am afraid that he will not be at ease in the future after he dies.

………………

A group of merchants dressed in silk robes carefully adjusted their sleeves, their expressions were a little nervous. They were the leaders of various merchant gangs, and they were waiting for His Royal Highness to be summoned at this moment.

The old man with the gray beard in the head closed his eyes and rested his mind, but his face was a little pale, and his feet moved slightly from time to time. They had been waiting here for more than an hour, and he was too old to stand up.

"Master Jiang, why don't you sit down and rest for a while, I've heard of His Highness's benevolent reputation, and I think I'll understand you when you get old."

Jiang Yuan opened his eyes slightly and said with a smile: "It's okay, if I can see His Highness, I will have no regrets in this life, not to mention at this age, if I can stand for a while, I still have to stand for a while, and there will be time to lie down in the future."

The old man was funny and elegant, and the rest of the people felt more at ease. They echoed a few words in a low voice. Not long after, Liu Jin came to summon him. The old man stomped his feet and saluted Liu Jin.

The size of the house prepared by the Zhang family was not small, especially the main hall, which was spacious and bright. Zhu Biao met many dock officials and master craftsmen here on this day, and discussed the specifications of sea-going ships to be built in the future and suggestions for marine artillery.

Compared with them, businessmen are naturally at the bottom. They are a very important link, but they are also the best substitute link. As long as Zhu Biao is willing, he can support substitutes at any time.

There were more than twenty people in the group, they did not dare to raise their heads to look at the crown prince Zun Rong, and they knelt down obediently. After all, even if they have a wealth of wealth in their hands, they are nothing but grassroots.

"Cao Min and others kowtowed to His Royal Highness, Your Highness will be safe forever."

Zhu Biao reached out his hand to signal that Liu Jin supported Jiang Yuan very quickly. He was seventy or eighty years old, not to mention Zhu Biao, even if Lao Zhu was here, he would not let an old man of this age kneel down easily.

"Bring a stool to the old man."

Jiang Yuan slightly raised his head and glanced at the prince, then hurriedly said: "Your Highness has broken the common people..."

Zhu Biao said with a smile: "It's Mr. Jiang. Before leaving, I heard my father talk about your old age. You don't have to be polite to me."

Jiang Yuan wept and sighed: "Ah, Caomin, thank you Your Highness, I never thought that the Holy One would still remember that the old man will die in peace now."

Zhu Biao said a few words to comfort him, but he was indifferent in his heart. She was born in Jiang Yuan, a rich man from generation to generation. He has been in business since he was a child.

As if he just noticed it: "Get up too."

"Caomin, thank you Your Highness."

There are more than 20 people from several big merchant gangs and eight major merchants plus some local tycoons. These are the leaders of Daming Commerce.

It's not their personal reasons, businessmen have no status, no matter how much money they commit, they are not as good as a poor scholar in the yamen, and the county magistrate can disturb their peace even if he is cruel.

However, the transformation may start now. The development of handicraft manufacturing and the high taxes generated by commerce will make their status continue to rise. This is an inevitable result.

Originally, it was a self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy, so it was not so important to have merchants without merchants. Even the imperial court generally tried to reduce the number of merchants.

But after the sea trade is established, the imperial court finances will rely more and more on them, and not only these, the prosperity of maritime trade will inevitably give birth to a profession, pirates.

The emergence of pirates will also force caravans to pursue the ability to protect themselves. As the caravan expands, their strength will also grow, making the court have to start to pay attention to and recognize their status.

The economic base determines the superstructure, and non-manpower may change.

The increase in the strength and status of merchants is actually not a good thing in Zhu Biao's mind. Merchants have no status now, but they still sell private salt and even sell ironware to the grassland for profit.

In the final analysis, what do businessmen want? For money, sweet, hot, poisonous!

Partially can keep the face, pick it up to moisten, be good at curing hunger, and relieve the suffering of distress immediately. If the greedy take it, it is good to be even; if it is not even, the cold and heat will stimulate each other, causing cholera.

Its medicine is not harvested in time, and if it is harvested improperly, it will hurt the spirit. This is popular, and it can summon gods and spirits. If you take it unreasonably, you will be weak and hurt your mind, so you must avoid it!

………………