Good or bad, Magistrate Tao had no choice but to pack up his bedroll and quickly go to the army to take up his post.
After sending Magistrate Tao away, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Wang Tong again. The boy was so frightened that he trembled all over. He was so panicked that even the Magistrate got out. He didn't deserve to be cut into pieces by a thousand cuts!
But what is surprising is that Zhu Yuanzhang did not have an attack. Instead, he pulled him up, asked him to sit down, and asked some questions... For example, how is your family? How many relatives do you have?
The more Lao Zhu asked questions, the more flustered Wang Tong became. He was not going to destroy the nine clans, was he?
Your Majesty, have mercy!
Unexpectedly, Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile: "Although it happened, you didn't commit any serious crime. We are not unreasonable people. Let's just pretend that nothing happened and you continue to wander in the market. But what happened?"
, you can tell us...by the way, can you write?"
Wang Tong nodded, he could write, but the problem was that he didn't know what to write?
However, Zhang Ximeng suddenly understood that since Zhang Chengtian ran away, there was no one available around Lao Zhu. It would be good for someone like Wang Tong to act as an informant.
Zhang Ximeng still admires Zhu Yuanzhang, he really makes the best use of his talents.
"Wang Tong, you don't have to worry. His Majesty's intention is for you to take a closer look at what's going on in the market, whether there are any business investments, things about making money or losing money, who are good at operations, and tell your Majesty the truth. The most important thing is that
You have to tell the truth and don’t hide anything.”
Wang Tong almost cried. How dare he hide it? This is the crime of deceiving the emperor!
As expected, Lao Zhu nodded, "Remember what the Grand Master taught you. I mainly focus on the exchange of supplies on the battlefield in the river, merchant transactions, and tell us anything interesting. We will give you a big reward later."
After the explanation was made clear, Wang Tong managed to escape death and come back to life.
Then the news came out that the Prince's hands and eyes were so powerful that he went to the palace and met His Majesty, and the Grand Master even encouraged him.
In this way, Wang Tong is not only rich, but also has a profound and unfathomable background.
His reputation in Xi'an is even better than before.
After letting him go, there was really a lot of news from Zhu Yuanzhang's side.
Lao Zhu also began to seriously study the business affairs. After talking about it for so many years and struggling for so long, Lao Zhu was always a little awkward about it and never reached a certain level.
But this time it was different. He calmed down, took it seriously, and thought about it carefully. Don't talk about it, let him taste it.
"Mr. Zhang, there is no need to worry, Lan Yu will win this battle!"
Zhang Ximeng frowned slightly, "My lord, why do you have so much confidence in Lan Yu?"
Lao Zhu chuckled, "It's not that we have confidence in Lan Yu, but we discovered that many barbarian merchants from the river actually bought our war bonds and helped to traffic goods to the Western Regions."
Zhang Ximeng was stunned for a moment, and then showed an expression of admiration.
"Lord Shengming, it is indeed so!"
Wang Tong's management made Lao Zhu understand a truth. It is indeed possible to make something out of nothing and make a big profit...but there is a prerequisite. You must be accurate and bet correctly, otherwise, you will lose all your pants.
I would like to ask those barbarian merchants who are willing to bet on the Ming Dynasty, aren't they just optimistic about the Ming Dynasty and think that the Ming Dynasty has a great chance of winning?
Even this group of people see it this way. As the emperor of tomorrow, why should we be so worried!
"Let's put aside the matters in the northwest for the time being. We can go to Henan to pay homage to Mr. Jia Lu first, and then continue south to have a look at the southwest. Then we can return to Yingtian and cast the golden tripod. We can abdicate the throne with peace of mind."
Zhang Ximeng nodded and smiled slightly. It was obvious that Zhu Yuanzhang began to understand the wisdom of money, and naturally knew that Ming Dynasty had entered a new stage.
At this stage, very delicate methods are required, and governing the country is no longer the broad-based approach that Lao Zhu was accustomed to. It must be precisely controlled and to the point.
Even Zhang Ximeng, a sage with overwhelming prestige in the world, was no longer suitable for the imperial court, so both of them had to abdicate in favor of others.
But this time when he arrived in Xi'an, Zhang Ximeng had another idea.
"My lord, although I opposed the matter of moving the capital many years ago, and there was no serious discussion, the country is so big at that time, there are so many affairs, and the transmission of news is not very fast, so I boldly propose that several companion capitals should be established.
"
"Accompanying the capital? This is what we should do. We have also thought about it. In fact, some time ago, someone proposed to upgrade Peking to Beijing and then adopt a two-capital system of north and south."
Lao Zhu mentioned it but did not continue.
But Zhang Ximeng knew very well that because all of them in Peiping were under Zhu Di, their group was really disgusting, especially the Dukes of Yingtian Zhongshu, who hated them so much.
Expecting to improve their status is a fool's errand.
In particular, Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai and others were regarded as ruthless officials, who were ruthless and ruthless in developing industry and commerce and collecting taxes everywhere.
How can such people gain power!
This also shows the power of civil servants. They didn't know how to object, they just delayed. When they were desperate, they arranged a few scholars and officials to form a research meeting, and then they kept researching and submitting various submissions.
Such reports were sent to Zhu Biao's head one after another.
If you want to be promoted, just dream!
Except for Zhu Yuanzhang, it will be very difficult for anyone else to make changes in the current basic structure.
At this moment, Zhang Ximeng brought up the matter of accompanying the capital. Lao Zhu thought about it again and again and asked, "What do you think we should do, sir?"
"My lord, Beiping is an industrial center and must be upgraded no matter what. But just upgrading Beiping is not enough. I propose to upgrade Xi'an and Kunming together!"
"Kunming?"
Lao Zhu was shocked and was promoted to Xi'an. He was not surprised. Chang'an was originally the ancient capital, and it guarded Guanzhong, connected the Western Regions through the Hexi Corridor, and led to the land in the middle of the river. This is the core of handling the entire northwest government affairs. As a companion capital, it is definitely
Qualified.
But Kunming seems a bit abrupt.
You must know that the entire land of Yunnan has been separated from the Central Plains for a long time. It was only after Zhu Ying was sent to march into Yunnan that he regained it. Moreover, Lao Zhu asked Zhu Ying to guard Yunnan hereditary.
You can’t go back on your word, right?
Zhang Ximeng smiled and said, "My lord, Zhu Ying's matter is easy to handle. I'll write him a letter and he will figure it out. And although Yunnan is good, it is not as good as Tianzhu. If he is willing to change his fiefdom, there are many local arrangements in the world."
.As for Kunming, it happens that the Southeast Asian countries, such as Burma, Nanzhang, Siam, and Champa, can influence all of them. Including Uzang, Kunming is the center of the entire southwest, and it is qualified to be a companion capital.
.”
Lao Zhu thought for a while, "This is indeed Zhu Ying's matter. You have to write a letter, and we will also write a letter, and then let the queen talk to him. We must make it clear... Also, sir, we have established three
How many officials do you think we need to arrange for the capital?"
Zhang Ximeng blinked and was speechless when he mentioned how many people had been arranged.
After all, the number of officials in the Ming Dynasty has exceeded 100,000 now. If Lao Zhu is in power and can still restrain it, it will definitely expand crazily in the future.
But he didn't have any good ideas.
All yamen are not evaluated based on economic benefits and reflect the value of a yamen. The best way is to strive for more budgets and have more employees...
"My lord, if we want to appoint officials, I think we can temporarily set up three general envoys."
The general affairs envoy was also established by Lao Zhu early. His main function was to handle memorials and deliver news. Zhu Yuanzhang was very worried that the officials below would deceive him.
But when the court was operating, due to Lao Zhu's diligence and the presence of Zhang Ximeng, no one really dared to conceal Lao Zhu on major matters.
They just sent all the information to Lao Zhu, and as long as he couldn't find it, they would get away with it... Therefore, for a long time, the general affairs envoy was an idle and picky existence.
However, it is enough to establish a companion capital and arrange three general envoys to take charge of the three government affairs, summarize them and report them to the court in a timely manner.
It is impossible to create four sets of people according to the layout of Zhongshu's ministries. In that case, the number of officials in the Ming Dynasty would explode.
Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a moment, nodded and said: "This arrangement is good, but one thing must be added. The emperor has to patrol everywhere from time to time, especially to accompany the capital, to handle government affairs and understand the people's sentiments. The country is so big, there cannot be only one Yingtian!
"
After finishing speaking, Lao Zhu said something meaningful, "Yingtian is so prosperous that it is easy for people to forget that there are still poor people in this world!"
Zhang Ximeng and Lao Zhu discussed it well, and the news reached Yingtian. Zhu Biao, who received the letter, directly called the ministers. Don't shirk this time. The father and the grand master have decided. What else do you want?
Moreover, this time we have promoted three additional capitals, and only appointed general envoys. Do you have any other opinions?
Sun Yan thought for a while and then said immediately: "Your Highness, this is an excellent idea. I think it is possible to add three warehouses in the capital as branches of the national treasury, so as to collect finance and taxes from all directions and avoid the pain of transshipment."
Zhu Biao nodded, "This is a good thing and should be feasible!" He asked again: "Besides adding a warehouse, do you have any other opinions?"
At this time, Luo Fulen stood up and said, "Your Highness, I think we need to add more branches of Daming Bank. For finance and currency, the most important thing is convenience. Setting up three branches will provide convenience and facilitate the exchanges of merchants."
Zhu Biao nodded again, which was natural.
However, after this incident, Qian Tang proposed to increase the number of schools in Xi'an and Kunming and vigorously develop schools.
In addition, some people suggested that a branch of Dali Temple should be arranged to be responsible for the names of punishments.
Sure enough, as Zhang Ximeng expected, even if they just set up a general affairs envoy, this group of people can recruit a large number of people, and they all have good reasons.
The expansion of the bureaucracy is an almost unsolvable problem.
Fortunately, their current proposals are still beneficial to the country and the people. After considering it, Zhu Biao nodded.
Now there is only one thing left: can Zhu Ying be willing to give up Yunnan?
That was his old nest. After running it for so many years, were he willing to give it up? Zhu Ying was so happy when he got the news. There is such a good thing?
He packed his bags overnight and couldn't wait to leave to answer the question. No matter how good Yunnan was, it was not his home...