Zhu Gui and Xu Guogong waited for an hour before finally seeing Zhu Yuanzhang in the side hall.
This is mainly because of Xu Guogong's face, otherwise he may not be able to see the emperor today.
Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to be in a bad mood, and even Zhu Gui could feel the coldness in his eyes.
"Zhu Gui, your information is quite good. You actually came with Xu Guogong. It seems that you already know what happened in the morning. Tell me, what are you going to do?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was the first to ask.
"Father, I have informed all stores that they will no longer give away salt, and it will no longer affect the official salt."
Zhu Gui said immediately.
"Don't give it away? That's not okay. Now we all know that those shops are the fronts of Prince Dai's Mansion, and Prince Dai's Mansion now represents the imperial court. If we say we won't give it away, we won't give it away. Wouldn't it make the people blame the imperial court?"
Zhu Yuanzhang stood up and said something that surprised both Zhu Gui and Xu Guogong.
"What do you mean, father?" Zhu Gui asked carefully.
"You can continue with the gift of salt, but this year's salt tax will be the same as in previous years. The Prince's Palace will make up for the difference. Do you agree?"
Zhu Yuanzhang stared at Zhu Gui and said, as if as long as he dared to say "no", he would immediately send someone to take off his python robe.
"Ah?" Zhu Gui was stunned for a moment, and his reaction was a little hesitant.
Xu Guogong on the side was about to speak, but was stopped by Zhu Yuanzhang's stern look.
"Zhu Gui, this is your own fault. I didn't directly accuse you because of the kindness you have shown to Yun Wen in the past few days. Don't be ignorant of good and evil."
Zhu Yuanzhang reminded.
Zhu Gui twitched the corner of his mouth, he was in trouble.
Unexpectedly, he, the vassal king, had to rely on the face of an imperial grandson to save his life.
But in fact, he didn't have much resistance to the order given by Zhu Yuanzhang.
Although he had to make up for the salt tax difference in the entire Nanjing area, it was only a small part compared to the money he earned during this period.
The reason why he looked so surprised was just that he didn't want Zhu Yuanzhang to see that it was too easy for him to make money.
"Thank you for your kindness, father. I am willing to take on this matter."
Zhu Gui bowed his head and thanked him.
A strange look flashed in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, but he didn't say much. He just exchanged a few polite words with Xu Guogong and let the two of them leave.
After leaving the side hall, Xu Guogong said to Zhu Gui with some sadness: "Your Majesty, why did you agree so easily? Do you know how much the annual salt tax is in Nanjing? You can't afford so much money.
ah."
Zhu Gui pretended to be sad and said: "My lord, how come I don't know this? But you also saw that the emperor's attitude just now cannot be tolerated by me. Otherwise, my position as vassal king will be lost immediately."
Deprived."
When Xu Guogong heard this, he immediately became silent.
After a while, Zhu Guicai continued: "My lord, if my prediction is correct, the emperor is clearing the way for his grandson and is preparing to eradicate or decentralize all those who threaten him. You should also be more careful."
When Xu Guogong heard this, he immediately shook his head and said, "Who do you think the emperor is? I have been with the emperor for half my life, and I will never do such a thing."
Zhu Gui knew that Xu Guogong could not accept such a thing for a while, so he did not continue to persuade him, but said: "If such a day comes, the Duke of Xu can come to Yunzhou. Although Datong Mansion is not as prosperous as Nanjing, it still has its own unique style.
.”
Xu Guogong just nodded and said nothing.
The two of them left the palace in this way.
Zhu Gui did not go to the East Palace, but returned to Prince Dai's Mansion. He still had many things to do.
First of all, he sent people to ask the five major shops to continue to donate salt. At the same time, he sent people to check how much Nanjing's salt tax was last year, so that he could prepare in advance.
Finally he thought of going to see the situation on Chengbei Street.
It's just that what he was looking at was the list compiled by the servants, and more than two thousand small traders had already registered on it.
This shocked Zhu Gui. It had only been more than a day.
And to open a small workshop for so many people, no matter how rich Zhu Gui is, he can't afford it.
Not to mention where are the products produced by more than 2,000 small workshops going to be sold?
Fortunately, Zhu Gui immediately thought of a solution.
He had the people on these lists classified according to the crafts they mastered.
Group those who have almost similar craftsmanship together, and these people will open a small workshop together.
I believe that if we continue to divide things like this, we should only need to open one or two hundred small workshops.
Although this still costs a huge sum of money, don't forget that Zhu Gui still controls Datong Bank.
This is equivalent to having the financial support of the entire Datong Chamber of Commerce.
Not to mention that the current Datong Chamber of Commerce includes more than half of Nanjing's businessmen.
As long as there is no credibility crisis, Zhu Gui will always have sufficient capital flow.
After finishing all this, Zhu Gui remembered that someone wanted to see him after being reminded by his servants.
So Zhu Gui came to the side hall and saw the three women who had been waiting here for a long time.
The leading woman was wearing a red robe and veil, but she was about twenty years old. Behind her stood two girls in blue shirts and short skirts.
The coldness in the red-robed woman's eyes made Zhu Gui feel very uncomfortable. He felt a little uneasy and immediately asked his servants to call in the guards at the door.
The personal guard has been replenished to ten people. Although there are only three veterans left among them, the flintlock rifles they carry give Zhu Gui a sense of security.
"See you, King Dai." The red-robed woman took the lead in saluting Zhu Gui.
Zhu Gui nodded and said: "Whatever skills you have, you can use them. I still have many things to deal with."
The red-robed woman was a little surprised by Zhu Gui's directness. She didn't expect that the other party would not be attracted by her beauty after seeing her.
However, she still took a box from the maid's hand and said: "Your Majesty, the girl has a copy of the printing technology, and here is a sample."
"Printing?" Zhu Gui couldn't help but say it when he heard this.
"Yes, the daughter of the people heard that the prince is vigorously promoting schools in Yunzhou, so she must be in great need of this technology."
The woman in red robe said confidently.
But as soon as she finished speaking, Zhu Gui shook his head and said, "Your technology has fallen behind. I have better movable type printing technology."
With that said, Zhu Gui exchanged a sample set of letterpress printing books from the system store and placed them on the table.
"I just haven't had time to promote it yet."
"This is impossible." The woman in red robe stood up immediately.
"The type printing technique of common women is passed down from ancestors. Even the palace does not have such technology. How can the prince have more advanced printing technology?"