It turned out that Xu Zuhui had heard about some things that happened to the king in Yunzhou a few days ago, especially the incident where he rescued his second daughter from bandits alone.
At that time, he was very emotional, thinking that King Dai had finally grown up, so he asked about Zhu Gui's situation.
As a result, he was shocked. The king had obtained a large amount of private salt from nowhere and was competing with the local salt merchants for profit.
Xu Zuhui thought about it and concluded that Zhu Gui had seized the refined salt from the salt dealer.
Otherwise, if you sell salt as a feudal prince, you will be criticized sooner or later.
Unexpectedly, not long after, this generation of kings actually submitted a memorial stating that they would rectify the salt tax. After learning the news, Xu Zuhui did not sleep well for several days.
He was not worried about Zhu Gui, but worried about his daughter.
Fortunately, he also heard that with the intercession of Concubine Guo and the prince, the emperor finally gave in.
His hanging heart was finally relieved.
As a result, now, Xu Yingxu, the second son who originally went to Yunzhou to repair Zhu Gui's palace, came back privately and repeatedly asked him to intercede on behalf of the king.
Xu Zuhui subconsciously felt that Zhu Gui had caused great trouble again.
Of course Xu Yingxu didn't know about his father's change in mentality, so he briefly told a series of Zhu Gui's actions in Datong Mansion.
Finally, he added that his sister Xu Miaoqing seems to have changed her attitude towards Zhu Gui.
Xu Zuhui said with a solemn expression: "This acting king is so young, why is he so troublesome?"
"By the way, where did the refined salt for King Dai come from?"
When Xu Zuhui frowned, he asked casually.
"I don't know much about this. I just know that a large amount of refined salt is transported from Prince Dai's Mansion to the Datong Chamber of Commerce every day. Prince Dai must have mastered the method of making refined salt."
Xu Yingxu thought for a moment and said this.
"How to make refined salt? If he can offer this voluntarily, the emperor may not be convicted if he is happy."
Xu Zuhui immediately had an idea.
"I don't know if the King will agree to this."
Xu Yingxu said with some embarrassment.
Now the Daiwang relies solely on selling refined salt to support the entire Daiwang Palace. Asking him to donate the method of making refined salt, isn't it equivalent to draining the bottom of the cauldron?
"It's best if he agrees. If he doesn't agree, it will be difficult for me as a father to speak for him. It depends on whether he wants money or his life."
Xu Zuhui said.
Xu Yingxu frowned and said nothing more.
At the same time, the memorials for Liu Jingming and Zhang Mao to impeach the king had reached the hands of Zhu Biao, the crown prince of the East Palace.
Zhu Biao finished reading with fear, and his already weak look became even more exhausted.
"Thirteenth brother, why are you so disobedient? No, this memorial must not be seen by the emperor, otherwise not only will the thirteenth brother's position as vassal king be in danger, but his life may be in danger."
Therefore, Zhu Biao actually suppressed this memorial.
Around the same time, King Yan Zhu Di also received a post from Liu Jingming.
However, he was not interested at all in what Liu Jingming mentioned about Zhu Gui's involvement in the salt tax. Anyway, these matters would be handled by his eldest brother and his father, so why should he worry about it?
On the contrary, he was quite interested in the new firearms he mentioned.
King Yan's vassal territory is in Yanjing, and he is the only prince among many vassal kings who has the right to lead the army.
There is no other reason. The Mongolian cavalry on the grasslands are not willing to accept the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, and will go south to harass the border from time to time.
Although the Ming army was brave, it was still difficult to deal with the Mongolian cavalry.
If there were new firearms, they might have a big impact on the war effort.
Zhu Di was a pragmatist and immediately sent people to Datong Mansion to retrieve the new firearms and study them.
Datong Mansion.
Ever since Xu Yingxu left, Zhu Gui has been feeling a little uneasy. Apart from routine training of soldiers and inspection of road construction in Datong Mansion, he has not continued to study anything else.
Just when he was thinking about sending someone to Nanjing to find out the news, the system's voice rang.
[Ding! The system prompts that the trigger conditions for the pre-task of the main task are met and the task is started]
[The tax revenue in the second year reached three million taels of silver]
[Task reward: Steam engine design drawing]
Zhu Gui stood stunned on the spot.
It’s actually a design drawing of a steam engine?
This turned out to be a task reward produced by the system. No wonder he had been trying to get it by himself for a long time without any results.
The condition for completing the task turned out to be taxation.
Zhu Gui's originally worried heart was finally relieved.
He didn't know what happened in Nanjing, but since the system issued the task, it meant that the problem had been solved.
So he happily went to the Datong Chamber of Commerce.
After calling all the chamber of commerce representatives together.
Zhu Gui revealed the next road construction plan.
That is to continue to repair the official roads connecting Yuanzhou, Yingzhou, Shuozhou and Yuzhou in Datong Prefecture.
The five major salt merchants and many small merchants looked at each other with excitement and worry in their eyes.
They knew that in this imperial edict, the emperor only punished King Dai symbolically, which meant that King Dai was given great rights, which meant that they made the right bet.
But building roads is not that simple. Although the four main roads in Datong Prefecture have been repaired, according to their idea, they should continue to improve other road sections in the city.
But they did not dare to object in public. Suddenly, the atmosphere in the chamber of commerce's living room became strange.
Zhu Gui felt the crowd's squirming, so he called out the young Confucian businessman Xu Chenglin.
"Mr. Xu, what do you think of this plan?"
Xu Chenglin first saluted Zhu Gui, and then said: "It is indeed necessary to repair the official roads connecting the four states, but the Datong Chamber of Commerce and the Dai Wangfu should not be solely responsible for this matter."
He is indeed a businessman, and he can see the essence of this matter at a glance.
Zhu Gui nodded and said, "You are right, but I'm afraid the governor of Datong Prefecture will not agree to pay."
He thought for a moment and continued: "Let's do this. I will negotiate with the county governor. You should make preparations first. Prepare various supplies according to the road construction situation in Datong Mansion this time. If you are short of money, you can come to the prince's manor.
Apply for a mortgage.”
As he spoke, Zhu Gui's eyes suddenly lit up.
Mortgage loan? Should he take advantage of the trend and open a bank? That is, a money bank?
As soon as this idea appeared, it was out of control.
When the people in the room heard this, they all started to discuss it.
They are also aware of the reputation and financial resources of Dai Wangfu. With Dai Wangfu as the guarantee and the upcoming huge road construction project, it can be foreseen that businessmen like them who have joined the Datong Chamber of Commerce will have a profitable future.
Chance.
After the meeting, King Dai took his people to the governor's mansion and visited Zhang Mao in person.
When Zhang Mao heard that King Dai had brought people to visit him, he thought that his petition to impeach King Dai had been known to the other party, and he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
