As a minister of the foreign court, Gao Wuzhen was different from when he was the prince's companion and watcher of government. It was not easy to see the Empress Dowager Cisheng who had handed over power to the emperor. Therefore, when he was on duty during the day the next day, he He sent someone to contact Prince Lu, and after leaving his shift, he went to Prince Lu's Mansion to meet with Zhu Yiliu.
Gao Pingshi doesn't have any ill feelings toward Zhu Yijun. After all, they don't have many opportunities to meet each other. When they do meet, it's usually when Zhu Yijun is present. Naturally, it's a "reciprocity" situation, and both parties are very polite. .
On the contrary, Zhu Yili had a good impression of Gao Jingshi. Perhaps it was because Zhu Yijun praised him so much. His Royal Highness Prince Lu always believed that Gao Jingshi was a genius in the world. If he hadn't, there would be no chance of him. He really hoped that Gao Jingshi could be his chief minister of Prince Lu's palace. That's good.
Because of this mentality, when Gao Jingshi sent someone to deliver the greeting card, His Royal Highness Prince Lu jumped three feet high with excitement. He called all the subordinate officials in the palace to come over and lecture them, asking them to make arrangements for the evening reception. .
The officials in the royal palace are all officials with no background. Just like Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng who were on duty in Prince Yu's palace, they are basically marginal figures. There are occasionally one or two officials from the real school and the heart school in Prince Lu's palace. He was a person who was put in for "safety reasons", but he was also of low status.
When these fringe figures learned that Gao Gongbao was coming to visit, they didn't need Zhu Yili's nagging. They were already very motivated and hoped to leave a good impression on Gao Gong. If there was a chance to be recommended by him in the future, they would just say a few words. In a short time, you can get yourself out of the fire pit of the palace.
The status of a royal official is average, and there is no chance of promotion. It is always not a place that officials want to go. Unless they are the kind of officials who are just waiting to die, there will be basically no one who actively wants to be a royal official.
Long Qing was considered a half-accident back then. Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, Chen Yiqin and others were not bad at their level. The reason why it was called "half-accident" was because although Emperor Jiajing refused to establish a prince, he was actually prepared in his heart. . Jiajing knew that if King Yu or King Jing inherited the great treasure in the future, but the officials he knew well were all a bunch of losers, then there would be no way to play, and the emperor would definitely be played around by the courtiers.
Therefore, Jiajing still put a lot of thought into the subordinate officials of King Yu and King Jing.
But the current King Lu is different. Zhu Yijun was already in power when he left the cabinet to study, and Zhu Yijun is his elder brother, not his father. Of course, he will not consider cultivating his younger brother's political level, so he does not pay much attention to the selection of royal officials. Ability, what is considered is the so-called character - in other words, you just need to fool my brother into being honest, and the cultivation of ability is not important.
After all, he is a prince who cannot be remarried, so he does not need any abilities, he just needs to be obedient.
Speaking of which, the reason why Chongzhen Sage performed so well in history is probably closely related to this point - just look at his governance level and you will know that he was completely deceived in every aspect.
Emperor Longqing's political level at that time was average, but he couldn't help but have a good teacher, and he gradually figured out some key points, so before his death, he once taught Zhu Yijun, to the effect that to govern the world, you only need to find the right Just find the right people and let them do it. As for the emperor himself, he only needs to stabilize the factory guards and military power.
At the moment, King Lu has no good teachers. A group of pitiful palace officials just want to curry favor with the high-ranking Gongbao in order to get his appreciation and escape from the sea of misery. Therefore, if nothing else, they are very attentive to the dinner party.
After all, King Lu is "watching from all the vassals" and has a mother who loves him. Therefore, although he has little say in politics, his economic benefits are more than ten times better than those of King Yu back then. He can still do a good job in reception work.
Appropriate.
As a result, when Gao Pingshi arrived at Prince Lu's Mansion, he was a little surprised by the grandness of the Prince's Mansion. He looked at the officials of the Prince's Mansion who were almost lining up to welcome him, and then looked at the temporary "general cleaning" that had obviously been done.
The palace was barely decorated with lights, and I slowly understood what was going on.
In front of everyone, Gao Pragmatic immediately showed an approachable smile and praised the palace officials one by one. It seemed that these people were more capable than the Dukes Gonggun who were on duty in the court. Everyone smiled happily when they heard this.
Just scratching my head.
In order to welcome Gao Gongbao's arrival, His Royal Highness Prince Lu also put a lot of thought into it. Even after consulting Chang Shi and others, he actually opened the middle door wide and waited outside the gate of the palace to greet Gao Pragmatically.
I was so frightened that I hurriedly got out of the sedan chair and blamed myself again and again.
Well, there is nothing we can do about it. His Royal Highness, Prince Lu, can be courteous to the corporal, but he cannot climb up the pole. Today's meeting is public. If he dares to do this, he will be scolded tomorrow.
Main street.
Why? Because the rules set by Zhu Yuanzhang are there. The prince's respect as "the emperor is the same as the emperor" is much higher than that of all kinds of courtiers. Regardless of whether Zhu Yili has power or not, at least this respect cannot be ignored.
At least not on the surface.
The two of them greeted each other politely, and Zhu Yixi happily led Gao Pragmatic into the mansion. The two of them went to the side hall and took their seats, with the palace chief Shi and others also waiting beside them.
This is a rule, Gao Jingshi knows, but this rule is a bit troublesome, because what Gao Jingshi wants to talk to King Lu today, it is best not to spread before it is confirmed.
"The emperor often praised Gao Gongbao in front of the little king for his great loyalty and talent. The little king has always hoped to get the teachings from Gao Gongbao, and today he finally got what he wanted. I am so happy."
Naturally, Gao Jingshi was humble at first, and then asked: "I came to see His Highness today because I want to ask questions about King Jing's legacy. Is it convenient for Your Highness to talk about it?"
"Oh, it's about King Jing's legacy." Zhu Yili's political experience was indeed not rich, and his "performance level" was not up to par. Gao Pragmatic could tell at a glance that his eyes flickered.
However, Zhu Yili quickly answered: "Xiao Wang doesn't know much about this matter. I don't know what Gao Gongbao wants to ask specifically?"
Both of them seemed to have skipped the question of "King Jing's legacy has nothing to do with your pragmatism." After all, although he was the Minister of Rongzheng, he had another identity: the actual helmsman of the Practical School.
In other words, the words he asked and the attitude he expressed today may not necessarily represent his personal understanding, but may very well represent the attitude of the entire Practical School officials on this matter.
Gao Jingshi didn't want to delay any more and asked directly: "Does Your Highness know what exactly King Jing's inheritance is, how much it is worth, and what kind of benefits it can bring to Your Highness?"
A hint of caution flashed in Zhu Yili's eyes, and he said cautiously: "Well... the Ministry of Revenue has not come up with specific provisions, so Xiao Wang is not very clear."
Gao Pragmatic was not satisfied with this answer and asked: "Don't you understand the general situation? Your Highness, I'm sorry, this question is very important."
"Ah, this..." Zhu Yirui hesitated for a moment and glanced at Chang Shi. Unfortunately, Chang Shi immediately lowered his gaze without any expression at all.
Zhu Yirui looked at Gao Pangshi again. Under his gaze, he could only cough dryly and said: "Uh... Generally speaking, Xiao Wang heard that there should be at least 40,000 hectares of fertile land?"
Gao Pingshi rolled his eyes inwardly: What the hell are you dreaming about? The number 40,000 hectares is indeed known to the world, but if you say that 40,000 hectares are all "fertile farmland", are you treating me like an idiot?
He chuckled and said calmly: "I come here with sincerity. I hope that Your Highness will also treat me with sincerity."
As expected, Zhu Yili's expression changed.
Gao Pragmatic's words are a bit over the top.
However, he knew how powerful Gao Gongshi was, and Zhu Yirui was really a little scared of him. So he squeezed out a smile and said with a slight embarrassment: "Gao Gongbao's words are serious, how dare the little king be slow to treat Gao Gongbao's sincerity? But Gao Gongbao Xiao Wang is indeed not very clear about what Bao asked. I wonder if Gao Gongbao has more detailed information that he can tell Xiao Wang?"
Gao Pingshi pretended to ponder for a moment, and then said: "It's quite troublesome to talk about the specific things. How about I just tell His Highness the amount?"
"What number?" Zhu Yili asked.
"Even if King Jing's legacy is fully calculated, the amount of income it can bring to His Highness every year."
Zhu Yiliu said in astonishment: "Does Gao Gongbao even know this?"
Gao Jingshi said calmly: "Your Highness should know that Jinghua is quite good at settling accounts."
Oh, Jinghua...no wonder.
Zhu Yiyi nodded, indicating that he understood, and then muttered: "In this case, I will ask Gao Gongbao to inform me."
Gao pragmatically said: "In an ordinary year, calculated based on all real figures, King Jing's legacy will probably bring an income of fifty-three thousand, four hundred and twenty-seven taels of silver to His Highness every year."
Zhu Yirui's eyes suddenly widened and his breathing became a little short: "So many?"
Unexpectedly, Gao Pragmatic ignored him and continued: "If everything goes well in the places where the legacy is located this year, then this number can still increase somewhat, and the income can probably rise to more than 57,000 taels." silver."
It is close to 60,000 taels, and the annual income is indeed very high. Because Jingwang Legacy is mainly based on income from fields, minerals and even fish catches, it certainly cannot compare with sea trade in terms of profitability.
It has been said before that the income from farming is actually very poor. Usually, if you buy an acre of land and rely on farming alone to "recover the money", even if the weather is good, it will take more than 30 years. King Jing's legacy can earn nearly 60,000 yuan a year. The annual income of two is indeed very impressive. No wonder Zhu Yili was surprised.
However, Zhu Yili was surprised too early, because what Gao Pragmatic said next immediately surprised him even more.
Gao pragmatic sighed, shook his head and said: "I'll be honest, King Jing's properties look huge, but their profitability is really poor. If I have such properties under my name, I must find ways to sell them off as soon as possible."
Zhu Yili was stunned for a long time before asking: "Why... why is this? Five or sixty thousand taels of silver a year is not a good profit?"
"Of course, it's too bad." Gao Pragmatic said with a look of regret: "If these properties of King Jing are all real numbers, then their total value is about 1.6 million taels of silver... Your Highness, 160 With a capital of 10,000 taels, you can only earn less than 60,000 taels a year? Tsk tsk."
Gao pragmatic snorted lightly and said with a look of disdain: "The major shopkeepers and supervisors under Jinghua, no matter which line of business they are in, if I give them a capital of 1.6 million taels, he can only give me an annual The income of 60,000 taels, ha... in the second year, he will no longer be able to eat from Jinghua."
Zhu Yijun said in surprise: "Ah, isn't this a lot of money already made?"
Gao Jingshi shook his head and said: "A business that only takes thirty years to pay back the original investment can be said to have made a lot of money? Your Highness, forgive me for being arrogant. If Jinghua makes money at this speed, how big do you think Jinghua can be today? One Jinghua." I’m afraid the soap factory will be shut down, right?”
Uh... It seems to be the same. The investment in Jinghua Soap Factory in the early years seemed to be only a few thousand taels, and it has only been in operation for more than ten years now. According to this profit rate, it would be good to have a scale of tens of thousands taels now. .
But what about the reality? He knew a little about the dividends of Jinghua Soap Factory. According to those nobles, the annual profit of the entire soap factory seemed to be more than 100,000 taels!
More than one hundred thousand taels...
Zhu Yili's eyes suddenly turned red. A Jinghua soap factory was actually more profitable than my future business? What's going on in this world? Isn't this king the head of all the vassals? Isn't this the vassal watcher? How come I am so poor? ?
Gao Pragmatic seemed to be a roundworm in his stomach, and he happened to speak again at this time: "Oh, by the way, the current total capital of Jinghua Soap Factory is only worth about 400,000 taels, and it will not exceed 450,000 taels at most - —Chen means if it is sold."
Zhu Yiliu's eyes immediately widened: "No way? Jinghua Soap Factory is so cheap?"
Gao Pragmatic laughed and said: "This is based on the total cost, but it does not mean that I will sell it." He paused and explained: "The total cost is the total cost, and the profit is the profit. .Your Highness, it is precisely because the total cost of the soap factory is not high but the profit is quite good that I cannot sell it. Do you think this is true?"
Ah, of course, only a fool would sell such a chicken that lays golden eggs.
Zhu Yiyi nodded repeatedly.
Gao Pingshi smiled and said: "So, Your Highness, judging from this comparison, the total capital of King Jing's inheritance is about 1.6 million taels, but he can only earn 50,000 to 60,000 taels a year - just calculate it as 60,000 taels. Isn’t it also useless? If I had replaced it, I would have cashed it out long ago and used the money to do other things. What can I do that is not as expensive as this?”
"Yes, yes, yes." Zhu Yiyi nodded repeatedly: "This thing is really slow to get money...Hey, wait, it's not right."
Gao pragmatically asked: "What's wrong?"
Zhu Yili scratched his head in an awkward manner, frowned and said: "Of course you can make a lot of money with one million six hundred thousand taels in the hands of your Gao Gongbao, but... this, this... Xiao Wang can't do it. "
Gao Pragmatic laughed: "Your Highness, you think you don't know these things, but is this important? Think about it, Duke Cheng Guo, Duke Yingying, etc., don't they know these things very well?"
Zhu Yiliu was stunned and said hesitantly: "Oh? That's right, they probably can't either..."
That's right, everyone doesn't know how to do it, but why can you make money even if you don't know how to do business, but you can't do it when you get to me?
----------
Thank you to the book friend "One thought is eternal" for your reward and support, thank you!
Thanks to book friends "too fat to fly", "Cao Mianzi" and "ddfdgds" for their monthly support, thank you!