"What is this? The officials of the Ming Dynasty are so worthless?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he knocked on the table and became furious.
Zhang Ximeng just watched Lao Zhu's performance silently, not angry at all, let alone surprised. People like Zhu Yuanzhang naturally hope that his officials will be honest, not corrupt or occupying, upright, and especially not collude with businessmen to corrupt the national code.
In the face of wealth, you have to hold on and be brave!
But what did the prefect of Xi'an do?
I heard that someone was rich, so I invited him over and treated him as a distinguished guest. He was above many celebrities and sages, and he openly knelt down to wealth... This person will definitely be a corrupt official in the future. There is no doubt that he will behead first.
Then peel the skin, make it into a human skin pillow, and place it at the door of the government office for public display!
In the past, Lao Zhu must have done this, there is no doubt about it.
But the problem is that Zhang Ximeng is here, not to mention that he paid for it.
"My lord, please be patient. The prefect has his own plans, and he may not be just trying to please you." Zhang Ximeng took the initiative to explain: "My lord, didn't you send two black flags over there! With so many cavalry, they need all the baggage they need.
The amount of grain and grass has almost doubled. At present, the imperial court's transportation capacity is insufficient. Many grain and weapons are piled up in Guanzhong, Xi'an, Liangzhou, and Shazhou. Now if we want to mobilize manpower, we need the help of merchants."
When Lao Zhu heard this, he hummed: "Merchant, merchant! Will the merchant's efforts be in vain?"
"That's definitely not the case!" Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "There happens to be a lot of jewelry, jade, agate, gold and silver in front of the army. Between their transactions, there are also several times the profit!"
When Lao Zhu heard this, he became even more angry, "With such a huge benefit, why don't you mobilize the people and return the profits to the court? Why do you let the merchants take advantage?"
Zhang Ximeng laughed and said: "My lord, after so many years, why are you still trying to get into trouble? The purpose of the court is not to make money at all! If you think the court can get involved, do other courts in other places also need to get involved? Make money.
It’s better if you lose money, but it will be a waste of people’s money and money!”
Lao Zhu was speechless. In fact, he had known this truth for a long time. He was just angry and unconvinced.
The situation here is not complicated, but it involves a fundamental issue, which is the positioning of the court... How to evaluate the quality of a court?
The people live and work in peace and contentment, the laws are strict and orderly, the folk customs are simple, and education is flourishing... In short, it is difficult to list how much money you make as the most important indicator.
If the collection of money is encouraged unscrupulously, wouldn't it mean that officials are free to exploit the people?
The court wants to collect money, but this money is to be taken from the people and used by the people, not to calculate profits.
This is the biggest difference between the imperial court and merchants.
Therefore, if the imperial court wants to mobilize the people, it must issue an order that all ordinary people who meet the standards must serve. If they don't think about it, they will inevitably bribe officials, spend money to get rid of them, and pass on the corvee. Then the most basic fairness will be lost.
It caused so many complaints that some people could not bear it and would go bankrupt.
This is the effect of court mobilization, because it is coercive and almost inevitable.
But when I arrived at the merchant's place, the situation became much better.
They can raise prices and hire enough manpower to participate in transportation in a manner consistent with economic laws.
If arranged properly, not only will they not harm the people's power, they will also be able to release benefits and prosper the economy. As the saying goes, a cannon fires a thousand taels of gold.
There is a lot of knowledge about where the money should flow and how it should be flowed out.
This is the first level of this matter. As for the second level, transporting grain to the Western Regions is indeed profitable, and there is nothing wrong with the imperial court doing it.
But once it is done, it will become a routine. If there are other wars in the future, the government officials will try their best to get involved. They don't care whether the country can benefit, but their own interests must be guaranteed.
This kind of group that makes money by fighting wars is also called a military-industrial complex. Zhang Ximeng doesn’t want this kind of thing to appear early in the Ming Dynasty...
Therefore, it is a very normal choice to rely on merchants to fill the shortage of transportation capacity and maintain the expenses of the Western Region front line, and there is nothing wrong with it at all.
Zhu Yuanzhang also accepted this explanation, but the news that came next made him furious!
"Asshole! Mr. Zhang, look, the prefect of Xi'an actually introduced his niece to Wang Tong at the banquet! Great! That's great!"
Zhang Ximeng blinked his eyes and couldn't help but smile bitterly. He came after all.
What can be said?
May all the rich people in the world finally become successful!
There is no doubt that money is a very magical thing.
Money can make you younger, and the more money, the better the effect... Even if you are 70 or 80 years old, as long as you have enough wealth, you are still a potential stock full of vitality.
Money can also improve one's appearance, which has an excellent effect far beyond any beauty and skin care products, making you shine like a god at all times.
The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the temple are also shining with golden light.
It is not that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are greedy for money, but that the world loves money, and gods have to kneel down in front of wealth.
It may not be accurate to say that wealth leads to gods. It should be said that wealth is a god, the omnipotent God!
When Wang Tong had money, the prefect immediately sent his niece over.
His niece is young and beautiful, has just graduated from middle school, and is quite talented. In the past, Wang Tong could not even dream of it, but now it is within easy reach.
In a few days, this guy fell from the peak and quickly climbed to the sky again. The days were like a dream.
I remember there is a play called Huang Liang Meng. It tells the story of a scholar who received a pillow from Lu Dongbin. After falling into a dream, he passed the exam and got a beautiful wife. He flourished in the court and had children and grandchildren. He lived to be over eighty.
, was awarded the title of Grand Master, and had great power over the world.
When I woke up from my dream, the yellow rice next to me was not cooked yet.
Everything is just his big dream.
After that, I had a complete enlightenment and became a flower girl for He Xiangu.
This is the design of the literati. After all their hard work, they could only invite gods and goddesses to use precious pillows to make people fall asleep and experience glory and wealth.
But things are not that troublesome...neither gods nor magic weapons are needed, just such a thin money order can be easily achieved.
And it’s guaranteed to be real, not a dream.
Zhu Yuanzhang read the secret report every day, and the more he read, the more frightened and even shuddered.
Because he really felt the power of money.
These days, Wang Tong and the magistrate's niece went to various places in Xi'an and played happily. They visited all the places where Zhang Ximeng and Zhu Yuanzhang went not long ago.
The popularity he received seemed to be even higher than that of the Emperor. After all, Lao Zhu couldn't give him too much money for incense.
I had known for a long time that the monks were realistic, but I never expected that they would be so realistic!
"Sir, if this continues, neither of us will be able to use it anymore. This guy named Wang will become the emperor of tomorrow!" Lao Zhu coldly snorted: "He eats, drinks, has fun, and throws money around every day. When the time comes,
, if the money is not paid, we will definitely punish him severely and refuse to lend him money to rectify his people's hearts."
Zhang Ximeng smiled helplessly, "Lord, it doesn't seem difficult to pay back the money."
"Isn't it difficult?" Lao Zhu said with a smile: "Is it possible that the money can be spent more and more?"
Zhang Ximeng nodded helplessly, "It should be so. If you don't believe me, you can wait and see."
Lao Zhu gritted his teeth and waited. Anyway, we have no shortage of time now. We just want to see how ridiculous this world can be.
In the blink of an eye, a month passed, and Wang Tong finally realized that he still had to pay back the money... The dream would eventually end. The five hundred thousand yuan was given by others. The wife who had already sworn to each other and was about to marry knew that he had nothing.
, most likely they will leave themselves.
He will be knocked back to his original state in an instant, and he will have nothing left.
No, he is still poor, and perhaps has endless debts.
Yes, he needs to settle his accounts. Can he repay the five hundred thousand yuan? How big is the gap?
After all, he remembered that he spent too much these days. Just one jewelery expenditure was more than three thousand dollars... Who knows how much money he spent in order to capture the heart of a beautiful woman.
Moreover, he also donated a total of 50,000 yuan to rebuild historical sites in Xi'an!
OMG!
What have I done?
Those people surrounded me and said a lot of good things, but I got lost and spent money without restraint... I'm dead, I'm dead!
Wang Tong opened his account book with the intention of visiting the grave. When he saw the wealth in his name, he couldn't help but rub his eyes.
Why so many?
Knead again!
He rubbed it three times in a row and finally confirmed it was correct.
In his name, there are a total of 650,000 yuan lying at the moment!
That’s right!
He spent money lavishly, and not only did he not lose all his money, he also gained an extra 150,000 yuan!
That's not right. It's not 150,000 guan. There is still a batch of payments that have not been recovered. The actual money he earned should be more than 200,000 guan.
In other words, even if he pays back 500,000 yuan, he is still an out-and-out rich man!
Oh my God, this is so nonsense!
At this moment, in Zhu Yuanzhang's palace, the prefect of Xi'an was reporting his merits to Lao Zhu.
"In response to your majesty, I have been doing my best in these days to mobilize the wealthy households in Guanzhong. The rich will contribute money and the powerful will contribute to transport 500,000 dan of grain, 1 million bundles of hay, as well as ordnance and firearms to the Western Regions.
The medicines are worthless. The champion has accepted them all and written back to express his thanks. He will definitely live up to the divine grace and launch an offensive immediately to eliminate Timur, right before his eyes!"
After the prefect finished speaking, he couldn't help but raise his head and look at Zhu Yuanzhang, waiting for His Majesty the Emperor's commendation.
But Zhu Yuanzhang was not happy. Instead, he said indifferently: "These things are nothing. We heard that your niece is getting married? This is a big happy event!"
The prefect was immediately dumbfounded. Military and state affairs were not important, but his niece's marriage was so important?
Your Majesty, what does this mean?
He lay on the ground in fear, "My lord, it's hard for me to understand this!"
At this moment, Grand Master Zhang Ximeng walked in with a smile. Behind him, Wang Tong, who was shaking all over and sweating on his forehead, knelt down directly after entering...