Empress Ma was a little worried and said, "Your Majesty, Twelve finally came back safely. Please don't be too harsh."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Don't worry, I won't beat or scold him, I just want to see what this kid wants to do."
Zhu Yuanzhang's appetite was whetted, and he told the palace people not to say anything. He pretended not to know and returned to the imperial study.
Sure enough, Zhu Bai was sitting on the threshold of the royal study, counting his silver.
Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't laugh or cry, and coughed dryly.
Zhu Bai stood up, stuffed the money back into his sleeve pocket, and said, "Father."
Zhu Yuanzhang snorted: "Well, what are you doing?"
Zhu Bai said with a smile: "My son knew that my father was short of money, so I raised some money and lent it to my father."
Hiss...why did this guy change his tactics?
Zhu Yuanzhang was secretly surprised, with a calm expression on his face, and asked: "Where did you get the money?"
Zhu Bai said: "I found it elsewhere. But if I lend it to you, you have to pay me interest."
Zhu Yuanzhang asked with great interest: "How much interest?"
Zhu Bai: "The annual profit is 10% in one year, and the profit is 20% in two years."
Zhu Yuanzhang was secretly surprised: Hey, he has made double the interest in this two times. This guy is quite cunning.
Zhu Bai didn't seem to notice Zhu Yuanzhang's surprise at all, and continued: "If you don't have the money, you can pay me back. Use things of equal value, such as firecrackers newly made by the Ministry of Industry, etc. Food, cloth, jewelry, and medicinal materials
I can’t use my son-in-law, and I can’t make him work for my father.”
Zhu Yuanzhang gritted his teeth and said, "Aren't you afraid that I will default on my debt?"
Zhu Bai grinned: "How could my father default on his debt? Besides, at worst, you can just write me a receipt."
Zhu Yuanzhang sneered: "If you don't tell me where you got this money, I won't dare to borrow it from you."
"My son borrowed it from someone who is not in a hurry to use the money and has money." Zhu Bai became excited as he spoke, rubbed his hands and said, "Father, think about it. They don't need it anyway, so leaving it is just a waste.
Wait, you are in a hurry to use it, but you have nowhere to look for it. Isn't this just right? The reason why I can borrow it is because of my father's majesty and credibility. Is it a bank, just like a rice bank or a cloth bank?
Get the goods from elsewhere and sell them at a higher price."
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and suddenly thought of a question: If it were an official treasury, could this be the case?
The reason why various prefectures refused to release food was because they were not sure that they would be able to take it back.
Zhu Yuanzhang became excited, picked up Zhu Bai, went in and sat down, put him on his knees, and said, "What if I am short of food? Can you borrow it?"
Zhu Bai blinked and said, "It should be possible. For example, if area A produces more grain this year, they are encouraged to deposit the extra grain in the government treasury. The government treasury will give them a written receipt, which is called a passbook, indicating that there is interest.
For example, if you save one stone of rice for a year, you can take half a dou more when you withdraw it. If the official treasury does not have that much grain to pay back, you can use silver or exempt from taxes and corvees the following year. If there is a famine in Land B this year, you can pay it back from the official treasury.
If the treasury borrows grain first and pays it back in a good year, interest will also be paid."
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said: "There are so many disaster victims running around, collecting food and then leaving. How can we guarantee that the food will be returned next year?"
Zhu Bai said: "It depends on the ability of the parents. You can just distribute the grain according to the number of people in the local household register. When distributing it, the signature of the head of the household is required. Besides, if there are people who stutter in their hometown and can survive, who is willing to go there?
Go elsewhere. If there is really not enough food left, you can also use it to serve the court. The court will also send a reliable person to inspect and supervise."
Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it: Yes, building dams and water storage wells, for example, requires labor.
It is a good time to carry out water conservancy projects in good years to prevent and reduce disasters.
It's already good that the Twelfth One can come up with a solution. It's impossible to ask him to consider every detail carefully, otherwise what would all the civil and military officials and me, the emperor, do?
Zhu Yuanzhang became excited and said to the outside: "Go and call the prince, Li Shanchang and Liu Bowen."
Zhu Bai looked frustrated: "Father, after talking for so long, do you want to borrow money from me? If you don't lend me money, I won't have so much interest to pay them back."
"This little money is nothing. You are a prince after all and have some potential." Zhu Yuanzhang sneered, picked up a thumb-sized gold Pixiu paperweight from the table and handed it to Zhu Bai, "This is a reward for you, don't lie to your brother again."
The monthly payment is due. Lao Ten and Lao Eleven cried like that early in the morning, how pitiful they were."
Zhu Bai took it and was ecstatic: wow, it's pure gold. It's so awesome.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him sideways: "Don't even think about taking it out of the palace to buy any messy things. If you take things from the palace privately, you will have to deal with them."
Zhu Bai's face fell instantly: Tsk, how could I forget this?
There's no use in taking this thing.
He grimaced: "Father, you should reward me with money."
Zhu Yuanzhang rolled his eyes: "No. I just won't give you anything you can spend."
Zhu Bai said: "Why don't my father resign my wet nurse and give me the wet nurse's monthly salary?"
What does it look like to be seven or eight years old and still have a wet nurse to follow you all day long?
In fact, Lao Zhu didn't want to spend the money.
Although Queen Ma likes children and is kind and gentle, she can't take care of so many by herself. That's why each prince is assigned an older woman to take care of them.
After all, the wet nurse breastfed the prince, so she probably had more feelings for the prince and cared more about him than others.
At least it can prevent the princes from being bullied by the palace people with evil intentions. If the princes need anything, they will have someone to ask for it in time.
But here in Zhubai, it seems that these problems do not exist at all.
That would simply save a lot of money.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Nanny can resign, but I can't give you monthly money."
Just as he was talking, Zhu Biao and the others arrived, and Zhu Bai immediately slipped out to avoid having to watch them quarrel later.
Zhu Tan and Zhu Chun poked their heads around the corner.
Zhu Bai walked over and took out their money: "Give it back to you, look at how stingy you are."
Zhu Tan and Zhu Chun laughed through tears, took the money, and returned Zhu Bai's "passbook" to him.
Zhu Bai looked contemptuous: "You are too short-sighted. It is definitely better to live with me than with your wet nurse. How much money have you deposited with the wet nurse? Have you recorded it?"
Those wet nurses often secretly send money to the house. Where does it come from?
It’s not just the monthly money of these little princes.
The little prince cannot leave the palace, and the food and clothing have been prepared, so there is no place to spend money.
Zhu Tan and Zhu Chun looked at each other, then shook their heads.
Zhu Bai said: "You should be more careful. You can count the monthly money yourself after you receive it. Otherwise, if you are sold, you will have to help count the money."
Over there, Liu Bowen was surprised when he heard Zhu Yuanzhang talk about the official grain bank.
This is definitely not a method that a martial artist like Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born as a peasant, could come up with.
Li Shanchang lowered his head and secretly rejoiced: The opportunity to make money has come.
