Da Ming started to ascend the throne

Chapter 371
After retiring from the court that day, Zhu Youjian summoned three Shandong businessmen in Qianqing Palace.

They are all patriotic maritime merchants from the Shandong Merchant Gang, namely Li Yong, Liu Wu, and Yang Chunming.

The three of them never thought in their life that they would meet the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, let alone be summoned by the Emperor.

When they heard that the emperor wanted to meet them, all three were terrified, thinking that something must have offended the emperor.

They were all very clear about the outcome of the eight major Shanxi merchants. They probably either ransacked their homes or exterminated their families this time.

Zhu Youjian was sitting in the imperial study, and there were two people beside him, the princess Zhu Wei, and the most loyal old eunuch in history, Wang Chengen.

The three chatted for a while, Zhu Youjian turned around and asked the little eunuch:

"Have the rich merchants from Shandong arrived?"

The little eunuch Erxi hastily bowed and answered:

"Your Majesty, they are all here, waiting for orders outside the palace."

"call"

"According to the purpose"

After Er Xi exited the imperial study, she went directly to the outside of the hall, and saw three wealthy businessmen standing there trembling.

"Come here, Your Majesty has summoned you."

The three of them were already trembling with fear, but when they heard the emperor's summons, they felt their legs became weaker.

A little trembling, they walked up to Er Xi, and each handed Er Xi a bank note.

"My father-in-law, this is your hard work fee."

Er Xi looked at the figure of 100 taels on the bank note, and his face suddenly sank:
"What are you doing? Are you trying to kill our family? Hurry up and go in after His Majesty summons you."

Erxi's words made the three of them even more nervous, they felt that the game was over.

Don't they all say eunuchs love money?Why the little eunuch didn't even dare to ask for money, he must have committed a serious crime.

In the past, when entering the palace, eunuchs had to be given a meeting gift, and the middle and lower officials of the hundred officials also had to give a meeting gift when they met their superiors.

If you don't give gifts, you don't have the right to talk to your superiors. As rich businessmen, of course they know it well.

But how did they know that after Zhu Youjian came here, he severely cracked down on corruption, and now no one dares to accept gifts casually.

After entering the imperial study, they found three people sitting in it, besides the emperor, there was an old eunuch and a beautiful woman.

Although the three of them didn't know the emperor, they could still be distinguished from each other in terms of their clothes.

A beautiful woman is definitely not an emperor, and an old man in a boa robe is certainly not an emperor.

The middle-aged man in the middle wearing a dragon robe must be the Son of Heaven.

The three trembled and knelt down in front of Zhu Youjian:
"The grassroots refer to His Majesty the Emperor."

Seeing that the three of them were so scared, Zhu Youjian smiled slightly and said:

"Free of courtesy and flat body, grant a seat!"

The three of them knelt on the ground and didn't dare to get up. How dare they sit down.

"Caomin don't dare to sit, so they should kneel and be punished."

"Punishment? Why are you punished? You must sit if I give you a seat. Otherwise, it is a crime of deceiving the emperor."

"Ah... Thank you, Your Majesty Ron!"

Zhu Youjian forcibly ordered them to sit down, and the three dared to stand up and sit down, but they only dared to sit up a little.

In order to make the three wealthy businessmen less nervous, Zhu Youjian asked them to serve tea to relieve their pressure.

"Come here, serve tea to the three bosses.

"Yes"

Two beautiful little maids immediately brewed five cups of tea and put them on the coffee table in front of the three rich merchants and the emperor and princess.

This made the three of them both moved and frightened, and the big stone in their hearts never let go.

Zhu Youjian picked up the teacup, took a sip of tea and slowly opened his mouth:
"In the past few years, bandits made rebellions, captives invaded the east, plagues and plagues were rampant, and natural and man-made disasters made life difficult for the people of Ming Dynasty.

Now it is all right, the world is peaceful and the people live and work in peace and contentment. It is not an exaggeration to say that Ming Dynasty is full of vitality.

But I will never forget those heroes who shed blood and died for my Ming Dynasty, whether they are ordinary people, businessmen or military officials, I will never forget them.

Li Yong, your grandfather Li Changle provided food and grass for the Ming army during the Battle of Saerhu.

He fully supported Daming's war against the Eastern captives, but it was a pity that he left his precious life in Saarhu forever.

I will never forget this kind of patriotic businessman, let alone Daming. "

Li Yong thought that the emperor summoned them because of their family property, and thought that the Li family would end up like the eight imperial merchants.

But listening to it now, it's not the case at all. Not only did the emperor not think about Li's family, he even mentioned his grandfather's affairs.

His grandfather, Li Changle, was killed by the Eastern Captives in the Battle of Sarhu, but after so many years, Daming never mentioned it.

It never occurred to him that Emperor Ming still remembered his grandfather's name, and also knew about his grandfather's death for his country.

In that battle, the Ming army was almost completely annihilated, and countless people were killed and injured by the war. With so many casualties, the emperor still remembered his grandfather.

Tears welled up in Li Yong's eyes, he was completely moved by Emperor Ming.

You must know that merchants have no status in Daming, and the gentry simply look down on them.

But the majestic Emperor Ming could remember the name of a businessman, Li Yong felt that his grandfather could rest in peace.

Li Yong knelt down in front of Zhu Youjian again, tears streaming down his face when he looked up.

"Caomin thank you for your grace, thank you for remembering my grandfather, as a Ming citizen, my grandfather should die for the country..."

"Quickly flatten your body, first listen to what I have to say."

Zhu Youjian stood up and supported Li Yong, then looked at Liu Wu and Yang Chunming.

"The Battle of Songjin, there were two patriotic merchants, their names were Liu Yuan and Yang Yu.

They traveled thousands of miles to transport food, grass and military supplies from the south, which became the strong backing of the Ming army.

As a result, the Ming army was defeated again, and their fate was the same as that of Grandpa Li Yong, leaving their young lives on that land forever.

They are the fathers of Liu Wu and Yang Chunming, and Daming has recorded their heroic deeds.

But at that time, there were natural disasters and man-made disasters, and the imperial court had problems in its own survival, so it had no time to take care of them, nor did it make compensation to their families.

This is all my fault, Daming. I would like to express my condolences to you today and express my gratitude to your parents and grandparents. "

Following Zhu Youjian's words, Liu Wu and Yang Chunming had already cried into tears.

They don't feel sorry for their father, but they are proud and proud of their father.

If their father and grandfather hadn't desperately delivered food and grass for Daming, how could they have had the chance to meet the current Holy Majesty.

Zhu Youjian was very satisfied with the performance of the three, and was finally moved and no longer nervous.

"I know that you are all maritime merchants now and have a good understanding of overseas markets, so I decided to establish the Royal Chamber of Commerce Foreign Trade Company.

In order not to disappoint you patriotic businessmen, I am going to let the three of you participate, each with 15% of the shares.

The initial capital of the Royal Chamber of Commerce's external company is 1000 million taels of silver, the Royal Chamber of Commerce will contribute 550 million taels, and the rest will be shared equally by the three of you.

Three patriotic businessmen, I can assure you that the profits earned will be distributed in proportion to the shares. What do you think?

Oh, and I would like to add that the Royal Chamber of Commerce is my private company. At present, the princess and Lao Wang are mainly in charge. These two are the princess and Wang Chengen. Let's get to know each other! "

Before the three sea merchants could react from their bewilderment, Zhu Youjian pointed at Zhu Weixi and Wang Chengen with his fingers.

(End of this chapter)