Father can be an enemy country

Chapter 1408 Becoming Bigger and Stronger
Of course, the largest number of exhibitors are from Kunming. This is natural, because Kunming is the economic center of the province, and most of the craftsmen and merchants are concentrated in the provincial capital.

Zhu Zhen saw that all the thirty-six guilds formed by the craftsmen of the thirty-six battalions attended the exhibition.

Even the Mat Camp and the Tofu Camp participated in the exhibition, which was a bit unexpected for him.

"Are you two here just to make up the numbers?" Zhu Zhen said to Chang San, the leader of the mat camp, who came up to him, "Does this straw mat need to be exhibited?"

"Your Highness, please don't look at us with old eyes. We are no longer the same as we were in the past!" Chang San said with a smile, "We are no longer called Xiziying, but Kunming Weaving Industry Guild!"

"Oh? So amazing!" Zhu Zhen asked curiously, "What business are you running now?"

"We are still weaving mats..." Chang San smiled awkwardly and said quickly, "Your Highness, you will know if you come and see us. We are no longer ordinary mats."

"Okay, let's see how the unusual mats are woven." Zhu Zhen smiled and walked with him to the stall of Xiziying.

It was indeed unusual at first glance, as their stall was filled with mats of various styles and materials, including bamboo mats, straw mats, rattan mats, linen mats, and even high-end jade mats.

Moreover, they compete on quality not only by piling up materials. For example, they dye bamboo strips and grass stems in colors and weave them into exquisite mats decorated with patterns.

"If a mat made of the same material has a pattern, the price will increase tenfold, but the supply still cannot meet the demand." Chang San introduced: "I heard that since last year, chieftains have only used this kind of mat with a pattern. It looks good, but the key is to distinguish themselves from the people below."

"Haha, great, a good combination of high and low, with both quantity and price taken into consideration." Zhu Zhen praised: "In the southwest, cooling mats are indeed a rigid demand. You can't go wrong if you seize this market."

"Yes, Your Majesty, here, regardless of whether you are rich or poor, whether you are on the bed or sitting on the floor, you cannot do without mats." Chang San smiled and said, "Besides, they are really rich. As long as the goods are good, they will definitely sell well."

"Of course. Even though this place is backward, it is blessed by God. There are silver mines, copper mines, salt wells everywhere, as well as jade, gems, precious woods, spices and medicinal herbs... they are all very valuable." Zhu Zhen cursed.

Some people say that the reason why the Ming Dynasty patiently digested Yunnan and Guizhou was because the gold, silver, and timber products here were so abundant that the court had always made money.

"Yes." Chang San hurriedly agreed and laughed, "After we participated in the exhibition, we received so many orders that we couldn't handle them. Fortunately, we recruited many bamboo and mat craftsmen from the immigrants and hired more than a thousand laborers. Only then were we able to deliver all the orders from last year on time. Looking at the situation this year, we have to continue to find people to expand production!"

"Haha, I didn't expect that mat weaving could become such a big business." Zhu Zhen laughed.

"I really didn't expect that." Chang San said with emotion: "At the beginning, the prince tried his best to persuade us not to leave, but now even if he hits us with a stick, no one is willing to leave."

"Does everyone think so?" Zhu Zhen asked everyone at the stall.

"Yes, Your Highness!" Everyone in Xiziying laughed and said, "It's a bit busy now, but one year of work is equivalent to three years of work in the mainland. And Kunming is getting better and better. Which fool would want to go back?"

"Haha, great." Zhu Zhen nodded happily and instructed Chang San: "I'll remind you of a few things. One is not to let everyone work too hard. You have to live to earn money. It is your guild's obligation to ensure the health of the workers."

"In addition, we should increase everyone's wages. Don't just put the money into your own pockets." After Zhu Zhen finished speaking, everyone in Xiziying cheered, but Chang San blushed and hurriedly lowered his head to agree. Zhu Zhen knew at a glance that this guy had let him talk. He was probably only concerned about making money. However, in this kind of occasion, talking too much would ruin the atmosphere, so he whispered to Gu Yuanchen: "Elect him next year when the term is changed."

"I understand." Gu Yuanchen nodded slightly. He had long since disliked this guy.

~~
However, Zhu Zhen still seemed to be chatting and laughing with Chang San, which made him feel relieved. He thought that the prince was just talking casually.

At this time, Zhu Zhen saw that Liu Zhihe, the head of the tofu camp, had also come over, so he smiled and said, "Your family makes tofu, why are you joining in the fun?"

"Your Highness." Liu Zhihe presented a small exquisite porcelain jar like a treasure and said, "Our fermented bean curd is in great demand. All the stock has been sold out. Your Highness, would you like to try it?"

“Your Highness can’t…” Gao Tie was about to raise his hand to stop him, but Zhu Zhen said, “It’s okay to taste a little.”

He happily opened the lid and saw a thin layer of salt particles on the fermented bean curd. He scooped a little with a spoon and put it in his mouth to taste it. It was so delicious that it made him choke.

"Can this stuff be sold out?" Zhu Zhen said as he suddenly realized that what these guys were selling was not fermented bean curd, but salt.

Suddenly he smiled and said, "That makes perfect sense."

But Zhu Zhen had no intention of stopping them, because he had always despised the court's monopoly on salt business. He insisted that this deliberate creation of scarcity and forcing the people to eat high-priced salt was the stupidest, worst and most unprofitable exploitation.

Because people cannot afford salt, they can only eat less salt, which harms people's health and weakens the strength of the entire country. It is a typical case of picking up sesame seeds and throwing away watermelons.

Yunnan has abundant salt reserves, enough for the entire Ming Dynasty to eat forever. But this matter was too sensitive, and he did not dare to sell salt at a low price blatantly, so he took a workaround and stipulated that brine was not considered salt, but a raw material for handicrafts, such as tofu production, which required brine.

Therefore, the well salt fields can sell brine freely without the need for salt guides.

In this way, ordinary people can buy brine and boil it in a pot to make white salt, so they don’t have to buy expensive salt anymore.

Moreover, brine is liquid, and the cost of long-distance transportation is too high. A large jar can't produce much salt, so it's not worth it. So there's no need to worry about it flowing to other provinces and causing trouble.

In addition, salt boiled from brine by the people cannot be traded, otherwise it will be treated as smuggling salt. In this way, Zhu Zhen can make the boss Zhu, who can't tolerate any sand in his eyes, turn a blind eye and acquiesce to his tricks.

The way the Tofu Camp did it was to carry forward Lao Liu's trick. They used brine to make tofu, boiled the brine into salt, and used the salt and tofu to make fermented tofu, thus circumventing the ban and allowing it to be exported.

Although Zhu Zhen could not encourage such behavior, he would not stop it either.

Again, every penny earned by monopolizing the daily necessities that are not scarce is extremely dirty! He will never go along with the corrupt.

(End of this chapter)