The First Gongsheng of Ming Dynasty

Zhangzhou arrived at the port on the 21st of the twelfth lunar month.

When I came last time, the port had already begun to take shape. When I came back this time, it looked like a big city on the seaside. From shipbuilding, smelting, transportation, to textile and other light industries, a complete industrial chain has been formed here.

Previously, Zhang Zhou's industries were basically located in Xishan on the outskirts of Beijing. With the completion of the port construction, this has become the latest location for Zhang Zhou's industries.

The number of soldiers and civilians in the city has grown from a few thousand at the beginning to nearly 100,000 now, and is still expanding rapidly.

"Brother Zhang, when we came here last time, the land there was still empty. Why are there so many houses? That high-rise building is four or five stories high, right?"

Zhu Feng's visit this time was like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden, and everything felt fresh.

Cui Yuan, on the other hand, was relatively calm. This was the first time he had set foot in the port. No matter how majestic and majestic the eyes were, it was not surprising to him. After all, with a god like Zhang Zhou around, no city could be built. I feel strange.

"My lord, you two marquises, I have sent people to clean up the hotel." Sun Shangqi appeared in front of several people. At this time, Zhang Zhou was still standing on the high platform, watching the ships coming and going from the port.

Zhu Feng asked with a smile: "Are you just living in a hotel? Brother Zhang doesn't have any private residence here?"

Zhang Zhou said: "His Majesty has a palace."

"Brother Zhang smiled. I don't dare to go to the palace." Zhu Feng said with a look of shame on his face, "Your Majesty has given this place to you. You should build more houses here. I heard that here All the people will be yours.”

Zhang Zhou pointed to the surrounding construction sites and said, "You see there are so many places that need craftsmen. Would I build my own residence for personal reasons? I only come here a few times a year? Wherever I live is not my residence?"

Cui Yuan came over and said: "As the Minister of the Ministry of War, Zhang Budang will rarely leave the capital in the future, so there is really no need to spend time here. Compared with when I came out of Shanhaiguan... I thought there would be no prosperity along the way... ”

Several people came from the direction of Shanhaiguan.

Cui Yuan originally thought that the farther east he went, the more desolate he became. Who would have thought of the Bohai Port before he realized that it had developed into a distribution center for maritime transport goods in the Ming Dynasty and a new city had been formed.

"Soldiers and horses from various places have been mobilized here, and troop training is also continuing." Zhang Zhou said, "In a few days, the navy will go on an expedition, so Prince Consort Cui must pay attention. It is best to adapt to the conditions on the ship in the past two days. It’s best to get familiar with things like life and ships sailing on the sea.”

Cui Yuan said with a troubled expression: "I know."

He seemed to feel that following Zhang Zhou meant continuous learning. He felt that he had not even learned the things on land yet, and now he had to learn naval warfare and even navigation.

It was a bit of an ordeal for him.

……

……

That night, the harbor was still brightly lit.

Because the port needs to build more ships after the spring of next year to complete the big voyage, so that the construction period is rushed, and the craftsmen have to work until late at night, and even after dark, there are still ships docking.

In an office area on a four-story building, Zhang Zhou, Zhu Feng and Cui Yuan were having dinner. There was no wine on the table, but Zhu Feng, standing at the window, seemed to be intoxicated and kept sighing. Cui Yuan felt that Zhu Feng was making a fuss out of nothing.

"You're tired from the journey. After dinner, go to bed early." Zhang Zhou said.

Zhu Feng said: "Don't worry, this scene is so spectacular that I won't be able to see it when I return to the capital. I want to see it one more time."

Zhang Zhou asked: "Do you want to stay here?"

"I just want to think about it." Zhu Feng suddenly thought of something and sighed, "But here is still not as prosperous as the capital. If I were in the capital, I could have everything I wanted, and it would be like having fun every night, but here... sigh!"

Sun Shangqi on the side smiled and said: "Master Marquis, you may not know that this is a place close to the sea. Walk three or four miles southwest to the south end of the city, where you can also play music every night."

"is it?"

Zhu Feng was quite surprised.

Cui Yuandao: "I was originally curious. There are so many sergeants and craftsmen here, and there are so many people. If they just work here without any entertainment, wouldn't they make trouble? It seems... the city is quite perfect. of."

Sun Shangqi said: "No one went to make arrangements, but someone built houses there, and then many teahouses and wine shops sprang up there. Later, merchants who came and went would go there, and gradually , many houses have been built there, and there are businesses and other things.”

"Do you want to run a business?" Zhu Feng became interested. "I also want to go over and start a business. Can I carve out a piece of land for myself and build a house? This is a geomantic treasure."

Sun Shangqi glanced at Zhang Zhou first, and then explained: "This is impossible. According to the rules, taxes must be paid first, and the government will allocate land. They will build houses on it and the business they operate will also be done." You have to report to the government, but the father-in-law said that you can report on your own in the past two years. If these few years have passed, it will be difficult to make a living in the future. "

Zhu Feng said: "It would be okay to open a warehouse, a store or something here, right?"

Zhang Zhou said angrily: "You haven't drunk yet, why do you act like you're drunk? As an honorable minister of the court, you casually compete with the people for profit, aren't you afraid of being impeached?"

Cui Yuan asked: "Zhang Butang, it's natural for me to do business on my own. If the Princess Mansion sends someone to take care of the business, do you think it's okay?"

Not only Zhu Feng, but also Cui Yuan took a fancy to this Feng Shui treasure land. It seemed that they all thought the new port was profitable.

Zhang Zhou didn't answer.

Sun Shangqi explained from the side: "Two princes, do you think everything in this port is so prosperous? To be honest, you two, not only you, but also the merchants who came here thought it was possible. It's just a deserted place by the sea. I just listened to what others said and walked around here. But when they came, no one wanted to put down roots here. Even some officials and businessmen from the south wanted to establish themselves here. "

Zhang Zhou said: "Don't think about it yet. Doing business is not as good as making achievements on the battlefield. Do you think this is just a joke? Sun Qianshi, arrange a place for them and let them rest early. We have to train troops in these two days." "

Zhu Feng seemed to be very insistent and said: "No, let's discuss it first. This is your business, Brother Zhang. I like doing business the most, and you know it. I can't get involved in such a good opportunity. I feel it would be too much of a loss." "

Cui Yuan quickly gave Zhu Feng a hand, meaning that we can't force others to do anything.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said: "Looking back, it is easy to do business here, but it is not easy to get money back from here. Because you still don't understand many businesses here."

"Ugh!"

Zhu Feng looked very sorry.

It feels really bad to be guarding a mountain of gold and silver but not being able to move the money home. …

……

After Cui Yuan and Zhu Feng went to the hotel to rest, Zhang Zhou went there in no hurry.

Here Sun Shangqi was still reporting some things to Zhang Zhou, mainly related to the tasks assigned to him by Zhang Zhou.

"...According to the instructions of the father-in-law, several money shops have been opened in the city. In addition to completing the exchange of gold, silver and copper plates, there are also temporary deposits and loans of silver coins. Many merchants in the city are very active in this. Even if there are people who print treasure money, it’s still hard to convince people.”

"In the past few months, there have been a lot of disputes regarding loans and other matters. A new yamen has been set up in the city to deal with financial disputes and other matters. The court opens every day, but there are still many people who have to wait for a long time. , there are too few people who know the business.”

"Furthermore, most of the people who came here with criminal records gathered in the shipyard and the south of the city. Many of them caused trouble. There were not enough yamen in the city, and even the cells were not enough. Many of them had to be sent to overseas orphanages. Some of the hanging islands were directly put on ships and transported to Jiangnan Shipyard..."

As Sun Shangqi spoke, he also presented official documents on local administration and other matters to Zhang Zhou one by one.

There is a city in front of Zhang Zhou, and he is the city lord. All the rules here seem to be based on the Ming administrative system, but in fact they are all new, and many rules need to be re-formulated by Zhang Zhou.

Because what Zhang Zhou wants is not just an administrative or military city, he wants to develop industries here, let capital sprout here, so that ordinary people can invest here, and develop it into a Ming Dynasty city that has both heavy industry and light industry. A port city also has maritime transportation and transshipment capabilities, and it also needs to become a distribution center for overseas goods.

Zhang Zhou said: "Think about other things in advance. The bank account will be launched soon."

After completing the initial accumulation of industry, Zhang Zhou's next step is to engage in finance.

To engage in finance, in addition to having money as a foundation, you also need to have a deeper material foundation. Only when he has a city, and even others know that this city belongs to him, and let others see the business opportunities here, Only if he takes the lead in completing the establishment of the financial industry will it be more convincing.

In fact, basic functions such as bank accounts have already taken shape among Shanxi and Huizhou merchants, and many details are even more complete than the bank account he wants to set up.

But these merchants are only playing internal games, and they do not accept outsiders to join their games, so this financial game has great limitations.

What Zhang Zhou wants to do is to form inclusive finance, that is, any merchant, as long as he is a citizen of the Ming Dynasty, is eligible to participate. Ordinary people can deposit money in banks, and any merchant, As long as you have collateral, you can become a participant in the financial industry.

Moreover, Zhang Zhou's purpose is not to make loan sharks. On the contrary, he wants to promote local development through the financial industry, so he must ensure that the loan interest is concessional. Sometimes he can even tolerate a lot of bad debts, as long as he can If you develop locally and form a big rule, everything will be worth it.

……

……

When Zhang Zhou arrived at the port, he originally wanted to take advantage of the fatigue of the journey and have a good rest.

But when he arrived, he discovered that he was actually the busiest person in the city. No matter where he was, he had to care about this new city. Even after he arrived, everything would happen one after another, because there were many Only he has the power to formulate and modify rules.

Others are just participants, and he is the only one who actually controls the city.

One person after another, one thing after another, will be delivered to him that night, letting him know that just having an idea and trying to implement it is actually so troublesome, and those helpers who seem to be awesome , in fact, all of them just follow orders, and it is difficult for others to understand his ideas.

"Master, it's getting late, it's time for you to rest."

When Sun Shangqi arrived at the hotel in the middle of the night, he saw that the lights on Zhang Zhou's side were still on, so he quickly went to the door to persuade him.

It's freezing outside, but it's very warm inside the hotel, because the hotel was built with winter heating in mind, and the entire building is heated.

Zhang Zhou smiled and said, "You didn't sleep either? You just came back a few days earlier than us."

Sun Shangqi smiled bitterly.

"Where's Guo Ang?" Zhang Zhou asked.

Sun Shangqi said: "After the governor of Guo Town entered the city, he first went to the Jinyiwei station in the south of the city. He said he wanted to see the thousands of garrison guards here. I guess they are busy now. If you have anything, I will go and send a message. "

"No need." Zhang Zhou said, "Didn't you say that the yamen here are not enough? When he comes here, he will take over the matter of the soldiers being convicted first. In the future, we need to build an intelligence system here, or you may be responsible for it."

"Yes." Sun Shangqi saluted.

While Zhang Zhou was speaking, he also reviewed several official documents in his hands.

They are all related to the allocation of money and grain, the establishment of city defenses, the division of urban areas, and the allocation of commercial income and resources. They are not court affairs, but "household affairs" that he, the city lord, needs to deal with.

After sorting out several copies, Zhang Zhou handed them to Sun Shangqi and said: "Let people distribute them. First, go to the port prime minister's office to register, and then let them execute them one by one."

"Yes."

Sun Shangqi picked up these things and hurriedly took them out to deliver them.

Just as he was talking, another person delivering official documents came on the other side, but it was Chen's daughter and Huang Zhao. They brought the account books of the smelting workshops and weaving workshops in the city, and came to Zhang Zhou for some instructions.

Liu Gui wrote a note so they could go upstairs. When they arrived at the door of Zhang Zhou's room, Wang Mingshan made way and they were able to enter.

The things were handed over to Zhang Zhou.

Zhang Zhou took it over and looked at it, then handed something to Chen's daughter.

"To take this thing, go to Zhangjiakou first and leave tomorrow. There is a shortage of iron here now. The iron ore transferred from Yongping Prefecture is completely insufficient. At present, we can only transfer iron ore from Zhangjiakou to this side. The iron ore over there is Everyone has said hello to us, and we will transfer this batch of pig iron within a month," Zhang Zhou said.

Ms. Chen asked, "One month, wouldn't it be...too tight?"

Zhang Zhou said: "This is a military order, not a discussion."

The Chen girl lowered her head.

"In addition, this batch of fabrics, a total of 130,000 pieces, must be produced before March. This involves military uniforms. The single clothes used by soldiers in the entire northwest depend on these batches of fabrics..." Zhang Zhou Then he handed another item to Huang Zhao, "Calculate clearly for me how many looms and female workers are missing now. Give me accurate figures within two days. At the same time, send people to various places in Yongping Prefecture first." Go recruit everywhere, and the salary will be 20% higher than now!" (End of Chapter)