My father Yong Le Emperor, you let me keep a low profile

Chapter 40 I would rather miss it than go wrong!
Xia Yuanji rolled his eyes.

If people who don't know him hear these words, they will think how dishonest he is.

"What kind of business does your highness want? If it's just for fun, forget it. As for the local officials who can't approve it for you, you can ask your majesty."

"If His Majesty agrees, you can take the note directly to get it."

Xia Yuanji is not interested in what kind of business Zhu Gaoyu wants to do, he doesn't want to be interested.

And he didn't want to have too many connections with these princes, so he directly rejected Zhu Gaoyu.

Zhu Gaoyu raised his eyebrows.

It's easy for him to ask the old man for a place, but the problem is that it doesn't match his plan.

His ideal goal is to drag the household department into the water and tie him completely.

Once there is a conflict with the boss in the future, even if the Ministry of Finance can't help him, he will still give the boss a blow.

Zhu Gaoyu was not angry when he was directly rejected, pointing to the pepper and other items unloaded by the household department and the soldiers.

"Let's not talk about my business. I want to ask Xia Shangshu what you plan to do with these peppers."

Xia Yuanji raised his eyes and glanced at Zhu Gaoyu. He didn't want to answer at first, but then he thought that these things were brought back by someone else, and the emperor asked him to come over to pass on the word of mouth. He probably planned to let His Highness take charge of this matter.

Knowing this in his heart, Xia Yuanji replied: "Naturally, we should make a move as soon as possible to exchange for funds and food, and replenish it to the various departments of the imperial court."

Zhu Gaoyu then asked: "Then how much do you plan to sell, or how much do you plan to sell?"

Flipping through the ledger in his hand, Xia Yuanji pointed to one of the lines and said, "According to your statistics, we estimate that the total value of pepper plus some other spices is 483 million taels!"

"Your Majesty may keep some, and the rest will probably be sold by our household department and converted into silver."

"If so much pepper is sold, the market price may be slightly reduced, but not too much. At least 450 million taels of silver can be recovered."

Zhu Gaoyu continued to ask: "Then how many people do you think will buy it? Can they eat the goods worth more than 400 million taels?"

Xia Yuanji was lost in thought.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoyu's smile faded a bit: "Two years ago, Zheng He came back and brought a batch, and you almost threw it all out. Pepper is not rice or wheat. It can be cooked and eaten every day. It is just a condiment."

"Let's not talk about other families, let's talk about my palace. At that time, my father rewarded me with 200 catties. After two years, I still have 130 catties in my palace."

Xia Yuanji frowned.

Reaching out to pat his shoulder, Zhu Gaoyu said earnestly: "I can tell you this, if you can afford it, there are stocks at home, and those who can't afford it will never be able to afford it."

Pointing to the fleet that was still unloading, Zhu Gaoyu sighed softly: "With these ships and experienced sailors, the era when the price of pepper was more expensive than gold is gone forever."

"Lao Xia, let me tell you this. Pepper can still be sold for more than 10 taels a catty now. When the fleet returns to make two trips, 10 catties and a tael will be a high price."

Looking at Xia Yuanji who was lost in thought and worry, Zhu Gaoyu said sincerely:
"Old Xia, the wealth overseas is beyond your imagination, and there are more things that can make money than you imagine."

"However, you are the only ones who have taken a fancy to spices such as pepper, and always feel that you can make a lot of money by relying on them."

Speaking of this, Zhu Gaoyu felt helpless for a while.

When he went to sea, the court had already given him a list of what to buy.

Most of them are pepper, and the remaining small part is to purchase various rare items, such as ivory and gemstones.

As for various grain seeds, the imperial court didn't even consider it.

I always feel that I am a kingdom of heaven, rich in the world, lacking in everything, and lacking in everything.

Zhu Gaoyu went out to purchase all kinds of seeds this time, almost all of which were paid for by himself.

In other words, he didn't have much money, otherwise what he could bring back would definitely be worth more than these peppers.

After waving his hand to ask Zuo Jun to drive away the people around him, Zhu Gaoyu then said to Xia Yuanji, "I'm very optimistic about you. Seeing that you are so tired for the court, I also feel sorry for you, so I want to help you."

"In addition, let me tell you another news. The old man has promised me that after a while, he will let me form a new naval army independent of the navy. I call it the navy!"

Zhu Gaoyu didn't intend to hide this matter, and everyone who should know in a few days will know that there is no point in keeping it secret.

Xia Yuanji, who was thinking, suddenly raised his head, and his heart was full of turmoil.

What does His Majesty want to do?
To let a prince control an army, and look at the other party's expression, and he is not young.

Doesn't His Majesty know what consequences this will bring?

"My mother also agreed, and she was the first to support it."

Xia Yuanji's body trembled slightly.

Even the empress agrees, is it going to change?
Pretending not to see Xia Yuanji's shocked expression, Zhu Gaoyu went on to speak to him:

"The main function of this navy is to walk in the western waters."

"I can tell you this, there will be more and more Western things in our Daming."

"I introduced these things to Daming, and I didn't want them to be messed up, so I thought of a way, which is to create a chamber of commerce to sell these items brought from the West."

"Originally, I wanted to do it myself, but I opened a store in every city. The funds for purchasing the property alone are astronomical."

"It just so happens that in your household department, apart from having no money, there are many kinds of real estate."

Xia Yuanji: The old iron is piercing my heart!

Regardless of Xia Yuanjin's uncomfortable expression, Zhu Gaoyu continued: "That's why I want to cooperate with you. Your household department buys shares in real estate in various cities. You don't need to send someone to manage it. You only need to send someone to supervise it. I will give your household department [-]% of the annual income."

"Of course, the money is state assets, not for your household officials."

"However, I can't let everyone be busy in vain. The Chamber of Commerce can give you the best discounts when purchasing items from the officials of the household department. Food and other daily necessities can be purchased at the lowest price with the voucher."

After talking about the treatment for the household department, Zhu Gaoyu went on to draw a big cake: "In addition to these treatment, your household department has a bigger advantage, that is, you can withdraw cash across banks."

"To use an analogy, in the past, various places paid national taxes, and it took time and effort to bring all kinds of things to the capital, and there was a lot of loss."

"But the opening of the chamber of commerce in each city is different. The local yamen can directly hand over the items to the chamber of commerce, and the chamber of commerce will give a voucher. People from the government can directly bring the voucher to the household department, and the household department can also go directly to the head office. Bring these things up, even if they are exchanged for cash, other items are fine."

"In this way, you reduce the loss and save a lot of time. It's just killing multiple birds with one stone."

Xia Yuanji, who was in shock, gradually recovered, looked at Zhu Gaoyu who was smiling and waiting for his decision, was silent for a while, but still shook his head and refused.

"I have to say, Your Highness, what you said is very tempting, and I am very tempted."

Zhu Gaoyu smiled a little.

"Sorry, but I still can't agree."

The smile faded in an instant, Zhu Gaoyu looked at Xia Yuanji, and asked puzzledly: "Why? Could it be that there are too few points."

Xia Yuanji shook his head, "We just gave some land to shops, and His Highness gave himself [-]% of the proceeds, which is already very generous, but I can't decide."

Looking at Zhu Gaoyu, Xia Yuanji said with a serious expression: "If it's only the front that can be discussed, I will definitely not agree to it later."

"The lifeblood of the imperial court's finances should not be handed over to others. If there is nothing to do, it will be fine. Once there is chaos, it will be lost forever."

"It's not that I don't trust Your Highness, but to take precautions before they happen. I'd rather miss everything than go wrong."

After finishing speaking, he bowed his hands, turned and left holding the account book.

(End of this chapter)