Early Ming Dynasty: Turning Clouds and Rains into New Learning Saints

Chapter 180 Curiosity killed the cat

In the following time, Zhu Biao began to check the account books of each workshop to understand the deeper operations.

Even with Zhu Jingjing and Zhang Yifan's explanations, it took him five days to understand everything.

Putting down these things, sitting on a deck chair under the shade of a tree, drinking tea and chatting, Zhu Biao began to feel emotional: "This trip to Xiangshan County is really an eye-opener, and it is so worth it!"

With that said, he looked at Zhang Yifan and said very sincerely: "Yifan, you are the God of Wealth in my Ming Dynasty! This ability to make money is truly unparalleled by anyone in the past dynasties!"

When Zhang Yifan heard this, he disagreed in his heart. No matter how much money he got, his father-in-law couldn't get it as fast as his father-in-law with a butcher's knife!
Of course, he actually knew that Zhu Biao was referring to normal circumstances, so he just smiled and was not modest.

After all, Zhang Yifan's achievements in Xiangshan County were achieved through the experience of later generations, that is, by standing on the shoulders of countless people.If it can't surprise people of this era, it would be a huge failure.

On Zhu Biao's side, he still lamented: "If all counties in the country can be like Xiangshan County, our Ming Dynasty's wealth will really be endless!"

Having said this, he turned to look at Fang Xiaoru opposite and asked, "If you are asked to be a county magistrate, are you sure you can be like Xiangshan County?"

Upon hearing this, Fang Xiaoru immediately blushed.

Zhu Biao knew the answer as soon as he saw it, so he asked in a different way: "How about you just follow Xiangshan County's example?"

After hearing this, the red color on Fang Xiaoru's face did not fade away, and he answered honestly: "Your Highness, I may be able to make some achievements, but it is really difficult for me to be as wealthy and full of expectations as Xiangshan County. I’m afraid I can’t do it!”

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan smiled and added: "Indeed, it is basically impossible for others to achieve what Xiangshan County is like!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Xiaoru's face turned even redder.

Zhu Biao smiled, pointed at Zhang Yifan and said, "You are not humble!"

"I'm just telling the truth!" Zhang Yifan immediately explained after hearing this, "Because I am the consort, and I have the strong support of my father, so I have set up a special zone to do these special things without any local restrictions. But even so, I When we took the first step to distribute grain fields to the public, we still encountered huge resistance. If it had been anyone else, there would have been no way to stop this resistance, and the first step would not have been successful!"

The others were stunned after hearing this, but they didn't expect that the prince-in-law really told the truth, and what he said did make sense.

Zhang Yifan continued to explain: "My status as consort and my father's support also allow me to do things with twice the result with half the effort. It's just a bank. If it is run by someone else, just establishing the reputation will not be possible in a short time." If you do, you should be more careful with people with ulterior motives, such as those powerful locals who used to make loan sharks. They will definitely be unwilling to make trouble. If nothing else, just deposit a lot of money into the bank and wait for you to lend out the money. , he came and asked to withdraw all of it, so that he could legally destroy the bank..."

The smile on Zhu Biao's face slowly disappeared.When listening to Zhang Yifan say that behind everything, there is actually a side that is not simple, he also realized that if you want to do things well and do things that are beneficial to the people, you will inevitably conflict with some vested interests. There are twists and turns, even premature death.

It's really not easy to do things!

As Zhang Yifan was talking, he saw that the expressions of several of them became serious, so he stopped talking and said: "Of course, as long as the imperial court supports these innovations unwaveringly, even if he does not have the status of consort, he can still do something Even if you do something well, it will help people improve their lives! In short, if you solve problems, you can't be afraid of problems when you are an official!"

"What the consort said is absolutely true!" Fang Xiaoru couldn't help but stand up after hearing the last sentence and saluted Zhang Yifan solemnly.

Zhang Yifan didn't expect him to be so solemn, so he quickly said to him: "It's just a matter of family, everyone has his own way of doing things. Maybe if you become the county magistrate, you will also have your own solution. What I did was just because I am the consort, just a little more simple and rude!"

When Song Lian heard this, he continued: "The prince-in-law is really too humble. I don't care about my official status. It's just the civil affairs of Xiangshan County. It's not something ordinary people can do. I asked the prince, before the prince-in-law came. , there are no bookstores in Xiangshan County, let alone a place to print books. But now, Xiaguan has seen it, there are three large bookstores alone, and there are many kinds of books in them. There are also books belonging to the county government The pavilion can be open to the common people and can be borrowed at any time, and I don’t know how much literary style it can inspire. This kind of thing is not available in the capital, but it is really a great merit!"

He was a great writer at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, and he was most concerned about this content.During these days in Xiangshan County, he focused on these, which made him very emotional.Especially in the library, he found out that the author of some books was the prince-consort himself. The knowledge there seemed to him like miscellany, but it could be applied in reality and was very useful.

To be honest, Song Lian actually wanted to occupy the consort and talk to him about literary matters.It's just a pity that the prince is here and he can't steal the prince, so he can only give up.

Zhang Yifan was not modest about Song Lian's compliments.The reputation of Xiangshan County's writing style has spread throughout Guangdong, and many students from all over the country come to Xiangshan County to see the situation.Even people from other provinces came here because of his reputation.

At this time, several people were drinking tea and chatting. In fact, they were the ones who praised Xiangshan County from different directions. Fortunately, Lan Yu had already returned to Guangzhou, otherwise, maybe he could still one more.

Afterwards, Song Lian said with a smile: "It's rare to come to Xiangshan County once, and I have to take the time to see more."

After hearing this, Fang Xiaoru followed his mentor and stood up to leave.

Before, I spent most of my time with the prince.Now that the prince has walked around, they want to go for a walk again by themselves.

As soon as they left, Zhu Biao suddenly became serious after chatting for a while, and asked Zhang Yifan, "Yifan, you also mentioned a lot of difficulties just now, I thought about it, and there are indeed such and other problems. In the future, if the emperor decides to promote these practices of yours all over the world, what do you think should be done to reduce some resistance and allow these new policies to be implemented smoothly?"

At this point, because there were only Mao Xiang and other guards around, and there were no outsiders, he added: "Do we really need to kill a group of those... who have vested interests and scare the rest, so that we can implement the New Deal more easily?" ?”

"..." Zhang Yifan was speechless. It was indeed his classmate Zhu Yuanzhang who taught him this. Even though the world praised the kind-hearted prince, he actually had the courage to do this!

After coming back to his senses, Zhang Yifan smiled and said: "That's not necessary. Making money together is the real kingly way. For example, if the Ming Dynasty is strong and the people are rich, this is the kingly way. Most people, If you can benefit from the New Deal, then the New Deal will be easy to promote and implement. Otherwise, it will be difficult!"

This topic was actually mentioned in previous letters, but was not discussed in detail.

When Zhu Biao heard this, he immediately looked very interested, looked at Zhang Yifan and said, "Tell me about it!"

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan put the tea cup in his hand on the coffee table, looked at Zhu Biao, and said seriously: "Let's take the bank as an example! Theoretically speaking, to be able to cope with various runs is to withdraw money. In this way Come on, one of the basic conditions for a bank is to have enough principal..."

Previously, Zhu Biao checked various accounting data and the operations of various workshops. He had already explained to Zhu Biao that banks are the core and drive the economic development of Xiangshan County.

Therefore, when he used the bank as an example, Zhu Biao listened very carefully.

"I used [-] yuan as the principal at that time. In fact, if it were changed to other places, it could be more. Even those powerful people would invest money as the principal to open this bank. As long as I ensure that I have the most money, Then I am the biggest in this bank, and I have the final say. Those powerful people who have invested money will not be too resistant to reaping the benefits of the bank through dividends if they cannot stop it or it is too difficult to stop it. That is, they will divide according to how much money they contribute. profit."

"Even because it's an official, larger scale and other factors, maybe it will be more profitable than their private lending, then they will support this bank even more!"

When Zhu Biao heard this, he immediately nodded and said: "Yes, that's the truth. Since you can make more money this way, you will object only if you have a brain problem!" "This is an example of harmony that benefits both parties!" Zhang Yifan listened. , continued to explain, "In the court, we can absorb the money of those nobles and make their interests completely consistent with the interests of the court, at least most of them are consistent, then they will not oppose the court's new policy! "

Zhu Biao was happy to hear this. After asking some more questions about this issue, he suddenly thought of something and ordered Mao Xiang and the others: "You guys go down first!"

He is the prince, there is no need to explain why.

As soon as Mao Xiang heard it, he knew that the prince was going to say something that was inconvenient for them to hear, so he immediately retreated with his guards.

They know the most basic principle: curiosity killed the cat, and you must not listen to things you shouldn’t hear.

As soon as they left, Zhu Biao looked at Zhang Yifan who was going to drink tea again and said: "My father has always had a big opinion about the prime minister, but he has not expressed it. What do you think the interests can be between the prime minister and my father?" Yes, can this conflict be resolved?"

When Zhang Yifan heard this, he thought to himself, no wonder, Zhu Biao wanted Mao Xiang and the others to stay away, this was what he wanted to say.

After thinking for a moment, he asked instead of answering: "Brother, what exactly is the conflict between the father and the prime minister?"

After hearing this, Zhu Biao was stunned for a moment, and after thinking about it seriously, he replied solemnly: "From what I saw, it seems that the prime minister made the decision in many matters privately, without asking my father for instructions. However, logically speaking, it is not wrong for the prime minister to do this, because he has the power to do so. But my father is not satisfied with this."

"Of course, there are no explicit rules on what matters the prime minister can handle on his own, and what matters the prime minister must ask the emperor for instructions. Sometimes, the prime minister feels that he can handle the matter himself, so he does not report it to the emperor. As a result, the emperor knows Later, he became unhappy and felt that the prime minister should report this matter to him."

"Similar things, as far as I know, have happened more than once or twice. Sometimes, when my father asked about it, the prime minister still spoke plausibly!"

When Zhu Biao said this, he paused, and after thinking about it for a moment, he continued: "In addition, my father mentioned to me that the prime minister used this power to do illegal things in private. But they are still under my father's control. Within the tolerance range, I didn't get angry. But I can see that sooner or later, my father will get angry."

When Zhang Yifan heard this, he asked Zhu Biao: "In that case, what's there to say? Isn't it possible to just remove him from his post or punish him?"

"Yeah!" When Zhu Biao heard this, he felt a little helpless, or maybe he didn't know how to explain it. After sighing, he continued, "You don't know, the prime minister has a good relationship with many heroes, and even with South Korea. The princes are all married. On your side, the former Yongjia Marquis Zhu Liangzu also has a good relationship with the prime minister. If the father wants to punish him, it will not be easy to do so. "

Zhu Biao was afraid that Zhang Yifan didn't know much about fighting in the court, so he explained to him: "After all, my father was dissatisfied with the prime minister, mainly because some of his affairs were handled privately. But if these things were said publicly, the prime minister might also be concerned. His truth. Even if my father deals with him with these things, others will not be convinced."

"Taking a step back, if someone were to be the prime minister, conflicts like this would still exist. The prime minister decides to do something privately, and if he doesn't report it to the emperor, the emperor may also be kept in the dark. The prime minister has the right to make decisions, After the memorial is issued, even if you don’t see the jade seal underneath, you will still listen..."

Listening to Zhu Biao talking non-stop, Zhang Yifan actually knew very well that it was the conflict between prime minister power and imperial power!

When they met a powerful emperor, who happened to be a prime minister who also liked power, the conflict became intense.

Zhang Yifan estimated that his father-in-law had also considered his posthumous affairs and replaced him with an emperor who was not as wise and powerful as him. If the prime minister was powerful, he might do what Yihuo did, which was definitely not something that his father-in-law could allow.

And this is probably the real reason why the Hu Weiyong case broke out in history.

Zhu Yuanzhang used the excuse of Hu Weiyong to rebel. This was a crime against the nine tribes. It had been like this in all dynasties. There was no need to discuss it. He killed Hu Weiyong and other people who Zhu Yuanzhang didn't like, who he thought were threats and who could be implicated, and they were killed together. .

While he was thinking about it, he heard that Zhu Biao had already finished speaking and asked him worriedly: "Do you think we can find some common interests or something to resolve this problem?"

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan pretended to think deeply for a while, then looked at Zhu Biao with a serious expression and asked: "Brother, do you want me to tell the truth?"

When Zhu Biao heard this, he said without thinking: "Isn't that nonsense? Otherwise, why did I just talk so much?"

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan replied seriously: "Brother, according to what you said, I think the current relationship between the prime minister's power and the imperial power is dissatisfactory to the father. In this case, since the prime minister's power is given by the emperor, then naturally You can also take back or re-endow the power of Xiangquan!"

At this point, he reminded Zhu Biao: "Didn't my father just establish the General Affairs Department? This is equivalent to sharing part of the power of the Zhongshu Province. If my father is still not satisfied, he feels that the prime minister may deceive the superiors and hide the facts, or If one family is the only one, we can continue to divide the power of the prime minister, or even simply set up more prime ministers, so that many people can share the power of the prime minister. As long as it is not stipulated that a certain prime minister is the largest, isn't that okay?"

In the Ming Dynasty's cabinet system, the chief minister is actually just a way of saying it. It does not mean that the chief minister is the biggest and other ministers must listen to the chief minister.

As long as the emperor is willing, he can discuss political affairs with any of his ministers, and even appoint this minister to do something.There is no affiliation between the chief minister and the assistant ministers.

However, in most cases, because the chief minister is the oldest minister in the cabinet, and the cabinet members must all be ministers trusted by the emperor, relatively speaking, the emperor consults the chief minister more often. It seems that the first assistant is more important.

The fact that the chief minister is aloof from other cabinet ministers actually started in the Jiajing Dynasty and reached its peak when Zhang Juzheng became the chief minister in the Wanli Dynasty.

At this time, Zhu Biao nodded slightly when he heard Zhang Yifan's words, because the General Affairs Department had indeed been established.

Suddenly, he suddenly thought of Zhang Yifan's secret guest system, and then thought about Zhang Yifan's suggestion just now. With a flash of inspiration, he showed excitement and said to Zhang Yifan: "If we talk about the power of the prime minister, it is not the same as yours." The right to be a guest is the same, so the royal father will probably feel relieved!"

"Oh?" After hearing this, Zhang Yifan secretly praised his cleverness in his heart, but on the surface, he still asked a little doubtfully, "Really?"

Zhu Biao seemed to have grasped the key point, and said with a little excitement: "Let me think about it, let me think about it again, is it like this..."

After muttering for a while, he looked at Zhang Yifan again, and said in a positive tone: "I think it's okay, father will like it, father will definitely like it!"

Zhang Yifan smiled gratifiedly when he heard this, the eldest brother has a good understanding.This method is far better for the prince to talk to the old man than to talk to the old man himself.

In this way, the conflict between prime minister and imperial power can be regarded as resolved; then, that classmate Hu Weiyong is going to die, because the threat to the imperial power is not involved, the father-in-law probably won't kill a lot, and kill a large number of people.

While he was thinking about it, he saw Zhu Biao still talking according to his own thoughts: "If you want to be the prime minister, you must be highly virtuous and respected, and your talent is not inferior to that of Hu Weiyong." Wei Guogong conquered Tubo and achieved great victories one after another. If he returns to the court, it will be enough to make him prime minister..."

After Zhang Yifan heard this, he thought about it: Duke Wei, Deng Yu, conquered Tubo...

Suddenly, he thought of something.

(End of this chapter)