Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 7

half a month later.

The founding meeting of the Ming Dynasty Royal Commercial Bank was successfully held. The commercial bank was headed by Ouyang Lun, and all the royal relatives, consorts, and representatives of the royal wives and families participated in it. Each representative was given a seat as "executive shopkeeper"!

The big shopkeeper Ouyang Lun announced the subscription plan planned by Zhu Gaoxu at the meeting, which shocked many royal relatives. Prince Zhu Biao also affirmed and praised it, and his colleague Zhu Yunwen couldn't help but feel jealous.

After the meeting, Zhu Biao rushed back to the palace without stopping to report to Zhu Yuanzhang on matters related to the Royal Commercial Bank.

Before Zhu Biao could speak, Zhu Yuanzhang preemptively asked: "How has Yunwen performed in the past half month?"

Zhu Biao hesitated slightly and said: "I plan to send Yunwen out of the palace and let him go to the northwest with Gao Xu, so that he can not only understand the people's sentiments, but also understand the tea-horse politics and become familiar with the operation of the royal trading house."

"What do you mean, Yunwen's performance is not as good as Gao Xu's?" Zhu Yuanzhang had already guessed the answer, but he still asked specifically.

Zhu Biao said sincerely: "Yunwen failed to live up to my father's expectations. I feel ashamed for him!"

"It's good to go out and exercise. I don't know the sufferings of the people. How can we govern the country and bring peace to the people in the future? The northwest is a bit far away. It would be more appropriate to go to Changsha in the southwest to get familiar with the camellia trade. If we remember correctly, Yunxi is already fifteen years old. Let him accompany him. Let’s take a walk.”

Zhu Yuanzhang put down the memorial in his hand and said slowly: "Tell me about the Royal Trading Company."

"Yes." Zhu Biao said with a happy face: "Dad, today the trading company was established, and the subscription contract signed for the first time brought in a total of about [-] copper coins!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was slightly surprised and said: "Fifty thousand strings?!"

In the original history, silver would not become the mainstream currency until Longqing opened the sea and a large amount of silver flowed into China. At present, the Hongwu Dynasty uses copper coins and treasure banknotes as the main currencies. Zhu Biao did this deliberately by converting money into copper coins. It is necessary to make Zhu Yuanzhang feel the value of the trading house.

Zhu Biao smiled and nodded: "Exactly."

The [-] copper coins are the result of the statistics of the subscription gold, various gold and silver jewelry and banknotes converted into copper coins after each executive shopkeeper signed the subscription contract.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court was not wealthy. Based on the current market value of copper coins among the people, [-] copper coins was equivalent to tens of millions of yuan in later generations. This was really a huge sum of money.

"My dear, this is incredible!" Zhu Yuanzhang said with joy on his brows: "Biao'er, tell us quickly, how did you do this?"

Zhu Biao replied: "Dad, Gao Xu increased the types of tea to nearly a hundred, and roughly divided tea into three levels: special, high-quality, and ordinary based on the identity of the tea drinker, which is equivalent to the public standard." As a result, there are dozens of types of tea for each grade."

"Different grades of tea are equipped with different tea utensils, and the grades of horses purchased are also different. In this way, the people in the northwest have tea, but they still need to purchase various porcelain tea cups, which will also increase new income for the court."

Everyone has a desire to compare. Zhu Biao did not need to explain. Zhu Yuanzhang could naturally understand that Zhu Gaoxu's move would trigger a hot sale of tea sets, and the popularity of domestic tea and tea sets would also rise to a new level.

"As for the subscription contract, it is said to be a contract, but in fact it is a certificate."

Zhu Biao gave an example.

"As the great shopkeeper, Ouyang Prince Consort set an example and subscribed for [-] guan worth of tea leaves from a trading house. The trading house would send these tea leaves to the business under his name one after another, and his business would be responsible for selling the tea. The horses obtained by selling the tea would then be sold back. To the commercial bank, the commercial bank will pay the treasure banknotes. After receiving the treasure banknotes, he can continue to sign a new subscription contract, repeat the last process, or apply to terminate the contract."

"In other words, he can only get a new subscription contract if he completes the subscribed quantity of tea sold!"

When Zhu Biao said this, he suddenly coughed violently, which frightened Zhu Yuanzhang's expression.

"Biao'er, you should get more rest and take care of yourself!"

Zhu Yuanzhang quickly patted Zhu Biao on the back and said gently: "As long as we are here, you don't have to worry about the affairs of the court."

After Zhu Biao's cough subsided, he said, "Don't worry, Dad, I will pay attention. This is a memorial I wrote on matters related to the Royal Commercial Bank. Please take a look at it."

"Okay, you go down and rest first, and let Gao Xu come to see us." Zhu Yuanzhang took the memorial and said warmly.

Shortly after Zhu Biao withdrew, Zhu Gaoxu responded to the call.

"Gao Xu, do you know your guilt?"

Zhu Yuanzhang held up the memorial handed over by Zhu Biao and asked with a deliberately cold face.

Zhu Gaoxu knelt down with a plop, thinking that the contents of his conversation with Ouyang Lun under the pavilion had been reported to Zhu Yuanzhang by the all-pervasive Jin Yiwei, and he was so frightened that he could not say a word.

Zhu Yuanzhang put down the memorial and said with a smile: "Without our consent, you secretly promised each executive shopkeeper of the Royal Commercial Bank to reward you after completing the quantity of tea sold. This is using our money to buy people's hearts. This is a serious crime!"

When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, his fear instantly disappeared. He had obviously thought too much just now. He lowered his head and said, "Grandpa Huang Mingjian, my grandson mentioned it in his last memorial about the distribution of rewards for completing the task of selling tea." Zhu Yuanzhang Deliberately showing a slightly angry expression, he snorted and said, "You are just quibbling."

Zhu Gaoxu gritted his teeth and said: "Grandpa Huang has wronged his grandson. The reward is written in the regulations of the Royal Commercial Bank, and the regulations of the commercial bank were handed over to Grandpa Huang by His Majesty the Emperor's pen for approval."

"Oh, it turns out we wrongly blamed you."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "Good boy, get up quickly, the ground is cold."

Zhu Gaoxu kowtowed and said, "Thank you, Grandpa Huang."

Although his conversation with Ouyang Lun was not revealed to Zhu Yuanzhang verbatim by the Jinyiwei, Zhu Yuanzhang learned the general content of the conversation through the Jinyiwei spies in the Prince Consort's Mansion, but the content was no different from the normal chat between royal relatives. , so Zhu Yuanzhang did not pay too much attention.

"Since you are not guilty, you have merit. Fifty thousand dollars, although it is a discounted amount, is still real money."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Gaoxu kindly and smiled happily: "What reward do you want?"

Zhu Gaoxu knew that Zhu Yuanzhang's questioning of guilt was intentional. It was both a test and a beating, so he had to be wise.

"Everything my grandson did was done under the orders of the emperor. Even if there is merit, it is due to the trust of his majesty. Moreover, none of the strategies were done by the grandson. The prince's eldest uncle contributed a lot. The grandson I dare not ask for rewards!"

Zhu Gaoxu chewed his words and said.

Zhu Yuanzhang squinted his eyes and said with a smile: "In that case, we will wait for the tea sales results of the trading house at the end of next month to weigh the reward for you. The prince decided to send you to accompany Yunwen and Yunxi on a trip to Changsha to familiarize yourself with the tea trade. Are you willing to go?"

"My grandson is young and has little experience in the world. I'm afraid he will let down the emperor's trust." Zhu Gaoxu responded.

Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice: "This matter is not your fault, we will make the decision for you. You are ready to follow Ouyang Consort's caravan to Changsha in three days. We will send people to protect your safety secretly."

After a pause, Zhu Yuanzhang said again: "On this trip, I will repay you and know everything about everything, big or small, and take it as your priority. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Zhu Gaoxu lowered his head and said respectfully.

Although there was no expression on his face, he was looking forward to it in his heart, because once Zhu Yunwen went out, he would have the opportunity to wait for the opportunity.

"You go down and prepare yourself well, don't let us down." Zhu Yuanzhang waved.

"Grandson, please retire," Zhu Gaoxu said.

After a while, Zhu Yunwen was called over by someone sent by Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Yunwen, follow your Uncle Ouyang's caravan to Changsha in three days. We will ask Gao Xu and Yunxi to accompany you. During this trip, except for your uncle Ouyang's responsibility for the caravan trade, all other major and minor decisions will be made by you. Do you have any objections?"

Zhu Yuanzhang first retreated and then got straight to the point.

Zhu Yunwen naturally did not dare to object.

"There are two more things that you can do secretly for us. Don't let the news leak out. Remember." Zhu Yuanzhang said again: "Just come over here."

After Zhu Yunwen heard this, he was very surprised. His heartbeat suddenly accelerated and his breathing became much faster.

Zhu Yuanzhang saw this and asked, "Don't you want to?"

Zhu Yunwen hurriedly replied: "It's about dad's health. Of course my grandson is willing to do it. However, my grandson is young and will inevitably make mistakes in his actions. I'm afraid he will live up to Grandpa Huang's expectations."

"Your identity determines that only you can do this, so we can rest assured. Besides, only you can do this."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Yunzhen with a kind look on his face and spoke softly.

"Grandpa Huang, don't worry, my grandson will do his best to complete this matter." Zhu Yunwen promised.

Zhu Yuanzhang said happily: "He is indeed our good grandson!"

Ps: I have received the news of the contract signing on the site. The contract will be mailed in two days, so you can invest with confidence.

(End of this chapter)