Ming Dynasty: Zhu Biao's younger brother, the most rebellious son in history

"What are you doing, you little brat?"

Zhu Yuanzhang had no idea what Zhu Kai and Zhu Biao were up to. After being held by the two for a photo, he scolded them, "The New Year is over, and my wife is about to give birth. Why are you two still messing around? Get out of here, get out of here... Hey, what is this?"

Zhu Yuanzhang had just told Zhu Kai to get lost, but when he saw the "himself" in Zhu Kai's hand, his attention was immediately drawn: "Boy, what's this new thing?"

"Camera, even if I tell you, you won't understand."

Zhu Kai did not explain much, but took out all the photos he had taken today and showed them to Zhu Yuanzhang: "How is it? Is it better than the one drawn by the painter?"

"It's okay, it's too small."

Zhu Yuanzhang was not satisfied with the album's small size. "Other painters paint on a scale of several feet, but yours is only a few inches in size. It's boring."

Zhu Kai directly retorted: "The essence is the concentrated one, Dad, you don't understand at all."

"Yes, yes, you are the only one who understands."

The two of them were like little children, they started arguing with each other. Zhu Biao sat beside them and looked at the childish father and son.

So boring.

Soon, Zhu Kai and Zhu Yuanzhang were arguing so fiercely that they were about to start fighting.

"I don't want to chat with you anymore. I'm going to take some pictures with my mother."

After Zhu Kai complained that Zhu Yuanzhang was a straight man who knew nothing, he went to find Ma Xiuying who was cooking before Zhu Yuanzhang exploded.

When Zhu Kai came back again, he was accompanied by Ma Xiuying, who was holding a photo in her hand and smiling happily: "Oh, this is a great photo. Look at all the details here."

"right?"

Zhu Kai looked up and glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang with pride. Zhu Yuanzhang immediately realized that something was wrong and was about to run away when he heard Zhu Kai hurriedly say to Ma Xiuying: "Mom, let my dad see this photo."

"Ah."

Then Ma Xiuying followed Zhu Yuanzhang to discuss the photos.

Zhu Yuanzhang had just despised Zhu Kai's photo, but now he was dragged by Ma Xiuying to discuss what was good about the photo. Zhu Yuanzhang felt uncomfortable... Nothing would make him more uncomfortable than praising Zhu Kai in front of him.

You brat!
Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that his teeth itched, and his eyes turned even more unfriendly when he looked at Zhu Kai.

Zhu Kai doesn't care about these things, as long as he is happy. Even if Zhu Yuanzhang causes trouble afterwards, what kind of trouble can he cause?

……

In Wuying Palace.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were discussing the use of Zhu Kai. They both suggested that Zhu Biao be responsible for the grassland and Liaodong, and use those two places as models of commercial operations.

Zhu Biao also agreed with this.

As long as Zhu Kai is equipped with the right talents and asked to do things according to Zhu Kai's wishes, Zhu Kai only needs to go there for a few days a year to provide some guiding opinions, and that is enough.

"Dad, let Brother Kai go. How are you going to use him? Make him a king?"

Zhu Biao looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and expressed his thoughts: "I don't want Brother Kai to be crowned a king, but he needs to be given a suitable status. Brother Kai likes pomp and circumstance, so we need to arrange a big enough scene for him."

"You bastard, I'm your father! Kai'er wants face, so I have to spend money? Why?"

As long as Zhu Yuanzhang doesn't have to spend money, he will agree to anything, but if it involves spending money, Zhu Yuanzhang will refuse at the first opportunity.

Asking for money is more painful than cutting his flesh.

Zhu Biao was also helpless: "You asked Kaidi to do something. If Kaidi is not interested in it, will he do other things?"

What does Zhu Kai like to do?
Make money.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care about it: "Is it okay to give him 50% of the business on the grassland?"

Fifty percent?

Zhu Biao felt that based on his understanding of Zhu Kai, at least 70% of the business in the grassland and Liaodong belonged to Zhu Kai.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care about that. He thought 50% was enough and handed the matter of how to negotiate the deal to Zhu Biao: "You go and negotiate this matter. I tell you, 50% at most."

"..."

Zhu Biao could hear that Zhu Yuanzhang was not going to reason with him anymore. No matter how he talked to him today, there would be no result.

Forget it, I’ll go talk to Kaidi.

Zhu Biao decided to make himself a tool, responsible only for passing messages and not doing business.

If Zhu Kai does not agree with Zhu Yuanzhang's proposal of a 50-50 split, then let Zhu Yuanzhang talk to him. What does it have to do with me, Zhu Biao?
Zhu Biao went to find Zhu Kai and talked directly about the business in Liaodong and the grasslands. When Zhu Kai heard that Zhu Yuanzhang would only give him 50%, he curled his lips and said, "50%? I might as well go to Qi and Lu to take Wu Zhen out to sea. Why go to the grasslands? It's a thankless job."

"Then how much are you going to take, Brother Kai? 70%?"

Zhu Biao looked at Zhu Kai's indifferent expression and widened his eyes: "Boy, you don't want to have them all, do you?"

"Yeah, what's the problem with all of them?"

Zhu Kai spread out his hands and said to Zhu Biao, "Brother, you can't measure the business on the grassland by how much profit you make. In fact, the business on the grassland is to help the Central Plains. For example, we bring oxen from the grassland to the Central Plains and let the people cultivate the land. How much profit is there in this? If I really want to make money, I can sell a cow for ten times the price, but this is a manifestation of hurting farmers. Not only can we not raise the price, but we have to lower the price to sell it so that the people can benefit, and control the price so that others can't profit from this matter."

"There is also meat, mutton and pork. We all need to raise them. Why do we raise so much meat? It is to make people's lives better and make their physical fitness stronger. Can you measure this by how much profit it makes?"

Zhu Kai told Zhu Biao one sentence after another: "I can't make money by developing the grassland."

Zhu Biao didn't believe a word Zhu Kai said about the loss-making business. He thought it was a joke... Zhu Biao had never seen Zhu Kai do a business that lost money. Even a fool wouldn't believe him when he said that developing the grassland wouldn't make money.

However, Zhu Biao was not interested in making money. As for how to divide the benefits on the grassland, Zhu Biao didn't care about that. He was only responsible for conveying the message. How to talk would depend on the confrontation between Zhu Kai and Zhu Yuanzhang: "Brother Kai, Dad asked me to come over to talk... I won't talk to you, so as to avoid being sold out by you and helping you count the money, haha... Let Dad worry about it."

"If you want to talk about bad things, you are the bad one."

Zhu Kai said to Zhu Biao with a smile, "Brother, don't go home for lunch. Let's have a bite here... I want to eat hot pot. How about we have hot pot together?"

"Row."

Zhu Biao naturally would not refuse. He could eat delicious food at Zhu Kai's place, and he was also willing to have fun with Zhu Kai.

... "What? All of them?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes widened, and he glared at Zhu Biao who came to report: "You bastard, how did you negotiate with him? You want everything, isn't he afraid of being stuffed to death?"

"Dad, Brother Kai said that the business on the grassland is not profitable. He said that the grassland is now an appendage of the Central Plains. Only by making the Central Plains rich can the grassland become rich as well."

Zhu Biao told Zhu Yuanzhang about the examples Zhu Kai had cited. Zhu Yuanzhang didn't believe them. "Bullshit, all bullshit. That fellow is smarter than a monkey when he gets fur. How could he not make money? You are just too stupid to be fooled by him."

Zhu Biao didn't buy it and asked Zhu Yuanzhang, "How about you go and talk to him, Dad?"

"I...will go!"

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't want to go either, but now he had to go: "If that bastard dares to ask for too much, I will break his legs!"

After saying that, Zhu Yuanzhang went to find Zhu Kai angrily, and Zhu Biao did not follow him. He had a lot of things to discuss with Li Shanchang, and he couldn't always be the messenger between Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Kai.

"You want all the business on the grassland?"

Zhu Yuanzhang glared at Zhu Kai, "How dare you ask for such a high price!"

"That's right. How about I give the grassland to you and run it?"

Zhu Kai rolled his eyes. "It's a thankless job in the first place. If it wasn't for my eldest brother begging me, I wouldn't do it. I put money in, and my father is jealous of me making money. He wants to take half of my profit without doing anything. How can such a good thing happen?"

“Are we that kind of person?”

Zhu Yuanzhang stretched out his right hand and said, "Fifty percent, we'll each take half. You bastard... you ate the meat, but you won't even give us the soup?"

"Dad, you are making money out of nothing. You didn't spend a penny, but you just took away half of my profit. I am a fool, so you are taking advantage of me like this."

Zhu Kai raised a finger and said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Dad, you will pay as much as I pay, and I will give you 10% of the profits!"

"impossible!"

Zhu Yuanzhang had never seen business done this way. All the money was taken out, but only 10% of the profit was given to others?

This is how to trick the stupid boy, right?
"You can do it or not, that's my condition."

Zhu Kai took the initiative and ignored Zhu Yuanzhang: "If you think it's okay, pay the money. If you think I'm cheating you, then forget it. Anyway, 10%, at most 10%. If it weren't for the fact that you are my father, I wouldn't give you 100% of it."

Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was somewhat interested, Zhu Kai struck while the iron was hot and said, "Dad, you can get 10% of the profit, it's not a loss, you see... you take 10%, I almost pay 30% in taxes, you see, now you get 40%, no matter whether the money goes to the national treasury or the inner treasury, in the end, isn't it all your money, Dad?"

Commercial taxes are very heavy.

But for Zhu Kai, the heavier the commercial tax, the higher the threshold for doing business. This alone can eliminate many people. Zhu Kai has made many businesses exclusive. Now is the stage of disorderly expansion of capital. Commercial taxes can help him eliminate some competitors, which is enough. When those who want to do business react in the future... it will be too late!
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard what Zhu Kai said, he felt that what he said made sense.

You don't have to do anything and you can still get 40%, plus business tax.

Zhu Kai directly spit out 40%. If I force him to split it 50-50 with Zhu Kai, it would be taking advantage of Zhu Kai. I can't do that.

"Okay, we'll do as you say."

Zhu Yuanzhang pointed at Zhu Kai and pretended to be fierce: "Boy, you must give us the 10% we want, not even a cent less."

"Don't worry, Dad. When have we ever given you less money?"

Zhu Kai smiled brightly and said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "It's a pleasure to work with you. Congratulations on your prosperity."

"Happy cooperation... bullshit!"

Zhu Yuanzhang cursed and said, "Why do I feel like I've been cheated by you again? You must have a good business, but you didn't tell me."

Zhu Kai did not answer Zhu Yuanzhang's question immediately. He shook hands with Zhu Yuanzhang, which was equivalent to a high-five as an oath. Thus, their business regarding the grassland and Liaodong was settled.

Zhu Kai took 90%, and the remaining 10% was given to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Then, Zhu Kai said to Zhu Yuanzhang with a smile: "Dad, we should have more trust between father and son. How can I hide my good business from you? What is there on the grassland? Just some cattle and sheep. These cannot be regarded as business. They are for the benefit of the people. Only when the people of the Central Plains are good, can we be good, right?"

Although what Zhu Kai said sounded very nice and Zhu Yuanzhang could not find any fault with it, he always felt that he was being tricked by Zhu Kai.

"I don't believe anything you say when it comes to making money."

Zhu Yuanzhang said that when it comes to making money, Zhu Kai himself is not trustworthy. He has the ability to turn stone into gold, and likes to hold all the benefits in his own hands. Zhu Yuanzhang doesn't understand why Zhu Kai does this.

Let’s not talk about anything else, just talk about Zhu Kai’s current business. The money he earns every year is astronomical.

Besides, Zhu Kai is not a spendthrift person and he doesn't spend much money on a daily basis.

Moreover, Zhu Kai told Zhu Yuanzhang about several gold, silver and copper mines. Let alone other things, if Zhu Kai took all the minerals for himself, it would be more profitable than doing business. As soon as he dug a shovel, he would make money. Wouldn't it be more profitable than doing business?
Zhu Yuanzhang didn't understand the meaning of Zhu Kai's doing this, but out of trust in Zhu Kai, Zhu Yuanzhang simply let Zhu Kai do it.

In fact, Zhu Kai did this on the one hand because he wanted to let Zhu Yuanzhang see how much benefit the development of business could bring to the Ming Dynasty through the development of business. On the other hand, it was Zhu Kai's bad taste. He liked to make money, but he would not make meaningless money.

Mining is a very low-level way of making money. Zhu Kai doesn't like it. It has no challenging meaning and the money earned is of no use.

……

Zhu Yuanzhang finally handed over the management rights of the grassland and Liaodong to Zhu Kai, who was naturally very satisfied with this.

The grassland...it's really profitable.

On the super ocean freighter, Zhu Kai had a book that gave a comprehensive account of European history. Zhu Kai remembered the history of England's rise very clearly.

The above description can basically be summarized in three words: sheep eat people!

The content is very simple: with the opening of new sea routes, the textile industry has developed rapidly. In order to obtain enough profits, the large farmers in England began to enclose land to raise sheep, and even transformed the places where people lived into sheep farms. Therefore, some Western historians called it the "sheep-eating-man movement."

Zhu Kai: Why is it necessary to go through so much trouble? Aren’t all the grasslands suitable for raising sheep?

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty is now expanding outward... There is a problem of insufficient manpower. Without such a large population, it will be useless to occupy more land. According to Zhu Kai's plan and vision, within 20 years, the Ming Dynasty can at most expand outward to Indonesia and Australia, occupy the Indochina Peninsula, and colonize Goryeo and Japan. Only after 20 years will it have the opportunity to advance into Europe.

Ultimately, there are too few people.

If the Ming Dynasty had a population of 50 million now, Zhu Kai would be able to conquer the Western Regions.

Anyway, since there is a large population, we can manage the land well no matter how we fight.

When talking about the Western Regions, Zhu Kai suddenly thought of Lan Yu and said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Dad, where is Miss Lan? Let her go with me. I want her to control the Western Regions." (End of this chapter)