I open a history tutorial class in Daming

Chapter 144 Genius, what a genius!
Although Zhu Biao did not agree with his father's approach, since Song Shen said so, he had to speak up for his father.

After pondering for a moment, Zhu Biao said:
"Brother Ziwei, although I don't think his father did anything wrong, your words are biased."

"I know a little bit about his family. He and his old friends started from scratch together. Their eventual success was naturally the result of everyone contributing their efforts. However, his father is the most important link in the family. If his father wasn't there, the group would have disbanded and fled when disaster struck."

“Whether it’s scholars, gangs, or chambers of commerce, the ones who hold the reins have extraordinary abilities.”

"We have all relied on each other and helped each other along the way. We have all achieved success and fame. We should all have a happy ending and live out our lives in peace. However, there are always people who are greedy. Even if you give them enough benefits as you said, I'm afraid they still won't be satisfied. This is human nature."

"I don't think his father was wrong to start the reckoning, I just think it was a bit too much."

The corner of Song Shen's mouth twitched.

Well, it turns out that although Chen Biao sounds like a decent person, he actually follows the law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak?
Isn't this guy a Confucian scholar from the Imperial College?

wrong……

I actually forgot that Chen Biao also has a father like Chen Guorui, a wealthy businessman with all the means.

Even if the other party said at the beginning that it was a small business, he could easily order the Shaodaozi Shop to make alcohol. This kind of entrepreneur in the early Ming Dynasty who could survive and make a lot of money in Zhu Yuanzhang's hands would definitely not be a good person. How could the son he gave birth to and raised be an innocent little white flower!

After thinking about it, Song Shen still shook his head and did not agree with what Chen Biao said.

"You also said that they are all characters who made their own way in the chaotic world at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Their methods and personalities are not something that young people like us can comment on. It's possible that even if the three of us were tied together, we wouldn't be enough for them to play with."

"But since you're asking me my opinion now, my view remains the same - times have changed!"

"Let's be clear. This is not the time of the chaotic Yuan Dynasty when human lives are worthless. The Ming Dynasty has been established for ten years and the situation has been settled. If we still do things the old way and solve every problem with fists and knives, it will definitely not work. You want to force others to break up their families, but can you ensure that you can eradicate the roots? What if you leave one or two orphans to take revenge?"

"Well, even if he can do it, what about other people, his reputation, and the consequences? With a business like this, why would anyone dare to work with him?"

"To put it another way, it is better to nip the danger in the bud rather than do it in such a crude and crude way."

Zhu Biao's forehead was covered with sweat after hearing this.

Although he knew that Song Shen was not targeting his father Zhu Yuanzhang when he said this, he still felt that it was a veiled attack.

Yes, this is no longer the time when many heroes competed for supremacy during the chaotic times of the late Yuan Dynasty. No matter how worthless human life is, it is protected by the laws of the Ming Dynasty. Even the families of those founding nobles almost all have a red-lettered iron certificate that can exempt them from the death penalty. Even if my father really wants to take action, how can he confiscate the homes of these people and exterminate their entire families without damaging the reputation of the country?
The emperor treated the red-lettered iron certificates he issued as scrap iron and ignored them. What would the officials and the people think?
Even though his father always said that he didn't care about his reputation and wanted to pave the way for him, as a son, could Zhu Biao really not care?

"Brother Ziwei, what do you mean by this?"

Zhu Biao pulled Song Shen and asked almost excitedly.

Song Shen: ...

You just said this is a friend of yours.

What kind of good friend must you be to take so much trouble to help him with his questions?

However, since the other party insisted on playing the role of "I have a friend", Song Shen did not expose him. He just pondered for a while and said:

"This situation is also easy to explain. In fact, when everyone started from scratch, they didn't know how big a thing they could accomplish in the end. As a result, when it came to the distribution of benefits, the leader took most of the benefits, just like a group of bandits who divide the spoils unevenly after a robbery."

"I didn't say that you must not kill or burn people, but you have to be particular about the methods and ways. You have to find a way to get rid of your opponent without getting yourself involved in the scandal. You also have to intimidate other fence-sitters and latecomers. You have to use both threats and inducements to make it work."

"For example, those who are the leaders of the trouble and fan the flames should be dealt with, but your father - no, his father - should not do it."

"We can find some crimes that will bring disaster to them. Aren't they all businessmen? Then we can sue them for smuggling and secretly selling swords and weapons to the north, and accuse them of treason and collaborating with the enemy."

"It doesn't matter if you remain anonymous or not. The former can help you avoid trouble, while the latter can give you a layer of righteousness to protect yourself, so that you will have room to maneuver when you encounter problems in the future."

"But be careful, this kind of thing can only be blamed on the opponents who are jumping around the most. At most, their minions can be beaten with a few dozen sticks. Otherwise, even if everyone is killed, the government and other people will question the authenticity of this matter. What's more, there are definitely not so many people who want to share the spoils with his father... cough cough cough, if we want to share the profits equally, why involve other innocent people."

"Another thing is to make a promise to those who are still on the sidelines and have not been completely dragged into the water. Tell them that as long as their family still has one day of business, they will have one day of work to do. The shopkeepers, bodyguards, accountants, and all kinds of people, don't look down on their low status. It's easier to deal with the King of Hell than the little ghosts. Just give them more money and buy their hearts and minds."

"…What's wrong with you? Are you still listening to me?"

Song Shen talked incessantly for a long time, and suddenly realized that the two people beside him were quiet.

If he hadn't heard the footsteps leaving, he would have thought they had sneaked away!

Zhu Biao came back to his senses from the shock and quickly agreed:
"I'm listening, listening, but I think this method is a little too... too novel."

Song Shen was also shocked:

"What's new? Isn't it just coercion and bribery, beating someone with a stick and giving him a date? Are you saying that accusing them of treason is new?"

This is a trick that has been used so much in military tactics and political schemes. He just said a few nonsense words, but he could actually shock the stupid son of the landlord? It's really strange!

Zhu Biao:......

No, it is not new to say that someone is plotting a rebellion, but if it is replaced with a real event, saying that the prime minister of the time smuggled and colluded with the enemy to commit rebellion, it is indeed a bit too advanced.

Not only was it ahead of its time, it was also surprisingly reasonable - after all, the Red Book of Iron Certificate could exempt one from the death penalty, with the exception of treason.

What a suitable reason for confiscating the house!
Zhu Biao swallowed his heart that was about to jump out of his throat, thought for a moment, and asked again:
"What if those fence-sitters are coerced and bribed, and after ten or twenty years, their minds become as wild as those of today, and they want more? What I mean is, for example, if the shopkeeper appoints people based on personal connections or the accountant enriches himself, as long as they are skillful enough, it will be difficult for the higher-ups to discover it."

good question!
Song Shen frowned and thought for a while, then said:
"Alas, I think the court should actually set up a special review department to do audits."

"What a pity, there aren't that many talented people now..."

Zhu Biao's eyebrows jumped, feeling that he had accidentally heard something even more powerful.

He quickly asked:
"What does that mean? Brother Ziwei, you don't know that in families like ours, many people have private schools. Even if we don't take the imperial examinations to become officials, being literate and able to do math are very useful. Just because the court doesn't have it doesn't mean that our own family can't do it." After saying this, Zhu Biao couldn't help but feel secretly proud and praised himself for his cleverness.

Not everyone can so perfectly use the situation of a merchant family to represent the situation of the imperial court.

Song Shen said "oh" twice and nodded:
"In that case, I'll just say it casually, and you can just listen casually. Don't take it too seriously."

"For example, you have a chamber of commerce. In addition to the president of the chamber of commerce, there are many merchants under it. Each of them has hundreds of businesses of all sizes. However, due to many reasons, there are some shady people in each business. The head of the chamber of commerce would definitely like to investigate, but it is difficult to succeed because of the collusion between the subordinates."

"At this time, the Chamber of Commerce can select one or several accountants who are proficient in accounting from each household, select some children who are sensitive to numbers to learn from them, and then divide all the accountants into groups and send them to each household to check the accounts in batches. The Chamber of Commerce will jointly fund and pay the salaries of these people. If any problems are found, the Chamber of Commerce will give them a large sum of money, and the person who finds the most will get the most."

"Even if they are greedy for money, it's impossible for them to be richer than the Chamber of Commerce, right?"

"This way, we can prevent our family members from checking their own accounts, and we can also motivate these accountants to check their accounts. It would be best if the reward money could be enough for the whole family to live on for a year after checking once. If it were you, would you try your best?"

Zhang Wei and Zhu Biao have the same expression: (')
Zhu Biao has lost his ability to speak.

In his life, he had never thought that the accountant's thing could be used in this way.

Moreover, even though Song Shen had explained the matter clearly, Zhu Biao still felt that there was something that could not be perfectly substituted. For example, who should play the role of the accountant who checked the accounts of the Chamber of Commerce in the court?

Yiluansi?
But although the Yiluansi can monitor the officials for my father, it still has other things to do. Otherwise, who will protect my father when the court holds important ceremonies, when the emperor travels, and when he meets with officials?
What's more, the assassins there were all orphans raised during the chaotic times at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. Now that the world has been settled and the war has subsided, there are not so many orphans with good qualifications to choose from.

Zhu Biao's temples were throbbing and he felt like his brain was going to explode.

He released the hand holding Zhang Wei, forced a smile and bowed to Song Shen, saying:
"Thank you, Brother Ziwei, for clearing up my doubts today. Listening to your words is worth ten years of reading!"

"I will go back now and explain it to my classmate so that he won't worry about it anymore. When the matter is settled, I will come to thank him on his behalf!"

Song Shen exchanged a few polite words with him and let him go.

Now that the other person has said this, he must be in a hurry to go back and talk to Chen Guorui. If he continues to stop her, it would be extremely inconsiderate.

After Chen Biao left, Song Shenmeng drank three cups of tea to quench his thirst. The long speech just now really made his saliva dry up, and it would be uncomfortable if he didn't drink some water to moisten his throat.

After drinking the water, he realized something was wrong:
"Brother Congming, you haven't left yet?"

Zhang Wei: …

Well, well, it has become like this now, right? At first, His Majesty and His Highness used the names of their relatives to approach Song Shen, but now, Song Shen has already accepted that he came here to lead the way for these two!

Where is friendship! Where is friendship!
Zhang Wei gritted his teeth:
"Ziwei, I didn't know before that you have such ability. Your method of controlling your subordinates is truly superb."

If Zhu Biao hadn't held him back, he would have run out of the study.

Of the three people in the room, he was the one who knew the situation best. Of course, he also knew that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's questions were metaphorical. Even though he didn't know the root cause, he could already feel that the court was undercurrent and that something big was about to happen.

He really didn't want to hear this kind of thing at all. After hearing it, he wanted to shake his head hard to get rid of what he had just heard.

But Song Shen said so!

He also explained clearly to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince how to deal with those senior officials!

Zhang Wei is now really afraid that Song Shen's boat will capsize someday, and he will surely die then.

Song Shen was unaware:
"No, I just recalled something I read in a book before and said it casually. Chen Biao must be talking about his own family today. Old man Chen Guorui has his own ideas. How could he believe my nonsense?"

"Even if he believes me, he will never listen to one side of the story on such an important matter. I'm just giving you an opinion, and it won't cost you anything. Don't worry about it."

Zhang Wei wished he could kowtow to him right now.

Does Song Shen know how much Chen Guorui believes what he says?
Does he know how much impact what he said today will have on the court?
Maybe the Song family will be implicated!

…………

Wuying Palace.

After returning from Song Shen's house, Zhu Biao came here to find his father.

I wasn't in Kunning Palace because that was Empress Ma's residence after all. She needed to rest recently and was already very angry at noon, so it was better not to go around her now.

"...Song Shen's words are roughly like this."

Zhu Biao recounted what happened today verbatim, without arbitrarily substituting those examples into specific people and events, in order to avoid his own subjective conjectures.

After listening to this, Zhu Yuanzhang had unknowingly put down the pen he was using to review official documents.

He gazed at the towering palace complex outside the Wuying Palace, muttering softly.

"Only the principal offender will be beheaded. If anyone uses the red seal and iron certificate to commit treason, all nine generations of the clan will be punished."

"Kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, increase the salaries of all officials, and then set up a separate government office to supervise all officials... Or, pick out people from the bottom of each government office and let them fight each other?"

"Really...really a genius..."

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes gradually lit up.

Zhu Biao almost bit off his tongue.

Dad, you immediately thought of the ruthless method they mentioned, but you immediately pretended to be deaf when they said they would let others off easily?!
(End of this chapter)