First Minister of Ming Dynasty

First Minister Section 423

Ma smiled, she poured some out of the bottle and spread it on the cake, then handed it to Zhu Yuanzhang, "Try it again."

Old Zhu took a big bite, this time he immediately felt a strong aroma blooming on the tip of his tongue.

"delicious!"

Empress Ma smiled, "Finally got it? Let me tell you, this stuff can be directly spread on pancakes, or stewed in a pot... Anyway, it's extremely delicious. This is also the new military ration that Mr. Zhang made for the soldiers."

Old Zhu was startled, took several more bites, chewed carefully, and then he showed a happy smile.

"Okay! This thing is good! If we can eat this, our soldiers are invincible!"

Although it is not enough to eat all the food, the combat effectiveness of the army that can guarantee food will not be too bad.Except for the Italians of course. After all, even if they have enough pasta and red wine, it is difficult for them to defeat the African army. It is a shame to the great powers.

"Sister, is this thing expensive? How much can you make?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked curiously.

Empress Ma smiled, "Do you want to listen to the truth or lies?"

Old Zhu is dumbfounded, can this matter make people bored?

"Say it all!"

"Okay! This lie is that the ingredients are expensive. It needs delicacies from mountains and seas. It takes 81 days to carefully brew [-] kinds of herbs. It takes thousands of catties of ingredients to condense into such a small bottle!"

Zhu Yuanzhang rolled his eyes, "You are alchemy! Tell the truth!"

"The truth is to get some scallops, conch, and sea sausage, all of which are common things on the seashore...dried, ground into powder, added some salt, sauce, and kelp powder, and boiled." Empress Ma laughed and said: "If you want to say it's cheap, it's not cheap, but it's not that scary."

With a sullen face, Lao Zhu calculated carefully.

Just because he doesn't like merchants doesn't mean Lao Zhu doesn't know how to settle accounts.

On the contrary, he may be better at calculating than Zhang Ximeng, but it's just that the two of them don't calculate together...

"At present, there is no food production in Beiping, and we need to build beacon towers, build Guancheng, and use troops to fight wars... All we can count on is the salt tax, and now there is another thing to make a fortune... Let's help! "

Empress Ma's eyes widened when she heard what Old Zhu said, "You're fast enough! Don't you dislike Biao'er messing around with these business affairs?"

Old Zhu said sullenly: "We are not against it, we are worried that he will lose the dignity of the prince of a country. Just take the method he said, name it Prince Tang, and you can sell more money? This method is too bad Bar!"

Empress Ma was startled, and blurted out: "Do you have any brilliant ideas?"

Old Zhu chuckled, "You're really right."

He leaned over, took out a ball of tea cake, and placed it in front of Queen Ma.

This thing is Xiaolongtuan tea, which was popular in the Song Dynasty and was a tribute tea in the palace, very rare.

It is said that only the tea core is taken, and ambergris is added. When drinking, it needs to be decocted.Anyway, the way of drinking tea in the Song Dynasty and later generations can't be said to be very different, but it can only be said that it has nothing to do with it.

Too many spices are added, the process is complicated, and the taste of tea is lost when drinking.

Zhu Yuanzhang has long been tired of this kind of stuff that wastes people and money, what kind of tribute tea, let's go!

Therefore, Lao Zhu plans to stop the little dragon group from next year.

In other words, this point in the palace is likely to be an out-of-print treasure.

"Sister, do you think this is going to work? Let's make an order to give up the little dragon group and this thing. In order to save people's energy and avoid wasting people's money, we will give up these two things that are wasteful and unnecessary."

Queen Ma frowned slightly, "And then?"

"Then it was reported that the loss of this thing was unbearable, and I had to issue an order to restore it. I couldn't bear to enjoy the delicious food alone, so I gave it to the ministers in the court to enjoy it."

Empress Ma has been messing around with merchants for many years, and she immediately understood Lao Zhu's methods.

Gathering the popularity, selling in bundles, and using hundreds of years of tribute tea dragon balls, the value of oyster sauce was crazily boosted.Create the illusion that things are rare and expensive, and make a big profit.

Who wants to say that Zhu Yuanzhang can't do business, just slap you in the face!

"Chongba, okay! I'm convinced, you have a lot of money-making tricks in your belly! Why are you afraid that Mr. will teach Biaoer badly?"

Old Zhu stared round his eyes, "Aren't we afraid that he will imitate the bad!"

Empress Ma snorted, "You're not honest! I know it, and you've learned a lot from Mr. Zhang! When you got together, you talked so much that you didn't want to go back to your room to sleep! I figured out how to answer that." It's over!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was speechless... Two days later, according to the script designed by Zhu Yuanzhang, Lao Zhu crossed out Xiaolongtuan, and then crossed out "Baiwei Gao". Due to the complicated craftsmanship and huge cost, the emperor couldn't bear to waste the power of the people, so he just let it go.

Anyway, the big guys don't know how many kinds of tributes there are, so the emperor said it, and His Majesty the Emperor can still tell lies!

After a few days, this unremarkable incident was reversed.

After losing the Baiwei Ointment, the Son of Heaven was unwilling to eat. Facing the table full of delicacies, it was difficult to swallow, and everyone lost a lot of weight. The Queen insisted on speaking when he saw that the Son of Heaven’s figure had been reduced, and restored the Baiwei Ointment. His Majesty ate it that day. Five big bowls of rice.

The news spread quickly through the newspapers.

It was the first time that people heard about the miraculous thing called Baiwei Gao, and they all became curious. What is it that makes the emperor so haunted?

Is it really that delicious?

After a while, the heat continued to rise. Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have finally noticed something. One morning, he complained to the officials, saying that the emperor is also a human being, and he also has emotions and desires. .We can't keep the people from talking, but in order to clarify the misunderstanding, we specially gave some Baiwei ointment to the officials, let the big guys taste it, is this thing so powerful?

For Zhu Yuanzhang's rhetoric, Li Shanchang didn't even believe a word.

If you want to say that Zhu Yuanzhang doesn't know how to eat, it's wrong for him, but for a person who was born as a beggar, he can stuff any unpalatable food into his stomach.

Saying that Zhu Yuanzhang didn't eat because of something, and he was hungry and thin, this is just a fool!

It's a pity that old Li Ming knew it, but he didn't dare to say it.

I can only thank God, and then return home with ten bottles of Baiwei Ointment that belonged to him.

He didn't think much about it, and threw it directly to the kitchen.

That night, Li Shanchang didn't have much appetite, so he just tasted it, and found the dishes delicious, unprecedented... Li Shanchang ate an extra bowl of rice.

After eating, he also called the chef, intending to reward.

Unexpectedly, the chef told Li Shanchang that it was all because of Baiwei Gao.

Old Li was dumbfounded.

Hey, is it really useful for His Majesty to make this thing?

The same thing happened in the homes of other officials.The Baiwei cream that has been passed around for so long, finally someone tasted it.

Everyone said it was delicious and indescribable. No wonder the Son of Heaven is haunted by it, and we all look forward to eating it every day! It's a pity that this stuff is only available in the palace. The few bottles in the hands of the big guy will disappear after eating. up.We can only wait for the reward from the Son of Heaven!

After some operations, Baiwei Paste has completely gained popularity.

Zhu Yuanzhang asked Guo Ying to inquire about the news every day, and it was exactly as he imagined. Old Zhu is so happy!

If you dare to look down on our business ability, wait until your eyes fall out of shock!

When the time is almost up, news is released again, saying that the world is peaceful.The common people have enough to eat, and all the people are safe and healthy.It is not as embarrassing as it was a few years ago, so a special batch of seasoning soup is allowed to be sold.It is a simplified version of Gongzhong Baiwei Ointment, only [-]% of the effect, but the price is much cheaper... only ten taels of silver a bottle!

Yes, this thing can only be bought with silver, not banknotes. Ordinary people can rest assured that Lao Zhu's sickle will not harvest poor ghosts.

When Zhang Ximeng got the news, the seasoning soup was already sold like crazy. Although the price was high, there were so many wealthy businessmen who couldn't stand Yingtian!There are not enough merchants in Ming Dynasty, there are also foreign merchants from overseas, and there are Suzhou, Hangzhou, Yangzhou and other places.

I have been itchy by the newspaper for a long time, and I want to taste it myself.

Although this seasoning soup is far inferior to Baiwei paste, it can be seen at any rate.

How to buy some to try!

The result was that the stock was out of stock for several days in a row, and as much as I brought, it was all wiped out.

"A bottle of ten taels of silver! With the bottle, it's only worth eight taels of silver!" Zhang Ximeng gritted his teeth and said, "Who is the best in the world...Shang! Finally, we have met and decided."

Zhang Ximeng directly said to Zhu Biao: "Your Highness, I think you should ask His Majesty to teach you how to do business, and I promise you can learn more than me here!"

Zhu Biao blushed slightly, he scratched his head, and then said: "Sir, we also do business to supplement military expenditures. See how much income can be increased by the way Father does this? Is it useful?"

Chapter 591 My Son's Filial Piety

"It can't be said that it's useless. A mere 5 taels of silver has to be transferred through the Baochao Bureau. In our hands, it's less than [-] guan. What's the use?"

"One hundred thousand guan? That's so much!" Zhu Biao whispered: "Sir, there is an ancient poem that says, if you wear [-] guan at your waist, you can ride a crane down to Yangzhou! If you have [-] guan, then you are a rich businessman. The emperor flipped his hands In a short while, a wealthy family has been created, and there will be more income in the future, the father is really powerful!"

Zhu Biao praised from the bottom of his heart, with little stars in his eyes.Zhang Ximeng was amused in his heart, although this kid is willing to contradict Lao Zhu, but in fact he still admires his father very much, like many boys, he is eager to get his father's approval, and he is fighting with Lao Zhu, which is probably what he means !

I just don't know what my little boy will be like, Zhang Shuning probably can walk and talk, just please don't be like Zhu Laosi...

After Zhu Biao sighed, he found that the corners of Zhang Ximeng's mouth were upturned with a smile on his face, so he couldn't help asking: "Sir, do you think what the disciple said is wrong?"

"Yes! Why not! Your Majesty is naturally powerful." Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "Your Highness, as the king of a country, with such great power in his hands, it is not difficult to bring fire to something... For example, the prince's soup that His Highness originally envisioned is this Reason. Your Majesty's method is naturally more sophisticated. He abolished Longfengtuan tea, fulfilled the reputation of Baiwei Gao, and then made a big profit. One set of methods is flawless and impeccable. But in the end it is just a businessman's method to create something. "

Zhu Biao was taken aback, "Sir, what do you mean, there are more powerful methods than businessmen's methods?"

"Yes! That is the means of the imperial court, the means of the emperor." Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "The so-called imperial means can create an industry, create countless wealth, and benefit millions of people. People depend on food and clothing, and people's livelihood. As for going one step further, it is the means of the emperor, which is to raise a country, just like what His Majesty has done in the past few years."

Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "Your Majesty has the means of an emperor, so he used the means of a merchant. It is a sledgehammer, and he is very familiar with it. But from your Highness's point of view, you thought of naming the salt as Royal Salt, and thought of Prince Soup, so you need to buy more money." .This is just a merchant structure, and it has not been tested in practice, and we don't know whether it will succeed or fail. It is far from the emperor's structure."

Zhu Biao blushed, "Mr. taught me that my disciple let you down."

Zhang Ximeng smiled, "Why are you disappointed? How old is Your Highness! These things can be learned slowly, and right now there is a good opportunity to learn the methods of the court, which can create an industry, create countless wealth, and change the lives of millions of people."

Zhu Biao was startled, and hurriedly asked: "Sir, what are you talking about?"

"Of course it's the Changlu Salt Field!"

"Changlu Salt Farm?" Zhu Biao was puzzled, "Didn't we come up with a way to dry salt, so what else is there to do if we can sell salt and make money?"

Zhang Ximeng couldn't help laughing, "His Royal Highness, those things can only be regarded as pre-work, and there are more important things to come later! Among other things, who will be responsible for this salt farm? Who will manage the salt farm? Salt For production and transportation, which route should we take, and which account should we enter when we have income? Who should the saltworks cooperate with first? Has Your Highness thought about all these?”

Zhu Biao was dumbfounded, he never thought about it.

"Let, let Duke Yue do it, he is loyal and reliable!" Zhu Biao blurted out.

Zhang Ximeng laughed again, "Your Highness, if you hadn't come to Beiping, and you were still in Yingtian, and you were surrounded by masters from the Imperial Academy, at that time someone proposed to set up a salt business, who would you send to be in charge?"

Zhu Biao was surprised again, and then inevitably fell into deep thought.

Zhang Ximeng smiled and said nothing, he asked Zhu Biao a very difficult question to answer.

"Sir, do you want to say that you don't want to be crony?" Zhu Biao thought about it.

Zhang Ximeng shook his head, "His Royal Highness, it is impossible not to rely on cronyism! Take me as an example, Song Xueshi, Mr. Bowen, Sun Yan, Wang Guangyang, and some people, they all worked under the minister's hands and encountered some urgent problems. In the current situation, I know their talents and trust them, so I naturally want to send these people over. I don’t know if other people are competent except them. Even if they have enough ability, they still have character! And even if they have good character , then I have that little interest in my hand, why not help my own people?"

"what!"

Zhu Biao couldn't help shouting, he never expected that Zhang Ximeng would say that, this statement is too subversive, not to mention people in the Imperial Academy, including the father and the mother, never said it.

They just told themselves that they should choose talents and appoint talents, have the knowledge of others, and should not rely on cronyism...but the husband told themselves that they must rely on cronyism.

Isn't it right?

It seems hard to say wrong... For example, when he was in Yingtian, he was surrounded by civil servants from the Imperial Academy, and he knew their talents and character well. Choose among civil servants, or ask trusted civil servants to recommend a few people for you to choose.

After all, for a prince who grew up in the East Palace, it was really difficult for him to directly find someone who could manage the saltworks.

Is this cronyism?

It's hard to say, after all, he also has a choice, and he has also considered his talent and character, so he might be able to do a good job when he is sent there.

But, there is no doubt that if you choose people like this, if you have no contacts, those who are far away, and those who cannot squeeze into the circle, naturally they will have no chance.

This involves another matter, why can civil servants control the emperor?

Why do people deceive the saints and isolate the emperor?

Why do some emperors especially favor eunuchs?

Because the emperor lived in that environment since he was a child, the eunuchs took good care of him no matter morning or evening, 360 days a year, and his wariness disappeared under the persistent flattery.

Why did those civil servants who were elected as the prince's masters enter the cabinet to pay homage to the prime minister and take power?

Because they are by the emperor's side, they have been influenced by years of education, they are familiar with each other, and they have deep feelings for each other.

When encountering opportunities for promotion, it is hard not to think of them!

"Sir, is there any way to avoid this situation?"

Zhang Ximeng smiled slightly, "Your Highness, this is human nature, why do you want to avoid it?"

"This, cronyism is always bad. I'm afraid it will delay state affairs!"

Zhang Ximeng smiled, "Your Highness, you don't need to be too scared. In fact, as long as you choose carefully, in most cases, it will not cause too many problems. Let the civil servants be in charge of the Changlu Salt Plant, or let the generals be in charge. For the time being, they can be managed well and can be implemented. The meaning of His Highness. What I want to ask Your Highness is, to whom do you plan to hand over such a huge benefit to the Changlu Salt Field? Who will share the benefits with His Highness?"

Zhu Biao was completely dumbfounded. Everyone said that Zhang Ximeng didn't teach Zhu Biao, but when he did it, it was shocking. It's fine if he doesn't teach. Once he starts, he will teach terrible things!

It can be said to subvert the three views, unprecedented... Zhu Biao felt that his little head was not enough, and he needed to be quiet.

Zhang Ximeng was not in a hurry, so he gave Zhu Biao to think about it and asked him to weigh it carefully.

After three full days, Zhu Biao was a little tired and came to see Zhang Ximeng.