I, Zhu Youjian: the first prodigal son of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 47
Under Zhu Youjian's operations, and with the assistance of Wei Zhongxian, Qian Qianyi, Yang He and others, the mining rights and management rights of the Shuoping Open-pit Coal Mine in Datong Prefecture were quickly divided up.

After the beginning of spring in the first year of Chongzhen, the Daming Engineering Bureau became one of the busiest organizations. Before the construction of several major projects started, a steady stream of money poured in.

Among them, the investment in open-pit coal mines and the influx of silver in the first stage amounted to more than 750 million taels.

Moreover, this amount of silver is still growing. According to estimates by Qian Qianyi, Yang He, Wei Zhongxian and others, there may be more than 4000 million taels of silver invested in coal mines and railways.

This is equivalent to the treasury income of Daming for nearly five years...

At the beginning, some officials and wealthy businessmen were still waiting and watching, fearing that this was a bait that the idiot emperor had laid for the big guy, and they would start harvesting when the money was almost gone.

After all, starting from the great grandfather, for more than 200 years, the Ming court has never been very friendly to wealthy businessmen and officials with "spare money". Isn't Shen Wansan back then a living example?
At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, poor and poor people were a mess. Shen Wansan donated money to build half of Jinling City. Later, he took out a large sum of money and asked to reward the soldiers of the three armies.

As a result, the great grandfather Zhu Chongba became suspicious, and he was exiled to Yunnan and Guizhou, where he died as a guest.

Later, the Shen family experienced two blows, and was framed and involved in the "Sapphire Case". Shen Wansan's son, son-in-law, and daughter were murdered...

After a long wait-and-see and trial, everyone was finally relieved.

It seems that this idiot emperor really wanted to do something practical, but he really lacked money, so he let everyone invest in the open-pit coal mine.

However, there are still some officials and wealthy businessmen who are not at ease. Not only are they afraid to invest, but they are holding their money bags even tighter.

This is also human nature, and Zhu Youjian can understand it very well.

At the beginning, when Zhu Youjian's annual salary was [-] yuan, wasn't he also afraid of being cut off by others, and he never speculated in stocks, bought insurance, or fell in love...

We are not in a hurry.

I am the number one prodigal son of Ming Dynasty, and I will create more and more investment opportunities for everyone. If I dare not invest this time, I may be tempted next time.

Speculate on land, open coal mines, repair railways, build shipyards, foundry bureaus, form a navy, go to South America to dig money, go to Europe to grab wives... There is always a prodigal mode that suits you!
Qian Qianyi, Wei Zhongxian, Yang He and others were busy raising money, organizing manpower for exploration, and making intensive preparations for coal mines and railways.

Zhu Youjian is not idle either.

Under the covert protection of [-] royal guards, he slipped out of the palace from time to time, and conducted an in-depth and meticulous "inspection" of the capital's customs, places of interest, historical sites, and Rouge Alley.

The idiot emperor found that the capital was too backward.

It goes without saying that the common people are generally poor. In a majestic Rouge alley, there are not even a few decent exotic women. I have to say that since Yongle, the Ming emperor has not had a few good things...

Or, move the capital to Jinling?
In another seven or eight years, you will be able to make friends with Liu Rushi, Chen Yuanyuan, Dong Xiaowan, etc. It's fun to fry land and build railways!

Dangling, a month passed quickly.

On the second day of March in the first year of Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian finally suffered until the end of the early court, quickly changed his clothes, slipped out of the palace again, and planned to go to Rouge Alley to "continue in-depth investigation".

He was wearing a green shirt, with two jade pendants hanging from his waist, his face was like a crown jade, and he looked like a son of a rich family and a scholar.

Turn around Zhengyangmen Street, turn left, and you will find Rouge Alley.

As usual, Zhu Youjian walked into the alley, and while teasing and amusing those gorgeous girls, he bought their rouge and gouache, and picked the most expensive ones, naturally he felt very comfortable.

It's not easy for everyone to come out to hang out, if you can help me out...

"Third brother, it's that little boy in front!"

Suddenly, seven or eight big men turned out of the alley, and under the guidance of an ordinary rich man, they surrounded Zhu Youjian aggressively.

Among the crowd, a young man in brocade robes mixed among them, with a wry smile on his face, as if he didn't want to be with these people, and he stood out from the crowd.

"Hey, little boy, come here." A yellow-faced man pointed his fingers at Zhu Youjian with a rebellious expression on his face.

This person is not very old, but he has a beard and looks about 40 to 1.9 years old. He has thick eyebrows and big eyes, a yellow face, and is about [-] meters tall. The muscles on his body are well-proportioned and strong, and he looks like a Lianjiazi.

Zhu Youjian was a little confused, what is this?

In the most important place in the capital, at the foot of the emperor, the majestic emperor of Ming Dynasty was blocked in the Rouge Alley... If this was spread, wouldn't the world laugh at it?

"Several... have you admitted the wrong person?" Zhu Youjian didn't want to cause trouble.

He is a prodigal son, not a dandy, and he has never been very used to this kind of scene of fighting and killing.

"Third Brother, it's not wrong to have this little boy. He took advantage of the money and went to Yanzhi Alley to drive up the price, making the brothers miserable..."

The rich man pointed at Zhu Youjian's nose, and just sprayed wildly, wishing to pounce on him and move his feet.

"More than a month ago, we came to play in Rouge Alley. Ten taels of silver can make a round in one night. It is enough to enjoy eating, drinking and listening to ditties. But since the appearance of this little boy, the price of goods has risen three times a day. Ten taels of silver is even the hand of the top girl. I can't touch it!"

Zhu Youjian sighed secretly, and only then did he realize that in recent days, he has been in and out of Rouge Alley many times, giving rewards and spending money randomly, which has actually affected the price of goods?

It's amazing!

They all come out to prodigal, and you are too shy to drink flower wine, can you still blame others for being too generous?
This kind of scum is simply the scum of the prodigals.

"Several...brothers," Zhu Youjian said with a gentle smile, "Is it because I'm short of money, I... really can't afford flower wine?

Then you can find a way to earn money, Zhu Youjian, that idiot emperor is opening a university, opening a coal mine, building a railway, etc., you invest in it, and I guarantee that you will make a lot of money..."

What Zhu Youjian said was the truth, he just wanted to point out a way for these people to make a lot of money.

He could see that this ordinary rich man in front of him should be a child of a wealthy family, and the five or six jade pendants hanging around his waist were all valuable suet jade.

If he could be fooled into investing in coal mines and railways, it might cost tens of thousands of taels of silver, and hundreds of "prodigal value" could be added out of thin air.

Unexpectedly, before his words fell, the faces of those people changed suddenly.

Especially the man with the yellow face, his complexion darkened, he took a big step forward steadily, raised his fist the size of a dog's head, his eyes were staring like two copper bells, and he was about to make a move when he saw it.

"You actually insulted Lord Long Live?" the yellow-faced man asked in a low voice.

"Third brother, do you want to shake people?" The rich man asked sideways.

"No need, a little white-faced bastard, my brother farts and he's half dead." The yellow-faced man grinned and said, "It's hard to catch a traitor spies, how can others intervene!"

The implication is that Zhu Youjian was regarded as a "rebel" and he didn't want others to take the credit.

It's no wonder that people misunderstood that in the land of the capital, dare to speak rudely and call the emperor a "fool", what is it if it is not a traitor?
Zhu Youjian's face froze, he smiled dryly and was about to speak.

With a sound of 'hoo', the yellow-faced man's fist the size of a dog's head was rounded, and he came straight to Zhu Youjian's face.

(End of this chapter)