Daming: Mixed in Dangzhi County, Beiping

"His Majesty summoned me?"

Guo An couldn't help but be surprised.

Zhu Gaosui, who was opposite, laughed outright and said: "Guo Changshi, you are in trouble. You must have done something wrong. Grandpa Huang wants to beat you!"

Guo An was not angry either, because Zhu Gaosui had been beaten many times by Zhu Di in front of him.

"Your Majesty, Third Highness, I am a low-ranking official and have a low position. If Your Majesty wants to punish me, you will not send someone to summon me. You can just issue an edict!"

With that said, Guo An had already stood up.

However, just as he was about to take a few steps, he remembered something and turned to Zhu Gaosui and asked, "His Majesty, the Third Prince, is just bored. Is it possible for you to go to see Your Majesty with your ministers?"

Zhu Gaosui shrank his neck and shook his head repeatedly.

"Guo Changshi wants to trick me again, I won't be fooled!"

"Ugh!"

Guo An sighed helplessly, "Maybe it will be a good thing for me to go this time! Since His Highness the Third is unwilling, then I will go alone!"

Zhu Gaosui still shook his head firmly, "I won't be fooled!"

A trace of surprise flashed in Guo An's eyes, and he quickly followed the waiter and walked out.

Outside the temple.

Standing there was a burly and cold-faced general.

Seeing this person, Guo An couldn't help but be surprised, and quickly greeted him: "I've met Commander Zhao!"

Seeing Guo An, Erhu's face softened a little and said, "Your Majesty has summoned Guo Changshi and asked Guo Changshi to follow me quickly. Don't keep your Majesty waiting!"

"Yes!"

Guo An responded quickly.

Immediately, Erhu took Guo An and walked into the palace.

Along the way, the two tigers were walking in a hurry, as if they were very anxious.

Guo An, on the other hand, was also a little wary of the highly trusted commander of the inner guard next to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Therefore, no one spoke.

After entering the Fengtian Palace, the two tigers reported to Zhu Yuanzhang above: "Your Majesty, Shi Guo'an, the governor of Prince Yan, is here!"

Looking up at the old man with silver hair and an old face, but always giving off an intimidating aura, Guo An felt a tremble in his heart and quickly knelt down to greet him.

"Guo An, a humble minister, pays homage to His Majesty!"

Zhu Yuanzhang slowly turned his head, glanced at Guo An curiously, and said softly.

"Get up and talk!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Guo An stood up quickly, but did not dare to look at Zhu Yuanzhang.

He always felt that Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes could see through his heart.

Zhu Yuanzhang said quietly: "Guo An, a native of Shunde Prefecture, a descendant of Guo Taishi of the former Yuan Dynasty, was born in the 25th year of Zhizheng! He likes arithmetic and craftsmanship, and has a lazy temperament. He is very similar to Guo Taishi!
The method of forging steel, cement, transparent glass, the art of growing vegetables in winter, hand-thrown bombs, landmines, incendiary bombs, artillery...

There are also chili peppers, sugar, and good rice worth thousands of gold. These hidden wonders in Prince Yan’s Mansion were all invented by you! "

"Your Majesty's eyes are as bright as a torch, and there is no hiding place for your subordinates!"

Guo An's heart trembled and he said respectfully again.

On the side, Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi were also shocked.

They thought that they had hidden these things extremely closely, but they did not expect that Zhu Yuanzhang would know so carefully.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly and continued to say to Guo An: "Although you are a little restless, the fine rice seeds developed at Yanwangfu Farm alone are a great contribution to our Ming Dynasty.

The prince wants you to be the Young Master of Zhanshi Mansion in the East Palace, and we agree. "

Guo An saluted again, "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will do my best to assist His Majesty the Crown Prince!"

"Ok!"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and asked again: "I heard that you suggested that the prince build several workshops and farms near Yingtian City?"

"Wei Chen dare not hide it from Your Majesty. This suggestion is exactly what Wei Chen put forward!"

Guo An quickly said: "However, someone previously suggested that His Highness move the workshops and farms in Beiping Mansion to the capital.

Wei Chen is worried that without those workshops and farms in Beiping Mansion, the people of Beiping Mansion will become poor again.

Therefore, Wei Chen suggested that His Royal Highness the Prince could build several more similar workshops in Yingtian City.

In this way, there is no need to move the workshop in Beiping Prefecture! "

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned, turned to look at Zhu Di, and asked: "We heard that people can make a lot of money by entering the workshop.

What if a workshop is opened near the capital, and all the people go to the workshop to make money instead of growing food? "

"This……"

Guo An frowned slightly, thought for a long time, and then said cautiously: "Reporting to Your Majesty, I feel that Your Majesty may have neglected something!"

Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi's expressions suddenly changed.

"Guo An, don't be arrogant in front of your father!"

Zhu Yuanzhang glared at Zhu Di, and then asked Guo An: "Tell me, what did we neglect?"

Guo Andao: "Back to Your Majesty, I think the food grown by the people in our Ming Dynasty is enough for the people!"

"Ok?"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned.

Zhu Di was shocked, wondering when Guo An, who had always been timid, became so bold.

However, he still hurriedly apologized to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Father, please forgive me. Guo An was so excited when he met his father for the first time!"

"Shut up for us!"

Zhu Yuanzhang directly scolded Zhu Di, then stared at Guo An and asked: "Tell me carefully, we would like to know, since the people of the Ming Dynasty grew enough food to eat, why is there always not enough in every year of famine?" Eat, and thousands of people will starve to death!”

Guo An saluted and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, that's because many people are hoarding food for money and raising the price of food to sky-high prices." "Hoarding it?"

Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi were shocked.

As for Zhu Yuanzhang, his face turned cold, "What you mean is that there are profiteers hiding the grain and not selling it to the common people."

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Guo An nodded slightly and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for making a bold guess. Whenever a state capital encounters a famine, there must be many merchants transporting a lot of food to that state capital.

At the same time, the imperial court was also distributing large amounts of disaster relief food to those state capitals. "

"Exactly!"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly.

Guo Andao: "However, sometimes, the food delivered is obviously enough to feed the people in those state capitals for a month, but there is still a very shortage of food in those state capitals.

Even the disaster relief food distributed by the court was enough to feed the people in the state capital for a month or two.

And in those state capitals, there are still people who cannot afford to buy food, so they sell their houses and fields, and in the end they even sell their sons and daughters! "

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but think of something, with a cold expression on his face.

"What Guo Qing means is that some unscrupulous merchants are deliberately hoarding grain and not selling it. When the people have no choice but to use a few kilograms of grain to drain all the oil and water out of the people?"

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Guo An flattered and then said: "However, please let your Majesty know clearly that just a few merchants cannot control the food of a state or a government."

Without Guo An's words, Zhu Yuanzhang said coldly: "There must be local nobles and officials involved!"

Guo Andao: "Your Majesty is wise!"

On the side, Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi also had angry faces.

Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice: "We have been checking the fields to be on guard against the gentry and the wealthy gentry exploiting the people, and strictly investigating the corruption of the officials. Unexpectedly, those corrupt officials and evil gentry are still so crazy!

No wonder, there are still so many people in the Ming Dynasty who want to rebel! "

"Fourth, if there is a famine somewhere in the future, you must not only allocate relief food in time, but also secretly send people to check and prevent the local aristocratic families from colluding with the officials to exploit the people.

If this thief is found, no matter who he is, he should be cut into pieces! "

Zhu Di said solemnly: "My son, I must obey your orders!"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Guo An again, the expression in his eyes became much gentler.

"The fact that you can tell this is enough to prove that you, like Guo Taishi, care about the people and can be a good official!"

Guo An quickly said: "Thank you for your compliment, Your Majesty. I also believe that only by making the people in the world live a better life can Wei Chen's life get better and better!"

"Oh?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were full of curiosity again, "This is the first time we have heard that only those who are officials can live a good life for the common people in the world!
Please tell us carefully..."

"The minister obeys the order!"

Guo An responded quickly.

This time, Zhu Di learned his lesson and stood aside honestly without saying anything else.

Guo An, who has always been shrewd, dared to say so many words in front of his father, so he was naturally not afraid of arousing his father's anger.

"Your Majesty, I believe that those who serve as officials should be upright, fair and upright, so that they can be trusted by the king and trusted by the people who govern them."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly.

Guo An added: "As the saying goes, money can make ghosts grind!"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned instantly, while Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi twitched at the corners of their eyes.

This is the Guo An they know.

However, Guo An didn't realize how vulgar his words were, and he still said them seriously.

“Weichen believes that if a dynasty wants to prosper, it needs money.

For a dynasty, food is money.

Let the people have enough food in their hands, so that even if they encounter a severe drought and there is no harvest in the fields, the food in their homes will be enough for them to survive the year of severe drought, so that they will not worry about going hungry.

This is enough to prove that this dynasty has a solid foundation.

For officials and gentry, food is money, and silver is also money.

Let them make enough money through normal channels instead of exploiting people to make money.

In this way, the gentry and officials would not stare at the poor and wealthy people under their rule all day long.

There will be no great chaos in this dynasty.

Even if there is a big chaos somewhere, the court will issue an order and the people of the world will respond to the court.

In this way, this dynasty has no worries! "

"..."

Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi subconsciously opened their mouths, their faces dull.

Zhu Yuanzhang, after hearing this, was stunned for a while, and then he chuckled and said: "Guo Qing's beautiful fantasy, but this kind of Datong Dynasty, for thousands of years, countless sages have worked hard, even in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, there is no such thing." accomplish!"

At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang had already planned Guo An as a naive craftsman full of beautiful fantasies!
Guo An didn't take it seriously, smiled faintly, and bowed slightly to Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Your Majesty, I feel that Beiping Mansion has become somewhat unified now!"

"..."

There was a sudden silence in the entire hall.

Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi glanced at each other and found that the other's eyes were wide open with shock on their faces.

Zhu Yuanzhang also thought of something and hurriedly turned to look at Zhu Di.

"Fourth, is what Guo Qing said true?"

Zhu Di quickly replied: "Please forgive me, father. I just remembered that Beiping Mansion has begun to have a trend of great unity at some time!"

... (end of this chapter)