Daming: Mixed in Dangzhi County, Beiping

Chapter 621: Merchants can also inform!

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Guo An casually flattered him and said to Zhu Gaochi again: "May I ask His Highness the Crown Prince, how is the construction of the cement straight road from the capital to Shaanxi?"

Although he didn't understand why Guo An suddenly asked this, Zhu Gaochi quickly replied: "Teacher, a few days ago, news came that the only concrete straight roads left were Pingliang Prefecture and Fengxiang Prefecture, and between Xi'an and Nanyang Prefecture. The two sections of road, presumably, the cement straight road from the capital to Shaanxi Xingdusi will be completely completed in another month at most!"

Speaking of this, both Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Di on the side exuded a strong sense of pride.

They spent more than a year laying a flat, hard straight cement road without levying any labor force, without consuming people's labor, and without consuming the national treasury.

This cement straight road is about two thousand miles long, far longer than the Qin and Han straight roads.

From then on, the northwest of the Ming Dynasty was directly controlled by the capital.

Such achievements are enough for future generations to admire!

“Congratulations to Your Majesty, Congratulations to Your Highness the Crown Prince, such a unique road can be compared to the Grand Canal.

It will surely bless tens of millions of people in the world, and the people of the world will spread it word of mouth, and future generations of kings will also praise Your Majesty and His Royal Highness for it! "

Guo An praised him sincerely, and then said again: "After the completion of this road, His Royal Highness can also form two teams again to provide work for relief!"

“Credit for work?”

Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi's eyes lit up.

"In Daming again, two cement straight roads will be built?"

"Exactly!"

Guo An nodded slightly, "In the past, for fear of delaying farming, His Highness could only build a straight cement road.

Nowadays, several northern provinces are suffering from drought, and those people have no food to eat at home.

His Highness recruited them and gave them food every day. These people could build cement straight roads for the Ming Dynasty for more than half a year without worrying about affecting farming or any objections from officials in the DPRK and China! "

"Teacher, this is a very serious plan!"

Zhu Gaochi was overjoyed.

Zhu Di asked: "Has Guo Qing ever thought about where to build a concrete straight road?"

Guo An said directly: "Your Majesty, in less than a few months, it will be winter, and the cement straight roads in the north cannot be paved in winter.

In this case, we can only build a straight road to the south... There is a seaway in the southwest of the Ming Dynasty, but it is not as beneficial as the one from the southwest..."

After pondering for a moment, Guo An asked tentatively: "Your Majesty, how about building a cement straight road from the capital to Sichuan?"

"Sichuan?"

Zhu Di raised his eyebrows slightly, "Guo Qing, do you know that there are many mountains and valleys in Sichuan!"

Guo An said: "Your Majesty, use explosives to build mountains when encountering mountains and build bridges when encountering water. If it is really steep, we can only take a detour or build it wherever we can."

Zhu Di squinted his eyes, thought for a long time, and said: "To the west of Sichuan, there are various Uzbek tribes.

The capital is more than three thousand miles away from Sichuan. If a cement straight road is paved, Sichuan can be better controlled! "

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Guo An slightly arched his hands.

Zhu Di asked again: "What about the other straight road?"

Guo An said directly: "Yunnan!"

"Yunnan……"

Zhu Di's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but asked worriedly: "It will take more than half a year to travel from the capital to Yunnan. Can the paving be completed?"

"cannot!"

Guo An shook his head very simply.

Zhu Di asked: "Then why did Guo Qing build a cement straight road to Yunnan?"

On the side, Zhu Gaochi discovered that he was originally responsible for the matter, but in the end, he couldn't get in the middle of it!

Guo An replied: "Your Majesty, there is a lot of food in Yunnan and Jiaozhi! It takes a lot of manpower and material resources to transport the food from these places to the north, and it is very laborious.

However, it is very simple to bring the young and strong people from the north here.

In addition, the further south you go, the warmer the winter weather becomes! "

"Can!"

Zhu Di nodded directly, and then finally looked at Zhu Gaochi who was aside.

"What do you think, Prince?"

You agree, how can I say no?

Zhu Gaochi sighed slightly in his heart and could only say with a positive face: "These two roads are the most suitable for working-for-relief!"

"If so, then act accordingly!"

Zhu Di said.

"My son obeys the order!"

Zhu Gaochi responded quickly.

Zhu Di nodded with satisfaction, then looked at Guo An and Guo An, "Does Guo Qing have any other good ideas?"

Guo An thought for a while and then said again: "Your Majesty, I think the court also needs to encourage those merchants to transport more food from the south to the northern states!

If you encourage them more, let them transport more overseas food when they come back! "

Hearing this, Zhu Di narrowed his eyes slightly.

"How to encourage?"

"Your Majesty, the only way to deal with merchants is to lure them with inducements!"

"Commercial tax again?"

Zhu Di's eyes widened.

"Exactly!"

Guo An nodded slightly and said: "Those merchants do business because of profit. Only profit can make them spontaneously interested."

"Ok!"

Zhu Di also nodded slowly, "We will instruct the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Taxation Department to handle this matter!"

Guo An added: "Your Majesty, I am worried that there will be officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Taxation Department who will collude with the local gentry to obstruct this matter!"

Zhu Di's expression condensed, "We have already investigated so many officials..."

Guo An said directly: "Your Majesty, during the Hongwu period, more officials were investigated and prosecuted!"

Zhu Di's face was stiff.

There is no end to the corruption of officials, but there is nothing he can do!

"What can you do?"

Guo An hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, forgive me. I have no good solution. I am just admonishing you. Your Majesty can improve the status of some merchants so that they can have the strength to fight against those gentry!"

Zhu Di sneered with some disdain, "All officials in the Ming Dynasty came from gentry families. How can those merchants fight against them?"

Guo An: "..."

After a while, Guo An said: "Your Majesty, I wonder if merchants can be given the right to inform Jin Yiwei?

Merchants travel around the world, and they are the most observant of people's words and emotions, and they have the best understanding of the conditions in the states and counties of the Ming Dynasty.

If there is corruption among officials, these merchants know it better than the royal guards and censors! "

"The right of merchants to inform?"

Zhu Di's eyes lit up.

On the side, Zhu Gaochi also looked interested.

Now, after seeing the role of merchants and the cruelty of those gentry and officials, their favorable impression of merchants has directly improved a lot!

"In addition, in order to encourage merchants to inform, Your Majesty can establish a reward system.

For those who inform on meritorious merchants, His Majesty can give them rewards, either money or meritorious service. If it is meritorious service and the meritorious service reaches a certain level, the children of the merchants can be freed from their business status, or they can be given some useless official positions...

Since ancient times, merchants have been oppressed and exploited by officials and gentry. The merchants have long hated those officials and gentry. If only Your Majesty could keep these merchants secret!

In this way, even if His Majesty's reward is not much, these merchants will be very active in informing the officials and gentry about their illegal activities..."

The more he listened, the brighter Zhu Di's eyes became.

"This is a great plan!"

After hearing this, Zhu Di couldn't help but clapped his hands and applauded, and then looked at Guo An with a strange look on his face.

"I didn't expect that Guo Qing would be so cruel to these officials and gentry!"

Guo An smiled slightly and said softly: "Your Majesty clearly knows that although Wei Chen also belongs to the gentry and the powerful, he still understands that only when the Ming Dynasty is prosperous and powerful, the life of us powerful people will be better!

Especially in the face of these major disasters and epidemics, if someone shows favoritism, the more people killed, the more severe the epidemic will be, even if it is like me and other powerful people, or even..."

Saying that, Guo An quickly patted his mouth, "Even a prince like Wei Chen cannot protect himself and his family!"

"Ok!"

Zhu Di nodded thoughtfully, "Guo Qing will write down a detailed charter for this matter!"

"Written by Wei Chen?"

Guo An was stunned, as if he couldn't believe it. He had already said so much, and he still had to write it himself?

"You brought this up, and you are the only one who knows it best!"

Zhu Di said softly, it was already related to the wealth and life of his royal family, and he would not allow Guo An to be so lazy.

Guo An rolled his eyes and said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, I only talk about empty words and general things.

However, when it comes to details, trying to figure out people's hearts, and formulating these detailed plans, compared to Master Daoyan, I am ashamed of myself! "

"Master Daoyan?"

Zhu Di was stunned for a moment, "Master Dao Yan is in the East Palace now, right?"

"Exactly!"

Guo An said quickly.

He has already brought up the offending things.

If he was allowed to formulate it completely, wouldn't it mean that all the powerful officials and gentry in the world would target him?

He hasn't made plans to be a lonely minister yet!

Zhu Di took a deep look at Guo An and nodded slightly, "In this case, let Master Dao Yan try this charter first!"

Zhu Di also fully recognized Master Daoyan's tactics.

However, after so many years, Monk Dao Yan is not keen on political intrigue, and he seems to have forgotten Monk Dao Yan!

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Guo An hurriedly flattered.

……

"Let the monks formulate such regulations?"

In the East Palace, after hearing Zhu Gaochi's words, the fat monk Dao Yan was suddenly shocked. Which thief is this trying to harm him?

Zhu Gaochi said sincerely: "My father said that the master has great wisdom, so he specifically left this matter to the master! Although merchants pursue profit, they also play a great role in the Ming Dynasty.

Although the Ming Dynasty relied on officials and gentry to rule the world, these officials and gentry relied on the Ming Dynasty to be inseparable from them, so they kept deceiving the superiors and deceiving the subordinates, exploiting the people, and making money from the country, which was very abominable!

Therefore, the power of officials and gentry should be supervised and restricted by merchants! "

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

Dao Yan is also well aware of the dangers of those officials and powerful people.

“It is a good deed to improve the status of merchants and limit the power of officials and gentry.

Such a thing will definitely not be approved by the officials in the court! "

"It doesn't matter!"

Zhu Gaochi slowly shook his head, "This matter is between the Jin Yiwei and the merchants, and has nothing to do with the officials!"

"Alright!"

Master Dao Yan nodded slightly, his eyes shining brightly.

"Tomorrow, the monk will hand over the charter to His Highness!"

"Master Lao is here!"

Zhu Gaochi looked happy and left immediately.

"Amitabha!"

In the hall, Master Daoyan sighed slightly and murmured to himself in a low voice.

"Ding Guogong behaves like this. Isn't he afraid that he will be hated by officials and gentry all over the world?"

……

And on the other side.

Yu Xin, the Minister of Household Affairs, and Mr. Zhong, the Tax Commissioner, hurriedly entered the palace.

"Exempting several places in the north from taxes for a year and using commercial taxes to encourage merchants to transport grain to various northern states?"

After listening, Yu Xin expressed his admiration.

As for the tax officer on the side, he still wanted to say something.

However, Zhu Di and Yu Xin did not give him any chance to interrupt.

"For this matter, please come up with a charter as soon as possible!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

Out of the palace gate.

The doctor from the tax department said anxiously: "Mr. Yu, exempt the northern provinces from taxes for one year, and then use commercial taxes to encourage merchants to transport grain to the north. As a result, I don't know how much less taxes will be collected this year!

At the end of the year, what about the year-end bonuses of the officials and the year-end bonuses of each vassal king?

Even what about the military pay for the border capital? "

"Moreover, many provinces in the north are experiencing severe drought. Just surviving this cold winter is not the end. There will be spring plowing next spring..."

Before he finished speaking, the tax officer's face froze.

Yu Xinzheng looked at him with an incomprehensible expression.

"This kind of thing is not within the scope of the tax department's responsibilities!"

The tax manager smiled coquettishly, his eyes flickered, and he hurriedly explained, "Mr. Yu, the imperial court has just become rich in the past two years, and I am also worried that the imperial court will become financially strapped again because of this incident!"

Yu Xin smiled lightly and said, "So, Mr. Han really cares about the country and the people!"

Taxation Division Chief Zhong Yisong.

Yu Xin added: "It's just that now, how can the court still be in a tight situation? As long as sea trade continues, there are still those sweet potatoes..."

"Sweet potato?"

The tax department doctor looked puzzled.

Yu Xin did not continue speaking, but sneered.

"Mr. Han, after the incident at Songjiang Mansion, Your Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince no longer have that much trust in the officials.

Especially when it comes to taxes, money and food, even those state capitals are thousands of miles away from the capital!

However, if others don’t know, then you can do nothing but yourself!

If not, in the end, regardless of getting a good future, the wealth and wealth that the family could easily accumulate would disappear in an instant, and the whole family would either be beheaded or exiled to Guozhou! "

The tax officer's face changed slightly, but he quickly returned to normal and forced a smile.

"Thank you so much for your teachings, Duke Yu. I am loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and I love the people like my sons. I will never exploit and oppress the people like those officials in Songjiang Prefecture!"

Yu Xin sighed softly, "I'm just afraid that I can't help myself!"

Just as the tax officer wanted to continue explaining, Yu Xin had already walked away.

"After all, nowadays, people's hearts are not as old as before. Students can report on their teachers, and fellow villagers can also report on fellow villagers for the sake of their families..."

The tax officer suddenly froze in place, the expression in his eyes changed, and finally turned into determination.

And on the other side.

Yu Xin also looked solemn.

"To help the victims, Your Majesty did not use local gentry or local officials, he only thought of merchants!

However, merchants are all a group of profit-seeking people, can they be more reliable than those gentry? "

"It's just a pity that the sweet potatoes have just begun to be cultivated. Otherwise, why would there be so much trouble?"

……

The next day.

The two charters were delivered to Zhu Di.

Monk Dao Yan and Yu Xin Zhi Neng, the Minister of Hubu, wrote the regulations, which naturally made Zhu Di very satisfied.

"Very good, very good!"

After praising a few times, he shouted directly to Yishiha on the side, "Go and summon Duke Dingguo and Wang Zhen!"

"The slaves obey the orders!"

Soon, the two eunuchs walked quickly towards the Dingguo Duke's Mansion and the Jinyiwei Yamen.

After hearing the eunuch's message, Guo An and Wang Zhen did not dare to neglect and hurriedly came to the palace.

"The humble minister Guo An is here to meet His Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

"The humble king really meets His Majesty, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

"My dear friends, please forgive me!"

Zhu Di said with a happy face, and then handed the articles of association written by Dao Yan directly to Guo An and Wang Zhen.

"This……"

Looking at the content above, Wang Zhen looked surprised.

Guo An, on the other hand, looked satisfied.

"Your Majesty, Master Daoyan is indeed an accomplished monk!"

Hearing this, Wang Zhen looked even weirder.

He was once a member of Prince Yan's Mansion and was very familiar with Master Daoyan.

However, Master Daoyan actually wrote such a charter, and according to the wishes of Duke Ding, this matter seems to have something to do with him?

Zhu Di asked: "Wang Zhen, what do you think of this matter?"

Wang Zhen quickly bowed his hands and saluted, "Reporting to Your Majesty, I don't understand these things for the time being, but I will definitely act in accordance with Your Majesty's will!"

Zhu Di nodded slightly and said: "Let me ask you, can the imperial guards in all the Ming Dynasty's capitals honestly accept the informants from those merchants?"

"This……"

A trace of embarrassment flashed across Wang Zhen's face, and then he saluted Zhu Di with a face filled with shame.

"Your Majesty, forgive me. I dare not deceive Your Majesty. Most of the Jin Yiwei are a group of military men. They often despise merchants and even bully them.

But this matter is related to His Majesty's grand plan, and I will definitely talk to them seriously! "

Zhu Di asked expressionlessly: "Can you make sense?"

Wang Zhen was stunned for a moment, speechless.

Zhu Di looked at Guo An aside, "What other good ideas does Guo Qing have?"

Guo An sighed softly, cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I think we can ask the merchants to hand over the secrets to the postmen of the newspapers in each state, and let them bring them to the capital together.

After being inspected by the Chamber of Commerce's stewards, including the Chamber of Commerce's chamberlains, a secret report was given to His Majesty, who sent it to the Imperial Guards! "

"Can!"

Zhu Di nodded directly.

Wang Zhen also breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaochi again, "Those postmen are all the prince's people, so I will leave this matter to the prince!"

Zhu Gaochi said quickly: "Father, please rest assured, I will explain it carefully!"

Zhu Di looked at Guo An again, "Guo Qing, how to let those merchants know about this, and how to make them believe this, I leave it to you!"

Guo An quickly responded with his hands raised.

“Your Majesty, don’t worry, many of the merchants in the world are from the families of officials and gentry.

Wei Chen will ask the Chamber of Commerce to analyze it carefully before handing over the articles of association to them for review! "

"Ok!"

Zhu Di nodded with satisfaction.

"It's just that in order to increase the credibility of the charter, I kindly ask Your Majesty to stamp a small seal on it!"

Zhu Di's face froze.

"seal?"

Guo An nodded with a serious face, "Exactly!"

Zhu Di stared at Guo An for a long time, then nodded slowly.

"Can!"

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

……

After returning to the house with the charter, Guo An ordered the housekeeper Guo Ang: "Send someone to find Shen Zhuang, the steward of the Chamber of Commerce!"

"Yes, sir!"

Guo Ang responded and hurriedly sent someone to go to the Maritime Trade Chamber of Commerce.

……

(End of this chapter)