Mixed with salted fish in Hongwudang

The construction of Ma'anshan Iron and Steel Works is very fast, and the main building has been basically completed, but some supporting facilities are not yet complete.

For example, staff dormitories, residential quarters and the like.

However, as long as Zhu Yunxi is willing to spend money, all can be completed before the end of the year.

Of course, this is only because his steel plant is not big.

Otherwise, even if he emptied the warehouse, he would not be able to find enough steel bars and cement.

According to his prediction, the steel plant will undergo at least three to five expansions.Maybe ten years later, all the current buildings will have to be demolished or used as warehouses.

Zhu Yunxi only stayed in the steel factory for a few days before going to Suzhou to prepare for the construction of the No. [-] Textile Factory of the Manufacturing Bureau.

Although the steam spinning machine is still in the research and development stage, the relevant site selection and other preparations can still be put on the agenda first.

Another point is that he will personally supervise the purchase of raw silk and prepare raw materials for the next spinning factory.

The arrival of Zhu Yunxi is a big event for the whole of Suzhou.

Zhang Qing, the magistrate of Suzhou, came and called all the country gentry and elders out of the city early in the morning to meet him.

And the road was padded with loess one day in advance, and the ground was sprinkled with clear water.

The so-called loess mat road just sounds good, but the actual experience is not very good.

Because soil is soil, there will be dust no matter how the pavement is paved, otherwise there will be no need to irrigate the ground.

Zhu Yunxi still prefers cement roads and asphalt roads, but it's just not possible with Daming's current industrial foundation.

Zhu Yunxi briefly listened to Zhang Qinglai's work report, and then, accompanied by Zhang Qinglai, met with squires, elders, and representatives of industrial and commercial groups in Suzhou City, and expressed his deep condolences to them.

Later, accompanied by Zhang Qinglai, the prefect of Suzhou, and some gentry, Zhu Yunxi visited the Suzhou Weaving Bureau and watched the demonstration of complex crafts such as gold weaving and silk tapestry.

After Zhu Yunxi finished his trip to the Weaving Bureau, he held a grand reception dinner in the courtyard of the Yamen of the prefect of Suzhou.

During the meeting, business representatives spoke enthusiastically, actively offering suggestions for building a beautiful new Suzhou.

Zhu Yunxi highly affirmed the suggestions of all the representatives, and listened carefully to the criticisms and corrections from people from all walks of life on the work of the imperial court.

Zhu Yunxi also announced for the first time that in order to revitalize Suzhou's economy, a protection price mechanism for raw silk will be launched in Suzhou.

As soon as this proposal came out, it immediately received high support from the Suzhou bureaucrats headed by Zhang Qinglai, and said that this year's summer tax will hit a new high!

In the end, the dinner came to an end with best wishes to His Majesty and Ming Dynasty for ten thousand years.

After Zhu Yunxi finished the reception dinner, he lay down directly in the magistrate's yamen to rest.As for Zhang Qinglai, the owner here, he can only rent an inn as a temporary residence.

While Zhu Yunxi was sleeping soundly with a little drunkenness, Zhang Tianyou in Suzhou City was conspiring with a group of shopkeepers and fellows.

"Everyone, the grandson of the emperor came up with a protective price for raw silk today. This is to cut off our money and steal our jobs!"

Suzhou City is the headquarters of the Zhang family, and Zhang Shicheng proclaimed himself emperor in Suzhou back then.

Zhang Shicheng was originally a merchant, and he took great care of the merchants in Suzhou and gave them a lot of convenience. …

Therefore, even after Zhang Shicheng's anti-imperial force was wiped out, Suzhou locals took great care of the Zhang family's descendants.

He even did not hesitate to risk decapitation to inform them and secretly provide protection.

Because of the help of merchants in Suzhou City, Zhang Tianyou was able to escape the pursuit of the Ming court time and time again.

It was not until a few years after the founding of New China in the Ming Dynasty that major incidents occurred in the court one after another, and then the arrest of the descendants of the Zhang family was abandoned.

But despite this, Zhang Tianyou still kept his name incognito, and he carried at least ten household registration certificates with him.

Because he didn't have an official Daming household registration, Zhang Tianyou naturally couldn't buy a house or land.However, with the help of the contacts left by his parents, he controls a large part of the overseas market share, which is considered to have grasped the core link.

Therefore, Zhang Tianyou, who has no land and no house, can still call the wind and rain in Suzhou City, affecting the livelihood of over one million people.

"Young master, what do you think we should do!"

Many of the merchants in the room were once the shopkeepers of the Zhang family.

It's just that after the collapse of the Zhang family, most of the property was distributed to them, and they were allowed to set up their own households, which led to their current prosperity.

Calling Zhang Tianyou's young master not only expresses their loyalty, but also expresses their feelings for the Zhang family.

Zhang Tianyou is also very measured, never regards himself as a young master, and never interferes with their respective livelihoods.

Because of this affection, these people are willing to listen to him.

"I don't think the imperial court can receive raw silk!"

As soon as Zhang Tianyou said this, everyone in the room didn't dare to speak.

It's not that they object, it's just that they think it's almost impossible to do this.

The imperial court holds many powers such as the army and the government.Moreover, it is only natural for the court to collect taxes.

Even if the emperor's grandson couldn't get raw silk, the common people wouldn't dare to use other things to get raw silk when the government collects taxes.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Zhang Tianyou added again.

"There are people from us in the government. I have already made an agreement with the steward in charge of the warehouse. As soon as the raw silk from the imperial court enters the warehouse, he will resell it to us!"

"Low price!"

"hiss……"

All the merchants in the room are old people, and many of them have experienced the Battle of Suzhou.

Hearing Zhang Tianyou's words, there was only one word in their minds - the fire dragon burns the warehouse!
Seeing that the Young Master's arrangement was so clear, everyone praised him.

"Young Master's foresight and foresight, I admire it!"

"Young master, just give the order, what do you say, what do we do!"

"You said that the emperor's grandson would not be able to receive raw silk, so let's work together to prevent him from receiving any of it!"

Hearing everyone's flattering words, Zhang Tianyou immediately showed complacency on his face.

"Price increase!"

"No matter how high the court's protection price is, let's raise the price!"

As soon as Zhang Tianyou said this, the room fell into silence again.

There is no other reason, everyone goes out to do business, not to get angry with others.

If the court's protection price is too high and they have to follow suit, what about the extra loss?

Seeing that everyone was silent, Zhang Tianyou understood their concerns as soon as he turned his head.

"Everyone, I forgot to say something just now." …

"You still use the annual transaction price as the standard, and I will make up for the extra part!"

When the merchants heard this, they immediately burst into smiles.

"Only the young master follows the lead!"

After everyone discussed properly, Zhang Tianyou personally sent them away, and when he returned to the room, his face changed.

"It's all about profit!"

"Father was so kind to them back then, after our Zhang family fell, we also distributed all the house deeds and land deeds to them!"

"It's just a trivial matter for them now, and they have such an attitude, it's really maddening!"

Hearing this, Qin Xiangsi stretched out her catkin to caress Zhang Tianyou's cheek, and then softly comforted Zhang Tianyou in his ear.

"God bless, businessmen don't make money early, so why do you have to be so fussy with them?"

Qin Xiangsi was originally a famous prostitute in Suzhou, but was taken in by Zhang Tianyou as a concubine, and he invested in the purchase of this house in her name.

Zhang Tianyou felt a little better when he heard Aiqie say this.

"I know!"

"I'm just upset!"

"However, they won't be happy for long..."

Qin Xiangsi asked in puzzlement.

"What do you mean by that, are you going to clean them up?"

Zhang Tianyou played for fun, and made trouble for trouble, but his tone was always tight.Even if it is the person next to the pillow, they will not say what they should not say.

"You'll know then!"

"Come on, let me see if you have gained weight or lost weight in the past few months..."

……

With the arrival of Zhu Yunxi, the people of Suzhou City obviously felt that their lives had changed.

Because of the protection price mechanism for raw silk, merchants from all over the country bought raw silk at a price [-]% higher than in previous years.

The government doesn't know what's wrong, they have to accept raw silk, and when they see other people's price increases, they also increase it.

After going up and down several times in this way, the price of raw silk has more than doubled compared with previous years.

The common people have spare money in their hands, and their desire for consumption has increased, making the entire Suzhou city present a kind of prosperity that has never been seen before.

Zhu Yunxi changed into the clothes of an ordinary scholar, and led Chang Jizu and Kong Yanjin to stroll on the street. Looking at the crowded street, he felt extremely comfortable.

Seeing a good food stall, Zhu Yunxi immediately invited the two of them to have a meal, and eat some special food of Suzhou City by the way.

Kong Yanjin frowned, while Chang Jizu stared at everyone on the road with wide eyes, for fear that someone would harm the emperor.

"Young master, why don't you continue to raise the protection price?"

"In this way, we will not be able to receive raw silk, and the textile workshop you plan to build will not be able to run!"

Zhu Yunxi didn't answer immediately after hearing the words, but only asked Kong Yanjin to sit down, and he explained after Kong Yanjin sat down.

"My original intention is to benefit the people, not compete with them!"

"As long as it can benefit the people, what does it matter if the textile workshop can't open?"

Kong Yanjin was taken aback when he heard this, and then solemnly bowed to Zhu Yunxi.

"Young master, high righteousness!"

Zhu Yunxi greeted him with a smile to sit down, eat and drink, and enjoy everything in Suzhou City to the fullest.

While Zhu Yunxi was eating and drinking, Zhang Tianyou was inspecting the warehouses of various merchants.When Zhang Tianyou saw the raw silk piled up in the warehouse, Zhang Tianyou beamed with joy. …

His father lost to Zhu Yuanzhang, but he defeated the emperor's grandson of Ming Dynasty and snatched 80 dans of raw silk from him!

However, the merchant Qian Weiyong who cooperated with Zhang Tianyou in purchasing raw silk had a sad face.

I didn't pay attention when I collected it, and only after I collected it did I realize that this thing is not easy to store at all.

In case of accidental fire, millions of taels of silver would be wasted!
"Young master!"

"Now these raw silks cost at least tens of thousands of looms. We have been weaving non-stop for a year. Should we continue to collect them?"

"receive!"

"Be sure to hold all the raw silk in Jiangsu in our hands, so that Zhu Yunxi can't get any of it!"

"Now Shibosi is signing a document with Fanshang. When the time comes, see if he can't deliver the goods, who will do business with Shibosi!"

"Hahaha!"

After Zhang Tianyou laughed, he left with his hands behind his back, leaving only the money with a bitter look on his face.

Continue to charge?
Then you have to rent a few more warehouses, otherwise there will be no place to pile up here!

After meeting the people from Jinyiwei, Zhu Yunxi knew what was going on in the Zhang family, and directly ordered the prefect of Suzhou to issue a document so that the people could pay taxes with silver taels.

As soon as this announcement came out, the entire Jiangsu Province was shaken.

Countless people happily carried raw silk to the warehouses of major merchants. The price of raw silk is now twice that of previous years. That is to say, as long as half of the raw silk that was taxed in previous years was sold to merchants, it would be enough to pay the court tax.

They can save the remaining half of the raw silk, or sell it for money, so why not do it?
Zhang Tianyou was dumbfounded after seeing this notice, he felt as if he had been fooled.

If Zhu Yunxi really wanted to buy raw silk and use the court's weaving bureau to weave silk, why would he announce such a decree?

Could it be that he has received enough raw silk from other places?
Zhang Tianyou really guessed right, the reason why Zhu Yunxi had such confidence was because his vision was never limited to Suzhou, but the entire Daming.

There are many places in Daming that produce silk, not only in Jiangsu, but also in Huguang, and the price is cheaper.

When he announced the protection price of raw silk in Suzhou, he sent people to the Huguang area to buy it.

Now the raw silk purchased there has exceeded one million dans, which is enough to support several weaving bureaus.

Zhang Tianyou wanted to understand this, and immediately ordered people to stop the acquisition.He even wanted his merchants to sell the previously purchased raw silk to the imperial court at a protective price.

However, what surprised him was that when the imperial court announced that they could pay taxes with silver taels, they canceled the purchase point.

Now there is only his Zhang family's silly high-priced collection on the market!

Zhang Tianyou wanted to understand this, and was so angry that he vomited blood on the spot. Even if his old friend Qin Xiangsi tried his best, he couldn't cheer him up from his weakness.

Zhang Tianyou pushed Qin Xiangsi away, then got off the bed with his upper body naked.Qin Xiangsi wanted to pounce on him to comfort him, but he pushed him away again.

"Go away!"

"I'm almost losing money now, so I don't have time to be gentle with you!"

What Zhang Tianyou said was not an exaggeration, the price of raw silk was not cheap, and in some places it could even be used directly as currency. …

He paid a price that was twice as high as in previous years, which can be said to have caused a lot of blood.

Although some local merchants in Suzhou paid half of the money, he also subsidized half of it!

Therefore, the bet he made with Zhu Yunxi almost bankrupted him!
Qin Xiangsi sat on the bed aggrieved, looking at the furious Zhang Tianyou, feeling unspeakable grievance and distress in her heart.

"God bless, why don't you sell the house?"

Zhang Tianyou snorted coldly when he heard the words.

"How much is your house worth? It's worth 10,000+ taels of silver!"

"Even if I'm bankrupt, I can buy a house like yours!"

"including you!"

This was a bit hurtful, but Qin Xiangsi didn't dare to get angry.

After all, Zhang Tianyou gave her everything she needs now, how could she be angry with him?
Fortunately, Zhang Tianyou no longer accepted raw silk, and the price of raw silk in Jiangsu plummeted.

Seeing that it was not cost-effective to pay taxes with silver, the common people switched to paying taxes with raw silk.

Anyway, the government's announcement clearly stated that if you can use silver, then you can also use it?
Therefore, when it was time to pay taxes, the common people took out worthless raw silk to pay taxes.

Zhang Laiqing, the magistrate of Suzhou, suffered a lot from this move. If it wasn't for the grandson of the emperor staring at him, he really wanted to tear up the notice.

This year, he has made a plan to pay 100 million taels of tax to the court, brush up his test scores, and strive to move before the end of the year.

Even if you can't be directly promoted to the capital, at least you can be a chief executive.

Now that the emperor's grandson made such a move, this year's promotion plan fell through again.

As the loads of raw silk were brought into the warehouse, the warehouse ambassador, Sun Yuan, was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth.

According to the system of the Ming Dynasty, except for a part of the raw silk in the warehouse that was transferred to the Suzhou Manufacturing Bureau, the rest of the raw silk was left to eat ashes, or distributed as salaries to officials, yamen servants, and servants.

So there's a lot of room for maneuver here.

For example, replace the high-quality raw silk with inferior ones, or directly write it as loss, and let it float away layer by layer.

This kind of thing is his specialty, and he relied on this ability to quietly save a fortune of several 10 taels of silver.

What made him happiest was that there was a big customer this year, who had agreed with him half a month ago that he would pay a high price for his raw silk this year.

When the time comes, he will secretly sell the raw silk, then pile some firewood in the warehouse, and burn it...

Although this move will delay his official career, but after doing this vote, he will have a millionaire net worth. What kind of ambassador is he?
After Sun Yuan saw that all the raw silk had been put into storage, he excitedly went to talk to his big customer about the next step of cooperation that day.

"Shopkeeper Qin, do you still want the raw silk you mentioned earlier?"

The so-called shopkeeper Qin is Zhang Tianyou's good friend Qin Xiangsi in Suzhou City.

Zhang Tianyou had many things that were inconvenient to do, but he ordered Qin Xiangsi to do them.

Seeing Sun Yuan, Qin Xiangsi replied without thinking.

"No more!"

"You burn it all!"

"what?"