The Ming Dynasty: The most ruthless imperial grandson, Old Zhu begged me not to kill him.

Chapter 31 I, Lan Yu, wield a halberd and carry a bow; let's see who dares to defy me.
"Build again?"

Upon hearing Zhu Xiong Ying's words, Yang Si Yi almost bit his tongue!

The nearly one hundred post stations have nearly depleted the national treasury, and they still want to build more?

Your Highness, you're not here to make money, you're here to take this old minister's life!

Even Lan Yu, who had always been prepared to support Zhu Xiong Ying, was now filled with astonishment!

this.
This is even more outrageous than Zhu Yunwen proposing to increase taxes!
"Your Highness, please forgive this old minister for not being able to agree to this!"

"Even if Your Highness brings it up, I will refute this matter in the Secretariat!"

Li Shanchang stood up and spoke in a deep voice.

If the abolition of the post stations was Li Shanchang's way of making the Crown Prince take the blame, then the 'reconstruction of the post stations' was Li Shanchang directly smashing the blame onto the Crown Prince's head!

If this were the case, Emperor Hongwu would skin Li Shanchang alive when he returned from his tour!
"Yes, Your Highness, this is absolutely unacceptable!"

Yang Siyi, as the Minister of Revenue, was already covered in cold sweat.

These few words alone made him break out in a cold sweat!
"Gentlemen, there is no need to panic."

"I have naturally considered this matter."

Zhu Xiong Ying smiled and spoke, as if their reactions were exactly what she had expected.

"Rebuilding is for making money."

My thought is...

Zhu Xiong Ying picked up his pen and slowly wrote a single character on the white paper.

Everyone got up to look, and saw a clear and distinct character for "post" on a large piece of white paper.

"mail?"

Li Shanchang was slightly taken aback, somewhat puzzled.

What does such a single word have to do with making money?

Lan Yu was so anxious that he kept rubbing his two fingers together; this was an old habit of his when he was fighting.

They always think of the problem in front of them as a specific object in their hands, and want to crush it directly.

"I plan to integrate these post stations into a post office."

"In addition to retaining dedicated staff for official documents and military reports, the post office also has civilian and commercial uses."

"For civilian use, sending letters and goods is done by dividing the distance into 100-li intervals. For every 100-li interval, one letter costs one coin. As for goods, the price is calculated based on their weight."

"As for commercial use, the responsibility is even simpler."

Zhu Xiong Ying smiled slightly and said, "Since ancient times, merchants have traveled at double speed, day and night."

“Besides being busy and exhausted, there are also the expenses on the road and the risk of being robbed by bandits along the way, all of which are their costs.”

"Therefore, the price doubles for a hundred li, and ten times for a thousand li!"

"But we can help them transport large quantities of goods! In addition to land transport through post stations, there is also water transport via rivers, lakes, and waterways! Private vessels have overstepped their bounds and can only transport limited quantities of goods, while our official vessels are much larger."

After these words, everyone understood!

Your Highness, the Crown Prince, is setting up something similar to a security escort agency.

However, this escort agency is quite powerful, not only because it has the entire Ming Dynasty's post stations as stops along the way, but also because it has the Ming Dynasty's imperial court as its backing.

even
The bandits wouldn't dare to attack the people at the post station! Otherwise, the Ming army's ability to suppress such incidents was far superior to that of local county governments.

"This"

Li Shanchang was at a loss for words and glanced at Yang Siyi with some hesitation.

Yang Siyi kept calculating in his hands, as if he was calculating how feasible this matter was: "If it is an urgent matter, one person on a fast horse can travel 300 li a day without harming the horse or getting tired, and can travel 200 li."

"Aside from feeding the horses, paying the staff, and miscellaneous expenses at the post station, even if you add the cost of traveling 100 li to and from the post station, it's less than three coins of silver, which is enough for thirty letters! If it's goods, it'll be even more!"

"This is still an urgent matter; if it were transported by horse-drawn carriage, it could carry even more."

Yang Siyi's eyes suddenly lit up. Civilian mail delivery alone was extremely profitable!
After all, one coin for one hundred li, even if it's sent from Yingtian Prefecture to Shanxi, would only cost twenty coins!

Twenty coins to deliver a letter across half of the Ming Dynasty—is this something ordinary people can even imagine? If they were to do it themselves or ask someone else to do it, not to mention the dangers along the way, the cost alone would be hundreds of times that!
And then there are the goods and commodity orders, which are even bigger expenses!
"Your Highness, this action..."

Li Shanchang's eyes flashed, and he spoke with some difficulty.

It's not that Zhu Xiong Ying's plan is bad, it's just that it's really difficult to implement!
The matter of the post station involves many things, especially the military. As the Left Chancellor of the Secretariat, in charge of civil administration, he really dared not agree rashly.

"Your Highness, if this succeeds, then the soldiers' letters will also be delivered."

Xu Da spoke in a deep voice.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Xiong Ying showed gratitude and nodded slightly to Xu Da.

He understood that this was Grandpa Xu supporting him in his own way.

Saying this was tantamount to Xu Da supporting the matter.

The generals of Huaixi, having all come from humble backgrounds of fighting, naturally understood the importance their soldiers placed on 'letters from home'.

Aside from the intense fighting, if a businessman had spoken to them about these things during ordinary training, they would have been willing to pay any amount of money.

"Grandpa Xu, Xiong Ying would like to ask you for a favor regarding this matter."

Since Xu Da had helped him, Zhu Xiong Ying would naturally reciprocate.

"Your Highness, please speak."

Xu Da paused for a moment, then nodded.

Zhu Xiong Ying smiled and said, "Grandpa Xu, traveling through these post stations, enduring wind and rain, is inherently dangerous."

"Besides, riding skills are something that can't be learned overnight. Xiong Ying also tried it, and his butt hurt afterward. He's still not as good as Fourth Uncle."

"So, Xiong Ying would like to ask Grandpa Xu for a favor."

Zhu Xiong Ying paused slightly, staring intently at Xu Da:

"With the establishment of the post office, the relay station will certainly be short-staffed. I wonder if any retired veterans in the military would be willing to work at the relay station post office?"

Everyone was stunned when he said this.

Li Shanchang and Yang Siyi were stunned. They hadn't even finished discussing it, and His Highness the Crown Prince had already made the decision?

So, Your Highness, you're not asking for our opinions, you're just informing us directly!
Of course, there was a difference between the two civil officials. Li Shanchang was depressed, while Yang Siyi was happy.

According to Yang Siyi's conservative estimate, if everything goes smoothly, this matter could be even more profitable than 'salt and iron'!
Controlling the flow of goods means controlling the flow of gold and silver!
The simple-minded Ming Dynasty understood this principle.

Otherwise, why would the docks and canal gangs have always been a battleground for ancient gangs?

Lan Yu and Xu Da were pleasantly surprised!
"Is Your Highness truly speaking?"

Lan Yu found it almost unbelievable!

Veteran!

No general is without a headache when it comes to his veterans; they are brothers who fought alongside him and survived together!
The imperial court was short of funds, so the amount of silver paid to veterans after their discharge was naturally small, which led to a very miserable old age for many veterans.

Some generals even used their own salaries to subsidize them. Marquis Fu Youde of Yingchuan is the best example. He was penniless and would often go to his colleagues' homes to beg for money.

Now Zhu Xiong Ying is even trying to help retired veterans solve their livelihood problems.

Zhu Xiong Ying nodded with a smile: "That's natural."

Upon hearing this, Lan Yu stood up abruptly, his tiger-like eyes fixed on Li Shanchang and Yang Siyi: "Your subject, Lan Yu, thanks Your Highness."

"If anyone tries to stop this, Lan Yu will take up his halberd and bow tonight and kill that son of a bitch, just to secure a good old age for these old brothers!"

Zhu Xiong Ying looked at the murderous Lan Yu and laughed so hard her stomach almost cramped.

"Your Highness."

However, at that moment, a slightly hesitant voice rang out.

Hu Weiyong, who had been ordered to review memorials, was covered in sweat and hurried over: "Your Highness, there is a memorial here."

(End of this chapter)