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

Chapter 387 Liu Bowen Appears

After Zhu Xiong Ying returned to his residence, he received numerous invitations every day, hoping that he could come to his home.

People even came to visit and give gifts in an endless stream, which is understandable. Zhu Xiong Ying's status and position are very high now, and there are not many people in the entire Ming Dynasty who dare not to curry favor with him.

However, Zhu Xiong Ying was too lazy to care about these things at this point; building the C-road was his most important task.

After Zhu Xiong Ying finished making the plan, he immediately sent his men to invite cabinet officials to this place.

Soon, cabinet officials arrived at this place, as they had intended to pay their respects to Zhu Xiong Ying.

The cabinet was established by Zhu Xiong Ying, so the cabinet members have changed several times over.

However, regardless of the circumstances, they still had this connection to the family line, so they all had a very good impression of Zhu Xiong Ying.

Zhu Xiong Ying frowned as he looked at the people in front of him.

"Where did your Minister of Revenue go?"

The two people who came were the Left Vice Minister and the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

At this moment, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue stepped forward and spoke.

"Your Highness, the old captain is quite old and is currently recuperating at home. He has been granted special permission not to attend court!"

Hearing this, Zhu Xiong Ying was somewhat surprised. After some investigation, he learned what had happened.

It turns out that the Minister of Revenue is already quite old and should have retired to his hometown. However, the recent situation is extremely special, and he still needs to take charge of many things. Apart from him, there is indeed no one else in the Ming Dynasty who is extremely knowledgeable about the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue.

If the previous standards were applied, many people would be qualified for this position.

But things are different now. The Ming Dynasty now has a vast territory and many policies to implement.

This has led to a significant increase in workload; there are now more than twice as many officials in the Ministry of Revenue as you did before.

Zhu Xiong Ying sighed and then told these people her thoughts.

Upon hearing these words, all the cabinet elders were filled with shock.

The first to step forward was the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

"Your Highness, this matter is wasteful of resources and burdens the people, and should absolutely not be done. Although there are some funds in the national treasury, there are simply too many places where money is needed. If we were to do this, it would definitely leave the Ministry of Revenue depleted!"

"The Ministry of Revenue has finally accumulated some capital. If we squander it like this, what will we do if His Majesty blames us in the future?"

The Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue nodded upon hearing this.

Others also hesitated after hearing this.

After all, doing this well is no easy task.

Zhu Xiong Ying then revealed his plan, which still left these people very worried.

"Leaving aside whether the thing Your Highness has is useful or not, even if it is useful, those merchants may not agree to pay money to pave the road. Those merchants and aristocratic families are all greedy for money. Getting them to take out their money is not an easy task!"

Even Zhu Bai, the Prince of Xiang, who had always been a strong supporter of Zhu Xiong Ying, hesitated.

"Your Highness, isn't this a bit too risky? Building so many roads all at once might be too much for our Great Ming Dynasty to handle. Perhaps we should only build roads in a few important places, such as those from Yingtian Prefecture to the northern border or to the southwest!"

Even after Prince Zhu Bai of Xiang said those words, the others still frowned.

So saying that put them at ease a bit, but it was still quite troublesome.

Just as these people hesitated, a cough suddenly came from the area. Looking towards the entrance, they discovered that the person who had arrived was none other than Liu Bowen.

Liu Bowen during this period.

He became the new Grand Secretary after Liu Sanwu.

However, since the beginning of this year, I have been suffering from a serious illness with little improvement.

Everyone was very surprised to see this person arrive at this place, and Zhu Xiong Ying hurriedly stepped forward to help Liu Bowen up.

The reason I was able to accomplish so much is immeasurably due to Liu Bowen.

Liu Bowen looked at Zhu Xiong Ying in front of him and nodded with a smile.

The two of them have helped each other achieve success.

Liu Bowen was already being ostracized in the court, and he had long since disregarded life and death, intending to simply die one day.

Who would have thought that he would meet Zhu Xiong Ying and have Zhu Xiong Ying's support?

He began to boldly unleash his talents.

Many of the things Zhu Xiong Ying did were inseparable from his support. It can be said that without his support, Zhu Xiong Ying might not have been able to accomplish so much. Therefore, Zhu Xiong Ying had great respect for this man.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bowen smiled and said...

"Regardless of what you gentlemen say, I, Liu, am still the Grand Secretary. It would be quite inappropriate for me not to attend such a meeting!"

"Although I'm getting senile, I'm still sharp of hearing and sight!"

The group was somewhat surprised to hear this, but they still nodded.

Given Liu Bowen's status and position, naturally no one dared to refuse him.

The crowd helped Liu Bowen inside.

Zhu Xiong Ying specially arranged a seat for Liu Bowen; even if others might not have been qualified, Liu Bowen certainly was.

Liu Bowen looked at Zhu Xiong Ying in front of him and smiled.

"I have long heard that His Highness the Crown Prince has made many contributions in the Southwest, which is truly gratifying. I should have come to congratulate him long ago, but I have been plagued by serious illness and simply do not have the energy for it. I hope His Highness will not blame me!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Xiong Ying burst into laughter.

"You flatter me, sir. You devoted yourself to the country until your dying breath, and you are a role model for us all!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Bowen burst into laughter.

"I heard that His Highness the Crown Prince has summoned officials from the Cabinet to discuss matters. In any case, I am also a member of the Cabinet, so I've come to join in the fun. I hope you gentlemen have no objections?"

Upon hearing this, the adults all shook their heads, laughed, and repeatedly said they dared not.

They dared not utter a word of dissent about what Liu Bowen intended to do. However, they were well aware that Liu Bowen's visit was likely to help Zhu Xiong Ying, given their close relationship. Subsequently, Zhu Xiong Ying revealed all his thoughts.

When Liu Bowen heard these words, he was stunned for a moment, and then looked at Zhu Xiong Ying.

As expected, Zhu Xiong Ying was indeed very bold to have such an idea. It must be said that if such a thing could really be accomplished, it would be an extremely important matter for the Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)