Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1603 Honest Ye Mingsheng!

After eating at Xin Kang Ji, Ye Mingsheng prepared to take Jingren back to the palace. Walking on Houde Street, feeling the strong commercial atmosphere and the bustling scene beside the street, Jingren couldn't help but say:
"Dad! There are so many people on Houde Street!"

Ye Mingsheng smiled slightly when he heard this. Looking at the bustling streets on both sides of the road, a hint of pride was revealed in his expression.

After Ye Mingsheng consolidated his rule in Youyan, he began to transform and develop Yijing. During discussions with his ministers, Ye Mingsheng was the first to propose the idea of ​​building a commercial street in the core area of ​​Yijing!
Ye Mingsheng's governing philosophy has always been to encourage the development of industry and commerce, so Ye Mingsheng wanted to build a model commercial street in Yijing, and then promote this template to the whole world!
After fully discussing this idea with his ministers, Ye Mingsheng decided to hand it over to Liu Ning, the then governor of Yijing, to implement it. Liu Ning did a good job indeed, and implemented Ye Mingsheng's idea of ​​a model commercial street without any compromise. This also created the most prosperous commercial street - Houde Street!
As the originator of the idea of ​​a commercial street, Ye Mingsheng also likes the commercial scope of Houde Street very much. Ye Mingsheng believes that Houde Street is a representative of the rapid development of Daqian's industry and commerce.

As Ye Mingsheng was walking and admiring the prosperous scene of Houde Street, Jingren beside him suddenly thought of something, and immediately raised his head and asked Ye Mingsheng curiously:
"Dad, how much money do you think this shop can earn in a year?"

Ye Mingsheng thought for a moment and said:
"These are different from the goods and services sold in stores, and the profits are also different. They can't be generalized!"

"But most of these shops are rented. Regardless of whether the shops are profitable or not, the landlords still have to collect rent!"

Hearing this, Jingren continued to ask like a curious baby:

"How much is the rent for that shop?"

Ye Mingsheng hesitated for a moment and said slowly:
"This is related to the location and size of the store, so it cannot be generalized. Although Houde Street is good overall, the rents in some specific locations are different, and the gap is quite large!"

"According to a previous report from the Yijing government office, the most expensive shop on Houde Street is rented by the Dadongsheng Bank. They have to pay 590 taels of silver a year. The cheaper ones have to pay 210 taels of silver. The average rent for each shop on Houde Street is around 270 taels of silver!"

"The tax paid by this street alone is at least 30,000 taels of silver a year, which is more than the tax paid by the entire prefecture of Youyan!"

Hearing the numbers Ye Mingsheng reported, Jing Ren seemed to be somewhat envious and said:

"That's a lot of money! I wish I had a shop like this!"

After hearing this, Ye Mingsheng stopped and looked at Jingren. Seeing his son's serious expression, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but laugh and said:
"Jingren, do you know how many shops there are on Houde Street?"

Jingren shook his head honestly.

Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng continued:
"There are a total of seventy-nine shops of various types on Houde Street, fifteen of which are owned by the imperial treasury!"

Jingren was immediately surprised when he heard this and said:
"Dad, are you saying that fifteen shops on this street belong to the palace?"

Ye Mingsheng smiled and nodded:
"Of course! This is also the largest industry of the Imperial Treasury. The Dadongsheng Company that I just told you about, which paid the most expensive rent, rents a shop that belongs to the palace. These shops are one of the most valuable industries of the Imperial Treasury, and can bring in more than five thousand taels of silver every year!"

"Without the income from these industries, so many people in the palace would be starving every day!"

Just when Jingren was shocked, Ye Mingsheng spoke again:

"Do you know how many shops your mother owns on Houde Street?"

Jingren blinked in confusion and said:
"Dad, didn't you tell me? There are fifteen shops in the palace!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Mingsheng gently kicked Jingren's butt and scolded with a smile:
"Are you playing dumb here? Those fifteen shops belong to the imperial treasury. I'm talking about your mother's private property!"

Jingren rubbed his butt and said a little aggrievedly:

"Dad! How would I know? My mom never told me!"

"Humph! You know but you won't tell me!"

"I'm guessing there are at least five shops. I wouldn't be surprised if there are ten!"

Hearing his father say this, Jingren was somewhat surprised and said:
"So much? Is my mother so rich?"

Seeing that Jingren's surprise did not seem fake, Ye Mingsheng sneered and said:

"Your mother is definitely the richest woman in Daqian! She's stretched her hands too far. Your mother is most likely involved in Daqian's money-making business. If I hadn't extorted money from her from time to time, she would have five hundred thousand taels of silver now!"

"For example, in Yijing, besides Houde Street, your mother owns no less than a hundred shops and properties. How much silver do you think they are worth..."

Jingren was extremely shocked when he heard this, and then asked with some doubt:

"Dad, why don't you stop my mother?"

Ye Mingsheng shook his head helplessly and said:
"Your mother is quite decent! She abides by the business rules and never forces sales. Your mother uses the information gap to do business!"

"Dad! What does it mean to use information asymmetry to do business?"

"For example, the Changchun Garden market used to be a large courtyard. At that time, the Yijing government was planning to build the Changchun Garden market for development and renovation. When your mother got the news, she immediately made arrangements in advance. A large courtyard market was worth fifty taels of silver before, but your mother dared to spend one hundred taels of silver to buy it!"

"It's twice the market price! The owners of those shanty towns basically all sold them, and each one sold them faster than the other, fearing that your mother would change her mind. Then when the development officially started, your mother used the shanty towns she owned to negotiate with the Yijing government office, and exchanged nearly fifty stalls from the Yijing government office!"

"Then how much silver are fifty stalls worth in Changchun Garden Market now? Your mother made at least five times the profit from this one ticket alone!"

"This is the information gap! Your mother has made countless transactions like this and earned countless amounts of money!"

At this point, Ye Mingsheng shook his head helplessly. He had always been disgusted with An Miaoyi's behavior, but An Miaoyi did abide by the business rules. It was a normal business transaction, so she paid a high price...
Whenever Ye Mingsheng mentioned this kind of thing, An Miaoyi said that she didn't steal or rob, so why couldn't she earn this money?

This money can be earned by giving it to others or giving it to her. Why are you, Ye Mingsheng, so ungrateful?
Just as Ye Mingsheng was sighing in his heart, Jingren also discovered the key to the matter:
"Then why don't I just keep my mother from knowing the plan?"

Ye Mingsheng shook his head and said:

"If your mother wants to ask, who would dare not tell her? Not to mention your mother asking directly, even if your mother doesn't ask, someone will send the news to her!"

Jingren nodded thoughtfully, then he looked at Ye Mingsheng carefully and said, "My mother did this, have you done it too, Dad?"

Ye Mingsheng glanced at Jingren and said in a deep voice:
"Jingren, you will be beheaded for asking this question!"

After saying that, Ye Mingsheng gestured on Jingren's neck, but Jingren was not afraid and still looked at his father with some curiosity.

Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng sighed and said:
"If someone else asked me this question, I would definitely give him a good beating, but Jingren, if you ask me, I will give you an honest answer. I have done the same thing before, and this is one of the reasons why I can't stop your mother from doing this!"

"Whenever I mentioned this matter, your mother would use it to shut me up, telling me that only the officials are allowed to set fires, but the people are not allowed to light lamps!"

"But I said I had only done a few deals like this, and your mother would say that it's the pot calling the kettle black. Anyway, your mother always has something to say..."

Hearing Ye Mingsheng admit it, Jingren's expression became a little complicated, as if he couldn't believe that Ye Mingsheng would do this.

Seeing Jingren's expression, Ye Mingsheng pinched his little face, and then said with some self-mockery:

"Why did the glorious image of my father in your heart collapse?"

Jingren shook his head instinctively, then lowered his head and said:
"I just didn't expect you to do this, Dad!"

Ye Mingsheng smiled and continued leisurely:
"Actually, these are nothing. I have done too many bad things in my life and killed too many people. Jingren, if you are interested in the future, just ask your mother. Your mother knows all of my past!"

"So sometimes when I talk to her, she always brings up my past, saying what I did in the past, to prove that I'm not a good person either, so why should I pretend with her!"

At this point, Ye Mingsheng could not help but shook his head again. Seeing this, Jingren mustered up the courage to say:
"Dad, why are you telling me so much?"

Ye Mingsheng touched Jingren's head and said:

"There are mainly two points!"

"The first point is that I want to tell you through my own example that ZZ is very dirty. I have always believed that it is a cesspool. Whether you like it or not, if you play in the cesspool, you will inevitably get covered in shit!"

"The second point is also the most important one. Jingren, you are older now. You are eleven years old this year, right?"

Jingren heard this and said seriously:

"Dad, I'm ten years old..."

Hearing this answer, Ye Mingsheng's expression became a little embarrassed, but he still waved his hand and said:

"Almost! Almost!"

"Your teacher Gu has told you about history, and told you about Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che!"

"Emperor Wu of Han defeated the Xiongnu and is a well-deserved emperor of all time. He is a very powerful person, but even such a person ended up doing something that made his loved ones sad and his enemies happy!"

After saying that, Ye Mingsheng also looked at Jingren.

Feeling his father's gaze, Jingren knew that his father was testing him. After thinking for a while, he said:
"Dad, are you talking about the Emperor Wu of Han who issued an edict of guilt for Li Guangli's defeat?"

Seeing Jingren's serious expression, Ye Mingsheng was speechless, and sighed in his heart that his eldest son's comprehension was indeed too mediocre.

Seeing Ye Mingsheng didn't say anything, Jingren also analyzed:
"Emperor Wu of Han sent Li Guangli to fight against the Xiongnu, but on the eve of the expedition, Prime Minister Liu Qumao conspired with Li Guangli to make the King of Changyi the crown prince. However, the conspiracy was exposed, Liu Qumao was killed, and Li Guangli's wife was also arrested. Although Emperor Wu of Han spared Li Guangli!"

"But Li Guangli was eager to fight in order to make meritorious deeds and atone for his sins, but he was attacked by the Xiongnu and eventually had to surrender to them. This was one of the few military failures of the Han Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han. Didn't this make his relatives sad and his enemies happy?"

Seeing Jingren's analysis was very logical, Ye Mingsheng also directly pointed out:
"I'm talking about the witchcraft disaster!"

Jingren was stunned, somewhat at a loss:

"Dad, why are you telling me this?"

Ye Mingsheng smiled and said:

"Jingren, you asked me before if I wanted to become the greatest emperor of all time. I told you that I had never thought about it. This is what I really think. I really have never thought about becoming the greatest emperor of all time. In my opinion, becoming the greatest emperor of all time is not a good thing!"

“Those great emperors in history, such as Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, and Emperor Taizong of Tang, were all once wise and powerful, but in the end they all became lamentable…”

"Among them, I think Liu Che is the most pitiful, because he killed the crown prince Liu Ju because he mistakenly believed that the crown prince was plotting a rebellion due to a witchcraft disaster, and the queen Wei Zifu also committed suicide!"

"In the end, he calmed down and realized that others were deceiving him and trying to sow discord between them. However, Wei Zifu and Liu Ciren were both gone. Even if Emperor Wu of Han killed Liu Quti and Jiang Chong, it would be useless. The dead cannot be resurrected!"

"In the end, Liu Che built a palace for remembering his son, but it was just for self-consolation. It implicated hundreds of thousands of people, but in the end, only the eight words "father does not know son, son does not know father" were left. Jingren, how sad is this!"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng say this, Jingren looked at his father and said seriously:
"Dad, I won't rebel. If you let me be the crown prince, I will do it. If you don't let me be the crown prince, I won't do it!"

Before Jingren could finish, Ye Mingsheng interrupted him and said:

"Jingren, what does my father mean by telling you so much? Although the ancients said that there is no father and son in the royal family since ancient times, there are countless cases in history where fathers and sons killed each other and brothers fought against each other for power and the throne of the emperor, but I don't want these things to happen in our family!"

"So in order to avoid these tragedies, I think we should be honest with each other. As a father, I want to set an example. So when you ask me questions, I don't want to use some high-sounding words to evade you. You are grown up and have the ability to distinguish the truth from falsehood..."

"I just want to tell you my true thoughts, Jingren, do you understand what Dad means?"