Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 193 How can we let the villains have all the glory?
Xia Zhibai left.

He left in a very calm manner, leaving Zhu Biao alone in deep thought.

a long time.

Zhu Biao closed his eyes, stretched out his thumb, and pressed his brows which were a little sore due to fatigue. After pressing for a while, he felt that the fatigue was not so obvious. Then he opened his eyes again and drank the strong tea on the table.

Xia Zhibai's words cannot be fully trusted.

In Xia Zhibai's words, all officials in Jiangnan are bad, and everything he wants to achieve is good.

This is obviously impossible.

"Through trade, we can strengthen the connection between the north and the south and break the 'conservatism' of the Jiangnan region. The Jiangnan region is full of contempt and ridicule for other regions due to its prosperous economy. Xia Zhibai did not think of suppressing it, but of letting it go and even promoting it."

"Open the sea."

"It will allow materials from the Jiangnan region to flow out more conveniently."

"And through large equipment like steam engines? Jiangnan was forced to let go of its conservativeness in exchange for coal and iron from the north. In this way, the economy of the country was revitalized, and we became a country with you in us. Jiangnan was still economically prosperous, but it could no longer be 'self-sufficient' like it is now, and there would no longer be only 'xenophobia'."

“It really does help bridge the gap between the north and the south.”

"It's just that Xia Zhibai is a madman. He not only wants to interfere in business, but also wants to interfere in the war between Ming Dynasty and Northern Yuan Dynasty."

Zhu Biao asked the eunuch to bring him another cup of strong tea.

The tea is boiling hot.

Zhu Biao's reaction was a little slow.

His attention was not on the tea, but on considering the pros and cons.

Xia Zhibai's suggestion is very tempting.

Moreover, Xia Zhibai attached great importance to striking at the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River.

It is simply called "cutting down the vassal states."

This kind of title and attention was the first time Zhu Biao had heard of it. After thinking about it carefully, he felt that it made sense. Didn't his father do enough to rectify Jiangnan? Since Zhang Shicheng, the Jiangnan region has been full of voices against the Ming Dynasty.

After that, the Ming Dynasty imposed heavy taxes on Jiangnan, forcibly relocated the population in the Jiangnan region, and so on.

Now, taking advantage of the Guo Huan case, they launched a massive massacre, killing many wealthy businessmen in the Jiangnan region. The area was filled with wailing and even unrest. Various voices from the people were heard to call back the soul of Zhang Shicheng.

Not so.

The officials of the Salt Transport Bureau proposed to establish a salt company and invest a certain amount of pig iron to maintain stability, but it was impossible to pass the memorial. However, the public opinion in Jiangnan was boiling, and the court had to do something to calm the people. The "Kyoto Salt Industry" that was widely praised by the world, lowering the price of salt and benefiting the people was naturally one of them.

However, the imperial court had already taken harsh and ruthless measures, but the officials and gentry in the Jiangnan region still did not change their attitude at all.

My father scolded me for a long time for this.

As far as Zhu Biao himself was concerned, his father had run out of tricks.

If there were no other ideas, the Ming Dynasty would maintain high-pressure rule in governing Jiangnan, using strong violence to force these Jiangnan gentry to bow their heads. But as Xia Zhibai said, Jiangnan is "rich" in scholars, and no matter how much the court kills them, they will eventually have to use them.

Just a new group of people.

Does this actually work? Maybe, but not much.

Zhu Biao rubbed his brows again and sighed, "I haven't been resting well recently. I feel heavier and heavier, and more and more tired."

"Go and tell these things to Father."

"Let Father decide."

Zhu Biao held the teacup in his hand, took a few sips, put it aside, and walked towards the Fengtian Hall.

in the city.

Xia Zhibai walked out of the palace.

Yingtian Prefecture is more prosperous than before.

With the stability of the world, as the capital of the Ming Dynasty, this prosperity is inevitable.

However, this prosperity was relatively empty. Prices were not very low, transportation in the Ming Dynasty was not very convenient, and the delivery of goods was not very smooth. In addition, over the past year, the imperial court had plundered the world's wealthy, and a large number of big merchants had gone bankrupt. Today, under the governance of Zhu Yuanzhang, the world has become increasingly closed and conservative, and exchanges between countries are shrinking at a visible rate.

This is not a good phenomenon.

Merchants are the barometer of the world's economy.

More merchants represent close exchanges between different places, while fewer merchants represent closedness and conservatism.

Relying on the court's means to reconcile the north and the south would cost too much. The stronger the court's control, the less communication there would be between the north and the south. It might even block normal exchanges between the two places, leading to all kinds of rumors. Over time, the situation where the south despises the north and the north despises the south would still occur.

"Ugh."

"I don't know if Zhu Biao listened to what I said."

"The Ming Dynasty's governance system is full of contradictions and problems. It attributes the solution of all problems to the power of the emperor alone. This is really speechless. It suppresses the subjective initiative of the people and relies on force to solve problems. With the disappearance of the strong man, it is bound to collapse."

"But this is something the Zhu family needs to consider."

"What I need to consider now is to deal with Li Sheng's matter."

"Although you have helped to pass on this set of 'standards', it is not a good thing to praise yourself too much. I don't like being calculated like this. The gentry in Jiangnan and these officials with ulterior motives will all pay the price."

Xia Zhibai withdrew his gaze.

He looked for the direction and walked towards the salt shop. Xia Zhibai returned to the salt shop, Jing Man had not come back yet, the current transportation was not convenient, the salt factory was several miles away from Yingtian Prefecture, it was impossible to return without half a day, taking advantage of this time, Xia Zhibai also took a nap.

After more than half a year of traveling by boat and train, even if one had a strong body, one would find it difficult to bear.

Now that he relaxed, he quickly fell asleep.

This sleep.

Xia Zhibai slept soundly.

Also slept soundly.

When Xia Zhibai woke up, it was already afternoon.

Zhou Ning and other engineers had arrived a long time ago. When they heard that Xia Zhibai was sleeping, they did not dare to disturb him. They just stayed in the living room with worried look in their eyes.

"Governor, what should we do next?" Tang Yi looked at Zhou Ning.

Zhou Ning's face was full of frowns, and there was an unremovable sadness in his brows.

How would he know?

He was more uneasy than anyone else.

The reason why Kyoto Salt Industry has fallen to its current state is closely related to him.

It was he who called Li Sheng, and to a certain extent, it was also his fault that Li Sheng took away the drawings.

But he really didn't expect that his old friend's son would become like this. Because he made some contributions to the steam engine, he became completely arrogant and greedily wanted to take the credit for the steam engine for himself. He even shamelessly told others that this was his design. Xia Zhibai was jealous of talents and suppressed his talent.

When Zhou Ning heard Li Sheng slandering Xia Zhibai like this, he was completely stunned.

His face turned the color of liver with anger.

He had been unable to sleep or eat for the past few months, and had been thinking about how to deal with the situation. However, Li Sheng did not know how to restrain himself and instead became even more outrageous. Not only did he steal the drawings, he also gave them to officials from the Salt Transport Bureau. Now, with the merit of presenting the drawings, he became a distinguished guest of the Salt Transport Bureau and became famous throughout the world.

But it was precisely because of Li Sheng’s shamelessness that Kyoto Salt Industry was under a lot of pressure.

And defamation.

It was all caused by him.

Zhou Ning's mind was filled with thoughts, which eventually turned into a long silence.

He could not think of any excuse.

There is no arguing.

He looked at Tang Yi and the others and said in a deep voice, "Don't panic, I caused all this. I will explain it to Xia Zhuangyuan and will not implicate you. I trusted Li Sheng too much at the time and thought that Li Sheng was just complaining and dissatisfied. I didn't think about it at all."

"Ugh."

While Zhou Ning and Tang Yi were talking quietly, Xia Zhibai, who had just taken a nap, arrived in the living room. Seeing Xia Zhibai coming, Zhou Ning and the others instantly became quiet and bowed respectfully. Xia Zhibai smiled and said, "I don't have so many formalities here, so you don't have to be so polite."

At this time.

Zhou Ning took the initiative to admit his fault and said with shame: "Xia Zhuangyuan, Li Sheng's matter is all my fault. I didn't know him well and I trusted him too much, which led to him doing such a cruel thing. I..."

Before Zhou Ning could finish his words, Xia Zhibai interrupted him with a smile.

"Li Sheng?"

"I don't take his affairs to heart."

"I didn't call you here this time because of Li Sheng."

"Li Sheng is just an engineer. There are at least a hundred people like him in the world. I have high standards and I won't take these things to heart. And you don't need to worry about the blueprints. Even if Li Sheng didn't steal them, I would have taken them out."

Zhou Ning was stunned.

Tang Yi and others were also at a loss.

They were a little confused for a moment. Such a big thing happened in Kyoto Salt Industry, why did Xia Zhibai act like he was unaware of it?
Zhou Ning hesitated for a moment, thinking that Xia Zhibai didn't know the details yet, and quickly explained: "Xia Zhuangyuan, maybe I didn't express it clearly."

"I know." Xia Zhibai gave Zhou Ning a clear look and said, "Li Sheng stole the blueprints and used them to open salt companies in many salt-making areas in Jiangnan. He also spread all kinds of rumors in Yingtian Prefecture, saying that the cost of salt production is very low, and that the Jingdu Salt Shop has made a lot of dirty money. He also said that I suppressed him, etc."

"I know all this."

"Then why are you still so calm?" Zhou Ning looked puzzled.

Isn’t this a big deal?

Xia Zhibai smiled and said, "If I only managed the Kyoto Salt Industry, these things would not only be important but also fatal, but I am not just a businessman. From the perspective of an official, these things are not very important."

"Li Sheng is certainly hateful."

“But it also helped me.”

"I had originally planned to release these drawings after returning to Yingtian Prefecture, but Li Sheng did this and released them ahead of time. Moreover, under the influence of the Guo Huan case and the greed of the gentry in the Jiangnan region, the effect was much better than if I had released them myself."

"It's just in a disgusting way."

"One of the reasons why I called you here this time is to publish the 'blueprint' again!"

"How can such a beautiful thing be surpassed by a little night of beauty?"

Xia Zhibai had a smile in the corner of his eyes, as if he really didn't take these things to heart.

(End of this chapter)