My father is Jiajing

Chapter 196: Savor It Carefully
It was not a big problem for Yan Song to consider such an issue, but the most uncontrollable problem for him was that Emperor Jiajing would not give him the opportunity to support Prince Yu.

To put it bluntly, in addition to Yan Song's ability and talent, what Emperor Jiajing valued most in order to ascend to the throne was his ability to understand current affairs.

In this regard, Yan Song is much better than his predecessor Xia Yan.

The biggest reason why Xia Yan ended up with his head and body separated was that he could never understand the Emperor Jiajing's intentions and always thought that he was the wise prime minister who could create welfare for the Ming Dynasty.

If such a minister were placed in an era of a strong monarch, how could he have a good ending? Therefore, Xia Yan's end was also a doomed disaster.

If Xia Yan was born in a country where the ruler is weak and the ministers are strong, or if he met a wise ruler who was willing to delegate power, perhaps he could have realized his ambitions, but unfortunately he did not.

Now Yan Song actually had an idea that he shouldn't have. He wanted to invest his own ideas in the future of the Ming Dynasty. He is also seeking death!

However, Yan Song was clearer than Xia Yan, and he quickly got rid of this stupid idea from his mind.

He knows best what kind of a bad boy his child is.

Everyone says that Yan Shifan is extremely smart, but Yan Song knows very well that Yan Shifan's intelligence is just a small cleverness. What he can accomplish now is nothing more than relying on the fact that he is still the prime minister of the cabinet.

If one day he was dismissed from office by the emperor, he would be unable to protect the peace of the Yan family by relying on Yan Shifan's wisdom.

Therefore, the biggest problem Yan Song is thinking about now is not who will be the future crown prince or the future ruler of the Ming Dynasty. He is thinking about how to get out of this situation safely, and then protect his son and return to his hometown in Jiangxi, and live a peaceful and wealthy life as a rich man.

Apart from that, he had no other thoughts.

But, unfortunately, he got old, and his smart son felt that he was no longer capable.

Therefore, Yan Song's wish will most likely end in vain.

After Zhu Zaigui came back from toasting everyone with a smile, he said hello to Yan Song, Zhang Zhi and other cabinet ministers before leaving the banquet.

Because Zhu Zaigui also knew that as long as he was there, these people would not be able to relax and would not be happy, and if he did not leave, no one else could leave either.

So after Zhu Zaigui took a walk around, he left.

Only Yan Song and his people were left in front of the Wuying Palace, continuing to drink and have fun, enjoying this royal banquet.

Not long after Zhu Zaigui left the banquet and returned to the palace, Huang Jin came to visit again.

Now Huang Jin would visit Zhu Zaigui's Prince Yu's Mansion just like visiting a friend, and he would come every few days.

Every time Zhu Zaigui saw Huang Jin coming, he had to greet him with a smile, which made him feel very uncomfortable. After all, he and Huang Jin were not familiar with each other.

But Huang Jin was so warm and familiar that Zhu Zaigui had no choice but to receive him warmly.

"It's a great loss that you didn't attend the banquet for heroes. With your contributions, you might have been able to get a seat as the host."

Zhu Zaigui spoke enthusiastically to Huang Jin.

Huang Jin smiled and said, "Your Highness, you are being too kind to me. How can my small contribution compare to yours? Your Highness does not seek credit, so how can I dare to seek credit? Besides, I am an eunuch. If I sit in the main seat at the banquet for meritorious officials, what will those civil and military officials think? Will they not accuse me of being a powerful eunuch? I dare not bear such a crime."

Zhu Zaigui also laughed after hearing Huang Jin's words. Huang Jin's words were indeed true. Throughout the history of the Ming Dynasty, it can be said that there were not a few eunuchs who had made military achievements.

However, no matter how great their military achievements were, these eunuchs could not receive the same rewards as military generals and nobles. At most, they could turn the rewards for their merits into grace from their families. If they wanted more, they might get into trouble. Therefore, the meritorious eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty were actually quite aggrieved. For the same merits, others could be awarded the title of Duke or Marquis, but they did not even get a single feather. In the end, they had to please the civil officials to leave a more positive reputation for themselves.

Otherwise, God knows how these literati will describe them in the history books of later generations.

After Zhu Zaigui and Huang Jin exchanged greetings, he asked, "What advice do you have for me today, eunuch?"

Huang Jin smiled and said, "Nothing else, I just want to ask what price the prince is going to set for the No. 3 green tea and the No. 5 black tea, so that I can be prepared."

Zhu Zaigui understood. It turned out that he wanted to have a psychological expectation in advance and wanted to know how much money he could earn.

It's all little things.

Zhu Zaigui immediately said, "According to preliminary estimates, I intend to set the retail price of No. 3 Green Tea and No. 5 Black Tea at 1 liang 8 qian, and the purchase price at 1 liang 2 qian. On average, after deducting costs and management, I can make about 5 qian of silver per bottle."

"If we can sell 100,000 bottles a month, we will make a profit of about 500,000 silver coins. Converted into silver, it means an income of 50,000 taels. You will get 30% of the 50,000 taels, which means a share of 15,000 taels."

Huang Jin felt a little disappointed when he heard that the monthly share was only 15,000 taels. He thought that the green tea and black tea could also have dividends of tens of thousands of taels a month like Yiran sugar and Bingxin sugar.

I didn't expect it was only 15,000 taels. How could I explain this to the Emperor? The Emperor expected to receive 50,000 to 60,000 taels of silver a month.

And this gap is quite big indeed.

Zhu Zaigui looked at the embarrassed Huang Jin, and he seemed to understand something.

Zhu Zaigui said, "Eunuch, these 100,000 bottles are just a temporary shipment. When the market expands and the number of drinkers increases, the shipment will definitely be much higher. By then, this green tea and black tea will be like Yiran and Bingxin candies, earning tens of thousands of taels of silver a month."

"Besides, I made this tea not to earn money, but to use it to exchange for more cattle, sheep and horses on the grassland! The grassland people have been eating these beef and mutton for many years, and their stomachs are generally weak. They urgently need our tea to relieve their urgent needs."

"But the tea-horse smuggling is particularly serious, and the court can't get much dividends. In addition, the grasslands have always been disobedient to the court and always make trouble. They want to threaten us with trade."

"So, I thought that if I could sell these bottled green tea and black tea drinks as high-end products to the nobles on the grassland, I could empty their homes and make them exchange the cattle, sheep and horses they have worked so hard to raise for these flashy drinks. Then I could sell these cattle, sheep and horses that I made a profit from to those in need. The price difference would be even more astonishing."

"But the problem now is how can I sell this tea to the grassland. This is also giving me a headache. I wonder if you have any good ideas that can make this happen."

Huang Jin was stunned when he heard this. It seemed like this was really the case. But this matter was not something he could decide.

So Huang Jin did not agree immediately. Huang Jin said, "Your Majesty, please think about this idea clearly and write a plan for me. Then I will study it carefully. If it is feasible, I will inform Your Majesty immediately."

Zhu Zaiqi grinned, "Okay, then I will start to organize the plan, and then I will wait for good news from you, eunuch."

Huang Jin smiled and replied, "Your Highness is too polite. If there is nothing else, I will leave first."

Zhu Zaigui hurriedly called out to Meng Chong, "Meng Chong! Go and bring two more boxes of black tea and green tea to my father-in-law, so that he can taste them carefully!"

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Asking for monthly tickets, collecting wheat at home, the update is not timely, please forgive me...

(End of this chapter)