Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 251 If the enemy can go, I can go too!

Zhu Yiliu didn't say anything.

Since he had returned to Beijing, he of course went to meet Empress Dowager Li and also met the Emperor in advance.

In this matter, Empress Dowager Li gave advice and the Emperor gave guarantees.

He has received profits in the past few years and has a special hope in the future, but the emperor has not told everyone about it yet.

Moreover, this reform plan was beneficial to him: after all, he was granted a lot of land and estates, so much that other feudal lords were salivating over it.

It's nothing more than a partnership matter. Let's take stock of the assets. What will be the proportion of Lu Fan's shares in the royal family business in the future?

There are only a few people in the entire Lu clan now, so he can travel light and all the assets of the clan can be included, unlike them who have so many burdens.

Seeing that Prince Lu, the only one who could impress the emperor with his family affection, remained silent, the hearts of most of the other princes sank.

This time when they came to Beijing, they all came with a great fear that they might not be able to return.

In fact, there is no ability to resist.

What's more, the plan proposed by the emperor was nothing more than depriving them of the right to deal with the rest of the royal family and the affairs within their own fiefdom, and from then on turning them all into partners of this royal family business.

There would probably still be a lot of money, after all, Changming set an example and did the math for them.

At this time, Prince Su still asked: "The land of the Su clan is not much... They are all princes, and the partnership capital... and the population of each clan is different..."

After he spoke, some princes also spoke up boldly: "Yes. Although the land tax is nominally owned by the prince's palace, it is actually managed by the government. It is nothing more than a portion of the land tax being given to the prince's palace as clan salary. Your Majesty should take all of it, and the court and the local governments..."

They began to express their opinions at the same time, and their voices gradually became louder.

Zhu Changluo did not stop it, but welcomed this situation.

Look: haven’t they already started discussing the details?

So he said, "So, as long as these are not a problem, the kings generally think this method is feasible?"

The princes were tricked by him and were speechless for a moment.

The question is, aren’t these a problem?

They just wanted to point out the details of the matter and then tactfully ask the emperor to reconsider and "have mercy" on them.

But Zhu Changluo waved his hand domineeringly: "As long as the kings think this method is feasible, I can make the decision on the side of the court officials. Together with the imperial farm, these more than 100,000 hectares of land are the foundation of the Zhu family. I will let the clan office manage it, first to ensure taxes, and second to protect the clan salary. If anyone says otherwise, I have a sharp knife."

The words of "Having a Sharp Blade" seemed to be spoken to the officials who might be unwilling, but they were also spoken to the princes.

Several princes shrank their necks and lowered their heads.

"Then let's talk about how to solve the minor problems."

How to calculate share capital?
It's just math, it's just the pattern.

First of all, as for the shares, everyone is treated equally. The princes have the same proportion, and the dukes have the same proportion.

In this share, the emperor has the largest share, is that not too much?

Every level of clan member is also taken into account here, which is almost equivalent to every registered clan member having a share.

Listening to the numbers with many decimal places, the princes couldn't help feeling dizzy.

"Of course, each vassal only has one person in charge, and that person is naturally the vassal king, and they only get a share of the profits." Zhu Changluo added, "In fact, the capital stock is too small, and most of the clan members probably don't expect to get a share, or think they can't get much. Therefore, during this process, if you have extra money, you might as well buy these dry shares. If you get more, they will also get some money first." Zhu Changluo taught them how to operate, because in addition to the dry shares obtained by status, there are also shares for the investment.

In order to balance interests and ensure good control, the total proportion of dry shares is designed to be quite high. It is much more cost-effective to buy dry shares with money than to invest with money.

This can be considered an invisible benefit that Zhu Changluo provided to the high-ranking members of the royal family who were princes or dukes, to ease their resentment.

With this part as a foundation, the subsequent capital increase and share expansion will be calculated based on the investment, which will reflect the differences in wealth among the feudal domains.

Fortunately, at this time Zhu Changluo provided two ways to balance the relationship between them: one was to set an upper limit for the capital increase and stock expansion to prevent the gap from being too large; the other was that for some truly poor vassal states, he gave them the grace of borrowing funds, of course there was also an upper limit on the borrowing amount.

As for whether the middle and low-level royal family members will make a fuss in the future about “selling the original shares at a low price back then”, that’s a joke. Without the emperor’s intervention, the middle and low-level royal family members are all at the mercy of the vassal kings.

Isn't Chu Fan trying to cause a fight to the death and gather a crowd to riot?

"With the example of Changminghao, you don't have to worry about losing money. Even if we only look at the income from the more than 100,000 hectares of land, there is no telling how much it would be in a year. After the profits are divided, we can discuss further capital increase and share expansion. It's up to you whether you want to continue investing money or run other businesses in Beijing." Zhu Changluo's tone was more relaxed. "To be honest, if the princes all become businessmen from now on, I and my descendants don't have to worry about any more princes causing trouble."

This topic was not interesting and everyone remained silent.

Then there were some details about how the clan salary would be paid out after it was handed over to the clan affairs office. Zhu Changluo also explained to them the concept of profit from capital turnover and account period.

The annual clan salary of more than one million taels is not a small sum.

If the middle and lower level clan members can get some money this time, and then get a job, go to school, or pay rent, and their families don't have to worry about it for the time being, then the clan salary that comes later can be put into use.

Zhu Changluo planned to try out the concept of this bank in the royal family's businesses first.

At present, there are money shops among the people. But at this stage, money shops only use the actual value difference between banknotes, copper coins and silver to exchange them. Of course, the loan business has existed since ancient times.

However, paying interest on deposits to attract deposits is not really done on a large scale. The existing practice is more like the rich lending for profit. How can ordinary people save any spare money? If they have any, they keep it at home.

It is an old saying that wealth should not be shown to the public.

But isn’t the clan salary of more than 80,000 clan members of the Ming Dynasty equivalent to a huge payroll business?
If the salary is paid one year late, isn’t it equivalent to a huge time deposit?
Zhu Changluo did not put this matter into Changminghao. He tried it out in the royal family business just to accumulate examples.

If you really want to run a bank, you still have to think long-term, because this thing is too powerful.

These are all things for the future, and Zhu Changluo didn’t say much to them at the moment.

Later in the conversation, he explained why he only tried to obtain income from maritime trade besides land, instead of catering to the salt administration interests that the princes had no choice but to accept and covet.

Zhu Changluo looked at them and said, "Maritime trade is risky. You are worried, and so am I. Once a ship sinks, it is difficult to verify. But I am planning to let the royal family start with maritime trade, not just for profit. When I say go out, I don't mean just to go out to sea to make money. If you are interested, pay more money and teach your children well. In front of our ancestors, I tell you that I want to expand our territory. To do maritime trade, of course we need warships and soldiers to accompany us. If maritime trade is successful, the territory will be expanded."

Everyone was shocked, and Prince Lu also looked at the emperor with anticipation in his eyes.

"In my eyes, there is no country that is not conquered! There are foreign vassal states that are submissive in name but repeatedly invade our borders; there are also foreign vassal states that have lost what they have gained and refused to obey the king! There are even more and more countries that have been occupied by Western barbarians. If the invaders can go there, I can go there too!"

Zhu Changluo snorted, with a disdainful look on his face.

"I have reorganized the Beijing camp, strictly implemented preferential treatment and exemption to enrich the financial plan, re-established the Imperial College to select talents, and today I am discussing major plans with the vassal states again, all for the purpose of reviving the Ming Dynasty and competing in the world! The northern barbarians are still there, and the pirates are coming again. If nothing changes, the Ming Dynasty may not last long; only by fighting hard, we can open a new chapter. By then, how can I not carry on the ambition of Taizu and go a step further, and actually enfeoff the vassal states in the outer vassal states, so that all the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty have the surname Zhu?"

"Now I am asking you all to leave your fiefdoms. In the future, you may be able to become rulers of a country and have your own subjects!"

"But if you don't help me with this new legacy, you will never see that day. Your descendants will not be able to protect it if they are incompetent!"

Zhu Changluo stood up and said, "I am making a big change to the vassal states this time. In the short term, it is to find a way out for the court's finances and for the clansmen, but you may not be willing to do so. But in the long term, I am also looking for a way out for you and your sons and grandsons. The times have changed. Instead of waiting for the Western barbarians and the Northern Tartars to gradually surround the Ming Dynasty and let the internal and external thieves seize the Ming Dynasty, I hope that you can protect the Ming Dynasty again, instead of just guarding the small piece of land in the palace now!"

(End of this chapter)