Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 822: Entrust “financial management”?
When he was in public school, he heard that Concubine Yu suddenly sent a sum of money for no apparent reason. After thinking about it, Zhang Shou felt that it might not be a reward.
After all, Zhu Ying is not short of money, and he is not as short of money as he was when he first came to Beijing. If it weren't for the tuition fees sent by a group of students when they were studying in Cuiyunjian, if it weren't for the fact that both the Zhao Mansion and the Ge Mansion allowed him to live freely, and if the Imperial College hadn't provided him with a dormitory later, he would have been starving.
Therefore, since he is already a wealthy man now, there is no reason for Concubine Yu to reward him with this little money.
Moreover, when Zhu Ying's dowry was first given, Concubine Yu added a box of jewels, each of which was very rare. Ten rolls of brocade satin were also tributes from the palace, which were hard to buy even with money. Later, when he married Zhu Ying, Concubine Yu sent another gift, which turned out to be a painting of "Autumn Evening in the Pond" by Emperor Huizong of Song. If calculated in terms of money, ten boxes of gold and silver would not be enough, but a hundred boxes might be enough.
So, he guessed that maybe because Concubine Yu gave birth to a son, she took out some of her private money, hoping that he could help her think of an investment method so that she could make money and interest in the future, and also accumulate some assets for her son.
But this amount of money was not particularly large. For Concubine Yu, success would be the best. If it failed, it would just be a waste of money. As for whether Princess Yongping, his daughter, would get a share, he didn't know. After all, it was someone else's business.
However, he never expected that when Zhu Ying went to the palace to ask Concubine Yu for confirmation, Concubine Yu actually revealed her feelings in front of the biological mothers of the third and fourth princes , the Imperial Noble Concubine and the Virtuous Concubine, and then the two of them followed suit... The most outrageous thing is, why did the queen mother join in the fun? Could it be that the emperor would deduct money from his own mother?
No matter how strange or puzzled Zhang Shou was, the boxes of gold and silver in the palace had been given away, and they would not be returned. So after Zhu Ying confessed it, she said in a low voice with a guilty conscience: "I didn't expect that the queen would say it directly in front of others, and I didn't expect that the Imperial Noble Consort and the Virtuous Consort would get involved, and I didn't expect the Queen Mother..."
She paused abruptly, then said hesitantly, "But it seems to me that they have discussed this beforehand!"
Zhang Shou heard this agreed upon sentence, but it was like hearing thunder in silence, and he suddenly felt that he had grasped some key point. He immediately laughed. So that's how it is. Zhu Ying is really blessed, and thanks to her, he has also become blessed.
"Are you ladies treating me like a money-making kid? But they are not afraid of losing money, so what should I worry about? You know, I was originally worried that the efficiency of cotton ginning and textile production has increased several times, so the demand for cotton is high, but excessive expansion of cotton fields will easily squeeze out grain fields, especially in the southeast. So, I originally thought that the northwest was a good choice, but I didn't dare to do it without anyone's support."
Zhu Ying's eyes widened immediately: "Northwest? Cotton fields? Do you mean... Hetao? Or Hexi?"
Zhang Shou chuckled. If this was a virtuous lady from a scholarly family who followed the Three Obediences and Four Virtues, she might have some geographical knowledge of the Northwest, but when she heard the word "cotton fields", she would at most pick out the vast Shaanxi and talk about it in detail. How could she be like Zhu Ying, who immediately mentioned two quite remarkable places in the entire Northwest?
There is the Hetao, which is known as the Little Jiangnan on the Great Wall, and there are also the Hexi Suzhou, Ganzhou, Liangzhou and other guards that connect the east and the west!
Seeing that Zhang Shou had clearly admitted it, Zhu Ying immediately became worried: "I've heard from my father and elder brother before that that place is a strategic location that is very suitable for farming. However, the two armies that went north before went through Xuanfu and Datong. Although they won a great victory, in addition to those who fled north, many northern barbarians also fled westward. So I heard that the guards in Hetao and Hexi are facing a great enemy."
"and……"
Although Zhu Ying had always believed in Zhang Shou, he had to pour cold water on him this time: "Besides, the Hetao area is fertile and has always been the largest granary in the northwest. Emperor Taizu issued a death order that anyone who dared to lose the Hetao area would be a sinner of the Ming Dynasty. Anyone who dared to abandon the Hetao area would have his head hung on his ancestral tomb!"
"So even the emperor doesn't dare to ask for cotton planting in Hetao! As for Hexi, the land there is a little worse than Hetao, but there are fewer people. If we want to plant cotton there, it's probably, possible, maybe... okay, right?"
The eldest daughter was domineering when she should be domineering, but she was also very sensible when she should be sensible. Seeing her looking at him eagerly with an expression that said "don't do anything stupid", Zhang Shou couldn't help but think she was very cute.
So, he deliberately winked and said, "What if I insist on having my own way?"
"Then I..." Zhu Ying was about to object, but when she caught a glimpse of a smile in Zhang Shou's eyes, she was smart and quick-witted and reacted immediately. She was furious. "You actually cheated me! You have so much evil in mind but you act like a gentleman... Tell me, what is your plan? If you don't, I won't help you!"
"Okay, okay, I'll tell you what I'm saying!" Zhang Shou laughed and said nonchalantly, "The soil and water in Hetao are fertile, so it's most suitable for growing rice, but it's not suitable for growing cotton. Cotton doesn't require such fertile land, and it's not suitable for growing in Hetao, so of course I won't occupy the grain fields in Hetao that even Taizu has banned."
"As for Hexi... the land there is actually quite suitable for growing cotton, and is definitely not worse than the southeast. Moreover, you have to know that the entire northwest is a bitterly cold place in winter, and cotton-padded jackets, quilts... these cold-weather items are the least likely to be sold. And the materials for spinning wheels and looms can be obtained locally. If we grow cotton locally, gin it, spin it, and weave it, how much cheaper will it be than shipping it from the southeast?"
Zhu Ying could naturally understand Zhang Shou's meaning. The Duke of Zhao's Mansion was certainly well-known in the capital, but if it was in a place as far away as Hexi, the reputation of the Duke of Zhao's Mansion would not be so useful.
But if the money of the Empress Dowagers in the palace was invested there, the effect would naturally be completely different. However, although the Empress Dowagers believed in Zhang Shou and her, would they be willing to publicize it like this? After all, if the outsiders thought that the concubines in the palace were so greedy, it would not only ruin one person's reputation...
Just as she was thinking this and feeling a little embarrassed, she heard Zhang Shou suddenly say, "Yingying, I remember that Duke Chu was once a general in the northwest? I think he was the general in Gansu?"
Zhu Ying was stunned. She stared at Zhang Shou in amazement, but he only smiled and showed his white teeth: "I heard that Duke Chu still has many of his old subordinates there. I wonder if he is interested in this matter? You know, although Hetao is still relatively rich, Hexi has been a place of war for a long time and is not a good place. Those old subordinates must have cried poor to Duke Chu many times, right?"
"A Shou, you said before that I went to the Duke of Chu's mansion to settle accounts with the Duke of Chu. This is really rude... But now aren't you just taking revenge on someone else? You hold a grudge even more than I do!"
Seeing that Zhu Ying's face was full of anger and joy, and there was no sign of anger or accusation, Zhang Shou did not answer Zhu Ying's question, but asked with a smile: "Then will you go to the Duke of Chu's mansion and help me speak?"
"Go, of course!" Zhu Ying finally smiled, and said with great joy, "Not only Duke Chu, I will go find Earl Weinan when I get back. Although many of the Emperor's businesses are registered under his name, I want to ask him if he is willing to join in under his own name this time. After all, with such a large business, although more people may make more noise, they also have greater power."
Although the area of Ganzhou, Suzhou, Liangzhou and Guazhou, also known as the Hexi Corridor, seems to be just a narrow strip on the map and seems inconspicuous, it has been an important node between the east and the west since the beginning of the Silk Road in the Han Dynasty. To this day, its strategic position cannot be ignored. Moreover, just like the unrest in the north, the west has actually never been peaceful in the past 100 years.
Emperor Taizu started his career very early, and because of his skill points, his firearms were extremely powerful, and he made all kinds of guns and cannons that were completely cheating at that time. Therefore, he began to consider the problem of powerful enemies in the West at the beginning, so Timur was defeated before he could fully rise. But Taizu died too early, and the emperors after him were not so lucky.
Especially the guards in Hexi, that was a place of long-lasting war. Until the northern expedition not long ago, Turpan and Hami were fighting each other to the death. Since Haji Ali, the brother of the former king of Turpan, succeeded to the throne, he has never stopped provoking the guards in Hexi.
Therefore, even though he is now the son-in-law of the Duke of Zhao, Zhang Shou does not think that his little power can do anything there. Zhu Ying can draw inferences from one example and think of attracting a group of allies, so he is naturally happy to see it happen.
However, what he actually wanted to say was that planting cotton in the Hexi Corridor was just an introduction. What he wanted to do more was to continue planting cotton further west than Suzhou, to Guazhou, and even to the Turpan Basin further west, and places further west.
However, it is too early to have such hope as there is no peace at all in the Northwest.
Therefore, thinking of the situation in the northwest that he had investigated, Zhang Shou smiled nonchalantly and said, "In that case, Yingying, there is no need to trouble two people for one thing. You should go to the Duke of Chu's mansion in person tomorrow. It's all up to you."
Although she knew that Zhang Shou was abusing his power for personal gain and revenge, when Zhang Shou personally opened the map and explained some of the details, Zhu Ying agreed without hesitation. Of course, she did not forget to put forward her own conditions, which was to borrow Fatty Lu for a while.
So, the next morning, Fatty Lu, who had no idea what was going on, was dragged to Zhang Garden by Ah Liu. Poor him, he had a good night's sleep, and after washing and changing clothes in the morning, he had no time to eat, when Ah Liu rushed in and dragged him away. At this time, his mind was completely confused.
However, when Zhang Shou said that the four carriages in the palace, namely the Empress Dowager, the Imperial Noble Consort, the Noble Consort and the Virtuous Consort, had all taken out a considerable amount of cosmetics money and entrusted them to "financial management", he was immediately stunned and then clapped his hands hard.
"Why didn't I think of that!" He said, even pounding his fist with excitement. "Financial management, financial management, this is such a great name! It's more suitable than any other things, such as stock, investment, and dividends! Is there any better way to raise funds than using people's money and the people who pay the money can't make decisions? This money can be used for anything!"
You are really too good at drawing inferences, aren't you? I just talked about financial management, but you even came up with the name of fundraising!
Zhang Shou had long experienced Lu Sanlang's unusual mathematical mind, but at this moment he still couldn't help but sigh. However, he did want to use the cosmetics money of the nobles in the palace, but he wanted to prevent them from making decisions based on their investment - of course, he also wanted to prevent other people from injecting capital to make decisions in the future, but the little fat man actually shouted out such words.
Therefore, he stopped talking when he wanted to. He saw Zhu Ying slap the armrest angrily and yelled at Ah Liu. Then, Ah Liu went up with a cold face and carried the fat boy, who weighed nearly 200 kilograms, out of the door. As the ghostly howlings of begging for mercy came from outside, he couldn't help but sigh and said, "When will this kid control his mouth?"
Lu Sanlang, who was escorted in by Ah Liu again, had a completely intact face, but the smile on his face seemed even more exaggerated. He limped back to sit down, and this time he patted his chest and promised, "Teacher and Master's Wife, rest assured. I will never say anything nonsense when I arrive at the Duke of Chu's Mansion. I will say whatever you tell me to say..."
"Okay then. The important task of convincing Duke Chu to provide money and manpower is now left to you."
Knowing that the little fat boy didn't need to beat around the bush, Zhu Ying simply said something shocking. Seeing that the little fat boy was simply stunned, she said with a half-smile: "I'll take you with me. What, are you not sure?"
"I am sure, of course I am sure." Lu Sanlang swallowed hard, and then asked carefully, "Teacher, if we really do this financial management as you said... there will not be only one Duke Chu, right? Who else are you going to involve? I should be mentally prepared."
Even with the example of the four nobles in the palace, when Zhu Ying mentioned the "big family" of Duke of Chu Zhang Rui, Earl of Xiangyang Zhang Qiong, Earl of Weinan Zhang Kang, and Marquis of Huaiqing and Marquis of Nanyang, all of whom had the surname Zhang, on behalf of Zhang Shou, he still couldn't help but feel a chill in his back and uttered a dry sigh: "It really is true that all the Zhangs in the world are one family!"
Zhu Ying hadn't thought about it before, but after hearing what Lu Sanlang said, she realized that this big list, let alone others, really caught all the nobles named Zhang. She didn't know whether but then she said seriously: "That's because there are not enough people now. Anyway, according to the old rules of these ladies in the palace, we only charge this much money for each family."
"One hundred taels of gold, one hundred taels of silver, one portion for each person, no more!"
Hearing Zhu Ying's slogan, Zhang Shou couldn't help but laugh. Is this a fixed share of the fund-raising? No one can get more if they want to? They are all geniuses. The first illegal fund-raising in the Ming Dynasty is about to begin! In this case, he should cover this fund-raising with a beautiful coat to avoid being laughed at by future generations.
