Chapter 140: Install the wheel of merchants

In a certain sense, the downfall of the Ming Dynasty is closely related to its vast royal family.

Of course, although the royal family was large, with only a few hundred thousand people, it couldn’t bring down the mighty Ming Dynasty.

However, these people were too selfish, and too greedy. While the emperor’s family struggled to make ends meet, they enjoyed the finest delicacies. Even though the country had little land left, they still seized fields for themselves.

These individuals never paid taxes; they constantly reached out to the emperor for goods and resembled parasites, gnawing at the pillars of the Great Ming.

Zhu Zhi could imagine the situation two hundred years later. The court granted salaries to the royal family and officials. When it was time for military expenditures, they would find a financial deficit of several million stones.

What to do?

They couldn’t deny the soldiers their salaries, right?

The only solution was to increase taxes.

The people were already complaining. If some natural disaster or calamity occurred at this point, the Great Ming would be completely finished.

If the Great Ming ran out of food, and people wanted to eat, they could only start anew. However, the newly started fire might not welcome those surnamed Zhu.

In order for future generations to eat well, and survive, and for the Great Ming’s legacy to continue for a hundred generations, the royal family and the emperor’s family had to be separated. While maintaining familial ties, they couldn’t have a relationship of support and being supported.

Letting the royal family find their own way out was a decision Zhu Yunwen had to make, and Zhu Zhi and Zhu Geng were the ones chosen by Zhu Yunwen.

The core of Zhu Yunwen’s calculations was simple:

Replace the salaries of the royal family with the profits from commerce.

If they truly canceled the salaries of the royal family from the court’s expenditure, the Great Ming could save a considerable amount of money each year. This money could then be used to strengthen the country and the military!

However, ideals are full, and reality is bony.

Now, it’s not the Great Tang, where fullness is beautiful, and people like things bony.

Wanting the royal family to give up their fiefdoms and engage in commerce was tantamount to taking lives.

Living well at home, enjoying imperial provisions, living in luxury, being respected by tens of thousands – why should I go to pull food and sell cloth? Then, what am I as King? I might as well find a crooked-neck tree and hang myself.

Even if royal decrees are hard to violate, forcing the kings to engage in commerce.

But this business thing isn’t something that anyone can handle. What if luck isn’t good, the market isn’t prosperous, and the investment is lost? How can the family eat then?

Being ridiculed by others, where does the face of a king go?

Zhu Zhi and Zhu Geng are not shameless, undertaking the lowly livelihood of a merchant while holding the status of a king. They understand that compared to the lives of their descendants, their faces are worthless.

Zhu Gui, Zhu Yang, and Zhu Quan fell silent.

They had never thought that Emperor Jianwen was so visionary. His concerns were not for the immediate gains but for the prosperity of future generations and the eternal prosperity of the Great Ming!

“We misunderstood the emperor.”

Zhu Gui sighed.

They thought the emperor was bullying the Kings of Liao and Min, but now it seemed that they were too superficial.

Merely observing the surface would never reveal the truth.

To understand the underlying colors beneath the surface, it is necessary to ask the root causes.

Zhu Gui, Zhu Yang, and Zhu Quan looked at each other, slowly stood up, lined up, and respectfully bowed to Zhu Zhi, who was unaware of the situation.

“This bow is for the sake of our future generations!”

Zhu Gui solemnly declared.

“Thirteenth Brother, how can I bear this?”

Zhu Zhi quickly stepped aside.

Zhu Gui chuckled and said, “Why can’t you bear it? What you and King of Min have endured is not for the two of you but for the Great Ming!”

Zhu Quan looked at Zhu Zhi with admiration and said, “Looking at Fifteenth Brother’s prosperity, the profits from the business must be substantial. Is it true that you and King of Min are responsible for producing the medical gauze mentioned in the rumors?”

“If an outsider inquires, I will nod. We are a family. Since you are asking, I can only tell the truth. The medical gauze and alcohol are actually produced by the harem. King of Min and I are only responsible for buying and selling matters.”

Zhu Zhi honestly replied.

“The harem produces it?”

Zhu Gui and the others were surprised, but they quickly understood. The products from the harem were not suitable for trading openly. By letting Zhu Zhi and the King of Min engage in commerce, they only needed to be responsible for purchasing materials and selling them to the Ministry of War.

Zhu Zhi and the King of Min themselves would not incur any losses. On the contrary, they could gain a considerable profit.

No wonder these two could easily enter into business. With the Empress and the Emperor as their backing, what is there to fear?

“Fifteenth Brother, give your older brother an idea. How much does the business earn in a month?”

Zhu Yang asked in a low voice.

Zhu Zhi shook his head slightly, took out a ledger from his sleeve, and said, “This is the income and expenses of the past few months. We are currently preparing for the establishment of the China Bookstore, where the Empress contributes the majority, accounting for seventy percent, while Min Wang and I contribute only thirty percent…”

“Hiss, the profit is so much?!”

Zhu Quan took a deep breath.

According to the ledger data, Zhu Zhi’s monthly income from business was at least over 2500 taels. The annual income might exceed thirty thousand taels! The original annual salary of ten thousand stones, equivalent to more than five thousand taels, it’s six times the original salary.

“This, how is this possible?”

Zhu Yang found it hard to believe.

Kunning Palace.

Ma Enhui handed over the summarized ledger to Zhu Yunwen and smiled, “Your Majesty, the revenue from the harem has been clarified, totaling 128,500 taels.”

“Have you deducted the expenses for the stove shop and the China Bookstore?”

Zhu Yunwen took it and looked at Ma Enhui, asking.

Ma Enhui nodded slightly and sighed, “Of course, I am aware of this. I never thought that, in less than half a year, the harem could accumulate such an astonishing wealth. If the harem can achieve this, how much wealth will the wealthy merchants in the country have?”

Zhu Yunwen flipped through the ledger, carefully examining it, and said, “Currently, merchants haven’t formed a substantial force. Their financial strength is not yet powerful. However, in a few years, they will grow. Two to three hundred thousand taels are considered medium merchants, and those with more than a million silver taels are considered large merchants. As for the mega-merchants the Empress mentioned, hehe, I’m afraid they will have tens of millions of silver taels in wealth.”

“Tens of millions of taels?”

Ma Enhui’s face turned somewhat pale. She grabbed Zhu Yunwen’s arm and said forcefully, “Your Majesty, if merchants possess such wealth, it will be detrimental to the country!”

Wealthy merchants’ wealth could rival a country, so how would the Great Ming cope?

Zhu Yunwen patted Ma Enhui’s hand and smiled, “Rest assured, there will always be a way to deal with them as long as I am here. Currently, I need them. This prosperous era of the Great Ming needs them to contribute.”

To revitalize the economy of the Great Ming, relying solely on the government practice of buying and selling was not feasible. Merchant capital must be involved.

Shanxi merchants, Huizhou merchants, Guanshan merchants, Dongting merchants, Jiangxi merchants, Fujian-Zhejiang maritime merchants, Longyou merchants, Wu’an merchants, and other well-known merchants in later generations, should also become active now.

The new commercial policy was a carnival for merchants, but it was also a carnival for the Great Ming.

Zhu Yunwen was well aware of the formidable power of merchants and the consequences once financial cliques formed. However, for now, it was not the time to worry about these things.

If the Great Ming wanted to move forward, it must install the wheel of merchants.

Just as Zhu Yunwen was looking at the account book and preparing to plan the Central Bank, Shuangxi hurriedly came over and said to Zhu Yunwen, “Your Majesty, Duke of Wei seeks an audience. He said there is news about Zheng He.”

Zhu Yunwenn’s eyes lit up, quickly putting down the account book, and said to Ma Enhui, “Rest for now, and I’ll calculate later when I return.”

Zhu Yunxuan had given Zheng He permission to go out to sea to track down the Japanese pirates. However, once Zheng He left, it had been more than a month without any news, making Zhu Yunwen uneasy.

Now that there was news, he didn’t know whether it was good or bad.

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