Of course, that doesn't mean they didn't get any benefits at all. Although their person was just an earl, after all, when Zhu Yuanzhang conquered the world, this person helped Zhu Yuanzhang a lot. Zhu Yuanzhang was not a lunatic. He convicted this person based on mere speculation without any basis. Moreover, this person played a role in providing advice and suggestions to Zhu Yuanzhang during his campaigns in the north and south. Even in the process of Zhu Yuanzhang's determination to dominate the world, several key turning points were achieved thanks to this person's advice.
Therefore, out of habit, Zhu Yuanzhang preferred to follow this person's advice.
Because of this, these people can naturally take advantage of Zhu Yuanzhang's opportunity to follow this person's advice to benefit themselves. The most important one is to take advantage of the fact that the Northern Yuan Dynasty was not destroyed and Zhu Yuanzhang had to launch successive Northern Expeditions to advise and issue treasure banknotes.
The idea of issuing treasure banknotes made Zhu Yuanzhang overjoyed. He was so poor that he almost pawned the palace and solved his financial crisis in one fell swoop. But Zhu Yuanzhang, who doesn't understand business, wouldn't know that the happiest person about handing out treasure notes is not him, but the people sitting next to the red sandalwood table today. The treasure banknote alone directly doubled the wealth of these people. Although this doubling may not seem like much, you must know that this is the wealth accumulated by their ancestors for hundreds of years, and it only took them six short years to obtain it through treasure money.
"We have been cautious all these years. Zhu Yuanzhang has been looking for us for so many years, but he has found nothing. Judging from the current situation, even if he is given a few more years, he will not be able to threaten us." As he said this, the old man waved his hand. , shook his head and said: "Let's not talk about this for now, our biggest threat now is this treasure banknote in front of us."
After the old man finished speaking, everyone looked solemn. Needless to say, they all know the importance of treasure money.
"Brother Shen, I still need you to work harder. No matter what method you use, no matter how much it costs, you must make this treasure banknote." At this point, the old man raised his head and added confidently and arrogantly, "I believe that he Whatever Zhu Yuanzhang can make, we can definitely make."
The old man has the confidence to be so confident. He has experienced the chaos of the late Yuan Dynasty, and even though the Ming Dynasty was established again, there are countless masters who have withered during this period, and countless skills that have been lost. However, the inheritance under their hands was protected by them, and not a single bit was lost, and it was completely preserved by them.
It can be said that even the Ming Dynasty was inferior to them in terms of various skills.
After the old man finished speaking, he turned to look at Mr. Shen.
Even though Mr. Shen has a carefree personality, he nodded seriously at this time and agreed, "Old man, I will go all out and try to see if I can make paper out of cotton when I get back. But I still can't relax about the news. , every time we get some information about the production of treasure banknotes, we can make many detours."
Seeing Mr. Shen giving face like this, the leader of the old man also had a smile on his face and nodded towards Mr. Shen, "Of course." After saying that, he turned to Jingzhai and said: "Jingzhai, you heard me, your mission is critical now. The key is whether the treasure banknotes can be made and whether they can be made as soon as possible. Now it depends on you. No matter what method you use, whether it is threats or bribes, I will fully support you. Don't be afraid to spend money , everyone in the Baobao Lifting Department who has access to the production of Baobao, you should go all out to bribe them, even if you throw money at them, you must tell me the secret of Baobao making."
After hearing the instructions from the elder leader, Jingzhai did not simply nod his head and agreed like Elder Shen did. Instead, he felt embarrassed. After a pause, he clasped his fists and explained: "I'm not trying to shirk it, but this Han Du is actually extremely cunning. Before we wanted to contact those craftsmen, he concentrated the protection of those craftsmen, and also sent Shanzi battalion to garrison in Chaozhou. There are constant patrols near the paper bureau day and night. Our people went to see it, and the reply they received was that the commander of Shanzi Camp is a capable man. With their current patrol formation, they want to enter the paper bureau without being noticed. , it’s simply impossible…”
The more Jingzhai explained, the more dissatisfied the old man became. He even suddenly waved his hand to interrupt Jingzhai's next words. He picked up the treasure note and showed it to everyone, "This is more than just a treasure note. This is Zhu Yuanzhang putting a knife on our necks. This is life and death. Once such a treasure note comes out, how popular it is, I will Not much to say. As long as Zhu Yuanzhang prints a large number of such treasure banknotes, he can replace all private treasure banknotes in less than a year. By then, as the old treasure banknotes will become less and less, our treasure banknotes will still dare to Will it be spread among the people? Although we still have a lot of treasures in our hands now, in less than a year, those treasures will become worthless. "
Although what the old man said was serious, he was also telling the truth.
When everyone heard it, it was like a wake-up call, shattering the luck in their hearts to pieces. This time it's no joke, it's a real life and death crisis.
The old man at the head cupped his hands and clasped his fists, and said solemnly: "I hope that everyone can work together to overcome this difficulty!"
"yes......"
The responses from everyone were impassioned and sincere, as if they worked together and nothing could stop them.
However, the ideal is very full, and the reality is very skinny.
More than ten days later, the first blow came to them.
"Brother Shen, what are you talking about? Cotton can't be made into paper?" The old man, the leader, stood next to a pool with Mr. Shen and others.
The leader, the old man, and others were notified by Mr. Shen. As soon as they arrived, they were informed that cotton could not be made into paper. Everyone's expressions were not very good. They thought that making such treasure banknotes would not be easy, but they never thought that they would get off to a bad start. They were stumped in the first step of making paper.
Mr. Shen's carefree temperament disappeared now, and instead he looked sad and tired. Despite the hard work he had put in over the past few days, he slowly sat on the ground in front of a few people and let out a long frustrated sigh.
Mr. Shen pointed to the pool in front of him and said: "The old man originally thought that the paper made from cotton should be similar to the paper made from mulberry bark. They are both retting. But he did not expect that the cotton and mulberry bark were completely different things. The old man followed the same rules as before. If you do it in the same way, the result is either a pool of smelly water like this, or the cotton in the water is still the same, and it is impossible to use it to make paper."
