Time flies and it’s January again in a blink of an eye.
Zhu Yuanzhang still got up early and went to bed late every day, insisting on doing his job as an emperor.
On this day, Zhu Yuanzhang was correcting memorials in his study. Mao Xiang, who had been in Shanghu County for two months, finally returned to Jinling.
"Your Majesty, the things you asked me to do have been taken care of."
As soon as Mao Xiang returned to Jinling, he rushed to the study room without stopping to report to Zhu Yuanzhang the situation reported to Shanghu County.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he immediately remembered what he had asked Mao Xiang to do before. He was overjoyed and said loudly:
"Okay, Jinyiwei really did not disappoint us. Please report back quickly."
"Li Jin is from Fengyang. His parents died young. He grew up eating the food of hundreds of families when he was a child. His mind has never been very bright. He was confused in the first half of his life."
"Until four years ago, when Li Jin was seventeen years old, the Ming Dynasty was established and the emperor founded the country. It was as if Li Jin suddenly had an enlightenment and became smarter."
"Not only that, Li Jin also taught himself by eavesdropping on his teacher's lectures outside the private school. In the first year of Hongwu, he achieved the title of scholar."
Zhu Yuanzhang heard Mao Xiang's words getting more and more outrageous, and his face became more confused. He immediately interrupted Mao Xiang and said:
"Are you sure that Li Jin was an idiot before he turned seventeen?"
Mao Xiang nodded.
"Are you sure he became a scholar just by eavesdropping outside a private school?"
Mao Xiang swallowed, but nodded firmly.
"absurd!"
Zhu Yuanzhang directly took action.
"Mao Xiang, we have high hopes for you, Jin Yiwei, and this is how you repay us?"
"If even a kid doesn't believe this, how dare you use it to try to prevaricate us?"
Zhu Biao listened with disbelief on his face. How could such a thing happen in this world?
Mao Xiang was so frightened by Zhu Yuanzhang that he knelt down and said in fear:
"Your Majesty, please calm down. Everything I said is true."
"Then Li Jin is also a famous figure in the local area. Every household knows about his past. Even the humble people didn't believe it at first, but everyone in their village said so."
"If the emperor doesn't believe it, you can send someone to investigate again. If you hide anything from your humble position, you are willing to die."
Seeing the sincerity of what Mao Xiang said, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but feel shaken in his heart. Is there really a genius who has an epiphany?
But this is not what Zhu Yuanzhang is concerned about. What he is concerned about is what did Li Jin do during his tenure?
"Okay, get back on your feet. Let's trust you for the time being. You can continue."
After Mao Xiang stood up slowly, he continued:
"Then after Li Jin became a scholar, he never continued to gain fame."
"In the first year of Hongwu, when the Ming Dynasty unified the north and the south and was full of people, scholars were allowed to hold the position of county magistrate."
"This Li Jin is an official fanatic. After hearing about this policy, he went directly to Shanghu County to take office regardless of Mr. Private School's dissuasion."
Zhu Biao said in surprise:
"He is already a county official at the age of seventeen?"
Mao Xiang nodded. After all, extraordinary things are done in extraordinary times.
How could Zhu Yuanzhang have so many reserve talents at the beginning? If someone is willing to work for Zhu Yuanzhang, it is already very good, so why do we need to pay so much attention?
"When Li Jin first took office in Shanghai County, the county had no more than 100 households and a population of only 300 people. There was no food in the county government treasury."
"Not only that, the whole county is covered with swamps. Because it is close to the sea, most of the land in Shanghu County is saline-alkali land and cannot be cultivated at all."
"Most of the people in the county make a living by fishing. This is how they can maintain their livelihood. Otherwise, all the people in the county would have fled long ago."
"But after the emperor issued the sea ban, these people planned to leave Shanghu County and go to other places to make a living."
"Li Jin came forward immediately and said that there was a way to feed and clothe these people, and he would guarantee it with his life. If he couldn't do it, he would be willing to die to apologize."
"That's why there are only three hundred people left."
Zhu Yuanzhang's mind instantly flashed to the crowds of people in Shanghu County. He couldn't believe that before Li Jin took office, there were less than 300 people here.
Today, there are only more than 300,000 people in Shanghu County, a full three thousand times more! !
In less than three years, Li Jin turned Shanghu County into such a prosperous business!
When Zhu Yuanzhang fell into memories, Mao Xiang's narration continued:
"Next, Li Jin will lead the people in the county to reclaim wasteland as promised."
"Not only that, Li Jin got a steady stream of food from nowhere and began to rely on this food to attract refugees."
"During Li Jin's tenure, the number of people in Shanghu County increased explosively, and now the number of people in Shanghu County has reached 350,000."
"However, according to the humble investigation, these people are not all refugees from the Ming Dynasty. There are also..."
Speaking of this, Mao Xiang secretly raised his eyes and glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang, but hesitated to speak.
When Zhu Biao heard the wonderful part, Mao Xiang remained silent, prompting Zhu Biao to speak directly:
"If there's anything else, tell me quickly!"
Zhu Yuanzhang also looked at Mao Xiang, and then Mao Xiang continued:
"There are also many people from Japan."
Mao Xiang found that Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have known this for a long time, and added:
"There are even people from Jiaozhi, Korea, and Luzon, and all of these people were sold as slaves before settling in Shanghu County."
"According to my humble inquiries, at least 70% of the population in Shanghu County comes from these slaves."
"What? Seventy percent?"
Although Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Li Jin was engaged in the so-called slave trade, he did not know that Li Jin had made such a big deal.
With so many people being slaves, wouldn't Shanghu County be extremely unstable?
"But don't worry, Your Majesty. These slaves are obviously domesticated and don't dare to hurt anyone."
"According to the investigation of the humble office, these slaves have contributed greatly to the rapid development of Shanghu County in recent years."
In the process of continuous investigation, Mao Xiang actually admired this county magistrate whom he had never met.
No matter in terms of talent or skills, those who can manage Shanghu County to such a scale must be a great talent, so he said a good word for Li Jin.
"snort!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was not very satisfied. For such a large number of slaves, Zhu Yuanzhang always felt that it was not very stable.
"How much money does Li Jin have? Have you found out?"
Mao Xiang broke out in cold sweat and said tremblingly:
"Being humble and incompetent, then Li Jin built some kind of Pufa Bank and deposited all his money there."
"The humble position has no authority, and I dare not alert others. I know nothing about Li Jin's property."
"Pufa Bank?"
Zhu Yuanzhang was not angry about this, but was very interested in Li Jin's bank.
"How big is this bank?"
Mao Xiang said hurriedly:
"All the common people, merchants and officials in Shanghu County use the bank notes, which are very convenient to use."
"Not only that, the scale of this bank is very large. Now Songjiang Prefecture has branches of Pufa Bank."
"According to common people's rumors, Li Jin plans to open this bank throughout the entire Ming Dynasty."
"Convenient? Is it convenient to have our treasure money?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said proudly:
"We don't believe that people can use banknotes from Shanghai Pudong Development Bank when they have precious banknotes."
