As a minister of the foreign court, Gao Wuzhen was different from when he was the prince's companion and observer of government. It was not easy to see the Cisheng Queen Mother who had handed over power to the emperor, so when he was on duty the next day, he He sent someone to contact Prince Lu, and after leaving his shift, he went to Prince Lu's Mansion to meet with Zhu Yiliu.
Gao Pingshi doesn't have any ill feelings towards Zhu Yijun. After all, they don't have many opportunities to meet each other. When they do meet, it's usually when Zhu Yijun is present. Naturally, it's a "courteous reciprocity" and both parties are very polite. .
On the contrary, Zhu Yiyi had a good impression of Gao Jingshi. Perhaps it was because Zhu Yijun praised him so much. His Royal Highness Prince Lu always believed that Gao Jingshi was a genius in the world. If he hadn't, there would be no chance of him. He really hoped that Gao Jingshi could be his chief minister of Prince Lu's palace. That's good.
Because of this mentality, when Gao Jingshi sent someone to deliver the greeting card, His Royal Highness Prince Lu was so excited that he jumped three feet high. He called all the officials in the palace to come over and lecture them, asking them to make arrangements for the evening reception. .
The officials in the royal palace are all officials with no background. Just like Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng who were on duty in Prince Yu's palace, they are basically marginal figures. There are occasionally one or two officials from the real school and the heart school in Prince Lu's palace. He was a person who was put in for "safety reasons", but he was also of low status.
When these fringe figures learned that Gao Gongbao was coming to visit, they didn't need Zhu Yili's nagging. They were already very motivated and hoped to leave a good impression on Gao Gong. If there was a chance to be recommended by him in the future, they would just say a few words. In a short time, you can get yourself out of the fire pit of the palace.
The status of a royal official is average, and there is no chance of promotion. It is always not a place where officials want to go. Unless they are the kind of officials who are just waiting to die, there are basically no people who actively want to be a royal official.
Long Qing was considered a half-accident at that time. Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, Chen Yiqin and others were not bad at their level. The reason why it was called "half-accident" was because although Emperor Jiajing refused to establish a prince, he was actually prepared in his heart. of. Jiajing knew that if King Yu or King Jing inherited the great treasure in the future, but the officials he knew well were all a bunch of losers, then there would be no way to play, and the emperor would definitely be played around by the courtiers.
Therefore, it is impossible to establish a prince without establishing a prince. However, Jiajing still put a lot of thought into the subordinate officials of King Yu and King Jing.
But the current King Lu is different. Zhu Yijun was already in power when he left the cabinet to study, and Zhu Yijun is his elder brother, not his father. Of course, he will not consider cultivating his younger brother's political level, so he does not pay much attention to the selection of royal officials. Ability, what is considered is the so-called character - in other words, you just need to fool my brother into being honest, and the cultivation of ability is not important.
After all, he is a prince who cannot be queen after all. He does not need any ability, he just needs to be obedient.
Speaking of which, the reason why Saint King Chongzhen performed so well in history is probably closely related to this point - just look at his governance level and you will know that he was completely deceived in every aspect.
Emperor Longqing's political level at that time was average, but he couldn't help but have a good teacher, and he gradually figured out some key points, so before his death, he once taught Zhu Yijun, to the effect that to govern the world, you only need to find the right Just find the right people and let them do it. As for the emperor himself, he only needs to stabilize the factory guards and military power.
At present, Prince Lu has no good teachers. A group of pitiful palace officials just want to curry favor with the high-ranking Gongbao in order to get his appreciation and escape from the sea of misery. Therefore, if nothing else, they are still very attentive to the dinner party.
After all, King Lu is "watching all the vassals" and he has a mother who loves him. Therefore, although he has little say in politics, his economic benefits are more than ten times better than those of King Yu back then. He can still do a good job in reception work. Presentable.
As a result, when Gao Pingshi arrived at Prince Lu's Mansion, he was a little surprised by the grandness of the Prince's Mansion. He looked at the palace officials who were almost lining up to welcome him, and then at the palace which had obviously done a temporary "general cleaning" and was only not decorated with lights, and slowly understood what was going on.
In front of everyone, Gao Pingshi immediately showed an approachable smile and praised the palace officials one by one. It seemed that this group of people were more capable than the Dukes of Gungun who were on duty in the imperial court. Everyone was so happy that they almost scratched their heads and scratched their heads.
In order to welcome Gao Gongbao's arrival, His Royal Highness Prince Lu also put a lot of thought into it. Even after consulting Chang Shi and others, he actually opened the middle door and personally waited outside the gate of the palace to greet Gao Pragmatic. He was so frightened that he hurriedly got out of the sedan chair and blamed himself again and again.
Well, there's nothing we can do about it. His Royal Highness Prince Lu can be courteous to virtuous corporals, but he cannot climb up the pole if he is superior to someone. Today's meeting is originally public. If he dares to do this, he will be scolded on the street tomorrow.
Why? Because the rules set by Zhu Yuanzhang are there, the prince's respect is "the same as the emperor", which is much higher than that of various courtiers. Regardless of whether Zhu Yili has power or not, at least this respect cannot be ignored.
At least not on the surface.
The two of them greeted each other politely, and Zhu Yixi happily led Gao Pragmatic into the mansion. The two of them went to the side hall and sat down, with Wangfu Changshi and others also waiting beside them.
This is a rule, Gao Jingshi knows, but this rule is a bit troublesome, because what Gao Jingshi wants to talk to King Lu today, it is best not to spread before it is confirmed.
"The emperor often praises Gao Gongbao in front of the little king for his great loyalty and talent. The little king has always hoped to be taught by Gao Gongbao, and today he finally got what he wanted. I am so happy."
Naturally, Gao Jingshi was humble at first, and then asked: "I came to see His Highness today because I want to ask questions about King Jing's legacy. I wonder if it would be convenient for Your Highness to talk about it?"
"Oh, it's about King Jing's legacy." Zhu Yili's political experience was indeed not rich, and his "performance level" was not up to standard. Gao Pragmatic could tell at a glance that his eyes flickered.
However, Zhu Yili quickly answered: "Xiao Wang doesn't know much about this matter. I don't know what Gao Gongbao wants to ask specifically?"
Both of them seemed to have skipped the question of "King Jing's legacy is none of your business." After all, although he is the Minister of Rongzheng, he has another identity: the actual helmsman of the Real School.
In other words, the words he asked and the attitude he expressed today may not necessarily represent his personal understanding, but may very well represent the attitude of the entire Practical School officials on this matter.
Gao Jingshi didn't want to delay any more and asked directly: "Does Your Highness know what exactly King Jing's legacy is, how much it is worth, and what kind of benefits it can bring to Your Highness?"
A hint of caution flashed in Zhu Yili's eyes, and he said cautiously: "Well... the Ministry of Revenue has not come up with specific provisions, so Xiao Wang is not very clear."
Gao Pragmatic was not satisfied with this answer and asked: "Don't you understand the general situation? Your Highness, I'm sorry, this question is very important."
"Ah, this..." Zhu Yirui hesitated for a moment and glanced at Chang Shi. Unfortunately, Chang Shi immediately lowered his gaze and showed no expression at all.
Zhu Yirui looked at Gao Pangshi again. Under his gaze, he could only cough dryly and said: "Uh... Generally speaking, Xiao Wang heard that there should be at least 40,000 hectares of fertile land?"
Gao Pragmatic rolled his eyes inwardly: Are you dreaming? The number of 40,000 hectares is indeed known to the world, but if you say that 40,000 hectares are all "fertile farmland", are you treating me like an idiot?
He chuckled and said calmly: "I come here with sincerity. I hope that Your Highness will also treat me with sincerity."
As expected, Zhu Yili's expression changed.
Gao Pragmatic's words seemed a bit excessive.
However, he knew how powerful Gao Pragmatic was, and Zhu Yili was really a little scared of him. Therefore, he squeezed out a smile and said with a slight embarrassment: "Gao Gongbao's words are serious. How dare Xiao Wang treat Gao Gongbao's sincerity? However, Xiao Wang is really not very clear about what Gao Gongbao asked. I don't know what Gao Gongbao is doing. Is there any more detailed information you can tell Xiao Wang?"
Gao Pingshi pretended to ponder for a moment, and then said: "It's quite troublesome to talk about the specific things. How about I just tell His Highness the number?"
"What number?" Zhu Yili asked.
"Even if King Jing's legacy is fully calculated, the amount of income it can bring to His Highness every year."
Zhu Yiliu said in astonishment: "Does Gao Gongbao even know this?"
Gao Jingshi said calmly: "Your Highness should know that Jinghua is quite good at settling accounts."
Oh, Jinghua... no wonder.
Zhu Yirui nodded, indicating that he understood, and then muttered: "In that case, please ask Gao Gongbao to inform you."
Gao pragmatically said: "In an ordinary year, calculated based on all real figures, King Jing's legacy will probably bring an income of fifty-three thousand, four hundred and twenty-seven taels of silver to His Highness every year."
Zhu Yirui's eyes suddenly widened, and his breathing became a little rapid: "So many?"
Unexpectedly, Gao Pragmatic ignored him and continued: "If everything goes well in the places where the legacy is located this year, then this number can still increase somewhat, and the income can probably rise to more than 57,000 taels." silver."
It's close to 60,000 taels, and the annual income is really high. Because King Jing’s legacy is mainly based on income from fields, minerals and even fish catches, its profitability cannot be compared with sea trade.
It has been said before that the income from farming is actually very poor. Usually, if you buy an acre of land and rely on farming itself to "recover the money", even if the weather is good, it will take more than 30 years. King Jing's legacy can earn nearly 60,000 yuan a year. The annual income of two is indeed very impressive. No wonder Zhu Yili was surprised.
However, Zhu Yirui was still surprised too early, because what Gao Pragmatic said next immediately surprised him even more.
Gao pragmatic sighed, shook his head and said: "I'll be honest, King Jing's properties look huge, but the profitability is really poor. If I have such properties under my name, I must try my best to sell them off as soon as possible."
Zhu Yirui was stunned for a long time before asking: "What...why is this? Five or sixty thousand taels of silver a year is not a good profit?"
"Of course, it's too bad." Gao Jingshi said with a look of regret: "If these properties of King Jing are all real figures, then their total value is about 1.6 million taels of silver... Your Highness, 160 With a capital of 10,000 taels, you can only earn less than 60,000 taels a year? Tsk tsk."
Gao pragmatic snorted lightly and said with a look of disdain: "The major shopkeepers and supervisors under Jinghua, no matter which line of business they are in, if I give them a capital of 1.6 million taels, he can only give me an annual The income of 60,000 taels, ha... in the second year, he will no longer be able to eat from Jinghua."
Zhu Yijun said in surprise: "Ah, this, isn't this already a lot of money?"
Gao Jingshi shook his head and said: "A business that only takes thirty years to repay the capital is called a lot of profit? Your Highness, forgive me for being arrogant. If Jinghua makes money at this speed, how big do you think Jinghua can be today? One Jinghua I’m afraid the soap factory will be shut down, right?”
Uh...that seems to be the case too? The investment in Jinghua Soap Factory in the early years seemed to be only a few thousand taels, and it has only been in operation for more than ten years now. According to this profit rate, it would be good to have a scale of tens of thousands taels now.
But in reality? He had some knowledge of the dividends of Jinghua Soap Factory. According to the nobles, the annual profit of the entire soap factory seemed to be more than one hundred thousand taels!
More than one hundred thousand taels...
Zhu Yili's eyes suddenly turned red. A Jinghua soap factory was actually more profitable than this king's future industry? What's going on in this world? Isn’t this king the head of all the vassals? Aren’t the vassals watching? Why is this king so poor?
Gao Pragmatic seemed to be a roundworm in his stomach, and he happened to speak again at this time: "Oh, by the way, the current total capital of Jinghua Soap Factory is only worth about 400,000 taels, and it will not exceed 450,000 taels at most - —Chen means if it is sold."
Zhu Yiliu's eyes widened immediately: "No way? Jinghua Soap Factory is so cheap?"
Gao Pragmatic laughed and said: "This is calculated based on the total cost, but it does not mean that I will sell it." He paused and explained: "The total cost is the total cost, and the profit is the profit. . Your Highness, it is precisely because the total cost of the soap factory is not high but its profits are high that I cannot sell it. Do you think this is true?"
Ah, of course, only a fool would sell such a chicken that lays golden eggs.
Zhu Yiyi nodded repeatedly.
Gao Pingshi smiled and said: "So, Your Highness, from a comparison, the total capital of King Jing's inheritance is about 1.6 million taels, but he can only earn 50,000 to 60,000 taels a year - just calculate it as 60,000 taels. Isn’t it also useless? If I had replaced it, I would have cashed it out long ago and used the money to do other things. What else is not more expensive than this?”
"Yes, yes, yes." Zhu Yiyi nodded repeatedly: "This thing is really slow to get money...Hey, wait, it's not right."
Gao pragmatic asked: "What's wrong?"
Zhu Yili scratched his head in an awkward manner, frowned and said: "Of course you can make a lot of money with one million six hundred thousand taels in the hands of your Gao Gongbao, but... this, this... Xiao Wang can't. "
Gao Pragmatic laughed: "Your Highness, you think you don't know these things, but is this important? Think about it, Duke Cheng Guo and Duke Yingying, don't they know these things very well?"
Zhu Yiliu was stunned and said hesitantly: "Oh? That's right, they probably can't either..."
Yes, everyone can't do it, but why can you make money even if you don't know how to do business, but you can't do it when you become the king?
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