After Gu Zuo returned to Beijing, the first thing he did was to enter the palace to meet the saint.
The emperor had urged the matter in Zhejiang several times, so he knew that the matter was urgent and did not dare to delay for a moment.
Yang Shangyi wanted to resign, but the emperor stopped him and said: "You are the commander-in-chief of Ningxia. Going north from Ningxia, just across the Great Wall is the Hetao. With your bravery and skill in fighting, Mr. Yangge will control the northwest no matter what the situation is. , I will definitely use you in the first battle. If the rematch is successful, I am not short of people, but I have to find another way to find money, so you should listen to it."
Due to corruption in Zhejiang, many businessmen's families suffered catastrophe. Of course, officials were also missing. Although the emperor did not have a clear figure yet, the amount of money confiscated in addition to cash must be one million taels, and cash was even more. There are more than 1.6 million taels.
The emperor grabbed silver in the south of the Yangtze River and spent it on the war in the northwest. This more or less caused some resentment, especially in the coastal areas of the south of the Yangtze River. However, the emperor's reputation was too great, and many people dared not speak out.
Gu Zuo was small, and there was a cute height difference between him and Yang Shangyi, which made Zhu Houzhao want to laugh.
"...Businesses such as cloth shops and teahouses that are insignificant to military and state affairs can be sold gradually by the Shaofu after the influence of Zhejiang Eucalyptus fades away. They can't make much money by keeping them, and they have to manage them. It's really not a mistake, and the court also doesn't care. It cannot take up all the business. More importantly, the young man must concentrate his money to do bigger things."
Something bigger.
Gu Zuo still didn't understand what the emperor was referring to.
Zhu Houzhao knew that this Gu Liangbi was actually an economic talent. He was the emperor who had been forcing the Ministry of Revenue to be pragmatic and finally forced him out.
Otherwise, if you ask Han Wen, a scholar in his sixties and who has been studying all his life, to settle accounts, he will not have much talent even if a knife is placed on his neck. That is to say, guarding the money and not using it randomly has kept him in the position of Da Situ.
Gu Zuo worked his way up from the head of the household department, and through hard work, became a person Han Wen could not live without, and finally reached the position of minister.
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao was willing to tell him some concepts.
"Your Majesty's intention is to streamline the Young Mansion and sell unnecessary shops and houses to facilitate management and concentrate financial resources."
"That's right." Zhu Houzhao wrote two words on a piece of paper, "One is profit and the other is lifeline. Private businessmen all set up tea shops and restaurants for profit, but the Shaofu is not a private organization, and I did not set up this organization simply to make money. Some money, but to control the lifeblood of money and food. Liangbi, you must understand that some businesses in the world are easy to do or called small businesses, but some businesses are difficult to do. If you don’t have a millionaire net worth, you can’t even build up a prestige. These businesses are like young masters. You can just do it, such as shipbuilding. There are also some businesses that don't make much money, but they have a great impact on the stability of the country, such as grain merchants."
"If the imperial court controls the largest grain merchant, there won't be a single grain of grain. The transportation system alone is also a huge wealth. In extreme moments, if military grain is requisitioned, a transportation fleet will be available immediately."
After hearing this, Gu Zuo realized, "If the imperial court has such a strong economic power, then whether it is relieving victims, calming prices, or preparing the army for war, it can get twice the result with half the effort!"
….
The disadvantage is that once this huge interest group is established, future monarchs will not be able to control it well. The corruption and the absorption of private wealth are also quite alarming.
But the laws of history cannot be resisted, so there is no need to worry about that.
From an economic perspective, the history of China is that the economic environment was loose during the founding of the country, which was the so-called rest with the people. After a few decades, localities gradually accumulated wealth, so local power increased and the authority of the central government declined relatively. The central government began to centralize power, represented by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
After wealth is concentrated in the center, the local area will be depressed, which will lead to the decline of people's livelihood and social turmoil. Then it will be said that "the sky is dead and the yellow sky is coming. Once chaos breaks out, it will be almost killed. After the founding of the country, it will begin to loosen up again." …
This cycle never stops.
Zhu Houzhao generally began to tighten control over the economy. In theory, if you want to centralize power, you must tighten control over the economy.
A vulgar saying is, if you don’t have money, you’ll be fucked?
But he did not take money from ordinary people, but extended it to business and overseas.
Gu Zuo's understanding was also correct.
"So after getting on the right track, you can sell some shops in Zhejiang at a reasonable price, and then pool the money to set up a business to buy and sell grain. A few days ago, President Zhang went to Nanzhili to borrow grain, but Nanzhili... There is no food. This is a wake-up call. If something happens and millions of people open their mouths asking for food, what do you think we will do?"
"What your Majesty said is absolutely true. Food is the most important thing for the people. Among the institutions established by the Shaofu, the grain merchants should be the most important."
Number one in the sky...well, Zhu Houzhao doesn't care about this order, and in a sense, food is indeed the most important. He now cannot see that the country is in extreme food shortage. But just in case, it’s always right.
"You are right. The second point is that the purpose of making money is more. I want you to set up a shipyard."
Zhu Houzhao has already asked Mei Kejia to do this.
But he didn't know how to build a ship or run a factory. He didn't know whether it would be possible to ask Mei Kejia to put something there. The only trick that can be used is business competition.
Just like flying to the southwest and flying to the northeast.
If the two families do it well, whoever does it better will get it.
But what Gu Liangbi didn't understand was why the emperor mentioned this shipyard in the second place.
"You will understand the reason. Anyway, just do it and don't be afraid of losing money. I am the emperor and can change the policy."
The emperor didn't want to say anything yet, and Gu Zuo didn't dare to ask, so he could only accept the order and say yes.
"This third item..." Zhu Houzhao walked around twice with his hands behind his back. "The imperial court's deployment of troops in the northwest went smoothly. It spent a total of more than 1.2 million taels of silver, and Zhejiang also replenished some. But I promised, sir. The government's silver goes to Taicang, the household department. The household department must also change its thinking about spending money. It cannot always be spent and then it is gone. It must create benefits and have money to turn back. In addition to food and shipbuilding, the remaining silver is Liangbi."
"I'm here."
“Let’s do some cash-for-work.”
"Your Majesty, please make it clear."
Zhu Houzhao explained: "I promised eight words: take it from the people and use it for the people. The money from the Shaofu will eventually return to the people's hands, but it will not be given to them for free, but to hired workers."
….
[In view of the general environment,
Gu Zuo's expression changed, "Does Your Majesty...want to build it?"
"Don't turn your face pale. I want to build it, but not for myself. I want to build it for businessmen and people." The emperor spread out a map of the capital and said, "I want to build it within the capital." The city that never sleeps, is independent of other urban areas. There is a curfew in other places. This place does not have a curfew, but it must be closed at night. As for how busy it is inside, it is not my business. This is not a whim or a hobby, it is actually a last resort. .”
Zhu Houzhao was helpless when it came to this. No matter how good he was, the eleventh year of Hongzhi could not be counted as seven or eight years later.
"In the past few years, I spent my own money to build academies, women's hospitals and other buildings in the capital. It was also poorly thought out at the time. In fact, once these places were built, there was no money back. I also paid to hire people to work, and the surroundings The common people heard about this work, and tens of thousands of them have gathered in the past few years. However, the academy and women's hospital cannot be built as big as the Forbidden City, and I don't have so much money to invest all the time. So if this continues, these tens of thousands of people will I’m going to lose my job.”
Once jobs are created, we can’t stop! How do you say that? The food and clothing of millions of workers depends on it! This is the most important purpose.
The emperor began to cry about his poverty. Both Gu Zuo and Yang Shangyi had wonderful expressions. Who didn't know that the emperor still had more than one million taels of silver in his treasury, and there were people who were worried about this money before.
"I don't know, how exactly do you want to implement this city that never sleeps? Your Majesty, please make it clear so that I can implement it according to the rules."
"In fact, it's simple. The imperial court designated an area specifically to build shops along the street and then rent them out. In this way, you and I, the emperor and our ministers, can have money back. With this money back, we can invest again, so the people who work can always have money. If they have money, they will spend it
, with consumption and commerce will prosper, and commerce will prosper, rents will rise. In this cycle, everyone in the Ming Dynasty can live well. "
Gu Zuo frowned, and he immediately grasped the key point, "What if the merchant is not willing to rent?"
"I have said that I can change the policy. What do people who sell things fear most? There is no safe environment for doing business. I am the emperor, and I can't give him any safety. What do people who buy things fear? Buying fake goods , then this city that never sleeps can strictly control the access of merchants and goods. There are only so many merchants in total, and whoever has problems will go to whom. The Jiaofang Division can also contribute. If you want to make a place lively, there is always a way. "
Gu Zuo thought carefully and said, "If the capital can do this, then Hangzhou and Yingtian can do the same. Even collecting business taxes will become simple."
Zhu Houzhao, who was collecting taxes, did not expect that his eyes lit up, and it was actually an idea.
"By the way, in this city that never sleeps, don't build all shops, build some beautiful houses."
"A beautiful house?"
"Yes, cover it first after repairing it. Then sell it to rich people."
"This..." Gu Zuo and Yang Shangyi looked at each other. Who would want to live in a noisy place?
But it's possible that this is a place where the imperial court wants to ensure safety, and there may not necessarily be fewer people.
Yang Shangyi was tired after listening for so long.
The emperor looked at his expression and said: "Back then, Liu Bang gave the greatest credit to Xiao He. Shouwen should have understood today. If you are a man, why don't you bring Wu Gou and capture the heroic spirit of Guanshan and Fifty States, but the rear is just trivial. , chickens and dogs are jumping around, abacus beads are beating loudly, all for a few taels of broken silver, and if you want to do these few things well, half of Liangbi's hair will turn gray. After all, dozens of people are good It’s not easy to support hundreds of thousands of people.”
After hearing this, Yang Shangyi saluted Gu Zuo, "Thank you for your hard work, young Situ, Yang Shouwen!"
"Mr. Yang, you are so polite. Why am I here for you? I am here for the great Ming Dynasty and the people of the world. The money I brought back from Zhejiang finally returned to the hands of the people, taken from the people and used for the people. Your Majesty asked these eight When this word becomes a reality, it’s worth all my hard work.”
But Yang Shangyi still didn't understand. Where did the military supplies for the complex come from?
The emperor played it safe a little and didn't talk about it for the time being.
Instead, he explained to Gu Zuo first: "Liangbi, the construction of the academy and women's hospital has been stopped. It is spring now, and the excuse of not working in winter is no longer sustainable, so I have been urging you to wait. No way. After you go back today, you should see it immediately, discuss it immediately, and report it immediately. If this continues, there will be victims in the capital!"
royal hired cat
