Yao Zhen walked outside Gu Zhengchen's study and said, "Master, I heard that the Ministry of Punishment executed ten people today."
Gu Zhengchen frowned: "Are they killing officials?"
Before Yao Zhen could speak, Xiao Cheng intervened: "What kind of official is this reckless person? He actually pretended to be a guard camp with thousands of households, and was cheating in Xingzhou, and he was caught by the Yanshan Guards."
"Pretending to be Qianhu?"
Gu Zhengchen was a little surprised. Could it be that the business of engraving seals and applying for certificates came to Ming Dynasty?
These people are really brave.
Xiao Cheng handed a document to Gu Zhengchen: "Li Min, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, is no longer in Jinling. There are constant problems under the governance of Jiangxi Province. Your Majesty sent a decree to transfer him to Jiangxi to participate in politics. He should have just taken office now."
Gu Zhengchen took the document, looked at it, and sighed: "Originally, I wanted to discuss the construction of the ship with him, but now it seems that I can only visit Yan Da Yan Shangshu."
Li Min was an old acquaintance. He was a civil servant. They got to know each other well and talked and laughed. Afterwards, he reported to Lao Zhu and the matter was settled.
Although Yan Da was considered a civil servant, he had been serving in the Metropolitan Governor's Office for a long time. He was still a judge and was responsible for the trial of cases within the army. Facing a group of rough men, he had long developed the habit of being shameless, selfless, and forbidding others. If you take a step beyond the realm of possibility, you will not go beyond the realm of possibility. This is a man who has a strong sense of rules. It is difficult for him to break through the rules and come up with a plan to manufacture boats on a large scale.
But now it is necessary.
Gu Zhengchen thought for a while and decided to go to the Yamen Office of the Ministry of Industry in person.
As expected, Yan Da did not agree to Gu Zhengchen's shipbuilding plan at all. Now that Henan's embankment has burst, Wenzhou has been flooded with sea water, and the government's money and food for disaster relief have begun to be tight. How could he agree to shipbuilding at this time? Once he submits a letter to the emperor , I will probably be scolded.
Even though Gu Zhengchen said many good things, explained the situation, and gave the pros and cons, Yan Da still refused to agree, and even said: "The treasure ship costs a lot of money, and the Ministry of Industry is reviewing whether to cancel it and rebuild the Dafu ship."
Gu Zhengchen was helpless in the face of Yan Da who was not giving face and trying to make trouble. Seeing that he still wanted to attack the treasure ship, he just smiled lightly and said: "Yan Shangshu, I would like to advise you not to touch the treasure ship."
Yan Da was very unhappy: "How can you interfere in the affairs of the Ministry of Industry? Oh, I forgot about you. You are still the director of the Ministry of Industry. What, you want to make decisions for me, the minister?"
Gu Zhengchen laughed, stood up, saluted and left.
Sun Min, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, watched Gu Zhengchen leave, walked to Yan Da, and said in a low voice: "Shang Shu, Mr. Gu has won the Holy Heart. If you offend him now, wouldn't it be..."
Yan Daxian glanced at Sun Min and said disapprovingly: "If you offend him, you will be demoted at most. But if you don't offend him and get close to him instead, then it is not a matter of demoting. Sun Shilang, whichever of the two has the lesser power." You should understand the reason."
Sun Min suddenly realized.
Everyone in the court knew that Chen Ning and Gu Zhengchen didn't get along. The two had openly quarreled during the court meeting. Chen Ning wanted to trample him to death if he had the chance.
Only this time——
Sun Min was a little confused and said: "This time when Gu County man returns to Jinling, Yushitai doesn't seem to be doing much."
Yan Da narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice: "When killing people, the sound of sharpening the knife is not loud. At present, the atmosphere in the court is getting worse and worse. You and I should be cautious, don't cause trouble, and then go to Fengyang to reclaim wasteland. .”
"Please ask Yan Shangshu to take care of you."
Sun Min saluted.
Yan Da chuckled and returned the courtesy but said nothing.
Take care of yourself?
At this time, it may not be safe to hold your thighs, but if you don't hold your thighs, problems may occur at any time.
Dazhong Bridge.
Xiao Cheng looked at Gu Zhengchen, who had a gloomy face, and asked: "The new Minister of Industry is not cooperative. Where are you going to get sea ships? There are not enough sea ships. If you want to go to sea for business, it is just a false statement."
Gu Zhengchen looked at the ships passing by on the Qinhuai River with cold eyes.
Zhu Yuanzhang had agreed to set up the Quanzhou Special Economic Zone, but years of maritime disasters and maritime bans had drastically reduced the number of private sea-going ships. Many sea-going ships were turned into piles of broken wood and could not sail far away. However, the boats on the Qinhuai River and the Grand Canal are all flat-bottomed river boats, which cannot withstand strong winds and waves.
Without ships, Quanzhou Special Economic Zone would not be special, and long-distance trade would be a joke.
Gu Zhengchen borrowed a navy ship for his first voyage. Could it be said that he used a navy ship for the second time, but what about the third time?
Without the assistance and support of the Ministry of Industry, it would be impossible to build a batch of sea-going ships within half a year. Even if Quanzhou Prefecture is now starting to prepare for the construction of sea-going ships, it will select sites, build docks, recruit shipwrights, build ships, and conduct sea trials. It will be difficult to complete the whole process in less than nine months, and the ship production after nine months may not be able to keep up. It is not suitable to go to sea with only a few ships. When everything is ready, it is estimated that the southeast wind of the ninth year of Hongwu will blow. .
Monsoons and ocean currents wait for no one, so caravans must go south this autumn and winter.
Gu Zhengchen turned around and asked, "Who has the ship?"
Xiao Cheng shook his head: "No one else has it, only the Navy has it."
Gu Zhengchen narrowed his eyes and waved his hand: "Sea-going ships cannot travel on small rivers, but they can travel on large rivers. Some of those sea-going ships that once traveled north and south along the coast must be active on both sides of the Yangtze River. You are the inspector, please help me. Bundle."
Xiao Cheng was extremely depressed: "I need to ask your Majesty for instructions."
"It's natural."
Gu Zhengchen smiled.
The school inspector was only responsible to Zhu Yuanzhang and could not serve Gu Zhengchen unless Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.
After untying the knot in his heart, Gu Zhengchen relaxed a lot.
Gu Yue Mo Pavilion.
Hu Dashan was settling accounts in the backyard. Hearing the shopkeeper say that Gu Zhengchen was here, he walked out quickly and saluted respectfully: "Mr. Gu, long time no see."
Seeing that Hu Dashan was a little reserved, Gu Zhengchen said jokingly: "Uncle Hu, you and I should not be so estranged from each other. If it hadn't been for your help in the past two years, my two sisters would not have made people worry."
Hu Dashan relaxed when he saw that Gu Zhengchen was still as easy-going as before: "Shopkeeper Qing is indeed talented, and shopkeeper Qian is also a rare talent. If he were not a girl, there is no way he would have become a great shopkeeper."
Gu Zhengchen smiled and said: "No matter how capable they are, try not to let them leave Jinling."
Hu Dashan understands.
Gu Zhengchen stayed at home very few times throughout the year, and Gu's mother always needed someone to accompany her.
Hu Dashan ordered the shopkeeper to take out the account book and handed it to Gu Zhengchen: "Twelve thousand kilograms of overseas goods have been sold. It will take some time to fully sell them."
Gu Zhengchen took the account book, looked at it, and nodded with satisfaction.
In order to reduce the irritation to the censor and other officials, Gu Zhengchen chose to handle the spices and other products transported to Jinling quietly.
With the help of the sugar business and the Huizhou ink business, Hu Dashan is quite influential among Jinling merchants and knows many businessmen. Gu Zhengchen does not need to put the spices in a shop to sell them publicly. He only needs Hu Dashan to write some letters and spread the news. Naturally, people came to ask for goods.
Merchants are eating in silence, no one is publicizing it, and there are not even a few spice shops in Jinling. Many merchants choose to transport spices to sell, such as Huai'an Prefecture, Nanchang Prefecture, Kaifeng Prefecture, Xi'an Prefecture, Chengdu Prefecture, etc. Although the journey is long, this is spices. If you get seven or eight sacks over there, you can use seventy or eighty sacks to hold money when you come back...
As for Jinling, it is advantageous but not as good as far away.
Businessmen travel far and wide in pursuit of profit.
“Be sure to clear all shipments before the end of February.”
Gu Zhengchen returned the account book to Hu Dashan.
Hu Dashan said confidently: "It won't take that long. It will be almost in three days. Some people have already made appointments to pick up the goods and are just transferring money."
Gu Zhengchen nodded.
They brought 36,000 kilograms of spices, and 13,000 kilograms of spices were sold from Hangzhou, Suzhou, Yangzhou and other places. Jinling merchants have eaten 12,000 kilograms of spices, leaving only 11,000 kilograms. spices.
However, of the eleven thousand kilograms of spices, Gu Zhengchen had already taken away five thousand kilograms, of which three thousand kilograms were sent to the palace for Lao Zhu to improve his food. Although the Ming Dynasty was short of spices, Lao Zhu was not short of spices, but he still needed to have an attitude. The remaining two thousand kilograms were given away by Gu Zhengchen. Zhu Biao, Mu Ying, and Xu Da needed some. My father-in-law likes to eat pig head meat, and the spices are indispensable. The Liang family and the Sun family in Teng County are kind to the Gu family. , and some need to be left for them.
After calculating this, Hu Dashan only had 6,000 kilograms of spices left in his hands, and he really didn't have much pressure.
Gu Zhengchen picked up the tea bowl, pushed the others away, and said to Hu Dashan: "Uncle Hu, to be honest with you, His Majesty has approved the establishment of the Quanzhou Special Zone and allowed Quanzhou Prefecture to open the sea first. This is an opportunity. Uncle Hu is willing to participate. in?"
Hu Dashan was overjoyed. He first congratulated and then said, "Why don't you participate? The benefits of overseas goods are so amazing that even businessmen can't refuse. The Hu family is willing to participate, but there is no ship."
Gu Zhengchen smiled and said: "I will solve the problem of the ship, just to ensure safety. The next voyage will be to form a caravan and sail collectively under naval escort. This will take more than half a year."
Hu Dashan admired Gu Zhengchen's methods very much. Even the navy could mobilize to escort the caravan. He couldn't help sighing, and then said: "It is a good luck to sail in autumn and winter, with good wind and water. It also takes time to prepare the goods, half a year." Time is still needed.”
Seeing Hu Dashan's excitement, Gu Zhengchen said, "Uncle Hu can find some businessmen to go to Quanzhou together for this voyage, but no matter who goes out to do business, I have a condition."
Hu Dashan's eyes lit up.
Find some businessmen to go by yourself?
In this way, your influence among businessmen will be consolidated and strengthened!
This is your own glory and the glory of the entire Huizhou merchants!
"Please tell me and I will do my best to do it!"
Hu Dashan said seriously.
Gu Zhengchen stood up, took two steps, and said solemnly: "The imperial court is about to launch the Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes, probably in March, April at the latest, in short it will be very soon. I hope that all merchants involved in the voyage trade can take the lead in Jinling Support the Ming Dynasty Baochao and don’t let the Ming Dynasty Baochao be left in the cold!”
Hu Dashan's expression changed. This was not a simple matter.
After all, it wasn’t many years before Yuan Dynasty treasure banknotes became waste paper, and businessmen all have good memories...
