Chapter 72: Duke Shen’s heartbeat
Duke Shen looked at the steward next to him in disbelief and said, "It's true. A mere small salt merchant made ten thousand taels of silver in less than half a year."
The housekeeper said: "I didn't believe it at first. But it can't be true, and it can't be true. This matter has been spread."
Duke Shen Deng Zhen sighed and said, "They say He Xi can turn stone into gold. I didn't believe it before. But now I do."
The housekeeper said: "Master, is it ------"
He didn't explain it clearly, but Shen Guogong and Deng Zhen already understood. He was deep in thought.
In fact, Deng Zhen did not doubt He Xi's ability to make money, nor did he doubt that if he was willing to quit, he could get a piece of the pie, and a big piece at that. Just like in the matter of opening up the sea, who makes the most money? Lu Zhongheng, the Marquis of Yan'an.
Don't think that the Lu family has completely gone overseas. But in fact, people overseas have money, people, and even private armies. In terms of strength, he is not inferior to the kings of Nanyang. Even the kings of Nanyang must sincerely call the Marquis of Yan'an Uncle Lu.
But in the past few years, would those princes with higher ambitions have been so polite to Lu Zhongheng? Totally impossible.
From this we can see the changes in the strength of the Lu family.
It’s just that Deng Zhen wants to think more.
First of all, the Deng family is no better than the Lu family. Although his father is the Duke of the country, he is no longer here. The world is such a reality, people leave and the tea is cool. No matter whether you are a prince or an emperor, they are all the same. Even Zhu Yuanzhang had to worry about his own death.
Secondly, Lawrence Lu also paid the price. The biggest price is that the Lu family is no longer in the Central Plains. After Lawrence Lu died, the Lu family would not be in the Central Plains. Whether this price is worth it or not depends on the benevolent and the wise. Deng Zhen also has to consider the cost.
At what cost?
The price of taking sides.
Although Deng Zhen is the second generation, he dare not call himself a hero because of his father's personal guidance, but he is definitely not a mediocre person. Some things are clear. There are also premonitions about future storms. This is the consensus of almost all top politicians.
The difference is how big this storm will be.
Some people think that it is just the replacement of the old with the new. What a big deal. Some people feel that several major cases are inevitable.
Deng Zhen doesn't care what the future looks like. Because Deng Zhen knew very well that what he had to do was to be stable and not stand out. At least as long as Zhu Yuanzhang is around, he will honestly be his grandson.
Therefore, in many things with He Xi, things are done in a business-like manner, and they neither offend nor get close to each other.
It's not that I don't know if I can make money with him, but I have to weigh the political risks and economic benefits.
He was close to He Xi, so naturally he was in the reform faction. After the prince ascends the throne in the future, his life may not be easy.
Yes, many people don’t know it yet, but some people at the top have actually tasted it. It’s just that no one dares to talk nonsense. After all, the father and son might suddenly be reconciled. Those who cause trouble in the middle will not end well.
However, now Shen Guogong needs to re-evaluate this matter.
Sometimes, the pros and cons need to be weighed, and the benefits are not big enough. Nowadays, a small salt merchant can earn tens of thousands of taels a year, and there are even many gaps on the construction sites in Beijing. Shen Guogong has to consider how much money he can make if he participates?
One to twenty thousand taels is not worth it. A few hundred thousand taels requires weighing the pros and cons. If it's one million taels, then you need to consider how serious the consequences will be. Is there any way to avoid risks.
He always thought it was small money before, but now it seems that it is not.
Duke Shen waved his hand and said, "I know this. You can go down and do the work."
Duke Shen found some things in his study, then came out and said, "Get the car ready and go to Xianghe."
------
Duke Shen has been living in Beiping City. From now on, this city will always be Beiping City.
The two of them are not in the same city. It's just a matter of leaving some space for each other. After all, if two big guys are too close, there will be too much friction.
Therefore, if Duke Shen wants to see He Xi, he also needs to leave Beiping City.
For this one thing, troops and people were mobilized. It was hard to say, so Shen Guogong naturally found some official matters that needed to be discussed with He Xi face to face. The priority of these matters depended on Shen Guogong's wishes. The priorities are all in one word.
Faced with Shen Guogong's visit, He Xi was actually very confused. I don’t know what Duke Shen Guo’s intention is, but no matter what, people are already here. Can we still see each other?
So, in the living room of He Mansion. He Xi exchanged a few words with Duke Shen. After they sat down, Duke Shen said, "Master He, I am here this time to discuss King Yan's Northern Expedition."
He Xi said, "Oh, are you all ready? Now that autumn is coming, are you going to take action?"
Shen Guogong shook his head and said: "If he is going to take action, I won't say anything. He just doesn't want to take action this autumn. I don't know what to do about this matter? No, let's discuss it with you. The court can't ask about it. , can’t we say anything?”
He Xi's experiences during this period were all concentrated in Beijing. He didn't care much about King Yan's affairs. Hearing what Duke Shen said, he also became interested.
So I asked carefully and found out why?
Because of the autumn harvest.
Changchun Dusi's agricultural foundation is very weak, and it can only harvest one season a year. The autumn harvest is the only food output in Changchun. Once the troops are mobilized, all this will be gone.
Of course, there are pros and cons to this.
Just when the dust on the Japanese battlefield was gradually settling, Ming Dynasty's support for the Changchun battlefield was increasing. If nothing else, there is absolutely no shortage of food. There is absolutely no problem with this. For people like Changchun Dusi, even if there is no harvest for a year, there will be no problem.
But Changchun and Autumn have no control over the harvest. Even if there is no harvest, there is still food to eat. Is this a good thing?
Take Jiubian in the future as an example. Yes, overall, Jiubian is not a very good food producing area, but it is completely wrong to say that these places do not produce food. If you don’t believe me, look at the climate divide.
Food can be grown in these places, and even today many health centers are self-sufficient. Why did food have to be transported from the rear later?
It's because of the transportation of food from the rear.
Grain transported from the rear was collected in the form of a labor tax or paid in the form of salt. In other words, no matter how much money or how much it costs. It is decoupled from local food prices. Even if I use 10,000 taels of silver, I can transport 10,000 shi of grain. Food costs three cents here and must be transported.
The local warehouse system is corrupt, which has led to a problem. Private grain obtained from the government is much cheaper than the grain grown with hard work here. Growing food locally is not valuable. Even lose money.
This creates a very helpless situation.
The more food is lacking in the border areas, the more the court requisitions food, and the more local food growing capabilities are suppressed and weakened. Therefore, the court needs to pay more tangible and intangible costs to find ways to obtain more food.
The cost of raising troops in the border areas became higher and higher, so high that the Ming Dynasty's finances collapsed.
He Xi didn't know if King Yan saw this. However, this is not important.
He Xi said: "It is a good thing that King Yan cherishes his people. We don't need to worry about this matter. We can just report it to the court directly and let them discuss it slowly between father and son."
Duke Shen sighed and said, "That's right."
Immediately, Shen Guogong came up with several other things to discuss with He Xi.
He Xi slowly thought about it. Do the two of them need to negotiate these matters? Of course. But it can also be said that it is not necessary and official correspondence is also possible. After all, the current strategic situation of the entire northern border is relatively stable.
Otherwise, Zhu Yuanzhang would not give the importance of northern Xinjiang to Shen Guogong Deng Town. After all, Deng Zhen doesn't have any impressive record to prove himself.
If there is really a big battle to be fought, Zhu Yuanzhang will definitely not let him sit here.
He Xi immediately guessed that Shen Guogong had other plans.
But where is this picture? He Xi still doesn’t know. So I acted with him. The two people discussed it all morning and cleared up the work that required two people to connect. He Xi also had some judgments in her heart.
