Xia Yuanji looked at Zhu Yunwen's eyes, shuddered, and shook his head repeatedly to express that it was not feasible.
Yes, the Ministry of Finance is rich, but the question is, don’t you have a clear idea of how many great things you have done and how much money you have spent since you defeated the emperor?
Not to mention the dredging to open the river, Longjiang Shipyard to build treasure ships, Qingjiang Shipyard to build river ships, Bao'en Temple, the Monument of Heroes, etc., let's just say that this year, we will set up social schools, invite teachers, and overhaul county schools. This requires How much?
Compiling teaching materials or engraving and printing teaching materials, which one does not cost money?
Hu Yuancheng from the Second Artillery Bureau was messing around in Houhu. He asked for hundreds of carts of iron ore, and he was still asking for it. Did he know that it was all paid for by the Ministry of Household Affairs? There is also the northwest, which has already eaten nearly two million taels. The racecourse needs money, the northwest needs money to build roads, and the reinforcement of city gates also needs money...
The stall is very big, and there are many places to spend money. No matter how rich the Ministry of Revenue is, it can't help but make troubles. It wants to spend more than 4 million taels for water conservancy and dig wells, but don't even think about it. The Ministry of Revenue does not have that much money. The remaining money was reserved for emergencies and for beating Timur.
Zhu Yunwen wanted to remind Xia Yuanji that he had just taken away two million taels from the Lianghuai Salt Fields, but Xia Yuanji blocked Zhu Yunwen's mouth first: "The businessman bought all the property in Jiaozhi for ten million taels in name, but in fact it was Five million taels, the remaining shortfall is not only from the emperor, but also from the Ministry of Revenue. The two million taels from the Lianghuai Salt Farm can just fill the gap, and there is still a shortfall of more than one million taels..."
Although the businessman will repay the remaining five million taels, this requires a cycle. The originally given cycle was two years, and the Central Bank and the Ministry of Household Affairs agreed, which means that the businessman needs to repay the five million taels within two years. , including the corresponding interest, and the Ministry of Revenue and Zhu Yunwen have not yet confiscated this money...
Xia Yuanji's attitude was very firm, so Zhu Yunwen had to put it aside for the time being.
This well has been dug for four days, and it is estimated that it will take another three to five days to dig out water.
When my father-in-law, Feng Shangliu and others saw that Zhu Yunwen had been helping out all afternoon and had no intention of leaving, they arranged for the family to prepare meals and receive guests. After all, it was not suitable to rush on the road at night, and they always needed a place to rest.
Zhu Yunwen and others lived in the home of Feng Shangliu and his father-in-law. The two houses had front and back doors, which was convenient. Feng Shangliu had two sons and a daughter. The daughter was only five or six years old.
When Feng was cooking, she was still complaining about Feng Shangliu. The reason was that he killed the only hen in the house just to entertain these unknown guests. The children at home were growing up and wanted to eat in the future. It's hard to even chew an egg.
Feng Shangliu was more righteous and didn't like women nagging. He glared fiercely, and Feng didn't dare to speak anymore. All this was seen in Zhu Yunwen's eyes and she remained silent.
When the meal was ready, Zhu Yunwen could not help but frown slightly when he saw Mrs. Feng and her children hiding in the kitchen to eat. Feng Shangliu didn't think it was inappropriate. Women and children were not allowed to serve in front of guests.
Seeing this, Ma Enhui went to the kitchen with Concubine Xian. Seeing the child wolfing down the food with squinting eyes, she couldn't help feeling a little distressed. It had been so long since she had eaten meat before she was eating so happily.
Tang Buping brought the wine, Feng Shangliu took a sip, and his eyebrows suddenly lit up. Just when he was about to take a big drink, he suddenly stood up: "Wait a minute, I'll invite two people."
After saying that, Feng Shangliu ran out, and soon he pulled his father-in-law and his son Feng Maizi over. He smiled shyly at Zhu Yun: "Both of them are good drinkers, but they have been in bad times in recent years. Buy I don’t want good wine, so I’ll take advantage of the young master and have a few sips.”
Zhu Yunwen didn't think there was anything wrong with Feng Shangliu's behavior. At least he knew how to be filial and share, so he asked Liu Changge to take out the wine from the wine gourd.
Liu Changge felt a little distressed. Tang Buping bought his wine in Huai'an, and his own wine in the capital. He only drank three sips a day, and he couldn't bear to part with it...
But there is no other way. They have killed all the hens, and it is really embarrassing for me to be stingy with a bottle of wine.
After drinking for three rounds, Zhu Yunwen began to ask: "Is the manager here okay?"
The old man tasted the wine with satisfaction and said, "It's very good. We are a small village here, and the people here are just ordinary farmers."
"I plan to visit Guzhen, but I heard that the magistrate there doesn't seem to be very good..."
Zhu Yunwen made insinuating remarks.
"Oh, you mean the drunk magistrate?"
Feng Shangliudao.
"Zi Zhixian?"
Zhu Yunwen frowned.
Feng Shangliu drank a glass of wine, shook his legs and said, "Wei Bin, the magistrate of Guzhen, we all call him the magistrate of Zui."
"What's the explanation?"
Xia Yuanji was also a little curious.
Feng Maizi opened his mouth and replied: "The county magistrate is a good drinker. He gets drunk several times a month. When he is drunk, he likes to sleep on the street."
Zhu Yunwen stared at him, he was quite unique. He slept on the street in the middle of the night and didn't worry about being robbed or beaten. At least the security of this town was passable.
The father-in-law added: "Actually, Wei Zhi County is quite good. He doesn't care about things."
Well!
Just because you don't care about the matter is to know the county well?
What is the logic?
Zhu Yunwen didn't understand, but Yang Shiqi seemed to see through it and explained: "When my father-in-law said he didn't care about anything, he probably meant he didn't care about much. Many officials are like this. They sit in and out of court for ten years. They don't care about people's livelihood and don't ask questions. When there are droughts, floods, natural disasters, or when paperwork is in a hurry, everyone can live their own lives, and no one bothers the other."
"Yes, yes, that's it."
The father-in-law praised.
Zhu Yunwen understood that Wei Bin, the magistrate of Wei County, was a typical "inaction-style" official. If he was given the management of Gu Town, he would not necessarily make a mistake in ten years. However, ten years later, Gu Town would still be the same Gu Town ten years ago. No change, no development.
I'm afraid the proportion of such officials among local officials is not low. Their mentality is: not seeking merit, but seeking no faults. They work hard to gain qualifications and endure until they can receive their pension...
You punish them, there is nothing wrong with them. Don't punish them, the place is not progressing.
This makes people a little depressed.
But for Guzhen, what’s the point of development?
Business?
Businessmen are not willing to come here. Fengyang, Changhuai, and Linhuai in the south are great, but who is willing to go all the way to Guzhen? Moreover, it is a small place with a small population, a small market, and how much profit margin there is.
agriculture?
Just like that, there is a lot of land. When a drought comes, if you can harvest 300 kilograms of grain from 30 acres of land, it will be a blessing from God.
industry?
This era has not yet...
This place seems to be suitable for "inaction". You grow crops and harvest as much as you can, and the county government governs and decides how to judge. At other times, it's okay to lie down on the street drunk.
Zhu Yunwen fell into deep thought. It was not easy to solve this situation. He stretched out his chopsticks to taste the lotus root. His eyes suddenly lit up and he asked: "This lotus root seems to be crisper than other places."
Yang Shiqi and Xia Yuanji heard about it and tasted it. They felt that it was a bit crisper than the lotus root in the capital. "Old man, is there a lot of lotus root here?"
Zhu Yunwen thought of something and asked.
The old man said with a smile: "In previous years, there weren't many, but this year it rained a lot, and there were a lot of lotus roots in the pond. Let's dig some and eat them when we have free time."
Zhu Yunwen nodded, tasted a few more mouthfuls, and couldn't help but say: "If my father-in-law can lead everyone to open a few ponds and raise a batch of lotus roots, it can store water and sell it, wouldn't it be two things?"
There is no shortage of lotus roots in the capital, and there is no shortage in the palace. Every August, a batch of Taibai Lake lotus roots from Huangmei in Huguang are delivered to the palace. This type of tribute was ordered by Zhu Yuanzhang. Taibai Lake lotus root is characterized by its crispness, which is comparable to Guzhen lotus root. Nanjing's local lotus root is relatively soft and glutinous, suitable for soups, such as pork rib soup.
Zhu Yunwen thought that if Guzhen used lotus roots as a side business, he might not be able to find a way out. After all, Guzhen is next to the Huihe River, and the Huihe River is an important tributary of the Huaihe River. Downstream is Wuhe County. From Wuhe County Going east along the Huaihe River is Huai'an, and going west is Fengyang. Sales are still convenient.
It is true that there are many drought years here, but droughts mostly occur during the growing period of crops, which can easily cause production losses. However, during the rainy season, there is still a lot of rainfall here. Wouldn't it be great to build a pond to store water?
When the old man heard this, he waved his hands repeatedly: "A little lotus root can't be sold for much money."
Zhu Yunwen asked: "How much is a pound of lotus root?"
The old man shook his head: "In this countryside, it's worthless. Whoever wants to eat it can dig it up. Even if it gets to Gu Town, it's good if you can sell it for two cents per pound."
Zhu Yunwen looked at Liu Changge: "How much does lotus root cost in Nanjing?"
The Security Bureau is also responsible for investigating market prices, especially grain prices, but it is really unclear about the number of lotus roots. Tang Buping said at the side: "Cong Pei'er bought it. I remember that a pound of lotus seeds cost six cents, and a pound of lotus roots cost four cents."
Zhu Yunwen did some calculations and found that the yield of lotus roots is quite high. One acre of lotus roots weighs at least three thousand kilograms. If you buy ten acres of lotus roots, you can get twelve taels of silver from selling them. Throw in the travel expenses and labor costs. Ten acres of ponds. It can make a profit of six to seven taels. If there are three households doing it, they can also have a sideline income of 2 taels a year, which is considered good, not to mention that there are lotus seeds that can bring in profits.
"Old man, to tell you the truth, we are businessmen and we are here to find suitable goods. These lotus roots are very good. If you are willing to plant lotus roots, I am willing to ship out the ship. If you plant the people, I will get 28% of the profit." , how about you get eight points?"
Zhu Yunwen said seriously.
The father-in-law looked at Zhu Yunwen in surprise, Feng Shangliu and Feng Maizi were also a little surprised, and the businessman wanted to consolidate the town of Lotus Root, but he only wanted two cents of profit?
"Young man, are you kidding me? Can this lotus root really be sold for money?"
My husband is not sure.
Zhu Yunwen smiled and said: "I will accept as much as you have, even if it is one hundred thousand catties, I can still eat it."
Yang Shiqi's eyes widened, wondering if the emperor's tone was too loud...
Xia Yuanji was already used to Zhu Yunwen's generosity. He didn't even care about the hundreds of thousands of extra salts that might be produced in the salt farm. Why would he still care about the 100,000 catties of lotus roots? It's just that the salt can be stored and won't get bad in a year or two, but the lotus root won't last long.
Zhu Yunwen would not waste anything out of his own pocket. Yes, the lotus root does not last long, but the lotus root powder can be deeply processed, reprocessed, and sold at a higher price...
If Xia Yuanji knew Zhu Yunwen's thoughts, he would definitely shout: profiteer.
