First Prince of Ming Dynasty Chapter 257

  Chapter 257 Integrity

Chen Zhifu's face turned dark. Although his family also has a lot of business, they are all managed by the children of his house. They are scholars, farmers, businessmen, and the main family must still develop towards official careers. It is precisely because of this that his Chen family is a family in the south of the Yangtze River. His Royal Highness will only discuss these matters with him.

  The Patriarch of the Zhang family hurriedly smoothed things over and said: "Don't worry, two senior brothers. After all, we are on the same boat. Now it is a rare opportunity to climb up to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. It is always right to be careful."

  The head of the Qian family, the largest fleet in the south of the Yangtze River, said: "Brother Chen is a scholar, and he is also an expensive magistrate. Naturally, he is reluctant to discuss this matter with the crown prince, but the younger brother also agrees with Brother Li. It is not good to be too petty."

  Chen Zhifu soothed his brows: "Things other than money and wealth, now that the world is stable, the imperial court will inevitably increase its control over the south of the Yangtze River. Salt and iron are the official monopoly of the government, and they should be discarded now."

Li Qiantang sneered. This is also the conflict between his Li family and the Chen family. The Li family relies on selling private salt, but the Chen family always wants to cut off this road. I don't know if it is to suppress the Li family's power or this. Daming officials looked down on him.

  Patriarch Qian sighed and said: "Brother Chen Shi, it's hard to say that salt is our lifeblood. Official salt is expensive and hard to find. Ordinary people can't afford it at all. However, we all have a share of the Li family's salt business."

  Li Qiantang took a deep breath, people don't fight with officials, not to mention that he is a private salt seller, if it wasn't for the benefits of the Chen family, he would have been taken down as a political achievement.

  At this time Chen Yunshu came in, and the rest of the people thought it was His Highness the Crown Prince who had arrived, so they hurriedly stood up and prepared to pay respects when His Highness came in. Li Qiantang trembled a little.

  Chen Zhifu stayed with Zhu Biao for two days, and being a serious official, he was naturally quite shocked. When he found out that his son had come in by himself, he asked suspiciously: "Where is Your Highness? But do you want me to pay homage?"

  Chen Yunshu smiled and said: "Your Highness is a little tired, let Dad take care of it."

Chen Zhifu was overjoyed after hearing this, and then felt that something was wrong. They naturally knew about the prince's itinerary. Everyone was afraid that something might happen to this ancestor in Hangzhou. Li Wenzhong, it would be nice if Li Wenzhong didn't kill him himself.

  His Royal Highness has only played a lot of stop-and-go this morning, and he is not a delicate and fleshy young man, but he is General Tiance who returned from the Northern Expedition to destroy the country. Rumor has it that he is as tireless as the Holy Majesty.

The rest of the people also looked at each other in blank dismay. Li Qiantang frowned and sat back. Quan Xu, who was beside His Highness, went around asking for news and they knew it. After all, it was impossible to resist the imperial court after a hundred years of business, but there was very little in Jiangnan that could hide it from them .

  Chen Yunshu was a little confused, it's okay for the rest of the people to be unhappy, why his father is not happy, this is the trust of His Royal Highness, and the position of Chen Jiajiangnan Guanmian will be more stable in the future.

   Patriarch Qian was the first to speak: "Could it be that you think we are not sincere, should you take the initiative to pay a visit? My family has just acquired a few treasures, which can be used as gifts."

  The rest of the people catered to them one after another, and Chen Zhifu said in a solemn voice: "You think His Highness the Crown Prince is one of those ministers in the court, who can make you happy with some rare treasures. How could His Highness accept a gift for no reason?"

  Patriarch Zhang nodded and said: "Giving a gift to a nobleman must be done elegantly, and His Highness will not like it if it is out of the ordinary. Don't say that the gift is rejected, if it is not done well, it will be punished for serious disrespect."

  The rest of the people were even more confused, and one of them whispered with a big belly: "Didn't your Highness accept me to wait, and I should be filial when I wait."

   Li Qiantang narrowed his eyes and said, "Who told you?"

The rest of the people were even more puzzled. If His Highness did not accept them, then why did they come here? Some of them realized: "Only His Highness knows about the empty talk, except for the prefect Chen. Of course it didn't happen."

  Someone scratched his head and said, "What is your highness's status, so is it dishonest?"

  The rest of the people also understood why they asked the prince to be honest. The deal has not been completed yet, and His Highness has not taken any advantage from them. The result now depends on their determination.

  As for other things, their family can be so big, it is not because of integrity, now people are using knives and I am fish, what can I do for it.

  Chen Zhifu shook his head and said: "Your Highness is still waiting for our sincerity. My Chen family has nothing to give up. It depends on how you choose."

Li Qiantang sighed, the Chen family has already embarked on an official career and enough money is enough, and the rest of the family's children don't even have an official above the fifth rank, so naturally they still value money, especially his family, without these, The whole family, old and young, died on the night road sooner or later.

  The middleman with the gold abacus on the belt said: "I will pay 120,000 taels a year, which is not lower than the grain tax in the south of the Yangtze River, so His Highness should be satisfied. If it is higher, I might as well follow Li Wenzhong."

  Li Qiantang sneered and said: "The meat has been brought to your mouth, and you still want to give it to others. Could it be that His Highness will not kill people when he is a prince? Will Li Wenzhong protect us in front of His Highness?"

   Everyone was dumbfounded now, they came here happily, thinking about hugging one of the thickest thighs in the Ming Dynasty, how could they be ruined now.

  Patriarch Zhang sighed: "Don't pretend to be stupid, you all know the basics, and you can let the three of us take the lead. If you don't want to talk anymore, then go out, and you will be on your own in the future."

   Now the panic on everyone's faces disappeared. After all, there is no one who can save a lot of wealth. If he didn't have the ability, he would have been eaten by others. The Jiangnan family is united, but there is no need for idiots.

  Li Qiantang rubbed his rough face and said, "I can't afford more silver. After all, the people below mostly buy and sell food with copper coins. Even if Jiangnan is rich, it will not be able to supply His Royal Highness hundreds of thousands of taels of silver in a few years."

Nowadays, there is no large-scale influx of overseas silver into Daming. Most of the domestic use is copper coins. Silver is not the mainstream, and bartering is even prevalent in some remote places. During the founding of the country, it was even poorer. Except for the rich merchants in the south of the Yangtze River, I am afraid that there are other silver coins. It is not used anywhere.

  Chen Zhifu nodded and said: "Perhaps what Your Highness wants is not money."

As soon as the words came out, the rest of the people became even more silent. If they don't want money, they want more important things. For them, they might as well ask for money. In fact, they have already guessed what Zhu Biao wants, but How can the ancestral foundation be abandoned.

The owner of the Zhang family suddenly smiled and said: "When will it be our turn to decide this matter? Scholars, farmers, businessmen, etc., although we are rich, we can spend tens of thousands of young and strong, and most of them are mobs. There are 10,000 people parked outside Hangzhou. Iron cavalry is still occupying the north city gate, I'm just waiting for fatter cattle and sheep, so let's resign to our fate as soon as possible."

The rest of the people also showed unwillingness. They were able to preserve such a huge family business in the chaotic times of the end of the Yuan Dynasty not by virtue of honesty and righteousness. In the early years, let alone salt and iron, they sold even the population, army food and horses. Otherwise, how did they get so rich? It is easy to get rich in troubled times.

   ^_^

  (end of this chapter)

Chapter end