Chapter 596: Mr. Li

Chapter 596: Mr. Li

Chapter 596: Mr. Li
Today, Yingtian City is sunny and bright.

The sky was cloudless and the sun was shining brightly.

If other places were filled with a warm atmosphere, then the entrance of Yingtian Commercial Bank was filled with a feeling of dryness and heat.

There were still crowds of people at the entrance. Officials from the capital city were holding loud speakers and shouting at the top of their lungs, urging the people who had just finished shopping to leave as soon as possible.

However, the lucky draw was so attractive.
Many people are waiting here, looking forward to witnessing the birth of the grand prize.

Even the officials shouted, "If we don't leave now, the sugar will melt."
This made some people waver and leave slowly with satisfaction.

Even so, there were still a lot of people.

When Li Wu brought Bi Yun and Hong Cheng Yun here,
I was stunned by the surging crowd in front of me.

Bi Yun stared blankly at the team in front of him that was winding and extending left and right like a centipede, pursed his lips and said:
"Uncle, it would be great if all these people could take our car."

Hong Chengyun, who was always taciturn, nodded absentmindedly:
"Yes. That would be a great fortune."

Li Wu slapped them on the back of their heads and cursed:

"I knew it on the first day I came to the capital.

You can't daydream, and you two are dreaming."

The two of them covered their heads, but their eyes were still a little dull.
Although they are in the busy Jubao Gate every day,

But this is the first time I have seen such a large crowd.

In particular, there were many wealthy people in the team who were dressed in gorgeous clothes made of precious fabrics.

This scene seemed weird to them no matter how they looked at it.

"Okay, okay, go get in line.

The grand prize has not been announced yet, go to the lottery after shopping."

The three of them walked towards the end of Fudong Street.
Soon, they joined a long queue several hundred feet away from Yingtian Commercial Bank.

Li Wu looked at the shed on the street with lingering fear. If he was not mistaken, the old man standing next to it should be the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture.

The last time the Celestial Temple caught fire,

He heard with his own eyes that others called the old man "Mr. Prefect".

But now, the prefect didn't even have a seat and could only stand there.

Who are those two young men sitting in the pergola?

However, Li Wu quickly put this matter behind him. There was no point in thinking about it because of the huge difference in their status.

If the person standing there was an ordinary clerk on the street, he might have paid more attention.

When Zhu Yuanzhang and Crown Prince Zhu Biao arrived at Shengping Bridge, they could feel the hustle and bustle from a distance.
From time to time, there were cries of surprise and regret among the crowd.

The two stood on the bridge, looking at the scene in front of them, and felt their eyebrows throbbing.

How come there are so many people?

Beside them, the eunuchs and guards in disguise were extremely nervous.
His eyes kept scanning the surroundings, fearing that someone with bad intentions might approach.

"Father, it's the hottest time of the day, but the business is still so crowded.

It seems that the news that was passed back is correct, the business is booming."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with emotion:
"This guy is not bragging. Look, these people are dressed simply and they are obviously people with hard lives. Yet they bought so many things."

Crown Prince Zhu Biao narrowed his eyes and looked at the people who were coming out of the shops carrying large and small bags.

Most of them have families with them.

A sweaty husband, a gentle wife, and a lively child.

"Father, I've looked at the price list the company sent me, and it's really affordable.
The prices of fruits and vegetables are similar to those of vegetable farmers in the city, but the quality is even better.”

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction:
"Lu Yunyi did a good job in this regard, and he knew how to strike a balance.

The merchants are big and powerful, and they can squeeze out other merchants by simply lowering their prices.

But he didn’t, which is good.”

Zhu Biao also nodded in agreement:
"He came to the palace a few days ago and reported to me that the purpose of the business is to create jobs and integrate demand, rather than to create demand and exhaust all resources.

But I don’t understand why he is so sure that the company can make money by hiring so many people, renting such a large venue, and selling things so cheaply. "

After these words were spoken, not only the prince fell into deep thought, but also most of the guards and eunuchs around him.

In their view, as long as the company does this without losing everything, it is already a good deal.

"Haha..." Zhu Yuanzhang chuckled:
"How much money can ordinary people have? Of course, they earn money from the businessmen and dignitaries.

Let's go and see for ourselves and we'll know."

The group soon arrived at the queue on Fudong Street. The long queue had already passed the gate of Yingtian Prefecture Yamen and filled the entire Fudong Street.

After seeing the admission restrictions, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction.

With the huge flow of people here, if there were more carriages and each person brought a few guards, it would be really crowded.

"Father, are we still in line?"

Crown Prince Zhu Biao looked at the long queue in front of him and asked in a low voice with lingering fear.

"Pat, the weather is great today, it's a good opportunity for you to bask in the sun.

When I first joined the army, I patrolled the city all day and was exhausted.

Later, I stayed at home all day. Your mother told me to eat well, drink well, sleep well, and get some sun.

This is the only way to live a long and healthy life.

Look at Dad, he's in great shape now, you should get some sun too."

Crown Prince Zhu Biao pursed his lips helplessly and had to obey obediently.

In the pavilion at the gate of Jingzhao Prefecture, Prince of Yan Zhu Di was holding a pot of iced Coke.

Sitting carefree on a chair, he looked at the huge crowd of people in front of him with great interest.
He takes a sip from time to time, with a look of satisfaction on his face.

On the side, the same thing happened to Jin Wang Zhu Gang.

But compared to the leisurely and contented Prince of Yan, he seemed a little more bored and kept fanning himself.

"Old Four, there are too many people here. How much money do they have to make?"

Zhu Di raised his eyebrows:

"How would I know? But judging from the situation, it must be inevitable."

Zhu Gang was somewhat moved, and after thinking for a while he said:
"Old Four, this is a good business. How about we open one at home?"

"The court does not allow it. Father has already said that such a large business cannot be opened lightly.

If you don’t grasp the scale well, it’s easy to cause trouble.”

"What kind of trouble can this cause? This is a good thing that benefits the country and the people."

Zhu Gang leaned back, but felt his clothes sticking to his body, so he quickly sat up straight.

Zhu Di seemed to be thinking about something, and his voice was full of thought:

"I heard from Lu Yunyi that the business is a people-benefiting project.
In the countryside, you have to pay a high price to buy things, but you can't sell them at a high price.

All this back and forth, plus the cost of venue and labor, would result in an astronomical loss.

These losses have to be made up from some small places.

The company is located in Yingtian, under the emperor's feet, and can do this
If you drive to Beijing or Taiyuan,
It is easy to buy at a low price and sell at a high price.
Even if you and I know that this thing doesn't make money by selling vegetables and melons,
But if someone wants to make money from it, then a good thing will turn into a bad thing.”

Zhu Gang understood that if he really did that, buying low and selling high would be the inevitable result.

"Ah, it's so hard to make some money in this world."

Zhu Di smiled mysteriously: "I have a way to make money."

"What's the trick?" Zhu Gang's eyes lit up and he immediately sat up straight, his eyes flashing with excitement.

Zhu Di showed a meaningful expression:
"After this is over, I will take you to find Lu Yunyi. I heard that the court is going to open a new business.
From what he said, this company is different from Yingtian Company.
This business must be expanded as soon as possible, and by then both Taiyuan and Beiping can be opened as soon as possible."

"Hey~ Fourth Brother, when did you get in touch with Lu Yunyi? How do you know everything?" Zhu Gang looked at him with some confusion.

"What are you talking about? Lu Yunyi is going to Daning and I'm in Beiping.

If we don’t communicate well in advance, it will be bad if conflicts arise and the relationship is damaged.”

"That's right." Zhu Gang nodded in sudden realization:
"If you want to do business together to make money, you must take me with you.
Shanxi is too poor. It would be nice if I could go to Jiangxi.
The place is rich, the weather is good, and life there is very comfortable."

"Hahahahahaha, Third Brother, stop daydreaming.
We are descendants of the royal family. If we don’t defend the border, who will protect the border of Ming Dynasty?”

Zhu Di smiled and shook his head.
Suddenly his laughter stopped, and he leaned forward in a daze, thinking that he had seen it wrong.

He rubbed his eyes, only then he was sure that he was not seeing things!

"Father?"

Seeing him like this, Zhu Gang also followed his gaze and looked over.
The whole person was stunned for a moment, and his voice suddenly rose by two tones:
"Big brother?"

In that winding, endless line,
There was a group of people who stood out, and it was obvious that they were either rich or noble.

The leader was an old man, tall and strong, who walked with the gait of a dragon and a tiger.

Following behind was a middle-aged man who was wiping his sweat constantly.

"Dad, it's too hot."

"Only those who endure the most hardships can become the best.

Look at the soldiers around you, they are still wearing armor, if you experience it more personally, you will understand the sufferings of the world."

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care at all, he walked in front and talked and laughed,

He looked around secretly to the left and right and in front of him.

"Yes, looking around, nearly 70% are plain-dressed common people, the remaining 20% ​​should be merchants, and the rest are officials."

As the Hongwu Emperor, he experienced the confiscation of property and extermination of clans during the chaotic Yuan Dynasty.
He knew very well how much money these businessmen and powerful people had in their homes.

The silver was kept in the basement and the boxes were all moldy and hairy, but they didn't spend it.

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, getting these powerful people to spend money was harder than climbing to the sky.
Now it seems that at least it can entice some people to spend money, which is already pretty good.

At this moment, he glanced to the left and saw the third and fourth brothers approaching cautiously.

There was confusion on their faces, but when their eyes met, they looked determined and quickened their pace.

But Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand calmly and stopped looking at them.

Zhu Gang and Zhu Di stood there in a daze, then walked back to the pavilion in a huff.
"Why is Dad here?" Zhu Gang asked.

"How would I know."

Zhu Di shook his head and took a big gulp of iced Coke.
Zhu Yuanzhang and the prince walked on Fudong Street for about a quarter of an hour before they finally walked out of the winding guardrail. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Father, this guardrail doesn't look long, but it's really tiring to walk on. It must be Lu Yunyi's crooked idea."

"Hahahahahaha." Zhu Yuanzhang laughed heartily.

"Come on, everyone, have a glass of iced drink to replenish water and sugar. Thank you all for your support to Yingtian Commercial Bank!!"

Behind a large desk, an employee was shouting laboriously into a brass trumpet.

Most people who walk out of the guardrail will take a cup of this black stuff and taste it.

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyebrows, went to get a cup, and asked everyone behind him to get a cup as well.

The eunuch next to him was holding a Coke.

I took a sip without hesitation. It tasted cool and sweet, with a strange flavor.

But, taken together, it tastes surprisingly good.

Seeing His Majesty raising his hand to drink, he hurried forward and whispered:
"Master, I just drank."

Zhu Yuanzhang rolled his eyes at him and said, "So many people drank it, how could there be any problem?"

As he said this, he smacked his lips and took a sip. His eyes suddenly lit up, and he looked at the small bamboo cup in his hand and said:
“It tastes good and is cold.”

"My eldest son, you should try it too."

Zhu Biao took a sip tentatively, his eyes also lit up:
"It tastes really good, and looks very strange, more like medicine."

"Let's go, this thing is good, let's take it back." Zhu Yuanzhang drank the cold drink in one gulp, looked at the small bamboo cup in his hand, and thought:
"This should be the bamboo cup made in Yujia Village, Jurong County.
You really have a mountain of treasure but don't realize it. With such skills, how can you still starve? This is the dereliction of duty of the court."

The prince walked away and said:

"Father, yesterday Lu Yunyi told me about the catfish effect, which I found very interesting.

It is said that there is a kind of fish called sardine, which can be sold at a high price when it is alive, but is worthless when it is dead.

But people tried their best to keep it alive.

So a fisherman put a catfish that eats sardines into the fish tank.

The catfish's natural instinct is to keep chasing the sardines, and the sardines swim as hard as they can, which stimulates their energy and allows them to survive."

"Oh?" Zhu Yuanzhang was surprised after hearing this, but soon understood the meaning and nodded:

"You mean, with the example of Yujia Village making money, other villages will follow suit and work hard to find valuable items and crafts in their own villages?"

"Father, that's right.
According to the company's written records,
At first, employees had to spend a lot of time to search for it.

Now, whenever we go to a village, the villagers will bring out all kinds of things from the village.
I looked to see if there were any businesses that were interested, and I actually found quite a few good things.”

Zhu Biao paused and lowered his voice:
"Father, the Ministry of Industry has opened two new weapons workshops, which are responsible for filling bamboo tubes with gunpowder.

But splitting bamboo and making bamboo tubes is too troublesome, time-consuming and labor-intensive.

But this time in Chunshui Village in Jiangpu, the business company discovered a new solution.

The villagers there have a craft.
It can make each section of the bamboo grow to be almost the same size, and the sections are very close to each other.
There can be dozens of nodes on a bamboo.

After research, we found that these bamboos only need to be split and slightly processed to be loaded with gunpowder, which is much faster than grinding them, saving the workshop a lot of trouble. "

"Oh? You have this kind of skill?" Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyebrows.

Perhaps it was because of the cool breeze after entering the business that Zhu Biao felt relaxed. He smiled and said:
"The most valuable thing in Chunshui Village is water. They used to store water in this way.
No one cared about it originally, and it has been like this for thousands of years.

Fortunately, there was a former soldier among the entourage who immediately discovered the value of it.

In the future, Chunshui Village will specialize in growing bamboo and supplying it to the workshops, and it can also make a lot of money."

"Great. That's great. If there are so many good things under the emperor's feet, how many good things must there be in the entire Ming Dynasty?
These are the keys to creating wealth, just waiting for the court to discover them.

Not to mention letting the people live a good life with ample food and clothing,
At least if they can have enough food to eat, meat to eat during the New Year, and new clothes to wear, that would be great.”

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the empty and tall business houses in front of him, as well as the densely packed heads, and said with emotion:

“This arrangement is indeed unique.

Come on... push the cart and go to visit Yingtian Commercial Bank."

The group wandered around, and soon the cart was filled with objects and pushed by two eunuchs.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Crown Prince Zhu Biao seemed to be very interested in shopping, looking here and there.

He visited every stall and chatted with people from time to time, which made the guards accompanying him very worried.

Finally, after turning for nearly half an hour,

The group came to the fork in the road on the first floor. If they continued walking forward, they would reach the checkout area, and turning right would lead to the second floor.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the two full carts and was wondering how to get these things up to the second floor.
At this moment, he raised his eyebrows.
A familiar figure appeared in sight, also pushing two carts filled with large and small bags.

The man also saw Zhu Yuanzhang and froze in his place. He raised his voice a few notches:

"Master Li? Why are you here?"

(End of this chapter)