Father can be an enemy to the country

Of course, the largest number of exhibitors are local merchants from Kunming. This is natural, because Kunming is the economic center of the province, and most of the craftsmen and merchants are concentrated in the provincial capital.

Zhu Zhen saw that the thirty-six guilds formed by the thirty-sixth battalion of craftsmen were all present at the exhibition.

Even the Xizi Camp and the Tofu Camp were participating in the exhibition, which surprised him.

"Aren't you two here to make up the numbers?" Zhu Zhen said to Chang San, the leader of the mat camp who came to his side: "Does this straw mat still need to participate in the exhibition?"

"My lord, don't look at us with old eyes. We are no longer what we used to be!" Chang San said with a smile: "We are no longer called the Mat Camp, we are called the Kunming Weaving Industry Guild!"

"Oh? Are you so powerful?" Zhu Zhen asked curiously: "Then what business are you running now?"

"It's better to make mats..." Chang San smiled and said quickly: "Your Highness will know if you come and take a look. We are no longer ordinary mats."

"Okay, let's see how the unusual mats are woven." Zhu Zhen smiled and followed him to the mat camp stall.

At first glance, it was indeed unusual. Their stall was filled with mats of various styles and materials. There are bamboo mats, straw mats, rattan mats, linen mats, and even high-end jade mats.

And they strive for quality not just by stacking materials. For example, they dye bamboo strips and grass stems into colors and weave exquisite mats decorated with patterns.

"The price of mats made of the same material has increased tenfold with patterns, but the supply still exceeds demand." Chang San introduced from the side: "I heard that since last year, the toasts have only used this kind of patterned mats. They are so beautiful. On the one hand, the key is to distinguish yourself from the people below.”

"Haha, good, high and low, with both volume and price taken into consideration." Zhu Zhen praised: "Here in the southwest, mats are indeed in urgent need. You can't go wrong by seizing this market."

"Yes, Your Majesty, no matter how high or low you are here, mats are indispensable for people on the bed and on the floor." Chang San smiled and said, "And they are really rich. As long as the goods are good, they will never worry about selling them."

"Of course. Even though this place is lagging behind, it can't resist God's food. The silver mines, copper mines and salt wells everywhere, as well as emeralds and gems, precious woods, spices and medicinal materials... are all damn valuable." Zhu Zhen burst out. A foul language.

Some people say that the reason why the Ming Dynasty patiently digested Yungui is because the gold, silver, and wood products here are so rich, and the court has always made money.

"Yes." Chang San hurriedly agreed with a smile: "After we participated in the exhibition, there were so many orders that we couldn't handle it. Fortunately, we attracted many bamboo craftsmen and mat craftsmen from immigrants, and hired more than a thousand small workers. Only then did we finish last year's work. All orders have been delivered on time. Looking at the situation this year, we will continue to find people to expand production!”

"Haha, I didn't expect that weaving mats could lead to such a big undertaking." Zhu Zhen laughed.

"I really didn't expect it." Chang San said with emotion: "The prince tried his best to persuade us not to leave, but now no one is willing to leave even if he is beaten with a stick."

"Does everyone think so too?" Zhu Zhen asked everyone at the stall.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Everyone in Xizi Camp laughed and said, "I am a little busy now, but one year of work is equivalent to three years of work in the mainland. And Kunming is getting better and better. What fool wants to go back?"

"Haha, okay." Zhu Zhen nodded happily and told Chang San: "I'll remind you of a few things. One is not to overload everyone. If you earn money, you have to spend your life to ensure the health of the workers. That's The obligations of your guild.”

"The other thing is to give everyone a salary increase, but you can't just put the money into your pockets." After Zhu Zhen finished speaking, everyone in the Xizi Camp cheered, but Chang San blushed and hurriedly lowered his head in approval.

Zhu Zhen knew at a glance that this guy had allowed himself to speak. I guess I just wanted to make money for myself. However, in this situation, talking too much would spoil the atmosphere, so he whispered to Gu Yuanchen: "Next year's election, elect him out."

"Understood." Gu Yuanchen nodded slightly. He has long disliked this guy.

~~

However, Zhu Zhen was still chatting and laughing with Chang San on the surface, which made him feel relieved and felt that the prince was just talking casually.

At this time, Zhu Zhen saw Liu Zhihe, the leader of the tofu camp, coming over, so he smiled and said, "Why are your tofu makers joining in the fun?"

"Go back to Your Majesty." Liu Zhihe presented an exquisite small porcelain altar as if it were a treasure and said, "Our fermented bean curd is a hot commodity, and all the supplies have been ordered. Please give it a try, Your Majesty?"

"My lord, you can't..." Gao Tie was about to raise his hand to stop him, but Zhu Zhen said, "It doesn't hurt to have a little taste."

As he said that, he happily opened the lid and took a look. Oh my goodness, there was a thin layer of salt particles on the bean curd. Use a small spoon to dig a little bit, put it into your mouth and taste it. It's really amazing.

"Can this thing be bought out?" Zhu Zhen said and suddenly realized that what these bird feathers were selling was not fermented bean curd at all, but salt.

Suddenly he smiled and said: "It's very reasonable."

But Zhu Zhen had no intention of stopping them, because he had always scorned the imperial court's monopoly on salt management. He insists that this method of deliberately creating scarcity and forcing people to eat high-priced salt is the stupidest, worst, and most uneconomical exploitation.

Because the people cannot afford salt, they can only eat less salt. This damages the people's health and weakens the strength of the entire country. A typical example of picking up sesame seeds and throwing away the watermelon.

Yunnan has abundant reserves of well salt, enough for the entire Ming Dynasty to eat forever. But this matter is too sensitive, and he dare not sell salt at a low price blatantly, so he took a flexible approach and stipulated that brine is not considered salt, but a raw material for handicrafts. For example, brine is needed to produce tofu.

So the well salt field can sell brine freely without salt guide.

In this way, the common people can buy brine and boil it in the pot to make white salt, so they don’t have to buy the damn high-priced salt.

Moreover, brine is liquid, and the cost of long-distance transportation is too high. A large jar can’t boil much salt, which is not worth it at all. So there is no need to worry about it flowing to other provinces and causing trouble.

In addition, the salt boiled by the people with brine cannot be traded, otherwise it will still be treated as smuggling salt. In this way, Zhu Zhen can make Boss Zhu, who can’t tolerate sand in his eyes, turn a blind eye and acquiesce to his tricky operation.

And the way tofu camp is to carry forward the tricky operation of Lao Liu. They used brine to make tofu, boiled the brine into salt, and used salt and tofu to make fermented tofu, thus circumventing the ban and allowing it to be exported.

Although Zhu Zhen could not encourage such behavior, he would not stop it either.

As I said before, every penny earned by monopolizing the daily necessities that were not scarce was extremely dirty! He would never go along with the corrupt.