First Minister of Ming Dynasty

But Zhang Ximeng's statement is tantamount to telling everyone that the silk workshop will continue to operate and the silk business will continue.

As for what to do with the mulberry fields, it may depend on Zhang Xiang's intentions, but obviously, not all of them will be turned into farmland.

This is indeed the case, Zhang Ximeng soon announced the distribution method of Sangtian.

There is no doubt that these lands must be returned to the people, especially those who still have the original owners. However, the people cannot be allowed to destroy the mulberry fields and plant rice again. If such a toss is made, the people will lose and will also be destroyed. The silk industry in Suzhou city caused the weavers to lose their livelihood.

So first of all, the imperial court has to come forward and set up Changping warehouses in the local area to sell grain to the people at a par price.

It also accepts raw silk in exchange for grain.

Keep food prices stable, so that the raw silk produced can be exchanged for more food and make more money.

It is guaranteed that the common people are profitable, and Sangtian can be preserved.

Of course, the common people also need to ensure the quality of raw silk, and the imperial court will purchase raw silk according to the grade.

The next step is the production of silk, which is also a trouble.

Zhang Ximeng's suggestion was that the court should come forward to build a large silk workshop.

The imperial court purchases raw silk, resells the raw silk to workshops, hires weavers, makes silk, and sells it to Shibosi... The entire industrial chain must be in the hands of the imperial court.

This is the foundation of everything.

Because only in this way can it be convenient to formulate standards and affect the entire industry.

The current silk industry is almost the most important industry with the highest level of technology, the highest degree of mechanization, and countless potentials, which is related to the national economy and people's livelihood.

It is absolutely impossible for the court not to control the whole process.

However, as a big silk producer, there are still ways to survive and room for growth.

First of all, they can also purchase raw silk from farmers. As long as the price is more suitable than the normal warehouse, someone will naturally be willing to sell it.

After getting the raw silk, it is also your ability to weave better silk and then sell it to the Shibo Department at a higher price.

It's just that due to the presence of imperial workshops, the standard of treatment for weavers has been determined.

Beating and scolding, punishment, insult, oppression... all these methods are not acceptable.If this is done, it is tantamount to forcing the excellent weavers to the court.

Moreover, the officials are also responsible. After receiving the report, they will definitely be punished severely, and the big family can definitely go bankrupt and become a small family from then on.

In short, the silk industry remained, but the entire industry was completely reshuffled.

The situation that was completely controlled by a few big silk households in the past has been completely broken.

Sangnong got the benefits, and the weavers improved their living conditions. As for the court, because of its deep control over the industry, it is self-evident that it received tax dividends.

It is almost a happy situation for everyone, oh, and those big households who call the wind and rain, it seems that they have lost the capital to do whatever they want, but whoever let Daming rule is not for them at all!

Your days are over.

If you miss Zhang Shicheng, you can go to the prison to accompany him.

It seems good to sigh with Zhang Shicheng and enjoy the bitter wind and rain together.

The Baimao River embankment, the silk industry...the most important matters were handled by Zhang Ximeng.

In other words, all the things Zhang Shicheng was most proud of were broken.

People in Suzhou praised him, built water conservancy projects, and rewarded sericulture, all of which turned into jokes.

The levee he built was for big households, and the sericulture he encouraged was a kind of silkworm cultivation in which everyone suffered losses except himself and the big households...

This conclusion was not only written in the newspaper, but also engraved on the stone tablet, which stood beside the embankment of the Baimao River, and was also engraved in the hearts of the people.

Wu Datou led his staff into the fields, sang operas for the people, introduced the situation and policies to the people, and gained the praise of the people.

Every land deed was handed out, and there was a family weeping with joy.

The big guys hugged each other and wept bitterly.

"Don't worry, the imperial court has already prepared properly this time. The rations you need have been transported to the warehouse, and we promise not to let the big guys suffer. Let's plant mulberry and silkworms to produce more raw silk, and then take it overseas and exchange it back The barbarian's real gold and silver, do you think it's okay?"

Wu Datou roared with all his strength, and more soldiers arrived in every village, presided over the division of fields, and signed agreements with the people, and they were extremely busy.

Obviously, Zhang Shicheng, as well as the wealthy and powerful households attached to Zhang Shicheng, were almost wiped out after this method.

Don't forget, Zhang Ximeng has also prepared thousands of bamboo poles. The case is still under trial, and no one who is guilty can escape. Heads are decorated with flagpoles.

"Zhang Xiang, I have figured out the situation you let me know. It is actually very simple for that old woman to say good things about Zhang Shicheng." Zhou Huiniang said: "Every year on Zhang Shicheng's mother, Mrs. Cao, on her birthday, she will give some grain and rice to the old people in the city. , she can receive some every year, so she will be grateful to Dade and say good things about Zhang Shicheng."

Zhang Ximeng nodded, "So that's the case, what about now? What does she think?"

"It's hard to say, but the nephew of the old woman has divided the fields in the countryside and is able to live well. He has already driven the donkey cart to pick her up to spend her old age in the countryside."

Zhang Ximeng nodded again...

In the prison, an old woman, trembling, carrying a food box, came to the front of Zhang Shicheng's cell.

"Eat, this is food for you."

Zhang Shicheng was taken aback, there are still loyal people thinking about him?

Zhang Shicheng, his two brothers, and his mother, Mrs. Cao, all joined together.

But the old woman continued: "We must not be ignorant of etiquette. You donate grain and rice every year, and we will give you this meal. You have robbed our land and made us unable to make a living. Just wait, sooner or later our heads will die. Hang it on a bamboo pole!"

Zhang Shicheng's family was dumbfounded, and they didn't know whether to put the food back or put it in their mouths... The old woman turned and left, happily got on her nephew's donkey cart, and returned to the countryside. There are still great days waiting for her !

"Zhang Shicheng, do you still say that the sun shines on you and doesn't shine on me?" Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "I think the people's hearts are with me, not you!"

Zhang Shicheng was dumbfounded, speechless...

Chapter 535 A Game of Chess in the World

Zhang Shicheng shouldn't be afraid of death. From a private salt dealer, he climbed to the throne and enjoyed ten years of superb life. Even if his bones are ruined and his family dies, so what?

Nothing worth mentioning!

Just do it!

I want to see, what other tricks can I play?

In the end, Zhang Ximeng showed him what it means to be ruined and have a bad reputation for thousands of years... Zhang Ximeng started from the Baimao River embankment, which was equivalent to obliterating Zhang Shicheng's ten-year achievements and turning him into a joke.

Then his actions were engraved on the stone tablet, which will be passed down for hundreds of generations and will always be ridiculed by others.

Even an ordinary old woman looked down on him, cursed him, wished his head would hang on a bamboo pole!

What's the point of murdering someone, ruining his reputation, turning him into a clown's joke... When it comes to ruthlessness and determination, no one can compare to this young man in front of him.

"Zhang Ximeng, you are cruel! You kill me!"

Zhang Ximeng shook his head slightly, "Human life is at stake. Whether or not to kill you is a matter for the Lord to decide. It also depends on the laws of the country and the people's will. It is inconvenient for me to do these things."

Zhang Shicheng gritted his teeth, "Zhang Ximeng, don't play tricks here! You tore off my face, threw it into the mud, and stepped on ten thousand feet. Now you tell me that it is not convenient for you to kill me, why don't you put Am I cut to pieces?"

Zhang Ximeng laughed, "Zhang Shicheng, this is where you have no structure. Since the rise of the red scarf, Liu Futong, Zhimali, Bu Wangsan, Meng Haima, Guo Zixing, Peng Yingyu, Xu Shouhui, Chen Youliang... and Yuan Ting's Tuotuo, Chahan Timur, Dashi Badulu, Polo Timur... Heroes rise up together, the world is in chaos, and the people of the people are suffering a lot!"

"Now that most of the heroes have fallen, the day when the world is unified is not far away. Naturally, I will write a fair and decent evaluation of all the heroes, and then edit it into a book and distribute it to the world, so that everyone can take a good look at who is the king and who is the thief. !Clarify the source and let future generations take it as a warning. It is exactly what I should do.”

"You...you're fine!" Zhang Shicheng was trembling all over, and was too angry to speak.Zhang Ximeng was not only targeting him, he was probably saying, you are all rubbish!No one can escape my pen.

Zhang Shicheng felt cold all over his body, as if he was pointing at a piece of meat on a chopping board, judging which piece could be braised in soy sauce and which piece could be fried!

I am a majestic king, and it is really sad and ridiculous that I have fallen to this point. I have failed so badly!

Suddenly Zhang Shicheng raised his head and asked: "I have fallen into the Skynet, and I don't want to think about anything. I want to ask you, what would happen to Emperor Yuan Ting?"

"He? He will probably be an ordinary person!" Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "Support yourself, grow and eat by yourself, and be an ordinary citizen of Ming Dynasty!"

"Good! Good!" Zhang Shicheng stretched out two thumbs, "I'm convinced, I'm convinced! If you are on guard, caring, and even killing him, it can be regarded as giving Emperor Yuan a bit of dignity. But let him be an ordinary person. This punishment is indeed [-] times more vicious than killing him! Even if Emperor Yuan is like this, why do I, Zhang Shicheng, care about it! I, I want to drink! Get drunk!"

Zhang Shicheng glanced at Zhang Ximeng, and said angrily: "I am also the leader of one party, Zhu Yuanzhang canonized King Huai, can't I just drink some wine?"

Zhang Ximeng chuckled, "Naturally not... You must know that Yan Sheng Gong Kong Kejian and his son Kong Xixue both served hard labor at the dock. If you want to drink, there are various jobs in the prison. You can get a bamboo stick if you work for a day. If you have accumulated enough [-] pieces, you can participate in the lottery draw, and if you are lucky, you have a one-fifth chance of getting a bottle of rice wine... come on!"

After finishing speaking, Zhang Ximeng turned and left. The most vicious curses sounded from behind him, not only Zhang Shicheng, but also Zhang Shide and Zhang Shixin. They were all curses among the salt workers back then. The kind that comes alive.

It's just that Zhang Ximeng didn't care, and just asked the cell boss to arrange a brick-burning job for Zhang Shicheng, specifically for Yingtianhuang City!

It's best to use the bricks he burned to build the palace's hut...it's perfect!

Zhang Ximeng can only use half of his energy to deal with these matters at most, and the remaining half has to find a way out for the industries in Suzhou and Songjiang.

After all, no matter how good his idea is, it will benefit most people, but if the silk cannot be sold at a good price, the profit will not be returned, it will not be turned into food, and the mulberry weavers will not be able to survive, all his ideas are empty talk .

"So in the final analysis, it still has to fall on the word of benefit." Zhang Ximeng said to several subordinates: "You should discuss it carefully and come up with a proper solution."

Then Zhang Ximeng added: "You guys should use your brains and think of everything. In fact, the truth is that you are not a layman who doesn't know how to manage. Don't let me look down on you."

As soon as these words came out, everyone present changed their expressions.

Does Zhang Xiang know how to run a business?

Is it great?

Stop bragging, right?

Among these people, Zhou Huiniang knew Zhang Ximeng relatively early. At the beginning, he managed the state, helped solve Yangzhou's predicament, established a grain bank, and even issued treasure notes after crossing the river... In the eyes of the old man, Zhang Ximeng was a talented person. He is Lao Zhu's big butler. When it comes to management skills and ways to make a fortune, Zhang Ximeng beats those people by a block.

Of course, if you only look at Zhang Ximeng himself, you may think that the art of making money is one of his weaker skills... It's like leading an army to fight a war.

The weakest project of others is also about the top level.

Doesn't this make it fun to play?

After a while, Qian Yongqin dared to say: "Mr. Zhang, barbarian merchants have been coming to buy silk and cloth these years. In the past, several rich and powerful families competed with each other, and smuggling was rampant, which gave barbarian merchants a lot of opportunities for profit. .If everything can belong to the Shibo Department like in Hangzhou, the situation will be much better.”

Zhang Ximeng nodded with a smile, "This point is very good. The most important thing in business is order. We must set the rules. We can't have one person with one trumpet and each play his own tune! Silk cloth, this is our unique thing. Absolutely unmatched in the world, no one can match it. It is obviously a good thing, but it can’t be sold at a price, but it can’t be done!”

At this time, Shi Boren suddenly said: "Zhang Xiang, silk from Suzhou and cloth from Songjiang are sold outside in exchange for gold and silver. With gold and silver, they buy grain from various places to feed mulberry farmers and weavers... It seems reasonable. But I always feel that something is wrong, it seems that it is not so fair to the people in other places!"

Zhang Ximeng nodded with a smile, and even extended his thumb.

"This is an exaggerated statement! It puts Daming together and looks at the whole country. There is a game of chess in the world, and one family in the world." Zhang Ximeng turned to Xu Ben, who was in charge of recording, and said, "You must write it down carefully, and you will send it later. Ying Tian, ​​pass it to the lord, and let His Majesty decide."

Xu Ben quickly agreed, and Zhang Ximeng said again: "When we discuss foreign trade, we must understand one thing... Regardless of gold and silver, you can't eat or drink. We used the best fertile land in the south of the Yangtze River to plant mulberry trees and cotton. , and purchased food from other places to supply to the weavers of Sang Nong for consumption. What they got back was only hard gold and silver.”

"Moreover, most of these gold and silver will flow into the hands of big silk merchants. These rich merchants and big households use gold and silver to build big houses, annex land, marry young wives, buy maidservants, eat and wear everything, and one meal is worth a year's worth of ordinary people. Expenses... I want to ask you guys, this kind of trade, this way of making money, can really make the Ming Dynasty rich and strong. Are the days getting better?"

Qian Yongqin moved his butt subconsciously, and the expressions of the other merchants changed even more. Why did Zhang Xiang speak so scary!

I always feel that the big guy will be dragged out in the next moment, and his head will be chopped off directly to make a bamboo pole pendant.

Fortunately, Zhang Ximeng didn't want to scare the big guys, but continued: "Silk from Suzhou, cotton cloth from Songjiang, these high-quality products must be given away and sent to other state capitals, so that more people can enjoy them."

Hearing this, a businessman immediately stood up, "Master Zhang, I'm afraid it won't work! Those ordinary people don't have much money!"

At this time, Zhou Huiniang smiled, "You said you don't have much money? I want to ask you, have you ever been to Huaiyuan, Hezhou, Shexian, and Jiangzhou?"

Asked by Zhou Huiniang, the businessman stared blankly, and said vaguely: "Indeed, I have never been there!"

Zhou Huiniang laughed and said, "It's a coincidence that I have not only been there, but I also know a little bit about it. In the place where the fields were equalized in the first place, the people generally built new houses and had hundreds of stones to store grain. If you say that you can't afford silk, I admit it. But things like getting married, red silk and satin wedding dresses can still be afforded, and silk bedding, some wealthy households can also buy an extra bed. You sell the silk and exchange it for food. It’s still very lucrative.”

The businessman was dumbfounded when he heard this.

What do you mean?

Can ordinary people in Ming Dynasty afford silk?

Although it is only a small number of places, it scares people to death.

Originally thought that the Ming Dynasty attacked the powerful and dealt with many literati and bureaucrats, and no one could afford silk anymore, so they could only rely on overseas trade... Now it seems that this is not the case.

Moreover, it is also a good thing for them to have close contacts with other states and counties.

When the businessman was thinking, Zhang Ximeng smiled and said: "Indeed, we need to have contacts with ourselves, and we also need to have contacts with overseas countries. When we sell our silk, their gold and silver, grain, wood, spices, and special products...we also need to take When you come back, you will have business if you have contacts. I can remind everyone, if you just sell it desperately, but you can’t get it back, causing prices to skyrocket and people suffering, you will have to bear the consequences!"

Who can bear such a big crime!

Qian Yongqin hurriedly said: "Master Zhang, overseas risks are too high, I'm afraid..."

"What are you afraid of!" Fang Guozhen interrupted with a big laugh, "Master Zhang, if you say you have a flexible mind, what's the point of sending out a cargo and returning it empty? Of course, you must fill it with good things! No talent, I am willing to lead the fleet out and go to various countries... Is this considered to be famous overseas?"

Chapter 536 Sending Prime Minister Zhang Back to Beijing

Zhang Ximeng smiled warmly, and Fang Guozhen's statement made him very useful.

After all, it is a powerful party. This kind of people's vision is different from that of ordinary generals. Even Xu Da and Chang Yuchun, they also follow orders, and even the higher the status, the more obedient they are.

As for Fang Guozhen, no matter how suppressed she is, her rebelliousness always exists in her bones. When it comes to doing things, she is aggressive and pioneering.