Ming Dynasty: At the beginning of the game, Lao Zhu resigned and retired.

Chapter 950: The Zhu Family Who Knows Nothing About Economics

Master Hu looked at Zhu Yuanzhang silently, then turned to look at the three brothers of the Zhu family and shook his head silently.

"You guys!"

"One is the retired emperor who has been emperor for 20 years, and the other is a prince who keeps saying he wants to build a country and make great achievements."

"But why do you still value this money as much as ordinary people?"

"Is your vision so bad?"

After these words were spoken, Zhu Yuanzhang and the three brothers of the Zhu family looked so unhappy.

Obviously, these words are somewhat harsh.

But Master Hu didn't wait for them to open their mouths to ask questions, but instead asked a question first.

"I want to ask you, suppose that one of you is the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and the other is a foreign king like me."

"Then at this time, you have received a sum of silver, no more, no less, one million taels!"

"Excuse me, what are you going to do at this time?"

"Ok?"

Everyone was stunned by this question, and even after looking at each other, they found the same confusion in each other's eyes.

"Uncle, what should we do?"

"Are you this silver?"

"Yes! Fourth Brother, tell me, suppose you are the king of a foreign country now, and your father, Zhu Chongba, thinks you have done a good job and directly gives you a hundred taels of silver. What are you going to do now?"

"Well... of course we should use it to quickly buy food, hire people to build roads and bridges, and then forge armor, weapons, and firearms!"

Zhu Laosi's answer did not surprise Mr. Hu.

He nodded noncommittally and turned to look at the others.

"What about you?"

"Is it very similar to what the fourth brother thinks?"

Everyone hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Upon seeing this, Mr. Hu smacked his lips speechlessly.

"Tsk, you guys!"

"My assessment just now was correct. Your vision is still at the level of ordinary people!"

"You actually view money the same way as ordinary people?"

“This is such a disgrace!”

"Let me ask you, if you take the money, you should buy food and weapons and armor, so why don't you just take the food and armor?"

"Uh?"

All the men in the Zhu family were dumbfounded.

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a moment, then asked: "Well, Weiyong, do you mean to suggest that we should not give them money, but instead give them food, armor, weapons and other things?"

“But don’t they lack these?”

"Logically speaking, when the country was first established, these were the things they lacked the most, right?"

When Mr. Hu heard this, he rolled his eyes.

"Old Zhu, my majesty!"

"I now doubt how we were able to support you all the way to becoming the emperor!"

"How come your knowledge, opinions, and brains don't seem like those of a wise and powerful person at all?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was still thinking about what Mr. Hu had said before.

As a result, when these words were spoken, Zhu Yuanzhang almost cursed on the spot.

His face was as dark as anything.

But Master Hu really didn't tolerate him at all. In fact, his mood was more irritable than Zhu Yuanzhang who was sulking there without saying a word.

"Old Zhu, why don't you think about the old saying that what is honey to me may be poison to others?"

"You think grain is precious, but you should remember that in the southern vassal states, grain is harvested three times a year, and large tracts of arable land are still planted with trees and weeds?"

"If a prince established a country in one of those places, then he could keep the silver to purchase other things and convert his excess grain into silver to give to the Ming Dynasty. Wouldn't that kill two birds with one stone?"

"For example, the cost of making armor, weapons, and firearms in the Ming Dynasty is very high. If a prince's vassal state has new technology in the future, it can not only improve the quality of the manufacturing but also reduce the original cost?"

"Then for this vassal state, using the discounts on products such as armor and firearms to offset the silver money would also be killing two birds with one stone, wouldn't it?"

Mr. Hu's words made Zhu Yuanzhang silent.

But Zhu Di suddenly interrupted and said, "Uncle, we can keep these armors and food for ourselves, why do we have to give them to the Ming Dynasty?"

"Since these things are easy to sell, why don't I just keep them and sell them slowly?"

"When you have money, you can give it to Ming Dynasty. Why do you have to do this?"

As soon as Zhu Laosi finished speaking, he found that Master Hu was looking at him straight as if he were a bug.

"Uh...Uncle, did I say something wrong?"

Master Hu shook his head, but before Zhu Laosi could be happy, Master Hu spoke directly.

"You're not saying it's not wrong."

"I'm wondering, where did you get your reputation as a man of both civil and military talents?"

"Also, you studied with your father and your elder brother for such a long time. What did you learn?"

"Is the deduction of silver for food and military equipment the same as using silver to pay off debts?"

"What kind of pig brain can come to such a conclusion?"

Zhu Laosi was so rudely ridiculed by Master Hu that he broke down on the spot.

"Uncle, isn't that too rude of you to say that?"

"Is there any difference?"

"Anyway, we are just sending things worth so much money to Ming Dynasty. What's the difference?"

Mr. Hu sighed with great disappointment.

"Ugh!"

"You guys have pig brains, I..."

"Forget it. I'm not sure you'd understand if I told you about costs, profits, boosting employment and industry development."

"Then I'll give you a clear account based on the two examples I just mentioned!"

Mr. Hu simply stretched out one hand and spread it out.

"Suppose that your vassal state is in the south where there are three harvests a year."

"Then, if you arrange for people to reclaim wasteland and collect grain tax at a rate of one-tenth of the tax rate, will the granaries of the vassal state be full that year?"

"Okay, according to your idea, we can sell the grain for money or just give it to you directly. Even after selling it for money, it seems that there will be some profit, right?"

Zhu Laosi nodded heavily.

Yes, that's what he thought.

But Master Hu never spoiled him at all.

"But have you ever thought about it?"

"With all the food your country has accumulated, how many merchants would it take to consume it?"

"Or, how long will it take you to exchange this food for money?"

"During this period, to store and preserve these grains, don't you need to build granaries and have people to look after them?"

"Moreover, based on the output of three crops a year, how many granaries do you need to build to store the increasing amount of grain?"

"Even, haven't you ever heard the saying that low grain prices hurt farmers?"

"Then why can't you change your thinking?"