Approaching the New Year, Ying Tianfu has entered the most lively time of the year.

On the street, the people who buy New Year's goods are side by side, playing tricks, acrobatics, and all kinds of small theaters, all of which set up stages in the market.

After a quiet year, the common people will not be stingy with a few coppers, and they will be happy and happy.

Zhu Zhanji returned from the West and brought back a large amount of gold and silver. This year's imperial court is financially abundant, and the country's westward expedition must focus on stability, so there is a lot less exploitation by officials at all levels, and most of the people can easily have a good year.

In the palace, although it is the Chinese New Year, there are many fewer affairs in the court, but Zhu Zhanji has been more busy recently.

Because the Chinese New Year is approaching, all kinds of entertainment and sacrifices need him to take care of them.

Every day, he was meeting with the officials of the Ministry of Rites, Guanglu Temple, Taichang Temple, and Honglu Temple, and arranged the New Year's meals and ceremonial activities.

He didn't know much about many etiquette, and everything was arranged by the officials.

In the past, Zhu Di came forward in these affairs, and he just showed up when necessary.

This year, it was his turn to come forward, and he realized that these affairs were more troublesome and laborious than those political affairs, and there was no shortcut.

On the twenty-eighth day, the palace set up a banquet to entertain the ministers above the fifth grade in Beijing, and the twenty-ninth to entertain the military generals and nobles in Beijing.

On the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, he has been rotating continuously. During the day, I went to the altar of heaven and earth in the morning to worship heaven and earth, and in the afternoon, I went to the altar of heaven and earth to worship the altar.

These etiquettes must be strictly followed by procedures, and there can be no slackness, let alone cheating.

In the evening, a banquet was held in the Wuying Palace, and all the clans in Beijing reunited together.

In Zhu Di's absence, the major feudal kings were strictly restricted, forbidden to leave the fiefdom, and it was not even easy to leave the palace, and the local officials guarded against them like thieves.

The main reason for this is that he doesn't want to add a group of elders to Zhu Zhanji who are not easy to manage......

Although Zhu Zhanji is in charge of the country, he is not a real emperor. These grandfathers and uncles came to the capital, what happened to them, did Zhu Zhanji care about it or not?

Guan, a junior is strict, he has a bad reputation for himself, and he is loose, which damages Zhu Zhanji's reputation.

So Zhu Di simply asked them not to come to the capital.

On the side of the capital, they are basically the heirs of the major royal palaces who have gone to sea with Zhu Zhanji. Most of them are Zhu Zhanji's peers, even those who have a few uncles, and they are all low-key people.

Just to be able to get a good place overseas in the future, no one dared to touch Zhu Zhanji's mold at this time.

"On the 24th day, I had already arranged for people from all walks of life to engrave and print the excerpts of "The State and the Nation" into a newspaper, occupying an entire page on the back. The front page is also in accordance with the meaning of Junji, the front page headline is Daming celebrates the Spring Festival, and some new policies and regulations implemented by Daming this year. ”

Zhu Zhanji nodded, and said to Zhu Youzhu: "Nowadays, the printing cost of newspapers is high, although four corners are left for the internal supervision of the steam engine and light carriage to advertise, but it is still difficult to protect the capital. However, after the transportation cost statistics are out in the future, it is necessary to count how many pages the newspaper should promote to be the most cost-effective. ”

Zhu Youwei asked in surprise: "The most expensive cost of newspapers nowadays is paper, and the more you print, the more you lose?" ”

Zhu Zhanji smiled and said: "It can't be calculated like this, when the operating costs are stabilized, we must find a way to open up sources and reduce expenditure to maintain the balance of income and expenditure." Don't underestimate the role of advertising, you must know that the royal newspaper is facing the entire Ming people. Advertise once in the newspaper, which means that the entire Ming people can see it. Try it a few times, and you'll know later that those merchants will be willing to pay a lot of money to advertise. ”

Looking at Zhu Zhanji's smiling face, Zhu Youzhu hesitated for a moment and said: "Speaking of this, I really encountered a strange thing, I don't know if Zhanji still remembers Chen Wu of the Third Fleet?" ”

Chen Wu was a general whom Zhu Zhanji met during his Eastern Expedition to Dongying, he was a native of Quanzhou, and had been in charge of the Ming Dynasty's garrison and immigration to Dongfan for several years.

Dongfan is also the Taiwan of later generations, because Zhu Yuanzhang once moved back the Han people on the island, leaving the whole island deserted.

In recent years, the Third Fleet has established two naval guards in Dongfan and relocated more than 200,000 people, but hundreds of thousands of people are far from enough for such a large island.

Today's Dongfan Island, because of the lag in the envelopment of the natives, is not self-sufficient, and can only maintain the life of two military guards.

Two military guards, one in the south and one in the north, can supply and maintain the imperial court's Nanyang trading fleet.

Not only Dongfan, but every country in the world that is now trading with the Ming Dynasty is not as good as the Ming Dynasty's heritage and technology.

However, it is precisely because of this dependence that it can bring a steady stream of trade profits to Daming.

Chen Wu, as the highest official in Dongfan Island today, also came to the capital to perform his duties during the Chinese New Year, and Zhu Zhanji also received him once.

"What's the matter with Chen Wu?"

"He came to me the other day to inquire about the cost of advertising in the newspapers, and I said that I would ask for two thousand silver coins at a time, and the high price did not seem to frighten him, but rather interested him.

I wondered why he, a general in the garrison, would pay attention to newspaper advertisements. When I asked him, I found out that he also wanted to advertise in the newspaper to attract more people to immigrate to Dongfan Island. ”

Zhu Zhanji couldn't help laughing, he didn't expect Chen Wu to be so smart. However, it can also be seen from this incident that the influence of newspapers among officials is not small. Although not even a single issue of the newspaper has been published yet, smart people have seen the role of the newspaper.

"Did he say how to raise the money?"

Two thousand silver coins are not a lot of money, but they are definitely a lot. It doesn't matter if he wants to advertise, but if he dares to use military spending, then Zhu Zhanji will settle accounts with him.

After asking about the cost of advertising, he mentioned it in passing. It is said that Fujian has set up a Dongfan Association, and this Dongfan Association is willing to pay this amount of money in order to develop Dongfan. ”

pulled out another Dongfan meeting, which made Zhu Zhanji pay attention, he beckoned, and Liu Wan hurriedly came to his side.

"You ask Sun Lin to come over and bring the information of the Dongfan Society."

Liu Wan went, and Zhu Youstew asked: "I know a little bit about this Dongfan Society, but it is just a mutual aid association established by some small businessmen, and it concentrates the financial and material resources of many people to develop Dongfan." There are already a lot of mutual aid associations like this in Daming, especially in Ningbo, where there are many kinds of chambers of commerce. ”

Zhu Zhanji smiled and did not answer, a trace of vigilance welled up in his heart.

Zhu Youwei couldn't see the threat of this kind of chamber of commerce, but Zhu Zhanji wouldn't be careless.

The trade of the Ming Dynasty was in full swing, and although the internal control system controlled the import and export rights of most of the trade, the production and transportation still relied on the power of the people.

Taking tea as an example, it is impossible for the internal supervisor to grow and pick tea by himself, and these still have to rely on the merchants. It's just that these teas have to go through the hands of internal supervisors to sell overseas.

In addition to tea, cloth, silk, porcelain these goods are all the same.

Moreover, the internal supervisor has limited manpower and cannot control all the goods. Just like those coarse porcelain bowls, the internal supervisors don't look down on this profit at all, and only collect taxes, and are unwilling to get involved in these businesses.

A large part of the commodity is controlled by the private forces themselves.

However, Zhu Zhanji has been going abroad in the past few years, and this year he has been bent on controlling the situation in the DPRK, and he has been a little negligent in this regard.

The power of capital is infinite, and this kind of institution with the nature of a club is half black and half white.

Because of the political structure, Zhu Zhanji is not worried that the Ming Dynasty will appear as a consortium like the United States in the future, but it is very likely that there will be forces like the Heaven and Earth Society and the White Lotus Sect.

Sun Lin soon came to Zhu Zhanji's face, and he also held a stack of materials in his hand. "Your Highness, the Dongfan Association is a mutual aid organization established under the support of Chen Wu in the fifteenth year, which was originally only in Quanzhou and Fuzhou, but it has gradually developed to the north in recent years. Among the clubs, Tobankai is just a third-class club and is not worth paying attention to. ”

"So, you're paying attention to these clubs?"

Sun Lin nodded and said, "Since the seventeenth year, the Consultation Department has made some statistics on the chambers of commerce and clubs of Daming, and has installed a lot of downlines. According to the number of people and the size of the force, it is divided into three levels, each with different attention and intervention intensity. ”

Only then did Zhu Zhanji put his mind at ease and ordered: "Let people compile this information into a book and submit it." ”

Without Zhu Zhanji's instructions, Sun Lin would have been able to do this step very well.

However, in Zhu Zhanji's heart, these things are not enough. Because these covert meddling is definitely not as good as direct management.

Governance, like the military, is inevitably subject to some intrigues. But most of the time, there is still a need for a dignified institutional constraint.

Just like the monks have the Sangha Division, and the Taoist priests have the Taoist Division, which are all specialized management bodies.

The Chamber of Commerce should also set up a special management body to manage and restrict, including support.

However, this matter is not in a hurry, and it is not too late to wait until the next year to handle it, and Zhu Zhanji also has to find a qualified official to take the lead.

This person can't be rigid and bent on suppressing businessmen, and he can't be too stupid and be played around by businessmen.

Wang Yan came over with a few little eunuchs at this time. "Your Highness, everyone has arrived, and the time is almost up, let's start the table......"

Zhu Zhanji nodded and ordered: "Pass the meal ......"

The most lively reunion dinner in the Chinese New Year's Eve was not the adults, but Zhu Zhanji's group of children. When they arrived for the Chinese New Year, they began to let themselves go.

It is rare for the palace to be so lively today, and even Concubine Zhang Guifei brought a group of concubines from the harem to the banquet. They are all women who have no flesh and blood of their own, and they can't pull out their eyes when they see a group of children.

The women in the palace are all mothers and children, and all women are extremely accommodating to their children.

Zhu Zhanji didn't have time to enjoy the joy of family, and after dinner, he led the adult clan to the Taimiao Temple and began to worship his ancestors.

On this night, the people of Tianfu celebrated the Spring Festival, and the sound of firecrackers continued.

Zhu Zhanji almost didn't sleep all night, and after worshipping his ancestors, he prepared to sacrifice heaven and earth the next day.

The thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, the first day of the first lunar month, this one is the beginning of the year, the other is the end of the year, and the two sacrifices are indispensable and the most important.

Other festivals, or great victory sacrifices, are not as important as the rituals of these two days.

Moreover, at dawn, there will be the first big court meeting of the year.

The main purpose of this great court meeting is to meet with envoys of various countries, meet with officials at all levels, and issue policy orders such as the policy program for the 19th year of Yongle.

But in a big pilgrimage, you have to meet with hundreds of people, and everyone has to say different things, some of them should be praised, and some of them need to be criticized.

Although all affairs were arranged in an orderly manner by the Honglu Temple, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Officials, the Department of General Administration, and the Internal Supervisor. All of this needs Zhu Zhanji to experience alone, and it is not an easy thing.

At the time of Chen, the first great court meeting of the 19th year of Yongle was held as scheduled, first the civil and military officials, and the envoys of various countries knelt down to Zhu Zhanji to congratulate the New Year.

Subsequently, Zhu Zhanji asked Wang Yan to read out an excerpt from the book "The State and the Nation", and released the 19-year policy idea of focusing on stability and tilting resources for the westward expedition.

The first thing Zhu Zhanji met was Dongying's princess Akiko and Akihito. Because Akihito is Zhu Zhanji's species, the Dongying royal family has lived a very comfortable life in the past few years.

However, Chengguang is now terminally ill, and he can hardly recognize people, but he still has his last breath left.

Now that the economic power of the Toei royal family is in the hands of Prince Komatsumiya and Prince Fushimi, they will continue to control the affairs of the palace until Akihito becomes an adult.

Although the Ming Dynasty treats the Dongying royal family preferentially, they are like rootless drifters in the Ming Dynasty, and they are naturally unwilling.

In order to make Daming fulfill his promise and put it back in Dongying ten years later, even if they heard some rumors, they didn't dare to speak up.

Of course Zhu Zhanji won't care about them, these princes, even if they are released back to Dongying in the future, they won't make them feel better.

Zhu Zhanji will definitely control them firmly, and when Akihito reaches the age of eighteen in Daming, he will be able to take power directly after he returns.

Although today is not a suitable occasion, but others did not dare to eavesdrop on the conversation between Zhu Zhanji and Qiuzi, Zhu Zhanji directly explained his meaning to Qiuzi, and finally said: "After fifteen, the children in the palace will go to Xiamaqiao Farm to receive education, and you let Akihito also come to school." Although he can't be Lone's son directly, in the future, Lone will not treat him badly. ”

Qiuzi looked at Zhu Zhanji affectionately and said in a low voice: "Your Highness, what about the concubine?" Do you want to take a concubine back to Dongying? ”

"When Akihito is eighteen years old, you naturally want to accompany him back, and it is more comfortable to be the empress dowager in Dongying than to stay in Yingtianfu. In the future, Akihito will come to study in Xiamaqiao, and I will arrange a small courtyard for your mother and son in Xiamaqiao, so that I can often visit you. ”

Qiuzi understood what Zhu Zhanji meant, and his brows furrowed. She is only 21 years old this year, and it is the most beautiful flower season. But her husband was terminally ill, and Zhu Zhanji was inconvenient to see her, so he kept the empty room alone.

Thinking about this kind of day, it is indeed cruel to her.

(I'm sorry, these days, friends everywhere go back to their hometowns, every day is constantly socializing, the day before yesterday, yesterday, today can't be pushed off, the result is ...... In the future, I will try to ensure that I keep updating and write a paragraph for my book friends every day. ）