Ningbo is not the capital, because the security of the capital has been controlled for a long time, the people of the capital are also used to the grandson, and even the emperor's travel, and know what to do when they see the excitement.

However, Ningbo is mixed with dragons and snakes, and there are merchants from all over the country, and there are even many foreign merchants and guards.

Therefore, now the control on both sides of the road is more strict, and even if there are people watching the excitement, they can only greet the grandson in the designated area, instead of kneeling on both sides of the road like the capital side.

Here, Zhu Zhanji does not need to show a pro-people side, what he needs more is to maintain the majesty of the royal family, distance himself from the people, and deify his identity.

So when the welcome ceremony was over and he boarded the luxurious carriage prepared by Yu Xian, he kept his face calm and maintained a non-angry and unfathomable image.

His image did not disappoint the common people and foreign merchants, not to mention anything else, his size alone is incomparable to most people.

Although he was only twenty years old this year, he looked twenty-five or sixteen, and his neatly trimmed short beard added a lot of majesty to him.

Everywhere he passed, the people knelt down to greet each other with convincingness, and then secretly looked at him sitting in the car excitedly. As long as you can see Taisun's side, everyone feels that this trip is worthwhile.

There are so many people visiting, but the pier is very close to the city. When Zhu Zhanji's car entered the city, none of the cars behind him had set off.

Seeing such a grand occasion makes those who watch the excitement feel that the trip is worth it.

Entering the courtyard of the city's ship, Zhu Zhanji relaxed his body, turned his head and said to Xie Jin behind him: "Ningbo's prosperity is not inferior to Yingtian, the transportation here is inconvenient, and it can be prosperous now, completely relying on the convenience of water transportation by sea and Jiangnan water town. ”

Xie Jin shook his head and said: "The area south of the Yangtze River has been the hinterland of Chinese civilization since the Southern Song Dynasty. Jiangnan is rich in products and outstanding people, but in modern times, it has been influenced by commerce, and now it is inferior to Jiangxi in terms of Confucianism. ”

Xie Jin is from Jiangxi, so of course he has to speak for Jiangxi at this time.

However, what he said is also true, during the Song Dynasty, there were endless talents in Jiangnan, and most of the ministers of the court were people from the Jiangnan area.

Since the Southern Song Dynasty, it has become a commercial center, and the smell of copper has gradually masked the literary atmosphere.

In the early Ming Dynasty, including the middle period, the ministers of the imperial court were mainly Jiangxi and Huguang, and there were very few ministers in Jiangnan.

But Zhu Zhanji was well aware that after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Jiangnan's economic advantages gradually expanded, which led to an increase in the number of literati. The gradual combination of power and money led to the fact that after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, almost all the courts were occupied by Jiangnan people.

The notorious Donglin Party is almost all Jiangnan people, and the more extreme Fushe is also composed of Jiangnan people.

The main purpose of Zhu Di's relocation of the capital was to move the political center to the north, but with the support of money, even if the capital was moved, it could not change the trend of the literati in Jiangnan gradually gaining an advantage.

Since this road did not work, Zhu Zhanji no longer thought about guarding against the Jiangnan literati, but wanted to take this force for himself, and then divide and weaken it.

Differentiation is naturally to win over a group, suppress a group, and weaken it is also very simple, that is, to support other forces, such as Gewu and mathematics.

But these are all things for the future, and this time Zhu Zhanji arranged Xie Jin, who was almost idle, to be his "administrative secretary", the purpose of which was to brush up his sense of existence.

But he didn't dare to go too far, after all, he still had Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi above him, and controlling Wenchen was currently Zhu Gaochi's main sphere of influence.

Therefore, he did not dare to go to the Suzhou and Hangzhou generations, the center of Jiangnan, to brush up his sense of existence, but only took the time to go to Ningbo to take a break and let Xie Jin help him explain his political ideas among the literati.

Although Xie Jin has almost no power now, he is only the treasury manager of the royal family's scripture library, but he is still the idol of the Ming literati, and as the teacher of the Taisun, no one dares to despise him.

Zhu Zhanji nodded and said: "Xie Shi can call friends in Ningbo these days, walk around with old friends more, and promote the numbers and symbols." ”

"The old minister will live up to his trust......," Xie Jinchang saluted and asked, "Then does Your Highness make an appointment to meet the Jiangnan literati?" ”

Zhu Zhanji shook his head and said: "This time I don't need it, this time I will go to sea for a year or two, and when I return, it will not be too late." ”

"The old minister understands."

After sending him away, Zhu Zhanji lifted the hem of his clothes and raised his legs to enter the yamen hall of the City Division.

This city is equivalent to the industrial and commercial bureau, the tax bureau, and the customs office of later generations, and bears the responsibility of collecting wealth for the royal family.

The manpower here is mainly composed of eunuchs, but it is supervised by the Promotion Division, as well as the Household Division, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

However, due to the different management systems, the supervision of the imperial court actually did not have much effect, because the eunuchs only needed to be responsible to the royal family.

And the physical disability of the eunuchs has also led to the paranoid pursuit of money, food, and even women, and in general, they are very focused on enjoyment.

This is human nature, and even Zhu Zhanji cannot change it.

The city bureau is much more glamorous than the ordinary yamen, and they themselves handle all kinds of commodities and economic power, so they have the conditions to create economic conditions for themselves that other departments cannot match.

Seeing this luxurious yamen, Zhu Zhanji didn't want to make a clean government storm, because the eunuchs only pursued this point.

If you want the horse to run, and you want the horse not to eat grass, how can there be such a good thing!

They were greedy, but at least they were loyal, and in many cases, the eunuchs were more trustworthy than the literati.

As long as it is not for personal reasons, Zhu Zhanji does not mind being a little more tolerant.

Sitting down in the lobby, Yu Xian leaned over and asked softly, "Your Highness, is it the first time to have lunch, or do you want to meet the ministers first?" ”

"Let's meet the local officials first, and present the list of interviews to Eunuch Jin, so that he can choose again." Zhu Zhanji took a sip of the authentic Taiping Monkey Kui and asked, "Zhejiang Political Division, is anyone coming over according to the judges?" ”

"Wang Weixin, Ge Cheng got His Royal Highness's order and didn't dare to come, but he still sent his subordinates to greet His Highness. However, both Zhejiang and Zhejiang transferred salt, and Xia Liuyuan personally came from Hangzhou. ”

The two Zhejiang transport envoys were set up in the early Ming Dynasty and were in charge of the two Zhejiang salt administrations. It has jurisdiction over Jiaxing, Songjiang, Ningshao and Wentai.

There is one transfer envoy from the third grade, one person from the same knowledge, one person from the fourth grade, one deputy envoy, one from the fifth grade, the judge has no fixed number, from the sixth grade, and the experience of the department, the governor, the salt division, the salt warehouse, the ambassador of the inspection office, the deputy envoy, etc.

Tongzhi and deputy envoys are managed by the sub-division, and the general transit envoy is in the capital, and the salt produced is marketed in the south of the Yangtze River and the whole territory of Zhejiang.

Zhu Zhanji originally only ordered Zhejiang Chengxuan political envoy Sibu political envoy Wang Weixin, and Ge Cheng did not have to come to see him, but he neglected to transfer this capital envoy Xia Liuyuan.

Since he arrived in person, Zhu Zhan should have met with him based on reason, after all, this is also a local official who thinks he is from Sanpin.

However, although he wanted to meet, Zhu Zhanji still had to make his words clear. "Since you're here, we'll see you. However, Lone has not yet been pro-government, and this time he will not talk about official business. Another order was issued, and Lone came to the sea this time, and only talked about business in Ningbo, not about official business, and the local officials only met with each other, and focused on arranging for representatives of businessmen to come to meet them. ”

This is for Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi, no matter what he wants to do, at least let everyone know in his attitude that he will not overstep.

And with such a statement, when the people below come to visit him, they can also grasp the proportion, and they will not embarrass the two elders because they do not grasp Zhu Zhanji's proportions well.

Jin Kuo's return to the old land this time can be described as a return to his hometown.

In the seventh year of Yongle, as the great eunuch most valued by Zhu Zhanji, he was entrusted with an important task and served as the town guard of Ningbo City. He is originally from Yuyao and was originally from Ningbo, which is one of the important reasons why he was able to hold this position in the first place.

During his stay in Ningbo, he worked diligently and did a good job of completing the tasks that Zhu Zhanji asked him to control commerce and win over merchants, and he had a good grasp of a series of commercial operations between the Ming Dynasty and his subjects.

But in the twelfth year of Yongle's plan to bully the king, he suddenly fell into a low point in his life, and was almost taken off by Zhu Di.

Although Zhu Di let him go in the end, it was entirely because Taisun kept him.

He also received a blessing in disguise and was promoted to the great eunuch of the twelve eunuchs.

But for a whole year, he had been worried, for fear that Zhu Di would find out that he and his grandson were deceiving him, there was no such person as "Magellan" at all, and the globe was carved by the grandson himself.

It wasn't until Iwami Ginzan was discovered that he was truly safe. Because "facts" prove that everything is true.

Even the craftsman who carved the globe was not executed, and he was safer.

Then, he became one of the twenty-four eunuchs in the palace, and also became the head of Xingqing Palace, and also became the most important subordinate of Taisun.

After a year of low tide, he did not come to Tailai.

On this voyage, he served as the commercial chief of the fleet, and he controlled far more materials and money than anyone else.

He is also closer to the status of his idol Zheng He.

Zheng He is the idol of every chamberlain in the Ming Dynasty, and he is also the hero that all chamberlains want to be.

He was meticulous in literature and martial arts, brave in battle, and was highly valued by the emperor. If it weren't for the fact that he was not interested in the power in the palace and wanted to show his might in the four seas, it would not have been Wang Yan's turn to become the first person in the palace.

Today's Ming vassal country has three out of fifty, Zheng He is almost unknown to everyone, it is said that in Nanyang, there are people who have set up a shrine for him, what a great honor this is.

And His Royal Highness also trusted him, not only during the Eastern Crusade named him deputy marshal, but also because of this, he was able to be crowned a duke, and since then he has been separated from the ranks of the inner servants and has become a number of military generals and nobles in the Ming Dynasty.

Now he has his own duke's palace in the capital, and he has also been married by His Majesty, so that the son of his eldest brother will inherit the incense. (Zheng He had wives, and many eunuchs in the early Ming Dynasty had wives.) And his wife accompanied him to many countries, and it was rumored that his wife was a mahjong master...... ）

Jin Kuo knew that he was no match for Zheng He in terms of war and diplomacy, and he had never proved himself on the battlefield.

But he knows that his advantage is business ability, His Royal Highness Taisun attaches great importance to business, as long as he helps him take care of it in this regard, he is not afraid that any of his ministers will be able to surpass him in this life.

When Zhu Zhanji was meeting with hundreds of civil and military officials in Zhejiang, there were hundreds of merchants from Jiangsu and Zhejiang in Sanjianglou, the largest restaurant near the city's Bosi, as well as the clansmen he had supported here, waiting for his arrival.

Yu Xian is still young after all, he thinks he is in control of everything, but in fact he is just mastering the hard power of the official. And the sphere of influence includes not only hard power, but also soft power.

In the past few years, Jin Kuo has not neglected to exert influence here in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, he is a local, and in terms of people's hearts, he is not as good as himself at all.

When Jin Kuo led a team of chamberlains to Sanjianglou, hundreds of merchants from all over Jiangsu and Zhejiang had gathered here, and the leaders were several relatives of his Jin family.

Qiu He also stood in front of the crowd, he was able to cooperate with Zhu Zhanji to open the Dragon and Phoenix Silver Building, and he was able to rely on Jin Kuo's relationship at the beginning.

Although the Dragon and Phoenix Silver Mansion Qiu family did not have much profit, because the majority of the head was taken away by Zhu Zhanji. But with this banner, the enemy family has made a lot of money in other industries.

Therefore, although the Qiu family will not add obstacles to Yu Xian's work, at most it is just official business, plus some small favors.

The only one who can really be regarded as an ally by the enemy is Jin Kuo.

At least this will not change until Yu Xian can really suppress Jin Kuo.

Everyone was troubled and disturbed, and they stepped forward in turn, and then welcomed Jin Kuo into Sanjiang Tower.

Like other large restaurants of this era, Sanjiang Lou has a performance atrium, the atrium is quadrangular, surrounded by three floors, and diners on each floor can enjoy the song and dance performances in the atrium while tasting the food.

In the era when there were no loudspeakers, almost all restaurants were arranged in this way, because in this way, more people could hear the singing and enjoy the singing and dancing.

Including the conference room built by Zhu Zhanji at the Navy Headquarters, this model was also adopted. The stage is slightly higher than the first floor and slightly lower than the second floor, and the voices of speech can be clearly heard on the third floor.

The only difference is that the restaurant is surrounded on all sides, while the conference hall is fan-shaped, and a sound wall is specially built to amplify the sound.

Jin Kuo's task this time was to visit businessmen from all walks of life on behalf of Zhu Zhanji and promote the bank to them.

After being full of wine and food, he explained in detail with the merchants about the arrears of internal supervision, customs tax adjustment, bank loans and other businesses.

He walked up to the stage on the first floor, and a small eunuch brought a basin of water with a copper basin, and he washed his hands before taking out a bright yellow silk scroll.

This scroll is the same as the Divine Decree style, but it does not have the color of the Holy Decree, and the color is monotonous. A discerning person can know at a glance that this is not a holy decree, nor an edict, but a Taisun order.

Before Qin Shi Huang, all orders issued by superiors to subordinates could be called "edicts". After Qin Shi Huang ruled the world, he named himself Emperor and called himself "I".

He stipulated that only the emperor's proclamation could be called an "edict". In addition to the "edict", there is also "making a book", the difference between the two is that "the order is the system, the order is the edict", and the emperor's proclamation involving major institutional aspects is called "making a book", also called "life". The "edict" is an order issued by the emperor for a specific person or thing, so it is said that "the edict is an edict".

"Decree" is the emperor's proclamation on important institutional aspects, and "edict" is the emperor's order on specific people and specific events.

And the holy decree is just a popular phrase among the people.

Before the Ming Dynasty, the emperor's edicts and books were not strictly formatted.

When Zhu Yuanzhang, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, ascended the throne, he said: When you see people's words and actions, they all follow the sky, and they dare not be self-dictatorated. Then the expression "Fengtian carries the emperor's edict" is officially used on the holy decree.

In addition to the emperor, the crown prince and the crown prince can also issue their own orders, but they are collectively called orders.

Facing everyone, Jin Kuo took a deep breath and read in a loud voice: "Fengtian carries the emperor's throne Sun Zhanji's order......"

As soon as this sound came out, everyone in Sanjiang Tower, whether they were eating or chatting, all got up and knelt down.

Seeing that everyone knelt down, the inner servants nodded to Jin Kuo, and then he read again: Since the founding of Taizu, the political situation has gradually stabilized, the society has been peaceful, the civil order has been re-established, the number of households cultivating land has increased, and the grain production has increased year by year. In the area south of the Yangtze River, the government-run and private handicraft industries have developed rapidly, the commercial circulation of east, west, north and south has been smooth, and overseas trade has been active.

Since the extermination of the Dongying Haikou in the last summer, the current imperial court intends to expand overseas trade, but the ban on the Taizu Sea does not go for a day, and the goods of all parties need to go to sea through the hands of internal supervisors, and merchants from all parties must not cross.

Internal Supervisors should act impartially and provide convenience and services to traders. A commercial bank is hereby set up, where the money is insufficient, can apply to the bank for a loan, the annual interest rate does not exceed one or two points, if there is exceedance, all merchants can directly appeal to the local city department, the transfer envoy, and the Daming Bank. Priority will be given to merchants who support the barter trade under internal supervision to obtain bank loans and facilitate the transshipment of gold and silver.

Since last year, the merchants of Jiangsu and Zhejiang have enthusiastically supported the imperial decrees, therefore, a group of patriotic merchants have been awarded the title of Shi Lang to the Lord of the Cheng Lang, with this title, since when from the ninth to the seventh grade, where the official is lower than this knight does not kneel.

Hearing the content of Taisun Ling, everyone was in an uproar. The merchants of this era have not yet colluded with the civil bureaucracy, and the industrial and commercial classes of the peasants are clearly distinguished, even if these big merchants are rich, but a small tax collector and a small official can make them miserable.

Now if you get a knighthood, it is equivalent to a seven-rank noble, and when you see an official below the seventh rank in the future, you don't need to kneel, even if you see the county master, you only need to bow your hand.

It was a giant bomb that blew up all the merchants at once, and everyone felt like they were going crazy.

Even most of them are not afraid of some small officials, because they can develop into big merchants in this era, of course, they have their own connections.

But most of them are married or bought with money, and they still belong to the advantage, but now this Taisun Order has given them a legal identity.

For the sake of this status alone, most of the merchants present would rather give up half of their family property in exchange.

Jin Kuo obviously expected this, he had a lot of contact with these merchants in the past, and of course he knew what they cared about the most.

waited until his voice was a little calmer, and then he said again: "Everyone, let's be flat...... Ningbo Qiu He, Ningbo Wu Jinwen, Shaoxing Han Yilang, Yu Hang Jin Zhiyuan, Hangzhou Liao Chengxian, today at two o'clock in the city to accept the personal reception of His Royal Highness, and accept the award from His Royal Highness. ”

Among these four people, except for Jin Zhiyuan, who is Jin Kuo's brother, who has heard some inside information and is not surprised, the other three are all excited with expressions of wanting to pull over.

Some of their friends congratulated each other, but most were asking why the four had been awarded.

When they heard that they supported the internal supervisor's collection of goods just because they didn't directly ask for cash for a large number of goods, many people immediately went crazy.

An old man with a long beard on the first floor came to the front of the stage and asked loudly, "Eunuch Jin, if the old man donates ten thousand taels of silver, can he get the lord?" ”

Jin Kuo recognized the old man as Yao Annian, a descendant of the famous Yao family in Ningbo, who was also the head of the Yao family's business. The Yao family has been in the office for generations, and now there is a squire in the court, a prefect, and two county orders.

They have a deep influence in Ningbo, and the family lineage is generally dominated by scholars, and only if they fail to learn to manage the family business.

Because they have help in the officialdom, they often only have a bland relationship with the internal supervision system, and they are not guilty or stammered.

But in Jin Kuo's view, this is a group of arrogant and noble people. When he heard this, he said: "The great joke of the world, is the title of the court a gold and silver trade? These four were awarded not because they saved money for the internal supervisors, but because they had the heart to serve the country and the people, and they were models of dedication. Therefore, His Royal Highness asked His Majesty to obtain a reward for these four people, so that the people of the world could follow suit, which has nothing to do with gold and silver. ”

Then Yao Annian clenched his fists and asked: "Then how can I get this honor again, please ask the eunuch for guidance......"

Seeing that the arrogant people in the past were now whispering, Jin Kuo felt extremely comfortable. He originally wanted to sell Guanzi, but remembering Zhu Zhanji's instructions, he immediately said: "Your Highness once said that if you are poor, you will be good alone, and if you are good, you will help the world." If you really want to be awarded by the imperial court, you must either have the heart to serve the country and the people, or be a moral model, or have a significant contribution. This time it will not work...... but when His Royal Highness returns from overseas, he will select a group of people who have contributed to the Ming Dynasty to be awarded, if Mr. Yao never forgets to help the villagers, pave the way for his hometown to build bridges, or support the construction of the imperial court, he may be awarded the medal at that time. But ......"

Jin Kuo's face changed, and he said loudly: "Anyone who has oppressed the people, plundered the people's fertile land, or had a murder case in the past is not among the honors. ”

Jin Kuo couldn't figure it out, since there was a precedent for awarding medals to merchants, why didn't they contribute gold and silver in exchange. A fictitious title just allows them to have the benefit of not kneeling, and they can't pass it on to future generations, but I'm afraid that there are countless merchants who are willing to go bankrupt to exchange for it.

As long as this precedent is set, a household only receives 5,000 taels of silver, and I am afraid that the entire Ming Dynasty can earn more than 50 million taels of silver.

Although the people of the Ming Dynasty are poor, these merchants are not poor, and there are probably more than 10,000 merchants who can take out 5,000 taels of silver.

However, if you give more, I'm afraid it won't be worth much.

(I originally wanted to write about these merchants, but it doesn't have much to do with the current plot, even if it is to be rectified, it will be after returning from the sea, so I will ignore these for now and leave it for later.) It's still in Carvin, but the plot is slowly cleared up. ）