After Tian Hongyu and the others were introduced into the hall, they saluted Chongzhen under the guidance of Wang Chengen on the side.

In the solemn hall, coupled with the gaze of the strangers around him, the other director of the Jiang clan trembled all over, sweating profusely, and did not dare to raise his head and look at the emperor sitting on the throne, which undoubtedly made Chongzhen a little disappointed.

However, Tian Hongyu, who was standing with him, was much calmer, so Zhu Youzhen turned his attention to Tian Hongyu and said to him: "Calling you to come to this meeting is a place where the imperial court needs the assistance of the Four Seas Trading Company, so I hope that the two of you, as representatives of the company, can answer my and Guo Shangshu's questions without concealment later, do you have any questions?" ”

Tian Hongyu cautiously tugged at his companion, and then replied to Chongzhen: "Of course there is no problem, since the Four Seas Trading Company is a trading house under the Ming Dynasty, and it also has His Majesty's property, it is a matter of course to obey His Majesty's orders." ”

After listening to Tian Hongyu's decent answer, Zhu Youzhen was still satisfied, judging from this answer, his father-in-law was much stronger than the other. He couldn't help but smile and said, "Then I will say the first thing first, based on the various materials consumed in the battle with Houjin last year, you and Guo Shangshu will check it together." I wonder if the combined amount of materials owned by the Hubu Warehouse and the Four Seas Commercial Bank can meet the standard amount of this material reserve..."

Under Chongzhen's order, Guo Yunhou took two household officials with a booklet and began to check with Tian Hongyu.

When the discussion in the hall turned into a reconciliation mode, Tian Hongyu's companions finally slowly returned to normal. Whether it is Tian Hongyu or this Jiang family, they are both serious businessmen, compared to several household officials who still rely on account books, they can spit out a series of numbers from their mouths just by memory.

Originally, looking at the Jiang clan who was trembling in front of His Majesty, the household official who still had some disdain in his heart finally changed his attitude in terms of the numerical memory shown by the two. Especially when it came to numbers, the other party also kindly reminded them of the mistakes made when the two household officials took the ledger to temporarily calculate the numbers, which made them even more contemptuous.

It took nearly half an hour, and Guo Yunhou finally took a list of materials that had just been checked and said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, at present, after the materials in the warehouses of the household department and the Sihai Trading House are summarized, there is still a gap of about 300,000 stone of rice and a gap of materials below 300,000 stone..."

After listening to Guo Yunhou's report on the number of material shortfalls, Zhu Youzhen thought for a while and asked: "For the shortage of 300,000 stone rice, has Mr. calculated the southern grain that should be solved this year?" ”

Guo Yunhou looked at the surrounding personnel, and Chongzhen, who stepped forward, whispered: "The minister has not been counted, although according to the practice of previous years, 4 million stone cao grain must be released from the south into Beijing every year, and the number of cao grain transportation in the Wanli Dynasty can still be implemented, plus the number of empty quotas in Jingying and the border towns of western Liaoning and Jizhou is quite a lot, so the cao grain is sufficient, but the household is not enough silver."

However, after the Wanli Dynasty, because of the establishment of the Houjin State outside the Guan, the western Liaoxi border army recruited a large number of people, so that the grain and silver stored by the household department were not satisfied. However, the rations needed by the people of the capital are still guaranteed first.

After His Majesty ascended the throne, he first reorganized the Beijing camp, and then vigorously opened workshops in the capital and Tianjin to absorb the refugees from Liaodong and the refugees, so that the population of these two places increased greatly.

In the past, the rations for the people and the salaries needed by the officials and the army were about 1:1. But today, it is already a situation where the people have 3 million stone rations, and the officials and the army need 1.2 million stone rations. The weight of a stone now is slightly higher than that of a stone in the past, and it is stipulated that each stone in the city is 200 catties, so there is a shortage of food in the official warehouses of the household department every year.

Fortunately, Hebei has carried out harnessing of the Haihe River and tidal flats, which has increased local grain production, and the rise of the marine fishing industry, especially the development of the whaling industry, can be regarded as supplementing the problem of insufficient grain.

Therefore, with the current grain rations, it is already insufficient to solve the civilian needs of Beijing and Tianjin, so how can it be diverted to combat rations? The 300,000 stone of rice had to be purchased from the south and transported to the capital. ”

Although Zhu Youzhen was a little disappointed in his heart, he still asked very calmly: "So how does Mr. think this 300,000 stone rice should be bought?" Is there any problem in between? ”

Guo Yunhou glanced at Tian Hongyu on the side with the corner of his eye, and then replied to Chongzhen: "The minister thinks that it is not difficult to buy these 300,000 stone rice and other materials, and the harvest in the Taihu Lake and Lianghu areas this year is not bad, plus the imperial court is building water conservancy in the local area, promoting crop rotation and drought to water, so the increase in grain production is already predictable."

In addition to a bumper harvest of sugarcane this year, Taiwan's sown area of rice has also increased by more than 50 percent over last year, and about 50,000 stone of rice from Taiwan will be shipped to the mainland. Therefore, this year's grain price in Jiangnan should not be higher than 8 cents and 5 cents, and if it is directly collected from large rural households, the price may be lower.

300,000 stone of rice, including freight, should not exceed 300,000 yuan when it arrives at Tianjin Port. This money should be enough to pay for the liquor tax collected by the South this year.

But now the biggest problem is that the capacity in the hands of the household department is insufficient, and the inland river transportation can still squeeze out about 150,000 stone of transportation capacity, but the other 450,000 stone materials are not able to bear. ”

Zhu Youzhen naturally turned his gaze to Tian Hongyu and asked, "Can Sihai Trading Company solve the capacity problem?" ”

Tian Hongyu thought for a while before replying: "The company has a fleet with a total capacity of 110,000 stones, and Jiangnan Shipyard will deliver 4 flat-bottomed sand ships that can carry 6,000 stones of cargo in August and September.

These vessels were intended to be used between Yingkou and Tianjin, specifically for pulling soybeans and other Northeast specialties. If His Majesty so requests, the company can call on half of its capacity to transport these supplies to Shanghai. Then try to hire local ships to transport the rest of the supplies to Tianjin by the end of October..."

After Zhu Youzhen listened to Tian Hongyu's transportation arrangements and scheduling, he talked with Guo Yunhou for a few more words, and then said to everyone: "Today's conversation between me and you is a confidential matter, and you can't spread it after you go back."

Of course, not all of what we are discussing will be implemented, or all of them will be implemented, but the Ministry of Accounts, the three banks, and the Four Seas Trading Company must prepare according to what was discussed at the meeting just now, and I will give you clearer instructions after careful consideration and argumentation.

That's the end of today's meeting, Commander Tian will stay for a while, and the others will disperse. ”

With the departure of Guo Yunhou and the others, the main hall immediately quieted down, and Zhu Youzhen leaned forward and said to Tian Hongyu: "Commander Tian was a little hesitant when he replied just now, isn't there something wrong with it that hasn't been said yet?" ”

Tian Hongyu, who was originally thinking about how to persuade Chongzhen, immediately took the opportunity to say to the emperor: "Your Majesty, if this battle can not be fought, it is better not to fight?" ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at him and asked quietly, "Why?" ”

Tian Hongyu quickly replied: "Your Majesty, now the largest import goods of Sihai Trading Company in Houjin are soybeans, timber, and leather, and the total amount of soybeans and leather is more than 1.5 million yuan, and the import volume of timber this year is likely to exceed one million yuan."

After these raw materials are processed in Tianjin, their value can increase to 3-5 times, absorbing nearly 40,000 workers. If Houjin starts a war with our country and blockades Yingkou Port, at least tens of thousands of people will live on the streets of Tianjin, which is not a good thing.

What's more, ninety percent of the wood transported into Tianjin comes from Yingkou. These timbers were made into boats, sleepers, all kinds of tools, utensils and furniture in Tianjin, and once the source of wood for Houjin was cut off, not to mention the rest, the shipbuilding industry and railway construction would probably be greatly affected.

Moreover, now Houjin is also the largest export place for my cotton, glassware, iron nails and furniture, and this fight is a lose-lose situation. This year, the performance of Sihai Trading Company will be greatly affected. ”

After listening to Tian Hongyu's words, Zhu Youzhen stretched out his hand to hold his chin and thought for a long time before he spoke: "What you said, I have already made a note whether to start a war with Houjin, or to what extent this war will be limited, I will also fully consider the position of the Four Seas Trading Company."

In this way, after you go back, you will summarize the interests of Sihai Trading Company in Liaodong, and then discuss it with the board members to see what the company's core interests are in Liaodong, and then report it to me for reference..."

After Tian Hongyu agreed, Zhu Youzhen made a gesture to signal that he could retreat. But what surprised Zhu Youzhen was that Tian Hongyu was squirming and refused to leave.

Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and asked, "Does Commander Tian have anything else to talk to me about?" ”

Tian Hongyu looked left and right, and then whispered to the emperor: "Yes, Your Majesty." The minister has some private matters that he wants to talk to His Majesty, and I hope His Majesty will allow it. ”

Zhu Youzhen looked up at the situation in the hall, and said, "Except for the king's companion, everyone else should retreat." ”

After watching the eunuchs serving in the palace leave, Tian Hongyu lowered his head and said to Chongzhen: "The minister actually has a reluctant request, I hope Your Majesty can consider it..."

Zhu You listened for a while, and finally understood what Tian Hongyu wanted to say to himself. He was begging to give up his current position as executive director of the Sihai Trading Company to Zhou Kui, so that this Zhou Guozhang would not sneer at him every time he saw him, and spread the word that he wanted to support his grandson to ascend to the crown prince.

Zhu Youzhen, who was all focused on dealing with the situation in Houjin, was naturally very annoyed when he heard Tian Hongyu's words at first glance, and he scolded by the way: "This old man has just returned to the capital for a few days and is so restless, is he not going to go overseas to blow the wind, and his brain can't be sober?" ”

Zhu Youzhen scolded for two sentences and stopped, he held his temper and looked at Tian Hongyu, who was respectfully standing aside, and said coldly: "Okay, I have understood." The position of executive director cannot be granted privately, and if you feel that you cannot sit in this position, you can resign. Now go down and do your thing. ”

Hearing the emperor talk to himself like this, Tian Hongyu felt a little chill in the back of his head, and he hurriedly withdrew from the hall after saluting.

After Zhu Youzhen watched Tian Hongyu's back disappear at the door, he turned his head and wanted to say something to Wang Chengen, but saw a eunuch walking quickly to report, saying that Huang Shoufu of the cabinet asked to see him.

Zhu Youzhen pressed the words that were about to come to his lips, and said instead: "Please Mr. Huang come in and talk." ”