"Takami!" Zhu Youzhen praised it, but in his heart he was secretly proud of his disguise skills, "My father-in-law's eyesight is really good, but why did you just say that businessmen like us can't go to the private room on the second floor?" ”

The slightly younger tea guest widened his eyes and looked quite disdainful, "There are only two of you, and you don't bring an entourage, obviously you are not a rich businessman, at most you are a handyman in a rich businessman, so naturally you can't go to a private room." Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"The insight of the two of them is amazing, and I really admire them," Zhu Youzhen scolded secretly, "That's it, the tea money of the two of them will be paid together in the next one, which can be regarded as making friends!" ”

"Come on!" The young tea guest looked at the teacup in his hand, and peeked at the roof again, "We can still afford this tea money, if you are willing, please go to the private room upstairs and sit down!" ”

"Private?" Zhu Youzhen was stunned, how could there be such a thing when they met for the first time? Knowing that Lao Tzu had no money, but he wanted to go to the private room, he pretended to hesitate for a while, and finally made up his mind, "Okay, just the private room upstairs, two please!" ”

"This brother is just joking, not serious!" The older tea guest glared at his "brother", and then bowed his hand to Zhu Youzhen, "The private room upstairs is very expensive, at least two taels of silver." ”

"It's okay, just make friends!" Zhu Youjian gave a look and asked Fu Xiaojian to settle the tea money on the first floor first.

"What's so embarrassing?" The older tea guest shuddered.

"It's an honor to be able to make two such friends in Nanjing," Zhu Youzhen laughed and shouted to the inner hall: "Little Er!" ”

Under the guidance of Xiao Er, the four of them came to the second floor and chose a private room a little inside, and Zhu Youzhen and the two met again.

Zhu Youzhen naturally will not reveal his identity, Wang Xin, a leather merchant in the capital.

And the two tea customers, the older one is called Zhou Rusheng, but he is an outsider, and the younger one is called Liu Zhongjun, who runs a grocery store.

Neither of them is a wealthy family, and when it comes to assets, Zhu Youzhen estimates that they are slightly better off than ordinary people.

Zhu Youzhen clasped his fists and saluted the two, "The two proprietors, doing some small business in the lower Beijing Division, I heard that the south is prosperous, and I want to try my luck in Nanjing, I don't know if the two of you have any good suggestions?" ”

"Leather goods?" Liu Zhongjun's enthusiasm was suddenly poured with a scoop of cold water, "Wang Dongzhu, leather goods are in Nanjing, but it is not a good place to go, there is no big cold in Nanjing, even if it snows occasionally, the time will not be too long, naturally there is no need for leather clothes, even in the grocery store, and never operate leather goods." ”

Zhu Youzhen knew that it was self-defeating, but he couldn't say that he wanted to sell cement, glass, and perfume, these unique products would undoubtedly expose his identity, he thought about it, and the self-striking bell, "Liu Dongzhu, there is another kind of goods below, called the self-striking clock, which is produced in Western ......."

Zhou Rusheng frowned, "This thing is not only unheard of by ordinary people, but also by us, for a while, I am afraid that it will not be easy to sell," after a pause, he said: "We have received the grace of your tea, and we should tell the truth, it is better not to mind the proprietor." ”

"Where! Thanks to Zhou Dongzhu's honest words, he will not do that useless work in the future," Zhu Youzhen arched his hand, a trace of disappointment flashed in his eyes, and he disappeared in an instant, "It seems that he is not thinking about it below, and this time he is going south, he is only thinking of traveling to the south of the Yangtze River," and then smiled self-deprecatingly, "However, it's not bad to see, next time I come again, I won't be without a purpose!" ”

"It's good, it's good," Zhou Rusheng felt sorry for Zhu Youzhen on the one hand, but on the other hand, he was also glad that Zhu Youzhen didn't bother him with business matters, "Nanjing is a prosperous place in the south of the Yangtze River, and the sales of goods are very large, as long as you find the right opportunity, you are not afraid of hot money in the future." ”

"That's," Zhu Youzhen smiled lightly, "When I first came to Nanjing, everything depended on the two of you," and saluted the two of them, "I don't know what the two of you said just now, the merchant doesn't go to the private room on the second floor, but why?" Is it because of the rules of the store? It's not like that! ”

"That's not true, the shop has always only recognized silver," Zhou Rusheng frowned, "It's just that the imperial court wants to levy commercial taxes, but for merchants, it is to shed a layer of skin, Wang Dongzhu is a rich businessman, so naturally he doesn't care about this bit of silver, but our small family ......" He turned his searching eyes to Zhu Youzhen, "Wang Dongzhu is from Beijing, I heard that the five northern provinces have already levied commercial taxes, how did the government levy them?" What are the negative impacts on our merchants? ”

"So the two of you are worried about this?" Prosecutor General Zhu You breathed a sigh of relief, and finally entered the topic he cared about, he thought for a moment, "But the fifteen tax is also normal, and like the agricultural tax, the businessmen of the five northern provinces do not feel the huge pressure." ”

Liu Zhongjun looked a little excited, "But, why should we hand over the money we earned ourselves to the imperial court?" ”

"Be careful, be careful!" Zhu Youzhen pointed to the ceiling of the private room, "Actually, proprietor Liu also asked him before he was inferior, but after thinking about it, it is actually not right, think about it, why can we businessmen make money peacefully?" ”

"Why?" Liu Zhongjun was taken aback by Zhu Youzhen just now, and he came to his senses, but he really didn't understand what Zhu Youzhen meant.

"The two proprietors, to say a word of conscience, we businessmen can do business normally and earn money, relying on our own skills, which is good," Zhu Youzhen took a sip of tea, "But if there is no local government, who will protect our property?" If there are no soldiers on the frontier, who will defend our country? One must build on a firm foundation? ”

Zhu Youzhen didn't wait for the two to answer, and continued: "If there is no general environment of national peace and security, how can we businessmen earn money? I believe that neither of them wants to live in a place where swords and swords are bloody and bloody, right? Zhu Youzhen sighed slightly, "I'd rather be a peaceful dog than a troubled world, you live in the south, you haven't seen the tragic situation of the Tartar invasion of the south, ten rooms and nine emptiness, corpses everywhere, even the old people and children are not spared, the worst is the sisters, hey......"

"This ......" Liu Zhongjun was speechless for a while, he seemed to be frightened by the tragic situation depicted by Zhu Youzhen.

Zhou Rusheng glared at Liu Zhongjun, signaled him not to talk nonsense, and then said to Zhu Youzhen: "Shopkeeper Wang, if you simply pay some taxes, it is not a problem, the key is ...... If the government makes a fuss about this, we businessmen will be miserable! ”

"It turns out that Zhou Dongzhu is worried that the government will take the opportunity to increase the weight?" Zhu Youzhen understood the worries of the two, in the Ming Dynasty, the legal system was not perfect, and this worry was very normal, "This ...... I really don't know, but in Beijing, there should be no such thing, as long as the businessman pays taxes in full, the government will never interfere with the normal business, and occasionally check, just to see if the merchant has evaded taxes. ”

"The Jingshi is under the emperor's nose, and the officials naturally dare not do anything, but in Jiangnan, I'm afraid it will ......" Zhou Rusheng was still worried, the unspoken rules of the Ming Dynasty had been ingrained in the eyes of these businessmen.

"This, Zhou Dongzhu doesn't seem to have to worry," Zhu Youzhen became a lobbyist for the new policy, "There are many high-ranking officials in Beijing, and it has become a trend to be greedy for ink, but since the new emperor ascended the throne, it has changed greatly, this new policy, a large number of Jinyi guards have visited all over the country, once the government implements it wrongly, it will be punished by the imperial court," Zhu Youzhen continued to say in order to dispel his doubts: "Don't talk about merchants, even the people who cultivate are also taxed according to law, I haven't heard that the government dares to increase the size at will." ”

"Did Da Ming really act according to the law?" Liu Zhongjun raised his head and stared at Zhu Youzhen tightly, as if Zhu Youzhen's answer could solve his doubts in this regard.

"At least in the next view, this is really the case," Zhu Youzhen added, "Besides, the taxes of the Ming Dynasty are very clear, and the people know about it, and the officials can't get it even if they increase it." ”

"Since ancient times, officials and officials have guarded each other, can't officials unite to be greedy for ink?" Liu Zhongjun still didn't believe it.

Zhu Youzhen chuckled, "Liu Dongzhu doesn't know, Your Majesty's governance of corruption is to implement a top-down supervision law, such as the county is greedy for ink, once discovered, not only the county will be investigated and punished, but the prefect will also be convicted because of lax supervision, so strict, who dares to be greedy for ink?" ”

Zhou Rusheng seemed to have heard of such a thing for the first time, and he looked at Zhu Youzhen suspiciously, "Shopkeeper Wang, in this way, the officials at all levels ...... No, if this continues, will anyone still be willing to be an official? ”

"This ...... It doesn't seem to have appeared, but I heard that once an official is greedy for ink, no matter how much, he will never be an official. ”

"If they are not officials, then what else can they do?" A small businessman like Liu Zhongjun seems to be most afraid of the government, and he seems to gloat over the punishment of officials.

"Then they have to weigh and weigh, once they are investigated and punished, and their family property is confiscated, how will they live in the future?" Zhu Youzhen was also proud, "Your Majesty is really smart, although it is not necessary to kill the head, peel the skin, and light the sky lantern, but the deterrence to officials is quite large." ”

Killing heads, skinning, and lighting sky lanterns are the punishments for corrupt officials during the Taizu period, even such severe means still did not make the greedy ink extinct, and even Taizu had to sigh to himself that he had failed, but Zhu You's investigation of corruption is not to kill the head, but to let you live, let you live without dignity, and let the people around you discriminate against you, so that it has a more warning effect on others.

"Shopkeeper Wang, there really hasn't been an incident of the government increasing the size of the government in the five northern provinces?" Although Zhou Rusheng felt that Zhu Youzhen's words seemed like a fantasy, he still believed it a little, since Zhu Youzhen ascended the throne, the appalling thing is not this one.

"No," Zhu Youzhen was very sure, "I have been practicing business in Beijing for many years, there is more than one shop, and what you are worried about has never happened, that is, the people who are farming are now living and working in peace and contentment, and it is estimated that Your Majesty has also seen these situations, so he will implement the new policy to the south, by the way, how much do you know about the new policy?" ”

Liu Zhongjun didn't care much about the new policy, he thought that whatever policies the imperial court adopted were similar, they all seized wealth from the weak people and small businessmen, and the real rich businessmen could be preserved, "We ...... We, know some. ”

"Haha, two, that's not right," Zhu Youzhen's smile swept over the faces of the two like warm water, "The two proprietors, if you don't understand the new policy, if you protect your own interests?" ”

"Ah...... This ......" Zhou Rusheng raised his confused eyes, "Shopkeeper Wang, do the merchants in the north know about the new policy?" Where did you find out? ”