In the Wenhua Palace, Shen Tingyang controlled the initial mood swings, and after saluting Chongzhen, he began to talk eloquently, truthfully reporting his achievements in changing the sea to the sea.

Once it comes to his professional expertise and proves it with data, Shen Tingyang is not nervous, and the more he talks, the smoother it becomes.

“…… Your Majesty, after several months and three rounds of practice, the military rations were transferred from Susongning Shao to the front line in Guanning, and the total freight was only five dollars and five cents per stone, and the total consumption of overconsumption and rat sparrow was two buckets and four liters.

Originally, the Guanning Army's military rations per stone were transferred from the south of the Yangtze River, and the cumulative cost of Cao Yun silver was seven cents, the silver across the river and the lake accumulated four and five cents, and the Tianjin transshipment was two coins for ship silver, and the subsequent loss was four cents. In addition, the consumption of grain is over-consumed by four buckets, the overconsumption of cross-river and lake is over-consumed by two buckets and seven liters, and the consumption of rats and finches is ......"

From this point of view, after the Guanning army's military rations are switched to sea transportation, they can save three-quarters of the freight compared with the original canal transportation. The local grain required in the capital can also save 40% of the freight. ”

Shen Tingyang summarized the basic accounts and overall results in one go. No one interrupted him the whole time, and it was clear that his political enemies did not intend to compete with him over specific numbers.

Zhu Dadian next to him always looked at his nose and nose, looking like an old god.

Who made the imperial examination in the Ming Dynasty not have to take the mathematics test, so that most of the "righteous gentlemen" have no ability to scold their businessmen and colleagues on the issue of settling accounts.

……

Shen Shuren, who was standing in the secretary seat next to him, was always carefully observing the whole process, observing both his father's performance and Zhu Dadian on the other side.

It was also the first time he saw Zhu Dadian today, although he had already thought about moving away from this roadblock countless times in his heart, but after seeing the real person, Shen Shuren still inevitably had some illusions.

Zhu Dadian is a Jinshi of Wanli for more than 40 years, and he is almost sixty years old. He looks upright, with a neat and pure white goatee, sunken eye sockets, and good spirits.

If he was a complete traitor, then Shen Shuren could still be unscrupulous when dealing with him.

It's just that Zhu Dadian is just greedy, but there is no problem in terms of right and wrong - according to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", although Zhu Dadian has not won a battle, his attitude towards the Qing Dynasty is very good. When Duoduo reached Jinhua, he was unable to defend the city, so he set fire to his house and died by setting fire to his home.

At that time, he was almost seventy years old, and he had received a lifetime of national grace from the Ming Dynasty, perhaps because he wanted to keep the evening festival - but no matter what the motive was, he could be martyred even if he had backbone. Otherwise, Qian Qianyi is still the same age as Zhu Dadian, and he has lived for more than ten years since then.

"No matter, the world is complicated, and the opponent of a good person does not have to be a bad person, but also another good person. Now that Caoyun has changed to the sea, it can save money for the imperial court, and we have another way to solve the problem of population reduction and surplus labor after many years of war, so this matter should be implemented! ”

Shen Shuren finally made up his mind in his heart and stopped being entangled.

On the other hand, as Shen Tingyang's account report ended, Chongzhen also turned to Zhu Dadian to ask for his opinion: "Zhu Qing, you have also heard Shen Qing's conclusion, I think this is good governance, how much share can the Caoyun Governor Yamen share every year in the future and take the lead in changing the sea?" ”

Zhu Dadian's beard twitched slightly, and finally began to impeach and counterattack:

"Your Majesty! The minister did not dare to obey the edict! The minister thinks that Shen Tingyang's so-called frugality and saving transportation expenses is purely misleading! In the past few months, the minister has sent people to secretly visit the yamen of various rivers under his command to collect public information. After visiting the many crimes of fraud, disturbance and harm to the people after the Caoyun was changed to the sea, please check it out! ”

Chongzhen obviously couldn't believe it: "There is such a thing? Let me take my time. ”

Zhu Dadian shook his spirits: "First of all, Shen Tingyang claimed that the shipping of grain only costs more than five coins per stone, but according to the minister's secret investigation, this price is currently only their Shen family's fleet dares to report it like this, in fact, there is no second one in the world who should be so low."

If the imperial court wants to build its own fleet and train its own sailors, can it also achieve such a low price? Maritime transport requires the training of a large number of sailors who can run the sea, and the current inland river Caoding cannot go to sea without strict training.

But for example, the only ones who can summon tens of thousands of sailors are Shen Tingyang in Suzhou and Zheng Zhilong in Fujian. If the court asked them to train sailors for the court, would they be willing? Is it still at this price?

And if the imperial court does not train its own defense and ship the sea, it will be the important weapon of the country in the hands of officials, who knows if it will be too big in the future? This kind of risk, the minister thought that His Majesty could not take it!

Since the Chenghua years, the imperial court changed to the long-term transportation law, the ancestors repeatedly emphasized that the Cao Yun must be carried by the guard, not by the people, afraid of the lifeline in the hands of the people!

After the imperial court relied on him Shen Tingyang, if he made up some lies under the pretext of raising prices, saying that he couldn't handle five yuan of silver, he would ask for one tael of silver, two taels of silver, and it would rise to the same price as the original inland river transportation, would His Majesty agree or not to agree at that time?

He is now simply taking the low price of the loss to earn His Majesty's promise to reform the system, once he succeeds and His Majesty relies on him, this price will not last long! ”

Zhu Dadian's counterattack was also done in one go, first attacking the most important point.

This truth, translated in a modern context, is that "the lifeblood of the national strategy must be state-owned and state-owned enterprises, and private capital cannot be given the opportunity to intervene".

Shen Tingyang is now an official of the household department, and he also works for the imperial court, taking out his own resources to optimize and reorganize. However, it is only similar to the "government-run private sector" in the late Qing Dynasty, and the resource contribution is private, and it is only subject to the management and supervision of the government.

Chongzhen was also unprofessional on these issues, and after listening to Zhu Dadian's hard refutation, he immediately hesitated and turned to Shen Tingyang: "Shen Qing, how do you explain this matter?" ”

Shen Tingyang hurriedly replied humbly: "Your Majesty! Yellow Sea shipping, the world is not only one of the courtiers! It's just that the others are smaller. The imperial court also has many guards and sailors in Denglai, and they have to use official ships, how can it be said that the ministers have the power to coerce the imperial court?

At most, it is only that the Chenjia has been running the sea for more than 80 years since the Longqing switch, and there is some experience in shipbuilding and training sailors. If the court is worried, the minister is willing to teach all the uniqueness of the shipbuilding skills of the minister's family to the relevant yamen of the Ministry of Industry, and never hide his secrets! The experience of sailor training can also be exchanged with Denglai, Tianjin and other water divisions!

What's more, Zhu Dadian said that the ministers contracted the imperial court to transport grain at a loss, and they were deceiving His Majesty into agreeing to change the law, which is even more nonsense! Even if it is five coins of silver per stone, it is still slightly profitable. Find other maritime merchants, as long as the quantity is large, you can also agree to this price! How to deceive the king! ”

Shen Tingyang's defense was very measured, first dividing the question into two parts, one was qualitative analysis, saying that he "monopolized" and "threatened the lifeblood of the imperial court", which must be strictly clarified to prove that he is not a monopoly, and what the imperial court wants to learn, he is willing to "teach everything".

The second piece is quantitative, that is, Zhu Dadian questioned him for "losing the principal price first to seize the market and then raising the price", this question is not as fatal as the first one, and the answer is more secure.

He had discussed it with his son before, and Shen Shuren, as a traverser, was of course very experienced in "how to prove that the company did not dump". According to Shen Shuren's rhetoric, it is definitely enough to fight back against a layman like Zhu Dadian.

After Chongzhen heard this, his worries about the first part immediately dissipated.

He thought to himself, "Yes! Zhu Dadian said that the lifeblood of the imperial court cannot be manipulated by human hands, but how can it be manipulated by Shen Tingyang? There is only one canal, and if one occupies the canal, the other cannot use it.

But the sea is vast, anyone can go, Shen Tingyang is willing to share all the secrets of shipbuilding and training sailors with the imperial court, that is, the imperial court can expand as much capacity as it wants in the future, what are you afraid of? This Shen Tingyang did not cherish his skills, and he was really loyal. ”

Zhu Dadian listened to it next to him, his face was also ashen, knowing that the most important blow had been blocked, but he didn't expect Shen Tingyang to be so decisive and dare to publicly dedicate the technical advantages that he had accumulated for more than eight decades of five generations to the imperial court, how could he attack?

After some tugging, this question was completely shelved, and Chongzhen stared at the second point and questioned Zhu Dadian: "Zhu Qing, don't mention the lifeblood of the country or something, you answered Shen Qing's rhetorical question." You questioned him for losing money and taking the job, but you came up with ironclad evidence. ”

Zhu Dadian actually doesn't have much evidence, because the northernmost part of his yamen is only to Tongzhou, which is further northeast than Tongzhou, so there is no power for him.

The first two batches of grain of the Shen family's father and son were mainly transported to Shanhaiguan and Ningyuan, and Zhu Dadian didn't know about that place at all.

Therefore, the source of his evidence mainly relied on the Susong River Yamen and the unannounced visit data provided by the Suzhou Port during the shipment.

Up to now, Zhu Dadian can only go all the way to the dark and attack in areas that he is not good at:

"Shen Tingyang, you said that one stone only costs five coins of silver for freight, but according to the regulations of the imperial court, in previous years, the silver crossing the river and the lake was about equal to the expenses of two loading and unloading transshipments, and the manpower of the wharf. This piece will cost at least two dollars of silver, is it possible that you can only use the remaining two dollars to transport grain from Suzhou to Shanhaiguan? ”

Hearing this question, Shen Tingyang was immediately overjoyed, and finally caught a problem that directly hit the muzzle of the gun.

He hurriedly defended Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, Zhu Dadian has this question, just because he doesn't know the latest craftsmanship and management methods, and the minister's loading and unloading fees and wharf management are several times more efficient than the old methods of Caoyunwei. ”

As he spoke, he came prepared to take out a few drawings and tried to explain in front of the emperor how his dock management and the new hoisting machinery used and how the trestle layout could be modified to reduce the number of crossings......

This part, he didn't understand very clearly, so he begged Chongzhen En's permission for Shen Shuren to explain.

Chongzhen was stunned when he heard this: "Shen Qing! It's your job, how do you let someone else do it for you! ”

Shen Tingyang's face turned red and said ashamedly: "Your Majesty forgives your sins, and the ministers will use these, but I can't tell the reason...... To tell the truth, these ingenious things are all ingenious and accidental by the dog. ”

When Chongzhen heard this, he cast a slightly surprised look of appreciation to Shen Shuren, who was standing next to him, and said in his heart that this kid can not only be admitted to the scholar and be a cultivator, but also know how to be tricky?

But he will not stop it, let Shen Shuren show off at the moment, and explain the new crane and dock trestle design, and the management measures of dock workers clearly.

Chongzhen actually didn't fully understand it, but he could tell that this new method seemed to be very powerful, and it should really save money.

After listening, he turned pale and asked Zhu Dadian: "Zhu Qing, do you understand?" If you understand, what new questions do you have? ”

How can Zhu Dadian question it? I had to let go of all the doubts in the technical part and find another point of attack.

Zhu Dadian was nervous, cold sweat broke out, and he finally grabbed another point: "Your Majesty!" The minister really doesn't understand how much money can be saved by these strange tricks, but the minister knows a simple truth!

If Shen Tingyang really has a way to reduce the freight to such a low price, then why is the freight he set when he makes a living so profitable! As far as the minister knows, the Shen family ran to the sea, whether it was transporting silk, cotton cloth, tea and other things, to Tianjin or North Korea, at least three or five taels of silver should be set aside for each stone shipment! Transporting grain to the imperial court, but he only charged five yuan, which was deliberately showing favor to His Majesty and deceiving His Majesty! ”

When Zhu Dadian retorted like this, Chongzhen was actually a little unhappy in his heart: My courtiers are willing to give profits to me, but when it comes to your mouth, why did you become a bully?

Isn't it natural to give a discount to the royal business?

Before Chongzhen could open his mouth to reprimand, Shen Tingyang on the other side had already rushed to explain:

"Your Majesty, the price given to the court by the minister is indeed the most favorable, and it will not be increased in the future. But the minister can prove that it is indeed profitable to give only five dollars to the court - because the scale of the court's list is huge.

The minister usually sells silk tea cotton cloth medicinal materials, and it is indeed more than ten times profitable, but those businesses are also small, and it is impossible for the minister's fleet to have goods to pull every day, of course, to increase the unit price to make up for the idle time when there is no goods to pull.

And the grain of the imperial court, four million stone a year, is enough for all the ministers' sea ships to run thirty times a year—in fact, the time is only enough to run seven or eight times a year.

Therefore, even if the imperial court now subcontracts all the cao luck to the minister, the minister will not be able to transport it. If all other businesses are stopped, at most 30% of the grain will be transported. You have to triple the fleet of your courtiers, or organize the court and other maritime merchants to come with you to eat it.

With such a huge scale, the cost of the construction of the loading and unloading machinery and wharf trestle mentioned above can be evenly distributed to each ship's grain. ”

The larger the scale of the industry, the more cost-effective the depreciation and amortization of fixed asset investment in the early stage, which is a truth that people who pay a little attention to economic common sense with a little capital know.

It's a pity that the corrupt Confucians of the Ming Dynasty didn't know that a moral gentleman like Zhu Dadian didn't have the concept of "fixed cost amortization" in his mind at all, so he felt that there was fraud in it.

As a result, he questioned it with great interest, and finally stepped into the pit of professionals.

Chongzhen's face became ugly again, and it could be seen that his patience with Zhu Dadian's nonsense was gradually running out.

If it weren't for Zhu Dadian's official residence in the second rank, and the opponent opposite was only a small role of the fifth or sixth rank, Chongzhen would not have given Zhu Dadian so many opportunities at all.

"Zhu Qing, did you hear it clearly? If you can't think of anything wrong, it's settled. ”

Zhu Dadian's face was discouraged, unwilling to stop here, a burst of blood surged, and decided to gamble on his political life, and finally fight:

"Your Majesty, no! Even if Shen Tingyang didn't make fake accounts! Even if Shen Tingyang does have the ability to manage money thriftly! But Cao Yun is the food and clothing of millions of Cao people!

For example, today's turbulence, disasters and famines, hundreds of thousands of landless people have been robbed of their livelihoods, and the consequences are unimaginable! Does Your Majesty want to watch Li Chuang and Zhang rebel send more rebellious people? ”